21 Jan, 2015

Magh 8, 1421 Rabiul Awal 29, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 286

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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TREEHOUSE

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

AN AMAZING CHILDHOOD

LET’S MAKE IT IN BANGLADESH

WEDDING SEASON AND MEMORIES OF FAO MARA

MUSHFIQ RAISES THE BAR

Molotov cocktail attacks zooming in on capital Intelligence claims Jamaat-Shibir men behind most attacks n Mohammad Jamil Khan Despite vigilance and joint drives by the law enforcement agencies, use of Molotov cocktails has been rising rapidly across the country including the capital during the 20-party’s ongoing blockade and hartal programmes.

Although those were used largely outside the capital in the last 14 days, miscreants are now using the Molotov cocktails to create panic among the Dhakaities by torching vehicles.

Meanwhile, the BNP-led alliance leaders are reportedly threatening supporters of expulsion to force them carrying out violence. The alliance has taken such initiative to take control over the streets of the capital as they had failed to do so ahead of last year’s January 5 election, intelligence sources say.

‘Joint operation will be conducted in the capital any time, if needed. Police are ready’ Since January 3, as many as 37 victims of political violence took treatment at the burn and plastic surgery institute of Dhaka Medical College Hospital while three of them died. Of the injured victims, 17 sustained injuries in the capital in the last four days.

At least 35 people were killed in the last 14 days of indefinite blockade. Of them, 13 died from Molotov cocktail injuries.

During this time, around 595 vehicles were set on fire and vandalised across the country. Of those, 135 vehicles were in the capital. At least 85 of those vehicles were torched.

On Saturday night, at least five policemen were injured after pickets threw Molotov cocktails at a police bus in the capital’s Matsya Bhaban area.

Around the same time, a total of

nine people were injured as blockade supporters set fire to a speeding bus in the capital’s Mohammadpur Bheribadh area. Of the injured, two people have been undergoing treatment in critical condition at the burn institute.

A student of Jagannath University sustained injuries from a Molotov cocktail attack in the capital’s Rayerbagh area on Saturday noon.

Two students of Eden College received burn injuries the following day after picketers set fire to a bus using Molotov cocktails at Khamar Bari intersection on Manik Mia Avenune.

Police on Saturday night arrested a student of Mirpur Bangla College, Akram Hossain, 20, while he was trying to set a bus in the capital Gulistan area on fire.

Akram, in police custody, said he was a supporter of BNP’s student wing Chhatra Dal. Shahbagh unit Chhatra Dal President Rubel reportedly asked him to torch vehicles in Gulistan area.

When asked, Akram said he was following the command since Rubel was his leader and that he would have been expelled had he not carried out the attack. “There was nothing monetary.”

Police claim that some outsiders and supporters of the alliance had entered the capital from other districts with the Ijtema devotees during the last couple of days and were creating sabotage activities.

A high official of the police headquarters, requesting anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that the BNP-Jamaat supporters of other districts had already taken shelter at different residential hotels, mess houses and slums.

Jamaat supporter Imrul Kayes, 35, who is a ward councillor from Noakhali, reportedly came to the capital as a part of a plan to carry out sabotage activities. He was killed in a gunfight with the members of DB police in front of AGB Colony of Motijheel around 3:30am on Monday.

In this regard, Jahangir Hossain  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Minor fighting for life after double blow n Mohammad Jamil Khan This time a two-and-a half-year old boy is fighting for life at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the City Hospital in the capital after he received burn injury in an arson attack.

The fire burnt around 17% area of the boy named Safir. He is the only son of Dr Saiful Islam and Dr Sharmin Ahmed.

Safir was going back home in Narayanganj by a public bus. As the bus reached the Somoboy Market located at Chasara of Narayanganj last Sunday around 9pm some pickets hurled petrol bombs at it.

When Sharmin scrambled out of the bus with her beloved son wrapped in her lap the fire had already burnt Safir’s face, hands and legs.

Dr Sharmin too received 38% and her husband Dr Saiful 5% burn injuries.

They were first admitted to 300-bed Narayanganj Hospital and later transferred to the City Hospital.

All of them are now undergoing

Jony ‘confesses,’ then gets killed

PHOTOS: DHAKA TRIBUNE

treatment at the hospital in Mohammadpur area.

Visiting the hospital, yesterday evening, this correspondent found Sharmin and Saiful undergoing treatment in hospital cabins while Safir at the ICU.

BNP movement will not even spare SSC exams n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Mother of Chhatra Dal General Secretary of Khilgaon unit Nuruzzaman Jony sheds tears over her son’s dead body in Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue yesterday. Jony died in a ‘gunfight’ in the capital with detectives early yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE directly involved in the attack on police bus that left five policemen injured in Matsya Bhaban area on January 17.

However, Jony was not named in the case filed over the attack as accused.

Doctors of the hospital say they could not say anything about Safir before he passed at least 72 hours. Till then he was not out of danger.

Dr Sharmin of Anowar Khan Modern Hospital, whose face, head, some por-

48HR HARTAL STARTS TODAY

n Ashif Islam Shaon A leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal was killed yesterday in a “gunfight” with the members of Detective Branch of Police in the capital’s Khilgaon area, hours after reportedly admitting his involvement in hurling Molotov cocktail on a police bus.

It is the second incident of “gunfight” in the capital in the last two days when the law enforcers have been on high alert to resist arsonists and vandals during the BNP-Jamaat alliance’s indefinite blockade.

Chhatra Dal, the BNP’s student wing, has called 48-hour hartal in Dhaka division in protest against the death of Nuruzzaman Jony, 30. Party sources said he was the general secretary of Chhatra Dal’s Khilgaon unit.

Jony was accused in six cases – four filed under explosives act and two for assaulting police – filed with Khilgaon police, OC Mustafiz Bhuiyan said.

DB Deputy Commissioner (south) Krishna Pada Roy said Jony had been

Two-and-a-half-yearold Safir, top, lies at the intensive care unit of City Hospital in the capital. He was severely injured when pickets hurled petrol bombs on a bus carrying him and his parents, left, in Narayanganj’s Chasara area on Sunday night. The photos were taken yesterday

On Monday, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Imrul Kayes was killed in a “gunfight” with the DB police members in Motijheel allegedly after being abducted.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

The BNP high command is planning to intensify the ongoing movement after keeping things relaxed for a few days for the Biswa Ijtema; the hartal starting today in different districts across the country is part of that plan.

The Secondary School Certificate exams start on February 2; but the party does not have any plan to relax the grip during the exams if there is no sign of solution to the prevailing political crisis.

A senior BNP leader said the Awami League did the same thing – enforced hartal during public exams – when they were in the opposition.

In 2013 also, the BNP-Jamaat-led combine enforced hartals and staged protests during the SSC and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams.

Currently, general strikes are going

in Rajshahi district and Chittagong division; they were called to protest what BNP said “oppression on and mass arrest of opposition leaders and activists.”

On top of the ongoing blockade, the BNP-led 20-party alliance are enforcing a 48-hour hartal in Dhaka – including the metropolitan city – and Khulna divisions starting at 6am today.

BNP’s Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the announcement through a press release yesterday. He said the hartal is for protesting “oppression, abduction and killing of opposition men in the ongoing joint forces’ drive.”

Kushtia and Jhenaidah districts will observe 36-hour hartals from today.

Meanwhile, BNP’s student front Chhatra Dal is enforcing a shutdown today and tomorrow in Dhaka division protesting the “killing” of their  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

tion of waist and two hands were burnt are also not out of danger.

Most of the times she keeps lying on bed. But when she starts talking she only talks about her son – “where is my beloved son? where is he? how is he? Is he all right?”

Moshiur Rahman, uncle of Safiur, said a couple of weeks back Safir’s two legs were burnt from hot water and he was undergoing treatment at the burn and plastic surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Last Sunday, after treatment, while he was going back to Narayanganj with his parents pickets set fire to the passenger bus they were on, he said.

Of them, Dr Saiful’s condition is a little better. With tears welling up in his eyes he said: “What would I say? Everything seems like a nightmare. Heaven forbid that such tragedy strikes any parents.”

Faruk Hosssain Khan, uncle of Sharmin, says apart from burn injury Sharmin’s hands also got injured as she jumped off the bus.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Extreme chill wreaks havoc in the northern districts n Abu Bakar Siddique The ongoing cold wave that met office says is moderate and normal for this time of the year, has been wreaking havoc in the northern and northeastern districts of the country for several days.

At least three babies have died over the last seven days from various cold-related diseases; aged people in these areas are also equally suffering from the extreme cold.

Our correspondents have reported that the hospitals in some of these districts are experiencing a sudden spike in the number of patients and struggling to ensure proper healthcare even for a small percentage of them because of shortcomings in infrastructure and resources.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

INSIDE 3 | News

Although the ongoing blockade continues to put constraints on the supply chain of essential goods and export items throughout the country, the situation on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway has been comparatively better than other major highways in the country,

6 | Nation

Supply chain of seasonal and winter vegetables and other perishable items in Barisal have taken a huge hit by the blockade.

5 | News

The fresh 36-hour hartal enforced by BNPled-20-party alliance was marked peacefully along with the countrywide indefinite blockade in Chittagong.

9 | World

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to stand firm Tuesday after the Islamic State group threatened to kill two Japanese nationals.

15 | Entertainment

Turongomi Repertory Dance, the first dance theatre troupe of the country, brings on stage ‘Waterness,’ a unique blend of dance and drama inspired by the life of Tagore.

B1 | Business

Some apparel buyers have stalled work orders fearing delayed shipments due to ongoing political unrest in Bangladesh, exporters said.

01_FR 02_Ne 16_BA

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

PM: Khaleda will face trial for killing n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Holding her arch rival responsible for the death of violence victims, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said in parliament that Khaleda Zia will have to face trial in a murder case as the main accused.

“What Khaleda Zia is doing cannot be called a movement, rather militant activities, or acts of terrorism...

None of those who are involved in the killings, will be spared,” the PM warned.

She made the remarks while delivering her unscheduled speech in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) yesterday.

Senior leaders from the ruling Awami League and main opposition Jatiya Party also spoke on the same issue; all of them said Khaleda Zia should face the music.

Questioning BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s integrity, Hasina inquired: “How will she protect democracy by killing innocent people?”

The prime minister also called upon people to form committees in each neighborhood to combat terrorism and militancy.

Talking about militancy, Hasina said: “Someone [international powers] has been creating chaos wherever

there are Muslims in the world.

Bangladesh is a country where people from all religions have been coexisting and practicing their beliefs peacefully, although 90% of the people are Muslims.”

She said Khaleda did not take part in the elections last year in order to take the country into an unconstitutional system and the people of the country could not pay for her mistakes.

Regarding Khaleda’s alleged confinement at her Gulshan office, the prime minister said: “There is no obstacle in front of the office now. The question is why is she still not going back home?”

Bashing the “intellectuals” who have calling for a dialogue between her and the BNP chief, Hasina said: “Do not compare me with a killer.”

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Agricultural Minister Matia Chowdhury, Food Minister Qamrul Islam, lawmakers Abdul Matin Khasru, Tarana Halim, Nazibul Bashar Maizbhandari, among others also strongly denouncing the blockade-related violence during their speeches.

The JS kicked off its fifth session on Monday amid the ongoing blockade enforced by the BNP-Jamaat-led 20 party alliance. l

Muhith: No secretary for expat bank’s chairmanship n Tribune Report

After pickets set fire to a rice-carrying truck in Kapashia area of Rajshahi’s Puthia upazila on Monday night, these goods-laden trucks wait on a road in Bel Pukur area of the upazila yesterday to ply in a group escorted by police, BGB and RAB officials AZAHAR UDDIN

Anne Richard arrives in Dhaka n Tribune Report

Anne Richard, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration in the US, arrived in the capital yesterday on a four-day visit, according to an official release.

During her visit to Bangladesh, Richard will hold meetings with high-level government officials, including the

Rawshan: JaPa to support move against terror n BSS

14-party rally demands Khaleda’s arrest

Leader of the Opposition Rawshan Ershad yesterday urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to immediately take steps in curbing the ongoing violence and terrorism with an iron hand.

“We assure of our total cooperation to the government whatever steps will be taken to bring an end to the ongoing vandalism and hostility in the name of hartal and blockade,” she said on a point of order in parliament.

Rawshan, senior leader of HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party, said: “In no way, we can remain silent or tolerate any more the spate of violence...

“We are in the opposition and we do our politics for the people’s welfare.” l

Leaders of the 14-party alliance yesterday demanded that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia be arrested for inciting violence and sabotage.

The ruling alliance leaders at a rally in Mirpur ruled out any possibility of midterm poll and dialogue with the BNP-led 20-party alliance. The rally was organised as part of the rulig alliance’s countrywide campaign to resist ongoing violence.

“I urged the government to arrest BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for fomenting violence, killing people and torching vehicles in the name of blockade and hartal,” Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said.

n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Khaleda should also face trial for maligning the image of the country by staging diplomatic drama, he added.

Health Minister Mohammad Nasim said accused Khaleda of ordering her party men and the Jamaat-Shibir activists to resort to violence and secret attacks on innocent people. He said no dialogue and election would be held in the country before 2019.

Nasim said the ruling alliance would hold rallies in the next 10 days at different terminals in the capital to motivate people against violence.

Workers Party President and Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon urged the BNP chief to shun the path of violence and sever ties with Jamaat if it really means any dialogue. l

Molotov cocktail attacks zooming in on capital  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Matubbor, the DB deputy commissioner, told the Dhaka Tribune that Kayes, along with some other Jamaat leaders, had been planning to conduct sabotage activities and attack on police. “When the police chased them, they opened fire. He received bullet injuries during the gunfight.”

Intelligence officials has identified several districts as vulnerable since violence and attacks with Molotov cocktails were massive in those areas since January 3. The areas are Gobindaganj and Polashbari of Gaibandha, Kansat and Shibganj area of Chapainawabganj, some bordering areas of Rangpur division, Sitakunda and Lohagora of Chittagong, Mohipal area of Feni, Lakshmipur and Noakhali districts.

Analysing the incidents, officials of RAB and police’s intelligence sections claimed that most of the pickets seen on the streets belonged to the BNP and its front organisations, mainly Chhatra Dal. However, the attacks were mainly perpetrated by the activists of Jamaat-Shibir.

Asked why the demonstrators use Molotov cocktails, intelligence officials say those are easily available and do not create a bang like the crude bombs do. Moreover, damages from Molotov cocktails, found at as cheap as Tk300, is massive.

DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah said there was nothing to be panicked as the police had taken measures to stop such attacks. “Police have started special drives and established nearly 200 check posts in the capital.”

Asked about conducing joint operation in the capital, he said: “We are ready and it will be conducted at any time, if needed.”

To act against secret attacks and apprehend those responsible, law enforcers as a primary step have started joint drive in the 19 violence-prone districts, dominated by BNP and Jamaat-Shibir.

Members of police, RAB and Border Guard Bangladesh are taking part in the drives that began on Sunday.

The drive is being coordinating by the Home Ministry. A special note was circulated by the police headquarters in this regard on Sunday night.

The districts are Dhaka, Satkhira, Meherpur, Pabna, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Joypurhat, Lalmonirhat,

Nilphamari, Cox’s Bazar, Khagrachhari, Bogra, Feni, Laxmipur, Chittagong, Comilla, Mymensingh, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj.

When contacted, AKM Shahidul Haque, the newly-appointed inspector

Nilphamari

general of police, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We will not tolerate any more violent activities. The pickets will face the music, no matter, how skilfully they attack and conduct sabotage activities.” l

Lalmonirhat Rangpur

Gaibandha Joypurhat Bogra Chapainawabganj

Mymensingh

Rajshahi

Sirajganj

Pabna

Meherpur

Dhaka Comilla

Lakshmipur

Satkhira

Feni

day, and plans to visit Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Assistant Secretary Richard was sworn in as assistant secretary of state for population, refugeesand migration in 2012.

She has a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an MA in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago. l

Jony ‘confesses,’ then gets killed  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

A ward councillor of Narail municipality, Kayes was wanted in eight cases there including three over recent attacks during blockade, police said.

Jony’s family members claimed that he had not been involved in any kind of violence. Married a year back, he was a student of Habibullah Bahar College. His wife Munira Parveen is seven months pregnant.

“What has my son done? Why is he murdered? There is no need to keep us alive. Please kill us,” his mother Nilufar Parveen told reporters at the Dhaka Medical College morgue.

Jony’s brother Moniruzzaman, now in Dhaka Central Jail, was arrested recently in a case filed over an arson attack on a bus during the ongoing blockade.

According to the DB officials, they detained Jony from Nazimuddin Road in the capital on Monday. In primary interrogation, Jony admitted his involvement in the attack. He also named the other persons who carried out the attack.

Around 2:30am yesterday, the detectives took him with them during a raid in Khilgaon’s Jorapukur Balur Math area to arrest the cohorts.

DMP Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman said when the DB team reached the spot around 3am, miscreants sensing their presence started firing at the law enforcers prompting the DB men to retaliate. “Jony sustained bullet injuries falling in the line of fire,” he said.

Jony was taken to the DMCH emergency unit around 3:45am where doctors declared him dead, Khilgaon police said. The body had 15 marks of bullet injuries.

Police claimed that from the scene of “gunfight” they had recovered a pistol, six handmade bombs and a Molotov cocktail.

Jony’s paternal cousin Shahidul Islam told reporters on the morgue premises that Jony and two other youths had gone to the central jail to meet his brother Moniruzzaman on Monday noon.

“He talked with the family members over phone for the last time around 1:15pm. After a while, his phone was found switched off.”

Shahidul claimed that the DB men had picked him up from the jail gate area. The two youths have also been traceless since the incident.

Family members took the body for burial after the post mortem examination. l

Minor fighting for life  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Sharmin, who is not able to see his son as she can not walk, always sobs uncontrollably as the fire incident keeps crossing her mind. She keeps enquiring about her son’s condition.

Apart from the couple and their son, 17 more people are now undergoing treatment at the burn institute of the DMCH. l

BNP will not spare even SSC exams  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

leader Nuruzzaman Jony. At least three people – whom the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance claimed were their men – were killed in alleged gunfights with law enforcers over the last few days, triggering a sense of panic among the party’s ranks in connection with the joint drive of the law enforcement agencies.

Insiders said the party high command has now been trying to cash in on the fear, looking to turn the fear into shared grievances among the leaders and activists.

They said party chief Khaleda Zia, following the “crossfire” deaths, has been talking to the rank and file and giving them mental support.

“We have announced the programme to ensure people’s wellbeing.

We request people to endure some pain. We cannot backtrack from the movement now,” Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said in the statement.

On Monday night, some members of the BNP standing committee – the highest policymaking body of the party – advised Khaleda Zia to give a pause in the movement and to think of alternative methods; but she rejected the proposal.

Gulshan office sources said Khaleda Zia has been talking to the leaders and activists everyday and more or less everybody is in favour of continuing the movement.

Seeking anonymity, a senior leader told the Dhaka Tribune last night: “If we backtrack, then the government will not heed our demand and intensify oppression. The law enforcement agencies will get the chance to conduct raids in the houses of our men.”

He also said movement in the capital will gain momentum towards the end of this month; the central leaders of the alliance will try to remain in the streets. He said they were now waiting for a green signal from Khaleda Zia.

The BNP chairperson called the non-stop blockade on January 5 after she was barred from coming out of her Gulshan office. BNP said she was “confined” but the government said she was free to go home.

Police kept in place extremely tight security around Khaleda’s Gulshan office for 16 days. On Monday, the security was relaxed. But Khaleda never came out; instead she said in a press conference that she was going to stay there and the blockade would continue unless the government took the first steps towards solution.

Blockade-related violence has killed at least 35 people over the last 15 days.

Hundreds of vehicles, including those belonging to law-enforcers, were burnt and attacked.

The government has announced rewards for catching anarchists responsible for violence during hartal and blockades. l

Extreme chill wreaks havoc in the northern districts Khagrachhari

Noakhali

Cox’s Bazar

MOST VIOLENCE REPORTED IN DISTRICTS

Gobindaganj and Polashbari of Gaibandha, Kansat and Shibganj area of Chapainawabganj, some bordering areas of Rangpur division, Sitakunda and Lohagora of Chittagong, Mohipal area of Feni, Lakshmipur, Noakhali

JOINT DRIVE TO BE CONDUCTED

The districts are Dhaka, Satkhira, Meherpur, Pabna, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Joypurhat, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Cox's Bazar, Khagrachhari, Bogra, Feni, Laxmipur, Chittagong, Comilla, Mymensingh, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj

LAST 14 DAYS OF VIOLANCE

ministers of foreign affairs, home affairs and disaster management and relief.

She will also meet with officials from different NGOs and INGOs, as well as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration, the press note said.

In addition, Richard is set to join a conference of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies to-

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said no secretary will be made chairman of any state-owned bank.

Referring to a former Expatriates Welfare Ministry secretary having been made the chairman of Expatriate and Welfare Bank earlier, Muhith in a letter said it was an exceptional case.

His letter was a reply to Expat Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain’s request for making Secretary Khandoker Iftikhar Haider the next chairman of the bank.

In a letter two weeks ago, Mosharraf said it would be appropriate to appoint the secretary as the Expatriates Welfare Bank chairman as it also conformed to the bank’s goal.

Sources in the Bank and Financial Institution Division said government high-ups had wanted to appoint former managing director of the bank CM Koyes Sami as its chairman.

During his tenure as the bank’s MD, the Expatriates Welfare Bank showed 97% recovery of loans; however, an investigation later revealed that the recovery rate was only 71%, according to Bangladesh Bank sources said. l

35 were killed, Of them 13 killed from Molotov cocktail Around 595 vehicles were set on fire and vandalised across the country.

Of those, 135 vehicles were in the capital.

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Yesterday, this season’s lowest 6.7 degree Celsius temperature was recorded in the northern district of Rajshahi.

In Ishwardi, Rangpur and Dinajpur – three other districts further north – the mercury yesterday hit 7.2, 8 and 7.6 degree Celsius respectively. In the Dhaka Metropolitan area, the lowest temperature was 13.4 degree.

Met office says the situation will remain unchanged over the next few days because of the thick blanket of fog that has covered almost the entire country. Once the fog starts thinning, temperature will rise again.

According to the met office, 8-10 degrees is a mild cold wave, 6-8 degrees moderate and temperature below 6 degrees is considered severe cold wave.

Recently, two babies – 11-month-old Sabbir and 18-month-old Sifat – died from winter diarrhoea at the Gaibandha Sadar Hospital which also has 29 other babies admitted in different wards.

Another 18-month-old baby named Mithu died at the Kurigram Sadar Hospital early yesterday morning.

Dr Nazrul Islam, resident medical officer of the hospital, said Mithu was

suffering from birth-aesthesia disease which gets triggered by cold.

A total of 194 patients including 52 children are being treated for various cold-related diseases at the Kurigram Sadar Hospital yesterday, the doctor said.

Our correspondent in the eastern district of Moulvibazar reports that a total of 23 patients got admitted with various cold-related diseases in the local government hospital on Friday; of them, eight are children.

In the south-western district of Jessore, more than 50 patients are currently admitted to the local district hospital. Mahfuzur Rahman, a doctor at the hospital, said most of the patients are children.

Quoting hospital sources, our Jessore correspondent reports that because there is not enough space to accommodate so many people, they are having to keep some of them on the floor in the wards and also in the corridors.

In Panchagarh, one of the northernmost districts of the country, day labourers and rickshaw-pullers having been finding it hard to make a living.

Because of the extreme chill, most of the economic activities in the district have come to a standstill; as a result, day labourers cannot find any work. As people have stopped going outdoors unless there is an emergency, rickshaw-pullers are suffering from a severe lack of passengers.

Although several government and non-governmental organisations have been distributing blankets and warm clothes among the poor people in these districts, the amount has been very inadequate compared to demand.

As people throng the roadside stalls looking for warm clothes, seller have raised the price even of used clothes.

Mizanur Rahman, an old clothes trader in Panchagarh, told out correspondent that they are selling old clothes at high prices because they purchased them at high prices in Sayedpur and Dhaka.

In another northern district of Joypurhat, the local office of the Department of Agricultural Extension circulated a leaflet among farmers, advising them to remain careful so that the extreme chill does not harm the seedbeds of Boro paddy. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Supply chain situation better on Dhaka-Ctg Highway Arson attack fears drive truck rates upwards in the northern districts Dhaka from Naogaon by avoiding troun Asif Showkat Kallol blesome areas like Sirajganj and Bogra.

Although the ongoing blockade continues to put constraints on the supply chain of essential goods and export items throughout the country, the situation on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway has been comparatively better than other major highways in the country, stakeholders have claimed.

They said despite assigning Border Guard Bangladesh personnel for escorting goods-laden vehicles on the roads, normal operations have not yet returned on the roads situated in the northern districts.

“The Dhaka-Chittagong Highway is one of the busiest internal trade routes in Bangladesh, and it is now fully free from violence as trucks are being driven under police and BGB escort,” said Rustom Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Covered Van and Truck Owners Association.

“In the last couple of days, the hiring rate for trucks [on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway] have reduced to Tk8,000-Tk10,000; it used to be Tk20,000 for a single trip when the blockades began.”

But even with BGB protection, the truck rates from Dhaka to the northern districts are currently around Tk20,000-Tk24,000, Rustom said.

Nirod Baran Saha, president of the Naogaon Rice Traders Association, said truck owners are currently charging Tk24,000 for transporting rice from Naogaon to Dhaka, while the usual cost was Tk15,000.

For a Naogaon-Chittagong trip, the truck-hiring rate was between Tk40,000 and Tk45,000 – almost twice than the regular Tk25,000 cost, Nirod said.

He, however, added: “The BGB is providing escort to trucks going to

Most trucks are going to Dhaka through Natore and Jamuna Bridge”.

Nirod also cautioned that the price of every kilogram of rice might increase

by Tk1 because of the additional transportation costs. Farmers cultivating Irri-Boro rice in the northern districts might also face fertiliser and oil shortage if the transportation crisis continued for the next 15 days, he warned.

However, claims of supply chain disruption were snubbed out by Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, senior secretary for the Commerce Ministry, who told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We are yet to receive any complain from the business community regarding disruptions of supply chain.”

“Sudden arson attacks on trucks and cars on the roads and highways are isolated incidents which have no impact on the supply chain of essentials items across the country,” the senior secretary said.

Meanwhile, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed yesterday said: “We have started coordinating the government patrol on the highways and roads across the country.

“A total of 50,000 trucks and vehicles travelled across the country during last two days [on January 19 and 20],” he also said .

The BGB chief added that approximately 30,000 trucks and buses travelled on the Rajshahi-Dhaka–Chittagong route during this time.

State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday also confirmed that at least 25 people have been killed – mostly in arson attacks – since the BNP-led 20-party’s countrywide indefinite blockade began on January 6. l

Supporters of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance bring out a ‘rally for peace’ in the capital’s Mirpur area yesterday to counter the hartals and non-stop blockade programme enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance RAJIB DHAR

Minister: Oil prices will not be reduced now n Tribune Report

The government will not reduce oil prices at the moment, even though global prices have gone down in recent times, Planning Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal told the parliament yesterday.

However, the government might consider lowering oil prices once it recovers the cumulative losses that were given as subsidy in recent years, he added.

The minister, who was responding on behalf of State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, made the comments while replying to a supplementary question from independent MP Haji M Selim in a question-answer session of the parliament.

In his question, Selim said there was no logic in keeping the current fuel prices in place, as the international market had witnessed a nosedive of fuel prices over the last couple of months.

Replying to the question, Kamal said the government had incurred losses worth around Tk7,000 crore per year when oil prices had soared up earlier.

He added that oil prices had now come down to $58 per barrel from prices as high as $147 per barrel.

If the current price trend continues, the government would make profits worth around Tk14,000 crore in two years, the minister said.

“It is our expectation that the government will surely reduce the fuel prices after setting off previous losses

1.5 lakh tonnes of sugar unsold

Some 1.5 lakh tonnes of sugar remain unsold in the country’s 15 state-run sugar mills, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu told the parliament yesterday.

“The amount of unsold sugar was 145,257 metric tonnes in government-regulated 15 sugar mills as of January 9,” the minister said while replying to a starred question from Jhenaidah lawmaker Tahjeeb Alam Siddique.

Replying to another starred question from lawmaker Amina Begum, Amu said some two lakh sugarcane cultivators under the 15 mills have been

receiving text messages in their mobile phones about their “Purji” or official purchase offer every harvest season since the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Responding to yet another starred question from Comilla lawmaker Shubid Ali Bhuiyan, the industries minister said construction of Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) at Savar Tannery Estate would be completed by June 30 this year.

The construction work on 144 industrial units out of allocated 155 has started with a view to relocating Hazaribagh tanneries to Savar Tannery Estate. Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has already approved layout plants of 152 industrial units in Savar Tannery Estate. l

Minister: Arsonists to be shot on sight

UN report says Bangladesh economy to grow by over 6% n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi Bangladesh economy is expected to continue with its economic growth at more than 6% in 2015 and 2016, driven by strong external demand for textile products and robust domestic demand, said an UN report released yesterday.

Bangladesh maintained a strong growth of 6.2% in 2014 amid buoyant household consumption and investment, said the report titled United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 (WESP).

The economy is expected to expand at a strong pace in 2015 and 2016 as favourable conditions remain largely intact.

Led by a pick-up in growth in India, which accounts for about 70% of regional output, South Asia’s economic growth is set to reach a four-year high in 2015, the report stated.

The economic growth in South Asia is set to gradually pick up, while East Asia will remain the fastest-growing region, and is projected to see stable growth of 6.1% in 2015 and 6% in 2016.

The average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of South Asia accelerated from 3.7% in 2013 to 4.9% in 2014, and is projected to strengthen further to 5.4% in 2015 and 5.7% in 2016, with the recovery mainly led by India.

The global economic growth is forecast to increase marginally over the next two years and expected to be 3.1% in 2015 and 3.3% in 2016, compared with an estimated growth of 2.6% for 2014.

The report observes unemployment figures remain historically high in some regions, but appear to have stopped rising. While global inflation remains subdued, the spectrum ranges from deflation risks in the euro area to high inflation in some developing countries.

Foreign direct investment inflows have remained the most stable and relevant source of financing for developing countries whereas portfolio capital flows are highly sensitive to changes in risk appetite.

Trade growth is expected to pick up moderately with the volume of world imports of goods and services projected to grow by 4.7% in 2015. In 2015, fiscal tightening in most developed economies will continue, although the pace of tightening is expected to slow. l

[recovering the subsidised money],” Kamal added.

n Shohel Mamun

Teachers, journalists, social workers and cultural activists form a human chain in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh yesterday demanding the restoration of democracy and an end to the ongoing anarchy and violence MEHEDI HASAN

Arrest warrants against Tarique, Fakhrul in defamation case n Tribune Report A Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrants against Tarique Rahman and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for making derogatory remarks on Bangabandhu and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Anwar Sadat passed the order after Paltan police station OC and in-

vestigation officer Tofail Ahmed submitted probe report. The magistrate also asked the investigation officer to submit warrant execution report to the police station concerned by March 5.

On September 8 last year, AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jononetri Parishad, filed the defamation case against BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman and acting secretary

general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The case statement says Tarique called the Awami League a “black sheep party” and Sheikh Hasina “the leader of the black sheep.”

The statement also says Mirza Fakhrul distorted history saying Bangabandhu uttered “Joy Pakistan” (meaning hail Pakistan) at the end of his historic March 7 speech in 1971. l

The government has plans to shoot blockade-enforcing arsonists and saboteurs “on sight” as part of its hard line strategy against such miscreants, a minister has said.

While visiting arson victims at the burn unit of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali said the government has plans to shoot the blockade-enforcing perpetrators “on sight,” adding that an arrangement on this regard would be made within a week.

“There is no need to try them under the speedy trials act. We want to declare a war against them. This can no longer be tolerated. An arrangement will be made in this regard by a week.”

Admitting that the government had failed to provide security to the citizens, the minister termed the failure “upsetting.” He also claimed that the violence against the people amounted to “a violation of human rights.”

On the other hand, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the government was also considering other options to tackle the arsonists.

“The government will reward those who would provide information that leads to the arrests of arsonists,” Kamal told journalists when the newly elected members of Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh paid a courtesy visit

at his ministry office yesterday.

However, asked about monetary details on the award, he said: “The reward amount will be fixed and announced later.”

Asked about the recent suspensions of different internet voice and messaging services, the state minister said: “The government has information that terrorists are using the applications for carrying out criminal activities.

“The applications have been closed temporarily and would be made operational later,” he added.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu yesterday said the government would ensure the “highest measures” against those causing violence during the blockade.

Briefing reporters at the secretariat, the minister said: “If the blockade continues until the upcoming SSC examinations, the government would take the highest action to normalise people’s lives.”

Asked what he meant by “highest measures,” Inu said: “The government will not take any action in an autocratic style. The government must take the highest action, but that has to be taken in accordance to the law.”

Also when asked if there was any possibility of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia being arrested, the information minister said: “It depends on the situation.” l

Foreign diplomats in Dhaka condemn ongoing political turmoil n Tribune Report

More foreign diplomats in Bangladesh yesterday condemned the ongoing violence and arson attacks that has been causing loss to public life and property, and sought an initiative to resolve the crisis.

After briefing diplomats from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries and Saarc and Asean member states at the state guesthouse Padma, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told reporters that the diplomats wanted a solution to the current political turmoil but did not raise anything about the January 5 elections.

The minister also said Egypt and Palestine have urged the government to ban organisations that are involved

in terrorist activities in Bangladesh, reports UNB. However at a programme later, the Palestinian Ambassador in Dhaka Shaher Mohammad said he had not said anything about banning any organisation. He said he only urged the government to resolve the problem peacefully through discussion and laid emphasis on peaceful gatherings and ensuring right to expression of views.

Egyptian Ambassador Mahmoud Ezzat said he did raise the issue at the meeting. “We have banned such terrorist organisations in our country because we are suffering. And yes, I did raise the issue. Parties which are committing terrorist acts should be banned. We expect the same from Bangladesh,” the UNB quoted him as

saying.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, some of the envoys voiced their support in favour of banning Jamaat-e-Islami, if the government considers.

Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali said when all the indicators were on a positive rise and the common people started reaping the benefits of the overall development, suddenly the BNP-Jamaat alliance started their destructive activities on January 5 this year, the first anniversary of the 10th parliamentary elections, making innocent people victims of their unethical political ambition.

In this context, he drew attention to the mindless acts of violence, particularly burning of innocent citizens by

throwing petrol bombs in public and private transports.

Members of the law enforcement agencies have also not been spared from the atrocities committed by the BNP-Jamaat activists, he added.

Mahmood Ali appreciated the understanding by the members of the international community, and lauded the European Parliament’s January 16, 2014 resolution which urged the BNP to unequivocally distance itself from Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam.

The resolution also stressed that parties which turn to terrorist acts should be banned, he added.

In this context, he referred to the High Court Division Order asking the Government to prohibit the publication or broadcast of any statements

and messages by the BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman as long as he remained a fugitive in the eyes of law.

The envoys expressed their unequivocal support in favour of the people of Bangladesh in their progress towards development, and underlined that BNP did not listen to the proposal of Arab Group when they advised Khaleda Zia to participate in the last year’s general election, the release added.

It said they condemned such heinous acts of violence and called to introduce a tougher law to protect the civilians as well as police.

Diplomats from the OIC member countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Bahrain attended the briefing. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Workers, professionals, FFs under an umbrella to protest violence n Tribune Report Pro-government workers and professionals from different sectors along with freedom fighters formed a new platform yesterday to resist anarchy and violence, which the BNP-led 20-party alliance has been carrying out in the name of blockade and hartal.

The Sector Commanders Forum separately condemned the ongoing violence and arson attacks and termed the brutality a crime against humanity.

The new platform named Bangladesh Sramik-Karmachari-Peshajibi-Muktijoddha Samannoy Parishad was formed at a meeting among workers, professionals and freedom fighters at the Parliament Members’ Club in the capital.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan was made the convener of the platform. Former chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Abdul Malek Miah and Bangladesh Labour Welfare Foundation General Secretary Kamrul Anam were made member secretaries.

Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation General Secretary Osman Ali, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal Standing Committee member Shirin Akhter and Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Vice-Chairman Ismat Qadir Gama will act as the joint conveners, among others.

The platform at the meeting announced to hold a rally in front at the National Press Club on January 23 and a grand rally on January 30 at the Suhrawardy Udyan as part of its future programmes.

Shajahan Khan, also the executive president of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation, said: “We will hold a series of meetings with different professional bodies, workers and trade unions from January 24 to 28 to chalk out plans to resist BNP-Jamaat

Rapid Action Battalion have recovered an eight-year-old boy’s dead body from his cousin’s house after five days into abduction.

The boy Mostafa Kamal, resident of Shofipur Purbopara under Gazipur’s Kaliakair upazila, went missing on January 14. He was a class two student of Mount Average School and College.

“On Wednesday, Mostafa did not return home from school. After searching every possible locations, I filed a general diary with Kaliakair police station. Lat-

n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

gladesh Jananetri Parishad, filed a case with Shahbagh police.

According to the case in brief is that Khaleda on October 14 last year made false and provocative remarks against the Awami League, centring on the religious issue. She even called the Awami League ‘a party of atheists, and secularism its mask, hurting the religious sentiment of the people in the country.

After recording the case, Metropolitan magistrate Md Mustafizur Rahman directed Shahbagh police to investigate the case and submit a probe report before it by November 19. l

Joint secy under ACC radar for gobbling up govt land n Adil Sakhawat Peshajibi Shomonnoy Parishad, a body of professionals, forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday protesting the loss of lives and properties in the recent arson attacks during BNP’s ongoing nonstop blockade programme SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN violence.

“On the basis of the discussions and after opinions from all, we will announce a bigger programme at our grand rally. Together we will surely succeed in resisting the ongoing violence and anarchy.”

Talking to reporters, the minister announced the platform’s seven-point demands that includes bringing an end to the killing of people in the name of movement, trying the perpetrators, ensuring compensation to families of the deceased and treatment for the injured, and execution of the convicted war criminals.

The minister also urged all to form similar platforms at every district to

eliminate militancy and terrorism from the country.

The meeting was attended by leaders of different workers’ associations of road transport, water transport, tannery industry, railway, textile industry and construction.

Meanwhile, Sector Commanders Forum yesterday issued a press release expressing concern over the prevailing political violence in the country. The forum said the ongoing brutality was nothing short of crime against humanity.

It also made calls to bring an end to all sorts of violence and to protect the legal democratic rights of every quarter. It asked all to show democratic tolerance.

er the abductors called me over mobile phone and demanded Tk5 lakh as ransom. I made a complaint with RAB,” said Mostafa’s father Joynal Abedin who is a worker of a local composite mill.

Yesterday around 1am, RAB officials recovered Mostafa’s dead body from his cousin Rubel Hossain’s room inside a house located in Purbopara area. The house is owned by a man named Zakir.

RAB arrested Rubel Hossain, son of Joynal’s brother Ismail Hossain, and his three associates – Monsur Ali Matobbor, Jahangir Alam and Baby – in this connection.

RAB 1 Left Commander Shoaib Hossain said: “On January 15, Joynal came to our office to lodge a complaint along with his nephew Rubel. We found Rubel’s attitude suspicious.”

On Monday, both Joynal and Rubel were summoned at the RAB office when Rubel confessed of abducting Mostafa, he said. Following Rubel’s statement, Mostafa’s body was found above the ceiling of the room where Rubel used to live on rent. The body was hidden inside a sack.

The dead body will be handed over to his father after the case was lodged, said the RAB official. l

MP’s village home comes under bomb attack n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Unknown miscreants hurled two crude bombs at the home of MP for Chittagong 11 Mainuddin Khan Badal at Sorowatoli village under Boalkhali upazila in Chittagong in the wee hours of yesterday.

Badal, also the executive president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, had not been at home during the attack, said Assistant Superintendent of Police (Potiya circle) Shamim Hossain. l

Court fixes Feb 17 for submitting probe report A Dhaka court has granted police 28 more days to submit an investigation report in a case filed against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on charges of calling the Awami League a party of atheists and secularism, its mask.

Metropolitan magistrate Md Shamsul Arefin asked Shahbagh police to submit the report on February 17 as Shahbagh police could not do it yesterday on schedule.

On October 21 last year, AB Siddique, president of pro-Awami League Ban-

Minor found dead 5 days after abduction n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

DEFAMATION CASE AGAINST KHALEDA

Sheikh Hamad Fahad Abdul Aziz Hamad Al Sani, (left) the prince of Qatar visited Bangladesh recently. On his stay in Bangladesh, he met Benajir Ahmed (centre), BOT Chairman and Dr Amin U Sarkar (Right), Vice-Chancellor, North South University (NSU) yesterday to discuss on bilateral issues between Qatar University and NSU

3 fishermen shot in Cox’s Bazar n Tribune Report Three fishermen received bullet wounds after a group of pirates allegedly opened fire on a fishing trawler on the Bay of Bengal in Cox’s Bazar yesterday.

The injured fishermen Md Elias, 45, Mosharaf, 22, and Raujul Islam, 25, were admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, said Nayek Shilbrata Barua of CMCH police outpost. All the injured hailed from Noakhali district, said the policeman.

Quoting one of the injured, Nayek Shilbrata said a gang of pirates opened fire at the trawler in the early hours when they were in deep sea far from Jinjira area of Cox’s Bazar.

They were brought to CMCH around 11:30am, he added.

Mosharaf received a bullet in his eyes while the rest of the two sustained injuries on their legs, Nayek Bashar said. l

OBITUARY Md Shamsul Haque Munshi, father of Directorate of Immigration and Passports Director Munshi Muyeed Ikram, passed away at the age of 83 at his Maghbazar residence yesterday. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son.

His Namaz-e-Janaza will be held today at the Dilu Road Mosque after Zohr prayers and the body will be buried at the Azimpur graveyard today.

Violence erupted at different parts of the country when BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on January 5 called a nonstop blockade after she failed to get out from her office.

Just 15 hours later, Khaleda talked briefed reporters and said the ongoing blockade programme will continue until further notice or until the government takes any initiative to resolve the crisis.

Khaleda stated that the crisis was political and should be resolved politically.

Blockade related violence till now has killed at least 27 people with hundreds of vehicles torched, including those of the law enforcement agencies. l

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) decided to run inquiry against Kamal Uddin Talukder, joint secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, for allegedly gobbling up government land.

The anti-graft body decided to run the inquiry in its regular meeting yesterday, an ACC source confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune.

According to the allegations against him, Kamal, in association with a few others, grabbed a number of government lands by submitting fraudulent documents that claimed they were his personal properties.

The source said an investigation officer would be recruited for Kamal’s case very soon. Kamal is currently joint secretary at the Development 2 Wing under the ministry.

Earlier, the ACC recently decided to investigate a complaint against a direc-

tor of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) for allegedly falsifying information to acquire freedom fighter certificate and accumulating wealth through illegal means, an ACC official said.

The accused, Nazrul Islam, is the director of Rajuk’s Estate Department.

The commission has already ordered the director of ACC’s Dhaka Division to look into the allegations and appoint an inquiry official to run inquiry against the Rajuk official.

According to the case, Nazrul allegedly provided false information in order to get a freedom fighter certificate. In addition, the commission found many complaints of Nazrul misusing his authority to earn a huge amount of wealth.

He also allegedly took bribes from the plot owners of Purbachal residential project under Rajuk in exchange of illegal facilities. The commission will run inquiry regarding these allegations against the official as well, the ACC official said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

12,000 drivers, helpers struggling without work Non-stop blockade has put thousands of families in a difficult situation earning member in his family of seven, n Our Correspondent, Savar he has used up all his savings to proThousands of families in Savar have been struggling to make ends meet as the ongoing nationwide blockade imposed by BNP-led 20-party alliance has put around 12,000 truck drivers and helpers out of job.

This correspondent visited the truck station in Aminbazar, and talked to a number of truck drivers and helpers, who complained about the 15 days of no work and no pay.

“We have not been able to get the trucks out in the streets for 15 days due to the blockade. We somehow made it this far with the savings that we had, but now that is almost gone.

Some of us have been running households by borrowing money from others. If this situation remains, we will not survive,” they said.

Sources at Aminbazar Inter-District Truck Drivers’ Association said there are around 6,000 trucks in Aminbazar truck station. Each vehicle has a driver and a helper. Most of these drivers and helpers are the sole earning member in their families. So, around 12,000 families are suffering because of the blockade.

Abu Nayeem, a truck owner in Aminbazar, has three trucks in Aminbazar station. “On the first day of the blockade, one of my trucks was attacked on its way to Dhaka from Bogra; miscreants broke its windscreen. Since then, I have not gotten my trucks out in the streets,” he said.

“But I have to pay the drivers and helpers of my trucks every day. Without any earnings from my trucks in the past 15 days, I have been paying my staff from my savings. But my emergency fund is depleting, and when it is all gone, my staff and their families will be out in the streets,” Nayeem said.

No respite from the situation

Wasim, a truck driver, said he had been earning his livelihood by driving trucks for the past five years. Being the only

vide for the family.

“Now I have nothing. How am I supposed to run my family?” a dejected Wasim asked.

Wasim’s pleas was voiced by many truck drivers. One of them was Mohammad Hashem, who moved to Dhaka from Ghoraghaat, Dinajpur 15 years ago. His family of five have had a comfortable life so far with his earnings from truck driving.

“But this blockade is ruining me. My family depends on my earnings, and I have not been able to earn anything in 15 days,” Hashem told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We are victims of this political violence. Those who impose the hartals and blockades, and those who try to resist those events – both seem to be passing their days without trouble. It is us who are out of work, who are suffering because we cannot povide for our families. We have nowhere to go,” said the drivers and helpers.

Furthermore, the drivers and helpers as well as the owners of the trucks claimed the police escort that the government had promised is severely inadequate.

“The police escorts the goods carrying trucks and other vehicles for only a few kilometres, and then they leave us on our own. Those who do get their vehicles out have to do so at their own risk. In some cases, the pro-blockade activists have attacked the drivers and helpers besides vandalising the vehicles,” they said.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted Ashraful Azim, additional superintendent of police in Dhaka, in this regard, who claimed security is provided to all vehicles running on the highways.

“Extra police personnels have been deployed at the important points on the highways to prevent the attacks on vehicles. We have also increased the number of patrol teams for the roads,” he said. l

Amid the bone chilling cold wave, commuters shiver on the Kamalapur Railway Station platform to bored on trains . Communication on rail route is frequently disrupted these days for the on going blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Chittagong, Rajshahi residents see uneventful hartal n Tribune Report The fresh 36-hour hartal enforced by BNP-led-20-party alliance was marked peacefully along with the countrywide indefinite blockade in Chittagong.

Police detained around 11 leaders and activists of BNP-Jamaat conducting drives in the different parts of the district.

Additional police have been deployed along with BGB personnel at key points of the city to avert any kind of untoward situation, said police sources.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (west) SM Tanvir Arafat said there was no report of picketing during the hartal hours while police were in strong vigilance.

Earlier, miscreants blasted several crude bombs during the office hours in Chittagong city’s Agrabad Commercial area. However, no causality was reported in the incident, said police.

Though it is BNP’s strike, no leader and activist were seen at party office located at Nasiman Bahaban in city’s Kazir Dewri area under Kotwali police station.

The inter-district buses were seen moving on highway in limited scale, but Dhaka-bound buses were not seen on the road City life was almost normal like others day where public transport were seen plying city roads.

But a few number of private cars were plying on the road fearing vandalism during the hartal hours.

Government offices and other privates offices remained usual with a good number of staffs’ presence.

However, no inter-district bus left

Chittagong for other destination fearing attack on highway and train service was operating behind the schedule due to blockade, said sources.

Escorted by highway police goods laden trucks, covered-vans and petroleum-oil trucks were plying Dhaka-Chittagong Highway on the day.

Sub-Inspector Farid Uddin of Jorargnaj Highway police outpost’s InCharge (IC) told the Dhaka Tribune that around 150 trucks and covered vans, including BGMEA trucks, oil tankers and others goods laden trucks, were plying since morning under police escort on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

In a statement, Chittagong city unit BNP has called a 36-hour fresh hartal on Monday till Wednesday 6pm in protest of “confinement” of the BNP’s chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and rampant arrest of the alliance men across country.

In Rajshahi, a 24-hour hartal called by the BNP in Rajshahi district in protest against the arrest of district unit

Digital fair begins today in Rajshahi n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Khulna jute mills hit hard by political unrest

A three-day digital fair is likely to start today at Rajshahi Collegiate School.

Rajshahi district Administrator Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury disclosed it at a press briefing at his office.

Mezba said Dr Rafikul Alam Beg, vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, will inaugurate the fair as the chief guest at about 2pm. The three days fair featured several innovation seminars, IT related quiz contest, digital contest, programming contest and cultural event, organisers also said. l

n Our Correspondent, Khulna

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:37PM SUN RISES 6:43AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 19 27 16 16 24 24 21 27

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

15 16 11 11 11 14 13 16

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

25.6ºC Sylhet

6.7ºC Rajshahi

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:24am 6:42am 12:10am 4:01pm 5:37pm 6:56pm

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

The half-done repair work of a sewerage line in the capital’s Topkhana Road has narrowed the width of the road creating inconvenience for commuters MEHEDI HASAN

While the global downward trends in jute sector was already creating problems, the jute industries in Khulna and Jessore areas have been dealt another severe blow by the ongoing political violence in the country.

The indefinite blockade along with hartals in the region are stopping local businesspeople from supplying and procuring raw jute, while government-owned and private jute mills also cannot export their manufactured jute products any more fearing violene on the roads.

Sources said there are around 300 jute traders and more than 200 wholesalers in the Khulna-Jessore region who are facing the direct impacts of the BNP-led 20-party alliance’s countrywide blockade.

The 33 jute mills including nine government ones in the area are reportedly struggling to keep their businesses alive as they are unable to sell their products and use the profits to buy new raw jute.

Md Rafiqul Islam, regional coordinator for Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), said the nine state-owned mills in the region have around Tk200 crore worth of unsold jute products in

24-hour ultimatum given to arrest killers of Ankhi, her father n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Hundreds of students from diffrents schools and local people demanded arrest and punishment of Saiful Islam and his daughter Ankhi’s killers immediately.

The demonstrators also gave an ultimatum of 24 hours to police to arrest the killers. They came up with the demand from a human chain in Purabari area in Gazipur yesterday.

Ankhi Akter, a student of Purabari Shah Sufi Fashiuddin High School, and her father Saiful Islam were killed by mis-

creants at their residence on January 15.

They also staged a demonstration and put up barricade on the Dhaka-Mymensing Highway for half an hour to press home their demands, causing a tailback on the both sides of the road. Later, police rushed to the spot and dispered them from the spot.

Woman Councillor of Gazipur City Corporation advocate Anjuman Ara Begum, Awami Legue leaders – Monir Master, Siraz Uddin and Khalid Akanda – among others addressed the rally.

Nazrul Islam, brother of Ankhi, said

Monir Hossain, son of Nuru Mia, had given marriage proposal to Ankhi Akter, but her father Saiful Islam and family members refused the proposal as Monir was a drug addicted.

After the refusal, Monir had threatened Ankhi’s family members in different ways.

Nazrul said a gang killers hired by Monir had killed his sister Ankhi and father Saiful Islam. Officer-in-Charge of Joydebpur police station Khandaker Rezaul Hasan said Monir’s father Nuru Miah and another man were arrested. l

their stock. These products are usually exported to around 25 countries including India, Pakistan, Russia, Japan, Italy, Canada, Germany, the UK and Spain; but the ongoing blockade has been causing disruption in production and goods transportation, said Rafiqul.

These products are usually exported to around 25 countries including India, Pakistan, Russia, Japan, Italy, Canada, Germany, the UK and Spain Bangladesh Jute Association leader Md Faruq Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that traders are facing massive losses because of the non-stop blockade. The amount of debt is piling up for most businesspeople, while workers and officials of jute mills are also passing uncertain days during the crisis.

Akram Hossain, managing director of the local Afil Jute Mill, said the mills in the area were forced to count losses as the long-running blockade was hampering the import-export of jute and jute products by most private mills in the area. l

president and also a former member of parliament Nadim Mostafa, was loosely enforced.

The shutdown that started at 6pm on Monday and continued till 6pm yesterday saw no major incident.

The inter-district buses were seen moving on highway in limited scale, but Dhaka-bound buses were not seen on the road, confirmed Manjur Rahman Pitar, general secretary of Rajshahi Highway Transport Group.

However, all light vehicles, including rickshaws, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, CNG, human haulers and micro buses were seen moving on the highway in a large scale and rail communication was as usual.

Assistant commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan police (RMP) Ifte Khayer Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that additional policemen were deployed at main points in the city to avert any untoward situation.

Besides, four BNP-Jamaat activists were detained during the hartal period. l

Private companies asked to follow Rajuk rules n Tribune Desk Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain yesterday said the private housing companies would not get their plans passed, if they failed to abide by the rules of Rajdhani Unyan Katripakkha (Rajuk).

He was talking to journalists while visiting private housing projects at Madani Avenue, Beraid, Satarkul and Badda areas.

The minister said the owners of the private housing companies would have to develop drainage, sewerage and water supply system in their respective residential areas.

The Rajuk was directed not to approve any residential area without having proper sewerage system, he added.

The housing minister said the Rajuk is developing Purbachal as an independent and complete residential area with separate sewerage and water supply systems and sewerage treatment plant facilities.

If the nearby private residential areas do not have such facilities, there might be an environmental disaster, he added.

Engineering Mosharraf said those who got allotment of plots in Purbachal will get their designs for buildings approved in next six months. l

One killed in oil tank blast in Chittagong n Tribune Report A man was killed and another sustained burn injuries as an oil tank of a coveredvan exploded inside a workshop in Chittagong’s Halishahar area yesterday morning.

The dead was Md Masum, 23, a mechanic of the workshop, and the injured was his brother Masud, 20, said police sources.

Masud was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital burnt unit

with 20% burns, said Nayek Shilbrata Barua of CMCH police outpost.

Officer-in-Charge Syed Abu Mohammad Shahjahan Kabir said the incident took place at Chowtala Railway track area around 11am when they were welding an oil tank of a vehicle. The tank exploded leaving one spot dead and another injured, he added.

Police went to the spot after being informed and were investigating the blast incident, said the OC. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Sales of vegetables in Barisal cut down to one-fourth for blockade n Our Correspondent, Barisal Supply chain of seasonal and winter vegetables and other perishable items in Barisal have taken a huge hit by the blockade, pushing up the price level and bringing the incomes of porters to half of their previous earnings.

Transactions at the market have now reduced from a regular Tk1crore to Tk20-25lakh, due to constrained movement of the buyers, according to vegetable trader Kabir Ahmed.

Transportation costs have increased, with a drop in the number of transports and fewer customers in the markets, thus cutting the daily income of porters to half, said Delwar Hossain, secretary of Barisal city vegetable wholesale market.

Rahim Mia, a vegetable farmer in Guthiya village under Wazipur upazila of Barisal, said he had cultivated different types of winter vegetables across five hectares, but had to sell almost all of his production at a low price as wholesale buyers were unable to come to the market to buy the vegetables.

The markets, which is a meeting point for buyers and farmers, have become very empty, thus affecting sales, said Ganesh Datta, a wholesale businessman at Barisal city wholesale vegetable market.

“Due to constant blockades, no one is being able to travel to the markets, thus affecting sales,” he said.

On a regular day, at least 17-20 vegetable trucks would come to the city market from different areas. Now, there are only

about 2-3 vegetable trucks that make it.

With the blockade posing serious threats of death and vandalism, it is risky business to be on the road at all.

Thus, the fare for carrying the vegetables has also increased astronomically, with current fare being Tk4050,000 as compared to previous fare of Tk18-20,000, said Muhammad Ali Bagha, president, Barisal Divisional Truck Owners Association. “[This has caused] a lot of vegetables to be left behind at the field,” said Ganesh.

Since most of these vegetables are perishable items, there are fewer customers showing up for the rotten goods, said vegetable retailer Shukkur Mia. “On one hand, we can’t sell our products on time, and on the other hand, we don’t have any cold storage facilities in

the district to preserve these perishable vegetables,” says Yusuf Ali, another vegetable farmer in the region.

The broken supply chain has also caused the prices to hike, marking a 3050% increase at the wholesale market, according to Dinu Molla, a vegetable retailer.

Now, the current price of cauliflower per piece is Tk20-25, pumpkin per piece is at Tk15-20, radish at Tk10-13, cabbage at Tk 14-18, bean per kg at Tk15-20, papaya at Tk8-10, tomato at Tk45-50, aubergine at Tk25-30, brinjal at Tk15-20, green-pepper at Tk25-30, and carrot at Tk25-30 per kg. The panic is not seen only in monetary aspects. Many transport workers and day-labourers in the city’s markets appeared anxious given the few number of customers. l

RMG workers stage demonstration for unpaid annual increment n Our Correspondent, Savar Workers of a garment factory staged demonstrations demanding their dues at Ashulia’s Burirbazar under Savar upazila in Dhaka.

Birds’ Garments annually increase workers’ wage in January every year, but no such increment had been made until yesterday this month, causing anger among its workers.

Around 3000 workers of the factory refrained from work together and then stated demonstrations inside the factory.

On information, industrial police rushed in and failed to talk the workers into joining their work. Additional policemen were also deployed to avoid untoward incidents.

Ashulia industrial police Director Mostafizur Rahman confirmed this to the Dhaka Tribune and said they were trying to settle this by talking to both sides. l

Day laboures sit idle on the roadside as they could not get any job yesterday because of the on going blockade . The workers said their families were passing days almost starved as they often remain jobless for the political unrest DHAKA TRIBUNE

Basail upazila health complex upgrade yet to end after nine years Two lakh people deprived of healthcare service were ready for the upgraded hospiof their limited arrangement. n Our Correspondent, Tangail cause Water supply and sewerage system tal for a long time, hospital sources Construction works of four buildings to upgrade Basail Upazila Health Complex is yet to complete despite having nine years passed as the assigned contractor and the authorities concerned have failed to resolve a dispute.

Consequently, about 2 lakh people there have been deprived of proper healthcare services owing to not ending the hospital upgrade to 50-bed from 31.

It was learnt that around 200 people come to the hospital everyday and the authorities can ensure admission for only 10-15 of them be-

of the hospital have been dilapidated, creating stinky environment while same scenario was found in nurse dormitory and doctor residence.

When contacted, the hospital’s Nurse Supervisor Rabea Akhter acknowledged the sorry state, saying: “Mostly there are no doors inside the hospital while we are using curtain as door.”

Besides, patients do not want to stay in the ward for its moisture environment during the rainy season, the supervisor went on.

On the other hand, manpower and necessary medical equipment

said. Sonar Bangla Prokousholik Sangstha had started the hospital’s construction task in 2005 and it was due to end by April 23, 2007 although the company reportedly completed 75% of whole works.

At the same time, same sort of task also started at Ghatail and Nokla health complexes, which ended on time.

The company’s engineer Bimolesh claimed of completing the upgrading task for 90%, telling that they wanted to revise its cost and that was why they appealed to Tangail Health Engineering depart-

NEWS IN BRIEF Five to die for killing schoolboy A Jamalpur court yesterday sentenced five people to death penalty for killing a schoolboy four years ago. After long hearing, Additional District and Sessions Judge Waheduzzaman Shikder handed down the verdict around 12 noon when all the convicts were present at the courtroom. The convicts are Fazle Rabbi Shishir, Saddam, Setu, Zakir Hossain and Miran.

All of them are the residents of Sadar upazila. According to the prosecution, the five people had hacked Shahjamal Swadhin, 14, a class x student, to death over dispute with a mobile phone set on March 23, 2010. Saiful Islam, father of the deceased, filed a case with Jamalpur Sadar police station the following day.

– Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

locked into an altercation with his wife over a family fued On Monday afternoon and went to his duty. At night on that day, while he returned from his work place, he found his room locked from inside. Later, he found the hanging body of his wife. On informed, police rushed to the spot and recovered the body and took it to the Sreepur police station. The body was handed over to deceased family members without post mortem examination following an application of family members.

– Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Ijtema devotee’s body recovered from Turag river

A college teacher was killed after a collision between two human hauliers in Baghopara village under Bogra Sadar upazila yesterday. Assistant Police Super Najir Ahmed said the accident took place when Jakir Hossain, a teacher of Shibagnj College, was going to his workplace by a CNG-run auto rickshaw.

– Our Correspondent, Bogra

The body of a devotee of Bishwa Ijtema was recovered yesterday from the Turag River after two days of a boat capsize.

The victim was identified as Omar Faruk,16, son of Harun Or Rashid of Hashail village in Munshionj district. Deputy Assistant Director of Gazipur fire service Aktaruzzaman Liton said a boat loaded over 100 home-going devotees from Ijtema ground after Akheri Munajat on Sunday capsized in the river near Prattasha bridge at Kamarpara of Tongi in Gazipur. Three unit of fire service and civil devence rushed to the spot and rescued the devotees from the river. About 10 devotees were injured in this incident.

– Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Housewife found dead in Gazipur

Blankets distribute among poor

A housewife was reportedly committed suicide over a family fued in Nayanpur area under Sreepur upazila in Gazipur on Monday night. The deceased was identified as Pushpa Akter, 17, wife of Shahidul Islam of Kuria village under Kalukhali upazila in Rajbari district. Sub-Inspector of Sreepur model police station Abdul Mazid said Shahidul, an electrician of Dulal Brothers Limited, had been living with his wife Pushpa Akter in a rental house owned by one Sanuar Hossain of the area. Shahidul

Blankets were distributed among poor people in Rangpur on Sunday. State Minister for LGRD Moshiur Rahman Ranga was present at the distribution ceremony. EEP/Shiree, the Economic Empowerment of the Poorest programme, with the fund of UK Aid has distributed the warm clothes. EEP/Shiree is a livelihood and nutrition project to eradicate extreme poverty from Bangladesh, says a press release.

– Tribune Desk

College teacher dies in road accident

ment, but the move finally in vain.

On the contrary, Md Mortoza Kamal Hayat, executive engineer of Tangail Health Engineering department, blamed the firm for the unusual delay.

About the demand, the engineer said they requested the contractor firm to place their demand to the adjudicator (arbitrator) during the contract management meeting.

Tangail Civil Surgeon Dr Syed Ebne Sayeed said: “The new buildings have become safe haven for drug addicts and gamblers because laying abandoned for long time. We have raised the alarm in the health coordination meeting.” l

55 BNP leaders, activists sued in Gazipur for arson attack n Our Correspondent, Gazipur At least 55 BNP men, including Sreepur municipality councilor, were sued for setting fire to a bus on Monday.

Sub-inspector of Sreepur model police station Arifur Rahman filed the case against 40 identified and rest of unidentified BNP leaders and activists of Sreepur upazila on Monday night.

Sreepur municipality Ayenul Haque Alkand, president of Sreepur upazila Sramik Dal alhaj SM Abul Kalam Azad, president of Telihati union BNP Aktarul Alam, Gazipur district JCD leader Ataur Rahman Mollah Sreepur upazila JCD leader Arif Hossain and his brother Sharif Hossain were among the accused.

Sub-inspector of Sreepur model police station and also the investigating officer of the case Saiful Islam said a parked RMG- worker carrying bus in MC bazaar area of the upazila was torched by the blockade supporters on Sunday night.

The driver of the bus Abdul Hay was burnt in this fire incident. He also said drive was going on to arrest the accused. l

Unpaid contractors lock up office of WDB executive engineer n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj Contractors poured out their wrath yesterday on the executive engineer of the Water Development Board for not getting their dues for seven months in Gopalganj.

They locked up the office of Executive Engineer Md Moshiur Rahman around 12 at noon. After he assured them of paying their dues within this month, they opened it at 2pm.

Thirty contracting firms have been implementing the Tarail Pachuria Flood Control and Irrigation Project with Tk218 crore under the Water Development Board.

They were stopped paying any dues since July since the project tenure also ended a month ago, taking the total dues at around Tk35 crore.

Contracting firm Messrs Mahmudul Haq proprietor Mahmudul Haq Milton said: “We have not been being paid since July and so we had to resort such a way to get our dues.”

He believed that their money could have been paid long ago if the board had been sincere in it.

Executive Engineer Md Moshiur Rahman said: “The planning commission has increased its project tenure anew. All the money release procedures have been completed.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Let’s make it in Bangladesh

A large number of Indians and Sri Lankans are working in Bangladesh, mostly in top management of various enterprises

O

The issue of n Niaz Morshed n the first week of the foreign workers in year, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) presented Bangladesh faced a a report on the state of Bangladesh economy. highlighted a number of issues lot of criticism, yet They like macroeconomic indicators, inRMG sector, banking sector many are working vestment, and finally migration. However, one that they mentioned there in here in very highly point relation to migration created a big stir. It appeared in the headlines of all major newspapers. paid jobs. Here is Bangladeshi citizens working and living abroad are the biggest source of why employers in foreign currency and the biggest driver of our economy. It is a well known the country opt phenomenon that many people from Bangladesh migrate to other counfor them tries for livelihood.

immigration debate in the United States, the anti-immigration protests in Europe or in Singapore, Australia turning back immigrant ships.

In fact looking at the global picture, it appears, gone are the days when countries opened the doors and welcomed talents, people looking for a better life or people just in distress at their own home.

The reasons behind this anti-immigration sentiment varies across the world. Some are afraid of immigrants changing the social structure and feel that foreigners will stimulate a social conflict. Continental Europe is a perfect example of that. Many consider the economic burden the migrants will bring, e.g. Australia.

Fear of competition, and fear of losing one’s identity often triggers anti-immigration sentiments. Some ana-

Often, we make a sweeping statement that finding a qualified resource is not a problem in Bangladesh. Anyone who worked in human resources knows how untrue that is

A relatively less know fact is, there are several hundreds of thousand foreigners working in Bangladesh as well. Most of the people in Bangladesh are oblivious to this fact.

In this context, CPD highlighted that $3.7bn has been remitted out of Bangladesh to India in 2013, presumably by Indian expats working here.

This is a newsworthy information, given the fact that $3.7bn is a significant amount in Bangladesh context, almost 15% of our country’s current forex reserve. The stir expectedly had the ripple effect in the social media with commentaries, suggestions flowing through.

If one critically observes the reaction to the news, there are two broad streams. One stream is sheer xenophobia, somewhat ultra nationalism – people just can not accept the fact that a large sum of money is earned by foreigners here and remitted to a foreign country.

The others are driven by the fear of competition in the local job market.

Some of the commentaries were a medley of both, starting with competition and ending with nationalism.

Immigration has been a global hot topic in 2014. We have seen the

lysts suggest that even the 2014 Hong Kong protests were also triggered by the fear of loosing its identity to mainland China, more than the strive for democracy.

Where do Bangladesh stand when we are not ready to accept foreigners working here, let alone remit precious foreign currency out of the country?

Bangladesh is not really a popular destination for permanent immigration; so it will be safe to assume that the foreigners working here will eventually go back to their native place.

We can rule out the possibility of foreigners benefiting from our social security setup; or create a social tension. Being such a densely populated country we need more than a mass migration of foreigners from another country to lose our own identity or foreigners creating a social tension.

Furthermore, Bangladesh is renowned for its cheap labour. Then, the biggest question we need to ask ourselves: why does a business hire a more expensive resource from abroad and not a “cheap” local resource?

Which business owner will be such ambivalent about cost-benefit?

Three factors contribute to any hiring decision for any business unit.

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The first factor is the skill and qualification of a candidate.

The second factor is obviously the cost. The rational components of a hiring decision is to strike the balance on these two factors.

The third factor is the non-rational component – the emotional factor. Often the third factor plays the pivotal role in any decision. It is the feel good factor behind the decision.

Coming back to the question of foreigners working in Bangladesh, most commentaries and suggestions that followed the news circled around enacting laws, enforcing the laws and forcing companies to hire locals.

While we strive for freedom of speech, freedom of choice, and freedom to choose the government and strive to evolve as a free, democratic society, enacting legislation to curtail the freedom to recruit the best resource is not something we should envision.

Rather, we should look deep into the factors and ensure that our local resources evolve to be the best choice for any recruiter.

Often, we make a sweeping statement that finding a qualified resource is not a problem in Bangladesh. Anyone who worked in human resources knows how untrue that is. Many a times a human resource manager struggles to get a right candidate for a job.

We do produce a huge number of graduates, but when it comes to skills it is a dire situation. The problem is even serious when the recruiter is a foreigner, unaware of the local education system. How does one compare a Bangladeshi educated graduate with a foreign educated graduate?

Accreditation and affiliation seem to be the least important goal for any public or private university of Bang-

We should be focusing on improving the quality of our resources and enter a pursuit to keep our working cohort relevant for upgrades as the country upgrades to a middle income nation

any graduate from these universities struggle to get a job in Bangladesh!

As we brace ourselves to become a middle income nation by the next decade, we need more graduates who can compete at the global marketplace. And our universities need to play their part to establish themselves and project the image of a genuine centre for quality education.

The continual education is something that needs a good focus. Our workforce need to keep themselves updated with new skills, enhance the knowledge base to remain relevant in the job market.

Few corporates focus on executive development, but it should be the goal of the employee to enhance him/herself, rather than being the goal of the business to train their staff. An alarming trend is brewing among the mid level executives in the country. They find themselves hitting a “glass ceiling” with little or no scope of career progression in the country.

How do we make a recruiter feel good about a local candidate? It has a lot to do with branding our resources

ladesh. Besides the fresh graduates, when it comes to skill development for mid level jobs, we have little infrastructure to enhance our skills once we have entered the workforce.

However, it is not all bad news, quite a number of public and private university graduates are talented and making marks in the workplace with their own calibre. In fact, hardly

Many of them migrate to other countries to discover that their skills are not relevant for global workplace. A few executive learning centres have come up in recent years, but almost all of them focus on a very niche segment of high end executives. The continual education should cover the entire workforce.

For example, I do not know what

is the career path of a worker in a RMG industry. Probably she has completed her school or at least done some schooling, does she plan to get some formal education so that her skill improves, and may be someday become a supervisor or a manager?

The third factor – the feel good factor – is also of utmost importance.

That is the reason we buy Apple or Samsung phones instead of a much cheaper phone of same capability or configuration. How do we make a recruiter feel good about a local candidate?

It has a lot to do with branding our resources. I have personally met recruiters who were surprised to know that there are engineering universities in Bangladesh. One good example we can follow is Philippines.

Ten years back, they were known around the world for maids and construction workers. Today Filipinos are biggest suppliers of junior / mid level workers across the globe. They have successfully taken the top position of call centre and back end processing business, surpassing India.

Any company planning to hire in Manila will never think of getting anyone from abroad for mid/junior level positions.

There is no reason for not supporting a legal framework to curb errant recruiters or foreigners working illegally. We must also have the capability to enforce any law we enact. However, any attempt to influence the business decision will be counter productive for the economic growth.

Rather, we should be focusing on improving the quality of our resources and enter a pursuit to keep our working cohort relevant for upgrades as the country upgrades to a middle income nation. l Niaz Morshed is a Bangladeshi expat working in the financial industry.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Anti-Muslim incidents soar in France n AFP, Paris The number of anti-Muslim incidents in France has soared since the Islamist attacks in Paris two weeks ago, an organisation that tracks Islamophobia said Monday.

The National Observatory Against Islamophobia said 116 anti-Muslim incidents had been reported to authorities since the January 7-9 shooting spree by three French jihadists that killed 17.

Five Russians held in France on suspicion of planning attack: prosecutor

n AFP, Montpellier

Five Russians from the Chechen region have been detained in southern France on suspicion of preparing an attack, local prosecutors said yesterday.

The five suspects were detained on Monday in the town of Beziers near the Mediterranean coast, around 70 kilometres (40 miles) from Montpellier.

The two-week tally was more than double the number of incidents recorded for the full month of January 2014, the observatory said, reporting 28 attacks on places of worship and 88 threats.

The observatory’s president, Abdallah Zekri condemned the “acts of hatred towards French people of the Muslim faith, the immense majority of whom respect the values of the Republic and secularism.”

“This situation is unacceptable and we’re asking the authorities to go

beyond the reassuring speeches and act to put an end to this scourge,” he said.

Islam is France’s second-biggest religion with an estimated 3,5-5 million followers.

Several mosques have been attacked since the Paris killings, which began with a massacre at Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly and ended with a bloody hostage taking in a Jewish supermarket.

In several towns shots have been fired at mosques and racist slogans daubed on their walls. In Corsica, a pig’s head was hung on the door of a prayer hall.

President Francois Hollande and his government have repeatedly warned against tarring all Muslims with the extremist brush.

In a speech last week Hollande reiterated that “Muslims are the main victims of terrorism.”

A portion of the 10,000 troops mobilised last week to boost security have been assigned to protecting mosques.

Some prominent political figures have, however, defied calls for unity, with remarks seen as fanning anti-Muslim sentiment.

A senior member of the far-right National Front (FN) representing the party in the European Parliament, Aymeric Chauprade, declared in a video last week that France was “at war with some Muslims.”

“We’re told a majority of Muslims are peaceful. But a majority of Germans were also (peaceful) before 1933 and national socialism,” he said.

FN leader Marine Le Pen, who has joined mainstream political parties in warning against confusing Islam and fundamentalism, distanced herself from Chauprade’s remarks. l

‘Kiev claim of Russian troops in Ukraine nonsense’ n AFP, Moscow Russia yesterday denied as “absolute nonsense” the latest accusations by Kiev that Moscow had sent hundreds of troops over the border into Ukraine.

“Yesterday’s accusations from Kiev of the alleged deployment of Russian army contingents across the Russian-Ukrainian border do not stand up to any criticism,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, Russian news agencies reported.

“It is absolute nonsense,” he added, further describing the latest allegations from Ukraine as “hallucination.”

Kiev on Monday accused Russia of sending some 700 reinforcements

to bolster separatist fighters battling Ukrainian forces around the rebel bastion of Donetsk.

Ukraine security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Monday that “two groups of armed forces from the Russian Federation crossed the border” into rebel-held territory.

Russia has repeatedly denied previous accusations from Kiev and its allies in the West that it has sent troops and weapons to back up the rebels despite growing evidence suggesting Moscow’s direct involvement.

The alleged participation of regular Russian troops in the conflict, where over 4,800 people have been killed since April, has been a taboo subject. l

World

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

UNDER THE CRIMEAN SUN

File photo shows a young man sitting during a sunset on the seafront in Yalta, Crimea. The sun-blessed region’s main industry, tourism, is in virtual free fall, with the European Union adding to its troubles by recently banning the sale of Crimea-bound travel packages as well as stops by EU-flagged cruise ships at Yalta, Sevastopol and other ports. 10 months since the Kremlin tore up the map of Europe and seized the strategic Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine, many of Crimea’s 2.2 million inhabitants face a future rife with uncertainty and presentday hardships far different from the instant prosperity they imagined that union with Russia would bring AP

Package sparks false alarm in City of London n AFP, London Police said a suspect package found in the City of London yesterday was declared safe after briefly closing streets in the financial hub to traffic.

City of London police had earlier cordoned off the area, where many banks and insurance companies have their headquarters, an AFP reporter on the scene said.

A police officer said the package was safe and the City of London said in a tweet that the streets – London Wall and Moorgate – had been reopened.

City police earlier said in a tweet: “Cordons in place in the Moorgate area due to suspect package found. Officers on scene.”

On social media, several office workers said they had been asked to remain inside their buildings while the package was being investigated.

Andrew Parker, head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5, warned this month that the country faced “ongoing and increasing” threats from Islamist radicals. l

Hundreds flee Nigeria villages after Boko Haram warning

Israel on high alert for possible Hezbollah retaliation n AP, Jerusalem

n AFP, Kano, Nigeria

Israel is on high alert for possible attacks from the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah following an airstrike on Hezbollah fighters in Syria, Israeli defence officials said Tuesday.

Israel has boosted deployment of its “Iron Dome” anti-missile aerial defense system along its northern frontier, which borders Lebanon and Syria, and has increased surveillance activities in the area, the officials said.

Israel’s Security Cabinet is scheduled to meet to discuss a potential escalation in violence, they said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss security deliberations publicly.

Hezbollah claims Israel carried out Sunday’s strike on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, which killed a prominent Hezbollah fighter, a senior Iranian general, and five other Hezbollah members. l

Hundreds of people from four villages near the Nigerian town of Baga have been forced to flee their homes after a warning from Boko Haram militants, witnesses and community leaders said Tuesday.

Residents of Kekenu, Budur, Yoyo and Mile 90 villages, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the fishing town of Baga in Borno State, fled after a visit from the Islamists on Monday.

“These four villages are all empty as at yesterday (Monday) because Boko Haram gunmen went there and asked people to leave or else,” said Abubakar Gamandi, head of the Borno fishermen’s union.

Rebel fighters attacked Baga on January 3, looting and burning down homes and businesses in the town and at least 16 surrounding settlements on the shores of Lake chad.

Protesters arrested for throwing holy water at Lenin mausoleum n AFP, Moscow

Pope says birth control ban doesn’t mean breed ‘like rabbits’

Jindal: Muslims form ‘no-go zones’ outside civic control n AP, Washington

Two Russian performance artists were being held by police yesterday after throwing holy water at the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square and shouting “Rise up and leave!”

The men were held in a police station and were awaiting a court hearing after the protest they carried out on Monday, an Orthodox holiday, a spokeswoman for OVD Info, a website that monitors detentions of activists, told AFP. The men were being charged with petty hooliganism, which carries a punishment of up to 15 days in police detention, the site said.

A Moscow police spokeswoman said she had no information on the case.

The two men were Oleg Basov and Yevgeny Avilov, members of an art group called Blue Rider, OVD Info said.

In a video of the performance posted on YouTube, the two young men are shown carrying 5-litre bottles of holy water marked with a cross from a church across the square.

They move aside barriers in front of the mausoleum and throw the water at the doors and steps, shouting “Rise up and leave!” several times before being detained.

On Monday, Orthodox Christians celebrated Epiphany, a holiday marking the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river that people commemorate by immersing themselves in icy rivers and lakes.

A spokeswoman for the Blue Rider group, Irina Dumitskaya, quoted by OVD Info, said that the aim of the performance was “to demolish the myth that Lenin lives forever by attempting to resurrect him on the Epiphany holiday just as Lazarus was raised from the dead.” l

n Reuters

Some countries have allowed Muslims to establish autonomous neighborhoods in cities where they govern by a harsh version of Islamic law, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said Monday during a speech in London.

The Republican, who is considering a presidential campaign in 2016, later defended – and repeated – the statement after facing reporters’ questions about his claims.

In a speech prepared for delivery at a British think tank, Jindal said some immigrants are seeking “to colonize Western countries, because setting up your own enclave and demanding recognition of a no-go zone are exactly that.” He also said Muslim leaders must condemn the people who commit terrorism in the name of faith as “murderers who are going to hell.” Jindal aides said he did not make significant changes to the prepared text.

The claims on “no-go zones” are similar to those a Fox News guest made last week about places where non-Muslims were not welcome in parts of the United Kingdom such as Birmingham, and “Muslim religious police” enforce faith-based laws.

Steven Emerson, an American author who often is asked about terror networks, told Fox News that in Britain “there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim, where non-Muslims just simply don’t go in.”

Prime Minister David Cameron responded by calling Emerson a “complete idiot.”

Emerson later apologized and said his comments “were totally in error.”

Fox News also issued apologies for broadcasting the comments. l

Catholics should not feel they have to breed “like rabbits” because of the Church’s ban on contraception, Pope Francis said on Monday, suggesting approved natural family planning methods.

Francis used the unusually frank language during an hour-long news conference on the plane from Manila to Rome at the end of his week-long Asia trip.

The freewheeling encounters have become a hallmark of Francis’s simple style, his penchant for straight talk and his ease at using colloquialisms to make his point.

Speaking about corruption, he disclosed that, in his native Argentina in 1994, he almost kicked two government bureaucrats “where the sun doesn’t shine” after they tried to involve him in a kickback scheme.

He announced plans to visit Central African Republic and Uganda late this year and a trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay during the year.

Francis spoke at length about birth control and population, issues that arose in the Philippines, where the local Church opposes a government law making contraceptives easily available.

“Some think, excuse me if I use the word, that in order to be good Catholics, we have to be like rabbits - but no,” he said, adding the Church promoted “responsible parenthood.”

He mentioned a woman he recently met who already had seven children by caesarean sections and put her life

at risk by becoming pregnant again. He said he chided her for “tempting God” and added: “That was an irresponsibility.”

The leader of the 1.2-billion-strong Roman Catholic Church restated its ban on artificial birth control, adding there were “many ways that are allowed” to practise natural family planning.

The Church approves only natural methods of birth control, principally abstinence from sex during a woman’s fertile period.

In Sri Lanka and the Philippines, Francis condemned what he called an “ideological colonization” attacking traditional family values in developing countries.

On the plane, he indirectly criticized rich countries and international organizations he said tried to influence lifestyles and morals of young people in poorer nations, comparing their activity to that of 20th century Nazi and Fascist propagandists.

He told of an education minister he once knew who was offered loans to build schools for the poor, but on condition their libraries stocked a book on gender theory, the questioning of traditional male and female roles. He gave no other details.

“This is ideological colonization.

They colonize people with ideas that try to change mentalities or structures,” he said.

“But this is not new. This was done by the dictatorships of the last century,” he said, citing the Hitler Youth and Balilla, its Italian equivalent under Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. l

Hundreds of people, if not more, are feared to have been killed, although there is no official confirmation of the toll as Boko Haram was still in control of the area.

Gamandi, who hails from Baga and now stays in the Borno State capital Maiduguri, said he received the information from villagers who fled to the city.

One women who fled Baga to Maiduguri on Monday confirmed that she joined the crowds fleeing the four villages.

“When we came to Mile 90, we found it almost empty with some remaining residents staying behind to pick up personal belongings,” said Ma’agana Butari.

“We also met Budur, Kekenu and Yoyo deserted and we caught up with some of the residents moving towards Monguno,” the 32-year-old mother of five said by telephone from Maiduguri. l

Sisi defends Egypt police but acknowledges rights abuses n AFP, Cairo President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi acknowledged Tuesday that police committed rights abuses after the overthrow of his Islamist predecessor, but said they were expected given the “exceptional” security threats faced by Egypt.

A crackdown overseen by Sisi against supporters of his predecessor Mohamed Morsi has left hundreds dead since the then army chief toppled the Islamist in July 2013.

‘These figures show that ... we make sure that innocent people are not killed’ Thousands of Morsi backers have also been imprisoned, and dozens sentenced to death after speedy trials which the United Nations says is “unprecedented in recent history.”

Several youth activists who spearheaded the 2011 revolt against former autocratic president Hosni Mubarak are also serving jail terms for protesting illegally.

“Nobody is against human rights... but today Egypt is in an exceptional condition... is it possible that there will be no violations?” asked Sisi.

“There will be violations. But do we approve them? No,” he said in an address to police officers and ministers ahead of the annual police day on January 25.

On police day in 2011, millions launched protests against Mubarak,

expressing their anger against the then reviled police force.

Since Morsi’s ouster, the police have been back on the streets in full force amid accusations that Sisi’s regime is even more authoritarian than that of Mubarak, who quit after an 18-day uprising.

Sisi has repeatedly said that ensuring stability in politically tumultuous Egypt is a top priority rather than promoting democratic freedoms.

“I am more concerned for human rights than any one else,” said Sisi, after awarding families of police officers killed in security operations.

“But come see millions of families... the modest Egyptians who live in regions that need to be improved. What about their rights?”

Sisi defended an ongoing security operation on the unrest roiled Sinai Peninsula, where he said 208 militants have been killed by the security forces in more than a year.

The president said 955 people had been arrested in the region, which borders Israel, but more than half had been released.

“These figures show that ... we make sure that innocent people are not killed,” he said, adding that the situation in Sinai would take a while to resolve.

Jihadists have stepped up attacks against security forces on the peninsula since the ouster of Morsi.

They say their attacks are in retaliation to the government crackdown against Morsi supporters.

Officials say militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers in Sinai and other parts of the country. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

9

PM vows Japan won’t bow to ‘terrorism,’ will continue aid n AFP, Jerusalem Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to stand firm Tuesday after the Islamic State group threatened to kill two Japanese nationals, saying he would not freeze a multi-million dollar aid package.

His remarks were made several hours after the jihadist group released a video threatening to kill two Japanese hostages if Tokyo did not pay a $200 million ransom within 72 hours.

An IS militant said in the video that the ransom demand is to compensate for non-military aid that Abe pledged on Saturday to countries affected by the militant group’s bloody expansion in Iraq and Syria.

“Making threats by taking people

Sri Lanka’s premier promises Tamils more autonomy

n AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s new government pledged Tuesday to devolve power to the country’s Tamil minority, in a step towards national reconciliation six years after a controversial military offensive crushed a separatist rebellion.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his first address to parliament since taking office, said lawmakers needed to bring a political conclusion to the conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels that ended in 2009.

Critics say the previous regime failed to deal with the ethnic divisions that led to conflict on the island, whose Sinhalese majority has traditionally dominated positions of power.

Wickremesinghe said his government would revive a 1987 constitutional amendment that promised a de facto federal arrangement for the island’s Tamil-dominated northern and eastern regions.

“We will implement the 13th amendment within a unitary state,” said Wickremesinghe.

Successive governments failed to implement the controversial 13th amendment due to pressure from the Sinhalese population, who saw it as a sell-out to the minority community.

The country’s main Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance, has distanced itself from demands for a separate homeland and said it accepts power-sharing. l

hostage is an unforgivable terrorist act about which I feel strong anger,” Abe told reporters at a news conference in Jerusalem, his words relayed through a translator.

“I strongly demand that they not be harmed and that they be immediately released,” he said.

“The international community will not give in to any form of terrorism and we have to make sure that we work together,” he said at the news conference, which started more than an hour late due to the crisis.

And he said Japan’s pledge of aid would not be affected.

“This $200 million package for refugees and displaced persons is absolutely necessary (for them)... in order to survive,” he said.

“This position is unshakable, it is not to be changed,” he said, stressing that the money was to help those made homeless by the conflict in Iraq and Syria.

“We shall implement this steadily.”

The Japanese leader said two teams had been set up to handle the hostage crisis – one within the cabinet and one within the foreign ministry.

He said he was sending State Minister for Foreign Affairs Yasuhide Nakayama, Japan’s deputy foreign minister, to Jordan to speak with the government there and to gather more information about the situation.

“I will take the leadership to solve this problem,” Abe said.

Abe then headed to the West Bank city of Ramallah where he met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. l

Myanmar students renew unauthorised education protest n AFP, Yangon Dozens of Myanmar students began a protest march in Mandalay Tuesday, vowing to intensify demonstrations against a new education bill they see as undemocratic after the government failed to meet their demands.

The rally – which has no permission from the authorities and will see students march on the commercial hub Yangon – is the latest protest over an education law that detractors say will curb academic freedom.

Young campaigners launched their noisy unauthorised parade in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, calling for education reforms, in a renewed challenge to the government’s legislative plans after previous demonstrations in November were halted to allow talks.

But student leaders said they had been forced to restart protests because the government had yet to meet their demands.

“We gave the government 60 days. But they did not try to have any discussion. We told them we would have strong protest if they

didn’t (talk). We feel the government has made us choose this response,” student activist Min Thwe Thit told AFP. The protest will see students march in a meandering route from Mandalay to the commercial hub Yangon some 360 miles (580 km) away, stopping at provincial universities on the way.

Unauthorised protests are an arrestable offence in the former junta-run nation.

“We are not afraid of a crackdown,” said Min Thwe Thit.

“We don’t have any weapons, not even a needle, so if there is a crackdown we will just have to bow our heads and face it.”

Students have been a powerful political force in Myanmar’s modern history and have been at the forefront of several uprisings, including mass protests in 1988 that ended in a bloody military crackdown.

Authorities appeared reluctant to stop November’s student rallies even though they lacked permission.

This contrasts to multiple arrests at other unauthorised protests in recent months. l

People look at a large TV screen in Tokyo yesterday showing news reports about two Japanese men (in orange) who have been kidnapped by the Islamic State group AFP

India’s tiger population jumps 30%

n AFP, New Delhi India, home to most of the world’s wild tigers, yesterday reported a 30% jump in the animal’s numbers in a rare piece of good news for conservationists.

A census found 2,226 tigers in India last year compared with 1,706 in 2010, officials in New Delhi announced, with most of the beasts individually identified around the country.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar hailed the rise as a “huge success” as India battles to save the endangered big cats from poachers and smugglers as well as destruction of their natural habitat.

“While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India. We have increased by 30% from the last count. That is a huge success story,” Javadekar said at the release of the census.

The minister cited improved management of India’s more than 40 tiger reserves, which are spread from the northeastern state of Assam and western Rajasthan to central Maharashtra.

He said the government was working to reduce deadly encounters between tigers and people, as farmers and others encroach on forest land and the cats leave reserves to search for water and food.

Some 9,700 hidden cameras were used in known tiger habitats to take photos of the animals. l

Memorial brings recognition to Iran’s Jewish ‘martyrs’ n AFP, Tehran It seems incongruous in Iran, where politicians chant “Death to Israel” and the Israeli flag is often burned, but a new memorial in Tehran is bringing recognition to the country’s “Jewish martyrs.”

The memorial has been raised in the three-hectare (eight-acre) Jewish cemetery in south Tehran – a striking reminder of a minority faith whose more than 1,000-year heritage in Iran dwarfs the comparably short 35 years of the Islamic republic.

For leaders of Iran’s small Jewish community, the memorial is a welcome sign of openness from authorities despite continued concerns over discrimination.

“When someone looks at this monument, they will think about the sacrifices that were made by these martyrs,” said the head of Tehran’s Jewish community, Homayoun Sameyah Najaf Abadi.

The names of 10 people have been etched in stone in the memorial, erected in December at the cemetery where thousands of Jews are buried.

Five of them died fighting in the 1980-88 war against Iraq, three were killed by Saddam Hussein’s bombing of Tehran during the war and the other two died in the tumultuous early days of the 1979 revolution that ended the rule of the Iranian shah.

The conflict against Iraq is enshrined in the memory of Iranians, with hundreds of murals in Tehran to the 230,000 martyrs, or “shohada”, who were killed in the conflict.

Construction of the Jewish monument and the restoration of the 10 tombs of the dead was funded by a foundation that helps families of soldiers killed or wounded in the Iran-Iraq war.

Iran had between 80,000 and 100,000 Jews before the revolution but most have since fled, mainly to the United States, Israel and Europe.

There are now only about 8,500,

Members of Iran’s 8,500-strong Jewish community pray for a relative who recently passed away at a new memorial for Jewish people engraved with 10 names -five died fighting in the 1980-88 war against Iraq, three were killed by Saddam Hussein’s bombing of Tehran and the other two died in the tumultuous early days of the revolution that ended the shah’s rule- at the Beheshtieh Jewish cemetery in southern Tehran, on January 9 AFP mostly in Tehran but also in Isfahan and Shiraz, major cities south of the capital.

With one designated member of parliament, Iran’s Jewish community is one of three officially recognised religious minorities. Armenian Christians have two designated MPs, while Assyrian-Chaldeans and Zoroastrians have one each.

‘Positive changes’ under Rouhani Still, many Iranian Jews complain they are not treated equally under the law, said Sameyah, a doctor at Tehran’s Jewish Hospital.

Key positions in government are off-limits and there is some legal discrimination.

If a Jewish woman married to a Muslim dies, for example, her estate automatically goes to her husband’s family instead of being divided

amongst her relatives.

Sameyah said there have been cases of those who murder Jews being “sentenced to 10 to 18 years but then released after three,” while most killers in Iran face the death penalty.

He said he had attended court cases against the killers of two members of the Jewish community in recent years and “saw no regret in the eyes of those who committed the crime.

“They were aware that in the end they will be freed. I find this dangerous for our community.”

But remarkably the regular tirades of Iranian officials against Israel – the sworn enemy of the Islamic republic – do not seem to bother the Jewish community.

“The Iranian people do not consider Jews as Zionists,” says Samey-

ah, who was reassured when President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, was elected in 2013 and soon condemned The Holocaust.

Rouhani’s remarks were in stark contrast to his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who dubbed the mass killings a “myth” and organised a notorious conference in Tehran in 2006 bringing together Holocaust deniers and sceptics.

The government-sponsored event met with international fury and caused alarm among Iranian Jews.

But it seems only an unfortunate memory to Sameyah.

“Even at the beginning of the revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and now (supreme leader) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, emphasise there is a difference between Zionism and Judaism,” he said. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

CODE-CRACKER

Democratise obsolete laws

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he new chief justice is to be commended for opening up a debate about the need to reform old colonial era laws.

In his speech before the president at a Supreme Court reception, he argued that many of our key laws such as the Penal Code which were enacted over a century ago under British rule, contain “no reflection of democratic values.”

He urged reform, calling for such laws to be updated to “make them suitable for a democratic nation” in the light of democratic values and our constitution.

What is most important about his remarks is his emphasis on reforming laws to reflect democratic values.

It is not difficult to find provisions in old laws which are unjust or need reform, for example, because they fail to reflect constitutional guarantees of equality or incorporate international conventions to which Bangladesh is a party.

This does not mean however that merely because a law has been enacted since Bangladesh’s Independence and constitution that it automatically reflects democratic values. The rush of successive governments to enact and enforce ICT laws with provisions that limit rights to freedom of expression is a case in point.

Similarly, the provenance of a law should not in itself be a reason for change as many nations have inherited their legal system from British rule. This has not stopped such nations, including the UK itself, from successfully updating obsolete provisions without throwing the good out with the bad.

By showing an open mind about the suitability of long established laws, the chief justice can help encourage our own policymakers and jurists to do the same.

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

Is the BNP finished?

January 9

We welcome debate about the need for laws to reflect democratic values

Poultry plight shows cost of blockades

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he country’s agricultural and food industries are being hit by huge losses by the ongoing blockades.

It is especially concerning that food producers and processors are being hurt because of their importance to food security and national well-being.

Sectors such as poultry, which have been enormously successful in building up self-sufficiency and in employing large numbers of people, have needlessly been plunged into crisis.

With transport prices for trucks having more than tripled in many areas, as drivers are prevented from running vehicles, it has become impossible for many food producers to transport their goods.

Each day the crisis continues, many live chicks which are hatched but prevented from going to market, have to be disposed at enormous expense.

Millions of eggs and day-old chickens are going to waste.

Economic losses to the poultry sector caused by the first two weeks of the blockade now exceed Tk256cr. The Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee estimates the poultry industry has lost over Tk4,500 crore due to political unrest in the last year.

These losses do not only damage the direct producers and suppliers involved alone. Every citizen is affected as retailers run short of items and prices are driven up by supplies becoming scarce.

Bank lenders and investors also stand to lose huge amounts of money if food businesses and their customers continue to incur losses.

The government has to immediately step up transport protection to ensure food producers are able to move around their products to prevent the impact of the crisis getting worse.

Step up transport protection to food producers to prevent the impact of the crisis getting worse

Farhad Faisal “But without a dramatic change – that seems increasingly unlikely under the present leadership – it is hard to see how they come back from here.”

It would be a dramatic change if the BNP could break with the (by now “traditional”) violent cycles of political protests in our land – hartals/blockades/ street fights by the opposition, and the concurrent repressive measures by the party in power. The bulk of the citizens are disgusted and tired of this ugly show offered by the major parties of our country over the decades.

Only a change of strategy to a non-violent/ non-destructive means of protest (despite the actual/potential repression) could bring the opposition in sync with the aspirations of the bulk of the citizens: To be able to complete their daily pursuits without fear of political violence.

This change of strategy by the opposition can win the respect of the citizenry. It could not only allow the opposition to overcome the present crisis, but also possibly win the next general election.

The question for BNP is if it can indeed make such a historical change of strategy under its present leadership.

Hafeejul Alam Thanks indeed to the learned editor for presenting us with a mind-blowing op-ed. Most importantly, BNP and its allies have so far failed to present any economic agendas to the nation, let alone any offer a roadmap for further improving our economic and social development of the country. Their only agenda appears to be political, which is: How to get to state power.

They are vocal about democracy but how democratic were they in their last tenure? The nation has not forgotten their association with those elements which were (and still are) not only maintaining an anti-liberation stance, but are openly involved in terrorist activities.

Unless and until BNP promises a better governance than Awami League and disowns religious extremists, the people have no reason to heed to their loud cries for democracy.

On the other hand, there is no denying the fact that Awami League stands to strong criticism for many of it’s omissions and commissions.

However, according to none other than the various UN and international agencies, the AL-led government must be given credit for achieving spectacular successes in the economic and social arena.

Leeroy Jenkins Say what you will about the incumbent government’s rule and the current state of democracy, but the AL were shrewd enough to hang on to BNP’s self-destructive methods and harp on it with gusto.

Mushfique Wadud Very good piece of writing. However, I disagree with you on this line: “There is reason to believe that this time it will be different” – in power politics, a part has supporters when it has power ... the

worst critic of the BNP will be its supporters, if the BNP can just foster a situation in which it will be in power soon.

This is BNP’s main challenge – to create a situation in which it will in power in 6 months – one year or two years … you will see then that the almost “finished” BNP will get a new lease of life within two or three weeks, and when a party is in crisis, survey results can never give the right picture.

Like the environment, people’s opinions change over time here in Bangladesh. Here, Singapore, Korea, or Malaysia style of politics is not possible.

What I am concerned about is that, when democracy is weak or absent in a country, extremists tend to gain traction. Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan are good examples. We need more secular and democratic forces.

Marla Singer Question shouldn’t be if the BNP is finished. Instead, we should ask if we are okay with the current state of affairs.

Zero-Agenda Marla Singer: That is an entirely different question to be asked, as relevant to the issue at hand it may be.

Zia Nice article by Zafar Sobhan. I would also like to add my two cents: I believe, if history holds true, no country was able to obliterate a party having around 30-35% of popular support.

Trying to walk in that direction by the government will only create disharmony, disruption, and chaos. The common person in the streets would be seriously hurt and all our aspirations of turning Bangladesh into “sonar bangla” will be evaporated.

Democracy cannot continue to flourish under lock and key. At the same time, violence and counter violence are not the language of a civilised democracy. Without playing the blame game, all I would say is that development of a country has to be done on an “equitable and just system” of governance.

If the governance is faulty and has been taken away without providing the opportunity of a participatory election, then a large part of society remains disenfranchised and, consequently, the power of public is trampled upon.

Mac Perhaps we should start talking about the failure of the current governance system? In the absence of a proper check and balance, the current regime is able to control all organs of the state.

Everyone just focuses on the election when it comes, but that only solves the problem for one term. Where are long-term, permanent solutions?

We need to campaign and raise our voices as the public to all political parties, especially to the civil society, in order to address these issues.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 11 represents F so fill F every time the figure 11 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

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

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Church service (4) 3 Thin biscuit (5) 8 Part of the verb ‘to be’ (4) 9 Egg-shaped (4) 11 Combine (5) 12 Govern (4) 14 Slender stick (3) 15 Transmit in stages (5) 18 Fruit (5) 19 Turkish commander (3) 21 Single entity (4) 24 Self-powered vehicle (5) 26 Luxuriant (4) 27 Dry (4) 28 Tears (5) 29 Couple (4)

DOWN 1 Satellite (4) 2 Cicatrix (4) 4 Reverential fear (3) 5 Passenger vessel (5) 6 Therefore (4) 7 Water grasses (5) 10 Entice (4) 11 Gourd (5) 13 Small nocturnal mammal (5) 16 Indigo (4) 17 Tasmanian river (5) 18 Ancient tongue (5) 20 Pierce with horns (4) 22 Fish (4) 23 Thunder god (4) 25 Strange (3)

Son Zoo Mac: Perhaps we should, but it is also worth pointing out that it is BNP’s own bullishness in sticking to the age-old Bangladeshi political exercise of public harm and destruction which is ultimately contributing to their diminishing popularity. vhs Love the image of Khaleda behind the gate. Looks like she’s in jail.

BJP chief: ‘I had no talk with Khaleda’

CALVIN AND HOBBES

January 10 Matiur Rahman Why is a phone call from BJP leader Amit Shah so important to the Bangladesh media and politics?

Do Indian leaders wait for phone calls from Bangladeshi leaders?

Night-time attacks leave port city residents on edge January 11 Rizwan Ahmed Same is true here in Dhaka!

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Vegetable growers in Rajshahi suffer January 10

SUDOKU

Obscure Mohsin “The picture shows that piles of tomatoes lie unsold in Nelipat field under Godagari upazila on the 3rd day of the program.”

It’s the poor who always suffer because of political blockades and inner conflicts.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

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Wedding season and memories of fao mara

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n Towheed Feroze

t was sometime around the late 80s when I was whiling away a late winter evening by the Eskaton Garden Road, rats playing piano in the stomach. Back then, regular pocket money meant Tk10 at the most, and half of it went to buy cigarettes.

Anyway, when it seemed that some nourishment was badly needed, I saw a group of friends from the officers’ colony opposite the Navy chief’s residence walking towards us. Since they all looked neat, I could not resist asking where they were headed.

“Chol fao maira ashi,” they said.

Right, some of you may be a bit perplexed by the term “fao mara.” It’s a colloquial term which actually means gatecrashing a party, in this case, a wedding feast.

Oscar Wilde had always been my favourite, and recalling his line “never say no to adventure,” I was up for it.

Daring that, the plan was to go with or without a group. Since I didn’t want to appear a coward, I agreed with all enthusiasm. They won’t beat us, if we are caught, I reasoned.

Wrong. Sometimes wedding parties can get physical when young men from either the bride or the groom’s side catch and rough up gatecrashers to prove an indirect macho point to the other side.

Weddings are all about competition!

Sorry, did I ruffle some feathers?

Once a fao mara took a very ugly turn when some of my pals had to interfere to stop an altercation gone out of hand between the two sides.

The reason was trivial. The custom of putting up coffee points was at its infancy, and one elderly person from the groom’s side, in his simplicity, asked if the brew had sugar in it or if it had to be added.

This comment managed to filter through, and some callous relative of the bride’s side passed a snide

We hardly ate at home and went about the city looking for the right community centre (wedding crawling as opposed to pub crawling)

The entire brigade walked in, had a marvellous dinner, and came out satisfied. The trick is, when you are part of a group, fear hardly touches you.

And we also had a fool-proof strategy.

Divide the group in three sections, sit at different tables and then, wave at one other vigorously as if we had met after a long time.

This method sends the message that there are people in the hall that we know, and hence dispels all suspicion.

So, the fao mara initiation done, it was time for us to get really audacious.

Why wait for a group to decide if you want to get a free dinner, my late friend Bachchu asked one day.

comment, saying that the girl was being sent to the wrong family, meaning she was being downgraded in social status.

These people have never drunk coffee …

Talk about throwing a match into a stack of crackers!

One thing led to another, and guys from both sides were soon at it; daggers drawn, literally, because in fury someone had picked up the carving knife placed before the solemn-looking roasted goat decorated with carrots.

The goat didn’t say no …

Thankfully, we had a political cadre with us, and sensing his moment, took

You are not cordially invited over, shouting assertively his party position, and naturally we followed. Oi, we are local polapain, meaning we are local guys and this line always works like magic!

The groom’s family was dissuaded from leaving the spot, but the problem began when the girl, after the marriage was registered, refused to go to the boy’s house. Someone from her side had overheard this line: Bashae cholo tarpor bujhamu moja (let her come to her husband’s home first, then we shall see …)

In the end, it was decided that the couple would be staying at the home of our political leader, who was

BIGSTOCK

already the centre of attention.

Bhai, which side do you represent, someone tried to ask meekly. But when the leader reached for his waistline with an icy glare, all questions stopped!

Oi machine bair kor (oi, take out the machines), was enough to settle all curiosity!

In what turned out to be an eventful night, we came back with a married couple and a roasted goat!

It was a love marriage, and the guy and the girl had met at university.

For the time being, catastrophe was averted, though in the long run, it did not last.

Both the girl and the boy remarried, and the leader, along with all of us, was invited. This time, there were no coffee machines!

At one point, the fao mara had become so ingrained in our circle, that on Fridays, we hardly ate at home and went about the city looking for the right community centre (wedding crawling as opposed to pub crawling).

One day I took a senior friend, a French teacher, to Shohag where a wedding was on, and he was under the impression that I was invited.

Halfway through the meal he asked, whose wedding is this, and when I just looked at him and smiled, his jaws

dropped. “Mon dieu,” was all he could say …

From that moment, he could not eat properly, and was looking around like a trapped rabbit, imagining that people were eyeing him suspiciously.

Anyway, I miss those days of reckless fun. We were short of money, but with a little courage, managed to have some great meals. To be honest, one of my pals became so comfortable that he could also confidently ask the waiter: “Mamu, rezalar plate change koren toh!” l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Security is an economic word A business without capital n MJ Akbar

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he seesaw of democratic tussle survives on a few unwritten laws. One cardinal rule demands unity across party lines during any security crisis. Those parties who violate this code pay a price. They lose credibility with the voter.

Voters are beginning to demand a similar premium on economic security. The reason is simple: There is a visible economic crisis accelerated by continuous slippage over the last decade, and a sense of tremendous underachievement by a corrupt and complacent government.

People want a reversal, and quickly.

After a decade of dither, delay, acrimony, and decay, Indians want parties to set aside real or simulated hostility, and cooperate on legislation needed to break stagnation and lift growth on to the steep upward curve of popular expectations.

This is not about politics; this is about the nation. This is about welfare and aspiration. This is about factories and production. This is about the self-respect that comes with jobs.

This is about building a future for the young, not about defunct politicians trying desperately to relive their past.

Indians have a keen eye for posturing. They know that Mamata Banerjee’s MPs have become vituperative and obstructionist in the Rajya Sabha, not because they have any valuable suggestions or amendments on economic policy, but because CBI investigations into the massive Saradha chit fund scam have begun to prove that corruption reached the highest reaches of the party hierarchy.

Madan Mitra and Mukul Roy, close confidants of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have been interrogated, and begun to talk. Mukul Roy has admitted he met Saradha chief executive Sudipta Sen, apparently in the presence of the Bengal Chief Minister.

The party has begun to disintegrate under internal pressure. A minister, Manjul Thakur, has resigned because of the stench of corruption within the party. Mamata Banerjee may be angry with the BJP for pursuing the trail, but it is distinctly unwise to take revenge

upon the people, which is what sabotage in the Rajya Sabha is tantamount to.

The Congress, bereft of ideas and hapless under the insecure leadership of Rahul Gandhi, has turned negativity into a desperate ploy. Its spokespersons trivialise every debate on the economy; they seem to believe that abuse is an argument.

This isn’t working. The last general election was won and lost on the economy, and development will control the debate over the next five years. If Congress, which launched reforms two decades ago, now gets cussed about the next stage of reforms, it will sink into oblivion.

The slide in its vote share has sharpened after its historic annihilation in the general elections. It has no credible strategy for recovery. The Congress vote will crash into single digits in Delhi, a state it ruled with such aplomb for 15 years.

In state after state, it is now in last place among the recognised parties. It will be fourth in Bihar, Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh when elections take place.

hoped to lead. A hundred years later, this might be just what Congress needs to do. India has changed, and Congress has not.

The Left has become a discordant whine on the margins; the various Janata parties are unable to get their act together, and are too trapped in sectarian self-interest to adopt a constructive national view.

Witness the contrast offered by two regional parties, which remain relevant, led by Naveen Patnaik in Orissa and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu. They voice apprehension if the situation warrants it, and back economic reform when they believe it is good for the nation. Other factors exist of course, but this is a huge reason why they have retained electoral support.

No government wants to take the ordinance route when parliament is functioning. This is an instrument of last resort. But a government headed by Narendra Modi is not going to allow mindless sabotage to succeed.

He has been elected to govern, not to whimper.

Slowly, over the years, terminology

Security was once a word limited to borders and transgression. We now talk of food security as well

The thinner it gets at the base, the more bloated it gets at the top. In Uttar Pradesh, Congress has, unbelievably, 34 vice presidents, 64 general secretaries, 43 organising secretaries, and 84 executive committee members, adding up to 402 office bearers. It probably won’t get 400 votes in many constituencies.

When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915, he accepted some sage advice from his mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He kept his mouth shut and eyes open while he travelled across the country to acquaint himself with the people he

has changed. Security was once a word limited to borders and transgression.

We now talk of food security as well.

But the full implications of this transition have not yet registered within the political class.

The economy represents the internal security of our country. If we cannot eliminate extreme poverty and improve quality of life all the way up the rising slope of the demographic pyramid, India will not be at peace with herself. l MJ Akbar is an Indian journalist. He is the founder of The Sunday Guardian.

n AKM Wahiduzzaman

I

t was a dreadful day for Mahbubur Rahman Sujon, a trader from Mirpur of capital Dhaka. He was picked up from his residence along with his family members on July 13 by Zahidur Rahman, a Sub-Inspector of Mirpur Police Station.

The police official inflicted serious torture on Sujon upon his refusal to pay Tk1 lakh per month. Hours after his arrest, he succumbed to the injuries he received during the rigorous torture.

Another trader from Brahmanbaria, Shahnur Alam, who died in the custody of RAB, disclosed a similar story to his family hours before his death. Shahnur was also picked up without any charge, and was subjected to serious torture that resulted in his death last year.

These incidents are among those thousands of incidents that took place in Bangladesh since independence.

Law enforcement agencies very often arrest people without any charge or warrant and extort money from them either in lieu of their release, or to spare them from immense torture utilising the special power act 1974, imposed by the first ever government formed in independent Bangladesh.

The allegation of arbitrary arrests, mostly without any charge, and forcing the detainees to pay a good amount of money to get rid of law enforcers, is not a very new one. But when such offences become epidemic, it creates cause for concern.

Law enforcement agencies have all the right to take steps to ensure the safety of all the citizens of the country.

Very often, they abuse this absolute power to make money overnight.

Arrest trade, probably the easiest term to describe it, is the most lucrative of all attempts they take to earn a little more – a business without capital.

This time, this is not merely an allegation, rather a fact. Transparency International, in one of its surveys claimed that the Bangladeshi police force was the most corrupt of all public institutions of Bangladesh. This clearly indicates the level of corruption practiced by this force.

Last month, the Anti Corruption Commission interrogated Mizanur Rahman, the commandant of Range Reserve Force under Dhaka Range Police unit, on charges of accumulating illegal wealth worth around Tk100cr. Mizanur Rahman owns three fertiliser manufacturing factories – in Savar, Matuail, and Rayerbazar areas. More surprisingly, he claimed that compared to other officials of his department, he had the least amount of wealth.

of mass arrests began ahead of the deadline April 30, which was given by Mr Jalil himself. Thousands of people including AL activists were arrested in the capital, while a good number of them had nothing to do with the socalled trump card that fell flat.

Similarly, in 2012, when BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia urged her followers to gather in Dhaka to protest the tyranny of the government, police cracked down on the BNP activists and arrested thousands of

Law enforcement agencies have all the right to take steps to ensure safety. Very often, they abuse this absolute power to make money overnight

Time and again, it turned true that when a government solely relies on the law enforcement agencies to govern their people, the law enforcers turn desperate and engage themselves in illegal activities that make the lives of the common masses horrible.

Mass arrests and arrest trade are often linked with each other.

A government devoid of popular mandate often cracks down ahead of any significant public gatherings considering the people as a potential threat. This stance of the government lets police and other agencies conduct a mass arrest campaign in the name of enhanced security, using their special power to arrest anyone on suspicion.

In most of the cases, innocent citizens without any significant link with any of the political parties find themselves behind the bar due to their so-called “suspicious behaviour” and are never produced before any court.

Many of them in a bid to avoid further harassment and torture “buy” their freedom in exchange for money.

In 2004, when Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil said: “We have the trump card, and it will be used in due time,” the campaign

people ahead of March 12, the date the gathering was about to take place. Many of the arrestees were not produced before the court, and were freed in exchange of a significant amount of money.

Ahead of this January 5, a similar drive was launched and according to the recent developments, it has intensified after Begum Khaleda Zia declared a countrywide blockade from January 6 for an indefinite period.

According to media reports, on January 5, more than 300 people were arrested. Hundreds more were arrested in the drive that was launched more than a week ago. More people are going to face the same fate as the government has given law enforcers who had successfully prevented the opposition chief to join the public meeting, the right to do what they wish.

Hegel, a German philosopher once said: “We learn from history that we do not learn from history.” The price BNP had to pay for its misdeeds is high. The AL probably would not like to be in their shoes. l AKM Wahiduzzaman is a political blogger.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, January 21, 2015

13 Djokovic, Serena

cruise through as Azarenka romps

14 England thrash

sorry India in Brisbane ODI

14 Japan, Iraq

storm into Asian Cup quarters

Sport

Mushfiq raises the bar n Mazhar Uddin Former Bangladesh one-day international skipper Mushfiqur Rahim believes Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and he can be the three Tigers batsman who has the firepower to be among the top five batsman in the upcoming World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.

“Obviously its a great opportunity to prove ourselves and we have done the training according to the situation in Australia. If things go well I think there will be at least three to four Bangladeshi cricketers amongst the top five best batsman in the World Cup,” said Mushfiq after completing a short “match type” situation practice at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium yesterday.

The 26-year-old informed they

have the ability to go beyond the second round of the mega event but at the same time added the first match against Afghanistan on February 18 will be crucial for their journey in rest of the tournament.

While everyone is talking about the pace and bounce down under, Mushfiq surprised by saying they might even opt to open the bowling with a spinner as they believe the condition will also be friendly for spin bowling, a very strong department for Bangladesh.

“If we see the recent matches in Australia the spinners are getting the success quite frequently where New Zealand are now playing with three spinners on the side. Many of them are saying that this is the last period of the season and the wickets may not offer such bounce but there will be normal bounce but not the seaming conditions.

And I think the spinners are going to get the best results as our strength is the spin department and we may even start the bowling attack with spin,” he said.

The highest run scorer in the ODI’s for Bangladesh in 2014 – 704 runs in 14 innings at a staggering average of 50.28 – Mushfiq said the Test and ODI series sweep over Zimbabwe at the end of a disappointing last year is working as a huge boost for the players.

The wicketkeeper earlier sustained a shoulder injury during the Dhaka Premier League last month but is said to be fully fit after his rehabilitation programme and Mushfiq is expected to resume his glove work in the practice session today. l

n Tribune Desk

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam in full flow during a warm-up game among the national cricketers at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Footballers target semi-final slot The national footballers met Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin yesterday and assured him that they would put up a positive display in the upcoming Bangabandhu Gold Cup. The national booters also promised that they would at least reach the semifinals.

Interim coach Saiful Bari Titu, captain Mamunul Islam and other national team members visited the BFF House yesterday to meet Salahuddin, who had earlier called them up to hold discussions on the current situation of the side as well as their preparation leading upto the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. The BFF supremo expressed his concerns after the national side went down to a 2-0 defeat against premier league giant Abahani in a warm-up match last Monday.

“Apart from the confidential discussion, the BFF president was a little bit worried about yesterday’s (Monday’s) practice match against Abahani. He said with the

Feni complete local players’ registration n Shishir Hoque Feni Soccer Club completed the inter-club players’ registration procedure at the BFF House yesterday. Feni registered a total of 26 footballers for the forthcoming season.

Feni became the third premier league outfit to complete the registration process of the local players after top-flight champions Sheikh Jamal DC and former treble winners Sheikh Russel KC. Among the 26 footballers, only 11 played for Feni last season. A total of 15 new players have been added to the roster for the upcoming season.

Kane Williamson has scored 1,084 runs in his last 14 innings across all formats, at an average of 98.5

SL seamers rattle Bangladesh U19s in second game

BANGABANDHU GOLD CUP

n Shishir Hoque

Did you know?

tournament just a few days away, he expects the team to entertain during the match-day. He also gave a motivational speech,” said Titu yesterday.

“The president talked with us, advised us and inspired us to play well in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. We told him to keep his faith on us. We gave our word. Hopefully, we will make it to the semifinals,” said talismanic midfielder Mamunul.

Bangladesh have been placed in Group A alongside Malaysia and Sri

We gave our word.

Hopefully, we will make it to the semifinals Lanka and the top two teams from this group will reach the semis.

According to the latest Asian Football Confederation rankings, Bangladesh are placed 34th, two places ahead of Sri Lanka. Malaysia, meanwhile, are ranked 28th but they will send their Olympic team.

The final Bangladesh squad for the much-awaited event has not been finalised yet. It is expected that Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif will announce it once he arrives in Dhaka this Friday.l

Sub-committee to plan opening, closing ceremony n Tribune Desk A 25-member ceremonies sub-committee was formed by the Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday ahead of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, which is scheduled to kick off on January 29.

The committee will be led by its chairman, Shamsul Haque Chowdhury, who is also a member of the BFF’s executive committee. The opening ceremony of the mega event will reflect the rich heritage and culture of Bangladesh

while the concluding ceremony will display grand fireworks. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to be present in the closing ceremony.

The committee has five deputy chairmen – Bangladesh football team manager Amirul Islam Babu, BFF members Mohammed Ajmal Ahmed Tapan and Mohammed Elias Hossain, professional league committee member Abdul Gaffar and Sylhet District Football Association president Mahiuddin Ahmed Salim.l

Razib, Minhaz joint top n Raihan Mahmood

Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Razib and International Master Mohammed Minhazuddin jointly led the standings with 6.5 points each following the conclusion of the seventh round in the Prime Bank 17th International Rating Chess Tournament yesterday.

IM Abu Sufian Shakil, FMs Aminul Islam, Mohammad Javed and Mehdi Hasan Parag and CMs Sohel Chowdhury, Anisuzzaman Jewel and Moham-

mad Sheraul Kabir all occupy second position with 5.5 points each.

In the seventh round, Razib beat Saif, Minhaz beat Enayet, Shakil beat Abdul Momin, Amin drew with Jewel, Parag beat Zafrul Islam, Javed beat Mohammad Sagar, Sohel beat Sharmin Sultana Shirin, Saif beat Sheikh Moznu, Sharif drew with Sharon, Sheraj beat Badrul Alam, Fahad drew with Nazre Mowla, Parvez beat Uten, Taher beat Abu Foyez Mohammed Nayeem and Kashem beat Amir Hossain. l

SHAFIQ, SHAMIMA CLAIM MEDIA CUP BADMINTON TITLES

SQUAD Bipu, Ridon, Ramzan, Shaheen, Zahirul Islam, Ashik Ahmed, Parvez, Manik, Sohel Mia, Salim, Rocky, Shakil, Saddam, Mamun, Biddyut, Ali, Alauddin, Shaharan, Shahjahan, Samrat, Sabuj Biswas, Sujon, Nurul, Shital, Iqbal, Monu and Rimon The notable additions are Zahirul Islam from Sheikh Jamal, Sabuj Biswas from Sheikh Russel and Sohel Mia and Ashik Ahmed from Chittagong Abahani.

Feni will begin their training camp this Sunday in their hometown.l

Shafiq Pahari and Shamima Mitu emerged as the champions in the men’s and women’s singles respectively of the Media Cup Badminton in Mirpur yesterday. Shafiq of Jamuna TV defeated Maksudul Nobi of Channel 24 while Shamima of Daily Samakal beat Jamuna’s Sharly Shishir to win the women’s singles crown. In other events, Shafiq and Manjur Morshed Nayan of Jamuna won the men’s doubles title.

Nahid Tanmoy and Shamima of Samakal bagged the women’s doubles crown while Shafiq and Sharly took home the mixed doubles title.

The Bangladesh Under-19 side were not able to change their fortune in the ongoing five-match youth ODI series in Sri Lanka as the visitors slumped to their second defeat in as many games. The tourists conceded a narrow four-run loss in Colombo yesterday.

The victory for Sri Lanka came on the back of Asitha Fernando as the 17-year-old spearhead bagged six wickets alogside new ball partner Chamika Karunaratne’s three to dismiss Bangladesh for 175 in 47.1 overs.

Earlier, the hosts were up against a watchful Bangladesh bowling attack as they struggled specially against the spinners.

Left-arm spinner Saleh Ahmed conceded just 17 runs to bag three wickets while off-spinner Mehedy Hasan and seamers Nahid Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin took two wicket each for the visitors.

Sri Lanka U-19 skipper Charith Asalanka’s 92-ball 68, however, enabled the home side crawl to a modest 179 for nine in 50 overs.

The visiting batsmen danced to Fernando’s music right from the beginning of their run-chase and were struggling to stay in the middle as Bangladesh lost their first six wickets for 52 runs. Shahanur Rahman fought back with a gutsy 72 off 123 balls with Saifuddin supporting with 29, but their effort was not enough to level the series.

The third game of the series will be played at the same venue tomorrow. l

Siddikur ties the knot n Raihan Mahmood

Ace Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman tied the knot with Samaun Anjum Ornee in an informal ceremony at Kurmitola Golf Club yesterday. Only the relatives of the groom and the bride and a number of high officials of Kurmitola Golf Club were present on the occasion.

Ornee recently completed BBA from Atish Dipankar University and is a resident of Golf Heights, Banani.

Siddikur sought blessings from the whole country on the eve of his new life. l

Bangladesh lose 5-0, finish third n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Poland in their final Pool B match of the Hockey World League Round 2 at Sengkang Stadium, Singapore yesterday.

Poland’s Pawel Bratkowski slammed a hattrick, his goals coming in the third, fifth and 22nd minutes. All of Pawel’s goals were scored from penalty corners.

Adam Chwalisz added the fourth in the 42nd minute while Piotr Kozlowski completed the rout in the 44th minute.

Bangladesh on the other hand earned six penalty corners but were unable to convert any of them.

In their first two matches, Bangladesh lost to Japan 5-1 before winning against Mexico 6-1.

As the third-placed finisher of Pool B, Bangladesh will now play against familiar foes Oman, the second-placed side of Pool A, in the second quarterfinal tomorrow. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Djokovic, Serena cruise through as Azarenka romps

QUICK BYTES

India’s media slams ‘motormouth’ Warner India’s media on Tuesday lashed out at David Warner over his repeated verbal clashes with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s touring team, demanding the aggressive Australian opener be reined in. “Brakes on motormouth Warner” and “Talkative Warner crosses the line” read two headlines in Indian newspapers after Warner was fined 50 percent of his match fee for demanding Rohit Sharma “speak English” during Sunday’s one-dayer in Melbourne.

“Warner has a knack of getting into trouble. Despite warnings in the past he does not seem to learn,” the Times of India wrote, referring to his constant run-ins with the Indians during the preceding Test series. The Hindustan Times said Indian team managers had decided to ignore Warner rather than react to the sledging.

“The Indian team management, despite all the verbal volleys that flew from the Aussie camp, confirmed that the team had decided to not react and concentrate in getting back to winning ways,” the paper wrote.

–AFP

n AFP, Melbourne

Garcia bids for history in Qatar Masters Spanish star Sergio Garcia will aim to become the first player to win back-toback titles in Doha when the $2.5 million (2.1million euros) Qatar Masters begins at the wind-battered Doha Golf Club on Wednesday. The 35-year-old took the Mother of Pearl trophy last year following a thrilling playoff against Swede Mikko Ilonen, and the Spaniard made no secret of his ambition to do an encore in what is his first tournament of the year. “I came close to winning a few times, so it was nice to get over the line last year,” Garcia said.

“I played really well on the last day to get into the playoff, then had to play really well all over again to beat Mikko. “So I have some good memories and hopefully they can inspire me to have another successful week. “I want to play as well as I can and put up a good defence of my title,” added Garcia, who will play the first two rounds in an all-star group with Henrik Stenson and Ernie Els. Garcia is playing in the tournament for the 10th time, having made his debut at the age of 19 in 1999.

–AFP

Rosberg to get first test of new Mercedes Nico Rosberg will be first and world champion Lewis Hamilton second when it comes to testing the new Mercedes Formula One car in southern Spain next month. Mercedes said on Monday that Rosberg, the German beaten to the title last year by his British team mate, would be first to drive the F1 W06 hybrid car after it is unveiled on the opening day of pre-season testing in Jerez on Feb. 1.

Hamilton, chasing a third title this year after winning 11 races in 2014 to Rosberg’s five, will drive it on the second and third days. Mercedes said the schedule was simply the reverse of the 2014 testing allocation, when Hamilton was first out in the new V6 turbo-powered car that replaced the old V8s. “The workload this winter has been as great as ever. Where last year we were preparing for an all-new formula of racing, we are now faced with the big challenge of making the next step in our development,” said Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff.

–Reuters

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 2 9:50 AM Ranji Trophy Tamil Nadu v Mumbai

Star Sports 4 2:40 PM KFC T20 Big Bash League Melbourne Stars v Perth Scorchers

Sony Six 6:00AM & 2:00PM Australian Open Day 3: Day & Evening sessions Orange African Cup of Nations 9:30PM Burkina Faso v Equatorial Guinea 12:30 AM Congo v Gabon

Ten Action 11:00 PM Coppa Italia Fiorentina v Atalanta 1:00AM Capital One Cup Tottenham v Sheffield United

Ten Cricket 5:30 PM West Indies Tour of South Africa 3rd ODI

Ten Sports 2:00 AM Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg Barcelona v Atletico Madrid

Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka celebrates after victory against Sloane Stephens of the US in the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne yesterday AFP

13

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams showed no mercy in powering through to the Australian Open second round Tuesday as unseeded dark horse Victoria Azarenka won her grudge match.

Defending men’s champion Stan Wawrinka, Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori and women’s fourth seed Petra Kvitova also stayed on course.

Eighteen-time Grand Slam winner Williams opened her Melbourne Park account with a decisive 6-0, 6-4 display against Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck, laying down the marker to her challengers.

A sixth Australian Open title would take her to clear second on the Grand Slam Open Era winners list behind Steffi Graf’s 22, having joined Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on 18 with her win at the US Open last year.

“If I could get to 19 in Australia that would be beyond amazing, so we’ll see.

I have a lot of work to do but I’m just going to enjoy myself,” said the American.

Serbian top seed Djokovic, gunning for a fifth Australian title, also found his groove early against Slovenia’s Al-

jaz Bedene to post a commanding 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win.

“For a first round performance it was pretty good, obviously I still need to work on a few things, I’m still developing my game,” said Djokovic, who lost to Wawrinka in the quarter-finals last year.

The Swiss fourth seed went on to stun Rafael Nadal and win his maiden Grand Slam, and he is keen to repeat the heroics again this year.

He got his title defence off to to a solid start with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 mauling of Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan, encountering few problems.

“It was great to be back on Rod Laver Arena again, it brings back so many memories from last year,” he said.

“It was such an amazing two weeks last year so it was great to come back here and I am pleased with my game in general and I’m excited to start again.”

Roger Federer, Nadal and Maria Sharapova all played Monday and easily progressed.

Nishikori, who lost to Marin Cilic in last year’s US Open final and is touted as a future major champion, showed his mettle to beat Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2.

The Spaniard is a former world number nine and the Japanese star said it was a good workout. l

Rafa still a contender, says advancing Djokovic n Reuters, Melbourne Rafa Nadal has been shrugging his shoulders and suggesting he may not be ready mentally or physically to win this year’s Australian Open after an injury-riddled 2014, but top seed Novak Djokovic is having none of it.

“Well, I don’t know what his intentions are, how he feels, but he is definitely always one of the top favourites in every tournament that he plays,” said Djokovic, who beat Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-2 6-4 to join the Spaniard in the second round on Tuesday.

“There is no question about it. We always talk prior to the big tournaments, during the first days of the grand slams, about who the potential players are for winning the trophy (and) more or less the same names have been going around for the last seven or eight years.

“So I don’t think there is any difference in terms of main favourites for this tournament.”

The 27-year-old Serb is definitively among the favourites for his fifth title at Melbourne Park with his main rivals Nadal and Roger Federer suggesting as such, having won his second Wimbledon and fourth ATP Tour Finals title last year.

Djokovic also now holds a 44-6 record on Melbourne Park’s hard courts, having reached at least the quarter-finals every year since his first grand slam title here in 2008. He barely raised a sweat in his victory over the 25-yearold Bedene and won the match in a shade under two hours.l

Smith to captain Australia Eye injury could end Kieswetter’s career n in England ODI Reuters, London

n AFP, Sydney Steven Smith will captain Australia in Friday’s one-day international against England, with opener David Warner and paceman Mitchell Johnson missing the game, Cricket Australia said Tuesday.

Smith was called in to skipper the team after captain George Bailey was slapped with a one-match suspension over the team’s slow over-rate during their four-wicket win against India in

the tri-series match on Sunday.

Cricket Australia said Smith, fresh from leading Australia in the Test series against India as regular skipper Michael Clarke recovers from a hamstring injury, will be the nation’s 22nd ODI captain.

Australia on Tuesday added Shaun Marsh and Cameron White to the squad for Friday’s match in Hobart to replace Bailey and Warner, who is being rested to recover from hamstring soreness.l

Wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter’s career could be over as a result of the eye injury he suffered in July, Somerset’s director of cricket Matthew Maynard said on Monday.

The England player damaged his eye socket when a ball smashed through his helmet grill, breaking his nose and injuring his cheekbone while batting against Northamptonshire.

The 27-year-old, who has already been ruled out of the 2015 county season, is due to undergo further assessment with

a specialist in Belgium this week.

“We’re hoping that after he sees the specialist he’ll have a method of getting his eye back to 100 percent,” Maynard told the BBC.

Wozniacki laments Gerrard departure n Reuters, Melbourne World number eight and Liverpool fanatic Caroline Wozniacki has lamented the departure of another number eight, describing Steven Gerrard’s impending exit from the Merseyside club as “sad” as she ponders trips to Los Angeles to watch him play.

The 34-year-old Liverpool captain announced earlier this month he was moving to Major Soccer League champions Los Angeles Galaxy after playing his entire career at Anfield.

Gerrard was quoted by media as saying he would have stayed at Liverpool had he been offered a new contract in the close season and that coach Brendan Rodgers had informed him he

AFRICAN NATIONS CUP

Algeria and Senegal off to winning starts n Reuters, Mongomo Algeria and Senegal made winning starts to their African Nations Cup campaigns on Monday with dramatic comefrom-behind victories in Group C. Moussa Sow scored with the last kick of the game at the Estadio de Mongomo to see Senegal to a 2-1 win over Ghana while South Africa missed a penalty and scored an own goal as they allowed Algeria to fight back and win 3-1.

The victories left both Algeria and Senegal on course for a knockout place if they win their next group games on Friday.

Senegal were behind after just 13 minutes when their captain Bouna Coundoul brought down Christian Atsu and Andre Ayew converted the penalty.

But patient play allowed Senegal to take command in the second half as they out-muscled a Ghanaian side who had new coach Avram Grant in charge for the first time.

Mame Biriam Diouf grabbed the second half equaliser when he reacted quickest to a rebound before Senegal snatched the win deep in stoppage time.

A long upfield punt by Coundoul fell kindly for substitute Henri Saivet,

whose crisp one-two with Diouf released Sow in the heart of the penalty box and the striker gave goalkeeper Razak Brimah no chance with a firsttime shot into the far corner.

South Africa coach Ephraim Mashaba declared the “best team lost” after watching his men squander an early lead and lose in front of a capacity 15,000-strong squad. But that was unfair on the top-ranked Algerians, who finished strongly to confirm their status among the favourites.

Thuso Phala scored after a slick passing move for South Africa in the 51st minute and they then won a penalty just minutes later for a chance to go 2-0 ahead.

But Tokelo Rantie blasted his kick against the crossbar as a set of calamitous errors cost his side dearly.

Thulani Hlatshwayo mistimed a clearing header to concede an own goal in the 67th minute to allow Algeria back into the game. An innocuous-looking chip shaved the top of his head and beat goalkeeper Darren Keet.

Algeria were ahead four minutes later through as full back Faouzi Ghoulam scored from the right side in the 71st minute.l

would not play every game.

“I’m obviously sad. I think Stevie has done so much for the team over the years,” Wozniacki told reporters on Tuesday after the Dane opened her Australian Open campaign with a 7-6 6-2 victory over American Taylor Townsend.

“He’s a legend. I think if that’s what he thinks is the right time, I have to support that.”

The former world number one, who famously warmed up in a Liverpool shirt signed by Gerrard before a match at the 2011 Qatar Open, said she wanted the player to remain at the Reds.

“But at the same time he had a talk with the manager and said that maybe he wasn’t going to be playing as much,”

SLvNZ, 4TH ODI Sri Lanka R D. Karunaratne lbw b Southee 5 T. Dilshan c Guptill b Williamson 44 K. Sangakkara c Guptill b Milne 76 M. Jayawardene c Ronchi b Anderson 94 A. Mathews c Ronchi b Milne 0 L. Thirimanne b McClenaghan 19 T. Perera c McCullum b Southee 5 J. Mendis c Vettori b Southee 12 N. Kulasekara run out 4 S. Senanayake not out 1 R. Herath c Williamson b McClenaghan 0 Extras (lb 2, w 14) 16

B 16 57 83 82 1 31 6 10 7 3 1

Total (for 10 wickets, 49.3 overs) 276 Bowling Southee 10-1-59-3 (4w), Milne 7-0-28-2 (1w), McClenaghan 9.3-0-58-2 (4w), Anderson 3-0-19-1, Elliott 3-0-19-0 (1w), Vettori 10-0-41-0, Williamson 7-0-50-1 New Zealand M. Guptill c Sangakkara b Mathews B. McCullum c Perera b Kulasekara K. Williamson b Perera R. Taylor c Sangakkara b Herath G. Elliott c Thirimanne b Mendis C. Anderson run out (Dilshan L. Ronchi not out D. Vettori not out Extras (lb 1, wd 7)

R 20 11 103 8 44 47 32 7 8

she added.

“Yeah, I’m a little sad. I don’t know.

I’m going to have my Stevie G jerseys hanging somewhere. Unfortunately he won’t be playing there anymore.

“I’ll have to make a trip probably to L.A. to have a look again. But, yeah, 17 seasons, 17 years, it’s a long time.”

Wozniacki has a tough second round match against two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who has been on the comeback trail after injury wiped out most of her 2014 season.

The unseeded Belarusian was impressive in her opening 6-3 6-2 win over American Sloane Stephens. “Yeah, it’s going to be tough,” said Wozniacki of the clash against former world number one Azarenka, now ranked 44th.l

“The feedback we get from that will be quite instrumental but potentially it could be career-ending.”

South Africa-born Kieswetter returned to non-international action in September after undergoing facial surgery. While playing for the Warriors in a domestic Twenty20 competition in South Africa, he realised his vision was still impaired.

“He came back for a couple of games and although he knew the eye wasn’t quite right, he was just delighted to be back playing at that stage,” said Maynard.l

Paceman Junaid out of Pakistan’s New Zealand tour n AFP, Lahore Pakistan’s left-arm paceman Junaid Khan has been ruled out of the upcoming one-day series in New Zealand because of a leg injury, fuelling doubts about whether he will play in next month’s World Cup. The Pakistan team leaves for New Zealand late on Tuesday to play two one-day internationals on January 31 and February 3, with all-rounder Bilawal Bhatti replacing Junaid in the 15-man squad.

The 25-year-old sustained his injury during a short training camp in Lahore last week. l

Williamson ton sees Kiwis to series lead n AFP, Nelson Kane Williamson made a welcome return to the New Zealand side with an elegant century to set up a four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international Tuesday.

Backed by lusty hitting from Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi, New Zealand overtook Sri Lanka’s 276 with 11 balls to spare and move 2-1 ahead in the seven-match series.

In a tense finish New Zealand needed 47 off 36 balls when the 24-year-old

Williamson was removed for 103, his fifth ODI century. Anderson was run out for 47 with New Zealand needing 32 runs with 26 balls left.

Up stepped Luke Ronchi to blast a rapid 32 including three sixes and Daniel Vettori hit a four as New Zealand finished with a flourish.

After losing the early wickets of Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor cheaply, an unflustered Williamson led the rescue mission, first in partnership with Grant Elliott and then with Anderson.l

B 27 11 107 23 58 44 15 4

Total (for 6 wickets, 48.1 overs) 280 Bowling Kulasekara 9-0-51-1 (3w), Mathews 4-116-1 (1w), Herath 9-1-39-1 (2w), Perera 8-0-58-1, Senanayake 9.1-0-57-0, Mendis 7-0-40-1 (1w), Dilshan 2-0-18-0 NZ won by four wickets; lead series 2-1

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson plays a shot with Sri Lanka’s keeper Kumar Sangakkara looking on during the fourth ODI in Nelson yesterday AFP

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

England thrash sorry India n Reuters, Brisbane

India opener Shikhar Dhawan walks off after being caught by England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler off the bowling of James Anderson (R) during their tri-series ODI match at the Gabba in Brisbane yesterday AFP

England thrashed India by nine wickets with more than 22 overs to spare on Tuesday to record their first win in the tri-series tournament in Australia and boost their confidence ahead of next month’s World Cup. Fast bowler Steven Finn claimed his first five-wicket haul in a one-day international as England destroyed India’s batting lineup at the Gabba in Brisbane.

Finn took 5-33 from eight overs while Jimmy Anderson picked up four wickets as the pair skittled the reigning world champions for 153 in less than 40 overs.

Ian Bell and James Taylor both posted unbeaten half-centuries as England cruised to victory in 27.3 overs, earning a bonus point for their lopsided win.

Bell finished 88 not out off 91 balls, inching closer to 5,000 ODI career runs, while the pint-sized Taylor remained unconquered on 54 from 63 deliveries, chalking up his third fifty in eight ODI appearances. The pair shared an unbroken partnership of 131 after England lost opener Moeen Ali for eight, the only hiccup in the romp.

The towering Finn, who stands 2.01 metres (6ft-7in) tall, tore through India’s fragile middle order with his pace and extra bounce, with three of his wickets coming through catches to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

Finn got the prized wickets of Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and was on a hat-trick after he clean bowled Axar Patel for a golden duck.

Anderson gave England the perfect start when he removed Shikhar Dhawan for one in the third over and returned to mop up the tail and finish with 4-18.

With India’s world record holder Rohit Sharma skipping the match because of a minor hamstring complaint, the tourists needed someone else to make a big contribution but no-one did.

All-rounder Stuart Binny, who came in for Ravichandran Ashwin, top scored with 44, while Dhoni made a patient 34 and opener Ajinkya Rahane 33.

“We have to use whatever time is left before the World Cup in a useful manner. Staying four and a half months away from home is difficult, but we have to switch on and switch off,” Dhoni said.l

Japan, Iraq storm into Asian Cup quarters

Toronto sign Giovinco from Juve n AFP, Rome n AFP, Melbourne Diminutive Italy international forward Sebastian Giovinco is to leave champions Juventus in June after agreeing a five year deal with MLS side FC Toronto, the Canadian club said on Monday.

Giovinco -- who according to Italian press reports is set to earn 8.5million euros ($9.8million)a season -- will form an attacking partnership with American international Jozy Altidore.

“I am excited to sign for Toronto FC today and look forward to joining the club this summer,” Giovinco told.

“I have heard so many great things about them over the years and I know that it will be a city that I feel right at home in.”

Known as the ‘Atomic Ant’ (5ft 4in 1m62) for his short stature coupled with a relentless work-rate the 27-year-old -- capped 21 times -- has lost his starting place at Juventus and has failed to score in seven appearances this season.

He was however an integral part of the Serie A championship winning sides in both 2013 and 2014. l

Golden boys Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa fired holders Japan into the Asian Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday as Iraq again owed a debt of gratitude to evergreen striker Younis Mahmoud.

AC Milan’s Honda ran riot in the 2-0 win over Jordan, scoring the opener and hitting the post late on, while

RESULTS Japan

2-0

Jordan

2-0

Palestine

Honda 24, Kagawa 82

Iraq

Mahmoud 48, Yaseen 88

Kagawa got his first of the tournament late in the game.

Japan, who have won four of the last six Asian Cup titles, reached the last eight without conceding a goal and they will face UAE side in Sydney on Friday.

“It was an intense game,” Japan coach Javier Aguirre told reporters.

“We had to give maximum effort but we deserved to win. Now everything

Bayern under fire over Saudi Arabia trip n Reuters, Berlin Bayern Munich returned from a training camp in the Middle East to a barrage of criticism over a friendly played in Saudi Arabia, with some politicians and fans claiming the club had turned a blind eye to human rights violations.

The German champions, a leading global soccer brand, spent just over a week at a training camp in Qatar earlier this month before playing a friendly against Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia on Saturday and returning to Germany a day later.

Qatar, which will stage the 2022 World Cup, has been under scrutiny over widespread reports of human rights violations against migrant workers building stadiums for the tournament.

Bayern’s game in Saudi Arabia also

coincided with the uproar over the flogging in the country of activist and blogger Raif Badawi.

“Sport has a strong voice but it does not use it at the points where it makes sense and can be helpful,” Social Democratic Party MP and head of the parliamentary committee on sport Dagmar Freitag told Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Tuesday.

“Footballers don’t have to be politicians but they should be aware of human rights conditions and could set examples.”

Bayern, one of the richest clubs in the world, with a turnover of more than 500 million euros ($579.80 million), said the Saudi Arabia game was a sponsored event by one of its commercial partners while the Qatar trip offered perfect working conditions for the Bundesliga leaders.l

Okazaki blasted into the side-netting as Aguirre’s men pressed, but Jordan came out a side refreshed after the break, pushing Japan back in their best spell of the game.l

INDvENG India A. Rahane c Taylor b Finn S. Dhawan c Buttler b Anderson A. Rayudu c Buttler b Finn V. Kohli c Buttler b Finn S. Raina st Buttler b Ali MS. Dhoni c Buttler b Finn S. Binny c Morgan b Anderson A. Patel b Finn B. Kumar b Anderson M. Shami c Ali b Anderson U. Yadav not out Extras (lb3, w3, nb1)

R B 33 40 1 5 23 53 4 8 1 3 34 61 44 55 0 1 5 5 1 7 0 0 7

Total (all out, 39.3 overs)

153

Fall of wickets 1-1 (Dhawan), 2-57 (Rahane), 3-64 (Kohli), 4-65 (Raina), 5-67 (Rayudu), 6-137 (Dhoni), 7-137 (Patel), 8-143 (Kumar), 9-153 (Binny), 10-153 (Shami) Bowling Anderson 8.3-2-18-4, Woakes 7-0-35-0, Broad 7-0-33-0, Finn 8-0-33-5, Ali 9-0-31-1 England I. Bell not out M. Ali c Kohli b Binny J. Taylor not out Extras (w3, nb1)

R B 88 91 8 12 56 63 4

Total (1 wicket, 27.3 overs)

156

Fall of wickets 1-25 (Ali) Bowling Binny 7-0-34-1, Kumar 2-0-18-0, Yadav 6-0-42-0, Shami 4-0-23-0, Patel 7.3-032-0, Raina 1-0-7-0 England won by nine wickets

Milan mocked over team bus reports n Reuters, Milan

starts from zero again. All the eight teams in the quarter-finals have equal opportunity to win the tournament.”

Iraq, meanwhile, found Palestine a tough nut to crack but Mahmoud revived memories of his famous winner in the 2007 final when he climbed to nod the opener from a corner.

The clubless veteran disappointingly missed a second-half spot-kick but Ahmeed Yaseen sealed a 2-0 victory with a powerful low drive two minutes from time. Iraq next take on neighbours and three-time champions Iran in Canberra in a quarter-final which pitches together two of Asian football’s fiercest rivals.

“Younis is such an experienced player and so positive for the team,” said Iraq’s caretaker boss Radhi Shenaishil.

“He is the player that everyone in the team thinks is a star. I think tonight was the most time he’s spent on the pitch this tournament.”

In Melbourne, Japan dominated the first half and Takashi Inui seemed to have blasted them ahead early on, but the ball was ruled to have gone into touch moments earlier.

But the Blue Samurai went ahead on 24 minutes when Shinji Okazaki’s venomous shot was parried to Honda and the blond talisman snapped up the rebound for his third in three games.

Sampdoria send Okaka home after row with coach n Reuters, Milan

Torres finds different Atletico on return

Sampdoria striker Stefano Okaka was sent home after a row with coach Sinisa Mihajlovic during training, the club said on Monday.

Italian media said Okaka was angry at being left on the substitutes’ bench for Sunday’s 2-0 win at Parma when his replacement, Gonzalo Bergessio, scored the opening goal.

“Stefano Okaka was dismissed from Gloriano Mugnaini (training ground) for inappropriate behaviour towards the coach,” said the Genoa-based club in a statement. It added that any disciplinary action would be decided following a meeting between Okaka and club directors. Earlier this season, Mihajlovic told the 25-year-old Okaka that he had to make up for lost time.l

Japan’s Shinji Kagawa celebrates after scoring against Jordan during their Asian Cup match in Melbourne yesterday AFP

n Reuters, Madrid When Fernando Torres left Atletico Madrid for Liverpool in 2007, the idea of the Spanish capital’s second club being favourites to beat record winners Barcelona in a two-legged King’s Cup tie would have been unthinkable.

Now that the 30-year-old Spain forward is back in his boyhood team on loan, he has seen at first hand how coach Diego Simeone has shaken up the status quo and transformed Atletico into genuine contenders at home and in Europe.

While Barca may still be expected to edge the Cup quarter-final ahead of Wednesday’s first leg at the Nou Camp, the way Atletico have been playing under the inspirational Argentine the past couple of seasons means they have every chance of progressing to the last four.

Torres struck twice in last week’s 2-2 draw in their last 16, second leg at Real

Madrid as Simeone’s men dumped the holders out 4-2 on aggregate.

The return of “El Nino” (The Kid) has lifted the Atletico players, as well as long-suffering fans already on a high after the club won La Liga last season for the first time in 18 years and lost out to Real in the Champions League final.

KING’S CUP Villarreal v Getafe Barcelona v Atletico Madrid Malaga v Athletic Club “The arrival of Fernando is very good for us,” midfielder Raul Garcia told Spanish television after Sunday’s 2-0 La Liga win at home to Granada.

“He gives the team extra options,” added the Spain international. “Good players always understand each other.”

Barca, who thrashed Elche 9-0 on aggregate in the last 16, also warmed

AC Milan have been mocked on social media over reports that they have sold their luxurious team bus to cut costs.

Italian media widely reported that the seven-times European champions had sold the vehicle for 150,000 euros ($173,730) and hoped to save 200,000 euros per year in costs.

One Twitter user posted a photo-shopped picture of the Milan players standing by the side of a motorway behind chief executive Adriano Galliani, who was holding a sign which read “Rome”.

Another posted a picture of a tram with the caption “exclusive pictures of AC Milan arriving at San Siro.”

Serie A has fallen behind the Europe’s other top leagues in financial terms and, like Italian clubs, AC Milan, who have not officially commented on the bus, have been forced to cut costs over the last few season. They finished eighth in Serie A in 2013/14, missing out on European football, and are currently eighth at the halfway point in this season’s championships.l

up for Wednesday’s clash with a win in La Liga, Lionel Messi netting his 22nd hat-trick in Spain’s top flight in a 4-0 success at Deportivo La Coruna.

Victory in Galicia came a week after Barca beat Atletico 3-1 at the Nou Camp in La Liga but Spain playmaker Andres Iniesta warned against taking another win for granted.

Villarreal or Getafe await in the last four, while on the other side of the draw Sevilla play Espanyol and Malaga meet Athletic Bilbao, whose 23 Cup triumphs are bettered only by Barca’s 26.

“These will be a fun couple of weeks but it will be a very intense tie and Atletico are tough opponents,” Iniesta told reporters.

“We will have to do things as well as possible without making any mistakes,” he added.

Barca last won the Cup in 2012 and Atletico beat Real to secure their 10th triumph in 2013. l

Mirallas penalty miss extends dismal Everton run n Reuters, London

Sheffield United aiming to cut Spurs down to size

Kevin Mirallas’ first-half penalty miss proved costly and probably landed the Belgian in hot water with manager Roberto Martinez as Everton’s dismal run continued with a 0-0 Premier League draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on Monday.

The winger stepped up ahead of regular spot-kick taker Leighton Baines but blasted his effort against the foot of the post just before halftime after former Everton defender Joleon Lescott had been penalised for handball.

Baines, who briefly consulted Mirallas before allowing the Belgian to take the penalty, has missed only one of the 16 spot-kicks he has taken in a Premier League game. Everton moved up one place to 12th but have now won one out of their last 13 matches in all competitions.l

Sheffield United are aiming to beat a Premier League side for the fourth time this season when they meet Tottenham Hotspur in their Capital One (League) Cup semi-final on Wednesday and have no intention of going soft on their rivals.

The League One (third tier) club knocked West Ham United, Southampton and Queens Park Rangers out in earlier rounds and Spurs could become their sixth top flight victims in a year following FA Cup wins last season over Aston Villa and Fulham.

Since Nigel Clough -- whose father Brian was the losing manager when Spurs beat Nottingham Forest in the 1991 FA Cup final -- took over in November 2013, the Blades have lost just once in 17 Cup matches.

n Reuters, London

US actor Sylvester Stallone appears on the stadium screen holding an Everton team scarf before the club’s English Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park in Liverpool, northern England on Monday REUTERS

They have not been as successful in League One where they are battling for a place in the playoffs, and come to London for the first leg of the semi-final having lost 1-0 to Milton Keynes Dons at the weekend.

Although they are seventh in the table, 18 points behind leaders Swindon Town, their attacking midfielder Jose Baxter says the Blades will be out to cut Spurs down to size from the kick-off.

Baxter, who made seven Premier League appearances for Everton before leaving in 2012, told reporters: “Once you beat the big teams your confidence grows.

“They will be wary because we have knocked a few big teams out,” adding Spurs will not relish their physical approach. The second leg is at Bramall Lane on Jan.28 with the winners meeting either Chelsea or Liverpool in the final at Wembley on March 1. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Mahi-Shipon duo’s second venture to hit cinemas on Feb 6 TAGORE’s 3 women to be portrayed on stage n Hasan Mansoor Chatak Turongomi Repertory Dance, the first dance theatre troupe of the country, brings on stage “Waterness,” a unique blend of dance and drama inspired by the life of Rabindranath Tagore. The production kicks off at 7pm at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy today.

Directed by Pooja Sengupta, the production reflects the resemblance between women and water.

“My initial idea to work on the abstractness of women first came to mind as I encountered the theme in Tagore’s poetry.

Eventually I started working on the theme to bring production on stage. However, in the

meantime, I met Dheeman Bhatyacharya from Kolkata, a writer and researcher, who was working on the idea of how women and water resemble each other in Tagore’s work. He shared the idea with me and later we developed the whole production for the stage,” says Pooja.

“He convinced me that it was not possible to tell a story only through dance or only through theatre. So we combined dance, theatre and mime for the production,” Pooja told the Dhaka Tribune.

Kadambari Devi, Mrinalini Devi and Indira, the three women in Tagore’s life, will be portrayed by Pooja while Raktim Goshwami and Atique Rahman will play the role of Tagore. l

Mahiya Mahi and Shipon duo’s second venture “Bigbrother” gets scheduled to release on February 6 throughout the country.

Directed by Shafi Uddin Shafi, the film receive censor board nod on January 14. Mahi and Shipon first paired up in the “Desha: The Leader,” Saikat Nasir’s directorial venture. Though the film has fizzled to produce a big success in the box office but their acting and chemistry in the film get appreciation from the big screen audience. This time around, the duo is all set to bring new surprise on the big screen.

Mahiya Mahi, whose another project “Romeo vs Juliete” is favourably running in the country’s theatres, will be appeared in the film with a quite out-of-the-box look. The production of the film wrapped in the last November. l

Exhibition

In Motion Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, 60, Gulshan Avenue

Tarshito: Embroider the World Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts Road No.16 Dhanmondi

Chaos & Order

By Jasna Boudard Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Centre, Dhanmondi

Different Strokes Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Center House-60, Road-7/A Dhanmondi

The Terminal Zee Studio, 2:35pm Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Z-Jones

Film

Game, Into The Storm, Ek Cup Cha Desha: The Leader Blockbuster Cinemas Penguins of Madagascar (3D) Romeo V/S Juliet Into The Woods Beauty and the Beast Star Cineplex

SHRUTI HAASAN sings for sister Akshara in Shamitabh

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk Joel and Ethan Coen have been selected as Presidents of the Jury for the 68th Cannes Festival the organisers announced.

The selection of the brothers, longtime Cannes favourites, marks the first time the Jury has been presided over by two people.

The organisers have marked 2015 as a year to celebrate the work of “cinema brothers,” to coincide with the 120th anniversary of the Lumiere cinematograph invented by the Lumiere brothers, Louis and Auguste.

The romantic comedy “2 States,” starring Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor is leading the 60th Filmfare Awards with seven nominations, followed

by Shahid Kapoor’s tragic Shakespearean drama “Haider” which has been named in six different categories.

The sleeper hits of 2014 have left behind big-budget blockbusters “PK,” “Happy New Year” and “Kick.”

Apart from “Haider” and “2 States,” the Best Film category includes “Queen,” “Mary Kom,” and “PK.” Abhishek Varman, Anurag Kashyap, Rajkumar Hirani, Vikas Bahl and Vishal Bhardwaj are in the race for the award for Best Director. Despite striking gold at the box office with “Kick” and “Happy New Year,” Bollywood’s leading Khans - Salman and Shah Rukh - have been neglected in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category.

However, Aamir has been nominated for his satirical comic-drama PK alongside Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Randeep Hooda and Shahid Kapoor. The awards ceremony will take place in Mumbai on January 31. l

28th century soldier Mitch Hunter leads a fight against an army of underworld Mutants.

KRISTEN STEWART would love to star in a Marvel movie

Shruti Haasan is touching newer avenues as far as her Bollywood career is concerned. After having mesmerised the audiences with her looks and acting abilities, Shruti tried her hand at singing and quite succeeded in it too.

The recently released movie “Tevar” starring Sonakshi Sinha and Arjun Kapoor had her sing two tracks – “Joganiyaan” and “Madamiyan,” both of which became chartbusters.

Shruti Haasan is now going to croon for her younger sister Akshara Haasan in her debut Bollywood venture “Shamitabh.” The song is titled “Sannata” and the makers are all set to launch the song soon. The song is already available on Internet jukeboxes and the lyrics are surely going to take you by awe and surprise.

Composed by Ilaiyaraaja, “Sannata” is very different from “Joganiyan.” It’s young, contemporary, edgy and quirky, much like Shruti Haasan’s own musical vibe. It’s a different track compared to what one hears in mainstream music these days. l

JOEL and ETHAN COEN to chair Cannes festival jury

n Entertainment Desk

Mutant Chronicles HBO Defined, 6:50pm Cast: Thomas Jane, John Malkovich

n Entertainment Desk

In a new interview with Yahoo! Movies, the often stoic 24-year-old Twilight star surprisingly admits she not only loves watching movies from the superhero blockbuster genre, but she would also like to star in one.

“I love watching those movies,” Stewart admits. “I’m sure I could get on board with Captain America, you know what I mean?… It would just have to be the right thing.”

“I would love another big movie to come along. It’s definitely not something I’m avoiding,” she clarifies. “I want to do big movies. You get to play with more stuff and there’s so much more at your disposal. I just want to do it for the right reasons.”

In the candid new interview, Stewart also shows she’s well aware of the criticism that she basically plays herself in all her films. l

2 States, Haider lead nominations in Filmfare

15

Speaking from the set of their current film “Hail Caesar!,” starring George Clooney, Josh Brolin and Channing Tatum, the Coens said: “We look forward to returning to Cannes this year. We welcome as always the opportunity to watch movies there from all over the world. Cannes is a festival that has been important to us since the very beginning of our career. Presiding over the Jury is a special honour.”

The Cannes Festival this year takes place from May 13 until through to May 24. The lineup will be unveiled in mid-April. l

An eastern immigrant finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.

Hanna HBO Hits, 8:30pm Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana

A girl, raised by her father to be the assassin, is dispatched on a mission.

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Blockade violence TIB: Awami League and BNP are claims another life crushing people’s basic rights The death toll from firebomb attack on Mithapukur bus rises to six history and mass communication and n Tribune Report journalism, Amjad Ali, acting proctor Blockade violence continues to take its toll on common people claiming life of one more arson attack victim while under treatment at the Dhaka Military Hospital early yesterday.

Several others too fell victim to arson attacks in stray incidents of violence.

Monwara Begum, 35, who suffered 63% burn injuries in a petrol bomb attack at Jaigirhat in Mithapukur Upazila of Rangpur died at Dhaka Combined Military Hospital early yesterday.

With the death of Monwara six people have so far died in the petrol bomb attack on the bus at Mithapukur.

In an incident of ambush attack a mother and her daughter were burnt as pickets hurled a petrol bomb at a Dha-

Huge contingent of law enforcers were deployed at different parts of the capital ka-bound bus at Rajshahi city’s Vodra Bhangripatti area around 12:15am amid police escort.

Besides, miscreants burnt down an office of ruling Awami League in Rajshahi.

The blockade in the capital passed almost peacefully but the number of vehicles plying on the roads was less than that of the previous day.

A limited number of long-route buses left the capital and trains failed to maintain schedule. However, launches plied normally from and to the capital.

Huge contingent of law enforcers were deployed at different parts of the capital. They were seen stopping vehicles and people for security check.

A crude bomb was blasted while another found unexploded inside the Arts Faculty building of Dhaka University yesterday noon but no one was injured.

Unidentified miscreants hurled the bombs in between the departments of

of the university, said.

Meanwhile, our Rajshahi correspondent reports that around 12:15am the bus was heading towards Dhaka from Rajshahi.

A sudden cocktail attack left Ambia Begum,45, her daughter, Rifat 17, and two others injured.

Ambia and her husband were taking their daughter, a first-semester student of Dhaka Polytechnic, to Dhaka as she was to sit for an examination.

In the attack Ambia’s face and two hands and her daughter’s left hand were burnt.

Officer-in-Charge of Boalia Police Station Khandoker Nur Hossain said along with the security forces comprising police, RAB and BGB 15 to 16 vehicles started heading towards the capital.

Soon after the vehicles left Rajshahi Bus Terminal, some miscreants appeared from a lane and hurled the petrol bombs.

The bombs went through a window glass and burnt the victims. Locals doused the fire before Fire Service men rushed to the spot.

At Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi miscreants torched a local Awami League office at Jhikra Union Bazar early yesterday.

They loosened a brick of the office and through the whole pouring kerosene they torched it, said OC of Bagmara Police Station Abu Obaida.

At Chouddagram of Comilla miscreants torched a parked bus at Mia Bazar area in the morning. No one was injured in the incident.

The presence of Chittagong BNP leaders and activists that called a 36hour hartal in the division, was nowhere on the first day of hartal yesterday.

There were no incidents of procession or picketing there, reports our Chittagong correspondent.

Meanwhile, police detained 11 BNP activists in the district on charge of unleashing violence yesterday. l

n Tribune Report

The Bangladesh chapter of corruption watchdog Transparency International has expressed deep concern over the ongoing “inhuman and cruel manifestation of violence” during the 20-party alliance’s blockade and hartal, and use of force by the government.

The Berlin-based group says the recent developments are unhealthy competition for power at the cost of basic rights of the people – from right to life to right of normal death, and prospect of democracy and good governance.

In a statement issued yesterday, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said by indulging in an unhealthy com-

petition show of force in the name of democracy, the two largest parties are crushing the basic rights of the people.

“Having locked themselves in a zero-sum game of power, our political parties and leaders are not only exposing their political bankruptcy, but also expanding their distance from the people and public interest on a daily basis.

“Independence and professionalism of key institutions of rule of law and democratic accountability, particularly the law enforcement agencies are being severely compromised. These are an extremely high-risk game for democracy and good governance,” the statement adds.

“Politics is being presented to the

Bulk electricity rates and transmission charges are likely to increase but consumer-level tariffs will probably not be raised, sources with knowledge of the matter told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is holding four days of public hearings over proposals to raise electricity tariffs at several levels of costing including at the bulk, transmission and consumer levels.

A BERC official, requesting not to be named, said the government had verbally requested the commission not to raise retail power prices.

He said the government cited falling international oil prices and threats from the BNP-led 20-party alliance and left-leaning parties, including the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), as reasons not to raise retail electricity prices.

Electricity costs are rising because the government has taken the shortterm measure of installing high-cost furnace oil and diesel-based rental power plants to ease the country’s mounting electricity crisis.

An announcement of fresh bulk electricity tariff hikes will likely be made at the end of next month, sources said.

During the hearing, members of left-leaning parties, including the CPB, requested the commission not to increase tariffs.

Protesters under the banner of Ganatantrik Bam Morcha staged a mass sit-in outside the BERC building in Karwan Bazar.

The price of oil, the primary energy for power plants, has slumped by over 50% in the international market.

But the government has not yet decided on a downward adjustment of domestic petroleum prices.

The technical evaluation committee of BERC has recommended raising bulk power tariffs. It recommended increasing the average per unit (per kilowatt-hour) tariff of the PDB by 5.16%.

The recommendation came yesterday after a public hearing on a proposal by the Power Development Board (PDB) to hike tariffs at bulk level by

18.12% or Tk0.81 per unit.

The hike, if approved, would take the bulk price of electricity to Tk5.51 per unit from the existing Tk4.70.

The production cost of each unit of power is around Tk6.54, therefore the PDB is losing Tk1.84 per unit at present.

BERC chairman AR Khan, members Salim Mahmud, Delwar Hossain, Md Maksudul Haque and Rahman Murshed, along with other stakeholders attended the public hearing at TCB Bhaban in the capital. AR Khan said there was some corruption and misuse in the sector.

“We have been giving some directives about this and will bring it to a stop,” he said.

‘This is a golden opportunity to boost the economy and fulfil the expectations of consumers and the business community by reducing tariff rates rather than increasing them’ “PDB buys electricity as a single buyer from public and private power producers. They have to come out of this,” he said.

The announcement of fresh electricity tariff hikes may be made by the end of next month but the tariff hike will have effect from March 1, 2015, a member of BERC told the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity.

Consumers weigh in

Md Shamsul Alam, energy adviser of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB), opposed the BERC move to raise power tariffs at yesterday’s hearing.

In an abrupt move breaking with the tradition of holding an open meeting on such issues, BERC quickly declared the schedule of the bulk tariffs hearing.

Complaints against Summit Group

“The government signed an agreement

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu yesterday said the government would form a broadcast commission for television and radio within six months.

Speaking in parliament during a question and answer session, he said a committee to formulate the law on establishing a broadcast commission had been formed and that the Act is expected to be passed soon.

In reply to a question, the minister said: “We have published the gazette of the broadcast policy and it will take at least six months to consider everyone’s opinion.”

The cabinet approved the National Broadcast Policy last August. l

Ambia Begum, 40, receiving treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. Her face and hands were burnt when pickets hurled Molotov cocktail on a bus carrying her to the capital yesterday AZHAR UDDIN

Bulk electricity rates to go up, consumer rates likely to remain unchanged n Aminur Rahman Rasel

people at large, especially the young generation and school and college students, as a synonym for violence, violation of rights, destruction and death.

By sowing seeds of apathy towards politics, the worst enemy for politics is being created from within the political space,” Iftekharuzzaman said.

“There are no winners in such forms of political activism and practice except for undemocratic, militant and violent forces who may gain further ground. Not merely in the interest of the people, but also for their self-interest the two confronting sides must find peaceful ways and means for political game and leave the people in peace,” the statement said. l

Inu: Broadcast commission within six months n Tribune Report

with Summit Group on May 12, 2011 to build the dual-fuel 335MW Meghnaghat power plant. The agreement was amended on August 3 that year. In the amended agreement, diesel was decided to be used instead of furnace oil.

“If PDB could purchase electricity from a furnace oil generated power plant, the cost could be Tk14 per unit.

Because of using diesel, the cost is now Tk35,” Shamsul Alam said at the hearing.

“This is an ill-conceived agreement and an invisible hand was present behind the signing of the amendment,” he said.

He urged BERC to place the complaint at their tribunal to find out the cause behind the amended deal.

Presentation of PDB Proposal

PDB Chief Engineer Mizanur Rahman presented their proposal before the commission.

He said: “The increased use of fuel oil products for power generation and the higher purchase cost of electricity from two state-run power generation companies has pushed up the supply cost of bulk electricity.

“This has imposed additional financial burdens on the PDB. If the government gave a subsidy of around Tk6,000cr this fiscal year, we would not need to hike electricity prices.”

He said the government wanted to spend Tk4,000cr in subsidies for FY2014-15.

Recommendation of BERC committee

“Our technical committee found their [the PDB’s] proposal to hike power tariffs to be justified,” Mostaque Ahmed, chief of the evaluation committee and BERC director (power), said during the hearing.

“For the sustainability of the stateowned organisation, BERC can allow power tariffs to be increased by 5.16% to help the PDB,” Mostaque said.

According to the committee’s recommendations, PDB’s operating revenue in FY2014-15 will be Tk255,179.14 million for 44,345.16 units at a production cost of Tk5.75 per unit.

If the government pumps in

Tk4,000cr, the operating revenue will be reduced to Tk210,918.29 million and the production cost will fall to Tk4.89 per unit which is by more than 5.16%.

Stakeholders statement

“I do not think that at this moment there is any need to hike the price of electricity. It will negatively impact consumers,” Md Yasin Ali, member of parliament belonging to the Workers Party of Bangladesh, said.

CPB leader and economist MM Akash demanded the suspension of any government move on electricity prices until the completion of the public hearing.

He said the government is making a profit because the price of oil had decreased in the international market.

“This money can be used for subsidies,” he said.

“The process of hiking power prices is illegal. There is no justification and that is why we are protesting it,” Chief Coordinator of Gonosanghati Andolon Zonayed Saki said.

“The PDB proposal to increase bulk tariff rates by 18% may not be accepted at a time when current oil prices have come down to less than $60 per barrel from $115 in July, 2014,” Md Hossain Ali, Executive Director of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Institute, said.

“In view of the drastic reduction of oil prices in the international market, this is a golden opportunity to boost the economy and fulfil the expectations of consumers and the business community by reducing tariff rates rather than increasing them,” he said.

“Increases in power prices would badly affect the competitiveness of Bangladeshi industries, particularly SMEs. This must be carefully considered,” he added.

Schedule of next hearing

As per the BERC schedule, the public hearing of the state-run Power Grid Company of Bangladesh to raise the existing electricity transmission charges and that of West Zone Power Distribution Company will be held today. l

Man-made inferno turns Monowara’s heaven into hell n Mohammad Jamil Khan In just about two months time, she was going to have the most wonderful feeling a human being can have – give birth to her third child.

But instead, 35-year-old Monowara Begum was lying lifeless at the Dhaka Medical College morgue; she suffered 61% burns in her body when blockade-supporters torched the bus she was in on December 13.

The seven-day tug of war between life and death with Monowara in the middle ended yesterday at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the Dhaka Cantonment.

It meant that the seven-month old foetus in her womb, her third child, is never going to make its first cry in the light of day. It also means that Monowara’s two little girls will have to grow up without their mother.

“Monowara Begum, 35 years old and seven months pregnant, succumbed to her injuries while undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) of Dhaka Cantonment around 3:30am today [Tuesday]. Around 61% of her body was burnt,” Md Mezbaul Haque, sub-inspector of the Cantonment police station, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Mezbaul said they had received the body from the CMH morgue around 10am; he then took the body to the Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy. After autopsy, the body has handed over to relatives, he said.

Originally from the Gaibandha district, Monowara lived with her husband Nure Alam, a technician at the mechanical engineering workshop of the army, and their two daughters in Kafrul area near the Dhaka Cantonment in the capital.

On December 26, Monowara along with her two daughters and the families of her two sisters-in-law, went to her husband’s village home in Gaibandha after her father-in-law died.

They were returning to Dhaka on January 13 when pickets torched their bus near the Mithapukur area of Rangpur.

Four people were burnt to death on the spot in the man-made inferno.

Monowara, her two daughters and the other members of her family all got burnt. One day later, her sister-in-law Tosiron Begum died at the DMCH burn unit.

The fire burnt 20% of Monowara’s other sister-in-law Minara Begum’s body. She is now undergoing treatment at the burn unit of DMCH. Monowara’s daughters – 13-year-old eighth grader Nusrat with 20% burns and 10-year-old fourth grader Israt with 10% burns – are now at the burn unit of the CMH. The two little girls got hit on some other parts of their bodies when they jumped out of a window of the bus when it was torched.

This correspondent caught up with her husband Nure Alam in front of the DMC morgue; he was trying to arrange an ambulance to take his wife’s body to their village home.

With eyes soaked in tears, Nure Alam said: “What would I tell you brother! My wife was seven months pregnant but because of the burn injuries, she miscarried on Sunday. When the bus was set on fire, everyone from my family managed to get out of the bus, but she could not because she was pregnant.

“She always said she wanted her elder daughter to become a doctor and the younger one an Islamic scholar.

Now, who would look after the two daughters and help them fulfil their mother’s dream?” he said.

“The fire has not only killed my wife but also my unborn baby and made my daughters motherless. I do not know how I will get over this and cure my daughters who are still undergoing treatment,” he said, weeping.

During the last 15 days of the nonstop blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance, a total of 35 people have been killed in arson attacks and crude bomb blasts.

At least 13 of them have died from burn injuries that they had suffered after their vehicles were set on fire by pickets’ petrol bombs. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

B3 Gold near four-month

high on worries over Europe, global economy

B4 China posts slowest growth in 24 years

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Buyers withhold orders due to unrest BGMEA chief gets calls RMG makers at risk of facing fund crisis and being unable to pay workers’ wages n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi Some apparel buyers have stalled work orders fearing delayed shipments due to ongoing political unrest in Bangladesh.

“Sample was approved, time fixed and production order was scheduled to start from February, but now they step back due to the political unrest,” a leading RMG exporter seeking anonymity told Dhaka Tribune.

“They now want to make it in June,” he added.

He said he wouldn’t have enough work orders from next month. “This will put me in trouble to face fund crisis and pay workers’ wages.”

Another factory owner said he had an order of 10,000 pieces, but the buyers were not now replying to his e-mails.

“Everything was okay and orders could be served in a 10-day time.

But political situation has damaged everything,” he said.

According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), in 14 days of political unrest, the RMG sector incurred a loss of Tk700 crore.

The loss came from discounts, order cancellation, air shipment and production hampering.

Meanwhile, the BGMEA has started assessing loss of the country’s RMG industry in the current blockade.

A survey conducted by BGMEA showed the political unrest had led RMG buyers to cancel orders worth $6.4m, had to pay price discount of $2.2m, air shipment $2.1m, shipment delay $12.8m in 21 days of December 2013 political unrest.

“The global buyers are watching Bangladesh’s political situation

Workers seen sewing clothes at a Bangladesh garment factory. The present political unrest has put the country’s biggest export sector into trouble again with factory owners and exporters counting losses RAJIB DHAR through media and holding back orders. They are taking time to decide how much order they will place in this situation,” said Abus Salam Murshedy, managing director of Envoy Textile and ex-president of BGMEA. He said the buyers would not leave the country but reduce orders if political unrest continued.

“They will take a wait and see policy to do business here,” said Murshedy,

urging the political parties to find a peaceful solution to the present crisis.

“As political unrest is back, the buyers are not responding to the manufacturers’ emails. The buyers are afraid of political turmoil,” said Syed Faizul Ahsan Shameem, chairman of Dotcom Sweater.

He said if the present situation continued, the RMG export target of $50bn by 2021 would not be possible.

Since the RMG sector people witnessed incidents of torching vehicles and looting during the political unrest ahead of the January 5, 2014 national election, the police agreed to escort the vehicles to ensure safety of the shipping goods.

As per the decision, factory owners will have to reach the city outskirts of Signboard area in Dhaka by 9am for the first phase escort and at 9pm for the second phase. l

from worried buyers n Tribune Report Leading international buyers of garment products have phoned the BGMEA chief to learn about the current political situation so they can place work orders.

“This morning (Tuesday) I got phone calls from as many as 11 top global RMG retailers. They wanted to know what was going on in Bangladesh and how long it would continue,” BGMEA President Atiqul Islam told a seminar in the city yesterday.

They were concerned about the situation and wanted to know when the crisis would end so they could plan their business here and make decision on placing orders, he said.

But the president of garment owners and exporters association could not give any proper reply as he was also uncertain about the future course of political crisis in Bangladesh.

“As the president of BGMEA, I could not give a proper answer to their questions and just told them that we were trying to keep supply normal taking special arrangements.”

When contacted later over phone, Atiqul Islam told Dhaka Tribune that they would observe the situation for next couple of days and take decision on how to tackle it for the sake of the RMG industry.

To reach the $27bn export target set for the current fiscal year, RMG industry needs to have a production of Tk700 crore per day, he said.

Besides, Atiqul Islam emphasised that it is also necessary to maintain a smooth supply chain to carry raw materials for achieving the export target.

He said Bangladesh needs 11%

growth to achieve the $50bn export target by 2021 in the garment sector.

About relocation, he said they lack necessary lands to relocate their factories.

Islam said 60% of the shared building factory owners have land for relocation while 40% are facing problems to find lands.

“The problem is that if we fail to relocate our factories to purpose-made buildings, the buyers won’t place or-

As the president of BGMEA, I could not give a proper answer to their questions and just told them that we were trying to keep supply normal taking special arrangements ders. Then the owners will have to shut down their factories,” BGMEA chief said. He said they have three years to complete remediation works of factories as the buyers set a 5-year plan to this end.

Besides, Atiqul Islam urged the government to negotiate tariff issues bilaterally as it could help bring down the existing duty rate.

“We need to sign bilateral agreements with those countries having business with us in this regard.”

The seminar was held on “Regulatory Challenges for Trade and Investment” organised by Policy Research Institute (PRI) in collaboration with Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK government. l

Inter-bank ATM transaction Saudi Arabia ready to reopen labour market charge goes up n Tribune Business Desk

n Tribune Report Banks’ clients under the National Payment Switch of Bangladesh (NPSB) would face higher charge for inter-bank ATM (automated teller machine) transactions from February 1.

The card-issuing banks would now pay Tk20 to booth owners for each transaction, but charge their clients the highest amount of Tk15, said a circular Bangladesh Bank issued yesterday.

At present, clients are charged Tk10 by their banks for the ATM transaction.

Earlier in March, Bangladesh Bank fixed the highest charge of each inter-bank ATM transaction at Tk10 for clients while they were being charged

at least Tk15.

Bangladesh Bank under the pressure of banks re-fixed the charge by extending the transaction cost.

According to the circular, the charge for balance inquiry or taking mini-statement by using ATM of other banks has been kept unchanged at Tk5 for clients.

The card-issuing banks would pay the same charge to those banks having booths for such activities. Banks would not be allowed to charge any additional fees from clients beyond the defined cost, said the circular.

The central bank’s charge would be applicable for all card-based ATM transactions held under NPSB. l

Ecnec approves six development projects n Tribune Report The government will set up a new dual gauge rail track on Dhaka-Narayanganj section at a cost of Tk378 crore and 66 lakh for improving rail communication between the two cities.

Under this project, 21.5km long dual gauge rail line will be established in parallel with the existing meter gauge rail track to pave the way for running 76 trains daily to carry some 93,000 passengers on this busy route.

Of the total cost, the government will provide Tk129 crore while Japan will provide the remaining Tk249 crore 55 lakh as grant. The Ministry of Railways will implement the project by June 2017.

The project was one of the six development projects worth Tk1,031 crore, which were approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic

Council (ECNEC) in its regular meeting held yesterday at the NEC conference room at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital with Prime Minister and ECNEC Chairperson Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

“Once the project is implemented, some 76 trains would be able to carry around 93,000 passengers on this busy railway route each day,” said Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal while briefing the reporters after the meeting.

Out of the six projects, two are new while four others are revised projects, the minister added.

Of the total six development projects, the government will finance over Tk695 crore from the national exchequer while the remaining Tk336 crore will come as project assistance.

The meeting also gave nod to the project titled “Construction of Labour Tower” involving Tk63 crore under which a 25-storey building will be built on city’s Syed Shaheed Nazrul Islam Avenue on 20 decimal of land, which will also be the tallest government building to be implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Employment by December 2017. l

Saudi Arabian Labour Minister Engineer Adel bin Muhammad Fakeih has expressed his country’s eagerness to reopen the labour market to Bangladeshi workers soon.

He also expressed the desire for close cooperation in the area of human resources during a meeting with Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain in Riyadh on Tuesday, according to a message received here.

The bilateral meeting between the two ministers was held in the backdrop of a longstanding impasse on labour export from Bangladesh.

During the meeting, the Saudi La-

bour Minister termed the existing relations between the two countries a time-tested and deep-rooted one with common history, faith, culture and traditions.

Both the ministers discussed at length manpower-related issues and agreed to enhance human resource development cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

Adel bin Muhammad Fakeih underscored the need for a transparent mechanism of recruitment process with online verification by all parties involved in the process.

In this regard, he proposed involvement of Skill Verification Services (SVS) in the recruitment process, particularly to secure the interest of both the employees and employers.

He proposed introducing a “life-cycle” monitoring system for domestic workers from the day they take up a job in Saudi Arabia, which is to be maintained until the end of their employment.

The Saudi minister also suggested developing an online portal, a repository of information related to workers from Bangladesh, for future use by the Ministry of Labour, the court and other authorities.

Khandker Mosharraf Hossain welcomed the proposals and expressed keen interest to work together for the implementation of these ideas.

He apprised the Saudi minister about the entire overseas recruitment process in Bangladesh where the government has introduced three-tier

Unrest, bureaucracy, regulatory drawbacks blamed for slow growth n

Tribune Report

“Strict” regulations, bureaucratic complexities and frequent political violence are the main reasons behind slow growth of local private and foreign direct investments in Bangladesh, said experts and investors at a seminar in Dhaka yesterday.

They urged the government to remove the problems to achieve over 7% economic growth by 2020.

The seminar titled “Regulatory Challenges for Trade and Investment” was organised by Policy Research Institute (PRI) in collaboration with Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK government.

PRI executive director Ahsan H Mansur moderated the event.

The discussants alleged the traders face a number of problems getting business licence and utility services.

They said the traders need to pay more money than the fixed fees to have the services and the process is also time-consuming.

“An apparel factory owner relocated his factory to Gazipur from the capital.

But he is now being refused gas connection to run the factory,” said BGMEA president Atiqul Islam.

PRI chairman Zaidi Sattar said a lot of investments are required to flourish trade and improve transport sector of the country.

He said Bangladesh needs to be integrated into the regional production networks and exploit global value chain.

He put stress on modernising port infrastructure and custom clearance process as well as streamlining the existing regulations.

The present BSTI regulations differ with other rules and regulations relating to food and agriculture Uzma Chowdhury, corporate finance director of PRAN Group, said due to cumbersome and strict regulations, the cost of doing business are going up.

She said the present BSTI regulations differ with other rules and regulations relating to food and agriculture.

Such regulatory differences have to be removed, she emphasised.

Uzma also called for making “balanced regulations” like garment industry for all sectors.

PRI vice chairman Sadiq Ahmed said the investment rate needs to go up from the present 26% of GDP to 32% to achieve 7% growth rate by 2020.

If the growth is expected at 8% rate

by 2020, the investment needs to be 36% of GDP, he said.

According to Sadiq Ahmed, the private investment rate should also grow from 21% of GDP now to at least 27% of GSDP. The public investment rate should climb to 9% of GDP from 6% now to achieve an 8% economic growth by the end of 2020, he said.

Bangladesh has seen good public sector investment but the private sector investment remains stagnant, said Mustafa K Mujeri, director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

He said: “We need both private and public sector investments to achieve desired economic growth rate.”

The economist emphasised the need to make the institutions more effective to support private sector growth.

Ex-commerce secretary Sohel Ahmed Chowdhury urged the government to reduce the time needed for registering proposed investment as such slow process is discouraging for attracting FDI. He also cited the country has a lot of regulatory challenges in doing business, which should be addressed.

Former secretary suggested the lands of closed jute and sugar factories be used for relocation of RMG factories.

“There should have a road map where we want to go,” he stressed. l

screening process, issuance of MRP and reduction of migration cost.

The two ministers also agreed on forming a Joint Consultative Committee with the objective of improving the recruitment process and resolving any outstanding issue whatsoever to maximise the interest of both the countries.

Deputy Minister of Labour Dr Ahmed Alfahaid and HRH Prince Saud Bin Talal were among the senior Saudi officials present in the meeting. From Bangladesh side, Senior Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Md Abul Kalam Azad, Bangladesh Ambassador to the KSA Md Shahidul Islam and Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Khandaker Md Iftekhar Haider were, among others, present at the meeting. l

EU lifts ban on Indian mangoes n AFP, Brussels The EU lifted an import ban on Indian mangoes yesterday after nine months in which New Delhi had raged over its forbidden fruit.

Brussels outlawed the mangoes in May after saying it had found pests, which could harm European crops in 207 Indian consignments of fruits and vegetables.

But a European Union inspection found that India has since tightened controls and also promised measures to keep bugs out of the fruit.

“The measures will allow the import of mango fruits before the start of the next import season in March 2015,” the European Commission said in a statement.

A ban on bitter gourds, eggplants and snake gourds from India will however remain in place pending evidence of steps to prevent infestation, the EU’s executive said.

India, the world’s largest mango exporter, had threatened to drag the 28-nation EU to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the “arbitrary” ban.

But mango growers in India’s bitter regional rival Pakistan had revelled in it, hoping to take a slice out of India’s market share.

The sweet yellow fruit is a contentious matter regionally, with both countries proclaiming it a national treasure and fighting over whose specimens are superior.l

B2

Stocks extend losses with volatility n Tribune Report

DSE LOSER Closing (% Change)

National Feed-N GeminiSeaFood-Z Northern Jute -Z Samata LeatheR -Z H.R. Textile -A Northern G Insur-A Daffodil Computers -Z GSP Finance-A Agni Systems -A Renwick Jajneswar-A

-9.41 -8.44 -8.12 -7.27 -5.00 -4.35 -4.26 -4.10 -4.06 -3.98

CSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

National Feed-N Islami Ins.BD-A Samata LeatheR -Z Anwar Galvanizing-B Rangpur Foundry -A Northern G Insur-A Peoples Insur -A Daffodil Computers -Z Continental Insur. -A Wata Chemicals -A

-9.72 -9.50 -8.18 -7.65 -6.60 -6.43 -6.34 -5.71 -5.58 -5.45

4856.94857

(-) 0.21%

1802.07390

(-) 0.09%

14875.32000

(-) 0.35%

12002.74400

(-) 0.29%

9005.81330

(-) 0.36%

Average (% Change) -9.78 -7.65 -7.39 -6.86 -4.28 -3.01 -3.22 -2.58 -3.12 -5.31 Average (% Change) -9.92 -9.50 -8.27 -7.65 -4.18 -4.69 -6.54 -4.92 -5.58 -1.77

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 40.12 249.06 245.97 20.49 26.82 26.78 13.51 30.91 33.56 214.69

ClosingAvg. 39.88 18.10 20.18 36.23 99.00 26.24 19.16 13.33 18.60 215.11

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 296.26 179.77 70.05 315.16 113.14 311.81 2.54 257.31 216.24 8.86 82.14 65.54 15.97 70.99 99.34 16.66 25.77 138.28 27.90 156.72 0.00

DHIGH 42.60 280.00 262.00 20.50 29.00 27.40 13.60 31.80 35.10 226.10

DHIGH

38.10 18.10 20.20 36.20 99.00 26.20 19.20 13.20 18.60 208.00

69,194,847

43.00 18.10 21.00 36.60 99.00 27.10 19.40 13.50 18.60 218.00

75,917

Traded Issues

310

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

75

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

229

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,592.34

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.42

CSE key features January 20, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka)

252.35

Turnover (Volume)

8,256,165

Number of Contract

13,255

Traded Issues

239

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

55

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

178

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,500.84

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.31

Turnover in Million

DLOW 38.00 245.00 241.70 20.20 26.00 26.30 13.20 30.20 32.60 212.00

37.50 18.10 20.10 35.90 99.00 25.30 19.00 13.20 18.60 208.00

Latest EPS

92.192 0.464 0.427 0.083 1.833 1.095 0.437 11.622 65.730 1.722

Turnover in Million

DLOW

% change 11.99 7.28 2.84 12.76 4.58 12.62 0.10 10.42 8.75 0.36 3.32 2.65 0.65 2.87 4.02 0.67 1.04 5.60 1.13 6.34 0.00

Million Taka 19.13 7.04 9.10 71.32 5.30 23.91 32.17 11.10 5.05 6.01 3.96 1.43 13.00 5.24 0.55 2.96 5.27 3.93 36.19 0.01

CSE

% change 7.28 2.68 3.47 27.15 2.02 9.10 0.00 12.25 4.22 1.92 2.29 1.51 0.54 4.95 2.00 0.21 1.13 2.01 1.50 13.78 0.00

1.37 1.39 1.00 0.05 1.98 2.77 1.16 1.59 1.32 1.64

Latest EPS

21.935 0.000 0.044 0.101 0.005 0.021 0.032 0.084 0.001 0.045

Million Taka 315.39 186.82 79.15 386.48 118.44 335.72 2.54 289.47 227.34 13.91 88.15 69.50 17.40 83.99 104.58 17.21 28.73 143.55 31.83 192.92 0.01

NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A Shampur Sugar -Z Quasem Drycells -A Shahjibazar Power-N National Tea -A Meghna PET Ind. -Z Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Modern Dyeing -Z IFIL Islamic M.F.1-A MBL 1st M. F.-A

Closing (% Change) 10.53 4.55 4.38 4.38 4.23 3.57 3.53 3.40 3.39 2.38

CSE GAINER

1.37 1.48 0.05 0.84 3.23 2.77 2.25 1.16 2.27 5.37

Latest PE 29.3 179.2 246.0 409.8 13.5 9.7 11.6 19.4 25.4 130.9

Total

Company NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A Quasem Drycells -A Standard Ceramic -A ACI ZERO Bond-A LR Global BD MF1-A IFIC 1st MF-A Prime Textile -A MutualTrust Bank-A AIMS First -A Brac Bank -A

Closing (% Change) 8.62 4.99 4.99 4.63 4.44 4.17 3.80 3.06 2.47 2.34

Average (% Change) 5.88 15.47 2.66 3.63 4.23 5.00 4.44 6.38 1.35 0.94 Average (% Change) 7.71 1.11 4.90 3.44 0.85 4.17 3.75 1.43 1.38 2.17

ClosingAvg. 6.12 10.00 65.73 207.28 740.00 5.88 8.70 106.38 6.02 4.30

ClosingAvg. 6.29 64.70 40.00 993.50 4.73 5.00 19.10 19.88 28.56 39.04

Closing 6.30 9.20 66.70 209.90 740.00 5.80 8.80 103.40 6.10 4.30

Closing 6.30 65.20 40.00 1005.00 4.70 5.00 19.10 20.20 29.00 39.30

DHIGH 6.30 9.50 67.40 212.90 740.00 5.90 8.80 105.00 6.10 4.40

DHIGH 6.30 66.20 40.00 1005.00 4.80 5.00 19.10 20.20 29.00 39.60

DLOW 5.90 9.20 63.00 201.50 740.00 5.80 8.70 102.10 5.70 4.20

DLOW 6.10 64.10 40.00 982.00 4.60 4.90 19.10 19.70 28.10 38.40

Turnover in Million 36.314 0.001 34.648 18.541 0.001 0.025 0.010 0.015 2.620 0.812

Turnover in Million 2.105 0.487 0.006 0.002 0.512 0.194 0.038 0.182 0.233 1.458

Latest EPS 0.43 -52.72 2.24 9.00 -6.49 -0.44 -47.80 -2.16 1.52 0.12

Latest EPS 0.43 2.24 0.60 0.00 0.08 0.48 1.04 2.45 1.70 3.83

Latest PE 14.2 -ve 29.3 23.0 -ve -ve -ve -ve 4.0 35.8

Latest PE 14.6 28.9 66.7 59.1 10.4 18.4 8.1 16.8 10.2

News, analysis and recent disclosures HRTEX: The Board of Directors has recommended 12.50% cash dividend for the year ended on September 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 31.03.2015, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Spectra Convention Centre Ltd., House 19, Road 7, Gulshan 1, Dhaka-1212. Record date: 12.02.2015. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 1.98, NAV per share of Tk. 16.20 and NOCFPS of Tk. 6.98 for the year ended on September 30, 2014.

MARICO: The Board of Directors of the Company has declared 225% interim cash dividend for the year ending on 31 March 2015 based on 9 months financials for the period ended on 31 December, 2014.

Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 29.01.2015.

MARICO: (Q3): Profit after tax from Oct14 to Dec14 was Tk. 283.13 million with EPS of Tk. 8.99 as against 346.76 million with EPS of Tk. 11.01 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Profit after tax from Apr14 to Dec14 was Tk. 1,151.02 million with EPS of Tk. 36.54 as against Tk. 1,099.25 million and Tk. 34.90

respectively for the same period of the previous year.

FIRSTSBANK: The Company has informed that it has credited the Rights shares to the respective shareholders BO Accounts on January 18, 2015.

SAIFPOWER: The Company has informed that it has purchased equipments amounting of Tk. 201.50 million to operate the Kamlapur-Inland Container Deport. The Contract had been obtained by the Company before IPO. 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 29.1 12.2 403.6 43.1 30.7 9.5 8.5 11.5 8.2 40.1

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange was Tk247 crore, down more than 13% over the previous session

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

38.50 245.30 243.40 20.40 26.60 26.40 13.50 30.40 33.10 212.30

Closing

2,471.73

Number of Contract

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index :

Company

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

DSE GAINER

DSE key features January 20, 2015

second trading day, lost more than 9% after jumping more than 300% on its face value of Tk10 a share in the debut day.

The major sectors posted mixed performance. Non-banking financial institutions registered the highest loss of the session falling over 2%.

Tannery, pharmaceuticals, telecommunication, power, textile and engineering also closed lower.

Among the positive performing sectors, tannery gained highest of 1.4%, followed by bank, food & allied and cement.

Lanka Bangla Securities said investors rushed in panic sell making the market trading in red for the third consecutive sessions.

Negative market sentiment continued to batter market, it said.

However, few sector-specific stocks made some gain as some traders considered the market weakness as an opportunity to buy.

IDLC Investments said downbeat extended further naturally, for another day amid political deadlock.

As supply chain stalls, so does activity in the prime bourse, totaling a turnover of slightly below Tk250 crore.

National Feed Mills Limited remained most attractive stocks for the second consecutive session since its debut on Monday. Its shares worth Tk9.3 crore changed hands.

It was followed by Grameenphone, Agni System, Western Marine Shipyard, Lafarge Surma Cement, IDLC and Titas Gas. l

Stocks extended losses for the third consecutive session with volatility yesterday, as political unrest continued to dampen investors’ sentiment.

The market struggled to remain in the positive territory in the morning, but failed to sustain as bears beat bulls at the end. The intraday volatility was 43 points.

The benchmark index DSEX was down 10 points or 0.3% to close at 4,856, hitting highest 4,889 in the early session and lowest 4,845 just before the final session.

The Shariah index DSES inched 2 points or 0.3% down to 1,150. The comprising blue chips DS30 closed at 1,802, shedding 1 point.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, dropped 33 points to 9,005.

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange was Tk247 crore, down more than 13% over the previous session.

The low turnover indicated that investors also continued to remain cautious over the present political upheaval that hit business and supply chain.

The country is severely suffering from non-stop blockade called by the 20-party alliance, demanding since January 5 for fresh national election.

The market breadth also remained negative as out of 310 issues traded, 79 closed positive, 190 negative and 41 remained unchanged.

National Feed Mills Limited, in its

Company

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

% change 11.54 6.84 2.90 14.14 4.33 12.28 0.09 10.59 8.32 0.51 3.23 2.54 0.64 3.07 3.83 0.63 1.05 5.25 1.16 7.06 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

Grameenphone-A National Feed-N Agni Systems -A Bata Shoe Ltd. -A WesternMarine -N LafargeS Cement-Z IDLC Finance -A Titas Gas TDCLA BD Building Systems -A SAIF Powertec-N

Olympic Ind. -A Brac Bank -A MJL BD Ltd.-A Alltex Industries -Z Beximco Pharma -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Bengal Windsor-A National Feed-N LafargeS Cement-Z BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Alltex Industries -Z WesternMarine -N Meghna Petroleum -A Agni Systems -A Appollo Ispat CL -N BD Submarine Cable-A

SummitAlliancePort.-A Tung Hai Knitting -N AB Bank 1st Mutual F-A Summit Purbanchol P-N UNITED AIR-A

VolumeShares 353,915 2,297,675 1,958,533 50,313 1,135,575 447,165 697,006 670,735 960,976 612,295

Value in Million 124.90 92.19 65.73 60.38 60.36 57.92 55.22 52.27 49.51 44.62

% of TotalTurnover 5.06 3.73 2.66 2.44 2.44 2.34 2.24 2.12 2.00 1.81

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

181,723 1,051,134 327,976 1,201,687 611,213 1,093,190

794,720 550,003 89,335 312,593 321,852 181,670 30,709 110,756 188,543 33,844

42,793 153,725 449,122 52,939 299,822

43.05 41.14 39.24 37.06 36.49 36.46

43.86 21.94 11.57 10.45 9.94 9.65 6.41 3.72 3.71 3.42

3.10 2.90 2.80 2.70 2.66

1.74 1.67 1.59 1.50 1.48 1.48

17.50 8.75 4.62 4.17 3.97 3.85 2.56 1.49 1.48 1.37

1.24 1.16 1.12 1.08 1.06

ClosingP 352.10 38.50 33.10 1208.10 52.70 129.30 78.70 77.40 50.80 71.70

238.10 39.30 118.80 30.40 59.00 32.90

ClosingP

55.20 38.10 129.20 32.90 30.10 52.50 206.60 33.10 19.50 100.20

70.80 18.80 6.10 51.00 8.90

Change % -0.25 -9.41 -4.06 2.25 -1.13 0.54 -1.38 -0.51 -3.24 -0.55

0.80 2.08 -1.82 -3.49 -1.50 -2.66

Change %

-2.82 -9.72 0.54 -2.66 -3.83 -1.32 0.73 -3.78 -1.02 -0.89

-2.61 -1.57 1.67 1.39 1.14

ClosingY 353.00 42.50 34.50 1181.50 53.30 128.60 79.80 77.80 52.50 72.10

236.20 38.50 121.00 31.50 59.90 33.80 ClosingY

56.80 42.20 128.50 33.80 31.30 53.20 205.10 34.40 19.70 101.10

72.70 19.10 6.00 50.30 8.80

DHIGH 354.80 42.60 35.10 1210.00 55.00 131.90 80.50 80.00 53.20 77.70

239.80 39.70 122.50 32.40 60.50 34.20

DHIGH

57.00 43.00 134.80 34.40 32.30 55.00 212.00 34.90 20.20 99.80

74.30 19.40 6.30 51.80 8.90

DLOW 350.00 38.00 32.60 1192.50 52.40 128.40 77.80 77.20 50.50 70.90

235.00 38.30 117.90 29.90 58.50 32.60 DLOW

55.00 37.50 128.40 32.70 29.70 52.00 206.20 32.50 19.40 100.00

70.50 18.60 6.10 50.40 8.80

AvgPrice 352.90 40.12 33.56 1200.13 53.16 129.52 79.22 77.93 51.52 72.87

236.91 39.14 119.63 30.84 59.69 33.35

AvgPrice

55.19 39.88 129.53 33.42 30.90 53.13 208.80 33.62 19.66 101.11

72.36 18.89 6.24 50.92 8.86

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

IMF cuts global growth outlook The global lender calls for accommodative policy to support economic growth

n Reuters The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for global economic growth in 2015, and called yesterday for governments and central banks to pursue accommodative monetary policies and structural reforms to support growth.

Global growth is projected at 3.5% for 2015 and 3.7% for 2016, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report, lowering its forecast by 0.3 percentage points for both years.

“New factors supporting growth, lower oil prices, but also depreciation of euro and yen, are more than offset by persistent negative forces, including the lingering legacies of the crisis and lower potential growth in many countries,” Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s chief economist, said in a statement.

The IMF advised advanced economies to maintain accommodative monetary policies to avoid increasing real interest rates as cheaper oil heightens the risk of deflation.

If policy rates could not be reduced further, the IMF recommended pursuing an accommodative policy “through other means”.

The United States was the lone bright spot in an otherwise gloomy report for major economies, with its projected growth raised to 3.6% from 3.1% for 2015.

The United States largely offset prospects of more weakness in the euro area, where only Spain’s growth was adjusted upward.

Projections for emerging economies were also broadly cut back, with the outlook for oil exporters Russia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia worsening the most.

The drop in world oil prices, which have fallen more than 50% since June,

IMF welcomes slower growth as China rebalances economy n Reuters The slowdown in China’s economy reflects a welcomed decision by the Chinese government to re-balance the world’s second-largest economy, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday.

Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s chief economist, made the remarks at a news conference after the fund released its world economic outlook.

Blanchard’s comments followed data from China that showed the Chinese economy grew 7.3% in the fourth quarter, hovering near a six-year low not seen since the global financial crisis. l

is largely the result of OPEC not cutting supplies, a decision that is unlikely to change, Blanchard said.

“We expect the decrease in price to be quite persistent,” he told reporters at a news conference launching the report. “We expect some return, some increase, but surely not an increase back to levels where we were, say, six months ago.”

The IMF predicts that a slowdown in China will draw a more limited policy response as authorities in Beijing will be more concerned with the risks of rapid credit and investment growth.

Slower 2015 growth in China “reflects the welcome decision by the authorities to take care some of the imbalances which are in place and the desire to reorient the economy towards consumption and away from the real estate sector and shadow banking,” Blanchard said.

The IMF also cut projections for Brazil and India.

The forecasts are far rosier than World Bank predictions last week that the global economy would grow 3% this year and 3.3% in 2016.

Lower oil prices will give central banks in emerging economies leeway to delay raising benchmark interest rates, although “macroeconomic policy space to support growth remains limited,” the report said.

Falling prices will also give countries a chance to reform energy subsidies and taxes, the IMF said.

The prospects of commodity importers and exporters will further diverge.

Oil exporters can draw on funds they amassed when prices were high and can further allow for substantial depreciation in their currencies to dull the economic shock of plunging prices.

The report is largely in line with remarks by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde last week, in which she said falling oil prices and strong US growth were unlikely to make the IMF more upbeat.

The euro zone and Japan could suffer a long period of weak growth and dangerously low inflation, she said.

Both Lagarde and the report indicated that money flowing back to the US as it tightens monetary policy could contribute to volatile financial markets in emerging economies.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to begin raising interest rates some time this year. l

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich

Gold near four-month high on worries over Europe, global economy n Reuters Gold held firm just below a four-month high yesterday, underpinned by safehaven bids on market volatility stoked by uncertainty over Europe’s economy and global growth worries.

Traders were awaiting the European Central Bank policy meeting tomorrow, which could see the unveiling of a bond-buying stimulus package.

The Sunday election in Greece, where the anti-bailout party Syriza maintains a lead in the polls, also added to nervousness in the market.

Spot gold was steady at $1,277.16 an

ounce at 0318 GMT, after easing 0.2% on Monday. The metal had jumped to a September peak of $1,281.50 on Friday, after a broad market rout prompted by Switzerland’s unexpected move abandoned a cap on the franc.

“The expectation is gold will move higher towards $1,300, however we are likely to see a profit taking driven pull back with support for such a move lower sitting around $1,250,” said MKS Group trader Sam Laughlin.

“The market will be watching the ECB meeting on Thursday for any quantitative easing announcement and if announced we should see moderate

Japan, Thai firms invest $10.4bn in China’s Citic n AFP, Tokyo Japanese trading house Itochu said yesterday that it is teaming up with Thai agricultural giant Charoen Pokphand Group to invest $10.4bn in Chinese conglomerate Citic Group.

The deal would see the pair acquire a 10% stake in Citic for HK$34.4bn ($4.4bn) and invest another HK$45.9bn in convertible preferred shares, which could ultimately double the size of their stake in the Chinese firm.

By investing in politically-connected Citic, the firms would likely gain easier access to highly regulated Chinese business sectors, including resource development, logistics and real estate.

“Itochu Group has always weighed

REUTERS

emphasis in Asia, but the China market has been considered as most important of all, and has been actively expanding trade and construction of strategic cooperation with leading local businesses,” Itochu said in a statement. “(The three firms) are highly complementary with each other and match well either in terms of business layout or scale, and the combination of strength will help to bring about more synergies from the strategic cooperation...in the ever-expanding China and Asia markets.”

Itochu is Japan’s third-biggest trading house with distribution networks worldwide, and has strong links to China - its former chief executive Uichiro Niwa previously served as Japan’s am-

bassador to China.

CP Group was founded by billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, who with his siblings grew the family business into Thailand’s biggest agribusiness company, which makes animal feed and operates a range of pig, chicken and seafood farms.

Citic is involved in a variety of industries, including banking, brokerage services, real estate and construction.

For Citic, which has focused largely on the domestic market, a deal could help it tap new markets in emerging economies such as Africa and Latin America, using Itochu’s and CP’s vast networks in food distribution and resource development, Japan’s leading Nikkei business daily reported. l

demand for the yellow metal.”

The uncertainties have seen investors piling on to gold. Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchangetraded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, climbed 13.7 tonnes to 730.89 tonnes on Friday, its biggest one-day inflow in nearly 3-1/2 years.

Also adding to gold’s appeal as a hedge was growing worries over the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday lowered its forecast for global economic growth in 2015, and called on governments and central banks to pursue accommodative mon-

etary policies and structural reforms to support growth.

However, in a rare glint of brightness amid the gloom over the global outlook, China reported its economy had not slowed as much as many had feared.

China’s economic growth held steady at 7.3% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, slightly better than expected but still hovering at its weakest since the global financial crisis.

Asian equities were higher after the Chinese data, while the dollar ticked up on weakness in the euro, keeping bullion’s gains in check. l

CORPORATE NEWS

Smart Technologies (BD) Ltd has recently became an authorised distributor for Microsoft Open Licensing Program (OLP) in Bangladesh. Rumesa Hussain, sales executive of Microsoft Partner has exchanged the agreement with Mohammad Zahirul Islam, managing director of STBL

Yen slips in Asia following China data n AFP, Tokyo

The yen slipped in Asia yesterday as confidence was boosted by betterthan-expected Chinese growth data, while the euro struggled against the dollar on expectations for more European Central Bank stimulus.

In Tokyo, the dollar rose to 118.30 yen against 117.53 yen in London on Monday, while the euro edged up to 136.98 yen from 136.69 yen.

The single currency weakened to $1.1577 from $1.1630.

Official data yesterday showed China’s economy - the world’s second biggest - expanded 7.4% in 2014. While that marked the lowest annual growth in 24 years, it beat a 7.2% median forecast in an AFP survey of 15 economists.

“Markets took Chinese data to be

slightly stronger than expected,” Shusuke Yamada, a strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.

'The euro has limited downside in the near-term given that markets already priced in the ECB’s bond buying' “That’s underpinning (the) dollaryen which is seen to have a firm correlation with risk sentiment.”

Investors tend to move into the yen during times of uncertainty and turmoil.

ECB policymakers hold their much-

anticipated meeting on Thursday and analysts broadly expect it to announce a bond-buying scheme aimed at kickstarting lending in the struggling eurozone.

Those expectations have hammered the euro, which last week fell below $1.1500 for the first time in more than 11 years before recovering slightly.

Chronically low inflation across the eurozone has fuelled concern the region could slip into deflation - a sustained and widespread drop in prices and has led to speculation that the ECB would be forced to act.

But the euro may drift higher if details of the bank’s stimulus fail to surprise investors, said Yuji Kameoka, chief foreign exchange strategist at Daiwa Securities.

“The euro has limited downside in

the near-term given that markets already priced in the ECB’s bond buying,” he said.

Dealers are also keeping an eye on Greece where an anti-austerity party is leading opinion polls ahead of a general election at the weekend, leading to fears the country could eventually exit the eurozone.

The dollar strengthened against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It rose to 1,085.60 South Korean won from 1,077.00 won on Monday, to Sg$1.3379 from Sg$1.3276, and to 12,640.00 Indonesian rupiah from 12,600.30 rupiah.

The dollar also firmed to Tw$31.59 from Tw$31.50, to 32.71 Thai baht from 32.55 baht, and to 61.79 Indian rupees from 61.67 rupees. It was flat at 44.67 Philippine pesos. l

Executive committee of Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited has recently held its 604th meeting at its head office. The meeting was presided over by Alhaj Akkasuddin Mollah, chairperson of the committee

Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited has recently held its annual business conference for the on-going year. The bank’s chairperson, Md Yousuf Ali Howlader was present at the conference as chief guest

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

China posts slowest growth in 24 years n Reuters China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 24 years in 2014 as a cooling property market weighed on demand and is expected to lose more momentum this year, keeping pressure on policymakers to head off a sharper downturn.

But analysts said a slightly betterthan-expected performance in the fourth quarter could temper Beijing’s policy response, if the government and central bank believe the strains on the world’s second-largest economy are starting to ease.

China’s economy grew 7.4% in 2014, official data showed yesterday, barely missing its official 7.5% target but the slowest since 1990. It expanded 7.7% in 2013.

Fourth-quarter growth held steady at 7.3% from a year earlier, marginally better than expected, though it cooled from the previous three months.

Few had expected China to meet its 7.5% full-year target, but the performance was better than feared at one point when credit collapsed, bad loans spiked and key activity indicators fell to multi-year lows.

A series of modest support measures from the government over the year helped stave off worries of a more dramatic slowdown, without fueling a sharp rise in China’s mountain of debt which the country’s leaders are trying to avoid.

“This is the best possible miss you could have from a messaging standpoint,” said Andrew Polk, economist at the Conference Board in Beijing.

“The government is saying, ‘we’re not married to this specific target, we missed it and we’re okay.’ That seems to me a quite positive development.”

However, Polk said the figure was difficult to square with more negative signs emerging from other parts of the economy.

China’s property market - a major driver of demand across a range of domestic industries - has proven stub-

Schaeuble: No need to worry about stability of the euro zone n Reuters German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday during a visit to India that there was no need for concern about the euro zone, despite a decline in the value of the currency in recent weeks.

Schaeuble said his message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in talks due later on Monday would be “that there is no need to worry about the stability and future development of the European currency union”.

“Global concerns about the development of Europe are just a fraction of what they were in 2010,” said the German minister. l

More easing or less?

The China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters (tallest building on L) and other office buildings are pictured in Beijing's central business district bornly unresponsive to policy support, and lending data from the banking system shows enduring weakness despite policymakers’ repeated and varied attempts to boost investment.

The weak property market and high funding costs remain key risks facing the economy in 2015.

Policymakers also are concerned about the potential onset of a deflationary cycle, aggravated by plummeting energy prices, industrial overcapacity

and sluggish demand.

At the same time, there may be a looming crisis among debt-sodden local governments, which are facing strains from sliding property sales, on which they rely for much of their revenue.

In another worrying sign, power output growth in China, used by some as a proxy for economic performance, posted its slowest growth rate since 1998 at 3.2%.

Better than expected

December data posted numerous upside surprises after a weak November.

Factory output rose 7.9% versus expectations for 7.4%, while retail sales rose 11.9%, above predictions of 11.7%.

However, growth in fixed asset investment, a key growth driver, eased to 15.7% in the whole of 2014 from the previous year, below forecasts for a 15.8% rise, hovering near a 13-year low.

Underscoring the drag on the econ-

Malaysia trims economic sails in wake of oil price rout n AFP, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia yesterday trimmed its 2015 growth forecast and said its fiscal deficit would be wider than expected after the sharp fall in global oil prices threw a wrench in the petroleum-exporting nation’s economic plans.

Prime Minister Najib Razak called the situation a “reality check” but assured Malaysians the country was not in trouble, unveiling measures he said would keep Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy moving forward.

“We are not in crisis. Indeed, we are taking pre-emptive measures following the changes in the external global economic landscape which are beyond our control,” Najib said in a nationally televised address.

Najib said the government had lowered its growth estimate to a 4.5-5.5% range, from an earlier projection of up to 6 percent. The target for reducing the fiscal deficit was also tempered to 3.2% of GDP, from an earlier 3% target stated in a 2015 budget tabled three months ago.

World oil prices have plummeted by more than 50% in recent months, dragging the ringgit currency to around sixyear lows. The stock market has stumbled and business confidence has slid, according to surveys.

Malaysia derives 30 percent of state income from energy exports and pressure had been growing for government steps to assuage rising concerns over the economy.

Many consumers complain of in-

creasing difficulty making ends meet, particularly after a range of subsidies were lifted on key goods, and with the introduction of a consumption tax looming on April 1.

Najib announced steps to promote trade, tourism, investment, and domestic consumption while also reducing business costs, and said hundreds of millions of dollars would be allocated for recovery efforts in parts of northern Malaysia that were hit by devastating floods beginning late last month.

In light of the global economic headwinds, the World Bank recently shaved its GDP growth forecast for Malaysia to 4.7% from an earlier 4.9%, still enviable, but off the historic pace for the Southeast Asian “tiger” economy. l

REUTERS

omy from the housing sector, investment growth in real estate slowed to a five-year low and new construction slumped, even as sales improved at the end of the year.

“We think (property) sales may improve somewhat but for me, what is important is construction.

"I don’t see housing starts picking up till next year ... given that there’s a lot of inventory,” said UBS economist Wang Tao in Beijing.

A further slowdown in China could hinder the chances of a revival in global growth in 2015, which right now is being led by what the World Bank calls the “single engine” of strong hiring and activity in the United States.

With China’s growth seen cooling further to 7% this year or less, according to a Reuters poll, more support measures are still expected, though economists are divided over how much more will be needed.

“The overall numbers lower the need for further stimulus, although there remains some room for easing as risks are still skewed to the downside,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, economist at Credit Agricole in Hong Kong.

He expected the central bank to cut interest rates again in the first quarter, after a surprise move in November, and slash banks’ required reserve ratio (RRR) by 100 basis points in the first half of 2015 to spur more lending.

Others, however, think Beijing may have to get more aggressive, even at risk of reinflating asset bubbles, given the need to reduce debt burdens at Chinese companies which are inhibiting them from fresh investments.

“I don’t expect monetary policy to accelerate growth, though” said Wang of UBS. “Final demand in the economy is very weak and it’s unlikely that the corporate sector will take this credit and invest in new projects, so containing financial risk and stabilising growth is the trend for this year.”

Market reaction

Chinese stock markets rose more than 1 % after the data, after posting their worst loss in more than 6 years on Monday as authorities clamped down on lending which was being used to speculate on stocks.

Expectations of further stimulus made China’s stocks the best performers in the world in 2014, with gains exceeding 50%. l

Russia capital flight more than doubled in 2014 to $151bn n AFP, Moscow Net capital outflows from Russia more than doubled in 2014 to $151.5bn, prompted by the Ukraine crisis and the plunging value of the ruble, according to statistics from the central bank.

Russia in 2013 had already seen its high level of capital flight, a recurring problem for the country, reach $61bn.

In early December, the central bank estimated that capital flight would amount to $128bn but it was pushed higher by the ruble’s steep plunge at the end of the year on the back of falling oil prices and growing panic as people rushed to exchange their savings.

Just in the fourth quarter of 2014, capital outflows amounted to $72.9bn, compared to $16.9bn in the same period a year earlier. The central bank said that the fig-

ure was augmented by foreign currency loans given to banks for the first time to help them withstand the ruble’s fall.

“That means $19.8bn of the capital flight is temporary,” it said in a statement sent to AFP on Monday.

Russia’s current account surplus, the broadest measure of the country’s trade with the rest of the world, reached $56.7bn in 2014, up from $34.1bn in 2013. The capital outflow was accelerated by the payment of debts owed abroad by Russian banks and companies, which have had their access to capital markets cut by sanctions linked to the Ukraine crisis.

“In 2015, it’s expected that payments on the external debt will fall, which should have a positive effect on the figures for capital flight,” the central bank said. l

Twitter buys Indian mobile Iran: OPEC oil industry could withstand $25 crude marketing start-up ZipDial n Reuters

n

Reuters

Twitter Inc yesterday said it will buy Indian mobile phone marketing startup ZipDial, reportedly for $30mn to $40mn, as the US microblogging service looks to expand in the world’s second-biggest mobile market.

Bengaluru-based ZipDial gives clients phone numbers for use in marketing campaigns. Consumers call the numbers and hang up before connecting and incurring charges, and then receive promotion-related text messages.

The start-up’s clients include International Business Machines Corp, Yum! Brands Inc’s KFC and Procter & Gamble Co’s Gillette.

The service capitalises on a local tradition of communicating through socalled missed calls. A person may give a friend a missed call to signal arrival at an agreed destination, for instance, without having to pay the cost of a phone call.

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Such “unique behaviour” was behind ZipDial, the start-up said in a statement announcing the Twitter deal.

Twitter did not disclose terms of the purchase. Techcrunch, citing unidentified sources, reported the deal at $30mn to $40mn.

“This acquisition significantly increases our investment in India, one of the countries where we’re seeing great growth,” Twitter said in a statement.

The acquisition is the latest in India by global tech giants who have snapped up companies in a fledgling startup scene, concentrated in the tech hub of Bengaluru in southern India.

Last year, Facebook Inc bought Little Eye Labs, a start-up that builds performance analysis and monitoring tools for mobile apps. Yahoo!

Inc bought Bookpad, whose service allows developers to add document viewing and editing to their own applications. l

Iran sees no sign of a shift within OPEC toward action to support oil prices, its oil minister said, adding its oil industry could ride out a further price slump to $25 a barrel.

The comments are a further sign that despite lobbying by Iran and Venezuela, there is little chance of collective action by the 12-member OPEC to prop up prices - entrenching the reluctance of individual members to curb their own supplies. In remarks posted on the Iranian oil ministry’s website SHANA, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh called for increased cooperation between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

“Iran has no plan (to hold an emergency OPEC meeting) and is currently in consultations with other OPEC member states in a bid to prevent the sharp fall in the oil price, but these consultations have yet to bear fruit,” he said.

Oil has plunged by more than half since June 2014 to below $50 a barrel on Monday, pressured by a global glut and OPEC’s refusal at its last meeting in November to cut its output.

OPEC decided against a production cut despite misgivings from non-Gulf members such as Iran and Venezuela, after top producer Saudi Arabia argued the group needed to defend market share against US shale oil and other competing sources.

Since the meeting, lobbying by Iran for a cut and a diplomatic tour by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh wave to journalists as he arrives for a meeting of OPEC oil ministers at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna REUTERS

failed to soften the stance of the Gulf members, who can live with relatively low oil prices.

Reinforcing the impasse, the Gulf members are frustrated with the position of other countries, who call for

supply cuts but do not offer any themselves. Zanganeh said Iran had no plans to cut its own oil production and that it had no further meetings with Saudi Arabia - Iran’s main political rival in the Gulf - since the OPEC meeting.

Last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said countries behind the price fall would regret their decision and warned that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would suffer alongside Iran from the price drop. l