16 Jan, 2015

Magh 3, 1421 Rabiul Awal 24, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 281

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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WEEKEND

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

LIGHT AT PLAY

‘COMMON PEOPLE WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY’

POSSESSION IS NINE-TENTHS OF THE LAW

HOSTS FACE STRONG MALAYSIA IN OPENER

BGB: Time to think if we should open fire to stop arsonists

Yet another arson victim dies at DMCH n Ashif Islam Shaon

Frontier guards to provide ‘a sense of security’ as long as needed n Ashif Islam Shaon Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has decided to use lethal force, if necessary, on miscreants carrying petrol bombs, in an attempt to prevent the number of arson victims from climbing any further as the countrywide blockade continues.

“BGB men will injure one person who possesses petrol bombs to save many who might suffer burn injuries once the attack is made. So, it will reduce the number of casualties,” BGB Director General Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed said yesterday.

‘The BGB will stay in the field for as long as the country needs them to provide the people with a sense of security’ “The BGB does not intend to kill people. The BGB has also not been ordered to do that. But if we see the killing of innocent people and if we are attacked, we will resist it to save lives.

BGB [personnel] can use their arms in self-defence, it is their right,” he told journalists after attending the newly-introduced quarterly meeting at the BGB Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka.

All the members of the force deployed to maintain law and order across the country are equipped with lethal weapons, the BGB chief added.

“You people say what should the BGB do when they see someone hurling petrol bombs. Should the men be

resisted? Now, it is time to think if we should open fire to stop these people.

“Our prime duty is to protect the country’s border. But our secondary work is to support the civil administration in protecting people’s lives and properties,” Maj Gen Aziz said.

At present, 85 BGB platoons – each with 30 members – are posted at different parts of the country, while 70 more platoons are ready to join them in tackling the ongoing violence.

The BGB chief’s comments came as blockade-related violence, especially petrol bomb attacks, have so far claimed the lives of at least 25 people since the BNP-led 20-party alliance began its programme on January 6.

Replying to a query, Maj Gen Aziz claimed that the current situation has improved, adding that BGB troops have so far been deployed in 17 of the 35 districts that had sought BGB deployment.

“We have been deploying BGB forces after examining the necessity. In some places, the BGB has been kept on standby,” he said.

Asked about how long the BGB personnel might remain deployed, the BGB DG said: “You should remember 2013. The BGB will stay in the field for as long as the country needs them to provide the people with a sense of security.”

On another note, he said from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, BGB personnel had helped the law enforcement agencies to provide security to over 35,000 vehicles on the highways.

He admitted that there were some incidents of hurling bombs near some patrolling teams, but claimed that nobody had been hurt. l

Sadia Begum breaks into tears after her son Abu Kalam died at the DMCH burn unit yesterday. The young man suffered extensive burns including severe damage to his respiratory system after falling victim to an arson attack on January 9 MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

BNP: BGB shooting orders illegal

14-party refuses talks with BNP-Jamaat

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

n Abu Hayat Mahmud

The BNP has expressed concern over a Border Guard Bangladesh decision to use firearms against protesters blasting petrol bombs, saying the order was “against the law.”

BGB chief Aziz Ahmed yesterday said BGB personnel have the right to defend their lives if they are attacked.

“If someone hurls a petrol bomb at people in front of me, I will not chase him with sticks. I will surely attack him to save five other lives,” he said.

The BNP leadership said the crisis in the country had intensified because the government, which it said had assumed office in a voter-less election, has repeatedly rejected holding inclusive and acceptable elections.

A BNP Standing Committee press statement said in the absence of democracy, the government was ruling the country in an authoritarian manner.

“They [the government] do not even recognise the political crisis but they have intensified it. Ruling party men

P2 BNP BRIEFS DIPLOMATS have described the crisis as a crisis of law and order and have been trying to control it using law enforcement agencies,” the statement said.

“They, from top to bottom, have started issuing threats. Apart from this, some over enthusiastic law enforcement officials have started issuing illegal orders and publicly making  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

The Awami League-led 14-party alliance yesterday refused to hold talks with the BNP-led 20-party alliance and announced that the country’s local administrations would help the 14-party alliance to form “Anti-Subversive Acts Committees” in every district.

The decision came at a meeting between the 14 parties’ central committees, held at the political office of AL President Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in the capital’s Dhanmondi neighbourhood yesterday evening.

Awami League Presidium Member and Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim chaired the meeting at which the central leaders of the alliance’s 14 parties were present.

The ruling alliance decision comes a day after the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union separately expressed deep shock at the loss of lives and injuries during recent protests and called for an immediate dialogue between the ruling AL and opposition BNP. “The BNP-Jamaat alliance is continuing to kill people in attacks using petrol bombs and setting fire to transportation vehicles all over the country in accordance with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s instructions.

“The Awami League-led 14-party alliance will not hold any dialogue with those who kill innocent people, especially women and children in the name of their movement,” Nasim said at  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

One killed during hartal

Law minister hints at ban on hartal n Tribune Report Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said the government would consider banning general strikes if the country’s people favoured such a move.

While defending BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s “confinement,” he hinted that the violent acts perpetrated by the BNPJamaat-led alliance during the hartal might be dealt with under the Anti-Terrorism Act, reports UNB. The minister came up with the remarks during a meet-the-reporters programme at the Dhaka Reporter’s Unity of the capital.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently warned that the government would deal violence with iron hands.

Terming the BNP a terrorist organisation, Anisul binned any scope of dialogue with the “terrorists.”

Saying that it was not possible to force the government for dialogue at gunpoint or by bombings, the minister said: “They are committing terrorist activities on one side and urging for dialogue on the other...they cannot do it simultaneously.”

Another arson victim succumbed to his injuries at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday after fighting death for six days.

Twenty-six year old Abul Kalam Hawlader from Agoiljhara of Barisal suffered 33% burns, a severely damaged respiratory system and face on Friday – the fourth day of the BNP-led alliance’s non-stop blockade.

The poor chauffeur was waiting inside a parked car on a roadside in Moghbazar in the capital, when a petrol bomb was thrown inside.

He was admitted to the DMCH Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit on the night of that day and shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) a couple of days later where he died yesterday.

At least 11 other people with no reported political affiliation have also been writhing in pain at the burn unit of DMCH who had suffered various degrees of burns during the last few days’ political violence.

Most of them are the sole bread earners in their poor or lower-middle class families. So far, a total of 22

n Tribune Report

In the wake of the BNP’s indefinite nationwide blockade programme, the railways struggle to stay on schedule, leaving commuters to wait on the platform for hours. The photo was taken from the Kamalapur Railway Station yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

A bus helper was burned to death in an attack early yesterday while blasts, arrests and arson attacks marked the general strike imposed by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Violence was mostly perpetrated in the districts while the capital city remained relatively calm.

Two crude bombs were blasted on the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court premises and some others in Panthapath and Bangshal, said Duty Officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence Md Ali. A truck and a car were set ablaze in Khilgaon around 4:40am. Another car was torched at Science Laboratory intersection.

Police caught three BNP men red-handed who were about to vandalise a car near Multiplan Centre at Elephant Road around 10am, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman.

The three - Dhaka College Chhatra Dal General Secretary Shafiqur, Assistant Science Affairs Secretary Habibur Rahman and activist Mizanur – were sentenced to three months in prison each, he said.

Executive Magistrate Nasrin Sultana sentenced them, added Masudur.

Chittagong

Twenty-three BNP and Jamaat activists, including Vice-president of the local Chhatra Dal unit Manjurul Islam Manju, were detained early yesterday for their alleged involvement in subversion.

No major violence was reported in the port city.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner SM Tanvir Arafat said Manju was detained from Sagarika area around 6am as he was accused in a number of cases filed over subversion and violence.

Public transport services were largely normal but there were not too many private cars on roads. Educational institutions remained closed.

Trains failed to keep schedules and no inter-district buses left the port city, raising the woes of passengers.

Police and BGB were placed on alert to avert any violence.

Officer-in-Charge of Bar Awlia highway police outpost Syed Zakir Hossain said some freight trucks and covered vans ran under police protection.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE 3 | News

The much-awaited agreement on leasing an orbital slot for the country’s first ever satellite has finally been signed between the government and a Russia-based company, injecting new hopes for the Bangabandhu 1 satellite project.

5 | News

Transport owners and workers have threatened to launch tough programme if attack on vehicles and workers continues in the name of blockade and hartal.

6 | Nation

Some locals in Munshiganj town are trying to fill a pond believed to be at least a hundred years old in defiance of an official order.

9 | World

Tens of thousands of people cheering Pope Francis as he began his first visit to Asia’s largest Catholic nation amid one of the biggest security operations in Philippine history.

15 | Entertainment

Black roses usually have a negative connotation because of their association with tragedy, death and grief. But they also symbolise new beginnings.

B1 | Business

Bangladesh’s apparel export to the US markets has declined by 5% due to inspection and image crises in the first half of the current fiscal year over the same period in 2013-14.

01_FR 02_Ne 16_BA

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, January 16, 2015

Now BNP briefs the diplomats n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Several foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka sat with some senior leaders of the BNP last night, a day after the European Union, the US and the UK expressed concerns over the ongoing violent political situation.

Nothing could be confirmed officially about the hour-long meeting as no one wished to speak to the media on record after the meeting.

The meeting, held at the Gulshan residence of BNP’s Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan, began around 7:30pm.

Two other Standing Committee members – Mahbubur Rahman and Rafiqul Islam Mia, and party chairperson’s Adviser Dr Mushfiqur Rahman were also present.

BNP sources said at the meeting the

leaders briefed the diplomats on the party’s stance regarding its agitation programmes, especially the “confinement” of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her office since January 3.

Pierre Mayaudon, the EU Head of Delegation, led the diplomats of Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, France and Canada in the meeting. The Canadian High Commissioner had a representative too.

On Wednesday, the EU head of delegation along with some diplomats met with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and expressed concern over the current political situation and called for genuine dialogue to strengthen democracy.

Expressing concern over the shrinking democratic space, they also condemned the “aggression” perpetrated against BNP chief’s Adviser Reaz Rahman as well as the horrific attack against

the passengers of a bus in Rangpur.

The US State Department and its embassy in Dhaka have also issued separate statements condemning the attack on Reaz Rahman and the ongoing violence. The US called on all parties to “exercise restraint and eschew violence and intimidation” while urged the government to ensure people can freely exercise their right to “peaceful political expression.”

On the other hand, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Gibson expressed deep sadness and concern at the attack on Reaz Rahman and continuing reports of violence.

“The UK continues to call for all parties to exercise restraint and moderation and respect the rule of law, and to come together in a dialogue to break the cycle of violence and disruption,” Gibson said in a statement. l

Pro-Awami League lawyers break the collapsible gate of Supreme Court Bar Association which was locked by the counsels of BNP to foil a farewell programme for outgoing chief justice Mozammel Hossain yesterday

BNP: BGB shooting orders illegal Pro-Awami League lawyers tear down SCBA building gate  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

politically biased speeches. This has worsened the situation,” said the press release. BNP leaders urged law enforcers to carry out their due duties.

Continue the blockade

BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday said the BNP alliance’s countrywide dawn to dusk hartal was a success and asked party leaders and activists to continue the countrywide blockade programme.

“We are congratulating the people of the country on making the 12-hour hartal successful and call upon them to con-

tinue the ongoing movement until victory is achieved,” he said in a press release.

The BNP-led 20-party alliance called a countrywide 24-hour hartal to protest the shooting of party leader Riaz Rahman but later limited the hartal to 12 hours. The hartal was called amid the countrywide blockade programme that the BNP has enforced since January 5.

The BNP leader accused the government of committing acts of violence across the country and said: “They [the government] are committing inhuman sabotage across the country and trying to blame us for it. The people of the country will never believe it.” l

Law minister hints at ban  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

He also questioned the necessity of a dialogue. “An agenda is needed for sitting in a dialogue; what is their agenda?”

The minister said discussion with the BNP would only be possible if they came up with a constructive discussion proposal. “They have to stop the terrorist activities in the first place.”

The BNP and its allies did not take part in the January 5 election last year as they had been demanding poll under a non-party interim government. The alliance observed series of hartals and violent demonstrations ahead and on the day of election across the country resulting in the deaths of a number of people.

On the other hand, the government has been firm on holding election under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after the 15th Amendment to the constitution of June 2011 when the provision of caretaker government system had been revoked.

Responding to a question on the BNP chairperson’s “confinement,” he said 500 people would have died had she not been restricted in her office on January 5.

Khaleda has apparently been confined at her Gulshan office since January 3 when additional police members had been deployed outside limiting her movement.

The prime minister recently claimed that Khaleda was staging drama in the name of “confinement.”

Warning against the violent acts during hartal and blockade, she said: “Do not try our patience. I am strictly telling

the BNP leader that nobody would be spared if they try to attack people again.

They will be dealt with iron hands...The government will do whatever is necessary to protect the people.”

Claiming that the government did not block Khaleda’s political activities, he said: “What the BNP is doing in the name of blockade is not political activity; rather, it is a terrorist act.

“BNP organised rallies all over the country in the past, we did not bar their activities. But at present, it is committing terrorism so that they are not allowed to arrange rallies.”

Speaking about BNP’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman’s return to the country, the law minister said the government was taking initiatives to bring him back to the country as he was a “fugitive” in the Zia orphanage and charitable trust cases and the August 21 grenade attack cases.

Khaleda’s elder son Tarique has been in London since September 11, 2008 on medical grounds after securing parole in various cases. He faces 14 charges, of which four are on trial and the rest are stayed.

On January 7, the High Court has banned publishing, broadcasting or reproducing speeches, statements of Tarique in print, electronic and social media as long he is absconding.

The move came after his continuous “derogatory” and “misleading” remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the prime minister and the history of Bangladesh’s Liberation War. l

One killed during hartal  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Bhola

Two autorickshaws were set ablaze and another four were vandalised during the strike in different areas of the district.

Strike supporters torched tyres at Ilisha road, Kheyaghat road and Ukilpara, and also marched through the areas.

Some crude bombs were blasted at Mahajan Patti and Barisal Dalan areas.

Police detained nine people in connection with the violence. No longhaul buses left the district and stores in markets mostly remained closed.

Chapainawabganj

Strike in the district was uneventful, except a march by Jamaat and Shibir activists in the morning.

They marched through Baraindara intersection, Nimtala and Baten Khan intersection before stopping at Shantimor area.

The marchers chanted slogans, torched tyres on Chapainawabganj-Sonamasjid highway and obstructed traffic.

Inter-district and long-haul buses did not run but rail services faced no disruptions. Most businesses remained closed in the town.

Gazipur

A young bus helper named Tofazzal Hossain burned to death in an arson

attack at Battala area in Kaliakair early yesterday.

The 17-year-old, who was sleeping in the bus when the attack was made, hailed from Sunamganj and was the son of Wahed Ali of Naprayantala village.

Officer-in-Charge of Kaliakair police station Rafiqul Islam said the body was sent to Gazipur Sadar Hospital.

Driver of the bus Selim Mia said he parked the bus around 2:30am and returned home, leaving Tofazzal inside the vehicle.

Khandaker Mofizur Rahman, owner of the bus and the president of Kaliakair upazila unit of Sramik League, claimed the attack had been made by strike supporters.

Besides, another bus was torched and several other vehicles were vandalised in different parts of the district.

Police detained eight BNP, Jamaat and Shibir activists on charges of attempted arson attacks and violence.

Three platoons of BGB were also deployed ahead of the second phase of Bishwa Ijtema which begins today.

Sub-Inspector of Bhogra police outpost Mobarak Hossain said strike supporters marched in Maleker Bari area around 7:30am and set a bus on fire there before fleeing quickly.

A Shibir activist named Ali Ajgar was held there and was sentenced to two

n Tribune Report Some Pro-Awami League lawyers tore down a collapsible gate of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) building yesterday.

The incident took place as they found the gate locked up after attending a farewell reception for outgoing Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain at the

courtroom 1 of the Appellate Division about 11am.

The ruling party lawyers blamed the BNP-Jamaat lawyers for locking up the gate and said the latter had committed it to foil the farewell programme.

The BNP-Jamaat lawyers however claimed that they did not know who had locked up the gate.

They boycotted the programme, ac-

cusing the outgoing chief justice of lots of irregularities, including politicisation, while heading the judiciary.

Awami League lawyer and former SCBA general secretary SM Rezaul Karim told reporters: “We asked security guards to open it but they could not.

Lawyers then started pushing and pulling the gate, causing its collapse.”

Replying to a reporters’ query, he said:

Yet another arson victim dies at DMCH  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

people have taken treatment at the DMCH burn unit. Since January 5, three victims of political violence including Kalam have died at the burn unit.

Masum, 15, a bus helper from Narsingdi, suffered burns when miscreants torched a parked vehicle on Wednesday night. He received 20% burns with his face and the upper part of his body taking most of the blow. He was sleeping inside the bus when it was set on fire.

Masum’s father is a rickshaw-puller.

Because all his siblings are sisters, he had to take over the responsibility of

earning bread for his family instead of going to school.

“His parents have been informed.

They are on their way to Dhaka to see their son,” said Masum’s uncle Malek Miah who lives in Dhaka.

Mohammad Selim, driver of a human haulier, got 36% burns on his face and upper torso when pickets torched his new vehicle at the capital’s Kamalapur area on Sunday.

He said he had borrowed a handsome amount from a bank only six months ago to buy the vehicle. Writhing in pain, he told this reporter: “I will not drive again.

Just save my life. What was my fault?”

Selim was admitted to the DMCH on Sunday. On that evening, four to five blockade supporters set fire to his vehicle while he was going to Motijheel from Mughda.

“I thought they were passengers. They signalled me to pull over and when I came close they hurled brick chips at my laguna [human haulier] and set in on fire.”

Selim was working extra hours that evening because he needed additional cash to pay for the bank loan installment.

His wife Hashi Begum has been attending him since. She left her two

14-party refuses dialogue with BNP-Jamaat a press conference after the meeting.

He said the BNP-Jamaat alliance was killing innocent people everyday just like in 1971 when Pakistani soldiers killed Bangalis, adding: “Khaleda Zia is the leader of militants and terrorists and she has directed them to kill innocent people to create anarchy.”

On the statements of the US, UK and EU, Mohammad Nasim repeated his position, concluding: “So, no dialogue or compromise with militancy organisations.”

Nasim urged State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, also present at the meeting, to extend his administrative support to the “Anti-Subversive Acts Committees” in order to resist “BNP-Jamaat terrorists.”

The state minister for home affairs said: “I will ask the deputy commissioners to form committees in every district with the help of members of the 14-party alliance. Law enforcers will help the committee members to prevent terrorism.”

The 14-party alliance announced

programmes to protest ongoing incidents of violence.

On January 17, they will stage a rally in Rangpur’s Mithapukur area to protest an arson attack on a passenger bus that claimed four lives and injured 15.

On January 18, the alliance will hold a protest rally in Gaibandha’s Polashbari area.

Nasim said several road marches at different important points of the capital would be staged on a regular basis to protest “terrorist activities” by BNP-Jamaat men. He added: “Enough is enough. The BNP-Jamaat alliance will not be allowed to commit any subversive activity in the country. We are determined to prevent them from doing so.”

Mohammad Nasim, who is also the spokesman for the 14-party alliance said the “Anti-Subversive Acts Committees” were being formed in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s call to the country’s people to help stop militants and terrorists.

“Awami League-led 14-party alliance ‘Anti-Subversive Acts Committees’ will

be set up in every ward and locality in the country to detain and hand over anybody involved in acts of violence or sabotage to law enforcement agencies,” Nasim said.

years in jail by a mobile court.

Officer-in-Charge of Tongi police station Kazi Ismail Hossain said strike supporters hurled stones at a BGB vehicle in Ershad Nagar area and marched in Tongi around 7am.

Officer-in-Charge of Jhalakati Sadar police station Shilmoni Chakma said the damage caused by the fire was not that big as the flame was doused soon.

But the attackers could not be captured, he added.

Habiganj

Joypurhat

Police detained three men - Saiful Islam, Rashedul and Bhutto - for their suspected involvement in violence and subversion.

Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Baraigram police station, said the Puthia-bound truck was carrying 312 sacks of cement when the attackers stopped it at Ahammedpur bridge area at 5am and set fire to it.

The driver, Ajay, also claimed the attackers took away Tk20,000 from him.

Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Singra police station, said, the tractor was owned by Masud, an Awami League activist living in Borochougram of Singra.

“The tractor kept near his residence was set ablaze at night. Neighbours rushed in and put out the fire. The loss was estimated to be around Tk4 lakh,” he added.

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Three people were injured in a crude bomb attack in front of the district council bungalow at noon.

The three had their faces burnt when strike supporters hurled bombs at a moving motorcycle.

Al Amin from Sundarpur village of Madhabpur upazila was among the victims and was hurriedly taken to Habiganj Modern Hospital.

Habiganj Assistant Superintendent of Police Sajjad Ibne Raihan said police were trying to nab the attackers.

A crude bomb was also blasted in front of Habiganj municipality.

Jhalakati

A truck was vandalised and set ablaze at Manpasha tempo stop on the eve of yesterday’s strike.

Around 10:20pm on Wednesday, strike supporters stopped the moving truck, vandalised it and hurled a Molotov cocktail before fleeing at once.

Locals soon put the fire out but none was hurt in the attack.

Two trucks and a car were set on fire at Dhulatar Clubghar area in the sadar upazila on the eve of yesterday’s strike.

One of the trucks was carrying coal while the other, which went to Rangpur to sell fish, was on its return journey. The Naogaon-bound car had passengers from Dhaka.

Some 45-50 strike supporters made the drivers stop by placing logs on the road. They also beat up the drivers, who then ran away.

Joypurhat Superintendent of Police Abu Kalam Siddiq said the vehicles had no police protection as none of the drivers requested it.

He said a case would be lodged.

Natore

A cement-laden truck and a tractor were torched at Baraigram and Singra upazilas in the district early yesterday.

The loss was estimated to be over Tk9 lakh in the incidents.

Two men were also injured in an attack and were sent to a local hospital.

‘Zero tolerance for BNP-Jamaat terrorism’

State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said the government would not show any tolerance to BNP-Jamaat activists involved in the blockade programme.

“Stern action will be taken against the criminals who are conducting subversive activities across the country. The government will show zero tolerance for BNP-Jamaat terrorism,” he said.

The junior minister made the statement while talking to journalists after a party meeting at the political office of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.

Kamal said: “The government has successfully been controlling the terrorist activities of the BNP-Jamaat alliance. We will take tougher action

Munshiganj

Ten Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal activists were injured in a clash with police at Metharpotti intersection on Wednesday evening.

Police detained Munshiganj Sadar upazila unit Chhatra Dal President Md Mohsin Mia from the scene while the injured were sent to a local clinic.

An altercation between police and Chhatra Dal activists, who were barred

“Outsiders might have locked up the building gate with political motivations.”

BNP lawyer and SCBA General Secretary Mahbub Uddin Khokon however said he was not aware of who had locked up the gate or who had broken it down.

“Actions be taken up based on investigations into the incidents. If any SCBA member was found involved in it, their membership would be cancelled.” l

school-going children at one of their relatives’ place. She said: “The pain does not let him sleep at night.”

Trucker Piar Ahmed, 55, received injuries when miscreants set his truck on fire in Comilla on Sunday. A year ago, he sent his son abroad by borrowing Tk2 lakh. His son came back empty handed. Since then, Piar had been putting in extra effort to earn more money to pay for his debt.

Partha Sankar Paul, resident medical officer of the burn unit, said none of the 11 people admitted to the burn unit was out of danger. l

against them if necessary.”

Asked why “Anti-Subversive Activities Committees” were necessary if the government was successfully controlling the situation, the junior minister said: “The committees will not directly prevent subversive activities. Committee members will provide necessary information to law enforcers. The law enforcement agencies will act on this information and capture the culprits.”

Political tensions between the Awami League-led government and the BNPled 20-party alliance have increased in January 2015 on the first anniversary of the January 5, 2014 parliamentary elections which the BNP boycotted.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been kept in confinement at her Gulshan party office since January 3. Her party announced a non-stop nationwide blockade on January 5.

The blockade has been marked by violence and sporadic clashes between the police and protesters, leaving several dead and many more injured. l

from marching in the area, triggered the clash.

Magura

A total of 30 BNP and Jamaat activists, including Shalikha upazila Chairman Mozaffar Hossain Tuku and Vice-chairman Ibrahim Hossain, were accused in an arson case yesterday.

Shalikha police station Officer-inCharge Biplob Kumar Nath filed the case in connection with setting fire to a bus at Arpara on Wednesday night.

Police also arrested two of the accused named Gulzar and Shukur.

Comilla

At least 20 people, including reporters and police, were injured in a violent clash at Kandirpar area in the morning.

RAB and BGB were deployed in the area in the wake of the clash.

Local BNP leaders claimed 10 of their activists received bullet injuries.

The clash broke out when Awami League activists chased BNP activists, who were standing in front of the local BNP office. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

District correspondent of Somoy TV Bahar Raihan said Awami League activists attacked him when he was taking pictures. He said the attackers also broke his camera. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Friday, January 16, 2015

BANGABANDHU SATELLITE

Orbital slot leasing deal signed n Tribune Report The much-awaited agreement on leasing an orbital slot for the country’s first ever satellite has finally been signed between the government and a Russia-based company, injecting new hopes for the Bangabandhu 1 satellite project.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) penned the deal yesterday with Intersputnik – an orbital slot leasing company – to lease the 119.2 east longitude orbital slot in space for the price of $28m (around Tk218.96 crore).

The telecom regulators are eyeing launch of the country’s first ever satellite into space by December 2017 ATM Monirul Alam, convener of Bangabandhu Satellite Implementation Committee, and Vadim E Belov, director general of Intersputnik, signed the agreement on behalf of the respective sides.

BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose, Vice-Chairman Ahsan Habib Khan, Intersputnik Commercial Director Timofey Abramov, Technical Director Grigory Baitsur and other officials were present at the deal-signing ceremony at BTRC headquarters in the capital.

Later at a press conference, BTRC chief Sunil said initially the lease agreement has been signed for 15 years; but as per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) guideline, there would be scope to extend the lease period to up to 30 years. There is also a possibility of taking over the orbital slot permanently, he added.

“We have completed one of the five

Muhith: Political tension will not continue for long n Tribune Report Finance Minister AMA Muhith said he was hopeful that the current instability in the country’s political arena will not remain for long.

He made the remark while speaking to journalists after a meeting with Pierre Mayaudon, head of the European Union Delegation in Bangladesh yesterday.

The EU delegation chief met the finance minister at the Secretariat to convey the EU’s deep concern over the current political situation in Bangladesh.

The finance minister said the government was also worried as the blockade enforced by the BNP and its allies entered the 10th day, affecting the nation’s economic activities.

He said he had never expected that BNP’s political programmes would continue for such a long period.

He also said BNP was a “stupid” party and that their activities were “hellish.” However, he hoped that the situation would improve in a week, but he did not elaborate why he thought so.

Asked how the Awami League-led government planned to overcome the current situation, the minister said: “It may have a plan, but I do not know about it.”

In reply to a question about a ban on hartal and blockade, he said: “It is a good proposal, and the business community will go to court for that if it is necessary.

“And we will support the business community,” he added. l

Four bombs recovered from DU n DU Correspondent Four crude bombs were recovered from Mokarrum Building of Dhaka University yesterday afternoon during the 12hour countrywide hartal called by BNP. The bombs were in an abandoned state from a toilet near the science library on the second floor of the building, said security guards of the building.

Shahbagh police OC Shirajul Islam said: “The students first noticed the bombs around 4pm and informed us about the matter.” The university proctor along with the police recovered the bombs from the spot, he added. “None has been arrested in this regard yet.”

DU acting proctor Amzad Ali said hartal supporters might have kept these bombs create anarchy inside the campus premises. l

major works [in the project] by securing the lease of the orbital slot for launching the Bangabandhu Satellite,” Sunil said.

About the manufacturing of the satellite, he said: “We will complete the tender floating process by late February and intend to give work order for manufacturing the satellite in the last quarter of the current year.”

Speaking on the occasion, Intersputnik DG Belov said they would do their best for Bangladesh so that the satellite project becomes successful and allows Bangladesh to join the elite club of satellite owners.

“We plan to hold seminar about the prospect of Bangladesh and satellite in Moscow and take other initiatives for it,” Belov added.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on September 16 last year approved the Bangabandhu Satellite Launching Project worth Tk2,967.95 crore.

Once the satellite is launched, it is expected to save the country around Tk110 crore to Tk120 crore annually in broadcasting expenditure.

The BTRC is eyeing to launch the country’s first satellite by December 2017. Although the government had six alternative offers – some even cheaper – for launching its first satellite, it stood firm on its decision to launch the satellite on a faster arrangement.

Under the project, two earth stations would be set up at Joydebpur in Gazipur and Betbunia in Rangamati.

American firm Space Partnership International (SPI) will help Bangladesh in launching the satellite.

Currently, 50 countries in the world have satellites of their own. India and Pakistan are the only countries in the subcontinent with satellites. Sri Lanka is also in the middle of a process for launching one of its own. l

A group of people said to be from the ruling party’s associate body Awami Ulema Leauge push a suspected Shibir man on to a police van yesterday near the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in the capital. Witnesses said Jamaat’s student body Islami Chhatra Shibir was holding a rally in the area where speakers made derogatory remarks on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. A procession of the Ulema League was passing the area at that time; when they heard the remarks, they caught a few Shibir men and handed them over to police MEHEDI HASAN

PM praises army’s role in upholding democracy Zahidul Islam from n Muhammad Rajbari

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the Bangladesh Army played a key role during the last national election in sustaining and upholding democracy.

She made the statement during a darbar, an open forum, of the army’s 55 Infantry Division at Baliakandi upazila in Rajbari district in the afternoon.

Before that, she witnessed a winter exercise titled “Assault River Training”

Warrant against former MP Milon in Election Commission case n Our Correspondent, Chandpur

A district court has issued arrest warrant against former BNP state minister ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon and eight other candidates of the ninth national election from Chandpur in a case filed for not submitting documents of poll expenditure.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashim Kumar Dey framed the charges and issued the arrest warrants yesterday afternoon.

Then polling officer of Chandpur district Mesbaul Hoque filed the case against Milon and eight others on July 28, 2009.

Defence lawyers filed adjournment petitions to delay the indictment order as eight out of the nine accused did not appear before the court yesterday.

Earlier, Milon’s lawyer Mainul Islam Khan filed a time petition mentioning

that his client had gone to Saudi Arabia on December 22 to perform Omrah.

Milon’s personal secretary too was not sure when Milon would return.

However, the court rejected the petitions and issued the arrest warrants.

Milon is accused in 31 cases filed with different courts and police stations in Chandpur. He was arrested on March 14, 2010 and released from jail in June the following year.

The eight other candidates are Abdul Haque of Bangladesh Islami Front, Abu Bakar Siddique of Gonoforum, Md Billal Hossain of LDP, Md Mizanur Rahman of Tariqat Federation, Matiul Islam of Bangladesh Islami Front, Squadron Leader Hafiz Masud of Gonoforum, Mohammad Hossain of Khelafat Majlish and Selim Akbar of Gonoforum.

Of them, only Akbar was present at the court yesterday. l

of the division that ended yesterday. It started on December 21 under the leadership of General Officer Commanding SM Matiur Rahman.

For the first time, the army used a highly sophisticated drone to locate enemy targets during the exercise.

The premier, who also holds the defense portfolio, witnessed the high sounding mortar, artillery shells and blasts.

“The efficient and neutral role of the army during the last election has helped maintain democracy...The army

Barisal-Patuakhali for modernising the the army and developing a skilled workforce in line with the Army’s Goal 2030.

She added that the two infantry divisions have already been set up in Sylhet and Cox’s Bazaar and a composite brigade has also been set up on the banks of Padma River for the construction and ensuring security of the Padma bridge.

“Earning people’s confidence is very important,” she told the army personnel. l

Khaleda’s graft cases: Now no confidence against new judge n Ashif Islam Shaon The lawyers representing Khaleda Zia have filed a no-confidence plea against the newly appointed judge in two graft cases, after his court yesterday rejected a request for adjourning witness deposition hearing in the Zia Orphanage Trust and the Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases.

The BNP chairperson’s counsels pleaded for a time extension as Khaleda could not appear during the witness deposition, but Dhaka’s Third Metropolitan Special Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar disallowed the petition.

In protest, the lawyers created a chaotic situation inside the makeshift court at the Alia Madrasa grounds in the capital’s Bakshibazar. Later, the counsels filed a written complaint showing no confidence in the judge, who then instructed Khaleda’s lawyers to place their concerns before the High

NHRC Chairman Mizanur urges politicians to stop violence n Ashif Islam Shaon National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Mizanur Rahman yesterday urged the politicians of the country not to ruin general people’s lives in the name of politics.

“No one has ever succeeded by declaring war against the people. I beg you (politicians), please do not ruin our future,” Mizanur pleaded while speaking to reporters after emerging from the DMCH burn unit yesterday noon.

“Its impossible to be normal after what I have seen,” he said.

The NHRC chief urged politicians to restrain their supporters from unleashing violence after visiting victims of arson during the BNP-led alliance’s countrywide indefinite blockade from Jan 5.

According to the DMCH authorities since the blockade 22 people have been admitted to this hospital with burn injury while the media reported at least 12 people died.

At least 400 vehicles have been set on fire across the country.

“There can be dialogues among the politicians having different views. But politics should not be violent. Nobody will accept crime, violence, burning

has the ability to thwart any evil force that comes in the way of Bangladesh’s sovereignty,” she said.

The PM said the well-trained members of the Bangladesh Army has been contributing significantly in maintaining peace not only in the country but also around the world.

She said her government is committed to build “Digital Bangladesh” and the army has a key role to play in this journey.

The PM announced building two more cantonments in Rajbari and

Court and come up with an order on this regard.

Judge Jamadar, however, granted a separate plea by the defence counsels and exempted Khaleda from appearing in person before the court.

Khaleda’s lawyers said the court had granted their initial time petition which was filed as Khaleda could not appear before the court because of security concerns during the BNP-led alliance’s hartal. Later, they filed another petition seeking adjournment of the recording of deposition. Being denied, they filed another reconsideration petition which was also rejected, prompting the lawyers to declare no confidence on the judge.

On December 18 last year, Judge Basudev Roy – who was previously the judge for these cases – was transferred apparently in the face of Khaleda’s repeated request to the High Court expressing “no confidence” to him.

The government, however, said it was a “routine work.” Later, Judge Abu Ahmed took office on December 22.

Meanwhile, after taking partial deposition yesterday of the plaintiff – ACC Deputy Director Harun Ur Rashid – the court set January 29 for the next hearing on the two graft cases.

On August 8, 2011, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case with Tejgaon police station against four people – Khaleda, her former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, his assistant personal secretary Ziaul Islam Munna and Manirul Islam Khan, and former personal secretary of BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka – on charges of abusing power to collect funds from unknown sources.

The investigation officer of the case pressed charges against the accused on January 16, 2012. Of them, Harris has been staying abroad since 2007 while Ziaul and Monirul are now on bail. l

CID gets new chief n Tribune Report

The government yesterday appointed Additional Inspector General of Police (Addl IG) Sheikh Himayet Hossain as chief of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday.

Addl IG Mosharraf Hossain, who was leading the investigation agency, has been attached to the Police Headquarters.

Changes were also made to 18 other key positions, according to a home ministry circular.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mallick Fakhrul Islam was made chief of the country’s highway police. Additional DIG Mohammad Ali Miah, who was posted at the Special Branch, would head its Rajshahi range.

Addl IG SM Ruhul Amin, who recently returned from a UN peacekeeping mission, would helm the railway police’s Dhaka range.

Inspector general of police, chiefs of the Dhaka city police and the Rapid Action Battalion were newly appointed just two weeks ago. l

Tourism may lose Tk100 crore because of blockade n Tribune Report National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman at a press briefing after emerging from the DMCH burn unit yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU people in the name of politics,” he said.

He also condemned the attack on BNP chief’s adviser Reaz Rahman.

“Many have gone to the hospital to see Reaz Rahman and issued statements protesting the attack. But how many people have come to see general people here like rickshaw pullers, van puller, female teachers or students at

the burn unit of DMCH?” It’s the government who needs to ensure free expression of opinions and end obstructions to hold peaceful rallies and meetings.

It’s the state’s responsibility to ensure security for all its citizens. But it’s hard to stop covert attacks completely, he observed. l

The Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (Toab) leaders yesterday demanded that the tourism sector be kept out of the purview of hartal and blockade.

Toab director Taufik Rahman placed a three-point demand at a press conference held at the office of Bangladesh Tourism Board in Paltan, reports UNB. The demands are: keeping vehicles carrying tourists out of the purview of all sorts of political programmes; ensuring adequate security to foreign tour-

ists; and providing financial compensation to tour operators and hotel owners affected by hartal and blockade.

Taufik said: “The tourism sector will incur a loss of Tk80-100 crore in the next three months, if the sector is not kept out safe from strikes and blockades.”

He said the period from December to February is the peak tourism season.

But many foreign tourists have already cancelled their tours to Bangladesh because of the ongoing indefinite countrywide blockade enforced by the BNPled alliance. l

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No headway into CU freshman Taposh murder n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong Police are yet to make any headway in the investigation into the murder of Chittagong University student Taposh Sarkar although it has been more than a month.

Prime accused Ashrafuzzaman Asha, a former leader of the ruling party’s student front Chhatra League who allegedly shot Taposh, is still at large.

Moreover, the five-member probe committee that the university authorities have formed after the incident has sought more time; they have been recently granted 15 more working days.

On December 14, Sangskrit department freshman Taposh Sarkar, a supporter of a faction of Chhatra League, was shot dead by a rival group of the same organisation, at the Shah Amanat dormitory.

On the Martyred Intellectual Day, the two factions of Chhatra League locked into a clash on the campus; both factions wanted to be the first to place wreaths from their dormitory.

Following the clash, police raided the Chhatra League dominated dormitory and recovered a light gun, four rounds of pistol bullets, sharp weapons and arrested 30 supporters of the student organisation.

A day after Taposh was killed, po-

lice filed an arms case with the Hathazari police station mentioning the names of five Chhatra League men. The next day, Taposh’s classmate Hafizul Islam filed a murder case accusing 30 Chhatra League leaders and activists including Asha.

When contacted, Habibur Rahman, SI of Hathazari police station and investigation officer of the case, said they had already arrested eight Chhatra League men; but main accused Asha fled.

According to the postmortem report, Taposh died of excessive internal bleeding after a bullet hit him on the right chest.

SI Habibur said they were still waiting for a forensic report from Dhaka to know the kind of bullet it was.

Prof Tawhid Osman, head of the university probe committee, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had sought more time as most witnesses were not available on the campus.

Taposh’s elder brother Ashish Sarkar told the Dhaka Tribune: “One bullet shattered our dreams. My family is now passing days in extreme sadness because of the loss. We have no idea about the developments in the murder case...We demand capital punishment for the killers. That is possible only if the authorities concerned want it.” l

Six policemen injured in highway accident n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

The Jatrabari Bus Terminal in the capital remains loaded as no bus left Dhaka yesterday during the BNP enforced general strike MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Chhatra Union demands a stop to PSC exam n DU Correspondent

Bangladesh Chhatra Union, a left-leaning political organisation, yesterday demanded a stop to Primary School Certificate (PSC) exams claiming it as anti-pedagogy.

The organisation also announced that they would stage various programmes including mass gatherings, signing programmes, round table meetings and submission of memorandum against

World Vision promotes sustainable development goals n Tribune Report

Protesting the recent general strikes enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance, Dhaka Road Transport Workers’ Union brings out a rally in front of the National Press Club yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Obituary Freedom fighter and former senior principal officer of Janata Bank Abdun Nayeem Tuku died at a city hospital on Tuesday. He was 65.

He was suffering from lung cancer. Abdun Nayeem Tuku was a sub-commander of Sector 2 in Munshiganj during the Liberation War. He was buried with national honours at his family graveyard in Munshiganj. l

Non-governmental development organisation World Vision has launched the Action 2015 campaign in Bangladesh, aiming to implement the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As part of the campaign, an appeal will be put forward to the Bangladesh government to introduce tangible goals for children and the youth that are laid out in the SDGs. World Vision has seven partners in this campaign: Care Bangladesh, Save the Children, Step towards Development, Brit, SERAC Bangladesh and Help Age Bangladesh.

A discussion has been going on between top global leaders about setting up the SDGs after ensuring post millennium goals.

Nearly 1,000 organisations in 47 countries have come forward to launching this campaign nationally and internationally to eradicate poverty and inequality and to stop manmade rapid climate change.

The Action 2015 campaign’s activities include bicycle processions, human chains, uploading of selfie with messages on social media. l

Liberation War era ammo found n Our Correspondent, Jamalpur Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members yesterday recovered 3,740 bullets believed to have buried during the 1971 Liberation War in Pathorer Char area in Dewanganj upazila.

Workers dug out the bullets in a sack around noon while they were working in the homestead of one Abdullah Al-Mamun who informed local BGB.

A human haulier carrying police personnel was hit by a modified local human haulier on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Highway near Lohagara upazila of the district yesterday morning.

Six policemen were injured in the incident including an assistant sub-inspector of police, police sources said.

Officer-in-Charge Md Shahjahan of Lohagara police station said a modified SUV locally known as Chander Gari hit the human haulier on the highway near Adhunagar area of the upazila around 10:30am.

Among the six injured, two constables were in critical condition, he said.

He said the injured were taken to the Upazila Health Complex from where two constables Md Sarif and Oching Marma were sent to CMCH. Police seized the vehicle but the driver managed to flee after the incident, he added. l

When contacted, Jamalpur 35 BGB Battalion Commanding Officer Lt Col Ahmad Tarique acknowledged the recovery, saying the acronym POF, known as Pakistan Ordnance Factory, was carved on the time-worn bullets.

The ammunition might had been buried during the Liberation War, Tarique went on.

The bullets were later handed over to Dewanganj police station. l

Ex-bureaucrat Faizur Razzaque dies n Tribune Report Former bureaucrat M Faizur Razzaque died yesterday afternoon.

During his 34-year career in civil service, he worked in various capacities, including as the managing director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, director general of Department of Industries, chairman of Bscic, DG of Bangladesh Television, chairman of BPDB, secretary of the Power Ministry and secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat.

The last position he held before retiring from govern-

ment service was the alternate executive director of the Asian Development Bank.

After his retirement from the public service, he took over as the MD of the Grameen Fund in 2002. In 2008, he was made chairman of the Local Government Commission. l

PSC exam system. Chhatra Union raised the demands while addressing a press conference in Dhaka University’s Madhur Canteen around 12pm.

Chhatra Union Secretary General Lucky Akhtar said PSC exams were hampering the natural educational growth of children as it stresses them mentally. “PSC exams create a sense of fear regarding studies among children and also increases the business of private tuition alarmingly.”

In the meeting, Chhatra Union President Hasan Tareq announced to hold a mass gathering and collect mass signatures of teachers students and guardians across the country from January 16 in protest of the question leak and to stop the PSC examinations.

Besides, they will hold a demonstration programme across the country and arrange a roundtable discussion at DRU on January 28 to press home their demands. Speakers at the meeting said

they will submit a memorandum to the Education Ministry on February 1 on the issue.

Chhatra Union also urged all political parties to come in an accord to stop the ongoing political unrest that is hampering the day to day activities of people.

Vice-President Abu Tareq Sohel, Organising Secretary GM Gilani Shuvo and DU unit President of the organisation Liton Nondi were present at the press conference, among others. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, January 16, 2015

5

Owners to launch counter-attack if vehicles vandalised n Shohel Mamun Transport owners and workers have threatened to launch tough programme if attack on vehicles and workers continues in the name of blockade and hartal.

The threat was issued from a rally of Bangaldesh Sarak Paribahan Malik-Sramik Oikkyo Parishad in front of the national press club yesterday.

However, they did not clarify what will be the “tough programme”.

General Secretary of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation Osman Ali said: “We will immediately sit with our 250 workers’ unions and 64 district transport owners associations leaders across the country if the situation does not improve.”

“We have strength enough to face blockades but we want to solve the political problem through discussion,” Osman Ali who is member secretary of Oikkya Parishad said.

Convener of Bangaldesh Sarak Paribahan Malik-Sramik Oikkyo Parishad Khandaker Enyet Ullah said: “A total of 14 transport workers were killed

and around 90 were injured in attacks by miscreants since BNP-led 20 party alliance blockade was enforced on January 4.”

He threatened that they would not tolerate such vandalism any longer.

Besides, around 70 vehicles were torched and around 350 vehicles were vandalised during this time, he said adding that the transport sector has to incur a loss of around Tk300 crore daily due to the blockade.

“If such chaotic situation continues, we will be compelled to launch tough programme immediately,” Enayet warned.

The association’s member secretary Osmal Ali said the transport sector became the main target of all political violence despite its significant contribution to the country’s economic growth.

Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners’ Association President Faruk Talukder Sohel, Bangladesh Truck Covered Van Owners Association General Secretary Rustam Ali Khan, Bangladesh Sark Paribahan Samity Vice-President Abul Kalam, among others, attended the function. l

Traders living by the Padma River bring cow’s milk to sell at a market on the Mawa ferry ghat yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Several places hubs of Civic life normal amid BNP-enforced drug trade in Sylhet city hartal in Chittagong

Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive to be completed by next fiscal year n Tribune Report n Our Correspondent, Sylhet Minister for Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader yesterday said the construction work of Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive Road would be completed by the next fiscal.

“Construction work of 58 kilometres roadway has already been completed and the work of the rest 26 kilometers roadway is going on full-swing,” he said this while inaugurating the Monkhali Bridge on Cox’s Bazar Marine Drive Road at Ukhiya point in the afternoon.

Engineer corps of Bangladesh Army built the bridge at a cost of Tk22 crore.

Besides, Quader said works are going on for making a planned tourism area by using hilly area of Cox’s Bazar.

He said that the government has a plan for building a connecting road and the work is expected to start in the current fiscal.

“The opening of the marine drive would usher in a new era of tourism in Bangladesh,” the minister said. “The 88-km marine drive roadway would completely be a rare facility in the world that Bangladesh would offer to tourists” he said.

Saimum Sarwar Kamal, MP, Abdur Rahman Bodi, MP, Army Engineer Core Chief Brigadier General Abdul Wahab and Deputy Commissioner of the district M Ruhul Amin were present. l

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:32PM SUN RISES 6:44AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 28 26 26 26 26 27 28 25

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

16 17 13 12 12 16 16 19

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

30.0ºC Teknaf

9.3ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Jumma Asr Magrib Esha

5:24am 6:42am 12:08am 3:57pm 5:33pm 6:52pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Narcotics traders have allegedly found several places, like the railway station, Kean bridge, Laldigi new hawkers’ market and Jalalabad park, Kodomtoli and Surma market, as safe haven for their business in Sylhet city.

City dwellers said lack of adequate legal action had paved the way for such a situation.

They said yaba tablets, heroin, ganja and phensidyl were sold openly at these places openly soon after the sun sets as though these areas had been authorised for free trade of narcotics.

Some college and university students had become involved in the illegal drug trade, the city dwellers said, urging the authorities to come up with a strict legal action against this menace immediately. Seeking anonymity, a person, who deals in drugs in the Surma market, also said there were some

students from colleges and universities involved in the trade.

An elderly citizen who prefers anonymity said the illegal drugs trade could never be uprooted unless law enforcers were honest and they took action regardless of the party affiliations.

Ahmed Ali, a resident of South Surma area, said the government should take up strict measures against the illegal drugs trading immediately. Otherwise, it would be tough to rein this menace in future.

Deputy Director Jahid Hossain, of Sylhet Narcotics Department, said there were frequent flows of narcotics, like phensidyl, heroin and ganja in the frontiers of the district and so it was tough to stop this trade totally.

“However, we are conducting raids at these areas with the help of district administration. We filed 50 illegal drugs cases through mobile court last month alone.” l

n Tribune Report The civic life in Chittagong city and district was normal on the daylong hartal today enforced by BNP-led alliance.

Members of the law enforcement agencies maintained a sharp security vigil in the city and district during the hartal, police and eyewitness sources said.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) along with its alliance called for the strike protesting against the gun attack on Reaz Rahman, an adviser of BNP chief Khaleda Zia. Metropolitan and District police control room sources said there was no report of any untoward incident from any part of the city and district during the Hartal hours.

Police and witnesses said that there were hardly any picketing and procession by BNP-Jamaat activists during the shutdown.

All kinds of motorized vehicles in-

cluding CNG three wheelers were seen plying on the city streets while small number of buses and heavy vehicles on the long distance routes plied with police escort during the hartal.

Though academic activities in the educational institutions remained closed, attendance in the government and private offices was as usual.

Rickshaws and battery-run three-wheelers were dominating the city streets while presence of motorized vehicles was thin due to fear of possible vandalism and arson attack.

Bangladesh Awami League (AL) and its front organizations including Bangladesh Chhatra League dominated almost all the city streets by holding rallies and bringing out processions.

Apart from regular law enforces, additional members of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in Chittagong and some other parts of the

Inu: Mobile courts to check video piracy n UNB Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu yesterday said the government will take strong measures to check video piracy.

“Mobile courts will be operated to check video piracy and those who will be found involved in such crimes will be punished instantly through mobile court,” he told reporters after a meeting with a delegation of Film Producers and Distributors Association at his ministry.

The minister also said the Copy Right Act, 2000 will be made time-befitting one to combat video piracy.

Inu said the cable operators in the country will not be allowed to screen local and foreign movies through their own channels.

“Action will be taken if they screen any movie defying the government ban. Deputy Commissioners will be given directive in this regard,” he added. l

Pakistani held with 80 lakh Indian rupees at Dhaka airport n UNB

DB members present four persons held with 40,000 pieces of contraband yaba tablets at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Headquarters yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Barisal yet to have a postal circle office n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Even though Barisal city was upgraded from a district town to the divisional headquarters more than 20 years ago, the city is still missing its own postal circle office.

Absence of such an establishment is creating lag in different services of the postal department in the area, locals complained.

Sources at Barisal General Post Office and Savings Bureau said people have to go to the postal circle office in Khulna to resolve problems regarding

district to maintain law and order during that hartal.

Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) authority sources said that operational activities inside the CEPZ went on in full swing and attendance of the workers was almost normal.

Abul Kalam Azad, Chittagong Station Manager of Bangladesh Railway told BSS that all scheduled trains to and from the port city left and arrived as per schedule.

All domestic and international flights at Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport took off and landed according to schedule, airport sources said.

Operational activities including loading and unloading of cargoes at ships inside the port and outer anchorage went on in full swing but transportation of export-import goods to and from the port jetty was hampered due to disruption in vehicular movements on the roads, port sources said. l

different postal services, such as postal savings, postal life insurance in the event of a client’s death, etc, in Barisal.

Sushanta Ghosh, a Barisal native who avails the postal savings services, agreed: “We have to go Khulna to close or withdraw money from a savings account, or deal with formalities with life insurances when a client dies. Running back and forth like this kills a lot of time, which would not be necessary if we had a postal circle office in Barisal.

“A postal circle office should be opened in Barisal immediately to handle the postal services of Barisal divi-

sion and alleviate our sufferings,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

With six districts under its jurisdiction, Barisal was established as an administrative division in 1993 – the fifth after Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna.

Since Barisal was a part of Khulna division before, the post offices of Barisal’s districts were run by the Khulna postal circle office. It still runs the district post offices of Barisal, even though many other administrative offices were established in Barisal divisional headquarters.

At present, Barisal division has two

offices of deputy postmaster general (DPMG), as well as two class one post offices, four class two post offices, 11 sub-divisional postal inspector offices, 40 upazila post offices, 52 sub-post offices, and 47 extra-department offices of the postal department, said Kabir Ahmed, DPMG of Barisal.

Yet, without the postal circle office in Barisal, more than a thousand officials and staff of the postal department have run the services from the Khulna circle office, said Md Mohsinuddin, assistant postmaster general in charge of Barisal General Post Office. l

Customs officials at Shahjalal International Airport detained a Pakistani national along with 80 lakh Indian rupees yesterday evening.

The arrested Pakistani was identified as Imran Mahmud, 28.

Imran landed at the airport from Karachi via Doha by a Qatar Airways flight, said Assistant Commissioner (Customs) at the airport Israt Jahan Ruma.

The customs officials challenged him at the customs hall around 6pm after observing his suspicious movement, she said.

The presence of foreign currency was detected after scanning his luggage, Israt said, adding that they recovered Indian rupees 80 lakh searching the luggage. l

Students confine principal to office n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Some unruly students of Barmi Degree College in Sreepur upazila yesterday confined the principal protesting the excess fee collection in the enrolment for the upcoming HSC examinations.

Besides, the students demanded the form fill-up permission for students who failed in the pre-test examination.

The untoward incident took place around noon and lasted for two hours.

Being informed, a team from Sreepur model police station rushed to the spot and rescued the college’s acting principal Nuruzzaman Khan from the confinement. l

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Friday, January 16, 2015

Encroachers filling up century-old Munshiganj pond n Our Correspondent, Munshiganj Some locals in Munshiganj town are trying to fill a pond believed to be at least a hundred years old in defiance of an official order.

The Department of Environment says at least 200 species of aquatic animals will be endangered if the pond, locally known as Maalpara pond, is filled up.

Assistant Director of the Munshiganj office of the Department of Environment Nur Alam says a notice has been issued not to fill the pond as the water in it can also be used to put out any fire in nearby areas.

The upazila land office has also issued a similar notice but those filling the pond have defied that too.

Officer-in-Charge of Munshiganj Sadar police station Abul Khayer Fakir said it was difficult to capture the encroachers as they usually fill the waterbody with sand at night.

Firoz Ahmed, a local trader, said

15 hurt in AL clash n Our Correspondent, Mymensingh A t least 15 pepole were injured in a clash between two rival groups of Sarmik League and Chhatra League in Bhaluka upazila of the district yesteday over stablishing supramacy in the area.

Police and locals said there had been a long stading feud between the leaders of the two organisations over establishing supramacy in local bus station.

In the morning, supporters from both sides got locked in clash with local weapons.

On information, police went to the spot and fired bullets to bring the situation under control. 15 people sustained injury during the clash,said Golam Sarowar, officer-in-charge of Bhaluka Model police station. l

the pond was a blessing for the townspeople.

“The water in the pond was recently used by firefighters to douse the flame in two fire incidents – one in a crockery store and the other in a house. Besides, the pond, if filled up, will lead to waterlogging in the monsoon,” he said.

Some elderly locals said the pond is also a source of entertainment as many water sports, including swimming competitions, are arranged there.

A number of Hindu families have been living near the pond for decades and using the water for their household chores. For them, the attempt to fill the pond has been a cause for concern but they have not dared to speak out.

Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Md Saiful Hasan Badal said the local environment authorities had been ordered to protect the pond from encroachers.

Those defying the official order will face consequences, he added. l

Some local influential people have set up a bamboo fence around Maalpara pond located at Sadar upazila in Munshiganj in a bid to fill the waterbody with sand. The photo was taken recently DHAKA TRIBUNE

Students continue protest against sexual abuse in Bhola n Our Correspondent, Bhola

Students of Bhola Government Fazilatunnesa Women College have kept continued boycotting their classes for the second day yesterday in demand of punishment of one of their teachers for alleged sexual harassment to a student.

Besides, the college’s pupils brought out a protest rally in the morning demanding the arrest of Habibur Rahman, assistant professor of the English de-

partment, and it paraded the campus.

The agitating students threatened that they would not move away from the streets unless any punishment is given to the teacher by the authorities concerned within five days. Earlier, a memorandum with the demand was also placed to the local DC. The students said three months ago such kind of allegation had also been raised against the teacher, but no action appeared despite making complaint to the principal. l

Miscreants vandalise school principal’s office n Our Correspondent, Barisal Unidentified miscreants vandalised and torched office of a school principal in Barisal and stole Tk60,000 from there yesterday.

Mrinmoy Bepari, principal of Barisal Town School said around 8am yesterday, Rehana Begum, a fourth grade employee of the school, saw flame coming out of his office.

“After reaching the spot, I found the lock of the room broken and extinguished the fire with the help of other employees of the school,” he said.

The fire gutted attendance registers and other documents of the school.

On Wednesday, Humayun Kabir, a clerk of the school collected Tk44,046 for salaries of 13 teachers and staffs and around Tk16,000 for their provident funds from the bank.

“Usually salaries are disbursed on the same day they are collected from the bank. However, on Wednesday Humayun collected the money and kept it inside my office without informing me,” said the principal.

Police detained Humayun, however, released him after interrogation. l

Schoolboy killed, van snatched n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj Miscreants killed a schoolboy and snatched his rickshaw-van in the district yesterday.

Sources said Rahim Mollah, son of Babul Mollah, in Kathi village of Sadar upazila , Class VI student of KKT Hazi NC High School used to drive the van to run his study and family.

On the day, he came out with the van and did not return home. Later, the body was found under the bridge in the area. Nur Mohmmad, officer-in-charge of Tungipara police station said the miscreants killed Rahim and snatched away the van. l

MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES DIRECTORATE OF WORKS & CHIEF ENGINEER (ARMY)

INVITATION FOR TENDER

A farmer is seen guarding potatoes kept at a field at Kalardanga village under Nilphamari Sadar upazila. The man could not sell the potatoes due to lower prices and preserve those for space shortage at cold storage. The photo was taken yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Water bird census begins n Our Correspondent, Bhola

Five killed in 4 districts

A team of 16-member of Nature Conservation Management (NACON) and Bangladesh Bird Club started their 7-daylong water bird census and research from Bhola Kheyaghat area yesterday.

The programme has been taken under the Strengthening Regional Co-operation for Wildlife project of Forest Department. The team led by bird ringer and wild life researcher Samiul Mohsenin started their journey at around 8am on the day in a fishing trawler. This time they will visit 30 char lands. l

At least five people were killed in several incidents in Comilla, Gazipur, Jessore and Bagerhat districts yesterday.

Our Comilla correspondent reports: A shoe factory worker was killed allegedly by his fellow in Shyambokshi area under Sadar Dakkhin upazila for making distasteful remarks about the latter’s wife.

The deceased was identified as Rubel,32, son of Wazuddin from Pakati village of Gafargaon upazila in Maymensingh.

Locals said Al-Amin from Paharpur village of Burichang upazila had been living in a mess in the area. Rubel and Kamal, co-workers of Al-Amin at the shoe factory of Arku Company in the area, were occupants of a room beside him in the mess.

Recently, Al-Amin had married Farzana, worker of the factory. In the evening, Al-Amin brought his wife to his room.

At this, Rubel and Kamal started to shout at Al-Amin blaming him for bringing ‘a bad girl’ to the mess.

At one stage, Al-Amin stabbed both Rubel and Kamal with a knife.

Hearing screaming of them, locals rescued them and took them to hospital where Rubel died.

SI Aiyub Hosen OF Sadar Dakkhin police station, confirmed the incident.

50 injured in clash for land n Our Correspondent, Habiganj At least 50 people were injured in a clash between two groups of villagers in Baniachang upazila of the district yesterday for land. Sources said there had been a longstanding enmity between Mohammad Ali and Siraj Uddin of Mokrampur vilage in the upazila over a piece of land.

On the day, the supporters of the two got locked in a clash with local weapons and attacked each other, leaving 50 injured from the both sides. The injured were admitted to Sadar Hospital. l

n Tribune Report

He also said police arrested Al-Amin and Farzana.

Gazipur correspondent says, a schoolgirl was hacked to death while her father sustained injuries in an attack by miscreants at Uttar Salna in the city.

The deceased was identified as Akhi Akhter ,14, a student of Class XI of Shah Sufi Fasiuddin High School.

Bagerhat correpondent reprts: A housewife was allegedly killed by her husband over family feud at Sonatunia village under Rampal upazila.

The victim was Safara Begum, 35, mother of two children and wife of Enamul Sheikh.

SI Imarat Hossain of of Rampal police station said Enamul beat up Safara mercilessly over a trifle matter.

Later she was sent to Rampal Upazila Health Complex where she succumbed to her injuries, the SI added.

On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Sadar hospital morgue.

Our Jessore correspondent says police recovered hacked bodies of two young men from Dhopadi water body in Abhaynagar upazila. Identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.

Chayaruddin Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Abhaynagar police station, said locals found the bodies lying in the water body in the morning and informed police. l

ISPR/SENA/2015/1029 DG-428/15 (10x4)

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Friday, January 16, 2015

‘The common people will have the opportunity to participate in local and global value chains’ In a recent interview with Dhaka Tribune, Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash, discusses the scope, growth and future prospects of mobile banking in our country

n Nofel Wahid BKash started as a financial inclusion service-provider and is now growing very quickly. Do you think of bKash as being, still just a financial inclusion service-provider or an economy-wide mobile payments platform?

First, let’s look at how bKash came about. The forces behind bKash – Brac Bank and Money in Motion – have the history of working with the idea of inclusivity. Brac needs no introduction, and the people behind Money in Motion also have also been working in the “inclusion space” for the last 20 years. Financial inclusion will always remain in the DNA of bKash, and we have no desire to move away from that agenda.

However, we live in an economy where the customer for inclusivity and the “included customer” are intertwined. For example, if my wife goes shopping and the shopkeeper wants to be paid through bKash, she needs to have a bKash account. She is

An active customer is someone who has undertaken at least one financial transaction in the past 30 days. Based on that definition, only 30 per cent of our registered users are active users

entitled to that service, and we should allow her to have a bKash account. But that does not mean we, as a company, are graduating out of that inclusive agenda.

Do you think bKash has a perception problem? That it is just for low-income individuals or households?

I would prefer to use the term “common people” when referring to our most likely customer base. If we change our communication strategy for the sake of including higher income groups – for whom bKash may be an added layer of convenience on top of the many (debit) cards they already use – then the common people who wholeheartedly recognise bKash as their financial tool might get a different signal. We may end up isolating the vast majority of common people whose needs we fulfill most effectively.

We have no plans to change our communication strategy. We also think it is critical for other user groups to know that they can participate.

However, their exposure or access to information about bKash is high, so they will be able to figure out that they

can also participate in bKash transactions.

It is a well-crafted perception, not an accidental one.

Do you worry that having such an image will hamper innovation and new product development within the company, especially to serve small businesses and provide better customer service?

Well, as Andrew Grove (former Intel CEO and management guru) once said, only the paranoid survive. We are paranoid about everything, we are always asking ourselves if we are doing things right. So of course, the fear that we may be locking ourselves into a box is there.

That said, we are serving a large number of customers, and whenever you have to provide customised services, a comprehensive review is required to assess how a change would affect the ecosystem. To put it simply, digital money in the hands of common people is a new service, and we are learning every day how we can reach and serve the customer better.

On the subject of customer service, there are a few important elements; protection of customer’s fund, assuring service satisfaction and coming up with new services in meeting the customer’s evolving needs.

Customer funds are 100% protected. People give us cash and we give a different version of that money back to them in the form of electronic funds.

The physical cash we get is kept in a bank under the surveillance of the central bank. All bKash accounts are entirely pre-funded.

Secondly, we have very secure systems to ensure data protection and security. Our platform is acquired from Visa that maintains the highest global standard for security, which among other reasons attracted us to use them. Moreover, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) also has additional levels of encryption, and there are firewalls built in as well.

We are continuing our work on improving customer satisfaction. At the same time, indices for monitoring customer satisfaction in the “financial inclusion space” is in itself something new that we are trying to learn about.

For example, when we were setting up our customer service team, a lot of people advised us to outsource this function. But which element of the customer service function should we have outsourced? We needed to understand that first, so we did not outsource.

There are many “first-of-its-kind” issues that we, as practitioners, are recognising and often share with the regulator. One positive aspect is that we have an engaged central bank that is providing adequate policy support for the mobile financial services industry. Their active engagement has created a stable environment

for mobile payment initiatives. Such engagement needs to continue, especially in assessing future challenges, so that practitioners can serve their customers while remaining within the rules and regulations of the country’s financial system.

Where do you see bKash in the next three to five years?

BKash is a tool to undertake small financial transactions efficiently. The common people who have access to ubiquitous mobile infrastructure can now access this state-of-the-art technology to undertake financial activities more efficiently.

Our growth will depend on how effectively and creatively we can engage people to use the services on offer. It will depend on how businesses use this payment tool to make their businesses more efficient.

For example, somebody can setup a “solar electricity” business whereby the solar panel provider supplies electricity to a remote village and asks customers to pay through bKash. This way, the expensive and time consuming task of physically travelling miles to pay or collect bills is avoided.

Eliminating this significant cost factor will improve operational efficiency and make the business case for solar electricity more viable. So growth will depend on how bKash or similar services are used. I believe necessity will drive innovation.

What does that mean in terms of numbers? You have 16 million users now, how many million are you targeting in the next three to five years? And does bKash have plans to develop a fully integrated e-commerce payments product, such as API for mobile in-app purchases?

First of all, it’s important to understand what that 16 million figure means. 16 million individual SIM cards have been registered, it does not mean all 16 million individuals use bKash regularly.

We use a very stringent definition for determining active customers. An active customer is someone who has undertaken at least one financial transaction in the past 30 days. Based on that definition, only 30% of our registered users are active users. This is a common phenomenon. We hear for M-Pesa in Kenya – the largest mobile payments platform in the world which has been in operation since 2007 – that around 50% of their customers are active.

Our main goal is to continue empowering customers with digital financial services. If we have a large customer base, they benefit from having a large network of users to transact with and the ecosystem becomes more robust. In that sense, it is very important for us to grow the network.

Alternatively, if others grow, we can aim for interoperability with them and we are very open to that.

Lastly, we are trying to give our clients fully integrated services, depending on the clients’ needs and our priorities. For example, you can now top-up your mobile airtime for the four major operators through bKash.

We will continue to ensure inter-operability of our services among mobile operators in Bangladesh.

Increasingly, we are looking for ways to provide access and extend the value of bKash products and services

that when a rickshaw-puller sends money to his wife in Gaibandha, he goes over to a community-based shopkeeper who he may know well and trust and asks that bKash agent to be an intermediary in that transaction. So the job is getting done.

If you and I expect, for the sake of financial inclusion, that the common people will learn computing skills and gain literacy to push a few mobile buttons to send money across, we need to give them some time. When we look at the adoption trend, we see a gradual change in behaviour with more and more people using their own accounts.

That’s encouraging.

BKash now has a savings product and a remittance product. It is obvious that wallet use is important for people to be able to use those services. Are you actively working with the Bangladesh government to promote financial literacy to develop capacity to use wallets?

The three ads that we are running heavily focus on promoting the use of bKash wallets. We are telling people that they should actively use their own accounts. We are also seeking support from the regulator in helping us implement the right practices.

Opening an account involves going to an agent, having your national ID, and completing a form with 21 questions. Some people might find it a hassle, if you are a rickshaw-puller it is definitely a challenge. Unless you have a need for storing money or making an

We are paranoid about everything, we are always asking ourselves if we are doing things right. So of course, the fear that we may be locking ourselves into a box is there

to other banks. Bangladesh Krishi Bank, South East Bank and Standard Chartered Bank are already working with us.

A 2013 survey by Pi Strategy Consulting reported that approximately 22% of the population use bKash, but only 3% are registered wallet users. Why do people use bKash agents more actively?

First of all, the 3% figure for wallet users is not all that low when compared to a few other countries. For example, in Pakistan where mobile money started four years earlier, 0.4% of the population are wallet-users compared to 7% who use mobile money (based on the same survey data).

Furthermore, 3% of our population using wallets means 5 million people using wallets. Often one member of a family opens an account, so if 5 million people use mobile wallets that represents around 5 million households. Considering each household has around 5 members, 25 million people are impacted by mobile money. So, 3% wallet adoption indeed impacts a large population.

Now, in some cases the reality is

airtime purchase in the middle of the night or sending money to your mother at any time you want, people will not adopt those services just because we are telling them to.

At the same time, efficient ways of undertaking financial transactions boosts productivity for small businesses. These businesses with digital money practices not only accept payments efficiently, they also pay efficiently; this improvement in efficiency will contribute to growing their businesses.

The ability to make small digital payments will give birth to new business ideas; the common people will have the opportunity to participate in local and global value chains. Once the value of adopting wallets is internalised, the adoption rate will increase.

Moving on to regulations, how is bKash regulated?

We operate under the jurisdiction of the Bangladesh Bank (BB). BB instructs us on what needs to be done, but in terms of bKash’s license, Brac Bank and bKash are jointly responsible for ensuring that bKash’s activities are compliant with BB regulations.

Notwithstanding the complexity, the message from the central bank, I feel, is that if bKash fails in mitigating certain risks, BB will hold Brac Bank responsible.

How does Brac Bank supervise the operational risk associated with bKash’s activities?

First of all, Brac Bank maintains 51% controlling stake in bKash. But more importantly, Brac Bank audits bKash to ensure compliance and to manage risk exposures.

Let me end with the following question. Is bKash profitable?

No, not yet. It will be soon, it’s going in that direction. Looking at the projections, the shareholders seem happy; our shareholders, Brac Bank, Money in Motion, IFC and Gates Foundation, may have a social agenda in mind, but they have invested equity and they will be expecting a return. l ‘We are paranoid about everything, we are always asking ourselves if we are doing things right’ WIKIMEDIA

The author is an economist.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Friday, January 16, 2015

Hollande says Muslims ‘main victims of fanaticism’ n AFP, Paris French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that Muslims were the “main victims” of fanaticism, as five of the 17 killed in last week’s Islamist attacks in Paris were laid to rest.

Speaking at the Arab World Institute in Paris, Hollande said: “It is Muslims who are the main victims of fanaticism, fundamentalism and intolerance,” adding the whole country was “united in the face of terrorism.”

The Muslim community in France, Europe’s largest, have “the same rights and the same duties as all citizens” and must be protected.

The five burials included those of two of Charlie Hebdo’s best-known cartoonists, as the satirical magazine continued to fly off the shelves, sparking fury in some parts of the Muslim world for depicting the Prophet Mohammed on its cover.

Georges Wolinski, 80, and Bernard “Tignous” Verlhac, 57, were buried at private family funerals after they were gunned down by two Islamist brothers in last week’s attack claimed by Al-Qaeda.

After the shooting at the magazine, which killed 12 people, the French rushed to get their hands on the “survivors’ issue” which sold out Wednesday

before more copies of an eventual print run of five million hit newsstands.

Long queues formed throughout the country again yesterday as copies again quickly ran out.

“Charlie Hebdo is alive and will live on,” Hollande said Wednesday. “You can murder men and women, but you can never kill their ideas,” he said, declaring the previously struggling weekly “reborn.”

The Charlie Hebdo assault on January 7 was followed two days later by an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris by a gunman claiming to have coordinated his actions with brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi.

In all, 17 people died over three days in the bloodiest attacks in France in half a century, which ended when commando units stormed two hostage sieges and killed all three gunmen.

In Wednesday’s new edition of Charlie Hebdo, the prophet is depicted with a tear in his eye, under the headline “All is forgiven.” He holds a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), the slogan that has become a global rallying cry for those expressing sympathy for the victims and support for freedom of speech.

Meanwhile debate was mounting in France over where freedom of expression begins and ends. l

Turkish Muslims chant slogans in front of Istanbul courthouse during a protest against the publication by Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet of a a four page pull-out containing cartoons and articles translated into Turkish from the historic Charlie Hebdo issue, yesterday, in Istanbul AFP

Turkish PM equates Israel’s Netanyahu to Paris attackers n Reuters, Istanbul Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday compared his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to the Islamist militants who carried out attacks last week in Paris, saying both had committed crimes against humanity.

Davutoglu told a news conference that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and its storming in 2010 of a Turkish-led aid convoy to the Gaza Strip, in which 10 Turks were killed, were on a par with the Paris attacks, whose dead included shoppers at a Jewish supermarket.

The comments added to a war of

words between the former allies: Israel’s far-right foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, called President Tayyip Erdogan an “anti-Semitic bully” on Wednesday for criticizing Netanyahu’s attendance, with other world leaders, at a solidarity march in Paris on Sunday.

Turkish leaders have condemned the attack on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, in which Islamist gunmen killed 12 people, but have also warned that rising Islamophobia in Europe risks inflaming unrest.

Davutoglu also attended the Paris rally, which he said was a march

against terrorism.

“Just as the massacre in Paris committed by terrorists is a crime against humanity, Netanyahu, as the head of the government that kills children playing on the beach with the bombardment of Gaza, destroys thousands of homes ... and that massacred our citizens on an aid ship in international waters, has committed crimes against humanity,” Davutoglu said.

The assault on the aid convoy ruptured ties between Turkey and Israel, which previously enjoyed close diplomatic and military relations. Trade links remain close. l

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER (EAST) BANGLADESH RAILWAY, CRB, CHITTAGONG.

INVITATION FOR TENDER

1

Ministry/Division

Ministry of Railways.

2

Agency

Bangladesh Railway.

3

Procuring Entity Name

Chief Engineer (East), Bangladesh Railway.

4

Procuring Entity District

Chittagong.

5

Invitation for

Package-1: At SSAE/Works/TGI section: Supply of stone ballast at Dhirasram station including loading into BKH Wagon and unloading at different locations of TGI-JYR Section.

Package-2: At SSAE/Works/TGI section: Supply of stone ballast at Shripur station including loading into BKH Wagon and unloading at different locations of JYR-SPU Section.

6

Invitation Ref No

CE/E/Suspense-07/2014-2015/W(5)

7

Date

12-01-2015

KEY INFORMATION 8

Procurement Method

Open Tendering Method (OTM)

FUNDING INFORMATION 9

Budget and Source of Funds

GoB (Revenue)

PARTICULAR INFORMATION 10

Tender Publication Date

15-01-2015

11

Tender Last Selling Date

08-01-2015 Date

Time

12

Tender Closing Date and Time

09-02-2015

12.00 Hrs.

13

Tender Opening Date and Time

09-02-2015

12.30 Hrs.

14

Tender Validity Period

120 (One hundred twenty) days.

Name & Address of the office(s)

Address.

15

-Selling Tender Document (Principal)

Office of the Chief Engineer (East), Bangladesh Railway, CRB, Chittagong.

-Receiving Tender Document

Chamber of the Executive Engineer/P&D/East, Office of the Chief Engineer (East), Bangladesh Railway, CRB, Chittagong.

-Opening Tender Document

Chamber of the Executive Engineer/P&D/East, Office of the Chief Engineer (East), Bangladesh Railway, CRB, Chittagong.

INFORMATION FOR TENDERER 16

Eligibility of Tenderer

As stated in the Tender Document.

17

Brief Description of Works

Package-1: At SSAE/Works/TGI section: Supply of stone ballast at Dhirasram station including loading into BKH Wagon and unloading at different locations of TGI-JYR Section.

Package-2: At SSAE/Works/TGI section: Supply of stone ballast at Shripur station including loading into BKH Wagon and unloading at different locations of JYR-SPU Section.

18

Price of Tender Document

Tk. 2000/- (Two thousand) only, for each package, Non refundable.

19

Tender Security

Package-1: Tk. 2,50,000/- (Two lack fifty thousand) only Package-2: Tk. 2,50,000/- (Two lakh fifty thousand) only

20

Time for Completion of the works

In the form of Pay order/Bank draft with MICR shall be submitted in favour of FA&CAO/East Bangladesh Railway, Chittagong.

120 (One hundred twenty) days for each package from the date of start of the work.

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS 21

Name of Official Inviting Tender

Ahmed Ullah Miah

22

Designation of Official Inviting Tender

Chief Engineer (East), Bangladesh, Railway.

23

Address of Official Inviting Tender

Central Railway Building (CRB), Chittagong.

24

Contact details of Official Inviting Tender

Tel. No-031-2863162

25

The Procuring Entity reserves the right to reject all the Tenders or annul the Tender proceedings.

GC-313 (9x3)

e-mail- cee@railway.gov.bd

(Ahmed Ullah Miah) Chief Engineer (East) Bangladesh Railway CRB, Chittagong.

FBI: Ohio man planned to bomb US Capitol, kill officials n AP, Cincinnati A 20-year-old Ohio man’s Twitter posts sympathizing with Islamic terrorists led to an undercover FBI operation and the man’s arrest on charges that he plotted to blow up the US Capitol and kill government officials.

Christopher Lee Cornell, also known as Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, told an FBI informant they should “wage jihad,” and showed his plans for bombing the Capitol and shooting people, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Ohio Wednesday. The FBI said Cornell expressed his support for the Islamic State.

Cornell’s arrest came only days after a grand jury indictment charged another Cincinnati-area resident with threatening to murder House Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement Wednesday: “Once again, the entire Congress owes a debt of gratitude to the FBI and all those who keep us safe.”

The complaint against Cornell charges him with attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States.

Cornell was arrested Wednesday after buying two semi-automatic rifles and about 600 rounds of ammunition, authorities said. l

Five Canadians killed in Syria fighting with IS n AFP, Ottawa Five Canadians have died fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria, including a man who called for lone wolf attacks in Canada, local media reported Wednesday.

The National Post said Ottawa-born John Maguire, who joined IS jihadists in Syria in January 2013, died Wednesday in the flashpoint town Kobane.

In a video message last year, the former University of Ottawa student warned Canada it faces retaliation for participating in US-led airstrikes against IS. l

Merkel vows to fight Islamist militants, ‘hate preachers’ n AFP, Berlin Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged Thursday to heighten security measures against Islamist militants following the Paris attacks, while vowing that Germany would not be divided by extremism of any kind.

“Hate preachers, violent delinquents who act in the name of Islam, those behind them, and the intellectual arsonists of international terrorism will be rigorously fought with all legal means at the disposal of the state,” she said.

Merkel said that after her cabinet had moved to tighten a travel ban for suspected jihadists, it would soon stiffen penalties for financing terrorism.

Germany would also continue to provide weapons and military training to Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Merkel was addressing the

German parliament after a minute’s silence for the victims of the three days of violence that shocked France last week, with religious leaders and the French ambassador in the chamber.

“We are shocked and stunned by the deaths of 17 innocent people,” she told the Bundestag, eight days after the shootings at the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly, vowing that Germany and France “stand together in these difficult days.”

Pointing to the twin menace of Islamist militancy and anti-Semitism behind the attacks, she urged the German people not to be divided by the “sick logic” of the killers.

Merkel warned against a backlash against Muslims in Germany, in view of the three-month-old street movement “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident,” or PEGIDA, which drew 25,000 marchers on Monday. l

A hand out satellite image made available by Amnesty International on Wednesday, is believed to show the scale of last weekís attack on the village of Doron Baga in northeastern Nigeria by Boko Haram Islamist militants. Before and after infrared (IR) images taken on January 2, (TOP) and January 7 (bottom) shows the village of Doron Baga - also known as Doro Gowon- on January 2, with densely packed structures and tree cover (seen in red) before the village was razed by Boko Haram on January 7. The attacks left over 3,700 structures damaged or completely destroyed. Other nearby towns and villages were also attacked over this period AFP

Islamic State beheads militiaman as opposition attacks mount

Man held in Belgium over possible weapons sale to Paris attacker

n Reuters, Amman

n Reuters, Brussels

Islamic State has executed a Syrian it accused of belonging to a militant cell that ambushed its fighters and blew up its vehicles in the town of al-Mayadin near the border with Iraq, a monitoring group that tracks the conflict said yesterday.

Islamic State is fighting both the Syrian army and rival insurgents along the edges of the territory it controls. But there has also been a spike in guerrilla-style attacks by groups of Syrians against Islamic State fighters inside their strong-

holds in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor provinces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which uses a network of sources across the country to report on the war, said the man was beheaded and his body crucified in a public park in the town with his head left displayed for three days.

He was accused of “setting up a cell to fight Islamic State” by staging ambushes and detonating vehicles of fighters of the militant group, it said.

The Observatory, which is based in Britain, said four other men, one

a student, were executed in Deir alZor for alleged ties with the Syrian authorities.

“One was arrested for smoking a cigarette. Only later did Islamic State accuse him of being an informer for the regime,” Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman said.

Islamic State bans smoking in areas under its control in line with its strict interpretation of Islam.

Syria’s state news agency SANA said Islamic State executed three civilians and displayed their bodies in al-Mayadin. It did not say what their crimes were. l

Belgian authorities have detained a man for arms dealing and are investigating whether he supplied one of the Islamist gunmen who together killed 17 people in Paris last week, prosecutors said yesterday.

Belgian media reported that a man had handed himself in to police in the southern city of Charleroi on Tuesday, saying he had been in touch with Amedy Coulibaly, the militant who took hostages in a Jewish supermarket in the French capital and was later killed by security forces. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Kiran Bedi joins BJP, to contest Delhi assembly elections n Agencies Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was yesterday inducted into BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah at the party headquarters.

Kiran Bedi, who came to the BJP office along with Amit Shah, will contest the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.

BJP chief Amit Shah, however, refused to commit if Kiran Bedi would be made the party’s chief ministerial candidate.

“Kiran Bedi will provide great strength to the Delhi BJP ,” president Amit Shah said, adding, “her positive contributions will help the party in a big way.”

The entire BJP Delhi is happy about Kiran Bedi joining the party, Amit Shah said. Finance minister Arun Jaitley praised the administrative skills and credibility of Kiran Bedi as a police officer.

“She has an image of a crusader,” Jaitley said, adding, “her presence will add strength to the party.”

Speaking on the occasion, Kiran Bedi said she had decided to join BJP due to the inspirational leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Modi’s leadership inspired me to take the plunge in politics,” Kiran Bedi said.

“I have never worked for position or money. I’ve always looked at what I can contribute towards the country,” Kiran Bedi said.

AAP welcomed Kiran Bedi’s decision to take a plunge in politics.

“Kiran ji was against party politics during India against corruption movement, she seemed to have changed her point of view,” AAP leader Atishi Marlena said.

“But she is welcome to join politics, she is welcome to join BJP,” the AAP leader added.

Speculation is also rife about Jaya Prada and Shazia Ilmi joining BJP ahead of Delhi assembly elections.

While Jaya Prada in an interview to Times Now confirmed that she is in talks with the party, Shazia Ilmi sought time before taking a final decision. l

n AP, Srinagar Indian soldiers and police killed five suspected rebels during a fierce gunbattle Thursday in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, officials said.

Security forces received a tip that militants opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir were hiding in the southern region of Shopian, army spokesman Lt. Col. Nitin N. Joshi said. The troops

There are inputs that terrorists might try to attack schools, army camps, national highways and civilian areas on the Republic Day and during US President Barack Obama’s India visit, Lt Gen KH Singh, GOC, 16 Corps, said yesterday.

“About 200 militants in 36 launch pads across Pir Panchal range are trying to infiltrate into Indian side,” Lt Gen KH Singh said.

“Like Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh had already said, terrorist infrastructure in PoK is intact,” Lt Gen KH Singh added. Singh assured that country’s counter-infiltration posture is firmly in place and if any infiltration bid is made, it will be eliminated.

“The terrorist infrastructure across the border is intact. Pakistan Army’s support to the proxy war in J&K continues unabated despite suffering casualties its own country,” Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag had said

cordoned off a portion of the forest, and the gunbattle erupted when the militants hurled grenades and opened fire in an attempt to break through, he said.

When the fighting ended Thursday afternoon, five militant suspects were confirmed dead and their bodies were recovered from the forest along with four rifles and a pistol, police said.

There was no independent confir-

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Friday, January 16, 2015

Indian troops kill 5 suspected rebels in Kashmir gunbattle mation of the incident, and no guerrilla group has commented on the report.

On Wednesday, police said government troops killed a suspected rebel in a gunbattle in the northern town of Sopore.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 to win Kashmir’s independence or have the Indian-controlled portion merge with Pakistan.

More than 68,000 people have died

in the conflict, though incidents of violence have largely been suppressed by Indian forces.

Public opposition to Indian rule remains widespread in the mostly Muslim territory, with street protests erupting frequently and youths hurling stones at security forces.

Both India and Pakistan control parts of Kashmir, and both claim it in its entirety. l

US judge throws out lawsuit against India’s Modi n AFP, New York A US judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that accused him of “attempted genocide” over deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2002.

New York judge Analisa Torres threw out the suit on the grounds that Modi is not under her court’s jurisdiction after the US government argued he was entitled to immunity as a sitting head of government.

The American Justice Center, a human rights group, filed the civil suit against Modi in September, accusing him of initiating and condoning the massacre and holding him responsible for the deaths.

The outbreak of anti-Muslim violence left at least 1,000 people dead in 2002 in the western state of Gujarat, where Modi was then chief minister before he was elected prime minister in 2014.

Modi denies any wrongdoing and the Indian courts have cleared him of all charges. l

NA adopts resolution against blasphemous Charlie Hebdo cartoons

n Agencies

Pakistani local residents march with a banner during a solidarity rally for the two killed assailants who attacked French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, in Peshawar on January 13, 2015.

While last week’s attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo sparked global outrage, dozens of people in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar paid tribute January 13 to the brothers who carried out the murders. Though small in scale, the event was indicative of the anger that portrayals of the Prophet Mohammed can ignite in some parts of the Muslim world, particularly in Pakistan where tough blasphemy laws make insulting the Prophet a crime punishable by death AFP

Millitants planning attacks during Obama’s India visit n Agencies

World

on Tuesday, addressing his first press conference ahead of the Army Day on January 15.

Pakistan still has 44 terror-training camps directed against India on its soil, the majority of them being in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. “At least 17-18 of them are active 24x7,” another senior officer said.

Faced with continuing infiltration attempts by well-armed, equipped and motivated militants actively aided and abetted by Pakistan Army, the Indian Army remains unconvinced that its rival force has stopped distinguishing between the “good” anti-India terrorists and the “bad” ones posing an existential threat to the Pakistani state itself. “We have to wait and watch,” said Gen Suhag.

“Our threats and challenges continue to grow in intensity and commitment with our borders increasingly becoming more active. We also have to be prepared for the possible (terror) spillover effect from Afghanistan after the drawdown (of the US-led forces),” he said. l

New Sri Lanka government calls for Rajapaksa ‘conspiracy’ probe n Reuters, Colombo Sri Lanka’s new government on Wednesday asked the police to investigate what it called a “diabolical conspiracy” by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to hold on to power even after he was defeated in an election last week.

New President Maithripala Sirisena is trying to shore up his government and prevent a comeback by the former rulers in parliamentary elections that may have to be held this year.

Rajapaksa has denied the allegations against him. His allies say they have been subjected to threats since the election and they have asked for government protection.

The former president and those around him are coming under a level of scrutiny unthinkable until he was voted out of office last Thursday, ending a decade in power notable for its concentration of control among a coterie of relatives and allies.

On Tuesday, opposition politicians filed a series of detailed corruption complaints against Rajapaksa and his brothers and son, who also held government posts. Another filing asks for Rajapaksa to appear in court on Jan. 26.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who filed the latest police complaint, said the government had reliable information that Rajapaksa along with his brother and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the incumbent chief justice and two other politicians discussed declaring a state of emergency while the counting was going on.

Chief Justice Mohan Peiris was appointed by Rajapaksa after the contested impeachment of his predecessor. The new government believes Peiris has weakened the independence of the judiciary and during the election campaign vowed to have him removed. On Monday, lawyers protested against him in the street.

“They also discussed the possibility of the army taking over the election

commission, arresting the election commissioner and even obstructing the counting in the different part of the country by using the armed forces.”

Samaraweera said the police chief, army commander, and attorney general had prevented a “diabolical conspiracy” by refusing to take such action.

Rajapaksa, who congratulated the president and stepped down even before official results were announced last Friday, rejected the allegations.

“I deny in all possible terms reports of attempts to use the military to influence election results,” Rajapaksa said on his Twitter feed.

“During decades in politics, I have always bowed down to the people’s verdict. Wins & losses are a natural part of political life.”

Alan Keenan, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, which documents abuses in Sri Lanka, said he welcomed signs the Rajapaksas will be investigated. l

As the Parliament yesterday unanimously adopted a resolution tabled against blasphemous caricatures published in French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, dozens in Lahore marched against the publication.

In a statement issued from Riyadh, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also condemned the French magazine.

“Freedom of speech should not be used to hurt religious sentiments of any community,” the statement read, adding that publication of provocative material should be discouraged by the international community.

In the National Assembly, Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique tabled the resolution and read it out. l

Sunanda murder: Cops probe Tharoor’s movements n Agencies Delhi Police is probing the movements of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor before his wife Sunanda Pushkar was found murdered in a hotel room under mysterious circumstances, according to Times Now. According to the news channel, key witnesses are being quizzed to find out the details of Tharoor’s movements on the day and in the week before.

The manager of the hotel where Sunanda and Tharoor were staying besides security personnel are being questioned by the cops.

Delhi Police has constituted a special investigation team to probe the murder mystery.

Senior Delhi Police officials have said that they will question Tharoor after they examine all other people related to the case and look into the available evidence. l

Pope arrives in Philippines amid massive security operation n Reuters, Manila

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Manila yesterday, cheering Pope Francis as he began his first visit to Asia’s largest Catholic nation amid one of the biggest security operations in Philippine history.

The other pontiffs to visit the Philippines were both targets of assassination attempts, prompting the deployment of nearly 50,000 soldiers and police in the capital and in the central Philippine province of Leyte for his weekend trip there.

Earlier this week, the Vatican denied Italian newspaper reports that US and Israeli intelligence officials had informed the Vatican that there could be an imminent attack by Islamist militants.

On Wednesday, President Benigno Aquino personally inspected motorcade routes and public venues, which were lined with black-and-white concrete barriers topped by thick wire mesh to control eager crowds.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas said Aquino was willing to serve as Francis’ “personal bodyguard” to en-

sure his safety. In a televised address on Monday, Aquino appealed to Filipinos to follow security rules after two people were killed in a stampede during a religious procession on Friday.

Asked if he was nervous ahead of the Pope’s arrival, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor said: “For a long time now, yes. This is very challenging for the PNP.” In 1970, a Bolivian artist dressed as a priest tried to stab Pope Paul VI when he arrived at Manila airport. The Pope sustained minor chest wounds from the attack.

In 1995, a group of Islamist militants, including the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, conspired to assassinate Pope John Paul II in Manila. But an accidental fire in an apartment in Manila led to the discovery of the bomb plot days before the Pope’s visit.

Aquino said there was no known threat in the country to Francis’ life, but security officials were not taking any chances. Snipers will be positioned at key points around Manila and Tacloban during the trip, with sniffer dogs deployed at sites he will visit.

Asked by reporters aboard the papal plane to Manila if he felt vulnerable to an assassination attempt or an attack, Francis said he was more worried about others rather than himself, and that he was confident about security measures in the Vatican and during his trips.

“I am in God’s hands,” he said, joking about having asked God to spare him a painful death. “If anything should happen to me, I have told the Lord, I ask you only to give me the grace that it doesn’t hurt because I am not courageous when confronted with pain. I am very timid.”

Festive atmosphere

Church bells tolled across the Philippines when the papal plane touched down in Manila, and crowds inside the airport and those lining the streets into the capital jumped, clapped and cheered when Francis stepped out of the plane.

The atmosphere was festive as about 1,500 schoolchildren welcomed the Pope with lively dances, waving white cloth, and red, white and blue umbrellas to form the Philippine flag. Their shirts were printed with the message “Mabuhay (Welcome) Pope Francis!”

Francis hugged two children, both abandoned by their parents, who gave him bouquets of white and yellow flowers.

“It’s like hugging a relative. I told him that I want my mother to return, and he said he will pray for it. I am so happy,” said 10-year-old Mark Angelo Balberos, one of the children, showing off the rosary Francis gave him.

“I want to become a priest one day,” Balberos added.

The 78-year-old pontiff will bring a message of compassion to millions of poor Filipinos suffering from the effects of corruption and decades-old insurgencies.

He will visit the central province of Leyte, which is still struggling to recover from Typhoon Haiyan that killed 6,300 people in 2013. About two million people are expected to attend an open-air mass on Saturday at Tacloban City airport, almost completely destroyed by Haiyan.

In Manila, around six million people are expected to hear Francis say Mass at Rizal park, the largest in the capital, on Sunday, likely exceeding the record crowd of 5 million during Pope John Paul II’s 1995 World Youth Day Mass. l

A Filipino wellwisher holds up rosaries in front of a Philippine flag while waiting for the motorcade of Pope Francis near the Apostolic Nunctiature in Manila yesterday. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of the Philippines capital of Manila yesterday to

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Friday, January 16, 2015

CODE-CRACKER

Make the most of China’s ICT loan

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e welcome news that the government plans to sign a $2bn concessional loan deal with China in March to help develop Bangladesh’s ICT sector.

As well as having a focus on improving broadband connectivity and ICT services in rural areas, the proposed deal shows a welcome sense of vision by seeking to fund a tier-4 data centre project in Gazipur.

Data centres of this type play a key role in the infrastructure of the Internet, by providing facilities to access and store large amounts of information. If developed, the plan on the table

by China’s ZTE Corporation to build a top level tier-4 data centre in Bangladesh could lead to our country being home to the fifth largest such facility in the world.

This would be an important asset and boon to Bangladeshi businesses and ICT professionals.

Bangladesh has been advancing at an admirable pace in developing ICT access, but rural regions still drastically lag behind urban areas. The introduction of proper optical fibre connectivity via this loan in rural areas which have so far been heavily reliant on mobile based services, is vital to spread ICT and outsourcing opportunities around the nation.

It is encouraging to see China’s support in helping our country improve its ICT infrastructure.

The administration must do its utmost to make sure this loan is spent effectively. The opportunity it provides to help our nation’s IT sector leapfrog forward must not be squandered or lost within layers of bureaucracy and corruption.

Bangladesh has been advancing admirably in developing ICT access, but rural regions still lag behind urban areas

Remove systemic flaws behind BASIC Bank’s losses

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ver half the outstanding Tk11,407cr worth of loans made by BASIC Bank have become classified or defaulted.

A majority of its default loans are now labeled as bad debt, with little or no hope of recovery.

The bank which has been 100% state-owned since 1992, made most of these bad loans between 2011-2013 during the tenure of former chairman Sheikh Abdul Hai Bachchu.

While he has since left and Bangladesh Bank removed the bank’s managing director from his position last year after he admitted involvement in the disbursement of fraudulent loans totalling over Tk4,500cr, this has not been sufficient to stabilise the scam-hit bank.

BASIC Bank is failing to comply with the conditions set by the central bank in August last year, to reduce its default loan rate to 15%. Its capital shortfall more than tripled to Tk2,257cr in the year to last November and it has Capital Adequacy Ratio of minus 24.14%.

Removing staff involved in fraud and negligence alone will not by itself be sufficient to solve its problems. Systemic flaws and poor political appointments must also be addressed.

The only manageable way to permit BASIC Bank to continue its mission to support small industries is to prevent it making loans directly to private companies.

It must be made to only lend money via loans to private banks which have proven management systems in place which prevent their managers from making fraudulent loans.

This will help ensure some repayments and stem the growth in losses to the taxpayer’s pocket.

The only way to permit BASIC Bank to continue to support small industries is to prevent it making loans directly

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

Khaleda’s Gulshan office on January 5 January 5

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 15 represents F so fill F every time the figure 15 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

Sheikh Jinat Mahmid The BNP was looking to observe “democracy killing day” while the Awami League planned to celebrate “victory day of democracy.”

Jon Danilowicz A sad day for Bangladesh’s democracy, but great photos by Dhaka Tribune. anon Jon Danilowicz: Every day is a sad day for democracy in Bangladesh. Things only seem to get worse and worse as AL continues to squeeze the life blood out of BNP.

Khaleda confined to office for 18 hours January 4

bdguy82 While I am not a supporter of any particular party in Bangladesh, I must say that I am very disappointed by the petty tricks AL is pulling against BNP. It only goes to show that AL and its leadership is not mature and that they are afraid of BNP. That being said, people should be disappointed with both parties. Both parties are dictatorial (BKSAL, martial law, using the judiciary for self promotion, etc) and corrupt beyond our imaginations. The parties are stuck in the past, when the country needs to think of how to move forward in the future.

AH “Khaleda wanted to return home by her car but had been barred by police from leaving her office.” Why did Khaleda have to come out to show everyone what the police are doing to her? Unfortunately, the police have become lackeys to the ruling parties. Shame on the police and in particular its top officials.

Amirul It is kind of silly to be employing such tactics. It is so obvious, and humiliating.

Shun violence and destruction, Hasina tells Khaleda January 5

Youth held for defaming Hasina January 3

Barely Legal Alien “The villagers beat Rajan for defaming the PM ...”

Why is this making me crack up?

Sammy The youth is lucky. In this day and age, he could easily have been charged with war crimes in front of the ICT. I wonder why resident Awami League apologists have suddenly gone silent about their party’s glorious “democratic credentials”?

GetReal I hope this PM-and-family thing does not develop into a personality/family cult. Sanity must prevail, and the youth, considering his age, should not be harassed. The nation has other pressing issues to deal with.

Your business is everybody’s business January 4

rose “We are a curious nation. It does not take much in this country for a crowd to form and to grow bigger.”

I do agree that we should mind our own affairs. paplu It seems this is one of the negative aspects of Bengali culture. How do we remove this trait? Any suggestions?

Grand Mufti: Prophet’s birthday celebration sinful

Karl Hungus Meddling is an inherent quality/flaw in every human being. It’s just that some people are more tactful in how they meddle than others.

Anon Thanks to the Grand Mufti for revealing the truth. In Bangladesh, it has become fashionable to observe the Prophet’s birthday. It is of course true for Christians also.

When Emperor Constantine of Rome introduced December 25, a pagan sun-worshippers’ holy day as Jesus’s birthday in the third century, churches opposed it for 300 years.

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.

Seira Barely Legal Alien: Because it’s a bloody good joke.

Abu Syeed If she believes the people are with her, then why doesn’t she leave it to people to decide? I thought Bangladesh is supposed to be a “democracy”?

January 3

SUDOKU

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Bobbin (5) 4 Aid (4) 7 Optical illusion (6) 8 Bird (5) 10 Roman garment (4) 11 Joint (5) 12 Donkey (3) 14 Blemish (4) 17 Small spots (4) 19 Numeral (3) 20 Heathen (5) 23 Visage (4) 25 More ill-mannered (5) 26 Large vulture (6) 27 Joke (4) 28 Falter (5)

DOWN 1 Overlay (6) 2 Augury (4) 3 Connection (4) 4 Dislikes intensely (5) 5 Self (3) 6 Great number (6) 9 Very extensive (4) 13 Comfort in distress (6) 15 Body of water (4) 16 Extreme fear (6) 18 Used up (5) 21 Get bigger (4) 22 Subtle emanation (4) 24 Long-leaved lettuce (3)

Sultan Bengali people and their needless, often offensive, advice never cease to amaze me. I find it especially amusing when second cousins of parents who you’ve maybe met just a couple of times in your life start to comment of how you’re too fat/thin, fair/ dark, tall/short in a room full of people, and how these flaws will affect your marriageability.

The $150bn startup called Bangladesh

CALVIN AND HOBBES

January 4

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

PEANUTS

raju “The job of the management (government) is harder because this startup is a democracy.”

What Startup Bangladesh needs is new management, and a strong workers’ union.

Evil People Politics It’s a business in which each and every single citizen is a stakeholder. vhs Treat it like a business. Best way to make sure something succeeds.

Barely Legal Alien vhs: Not like a sweatshop, ideally.

Seira The author has an interesting viewpoint.

Dreampie Yep, cool observation bro.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Friday, January 16, 2015

Tourists in terror n Ziaul Haque Howlader

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Possession is nine-tenths of the law

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hat a difference a year makes.

When Dhaka Tribune ran an opinion poll in the immediate aftermath of the January 5, 2014 election, the results were unequivocal.

A year ago, 73% wanted fresh elections as soon as possible, 63% favoured a caretaker government to oversee elections, and competitive elections would have been too close to call, with the difference between AL and BNP less than one percentage point, well within the poll’s margin of error.

Fast forward to the most recent DT poll on one year of the new government, and it is clear that the AL gambit to push through one-sided elections has paid off in spades.

The number of people calling for fresh elections before the end of this government’s tenure is down to 49% (although, interestingly, this number was lower in the DT poll held six months ago). However, less than 10% of those polled felt that holding early elections should be the government’s top priority.

Meanwhile, the poll revealed broad satisfaction among the general population for the government’s first year in office.

Over 70% of those polled rate the government’s overall performance as successful. When we broke down the question sector-wise, the lowest positive rating was for law and order, but even there 62% rated the government as successful.

Twenty-three percent opined that

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the government had had no major failures in its first year in office.

Conversely, over 62% of those polled rated the BNP as being unsuccessful. This number was 52% when DT asked the question 6 months ago, suggesting dissatisfaction with the BNP is growing.

When it comes to each party’s share of the popular vote things also seem to have changed over the past year.

When asked whom they would vote for if elections were held today, AL polled 41% to 34% for BNP. The long and the short of it seems to be that the AL has gotten away with its one-sided elections.

No one even brings up the AL’s bait and switch maneuver to win support for the January 5 elections, where they argued that the elections were a constitutional necessity and that once they were done that negotiations for a fresh, fully competitive election could take place.

No sooner had the elections taken place, then the party backed away from this pre-election pledge, with, as we have seen, no apparent consequences whatsoever.

The only good news for the BNP in the recent poll was that the AL lead among voters was a scant 3% in rural areas (compared to 22% in urban areas)

and heir apparent.

That said, if you parse the poll carefully, it is by no means the undiluted good news for the AL that casual observers have taken it to be.

The crucial take-away seems to me to be that while people have been reasonably satisfied with the new AL government’s first year in office, support for the party is neither deep nor strong.

The fact that fully 34% say they would vote for BNP despite the fact that 62% express dissatisfaction with the party suggests to me that the AL’s current popularity remains tenuous.

The numbers suggest that even a modicum of competence and vision on the part of the BNP would be sufficient to shift popular opinion in their direction, and that support for the AL is based to a large extent on the failures of the BNP. The fact that BNP outpolls AL by 48% to 34% among the young generation, despite the party’s shortcomings, is also very striking, and should give pause to both parties.

The younger demographic rated the BNP performance higher and the AL performance lower than other age groups, but not by much.

Among 18-24 year-olds, 68% still believe AL has been successful in its first year in office and 58% still believe BNP has been unsuccessful.

What does it mean that they would therefore plump for BNP over AL by 14 points?

Perhaps satisfaction with the AL is not as clear cut as would appear at first glance.

The numbers suggest that even a modicum of competence and vision on the part of the BNP would be sufficient to shift popular opinion in their direction

In a DT poll conducted on the eve of the election, fully 77% opined that elections without the BNP would be unacceptable, closely matching the number wanting a re-poll right after the election.

But now with the AL government in place and no path to bring about fresh elections (whether under a neutral government or not) apparent, the public appears to have accepted the government as a fait accompli.

As they say, possession is ninetenths of the law.

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and that in the 18-24 demographic, it actually out-polled the AL significantly, by 48% to 34%, suggesting that the long-term prognosis for the party may be more positive.

However, the BNP may wish to consider the fact that Khaleda’s approval ratings seem to have taken a nosedive, with 48% to 22% preferring Hasina to her as the next prime minister.

Similarly, a salutary lesson should be drawn from the scant support shown for Khaleda’s son, Tarique Rahman, the party’s senior vice-chairman

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Zafar Sobhan is the Editor, Dhaka Tribune.

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ourism service-providers and investors wait for the peak season to make the big bucks and cover the overhead costs of the lean season. But that remains just a dream.

They have to realise the hard truth: Man proposes but God disposes. This same time last year, political unrest broke out centring the national polls.

Tour operators, hoteliers, and resort owners became burdened with heavy losses. Many of the service-providers got distressed and were forced to fall into debt.

This year, in quite the same manner, the tourism business is witnessing a grim scenario in the country. Service-providers are receiving overwhelming numbers of phone calls to cancel confirmed bookings. Owner of Bengal Tours, Mr Masud said: “Tourists are cancelling all the confirmed bookings. Our important Japanese groups have cancelled their confirmed bookings, and all other groups are rescheduling itineraries. This is giving a bad impression of the country to international tourists.”

It has also been reported by different media agencies that in the popular tourist destination Cox’s Bazar, the hotels are seeing very few numbers of guests, although this is the tourist season. The hotels that normally witness an average of 60-65% room occupancy during this season, now have only 1012% occupancy due to the blockade, according to the unit Manager of Motel Probal in Cox’s Bazar.

The tourism industry is being severely harmed due to the ongoing non-stop blockade. Both foreign and domestic tourists are afraid of going to tourist destinations, which results in great losses for tour operators as well as the local poor people around the sites.

When tourists move from one site to another, they spend money on food, transport, accommodation, and buy souvenirs. But the non-stop countrywide strike invariably associated with violence is forcing tourists to stay inside the hotels. Mr Toufique Rahman said: “Many international tourist-sending-companies think strikes are very frequent here, so they are rethinking sending tourists until the situation improves in the country.”

Many domestic tourists may have

planned to visit different tourist spots like Cox’s Bazar, St Martin’s, Rangamati, Sylhet, and other popular tourist areas, but they are afraid to move.

Tour operators are losing business as foreign tourists are cancelling their prior-bookings.

“It’s a great loss for my resort.

Tourists feel unsafe to make journeys during strikes and blockades. There is no earning as tourists are not coming …” said Mr Khabir Uddin, Chairman of Arunima Eco-resort in Narail district and the president of Tourism Resort Industries Association of Bangladesh (TRIAB), heaving a great sigh as he narrated the situation.

Mr James Babu Hazra, Managing Director of Pebble-stone, located at Inani beach of Cox’s Bazar said: “My occupancy report is almost zero, and I am not able to pay staff salary.” Mr Ekram Razu, convenor of Inbound Tour Operators Association said the non-stop blockade has already taken a great toll on the tourism industry. His company has already incurred a huge loss. This is the peak of the tourist season.

Tour operators, hoteliers, and travel agents of the country earn their net profit this season. But this non-stop strike and violence hinders their businesses. According to the WTTC, a total of 2.3 million people are involved in the tourism industry of Bangladesh in some capacity, with around 1.5 million directly involved.

All these people are puzzled on what to do, as the tourist season is almost nearing its end. They did not have the expected business. Besides, the tourists who are leaving the country with a bad experience may not make repeated visits, and may discourage others from visiting the country. This is also tarnishing the image of the country.

With this bad image, it will be difficult to invite foreign investment in the tourism sector of the country.

Our government is being deprived of a huge revenue-earner because of the current situation. Hence, for the sake of the tourism industry and the country, we must think of alternatives to non-stop strikes and violence. We should also keep tourist vehicles out of the purview of any strike. l Ziaul Haque Howlader is Deputy Manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

Political agitation destroys this peace

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Demonocracy n Nadeem Qadir

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ndeed, Bangladeshis are gripped by fear, in what some call a fight for democracy for the people of Bangladesh.

Interestingly, those who are fighting this war of egos for power only have never asked the populace – the populace that they are burning and killing – if they are even with this socalled fight for democracy.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

The Dhaka Tribune published a photograph of a driver of a human hauler. The man suffered 35% burns after agitators had poured petrol on him and his vehicle, before merrily lighting them up for what they call a fight for democracy.

What kind of democracy is this?

Killing people in the name of democracy is not democracy, it is “demonocracy.” Creating obstacles in the daily lives of the populace for someone’s ill-conceived motives is nothing short of demonocracy.

In the past few days of the so-called “oborodh” or blockade, more than 12 people have died, and many have been injured.

There have been people screaming in pain in hospital wards because of the wrath of a political alliance which has nothing to offer to the people of Bangladesh, except misery, death, and allowances for anti-Bangladesh elements to roam free.

My household help tells me how she needs to borrow some money this month, as her husband has no work

because of the actions of the opposition. My driver, a staunch BNP supporter, was very critical: “Sir, madam is making a mistake,” he told me with a very disappointed expression.

However, I was amazed with his graciousness when he added: “Hasina has done a lot, and we should allow her to work … neither the BNP nor Jatiya Party have done so much for the country.” He admits that fact because he has been getting increasingly disillusioned with the BNP. Bangladesh’s garment exporters have made it very clear that they will not put up with this unrest, since they too find no solid ground for such actions disrupting their business.

Atiqul Islam, president of the BGMEA, said buyers have promised to issue orders to live up to Bangladeh’s export target of $50bn by 2021. Why the pledge? Because Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina can restore their confidence and bring back order in the sector, but the BNP’s actions can effectively reverse this hope.

The blockade has already cost more

than Tk450cr to this sector, which accounts for 80% of the country’s export earnings. “Politics is holding the sector hostage,” the BGMEA said, and if it were a popular issue, the BGMEA would not have termed itself a hostage.

Did the BNP leadership ever think how any harm done to the garment sector would render the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers uncertain, and have them face starvation even?

Sectors linked to the apparel industry would also face something of a disaster – is it fair to call for deadly action to be taken in the name of democracy?

It is one big joke.

A blockade costs the transport sector alone Tk200cr daily, with 200,000 vehicles being taken off the streets due to the fear of arson and bomb attacks. Is that popular support? Public transport owners and employees have said how they would resume operations soon, and would retaliate if attacked.

The FBCCI is mulling to go to court

against disruptive political actions. If the BNP-Jamaat’s actions are thought of as a good cause for the people and the nation, the FBCCI would not be thinking along those lines.

Thus, it is time for other professionals and organisations to take similar steps, and send a clear message that the BNP will face dire consequences if its illogical incidents of arson and killings continue.

For Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the warning of tough measures to curb such actions can only be called reasonable, because she has to secure the safety of the citizens, and her opponent’s cause has no popular support.

Why does Khaleda want a caretaker government now? She needs to think hard about the issues and her failed and much-criticised political strategies. Sheikh Hasina has to rein in the demon that is trying to destroy this country in the name of democracy. l Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, January 16, 2015

13 Sri Lanka

sink bumbling Black Caps

14 Aussie paceman

Lee retires from Twenty20Is

14 Simeone junior

keen to make his own name

Sport

Did you know?

Only Shane Watson (39) & Mitchell Johnson (38) have taken more wickets for Australia in T20Is than Brett Lee (28)

BANGABANDHU GOLD CUP

Hosts face strong Malaysia in opener n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh will take on Malaysia in the inaugural match of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2015 at Sylhet District Stadium on January 29 as the logo-unveiling ceremony of the long-awaited international tournament took place yesterday.

The forthcoming edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup will be the beginning of the Bangladesh Football Federation’s project of organising this competition every year for the next five years.

Even though the logo and other details were revealed yesterday, the groupings and draw of the international tournament were already finalised during the recently concluded Extra-Ordinary Congress of the Asian Football Confederation in Melbourne.

With the agreement of the six participating teams, hosts Bangladesh were put in Group A alongside Malaysia and Sri Lanka while Group B comprises Bahrain, Singapore and Thailand.

The north-eastern district of Sylhet will host the opener between the home side and Malaysia. Alongside Dhaka, Sylhet was given the nod to be one of the two venues of the tournament, after its successful hosting of the Fifa international friendly between Bangladesh Under-23 and Nepal U-23. A record 50,000 people watched the two teams in action right before the Incheon Asian Games in September.

The Bangabandhu Gold Cup will be held across 11 days. Sylhet and Dhaka will host a group’s matches and one semifinal each. The grand finale will take place in Dhaka.

The logo contains a smiling portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a football sandwiched by the title of the international tournament

in the middle. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, who is also the chairman of the competition’s organising committee, was present as the chief guest at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel yesterday afternoon.

“Football was so popular in the past.

The Bangladesh Football Federation is taking initiatives to make it a national sport and bring back the glory days. [BFF president Kazi] Salahuddin and the committee ensured us that this tournament will be held every year for the next five years. I want to thank them for organising it and also for getting me involved,” said the Finance Minister yesterday.

BFF supremo Salahuddin expressed his gratitude to the Finance Minister for the support and also explained the reason behind the groupings. “The groupings were decided in Melbourne.

For the draw ceremony, representatives of the participating countries had to come to Dhaka which is not possible for some teams as the Asian Cup is going on. So, the six of us sat together and finalised the draw,” said the BFF boss.

“These kind of international tournaments do not take place often in the world of football. I have an agreement to organise this tournament every year in January for the next five years,” he said before adding, “I hope Bangladesh will at least make it to the semifinals and I shall be very, very happy if we reach the final.”

BFF senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedy, Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Arif Khan Joy, Channel 9 managing director Enayetur Rahman Bappy, AB Bank president and managing director Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury, National Bank Ltd managing director and CEO Shamsul Huda Khan and Modhumoti Bank official Mizanur Rahman were also present among others on the occasion. l

Finance Minister AMA Muhith (3R) unveils the logo of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup at a city hotel yesterday

BCB names Mahmud as the new manager n Minhaz Uddin Khan The all-important board meeting of the Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday saw some major decisions being taken as Naimur Rahman was appointed the new chairman of the cricket operations committee, replacing Akram Khan.

Former captain Khaled Mahmud was also appointed as the new manager of the Bangladesh team and his very first assignment will be the upcoming ICC World Cup in Australia-New Zealand, informed BCB president Nazmul Hasan at a city hotel yesterday.

“We had our 10th board meeting today (yesterday) where we took quite a few decisions. The major decision is that of Khaled Mahmud, who will be the new manager of the Bangladesh

Abahani’s Hungarian recruit Szabolcs Csorba (R) goes airborne following a crunching tackle from a Muktijoddha footballer at the Army Museum ground yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

team in the World Cup,” said Nazmul.

“Apart from that, we have reshuffled some of the committees with Naimur Rahman selected as the new chairman of the cricket operations committee.

Akram Khan will be the new chairman of the tournament committee,” he added.

Following the meeting, the board also approved the addition of 14 national pool cricketers in the central contracts. Previously, 12 national pool cricketers were offered central contracts but this year two more players have been added to the roster.

ODI skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim, opener Tamim Iqbal and all-rounder Shakib al Hasan have been put in the A+ category while Mahmudullah is the only cricketer in the A category.

n Raihan Mahmood

The preparation for the 2016 ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh has already started for the young Tigers as they are scheduled to depart for Sri Lanka today. The visiting Bangladesh U-19 side will lock horns against their Sri Lankan counterparts in five one-dayers and two three-day matches.

Young Tigers skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz hoped that their tour of the island nation will serve as good preparation for next year’s U-19 World Cup. “We have the World Cup in 2016 and our mission for the mega event has already started with this Sri Lanka tour.

We are looking to utilise the tour as part of our World Cup preparations. Our first target will be to cope with the conditions. We have quite a few talented cricketers in the side and I am hoping for a series win in Sri Lanka,” said Miraz yesterday.l

Bangladesh captain Mamunul Islam thinks his team will have to give more than their hundred percent effort in order to attain their target of winning the Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football.

The talisman midfielder said this while talking to the media at the Army Museum ground yesterday following the practice match between Bangladesh Premier Football League outfits Abahani and Muktijoddha.

Mamunul said there is no room for complacency. “Malaysia are a good team and I do not think Sri Lanka will be easy either. It is an international tournament and they will all be different. They will not be the same. We have to put on our best effort and give more than hundred percent to achieve our primary goal of reaching the semifinals.”

Bangladesh suffered a 2-1 defeat against the Ukraine in their last practice match, yesterday, ahead of the Hockey World League Round 2 in Singapore.

Bangladesh, who trounced Malaysia Under-23 5-1 in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday, took the lead in the 40-minute affair through their penalty corner specialist Khorshedur Rahman but the Ukrainians restored parity a few minutes later.

With the warm-up match heading towards a 1-1 draw, Bangladesh conceded the second goal with just a minute remaining to the final whistle.

Bangladesh will open their Round 2 campaign against Japan tomorrow before facing Mexico a day later. Bangladesh will play their last Pool B match against Poland this Tuesday. l

Brazilian football legend Ronaldo has hinted he might come out of retirement at age 38 and play some games with the second division North American Soccer League’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

Ronaldo, who hasn’t played professionally since 2011, recently became part-owner of the side which competes in the 11-team league which is part of the feeder system for Major League Soccer (MLS). The former Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Barcelona star told Sports Illustrated that he plans to get in better shape and might suit up as a reserve player.

“I will try to play some games,” he said. “This year I want to train a lot.

The last three years I didn’t because I was too busy in other stuff.

“Maybe if we get to the final and I’m feeling good, why not? I will put my

n

ers Jahangir Shah Badshah, ASM Faruk and Athar Ali Khan. Alongside the trio, a few other former cricketers will be responsible for observing Bangladesh cricket closely before giving their feedback to the board.

Gazi Golam Mortuza Pappa has been appointed as the new chairman of the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis while Enayet Hossain Siraj has been assigned as the new chairman of the working committee.

Another influential board director, Sheikh Sohel, has been appointed as the head of the disciplinary committee while Tanjil Chowdhury will be the new chairman of the age-group committee.

Kazi Inam Ahmed, meanwhile, will continue his role as the chairman of the marketing and commercial committee.l

Young Tigers leave for SL today n Mazhar Uddin

Brazilian legend Ronaldo ponders comeback with NASL team name in the NASL as an option.”

Ronaldo was speaking in his first interview since joining the Strikers’ ownership group.

“I can’t be a manager, because I think it’s too tough managing 30 players thinking in different ways,” he said.

Rubel Hossain, Nasir Hossain and Imrul Kayes are in category B while Mominul Haque, Anamul Haque and Shafiul Islam were named in the C category. Category D comprises Al Amin Hossain, Taijul Islam and Arafat Sunny.

Sohag Gazi, Abdur Razzak and Robiul Islam have been excluded from the list.

The board meeting also approved Ross Turner’s strategic plans for the next four years. Nazmul informed that Turner will be monitoring the plans closely and keep the board updated.

Nazmul also said they are planning to hold the controversial Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 by November this year.

Among other issues, the BCB has approved the formation of a technical committee comprising former cricket-

Mamunul warns of complacency

Ukraine edge past Bangladesh in warm-up n Raihan Mahmood

AFP, Fort Lauderdale

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

“I think being an owner is a good way to teach our players the way I won.

“It’s a new challenge for me. I’ve been working a lot in different things.

Last year I was involved in the World Cup as a member of the organizing board, and I was also commentating matches during the World Cup for TV Globo. And now it’s a great opportunity to manage as an owner of a great team.

“The Fort Lauderdale Strikers is a team with history, tradition. Soccer in America is growing, so I think it’s a great opportunity.”

The Strikers reached the NASL final last season where they lost to San Antonio. The NASL, which has no connection to the original North American Soccer League, is in between the MLS and the third division USL Pro league.

There is no promotion and relegation between the three American leagues.l

Mamunul also expressed his hope of playing a couple of warm-up matches prior to the start of the tournament. “Before the Asian Games football, we played Vietnam in a practice match and it helped us when we faced Afghanistan. I hope the BFF will arrange some practice matches ahead of the event although I admit that the time is very short.”

The skipper stated that the fitness level of all the players is good and they are ready to fight it out. “We are working two sessions a day and I think the deferment of the event arrived as a blessing in disguise. We were able to focus upon some specific zones. The players also worked hard to attain top-level fitness knowing that they have to sweat it out in the tournament. We are looking forward to putting on a good show for the people of the country.”

The national side were afforded a one-day vacation yesterday. l

Late Bando strike denies Comfit in Corporate Football n Tribune Desk A late goal from Bando Design’s Shakil denied Comfit Composite full three points in their Super 6 encounter in the Mir Corporate Football Fiesta, powered

by International Turkish Hope School, yesterday.

Raju scored a brilliant goal to give Comfit the upper hand in the intense battle and they defended till the last second, but a counter-attack saw the tournament’s highest scorer Shakil poking in at literally the final stages of the game to make it 1-1. Comfit’s Raju was adjudged the man-of-the-match.l

Bando and Comfit in action in the Mir Corporate Football Fiesta yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

DHAKA TRIBUNE

SL sink bumbling Black Caps

QUICK BYTES

Dhoni keeps silence on shock Test retirement Mahendra Singh Dhoni would not elaborate Thursday about his sudden retirement from Test cricket, ahead of leading India in the one-day international tri-series against Australia and England.

The 33-year-old stunned the cricket world - and a completely unaware India team - when he announced his immediate Test retirement after the drawn third Test against Australia in Melbourne late last month. He had not mentioned it during his post-Test media conference only for Indian authorities to drop the bombshell via social media shortly afterwards.

India’s World Cup-winning captain again had nothing to say in the subject as he launched the Indian one-day team’s new uniform on Thursday ahead of their first tri-series game against Australia in Melbourne on Sunday. Dhoni, who remains India’s ODI and T20 captain, stood next to new Test skipper Virat Kohli and six other-teammates on stage with the closest he came to addressing the issue when he was asked about his time off since that Test.

–AFP

n AFP, Hamilton

Liverpool eyeing Aussie ‘keeper Ryan English Premier League giants Liverpool are monitoring Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan as they look to bolster competition for struggling number one Simon Mignolet, according to reports. The 22-year-old has been in great form at the Asian Cup, pulling off some eye-catching saves and conceding just one goal in his side’s opening two Group A wins. Ryan, who plays in Belgium with Club Brugge, has now caught the eye of Liverpool boss Brendon Rodgers, according to reports in a number of British newspapers. Britain’s Daily Telegraph said the Reds want Ryan, and quoted Brugge’s former sporting director Arnar Gretarsson as saying the Australian is keen on a move to England.

–AFP

FFF to block Ben Arfa’s Nice move Hatem Ben Arfa’s registration with Ligue 1 club Nice will be refused by the French federartion (FFF) after FIFA ruled that he had already played competitive games for the maximum two clubs this season, an FFF source said on Wednesday. The FFF asked FIFA to look into Ben Arfa’s situation due to doubts about whether his appearance in a match for Newcastle United’s development side was regarded as a competitive fixture. Ben Arfa was loaned by Newcastle to Hull City until December and has played in eight Premier League games this season. World soccer’s governing body has told the FFF that the U-21 match “must be considered as official regarding the rules” and “must be taken into account when applying the rules”, Nice said in a statement on their website (www.ogcnice.com).

–Reuters

Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (L) celebrates his century during their ODI against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton yesterday AFP

DAY’S WATCH Ten cricket 5:30PM South Africa v West Indies 1st ODI

Star Sports 2 9:30PM Ranji Trophy Gujrat v Punjab

Star Sports 1 9:00AM Tri-nation ODI series Australia v England

Star Sports 4 1:45AM Spanish La Liga Cordoba v Eibar

Ten Action 1:30AM French Ligue 1 Bordeaux v Nice

Sri Lanka cruised to a six-wicket win in the second one-day international against New Zealand on Thursday, thanks to a masterful century from Tillakaratne Dilshan and a comedy of errors from the Black Caps.

Dilshan scored 116 as the visitors comfortably overhauled New Zealand’s first innings total of 248 to level the seven-match series 1-1, with Angelo Mathews (39) and Kumar Sangakkara (38) also making valuable contributions.

Their efforts came after New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and put the hosts in a strong position with a big-hitting 117, only for his teammates to squander any chance of victory through a series of basic mistakes.

The Black Caps lost four wickets to run-outs and a clumsily conceded stumping, effectively handing the match to Sri Lanka.

Mathews’ men struck early when opener Martin Guptill departed for 10 trying to loft Nuwan Kulasekara over mid-off, offering an easy catch to continue an indifferent run of form at international level.

McCullum responded to the setback with typical aggression, bringing up his second consecutive 50 in 39 balls, including eight boundaries.

It was only the fifth time in 203 one-day innings that McCullum has managed to covert his 28 half centuries into a ton, sending a message to World Cup rivals that he is finally reproducing his Test form in the limited overs arena.

Luke Ronchi did not face a ball before he was run out and Corey Anderson (5) was caught short of his crease chasing a quick single in the next over.

Nathan McCullum then had a rush of blood to the head that saw him become New Zealand’s fourth run-out, just one short of the all-time record in ODIs. Adam Milne at least added some variety when he took a wild swing at Sachithra Senanayake’s delivery and his momentum sent him stumbling out of the crease, allowing wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara to stump him for 19.

Trent Boult (13) added two sixes but was caught trying for a third off the last ball of the innings.

Sri Lanka began confidently in reply, with openers Dilshan and Dimuth Karunaratne racing to a 64-run partnership before Nathan McCullum trapped the latter lbw for 21.

Dilshan went on to notch his 19th ODI century, the ninth highest of any player in the game, finally falling when he mis-timed a pull shot just a few balls before Sri Lanka sealed the win.l

NZvSL, SECOND ODI New Zealand R M. Guptill c Mathews b Kulasekara 10 B. McCullum c and b Mendis 117 T. Latham c Sangakkara b Herath 5 R. Taylor c Perera b Herath 34 D. Vettori run out (Mendis) 7 C. Anderson run out (Mathews) 5 L. Ronchi run out (Dilshan) 0 N. McCullum run out (Jayawardene) 13 A. Milne st Sangakkara b Senanayake 19 M. Henry not out 20 T. Boult c Thirimanne b Senanayake 13 Extras (w5) 5 Total (all out, 50 overs)

B 19 99 15 69 8 14 0 26 27 17 6

248

Fall of wickets 1-35 (Guptill), 2-73 (Latham), 3-158 (B. McCullum), 4-171 (Vettori), 5-183 (Taylor), 6-183 (Ronchi), 7-185 (Anderson), 8-207 (N. McCullum), 9-222 (Milne), 10-248 (Boult) Bowling Kulasekara 8-0-40-1, Perera 4-0-41-0, Senanayake 10-0-55-2, Herath 10-0-362 , Mendis 10-0-47-1, Dilshan 7-0-27-0, Mathews 1-0-2-0 Sri Lanka D. Karunaratne lbw N. McCullum T. Dilshan c Ronchi b Henry K. Sangakkara c Latham b Milne M. Jayawardene c Taylor b Henry A. Mathews not out L. Thirimanne not out Extras (w4 lb5)

R

B

21 116 38 27 39 2 9

38 127 41 29 46 5

Total (4 wickets, 47.4 overs)

252

Fall of wickets 1-64 (Karunaratne), 2-116 (Sangakkara), 3-163 (Jayawardene), 4-237 (Dilshan) Bowling Boult 10-1-52-0, Henry 9.4-0-34-2, Milne 8-0-61-1, N. McCullum 6-0-40-1, Vettori 10-1-40-1, Anderson 4-0-20-0 Sri Lanka won by six wickets; series level 1-1

Goal in 14 seconds as UAE, Iran through n AFP, Melbourne Ali Mabkhout scored the Asian Cup’s fastest recorded goal after just 14 seconds on Thursday as the UAE reached the quarter-finals alongside three-time winners Iran.

Mabkhout pounced just moments after the kick-off against Bahrain in the quickest strike recorded in the event’s 61-year history, to set his team on the way to a 2-1 win.

And Iran’s esteemed coach Carlos Queiroz was left purring at Sardar Azmoun’s “brilliant” winner in the 1-0 victory over Qatar, comparing him to the best strikers he has worked with.

But beleaguered Jordan boss Ray Wilkins sought solace in his mother’s love on a chaotic day off the pitch marked by fresh recriminations over a bungled dope test which robbed the Englishman of a key player.

Staying up is Dortmund’s only mission Avoiding relegation is the only thing that matters for Borussia Dortmund despite continuing hopes in the Champions League and German Cup, chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said on Wednesday. The 2011 and 2012 German champions, who also reached the 2013 Champions League final, have imploded this season and are in 17th place, level on points with last-placed Freiburg. “The mission is clear. Our aim is to stay up and in such a way that it can be seen as a good performance in hindsight,” Watzke told reporters at the team’s training camp in Spain. “We will not deal with any other issues, especially those coming from outside.” One of the issues constantly in the headlines is the future of winger Marco Reus, back in training following an ankle injury he sustained in November.

–Reuters

13

Friday, January 16, 2015

Del Potro of Argentina lets out his frustration after losing a point against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan during their Sydney International match yesterday AFP

High-flying Australia, still missing captain Mile Jedinak through injury, suffered another setback with the news that Aston Villa defender Chris Herd is out of the tournament with an Achilles problem.

ASIAN CUP RESULTS Bahrain

1-2

Okwunwanne 26

Qatar

UAE Mabkhout 1, Hasan 73-og

0-1

Iran Azmoun 52

UAE grabbed the headlines, however, with striker Mabkhout sparking his side to a victory over Bahrain which kept them on top of Group C on goal difference.

It was his third goal of the Asian Cup after netting a brace in the 4-1 victory over Gulf Cup champions Qatar at the

weekend, making him the competition’s top scorer. However, UAE needed an own goal from Bahrain captain Mohamed Hasan to take the points.

Qatar, who won the Gulf Cup last November, will be playing for pride in their final game, something of an embarrassment after winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup. Wilkins had a busy day in Melbourne, initially locked out of his own press conference after forgetting his accreditation and then blasting Asian Cup organisers for a botched doping test which made striker Ahmad Hayel sick, potentially ending his tournament.

The Jordanian FA has lodged a formal protest to the Asian Football Confederation, claiming the player began vomiting after being forced to drink water to help him give a urine sample after a 1-0 defeat by Iraq earlier this week.l

Sardar Azmoun of Iran (L) celebrates scoring against Qatar during their Group C match in the AFC Asian Cup in Sydney yesterday AFP

Del Potro comeback bid ends in Sydney quarters

Wyk, Wiese lift SA to consolation win n Reuters, Durban

n Reuters, Sydney

Morne van Wyk blasted an unbeaten century and David Wiese took five wickets as South Africa claimed a consolation 69-run victory over West Indies in the final T20I on Wednesday. Van Wyk, who is on the Proteas’ stand-by list for next month’s 50-World Cup should wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock not recover from injury, smashed 114 from 70 balls with nine fours and seven sixes to help the home side score 195 for three.l

Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro’s comeback from a lengthy injury layoff was cut short by Kazakhstan qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarter-finals of the Sydney international on Thursday.

The towering Argentine has been out for 10 months after undergoing surgery to fix a left wrist issue and went down 7-6 (5) 7-6 (3) to Kukushkin, ranked 66th in the world.

Defending champion Del Potro, who won the U.S. Open in 2009, has seen his ranking plummet to 338 and had hoped to get some match practice in Sydney before the Australian Open begins in Melbourne on Monday.

There was not much to choose between the two players, who went unbroken throughout the match, barring a few points in the tiebreakers.

“It was a tough match,” said Del Potro, who beat top seed Fabio Fognini in his second match. “I think he deserved to win because he played better than me in the tie-break.

“I served well, but my wrist hurts a little bit more than yesterday, and I couldn’t hit harder than my last match.

I think anyway it’s a great week for me.

“I played three matches in a row and I played against good players, which means a good comeback for me.”

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova signalled her intent for Melbourne by brushing aside Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5 6-1 to set up an all-Czech final against Karolina Pliskova.

With her win, second-seeded Kvitova brought Pironkova’s dream run at the Sydney Olympic Park to an end after she won 14 straight matches, having come through qualifiers to win in 2014

and again playing qualifiers to reach the main draw this year.

Pliskova accounted for German fifth seed and world number nine Angelique Kerber, who went down tamely 6-3 6-2 after coming through a series of threeset marathons, including one that finished later than 3 a.m.

Australian Casey Dellacqua’s progress before her home open was also halted after the top seed bowed out of the Hobart International with a second-round loss to Italian Karin Knapp.

The world number 29, however, did not seem too worried by her 7-5 2-6 6-3 defeat.

“I feel ready for the Australian Open and I feel that I’m the best prepared that I can be and that I have done everything that I possibly can,” Dellacqua, Australia’s best hope at the year’s first grand slam behind Samantha Stosur, told reporters.l

BRIEF SCORE South Africa 195 for 3 in 20 overs (Van Wyk 114*, Hendricks 42; Pollard 1-13) West Indies 126 all out in 19 overs ( Simmons 49, Pollard 20*; Wiese 5-23) South Africa won by 69 runs; West Indies win series 2-1

Morgan closes door on Pietersen return for WC n AFP, Sydney Eoin Morgan said unwanted Kevin Pietersen was not part of his plans as England’s one-day captain on Thursday and was happy with his group of players ahead of next month’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Morgan, who took over the England captaincy from Alastair Cook last month, moved to end speculation surrounding the future of the maverick batsman, sacked by England last February.

Pietersen renewed speculation during a television interview this week with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting during a Big Bash League match when he claimed Morgan wanted to have him back in England’s 50-over team.

While the pair are friends, Morgan

put paid to outside hopes Pietersen may have had of returning to England’s World Cup squad as an injury replacement.

England take on Australia in the opening match of the tri-series in Sydney on Friday in a tournament also involving India and Morgan laid his cards out on the table.

“I think this is a good opportunity to clear things up given that Kevin has a lot of opportunity to talk in the media and get his point of view out there,” Morgan told travelling English reporters.

“I’m very happy with the group of players I have, I think this is the best group of players we have to drive the England team forward over the next two months in particular. Kevin’s situation hasn’t changed over the last year. It’s been reiterated over months and days.” l

Two-time Australian Open tennis champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus poses for a photograph in front of a graffiti after a promotional event in Melbourne on Wednesday. The Australian Open tennis tournament begins this Monday REUTERS

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Friday, January 16, 2015

Lee retires from T20s n AFP, Sydney Australian pace bowler Brett Lee on Thursday announced he is to retire from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career, saying he was both emotional and excited.

The 38-year-old called time on his international commitments in July 2012, but continued to play Twenty20 in both the Australian Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League.

His Sydney Sixers have one Big Bash regular-season match remaining, against cross-town rivals the Sydney Thunder next Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground ahead of a possible finals clash.

“I knew before the season started that this was going to be my last season,” Lee said. “I met with [coach] Trevor Bayliss and the talk was will I play for another two or three years, and I had that option, but I said to him straight away I want to make this my last year, I really want to enjoy this year.

Inns 117

Balls 2640

Runs 3179

GRAEME SMITH Congrats on an incredible career big man @ BrettLee_58 it was always a challenge and a privilege to play against you

SHANE WATSON My great mate @BrettLee_58 hanging up the boots... Incredible career and longevity, what dreams are made of. #Congrats #Legend

“I think I’ve certainly had a lot more fun in the last six weeks than I ever have in my life. That’s because I haven’t put pressure on myself.

“Cricket has given me so many great memories, it has given me so many great opportunities. I’ve been lucky enough to play for 20 years, whereas most people might get a year or two. To play for two decades at the top level, really happy.”

“When that last ball’s bowled I’ll walk off happy and content.”

“I’m excited, I’m emotional, I’m happy, but I’m certainly not worried because I know that I’ve made the right call.”

Lee played 76 Tests for Australia, taking 310 wickets, and 221 one-dayers with 380 dismissals.

His fastest delivery cracked the 161 kilometres per hour mark (100 miles per hour), with the blond speedster consistently bowling at 150kph over 20 years, making him a fearsome opponent through his sheer pace and toe-crushing inswinging yorkers.l

BOWLING AVERAGES Mat 117

TWEETS ON LEE’S RETIREMENT

Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ 105 4/28 4/28 30.27 7.22

JAMES FAULKNER Congratulations to @BrettLee_58 on an amazing career in all forms of cricket around the world! Wish you all the best with retirement!

ANDY BICHEL Well done Binga! I wish you well for the reminder of the Big Bash would be good to go out on a high!

JASON GILLESPIE Congratulations on a fantastic career Binga @BrettLee_58 #topman #FBC

TOM MOODY Congratulations @BrettLee_58 on an outstanding career, a great role model & servant to our game! #TrueChampion

DAMIEN FLEMING Congrats @BrettLee_58 on his career. Bowled Express pace over an unbelievably long period Had a fun batting P/ship in his 1st test #Binga

ANDREW FLINTOFF It’s about time @BrettLee_58 retired he’s nearly 50 !! Amazing cricketer and more importantly a gentleman , congrats!

SR 4w 5w 10 25.1 1 0 0

Saints march on, Spurs stage comeback n AFP, London Shane Long scored the winner as Premier League high-flyers Southampton saw off second-tier Ipswich Town 1-0 in their FA Cup third-round replay on Wednesday.

Victory saw the Saints, third in the Premier League, book a fourth-round tie at home to top-flight rivals Crystal Palace - a side now managed by former Southampton boss Alan Pardew.

Meanwhile Mauricio Pochettino, another ex-Southampton manager, had a night to remember as his Tottenham Hotspur team came from 2-0 down to beat Burnley 4-2 at White Hart Lane to set up another all-top division Cup clash, at home to basement club Leicester.

Elsewhere, third-tier Bradford defeated second division Millwall 4-0 as the Bantams booked a lucrative glam-

our tie away to Premier League leaders Chelsea.

There was a frantic start in north London with three goals inside the

FA CUP RESULTS Bradford City

4-0

Millwall

0-1

Southampton

Hanson 8, Stead 17, Halliday 39, Knott 57

Ipswich Town

Long 19

Tottenham

4-2

Paulinho 10, Capoue 45, Chiriches 49, Rose 52

Burnley Sordell 3, Wallace 8

opening 10 minutes at White Hart Lane.

Marvin Sordell gave visitors Burnley a third-minute lead and five minutes later the Clarets, who held Spurs to a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor, were 2-0 ahead when Ross Wallace’s 25-yard free-kick took a huge deflection off Roberto Soldado and

beat the wrong-footed Michel Vorm.

But within minutes Spurs, who beat Burnley to win the 1962 FA Cup final, had pulled a goal back.

Andros Townsend’s cross was nodded on by Soldado and Paulinho took the ball on his chest before unleashing a half-volley.

Spurs equalised on the stroke of half-time through Etienne Capoue before two goals early in the second half, from Vlad Chriches and Danny Rose, completed the comeback.

Afterwards, Pochettino said his side had been involved in a “strange game”.

“It was key to go in at half-time at 2-2,” he added. “The team has shown character and faith... I am happy they showed character because that is important.”

Burnley manager Sean Dyche said: “We came here to win but it was a game of mistakes from us.” l

Ronaldo named Portugal’s player of the century n AFP, Lisbon

Simeone junior keen to make his own name

Triple Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo was hailed as Portugal’s player of the century at a gala to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their football federation on Wednesday.

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho picked up the award as Portuguese coach of the century at a red carpet event at the Estoril casino 10km outside Lisbon.

Ronaldo, who scored 60 goals in 61 games in 2014, came out of a vote ahead of Eusebio known as the Black Pearl in the 1960’s, and Luis Figo who won the Ballon d’Or in 2000. He clinched a third Ballon d’Or on Monday, having previously won the ultimate individual award in football in 2008 and 2013. l

Giovanni Simeone wants to be known for his skills and not as the son of Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone after impressing in a two-goal performance for Argentina’s under-20 side.

Argentina crushed Ecuador 5-2 in their opening match of the South American under-20 championship in Uruguay on Wednesday with striker Simeone helping himself to a brace of goals.

“I haven’t come here because I’m the son of (someone famous),” he said.

“I’m trying to show my skills and personality,” added Simeone, who has already had first division experience with River Plate, where he made his league debut in August 2013.l

n Reuters, Buenos Aires

Bilbao, Sevilla, Villarreal reach King’s Cup quarters n Reuters, Madrid

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Etienne Capoue (2L) celebrates scoring against Burnley during their FA Cup third round replay match at White Hart Lane in London on Wednesday REUTERS

RESULTS

Athletic Bilbao held off a stirring fightback by Celta Vigo to scrape into the King’s Cup quarter-finals on away goals despite a 2-0 home defeat on Wednesday that prompted whistles from their own fans.

Bilbao won last week’s last-16, first leg 4-2 but were reeling at the San Mames when Xabi Etxeita put the ball into his own net soon after the break and Fabian Orellana converted a penalty to make it 2-0 and 4-4 on aggregate.

Five-times winners Sevilla romped into the quarter-finals when they thrashed Granada 4-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan having beaten their Andalusian neighbours 2-1 in the first leg. Espanyol await in the last eight.

Villarreal also went through when they drew 2-2 at Real Sociedad for a 3-2

Real Sociedad

2-2

Villarreal

Vela 45, Granero 75

Moreno 27, Giovani dos Santos 73 Villarreal win 3-2 on aggregate

Athletic Bilbao

0-2

Celta Vigo

Etxeita 49-og, Orellana 61 4-4 on aggregate, Athletic Bilbao go through on away goals

Getafe

1-0

Almeria

Vazquez 76 Getafe win 2-1 on aggregate

Sevilla

4-0

Granada

Gameiro 18, 55, Aspas 28, Suarez 64 Sevilla win 6-1 on aggregate

aggregate success. Sociedad coach David Moyes was sent off for the first time since taking charge of the club when he protested against a late offside decision.l

Injured Arteta and Debuchy out for next three months n Reuters, London Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta will be out for the next three months after having a “successful” operation on the left ankle that has kept him sidelined since late November, the club said on Thursday.

Arsenal will also be without France international defender Mathieu Debuchy until April following surgery on the shoulder he injured against Stoke City last weekend.

Spanish midfielder Arteta had a bony spur removed and in a statement on their website (www.arsenal.com), Arsenal said: “The procedure went well and Mikel will now begin a period of rehabilitation which is expected to last approximately three months.”

Wenger added that 29-year-old Debuchy had surgery on his right shoulder following his injury. l

FIVE BIG NAMES MISSING FROM CUP OF NATIONS

DEMBA BA

VINCENT ENYEAMA

DIDIER DROGBA

KWADWO ASAMOAH

MEHDI BENATIA

Senegal coach Alain Giresse surprised many when he did not even include the prolific Ba in his preliminary squad for the finals. The 29-year-old French-born striker, formerly of Newcastle United and Chelsea, is the leading scorer for Besiktas this season, with his 16 goals in 19 games propelling them into title contention in Turkey and helping them into the knockout stage in the Europa League. Giresse has plenty of options in attack, with Ba’s former Newcastle colleague However, Ba, who played at the 2012 Cup of Nations could scarcely contain his anger when he discovered that he had been dropped.

Arguably the finest goalkeeper Africa has produced, Enyeama headlines the list of star names who will not feature at this year’s tournament because of defending champions Nigeria’s surprise failure to qualify. Enyeama, who was named in the team of the tournament as he helped the Super Eagles win the 2013 Cup of Nations in South Africa, has been playing the best football of his club career over the last 18 months with French side Lille. He also featured at his third World Cup last year, helping Stephen Keshi’s side to the last 16 in Brazil. However, the 32-year-old could not prevent Nigeria finishing behind South Africa and Congo Brazzaville in qualifying.

Possibly the best player to come out of the continent in a generation, the 36-year-old Drogba announced his retirement from international football last summer after playing a peripheral role in the Ivory Coast’s World Cup campaign. Drogba bowed out after winning more than 100 caps for the Elephants, although sadly he will be remembered best as part of the country’s golden generation which has failed to win a major international trophy. Drogba played at, and scored in, each of the last five Cups of Nations. But he missed penalties in each of their final defeats to Egypt in 2006 and Zambia in 2012.

Part of Ghana sides that have reached the semifinals of each of the last four tournaments - losing the 2010 final to Egypt - and the quarter-finals at the 2010 World Cup, left-back Asamoah is one of the biggest-name injury absentees from this year’s Cup of Nations. The 26-year-old Juventus star underwent knee surgery late last year that will keep him out until the spring. That is a blow for new Ghana coach Avram Grant, whose side could do with all the help they can get if they are to progress from a group that also contains Algeria, Senegal and South Africa.

Central defender Benatia is one of the highest-profile members of the Morocco squad that had been looking forward to the prospect of competing as hosts until the country asked for a postponement of the tournament over Ebola fears and were then thrown out by the Confederation of African Football.

The 27-year-old French-born player, who played in Morocco sides that were eliminated at the first hurdle in 2012 and 2013, will instead have to focus on his club career. He has so far made just eight Bundesliga appearances since a big-money move from Roma to Bayern Munich late in the transfer window last summer.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Peshkar brings Indian classical soiree today

MEHAZABIEN to play in Black Rose

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk

Peshkar Cultural Forum has arranged an Indian classical music programme titled Taaza Raaga & Rhythm today at the Chhayanaut Songit Biddayaton in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.

In the programme, Ebadul Huq Shaikat will play sitar while Mir Naqibul Islam will accompany him with tabla. Flautist Murtaza Kabir Murad will present a solo flute per-

Black roses usually have a negative connotation because of their association with tragedy, death and grief. But they also symbolise new beginnings.

Lux Channel i Superstar 2009 Mehazabien Chowdhury recently starred in the single TV play titled ‘Black Rose.’

It tells the story of Nayeem, a young man who goes from one love affair to another breaking women’s hearts.

Mehazabien plays Natasha, an intelligent girl that Nayeem befriends and falls in love with. But Natasha turns him down.

The rejection cuts Nayeem deep. As he stands alone watching his true love walk away from him, he recalls how many hearts he cruelly broke and realises how they must have felt.

The rejection and heart-ache cause Nayeem to changes his ways.

The TV play will be aired today at 7:30pm on Maasranga TV. l

Push HBO Defined, 5:10pm Cast: Camilla Belle, Chris Evans

formance followed by Ashoke Paul’s solo tabla performance.

Hasanul Haq Inu, the minister of Information, will grace the event as the chief guest while cultural personalities Kamal Lohani, Azad Rahman and Alimur Rahman Khan will be present as the special guests. Peshkar Cultural Forum, a Dhaka-based platform for young classical musicians, introduces young musicians through frequent stage performance. l

Two young Americans must race to find a girl in Hong Kong before a shadowy government organization called Division does.

Arlington Road Star Movies Action, 10:00pm Cast: Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins

A college professor begins to suspect that his neighbour is a terrorist.

The Help HBO Hits, 4:40pm Stars: Emma Stone, Viola Davis

JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ sheds glam look for Brothers

An aspiring author during the civil rights movement decides to write a book detailing the African-American maids’ point of view on the white families.

n Entertainment Desk

The Lux Channel i Super Star 2014 finalists will appear on tomorrow’s episode of ‘Amar Ami’ at 9:50pm on Banglavision. Winner Nadia, first runner-up Nazifa and second runner-up Neela, will talk about their journey through the demanding world of beauty pageants. Additionally, the superstars will talk about their personal experiences and future plans

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez, who has created ripples with her glamorous look in most of her films, will be seen in a complete different avatar in her next film “Brothers”.

“In terms of my looks in ‘Brothers’, it’s definitely not a glamorised look. It’s very realistic,” she told IANS. “We have to keep it that way because of the type of role that I am playing. We are trying to push the envelope with lot of characters in ‘Brothers’. We are going out of the way and being honest to our roles,” she added.

“In ‘Brothers’ I am going into a zone that is something that I have not done.”

“It’s a very simple character. It’s also a character that I think a lot of people would not have expected me to do. This is exactly the reason why Karan approached me for this. I think as an actress it is amazing to shock your audiences,” she added. The film, also starring Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra and Jackie Shroff in key roles, is produced by Karan Johar and is expected to hit screens July 31. l

Perception Zee Cafe, 10:30pm Cast: Eric McCormack, Rachael Leigh Cook

Daniel Pierce is an eccentric neuropsychiatrist who uses his unique outlook to help the federal government solve complex criminal cases.

Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale to Star in The Big Short

T-shirts depicting Kurt Cobain’s suicide note taken down from eBay

n Entertainment Desk n Entertainment Desk Online retailers have stopped selling merchandise with Kurt Cobain’s suicide letter printed on them after a petition was launched critising the “glamourisation” of mental illness and comparing the items to “shirts depicting a plane crashing into the World Trade Center.”

The late Nirvana frontman’s suicide note was printed in its entirety on shirts that were purchasable on eBay and Etsy this week. The shirts have since been removed after attention was drawn to them via social media, as well as the petition, which has so far received 175 signatures.

Julian Godlnez, who launched the petition, wrote that they “are a huge insult and slap to the face toward the legend Kurt Cobain himself, but as well as to all of his loved ones, his devoted fans, his legacy, and most importantly people around the world who currently suffer with mental illnesses of their own such as depression, anxiety and self image dysphoria.”

Godlnez continued: “Mental illness and suicidal behavior is not a fashion statement, and it is not meant to be glamorised or flaunted about on a t-shirt. These shirts do nothing but encourage impressionable minds that these tendencies and behaviours are something to be displayed proudly or as some sort of cool status. Wearing this merchandise is no different than wearing a shirt with a depiction of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center.” l

15

Friday, January 16, 2015

The Dhaka Theatre production “Putul Tomar Jonom Ki Roop” was staged at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Wednesday. The production pays tribute to iconic playwright Selim Al Deen on his 7th death anniversary

O S C A R

Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling are teaming up for Plan B and Paramount’s adaptation of a Michael Lewis best-seller.

The three actors are in various stages of talks to star in “The Big Short,” the adaptation of Lewis’ chronicle of the housing and credit bubbles of the 2000s that led to the 2007-08 global financial crisis.

N O M I N A T I O N S

Pitt and his Plan B shingle are producing the film, which has a script

by Adam McKay. McKay is expected to direct the drama, although there is no timetable yet. Paramount had no comment. Pitt, who also brought Lewis’ “Moneyball” to the big screen, starring as Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, is producing and has enlisted Bale and Gosling to star.

The project is not expected to be Bale’s next, though it is still unclear what the Oscar winner is currently eyeing. He was poised to play the late Steve Jobs for an untitled project that was originally set up at Sony (it was eventually put in turnaround and picked up by Universal). He also is attached to star in Fox’s “The Deep Blue Goodbye.”

Gosling is currently shooting “The Nice Guys,” which Shane Black is directing for Warner Bros. l

2 0 1 5

The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman tie for top honours n Entertainment Desk

“Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” have both taken nine nominations at this year’s Oscar nominations.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s experimental satire about a fading movie actor (played by Michael Keaton) tied for top place going into the awards with Wes Anderson’s whimsical comedy.

This leaves “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater’s audacious 12-years-in-themaking coming-of-age epic, trailing with just six nominations, the same as Clint Eastwood’s Iraq war drama “American Sniper.” “Selma,” Ava DuVernay’s stirring civil rights drama went home with just two nominations.

The nominees were announced

by Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, actor Chris Pine and directors Alfonso Cuaron and JJ Abrams.

The awards will be announced on 22 February 2015 in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in a ceremony hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Lists of the Oscar nominations:

Best picture

American Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash

Best director From left, Marion Cotillard, Felicity Jones, Julianne Moore, Rosamund Pike and Reese Witherspoon nominated for Best Actress

Alejandro González Iñárritu: Birdman Richard Linklater: Boyhood Bennett Miller: Foxcatcher Wes Anderson: The Grand Budapest Hotel Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game

Best actor

From left, Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne nominated for Best Actor

Steve Carell: Foxcatcher Bradley Cooper: American Sniper Benedict Cumberbatch: The Imitation Game Michael Keaton: Birdman Eddie Redmayne: The Theory of Everything

Best actress

Marion Cotillard: Two Days, One Night Felicity Jones: The Theory of Everything, Julianne Moore: Still Alice Rosamund Pike: Gone Girl Reese Witherspoon: Wild

Best foreign film Ida Leviathan Tangerines Timbuktu Wild Tales

Best animation

Big Hero 6 The Box Trolls How To Train Your Dragon 2 Songs of the Sea The Tale Of Princess Kaguy

Best supporting actress

Patricia Arquette: Boyhood Laura Dern - Wild Keira Knightley: The Imitation Game Emma Stone: Birdman Meryl Streep: Into the Woods

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Friday, January 16, 2015

TIB unearths illegal transactions in drug admin Pharma companies use low quality raw materials for medicines aimed at local market, says a new report

n Nure Alam Durjoy Graft watchdog Transparency International Bangladesh has revealed that knee-deep corruption is present in every sphere of the government’s drug regulatory authority.

“Corruption is somewhat institutionalised at almost every point of service delivery through collusive corrupt practices, and especially small pharmaceutical companies resort to such practices more than the rest,” a new report of the TIB says.

The Bangladesh chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International conducted the research on irregularities and corruption associated with marketing and regulation of medicines

between March 2014 and January 2015.

“The influence of representatives of the big pharmaceutical companies strengthens the collusive nature of corruption through their inclusion in different committees,” the report says.

Every year the drug administration fails to oversight two-thirds of the drug market and in measuring the standard of nearly 70 % drugs due to the lack of required manpower, according to the report.

Shahnur Rahman, programme manager of research and policy wing of the TIB, along with Nazmul Huda Mina, an assistant manager, presented the report at a programme in Dhanmondi of the capital.

The Directorate General of Drug Ad-

ministration (DGDA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the country’s drug regulatory authority.

This DGDA supervises and implements all existing drug regulations in the country and regulates all activities related to import, procurement of raw and packing materials, production and import of finished drugs, export, sales and pricing of all kinds of medicines.

According to the report, alleged amount of illegal payment in different activities at the DGDA are Tk5-10 lakh for registration of project/company, Tk50,000-1,00,000 for licence renewal, Tk10-15 lakh for project transfer/ shifting, Tk4,000-5,000 for approval of recipe, Tk1-1.5 lakh for registration of drugs, Tk7,000-9,000 for approval

of (draft and final) foil, insert, label and pack, Tk2,000-2,500 for approval of block list, Tk4,000-5,000 for approval of literature, Tk5,000-6,000 (per product) for price determination, Tk20,00030,000 for export licence and GMP certificate, Tk6,000-7,000 for sample testing and quality control (per sample), Tk10,000-15,000 for drug licence and Tk500-1,000 for renewal of drug licence.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of the TIB, said the drug administration had been suffering from lack of allocation, adequate manpower and moral values.

“Accountability, as we expected, is not seen here. We see immense political influence on the corruption line,” he

said while commenting on the report.

He also said the pharmaceuticals companies were reluctant to maintain standard of products manufactured for the local market, but opposite in case of the drugs for export. “There is a big difference in using raw materials [for the two markets].”

As a result, public health is dented while corruption being institutionalised, he added.

Sultana Kamal, chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the TIB, said greed for making undue profit in every business was on the rise. “The main reason behind the scenario is absence of good governance,” said Sultana, also a former adviser to a caretaker government. l

Ebola crisis: New cases declining in West Africa n BBC New Ebola cases in the three West African countries worst affected by the deadly outbreak of the virus are declining, weekly UN figures show.

Sierra Leone and Guinea both recorded the lowest weekly total of confirmed Ebola cases since August.

Liberia, which reported no new cases on two days last week, had its lowest weekly total since June. The death toll from the world’s worst Ebola outbreak has reached 8,429 with 21,296 cases so far.

According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone now all have sufficient capacity to bury all the people known to have died from Ebola.

But it said under-reporting of deaths meant that not all burials were being done safely.

Outgoing Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain has expressed hopes that the government would materialise a fully functional and separate Judicial Secretariat under the Supreme Court for strengthening the superintendence and control of the subordinate judiciary.

He made the remarks yesterday at a farewell event, organised by pro-Awami League lawyers at the courtroom number 1 of the Appellate Division.

Addressing the farewell programme, Chief Justice Muzammel said: “The executive, the legislature and the judiciary are the three organs of the state, and have an equally significant role to play in our constitutional scheme. The system of checks and balances is applicable to all three and none should overstep their limits. The harmonious relationship between the organs of the state helps to establish the rule of law and ensure smooth functioning of the state.”

Before his speech, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Supreme Court senior lawyer Baset Mozumder also gave speeches complimenting the chief justice.

Meanwhile, pro-BNP lawyers boycotted yesterday’s farewell programme, claiming that the outgoing chief justice had grossly politicised the judiciary during his tenure. l

Bus helper’s death bleeds many at home n Our Correspondent, Sunamganj

‘Suspicious’

While cases were decreasing in Sierra Leone, it remained the worst-affected country, with western areas still reporting the most new transmissions, the WHO said.

Last week, there were 59 new reported cases in the capital, Freetown.

The BBC’s Alhassan Sillah in Guinea says the authorities there are stepping up Ebola information campaigns as in some areas people are still suspicious of official attempts to fight the disease.

Over the weekend, two policemen were killed by villagers who feared they had brought Ebola to the western district of Forecariah. Earlier this month, the outgoing head of the UN team fighting Ebola, Anthony Banbury, said he believed cases of the virus would be brought down to zero by the end of 2015. l

CJ expresses hopes of separate judicial secretariat n Tribune Report

With the end of the Bangla month of Poush, residents of Shakari Bazar in Old Dhaka climb on to the rooftops of houses as the sun sets to fly their kites as they celebrate the age-old kite festival on the occasion of Poush Sangkranti yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

The poor family of bus helper Tofazzal Hossain has been left speechless after learning about the extent of brutality perpetrated upon the bread earner.

While mourning his death and waiting for the corpse to arrive their home in Kandapara village under Sunamganj sadar area, the landless father of Tofazzal, his elderly mother and two young siblings yesterday were uncertain about their future.

Tofazzal, 20, was burnt alive allegedly after blockade supporters had hurled Molotov cocktails at the bus parked in Mohishbathan Bottola area of Gazipur early yesterday while he was sleeping inside the vehicle.

The loss shall affect the family hard as Tofazzal used to send money back home regularly while staying at his sister’s in-law’s place in Gazipur.

Father Wahed Ali, a tenant farmer, said Tofazzal had been carrying expenses of the family including educational costs of two siblings for the last five years. l

Second phase of Ijtema Rate of sea-level rise steeper, say US scientists n begins today BBC

n Our Correspondent, Gazipur The second phase of Bishwa Ijtema begins today amid countrywide blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance. The religious meet will begin after Fajr prayers today and will end with Akheri Munazat on Sunday.

Additional law enforcement members have been deployed to ensure security for the Muslim devotees coming in to join the Ijtema this weekend, said Harun Or Rashid, superintendent of police in Gazipur, adding that the additional security will remain at the venue and the surrounding areas until it ends.

“We have already strengthened the security system as well as the traffic management for the second phase. We are helping the devotees on their way to join the Ijtema,” he said.

Engineer Gias Uddin, one of the organisers, said: “The Ijtema ground was cleaned after the first phase. It is now prepared and ready for the second phase.”

Mohammad Nurul Islam, deputy commissioner of Gazipur district, said the district administration was supervising the coordination among different departments following the instruction of the Ministry of Home Affairs to conduct the Ijtema smoothly until the end.

Two additional compartments have been added to each train transporting Ijtema devotees. Twenty magistrates will be in charge of the law and order at the venue.

People started coming in from Wednesday, and thousands have already reached the venue despite the countrywide blockade and hartal.

Abul Kalam, who came from Comilla, said: “Hartal and blockade cannot stop us from coming to this holy event.”

Abdus Salam, another devotee who came from Kurigram, said he had to come to Gazipur on a truck as there were no buses available due to the political unrest.

“There were 14 of us who came here on a truck. We suffered a lot due to the chilly weather, and some of us have caught cold,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

The second phase of the Ijtema will receive participants from 32 districts.

Two Ijtema devotees dead

Two of the devotees who came to join the second phase of Ijtema died due to health complications, sources at the venue said.

One of the deceased, Abdul Kuddus, 60, from Lakshmipur, had a heart attack around 7:30pm on Wednesday. He was rushed to Tongi Sadar Hospital, where the on-duty doctors pronounced him dead, said Abdul Baset, assistant land officer at Sreepur Telihatti union who is on duty at the control room of the district administration for the Ijtema.

The Namaz-e-Janaza for Kuddus was held after Fajr prayers yesterday, and he was buried in the graveyard near the Ijtema ground.

The other deceased was Abdur Rahman, 65, who came from Bogra. Mahbub Rahman Chowdhury, resident doctor at Tongi Sadar Hospital, said Rahman fell sick yesterday evening and was brought in to the hospital, where the on-duty doctor pronounced him dead around 4:30pm. l

The rate at which the global oceans have risen in the past two decades is more significant than previously recognised, say US-based scientists.

Their reassessment of tide gauge data from 1900-1990 found that the world's seas went up more slowly than earlier estimates - by about 1.2mm per year.

But this makes the 3mm per year tracked by satellites since 1990 a much bigger trend change as a consequence.

It could mean some projections for future rises having to be revisited.

"Our estimates from 1993 to 2010 agree with [the prior] estimates from modern tide gauges and satellite altimetry, within the bounds of uncertainty.

But that means that the acceleration into the last two decades is far worse than previously thought," said Dr Carling Hay from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"This new acceleration is about 25% higher than previous estimates," she told BBC News.

Dr Hay and colleagues report their re-analysis in this week's edition of the journal Nature.

Tide gauges have been in operation in some places for hundreds of years, but pulling their data into a coherent narrative of worldwide sea-level change is fiendishly difficult.

Historically, their deployment has been sparse, predominantly at mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, and only at coastal sites. In other words, the instrument record is extremely patchy.

What is more, the data needs careful handling because it hides all kinds of "contamination".

Scientists must account for effects

that mask the true signal - such as tectonic movements that might force the local land upwards - and those that exaggerate it - such as groundwater extraction, which will make the land dip.

Attention needs to be paid also to natural oscillations in ocean behaviour, which can make waters rise and fall on decadal timescales.

Previous efforts to untangle the record concluded that sea levels rose through much of the last century by around 1.6-1.9mm per year.

These figures were included in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the state of the planet.

But these numbers have been somewhat problematic because they are at odds with the calculated contributions to global ocean rise - namely, the volumes of water coming from melting land ice, the expansion of the seas from global warming, and changes in the amount of global water held on the continents. Simply put, the calculated

contributions were about 0.5mm per year short of what previous tide-gauge assessments were suggesting they should be.

Dr Hay's and colleagues' study makes another attempt to sort through the instrument record, and they find the 19001990 rises to have been overstated.

Their rate for this period is 1.2mm per year, which neatly closes the contributions "budget gap".

Dr Hay said: "What we have done, which is a bit different from past studies, is use physical models and statistical models to try to look for underlying patterns in the messy tide gauge data observations.

"Each of the different contributions actually produces a unique pattern, or fingerprint, of sea-level change. And what we try to do is model these underlying patterns and then use our statistical approach to look for the patterns in the tide gauge observations. That allows us to infer global information from the very limited records."

In the last IPCC report, global mean sea-level rise for 2081−2100 was projected to be between 26cm (at the low end) and 82cm (at the high end), depending on the greenhouse emissions path this century.

If the Hay analysis is reproduced by peer groups, it may prompt the scientific community to revisit these future sea-level projections and some of the other estimates that envisage even larger changes in the decades ahead.

Commenting, Dr Paolo Cipollini at the UK's National Oceanography Centre, said the Nature study was an important new contribution to the field.

Having a good view of historical change, he explained, would allow researchers to test their models of the processes driving sea-level rise by permitting them to do "hindcasts" - to check whether those models could reproduce the past before making confident projections of the future.

"But let's not lose sight of the central message that at the moment we have a very strong consensus on the 3.2mm per year of sea-level rise coming from satellites and modern tide gauges, and that any future projection should be based mainly on our understanding of the processes of sea-level rise, which really we need quantify better for later IPCC reports."

The "gold standard" satellite record of sea-level rise is maintained by the Jason series of spacecraft, which have an unbroken record of measurements stretching back to 1992.

Jason-3, the latest incarnation, launches this year, along with the EU's Sentinel-3 spacecraft, which has been tasked with starting another continuous - and independent - sequence of observations. l

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B3 RBI makes surprise early rate cut, hints at more

B4 China’s Li to headline

Davos in ‘year of destiny’

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 www.dhakatribune.com/business

RMG export to US drops 5% in first half

BASIC Bank to focus on SMEs ‘We have to wait two to three more years to get back the robust growth as we are going through transformation’ n Asif Showkat Kallol

n

Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Bangladesh’s apparel export to the US markets has declined by 5% due to inspection and image crises in the first half of the current fiscal year over the same period in 2013-14.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data, in July-December 2014, Bangladesh earned $2.44 million, which is over 5% less than $2.58 million in 2013.

The woven items have seen 7.14% decline to $1.83bn compared to $1.96bn in the previous year’s earning. While earning from knitting apparels rose slightly by1% to $623 million against $617 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Meanwhile, RMG export to Canada has seen a 14.60% to $426 million in the first half of the current fiscal year which was $498 million in the same period last year.

After the Rana Plaza incident, buyers took a wait-and-see approach on their move towards Bangladesh’s RMG sector The inspection report on fire and building safety acted as a catalyst for the downward trend in export growth, said Anwarul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of BGMEA. Following the report they started to place orders, but at the prevailing political situation prevents them from doing so, which is now a great concern

Garment workers are seen working in a garment factory in the capital for RMG owners, said Anwarul. If the political stability prevails in the country, Bangladesh will witness better days, he added.

The downswing may be caused by the supply shortage as a good number of RMG units were shut due to compliance issues and subcontracting, ABM Mirza Azizul Islam, a former advisor to the government, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Biman set to get new board of directors n Tribune Business Desk Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to have a new board of directors with a conglomerate of civil-military bureaucrats including a few recruits unfamiliar with airlines trade, raising concern whether the national flag carrier will be able to make a turnaround in its fortune.

“The names of new board members have been finalised from our Ministry,” Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said.

Biman is now out of its board as the tenure of Biman board of directors with Air Marshal (retd) Jamal Uddin Ahmed as its chairman expired on December 30 last, reports UNB. According to sources at Biman, Prime Minister’s Office constitutes its board of directors following a proposal of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Responding to a question about the formation of Biman’s new board of directors, Menon said: “It’s like that of the past... the file in this regard has been sent to the PMO for final approval.”

The tenure of the new board will come into effect after the publication of a gazette notification with the names of its members.

A former Biman board director who spoke on condi-

tion of anonymity suggests that personnel having knowledge about running commercial airlines should be incorporated in the board to make it an effective one as Biman is now competing with at least 10 world renowned airliners.

World’s biggest and skilled commercial airliners operate their flights in Dhaka. Their skill and knowledge in operating commercial airlines are much higher than that of Biman, he said.

He further said: “If Bangladesh wants to compete with those world-class airliners, it must have persons having commercial knowledge about Biman management, there’s no alternative to it.”

Dogged by losses, Biman Bangladesh Airlines is looking for all options to make a turnaround. Bangladesh Biman was made a public limited company (PLC) on July 23, 2007 during the interim rule of army-backed caretaker government with a view to making it a profitable commercial venture.

It was also said at that time that the government would gradually offload 49% of its shares of the airline to the private sector, but that did not happen. Currently, Biman has four 777-300ERs, two 737800s, one 777-200ER and two A310-300s in its fleet. l

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

He also said the buyers’ demand fell over the image problem following Rana Plaza disaster and workers’ rights issues.

“As per the US government policy towards importing countries, the US government is encouraging Vietnam and Indian RMG makers by placing more work orders to them which is reflected in their recent export trend,” a RMG exporter told Dhaka Tribune,

seeking anonymity.

He also blamed somewhat “restraint” diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and the US for the down trend in exports.

However, the exporter urged the government to improve relations with the US government to reinstate GSP facility as it works as a strong brand image for Bangladesh.

BGMEA executive committee gets 3-month extension n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The government has extended tenure of the executive committee of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer Exporters Association (BGMEA) by 90 days from March 25 next.

Ministry of Commerce approved the extension as BGMEA appealed for that to collect updated necessary documents from their voters.

On December 27 last year, the Association sent a letter to the ministry of commerce seeking a three-month extension.

The tenure has been extend-

ed as per the article 8 of Trade Organisation Ordinance 1961, said a statement signed by Md Abdul Mannan, joint secretary and director of trade organisations in the ministry.

In the letter, the ministry also asked the BGMEA to hold an acceptable election as per law and to let the ministry know about it.

The election for the term 2015-16 is scheduled to be held by the end of June this year.

BGMEA president Atiqul Islam said: “We sought three months to have updated necessary documents from our

voters (members). The ministry has responded to the appeal positively.”

Earlier, the Directorate of Trade Organisations (DTO) of commerce ministry, in a letter, asked the BGMEA to submit a list of the factories which have updated tax identification numbers and trade licences to ensure transparency in updating voters’ list, said BGMEA vice president Shahidullah Azim said.

Last week the BGMEA issued a circular asking its members to submit their updated TINs and licences by one month. l

The coutry-wide blockade puts oil tankers off the road, causing fuel shortage in northern region COURTESY: RONJIT

Commenting on the negative export growth to US, Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh said: “This is the belated impacts of Accord and Alliance’s inspection coupled with political unrest.”

“We have to wait two to three more years to get back the robust growth as we are going through transformation.” l

New management of BASIC Bank has decided to focus on small enterprises for its lending activities, official sources said.

As per the decision, the state-owned bank will direct its loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for its “smooth functioning” rather than offering big loans to big companies.

Managing Director Khondokar Md Iqbal recently sent a letter to the Banking Division Secretary M Aslam Alam on launching of new 11 credit programmes and seven deposit programmes for SMEs. The programmes have already been underway.

In a meeting last month, the BASIC board of directors approved the new products.

Eleven credit proposals include involving the sectors like ICT, agriculture, printing and packaging, groceries and social welfare covering widows and disabled and socially deprived people.

Deposit schemes include freedom fighters’ deposit, gift cheques, reality pension scheme and contributing triple benefit programme.

The managing director’s letter said the bonus will be given to the staff on the basis of performance indicators.

This will increase the bank’s deposits.

The specialised bank has been in trouble since the 2013 credit scam which involves Tk4,000 crore default loans.

BASIC Bank’s default loans have now exceeded 50% of total capital, officials said.

Affected by the credit scams, the banks will now need to bring back discipline and governance.

“This (restoring discipline and governance) is one of the biggest challenges for the bank this year,” Bank and Financial Institutions Division Secretary M Aslam Alam told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said BASIC Bank has been brought under a “competent and responsible leadership” now.

“Hope that the new management will be able to make the bank stand on its own feet attracting new clients,” he added. l

National Feed to debut at stock market on Monday n Tribune Report Share trading of National Feed Mill will begin at the stock markets from Monday next, said Dhaka Stock Exchange in a statement yesterday.

Its initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed by 44 times against the total IPO size of Tk18 crore, according to the company.

Using the fixed price method, the company issued 1.8 crore ordinary shares worth Tk10 each.

Of the funds raised from public, 45% will be spent for National Feed Mill’s business expansion, 40% for bank loan payment, 10% to meet IPO costs and 2% for working capital.

The company’s earnings per share as of June 2013 stood at Tk1.85, with a net asset value per share of Tk14.55 after revaluation.

The company engaged in the poultry and livestock, and aquatic feed businesses holds only 2% of the total market share, which indicates very poor position in the overall market, according to analysis of Royal Capital.

On the other hand Kazi Farm, Aftab & C.P. are the market leaders. So, for the company there is a risk of losing control over the market because the market leaders can easily access to finance to capture more market share, it said.

Its 100% revenue comes from selling of feeds of poultry, fishery, ducker, cattle and pet animals, said the analysis.

The company’s 548 decimals of land is fully mortgaged to banks. At present, the company has 185 employees.

About the strength of the company, it said the very low debt to equity ratio indicates that it carries low degree of default risk and the demand for feed products is good and sustainable.

‘On the other hand, its weak side is diseases in cattle animals sometimes causes decrease in sales and cash flow appears to be volatile throughout last five years’ On the other hand, its weak side is diseases in cattle animals sometimes causes decrease in sales and cash flow appears to be volatile throughout last five years, it said.

About opportunities, it said rising demand for quality feed products and the company has export opportunity in future. Very high competition, exchange rate risk, political unrest and poor transportation can severely affect its prospect, according to Royal Capital. l

Sixth Social Business Day on May 28 n Tribune Report

The 6th annual Social Business Day will be held in the city on May 28 with the theme of “Turning Unemployment into Entrepreneurship”.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus will host the event at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre continuing on last year’s discussion to look

at ways that social business can tackle youth unemployment, reports UNB. “Social Business Day 2015 is an opportunity for you to explore the concept of social business and your role in this global movement alongside leading experts in the field,” according to the organisers.

It is normally held on June 28 every year but this year June will be a month of Ramadan and the event has been shifted to May 28.

It will help collaborate on developing sustainable solutions to real world problems with international and local actors, corporate and social leaders, NGOs, students, and innovators.

The daylong event which was been attended by over 1,200 participants from 30 countries last year in the past will allow the participants to meet social business entrepreneurs face to face and discuss their busi-

ness models, achievements, and challenges.

This year, the organisers are looking forward to making it bigger and better with an expected audience of 2,000 participants from home and abroad.

The event will feature a series of plenary sessions and interactive workshops that are tailored to offer expert knowledge about specific aspects of social business as a way of tackling society’s most pressing problems. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks end flat amid choppy trading

DSE key features January 15, 2015

Traded Issues

310

n Tribune Report

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

126

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

175

'Trading at DSE remained dry due to political instability in the county' The benchmark index DSEX inched 4 points higher to close at 4,956, hitting highest 4,959 in mid-session and lowest 4,935 in the early trading.

The Shariah index DSES saw fractional losses of 0.6 points to 1,174. The comprising blue chips DS30 closed at 1,839 with a slight fall of 1 point.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, was also marginally down nearly 6 points to 9,200.

Investors’ participation in trading continued to decline, as the DSE turnover stood at Tk330 crore, down more than 15% over the previous session.

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)

Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Alltex Industries -Z Shahjibazar Power-N AMCL 2nd MF-A National Polymer -A Fu-wang Ceramic-A Reliance Insur -A AB Bank 1st Mutual Fund-A Premier Leasing-Z Golden Harvest Agro-N

-7.23 -5.34 -4.48 -4.26 -3.69 -3.57 -3.29 -3.28 -2.91 -2.76

CSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

Continental Insur. -A 7th ICB M F-A Standard Ceramic -A Grameen M F One-A MBL 1st M. F.-A Daffodil Computers -Z Fu-wang Ceramic-A NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A H.R. Textile -A AB Bank 1st Mutual Fund-A

-9.17 -7.72 -4.83 -4.49 -4.44 -3.57 -3.55 -3.45 -3.28 -3.23

4956.09120

(+) 0.09%

1839.39670

(-) 0.07%

15203.85970

(+) 0.02%

12228.47720

(-) 0.33%

9202.92270

(-) 0.03%

Average (% Change) -7.23 5.41 -3.51 -3.42 -3.20 -3.40 -3.32 -2.30 -2.68 -1.66 Average (% Change) -9.27 -7.70 -4.90 -4.25 -4.23 -2.24 -3.16 -2.95 -4.43 -2.44

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 7.70 34.88 209.74 4.52 71.41 16.48 58.82 5.94 10.17 28.52

ClosingAvg. 19.76 84.92 41.37 23.45 4.30 13.50 16.57 5.60 29.55 6.01

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 408.12 275.60 38.39 525.02 163.06 395.60 2.24 525.38 330.34 18.91 142.67 23.09 29.71 89.87 103.70 26.95 29.26 80.26 28.86 73.54 0.00

DHIGH 7.70 36.30 217.00 4.70 73.20 17.00 60.00 6.10 10.40 29.10

DHIGH

19.80 84.90 41.40 23.40 4.30 13.50 16.30 5.60 29.50 6.00

3,310.78 86,799,671

19.90 87.00 42.00 23.60 4.30 13.50 17.00 5.60 30.50 6.10

85,326

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,643.65

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.04

CSE key features January 15, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka)

220.53

Turnover (Volume)

7,089,764

Number of Contract

12,820

Traded Issues

243

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

92

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

141

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,552.52

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.94

Turnover in Million

DLOW 7.70 33.30 206.00 4.50 69.10 15.90 58.20 5.90 10.00 27.80

Latest EPS

0.001 51.830 11.925 0.699 17.549 16.425 0.089 1.141 2.602 7.747

-47.80 3.28 9.00 0.72 2.76 0.40 3.79 0.56 0.08 1.68

Turnover in Million

DLOW 19.70 83.00 40.10 23.20 4.30 13.50 16.20 5.60 29.00 6.00

% change 12.33 8.32 1.16 15.86 4.93 11.95 0.07 15.87 9.98 0.57 4.31 0.70 0.90 2.71 3.13 0.81 0.88 2.42 0.87 2.22 0.00

Million Taka 18.03 12.03 2.38 36.16 9.24 20.95 51.46 16.37 7.26 9.41 4.63 3.72 10.91 4.24 0.64 1.63 5.45 4.84 13.93 0.03

CSE

% change 7.73 5.16 1.02 15.50 3.96 8.98 0.00 22.06 7.02 3.11 4.03 1.98 1.59 4.68 1.82 0.27 0.70 2.34 2.07 5.97 0.01

Latest EPS

0.014 0.010 0.012 0.183 0.011 0.024 2.342 0.011 0.338 0.067

Million Taka 426.15 287.63 40.76 561.18 172.30 416.55 2.24 576.84 346.70 26.17 152.08 27.72 33.43 100.78 107.93 27.59 30.89 85.71 33.69 87.46 0.03

Samata LeatheR -Z Shampur Sugar -Z Wata Chemicals -A Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z Metro Spinning -A Rahima Food -Z Modern Dyeing -Z Kay & Que (BD) -Z CVO PetroChem RL-A Bangladesh Welding -Z

Closing (% Change) 10.19 7.89 6.59 6.25 6.11 5.49 4.95 4.32 4.31 4.17

CSE GAINER

2.27 8.52 0.60 1.50 0.12 1.16 0.40 0.43 1.75 0.56

Latest PE -ve 10.6 23.3 6.3 25.9 41.2 15.5 10.6 127.1 17.0

Total

Company Aziz PipesZ Prime Insur -A Metro Spinning -A Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z Bata Shoe Ltd. -A Rahima Food -Z MutualTrust Bank-A Rupali Bank - A Nitol Insurance -A GPH Ispat Ltd-A

Closing (% Change) 9.64 8.15 6.92 6.83 6.25 5.80 5.05 4.90 4.78 4.53

Average (% Change) 11.58 8.95 4.37 5.84 6.14 4.32 9.20 22.87 2.46 1.81 Average (% Change) 9.37 8.15 6.51 6.88 5.78 5.68 4.85 4.65 4.71 2.47

ClosingAvg.

Closing

23.80 8.28 218.52 17.22 13.82 37.90 109.67 14.45 509.26 17.43

ClosingAvg.

23.80 8.20 223.10 17.00 13.90 38.40 108.10 14.50 515.90 17.50

Closing

21.60 19.90 13.90 17.40 1175.18 38.30 20.75 59.89 28.46 48.13

21.60 19.90 13.90 17.20 1180.40 38.30 20.80 60.00 28.50 48.50

DHIGH 23.80 8.30 225.90 17.60 14.20 39.00 113.00 14.60 518.50 17.70

DHIGH 21.60 19.90 14.30 17.70 1180.40 38.30 20.90 60.00 28.70 48.70

DLOW 23.80 7.70 209.00 16.00 13.00 35.80 105.00 14.20 495.00 16.30

DLOW 21.60 19.90 13.20 16.40 1170.00 38.30 20.10 57.50 28.40 47.00

Turnover in Million 0.000 0.024 9.440 6.833 23.597 1.270 0.686 0.160 49.647 4.411

Turnover in Million 0.000 0.000 2.235 1.099 0.039 0.007 0.829 0.066 0.024 0.545

Latest EPS

Latest PE

0.05 -52.72 5.37 0.08 0.72 -0.80 -2.16 -1.41 5.24 0.44

476.0 -ve 40.7 215.3 19.2 -ve -ve -ve 97.2 39.6

Latest EPS

Latest PE

-0.37 1.81 0.72 0.08 52.96 -0.80 2.45 2.04 2.79 2.52

-ve 11.0 19.3 217.5 22.2 -ve 8.5 29.4 10.2 19.1

News, analysis and recent disclosures MALEKSPIN: Malek Spinning Mills Ltd. has informed that cash dividend for the year ended on 30 June 2014 has been dispatched on 13 January 2015 through Dhaka Bank Limited using Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer Network (BEFTN)/Online Transfer System to the respective compatible BEFTN bank account of the eligible shareholders. Dividend warrants have been dispatched through courier service to those shareholders, who do not have compatible BEFTN/online bank account, to their available addresses.

United Power Generation & Distribution Co. Ltd.: The IPO Share application form of United Power Generation & Distribution Co. Ltd. of NRB is to be received at AGB Colony Community Center Hall Room during the subscription period from 18 January 2015 to 22 January 2015 under the supervision and control of the Company.

APOLOISPAT: Appollo Ispat Complex Ltd. has informed that the Bonus shares of the Company for the year ended 30 June

2014 have already been credited through CDBL to the respective shareholders' BO Accounts on 1 January 2015.

IPO Subscription: Asian Tiger Sandhani Life Growth Fund subscription date 11 to 15 January 2015, NRB upto 24 January 2015. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500.

United Power Generation & Distribution Company Limited subscription date 18 to 22 January 2015, NRB upto 31 January 2015. @ taka 60, face value taka 10 and market lot 100. Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited subscription date 01 to 05 Febuary 2015, NRB upto 14 Febuary 2015. @ taka 35, face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

Dividend/AGM ECABLES: 10% cash, AGM: 26.02.2015, Record Date: 05.01.2015.

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.

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.

SAVAREFR: No dividend, AGM: 24.01.2015, Record Date: 23.12.2014.

DESCO: 5% cash & 10% stock, AGM 03.01.2015 Record Date: 13.11.2014.

Latest PE 8.7 10.0 69.0 15.6 35.8 11.6 41.4 13.0 16.9 10.7

Market closed flat amid sluggish participation, as investors still remained cautious over political issues

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▼

7.70 33.70 206.80 4.50 70.50 16.20 58.80 5.90 10.00 28.20

Closing

Company

Number of Contract

Most sectors remained static.

Food and allied continued to become best performer for the second straight session with a slim rise of 0.8%.

Tannery and textile stocks moved up after losing in the previous sessions. The market heavyweight banking sector broke its losing streak as it edged 0.6% higher.

Most other sectors, including pharmaceuticals, cement, power, non-banking financial institutions, non-life insurance and telecommunication registered marginal losses.

“Trading at DSE remained dry due to political instability in the county,” said BRAC-EPL its market analysis.

Lanka Bangla Securities said it was a day of consolidation for the market as benchmark index closed marginally higher.

“Tense over the country wide hartal tampered the gain in early trading,” it said It added that though political fracas dampened the market sentiment, banking stocks led gain in DSEX at the close of trading.

IDLC Investments said market closed flat amid sluggish participation, as investors still remained cautious over political issues. However, positive economic expectation, reinforced by the World Bank’s optimistic growth forecast counterbalanced, it said.

Bangladesh Building Systems Ltd has topped the liquidity chart for the second consecutive day with turnover worth Tk17.6 crore. l

Stocks finished flat amid choppy trading yesterday as late profit booking selling pressure from cautious investors cut early gains.

The market moved between positive and negative throughout the session, as it opened the session with downtrend, but picked up in the first hour of trade before closing flat at the end.

DSE GAINER

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

Friday, January 16, 2015

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

% change 12.03 8.12 1.15 15.84 4.86 11.75 0.06 16.28 9.78 0.74 4.29 0.78 0.94 2.84 3.05 0.78 0.87 2.42 0.95 2.47 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

BD Building Systems -A Brac Bank -A IDLC Finance -A SAIF Powertec-N Titas Gas TDCLA WesternMarine -N Grameenphone-A DESCO Ltd. -A Envoy Textiles Ltd-N Square Pharma -A

Agni Systems -A Active Fine Chem.-A Mozaffar H.Spinning-A LafargeS Cement-Z Fu-Wang Food A Khulna Printing-N CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Alltex Industries -Z LafargeS Cement-Z BD Building Systems -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A SAIF Powertec-N Appollo Ispat CL -N Maksons Spinning-A R. N. Spinning-Z WesternMarine -N BSC-A

Shahjibazar Power-N BD Submarine Cable-A SummitAlliancePort.-A National Polymer -A Dacca Dyeing-A

VolumeShares 3,218,485 4,186,081 1,147,818 1,153,590 864,235 1,128,317 166,878 815,838 984,072 216,633

Value in Million 175.41 156.99 96.05 87.31 68.58 63.84 60.03 59.17 58.42 56.26

% of TotalTurnover 5.30 4.74 2.90 2.64 2.07 1.93 1.81 1.79 1.76 1.70

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

1,523,276 722,836 1,625,926 396,800 1,937,461 2,396,619

287,285 68,447 160,294 187,517 76,141 261,901 364,924 160,188 85,544 8,192

8,145 35,304 44,389 44,564 158,314

54.54 54.26 52.76 52.03 51.66 60.73

9.97 8.99 8.74 6.69 5.75 5.34 5.27 5.00 4.82 4.25

4.16 3.80 3.46 3.24 3.04

1.65 1.64 1.59 1.57 1.32 1.53

4.57 4.11 4.00 3.06 2.63 2.44 2.41 2.29 2.21 1.95

1.91 1.74 1.59 1.49 1.39

ClosingP 54.80 37.60 83.40 76.30 79.20 56.20 359.30 72.90 59.20 259.80

35.50 74.80 32.50 131.50 26.30 25.00

ClosingP

33.70 131.70 54.90 35.60 76.10 20.30 14.30 31.10 56.20 521.80

203.80 107.80 78.10 72.80 19.00

Change % 2.24 0.27 -0.12 3.11 -1.12 0.00 -0.25 1.11 1.54 -0.08

-1.39 0.40 2.85 -0.15 -4.01 1.63

Change %

-4.80 -0.08 2.62 -1.11 2.98 -0.49 0.00 0.65 -0.18 2.66

-4.59 -1.91 -0.76 2.82 3.26

ClosingY 53.60 37.50 83.50 74.00 80.10 56.20 360.20 72.10 58.30 260.00

36.00 74.50 31.60 131.70 27.40 24.60

ClosingY

35.40 131.80 53.50 36.00 73.90 20.40 14.30 30.90 56.30 508.30

213.60 109.90 78.70 70.80 18.40

DHIGH 55.20 37.80 84.50 78.00 80.60 57.20 361.00 73.30 60.10 260.70

36.60 75.80 34.00 132.30 27.40 26.00

DHIGH

36.50 132.90 55.40 36.00 76.40 20.70 14.70 32.00 57.30 525.00

212.20 109.10 80.00 73.00 19.70

DLOW 53.20 37.30 82.60 74.40 78.70 56.00 358.20 71.30 57.50 254.50

35.20 74.30 32.00 130.00 26.00 24.80

DLOW

33.00 130.20 53.10 35.50 74.60 20.20 14.20 31.00 56.00 511.80

202.00 106.10 76.10 70.90 18.90

AvgPrice 54.50 37.50 83.68 75.69 79.36 56.58 359.72 72.52 59.37 259.68

35.80 75.06 32.45 131.13 26.66 25.34

AvgPrice

34.71 131.28 54.55 35.69 75.56 20.37 14.45 31.22 56.34 519.26

511.20 107.66 78.02 72.80 19.23

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

RBI makes surprise early rate cut, hints at more n Reuters, Mumbai The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised markets with a 25 basis point reduction in interest rates yesterday and signalled it could cut further, amid signs of cooling inflation and what it said was a government commitment to contain the fiscal deficit.

While the early move was unexpected, aggressive reductions in rates have been seen as likely over the course of the coming year to help India’s economy out of a rut, with growth rates struggling to recover from their weakest levels since the 1980s.

Tumbling oil prices and lower food costs have hardened speculation that more reductions in rates will follow, as recent data showed subdued consumer and wholesale price increases.

Acting ahead of a scheduled RBI policy meeting on Feb 3 and the government’s annual budget statement in late February, the RBI cut the repo rate - its key lending rate - to 7.75% from 8%, where it had been for the past year.

As a result, the reverse repo rate, the rate at which the central bank drains excess liquidity from the banking system, also moved down by 25 basis points to 6.75%.

“This demonstrates RBI’s confidence in the evolving inflation outlook and it shows that they are putting faith in government’s fiscal consolidation plan,” said Radhika Rao, economist at DBS Bank Ltd. Investors saw RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan putting India on a new easing cycle, as the former International Monetary Fund chief economist ordered his first rate cut since being appointed in August 2013.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who earlier this week had said the time was right for lower rates, welcomed the cut and said it would help revive capital investments.

The early rate reduction now puts the onus on the government to make credible efforts to contain the fiscal deficit while pursuing policies aimed

at boosting investment and improving infrastructure to fire up the economy.

In its statement, the RBI said “high quality” fiscal consolidation and reforms to power, land, minerals and infrastructure would be “critical” to more cuts.

India’s stock market was the second best performer in Asia last year in dollar terms, due to investors’ hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would push reforms needed to unlock India’s growth potential following his landslide election last May. India has posted sub-5% growth rates in its previous two financial years, levels far too slow for a country with its demographic challenges.

Subsiding inflation pressures

Data released on Monday showed retail inflation rose to 5% in December - below the 5.4% annual rise predicted by a Reuters poll. The RBI expects retail inflation will hit 6% in March and targets a level of below that from January next year.

Some analysts believe Rajan may have come under pressure from the government to lower interest rates sooner than he would have ideally chosen.

“This is a surprise move in the middle of the war on inflation,” said N.R. Bhanumurthy, a New Delhi-based economist at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.

“I am very surprised because it

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Friday, January 16, 2015

goes against the whole current governor’s philosophy that monetary policy should be predictable. It shows the governor is very pragmatic and can look at his own position and can change.”

Key for markets now will be how quickly the effect of yesterday’s cut can boost consumption and investment.

The rate cut pushed the benchmark 10-year bond yield to 7.65%, down 12 basis points on the day and its lowest level since July 15, 2013, while stocks rallied, with the Nifty gaining some 2.5%.

In the overnight indexed swap market, the one-year rate dropped as much as 13 bps to 7.50%, its lowest since July 15, 2013, which traders said priced in an

additional 100 bps in rate cuts.

The partially convertible rupee gained to as much as 61.6450, its strongest level since Nov 17.

Banks are likely to lower lending rates as a result of the RBI action, but company bosses warned a 25 basis point rate cut would not by itself get the economy growing, with many manufacturers running with high levels of spare capacity.

“The real effect at 25 bps is not going to be very much, however, it is the start of a cycle,” said VS Parthasarathy, chief financial officer at Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s top utility vehicle maker.

“Sometimes a stimulus is all about giving a cue... this is a cue.” l

Oil prices rally loses steam in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore Oil prices fell in Asia yesterday after a bargain-buying rally the day before lost steam, with a pick-up in US inventories reinforcing concerns about weak demand and a supply glut.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February fell 52 cents to $47.96 in afternoon trade and Brent crude for February fell 62 cents to $48.07.

Both contracts rose sharply on Wednesday - WTI gained $2.59 and Brent advanced $2.10 - as bargain hunters moved in after prices tumbled close to six-year lows.

Analysts say the market remains hobbled by weak fundamentals, notably softer demand and an oversupply of the commodity as the world’s major producers have vowed to maintain production levels.

In the United States the Department of Energy said commercial crude stocks surged 5.4 million barrels in the week to January 9. That compares with market forecasts of a 1.75 million barrel gain, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg News.

Rising inventories signal weak demand in the United States, the world’s top crude consumer.

However, some analysts also say Wednesday’s price rally could spur a further surge.

“Momentum is a big factor in market behaviour and as we observed such a huge surge, the market could feed on itself,” said Ric Spooner, market analyst from CMC Markets Sydney.

“Trading in the European and US markets would give us a clearer indication on where momentum is swinging,” added Spooner.

Sanjeev Gupta, who heads the AsiaPacific Oil and Gas practice at professional services firm EY, said investors are also awaiting the European Central Bank’s policy meeting to see if it unveils a fresh stimulus programme. l

Samsung Electronics: No plan to acquire Blackberry n Reuters, Seoul

The new Blackberry Classic smartphone is shown during a display at the launch event in New York

South Korea slashes 2015 economic growth forecast n AFP South Korea’s central bank yesterday slashed its 2015 economic growth forecast and kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low amid growing concerns of deflation.

Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-Yeol put the new estimate for Asia’s fourth-largest economy at 3.4% growth this year, compared to an earlier forecast of 3.9%.

'Every economic sector, including consumption and investment, is failing to show a satisfying recovery, especially consumption' The bank decision to leave its key rate unchanged at 2% was widely expected, although some analysts had predicted a cut of 25 basis points to boost tepid domestic consumption and ease deflation concerns stemming from low oil prices.

The South imports almost all of its

energy needs from overseas, and a recent plunge in oil prices saw inflation hit 0.8% in December, the lowest rate for 15 years and far below the BOK’s target range of 2.5 to 3.5%.

On Thursday, Lee said the bank had cut this year’s inflation forecast to 1.9% from 2.4% previously.

“Every economic sector, including consumption and investment, is failing to show a satisfying recovery, especially consumption,” Lee told reporters.

“We should create a cycle in which investment leads to new jobs and increased incomes,” he said.

As well as sluggish domestic consumption, Lee warned of the “very significant” danger posed by expanding household debt, which has outstripped income growth in recent years.

The central bank also cited continued uncertainty resulting from slowing growth in the eurozone and China.

Exports, which account for about half of the South’s economy, grew 1.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year, slowing from 3.6% in the third quarter and 3.2% in the second quarter.

In an annual New Year press conference earlier this week, President Park Geun-Hye stressed revitalising the economy was her top priority for 2015. l

REUTERS

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said yesterday that it had no plan to buy Canada’s Blackberry Ltd, denying a Reuters report on a takeover approach.

“Media reports of the acquisition are groundless,” a Samsung spokeswoman told Reuters. Samsung recently offered to buy BlackBerry for as much as $7.5bn, seeking its valuable patents as it battles Apple in the corporate market, according to a person familiar with the matter and documents seen by Reuters.

South Korea’s Samsung proposed an initial price range of $13.35 to $15.49 per share, representing a premium of 38 percent to 60 percent over BlackBerry’s current trading price, the source said on Wednesday.

Representatives from the two companies, which are working with advisers, met last week to discuss a potential transaction, the source said, asking not to be identified because the conversa-

tions are private.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in a statement that it “has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry. Shares of BlackBerry, which soared nearly 30 percent following the Reuters report, fell back about 15 percent in after-hours electronic trading following the statement.

Separately on Wednesday, Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail reported BlackBerry has shunned a handful of takeover overtures in recent months as its board and largest investor think its restructuring strategy will deliver greater shareholder value than current acquisition offers.

The board believes offering prices, some in excess of $7bn, fall well below BlackBerry’s potential asset value in the next few years, according to the Globe and Mail report.

BlackBerry, a one-time investor darling that pioneered smartphones, has regained some of its lost swagger un-

der Chief Executive John Chen, who is leading a bid to regain market share it has lost to Apple Inc, Google Inc and Samsung.

Corporate market

“BlackBerry is in such transition today, so any investment has been a bet on the future, so at this point Samsung is cutting in before that full future becomes a reality,” said Morningstar analyst Brian Colello.

Samsung’s strength as the No 1 global smart phone marker has been built on making devices for the consumer market, which has become crowded in recent years. With a takeover of BlackBerry, Samsung could make greater inroads into the corporate market, where it has trailed rivals.

BlackBerry still holds considerable sway among enterprise clients for its strong security features - with U.S. President Barack Obama still using one of the company’s devices after taking office. l

CORPORATE NEWS

The initiative ‘Women’s Empowerment Principles’ (WEPs) by United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) was launched in Bangladesh. CEO of CSR Centre Shahamin S Zaman, MD of Square Toiletries Limited, Anjan Chowdhury and chairperson of Lakshya Sweaters Limited Safina Rahman delivered speeches at the ceremony

Major General Mohd Habibur Rahman Khan, executive chairperson of BEPZA has recently inaugurated Automated Digitalized Intelligent Barrier Gate at Dhaka EPZ

Modhumoti Bank Limited has recently signed an agreement with Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) IMED, Ministry of Planning. The bank’s MD and CEO, Md Mizanur Rahman and director general of CPTU, Md Faruque Hossain have signed the agreement

Chinese company named Shanzhou (Bangladesh) Packing Ltd has announced to invest $3.345m to establish a packing materials manufacturing industry at Uttara Export Processing Zone. In this regard, Sayed Nurul Islam, member (investment promotion) of BEPZA and Zhai Hai Peng, general manager of Shanzhou (Bangladesh) Packing Ltd have signed an agreement

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

China’s Li to headline Davos in ‘year of destiny’ n Reuters, Geneva At least 40 heads of state and government are expected at next week’s meeting of the rich and powerful at the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang will give a keynote speech, the organisers said on Wednesday.

The World Economic Forum, the Geneva-based thinktank that organises the annual get-together, said 2,500 politicians, executives, central bankers, religious leaders and others would convene to consider “The new global context” - the theme of this year’s meeting.

The Forum’s executive chairman, Klaus Schwab, said the world was at a crossroads between “a world of disintegration, hate, fundamentalism, and on the other hand a world of solidarity, of cooperation”.

He cited last week’s Charlie Hebdo killings and subsequent protest march as examples, talking of “a year of destiny for humankind”.

French President François Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are all due to attend the meeting, which runs from Jan 21-24.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, currently holding nuclear talks in Geneva, could meet again in Davos, where King Abdullah of Jordan, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi

China's Premier Li Keqiang smiles during a news conference in Belgrade are also expected along with, for the first time, Syrian business leaders.

The central bank governors of Brazil, Mexico, Britain, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Italy and France will attend, as will International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, and could potential-

ly hobnob with author Paulo Coelho or pop star Pharrell Williams.

The famously exclusive gathering is funded by its paying corporate members - to be eligible, companies need a turnover of $5bn, or to be the kind of technology pioneers that Schwab re-

REUTERS

gards as holding the key to the future.

Among the chief executives attending are the heads of banks, energy companies and industrial firms, as well as business names such as Bill Gross, former head of the fund manager Pimco, and Google Inc’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt. l

Friday, January 16, 2015

India eyes wheat exports, but cheap European supplies pose challenge n Reuters, New Delhi A rally in global wheat prices and a looming tax on Russian exports have set the stage for a resumption in India’s overseas sales, although cheaper European supplies could provide stiff competition to the South Asian nation.

Exports by the world’s No 2 wheat producer after a six-month gap could cap benchmark wheat prices which soared 20% in the past quarter on worries over Russian supplies.

“India is in a unique position to make the best out of the export curbs put in place by Russia which was exporting wheat similar in quality to Indian wheat,” said a trader with a leading global trading company in New Delhi.

Russia, a key wheat exporter, plans to introduce a duty of at least 35 euros ($41) per tonne on shipments from February to curb a rise in domestic prices.

India could sell around 2 million tonnes of wheat between February and July to Asian buyers as Russian supply dries up, traders and officials said.

While this is small versus a global trade of around 160 million tonnes, it is important for Southeast Asian millers looking for prompt shipments.

“Importers such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh will be taking Indian wheat because of the freight advantage over European cargoes,” a Singapore-based trader said.

Southeast Asian buyers pay a freight rate of $12-$15 a tonne to get wheat from India and up to $30 to get grain from Ukraine.

There has been talk among traders that India could start issuing tenders to sell wheat from reserves from February. Government stocks were at 25.1 million tonnes as of Jan 1, more than three times the target.

“The government hasn’t taken any decision on tenders yet but there are discussions going on between trading companies and the Food Corporation of India on export prospects and prices,” an official at a state-run trading company said.

'Attractive for buyers in Asia because they buy in smaller parcels and shipping time is shorter' India is set to procure wheat from farmers at about $230 per tonne this season, 3.7% higher than last year.

In the export market, Indian wheat was offered by private traders at $270 per tonne free on board, while French wheat was sold at $248.94-250.25 recently. Australian standard wheat is at $270 and Ukraine milling wheat is available for $265.

But Indian wheat is still “attractive for buyers in Asia because they buy in smaller parcels and shipping time is shorter”, a second Singapore trader said. “There is a strong possibility of a couple of million tonnes coming from India.” l

Google partners with auto suppliers German economy turns solid on self-driving car growth, finances in 2014 n Reuters, Detroit Internet search company Google Inc has begun discussions with most of the world’s top automakers and has assembled a team of traditional and nontraditional suppliers to speed efforts to bring self-driving cars to market by 2020, a Google executive said on Wednesday.

“We’d be remiss not to talk to ... the biggest auto manufacturers. They’ve got a lot to offer,” Chris Urmson, director of Google’s self-driving car project, said in an interview.

Those manufacturers, he said, include General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp, Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG. “For us to jump in and say that we can do this better, that’s arrogant,” Urmson said. Google has not determined whether it will build its own self-driving vehicles or function more as a pro-

vider of systems and software to established vehicle manufacturers.

Google’s self-driving prototype cars, he said, were built in Detroit by engineering and specialty manufacturing company Roush.

GM is open to working with Google on self-driving cars, Jon Lauckner, GM’s chief technology officer, said on Monday.

Urmson’s expectation that the first fully autonomous vehicles will be production-ready within five years mirrors the view expressed a day earlier by another Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Motors Inc. Musk, who spoke Tuesday at the Automotive News World Congress conference, said he expects the lack of clear federal regulations covering self-driving cars could delay their introduction until 2022 or 2023.

Urmson, however, said his Google

China taxi booking app raises $600m for expansion n AFP, Shanghai The operator of one of China’s leading taxi booking apps, Kuaidi Dache, has raised $600m for expansion, a statement said yesterday, even as the government tightens control over such services.

Heavyweight investors in the latest round of financing for Travice Inc. included Japan’s SoftBank, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and investment firm Tiger Global Management, the joint statement said.

Investment in taxi- and car-booking apps has become a proxy war among China’s Internet giants. Tencent, operator of the popular messaging app WeChat and a rival of Alibaba, has invested in another Chinese company, Didi Dache.

Meanwhile, search engine Baidu last month bought a stake in Uber, as the US firm seeks to expand in China.

Kuaidi Dache, based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, claims 200 million users in more than 300 Chinese cities and calls on a fleet of over one million vehicles, according to the statement.

Consultancy Analysys International estimated in November that it has a

DILBERT

54.4% market share in China.

The Chinese government has allowed these types of booking apps, but recently banned their use for summoning private vehicles, state media have reported.

Many cities are even regulating their use for taxis, including barring such apps during peak traffic periods or banning drivers from using them while operating vehicles out of safety concerns.

Booking apps have also contributed to a wave of taxi strikes across the country in recent days, including the northeastern city of Shenyang as well as Jinan and Nanjing in eastern China, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Taxi drivers say their business has been hurt by competition from booking apps used for private cars and vehicles from auto rental companies.

The Ministry of Transport said last week that it would monitor the situation.

“Various kinds of ‘specialised car’ software companies should respect the rules of the transport market, (and) take responsibility to prohibit private cars from entering and operating on the platform,” said a media report posted on the ministry’s website. l

colleagues “don’t see any particular regulatory hurdles.”

Google has been briefing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the chief U.S. auto regulator, “from early on in our program,” Urmson said. “The worst thing we could do is surprise them.”

Urmson said Google is developing and refining self-driving systems and components with such auto parts suppliers as Continental AG, Robert Bosch, ZF and LG Electronics. Google’s prototype cars use microprocessors made by Nvidia Corp , a Silicon Valley chipmaker that also supplies Mercedes-Benz and other automakers.

Continental said it began discussions in 2012 about supplying parts for Google’s self-driving car. Google asked the German supplier to provide tires, some electronics and other components, according to Samir Salman, chief executive of Continental’s NAFTA region. l

n AFP, Berlin The German economy, Europe’s biggest, braved global economic storms to expand by a better-than-expected 1.5% in 2014, and turn in a surplus in its public finances, data showed yesterday.

German gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.5% last year, beating the government’s projection of 1.2%, and was sharply improved from the 0.1% growth in 2013, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.

The country’s finances were in order too, with the overall public budget showing a surplus equivalent to 0.4% of GDP, the statisticians said.

“On the whole, the German economy turned out to be stable on an annual average in 2014,” they said in a statement.

At 1.5%, GDP growth was “above the average of the last 10 years of 1.2%,” it said.

“Obviously, the German economy turned out to be strong in a difficult

global economic environment, benefiting especially from a strong domestic demand,” Destatis chief Roderich Egeler told a news conference.

Following a dynamic start to the year and a subsequent period of weakness in the summer, “the economic situation had stabilised towards the end of 2014,” Egeler said.

GDP expanded by “around a quarter of a percentage point” in the final three months of the year, said Destatis economist Norbert Raeth. A more detailed estimate of fourth-quarter GDP data is scheduled to be released in mid-February. Taking the different GDP components, exports increased by 3.7% across the whole of 2014, consumer spending was up 1.1% and public spending rose 1%.

Investment, which had declined in both 2012 and 2013, rebounded, increasing by 3.7%.

Looking ahead to this year, the government is pencilling in growth of 1.3%,

but could upgrade its forecast, the weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported.

Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel is scheduled to reveal his updated forecast at the end of January.

‘Economic success story continues’

ING DiBa economist Carsten Brzeski said on the basis of the full-year data, fourthquarter growth likely stood at 0.3%.

“It was a very special year in which the German economy ... proved unusually sensitive to the weather, the timing of vacation and public holidays,” the expert said.

It had also been hit by geopolitical conflicts in its backyard and ongoing weakness in other eurozone countries.

“However, under the surface ... the economic success story continued as unemployment remained low, employment reached a new record high and private consumption turned out to be an important growth driver,” Brzeski said. l

Airlines prepare to hedge more jet fuel to lock in huge savings n Reuters, Singapore Global airlines, looking to lock in huge savings, are preparing to hedge more jet fuel to fix prices as they bet a slide in crude oil to six-year lows may peter out near $40 a barrel.

Some airlines have already stepped up hedging, especially after benchmark Brent crude slipped below $50 a barrel earlier this month, fuel traders and brokers said.

In Europe, airlines such as Aer Lingus and Ryanair are aiming to take advantage of the low oil prices to lock in fuel costs into 2016 and beyond. Thai Airways plans to hedge 100% of its fuel purchases this year.

“If you a sensible hedger, you have to look at this as an excellent opportunity,” said Robert Campbell, head of oil products research at Energy Aspects.

Current crude output can’t be sustained at these prices, Campbell said, and with “some increase in demand and some reduction in supply ultimately the price will be forced higher”.

Jet fuel can account for between 20 and 50% of an airline’s operating costs, and swings in oil prices can mean a huge boost or hit to profits. In December, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said lower fuel prices could mean that airlines globally will report their strongest profit margins in more than five years in 2015.

Still, Brent crude slipping 60% since June has caught many by surprise.

U.S. airlines that hedged based on higher oil prices, such as United Air-

A passenger aircraft is silhouetted against the rising moon in New Delhi lines, have had to dump losing bets and are now reviewing their strategies for protecting themselves from oil market volatility.

“Over the last six months of 2014, very few airlines were brave enough to go into the market and if they did, it was in very small volumes,” said Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation research firm Endau Analytics.

At least one Asian carrier, South Korea’s Asiana Airlines, has stopped hedging since November due to recent price volatility, while Germany’s Air

Berlin has said it is considering reducing its hedging rate.

Some airlines still skittish

Now, hedging interest has picked up, according to brokers and traders, although some airlines remain skittish because of free-falling prices.

In line with benchmark crude, jet fuel prices have fallen about 50% over the last six months to around $60 a barrel this week, Reuters data showed.

“Even though hedging volumes have picked up, they are still limited,” said a

REUTERS

fuel trader with a Singapore-based bank handling hedges for airlines.

Airlines typically hedge some of their fuel needs - or buy fuel in advance at pre-determined prices - to reduce the impact on earnings from wide swings in the market.

But many carriers, particularly in Asia, have been cautious about hedging since 2008, when airlines scrambling to lock in fuel costs as crude surged above $100 a barrel for the first time saw oil plummet to less than $40 before year-end. l