31 dec, 2014 0

Paush 17, 1421 Rabiul Awal 8, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 267

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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TREEHOUSE

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

14 | SPORT

NEW YEAR TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

‘DECISIONS TAKEN MUST REFLECT COOPERATION’

DIARY OF A FOUR-YEAR-OLD

MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI QUITS TESTS

Rangpur al-Badr leader Azhar to hang Tribunal asks government to include Birangonas’ sacrifices in school, college curricula kar Ali Manik and n Julfi Ahmed Zayeef The International Crimes Tribunal 1 yesterday sentenced to death war criminal ATM Azharul Islam in its last verdict of the outgoing year on charges of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Rangpur during the nine-month-long bloody Liberation War of 1971.

Azhar, currently an assistant secretary general of anti-liberation and communal party Jamaat-e-Islami, was a top leader of its student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (now Islami Chhatra Shibir) in Rangpur during the war.

The three-member tribunal unanimously found Azhar, aged about 63, guilty of murder, abduction, confinement, torture, rape, persecution, and abetment of torture, looting and setting homes ablaze in rural areas of Rangpur.

“ATM Azharul Islam was a potential leader of ICS [Islami Chhatra Sangha] and also a leader of al-Badr Bahini, a ‘death squad,’ of the Rangpur district,” the verdict said.

The tribunal found evidence of Azhar’s physical participation in committing crimes during the massacres in

WAR CRIME TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6

In 1971, she was a 17-year-old pregnant mother who was carrying a six-monthold foetus in her womb. Her husband had gone to India for getting trained up to take part in the Liberation War. The then al-Badr leader ATM Azharul Islam and three other Pakistani soldiers did not spare her. They chased and then raped her by turn in a house near her in-laws’.

That was not all; they took her to a camp of the Pakistan army set up at the Rangpur Town Hall. They kept her confined there for 18 days and raped and tortured her everyday; eventually she suffered a miscarriage and nearly bled to death in the process.

On the 19th day, when her physical condition deteriorated, they got her out of there, fearing that she could die any time.

More than four decades later, on December 26, 2013, she gave her deposition behind closed doors before an International Crimes Tribunal in the war crimes case against Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam.

While pronouncing death sentence against the Jamaat leader yesterday, the first International Crimes Tribunal referred to her using her initials – MK. MK is now 60 years old and living

AZHAR VERDICT

Murder, abduction, confinement and torture at different places of Rangpur Sadar Murder, plundering and arson at village Moksedpur Murder, genocide, plundering and arson in Jharuarbeel and neighbouring villages Genocide, abduction and murder of four teachers of Rangpur Carmichael College and another Hindu woman Abduction, confinement, torture, sexual violence and other inhumane acts Abduction, confinement and torture

They raped her and killed the baby in her womb n Ahmed Zayeef

Acquitted

Death

25 years

rigorous imprisonment 5 years rigorous imprisonment

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Pass rate up, GPA5 down in PSC, JSC n Abu Bakar Siddique

Husband and two sons of killed schoolteacher Shamsunnahar hold family portraits at their village home in Lakshmipur yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

A life lost, a family destroyed n Our Correspondent, Noakhali Monday may have been just another hartal day for the people of the country, but for the family of late schoolteacher Shamsun Nahar, it was the day of living nightmare.

Nahar, who was a teacher at Agargaon Tawhid Laboratory School in the capital, died from severe injuries when pickets hurled brick chunks at her during the hartal. Her husband Shahjahan Siraj, who was with her, was injured as well.

The couple with their two sons were on their way to Lakshmipur from Dhaka in a covered van that day.

“We were moving to Ramgati as I was transferred to Noakhali. My wife was going to join Hajiganj Model Academy in Ramgati as principal,” said Siraj, who is an area manager at Anwar Agency, a sister concern of American Life In-

surance Company (Alico) based at New Eskaton in Dhaka.

“Those pickets destroyed my life.

They took my sons’ mother away from them,” the grief-stricken husband cried.

Showing shirt he had been wearing when they were attacked, soaked with his wife’s blood, he said: “What kind of destructive politics is this that took the life of my wife?”

Nahar was laid to rest around 10am yesterday in her family graveyard at Charporagacha village in Ramgati upazila, Lakhsmipur district.

Her sons, Shah Md Sreeman, 13, and Shah Nur Ali Prince, 9, were in a distressed state. The horror was evident on their faces when they recounted their experience of losing their mother.

Prince, Nahar’s youngest son, said a broken piece of brick hit her mother’s  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations witnessed a slight rise in the pass rate while the number of GPA 5 achievers came down.

The pass rate for JSC and JDC this time stands at 90.41% which was 89.85% in 2013.

This year the number of GPA 5 – the highest grade-point average – holders in JSC and JDC is 1,56,235 JSC while it was 1,72,208 in 2003.

A total of 18,45,732 (90.41 percent) students out of 20,41,471 passed the JSC and JDC examinations under eight general education boards and one madrasa education board.

The results of this year’s Primary

School Certificate were also published yesterday showing 97.92% pass rate.

Results of PSC’s equivalent examination Ebtedayee were also published in which 95.98% students came out successful.

P5 MORE ON RESULTS The pass rate of PSC has slightly decreased. This year the pass rate is 97.92 % in PSC and 95.98 % in Ebtedayee while last year the pass rate for PSC was 98.58% and for Ebtedayee 95.8 %.

A total of 26,28,083 students out of 26,83,781 passed the PSC while 2,55,273 students out of 2,65,974 came out successful in the Ebtedayee examinations.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and Primary and Mass Education

Minister Mostafizur Rahman handed over the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban in the morning.

Sheikh Hasina then formally announced the results.

The GPA 5 achievers of PSC examinees this year is 2, 24, 411 while it was 2,40, 961 last year.

However, the number of GPA 5 achievers declined in Ebtedayee exams. This year saw 6, 541 students pass while the last year 7,253.

A total of 26,83,781 students appeared in the PSC examination. Of them 26,28,083 have passed the examination.

Of the total 2,65,974 examinees in the Ebtedayee terminal examination, 2,55,273 students were successful.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

GPA 5 achievers of Monipur High School and College, celebrate their achievements on the school premises in the capital yesterday. The school topped the list of best schools of the country in this year’s Primary School Certificate examinations MEHEDI HASAN

Politics in 2014: Violence parenthesises peace n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The year began with a blockade of the streets. Bangladesh was gripped in a long drawn political unrest with months of general strikes and shutdown. The main opposition BNP was out to foil the elections that the ruling Awami League had planned to hold despite clear indication from the opposition that it would not take part.

Eventually, a one-sided election was held on January 5, through which the Awami League came to power for the

second time in a row. It was literally uncontested and arch rival BNP, which boycotted the election, was thrown out of parliament for the first time in 23 years.

Since the January election and until the last couple of months of 2014, BNP’s activities were mainly limited to indoor discussions and press conferences.

BNP’s only visible outdoor programmes were its chief Khaleda Zia’s once- or twice-a-month tours and accompanying rallies in districts outside Dhaka.

Having invested so much for resist-

ing the January election – especially in street violence throughout the preceding year – in vain, it was a massive blow for the BNP and its 20-party alliance partners.

As a change of strategy, the party, along with its alliance, tried to move on some other issues such as water sharing of common rivers with India and the proposed broadcast policy. They organised several programmes such as long-marches, but none of them managed to generate much public participation.

As the year draws to a close, the party is looking to heat up the political arena again, looking to finally “lodge a strong movement to topple the government and realise the demand for election under a non-partisan administration” – a pledge that senior leaders have been making throughout the year, evidently missing their own deadlines of “showdowns.”

The way things have been unfolding over the last week or so, it appears that 2014, which started with political violence, is going to end the same way,

Ecnec okays modernisation of fire service n Tribune Report The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved a Tk199cr project to upgrade the Fire Service and Civil Defence Department.

The approval came at a meeting of the Ecnec, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, four days after fire service and civil defence rescuers failed to bring four-year old Jihad, trapped in an abandoned well, out alive.

The rescue effort sparked widespread criticism from the public who watched live coverage of the failed operation on television.

The project titled “Modernization of Fire Service and Civil Defence” is expected to be completed by June 2017.

The government will pay for the entirety of the cost of the upgrade effort.

“The recent Jihad rescue attempt and Rana Plaza collapse have taught us there is no alternative to modernising the Fire Service and Civil Defence’s methods and tools,” said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal after the meeting.

He said the government had decided that modern fire services be set up in every upazila of the country.

Under the project, four rescue command vehicles, three excavators, with a 60-tonne capacity each, and oneheavy duty crane for carrying out rescue operation will be procured.

For dousing fires, 12 toying vehicles, four special water tenders with 11,000-litre capacity each, five emergency tenders, four turntable ladders and other necessary equipment will also be procured.

The country currently does not have the equipment required to deal with earthquake rescue operations or even with the type operation that could have saved the little boy.

Volunteers recovered Jihad’s body just 10 minutes after a 23-hour long  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

with BNP warming up after a year of relative inertia.

Just like the year before, the Awami League government has also been applying the same techniques – arrest and lawsuits – to intimidate the opposition.

The ruling party’s student front, Chhatra League, has been a major headache throughout the year. They are widely held responsible for the deaths of several people caught in factional infighting.

Abdul Moyeen Khan, BNP standing  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Jamaat calls hartal protesting Azhar verdict n Tribune Report Jamaat-e-Islami has called a two-day countrywide shutdown for today and tomorrow, protesting the death penalty to its leader ATM Azharul Islam for war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War. Jamaat’s acting ameer Moqbul Ahmad called the hartal yesterday afternoon in a statement issued immediately after the verdict. Jamaat will observe the strike from 6am to 5:30pm today and tomorrow respectively.

The ICT 1 handed down capital punishment to Rangpur al-Badr commander ATM Azharul Islam in charges including mass killing, murder and genocide during the Liberation War.

“Azharul is a victim of the government’s conspiracy to kill Jamaat leaders while it is using its supporters to give false deposition against our leader in the court,” claimed the acting ameer.

He hoped of getting acquittal.

On the other hand, hartal supporters torched a private car at Dainik Bangla intersection in the capital around 6:50pm.

Meanwhile, for the sake of the country’s economy, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry yesterday called upon the Jamaat-e-Islami to withdraw its hartals.

The apex trade body expressed concerns over the hartal and vowed to resist any anarchy through united efforts from the business community. l

News

Khaleda Zia’s press conference today n Tribune Report BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will hold a press conference today on the current political situation of the country.

The conference will be held at her Gulshan office at 6:30pm, said a press release signed by Maruf Kamal Khan, press secretary to the BNP chairperson.

Insiders said the BNP chief might talk about the movement programmes which are going to start in January.

A senior BNP leader, seeking anonymity, said Khaleda might give an ultimatum to the government.

“If the government does not initiate talks or create atmosphere for talks, then non-stop hartal, blockade programmes are likely to come,” he said. l

They raped her and killed the baby in her womb  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

in her husband at Kachna Takiapara village in Rangpur district. Her husband Md Mostafa Mia narrated the story of the rape before the court on March 3, 2014.

The Birangana told the court: “There was a factory of the Ramna Cigarette Company south of hour homestead.

A Biahri security guard used to work there. Somehow he came to know that my husband was not at home.

“It was 7th or 8th of Bhadra [fifth month of Bangla calender, spanning September and October]. Between 8pm-9pm, two cars laden with Pakistani soldiers, rajakar and al-Badr men, guided by that Bihari, arrived west of our homestead and fired three blank rounds. Scared people fled after hearing the gunshots.

“I was inside the house. My fatherin-law was sitting on the yard outside.

They surrounded our house and started beating my father-in-law. I was trembling in fear.

“I ran towards Rahman’s house.

When I looked back and saw three Pakistani soldiers and one Bangali in pursuit. Rahman’s house was empty because everyone had fled and the door was open. I entered the house and they followed my trail.

“I cried, held their hands and caught their legs, begging them not to rape me.

I told them time and time again that I was six-months pregnant. Ignoring my request, they raped me by turns on a bed in the house. I fell unconscious.

“The Pakistani soldiers ordered the Bangali saying ‘ATM Azahar, take her with us.’ Then I came to know the name of the Bangali,” MK told the tribunal.

Then the Pakistani soldiers and Azhar took her back home. Her fatherin-law was lying on the yard; he looked dead. They said there was a bomb inside their house and started torturing her.

They asked where her husband was.

“One rajakar hit me on the hip with

a stick. I can still fill that pain,” the Birangona described. When she did not reply, they ransaked their house. “They vandalised the house and looted five gold amulets 1,600 taka.

“They got me up on a vehicle and took me to the [Rangpur] town hall. I saw another seen to eight women there.

They did not allow the women to talk among themselves. They raped me and the other women regularly,” she said.

MK used to see Azhar at the town hall regularly. He used to go there to talk to the Pakistani soldiers. Sometime he went out with the Pakistanis and returned with young men and beautiful women.

“They tortured the boys physically by hanging them and raped the women,” she told the court.

She now carries a disease in her uterus that she got after being gang raped by the Pakistani soldiers and the collaborators.

Rangpur al-Badr leader Azhar to hang  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

Moksedpur Dhap Para and Jharuar Beel areas, and the abduction and killing of Carmichael College teachers.

Tribunal Chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim and members Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Anwarul Haque pronounced the sentence after reading out the summary of the 158page judgement.

Convict Azhar in off white Pyjamas and Panjabi, light brown jumper, brown shoes and glasses listened to the judgement sitting in a chair in the dock of the packed courtroom.

Just few minutes before completion of pronouncement of the judgement, when the tribunal chairman announced the death sentence, he stood up from the chair and shouted at the judges saying: “Dictated verdict, dictated verdict. I am totally innocent.

“Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Allah will do justice.”

The judgement, however, said: “It is well proved that accused ATM Azharul Islam had direct complicity and substantially contributed and facilitated in the commission of such barbarous types of crimes.

“No punishment other than death will be equal to the said horrendous crimes for which the accused [Azhar] has been found guilty beyond reason-

able doubt.”

The Jamaat leader was given death sentence on each of the three out of six charges brought by the prosecution.

The tribunal gave Azhar 25 years’ rigorous imprisonment on one charge of abduction, confinement, torture, sexual violence and other inhumane acts while five years’ rigorous imprisonment on part of another charge of abduction, confinement and torture.

Azhar was acquitted in one charge related to an incident of murder, abduction, confinement and torture at different places of the Rangpur sadar area since the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations.

The tribunal also observed that the state should compensate and rehabilitate the Birangonas while every one should come forward to accept, recognise and honour them for their sacrifice during the war. It asked the government to include the sacrifices of the Birangonas in the curriculum of both school and college levels.

About the three charges, for which Azhar was handed down the death sentence, the tribunal said: “All the crimes, particularly...relating to genocide, murder of numerous unarmed innocent civilians and other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity were the worst

and barbarous types of crimes and are particularly shocking to man’s conscience.” Justice would be met if Azhar was sentenced to death for each of the three incidents of offences, it added.

Azhar “be hanged by the neck till he is dead,” said the tribunal verdict, which will be implemented only if the Supreme Court upholds it after hearing appeal of the convict.

Azhar’s lawyer Tajul Islam said they would appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the verdict.

According to the Tribunal Act, both parties can appeal against tribunal verdicts in the war crimes cases within 30 days from the pronouncement of the judgement. On the other hand, the prosecution expressed satisfaction over the verdict while in many places of the country including the capital justice seekers hailed the death sentence.

Top leader of infamous al-Badr force, Azhar collaborated with the Pakistani Army in executing their plan and design in committing crimes against humanity and genocide all over the Rangpur district. After independence, he went into hiding. He joined the Jamaat after many years.

A few years back, he was serving as the acting secretary general of the party since Secretary General Ali Ahsan

Politics in 2014: Violence parenthesises peace  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

committee member, said: “The challenge of politics in Bangladesh at this moment is that of democracy. Since the election of January 5, the last one year has seen a total political stalemate which had crippled the economy, society and all other sensible activities in Bangladesh.”

Political analyst Afsan Chowhury said: “The year 2014 is basically a projection of 2013. I do not think people are worried about democracy anymore; they do not have time to think about democracy. There is no democracy in parliament. Social democracy is attacked by state, which is not a good sign.”

Upazila elections

Although it boycotted the January polls, BNP and its partners decided to take part in the upazila elections of in February-June, seizing it as an opportunity to rejuvenate its grassroots, which were then reeling from the fallout of staying out of power for five years.

With happy memories from the 2013 city elections in which BNP-backed candidates came out with clean sweeps, the BNP and its partners started off well in the upazila polls, doing better than the ruling party in the first two phases.

The Awami League and its partners came back in the next three major phases, eventually carrying the majority of upazilas (sub districts). The local polls eventually ended as a tightly fought contest.

Reorganisation

Having done well in the upazila polls, the BNP then took to reorganising the

party, looking to shake its associate bodies out of inertia holding their long overdue councils.

Ever since their movement to prevent the election failed, the BNP high command, including its chairperson, Khaleda Zia, has been saying that they would strengthen the movement to topple the “illegal” government after the reorganisation process is complete.

But that plan never quite worked out. The reorganisation process started with the formation of a new committee of its labour front Sramik Dal. But those left out, made things difficult for the central leadership by expressing discontent openly and loudly.

The same thing happened after its student front, Chhatra Dal, got a new committee. Some student leaders who thought they were deprived, even vandalised the BNP head office in Nayapaltan.

The party then abandoned its plan to reorganise its ranks and concentrated on rejuvenating the leaders and activists by holding discussions.

The ruling Awami League has also been trying to regroup at the grassroots, holding councils in several districts throughout the year, some of which turned violent, thanks to the aggrieved leaders and activists.

Afsan Chowdhury said: “The Awami League is becoming stronger day by day and BNP weaker. It has become a prime challenge for the BNP to keep its leaders and activists in the party as they do not do politics with passion.

It requires money to maintain leaders and activists.”

BNP leader Moyeen Khan said “The government pretends to be very strong

while in reality they have hardly any solid ground beneath their feet,” said Moyeen.

Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin, presidium member Awami League, said: “It was a good year for the country as there was peace and stability; the pace of development was restored. The construction of Padma bridge started and the country is for the first time exporting food because there has not been any big natural calamity.”

JaPa’s strange JS presence

Ousted military dictator HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party (JaPa) gave rise to a lot of drama before January election. Ershad made several somersaults in the build up to the polls – announcing his participation in the morning and making a U-turn by the same evening.

Eventually, JaPa did participate as an ally of the Awami League and won enough seats to become the main opposition in parliament.

Interestingly, while Ershad’s wife and his party’s presidium member, Rowshan was made leader of the opposition, the former dictator who is head of the party, was made a special envoy to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

While JaPa constituted the main opposition, several of its MPs were given portfolios in the Sheikh Hasina-led cabinet.

The party and its parliamentary team leader Rowshan has been criticised for being too soft towards the government. In the four sessions of the JatiyaSangasad (JS) in 2014, the JaPa staged only four walkouts which is unusual compared to Awami League and the BNP’s tenure in opposition.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Pass rate up up, GPA5 down  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

The JSC and its equivalent examinations began on November 7 while the PSC and its equivalent examinations were held between November 23 and 30.

In Dhaka Board, Rajuk Uttara Model College has secured the top position with 99.32 points while Viqarunnisa Noon School obtained second position with 98.51 points.

Ideal School and College, Motijheel secured the third position with 96.53 points, Shamsul Hoque Khan School and College fourth position with 95.01 points and Bir Shreshtha Noor Mohammad Public College the fifth position with 94.38 points.

Jalalabad Cantonment Public School and College crowned the top list of the

best schools in this year’s Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination held under Sylhet Education Board attaining 92.68 points.

Jhenidah Cadet College topped the list of the best schools in this year’s Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination under Jessore Education Board with 91 points.

Military Collegiate School Khulna stood second with 90.42 points.

Barisal Cadet College topped the list of the best schools in this year’s JSC examinations under Barisal Education Board attaining 91 points.

Barisal Govt. Girls High School stood second with 90.860 points.

Comilla Zila School topped the list of the best schools in this year’s JSC examination under Comilla Education Board with 93.39 points. l

Ecnec okays  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

“On the 18th day, something happened to the baby in my womb and I was bleeding incessantly. Seeing this, two Bangali razakars told the Pakistanis that it was time to sent me back to the house, or else I could die any time. They were also saying that if I died in my house then my husband would come and they would be able to catch him.

“On the 19th day, they got me out of the town hall. I came home on a rickshaw.

I found my father-in-law was very ill.

Around 10-12 days later, he died,” MK said.

Her husband Mostafa, who was a paddy trader during the Liberation War, said in his deposition: “My wife was two months pregnant when I went to India to take training for the Liberation War. I gave her 1,600 taka and told her to live with my aging parents...

When I returned from the war, my wife told me the entire story.

“The Pakistani soldiers did not know me or my father. They also did

not know my house. ATM Azhar and Mostak [The Bihari security guard] guided them and showed them my house. They killed my father and raped my wife. I want justice,” he told court while bursting into tears.

Yesterday the three-member International Crimes Tribunal 1, led by Justice Enayetur Rahim, sentenced Azhar to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment for this crime.

He was also sentenced to death for some of the other crimes against humanity that he had committed during the 1971 Liberation War. The tribunal found him guilty on five out of the six charges. The assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami – a party that has also committed war crimes as an organisation in 1971 – was given capital punishment for three charges that included murder and genocide. He was given five years rigorous imprisonment in another charge. l

Muhammad Mujaheed had been arrested in a war crimes case. Jamaat has called for a shutdown today and tomorrow protesting the verdict.

stani Army made widespread attack by setting fire to the villages of the Jharuar Beel area around noon on April 17. Being frightened, the people of those villages took shelter at the Jharuar Beel.

At that time, the convict and his accomplices having surrounded the Jharuar Beel killed about 1,200 unarmed women, men, students, babies and others.

Having caught hold of about more than 200 Hindu people and students from there, the attackers took them to an unknown place and killed them. At the time of the atrocities, many houses of that area were plundered and torched.

In the evening of April 30, Azhar along with the armed cadres of Jamaat and ICS, and the Pakistani occupation forces entered the campus of Rangpur Carmichael College. They abducted its teachers – Prof Chittaranjan Roy, Prof Sunil Baran Chakrabarty, Prof Ram Krishna Adhikari and Prof Kalachand Roy, and Manjusree Roy, Prof Kalachand’s wife, from their houses on the premises. They all were killed by Azhar and his accomplices in a pre-planned manner.

According to prosecution witnesses, they were killed near the Damdam Bridge of the Rangpur town when the lower halves of their bodies were kept under the ground and all of them were blind folded. l

Gallows on 3 charges

According to the judgement, Azhar went to Taxerhut Railgomti under the Badarganj police station by train around 1pm on April 16, 1971 along with the armed members of Jamaat and ICS, and the Pakistani Army, “in continuation of their planning and blue-print.”

They proceeded towards Moksedpur Dhap Para and on the way the Pakistani Army with the help of Azhar and his accomplices plundered many roadside houses and set them on fire.

Reaching Dhap Para, they attacked the Moksedpur village and started firing indiscriminately resulting in the deaths of unarmed civilians including Jangoli Bhorosha, Kerad Hossain alias Bishu, Chini Mye, Ammye, Momtaz Uddin, Mowlovi Abdul Quddus Ali, Tamir Uddin alias Tamiz Uddin, Moriom Nessa Kalti Mye, Sarijannessa alias Sukhi Mye, Yusuf Ali (sustained a bullet injury but died after independence), Shadhina, Azizar Rahman alias Khoka, Zahir Uddin and Osman Ali. Azhar along with the armed members of Jamaat and ICS, and the Paki-

In the latter half of the year, a clear rift between Ershad and Rowshan became evident. One group expressed their allegiance to Ershad while the other to Rowshan. According to insiders, by the end of the year, the Rowshan loyalists were in a better position than those banking on Ershad because she had been maintaining good ties with the government.

Interestingly, Awami Leauge presidium member Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin also thinks that the JaPa has failed to be the kind of opposition that the country needed.

“There is no real opposition in the country which is not good for Awami League. If there was an opposition that believes in the spirit of Liberation War and secularism that could point out the Awami League’s mistakes, then people would find a good alternative. It is not good that the Awami League will stay in office forever; but who will the people go to?” the Awami League leader wondered.

BNP leader Abudl Moyeen Khan said: “While the parliament is a non-representative one, everything emanating from this parliament, including the formation of the government and the enactment of new laws, all lack the legitimacy of the representation of the people of this country.”

Chhatra League’s ‘heroics’

People will associate the memories of Chhatra League in 2014 with a number of infightings that has led to the closure of several universities around the country in one year.

Most recently, Sumon Das, Chhatra League activist and third year BBA student of the International University of

Sylhet, was killed in clashes at Sylhet’s Shahjalal University of Science and Technology between two factions of Chhatra League. This is the fourth time such clashes took place in the university over the past one year.

On 31 March, Sayad Ibne Mumtaz, organising secretary of Bangladesh Agricultural University unit of Chhatra League, was killed in an infighting.

The ruling Awami League’s student front Chhatra League made headlines throughout the year also by taking part in abductions, mugging, extortion, tender manipulation, admission trade, assaulting teachers, attacking journalists, and so on.

Reports show that over the last six months, Chhatra League got involved in factional clashes over 250 times and with other organisations over 150 times.

Tarique’s history lessons

The year 2014 saw Khaleda Zia’s eldest son and BNP Senior Vice-Chairman TariqueRahman, living in London for seven years, become quite the historian, giving his own version of Bangladesh’s history and the Liberation War. His main targets were Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh, and the Awami Leauge. His distorted versions gave rise to substantial criticism and a number of lawsuits.

But towards the end of the year, as he went to the extent of calling Bangabandhu a razakar — collaborator of the Pakistani Army — demands for bringing sedition charges against him were raised. Subsequently, several lawsuits were filed and arrest warrants issued

rescue operation was called off by the fire service on Saturday afternoon.

Jihad had fallen down the 17-inch diameter shaft, 40 yards from his house in the capital’s Shahjahanpur Railway Colony, at about 4pm on Friday while playing with other children.

Ecnec also gave the nod to 11 projects, including the fire service upgrade, valued at Tk7,017cr. Of the total cost, some Tk4,817cr will come from foreign assistance, Tk2,176cr from public coffers and the remaining Tk24cr from the public agencies concerned.

To increase gas generation, the government will set up six well-head compressors at Titas and Narsingdi gas fields at a cost of Tk868cr. The project will be implemented by 2020 with the support of Tk729cr form the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Tk139cr from Bangladesh government funds.

The Ecnec also approved a Tk246cr Natural Gas Efficiency Project and a Tk2,935cr Multipurpose Disaster Shelter. l

A life lost  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

head, and she fell down. “Before she could say anything to us, she was gone,” Prince told the Dhaka Tribune.

Trying to talk about his mother, Sreeman burst into tears. “My mother will never call me to eat, or wake me to go to school,” the distraught boy said.

Nahar’s family also includes her father Md Ali Hossain, who retired as the headmaster of Dakshin Maguri Government Primary School in Lakshmipur Sadar upazila, her mother Lutfun Nahar, two sisters and a brother.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Md Yusuf, 49, elder brother of Siraj, said: “We wanted justice for this murder. We do not want such kind of hartals from any political party in Bangladesh. We do not want firing and picketing. People keep dying for this, while the pickets live on.”

“What did she do to deserve this?

She was not a politician. She was the maker of men – a teacher,” said Md Nurul Amin, chairman of Charporagacha union parishad.

“Nahar was like a daughter to me.

I cannot believe what happened. The whole village loved her; they are grieving for her.

“What happened was not hartal; it was an act of terror. Hartals and demonstrations are a democratic right, but it does not remain democratic when people’s lives are lost in the name of hartal.

We want justice and proper investigation of this killing,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

50 BNP-Jamaat activists sued for Nahar’s murder

A murder case was filed against 50 activists of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami and another 200 unidentified people for the killing of Nahar. Among the accused are the Sadar upazila BNP secretary, district Jubo Dal President Mahbub Alamgir Alo, Noakhali district Chhatra Dal President Nurul Amin Khan, General Secretary Saber Ahmed, Sechchhasebak Dal Joint Convenor Abdul Karim Mukta.

Anowar Hossain, OC At Sudharam Model police station, said Sub-Inspector Masud Alam filed the case. Police detained five in this regard. l

against him for his outrageous remarks.

The Latif apologue

Awami League veteran Latif Siddique was fired from the cabinet and also from the party because of some remarks he had made in the USA on Hajj, Tablighi Jamaat and PM’s son SajeebWajed Joy. A few weeks ago, Latif surrendered before a court and was subsequently sent to jail in connection with several lawsuits filed against him for demeaning Islam.

Latif was not the only Awami League minister to have faced criticism for letting their mouths loose. During a Dhaka visit of Nisa Desai Biswal, a junior US diplomat, Awami League General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraf called her a “two-paisa minister”.

New cartels and parties

The BNP-Jamaat alliance is still a 20-party unit. It comprises several parties who do not even have a registration with the Election Commission and very little or no organisational activities.

Some of the leaders of these name-only parties, apparently displeased with the BNP, broke away from the alliance and formed a separate combine of their own named the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

However, as expected, apart from holding a press conference to announce their formation, there have not been any notable activities since its formation a few months ago.

Barrister Nazmul Huda, kicked out of the BNP, recently announced yet another party of his own and said his party would take part in election in future. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Tribunal orders to rehabilitate Birangonas n Julfikar Ali Manik A war crimes tribunal has observed that it is the moral obligation of the nation to come forward to accept, recognise and honour the Birangonas in the society.

“They are the pride of the whole nation like the freedom fighters and martyrs,” the International Crimes Tribunal 1 said yesterday in its verdict in the war crimes case against Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam.

In an unprecedented move, a rape victim and her husband testified at the tribunal as prosecution witnesses in this case and demanded justice. The prosecution too demanded an order for compensation to the rape victim.

But the tribunal that gave Azhar death sentence and different jail terms for his war time crimes refrained from giving any order on the compensation matter.

The verdict said: “A tribunal may award any punishment – sentence of death, imprisonment for life, rigorous or simple imprisonment, forfeiture of property or fine. [But] we do not find any provision relating to ‘Reparation’ in the Act of 1973 [International Crimes (Tribunals) Act] nor in the Penal Code.”

The three-member tribunal observed that all the victims of sexual violence committed during the 1971 Liberation War should be adequately compensated and rehabilitated by the

state itself without further delay, “because they are the Birangonas as declared and honoured by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”

The judges also suggested that the government take necessary measures to include in the curriculum of both school and college levels about their sacrifices and painful experiences in 1971.

It would help the future generations learning about the real history of the war, the sacrifices of Birangonas and the barbaric atrocities including sexual violence committed by the Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators including razakar, al-Badr, al-Shams and members of the Peace Committee.

Tribunal Chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim, and members Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Anwarul Haque gave their observations in the 158-page judgement.

They mentioned that the process of giving compensations and rehabilitating the Birangonas had started after the independence at the instance of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and continued until 1975.

“But surprisingly it discontinued after his [Sheikh Mujib] assassination in 1975, and the process of rehabilitation, both socially and politically, of the collaborators of Pakistani Junta started in the country by the military rulers,” the judges said. l

News

TIMELINE : AZHAR TRIAL 15 Apr 23 Aug

04 Jul

18 Jul 25 Jul 12 Nov 26 Dec

06 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Sep

2012 Investigation started ATM Ajharul arrested 2013 Investigation agency submitted report to the prosecution Chief Prosecutor submitted formal charges Tribunal took cognizance of offences ATM Ajharul indicted Deposition started 2014 End of taking deposition Argument started Argument ended Case adjourned for verdict

Miscreants explode crude bombs in the capital’s Mirpur and Bishwa Road areas yesterday in reaction to the death sentence handed down to AlBadar Commander ATM Azharul Islam for committing war crimes during 1971 Liberation War DHAKA TRIBUNE

Gonojagoron Moncho Tribunal: Refrain from violence happy with Azhar verdict n Julfikar Ali Manik

n Arif Ahmed The activists of Gonojagoron Moncho have expressed satisfaction over the death penalty handed down to war criminal ATM Azharul Islam, a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader.

Imran H Sarker, spokesperson of the Moncho, said: “We have got our desired verdict. We welcome the verdict.”

He, however, was discontent with the government’s “prolonging execution” of war criminal Kamaruzzaman’s verdict.

Victims’ families satisfied n Tribune Report The prosecution and victims’ families have expressed satisfaction with the death sentence handed down to Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam by the International Crimes Tribunal 1 for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. After the verdict was read out, Zead Al-Malum, the prosecution spokesperson, said: “We are satisfied with the verdict. The punishment served the expectation of the victims’ families and the people.”

“We will look into the charge he was acquitted on, after the full verdict is published,” he said.

He added: “Through the verdict on this Jamaat leader, the state has taken a step towards ending the culture of impunity that has been prevailing in the country.”

Md Mostafa Mia, a prosecution witness and husband of a Birongona who also gave a deposition before the court, told the Dhaka Tribune over the telephone: “We are happy to hear that Azhar will be hanged.”

Claiming that Azhar had not received a fair verdict, his lawyers said they would file an appeal with the apex court after receiving the full copy of the verdict.

“It would have been fair if the evidence the prosecution presented was thrown into the dustbin rather than giving a death sentence on its basis,” Azhar’s lawyer Tajul Islam said in an immediate reaction after the verdict.

“I have spoken to him [Azhar]. He is not afraid of the death sentence. He said he would file an appeal,” the defence lawyer said.

The Tribunal delivered the sentence after five of the six charges brought by the prosecution were proven. The charges included rape, murder, genocide, arson, looting, and unlawful confinement. l

Demanding execution of Kamaruzzaman, Imran announced sit-in programmes at Shahbagh for four hours from 4pm on every Friday.

Ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict against the Rangpur al-Badr leader, activists of various factions of the Moncho took position at Shahbagh since morning.

The Moncho also announced processions for today and tomorrow from Shahbagh to protest the country wide shutdown called by Jamaat. l

3

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The International Crimes Tribunal 1 yesterday said violent programmes unleashed by aggrieved party after a verdict in war crimes cases is unexpected.

“None should do anything that creates mental pressure on the judges for giving a particular verdict.” `Tribunal 1 Chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim gave a brief speech before the pronouncement of the verdict in Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam’s case.

Azharul was awarded death sentence for committing genocide and crimes against humanity during the

Liberation War. In his opening, not written, speech the chairman of the tribunal said it cannot make either side happy in a case.

The aggrieved party should go to the highest court to get remedy, said Justice Enayetur Rahim.

He said the tribunal’s verdict cannot be changed by resorting to violence and issuing statements.

Parties have to go through legal process if anyone wants to see a change in the verdict, the tribunal chairman went on.

According to International Crimes Tribunal Act any accused or the prosecution can appeal against the verdict

of the tribunal in war crimes cases with the Supreme Court.

The appeal will have to be filed in 30 days since the day the verdict is pronounced.

But after the verdict the aggrieved party call countrywide shutdown (hartal), said the tribunal.

Especially anti-liberation and communal party Jamaat-e-Islami called a lot of hartals against the verdicts.

Jamaat also enforced the shutdown in a violent manner killing and injuring many people including police, the tribunal chairman observed.

On the other hand, there is an exam-

ple of peaceful movement that started in February last year with the demand for capital punishment of those guilty of war crimes.

The tribunal chairman said, the media abroad and also a few at home try to present news of the verdict in war crimes cases in such a way as if the courts were delivering verdict against Islamic scholars.

“This presentation (of news) is not correct, said the tribunal adding: “We are holding trials of war criminals where their present identity and status are not something that demand consideration. l

Idle Hydrocarbon Unit cost government Tk70 lakh this year

Police, RAB get new bosses in major reshuffle

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

n Rafe Sadnan Adel

Although they had no visible activities during the last year, the total expenditure of the organisation called the Hydrocarbon Unit (HCU), under the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, was over Tk70 lakh.

“We had no work in this period as we did not take on any programme because of a shortage of manpower.

Besides, we were not given a budget to take projects. We, the eleven staff members working here, just attended office,” Director General of Hydrocarbon Unit Mohammad Mosaddeque Ali told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We sent a proposal through the Energy Division to the Bangladesh Public Service Commission to recruit manpower,” he said.

“As the technical arm of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, the process of giving the unit a permanent shape was completed by June 2008 and the recruitment rules of the HCU was approved and published in July 2013.

However, at present, recruitment is still under process,” he said.

“HCU is to be strengthened further to enable its technical manpower to perform the duties and responsibilities in a very professional and effective manner,” he added.

“The hope is to establish the HCU as a resourceful organisation for upstream regulatory functions,” he suggested.

“The organisation has a very acute shortage of manpower right now and has inadequate financial ability to attract professionals or technical personnel to be recruited,” he said.

“Officers appointed there were deputed from Railway or Telecom BCS cadres. They are not suitable for the organisation. Government should pick from among the former directors or general managers of Petrobangla as they have the right experience for the organisation,” Ijaz Hossain, a professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology told the Dhaka Tribune.

“I think this will help make the organisation a truly technical arm of the energy sector,” he said.

According to its organogram, there are 26 positions in the unit. Of them, 16

posts are for first-class officers, 2 posts for second class and 8 posts for thirdclass employees.

The Hydrocarbon Unit was established in July 1999 in the form of a project titled “Strengthening of the Hydrocarbon Unit in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources,” under grant financing from the Norwegian Government.

An institutional co-operational contract was signed between the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and the Hydrocarbon Unit.

The work of the first phase continued until March 2006, and the second phase started in April 2006 and continued until December 2013.

The Hydrocarbon Unit is to provide necessary opinions, analyses and information on issues like production-sharing contracts, gas demand and supply, gas field development, pricing, future planning, legal issues, energy policy and privatisation.

“We are planning to make the organisation more effective very soon,” Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune. l

The government yesterday appointed Additional Inspector General of Police (admin) AKM Shahidul Haque as the chief of police and Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Benazir Ahmed as the chief of elite force Rapid Action Battalion.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG highway) Asaduzzman Miah will replace Benazir.

Additional IGP Mukhleshur Rahman, who served as the chief of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as additional charge, has been transferred to the Police Headquarters. He has been promoted to the post of additional IGP (admin, current charge).

Incumbent police chief Hassan Mahmood Khandaker and RAB Director General Mukhlesur Rahman are set to retire.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed the appointment letters.

The Home Ministry yesterday also promoted 83 police officials to different ranks, between assistant superintendent of police (ASP) and additional deputy inspector general (additional DIG).

The officials have been transferred to different metropolitan areas, divisional ranges and district level.

Five assistant inspectors general (AIGs) have been promoted to the post of additional DIG, 16 additional SPs to SP, 28 ASPs to additional SP and 34 ASPs to the rank of senior ASP. On Monday, the Home Ministry transferred 55 senior police personnel, including three additional IGPs, commissioners of five metropolitan units and the three DIGs of three divisional ranges.

Additional IGP (current charge) Muhammad Aminul Islam has been made the commandant of Bangladesh Police Academy, Sardah, Rajshahi.

Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Nowsher Ali has been transferred to the Chittagong Range as its DIG. He will be replaced by Additional DIG of Rajshahi Range Mohammad Obaidullah. Khulna Metropolitan Police chief Helal Uddin Badri has been posted as a DIG to the Police Headquarters.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Aftab Uddin Ahmed is now the additional director general of RAB. l

Tofail: BNP cannot face Chhatra League Fakhrul, 42 others sued n for arson Tribune Report

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed at an event yesterday said the BNP did not have enough capability to counter Bangladesh Chhatra League’s programmes.

Speaking at the triennial conference of Awami League’s Brahmanbaria district unit, the minister said: “The BNP chairperson did not even try to attend her party’s rally in Gazipur. The party called for a hartal on Monday, but they were absent from the field on the day.”

Claiming that the Chhatra League had organised their programmes on the same day to protest the vulgar comments about Bangabandhu made by Tarique Rahman, Tofail said: “After a

schoolteacher was killed by pickets in Maizdee on Monday, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Awami League’s agents did it. If that is true, then Mirza Fakhrul and the BNP are Awami League’s agent.”

He said: “When we invited Khaleda Zia for a dialogue, she did not accept it and gave ultimatum instead. Now she has to wait until 2019 for a dialogue.”

The minister added: “Bangladesh has come a long way under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. We are exporting food now. When BNP was in power, the per capita income was $400. Under our rule, it has increased to $1,200.”

In another event yesterday, State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said no one would

be allowed to create an anarchy in the country with undemocratic movements and protests.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a coast guard building on the bank of Dakatia River at Ichlighat area in Chandpur yesterday afternoon, the state minister said: “The BNP can hold their political programmes. But if they and cause common people suffering, we will take appropriate action.”

He also claimed that the state of law and order in the country has been steady and will remain so until 2019.

About the programmes on January 5, he said: “The law enforcement agencies will take decisions about BNP’s rally based on their political programmes.” l

n Tribune Report Police yesterday sued BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 42 other BNP-led 20-party alliance leaders for torching a bus of a ministry on the eve of a nationwide alliance hartal.

No injuries were reported in the arson attack on the Public Administration Ministry staff bus in the Purana Paltan area of the capital on Sunday.

In the case filed by Assistant Sub-Inspector Abdul Malek Hawlader with Paltan Model solice station, alliance

leaders are accused of leading, ordering and advising their activists to carry out the arson attack with the aim of bringing about a deterioration of law and order.

The accused include senior BNP leaders Rafiqul Islam Miah, Mirza Abbas, Barkat Ullah Bulu, Amanullah Aman, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho, Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Prof Mojibur Rahman and Rafiqul Islam Khan and 20 to 25 unnamed persons.

The bus was set on fire by unidentified arsonists at the Purana Paltan intersection. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

‘Empower local govts for better civil service’ n Tribune Report Civil society members urged the government to delegate authority to the local governments and empower them with essential services so that the people can enjoy quality service.

Speakers at a discussion on the decentralisation of local government at the National Press Club made the suggestion.

They also suggested the government should implement the Upazila Parishad Act 2009 to ensure standard public service is provided in the communities.

“The local governments are facing difficulties in providing appropriate services due to the lack of adequate power and resources. But the act entitles local governments with these authorisations,” said Professor Mobaswer Monem, teacher Public Administration at Dhaka University.

On the contrary, the few services that have been distributed to the local governments through the act are still being operated by the central government.

According to the act, 17 public services including education and health is to be provided by the local government institutions directly; the provisions of

the act are yet to be implemented.

Undue influence of political parties and parliament representatives are also hampering delivery of quality services.

Fazle Hossain Badsha MP echoed the sentiments and brought the issue of MPs’ behaviour up. “Lawmakers have a tendency to interfere with the local government’s activities; although unnecessary, it is one of the major obstacles for the act.

“The development activities in the local level should be implemented by self-governed local governments, otherwise the best output cannot be achieved,” he added.

Regarding policy interventions, Dr Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman said policy formation regarding the improvement of local governments is necessary.

In addition, the government should also formulate a separate policy to allocate funds for local governments so that equitable distribution is ensured for necessary development, he added.

Salahuddin is also a faculty member of Public Administration at Dhaka University.

The programme was organised by Governance Advocacy Forum. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hands over new text books for 2015 to a visually impaired student during the inauguration of a text book distribution ceremony held at the Ganabhaban in the capital yesterday. Sheikh Rehana and Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman were present during the event BSS

KIBRIA MURDER CASE

Sylhet mayor Ariful Haq sent to jail n Our Correspondent, Habiganj

officer of the case, submitted a supplementary charge sheet against 35 people including 11 new in former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria murder case.

The freshly-indicted accused included the BNP chairperson’s former political adviser Harris Chowdhury, Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury and Habiganj municipality Mayor GK Gaus.

On January 27, 2005, five people including Kibria were killed in a grenade attack after attending a rally in Boidyer Bazar of Habiganj. Sylhet district unit Awami League leader Abdul Mazid Khan MP filed two cases the following day – for murder and use of explosives. l

A Habiganj court has sent Sylhet Mayor Ariful Haq Chowdhury to jail after rejecting his bail plea in the Shah AMS Kibria murder case.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Rokeya Akhtar sent the mayor to jail after he appeared before her court yesterday afternoon to seek bail.

Talking to reporters, the mayor however claimed that he was a victim of political vengeance and conspiracy. Ariful also claimed that he was named as an accused in the murder case because of his success at becoming mayor and for working to develop Sylhet city.

Echoing Ariful, defense counsel advocate Manjur Uddin Shahin said the mayor had been implicated in the case to be politically harassed. He added that the defense would now move to the High Court to seek justice.

Saying the Kibria murder case was a sensational case, Public Prosecutor Akbar Hossain Jitu expressed hopes that the trial would end within the current government’s tenure.

Meanwhile, additional police had been deployed on the court premises yesterday when the city mayor made his appearance. On November 13, CID’s Assistant Police Superintendent Meherunnesa Khanum, also the investigation

2-day remand for Goyeshwar n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

China ready to support BCIM economic corridor

A Dhaka court placed BNP standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy on fresh two-day remand in a case filed with Turag police station for attempting to create unrest.

Metropolitan Magistrate Rezaul Karim passed the order after SI Bahauddin Faruki of DB police produced him before the court seeking a 10-day remand after showing him arrested in a case filed under the Special Powers Act. Three other BNP men were also placed on three-day remand.

On Friday, another Dhaka court placed Goyeshwar on three-day remand in a case filed with the Shahbagh police station over Bakshibazar clashes.

Goyeshwar was shown arrested in the case filed over an attack on ruling Awami League MP Chhabi Biswas.

Goyeshwar was picked up from Siddheshwari on Friday morning. It came a day after he vowed that the 20-party alliance would block roads and hold rallies across the country if the government hindered a BNP rally. l

n Tribune Desk China is ready to work to expedite the construction of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM EC), said the country’s foreign ministry.

The ministry quoted its Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who made the remarks during his meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

It said Bangladesh and China should make most of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties and maintain high-level mutual visits, expand cooperation and energise the relationship with better momentum, UNB reports.

“China stands ready to help Bangladesh develop modern agriculture, strengthen the capacity of industrial production, improve infrastructure and overcome the bottleneck of energy supply so as to promote Bangladesh for faster development,” the Chinese foreign minister was quoted as saying.

The ministry also said Bangladeshi

dreams were connected with Chinese dreams, representing a similar aspiration for a better life for the people of both countries.

Wang Yi stressed mutual respect, support and mutual understanding.

“China is striving to realise its ‘two centennial goals’ while Bangladesh is committed to the realisation of its dream of listing among the medium-income countries by 2021.”

He lauded Bangladesh’s support for and participation in the construction of the “Belt and Road.”

During discussions with President Abdul Hamid, the Chinese foreign minister noted that their interest in combining Bangladesh’s urgent development needs with their edge to strengthen cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, agriculture, infrastructure, industrial parks, and electric power.

He expressed interest in expanding political cooperation and solving the imbalance in bilateral trade. l

7th death anniversary of Subhan today

n Tribune Report Today is the 7th death anniversary of KM Subhan, former Supreme Court justice, who played a strong role in establishing democracy, rule of law and promoting spirit of Liberation War. He also played a key role in the movement of the separation of the judiciary from the executive, says a release.

Subhan, a human rights activist, who was also actively involved in the movement of the war crimes trial, died of cardiac arrest in 2007. l

Chittagong JCD leaders sued for vandalism and assaulting journalist n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The Kotowali police have filed a case against 44 persons, including Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) Chittagong city unit President Gazi Siraz and General Secretary Belayet Hossain Bulu, for allegedly vandalising a vehicle and assaulting a television journalist during the BNP-led 20-party hartal on Monday.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Jafor Iqbal filed the case late at night on Monday, naming only 19 of the accused, said Chit-

tagong Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner (Kotwali circle) Shah Mohammad Abdur Rouf.

On Monday, several BNP men took out a procession from the city office at Nasiman Bhaban in support of the hartal the party had enforced in protests against the foiling of its rally in Gazipur.

Some of them went berserk and vandalised a vehicle during the procession, when ATN News Camera Journalist Shahriar Nazim got minor injuries in the head. l

3 workers rescued from employer’s captivity n Our Correspondent, Savar Police rescued three brick kiln workers held captive by their employers in Dhamrai area of Savar near Dhaka on Monday.

They are Al Amin, 20, Moinul, 22, and Aminul, 18. They worked at Stone Bricks in Amtola.

Police said 15 workers had been working at the kiln for the last two months. Nine of them had recently quit because of non-payment of wages.

The kiln’s manager Md Bablu and its owner Asad kept the workers confined in a room for the last six days.

Dhamrai OC Firoj said a case was filed in this connection. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

5

CHITTAGONG EDUCATION BOARD RESULTS

JSC, PSC students show lower pass rate than last year n FM Mizanur Rahaman Students on percentage have passed less than last year in the Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Primary School Certificate (PSC) examinations under Chittagong Education Board.

The JSC pass percentage is 84.29 this year against 86.13 percent last year while the PSC pass rate is 97.87 percent against 98.33 percent last year.

Boys lagged behind girls in terms of performance in the examination since 86.16 percent of the girls and 82.74 percent of the boys passed this year.

Neither boys nor girls on average performed better than or equal to last year since 87.34 percent of the former and 85.16 percent of the latter passed last year.

In terms of GAP-5 scoring, Kotwali thana topped the list with 2104 GPA-5s The number of GPA 5 achievers has also fallen this year with 10, 487 students securing the highest score in the examination against 14105 last year. Of this year GPA 5 scorers, 4, 801 are boys and 5,686 are girls.

Chittagong Education Board’s Examination Controller Dr Pijush Dutta formally announced the JSC results at the board office yesterday (Tuesday) morning.

The examination controller said 1, 50,617 students took part in the examination under the board. Of them, 1, 26,953 students – 68,140 are boys and 82,477 – successfully came out.

He blamed the creative method, the first of its kind in the JSC mathmatic test, for the fall in the pass rate.

With 304 GPA-5 holders and 100 percent pass rate, Dr Khastagir Gov-

ernment Girls’ High School secured the top list of the JSC chart under the education board while Collegiate School Chittagong secured the second position with 307 GPA-5 achievers.

Government Muslim High School, Silber Bells Girl’s High School, Ispahani Public School and College secured the third, fourth and fifth position with 279, 164 and 115 GPA-5s respectively.

The pass rate in the metropolitan area was 90.58 percent while it is was 82.35 outside the city, officials said.

Chittagong’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mesbah Uddin yesterday announced the PSC results at a press conference held at the District Administration Office at 12:30pm yesterday.

A total of 1, 40,606 students took part in the examination. Of them, 1, 37,617 students – 64,722 boys and 75,884 girls – successfully came out, he said, adding 10,511 fifth graders secured the highest GPA-5 in the examination.

The students of rural area’s schools did better than the students of the metropolitan area in PSC examinations, he said, blaming it on the metropolitan school teachers’ involvement in the coaching centres.

Chittagong’ Rangunia upazila topped the list of PSC pass rate with its 99.53 percent students passing in the examination while Fatickchari uapzila got second and Patiya uapzila got third place with 99.51 and 99.06 percent pass rate respectively.

In terms of GAP-5 scoring, Kotwali thana topped the list with 2104 GPA5s where Double Mooring thana and Panchlaish thanas securred the second and third position with 1275 GPA-5s and 923 GPA-5s respectively.

As for the Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC), the pass percentage is 93.93 percent. 23,305 students took part in the exams this year. Of them, 21,890 students passed the terminal exams of Ebtedayee and the number of GPA 5 scorers is 2496. l

Clockwise: Emerging as the topper under Rajshahi Education Board, students of Rajshahi Government Helenabad Girl’s High School relish their achievements by showing the victory sign. GPA 5 achievers of Barisal Cadet College pose for a photo with their principal on the college premises. Students of Government Agragami Girl’s High School and College in Sylhet cheer the result of Junior School Certificate published yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Girls do better than boys in Rajshahi board More pass rate, less GPA 5 n Tribune Desk The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Rajshahi yesterday published the results of this year’s Junior School Certificate examinations.

The percentage of pass is 95.32 while the previous year’s figure was 93.88.

A total of 1,91,130 out of total 2,00,513 appeared students came out successful.

Of them, 23,606 students, including 12,122 girls bagged GPA-5 in the board this year and the previous year’s figure was 20,523, including 10,436 girls.

The board authority announced the results at a press conference at its conference hall with Board Secretary Prof Abdul Kalam Azad in the chair.

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 DHAKA

TODAY SUN SETS 5:22PM

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:41AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 27 26 22 26 23 24 28 25

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

18 20 17 16 18 20 19 21

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

27.0ºC Sayedpur

9.0ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:20am 6:40am 12:01am 3:46pm 5:22pm 6:42 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

According to the result sheet, the rate of success of girls in all aspects like pass-percentage and GPA-5 is more than the boys this year, the board authority said.

The top 20 schools under the board are (according to the merit list): Cantonment Public School and College, Bogra, Bogra Government Girls High School, Bogra Zilla School, BIAM Model School and College, Bogra, Armed Police Battalion Public High School, Bogra, Pabna Government Girls High School, Rajshahi Government Girls High School, Government PN High School, Rajshahi, Joypurhat Girls Cadet College, Rajshahi Cadet College, Millennium Scholastic School, Bogra, Pabna Cadet College,

Sirajgonj Government BL High School, Palli Unnayan Academy Laboratory School and College, Bogra, Rajshahi Government Laboratory High School, Pabna Zilla School, Rajshahi Collegiate School, Momena Ali Biggan School, Sirajganj, Biam Laboratory School, Bogra, Sarda Government Pilot High School, Rajshahi, Qadirabad Cantonment Public School, Natore and Bogra Police Line High School.

Controller of Examinations Prof Shamsul Kalam Azad said a total of 2,00,513 students, including 1,02,224 girls appeared at the examination in 211 centers from 2,891 schools in eight districts under the board this year.

He said none passed from five schools this year. l

Number of GPA 5 achievers declines in Sylhet n Our Correspondent, Sylhet The number of GPA-5 achievers in the Junior School Certificate (JSC) examinations under the Sylhet Education Board have decreased, while the rate of successful students who appeared in the exam this year is more than the previous year.

A total of 4,010 students got a GPA5 this year, with the rate in increase of successful students is 91.15% to 91.57%.

Notably of the number of GPA-5 achievers, 1,880 are males and 2,130 females.

The Sylhet Education Board Examination Controller Abdul Mannan announced the results at a press conference at the board’s auditorium around 11am yesterday.

Some 1,09,485 students appeared in the exam this year. Of them 9,230 students were not able to achieve the pass mark. Of the successful students 91.35% are males and 91.72% are females.

Jalalabad Cantonment Public School and College topped the list of the best schools in this year’s JSC examination, followed by Sylhet Cadet College, Agragani Girls High School, Sylhet was placed third while the Sylhet Govt. Pilot High School stood fourth trailed

by Government High School, Habiganj standing fifth.

Meanwhile, the results of the Primary School Certificate(PSC) examination

under the education board was also published yesterday, with a passing rate of 96.50%.

The Department of Primary and Mass Education in Sylhet published the results yesterday afternoon.

Under the board, 1,92,712 students appeared in the PSC examination this year. Of them, 1,85,976 were successful, with 5,742 students achieving GPA-5.

In the Sylhet district, 66,471 students appeared in the examination.

Some 62,711 (94.34%) students got pass marks. The number of GPA-5 achievers is 2,583 in the district.

Meanwhile, some 97.45% students passed in Moulvibazar. Of them, 1,350 students achieved GPA-5. A total of 38,533 students appeared in the PSC examination in the district this year.

Although the rate of successful students who appeared in the exam is lower than Moulvibazar, the Habiganj district is much ahead in terms of GPA5 achievers. Some 46,332 students appeared in the PSC examination in the district this year. Of them 46,114 students achieved pass marks, with 5,799 achieving GPA-5.

Meanwhile, in terms GPA-5 achievers, Sunamganj topped all the districts in Sylhet. Some 5,110 students achieved GPA-5 in the PSC exam this year, a pass rate of 95.71%. A total 41,376 students appeared in the examination. l

in Barisal board n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Results of Junior School Certificate examination 2014 held in 124 centres under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Barisal was better than previous years with more percentages, but less number of GPA 5 achievers.

According to the Barisal Education Board (BEB), a total of 94,466 (97.92%) out of 96,468 students passed the JSC examination this year. Of the students, a total of 10,282 got GPA 5 while the number was 10,763 the previous year.

Muhammad Shah Alamgir, controller of the BEB, said the increase rate of appeared and passed students showed development in education sector this year in the Barisal region. The number institutions with a zero percent pass in the JSC under the board was 16 in 2010, 2 in 2011, 3 in 2012 and 2013, but only 1 in 2014.

Girls do better than boys in JSC under Barisal Board

As per results of the Junior School Certificate Examination under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education female students performed better than boys like the previous year with more percentage of passes and scores of GPA 5. Prof Ziaul Haque, chairman of the board, said a total of 48,781 female students passed the public examination this year. Of them, 10,285 got GPA 5 under the board.

In previous year, a total of 42,710 female students (96.83%) passed in the examination. Of them, 0,763 got GPA 5.

Girls paid more attention to their educational curriculum than boys, so they did well, said the chairman.

Barisal Cadet College tops Barisal board

Barisal Cadet College has topped the list of the best schools in this year’s Junior School Certificate (JSC) examinations under the Barisal Education Board.

Barisal Government Girls High School stood second with 90.860 points, Taslima Memorial Academy obtained third

Last year, a total of 42,710 female students passed in the examination position with 89.277 points, Lalmohan Ha-Mim Residential Academy stood fourth with 86.885 points and Barisal Zilla School was fifth with 85.959 points.

Among the six districts of the Barisal division, Bhola district did well as 13,919 (98.95%) examinees with 1,666 GPA 5 passed from 258 schools.

The results of other districts were 10,480 (98.39%) examinees with 1, 275 GPA 5 passed from 177 schools of Barguna, 32,155 (97.90%) examinees with 3,936 GPA 5 passed from 442 schools of Barisal, 16,704 (97.73%) with 1,403 GPA 5 passed from 292 schools of Patuakhali, 8,821 (97.65%) with 888 GPA 5 passed from 193 schools of Jhalakathi and 12,387 (96.92%) with 1,122 GPA 5 passed from 276 schools of Pirojpur. l

Comilla board sees 93.75% pass rate, Zila school tops n Our Correspondent, Comilla Comilla education board has experienced a 93.75% pass rate in this year’s Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination while Comilla Zila School topped the list of best schools with 93.39 points.

Some 17,264 students from 209,446 passed in six districts – Feni, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Chandpur, Comilla and Brahmanbaria – under the board obtained GPA 5 while the figure in Comilla Zila School was 336. Pass rate of male students was 94.75% and 93% female students.

Nawab Faizunnesa Government Girls’ High School, Comilla stood second with 93.20 points, Feni Girls’ Cadet College and Comilla Cadet College jointly achieved third position with 91 points, while Feni Govt Pilot High School attained the fourth position with 90.07 points and Feni Govt Girls’ High School became fifth with 88.12.

Kawser Ahmed, examination controller of the board, confirmed the results, saying there was no hundred percent failure in any school.

Besides, 10 schools from Comilla alone took position among the 20 best educational institutions based on results in the board. Surprisingly, there was no school in the list from Lakshmipur.

When contacted, Comilla Zila School Headmistress Rasheda Akter said the outstanding performance of her institution appeared because of hard labour of the students and proper care of the teachers and guardians. l

Poor grades in English marks PSC results n Our Correspondent, Jessore With an overall weaker grade in English, a total of 98.03% examinees passed the Primary School Certificate examination in Jessore this year.

In the last two years, the pass rate remained 100% there. A total of 4,126 examinees got GPA 5 out of 46,384 students who passed the exam.

Yesterday morning Additional District Administrator (education) Sabina Yasmin announced the result at the Jessore Primary Education office.

District Primary Education Officer Taposh Odhikari said this year, the students scored badly in English. The paper contained 35 marks on general knowledge instead of 25 marks.

This year, 47,316 pupils from 1,542 schools sat for the Primary Terminal Examinations under Jessore board.

The pass rate turned out zero in two schools – Al Habibullah Kindergarten and Ghoragachha Ideal School.

Meanwhile, a total of 99.20% examinees passed the Ebtedayee examinations with 152 GPA 5 scorers. A total of

5,828 students passed the exam out of the total 5,875 examinees from the district. Jhenaidah Cadet College topped under Jessore board in this year’s Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination with 91 points.

Military Collegiate School Khulna emerged as second with 90.42 points, Government Coronation Secondary Girls School third with 87.82 points, Police Line Secondary School, Jessore stood fourth with 87.49 points while Sheikh Akisuddin High School emerged fifth with 84.09 points. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Brokers infest Faridpur Medical College Hospital n Our Correspondent, Faridpur Brokers of private medical clinics and hospitals have allegedly overrun the Faridpur Medical College and Hospital.

Close circuit cameras were set up at more than one places but they hardly work to prevent the prevalence of the brokers at the hospital.

Several nurses, doctors and third-level employees abet the brokers’ syndicate, toughening it to prevent the malpractice.

The brokers usually target the patients from remotest areas in the greater Faridpur because they can be easily lured out to private clinics.

Close circuit cameras were set up at more than one places but they hardly work to prevent the prevalence of the brokers at the hospital Seeking anonymity, a few doctors said there were brokers everywhere at the hospital. They surrounded the patients and their relatives whenever they came to get admitted to this public hospital.

They added that some initiatives had been taken in the past to drive them out of the hospital but they had gone in vain because some influential quarters backed the brokers’ syndicate here.

The correspondent visited the hospital around 9:15am on Saturday and found a crowd in front of the hospital.

He went there and found the bro-

kers surrounding a patient with head injuries and his relatives. They were advising the relatives not to admit the patient at the hospital because it involves police harassment.

The patient was then admitted to a private clinic near the hospital.

Forty-two-year-old Kamruzzaman from Purbokhabashpur of Sadar upazila told this correspondent yesterday that he came to this hospital with a passers-by who suffered head injuries in a road crash around 5pm on Thursday.

After he came in, he was suggested by the hospital staff that he should take the patient to some private clinic because there was no doctors right then.

“Meanwhile, some brokers surrounded and told me to take the patient to a private clinic. However, I did not listen to them and took the patient to Provati Private Medical Hospital of my own accord,” he said.

There are at least seven to eight private clinics and hospitals around the hospital.

The hospital is supposed to have a CT scan centre but unfortunately, it does not have such a specialised x-ray test and so patients with brain stroke and injuries have to count a hefty sum of money for such a test outside.

When Hospital Superintendent Md Omar Faruk was asked about this all, he said: “We are trying to resolve all these things. As part of our efforts, we formed a management committee on December 13 to drive the brokers out of the hospital.

“Besides, we recently submitted a work order for a CT scan. We hope, soon it would be added to the hospital,” he said. l

Local influential people are lifting sand rampantly from the Padma River at Godagari upazila in Rajshahi causing erosion. The picture taken on Monday shows the sand illegally extracted from the river being uploaded on trucks in Talaimari BGB camp area AZHAR UDDIN

Patients in Kishoreganj suffering as doctors on strike n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj Patients are suffering to a great extent as doctors and employees of Kishoreganj Sadar Hospital have been observing strike since Sunday.

Physicians and staff of the hospital have gone into the strike, protesting filling of a case against them.

As healthcare services at indoor and out of the hospital remained suspended since then, many patients were seen returning back without receiving any treatment.

Md Kamrul Islam, a resident of Kudalia village under Pakundia upazila, came to the hospital yesterday with his six-year-old son Hasan who was bitten by a dog, but he returned back without receiving any treatment.

Amena Akter yesterday came with

The Pahari Chhatra Parishad and the Hill Women’s Federation bring out a procession in Khgrachari yesterday, demanding removal of Naniyarchhar upazila nirbahi officer DHAKA TRIBUNE

Alleged robber lynched in Comilla n Our Correspondent, Comilla A robber was killed in mass beating at Langolkot upazila in Comilla yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Mamun, of Raghunathpur area in Feni.

Sources said Mamun along with his associates were taking plan to commit robbery at the shop of Shaheen Mian in Bhorera village in the evening. Sensing their presence Shaheen started to scream. Following the screaming, locals went to the spot and chased the robbers.

At one stage, they beat up Mamun, leaving him dead on the spot while other robbers managed to flee the scene. l

Chhatra League torches BNP office protesting Tarique’s remarks n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj In protest to BNP senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman’s recent comments on Bangabandhu, Chhatra League activists vandalised BNP’s office in Gopalganj yesterday.

The agitated leaders of Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, brought down the signboard and banner of the office and set them on fire.

They also distorted the portraits of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Ziaur Rahman with ink.

On December 15, while giving a speech in London, Tarique Rahman termed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman “a big razakar.”

“The picture and symbols of people who have made derogatory remarks over Bangabandhu cannot be kept inside Gopalganj,” said Shamim Khan Shehnewaz, a leader of Chhatra League Gopalganj unit.

Gopalganj police station Sub-Inspector Majedar Rahman said the BNP office was attacked and its signboard and banner were torched. However, no damage to the office was done. l

Roadblock in Sharsha for AL leader’s release n Our Correspondent, Jessore Followers of Awami League leader Ilias Kabir Bakul in Sharsha upazila, Jessore have taken to the streets yesterday to protest their leaders arrest and demand his immediate release.

They put up a blockade on the Navaran-Satkhira highway around 10:30am and carried on with the demonstration until around 4pm.

Sources said police arrested Bakul, who is also chairman of Baangachra union parishad in Sharsha, early yesterday morning in connection with a clash between two factions of the local Awami League unit.

The clash took place the day before – which started in the afternoon and went on until late night – between the supporters of union parishad members Akbar Ali and Latif Dhabak, over the possession of a cattle market at Shaatmail in Sharsha.

Police intervened and arrested three persons from the two sides, along with three crude bombs in their possession, from the site of the clash.

Later, around 6am yesterday, police arrested Bakul, also secretary of Awami League in Baangachra union, from his residence on charge of aiding one of the feuding factions. He was sent to court around 12pm.

Shortly after his arrest, Bakul’s followers started gathering and later blocked the Navaran-Satkhira highway demanding Bakul’s release. They also vandalised a number of vehicles. Police went to the spot and tried to bring the situation under control.

The road block created severe traffic congestion in one of the busiest roads in the region. The blockade also caused a tailback around 15km long, between Navaran and Baangachra, locals said.

When contacted around 6pm yesterday, Sharsha police station OC Sahidar Rahman said the road blockade had been lifted after a meeting between police and the demonstrators. l

her four-month-old son who was affected with phenomena also returned back from the hospital without treatment.

Santa, 18, a resident of Jashudal village under Sadar upazila, said: “I am feeling severe teeth ache, but at the hospital there is no doctor to treat me, so I am going back to home.”

On December 9, Hosne Ara, a lawyer of Kishoreganj court filed a case with a district court against Dr Abdullah Al Mamun Shahin, Dr Ahmed Kabir Chowdhury, In-Charge of emergency department Abdus Salam Bhuiyan and his brother Md Aminul and ward boy Nurul Amin for showing negligence in a patient’s treatment.

Later, Alaul Akbar, senior judicial magistrate of Kishoreganj court, accepted the case and ordered Officer-

in-Charge of Kishoreganj Sadar Model police station Mir Mosharraf Hossain to take action in this regard.

According to the case, patient Majibur Rahman Meraj, elder brother of the plaintiff, had been taken to the hospital about 11:30am on October 31 due to severe chest pain, but physicians as well as employees of the hospital showed negligence in his treatment.

Later, Meraj died without reeving any treatment at about 1:30pm.

The doctors, however, said they would continue their strike until the case is withdrawn.

While visiting the hospital, this correspondent found yesterday afternoon found that patients were engaged in altercation with doctors why they would not treat them.

Anisur Rahman, who came from remote haor area Itna with his sevenmonth-old-daughter Nourin with kidney problems said: “If any bad thing happen with my child for the strike, who will take this responsible.”

He said authorities concerned should take initiatives to ease sufferings of patients.

Dr Mohammad Ali, residential medical officer of the hospital, threatened that if their demands are not met within December 31 [today], they would launch tougher movement.

Dr Mrinal Kanti Pandit, civil Surgeon of Kishoreganj, said though the activities of indoor and outdoor of the hospital remain stopped, but emergency department is open.

He said they were trying to resolve the issue. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

‘Decisions taken must reflect cooperation’ In conversation with Jos Van Alphen, who recently visited Bangladesh to meet various stakeholders of the Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP) 2100 Formulation Project to share his experience of delta management

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

J

n Zahidul Naim Zakaria os Van Alphen is a member of the Delta Commissioner’s staff since 2010, as a Senior Advisor of Strategy and Expertise. He recently visited Bangladesh to meet various stakeholders of the Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP) 2100 Formulation Project to share his experience of Delta management, focusing on how the Dutch Delta programme evolved over the years, and how a joint process of strategy development and decision making led to implementation success.

The BDP 2100 is a project by the General Economics Division (GED) of the Ministry of Planning of the Government of Bangladesh, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The two and a half year project was formally launched on August 27, 2014 by the Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

The strategies in the BDP 2100 will address issues of flooding, drought, sea level rise, salt water intrusion, water safety, coastal polders, land management, river system management, agriculture, and food security from an integrated and adaptive delta management viewpoint.

opportunity to visit specific hotspots of Bangladesh, such as the drought prone northern areas. In the current visit, I’ve actually interacted with a lot of organisations, such as the Ministry of Water Resources, GED, WARPO, etc and I’m very impressed with the quality of professionals I have met.

For how long have you been involved in the area of delta management?

I’ve been involved in this area since the very beginning of the delta programme in the Netherlands, since 2007 when it was conceptualised. Prior to the formation of the Dutch Delta Commission, where I am focusing on Strategy and Expertise, I used to work for the Rijkswaterstaat, which is part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. The Rijkswaterstaat is comparable to the Bangladesh Water Development Board.

Tell us a bit about the Delta management programme in the Netherlands. What is the role of the Delta Act and Commission?

The Netherlands is not governed centrally like Bangladesh, the Dutch government and ministries do not directly

The water challenges faced by both Bangladesh and the Netherlands are similar – sometimes there’s too much water, sometimes there’s too little! And both the countries are facing challenges of climate change, sea level rise and sustainable urban development

Based on the interactions you’ve had in Bangladesh, what is your impression?

Firstly, this is not the first time I’ve been in Bangladesh. Between 2004 and 2006, I visited Bangladesh four times – these were study visits to identify areas of cooperation between the two governments. I also had the

have control on local institutions, which are quite autonomous and democratic organisations in nature. This is really why a Delta Committee was needed in the first place, to develop a shared Delta Vision, as a basis for common action.

In 2008 this Delta Committee presented its vision and advised to implement it in a Delta Programme,

supervised by the Delta Commissioner and funded by a special Delta Fund, containing about one billion euros per year. This Commissioner was appointed by the Queen herself in February 2010. He has a small staff to support him, with only about 10 people; a much larger group of people is working in projects at hotspots and national policy frameworks.

The Delta Act was approved in 2012.

The Act lays down the legal agreements on the Delta Programme, and stipulates that a rolling on programme is to be drawn up every year comprising plans to protect the Netherlands from high water and ensure a sufficient supply of fresh water.

It must also contain a time schedule and an overview of the costs. Finally, the Delta Act states that the Delta Programme must be presented to Parliament every year, and this emphasises its importance. The Act also defines the role of the Commissioner and the legal status of the Delta Fund.

The general perception is that the Bangladesh experience in Delta management can greatly benefit from the Netherlands experience. How accurate do you think that perception is?

I think that perception is accurate.

The water challenges are similar – sometimes there’s too much water, sometimes there’s too little! And both the countries are facing challenges of climate change, sea level rise and sustainable urban development.

However the size and urgency of the challenges differ: population density and growth is much larger in Bangladesh and the size of the water systems is much larger. This is why I think the sense of urgency and potential for impact through Delta management is massively greater in Bangladesh.

From 2020 onwards, the Netherlands has announced a large Delta Fund of about one billion euros per year to provide stability in financial resources used in Delta management. How is the Delta Commission working at the moment in the absence of funds and how does this one billion fund change things?

The Delta Fund ensures that there is sufficient funding available for

‘The effective implementation of a Delta management programme is dependent on not only building and placing structures, but also on proper repair and maintenance over time.

Bangladesh, like many other countries, already struggles in that respect’ Jos Van Alphen the investments needed in the delta management programme. Up till 2020 there is already government budget to implement the present programmes on flood protection and water management. The Delta Fund reduces dependency of funding on political priorities and creates stability in funding on the long term.

This is critical for future-proof implementation of the programme. The kind and amount of funding depends on the measures that come out of the planning exercises being conducted through the BDP 2100 Formulation Project right now. In the Netherlands experience, we use a risk based approach where we look at the most effective combination of protective measures and measures which reduce the consequences of potential disasters (like flood proof buildings and disaster management, which are less costly and more adaptive).

In addition, protective measures can exist as fixed constructions, like sea-walls or river training structures, or as natural measures, like beach nourishments and oyster walls. The latter is more flexible and easier to adapt to changing conditions. This approach ensures value for money in achieving the Delta vision.

With the BDP, Bangladesh is, besides strategy making and planning, preparing its institutional framework required for integrated Delta management. What do you think is the most important factor in the implementation of the Delta Plan

which the Bangladesh government needs to focus on in the first few years?

The most important factor is cooperation amongst different ministries and government organisations. It is normal, also in the Netherlands, for each Ministry to prioritise its own issues, since that’s the reason for their existence, but in achieving a shared Delta vision, different organisations will have to find common ground and see themselves as part of a much larger picture. Decisions taken must reflect this cooperation in order to balance between the multitude of interests, all of which are important, but are unlikely to receive the same priority when put together instead of individually.

Building of trust is vital in this process, without which inter-ministerial cooperation is unlikely to be fruitful.

And in the long run, what should Bangladesh be concerned with, in more developed stages of implementation?

This is actually very crucial since Bangladesh is expected to emerge into a middle income economy beyond 2021. In that stage, the influx of foreign development funds may be much lower, increasing the demand for adequate funding from within the country and from the government’s own revenues.

The effective implementation of a Delta management programme is dependent on not only building and

placing structures, but also on proper repair and maintenance over time.

Bangladesh, like many other countries, already struggles in that respect.

Therefore, when selecting measures, it is important to include future maintenance efforts in the decision making. l Find out more about the Dutch Delta Programme at ‘www.deltacommissaris.nl/ english’ and about the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 Formulation Project at ‘www. bandudeltas.org’.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Greek ferry tragedy turns to murder mystery n AFP, Brindisi, Italy Ten passengers dead, dozens unaccounted for and no-one able to say with any certainty how many people were on board the Norman Atlantic when it burst into flames.

A Greek ferry tragedy in the Adriatic turned into a murder mystery on Tuesday as a fiasco over the accuracy of the passenger list added to questions over safety systems aboard.

The ill-fated Italian-owned ship claimed two more lives when two Albanian seamen died from injuries sustained when a cable linking their tugboat to the ferry snapped.

The Italian prosecutor investigating Sunday’s disaster said he assumed more bodies would be found on the ship.

Giuseppe Volpe said the fact that a number of stowaways had been among those rescued from the ferry meant “it is likely that we will find other victims in the wreckage.”

Nearly 40 passengers listed as having been on the ferry are still unaccounted for but it is unclear whether this is due to them having died as a result of the fire or by drowning, or the result of errors in the ship’s manifest.

Greek survivor Urania Thireou offered a possible explanation.

“At the start, there were people who got into the biggest lifeboat,” she told AFP at a hotel in the Italian port city of Brindisi. “They got it into the water but we were told afterwards that they were not rescued.”

With conditions in the eastern Adriatic still extremely rough, Italian authorities decided to try to tow the ferry to port in Albania rather than risk the longer crossing back to Italy.

Amid the uncertainty over the passenger numbers, Italian coastguards and navy helicopters were continuing to scour the waters around the stricken ferry, which caught fire after it left the Greek port of Patras bound for Italy.

Stowaways

Officially, 437 people who were on board have been accounted for, 38 short of a revised total of passengers and crew released by the ship’s opera-

Photo taken from a video on Monday, shows the ongoing rescuing operation of passengers by helicopter from the burned ferry "Norman Atlantic" adrift in the Adriatic Sea off Albania.

Desperate passengers pleaded by mobile phone live on TV to be saved from a burning ferry adrift off Albania as rescuers battled gale-force winds and billowing smoke to get to them AFP tor Anek Ferries.

But government ministers in both Greece and Italy have confirmed that there are significant discrepancies between the list released by Anek and the people saved.

Greece’s Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis has admitted that one person appeared twice on the Anek list and complained about poor communication with Italy.

“I strongly doubt that all the names on the list are real,” he said.

The ship’s Italian owner, Anek and

its Italian captain all face possible manslaughter charges arising from Volpe’s investigation.

The accounts of passengers evacuated from the ferry after a terrifying 24hour ordeal have depicted the Norman Atlantic’s crew as being completely unprepared to deal with an emergency.

Many have told how it was either thick smoke or other passengers who woke those who were sleeping in cabins, rather than crew or alarms.

Almost every survivor who has spoken about what happened has said they

received no instructions from the crew about what to do.

Teodora Doulis, a Greek woman whose husband Giorgios died in the disaster, was among a number of passengers who described the car deck – thought to have been where the fire started – as being slicked by fuel.

“It stank of petrol. The ship should never have left port in that condition,” she said.

In the absence of leadership from the crew, the intensity of the fire, which made metal surfaces so hot that shoes

were melting, led to a panic which exposed the worst side of human instinct, according to survivors.

Ute Kilger, a passenger from Munich, Germany, described how she had witnessed a portly middle-aged man shove past women, children and the elderly to ensure he was winched to safety before them.

“He just went and sat in the basket, which was clearly designed for children. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” the 45-year-old lawyer told Italian media. l

Hamas accuses Palestinian govt of failing Gaza n AFP, Gaza City The Palestinian consensus government has failed to meet its commitment to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip, former Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya has said.

Speaking late on Monday shortly after a ministerial delegation from the West Bank arrived in Gaza, Haniya accused the government of failing “to keep its commitments, by not carrying out reconstruction, nor unifying institutions under the Palestinian Authority nor organising elections.”

‘The government of failing “to keep its commitments, by not carrying out reconstruction, nor unifying institutions’ The national consensus government took office in June following a reconciliation agreement between Hamas and the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, ending seven years of rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Technocratic in nature, its mandate was to unify governance of the two territories and prepare for elections. It was later tasked with rebuilding Gaza after a deadly summer war with Israel, which claimed nearly 2,200 Palestinian lives.

A spate of bombings last month targeting the property of Fatah officials in Gaza prompted prime minister Rami Hamdallah to cancel a scheduled visit.

Haniya accused the government of acting selectively in a manner that was “harmful” to Gaza and said he was “not optimistic” that the current visit would manage to get things “back on track.”

“Unfortunately, the government has not managed to prove it is the government of the entire Palestinian people,” said Haniya, the Gaza-based deputy head of Hamas’s politburo.

His remarks, broadcast on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa television, were made several hours after eight ministers and more than 40 other government officials from Ramallah arrived to kickstart the reconstruction of Gaza, which has yet to begin.

The massive task of rebuilding the territory, where more than 96,000 homes were damaged or destroyed leaving more than 100,000 people homeless, has hardly begun, with Palestinian officials accusing Israel of restricting the entry of crucial building supplies.

The unity government was tasked with managing the reconstruction but the process has been bogged down by infighting between Hamas and Fatah.

Diplomatic sources also say a UN-brokered mechanism agreed with Israel and the Palestinians which would facilitate the entry of construction supplies has taken longer than expected to get up and running. l

Israeli court orders state to raze West Bank outpost n AP, Jerusalem Israel’s supreme court has ordered Israeli authorities to demolish one of the oldest and most contentious Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank.

The court on Thursday said the hilltop outpost of Amona must be evacuated within two years.

Amona was established in 1995 on private Palestinian land without Israeli government permission.

In 2006, Israeli police demolished

nine homes at the outpost, setting off a bloody clash of settlers and supporters against police and soldiers. Several dozen trailers have remained.

The government put off dismantling the rest of the outpost, despite court deadlines. Settlers also claimed to have retroactively bought some of the land where the outpost sits, though the Palestinian landowners claim some of those sales were fictitious.

Palestinians want to establish a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. l

Gambian troops in foiled coup bid: military n AFP, Banjul, Gambia Forces loyal to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh killed three alleged suspects behind a failed coup bid Tuesday, including the ringleader said to be an army deserter, a military officer told AFP. The alleged coup plotters, who attacked the presidential palace while Jammeh was outside the country, were led by an ex-army captain named Lamin Sanneh, the officer said from Bissau, adding that three were killed and one was captured.

Gambian soldiers launched a predawn coup bid in the capital Banjul while President Yahya Jammeh was abroad, military and diplomatic sources said Tuesday, but it appeared to have been foiled.

“The presidential palace was attacked very early this morning, at around 3:00 am (0300 GMT), by armed individuals of whom some came from the presidential guard,” a Gambian diplomat said.

Army sources and residents of the tropical city, which lies on an island near the mouth of the Gambia river, confirmed the report and said the attackers had been driven back.

“They wanted to overthrow the regime,” a military source in the small west African country told AFP, while a Western diplomat said a coup attempt has “apparently been foiled.”

Soldiers had prevented some civilians from going to work after the shooting, an AFP journalist said, amid disruption in parts of Banjul, where patrols of loyal troops urged people to stay home and be calm.

“The police and the army entirely control the situation,” an army officer said.

No casualty figures from the overnight clashes have been issued, but sources in the regional Gambian diaspora reported both deaths and injuries.

The former head of military police, Jammeh has ruled the largely rural nation of some 1.8 million people with a firm hand since 1994, when he came to power in a coup that ousted founding leader Sir Dawda Jawara. l

100 migrants scale fence to enter Spain n AFP, Morocco

A file picture taken on August 14, 2014 shows members of the Spanish Guardia Civil looking on as two members of the Moroccan Auxiliary Forces hit would be immigrants from Africa sitting atop a border fence with sticks, on Spain's North African enclave of Melilla AFP

Kremlin foe Navalny gets suspended sentence, calls for protests n AFP, Moscow Russia’s top opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Tuesday called for mass protests to “destroy” President Vladimir Putin’s regime after a court handed him a suspended sentence and jailed his brother in a controversial fraud case.

At a lightning hearing that was abruptly brought forward by two weeks, a Moscow judge found both Navalny and his brother Oleg guilty of embezzlement and sentenced them to three and a half years in what is widely seen as a politically motivated case.

But while Navalny’s sentence was suspended, his younger brother, who is not involved in politics, was ordered to serve the time behind bars in what observers saw as an attempt to muzzle the Kremlin critic ahead of the 2018 presidential election by taking his brother hostage.

“This regime does not just destroy its political opponents... now they target, torture and torment the relatives of its political opponents,” the 38-yearold Navalny said outside court, calling

the verdict “the most mean and disgusting” possible.

“This regime has no right to exist, it must be destroyed,” he said. “I call on everyone to take to the streets today.”

Navalny’s supporters plan to gather near the Kremlin from 1600 GMT and by midday, 18,000 people had pledged on Facebook to attend.

The protest has not received the required authorisation from city hall, which ominously warned that “all unsanctioned actions will be prevented by the security forces.”

Trucks carrying police were seen in central Moscow and news agencies reported that exits from the metro to Manezhnaya square – the location of the planned rally – will be closed after 1500 GMT.

Thorn in Kremlin’s side

The charismatic Navalny has become a major thorn in the Kremlin’s side over the last few years, first building a massive support base on the Internet as an anti-corruption blogger, then rallying tens of thousands during the 2011-12 anti-Putin protests and most recently

coming in second in last year’s Moscow mayoral race after a grassroots campaign against the Kremlin-backed candidate.

The Navalny brothers were accused of defrauding French cosmetics company Yves Rocher of nearly 27 million rubles (more than half a million dollars at the exchange rate at the time), although the firm has said that it suffered no damages.

Prosecutors had asked the court to jail Alexei for 10 years and Oleg for eight.

Tuesday’s hearing was brought forward two weeks in a move seen as a tactic to avoid massive protests and make it impossible to request authorisation for rallies.

The session took only about 15 minutes – unusual for Russia where judges usually read sentences for hours.

“What are you jailing him for, what sort of disgrace is this? This is to punish me even more?” Navalny yelled, slamming his fists on the table, as the judge announced that his 31-year-old brother, a father of two young children, would be jailed. l

More than 100 migrants on Tuesday managed to scale the six-metre fence surrounding the Spanish exclave of Melilla to enter the territory while around 40 remained perched on the barrier, officials said.

Some 200 people tried to storm into the territory that lies in northern Morocco – which together with the nearby exclave of Ceuta have Europe’s only land borders with Africa – in the early morning hours, Melilla police said in a statement.

“In total, 102 managed to enter Melilla” and 40 remained on top of the fence under the watchful eyes of Spanish border guards, it said.

The flow of migrants hoping to reach Europe via Ceuta and Melilla has swelled this year by the conflicts in Syria and Iraq as well as unrest in parts of north Africa, officials say. The number of undocumented migrants entering Melilla had surged to more than 4,600 in early December, compared with 3,000 for the whole of 2013, Spain’s interior minister said on December 10. l

IS releases interview with captive pilot n AP, Beirut The Islamic State group published on Monday an interview with the Jordanian pilot captured last week after his plane crashed in northern Syria.

First Lieutenant Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh F-16 went down near the Islamic State group’s de facto capital of Raqqa on Wednesday. The 26-yearold Jordanian is the first foreign military pilot to fall into the extremists’ hands since an international coalition began its aerial campaign against IS in September.

In a short question-and-answer segment in the extremist group’s monthly English-language magazine posted online, al-Kaseasbeh said his fighter jet was shot down by a heat-seeking missile near Raqqa, which is located on the banks of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.

Al-Kaseasbeh said he landed in the river after ejecting from the aircraft and landed in river, where he was taken captive by IS fighters.

Jordan’s government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani said that he has seen the comments but declined to comment. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi says ‘too early’ to commit to 2015 election

AirAsia plane with 159 aboard overshoots Philippine runway n AP, Kalibo, Philippines An AirAsia Zest plane carrying 159 people overshot the runway and got stuck in a muddy field Tuesday at an international airport in the central Philippines after landing from Manila in windy weather, officials said. There were no reports of injuries.

Crew members launched emergency slides to help passengers disembark from the Airbus A320-200 after it skidded off the runway in the resort town of Kalibo in Aklan province before nightfall, Giovanni Hontomin, who is in charge of AirAsia Zest’s operations, said by phone.

Initial reports indicated that three of the plane’s tires got stuck in the mud, said Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio. He said the busy airport would be closed to air traffic until the stalled aircraft, which likely sustained some

damage, is towed away from near the runway’s end.

A tropical storm has set off landslides and flash floods in the southern and central Philippines, leaving at least 31 people dead and seven missing, officials said Tuesday.

Kalibo town, 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of Manila, is a busy gateway to the Boracay beach resort, a popular tourist destination.

The accident came after an AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday during a flight from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board.

Bloated bodies and debris were seen floating in Indonesian waters Tuesday.

The Airbus A320 aircraft’s tire was later fixed, allowing it to resume its flight to the Philippine capital Monday morning. No reason was given for the problem.

Budget carrier AirAsia Zest is partly owned by AirAsia Philippines. l

Another AirAsia Jet Turns Back in Thailand A man waves a large flag of the Soviet Union as Communist supporters gather in front of a statue of late Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin to mark the 92nd anniversary of the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in Simferopol, Crimea, yesterday AFP

n Reuters, YANGON Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on the government on Tuesday to hold a transparent election next year and said her party was waiting for a poll date to be set before deciding whether to run.

The Nobel laureate said it was “too early” to commit, when asked at a news conference if her party would contest the ballot scheduled for the end of 2015.

“As I’m not an astrologer, I cannot say what the situation will be,” she said.

‘Grand alliance without BJP will be betrayal of mandate’ n TNN, New Delhi A grand alliance comprising PDP, National Conference and Congress will be a betrayal with the people of Jammu & Kashmir, BJP said on Tuesday.

BJP which won 25 seats in the state to emerge as the second largest party in a hung assembly claimed that it was the only party to provide a stable government. “The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is still fluid. BJP has won the maximum number of popular votes and any attempts to form a government without the participation of BJP in it will be a travesty of the mandate given by the people of Jammu & Kashmir and will be a betrayal of the mandate,” BJP spokesperson GVLNarasimhaRao told ANI. He further said that BJP is keen to form the government and fulfil its promise of development. l

“I’m just a politician. As politicians we can calculate, but we can’t assume the situation will happen as we calculate.”

Her reluctance to commit could further complicate a standoff in Myanmar centered on her National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s bid to change the constitution, which has seen resistance from a military to which the charter grants a hefty political stake.

The NLD pulled out of a constitution-drafting process in 1995, five years after its election win was ignored by the ruling military.

It refused to run in the 2010 elections

because of “unfair and unjust” rules and two years later, after winning 43 seats in a by-election, it initially refused to take its parliament seats because of the wording of a swearing-in oath.

Suu Kyi said on Tuesday the NLD was waiting for the government to release “rules and regulations” for the election, which would be the first since a semi-civilian government took power in 2011 after 49 years of military rule.

The party would “announce officially whether we will take part in the elections or not once the government releases an election date officially,” Suu

India party chief cleared of murder conspiracy n AFP, Mumbai An Indian court dropped charges Tuesday against the president of the Hindu nationalist ruling party, who was accused of ordering the killing of an alleged gangster nearly a decade ago.

The verdict could help lift a cloud over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The accusations against Amit Shah were seen as politically embarrassing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which swept to power in May, promising a clean administration and economic revival.

“The inference drawn by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) is not accepted in totality and Shah cannot be charged as an accused,” said special court judge M.B. Gosavi, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The CBI had accused Shah when he

was home minister of Gujarat state of ordering the death of a Muslim man, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, and of implicating him in a conspiracy to assassinate Modi, who was then Gujarat’s chief minister.

Police alleged that Islamic militants wanted to kill Modi in revenge for the death of at least 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, in riots that swept Gujarat in 2002.

Police had said Sheikh, who faced numerous charges ranging from extortion to arms smuggling, and his wife were seized in 2005 from a bus in neighbouring Maharashtra state and escorted back to Gujarat.

Authorities then announced they had died as a result of an “encounter” with the state anti-terrorist squad. But human rights activists have said they were victims of a so-called “fake encounter” – a staged gunbattle. l

Mumbai suspect rearrested in Pakistan

Japan orders slaughter of 37,000 chickens in bird flu outbreak n AP, Islamabad n AFP Tokyo, Japan Pakistani police have rearrested the Japan on Tuesday ordered the slaughter of some 37,000 chickens after the country’s third bird flu outbreak in less than a month, prompting Hong Kong to ban imports from the latest affected region.

Tests confirmed the H5 strain of the virus at a farm in Yamaguchi prefecture on the southwestern tip of Japan’s main Honshu island after its owner reported late Monday that several chickens had died suddenly, the farm ministry said.

Officials began the slaughter Tuesday and asked farms within a 10 kilometre (six mile) radius not to transport poultry outside the area.

On Monday the government ordered the slaughter of about 42,000 chickens at a poultry farm in Miyazaki prefecture in southern Kyushu.

Earlier this month, bird flu reports came from another Miyazaki poultry farm that led to the cull of 4,000 chickens – the first outbreak of bird flu at a Japanese farm since April. l

main suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, officials said Tuesday, quashing expectations that he might soon be freed.

Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi is one of seven suspects being tried by Pakistan in connection with the attacks, which killed 166 people and seriously damaged relations between longtime rivals Pakistan and India.

After a judge on Dec. 18 granted him bail there had been concerns that he would be freed, possibly as early as Tuesday. But on Tuesday morning, police arrested him on another case, his lawyer Rizwan Abbasi said.

Lakhvi appeared in court in Islamabad amid tight security. He told an Associated Press reporter that he accepted whatever God intended for him.

Police inspector Mohammed Arshad told the court that someone had filed a complaint at a police station on the Islamabad outskirts saying that Lakhvi had abducted his brother-in-law to wage “jihad” six and a half years ago.

The judge granted a police request for time to investigate the accusation, extending Lakhvi’s detention for two days.

A lawyer for Lakhvi questioned why the complaint had only become known when it appeared that Lakhvi would be let go on bail. Rizwan Abbasi called it a tactic to .”.. deprive my client of the fundamental right of liberty.”

The legal maneuverings Tuesday stem from the decision on Dec. 18 by the judge in an anti-terrorism court to grant him bail, citing a lack of evidence.

That announcement was extremely embarrassing to the government, which had vowed to crack down on militancy following the Peshawar school attack days earlier. It provoked a harsh condemnation from India, which has repeatedly said Pakistan is not doing enough in the case.

In the wake of the bail announcement Pakistani legal authorities tried various mechanisms to keep Lakhvi behind bars, but in a hearing on Monday, a judge said that there were no grounds to prolong the detention and that the only thing standing between him and freedom was posting bail. l

Kyi said.

She has been frustrated in her attempts to reform the constitution, which reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats and key government posts for the military and bars her from the presidency, because her sons are foreign nationals.

The NLD has collected about five million signatures in support of its campaign to reduce the military’s role in politics, while its efforts to discuss the issue with President Thein Sein and military chief Min Aung Hlaing have failed. l

n AFP, Bangkok An AirAsia flight bound for northeast Thailand turned back to the capital Bangkok shortly after takeoff Tuesday when pilots detected an “irregularity” in the storage compartment, airline officials said.

The news comes as search teams detected debris in the sea from an AirAsia jet that vanished in a storm Sunday en route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people aboard.

AirAsia Flight FD3254 returned to Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport soon after departing for Khon Kaen at 11:10 am (0410 GMT). It was allowed to resume service after engineers

ruled out any technical problems.

“After departure from Don Mueang, the pilots detected a minor irregularity in the storage area, thus in the interest of safety the flight returned to land at Don Mueang Airport for a detailed inspection,” said Thai AirAsia in a statement.

“Engineers did not discover any issues compromising the safety of flight FD3254,” it said.

No passengers cancelled their flights and the plane arrived at its destination an hour behind schedule, officials said.

An AirAsia spokesman at Don Mueang Airport said the pilots turned back after “hearing some noise in the luggage compartment.” He could not confirm the reason for the noise. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

China free trade deal a must

W

e welcome China’s official support for signing a Free Trade Agreement with Bangladesh.

The proposal made during this week’s bilateral talks in Dhaka has huge potential to boost trade between our two countries and narrow the trade-gap for Bangladeshi exporters.

It is a tangible sign that our diplomats are building on the close relations between our two nations. Since the prime minister’s visit to Beijing in June, Chinese officials have expressed satisfaction that valuable progress is being made on establishing an exclusive economic zone for Chinese investors in Bangladesh.

The government should act swiftly on China’s proposal.

A free trade deal would not only open up new opportunities for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs but would also provide an important boost for our ties with Asia’s leading economy.

With China’s strong track record in developing infrastructure and manufacturing and with many Chinese companies increasingly looking to move production to lower cost economies, there is every incentive for Bangladesh to develop closer relations.

In particular, China’s interest in developing regional connectivity via the BCIM Economic Corridor is of great significance to our economy. It is encouraging that both our governments recognise the value of improving rail and road connectivity via the proposed Chittgaong-Cox’s Bazar-Myanmar-Kunming route.

Both Bangladesh and China should continue to build strong support in progressing connectivity in order to give life to the hope expressed by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi that Bangladesh can act as a bridge between South and South East Asian countries.

Open up new opportunities for business and investment

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

Two ministers give conflicting views on oil spill December 20

Enayet Mowla Let us wait for the arrival of the experts before commenting. The spilling of oil is considered a disaster all over the world. I live in the US and I know what happened some years ago in the Gulf of Mexico due to the same reason. In this case, however, the quantity of the spilled oil was not that big, and some of it must have been washed out in the bay during the low tides. Under such circumstances, I have another question in mind.

According to the announcements, the government thinks that we should have a power plant in Rampal with other industrial units

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

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

nearby in the south for the development of the whole area.

It is therefore necessary for the people and the government to come to a solution and decide finally which is more important to Bangladesh, the Sundarbans with its mangrove forests without oil spills, or a fully developed southern Bangladesh.

We cannot have both, as industrialisation is invariably connected with some problems.

SUDOKU Candlelight vigil for Pakistani schoolchildren December 20

BNP to probe Sundarbans oil spill December 20

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.

DP As if the Sundarbans haven’t been polluted enough already.

Hold companies accountable for bad drivers

I

t is deeply saddening that six people were killed and 11 others injured when a container lorry derailed a train by smashing into it at Kamalapur Railway Station on Sunday.

The lorry driver who had ignored an Ansar member’s signal and drove across the busy railway crossing anyway, was clearly at fault, and needs to be found and brought before the law immediately.

Sadly this tragic incident is far from an isolated incidence of bad and dangerous driving. Every day, millions of people have to live with the unnecessary risks and consequences caused by the appalling state of driving on our roads.

To show seriousness in tackling this problem, the government must take a tougher lead in addressing the most dangerous and high profile instances of bad driving in Bangladesh, by holding bus and truck companies to account.

Buses and lorries are regularly involved in many fatal accidents on our roads. Their owners and operators are notorious for employing unqualified and badly trained drivers who drive with reckless disregard for their own and the public’s safety.

As employers, bus and truck companies have a duty to make sure all their drivers are fully qualified and responsible. We must demand a strict standard for bus and lorry drivers in order to help reverse the growing number of accidents on our roads.

This can readily be achieved by improving safety awareness programmes and tightening up enforcement of insurance and inspection requirements.

There can be no excuse for tolerating incompetence and criminal negligence.

No excuses for tolerating incompetence and criminal negligence

Pakistan issues arrest warrant against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief December 21 Nazmul Khair “Two children place a candle as Pakistanis living in Bangladesh take part in a candlelight vigil and offer prayers on the Pakistan High Commission premises in the capital in remembrance of the schoolchildren killed in the recent massacre by the Taliban at the Army Public School in Peshawar.”

I am not opposing this, neither do I have any disrespect, but we should show condolence for those killed in the Gaza massacres, too. But we forgot to do that, or maybe no one gave us funding to buy candles.

RS Yes, indeed. Pakistan must root out terrorism from its soil.

The Sundarbans are burning December 21

CROSSWORD

Bangladesh left out of US GSP review December 20

DH “Tofail Ahmed says there is no possibility of GSP review, as it expired last year, and GSP would not be given to anyone.”

There are many ways of hiding the truth with lies. Tofail’s statement is a testimony to that.

The untimely shrouds December 20

Dreampie “Often, the panacea for grief lies in poetry.

Reams of eulogies, though, cannot compete with this heart-rending observation noted by Clement Freud of the response of an intelligent child to the death of a loved one: “I know he is dead, but I cannot understand why he doesn’t come home to supper.”

That last line did it for me. Someone needs to help me with the waterworks here …. [Sniff ].

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SE “Time is running out and the oil is spreading, due to natural reasons as well as human intervention.”

The Sundarbans really need to be taken care of and cleaned up, so the authorities should try harder in making concerted efforts to do that.

Mr Kahn A wonderfully written, thoughtful piece!

ACROSS 1 Circle of light (4) 3 Indifferent (5) 8 Superior English college (4) 9 Innermost being (4) 11 Henhouse (5) 12 Bird (4) 14 And not (3) 15 Thick (5) 18 Of punishment (5) 19 Corn spike (3) 21 Drug-yielding plant (4) 24 Coral isle (5) 26 Legal document (4) 27 Vocal sound (4) 28 Daub (5) 29 Nosegay (4)

DOWN 1 Sibilate (4) 2 Praise (4) 4 Zodiac sign (4) 5 Make up for (5) 6 Tolerable (4) 7 Vestibule (5) 10 Veinlike deposit (4) 11 Of the kidneys (5) 13 Corruptly mercenary (5) 16 Not fast (4) 17 Exploits (5) 18 Liable (5) 20 Minute particle (4) 22 Therefore (4) 23 Remain (4) 25 Meadow (3)

Bashir Haque This whole debacle has been a great tragedy and a national embarrassment.

Seira “And then there are those who are just going for disaster tourism, the most damaging thing you can do to the Sundarbans in the name of oil spillage.”

What? Disaster tourism? Are they completely insane?

An act of cowardice December 20

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER Evil People Politics “Cowardice” is right! The cretins who were behind this appalling incident should not be allowed to live on the face of Earth any longer.

PEANUTS

nds When the Taliban were being groomed in Afghanistan by the US to fight the Soviet forces, I did not see the Muslim world raise its voice against this suicidal course the Americans took for their self-interest, not in the interest of the Afghan people. Now this force has turned into Frankenstein’s monster and is targeting the Muslims themselves.

No use accusing them, as it is their own creation. The very concept of Jihad needs to be revised in this modern age but I doubt any Muslim will agree to do that. Now God is the last resort.

SE “Does this massacre serve as any form of justice? What kind of jihad are they waging?”

Pakistan should have taken action against the Taliban earlier. Then perhaps such a massacre could have been prevented.

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

11

Diary of a four-year-old

M

n Aaqib Md Shatil

y head is bursting.

I can feel the blood coming down on my neck.

No, no one hit me or pushed me down. As far I can remember, I was playing hide and seek with my friends. They asked me to hide. I was looking for a place, and then all of a sudden I fell into this well.

I screamed, cried for help, even tried to climb up to get rid of this pain.

Hearing me scream, my friends came to know that I am in this well shaft. I heard them shouting for help. They gathered people. And then they tried to pull me out by sending down a rope.

I held the rope but could not hold on to it.

I saw a ruling party backed parliamentarian scolding an official who came to recapture public land that came under the control of that parliamentarian.

On the other hand, there are the armed forces who own three DOHS areas only in this capital, and a cantonment with an abandoned airbase where the entry of civilians is prohibited.

I can hear my father now. He is screaming for help, asking the fire brigade men to pull me out. Every night, he used to return home from where he works, and I used to wait for him in front of our home. Irony of fate, he is waiting there for me, and I am in this well now.

Some moments back, a man calling himself Monir sent some juice to me

I hope someday these people will be responsible enough, and not leave a well uncovered like this

I live in a small room with my father, mother, and two siblings adjacent to this railway colony. It is often too difficult to live here like this. I get bored of living in that room all day.

The afternoon is when I can get out of my home and breathe freely. But today, it has turned nightmarish. My life is going to be the cost of breathing freely.

One can ask why we came to play here in an abandoned place. I will ask them the same question, adding one more: Did they spare any land for us to play?

Ruling party leaders and cadres have established their control over a good amount of land in the capital.

Last year, I overheard some people in the tea-stall saying that only eight lawmakers of the ruling party own 3,508 acres of land, which is equal to 10% of the total land in Dhaka.

and asked if I was here or not. I used to love this juice and would ask my father to buy it for me. He works as a guard in a school, so could not afford that, and I could have it hardly once a year.

I have no idea what has gone wrong with these people. People who gathered to save me have gone. I saw a camera coming down in the hole an hour ago.

Now it is getting darker, I heard some people saying the state minister has said there is no one in the hole.

And then I heard someone saying: “Sir, he is there, I heard his voice,” and then someone replied: “There is no one.” I was so shocked, and tried to scream again. But I could not hear myself.

I could not see my father either. He was there some hours ago, and was asking for help. I do not know what has happened to him. I heard a loud voice, probably from a microphone,

BIGSTOCK

In memory of Justice KM Subhan n Sheela K Jahan

T

he demise of KM Subhan on the afternoon of December 31, seven years ago was like a bolt from the blue for many of us in the family. It is a shock we still cannot recover from.

He was married to one of my close relatives – a niece, and we have known him for more than 48 years. Due to the vast age difference, our relation was reversed; he was an “uncle” for me and my elder sister.

We hardly feel he has departed from this world; we feel that he is away in East Germany as an ambassador of Bangladesh or perhaps teaching French to judges in Cambodia. He had been a man of order and discipline – everything he did had to be done in perfection.

His daily routine had been planned in a disciplined manner. Every day he went out walking at a specific time and returned home timely. I can vividly visualise the innumerable picnics, outings, and movies with our uncle, who very much enjoyed the company of his family.

My memory rolls back to the sixties when he had been a lecturer at the City Law College at Siddique Bazar in old Dhaka, quite close to our previous

house. He took a short break from the High Court for a light refreshment and rushed to the college on time. He was also a part-time lecturer at the Commerce Department of University of Dhaka till he was appointed as judge of the Dhaka High Court in 1971.

He used to attend various meetings, discussion programs, social gatherings, always arriving ahead of schedule, and never came late.

His punctuality exceeded that of any clock in the world. And the only time he forgot to attend a program, it came as front page news in a Bengali newspaper.

In the war-ravaged society of Bangladesh after liberation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman founded the Women’s Rehabilitation Board and its first chairman was Justice KM Subhan.

KM Subhan had been my father’s favourite grandson-in-law. My father never enjoyed any special dish without his company; for he knew that any kind of delicious food was relished by him. My father consulted him before taking any decision and waited for his opinion in all family affairs. He was truly our guardian.

It would be injustice on my part if I do not express my gratitude to this

BIGSTOCK

that was asking if there was anyone from my family. There was no response from the crowd. I heard some of them saying my father was picked up by law enforcers.

I don’t know what is wrong with this country. Whoever asks for his right, whoever stands against odds, whoever tries to raise his voice gets arrested, abducted, tortured, or harassed.

I heard about a shopkeeper from Jessore who was shot in the chest for protesting the derogatory comment of a minister about Hajj. Doctors had to cut a part of his lung, as it was riddled by pellets. He was later arrested.

I saw a news item about an Awami

honourable, noble soul. He played a significant role in my life, as a mentor, kind relative, and surrogate father.

Back in my school days whenever I was stuck in math problems I always found him around to help me out.

Without his kind support and cooperation I would not have reached the position I am in at present. My father did not approve of me taking the secretarial course, but my dearest uncle spoke to him and within minutes his objection dissolved.

I completed the course, passed and took a job, formed a career in my life, gained financial independence, and managed to be self sufficient to bring up my two children. I am proud to have been termed once by KM Subhan as “a gem of a girl.”

His death brought so many condolences all over the country; many organisations he had been working with held discussions on his life and contributions. Yet there was no memorial service at the national level. I am surprised that he was not awarded any padaks recognising his contributions in many social affairs during his lifetime.

He had been a man of order and discipline – everything he did had to be done in perfection

A light has been switched off, but where its rays have reached will always be bright, showing the way.

Every year December 31 will be celebrated with joy and gaiety all over the world as before. But in a small corner of the Earth, at 222 Malibagh, that night will forever be celebrated as the late KM Subhan’s “last walk,” a celebration marked by the shedding of tears. May his noble soul rest in peace in eternal slumber. l Sheela K Jahan is an aunt-in-law of the late Justice KM Subhan.

League leader, Haji Nur, on television who was abducted by men in plain clothes claiming to be RAB. Later in the same year, two of his family members were also picked up by some people in guise of law enforcers as they were searching for Mr Nur. I want to know why my father was picked up. Is insisting that government agencies get me out of this well a crime in this country? Is asking for help to save a son a crime in this country? Is loving his son a crime in the county?

Probably, this is my last day on Earth. I am feeling faint, and cannot think of anything else. The rescue effort of the government is no more in

action, as I cannot see any fire brigade men. I cannot even see the other volunteers who were trying to save me. They were probably driven away by the law enforcers.

I know these people can never get me out of this. How can the people who have failed to trace down hundreds of people who had fallen victims to enforced disappearances get me out of this well? The best thing they can do is to complicate the situation.

When Rana Plaza collapsed, they refused to take any foreign help and left many of the victims to die under the rubble; their skeletons were later discovered from the spot.

I hope someday these people will be responsible enough, and not leave a well uncovered like this.

My moments are numbered, every minute is precious to me. But I have a wish. I wish someday Bangladesh will be a developed nation with a handful of young minds with new ideas.

None can save us but young people, with enormous voluntary spirit.

Some day, they will rise against the whole system that left a child to die in a well, and force them to become responsible. l Aaqib Md Shatil is a blogger and member of Dhaka University Model United Nations Association.

Farewell 2014 n Mohammad Ali Sattar

T

oday happens to be the last day of 2014. The final moments of departure are approaching fast. Parting is not always painful, especially if it is saying adieu to the time or moments that caused you pain and agony and tormented your inner soul.

Yet, we try to cling on to the fond memories that we so dearly enjoyed in the days bygone. To some, it was a long wait for 2015. The good and bad mingled to make our everyday lives.

The winter, summer, autumn, and spring carried the usual splendour that it has in store forever.

Looking back, we find that the year began with hot events in cold January.

The political scenario was worse, to say the least. The tug of war between the two major parties over the national polls kept the nation guessing for a long time. Uncertainty loomed large.

The country was in the grip of senseless acts by overenthusiastic political actors.

The Awami League forced their way into the parliament by holding elections marred by violence and with no participation from the main opposition party, BNP. More than 150 members of parliament were through without contest. The post-poll situation has been a repetition of the blame game and political overtones.

Till today, we are in the same state of things, politically speaking. But amidst this hullabaloo, life went on.

We witnessed the passing away of many legends and celebrities. The likes of journalists ABM Musa and Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury, the Bangladesh nightingale Feroza Begum, matchless actors Khalil and Anwar Hussain, thinking minds like Prof Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, Justice Habibur Rahman, Piash Karim, Salauddin Ahmed, and more. Bangladesh lost the gallant sons who relentlessly fought to uplift the people and the country.

We also went through the travails of time. The Narayanganj seven murders and many more gruesome killings that took place inside victims’ houses sent out chilling messages of vulnerability

and lack of social security.

We scored points in agriculture though. The rice export was a good gain. Agro products were in abundance, although the growers were deprived of fair prices.

The pass percentage in public school exams was high. The government was happy. The education minister was basking in the glory of his success.

The tug of war between the two major parties over the national polls kept the nation guessing for a long time

However, there were questions’ galore about the standard of education, and we still differ in our opinions as to what should be the standard. There were, as usual, statements for and against the system being followed in setting question papers, and conducting exams and admission tests in universities and schools.

We were also faced with something more disturbing – high government officials having good times in their offices, posing as freedom fighters with fake certificates. An ACC officer is also reportedly a fake freedom fighter. Let’s not even talk about the gold theft from the crests given to the foreign friends of Bangladesh.

Our roads and highways remain unsafe. Countless grizzly accidents took away precious lives. The waters also swallowed many. The many launch disasters left us distressed.

In the distant lands, the political turmoil turned worse. The birth of ISIS in West Asia was alarming and exciting. The forces declared to establish the “old” Caliphate comprising of land in Syria and Iraq. They stormed

in from every direction and like the forces of Genghis Khan, went on a rampage.

The killings of opposition looked more gruesome. The beheading of journalists and aid workers aired on the screen sent shivers down the spines of Western leaders. West Asia remains the hotbed of global action.

Hosni Mubarak escaped the gallows while democratically elected President Morsi faces execution, if found guilty.

Then there was the unmistaken intention of the Russian President to capture Crimea. The invasion did not meet any opposition. The cold war was set to make a comeback.

In USA, Obama had bad times. The Democrats lost in the polls and it made things difficult for the president. He came out with his prerogatives, declaring legalisation of illegal immigrants and making peace with Cuba.

Not a single quarter in the NATO and the EU welcomed the move.

They feared the growing weakness of the US foreign policy. The tug of war continues in the EU. Although the economy picked up in most of Europe, Greece remains to be bailed out. UK somehow stalled the secession of Scotland.

Burma remains in the clutch of military rulers, while Suu Kyi yearns for a place in the state. But that seems a far cry. The unrest with the Rohingyas will have to be addressed sooner rather than later.

The Hindu leader Narendra Modi made his way up. He became the PM of the world’s largest democracy with an astounding victory over the opposition. Congress and its allies have been reduced to smithereens.

There is already a fear of India being turned into a Hindu state. And China is soaring. It has dislodged the US as the economic superpower and now looks around the region with bigger plans.

Japan and India will have to negotiate with Beijing with caution.

Grieve not 2014, we shall remember you. Meanwhile, let us pray for better times next year. Welcome 2015. l Mohammad Ali Sattar is Editor at GNN and Sports Times, and a DT columnist.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, December 31, 2014

14 Newest

13 Australia win

members of the Tigers family

India series after third Test draw

14 Mahendra

Singh Dhoni quits Tests

Sport

Did you know?

MS Dhoni’s Test win percentage of 45 is the highest for any Indian captain to lead the team at least five times

Malan heroics sinks Abahani n Mazhar Uddin Prime Bank CC cruised to top of the Dhaka Premier League after registering a comfortable six-wicket win over Kalabagan CA yesterday. Their position was helped by Abahani Limited’s failure to keep up with them after going down against Prime Doleshwar, who joined the Sky Blues in second place with the win. Elsewhere, Mohammedan SC handed Legends of Rupganj a seven-wicket drubbing.

Prime Bank v Kalabagan CA, Fatullah

The 113-run opening stand between Soumya Sarkar (61) and Saikat Ali (49) ensured the bankers reach their target of 189 without any major trouble and more importantly take the solo lead in the three-horse DPL race.

Earlier, Taskin Ahmed and Enamul Haqur Jr took two wickets each as Kalaba-

BRIEF SCORES Abahani v Prime Doleshwar Abahani 201/9 in 45 overs (max) Liton 44, Rakibul 41; Sanjamul 2/32, Muktar 2/33, Elias 2/57 Doleshwar 205/5 in 43.1 overs Malan 87*; Al Amin 4/51 Doleshwar won by five wickets

gan were restricted to 188 for 8 in the 45over match with the highest of 33 coming from the bat of Mahmudul Hasan.

Prime Doleshwar v Abahani, SBNS

Dawid Malan appeared as the Santa Claus for Doleshwar as the Englishman played crucial roles in two partnerships to snatch the game away from Abahani who otherwise rode on a fiery spell from fast bowler Al Amin Hossain during their defence of 201 runs.

Al Amin dismissed Mehedi Maruf (3) early before returning both Mominul Haque (17) and Mushfiqur Rahim (0) in consecutive deliveries to leave Doleshwar reeling at 30 for 3. However, Malan took Asif (22) and put on 70 for the fifth wicket before he partnered with Elias Sunny (36) to add 79 runs and land the win with 11 balls and five wickets to spare. Left-handed Malan remained unbeaten on 87 from 112 balls smashing nine fours and a six.

Earlier, contributions from Liton Kumar (44), Rokibul Hasan (41), Ziaur Rahman (34) and Nasir Hossain (31) saw the Sky Blues post 201 for nine.

Muktar Ali and left-arm spinners Elias Sunny and Sanjamul Islam bagged two wickets each for Doleshwar.

Mohammedan vs Rupganj, BKSP 3

Prime Bank v Kalabagan CA Kalabagan CA 188/8 in 45 overs (max) Taskin 2/42, Enamul Jr 2/46 Prime 191/4 in 37 overs Soumya 61, Saykat 49; Stevens 2/38 Prime won by six wickets Rupganj v Mohammedan Rupganj 204/9 in 34 overs (max) Jahurul 47; Naeem 2/27, Mashrafe 2/41 Mohammedan 208/3 in 32 overs Naeem 76*, Sayem 73 Mohammedan won by seven wickets

National discarded Naeem Islam’s allround performance allowed Mohammedan to hand Shakib al Hasan’s Legends of Rupganj their sixth defeat in the season. Chaisng 204 in 35 overs, Naeem was not out on 76 from 71 while Sayem Ahmed also scored 73 as Mohammedan reached the target with seven wickets and three overs to spare.

Rupganj, earlier, made 204 for nine in 34 overs on the back of Jahurul Islam’s 47, Mosharraf Hossain’s 36 and Shakib’s 29. Mashrafe bin Mortaza and Naeem claimed two wickets each for Mohammedan. l

The on-field umpire restraining Prime Doleshwar’s Asif Ahmed (L) from Abahani’s Nasir Hossain in the DPL in Mirpur yesterday

Nasir-Asif heats up chilly day in DPL n Minhaz Uddin Khan The heated conversation involving Abahani middle-order batsman Nasir Hossain and Prime Doleshwar all-rounder Asif Ahmed during their crucial Super League encounter of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League in Mirpur yesterday once again displayed one of the ugly sides of the game.

Sledging in the game of cricket is considered an element which usually spices up a match and makes it more enterprising. The purpose is to weaken

the opposition’s concentration and demoralise the batsman or bowler in question. However, sometimes a situation spirals out of control and subsequently, the on-field scenario turns ugly.

The verbal war between Nasir and Asif sparked off in the 23rd over of Doleshwar’s innings. Chasing Abahani’s 201, Doleshwar were cruising with Asif and English cricketer Dawid Malan at the crease. The fifth-wicket duo were propelling their side to the destination having lost some early wickets. The pair were milking runs at will, thus frustrat-

BANGLADESH FOOTBALL IN 2014 INT’L FIXTURES OF 2014 Opponent

Score Result Venue

India

2-2

Draw

Goa

Nepal U23

1-0

Win

Dhaka

Nepal U23

0-1

Loss

Sylhet

Vietnam U23

2-4

Loss

Incheon

Afghanistan

1-0

Win

Incheon

Uzbekistan

3-0

Loss

Incheon

Hong Kong

2-1

Loss

Incheon

Sri Lanka

1-1

Draw

Jessore

Sri Lanka

1-0

Win

Rajshahi

Japan U21

0-3

Loss

Dhaka

It has been an eventful 2014 for Bangladesh cricket both on- and off-the-field.

Headlines were created, albeit mostly for the wrong reasons.

With the new year knocking at the door, Dhaka Tribune takes a look back at some of these controversies that took place throughout 2014.

Frequent opportunities, evocative events and promising achievements recapitulated the last 12 months of Bangladesh football and at the same time produced intensifying hopes for the coming year.

If the Bangladesh football arena in 2014 is metaphorically compared to a football, then it kicked off without air inside but landed fully-inflated. The calendar indicated that Bangladesh had no international assignments – with the exception of the Incheon Asian Games – yet the federation’s strive and ambition saw the national team play 10 international matches.

Although the Bangladesh Football Federation struggled to maintain the flow of the Bangladesh Premier Football League with the top-flight encountering several stopovers before it was completed, it was the local clubs who set a new benchmark in the international arena.

The year could not have asked for a better start. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club announced the world of their strength as the Bangladesh top-tier champions nearly clinched the prestigious IFA Shield in the first week of January. An impressive run throughout the tournament’s 118th edition saw them contest the final against Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan. The Dhanmondi outfit

though narrowly missed out on the triumph in the tie-breaker.

Rather than causing heartache, the achievement only served to ignite the fire in the team who later in the year went on to become the first Bangladeshi club to lift the King’s Cup in Bhutan. They also hosted South Korean K-League side Busan IPark on December, the first time an international club arrived in Bangladesh for a friendly match.

Meanwhile, another premier league side Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra became the first Bangladeshi club to qualify for the final round of the AFC President’s Cup, slated for next year, after going through their entire group stage undefeated in Sri Lanka.

The success in the international stage did not stop there as the Under-23 side in September presented the country their first win in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea after 28 long years with Mamunul Islam’s thunderous strike turning out to be the all-important goal against Afghanistan. The tide of progress continued as the BFF inaugurated the country’s first football academy in Sylhet while they also laid a new turf at the Kamalapur stadium for better outputs from the lower tiers.

The initiative of holding international matches outside the capital got immense response as three matches were held across Jessore, Rajshahi and Sylhet.

Thousands of spectators (approximately 45-50,000) barged in the stadias to show their overwhelming support, creating a festive atmosphere in the process.

The Red and Greens played a total of 10 international matches, including seven friendlies, and each and every single time showed glimpses of their potential by resisting stronger opponents. Three wins and two draws throughout the year explains the hard work the booters put behind every opportunity and national captain Mamunul Islam remains the standout performer in both club and international level.

The international exposures saw the Sheikh Jamal DC midfielder and Bangla-

desh captain Mamunul getting rewarded as inaugural Indian Super League champions Atletico de Kolkata signed the talismanic midfielder. In between, the U-16 women’s team also put up a jubilant display in the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Qualifiers winning against Jordan and Uzbekistan. Hope was renewed for the future of women’s football.

Among the lows, the drama involving the BFF and national head coach Lodewijk de Kruif was also a hot topic for a quarter of the year before the affiliation ended when the federation sacked the Dutchman. However, De Kruif is still linked with BFF and is expected to make a comeback through the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. Renowned local coach Maruful Haque was also suspended for a year for criticising the federation and its president before the punishment was reduced to six months and finally withdrawn on December.

The new year brings with it numerous hopes. BFF is scheduled to kick off 2015 with the much-awaited Bangabandhu Gold Cup in mid-January while they also received a proposal for hosting a franchise league and selling the rights of international friendlies in the next one-and-a-half years. If the blueprints fall into place, the magnitude of the football enthusiasts in the country will surely reach newer heights. l

little time bringing the players back to their senses.

It did not stop there.

The Nasir-Asif battle was transferred to the Grand Stand area of the stadium, where the supporters of the two sides clashed with each other.

Then, a return throw from bowler Saqlain, which struck Asif on his left hand, angered the Doleshwar fans sitting on the lower-tier of the stand. The Abahani spectators duly played their part in the fracas before the on-duty policemen cooled down both the parties.l

The year that was anything but boring n Mazhar Uddin

An unexpected year of greatness n Shishir Hoque

ing the Abahani bowlers a great deal.

In the 23rd over, Asif was on strike facing left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib.

Saqlain directed some harsh words at Asif. Asif defended himself in return.

In the 25th over, the trend continued with Saqlain and Asif repeating their actions. This was when Nasir intervened.

Rushing to the pitch from the cover region, the national out-of-favour Nasir locked himself in a fierce war of words with the Doleshwar batsman. Sensing that the situation was going beyond control, the on-field umpires wasted

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Concerns over security prior to the Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 An unexpected bomb blast near the hotel of the visiting West Indies Under-19 side in Chittagong back on December, 2013, raised concerns over security in Bangladesh ahead of a number of continental and global competitions.

Due to the ongoing political unrest back then, the West Indian youngsters pulled out from their tour. Clouds of doubt and uncertainty had started to creep in. The Bangladesh Cricket Board, however, did manage to overcome the situation by assuring presidential security for the visiting teams. Subsequently, the tournaments took place without any uncalled-for incident.

The curious case of Shakib al Hasan Although Shakib is known for his consistent performances for the national side and different clubs around the world, his behaviour this year continued to perplex the cricketing arena.

Due to his scuffle with a spectator during an ODI at home against India on June and citing his misbehaviour with Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, the BCB on July 7 suspended the ace all-rounder from all types of cricket activities for six months. Cricket’s regulatory body of the country also barred him from participating in overseas domestic competitions till the end of 2015.

Shakib, the world’s number one all-rounder in Tests and Twenty20 Internationals, later apologised for his misdemeanours. On August 26, Shakib breathed a sigh of relief as his ban was reduced by three months. After missing the tour of the West Indies, the 27-year old returned in the bilateral series at home against Zimbabwe in grand style.

On December 4, Shakib’s overseas ban was also lifted, thus making him available for the ongoing KFC Big Bash T20 League. He later signed for the Melbourne Renegades.

Lutfur Rahman Badal-BCB dispute The BadalBCB saga was initiated by Badal himself when the Legends of Rupganj owner claimed that his team were victims of poor umpiring. Badal also slammed a few board directors and the BCB president, adding more fuel to the fire. Although Badal later apologised, his plea fell on deaf ears. The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis on December 9 banned him for life from all sorts of cricket activities.

Rubel-Happy controversy The most shocking controversy this year was perhaps that of Rubel Hossain and film actress Happy. On December 13, the film actress filed a case against the national paceman under the Women and Children Repression Act. The Bagerhat lad was granted an anticipatory four-week bail by the High Court but it hardly arrived as good news as his inclusion in the Tigers’ World Cup squad is shrouded with doubt. BCB president Nazmul Hasan later said they will support the right-arm paceman, only if he is proven innocent.l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

QUICK BYTES

AUSvIND, DAY 5 Australia 1st innings 530 (Smith 192, Harris 74; Shami 4-138)

Marsh joins select club run out on 99

India 1st innings 465 (Kohli 169, Rahane 147; R. Harris 4-70)

Shaun Marsh joined an unwanted select group in Test cricket when he was run out for 99 as Australia chased a declaration on the final day of the third Test against India on Tuesday. Marsh, knowing a declaration was imminent shortly before lunch, set off for a chancy single only to be caught short diving to make his ground by Virat Kohli’s throw at the non-striker’s end.

Marsh became only the 16th player in Test cricket to be run out one short of a century and the third Australian. Bill Brown (1948) and Arthur Morris (1953) were the other Australian unfortunates and all three were caught short of their ground at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Englishman Graham Gooch and South African Jacques Kallis were others run out on the same score in a Test at the MCG. Soon after Marsh’s dismissal, skipper Steve Smith declared the Australian second innings at 318 for nine setting India a record 384-run chase to win the MCG Test.

–AFP

Newcastle boss Pardew set for Palace job Alan Pardew is set to quit Newcastle United and take over as the new manager of Crystal Palace after being granted permission to speak to his former club about the move on Monday. The Eagles are looking for a new boss after sacking Neil Warnock on Saturday and Pardew is on the verge of a surprise return to Selhurst Park now Newcastle have given Palace the green light to discuss a contract. It has been reported that Palace will pay a $3.1 million compensation fee to land Pardew, who still has five years left on his St James’ Park contract. “Newcastle United can confirm that Crystal Palace have made a formal approach requesting permission to speak to Alan Pardew in relation to their vacant managerial position,” a statement on the club’s website announced.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 2 9:20AM Ranji Trophy Bengal v Mumbai

Star Sports 4 2:15PM T20 Big Bash League Adelaide Strikers v Hobart Hurricanes

B

99 215 21 68 1 10 0 3 20

Total (9 wickets dec; 98 overs)

318

Bowling Yadav 22-3-89-2 (1w), Shami 28-4-92-2 (1w), I. Sharma 20-5-49-2 (5nb), Ashwin 28-4-75-2 India 2nd innings M. Vijay lbw b Hazlewood S. Dhawan lbw b Harris L. Rahul c Watson b Johnson V. Kohli c Burns b Harris A. Rahane c Marsh b Hazlewood C. Pujara b Johnson M. Dhoni not out R. Ashwin not out Extras (lb6, nb1)

R

B

11 0 1 54 48 21 24 8 7

28 5 5 99 117 70 39 34

Total (6 wickets; 66 overs)

174

Fall of wickets 1-2, 2-5, 3-19, 4-104, 5-141, 6-142

Australian paceman Ryan Harris (back to camera) celebrates with teammates after dismissing Indian batsman Virat Kohli on the final day of the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne yesterday AFP

Australia win India series after third Test draw n AFP, Melbourne Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after India hung on for a tense draw in the third Test in Melbourne on Tuesday.

India were never in the hunt on the final day after Australia took till lunch to declare at 318 for nine, leaving them to chase 384 runs for victory off 70 overs.

Their task became even more Herculean when they were reduced to 19 for three in the ninth over and from there it was a matter of survival.

The match was called off with four overs remaining when India were 174 for six with skipper MS Dhoni on 24 and Ravi Ashwin on eight. It was the first drawn Melbourne Test in 17 years.

The Australians have won the fourmatch series with one Test left to play in Sydney next week after winning in

Adelaide and Brisbane.

“India have some very good batters in their side, it was still a very good wicket and we really didn’t want to give India a sniff,” Australia skipper Steve Smith said of his declaration decision.

“We’ve got another series win, which is what we were after, and hopefully we can finish well in Sydney.”

The draw means that India have not won at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for 33 years.

India resisted for a time through Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, who shared in a record 262-run stand in the first innings, but once Kohli was dismissed to break an 85-run partnership, pressure again mounted on the tourists, who have a notorious reputation for lower-order batting collapses.

“We lost early wickets, we put pressure on ourselves and we had to fight it

out and overall it’s a good performance by the team,” Dhoni said.

“It was very tough to score over 300 on this kind of wicket in one day so overall I’m quite happy.”

Kohli was out to a poor shot on the first ball after tea, spooning a catch straight to Joe Burns at square leg off Ryan Harris for 54.

Mitchell Johnson then bowled Cheteshwar Pujara (21) with a gem of a delivery, straightening off the pitch to crash into off-stump.

Johnson rattled Pujara with a shortpitched snorter into the grille of his helmet and then two balls later produced his wicket-taking delivery to leave the tourists at 141 for five with 18 overs left.

Rahane mistimed a pull shot off Josh Hazlewood to Shaun Marsh for 48 off 117 balls to expose the India tail with 14 overs remaining. l

n AFP, Harare

Bowling Johnson 15-3-38-2, Harris 16-8-30-2, Hazlewood 15-3-40-2, Lyon 12-0-36-0, Watson 6-1-14-0 (1nb), Smith 2-0-10-0 Match drawn, Australia lead 2-0

SA-WI 2nd Test drawn as wet outfield wins final day n Reuters, Port Elizabeth South Africa’s hopes of victory on day five of the second Test against West Indies were thwarted on Tuesday by heavy overnight rain and a wet outfield which prevented any play.

The top-ranked Proteas had hoped to wrap up the West Indian first innings with the tourists on 275 for nine before scoring quickly to set up a Testing afternoon for the visitors to survive. But the weather, which allowed for just 201 overs out of a scheduled 450 in the Test, caused a disappointing end with West Indies still 142 runs behind the hosts’ first-innings score of 417 for eight declared.

“To get 400 on the board was a good effort. Losing as much time in the game is disappointing, but that’s the way it goes,” South Africa captain Hashim Amla said at the post-match

Zimbabwe names Whatmore as coach

presentation.

“The wicket was better to bat on and with the time we lost in the match, when we were batting we tried to make a game of it.”

Both sides will take positives into Friday’s final Test in Cape Town.

There were welcome centuries for struggling Proteas opener Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis, and the manner in which their bowling attack ran through the West Indies middle and lower order to take seven wickets for 44 runs was also a plus point.

Morne Morkel was especially threatening and took four for 69 to earn special praise from his captain. “Morne has been doing exceptionally well for us for quite a while,” Amla said.

“He doesn’t always get the accolades he deserves, but he is the guy that puts in the hard yards. In this game he bowled exceptionally well again.” l

BGB, Ansar, Police in handball semis n Tribune Desk Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh Police and Bangladesh Ansar swept into the semifinals of the Exim Bank 24th National Men’s Handball Championship yesterday.

In the first quarterfinal of the day BGB outplayed Kustia 54-22 with Emdadul and Bipul scoring eight goals each while Mahbub’s 12 goals helped Police beat Madaripur district 42-27 at the M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium.

Bangladesh Ansar earned a convincing victory of 52-6 over Gopalganj while Chapainawabganj had to toil hard to beat Chittagong 32-27 in the last quarterfinal of the day.

BGB and Bangladesh Police will face Chapainawabganj and Bangladesh Ansar in the first and second semifinal respectively today. l

Zimbabwe Cricket president Wilson Manase (L) hands a team jersey to new coach Dave Whatmore in a press conference in Harare yesterday AFP

Zimbabwe Cricket has appointed Australia’s former international Dav Whatmore as national coach ahead of the 2015 World Cup, a top union official announced Tuesday.

Whatmore replaces Stephen Mangongo who was fired less than two weeks ago over the national side’s poor showing during a recent tour of Bangladesh.

“His initial assignment is to see us through to the World Cup,” Wilson Manase, Zimbabwe Cricket chairman said, “and thereafter we shall work out another long term contract.”

“He has a wealth of experience at the highest level of coaching.”

Whatmore, 60, who has previously

coached Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, will be assisted by former Zimbabwe international Douglas Hondo who will also be the bowling coach, Manase said.

Zimbabwe cricket dismissed Mangongo as cricket coach after the national squad lost all eight fixtures during a tour of Bangladesh just two months before the World Cup. A “very pleased” Whatmore said he has already set his sight on Zimbabwe reaching the Super 8 at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in February and March next year.

“We are going to be as competitive as possible, our first target is to make that Super 8. We will work really hard to try and achieve that,” he said. l

Appeal court enforces Barcelona transfer ban

16 more added to BFF Academy n Tribune Desk

Siddikur holds on to lead in Gemcon C’ship

n AFP, Lausanne

A total of 16 youngsters have been added to the roster of the residential training camp of the Under-13 and U-17 footballers in the BFF Academy in Sylhet. The 16 footballers will join the camp today.

Eight players were included in the U-13 camp while the other eight joined the U-17 camp. They will replace most of the existing players who joined the academy during its inauguration. In the U-17 camp, the eight players include four defenders – Atiquzzaman, Bishwanath, Shaon and Sajib, three midfieders – Al Amin, Rabiul and Anik and lone forward Ariful Islam.

In the U-13 camp, the eight players include four midfielders – Shahib, Fuad, Setu and Akko, defenders Shohag and Fayez, forward Saiful and goalkeeper Faisal.

Meanwhile, the training camp of the newly-built BFF Academy got underway last Wednesday under the supervision of Mahbub Hossain, Golam Jilani, Abdur Razzak and Jahan-e-Elahi. l

n Tribune Desk

West Brom axe coach Irvine after poor start English Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion have sacked head coach Alan Irvine, the club announced on their website late on Monday. The Midlands club made the move following a run of seven losses in their past nine games, a series of results that has caused them to slide to 16th place, just one point above the relegation zone. Irvine becomes the second managerial casualty in three days after relegation-threatened Crystal Palace dumped Neil Warnock on Saturday.

And with Alan Pardew in line to swap Newcastle for Palace, the Premier League managerial merry-go-round has suddenly gathered pace after an unusually quiet start to the season in which nobody was fired for the first four months. Irvine is the third head coach dismissed by West Brom in little over 12 months, following the short reigns of Steve Clarke and Pepe Mel. His fate was sealed after a 2-0 away defeat against Stoke on Sunday, which followed a 3-1 home loss to Manchester City two days earlier.

–Reuters

R

Australia 2nd innings (Overnight 261 for 7) S. Marsh run out (Kohli) R. Harris c Dhoni b Shami N. Lyon not out J. Hazlewood not out Extras (lb13, w2, nb5)

Fall of wickets 1-57, 2-98, 3-131, 4-164, 5-176, 6-202, 7-234, 8-303, 9-317

Lallana double helps Liverpool rout Swansea Adam Lallana fired Liverpool to their biggest home win of the season as the England midfielder’s brace inspired a 4-1 rout of Swansea on Monday.

Brendan Rodgers’ side scored four for the first time since March thanks to Lallana’s second half double after Alberto Moreno had put the Reds ahead in the first half at Anfield. Jonjo Shelvey’s own goal completed the demolition of lacklustre Swansea, who had briefly threatened a revival when Gylfi Sigurdsson struck to reduce the deficit to 2-1. As a result of their goal spree, the hosts climbed above Swansea into eighth place -- five points behind fourth placed Southampton in the race to qualify for the Champions League. With one defeat in their last 10 matches in all competitions and Lallana finally showing the class that persuaded Rodgers to pay £25 million (32 million euros, $38 million) to sign him from Southampton, Liverpool head into the new year with renewed belief that they can salvage a troubled campaign.

–AFP

13

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday backed a one year transfer ban against Barcelona in a major blow to the Spanish football giants.

The court said in a statement that it had “dismissed” an appeal made by Barcelona against the ban imposed by FIFA in April for breaching rules on signing players aged under 18.

Barcelona, who are second behind Real Madrid in La Liga, are banned from buying players during the transfer window that opens on January 1 and for the summer transfer period before the 2015-16 season. That means they cannot sign a player until January 2016.

Barcelona were also fined 450,000 Swiss francs ($455,000, 375,000 euros).

The Spanish federation was also reprimanded by FIFA. The CAS panel promised to give the

full reasons for its decision as quickly as possible.

FIFA announced the ban in April this year after an investigation into several players aged under 18 who were registered and played for Barcelona between 2009 and 2013. It found that Barcelona and the Spanish federation were guilty of a “serious” infringement of rules for 10 players.

Barcelona made a first appeal to the FIFA disciplinary committee and the sanction was suspended enabling them to make major signings such as Luis Suarez from Liverpool for 95 million euros ($115 million).

The club spent more than 150 million euros in all before FIFA’s appeal committee upheld the ban. Barcelona then went to the CAS and asked for an emergency procedure so that a decision was announced before the January transfer window opens. l

Siddikur Rahman held on to the top spot in the Gemcon Players Championship 2014 with a superb nine-under-par 63 in the second round at the Kurmitola Golf Club yesterday.

The Bangladesh golfing sensation scored a total 14-under-par 130 after the end of day two. Jamal Hossain Mollah remained tied at second position alongside Dulal Hossain with both at five-under-par 139. Jamal and Mollah carded four-under-par 68 and two-under-par 70 respectively.

Shakhawat Hossain Sohel and Badal Hossain were placed in the third and fourth place after carding three-underpar and one-under-par respectively.

Delwar Hossain Dilu slipped to fifth place along with two other golfers from the second position as he played a fourover-par 76 yesterday. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE TIGERS FAMILY Six young guns made their international debut for Bangladesh in the year 2014.

Here, Dhaka Tribune takes a look back at their contributions at the big stage.

–Reazur Rahman Rohan

TAIJUL ISLAM Tests (5) : Wkts 25, BBI 8/39

JUBAIR HOSSAIN Tests (3) : Wkts 11, BBI 5/96

TASKIN AHMED ODIs (3) : Wkts 7, BBI 5/28

MOHAMMED MITHUN ODIs (2) : Runs 26, HS 26

ODI (1) : Wkts 4, BBI 4/11

ODIs (2) : Wkts 4, BBI 2/41

T20Is (2) : Wkt 1, BBI 1/24

T20Is (2) : Run 0

Among the six debutants in 2014, Taijul stands out as the brightest as the leftarm spinner not only did his job, but perfected it to the limits. The 22-year-old on his Test debut away in the West Indies bagged five wickets against the hosts before the Natore lad entered the record books in the following home series.

He picked eight wickets in the second innings of the first Test against Zimbabwe in Dhaka and later registered a hat-trick on his one-day international debut.

19-year-old Jubair is the jewel Bangladesh cricket had been awaiting for a long time.

The first ever specialist leg-spinner to play for the Tigers, Jubair justified his selection in the big league with his persistent capability of controlling the art and giving important breakthroughs whenever his captain looked up to him.

Considering the fact that he played just two first-class matches before his international debut, 2015 should be the year when he flourishes.

He burned the visiting Indian batting line-up on his one-day debut and returned with a five-for to announce his arrival in the international stage.

The well-built and tall 19-year-old, who promises to be the future of Bangladesh fast bowling, however, has been labeled as a bowler for the shorter formats only after being kept away from the field for most of the time with a knee injury.

The wicketkeeper-batsman made a sudden entry in the national set-up when Mushfiqur Rahim suffered a finger injury on early 2014.

His chance to wear the Tigers shirt came in the home series against India.

But, known as a hard-hitting batsman in the domestic circuit, the 24-year-old was not able to make full use of his opportunity at the big stage.

SABBIR RAHMAN

SOUMYA SARKAR

ODIs (5) : Runs 83, HS 44*

ODI (1)

T20Is (5) : Runs 50, HS 26

Left-handed Soumya was an experiment by the selectors after Bangladesh secured the five-match one-day series, having won the first four matches. He appeared a tad shaky, but played an upper-cut and a lofted drive in his brief stay to catch the attention.

The 21-year-old, however, will find it hard to make a place for himself in the Tigers top-order given the competition that already exists.

The national selectors think very highly of the 23-year-old who made a decent 26 on his T20I debut on February, 2014.

His place, however, was never secured until Nasir Hossain was axed from the squad in the year-ending series against Zimbabwe at home. Sabbir cashed in on the opportunity with a quickfire 44 on his one-day debut to put the selectors at ease. The right-hander, who bats at No 7, also bowls handy leg-spin and is a valuable asset for the future.

: Runs 20, HS 20

Photos: MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Dhoni quits Tests n Reuters, Melbourne

UEFA president Michel Platini (C) poses on stage with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez (2R) next to Real Madrid’s manager Carlo Ancelotti (L) and players James Rodriguez (2L) and Cristiano Ronaldo after they received their awards during the Globe Soccer Awards Ceremony at the end of the 9th International Sports Conference on Monday in Dubai AFP

DHONI STATS

60

294

The number of Tests in which MS Dhoni captained India, the highest among all Indians, and sixth among all captains. It’s also easily the highest for a wicketkeeper - the next best is Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim, with 19 matches as captain.

Test dismissals for Dhoni, the fifth highest among all wicketkeepers, and the best for an Indian by far: the next best is Syed Kirmani’s 198 dismissals in 88 matches.

27

The number of Tests India won with Dhoni as captain - the next highest for India is Sourav Ganguly with 21. Only six captains won more Tests than Dhoni did.

21

The number of home Tests India won under Dhoni, which puts him fourth in the all-time list - only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh captained in more home wins.

38

The number of stumpings by Dhoni, which is the joint third highest in Test history, along with Kirmani. Only Godfrey Evans (46) and Bert Oldfield (52) have more stumpings.

15

The number of overseas Tests India lost under Dhoni. Only Stephen Fleming (16 losses from 42 Tests) and Brian Lara (16 losses from 20 Tests) have lost more overseas games as captain.

78

Number of sixes Dhoni hit in Tests. Among Indians only Virender Sehwag, with 90 sixes, has more.

22

The number of century partnerships that Dhoni was involved in.

TWITTER REACTION SACHIN TENDULKAR Well done on a wonderful career in test cricket @msdhoni Always enjoyed playing together. Next target 2015 WC my friend!!

SURESH RAINA Valiant while you led. Valiant in your departure. #Respect @ msdhoni

ANIL KUMBLE Chennai 2 G, Great career MSD @msdhoni retired as captain.

Way 2 go! Well done buddy on a fantastic test inning! Good luck! @BCCI #AUSvIND

SANJAY MANJREKAR Just feeling a bit sad about Dhoni’s retirement from Test Cricket. Didn’t see it coming at all. #DhoniRetiresFromTest

MICHAEL VAUGHAN Love the way @msdhoni plays the game ... But it’s now the right time for @imVkohli to take the Indian Test team in a new direction.....

RUSSEL ARNOLD New era for India starting in the New Year... Full of surprises MSD but the right decision. Well Done MSD !!

HARSHA BHOGLE MS Dhoni showed India what a tough man from a small town could dream and achieve. He has been a role model. Respect. #DhoniRetires

TOM MOODY

The third Test between Australia and India in Melbourne failed to deliver a nail-biting finish on Tuesday but ended with a draw tinged with controversy and the shock retirement of long-serving India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni from Test cricket.

The result secured Australia a 2-0 series victory with a match in reserve, but their triumph was quickly overtaken by the bombshell that Dhoni had pulled the pin on his 90-Test career to concentrate on the shorter formats of the game.

Displaying his usual serenity, the 33-year-old Dhoni said nothing of his retirement plans and the news was broken on the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Twitter feed only minutes after the final question was asked at the post-match media conference.

Batsman Virat Kohli, long Dhoni’s heir apparent and stand-in skipper during the first Test loss in Adelaide, will lead the team for the fourth and final match in Sydney, the BCCI added, capping a surreal day at the Melbourne

little help.

“I don’t think there was still a win there,” Smith told reporters.

“I don’t think we had four wickets in us at the end - there wasn’t much breaking up in the wicket, there wasn’t much going on, so I think that was it.”

Australia declared on 318-9, setting India a mammoth 384 to win on a ground where the highest successful run-chase was 332 by England back in 1928/29.

For a time, that appeared more than adequate for the hosts, whose pacemen scythed through India’s top order with three wickets in the first nine overs.

Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan was out lbw for a duck and Lokesh Rahul, surprisingly sent in at number three, was caught the next over for one after a miscued pull shot. Opener Murali Vijay was dismissed lbw for 11.

Kohli (54) and Ajinkya Rahane (48) dug in to tea, before Harris had Kohli out with the first ball after the break and Mitchell Johnson struck to bowl Cheteshwar Pujara for 21.l

FACT BOX Born : July 7, 1981 in Ranchi.

Nickname : Mahi.

Made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2005, scoring 30 in the rain-hit match in Chennai.

He went on to play 90 Tests for India, amassing 4876 runs at a 38-plus average, hitting six centuries and 33 fifties. He also took 256 catches and contributed 38 stumpings.

Dhoni’s highest Test score of 224 came against Australia in February 2013.

The wicketkeeper-batsman made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in late 2004 and was run out for a first ball duck in the Chittagong match.

Dhoni has played 250 ODIs, scoring 8192 runs, averaging 52.85 with a strike rate in the vicinity of 90. He has hit nine centuries in this format to go with 56 fifties.

He has also played 50 Twenty20 Internationals, scoring 849 runs, averaging nearly 34 with a 116 strike rate.

Under his captaincy, India won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and remained the number one Test team for 18 months from December 2009.

He received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sports honour, in 2007.

Known for his penchant to seal a victory with a six, Dhoni’s trademark “helicopter” shot has amused fans who have also hailed his unflappable temperament.

Congratulations @msdhoni on an outstanding test career your unique talent will be missed. #ClassAct

India’s string of away Test defeats remains a blot on his captaincy records, though, and the emergence of Virat Kohli was seen as an alternative.

JASON GILLESPIE

He surpassed retired great Sachin Tendulkar as the highest-earning Indian sportsman but remains a fiercely private person.

Congratulations @msdhoni on a fine test career. #welldone

Cricket Ground.

Dhoni, fittingly, played an important part in his team’s gritty effort to stave off a third straight Test defeat on the fifth and final day.

He came in to bat with the team in trouble at 141-5 and grafted an unbeaten 24 after tea. Along with number seven batsman Ravichandran Ashwin, who scored eight, he helped guide the tourists to safety.

Though Dhoni’s effort was praiseworthy, his counterpart Steven Smith’s decision to concede the draw four overs early, rather than push to the end to get the final four wickets for victory, drew jeers from spectators at the ground.

Smith justified the decision, saying his bowlers were “cooked” and his team mates happy enough with the series win.

T h a t came after a late declaration at lunch that also raised eyebrows, with Australia’s bowlers given only 70 overs to find a way to b o w l India out on a flat wicket offering

Indian batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni plays a shot during the final day of the third Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne yesterday AFP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

New Year’s concert at Laboni Beach, Cox’s Bazar

n Entertainment Desk To welcome the year 2015, a concert titled “Shoikotey Jhonkaar” will be held tonight in the Laboni Beach in

The Green Hornet HBO Hits, 4:10pm

Following the death of his father, Britt Reid, heir to his father’s large company, teams up with his late dad’s assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team.

Cox’s Bazar. The performance will be telecast live on Desh TV at 5:30pm.

LRB, Dolchhut, Feedback, Haider Hossain and Shahnaz Belly will perform at the concert. l

MEHRAB and KORNIA to perform in Iconic Tunes

The Fugitive WB, 10:45pm

Artworks display on Shilpangan Art Gallery

n

Popular musicians Mehrab and Kornia will perform in a live studio concert

KHAN HASAN MD RAFI

Spirit of Panam Nagar on display n Nadia Sultana Ava

Entertainment Desk

“Iconic Tunes” to be aired at 11:40pm on Channel 9 tomorrow. The session will feature Nazrul Geeti, Rabindra Sangeet, folk songs and Bangladeshi band songs. l

15

When a person steps into Biren Shome’s solo exhibition Date Down Memory Lane at Shilpangan Art Gallery in the capital, he or she will immediately transported back in time.

The 46 artworks on display, created with various media – including pencil and charcoal sketch and watercolour – reveal the beauty of Panam Nagar, a once-splendid ancient city at Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj. The city was established in the late 19th century as a trading centre of cotton fabrics during the British rule.

AR RAHMAN to turn scriptwriter

Settling in the city, the Hindu cloth merchants built their residential houses in the colonial style, with inspiration drawn from European architecture. Today, the area is protected under the Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh.

The original inhabitants are now all gone, but the buildings still stand tall with pride and glory. And Biren has depicted that spirit in an artistic manner in his artworks. A pencil and ink drawing of the city titled “Panam Nagar 18” shows the old walls, shattered windows, and broken doors of a few buildings. But no matter how shattered and broken the buildings

Dr Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt.

look, they still bear the shadow of grandeur from the past.

In “Panam Nagar 19,” Biren has portrayed the intricate designs on a wall of a palace in Panam Nagar. The artwork, drawn using watercolour and mixed media on paper, reveals the designing skills of the 19th century artisans to the modern viewers.

A watercolour painting titled “Panam Nagar 25” shows a road with large buildings on both its sides.

The exhibition is a treat to the eyes of those who love history. It started on Saturday and will run until January 10, open for all from 12pm to 8pm. l

MouseHunt Zee Studio, 7:35pm

Two stumblebum inheritors are determined to rid their antique house of a mouse who is equally determined to stay where he is.

Penguins of Madagascar hits Star Cineplex

n Entertainment Desk After composing music for 12 films, including three Hollywood, Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman is turning scriptwriter and producer with an untitled film.

“I am scripting a movie which I will co-produce. It is in the process,” Rahman told reporters at the press conference of Shankar’s upcoming film “I.” The 47-year-old “Jai Ho!” hitmaker, who composed music for “I” and “Kochadaiiyaan: The Legend,” said he is happy to work with two stalwarts of Indian cinema Rajinikanth and Shankar in the same year. “2014 is an eventful year for me. I have done 12 films this year. I did three films in Hollywood and also worked with Rajinikanth and Shankar,” Rahman said.

Rahman gave music for biographical sports drama “Million Dollar Arm” and “The Hundred-Foot Journey” besides scoring for upcoming biopic on Brazilian football legend Pele. Both “Million Dollar Arm,” “The Hundred-Foot Journey” and “Kochadaiiyaan: The Legend” are in the long-list of Oscars for the best original score. l

n Entertainment Desk Discover the secrets of the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage with the screening of “Penguins of Madagascar” at the

KENDRICK brings new take to Cinderella n Entertainment Desk Anna Kendrick gives a new take on Cinderella in Disney’s adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical, “Into the Woods.”

The Cinderella character depicted in “Into the Woods” is one that is modern, complicated, and flawed when compared to that of the iconic character that audiences know.

“What is unique is that this ‘Cinderella’ story comes directly from the Grimm version where the tree at the grave of her Moth-

er gives her the dress and shoes that she wears to the Festival,” Kendrick says, “So in some ways she has access to a kind of magic when she really needs it. “What happens after she marries the Prince is where it gets interesting: Cinderella really starts to find her voice and rejects what she thought she wanted, which also means admitting she made a mistake. She is not a blameless victim though; she has to own the fact that she wanted something so badly without really thinking about what it was she really needed.”

Director Rob Marshall had a vision of what he was looking for with the portrayal of Cinderella in Into the Woods. “I was looking for something very specific, which was a combination of humor, a strong voice and a modern sensibility. In many ways, Cinderella is the most complex character in the piece because she can’t make a decision, constantly wavering about what she wants, and Anna showed a great deal of vulnerability and depth, which was incredibly impressive.” l

ANUSHKA is VIRAT KOHLI’s wife?

n

Entertainment Desk

Australian presenter Michael Slater referred to Anushka Sharma as Virat Kohli’s wife on the final day of the third test played between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Slater was quick to fix his mistake when he immediate-

Exhibition

Shifting Sands Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge 60, Gulshan Avenue Nakshi Kantha: Zainul Abedin Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhanmondi 16th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh Time: 11am – 8pm, National Art Gallery, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

ly referred to Anushka as Virat’s fiance soon after. Virat, after completing his ton, blew kisses

Film

Meghmallar, Ouija Interstellar Gone Girl Ek Cup Cha Into The Storm Blockbuster Cinemas Jamuna Future Park Meghmallar Brick Mansions Big Hero 6 (3D), Pipra Bidda Lavel 8, Star Cineplex, Bashundhara City

at Anushka and despite the argument he had with Mitchell Johnson, which had visibly irked the batsman. Anushka and Virat don’t admit about their relationship but the duo have been going strong. Anushka during her promotion of “PK” had indirectly confirmed on their link up saying, “When you are spotting two people together frequently, they must be together!” l

capital’s Star Cineplex in Bashundhara City on January 2, 2015.

The storyline of the comedy animation goes with Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private, the elitists of the elite who join forces with undercover organi-

sation, The North Wind, led by handsome and husky Agent Classified.

Do not forget to enjoy the adventures of the gang to stop villainous Dr Octavius Brine from destroying the world. l

PRACHI DESAI to play Azharuddin’s first wife in biopic n

Entertainment Desk

After the buzz around the biopic on MS Dhoni, another film based on the life of ex-cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin is doing the rounds. Directed by Tony D’Souza, actor Emraan Hashmi will step into the shoes of Azharuddin and Prachi Desai has been finalised to play his first wife Naureen in the film.

Prachi, who will be yet again seen opposite Emraan Hashmi, is happy to play Naureen who married Azharuddin in 1987. Naureen stayed away from the limelight despite being a cricketer’s wife for nine years; the two later divorced in 1996. “This is the second time I will be playing a Muslim woman and put a face to a young and innocent character who has never been spoken about,” said Prachi.

To get into the skin of the character, Prachi will soon meet Naureen and prepare for the role. “I had not followed Azharuddin’s cricket or political career until I was approached for the biopic. I have read the script and will be meeting Naureen soon,” she added.

Rumours are also rife that Kareena Kapoor will portray the role of Azharuddin’s second wife Sangeeta Bijlani in the film.

Prachi, however, has confirmed to a daily that no one has been finalised in the star cast apart from Emraan and her. But at the same time, she thinks that Kareena will do complete justice to the role. “Kareena would make a sizzling Bijli,” she told the daily. l

The Wolf of Wall Street most pirated film of 2014 n Entertainment Desk Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” has been named the most pirated film of 2014, closely followed by the Disney animated musical fantasy “Frozen” and the Oscar-winning space drama “Gravity.”

Scorsese’s black comedy, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an unscrupulous trader who makes a fortune via morally dubious “penny stock” boil-

er rooms, was downloaded 30.04m times, according to piracy tracking firm Excipio. “Frozen” and “Gravity” were just behind with 29.92m and 29.36m downloads respectively. Rounding out the top five were “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” with 27.63m downloads, and superhero sequel “Thor: The Dark World,” with 25.75m downloads.

Intriguingly, neither the year’s highest-grossing film worldwide, “Transformers: Age of Extinction,”

nor the US box office’s biggest movie, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” made the top 10 for illegal downloads. But the potential damage to critically acclaimed, awards-season-friendly fare from piracy was clear. Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning race drama “12 Years a Slave” was downloaded 23.65m times in seventh place, despite taking just $187m at the global box office, the second lowest figure for films placing in the top 10. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

BANGABANDHU SATELLITE

Orbit to be procured from Russian firm Showkat Kallol, Muhammad n Asif Zahidul Islam

The government is set to procure 119.1 East longitude orbital slot for around Tk219 crore from the Russian firm Intersputnik to launch the country’s first satellite - Bangabandhu Satellite 1.

Post and Telecommunication Division’s proposal to procure the orbital slot from the Russian firm will be placed today at a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

According to officials concerned, Bangladesh does not have any other options, except procuring the available slot from the Russian company.

Annually, a total of $14m goes out of the country as payments from private television channels for the use of foreign satellites, which is definitely having a negative impact on the country’s balance of payment, said an official.

According to the proposal, the government has no option if the country wants to launch its inaugural satellite by 2017, but to buy a slot from Intersputnik.

The validity of the proposed deal will remain effective until January 15, 2015.

Sources in the Post and Telecommunication Division said although a cost of $45m had been sought earlier, it has now been proposed at $28m.

In the first week of December, the cabinet committee on economic affairs approved the Post and Telecommunication Division’s proposal of procuring orbital slot facilities from a single source.

On November 25, Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved Tk2,967 crore for the Bangabandhu satellite project, of which Tk1,652 crore comes from foreign aid. The remaining amount will be raised through bidder funds.

The proposal says the satellite will minimise the digital divide as it will take broadcast and telecommunication services to the most rural areas and introduce profitable and promising services such as direct service to homes throughout the country.

The government has planned to launch the satellite in the middle of 2017 although the launching was supposed to take place at the end of 2014.l

Only a day after the deadly railway accident in the capital, a bunch of kids play cricket between tracks in the capital’s Tejgaon, apparently oblivious to the the possible hazards that a speeding train may inflict. The photo was taken yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Bodies, debris found, believed to be of AirAsia plane Pay commission for n AFP

The hunt for a missing AirAsia passenger plane appeared at an end Tuesday as wreckage and bodies were spotted at sea off Indonesia, prompting raw scenes of emotion from sobbing relatives of the 162 people aboard.

The Airbus A320-200 disappeared en route from Indonesia’s second largest city Surabaya to Singapore during a storm early Sunday.

All indications now are that it crashed in the Java Sea southwest of the island of Borneo, with debris including an exit door, a blue suitcase and bodies retrieved from the area.

An air force plane saw a “shadow” on the seabed believed to be that of the missing Flight QZ8501, National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told a news conference in Jakarta.

Relatives of the missing hugged each other and burst into tears in Surabaya as they watched footage of one body floating in the sea on a television feed of Soelistyo’s press conference.

Later Tuesday the search chief said just three bodies had been recovered so far, after another official said 40 had

been found.

Navy spokesman Manahan Simorangkir told AFP earlier that according to naval radio a warship had recovered more than 40 bodies from the sea. But he later said that report was a miscommunication by his staff.

‘I cannot bring him back to life’

AirAsia’s flamboyant chief executive Tony Fernandes expressed his grief over the first fatal incident to hit the region’s biggest budget airline.

“My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501,” Fernandes said on Twitter, before rushing to Surabaya.

Initial news of the debris dimmed the faint hopes of relatives.

“If that news is true, what can I do?

I cannot bring him back to life,” said Dwijanto, 60, whose son was on the plane along with five colleagues.

“My heart will be totally crushed if it’s true. I will lose a son,” he said.

Search chief Soelistyo said all efforts were now being concentrated on the location where the “shadow” and debris had been found, around 160 kilometres southwest of the town of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan on Borneo island.

The town has the nearest airstrip and is not far from the plane’s last known position.

President Joko Widodo praised the search teams and said three warships were heading to the location.

“Tomorrow there will be a massive search by the ships and helicopters,” he said after flying over the area and visiting Pangkalan Bun. “I would like to thank our close friends, the countries who have helped the search from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia,” he said.

“And for the families of the passengers and crew, I also feel the loss from this tragedy and we all pray for the families to be given fortitude and strength to face this tragedy,” he said at a brief appearance in Surabaya between meeting relatives.

Indonesian officials had already been preparing relatives for the worst, with Soelistyo saying Monday it was likely the plane was at “the bottom of the sea,” based on its estimated position.

The aircraft lost contact early on Sunday about 40 minutes after takeoff, after the crew requested a change of flight plan due to stormy weather, in

the third crisis for a Malaysian carrier this year.

In his last communication, the pilot said he wanted to avoid a menacing storm system. Then all contact was lost.

Before take-off the pilot had asked for permission to fly at a higher level to avoid the storm but his request was not approved due to heavy traffic on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia’s flight navigation service.

In his final communication, the pilot asked to alter his course and repeated his original request to ascend to avoid the bad weather.

“The pilot requested to air traffic controllers to deviate to the left side due to bad weather, which was immediately approved,” AirNav safety director Wisnu Darjono told AFP. “After a few seconds the pilot requested to ascend from 32,000 to 38,000 feet but could not be immediately approved as some planes were flying above it at that time,” he said.

That was the last communication.

“Two to three minutes later when the controller was going to give a clearance to a level of 34,000, the plane did not give any response,” Darjono said. l

scrapping time scale n Asif Showkat Kallol The National Pay and Services Commission (NPSC) has recommended cancelling “time scale” and “selection grade” systems under which government servants now get increment without promotion.

The NPSC placed the recommendation in a report that it submitted to the government proposing pay revision.

Seeking anonymity, a government official said: “If the time scale and selection grade systems are scrapped, we will face big monetary losses because getting promotion is not very easy.”

Those who are enjoying the benefits, should continue to get it, he said.

In government service, a promotion is generally accompanied by an increment.

However, apart from that, every year government employees get certain percentage of their basic pay as increments.

If time scale and selection grade are scrapped, government employees will not see growth unless they get promotions, which is often tediously tough to

‘Hollow tree Ebola’s ground zero’ ‘Rules violated in DU appointment’ n AFP, Paris

Insect-eating bats that inhabited a hollow tree in a remote village in Guinea may have been the source of the world’s biggest Ebola epidemic, scientists said on Tuesday.

More than 20,000 cases of Ebola, with at least 7,800 deaths, have been recorded by the World Health Organization (WHO) since a two-year-old boy died in the village of Meliandou in December 2013.

Reporting in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, scientists led by Fabian Leendertz at Berlin’s Robert Koch Institute delved into the circumstances surrounding this first fatality.

The finger of suspicion points at insectivorous free-tailed bats -- Mops condylurus in Latin -- that lived in a hollow tree 50 metres (yards) from the boy’s home, they said.

“The close proximity of a large colony of free-tailed bats... provided opportunity

for infection. Children regularly caught and played with bats in this tree,” the team said after an exhaustive four-week probe carried out in April.

The Ebola virus holes up in a natural haven, also called a reservoir, among wild animals which are not affected by it.

The virus can infect humans who come into contact with this source directly, or indirectly through contact with animals that have fallen sick from it.

Highly contagious, the virus is then passed among humans through contact with body fluids.

A known reservoir is the fruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi), a widespread tropical African species that in some countries is killed for food, offering a infection pathway to hunters and butchers of the mammal.

But the role of fruit bats in the current outbreak has never been confirmed, the scientists said.

In contrast, free-tailed bats, a cousin

A healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola is wheeled in a quarantine tent trolley onto a Hercules Transport plane at Glasgow airport on Tuesday AFP

species, have been found in lab tests to be able to carry the virus but not fall sick with it.

That, too, would make them a “reservoir,” but no evidence of this has ever been found in the wild.

The German team said evidence that this species helped unleash the present epidemic was strong but not 100 percent.

Local children not only played with the bats at the tree, they also hunted bats that roosted at village homes and grilled them for food, they found.

In addition, they saw no evidence of any local die-off among larger mammals, which would have been a secondary route of infection for humans.

On the other hand, no trace of Ebola virus was found in any of the bats the scientists captured and whose blood was analysed.

‘Rare’ virus When the researchers came to Meliandou, they found the bat colony had fled, for most of the tree had burned and only the stump and branches remained.

Traces of DNA found in surrounding ash and soil pointed to the previous presence of the insect-eating bats. But again, there was no presence of Ebola virus.

“The virus must be very rare in the reservoir,” Leendertz said in an email exchange with AFP. “That is also obvious when you think about how many tonnes of bat meat is consumed every year.

“If more bats carried the virus, we would see outbreaks all the time. That’s one of the challenges: the virus is rare and (in) a large multi-species reservoir.”

The possibility that this species of bat could be an Ebola vector is a worry, said Leendertz. l

n DU Correspondent

The Islamic Studies Department of Dhaka University has appointed six lecturers including a Chhatra League leader placed 19th in departmental exam.

Although first-class first students are always prioritised in DU recruitment, the regulation was violated here.

Fortunate candidate Chhatra League central Vice-President Imamul Haque Sarkar Titu superseded 18 others.

Several teachers said Inamul got the job by using political clout and maintaining good relation with DU Pro-VC Prof Nasreen Ahmed.

Department authorities put an advertisement in newspapers for two posts but it ended up recruiting six.

The other five are Rafikul Islam, Farzana Islam, Amir Hossain, Baki Billaha Masum and Jahidul Islam Sana. They got appointment letters yesterday.

Earlier, the recruitment body led by Pro-VC Nasreen approved the names.

The other members of the committee are Arts Faculty Dean Dr Aktaruzzaman, Islamic Department Chairperson Dr Abdur Rashid, department professors

Dr Abdul Malek and Abdul Baki.

Prof Rashid said: “We did not violate any regulations. Some candidates may have good results but they are not able to teach well. That is why we picked the efficient one who can perform better.”

Asked why recruit six instead of two, he said: “There are some teachers who are on leave. We need to fill up the posts.”

He, however, advised this reporter to ask higher authorities for further exoplanation.

Shirajum Monira who secured first position in both her bachelor and master courses said: “I was not chosen for reasons unknown.”

To apply for a lecturer, a candidate should have at least GPA 4.25 in SSC, HSC and 3.5 in both graduation and post graduation.

Pro-VC Nasreen said the committee was fair.

There is no hard and fast rule to recruit the first-class holders. They should have good teaching and other qualities, she said.

“In Islamic Studies Department we recommended those who have qualities.” l

JSC examinee commits suicide n CU correspondent A girl allegedly committed suicide after failing to pass in the Junior School Certificate (JSC) in Chittagong city’s Karnaphuli area yesterday.

The deceased Saima Akhtar, 13, daughter of Payer Ahmed of Board Bazar area, took some pesticide in her residence around 4pm, said Pankaj Baura,

assistant sub-inspector at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) Police Outpost.

In a critical condition, she was rushed to the CMCH where doctors declared her dead, he said.

Karnaphuli Police Station Officer– in-Charge Mohiuddin Ahmed said the girl was a student of Charlakkya High School of Karnaphuli. l

get in bureaucracy.

This will be particularly troublesome for those lower level posts, such as that of a police constable, that are not entitled to any promotion.

The NPSC also recommended that the government reduces the number of lower level employees to make the administration more operational.

The pay commission conducted three surveys among public servants to know the perception about time scale and selection grade.

The report observed that the existing systems of time scale and selection grade complicates the process of fixing salaries and leaves scope for corruption. The systems also hamper discipline and create discrimination among the cadre services and between gazetted and non-gazetted staff.

Saying India and Pakistan do not have any such systems, the NPSC says the systems are a barrier to the promotion of efficient employees; a senior official and his subordinate may get the same salaries under the systems. l

‘No New Year’s Eve festivities without police permission’ n Tribune Report Outgoing Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Benazir Ahmed said new year’s eve festivities at clubs are prohibited without permission.

“Besides, to ensure law and order during on 31st night, no gathering may be held by anyone at road intersections or on flyovers. No programme may be held in any open space,” Benazir said at a briefing.

“No one may use Kamal Ataturk Avenue [Banani] from 2am to 5am on January 1. The Gulshan, Baridhara and Banani traffic system will be modified on Wednesday night. Police will not allow anyone to enter Hatirjheel after 8pm,” Benazir said.

“Residents of neighbourhoods other than Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara are requested not to enter these areas after 8pm on Wednesday. Residents of these areas are asked to return home before 8pm,” he said.

The capital with be kept under camera surveillance and a large number of police personnel will be on duty at major points both in uniform and plainclothes.

This is the first time police officials will use body cameras. They will be inaugurated at Shahbagh today.

These cameras were used by US police last year and will now be used in Bangladesh, according to the police commissioner.

“All kinds of commercial bars will be closed after 6pm on Wednesday,” he said.

He asked revellers not to commit excesses or drive their cars recklessly.

Benazir asked city-dwellers not to use firecrackers. 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.

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B3 Russian economy suffers first major contraction since 2009

B4 Japan’s ruling parties

agree to cut corporate taxes

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Spillover effect of credit scam continues in 2014 NPL rises faster due to forgeries mainly in the state-run banks n Tribune Report Banks ended another year on a gloomy note as spillover effects of loan scams of previous years continued to hit 2014, resulting in piling up default loans, surplus liquidity and sluggish credit growth.

The scams of Hallmark and Bismillah Group, BASIC Bank and other stateowned banks, including Sonali Bank, rocked the financial sector in the previous years.

More than Tk9,000 crore was funneled out from the banking sector through loan forgery, pushing up the default loans at a faster rate in the outgoing year.

“Many industrial loans turned into default in 2014 because of stagnation in business expansion,” said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman.

Blaming scam-hit BASIC Bank for rising non-performing loans (NPLs), he said: “This bank was mostly responsible for taking the NPL rate to peak in the outgoing year.”

The amount of default loans rose by 43% to Tk17,400 crore in the first nine months of 2014 and, on the other hand, credit growth was up only 8% to Tk39,300 crore during the period.

The total default loan stood at Tk57,200 crore in September, 2014, which was Tk40,500 crore in December last year.

Despite efforts made by the central bank in bringing down the extent of default loans, the uptrend continued in the outgoing year too, said a bank official.

Considering political situation, Bangladesh Bank relaxed its loan reschedule policy in December 2013 aiming at reducing default loans. The large business groups took advantages of relaxed loan rescheduling policy despite becoming big defaulters.

The central bank’s decision to reschedule default loan, however, faced

Clients busy dealing with the bankers inside Sonali Bank’s head office in Dhaka. The state-run banks were heavily criticised during the outgoing year 2014 huge criticism from different corner as the relaxed policy was abused by some big business conglomerates.

Approximately Tk18,000 crore has been rescheduled under the relaxed policy from December 2013 to June, 2014. Of the total rescheduled amount, eight state-owned commercial and specialised banks accounted for more than 50% or Tk9,174 crore.

Fall in lending and deposit rates

were also the most discussed issues throughout 2014.

The average lending rate came down to 12.49% till October last from 13.39% in January, but it still did not come to the expected level. The average deposit rate also dropped to 7.4% from 8.4% during the same period.

“Export development funds and foreign loan inflow put pressure on banks to reduce lending rate,” said the governor.

The country’s foreign exchange reserve crossed $22.4bn mark in December last, which is the most success story of Bangladesh Bank.

The country’s foreign exchange reserve grew rapidly in 2014 backed by robust inflow of remittances and foreign loans.

Bangladesh Bank kept the currency exchange rate stable throughout the year by buying dollar in huge amount

Atiur: Default loan to be key challenge in 2015 n Jebun Nesa Alo

Ensuring political stability and default loan management will be the key challenges to banking sector next year, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman in an exclusive interview with the Dhaka Tribune just before welcoming the New Year 2015.

He apprehended the businessmen might resort to street protests during the year if transportation faces disruption due to political violence as he foreseen the possible emerging situation the banking and financial sector that passed through indiscipline, mainly on credit management.

The governor said in the departing year, business confidence was returning gradually while entrepreneurs were dispelling their fears of political uncertainty.

As a result, all economic indicators including credit disbursement, export, import and remittance got motion in the last two months, he said, adding that if political stability prevails next year, performance of the banking sector will improve.

The country’s business remained almost stagnant in 2013 in the wake of political unrest. As a result huge loan accounts turned default because of decline in cash flow in 2014, added Atiur.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman Focusing on rescheduling, he explained that the central bank relaxed the rescheduling policy to extend the installment period for businesses affected by political stalemate.

Many large groups rescheduled their loans, taking advantage of the relaxed policy, but failed to continue the installment payment.

The head of Bangladesh Bank advised that banks should concentrate more on nursing default loans regularised following the rescheduling prescription.

“We have provided flexible terms for businessmen in order to adjust their

RAJIB DHAR

business losses amid investment crisis.”

Drawing a reference to China, he said the country adjusts to a new situation providing flexibility in rules and regulations instead of closing down business during crisis.

“We are also trying to do exactly the same only to give a boost to the business through adjustment and flexibility.”

Despite stagnant business the country achieved 6.01% growth of GDP for business-friendly policy taken by the central Bank, he claimed.

Atiur hopes that the growth would hit over 6.5% in the fiscal year 2015.

BKB, ICB Islamic Bank, RAKUB and BASIC Bank are mainly accounted for high interest rate in the banking sector, he said.

Criticising the banks’ board of directors the central bank chief said banks will face challenge to ensure quality loan disbursement due to interference by board members.

“We have empowered the banks’ CEOs so they can raise their voice against the board irregularities.”

He stressed good governance of the banks so that the boards cannot force the management to provide loans for little known clients.

The BB chief admitted that lack of good governance is the main problem in the banking sector.

He suggested the new banks take lesson from existing default banks and avoid default status.

“We have allowed foreign loan inflow at an average of 5% interest rate which will put an impact on reducing local lending rate.”

A total of $5bn foreign loan entered the market from 2009 to till now. Bangladesh Bank has tightened its monitoring on the proper use of foreign loan.

Exporters got loans at 3% interest rate from the central bank’s export development fund which also put pressure on banks to reduce their lending rate. l

Bangladesh among top 10 in infected exports to EU n Asif Showkat Kallol Bangladesh has been placed seventh in the European Commission’s “Non-EU Trade Alert List” which was prepared on the basis of frequency of consignment interceptions by the EU member states for organisms harmful to plants.

During a 12-month period, the EU authorities intercepted a number of 112 Bangladeshi consignments carrying green chilli, korola, oranges, grapefruit lemons, spinach and spices. The European Commission published the report yesterday which considered the period from November 1, 2013 to 31 October, 2014.

The Commission has already sent a letter to the commerce min-

istry urging to take action against the local authorities concerned who approved those 112 consignments, Additional Commerce Secretary Showkat Ali Waris told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said they were now looking into the matter. Ghana topped the list among 43 countries with highest 296 consignments intercepted while Japan was at the bottom with only six consignments blocked for harmful organisms.

Meanwhile, the betel leaf cultivation monitoring committee of agriculture ministry started visiting betel leaf gardens to ensure harmful bacteria-free production.

The monitoring team will see cultivation process there and work out a long-term method

for producing safe betel leaf in a bid to satisfy EU authorities.

In July 2013, the EU countries banned Bangladeshi betel leaf after detection of Salmonella, a virus injurious to health.

The monitoring team will see cultivation process there and work out a long-term method for producing safe betel leaf in a bid to satisfy EU authorities.

Bangladesh’s export of fresh fruits and vegetable to the EU countries had hit snags in May last year if the authorities do not stop export of betel leaf infected with harmful Salmonella Bacterium.

Bangladesh may lose Tk15bn earnings if the EU imposes a ban on import of fresh fruits and vegetables, sources concerned said. l

RAJIB DHAR

from the market.

The local currency Taka was traded ranging from Tk77.7 to Tk77.9 against the greenback in the outgoing year.

The country’s political situation, however, remained stable most of the time throughout the outgoing year but demand for credit did not rise.

The average advance-deposit ratio in the banking sector remained in the range of 70% in 2014. l

BB eyes boosting investment confidence in 2015 n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank will take some measures to boost investment confidence in the coming year through establishing good governance and credit discipline in financial sector.

BB will also reform rules and regulations to assist good borrowers and punish bad clients, the central bank yesterday said in a statement on the economy of departing and incoming year.

Rise of default loans, surplus liquidity and financial irregularities in bank branches were embarrassing for the banking sector in 2014.

Those are the results of pro-longed political unrest in 2013, according to the statement.

Default loan started coming down, thanks to the timely policy of the central bank.

But banks have to build up culture of providing quality loan, it said.

The statement added that surplus liquidity in the banking sector is now downward. Call money rate rose 8.3% at the end of 2014 from 6% in August.

Import demand is expected to rise in the coming year as in and out flows of foreign currency in different banks are on the rise.

The central bank apprehended the risk of rising inflation due to wage hike and rise in demand.

GDP growth is expected to cross 6.5% in the fiscal year of 2015 if the demand created at the end of 2014 continues.

Import expenditure is suspected to rise by 12% in the fiscal year 2015 from $37bn in FY14. Remittance growth may also rise 10% from $14.2bn in 2014.

Now foreign reserves amount to $22.32bn, enough to cover seven months’ import. The recent composition of imports dominated by goods, machineries and other production inputs signals bolstering future economy, said the statement. l

2014: Challenging year for new banks n Jebun Nesa Alo The country’s new banks have identified a lower credit demand, excess liquidity and sluggish investment climate as major barriers to get business in the outgoing year 2014.

They have failed to do business in line with their expectation as the overall business situation was not in favorable for the newly established banks in the country. Nurul Amin, former President of Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), also the Managing Director of newly introduced Meghna Bank, shared his awful business experience with the Dhaka Tribune.

As the new banks started their journey from the middle of the year 2013, they have already crossed a full year by this time since the inception of their business.

The newly established nine banks are NRB Commercial Bank, South Bangla Agriculture Bank, Meghna Bank, Midland Bank, Farmers Bank, UNBL, NRB Bank, NRB Global Bank and Madhumati Bank.

The advance-deposit ratio of the nine banks rose to 71.79% in October in 2014, compared to 49.58% in December 2013, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

The deposit growth rose by 279% to Tk10,122 crore in October 2014 compared to the deposit of Tk2,669 crore in December 2013. During the same period, credit growth rose by 266% to Tk7,500 crore against Tk2,000 crore.

Nurul Amin said: “As all the new banks hit the market at a time while the country was going through a high-voltage political turmoil, these banks got little chance to do some business. Although, political situation became normal in the outgoing year, business confidence was not restored fully. That is why the outgoing year can be treated as a very challenging one for the new banks in creating new entrepreneurs.”

“Existing entrepreneurs are the key target of all the new banks instead of creating new entrepreneurs.”

He said, new banks faced very difficulties to lend because of lower credit demand in the overall market. Moreover, banking sector was awash with excess liquidity due to sluggish investment climate. Such situation fell adverse effect on new bank business.

“New banks still could not enter the international business due to not having credit celling of LC conformation.”

Meghna Bank CEO Nurul Amin

Existing entrepreneurs are the key target of all the new banks instead of creating new entrepreneurs The new banks have also faced huge challenges in case of opening new branches as Bangladesh Bank has made it mandatory for the banks to open one branch in rural area against one in urban area.

As a result, new banks had to go to rural area from the very beginning of their business, which also held back the bank in making profit as a whole.

Apart from that, pre-opening expense of the new banks are quite high due to the rise in house rent and utility bills. All these expenses were borne from these banks’ respective capital, not from their income.

New banks have also suffered a setback while expanding multi diversification business in credit cards, remittance arrangement and capital market operations.

“Confidence of general people to the new banks is also growing in slow pace as these banks got the permissions on high political consideration. These banks have failed to attract the people because of their political involvement,” he added.

Nurul Amin, however, suggested the new banks to come forward with innovative products to compete in the market. He stressed on retail banking including SMEs and agriculture to do good business.

“Though the new banks have collected deposit aggressively at the higher rate at the very beginning of their journey, the rate came down to a rational level at the end of the outgoing year.

Deposit growth of all banks excepting three banks rose rationally compared to the advance growth,’’ he opined. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks finish year on happy note

DSE key features December 30, 2014

n Tribune Report

Number of Contract

gained 145 points to 9,058.

The last trading day of the year observed buying interest in heavyweight stocks with banking stocks leading the way to rally 0.6%.

All other major sectors ended in positive region. Food and allied sector surged 2%, life insurance 1.6%, cement 1.6%, non-banking financial institutions 0.9%, and fuel 0.6%..

“It is purely institution-based rally,” said a dealer. But retailers still adopted “wait and see policy” due to growing political upheaval and adoption of new trading system.

The year-end portfolio re-balancing by investors caused increased activities, contributing to a 44% boost in turnover to Tk265 crore.

Prices of more than 70% issues closed higher as out 309 issues traded, 214 advanced, 57 declined and 38 remained unchanged.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the market got some breath as investors went long to equities with increased participation.

“Value hunters may have found the market to be a bit discounted.”

IDLC Investments said since the trading will remain halted today due to bank holiday, investors rushed to year-end portfolio re-balancing amid lucrative prices.

“As a result, participation increased.”

Mobil Jamuna Limited Bangladesh was the most traded companies with shares worth over Tk107 crore changing hands, followed by Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Grameenphone, Lafarge Surma Cement Limited, IDLC Investments, DESCO and Square Pharmaceuticals. l

Stocks finished the final session of the year on optimistic note yesterday spurred by mainly institutional buying binge.

After previous session’s marginal gain, the market remained buoyant from the beginning to the end of session as institutional investors put funds on stocks to re-balance their portfolios at the year end, analysts say.

The index has been trading throughout the year within the band of 4,200 and 5,000 points compared to the year high of 5,334 in October 12, 2014 The market will remain closed today due to bank holiday.

The benchmark index, DSEX, closed at 4,864, rising more than 50 points or 1% – a rally that was never seen in recent months. The index has been trading throughout the year within the band of 4,200 and 5,000 points compared to the year high of 5,334 in October 12, 2014.

The Shariah index, DSES, was down 13 points or 1.2% to 1,150. The comprising blue chips DS30 gained 22 points or 1.3% to 1,803.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX,

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)

Safko Spinning-A Northern Jute -Z Aziz PipesZ Shampur Sugar -Z Midas Financing-Z Shahjibazar Power-N Daffodil Computers -Z Fu-Wang Food A GeminiSeaFood-Z National Polymer -A

-8.85 -8.39 -5.96 -4.40 -4.12 -3.80 -3.76 -3.64 -3.01 -2.92

CSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

Safko Spinning-A Daffodil Computers -Z Samorita Hospital -A Rangpur Foundry -A IFIL Islamic M.F.1-A Midas Financing-Z Dutch Ban. Bnk- A Peoples Insur -A Fu-Wang Food A Shahjibazar Power-N

-8.17 -4.44 -3.70 -3.70 -3.64 -3.61 -3.41 -2.93 -2.83 -2.61

4864.96446

(+) 1.06%

1803.05840

(+) 1.26%

14954.42140

(+) 0.91%

12112.38770

(+) 1.01%

9067.47900

(+) 0.85%

Average (% Change) -7.85 -17.50 -6.44 -1.55 -2.30 -4.58 -4.04 -2.86 -3.28 -2.90 Average (% Change) -6.76 -4.17 -3.70 -3.72 -3.46 -3.91 -1.54 -2.49 -1.94 -0.45

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 28.31 275.00 20.47 8.89 16.56 203.68 12.82 24.13 209.51 66.36

ClosingAvg. 28.53 12.86 78.00 99.00 5.30 15.98 106.16 19.95 24.22 511.33

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 357.24 170.21 56.80 348.55 158.55 376.78 2.06 232.45 410.90 6.04 78.40 22.35 20.00 108.66 61.76 23.29 50.03 97.71 18.52 53.80 0.00

DHIGH

27.80 275.00 20.50 8.70 16.30 202.30 12.80 23.80 209.40 66.50

Closing

30.50 275.00 21.80 9.00 17.90 215.00 12.90 25.00 214.70 67.90

DHIGH

28.10 12.90 78.00 99.00 5.30 16.00 104.80 19.90 24.00 205.10

30.20 13.00 78.00 99.00 5.30 16.00 108.00 20.40 24.60 218.00

DSE GAINER

2,654.09

Turnover (Volume)

65,694,198 68,764

Traded Issues

309

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

223

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

79

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,610.86

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.65

CSE key features December 30, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

621.65

Turnover (Volume)

7,143,411

Number of Contract

10,531

Traded Issues

237

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

164

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

63

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,512.14

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.45

Turnover in Million

DLOW 27.40 275.00 20.00 8.20 16.00 195.00 12.70 23.50 205.00 64.10

26.007 0.000 0.253 0.008 0.959 13.433 0.867 20.630 0.260 5.595

Turnover in Million

DLOW 27.70 12.70 78.00 99.00 5.30 15.50 104.20 19.60 23.90 205.00

% change 13.46 6.41 2.14 13.13 5.97 14.20 0.08 8.76 15.48 2.95 0.84 0.75 4.09 2.33 0.88 1.88 3.68 0.70 2.03 0.00

Million Taka 24.31 7.17 3.59 17.64 6.55 28.77 24.69 243.39 8.58 11.01 8.19 2.52 10.57 1.58 0.37 1.27 226.24 5.69 10.92 0.05

CSE

% change 3.78 1.11 0.56 2.74 1.02 4.47 0.00 3.84 37.85 1.33 1.71 1.27 0.39 1.64 0.25 0.06 0.20 35.18 0.89 1.70 0.01

Latest EPS 1.24 1.00 -0.37 -52.72 -7.00 9.00 1.16 1.80 1.39 2.76

Latest EPS

0.466 0.009 0.078 0.010 0.005 0.032 0.541 0.009 0.566 1.299

Million Taka 381.54 177.38 60.39 366.19 165.10 405.55 2.06 257.14 654.29 14.63 89.41 30.54 22.52 119.23 63.34 23.66 51.30 323.94 24.22 64.72 0.05

Company

Closing (% Change)

Al-Haj Textile -A Desh Garments -B Prime Islami Life -A Eastern InsurA Berger Paints-A EXIM Bank 1 MF-A IFIL Islamic M.F.1-A FarEast Knitting -N 4th ICB M F-A S.B. 1st M. F.-A

10.00 7.19 7.01 6.15 6.14 6.06 5.56 5.43 5.26 5.26

CSE GAINER

1.24 1.16 2.32 3.23 1.52 -7.00 9.69 2.25 1.80 9.00

Latest PE 22.8 275.0 -ve -ve -ve 22.6 11.1 13.4 150.7 24.0

Company Prime Islami Life -A Janata Insur -A Mithun Knitting -A ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A National Tea -A NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A ACI Formulations-A BDCOM Online-A Berger Paints-A FarEast Knitting -N

9.91 8.97 8.92 8.00 7.47 7.14 6.81 6.56 6.14 5.86

Average (% Change) 9.92 8.99 8.94 8.00 7.48 5.63 5.24 7.85 6.14 5.59

ClosingAvg.

Closing

91.97 80.35 77.15 34.78 1,420.32 7.00 5.59 26.70 220.00 7.91

ClosingAvg.

93.50 82.00 79.40 34.50 1,425.10 7.00 5.70 27.20 220.00 8.00

Closing

71.00 16.98 70.81 8.10 680.50 6.00 126.46 25.97 1417.00 26.65

71.00 17.00 70.80 8.10 680.50 6.00 128.60 26.00 1417.00 27.10

DHIGH 93.50 83.00 81.00 34.90 1,426.60 7.00 5.70 27.40 220.00 8.10

DHIGH 71.00 17.10 71.00 8.10 680.50 6.00 129.00 26.00 1417.00 27.50

DLOW 85.20 77.10 71.00 32.80 1,351.00 7.00 5.40 25.60 220.00 7.60

DLOW 71.00 15.70 68.00 8.10 680.50 6.00 123.00 23.20 1417.00 25.70

Turnover in Million 11.388 3.320 9.364 2.524 14.706 0.000 0.957 10.779 0.132 4.267

Turnover in Million 0.006 0.013 0.167 0.004 0.001 0.001 1.589 0.210 0.021 2.530

Latest EPS 1.04 0.80 4.95 2.31 49.25 0.64 1.52 2.28 35.84 1.36

Latest EPS 4.95 0.37 3.40 1.20 -6.49 0.43 3.27 1.64 49.25 2.28

Latest PE 88.4 100.4 15.6 15.1 28.8 10.9 3.7 11.7 6.1 5.8

Latest PE 14.3 45.9 20.8 6.8 -ve 14.0 38.7 15.8 28.8 11.7

News, analysis and recent disclosures Holiday Notice: All concerned are hereby informed that DSE and CSE offices will remain closed on Wednesday, 31 December 2014 on the occasion of Yearly Bank Holiday. Therefore, there will be no trade tomorrow 31 December 2014.

BATBC: British American Tobacco Bangladesh Co. Ltd. has informed that it has dispatched the interim dividend warrants to the respective shareholders addresses on 18 December 2014.

Refund Warrants & Allotment Letters: C & A Textiles Ltd.: All concerned are hereby informed that the Refund Warrants & Allotment Letters of the shares of C & A Textiles Ltd. have been distributed as follows: 788,329 no. of application through online distribution, 639,442 no. of applications through Hand Delivery and 14,699 no. of applications through Courier Service. The undelivered Refund Warrants & Allotment Letters have been dispatched on 19 December 2014 through Bangla Courier Service Ltd., Vision Express Ltd., R.M. Courier, Top Express and Continent Express for delivery to the respective applicants.

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 05 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

ECABLES: 10% cash, AGM: 26.02.2015, Record Date: 05.01.2015.

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.

MPETROLEUM: 95% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 16.01.2015, Record date: 04.12.2014.

JAMUNAOIL: 90% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 07.02.2015, Record date: 11.12.2014.

KBPPWBIL: 10% stock, AGM: 29.12.2014, Record Date: 08.12.2014.

PRIMELIFE: 10% cash and 15% stock dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date:

20.11.2014.

PADMAOIL: 100% cash, AGM: 14.02.2015, Record date: 22.12.2014.

EASTRNLUB: 30% cash, AGM: 17.01.2015, Record Date: 25.11.2014.

SAMORITA: 20% cash and 10% stock dividend, AGM: 07.01.2015, Record Date: 19.11.2014.

POWERGRID: 10% cash, AGM: 17.01.2015, Record Date: 25.11.2014.

SPCL: 25% cash and 5% stock dividend, AGM: 29.01.2015, Record Date: 27.11.2014.

ANWARGALV: 7.50% cash dividend to the general shareholders, AGM: 12.01.2015, Record Date: 13.11.2014.

METROSPIN: 5% stock dividend, AGM: 30.12.2014, Record Date: 17.11.2014.

FINEFOODS: No dividend, Date, 28.12.14.

Record Date: 24.11.2014.

SAVAREFR: No dividend, AGM: 24.01.2015, Record Date: 23.12.2014.

FEKDIL: 5% cash and 15% stock, AGM: 29.11.2014, Record Date: 06.11.2014.

ZAHINTEX: 10% stock, AGM: 29.12.2014, Record Date: 05.11.2014.

STANCERAM: 10% cash dividend for the Public Shareholders only, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 05.11.2014.

DESCO: 5% cash & 10% stock, AGM 03.01.2015 Record Date: 13.11.2014.

23.0 11.1 33.6 30.7 3.5 -ve 11.0 8.9 13.5 56.8

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

Total

Closing (% Change)

Average (% Change) 10.43 5.43 7.15 6.95 6.09 6.06 2.01 4.34 5.26 4.49

Latest PE

Year-end portfolio re-balancing by investors caused increased activities, contributing to a 44% boost in turnover to Tk265 crore

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Turnover (Million Taka)

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

% change 11.57 5.38 1.83 11.11 5.01 12.30 0.06 7.80 19.84 0.44 2.71 0.93 0.68 3.62 1.92 0.72 1.56 9.82 0.73 1.96 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

Bengal Windsor-A MJL BD Ltd.-A Beximco Pharma -A Grameenphone-A LafargeS Cement-Z IDLC Finance -A BATBCL -A Keya Cosmetics -A Brac Bank -A DESCO Ltd. -A

Square Pharma -A Olympic Ind. -A SummitAlliancePort.-A ACI Limited- A Active Fine Chem.-A UCBL - A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Grameenphone-A Square Pharma -A MJL BD Ltd.-A LafargeS Cement-Z BEXIMCO Ltd. -A SummitAlliancePort.-A Active Fine Chem.-A WesternMarine -N One Bank -A SAIF Powertec-N

Beximco Pharma -A DESCO Ltd. -A The Peninsula CTG.-N Hamid Fabrics -N EXIM Bank-A

VolumeShares 2,195,178 858,179 1,802,204 254,289 660,440 1,085,710 24,596 2,773,393 1,711,235 712,793

Value in Million 123.29 107.65 106.57 91.61 81.16 80.22 65.17 64.45 63.47 49.64

% of TotalTurnover 4.65 4.06 4.02 3.45 3.06 3.02 2.46 2.43 2.39 1.87

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

189,694 195,920 525,385 111,961 566,455 1,413,557

623,882 872,923 73,561 70,288 196,269 78,598 67,890 82,791 279,587 67,577

62,538 52,164 125,755 78,851 231,716

48.79 44.36 43.86 43.20 41.35 41.04

224.55 223.49 9.23 8.65 7.15 6.52 4.89 4.37 4.37 4.22

3.71 3.66 3.38 2.91 2.54

1.84 1.67 1.65 1.63 1.56 1.55

36.33 36.16 1.49 1.40 1.16 1.06 0.79 0.71 0.71 0.68

0.60 0.59 0.55 0.47 0.41

ClosingP 59.40 125.60 58.70 361.90 123.00 74.70 2650.30 23.30 37.20 69.50

258.50 227.30 82.90 389.90 73.90 29.30

ClosingP

360.90 259.00 125.50 124.10 36.40 82.40 73.60 52.90 15.80 62.20

59.10 69.30 27.00 36.80 11.00

Change % 4.39 1.13 -0.51 1.51 1.74 0.67 2.20 -0.85 0.54 -0.71

1.06 0.80 -0.48 3.83 2.21 1.38

Change %

1.40 0.90 1.13 3.33 1.39 -0.60 1.80 1.54 2.60 -0.48

-0.17 -1.00 0.37 0.55 1.85

ClosingY 56.90 124.20 59.00 356.50 120.90 74.20 2593.20 23.50 37.00 70.00

255.80 225.50 83.30 375.50 72.30 28.90

ClosingY

355.90 256.70 124.10 120.10 35.90 82.90 72.30 52.10 15.40 62.50

59.20 70.00 26.90 36.60 10.80

DHIGH

DLOW

60.00 126.20 60.20 362.90 123.20 75.70 2660.00 23.80 37.40 71.10

55.00 123.60 58.30 355.00 121.50 72.00 2610.00 23.10 37.00 68.60

DHIGH

DLOW

363.00 260.00 126.30 124.80 36.60 83.90 74.50 53.20 15.80 63.10

355.10 254.20 124.20 121.00 36.00 81.20 71.50 52.20 15.50 61.40

260.00 230.00 84.20 391.50 74.20 29.50

60.00 71.00 27.10 37.40 11.20

255.30 224.70 82.20 375.00 71.40 27.60

58.80 68.40 26.50 36.70 10.80

AvgPrice 56.16 125.44 59.13 360.26 122.88 73.89 2649.78 23.24 37.09 69.65

257.22 226.43 83.48 385.88 73.00 29.03

AvgPrice

359.92 256.02 125.46 123.11 36.41 82.97 72.03 52.83 15.64 62.48

59.36 70.11 26.88 36.93 10.95

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Japan’s ruling parties agree to cut corporate taxes n AFP, Tokyo Japan’s ruling coalition agreed yesterday to cut the corporate tax rate, one of the world’s highest, as a key part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s bid to stoke growth.

Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and junior coalition partner Komeito adopted the new rate for the fiscal year starting in April. It will get official approval from the government in January.

The move would see Japan’s top corporate tax cut from 34.62% to 31.33% over the next two years, officials and media reports said.

The current rate is lower than in the United States, but higher than most other major economies.

Abe has vowed to cut the levy to under 30%, resulting in a tax rate ranging from 20% to 29% depending on geographic location, as his attempt to kickstart the world’s number three economy falters.

“We have to continue our efforts so that the effective tax rate can be cut further,” Takeshi Noda, the LDP’s tax policy chief, told reporters yesterday.

The premier’s two-year battle to reverse years of deflation and tepid growth appeared to be bearing fruit.

But an April sales tax increase - aimed at paying down Japan’s enormous national debt - slammed the brakes on growth and pushed the economy into recession during the third quarter.

Abe is facing calls to make good on the final tranche of his revival plan, dubbed “Abenomics”, which started in early 2013 with a huge government spending spree and an unprecedented monetary easing campaign by the Bank of Japan.

That gave the economy a shot in the arm and set off a stock market rally as exporters’ profitability grew on the back of a sharply weaker yen.

But Tokyo is facing increasing calls to push on with major reforms, including loosening the highly regulated labour market and opening the protected agricultural sector to more outside competition. l

B3 Brazil to miss 2014 fiscal targets n AFP, Brasilia After enduring a fourth year of low growth, Brazil will miss its fiscal target for 2014 by a wide margin, its central bank said Monday.

Last month, the world’s seventh largest economy’s public sector primary fiscal balance - a deficit of 8.1bn reais ($3.1bn) - was worse than forecast and the worst November on record.

Brazil’s accumulated January to November deficit hit 19.642bn reais ($7.55bn), with growth forecast barely to creep above zero this year.

President Dilma Rousseff, re-elected in October to a second term, promised last month to put all government spending “under a magnifying glass.”

Brazil had targeted a primary fiscal surplus for the year of 1.9% of GDP or some 91bn reais ($35bn) to reassure markets of its ability to service its debts. l

‘India’s GDP growth expected to be much better’ n Reuters, New Delhi

Japan's Prime Minister and the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Shinzo Abe, attends a news conference

CORPORATE NEWS

ECB may roll out heavy artillery against deflation n AFP, Frankfurt

Mercantile Bank Limited has recently opented its 100th branch at Sonaimuri in Noakhali.

The bank’s chairperson. Morshed Alam inaugurated the branch

REUTERS

The economy is expected to grow “much better” in 2015/16 as compared with the current financial year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said yesterday.

The Indian economy grew by 5.3% in the September quarter from a year earlier, and is expected to grow 5.5% in the current financial year that ends on March 31.

India has had two successive years of below 5% economic growth and is still recovering from its worst slowdown since the 1980s.

Rating agency Fitch Ratings Inc previously said, India’s GDP is expected to grow 6.5% in 2015-16, buoyed by strong investments and political certainty.

“The new government has started rolling out a number of policies, which may improve the efficiency of the bureaucracy and strengthen the investment climate,” Fitch said. l

After a breathless year of action and now a new political crisis in Greece, the European Central Bank may finally roll out its heavy artillery in 2015 in its battle against deflation, analysts said.

Bank watchers say new elections due in January in debt-mired Greece may prove unsettling for European partners but should remain manageable for the eurozone as a whole.

This will mean the ECB’s overriding challenge in the new year will continue to be to prevent the single currency area from sliding into deflation, a dangerous downward spiral of falling prices.

“I see a broad consensus around the table in the governing council that we need to do more,” ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said recently.

So far, the ECB has rolled out a wide range of measures to try and get eurozone inflation back up to the level of 2% that it regards as economically healthy.

It has cut its interest rates to new all-time lows, made unprecedented amounts of cheap loans available to banks via its LTRO and TLTRO programmes, and embarked on asset purchase programmes (ABSs and covered

bonds) to pump liquidity into the financial system.

But at 0.3%, area-wide inflation is still alarmingly low and could even fall further as a result of falling oil prices.

So the ECB is currently examining the possibility of so-called “quantitative easing” or “QE”.

This is the large-scale purchase of sovereign debt, a policy hitherto pursued by other central banks around the world to kick-start their moribund economies, but which the ECB has so far shied away from.

In Europe, critics of QE - not least the mighty German central bank or Bundesbank - see it as a licence to print money to get governments out of debt, which the ECB is strictly forbidden from doing under its statutes.

Nevertheless, most observers believe the question is not “if” but “when” such a programme will be on the cards, possibly as early as January 22 or the subsequent meeting on March 5.

Unanimity not needed

Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann is an outspoken opponent of QE, which he argues would take the ECB way out of its current legal remit.

In a newspaper interview at the weekend, Weidmann warned against seeing QE as a panacea for the eurozone’s ills.

“Disappointment is inevitable. And the real nature of the problems risks getting lost from sight,” he told the Sunday newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble agreed, arguing that “cheap money should not be allowed to dent the reform zeal in some countries. There is no alternative to structural reforms - if things are going to improve again.”

But ECB chief Mario Draghi insisted in December that “we don’t need unanimity” on the governing council and a programme of QE could be designed in such a way to win consensus.

Commerzbank economist Michael Schubert said Draghi and his supporters had their work cut out for them in convincing the governing council to support QE. Nevertheless, some analysts believe that while large-scale bond purchases may have worked for the United States and Britain, the different economic and legal set-up in the eurozone meant that QE would not be the cure-all that many

hope it will be.

“It is important to note that the sovereign bond purchase programme as a stand-alone is unlikely to have the dimensions of the US, British, or let alone Japanese programmes,” said Berenberg Bank economist Christian Schulz.

UniCredit economist Erik Nielsen warned that too much was being expected of the ECB, which has repeatedly taken on the role of firefighter in the long years of the eurozone crisis while politicians have been reluctant to push through tough but unpopular structural measures.

The new crisis in Greece, where a radical anti-austerity party looks set to win snap elections and possibly undo many economic reforms, would likely remain manageable for the eurozone as a whole, analysts said.

“Europe has built up its defences against contagion risks with the (European Stability Mechanism) support funds and the readiness of the ECB to do what it takes to keep all reform countries in the euro,” said Berenberg Bank economist Holger Schmieding.

“A tragedy for Greece would probably not turn into a systemic crisis for the eurozone as a whole,” he insisted. l

Euro loses more ground in Asia on Greece turmoil n AFP, Tokyo Orion Footwear Limited, a concern of Orion Group has recently unveiled its logo at a hotel in Dhaka. MD of Orion Group, Salman Obaidul Karim and CEO of Orion Footwear Limited, Md Ruhul Amin Molla were present at the inaugural ceremony

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited has recently opened its 144th and 145th branch at (Hemayetpur) Savar and (Zirabo) Ashulia in Dhaka. The bank’s deputy managing director, Md Sayedul Hasan inaugurated the branches

The euro struggled at around more than two-year lows against the dollar in Asia yesterday as a brewing Greek political crisis fuels fears for the wider eurozone.

In Tokyo, the euro slipped to $1.2139 from $1.2153 in New York. Earlier in the day, the single currency dropped as low as $1.2131, its lowest since July 2012.

It also fell to 146.19 yen from 146.65 yen, while the dollar weakened to 120.41 yen from 120.66 yen.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Monday called for a snap poll next month that could bring the anti-austerity Syriza party to power after parliament failed for a third time to elect a president, leaving the government in turmoil.

The election expected on January 25 is likely to further rattle global financial markets after Greece’s dire finances rattled the eurozone between 2010 and 2012.

The moves sparked concerns that the far-left Syriza could win and roll back tough austerity measures required under the country’s IMF-EU bailout, dealing another blow to an already weak eurozone economy. l

A Euro currency sign is seen in front of the European Central Bank (ECB)

Reuters

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Russian economy suffers first major contraction since 2009 The Economy Ministry said gross domestic product shrank 0.5% last month, the first drop since October 2009

mal capital controls and raised interest rates steeply.

The government issued orders to large state-controlled oil and gas exporters Gazprom and Rosneft to sell some of their dollar revenues to shore up the rouble.

Russians have kept a wary eye on the exchange rate since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Hyper-inflation wiped out their savings over several years in the early 1990s and the rouble collapsed again in 1998.

At 0944 GMT, the rouble was trading at 55.25 RUBUTSTN=MCX, much weaker than the 30-35 seen in the first

n Reuters, Moscow Russia’s economy shrank sharply in November and the rouble resumed its slide on Monday as Western sanctions and a slump in oil prices combined to inflict the first contraction in GDP since the global financial crisis.

The Economy Ministry said gross domestic product shrank 0.5% last month, the first drop since October 2009. With oil exports forming the backbone of the economy, analysts said the contraction is likely to worsen.

The slide on the oil market accelerated this month after the exporters’ group OPEC refused to cut output, and prices are down almost 50% from a peak in June. On top of this, the sanctions imposed over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis have deterred foreign investment and led to over $100bn flooding out of the Russian economy this year.

“With the current oil price we expect things to get worse. There is no cause for optimism,” said Dmitry Polevoy, chief economist for Russia and CIS at ING Bank in Moscow. “This is linked to sanctions first of all, oil and the panic we saw on the market in December.

The damage to the banking system and

'This is linked to sanctions first of all, oil and the panic we saw on the market in December. The damage to the banking system and consumer sentiment will take a long time to repair'

An employee counts Russian rouble banknotes at a small private shop selling home appliances in Krasnoyarsk consumer sentiment will take a long time to repair.”

The sanctions have severely reduced the ability of Russian companies to borrow abroad, triggering the worst currency crisis since Russia defaulted

‘Make in India’ drive lacks skilled labour n Reuters, Mumbai In a classroom of construction firm Larsen & Toubro’s training centre outside Mumbai, an instructor lifts up a tool and shows it to his students: “Clawhandle,” he tells them.

“Clawhandle,” chant back the young men, gathered under a picture of Vishwakarma, the Hindu god for craftsmen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is depending on such young people to realise his dream of turning India from a country of IT professionals, security guards and low-paid chauffeurs into a manufacturing and export powerhouse through his “Make in India” initiative. India has too few skilled labourers thanks to decades of neglect in training and it desperately needs electricians, bricklayers and plumbers.

The shortage means India could squan-

The lack of proper training is compounded by prejudice against manual labour under the Hindu caste system, which has traditionally left jobs that might get your hands dirty to the lowest of the low.

As a result, only one in 10 workers in India’s construction industry are skilled, according to government data.

The government has a goal to provide at least some skills to 500 million people by 2022. But private companies such as the Godrej Group are taking matters into their own hands, recruiting and training workers themselves to be ready with skilled labour when an economic recovery comes.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the country’s biggest construction company, says it could face a labour shortage next year, just

on its debt in 1998. The rouble, which had strengthened on Friday, slumped over 6% against the dollar in early trade on Monday in thin trade, although it later regained some of the losses.

Overall the rouble’s weakness will in-

evitably lead to higher inflation next year by pushing up the cost of imports, threatening President Vladimir Putin’s reputation for ensuring Russia’s prosperity.

Government ministries forecast the slump in oil prices will lead to a 4%

REUTERS

contraction of the economy next year and that inflation could exceed 10%.

The rouble had lost more than half of its value at one stage in December, although it has recovered since then after the government introduced infor-

half of the year but well up from an all-time low of around 80 per dollar in mid-December.

The falling rouble has prompted huge buying of foreign currency in Russia and heavy withdrawals of bank deposits, heaping pressure on a vulnerable banking sector whose access to Western capital markets is restricted by the sanctions.

On Friday, Russian authorities also significantly scaled up rescue funds for Trust Bank, saying they would provide up to $2.4bn in loans to bail out the mid-sized lender, the first bank to fall victim to the crisis. l

Gold inches up as equities ease, dollar strong n Reuters, Singapore

Gold ticked higher yesterday on weaker equities, but gains were limited as the dollar was perched at a near-nine-year high versus a basket of major currencies, undermining the metal’s appeal as a hedge.

Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,187.40 an ounce by 0329 GMT. Asian shares got off to a lacklustre start on Tuesday, as political uncertainty in Greece made investors less willing to take risks in the final trading days of 2014.

The dollar hovered near a 29-month high against the euro yesterday after a Greek vote triggered the dissolution of the country’s parliament, while the dollar index was close to its highest since April 2006.

“The decline in stocks is triggering some bids for gold but the bigger influence on prices is still the dollar,” said a precious metals trader in Singapore.

Trading volumes have been thin due to the Christmas and year-end holidays. Tuesday will be the last trading day of the year in Japan. Floor trading for CME Group’s precious metals

Gold bars are stacked at a safe deposit room of the ProAurum gold house in Munich futures and options products will be closed on Jan. 1.

Gold fell 1 percent on Monday, and gained nearly 2% in Friday’s session.

“The big moves in the last few sessions is probably because of the thin liquidity. Nothing fundamentally has changed in terms of dollar and interest rate outlook,” said the trader.

For the year, gold is down about 1.5%, hurt by a stronger dollar and expectations of an interest rate hike in the

United States. The recent plunge in oil prices have also hurt bullion’s appeal as a hedge against oil-led inflation.

Gold slumped 28% in 2013 as investor demand waned on the back of a robust US economy and better-yielding stocks.

Many analysts have forecast more declines in gold prices.

Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchangetraded fund, held near a six-year low,

REUTERS

reflecting bearish sentiment in the market. In the short term, investors are focussed on developments in Greece that could trigger safe-haven bids for bullion.

Greece heads to an early general election next month after parliament rejected Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s nominee for president on Monday, throwing the country into a new period of political turmoil just as it emerges from economic crisis. l

Toyota to miss China 2014 sales Brent drops towards five-year goal of over 1.1m vehicles low near $57 n Reuters, Beijing

Students tie iron bars at an outdoor classroom at the Larsen & Toubro (L&T) construction skills training institute in Panvel REUTERS der the potential demographic dividend of 12 million people joining the labour market a year, just when China’s workforce is expected to lose 6 million over the next decade because of its ageing population.

“India, so far, has been a country that celebrated knowledge and intellect.

Skills are not celebrated,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, president of Indian Staffing Federation, which represents the country’s employment agencies.

China became a manufacturing giant by steering secondary school students into formal skilled training programmes.

By contrast, in India, students who do not go on to tertiary education have few vocational options other than governmentrun Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) that executives say are poorly managed and often outdated. For example, the ITI syllabus for car mechanics includes considerable training on carburettors, which were widely phased out of cars in the 1990s.

The scant training available means that India only has 3.5 million workers undergoing skills courses a year, compared with 90 million in China, according to Indian government data.

when it plans to ramp up investment after two years of slow economic growth.

It has gone out to rural areas to find recruits and bring them to sprawling training centres - such as the one in the outskirts of Mumbai, where young men practice bricklaying and putting up scaffolding - from which up to 20,000 students graduate a year, many of them joining L&T. Yogesh Devdas Dudhpachari, 24, is one of L&T’s recruits.

An unskilled motorcycle mechanic, he attended an ITI to learn carpentry but ended up back at his village without a job before being taken on by L&T. “Skill and time is valued here,” he said during a break in his training. “We were not doing anything in our villages.”

Most young people eschew building and manufacturing jobs in favour of less physically strenuous work, despite data showing that wages for professions with acute shortages such as plumbers and electricians are higher than even low-level IT engineers.

At L&T’s training centre in Mumbai, 25% of people who joined this year have left the three-month training course. l

Toyota Motor Corp is likely to miss its 2014 objective of selling over 1.1 million vehicles in China because of a fasterthan-anticipated economic slowdown and resulting price war in the local auto market.

Toyota and its two Chinese joint ventures will miss the goal and will sell slightly more than 1 million vehicles in 2015, two company executives told Reuters. Researcher IHS Automotive puts sales at 1.09 million in 2014 and 1.15 million in 2015.

The shortcoming reveals continued difficulty for Japanese automakers in China even as diplomatic relations recover from a territorial spat that turned Chinese consumers against Japanese goods. Compounding matters is an increase in models from premium German brands priced within reach of mainstream Japanese cars.

“Toyota can resort to a fire sale and meet our sales targets, but our philosophy is to produce and sell as many as a market wants, not much more,” said one of the executives. “We try to stay away from price wars as much as we can.”

The Japanese automaker has unofficially aimed for 1 million vehicles in China since 2010, coming close with 917,500 vehicles in 2013.

But with economic growth nearing its slowest rate in 24 years, Toyota has had to revise sales plans gradually since the third quarter, said the executives, who were not authorized to speak with

media on the matter and so declined to be identified.

Projected 2014 sales for the automaker’s luxury brand Lexus, for example, are now roughly 75,000 cars from an original target of 85,000, they said. Toyota is scheduled to release full-year figures on Jan. 6. Another reason for slowerthan-planned sales at Toyota - as well as at compatriots Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Honda Motor Co Ltd - is competition from premium German brands such as BMW, said one of the Toyota executives.

Dealers of those brands have tried to meet planned growth rates by heavily discounting cars at the lower end of product line-ups, making prices comparable to non-premium Japanese cars.

For instance, BMW’s 3-Series starts at about 283,000 yuan while the most expensive version of Toyota’s Camry mid-sized sedan costs 275,000 yuan.

“When the BMW 3-Series is given a 10% or more discount, it really squeezes sales of the Camry and similarly priced cars in our line-up,” said one of the Toyota executives.

Toyota sold about 907,400 vehicles in China in January-November, up 12.2%, aided by several redesigned models including the high-volume Corolla compact, as well as the China launch of the Vios and Yaris subcompacts.

A relative dearth of redesigned models for 2015 will leave growth in the new year more or less on par with that of the overall market, the two executives said. IHS sees the market growing 7.1% to 24.9 million vehicles. l

n Reuters, Singapore Brent oil extended losses into a fourth session yesterday, with prices hovering close to a more than five-year low above $57 per barrel, as persistent worries about a global supply glut offset concerns about output disruptions in Libyan.

Forecasts for a 900,000-barrel draw in oil stocks last week in top consumer the United States, however, checked further losses. A draw would follow a rise to the highest recorded level for December in the week ended on Dec 19.

Brent for February delivery fell 25 cents to $57.63 as of 0528 GMT, after tumbling to $57.37 in the previous session, the lowest level since May 2009.

U.S. crude for February delivery fell 28 cents to $53.33 after it settled down $1.12 on Monday, when it hit an intraday low of $52.90 - also the lowest since May 2009.

“There’s no sign of any reduction of output by OPEC,” said Ken Hasegawa, commodity sales manager at Tokyo’s Newedge Japan.

DILBERT

He said Brent could drop to $55 a barrel and US crude to $50 a barrel early next year. Traders are now eyeing weekly US inventory data.

The industry group the American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its report later in the day, while the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration will release its data on Wednesday. “A potential surprise draw in US oil stocks would give a short-term fillip to the upside,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at Sydney’s CMC Markets.

Supply disruptions in Libya, which is producing 128,000 barrels per day from fields linked to the eastern port of Hariga after fighting halted operations at the key export ports Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, also supported oil prices.

“Libya is not a major producer but the disruption could be a trigger for a mini-rally,” McCarthy said.

Oil prices this year have been hammered by rising global supply and more recently by OPEC’s reluctance to cut output. Brent is heading for its biggest annual drop in dollar terms. l