18 march, 2015

SECOND EDITION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015| Chaitra 4, 1421, Jamadiul Awal 26, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 2, No 342 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 8-page Treehouse | Price: Tk10

HASINA URGES KHALEDA FS TO JOIN BLUE TO STOP VIOLENCE PAGE 3 ECONOMY CONFCE

PAGE 5

GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES ‘MUJIB’ RELEASED PAGE 32

Rough justice: 22 lynched by mobs in 2 months Shakib wants Tigers to be fearless n Mazhar Uddin from Melbourne

A riot-ready policeman baton charges a civilian on mere suspicion of involvement in wrongdoing. The strain of blockade duty and an increase in vigilantism has meant that increasing numbers of innocent bystanders have been victimised by both street mobs and law enforcers File photo/RAJIB DHAR

But many of those who have been victims of vigilante justice were innocent passersby, claim relatives n Mohammad Jamil Khan Around midday on February 19, machinery trader Sabbir Hossain Sayem was going home to Narinda in Old Dhaka from Karwan Bazar on a rickshaw.

When he reached the Shapla intersection in Motijheel, a hand-made bomb went off nearby. He jumped off the rickshaw and tried to run to safety but on-duty police started chasing him down, thinking he was the one who exploded the bomb, and eventually got hold of him.

When the law enforcers were taking him

PAGE 3 Salahuddin’s wife to seek PM’s intervention

towards a nearby police outpost, an angry mob grabbed him and started beating him up right in front of the lawmen.

Needless to say, neither the mob nor the police personnel were in any mood to hear Sayem’s desperate cries that he had absolutely nothing to do with the blast.

Sayem is now undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) with one of his kidneys badly damaged from the beating.

His family owns a shop named “Digital Machinery” in the Sundarban Square mall in Gulistan in the capital.

PAGE 6 KSA to blacklist employers for abusing housemaids

On that day, Sayem went to deliver a digital scale to a shop named “Shajahan Hardware” in Karwan Bazar. This Dhaka Tribune correspondent went to that shop and confirmed that Sayem had gone there that day, delivered the package and received Tk15,500 as payment.

Ershad Mollah, a staff of Digital Machinery, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Sayem is a very gentle person. This much I can confirm because I know him from close quarters. It is hard to believe that he could set off bombs.”

According to Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK),

Ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan wants Bangladesh to be fearless when they take on neighbours India in the second quarter-final of the 2015 ICC World Cup tomorrow at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The most-talked-about topic among the Bangladeshi and Indian journalists in a press conference yesterday was Bangladesh’s historic win over India in the 2007 ICC World Cup and Shakib believes it was the fearless approach that enabled the Tigers to defeat their fierce rivals and in the process oust them from the flagship event in the first hurdle.

“I think we played fearless cricket [when Bangladesh beat India eight years ago] and we all want to play that brand of cricket again,” Shakib told the media yesterday.

“And, so far in this World Cup, I think we have been fearless. If we do exactly what we did against England and New Zealand, I think we will have a very good game,” he added.

Shakib refused to read too much into India’s form. The Indians are one of only two sides in the ongoing World Cup with an unbeaten record, the other being cohosts New Zealand, but Shakib thinks anything can happen on the field on any given day.

“It depends on the day. We need to start  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PAGE 8 Removal of BGB camp from Dighinala demanded

PAGE 10 Israelis vote as ‘King Bibi’s’ reign hangs in the balance

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Avijit murder probe: Top FBI official in city n UNB A high official of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrived in Dhaka yesterday to help investigate the killing of secular blogger-writer Avijit Roy. A high officer of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrival of the FBI official. The officer, who preferred not to be named, could not say when the FBI officer landed in Dhaka.

Talking to reporters at his Minto Road headquarters on Monday, Joint Commissioner

of DB Monirul Islam said a high FBI official would arrive in the city very soon.

On March 4, a four-member FBI team arrived in Dhaka to assist the Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies to investigate the murder case. They are still in Dhaka. All physical evidence of the incident have already been handed over to the FBI team for DNA tests.

On February 26, Avijit, founder of Mukta-Mona blog, was hacked to death and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya injured seriously by unidentified assailants them at TSC intersection on Dhaka University campus.l

Fire destroys five courier service offices in CEPZ n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Offices of five international courier services in Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) were gutted yesterday in a fire caused by an electrical short circuit.

The affected courier services – TNT, DHL, FedEx, Aramex and UPS – were all located in a tin-shed building located near CEPZ main gate, which used to be an office of Bepza, sources at the CEPZ said.

As yesterday was a public holiday, there were no goods stored in the offices, but some official documents and furnitures were damaged in the fire, said officials of the affected courier services, fire service, Bepza, and Industrial Police.

The fire originated in the office of TNT courier service around 11:35am and soon engulfed the other courier offices, said Yahiya Akhter, assistant director at Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters in Chittagong.

“Notified of the fire, 10 units of fire fighters from EPZ, Bandar and Agrabad fire stations, as well as two units from the nearby Bangladesh Navy base, rushed to the spot and doused the fire around 2:45pm,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Meanwhile, Additional Police Superintendent Tofael Ahmed, deputy director of Chittagong Industrial Police, quoted witnesses saying the building’s electric wires accidentally caught fire when some CEPZ cleaners were burning waste behind the building, resulting in the short circuit.

But Khorshed Alam, general manager at Bepza Chittagong, refuted the witness’ account and said the building, which was built in the 80s, was in a shabby state and its electric wiring might have been damaged, which caused the short circuit and consequently a fire.

“Only the ceiling and electric wires of the building were damaged in the incident, while most of the furniture and other valuables were salvaged ,” he added. l

Water level in the Padma has suddenly risen 39 centimetres in the past two days after a lock gate of Farakka barrage in India collapsed on Sunday night. The excess water has started eroding the river bank.

The photo was taken at Naba Ganga point of Poba upazila, Rajshahi yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

NUN GANG-RAPE

Protesters block Mamata’s convoy, demand detective probe n Tribune Desk West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s convoy was blocked by angry protesters on Monday who demanded justice for the 71-year-old nun who was gangraped, Hindustan Times reported.

The protesters demanded an Indian Criminal Bureau of Investigation probe into the incident.

The blockade took place at Mission gate on NH34 while she was returning from Ranaghat.

“BJP is behind this incident (the blockade).

I am not afraid. If you have the guts, come and touch me. I am challenging CPI(M) and BJP,” the chief minister was heard shouting at the spot.

“I will stay put here. Let me see how long can they detain me,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee asked the police not to use force to disperse the protesters.

“A few hundred locals organised a rally to mark protest against the rape of the nun.

When the CM’s convoy was heading towards Kolkata from the hospital it came in front of the rally. Realising it was the CM’s convoy, they suddenly blocked it and few of them started banging the front door of the car asking for her statement,” said a police officer.

The protesters also expressed anger on chief minister’s statement that two persons have already been arrested. Police has only detained 10 people till now. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Rough justice: 22 lynched by mobs in 2 months a human rights body, at least 22 people have been lynched by vigilante mobs around the country in the past two months – 13 of them in January and nine in February.

ASK sources said most of these people were caught by angry mobs on suspicion that they might have been involved in the ongoing political violence.

Since the BNP-led alliance started enforcing blockade and hartals on January 6, at least 88 people have been killed, most of them burned to death mainly in arson attacks on crowded vehicles.

From the beginning, ministers, ruling party leaders and senior officials of the law enforcement agencies have been urging people to help them with information leading to the arrest of arsonists and bombers.

The administration has also announced rewards for helping security forces with such information.

Kazi Saifuddin, professor of psychology at Jagannath University, said: “Peaceful protests are not of any use in this country any more.

So, these people have developed this attitude.

When they see law enforcers inactive, they look for a way to vent their anger.”

The Dhaka Tribune reporter caught up

with the families of victims and survivors of some of these cases of mob beating and all of them claimed that the victims were innocent.

“My brother’s fault was that the bombs went off right in front of his rickshaw and he happened to be the only person nearby. It was a pure coincidence. But police, instead of chasing the real culprits, caught my brother,” said Masud Hossain Shahed, brother of Sayem.

“He had Tk15,500 in his pockets. But the money was gone when he was brought to hospital,” he added.

When contacted, BM Forman Ali, officerin-charge of Motijheel police station, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Sabbir was trying to escape after setting off a crude bomb in the area when local people caught him and handed him over to us.”

He also said: “No criminal or his family will ever say that they are not innocent. The truth will only come out through investigation and we are doing it.”

Last week, the same thing happened with Basedur Rahman Based, owner of a shop at the City Heart shopping mall in Nayapaltan.

While talking to this reporter at the DMCH, he said: “Around 1pm on March 8, I came to

the AGB colony area in Motijheel on a CNG [autorickshaw]. I had Tk1.72 lakh with me, all in Tk1,000 bills. The driver did not have change and so he took the Tk1,000 note and went to find change.

“I was standing near the autorickshaw, waiting for the driver, when suddenly twothree bombs went off near me. Moments later, I was caught by a mob who beat me up and later handed me over to police. They also took away the money that I had on me,” he said.

Alina Khan, chief executive officer of Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, said: “People cannot take up law in their hands. If such things continue to happen then it will tarnish the image of the law enforcement agencies ...This will also turn out to be a barrier for good governance.”

Prof Saifuddin said establishing rule of law could be the only solution to this looming social disaster.

On February 15, three teenagers were beaten up severely by an angry mob at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on suspicion that they were behind the crude bomb blast in the area. Later, however, police found them innocent.

On February 23, police claimed that three

dead bodies recovered in Mirpur with 54 bullet wounds were “actually lynched and shot to death by an angry mob.”

Contacted, Mokhlesur Rahman, additional inspector general of police, said: “Lynching is a crime. If we get any complaint that someone was killed in mob beating, then we will take appropriate action readily.” l

Shakib wants Tigers to be fearless well. If we keep maintaining our momentum, then anything is possible,” he said.

“India have a very good team. They are the defending world champions. They have got some world-class players but we are doing well in this World Cup too. Our confidence is high and we are up for the match.

“We need to focus on the game. The key thing is how we can play well.

“If we do our things properly, then I think the result will take care of itself. It does not matter who wins or loses as long as we play our best cricket,” he added. l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Hasina urges Khaleda to stop monstrous acts Promises a better and safer future for the children n Tribune Report Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged BNP chief Khaleda Zia to stop carrying out monstrous acts in the name of politics, adding that the government does not want to see any more people including pregnant women and children being burnt to death.

Calling for creating a developed and prosperous Bangladesh, Hasina also vowed of building a better and safer future for the country’s children.

The prime minister made the remarks at a children’s gathering in Tungipara of Gopalganj yesterday, organised to mark the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and to observe the National Children’s Day. Blaming the BNP chairperson for barring children from going to schools, Hasina slammed the BNP-led alliance for not even sparing children from their crude bomb and arson attacks. The premier also claimed that the BNP had earlier torched 582 schools in their attempts to foil the national elections last year.

Urging all to join an effort to build a safe and peaceful country for the future generations, the prime minister expressed hopes that it would be the children who would one day strengthen the position of Bangladesh in the world.

Addressing the children at the programme, Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu, said the faces of the Tungipara children reminded her of her younger brother Sheikh Russel – who was killed by assassins in 1975 at the age of only 10.

Hasina said her government was working to make sure that no children suffered from hunger or were denied a chance at literacy.

Pointing out that Bangabandhu had enacted an act for the welfare of children in 1974 and made primary education free for all, Hasina said the Awami League government – under her leadership – had also formulated a policy for children in 2011 to stop physical and psychological abuse and discrimination

On the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Abdul Hamid pay tribute at the mausoleum of Bangabandhu in Tungipara, Gopalganj yesterday PID of children.

The prime minister said the government was providing financial assistance to street children, kids involved in risky jobs, and the school dropouts, as well as working for the welfare of autistic and mentally challenged children. The youngsters locked in correctional facilities were also being rehabilitated.

The prime minister’s welfare fund was being used to create a trust fund that would financially assist the poor children’s parents, Hasina told the programme. Stipends would also be introduced in the primary- and degree-levels, she added.

Following the event, Hasina also distributed awards and certificates among the winners of separate competitions on cultural skills, drawing and handwriting. Hasina also inaugurated a day-long book fair at Bangabandhu’s mausoleum complex in Tungipara.

Earlier in the day, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tributes to Bangabandhu by placing wreaths

at his mausoleum.

After placing the wreaths, they stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of respect to the memory of Sheikh Mujib. A smartly turned out armed forces contingent gave a guard of honour on the occasion.

Hamid and Hasina also prayed for the departed soul of Bangabandhu as well as other martyrs of the August 15 carnage.

Later in the afternoon, hundreds of people paid their respects at Bangabandhu’s mausoleum after it was opened to the public.

Homage at Dhanmondi

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also paid respects to her father by placing wreaths at the portrait of Sheikh Mujib in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at the capital’s Dhanmondi.

After laying the wreaths, the prime minister also stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of respect to the memory of Bangabandhu.

Cabinet members, advisers to the premier and parliament members were present on the

Salahuddin’s wife to seek PM’s intervention n Tribune Report BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed’s wife Hasina Ahmed has decided to seek help from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to get back her husband, who has been missing for the last eight days.

“These are suffocating days for my family.

I do not know how my children are passing the days without their father. I will submit an application to the prime minister soon to get back my husband,” Hasina, a former lawmaker, told reporters at her residence yesterday afternoon.

“If my husband committed any crime, produce him before the court and try him.”

In the evening, Hasina and her two children went to the BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office. Later she told reporters that Khaleda

asked the government to release Salahuddin immediately as its law enforcers had picked him up.

Hasina also sought cooperation from people including civil society members to trace Salahuddin, allegedly been picked up on March 10 from a house in Uttara by some people who identified themselves as detectives.

Until then, Salahuddin had been issuing press statements on behalf of the party from hideout since the arrest of another Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Salahuddin and Hasina have two sons and two daughters. Of them, the elder son and daughter live abroad; the younger ones live with their parents.

Yesterday, a delegation of the University Teachers’ Association of Bangladesh met

Salahuddin’s wife at her residence.

Expressing concern over the disappearance of Salahuddin, Yusuf Haider, former proVC of Dhaka University, told reporters: “I am stunned. This is not acceptable...A person remaining missing for eight days is unacceptable in a civilised country.

“We will urge the government to find him out immediately and return him to his family.”

Hasina also alleged that law enforcers had not been cordial enough to her. “In the last eight days, only a sub-inspector of the Special Branch met me.”

Former bureaucrat Salahuddin left government job to join the BNP and became a lawmaker from a Cox’s Bazar constituency.

He also served as the state minister for communications. l

occasion.

Later, flanked by her party’s central leaders, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the Awami League, placed another wreath at the portrait on behalf of her party.

‘Efforts still on to extradite Bangabandhu’s killers’

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif yesterday said the US and Canada governments would help in extraditing the killers of Bangabandhu.

“The government has kept it efforts on to bring back the self-proclaimed killers of Bangabandhu from America and Canada, and we believe both the countries would help Bangladesh to return them,” he told reporters after placing wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu in Dhanmondi.

Meanwhile, Amra Muktijoddhar Sontan, a platform of Freedom Fighters’ children, raised a demand for bringing the absconding killers back to the country and making them face justice. l

Shutdown extended by 48 more hours n Tribune Report The BNP-led 20-party alliance extended its ongoing 72-hour nationwide general strike by 48 more hours demanding that the government locates missing BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed.

The 48-hour shutdown will start from 6am on Wednesday and end at 6am on Friday.

The alliance will also hold demonstrations and processions across the country on Thursday.

“We have called the shutdown demanding return of Salahuddin Ahmed to his family,” Barkatullah Bulu, joint secretary general of the party, said through a press release.

Criticising the government’s stance against any dialogue, Bulu added “we have no other option but to press ahead with peaceful blockade.” l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Nasim: BNP to meet fate of Muslim League Hayat Mahmud and Our n Abu Gopalganj Correspondent Health Minister Mohammad Nasim yesterday said if BNP continued with programmes like hartal and blockade, it would meet the fate of Muslim League.

Terming BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia a queen of militants and terrorists, Nasim called upon her to seek apology from the nation for killing innocent people.

Nasim was speaking at a discussion organised by Sheikh Russell Jatiya ShishuKishore Parishad at the National Press Club, held to mark the 95th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

In another function, Food Minister

Quamrul Islam said the evil forces of 1971 and 1975 were still active in the country.

“BNP founder Ziaur Rahman initiated state-sponsored terrorism and tried to erase the spirit of the Liberation War through the assassination of Bangabandhu,” he said.

In Gopalganj, Awami League Presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim said Khaleda could face another arrest warrant if she skipped the next hearing in two graft cases.

About BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed’s disappearance, Selim said issuing statements and video messages from undisclosed locations can be compared with the acts of members of al-Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS.

BNP-Jamaat panel sweeps SCBA polls n Tribune Report BNP-Jamaat-backed Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Oikkya Panel (JAOP) has won the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election, bagging nine out of 14 executive posts including president and secretary for the 2015-16 term.

BNP chairperson’s Adviser and incumbent SCBA President Khandker Mahbub Hossain of JAOP has been re-elected as president. BNP Joint Secretary General and incumbent Secretary AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon was re-elected from the blue panel as the secretary general.

After two days of voting since Sunday, the poll sub-committee chief Md Harun Ur Rashid announced the results in the morning yesterday.

Awami League backed Sammilito Ainjibi Shomonnoy Parishad (SASP) with white panel have secured five executive posts in the polls.

Other winners from JAOP are ASM Mokter Kabir Khan as vice-president, Shawkat Ara Begum Dulalee as treasurer, Mazedul Islam Patwary Ujjal as assistant secretary, and Mirza

Dr Aleem Al Razee’s 30th death anniversary observed n UNB The 30th death anniversary of Dr Aleem Al Razee, a renowned parliamentarian, jurist, educationist, philanthropist and author, was observed with due solemnity on Sunday.

Dr Aleem Al-Razee Memorial Council, Sandhani National Eye Donation Society (SNEDS) and Dr Aleem Al-Razee High School in Tangail, among others, organised different programmes to observe the day.

Participants at the programmes recalled the contributions of Dr Aleem in various fields such as education, politics, law, human rights, social reform and philanthropy.

Members of Dr Aleem Al-Razee Memorial Council placed floral wreaths and offered prayers at Razee’s grave at the Banani graveyard. They also held a discussion. l

Al Mahmood, Anowarul Islam Shaheen, Jasim Sarker, Shamima Sultana Dipti as executive members.

The winners from SASP are Abud Khayer as vice president, Dilower Mostafa Chowdhury Modhu as assistant secretary, and AKM Daudur Rahman Mina, Omit Das Gupta, Mohiuddin Shamim as executive members.

For three consecutive terms now, the JAOP has bagged highest posts in the polls. However, in comparison to winning 13 of the 14 posts in the last two elections, the JAOP’s performance this year is not better.

Md Harun Ur Rashid said of the total 4,349 voters, 3,529 voted in the SCBA polls.

Khandaker Mahbub Hossain bagged 1,806 votes while former MP and BNP Joint Secretary General Mahbub Uddin Khokon got 1,937 votes. Muhammad Yusuf Hussain Humayun, the closest opponent of Mahbub and a member of Awami League’s Advisory Committee, got 1,627 votes. Khokon’s opponent Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi, who is a Awami League Central Working Committee member, got 1,529 votes. l

Danish minister Mogens Jensen in city n UNB Danish Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation Mogens Jensen arrived yesterday on a three-day visit.

The minister is accompanied by the permanent secretary of the Danish Ministry of Employment, and officials from the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Jensen also visited DANIDA-supported development projects working in agriculture and rural roads in climate vulnerable areas of Barisal yesterday, said an official.

He will also visit the RMG factory Aeko-Tex Group in Gazipur. At Aeko-Tex, the minister will have a chance to see how a factory, implementing CSR initiatives, is also able to gain valuable business advantages. Jensen will attend a conference, titled “Bangladesh - Framing the Future” a High Level Conference on Ready Made Garments and Beyond’ in the city tomorrow. l

Addressing a programme at Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Women’s College, he warned that the government would crack down on terrorists, saboteurs and militants.

He said Khaleda would be brought to book and no one would be able to save her from the law that treats everyone equally.

“Article 35 of the constitution says anyone assuming power illegally and those working as his or her abettors will be tried under the existing laws.

The highest punishment for such crime is death,” said the former minister.

He described BNP’s agitation as acts of subversion and militancy.

Selim said there would be a change in the government only after elections. l

Indians catch Kurigram police officer, hand him over to BSF n UNB Indian nationals picked up a Bangladeshi police official and handed him over to the Border Security Force at Trimohanighat border in Nageshwari of Kurigram last night.

“Police are trying to bring back Shamsul Alam, a sub-inspector of Nageshwari police station,” Senior Assistant Police Superintendent Masud Alam said.

A six-member team of Nageshwari police including Shamsul launched a drive in the bordering area around 9pm to seize contraband items smuggled into the country from India, he said. However, some Indians of the bordering area picked him up and handed him over to the BSF troops, he added. l

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Foreign secretary to attend Blue Economy conference in India n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Amid growing Chinese dominance in the Bay of Bengal, India appears to be reasserting itself by hosting over 350 officials from 20 Indian Ocean countries to a conference on the Blue Economy.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque is travelling to India to attend the meeting. He is expected to meet Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the main event.

“I have been invited by the organisers and am scheduled to chair two sessions at the conference,” the foreign secretary told the Dhaka Tribune.

The three-day programme – India and The Indian Ocean: Renewing Maritime Trade and Civilisational Linkages – will be inaugurated by Sushma Swaraj in Bhubaneswar, the captial of Odisha state, on March 20.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is scheduled to address the concluding session.

India’s national security adviser will likely preside over a closed-door meeting of “at least a dozen ambassadors,” The Hindu, a prominent Indian English-language newspaper, reported.

The event’s hosts are Delhi-based Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Kolkata-based Institute of Social and Cultural Studies (ISCS) and a South African international relations organisation.

The ISCS secretary, Arindam Mukherjee, said China’s $20 billion dollar maritime silk route project had caused India to become concerned, The Hindu reported.

India, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Thailand, Mauritius, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Madagascar, Singapore, Yemen, Oman, Iran and Cambodia will participate in the deliberations.

At a conference on the Blue Economy hosted by Bangladesh last year, Dhaka proposed the formation of a regional bloc of coastal and littoral states to sustainably use marine resources.

The Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia are the region’s coastal and littoral states.

Bangladesh and India have already bilaterally agreed to develop the Blue Economy in the region. l

Wife and children of ‘missing’ BNP joint secretary general Salahuddin Ahmed meet BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Quader: Remove unapproved Bangabandhu billboards n UNB Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday asked party leaders and workers to remove the unapproved banners, festoons, posters and billboards containing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s image beside the photographs of strangers.

“There’s no ideology in these days’ politics. I get hurt when I see the pictures of Bangabandhu beside that of the persons with criminal track records. I do not want to see Bangabandhu’s image beside extortionists, land grabbers and plunderers,” he said.

A quarter is doing all these misdeeds taking advantage of digital Bangladesh, the minister lamented. “Such exercise must stop…

tear those into pieces wherever you see that,” he asked his party men.

Obaidul Quader, also the presidium member of the ruling Awami League, came up with the views while addressing a discussion marking the 95th birth anniversary of Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman organised by Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote at Awami League central office at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.

He said there is no need to establish Bangabandhu as he is already there in people’s hearts with the highest honour for his own works.

Referring to the ongoing movement being carried out by the BNP-Jamaat-led 20-party alliance, Quader alleged that the target of the movement is to destroy Bangabandhu’s family. l

RHD to start leasing out land to earn money n Shohel Mamun The Road Transport and Highways Division has drafted a new land management policy – the first of its kind – with an aim to earning revenue by leasing out 32,375 hectares of land, most of which is currently under the illegal possession of different agencies and individuals.

“We have almost finalised the draft of Roads and Highways Department Combined Land Management Policy 2014 following an inter-ministerial meeting last week. We hope to place it before the cabinet for approval within 10 days,” RHD Secretary MAN Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Once approved, the division would be able to lease out its road- and highway-side land for business purpose and to the government’s utility service providers.

According to sources, more than 20,000 hectares of RHD’s land have remained occupied illegally by government and non-government organisations and other

influential quarters.

The proposed policy will allow the government organisations to built monuments, set up offices for utility services and dig pipelines beside roads and highways while private firms and individuals would be allowed to build commercial billboards, and agro-based farms.

The RHD would lease out its lands for a period of maximum five years.

However, the lessees would be able to renew contracts every year by paying 5-10% extra fees.

To build billboards, the commercial clients would have to pay Tk2,000-40,000 beside the national highways, Tk1,200-24,000 for regional highways and Tk800-16,000 for the district highways, as per the draft policy.

The government will enjoy the right to use the commercial billboards for free, when needed, for at least 30 days, it says.

Agencies providing power, energy, gas, water and optical fibre services would be allowed to build establishments or dig pipelines on RHD’s land for free. l

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KSA to blacklist employers for abusing housemaids n Tribune Report The Labour Ministry of Saudi Arabia will publish a blacklist of employers and recruitment offices accused of abuses in dealing with domestic workers.

The blacklisted names would be published on Musaned, the government website about licensed recruitment offices.

The move is aimed at protecting rights of the housemaids and eliminating the malpractice by recruitment agencies and citizens alike, Arab News website said yesterday quoting a media report.

Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia signed a deal on February 10 under which the Middle Eastern country would resume importing manpower from Bangladesh gradually. Primarily they

would take domestic help. The process remained stalled from 2008 until January 31 this year.

However, the move to send housemaids drew much criticisms in the wake of numerous reports of abuse and torture of the Bangladeshi women in Saudi Arabia. In the face of torture, they return to country after a few months. Bangladeshi women have been facing abuses also in Hong Kong, officials say.

On the latest step to address the abuses of housemaids, Majed bin Anzan, director of business development and sales at Alam Company, said this step would prevent recruitment agencies and citizens from abusing household workers.

The Labour Ministry would introduce the blacklist to the new version of Musaned, currently under development. “The blacklist will

Oporajeo to resume production Friday n Tribune Report

Abul Mansur Ahmad’s death anniv today n Tribune Report

The authorities of Oporajeo jute bag factory in Savar which was damaged in a mysterious fire on Sunday night have decided to resume operations from Friday.

“We will begin limited-scale operations from Friday. At least 16 out of our 32 machines have totally been damaged in the fire,” said Kazi Monir Hossain, chief executive worker of the self-owned factory.

Oporajeo (undefeated) having 33 workers used to manufacture different jute bags for local and international clients with 48 different types of machines. Of the workers, 31 are survivors of the Rana Plaza building collapse.

Around 15,000 pieces of finished jute bags, made for a Switzerland buyer, raw materials and most of the machines were damaged in the fire, Monir said. There was no casualties since the factory was shut at that time.

After the blaze was put out, fire fighters found the back door of the factory broken.

Monir suspect that it might be an act of sabotage by miscreants. He said they also found the generator’s fuel tank empty.

Meanwhile, the fire fighters who primarily said the fire had not originated from an electric short-circuit took a U-turn yesterday, Monir told the Dhaka Tribune suspecting that the saboteurs might have influenced the fire service officials.

The fire broke out around 9:45pm while the fire fighters were able to douse the flame after an hour.

The factory was founded under Songkolon Bangladesh Trust on June 24, 2013 with six plain sewing machines and seven former workers of Rana Plaza. Here the workers, mostly women, are the owners. They are given congenial working environment, profit share, free lunch, medical assistance and educational support for their children. A portion of profit from the factory is given to a primary school established under the same trust.

Monir volunteered to rescue workers from the wreckage of the caved-in Rana Plaza for consecutive eleven days. He along with his friends raised funds for the rehabilitation of the survivors under an organisation named Mukto Tarunnno. l

Today is the 36th death anniversary of Abul Mansur Ahmad, a renowned litterateur, journalist and politician of the sub-continent.

To mark the occasion, literary magazine Kaler Dhoni has hosted a discussion in Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy today, says a press release.

Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman will preside over the event, where Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury, Dr Rafiqul Islam, Ahmad Rafique, Asad Chowdhury, Syed Abdul Maksud, Dr Mizanur Rahman, Golam Kuddus and Mahfuz Anam were supposed to take part.

Later, a drama, “Gulliverer Safarnama,” based on a story of Abul Mansur Ahmad, will be staged by Vision Theatre.

On the other hand, a 581-page special issue, published in the 2015 Amar Ekushey book fair by the magazine featuring the litterateur, will be unveiled in a programme in Jatiya Chitrashala Auditorium.

Abul Mansur Ahmad was one of the greatest satirists in Bengali literature. Besides, he was a renowned politician, lawyer and a very powerful journalist. He worked for Krishak, Nabajug and was editor of the daily Ittehad published from Kolkata in 1946 in the undivided Bengal.

He was a pioneer in modern and progressive journalism, who also was the provincial education minister in the United Front Cabinet under Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq and the central commerce and industries minister of the Awami League government of Prime Minister Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy in 1957. He was known for his strong stand for regional autonomy of East Pakistan.

He always propagated secularism in a manner unparalleled. His publications include great satires like Aina, Asmani Purdah, Gulliverer Safar Nama and Food Conference; autobiographies named Atma Katha and Amar Dekha Rajnitir Panchash Bachar. l

feature the names of citizens who delayed maids’ pay, withheld their passports or violated their rights,” he said during a workshop on domestic labour visas, Arab News said.

“It is unacceptable to allow some citizens who abuse domestics to recruit new ones without punishment,” he said. “This practice against workers harms the Kingdom’s reputation in labour-exporting countries and affects the future of the whole recruitment process.”

Yahya Al-Maqbool, head of the recruitment committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Musaned would streamline the recruitment market and resolve all obstacles in the recruitment process.

“Domestics must be protected from mistreatment by some employers,” he added. l

BSMRAU observes Bangabandhu’s birth anniversary n Tribune Report The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University observed the birth anniversary of father of the nation yesterday.

Elaborate programmes were chalked out including rally, placing wreaths, discussion, handwriting and essay competition of children and cultural events.

VC Prof Dr Md Mahbubar Rahman placed floral wreaths at Bangabandhu’s mural to start the day’s proceedings. Students and teachers from different dormitories, teachers’ association, employees association and the university school also placed wreaths at the mural. A special prayer was offered after Zohr prayers at the university central mosque.

The VC later gave away prizes among the winners of the competitions. l

DT

NEWS 7

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

SCHOOLBOY SAYEED KILLING

Plan made at a Zinda Bazar restaurant on March 10 n

Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Five people hatched a plan at a restaurant in Zinda Bazar in Sylhet city on March 10 to kidnap schoolboy Abu Sayeed, says Abdur Rakib, district Olama League Secretary, while depositing a statement before a Sylhet court yesterday.

Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Court 1 Judge Shahedul Karim recorded the statement from 12:30pm to 4pm.

Abdur said: “Geda phone me on March 9 and wanted to meet with me. The following day, I, Masum, Mahibul Islam Masum, publicity secretary of district Ulema League, Geda and another unidentified man met there.

During the meeting, showing picture of a boy Geda told us that we have to kidnap the boy.

Then, the unidentified man said no problem, it will be done.”

Abdur also told the court that they had kidnapped the boy in the morning on March 11 and kept him in a tin-shed house, adjacent to Geda’s house.

Later, Geda and Masum took the boy to the house of Ebadur Rahman, a constable of

Airport police station. Then, Geda phoned the family of the boy and demanded Tk5 lakh as ransom, said Abdur. Abdur told the court that Geda and Masum had killed the boy as the boy could recognise them.

On Monday, the court placed Geda who is an informant of RAB, on a three-day remand in connection with the killing.

The court granted the remand after police produced Geda Mia before the court with a 10day remand plea yesterday afternoon.

Police recovered the decomposed body of Abu Sayeed, a class IV student of a primary school, from constable Ebadur’s house located in Kumarpara Jharnarpar residential area in Sylhet city on Saturday night.

Police detained constable Ebadur, district Olama League Secretary Abdur Rakib and Informant Geda Mia for their alleged involvement in the abduction and murder.

Sayeed’s father Abdul Matin also filed a case against six people, including three suspects detained in connection with the murder.

Later on Sunday, the arrested police constable Ebadur Rahman gave confessional statement before a Sylhet court, admitting his

involvement in the abduction and killing.

While giving the statement, the constable told the court that nine-year-old Sayeed was abducted for ransom, but he was later killed as he could recognise Ebadur and Geda.

Sayeed was picked up from Rainagar while on his way to his uncle’s house on the night of March 10.

The abductors first demanded Tk5 lakh and then Tk2 lakh ransom. Later, Sayeed’s father Abdul Matin filed a general diary with Kotwali police station on March 11.

Capital punishment of killers demanded

Residents of 10 residential areas of the city demanded that those involved in the kidnapping and killing of schoolboy Abu Sayeed be awarded capital punishment.

The demand was made from a demonstration staged by the residents of Rainagar, Darjipara, Jherjheripara, Agpara, Jharnarpar, Mirabazar, Manipuri Razbari, Shahi Eidgah, Kumarpara and Kharadipara.

They brought out a procession from Rainagar point in the city around 5:30pm in protest against the killing of schoolboy Sayeed. l

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:09PM

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:04AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

35

23

Chittagong

33

24

Rajshahi

35

21

Rangpur

35

20

Khulna

35

21

Barisal

35

21

Sylhet

34

19

Cox’s Bazar

34

24

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

35.6ºC Cox’s Bazar

15.5ºC Srimangal Source: Accuweather/UNB

Fajr

4:50am

Sunrise

6:05am

Zohr

12:07am

Asr

4:28pm

Magrib

6:08pm

Esha

7:24pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

To inspire the tigers, Bangladeshi cricket fans will march through the streets of the capital and divisional districts with the national flag today.

Under the banner of “Bangladesh Cricket Fans Unity,” students of different universities will start from the TSC area at 4pm, said Sanjiban S Chakrabarty, general secretary of the organisation.

Bangladesh cricket team is scheduled to face India in the World Cup quarter-finals tomorrow in Melbourne.

Sanjiban told the Dhaka Tribune: “We will start gathering in front of the Raju Memorial around 11am. The fans will sing and bring out the march at 4pm.”

“We have made a call upon the people of the country, particularly the students, to bring out a flag-march from their respective spots at the same time,” he added. l

Mongla building collapse victim dies n Our Correspondent, Jessore A man who sustained injury in collapse of the roof of an under construction cement factory died at Jessore Combined Military Hospital.

The deceased was identified as Shihab Hossain, son of Moksed Ali of Gourango village in Rampal uapzila, Bagerhat.

Ruhul Amin, uncle of Shihab, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had died around 10pm on Monday. Sub-Inspector of Jessore Kotwali police station said the body was sent to Jessore Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Six people were killed when the roof of an under-construction building of a cement factory, run by Sena Kalyan Sangstha, collapsed in Mongla Port Industrial Area on Wednesday. l

4-month-old girl stolen from hospital n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur With a call for stopping child trafficking and ensuring children’s rights, the Oporajeyo Bangladesh forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

AL men vandalise govt office, college over tender n Our Correspondent, Barisal

PRAYER TIMES

Countrywide flag march for tigers to be held today n Tribune Report

Centring tender works sharing, two groups of the local unit Awami League vandalised a union parishad office, a college, bus counters and shops on the Dhaka-Barisal highway at Mahilara in Gournadi upazila yesterday.

During the hour-long clash, eight people including an officer-in-charge got injured.

When asked, Gournadi police station OC Sajjad Hossain admitted the incident, saying he along with three policemen were also injured they in the end charged baton and fired blank shots to quell the clash.

Sources said Gournadi Municipality Mayor and also Secretary of the upazila unit AL Harisur Rahman Haris’s brother Akbar was running a Tk4 crore road construction works.

Mahilara union Chairman Soikat Guha Piklu who also joint convener of the upazila unit Jubo League wanted to share the works, part of which is under his locality. Akbar along with the upazila unit AL leader Kabir Hossain went the UP office, where followers of Piklu beat up the duo when they denied to share the works.

Later, followers of Haris vandalised the UP office, Gournadi college building, 3 bus-counters and 10 roadside shops around 12:10pm. l

A four-month-old baby girl has been stolen from the Kamalnagar upazila health complex in Lakshmipur around noon yesterday.

The girl named Mim is the daughter of Nurul Amin, resident of Torabganj area in Kamalnagar.

The baby’s aunt said: “An unknown woman wanted to hold the baby in her arms. As I gave it to her and went to look for my sisterin-law, the woman fled with the baby.”

The mother said: “After vaccinating the baby, I left Mim with her aunt to talk to Dr Arif. When I returned, I found that someone stole my child!”

The resident medical officer of the health complex Dr Aminul Islam Manju said: “I heard that a baby outpatient has been stolen from the department and we are looking in the matter. I hope that the baby will be found.”

Kamalnagar police station Sub-Inspector Rafiqul Islam said: “We went to the health complex after being informed of the incident.

We take the necessary steps after investigating the incident.” l

DT

8 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Removal of BGB camp from Dighinala demanded n Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari

The United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) yesterday demanded removal of a camp of the Bangladesh Border Guard from Dighinala area in order to keep stability in Khagrachhari.

Organising Secretary of the organisation Prodipon Khisa also demanded that the 21 families who have been evicted last year to build the BGB’s 51 battalion headquarters in Dighinala defying a High Court status quo be given their land back, says a press release.

The statement said: “The BGB 51 battalion in the name of constructing a camp have grabbed land of ingenious people and already evicted many people from the locality which is not acceptable. It is not only inhuman and unjustified but also violation of the constitution of the country.”

The UPDF leader expressing solidarity with the 21 evicted families said the BGB camp could be constructed in another place, but the people who were evicted had no place to go.

He also demanded withdrawal of cases filed against the people who had been observing agitation programmes demanding removal of the camp from the place.

A tense situation has been prevailing in the area for the last couple of weeks over construction of the BGB camp.

Local sources said law enforces were conducting drives to arrest the people involvement in the movement.

Scores of people, including ethnic minority people, were injured in several clashes with Army personnel.

At least 17 people were injured when security forces clashed with a group of hill people at Dighinala of Babuchhara upazila in the district on Sunday.

The clash ensued between Armed forces and local people when the ethnic minority people under the banner of Dighinala Land Protection Committee were marching towards the under-construction Babuchhara battalion headquarters of the BGB.

Protesting the attack, indigenous people enforced a daylong transport strike in the area on Monday protesting Army’s attack on the march.

During the strike, no highway buses left the town as the demonstrators put barricade on the Khagrachhari-Dighinala road with logs. A large number of police, BGB and army was deployed at different important spots of the area.

Police arrested 11 people, including a female college student named Nilu Barua, in a case filed over injuring army men during Sunday’s clash.

Last year, Khagrachari district administration acquired 31.63 acres of land belonging to indigenous villagers of three villages, Santosh Kumar Karbari Para, Gobinda Karbari Para and Notu Chandra Karbari Para of Dighinala union, to construct a BGB camp.

Since then, local people have been protesting the move. l

Farmers in Barind region of Rajshahi resort to indigenous method of irrigation for the Boro cultivation. During dry season, farmers in the region usually rely on deep tube wells taking a toll on the underground water level. The photo was taken at Mohanpur area yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

Suspected robber killed in ‘gunfight’ n Our Correspondent, Jessore A suspected robber was killed during a supposed gunfight between his cohorts and the police at Panchbaria on the Jessore-Magura Highway early yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Yunus, 40, son of Yakub Ali, of Bhallukghar village in Keshabpur upazila.

Assistant Police Superintendent Reshma Sharmin said a police team conducted a drive in the area on a tip-off around 3am when a gang of robbers was preparing to commit robbery on the highway blocking it with logs.

Sensing the presence of law enforcers, the robbers opened fire and hurled crude bombs, prompting the policemen to retaliate, triggering a gunfight. Yunus was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot. l

Rape incident settled with money n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj A rape incident has allegedly been settled with money in a local arbitration in Bogadia area of Sadar upazila.

Besides, the arbitrators gobbled the money paid by alleged rapists.

Sources said the shocking heinous incident took place on Monday night, whereas Sahera Mahmud Arif Government Primary School’s Managing Committee President Anwara Khatun played the key role.

On the day, the school’s nigh-guard Rafiqul Islam tactically confined a class-V student to one room of the institution after school hours and later he along with his accomplice named Jalal Uddin raped her there.

Around 7:30pm sensing the matter, some locals caught the rapists red handed and gave them a good number of beating.

Later, Anwara Khatun meddled in the matter and she along with some influential locals in the end settled the rape incident in her home by imposing a fine of Tk30,000 on the rapists.

When asked, the school’s Managing Committee President Anwara Khatun acknowledged the incident, saying: “The girl’s (victim) character is not good and that is why we have settled the matter with Tk30,000 to shun legal complexities.”

Kishoreganj Superintendent of Police Anwar Hossain said: “The incident cannot be settled by arbitration due to its nature. We will take legal action in this regard.”

Local people alleged that the night-guard often occurs such sort of offence in the school with the support from the managing committee president. In the incidents, the victims do not make any complaint in fear of social stigma. l

Police-Jamaat clash leaves three injured n Our Correspondent, Kurigram At least eight people including three policemen were injured in a clash between local police and activists of Jamaat-Shibir at Voghdanga bazar in Sadar upazila yesterday.

Police arrested three activists, namely Ershadul Hoque, Shahidul Islam and Abdul Jalil, from the scene.

Sources said some activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir brought out a procession in the morning in support of the ongoing nationwide hartal enforced by the 20-party alliance and the police halted it in the bazar.

At one stage, the processionists started hurling brick chips at the police who were forced to fire seven rounds of rubber bullets and one round of tear gas canister to bring the situation under control, leaving the eight injured.

When asked, Sadar police station OC Murshedul Karim Md Eshtesham admitted the clash and said the situation was under control and necessary policemen were deployed on the spot to prevent any untoward incident. l

Farmer killed for protesting illegal sand lifting n Shariyatpur Correspondent A farmer was killed in Jajira of Shariyatpur when he protested the forcible sand-lifting from the lands of local farmers. He was hacked and severely injured by unknown assailants on Monday in the evening.

The deceased Khidir Bepari, 38, son of Abdul Latif Bepari from south Dubuldia village of Jajira municipality, succumbed to his injuries when he was being taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment. Brother of the deceased Amir Bepari was critically injured in the attack and is now under treatment at the DMCH. Jajira upazila Sramik League General Secretary Noor Hossain Kazi, allegedly behind this murder, has been arrested by the police.

According to Jajira Police Station and local sources, Noor Hossain had grabbed farmlands belonging to many helpless farmers, including that of Khidir. He was selling off the earth and sand lifted from those arable lands equal to an area of 40 bigha, alleged 10-12 victimised farmers.

Khidir got involved in a conflict with Noor who later used his musclemen to loot the crop from the farmer’s field. Khidir filed a case against Noor with the Jajira police over this matter.

Later, on Monday, when Khidir was returning home with his brother from Jajira town, they were attacked by the assailants, allegedly upon instruction from the Sramik League general secretary Noor. They were left on the Dhaka-Shariyatpur road in critical condition and were later rescued by the locals.

They were sent to the DMCH from the upazila health complex when their condition deteriorated. Khidir Bepari died on the way.

Jajira police station Officer-in-Charge Ikram Ali Miya said: “The victim was killed over the matter of illegal dredging of the farmlands. The main accused in the murder case Noor has been arrested. We are trying to detain the others involved.” l

DT

SPOTLIGHT 9

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

HOMAGE TO THE ARCHITECT OF BANGLADESH Marking the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Children’s Day, elaborate programmes were held in the capital yesterday.

Clockwise from top left, a special child performs at a cultural programme in front of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi. Also there, two siblings pay their respects by placing flowers in front of a portrait of Sheikh Mujib. Since morning, thousands including schoolchildren in uniforms thronged the house where Bangabandhu used to live, queuing up to pay homage to the architect of Bangladesh.

As part of other programmes around Dhanmondi’s Road Number 32, children of different ages participate in an art competition there. Bangla Academy also organised an event on its premises where school students got the chance to know about the life and achievements of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman RAJIB DHAR/ MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU/ NASHIRUL ISLAM

DT

10 WORLD

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Israelis vote as ‘King Bibi’s’ reign hangs in the balance

The Sevastopol mistral warship is on its way for its first sea trials, on Monday off SaintNazaire. French President Francois Hollande said last February conditions were “still not right” to go ahead with the sale of two Mistral warships to Russia despite Moscow having backed a new Ukraine peace plan.

Hollande had suspended the 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) sale last year as the Ukraine crisis deepened, fearing it would boost Russia’s military capabilities and put Paris in hot water with its allies

n Reuters, Jerusalem

Millions of Israelis voted yesterday in a tightly fought election, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing an uphill battle to defeat a strong campaign by the center-left opposition to deny him a fourth term in office.

In many respects the vote has turned into a referendum on “Bibi” Netanyahu, in power for a total of nine years spread over three terms. If he wins again he would be on track to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.

Netanyahu’s campaign has focused on the threat from Iran’s nuclear program and the spread of militant Islam. But it’s a message many Israelis say they are fed up with and as a result the center-left’s campaign on socio-economic issues, especially the high cost of living in Israel, appears to have won more traction with voters.

When the last opinion polls were published on March 13, the center-left, known as the Zionist Union and led by Isaac Herzog, held a four-seat advantage over Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud, a margin that had it set for a surprise victory.

But in the last three days of campaigning, Netanyahu went on a blitz to try to shore up his Likud base and attract votes from other right-wing, nationalist parties, promising more building of Jewish settlements and that the Palestinians would not get their own state if he were re-elected.

Those bold pledges, if carried out, would further isolate Israel from the United States and the European Union. But they may go some way towards convincing voters to plumb for what they know rather than others on the right.

Surveys show around 15% of voters are undecided, meaning the ballot could sway widely – opinion polls have rarely been a precise

AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote yesterday AFP predictor of Israeli elections in the past.

Voting ends at 11 pm on Tuesday, with the first exit polls published immediately afterwards.

If Netanyahu can draw votes from other right-wing parties, he may be able to close the gap with the center-left and be in a position to be asked first by Israel’s president to try to form a governing coalition.

No party has ever won an outright majority in Israel’s 67-year history, making coalition-building the norm. It is also an opaque and highly unpredictable game, with any number of allegiances possible among the 10 or 11 parties expected to win a place in the 120-seat parliament, the Knesset. l

Ex-IS hostage describes mock executions while held in Syria n AP, London A former hostage held in Syria by Islamic State extremists for more than six months has described mock executions and other forms of psychological torture against him and other captives.

Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa wrote in The Sunday Times that militant Mohammed Emwazi played a lead role in the mock executions. Emwazi, a Londoner nicknamed “Jihadi John,” is believed to have played a central role in a series of beheading videos.

Espinosa, who works for El Mundo and was on assignment for the Spanish daily when he was abducted in September 2013, characterized Emwazi as a bloodthirsty psychopath who enjoyed threatening him and other Western hostages. He said Emwazi “caressed” his neck with a long blade and described how he would be-

head Espinosa: “’Feel it? Cold, isn’t it? Can you imagine the pain you’ll feel when it cuts? Unimaginable pain,’” he quoted Emwazi as saying.

Emwazi went on to describe precisely how the beheading would occur, the former hostage said, and explained where he would place Espinosa’s head once it had been done.

Espinosa described how the militants took pleasure in telling their more than 20 hostages each day that they would be beheaded. He said Emwazi used an antique sword for the mock executions and followed up by placing a Glock pistol against his head and pulling the trigger three times.

Espinosa said he and the other hostages dubbed three English jihadists who were part of the Islamic Stage group “The Beatles” – even though the world-famous Liverpool band had four members. The nickname “Jihadi John” – which later caught on in the British press – is a

reference to former Beatle John Lennon.

Espinosa was released in March 2014 after being held captive for 194 days. Most of the hostages were eventually released, but seven have died, including at least six who were killed, and one is known to still be a captive.

Marc Marginedas, a second Spanish journalist who was freed at the same as Espinosa, gave his account in the Periodico de Catalunya newspaper in Spain Sunday. He said he had explained to his captors that he wasn’t a spy and had entered Syria twice before to report and had been treated well. “’You entered Syria twice and it worked out well for you, but now we’ll kill you,’” was the reply from his captor. “’And do not try to become friendly. I don’t love you. The ones I love are my brothers who have come here to fight,’” the unidentified captor said, according to Marginedas’ account. l

Prince Harry to quit British army after 10 years

n AFP, London

Prince Harry announced yesterday he is to leave the British army after 10 years’ service that has seen him fight on the front line twice in Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old said it had been a “really tough decision” to conclude his military service in June, but added that he was looking forward to a new chapter in his life.

His decision will come as a surprise to many royal-watchers as the prince was living out his boyhood dream and seemed quite content with the army life.

Harry, who will be nudged down to fifth in line to the throne by the birth of his brother Prince William’s second child in April, will end his military service after a four-week secondment to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in April and May. “I am considering the options for the future and I am really excited about the possibilities,” he said, in a statement released by his Kensington Palace official residence. l

DT

WORLD 11

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Thai Buddhist temple to repay $20m in donation scandal

n AFP

A Buddhist temple at the heart of a bitter corruption scandal in Thailand Monday agreed to return donations worth around $20m in a case that has prompted calls for greater scrutiny over religious institutions in the kingdom.

The Dhammakaya temple, a vast ultra-modern complex near Bangkok considered one of the richest monasteries in Thailand, will repay the funds donated by the former chairman of Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative after he was accused of embezzlement.

“We have agreed to return 684m baht ($20.7m) to be paid in six instalments between March and August (to the cooperative),” Sermcheep Samphan, a lawyer for the temple, told AFP. He added that, in exchange, the cooperative – a financial institution based on the outskirts of Bangkok – had agreed not to file any criminal charges against the temple, which has denied all knowledge of any unethical sourcing of donations. The repayments “will come from donations from people who have faith in Dhammakaya,” he said.

The scandal has outraged many in the Buddhist-majority nation in recent weeks, raising concerns over how temples raise donations and the commercialisation of Buddhism.

The case has also shone a spotlight on the practice of encouraging devotees, who believe in reincarnation, to make donations proportional to the size of good fortune they hope to achieve in their next life – sparking calls for authorities to better regulate religious institutions.

Thai monks have been hit by a series of scandals in recent years including corruption as well as drug-taking, drinking, gambling and visiting prostitutes.

In September 2013 authorities said they had seized nearly $800,000 worth of assets, including a Porsche and a Mercedes-Benz, from a monk who was disrobed for a controversial trip in a private jet. l

Egypt condemns to death Brotherhood chief, 21 others n AFP, Cairo

Egyptian courts on Monday condemned to death Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and 21 other members of the banned movement in two separate cases over incitement to violence.

State news agency MENA said that Badie, 71, and 13 top Brotherhood members were found guilty of “plotting attacks aimed at sowing chaos” in Egypt in 2013.

They were accused of setting up an “operations room” to prepare attacks against the state in the weeks after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

In November that year the Brotherhood was declared a “terrorist organisation” as part of a brutal crackdown by the authorities against

File photo shows Mohamed Badie, Egypt’s Muslim brotherhood leader, giving a press conference in Cairo AFP

his supporters that left hundreds dead.

Thousands have also been jailed, often in speedy mass trials that have sparked an international outcry over the fairness of such proceedings, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressing his alarm.

MENA said among Badie’s co-defendants sentenced to death were the Brotherhood’s former spokesman Mahmud Ghazlan, former provincial governors and other senior members of the outlawed group.

Defence lawyer Ahmad Helmi branded the verdicts as “farcical,” in a telephone interview with AFP. He said the verdicts were handed down even though the defence had not finished its closing arguments concerning five of the defendants.

MENA said the court had referred its verdict to Al-Azhar, the country’s top Sunni Muslim authority, for an advisory opinion in accordance with Egyptian law before ratifying the death sentences.

Al-Azhar’s opinion is not binding with the court having the final say in the case, and could choose to commute the sentence which can later be challenged in an appeals court.

A total of 51 suspects, including the 14 sentenced to death Monday, are being tried in the case, 31 of whom are behind bars.

The Cairo court said it would announce the final verdict in the case on April 11.

Meanwhile a court in the northern city of Mansura also sentenced to death eight Brotherhood members accused of setting up a “terror cell” and murdering opponents of the Islamist organisation, MENA said.

Their verdicts were also referred to Al-Azhar, said the agency, adding that the court would give a final verdict in that case on June 22. l

Gulf Arabs respond with alarm to Kerry comment on Assad talks n Reuters, Riyadh A remark by US Secretary of State John Kerry that President Bashar al-Assad should be included in negotiations on a Syrian political transition provoked alarm and dismay on Monday among commentators close to Gulf Arab governments opposed to his rule.

Saudi Arabia, the top oil exporter and main Arab ally of the United States, has long feared that the administration of President Barack Obama lacks the resolve to tackle Assad and that it is instead focusing on a nuclear deal with the Syrian leader’s main supporter Iran.

Although there was no immediate official comment from Riyadh, Saudi analysts with connections to the ruling family and conservative Sunni Muslim clerics quickly voiced concern about Kerry’s remarks.

“Bashar has no legitimacy after killing his people and driving 11 million out of their houses. How can you sit down and talk to him

and keep him in power? It’s a big joke for us,” said Abdulaziz al-Sager, head of the Gulf Research Center based in Jeddah and Geneva.

“We have to negotiate in the end,” Kerry said. “We’ve always been willing to negotiate in the context of the Geneva I process,” he added, referring to a 2012 conference which called for a negotiated transition to end the conflict.

One major US ally appeared to differ.

France said it was sticking to its opposition to talks with Assad, saying these had to include Syrian opposition members and elements of the exiting regime - but not Assad - to pave the way to a unity government.

Other Gulf countries, which like Saudi Arabia have backed Syrian rebels against Assad, worried about Kerry’s remarks.

“The fact that Assad is still in the picture is something we have lived with and accepted as an interim arrangement. If Mr. Kerry was talking about this same interim arrangement -

one year or two years until negotiations reach some fruit - we understand,” said Sami al-Faraj, a Kuwaiti adviser to the Gulf Cooperation Council that comprises Gulf Arab states.

“But if he means that even after negotiations Assad would stay on, that is unacceptable.”

The Saudis have in the past said a political transition in Syria cannot begin unless Assad leaves power, and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has accused him of committing genocide against Syrians.

Riyadh’s concerns have been heightened by negotiations between Iran and world powers aimed at finding a deal over its nuclear program, which have reached a critical stage.

Nasser al-Omar, a hardline conservative Sunni Muslim cleric with over 1.6 million Twitter followers, tweeted on Monday that Kerry’s comments were evidence of a deal between Tehran and Washington to make Iran “America’s policeman in the region.” l

Pakistan hangs 12 men in largest execution since moratorium lifted

n Reuters, Islamabad

Pakistan hanged 12 convicts yesterday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said, amid a growing uproar over plans to execute a man whose lawyers say was 14 when he was tortured into a confession of killing a child.

Tuesday’s hangings, including one man who was arrested when he was 16, were the largest number of people executed on the same day since an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in December.

Officials said they expected the pace to increase dramatically.

The death sentence cannot be used against a defendant convicted under the age of 18 and testimony obtained by torture is inadmissible.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on Dec. 17, a day after Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked a school and killed 134 students and 19 adults. The slaughter pressured the government to do more to tackle the Islamist insurgency.

Last week it emerged that officials had quietly widened the policy to include all prisoners on death row, not just convicted terrorists, whose appeals had been rejected.

“They were not only terrorists, they included the other crimes, some of them were murderers and some did other heinous crimes,” the ministry spokesman said of the 12 executed at various jails.

So far, 39 people have been hanged since Dec. 17. More than 40 more are scheduled to hang in the next week, the spokesman said. l

Brave Indian schoolboy averts train accident

n Tribune Desk Siddesh, a nine-year-old, class 4 student of the Government Higher Primary School in Avaragere village, on the outskirts of Davanagere, India, averted a railway accident on Sunday morning. He not only alerted his father Manjunath about a crack in the track but also flagged down an approaching train with his red T-shirt.

Manjunath has a small, thatched hotel near the DCM township about 50 yards away from the railway line, Siddesh said, “I was worried on seeing the fracture and rushed to tell my father about it.” Initially, Manjunath didn’t take the boy seriously. But when the little boy dragged him to the spot, he realized the gravity of the problem. Some walkers and joggers had already assembled at the spot but couldn’t decide what to do even though a couple of trains had passed over the faulty section, Times of India reported.

The boy had gone to attend to nature’s call near the railway tracks around 6.30am when he heard a sound different from the usual one when trains went past. He would watch trains go by and was familiar with the different sounds, Manjunath said.

“Our son stood on the track waving his red T-shirt wrapped around a stick at the train from Hubli to Chitradurga (Hubli-Chitradurga passenger) at 7.30 am,” said the boy’s mother Anasuyamma.

Some passengers on the train appreciated the boy’s courage and appealed to the district administration and elected representatives to recommend him for a bravery award. l

DT

12 EDITORIAL

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Reform police attitudes to help rape victims

W

e are disturbed by the attitude shown by police in Natore towards the case of an NGO worker who was raped last week.

An informal village arbitration has reportedly fined two youths Tk20,000 for the rape and pressured the victim to sign a piece of paper asking her to not to lodge a case with the police.

Despite the incident being much talked-about locally, the OC of the relevant police station has stated that whilst the police know of the incident, they can only take necessary steps “once the victim files a compliant with the police station.”

This is wholly unacceptable. Not only does it overlook clear allegations of coercion and threats involving local influential people and the victim’s employer asking her to keep quiet about the matter, but it turns a blind eye to a self-appointed tribunal ruling on criminal cases.

At the very least, the police ought to be showing more concern that such unofficial bodies are operating and purporting to act on criminal matters where they have no jurisdiction.

It goes without saying that justice is ill-served in every aspect of this matter.

Law enforcers should know already there is an urgent need to reform rules which discourage many rape victims from filing cases.

It is shocking that in this case which has been reported at least informally, and the victim and some suspects are readily contactable, that the police should hide behind a rule asking victims to file a complaint. Such attitudes need to be reformed to help convince all rape victims to come forward.

There is an urgent need to reform rules which discourage rape victims from filing cases

Be heard

Writeto toDhaka DhakaTribune Tribune Write Tower,8/C 8/CPanthapath, Panthapath, Sukrabad, Shukrabad,Dhaka-1207 Dhaka-1207 FRFRTower, Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com Sendususyour yourOp-Ed Op-Edarticles: articles: Send opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

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Lawyers: Kamaruzzaman to file review petition February 21

Molla A Latif Is this step present there in the International standards? In other countries, the verdict of the trial court is the final one to execute a war criminal, but here in Bangladesh, after trial court there are two other courts, which again review the petitions and then the mercy petitions.

Even then, many cry for international standards. If you ask them what is lacking here, they have no confident answers other than saying that the courts are incompetent, politicised, biased, and all that unwanted rubbish. Even Khaleda Zia says

so about international standards, someone who avoids appearing in the court calling hartals and creating pandemonium. masum Molla A Latif: A defendant of any verdict should have the legal opportunity to avail the same (justice) from higher echelons of the court in order to reconsider the verdict; confiscating law and the juris prudence, for any group, admits the fault of justice. rose Justice at last!

DT Avijit killing: Protest continues at DU

Last year’s words February 21

February 27

Make polluters pay

I

ndustrial waste and untreated effluents pose an ever increasing threat to the nation’s rivers.

Without stricter pollution laws backed up by proper enforcement, tougher fines and compensation requirements, there is little hope that the situation will change.

The dire state of the Buriganga river around the outdated tannery facilities in Hazaribagh is simply the most visible and talked-about example.

Just this week alone, a 25km stretch of the Korotoa River from Panchagarh to Boalmari turned black and over Tk1cr of fish was poisoned after the release of toxic wastes from a state owned sugar mill.

A new Department of Environment survey confirms that the dead condition of the Shitalakhya (Lakhya Nodi), a tributary of the Brahmaputra, is caused by the endemic violation of industrial and environmental laws among the hundreds of factories situated near the river.

Dumping of toxic wastes has killed all the fish in the water bodies nearby and thousands of farmers are facing catastrophe as their land is becoming contaminated.

Official efforts to require factories to install working effluent treatment plants are simply not working. The government must do more than simply acknowledge and talk about pollution.

It must bring in and enforce higher penalties to discourage and prevent pollution. This is imperative not only for the environment and public health but also to safeguard responsible businesses which act with due care for their environmental impacts.

Until polluters realise they will be made to pay for harming water bodies and ecosystems, abuses will go on to everyone’s cost.

Enforce tougher fines and compensation requirements

Fauzia Adiba Something bigger and massive needs to happen other than protests on the street against these kinds of crimes. Things like this happen, people protest, and then what? The extremists get more media coverage. These extremists should not be given any sort of religious brands. They should be put under a global category, no matter what religion they come from. When these hypocrats are put under Islam we give them more attention, since Islam is not about killing innocent people.

Jamdani is ours February 26

Waqar A reminder that: (a) Op-eds need not be self-serving (b) Critiques need not be damning; and (c) Celebration need not be blind to context.

Madiha We often have misplaced and misunderstood pride in our heritage. The frankness of dealing with that here is good to see. We need more self-awareness and self-reflexivity.

F/Ink “No festivity is complete without a convivial lynching or two” An absolute zinger of a line ... thanks for not being a narcissistic, navel-gazing, self-righteous hipster. Your honesty was touching.

Economists: Young leaders can break political culture February 21 Mohdud Ul Huq It is our national heritage.

Noor Uddin Jamdani is part of our treasured heritage!

IamAvijit Iwantowrite It is the failure and callousness of the state.

Dr Ahsan Habib When Tofael, Inu, and Menon were young, we were at DU. We could not imagine how they would change.

Even some valiant critics of AL changed nicely when they were taken in by the Bangabhaban elite. I do not see any changes in the country’s future.

DT

OPINION 13

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

n Asif Reza Akash

W

ith the furtherance of civilisation, we have developed numerous theories, systems, norms, and standards -- whenever we face a critical situation that needs our discretion, we tend to go back to check the theories and standards.

As a system, democracy is centuries old, dating back to 5th century Greece, where it was evolved as a concept or theory and got rich and implementable with the passage of time. However, theories get modified to make them more effective, more acceptable. Presently, democracy is the prevailing state-running system in the world, considered the most acceptable and appropriate.

Larry Jay Diamond is a leading American political sociologist who identified four key elements of democracy: A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections, the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life, the protection of the human rights of all citizens, a rule of law in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.

Obviously, it’s all about people, the citizens, rule of law, elections, participations, and so forth. To reap the benefits of democracy we must have a strong opposition party against the government to check the balance of power, and the duty of the opposition is not to oppose just because they are the opposition, but to criticise the government constructively and learn from their mistakes.

However, theories do not always work well, and that’s why we need contingency measurements. If a political impasse prevails

between two or more political parties, then a civil society comes into action.

They act like the defender of democracy.

Civil society includes the private sphere, addressed as the “third sector” of society, distinct from government and business. Civil society is entrusted to act for citizens’ best interests, mainly at the juncture of a political deadlock.

In the backdrop of the current political situation prevailing in Bangladesh, the civil society was supposed to act decisively, with neutrality and prudence.

The AL wants an end to the violence first, and BNP wants an environment for dialogue, fearing AL could ruin their movement through tricky promises. Our civil society, if there is any, has been unable to make any noticeable progress in mitigating the situation so far.

They, addressing themselves as concerned citizens, have only sent a letter to the president by demanding cessation of the violence.

No conspicuous development has been seen yet.

Nevertheless, my question is: Do we really have a structured civil society? The answer is not that difficult. Civil society includes representatives mainly from academia, think tanks, and research institutions.

Others may include independent political and security analysts, retired diplomats, and professionals, jurists, newspaper editors and columnists, and other people who have national-level acceptance. A common trait that civil society members share is the practice of intellectualism.

We never had any lack of intellectual people in our country, but unfortunately, they are not organised enough to make an effective civil society. Divided, civil society is

BIGSTOCK

What’s wrong with our civil society?

not a silver bullet. Empirical evidence shows that none of the civil society initiatives to resolve political crises has ever brought any results since the overthrow of the military dictator HM Ershad’s government. Distrust has gradually grown between politicians and civil society members by the time. Both the AL and BNP have lost trust over the civil society for the infamous 1/11.

The key people of the then interim government actually came from the civil society and unconstitutionally stayed in power for two years, creating troubles for both parties. After that, any drive from the civil society was clearly unwelcome from AL’s side. Both parties tend to think that civil society members have a vested interest whenever they come up with an initiative. The move of concerned citizens was welcomed by the BNP because it was in line with their demand, but the AL high command castigated the initiative.

After 1991, the civil society got divided into two camps -- the pro-AL and the pro-

BNP -- and reaped personal benefits from them. So, when AL was in opposition they always neglected the pro-BNP intellectuals, even if they said something right.

The same also happened with the BNP, and it’s still in fashion. Even today, the persons appearing on talk shows could be branded as biased intellectuals.

University teachers are now accustomed to taking political blessings to succeed in university elections to become VCs, deans, or provosts. Any retired government highup won’t be believed by the BNP if he was recruited in an AL regime, and vice versa.

To enjoy a little personal benefit, we are sacrificing colossal national interests. People could have different views but when it is for the country’s sake, everyone must come to an agreement. Otherwise, political biases will destroy us. It is painful for us to see the country go one step forward and then two steps back. l Asif Reza Akash is a freelance contributor.

America, Iran, and Iraq: Partners, not friends n MJ Akbar

S

tability is an illusion that nations advertise to comfort citizens. Countries either sink along a gravitational pull beyond the control of governments, or ascend into a virtuous spiral. The pace is often slow, and sometimes invisible, but society is never static.

In the first 15 years of the 21st century, a linear, contiguous land, mass from the Atlantic shores of Africa to the Pacific shore of Japan has become a slope. The Western wing is slipping into quagmire, while the eastern expanse, starting from India, is inching up.

This may not be an even fact. There are exceptions, some significant. But this is the broad truth.

Israel is not so much an exception as stand-alone territory. Witness, for instance, real estate prices in Tel Aviv. You might be buying an apartment in serene Europe rather than a city within artillery distance of the world’s toughest neighbourhood. Israel’s geopolitics has changed thanks to the surrounding politics. Israel remains on the front lines -- that could hardly change -- but it has become a subsidiary presence on a wrecked region rife with multiple wars. Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu might choose to raise the rhetoric, but Israel, sensibly, has become a watchful bystander, best protecting its

security by remaining aloof. Israel does not have to weaken its foes. They are doing a pretty good job of weakening themselves.

The seams of conflict around Israel no longer follow national borders, most of which are simply straight lines dictated by colonial masters during the long years of disintegration that marked the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Tension lines are demographic rather than geographic, compounded by ideologies that respond to much older rivalry.

Many Sunni Muslim nations, both Arab and non-Arab, have slipped into civil war through their inability to create a nation state that meets the basic necessity, pursuing the good of the people through the will of the people, through credible political and legal mechanisms. In some areas the degeneration seems almost beyond repair. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a radical instance of a patchwork entity cobbled together from the rubble of history and fragments of mistakes. Regional and world powers that once armed and financed this radical menace in the hope that it would destroy their enemies have understood that it is equally injurious to its benefactors.

Danger has at least this merit: It promotes alliances once dismissed as unthinkable.

Surely the most interesting has been the tacit agreement between Washington and Tehran

over ISIS. They come from different perspectives, and with different post-war scenarios that might breed their own round of troubles, but for the moment they are distant partners searching for a way to legitimise their limited agreement. The recapture of Tikrit is, in effect, a joint operation, with American support from the air while Iran’s Al Quds officers and troops lead the Iraqi counter-offensive on the ground.

The imminent nuclear deal between America and Iran is being impelled both by larger considerations as well as the immediate experience of the strategic benefits of cooperation. There is always the possibility of a slip between the Iranian cup and the American lip, but members of the UN Security Council have already begun to confer on lifting sanctions against Iran if the nuclear deal goes through.

In the best-case prospect, America and Iran can together begin to calm the violent quagmire in Iraq. Neither can do it alone; Iran has the boots that Pentagon has lost, if only temporarily. Neither nation, equally, underestimates the urgency, for the ISIS infection can spread with consequences that would make al-Qaeda look like a flea bite. We are not talking of terrorists sending suicide missions; we are staring at armies ready to occupy, in the name of Jihad, the spreading

vacuum created by failing governance in the Arab hinterland and beyond. Any temporary discomfort to parallel interests is a relatively small price to pay for this larger goal.

The cost of chaos, with ISIS as its magnetic centre, will be difficult measure. This is not a project that is going to be completed in the remaining part of President Barack Obama’s term, but if he cannot make a start his successor will not be able to either.

The rift between America and Iran in 1979, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the same year, upturned the interconnected balance of interests that survived three Arab-Israel wars in West Asia, intricate turmoil in Lebanon, the multifaceted battles for Palestine and ensured a Shia-Sunni calm that was a fascinating sub-plot in the lengthy drama. The Soviets have gone, their Union is dead, but consequences linger. We cannot be certain that even an America-Iran nuclear deal will lead to substantive rapprochement, but it is reasonable to suggest that things cannot be worse that what they are.

There is basic rule of international life: Never abandon the good in search of the ideal. For the moment, this is good enough. l MJ Akbar is an Indian journalist. He is the founder of The Sunday Guardian. This article was first published in The Sunday Guardian.

DT

14 OPINION

REUTERS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

The looter and the looted n Garga Chatterjee

E

very statue in the subcontinent is a political site, their erection a political act. This is perhaps true outside the subcontinent too. Mohandas Gandhi’s statue was unveiled in the Parliament Square of London, England. The statue was unveiled

by Arun Jaitley, finance minister of the Indian Union and a senior member of a party that looks up to the RSS for political direction.

The same RSS was banned by the Indian Union government in 1948, in the aftermath of Mohandas Gandhi’s assassination. By some viewpoints, Mohandas was a staunch opposer of British imperialism.

In the same compound stands the statue of Winston Churchill, former prime minister of Great Britain. As a Bengali, I know this person as one of the major conspirators behind the Bengal famine of 1943.

Approximately 300,000 people (about 5% of the then population of pre-partition Bengal) died due to the famine, from starvation, malnutrition, and disease. In the midst of the famine, Sir Winston had exclaimed: “Starvation of anyhow underfed Bengalis is less serious than that of sturdy Greeks.”

Madhusree Mukherjee’s phenomenal research contained in her book “Churchill’s secret war” makes clear the planned nature of the genocide of my people. It is rather amusing to see those who are creating a ruckus about some proposed Nathuram Godse (assassin of Mohandas Gandhi) statues being quite silent about Mohandas Gandhi sharing the same compound as the knighted mass-murderer.

This sharing and unveiling comes without

any acknowledgement from the British government about its role in the Bengal famine of 1943. Truth and reconciliation, forgiving and forgetting -- these are all things that brown, black, and yellow people are supposed to do. White people will and still continue to provide the policy frameworks and experts to oversee these processes. We have no shame.

Mohandas Gandhi joins Nelson Mandela in being in the company of various racist and imperialist pedestaled greats in the Parliament Square. By giving Mohandas’ statue a prominent location, the British government is signalling that in its inclusive vision of the world, it can accommodate those who were staunchly opposed to the British loot of the subcontinent.

Browns come off as small-minded people, who take their holy cows too seriously. There is some truth to that, but that is because Mohandas Gandhi is not a human being anymore, but God Number One in the official pantheon of the Indian Union.

Nathuram Godse’s statues and temple, thus, are not in the realm of officially allowable “dissent,” but really are acts of blasphemy. So let’s admit that even “seculars” also are supportive of blasphemy prevention.

By driving Nathuram Godse underground in a superficial way, they are probably hastening the day when Godse will rise, not in rebellion but to take his place in the sarkari pantheon. Amidst all of this hypocritical anti-Godse posturing, the subcontinental landscape remains peppered with statues of men and women who have caused the killings of many innocents, directly or indirectly.

Obviously, a small potato like me doesn’t

have the guts to name and shame them. But at the end of the day, I know and I know that you know and that’s what matters. And we should not stop being irreverent on the sly.

A low-stool at the high table comes at the cost of forgetting crimes of those sitting on high-stools and without whose clean-chit, even a low-stool cannot be obtained. At the Mohandas Gandhi statue unveiling ceremony, Arun Jaitley talked about the “deep and enduring connections between the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest.”

No Indian Union government has demanded that the British government and its brown collaborators pay for their crimes

There is another bond -- the one that exists between the looter and the looted, the rapist and the raped, the murderer and the murdered. The Indian Union government has never pressed for monetary reparations for the colonial plunders and massacres of browns from the British government.

From this, we can judge the character of those to whom the British transferred power in 1947. It was a transfer laced with trust. All Indian Union governments, including the

present one, have refused to declassify all the files on Netaji Subhash Bose saying that it would “prejudicially affect” foreign relations.

No Indian Union government, from the Nehruvian to the antediluvian, has demanded that the British government and its brown collaborators pay for their crimes. Nothing is accidental. Few things ever are.

Every year, in the Indian Union, there is some hue and cry about how people in the subcontinent don’t honour “their” martyrs -- especially those in uniform. Hence, let’s spend more money from this poor subcontinent’s exchequer to remember the “sacrifice” of those brown mercenaries of World War I who swore allegiance to the British monarch and laid down their lives while butchering non-British people in non-British lands in Asia, Africa, and Europe, because that suited the taste of the then-British government.

Who are the professional generation-next and next-after-next of these British loyal armed men? Does their treatment of and attitude towards common brown-folks today differ from the attitude by which the British looked upon those who protested the unjust policies of the pre-partition Government of India?

Some browns of honour spat back at the British crown and joined the Azad Hind Fauj.

They were not accommodated in the British Indian Army, the Indian Army, or the Pakistan Army, before or after 1947. Thus we have what we have. Even this is not accidental.

Few uncomfortable things ever are. l Garga Chatterjee is a political and cultural commentator. He can be followed on Twitter @ gargac.

INT’L BANDWIDTH USE IN MBPS BSCCL 1Asia Alliance Fiber @ Home Mango Teleservices Ltd Summit Telecom Novocom Ltd BD Link Com Ltd

25,111 23,795 18,046 10,950 7,846 3,855 1,554

Bandwidth use crosses 100Gbps n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The country’s total international bandwidth use has crossed 100 Gigabit per second (Gbps), recently with maintaining 100% growth in this sector. The use of the international bandwidth will cross 200 Gbps in the country by the end of this year, said industry experts.

At the end of last year, International Long Distance Cable (ILDC) operators in the country had submitted their bandwidth usage figures to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), which showed its total uses of around 100 Gbps (actual 91,157 Mbps).

“We have sent the figures till November and I am sure that by this time, the total use of international internet bandwidth has already crossed 100 Gbps (100,000 Mbps),” Suman Ahmed Sabbir, chief technology officer of International Internet Gateway (IIG) Fiber@Home, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Suman said: “We are observing that the industry is steadily maintaining growth by more than hundred percent during the last two years.”

“This growth will also continue in current year as well and I am sure by the year end, our international bandwidth uses will crosses 300 Gbps,” said Suman who is one of the leading expert in forecasting the bandwidth uses pattern.

Referring to his projection, Suman also informed that the industry will cross 150 Gbps landmark before June this year.

“Despite the ongoing political unrest, the demand for bandwidth is on rise,” observed Suman. Out of the total number, the lone stateowned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd. (BSCCL) ranks the top position serving 25,111 Mbps (25 Gbps).

“It was the figure when we submitted it was but the currently actual figure has increased as total uses jumps up-to 33 Gbps while the demand still shows an increasing trend,” said Manwar Hossain, managing director of BSCCL. 1asia Alliance Communication Ltd, one of the major International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) Service Provider, mostly imports bandwidth from India and delivers 23,795 Mbps bandwidth in the domestic market. Fiber @ Home Ltd, which uses 18,046 Mbps, is holding the third position on the list, using 18,046 Mbps bandwidth as of November.

Mango Teleservices Ltd uses 10,950 Mbps bandwidth while Summit Communications Limited uses 7,846 Mbps, Novocom Ltd uses 3,855 Mbps and BD Link Com Ltd uses 1,554 Mbps bandwidth, according to the official data.

Excepting BSCCL, all other six operators are importing bandwidth from India and recently they have expressed their willingness to establish a back-up link with the BSCCL for providing the quality internet bandwidth for their customers, said a top BTRC official. l

17

BoJ sees zero inflation in setback for ‘Abenomics’

19

Have a digital day - new tech toys at German IT fair

20

DT

Business

15

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Dhaka to ink investment promo deal with Colombo

Export goods to be redefined n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

The government is going to redefine export-oriented traditional and non-traditional products as it has planned to diversify products for enlarging export basket.

The move came as the contribution of the traditional products to the export basket came down to 2.74% in the last fiscal year, while the contribution of non-traditional products soar to 97.26%.

Recently, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) in a letter directed the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to redefine export-oriented traditional and non-traditional products to expedite export growth, EPB sources said.

Following the instruction, on Sunday the EPB held meeting with the export-oriented stakeholders including Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and other sectors to redefine traditional and non-traditional export-oriented products.

In the meeting, the EPB recommended inclusion of RMG and frozen foods in the traditional category, while it also suggested excluding tea from the traditional list.

They argued that the demand for tea has risen sharply and there has been a shortage of supply.

“To specify traditional or non-traditional export-oriented products, we have to consider the growth of that specific items,” said Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance adviser to an election-time caretaker government.

He said the potentiality of the products has to be identified first and the goods need to be selected on the basis of export growth potentiality.

Mirza Aziz suggested new items like electrical, engineering and agro-based products for the export.

“RMG has already come to the traditional category with its present export volume,” he added.

According to EPB, since the Independence of Bangladesh, jute, jute goods (Hessian, Sacking and CBC), leather (crushed and finished) and tea (bulk) are being considered as traditional products.

In 1980s, RMG sector started its journey and gradually emerged as a significant industrial sector of the country, now accounting for over 80% export earnings.

Currently, the contribution of textile sector to the country’s export has marked steep rise.

In last financial year, Bangladesh earned $25.39bn exporting RMG products including oven, knitwear, home textile, specialised textile, fabrics and yarn, which was 84.12% of the total export.

In the fiscal year 1976-77, the contributions of traditional and non-traditional products were 89.52% and 10.48% respectively.

In the FY2013-14, the contribution of traditional products came down to 2.74%, while the contribution of non-traditional products soar to 97.26%.

In the Sixth Five-Year Plan, the government has given focus on diversification of products and market to expand the global market of Bangladesh exports. l

Mega Chois knitwear factory non-compliant n Tribune Report Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh has declared M/S Mega Chois Knitwear a non-compliant supplier and so ineligible to produce for any Accord signatory companies.

In a statement posted in its website on Monday, Accord said it had found serious faults regarding fire safety in the factory and was compelled to disclose the information publicly.

When contacted, Mega Chois Managing Director Faruq Hassan declined to make any comment on the issue, but said they were currently manufacturing garment products for the Korean buyers only.

He added there were “some reasons” for not manufacturing for the European buyers.

During a recent inspection of the factory, the Accord engineers identified extremely serious fire safety concerns, according to the statement of the Western retailers’ initiative.

It said the concerns were of such an extent

that the building was determined unsafe for production and occupancy until such time that urgent remedial measures were completed.

The fire safety issues include: the factory has only one exit location for over 600 employees which creates an extremely unsafe situation; there is a daycare and dining area on the 6th floor of the building; the one exit stair is not separated from the rest of the building.

On 17 February 2015, following the inspection the Accord Chief Safety Inspector (CSI) determined that the building needed to be immediately evacuated and not re-occupied until such time as proper exiting is established.

It has conveyed the matter to the factory owner, Accord brands, IndustriAll, RMG federations and the Labour Ministry’s Inspector General.

On 25 February the Inspector General then issued an order of evacuation of the Mega Chois factory building.

The Accord alleged that despite being repeatedly informed of the serious safety findings and the need for the building to be evacuated until proper fire exiting is installed, the factory owner refused to evacuate the building. l

DT

16 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

US fuel consumption is soaring amid cheaper prices n John Kemp

Reporters listen to US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel answers reporters’ questions during a news conference in Seoul REUTERS

US allies to join China-led bank n Reuters, Seoul A senior US diplomat said it was up to individual countries whether to join a new China-led international development bank as media reports said a growing number of close US allies were ignoring Washington’s pressure to stay out of the institution.

France, Germany and Italy have agreed to follow Britain’s lead and join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Financial Times reported, quoting European officials.

The newspaper said the decision by the four countries to become members of the AIIB was a major diplomatic setback for Washington, which has questioned if the new bank will have high standards of governance and environmental and social safeguards.

The bank is also seen as contributing to the spread of China’s “soft power” in the region, possibly at the expense of the United States.

EU parliament president Martin Schulz said he welcomed the four European nations joining the AIIB, but added the bank must conform to internationally accepted standards.

“I find it good that they join,” he told reporters while on a visit to Beijing. “If more member states would join I would find it even better.

“There is one additional element. Such new organizations must answer to the requirements of international standards. That is quite important.”

China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency said South Korea, Switzerland and Luxembourg were also considering joining.

However, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei would not comment on which countries had applied to join, and repeated that the bank would be “open, inclusive, transparent and responsible”.

On Tuesday, Washington’s top diplomat

for east Asia signaled that concerns about the AIIB remained, but the decision on whether to join was up to individual nations.

“Our messaging to the Chinese consistently has been to welcome investment in infrastructure but to seek unmistakable evidence that this bank ... takes as its starting point the high watermark of what other multilateral development banks have done in terms of governance,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel said in Seoul.

“Every government can make its own decision about whether the way to achieve that goal is by joining before the articles of agreement are clarified or by waiting to see what the evidence looks like as the bank starts to operate,” he told reporters.

The AIIB was launched in Beijing last year to spur investment in Asia in transportation, energy, telecommunications and other infrastructure. It was seen as a rival to the Western-dominated World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

China said earlier this year a total of 26 countries had been included as founder members, mostly from Asia and the Middle East. It plans to finalize the articles of agreement by the end of the year.

A finance ministry official in India, one of the countries that has joined, said the members of the AIIB would meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on March 29-31 to discuss the articles of agreement.

China has said March 31 is the deadline for accepting founder-members into the organization.

Japan, Australia and South Korea remain notable regional absentees from the AIIB, although Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said at the weekend he would make a final decision on AIIB membership soon.

South Korea has said it is still in discus-

sions with China and other countries about its possible participation.

Japan, China’s main regional rival, has the biggest shareholding in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) along with the United States and the Manila-based bank is headed by a Japanese, by convention.

Japan is unlikely to join the China-backed bank, but the head of the ADB, Takehiko Nakao, told the Nikkei Asian Review that the two institutions were in discussions and could cooperate.

“We’ve begun sharing our experience and know-how,” Nakao was quoted as saying.

“Once the AIIB has actually been established, it’s conceivable that we would cooperate,” he said. l

Fuel demand in Texas is growing strongly as lower oil prices encourage motorists to use their vehicles more and buy larger replacements.

Receipts of motor fuel taxes in February 2015 were 6% higher than in the same month in 2014, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Texas collected almost $284m in motor fuel taxes last month compared with $269m in February 2014 according to the comptroller’s monthly Revenue Watch report.

Motor fuel taxes must be paid to the comptroller by the 25th day of the month after which they are collected by suppliers and distributors, so the February receipts are for gasoline and diesel sold in January.

Year-over-year collections - and by extension gasoline and diesel sales - are growing at the fastest rate for more than a decade.

Texas consumed 35.7 million gallons of gasoline and 20.1 million gallons of diesel each day in 2014, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Texas accounts for 10% of nationwide gasoline sales and 13% of diesel sales. The state is second only to California in the consumption of gasoline and is the largest diesel consumer in the union.

Texas tax statistics are the fastest leading indicator of fuel sales. But nationwide data in recent months has painted a similar picture of rapidly growing gasoline and diesel sales across the country as the economy strengthens and cheaper prices encourage more driving.

Contrary to the International Energy Agency, which last week painted a gloomy picture in its monthly Oil Market Report, there is evidence the oil market is rebalancing relatively quickly.

The number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States has fallen by almost half in the last five months, which should soon cause shale output to level off or fall in the next few months.

In the meantime, gasoline and diesel prices have dropped by $1 per gallon since June 2014, encouraging more driving. l

CORPORATE NEWS

United Commercial Bank (UCB) has recently signed an agreement with home n décor, a concern of Building Technology and Ideas (bti) Ltd on allowing card holders of UCB to avail special privileges at home n décor. The bank’s executive vice president & head of retail business division, Sarder Akhter Hamed and executive director (marketing and SBUs) of bti, Ashique Un Nabi were present, among other high officials, at the signing ceremony

DT

BUSINESS 17

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

BoJ sees zero inflation in setback for ‘Abenomics’ n AFP, Tokyo Japan’s central bank said yesterday that tumbling world energy prices could push inflation to zero, marking a big setback in Tokyo’s attempt to kickstart the world’s number three economy.

While the Bank of Japan said inflation expectations were “rising on the whole” - and it held fire on launching fresh stimulus - the comments underscore faltering efforts to conquer years of deflation that have been blamed for holding back growth.

Inflation “is likely to be around zero for the time being ... but, of course, depending on the trend in energy prices it may briefly fall below zero,” BoJ chief Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters after ending a two-day policy meeting yesterday.

“We think that the basic trend in prices ... is steadily improving,” he added.

Tokyo’s economy-boosting campaign stumbled after the government raised sales taxes in 2014 to help pay down Japan’s enormous national debt.

That hammered consumer spending and led to a brief recession, while falling oil prices have complicated efforts to banish deflation.

The BoJ now expects the core consumer price index to hover in a zero to 0.5% range - a long way from its 2% target.

That target is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to resuscitate Japan’s fortunes, dubbed Abenomics, which also includes big government spending and an overhaul of the highly regulated economy.

Kuroda was tapped by Abe in March 2013 to head up the BoJ, with the former Asian Development Bank boss insisting that sustained inflation could be achieved in about two years.

On Tuesday Kuroda shrugged off questions about whether he would quit over the nowmissed target.

“What’s important is the overall trend (in prices) ... and the trend is not down,” he added.

Annual labour talks between workers and some of Japan’s biggest firms were likely to usher in pay rises and more spending, Kuroda said.

“Given record-high corporate profits and the tight labour market, I think the conditions are there for wage rises,” he said.

Deflation war not over

Speaking to parliament, Japan’s premier conceded that dragging the country out of years of stagnant or falling prices was still a way off.

“Unfortunately, we are not in a situation where we have come out of deflation, but we

Kuwait plans to introduce corporate tax as oil slumps n AFP, Kuwait City

Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), speaks during a news conference at the central bank’s headquarters in Tokyo REUTERS

Is likely to be around zero for the time being ... but, of course, depending on the trend in energy prices it may briefly fall below zero have been able to create a situation where we are making our way out of deflation,” Abe said.

However a growing number of economists have cast doubt on the chances of the BoJ reaching its target without further expanding an already huge monetary easing scheme, launched two years ago.

And minutes from the central bank’s January meeting showed that three of nine board members themselves doubted the BoJ would reach the target by next year.

“We still think that policymakers will step up the pace of easing at the end of next month to signal their determination to hit the two percent inflation target,” Marcel Thieliant from Capital Economics said in a commentary.

But Koya Miyamae, an economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, took a different view.

“The BoJ is admitting that consumer prices could fall, while indicating that it’s not planning steps to counter that,” Miyamae told Bloomberg News.

“The shift cements a view that the BoJ won’t add stimulus for a while.”

Policymakers shocked markets last October when they expanded their easing programme - which pumps cash into the banking system in a bid to kickstart the wider economy - to a rate of about 80tn yen ($679bn) annually.

Tokyo’s policy blitz appeared to be bearing fruit at first, as it drove down the yen and set off a stock market rally.

Prices had also been on the rise, largely due to Japan having to import pricey fossil fuels to plug an energy gap left by the shutdown of atomic reactors after the 2011 Fukushima accident.

But plunging oil prices have dealt a serious blow - Japan’s core inflation rate in January was just 0.2%. This was the lowest since a zero level in May 2013, just after the BoJ unleashed its monetary easing programme. l

Kuwait has sought help from the International Monetary Fund to introduce corporate taxes in a bid to diversify revenue in the face of falling oil prices, a minister said Monday.

“The IMF will prepare a preliminary report on how to impose taxes on companies in Kuwait,” Commerce and Industry Minister Abdulmohsen al-Mudej said after a meeting with IMF representatives, the official KUNA news agency reported.

The two sides discussed ways of introducing corporate taxes for Kuwaiti and foreign companies operating in the oil-rich Gulf state after the recent introduction of a new corporate law, the minister said.

Kuwait currently imposes no taxes on local companies, Kuwaiti citizens and expatriates but it requires foreign firms to pay 15% tax on their profits.

The IMF has in the past advised Kuwait to subject local companies to corporate tax as part of a series of measures aimed at boosting nonoil revenues and cutting spending.

Kuwait has posted a budget surplus in each of the past 15 fiscal years due to high oil prices but has also increased public spending from under $13bn (12.4bn euros) to more than $77bn this fiscal year, mostly on wages and subsidies.

Earlier this year, the emirate stopped diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel subsidies and the finance ministry is considering similar measures for petrol, electricity and water.

Oil income contributed around 94% of Kuwait’s public revenues but the sharp drop in prices is expected to substantially reduce its income.

Kuwait’s revenues in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year dropped 16% to $74.5bn compared to $88.8bn last year, according to finance ministry figures.

In the same period, oil income dived 17.3% to $68.3bn from $82.5bn.

The emirate is however forecast to end this fiscal year with a surplus - albeit smaller than usual - for the 16th year in a row.

The government has announced the 2015/2016 budget with a $24bn deficit despite slashing spending by 17.8% to $65.1bn.

There are about 1.25 million Kuwaitis in the tiny gulf kingdom, in addition to 2.9 million foreigners. It pumps about 2.8 million barrels of oil per day. l

Japan’s Nintendo to develop smartphone games with online firm n Reuters, Tokyo Japan video game maker Nintendo Co Ltd and online gaming firm DeNA are teaming up to develop smartphone games featuring the likes of Super Mario, in a bid to retain users increasingly shunning their console and browser-based games.

The two companies said on Tuesday that they would buy 22bn yen ($181.4m) worth of shares in each other as part of a capital and product tie-up. As a result, Nintendo will ac-

quire a 10% stake in DeNA while DeNA will acquire a 1.2% stake in Nintendo.

The companies will jointly develop and operate gaming apps, including those with Nintendo’s iconic game characters, for smartphones. They will also launch later this year an online membership service accessible on mobile devices and Nintendo’s existing 3DS portable system and its Wii U console.

“This will allow us to build a bridge between smart devices and gaming consoles,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told report-

ers. “It doesn’t mean smart devices will eat away at gaming consoles, it will create an entirely new type of demand.”

Analysts have long called on Nintendo to shift its focus to mobile devices after losing customers to both smartphone gaming app makers and console rivals like PlayStation maker Sony Corp and Xbox maker Microsoft Corp.

Nintendo had long resisted such pressure, pinning hopes on making hits out of games such as “Mario Kart 8”, but earlier this year, it halved its operating earnings target for the fis-

cal year through March to 20bn yen ($169m), citing weak sales of its 3DS handheld device in the year-end holiday season. DeNA, which grew from a startup launched in 1999 to a major online gaming company, has also lost its momentum in the past two years as users moved on to more popular gaming apps. DeNA mainly develops games played on browsers.

As a result of the capital alliance, Nintendo will become the second largest shareholder of DeNA after its founder, Tomoko Namba, who has a 13.1% stake. l

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18 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Oil prices mixed in Asia, US crude near six-year lows n AFP, Singapore US crude fell to near six-year lows in Asia yesterday, extending losses in New York as worries about a global oversupply were exacerbated amid an OPEC warning of a continued petroleum glut, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 21 cents to $43.67 in afternoon trade, the lowest since March 2009.

Brent crude rose three cents to $53.97.

Oil prices have dropped by more than half since June last year on mounting US supplies

OPEC’s assessment came after the International Energy Agency issued a similar reading on Friday

REUTERS

OPEC: Oil price recovery not backed by fundamentals n AFP, Vienna A recovery in oil prices which began last month is not justified by fundamentals as there remains a supply glut in the market, oil cartel OPEC said Monday in its monthly report.

Crude prices rallied about 20% in February, ending a losing streak lasting about eight months during which prices collapsed by 60 percent.

But the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) warned that prices picked up even though there was still an oversupply of almost one million barrels a day on the market.

“ICE Brent and Nymex WTI crude oil futures defied fundamentals and moved up

sharply, posting their first gains since June 2014 after seven months of a declining streak that ended with values down by almost 60%,” said the cartel in its report.

This is “despite the fact that global supply continued to exceed demand,” OPEC said, as it left its demand forecast unchanged at 92.4 million barrels a day for 2015.

The 12-nation OPEC also commented on major oil producer Russia, which is not a member of the cartel. It noted the “big challenge” Russia is facing from slumping oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine, which could see it lose $135bn this year.

Russia “faces a big challenge due to sanctions, devaluation of the ruble and an oil price drop in 2015... if the oil price stays at the

current $55 per barrel for a year, Russia will earn around $135bn less in 2015 than in 2014 assuming $100/b for that year – equivalent to around 10% of its gross domestic product.”

OPEC’s assessment of the global oil market came after the International Energy Agency issued a similar reading on Friday.

The IEA’s warning that the rebound in oil prices is built on flimsy foundations sent crude prices sliding.

Oil prices extended their losses on Monday, with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery dipping as low as $43.57 a barrel before recovering slightly to stand at $44.26, while Brent North Sea crude for April fell 79 cents to $53.38 a barrel in midday London trade. l

Dollar steady in Asia as BoJ holds fire n AFP, Tokyo

The dollar held up against the yen and euro yesterday ahead of a closely watched Federal Reserve policy meeting, while the yen faced pressure after the Bank of Japan warned of zero inflation “for the time being”.

In afternoon Tokyo trading, the greenback was at 121.36 yen, little changed from 121.35 yen in New York late Monday.

The euro, which hit a 12-year low Monday below $1.0500, bought $1.0567 against $1.0565 in US trade.

The single currency also fetched 128.26 yen compared with 128.21 yen in New York.

The BoJ yesterday held off widening its stimulus programme but said tumbling energy prices could push inflation to zero, marking another setback for Tokyo’s attempt to lift prices and kickstart the economy.

“The year-on-year rate of increase in the CPI (consumer price index) is likely to be about 0% for the time being, due to the effects of the decline in energy prices,” the central bank said in a statement after wrapping up a two-day policy meeting.

US industrial production barely rose in February after two consecutive months of declines, and was only pulled higher by heating demand during unusually cold weather, according to Federal Reserve data published Monday.

The readings came as the Fed prepares to hold a two-day policy meeting from Tuesday, which will be closely watched for clues about its timing for a rate hike.

Expectations have been high for an increase as early as June after a strong jobs report at the start of the month, but they have been tempered by the latest figures, as well as data Friday showing falling producer prices. l

Both contracts fell sharply on Monday after a report by the OPEC oil cartel that questioned the strength of last month’s rally, saying the increase in prices came “despite the fact that global supply continued to exceed demand”.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said the recent price decline was due to “concerns that US crude supplies are at record levels and continue to build up”.

A Bloomberg News survey showed US crude stockpiles are expected to have increased by 3.3 million barrels to 452.2 million in the week ending March 13. The US Energy Information Administration will release the final figure on Wednesday.

US crude stockpiles have risen for nine weeks in a row to reach a record 448.9 million barrels on March 6.

Oil prices have dropped by more than half since June last year on mounting US supplies, weak global economic growth and OPEC’s decision to keep output high despite falling prices.

Leading US energy producers have curtailed some investment, resulting in lower weekly rig counts.

Despite the reduced drilling, Goldman Sachs estimated Monday that US output would still grow by 230,000 barrels a day in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with a year ago. l

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BUSINESS 19

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Young adults want news, not the newspaper n AFP, Washington

Have a digital day - new tech toys at German IT fair n AFP, Hanover There’s the intelligent yoga mat, the coffee flask that’ll give you and your smartphone a jolt, and a super-smart dinosaur toy with his head in the cloud.

Love it or hate it, this is a glimpse of the world of tomorrow according to the gadget makers who’ve shown up in force at the German IT fair CeBIT. The start-up founders and architects of the “Internet of Things” have an app for everything to help the connected citizen get through the day.

Workout meta-data

For those who like to get the blood pumping at the crack of dawn, there’s the Smart-Mat, a digital work-out assistant. Its over 6,000 pressure sensors can keep count of your push-ups, sit-ups, crunches and even your breathing rate.

“It can automatically measure different exercises and create meta-data for your personal workout regime,” said a trim-looking Bo Zhou, who has developed the floor sports mat for the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence.

Although the mat is still a prototype, he said, it could in future be connected to any number of sports apps, like those that talk people through yoga routines.

“Right now yoga assistant applications on smartphones tell you a routine and you have to follow at their pace,” Bo said. “You don’t have your hands free. If you cannot follow it, you will miss the whole routine. “But with this, we could distinguish whether you’re in position and stable, and ready for the next step so you can follow your own pace.”

Remote eldercare

If the Smart-Mat is good for body and spirit,

there’s another innovation for peace of mind – the “easierLife” system that lets you check whether an elderly relative living alone is following their usual routine.

Its wireless sensors are fitted in an elder person’s apartment to detect when they get up or leave the house. It sends a message by SMS, email or phone to the concerned relative when there is a worrying break with daily routine.

“If something goes wrong, you get a push notification that may say ‘my mum has been inactive or didn’t get back home from shopping’,” explained company chief Sebastian Chiriac.

“With this information, the elderly feel more safe and the relatives know everything is alright at home, and if something is wrong they can react instantly to it,” he said.

The system respects privacy to the extent that it doesn’t rely on cameras or microphones and “works in the background”, he said. It is available in a German language version and sells for 299 euros ($315).

Java jolt

Having worked out and checked on the grandparents, it might be time for that morning cup of tea or coffee, perhaps on the run.

But what if the batteries of the mobile device are low and need a jolt of energy as badly as its user?

No problem, there’s Terratec’s HotPot 1200, a digital thermos flask that also boasts a USB port to power up an Android or iPhone mobile device.

When filled with a hot beverage of at least 80 degrees Celsius (180 Fahrenheit), it generates power that is stored in a battery.

Terratec says that the 60-euro device, which takes several hours to quarter-charge a common phone battery, may be better suited to campers than busy city life, but may come

in useful at a weekend picnic in the park.

Dino wizard

The kids, of course, also want to have new toys. Perhaps a little green dinosaur that knows everything?

That’s the concept behind “Cognitoys”, which can talk with children and, through the powers of wireless communication and cloud computing, instantly answer questions such as “What’s on Mars?”

(The dinosaur’s answer: “red dirt and Martians”) To satisfy children’s boundless curiosity, the toy draws on the considerable knowledge of IBM’s supercomputer Watson.

“It can hold simple conversations with children, and as the child uses the toy, the toy learns about the child,” said developer JP Benini, co-founder of New York company Elemental Path.

“If a child says they like pizza or they play soccer or what their favourite colour is, then in a counting exercise it would count soccer balls or pizza slices, and in a story it would use their favourite colour.

“It actually grows with a child, it understands what vocabulary level they’re at ... so the toy can actually educate them and challenge them over time.”

Benini said that, to protect the four- to seven-year-old children who are the target group, the system works with encrypted communication to be “as non-hackable as possible”.

The company plans to sell English-language Cognitoys online from mid-November for $99 each, and other characters are set to follow.

“We’ve gathered a lot of very leading edge technologies to make a really compelling toy,” said Benini, “but it’s still a toy, and toys need friends.” l

America’s young adults want news, but few want to read a newspaper. And most stumble onto news while on Facebook or other social networks.

Those are among the findings of a survey released Monday of 18- to 34-year-olds by a project of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Some 85 percent of “millennials” surveyed said that keeping up with news is important to them and 69% said they get news daily.

The researchers said the study appears to allay concerns that young adults are apathetic about the world around them.

The millennial generation “spends more time on social networks, often on mobile devices.

The worry is that millennials’ awareness of the world, as a result, is narrow,” the authors said.

But the findings showed “that this newest generation of American adults is anything but ‘newsless,’ passive or civically uninterested.”

The study found that young adults don’t get news in the same way as their parents and grandparents.

“This generation tends not to consume news in discrete sessions or by going directly to news providers,” the report said.

“Instead, news and information are woven into an often continuous but mindful way that millennials connect to the world generally, which mixes news with social connection, problem solving, social action and entertainment.”

Much of the news young adults get is from social networks such as Facebook, even though they often go to these platforms for other reasons.

Just 39 percent said they went online to seek out news or information and 60 percent said they “mostly bump into news” during unrelated online activity, the report said.

Facebook news As a result, Facebook has become a key source of news for the 18-to-34 generation: some 88% said they get news from the social network regularly.

Some 47% said they got most of their news on national politics and government from Facebook, 62% said the social network was their primary source for news on social issues and 41% for international news.

Facebook was the top source of news for 13 of 24 news topics, the survey found.

The report said these social news consumers are often drawn into topics they might otherwise have ignored because peers are recommending and commenting on them.

Despite the notion that social media creates a polarizing “filter bubble,” some 70% of millennials said their social media feeds are comprised of diverse viewpoints - evenly mixed between those who agree and disagree with them.

Who pays?

The survey offers a bleak outlook for traditional media like newspapers hoping to boost paid subscribers.

Just 12% of the respondents said they paid for a print newspaper subscription in the past year, while another 13% said they read a newspaper for which someone else pays. l

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20 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Dhaka to ink investment promotion deal with Colombo n Asif Showkat Kallol Bangladesh will sign a deal with Sri Lanka for promotion and protection of investors of two countries.

The contract titled “Capital Investment, Development and Protection” is expected to be signed within a short time.

“We are now examining the Sri Lanka’s 16page proposal for the capital and investment contract,” said an industry ministry official yesterday.

An inter-ministerial meeting held last week at the industry ministry office has finalised the contract.

According to the proposal, two countries will promise to protect the interest of their respective investors.

Proposed contract reads: “Desiring to achieve those objectives in a manner consistent with the protection and enhancement of the public welfare, including alleviation of the poverty, promotion of heath and safety, and protection of environment.”

‘The two agreements between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be signed within a short time’ Under the proposed agreement, the both countries will get the most favoured and national treatment along with the transfers of the investors business profit, returns and payment to their own countries.

Duration of the proposed investment contract will be 10 years and which will extend automatically without any effort.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are supposed to sign a coastal shipping agreement before June aiming to boost bilateral trade and commerce.

Besides, Bangladesh has decided to make progress on signing a preferential trade agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka aiming to enhance bilateral trade.

“The two agreements between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be signed within a short time,” Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He, however, said the bilateral agreements would be useless after the World Trade Orgaisation’s multilateral regime comes to the effect. “We are still examining what type of deal – FTA or PTA – should be signed with Malaysia and Sri Lanka,” he added.

The volume of bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is around US$70m.

In the fiscal year 2013-14, Bangladesh exported goods worth nearly $28m while imported goods valued at $40m.

Bangladesh’s major exports to Sri Lanka include frozen food, agricultural products, chemical items, raw jute, jute goods, knitwear and woven garments. l

Agriculture bears major brunt of disasters n Tribune Report

Nearly a quarter of damages wrought by natural disasters on the developing world are borne by the agricultural sector, according to initial results from a new FAO study released at the UN World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan yesterday.

The organization also announced the launch of a special facility aimed at helping countries better equip their food production sectors to reduce risk exposure, limit impacts, and be better prepared to cope with disasters.

Twenty-two percent of all damages inflicted by natural hazards such as drought, floods storms or tsunamis are registered within the agriculture sector, FAO’s analysis of 78 post-disaster needs assessments in 48 developing countries spanning the 2003-2013 period shows.

These damages and losses are often incurred by poor rural and semi-rural communities without insurance and lacking the financial resources needed to regain lost livelihoods. Yet only 4.5% of post-disaster humanitarian aid in the 2003-2013 period targeted agriculture.

FAO’s 22% figure represents only damages reported via post-disaster risk assessments,

so while indicative of scale, the actual impact is likely even higher. To arrive at a closer estimate of the true financial cost of disasters to developing world agriculture FAO compared decreases in yields during and after disasters with yield trends in 67 countries affected by (at least one) medium- to larger-scale events between 2003 and 2013.

The final tally: US$70bn in damages to crops and livestock over that 10-year period: Asia was the most affected region, with estimated losses adding up to US$28bn, followed by Africa at $26bn.

“Agriculture and all that it encompasses is not only critical for our food supply, it also remains a main source of livelihoods across the planet. While it is a sector at risk, agriculture also can be the foundation upon which we build societies that are more resilient and better equipped to deal with disasters,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

“This is why building resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises is one of FAO’s top priorities,” he added.

New effort for disaster risk reduction in agriculture

To help countries better prepare for and re-

spond to disasters affecting agriculture, FAO yesterday launched a new facility aimed at channeling technical support to where it is most needed. The facility will work to mainstream disaster risk reduction in agriculture at all levels through diverse activities.

“With this new effort, we are aiming to limit peoples’ exposure to risks, avoid or reduce impacts where possible, and enhance preparedness to respond quickly when disasters occur,” said Graziano da Silva.

Studies have shown that for every one dollar spent on disaster risk reduction, as much as four dollars are returned in terms of avoided or diminished impacts, he noted.

The work of the new facility will be guided

by FAO’s Framework Programme on Disaster Risk Reduction for Food and Nutrition Security.

Agriculture remains a key sector

Worldwide, the livelihoods of 2.5bn people depend on agriculture. These small-scale farmers, herders, fishers and forest-dependent communities generate more than half of global agricultural production and are particularly at risk from disasters that destroy or damage harvests, equipment, supplies, livestock, seeds, crops and stored food. l

Diploma students get training stipend n Tribune Report

The skill development and vocational training programme aligned with the market demand ensures better employability for Bangladeshi youth in the job markets.

Around 96,000 diploma students from 93 polytechnics (43 public, 50 private) have received stipends under the skills and training enhancement project (STEP), said a World Bank (WB) statement released yesterday.

The number of students receiving stipend have already surpassed the project target and the project also promotes female skills training and employability through technical and vocational education, said the statement.

According to the WB statement, the stipend program initiated a universal coverage scheme for all the female diploma students

in 2012. The female beneficiary share has increased from 10% to 15%, while the female trainees in supported courses reached to 30% against the target of 20%.

“The government has hired 1,141 contractual teachers in 49 public polytechnics, filling up 98% of the vacancies in these institutions.”

The newly recruited teachers are receiving pedagogical and subject-oriented training at home and abroad. The project has signed a partnership agreement with Nanyang Polytechnic International, Singapore for teachers’ training.

About 65% of the polytechnics established industrial partnerships for internships and job placement and provided job counseling to all the students.

The project is also assisting 33 polytechnics to implement their development plans and

supporting 64 short-course training providers.

These short-course providers have trained 47,000 trainees in 38 trades. As many as 34% of the graduates got jobs within six months of training and 840 unskilled and semi-skilled industry labourers have been trained through industry collaboration with BGMEA of whom 88% gained employment.

The project will provide training to around 10,000 labourers. More than 1,700 trainees got job offers through meeting industry representatives at a job fair organised for the short course trainees in collaboration with CAMPE. The project launched the Recognition of Prior learning (RPL) for the first time in the country in September 2014 with an aim to assess the skills levels of the existing workforce in the informal economy and to certify their skills. l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

T-JUNCTION

The 3S Eff ect Sexy, sophisticated and suave

Wardrobe: Mehruz Munir Photos: Vince Boisgard Styling: Saadat Chowdhury Model: Azim Uddula Make-up: Rajon Zx Shoot coordinators: Firoz Hossain and Golam Sarowar

INSIDE

Sham to glam:

A chandelier can do more than just lighting up the room. Find out all the cool effects that a mere chandelier from the local store can project.

Casual and comfy:

Lounges are typically either comfortably messy or an organised chaos where you’d think twice before walking it. Wondering how to find a middle ground? Take a look.

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22 T-JUNCTION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Trial Room

n Mahmood Hossain Arrogant, egotistical, abrasive, and pretentious. Mehruz Munir happens to be the complete opposite. But he does play the part of a confident menswear designer to a T. His touch on his designs mimic that of his own wardrobe - sexy, sophisticated and suave. The 3S Effect. He’s got better taste than a Michelin Star restaurant, and it was quite apparent in what he wore to our sit down. The relaxed feel of his casual shirt, sleeves rolled up, jelled into his fitted navy trousers, hemmed at the perfect length. Loafers on point, one of his favourite shades tucked comfortably in his left breast pocket, and the eye-catching wrist game topped it all off. He’s the guy you’d want to take to prom.

We were completely taken aback by your latest creations in a recent feature. It was surprising because the aesthetics reminded me of Club Monaco, Suitsupply or Loro Piana.

What is it that you’ve introduced to the world?

It’s menswear the way it should be. I grew up wanting to be a menswear designer, just do what I love. These are things I want to wear, I see myself wearing the things I create.

Whatever seems cool to me, really. Double breasted suits, overcoats, trench coats, just covering all the classics. In a way, they are classics with my personal twist.

Cut from a different cloth Bonding over coffee, mutual admiration and Tom Ford

And those coats are so practical, yet we don’t see any of them here in Dhaka.

I know! It’s frustrating. Trench coats are perfect for a place like Dhaka, I don’t know why people won’t take up that habit. I don’t get it. People think coats are supposed to be heavy and it’ll be too hot, but that’s not true at all, especially in the rainy season.

Something else that people won’t get right away is the name Zurhem for your label.

Is there a significance behind the name or simply your first name backwards?

(Laughs) Honestly, I wanted it to be my name. Just Mehruz Munir. But then I realised it doesn’t really have that cool vibe to it. It wouldn’t really catch someone’s attention. So I thought why not just flip it around, and I loved it instantly. I told my friends right away and I got really good feedback, they responded to it really well.

Zurhem has just made its first appearance but you came back to Dhaka in March of 2014, how long have you been working on the label?

It’s officially been about four months and I see myself opening up a store a few months down the line. A very good friend of mine and I partnered up for this venture back in March, and it was just the right time. I had the resources and my best friend was eager to join in so we went for it. We took that time to hire people and teach them certain techniques.

But I’m still developing the collection, it’s still in the process. I’m also working on my next collection so the two are keeping me real busy.

From your significant time abroad, in Australia and the UK, it has given you the experience of both worlds. What’s your opinion on the current style status in Dhaka?

It’s still not where it should be. As a whole, there’s a small percentage of “stylish” people.

Then again, more people are connected to the Internet, and a lot of the inspiration comes from there. So they see the world, they are updated. Things are getting better, people are curious. More importantly, learning.

T-JUNCTION 23

DT

Trial Room

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

The sad thing is women have it a little easier, but the men sort of get lost.

Exactly, exactly. Even though I say people get curious, and they’re learning but the men of Dhaka have plenty of catching up to do. There are countless stores for women, but for men it’s very limited. Consequently, the men of Dhaka aren’t as fashionable compared to the women. And that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to start my own label. There’s nothing here that I would buy and wear for myself. I’m sure men like me want something more real, forward, and fashionable.

Which reminds me, are you providing only off the rack items or will you be offering tailoring as well?

It’s actually a blend of both. We’re doing a lot of ready-to-wear, but I believe suits should be tailored for your body. I’ve got a great team working together, and I’ve trained them for quite a while. So if someone comes to me and wants a custom made suit, why not?!

And in your own designs, what are you most inspired by?

I would have to say sportswear. It’s funny because I was never the athlete when I was growing up and I was never into sports. I was more attracted to the functionality of sportswear. From the looks and the cuts, for some reason I’ve always been inspired by sportswear.

Adidas has done plenty of collaborations with celebrities recently...

Like Kanye West.

(I cracked a smile and so did Mehruz. Seems like we were on the same page.)

Yeah, I saw the collection, what did you think of that?

Well...I didn’t hate it.

You can be honest.

Okay, honestly, I didn’t hate it. It was

different because there was no logo, which stood out to me the most. It was basic, though. It was alright, Kanye isn’t that bad.

He’s not from a fashion background so it wasn’t a total fail.

Do you see yourself doing that somewhere down the line?

Yeah, of course. Definitely, but right now I’m totally focused on the menswear at the moment.

Which seem to be style essentials nowadays.

What are your everyday essentials?

Definitely sunglasses. The bigger the better, the darker the better. I always like to have a good belt, and a solid wristwatch.

Along the lines of inspiration how heavily are you influenced by British tailoring appose to, let’s say, Italian?

British tailoring is very structured, has plenty of predetermined values and...

Were you always this stylish?

No way! My mom was still buying clothes for me growing up. I wasn’t the most fashionable kid. But as I grew older I knew I had to take control and change the way I look.

From your style to theirs, any style tips to the men of Dhaka out there?

Do not follow trends. Wear what makes you feel comfortable. Also pay attention to the colours that make them look good, according to your skin tone. The most important thing would probably be the silhouette and the colour.

Heritage?

Yes, exactly. But the Italians are more open to newer and edgier ideas. What I love most about Italian tailoring is that they pay a lot of attention to the fabric.

Who are your favourite designers?

I really like Alexander Wang, even though I don’t work like him at all. Totally different designs. I like Raf Simons and Martin Margiela.

Out of the lot, who’s the one person you look up to, design wise?

Tom Ford! (He didn’t skip a beat, we both reached over the table for a high-five and a chuckle. Because that’s what professionals do.)

He just knows the blend between artistic values and the business side of it all. He just knows it all. I love everything he does, the way he markets, designs, everything! But I have to admit his women’s collection is more interesting than his menswear. The men’s line has a fixed template.

That 70s look, wide lapels?

Exactly, the fits and silhouettes are pretty much the same.

He came out with his women’s collection not too long after his first men’s show, which was amazing.

I loved it, absolutely loved it.

How soon after did you realise this is what you were meant to do?

As a child, I used to draw a lot, but never thought about design. I think when I was in business school, it really hit me. I knew I wanted to get into fashion and menswear. I wanted to drop out, but friends and family told me to finish my undergraduate studies in Australia. And only then, I could have dedicated myself to fashion.

At 26 years of age, you’ve accomplished plenty of things. Now, you are your own boss.

That’s always nice, you get to work at your own pace. But it has been very difficult, nothing comes easy. As much as I love to work with my designs, I also have to worry about salaries and employees. There is so much to deal with.

When do we get to see the fruits of your labour? I guarantee you I’ll be first in line.

(Laughs) Thanks. In about three to four months, maybe. Can’t say exactly when.

Along with the ready-to-wear, will we be seeing accessories?

Only the basics really. Again, I’m concentrating on the clothes first.

But please do pocket squares!

Oh, absolutely. That will definitely be there, along with belts, ties and bow ties.

Will simplicity and comfort cost a pretty penny or will men be able to approach something affordable at your store?

I wouldn’t say very affordable, it’s more reasonable I think. I mean you have to understand the amount of detail and hard work that go into my creations. My team works pretty hard and they require time. If you’re willing to spend a couple of hundred dollars at Zara, you could spend the same at our place and feel completely satisfied, according to the quality.

Reminds me of that amazing video by Dior.

Oh my God! That was jaw dropping. The workmanship is incredible, and now you know why they charge such a high amount. And it’s not for the mass market, only for a small group of people. But our work will be more than reasonable, not impossible to buy.

With those final words, the coffee had ended and the designer who seeks to change the fashion scene in Dhaka took his leave. After a proper meeting, with so much more that was discussed, this is only an enticing sneak peek to what Zurhem is all about. It won’t be too long when Mehruz Munir becomes the best menswear designer in all of Bangladesh. Get hype people, he’s the real deal. l

DT

24 T-JUNCTION

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Tucked In

decor

Lights and shadows The unsung heroes of interior design

n Adila Hoque The immaterial nature of light has led many people to undermine their position in the art of home interiors. Many of us like to have big, fancy chandeliers in our living or dining space, and whether or not your taste is commendable, anyone will admit that chandeliers make a statement. It can take a room from sham to glam in less than a second.

And vice versa.

Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz Now, if you have been following up on new home improvement ideas online, you have probably come across the light fixtures by Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz - the chandelier that makes your room look like a forest. This chandelier has the appearance of a thorny mass, a creeper clinging from the ceiling, but once you turn it on, it creates a spooky ambiance that straight up gives you the chills. You will probably not find those items anywhere in Bangladesh any time soon, but you’re still welcome to look around.

The mason jar chandelier, the wire-bulb, and the lamp/bell chandeliers are some of the other kinds that will give your room a new edge, and, fortunately, they’re available here too, if you want to look around a little bit.

Wire-bulb The wire-bulb chandelier will adjust well to any room, as long as it isn’t too big. Keep in mind the proportion of the chandelier to your room size. If your living space is too big, you can easily have it hung from one corner and it will still look just as classy.

Lamp/bells If your ceilings aren’t too high, the lamp/ bell chandeliers should be your only option.

Obviously, you can’t have anything too big, so something small and spread out will give your room a simple, soft touch.

It is high time you lost the gigantic glass bowl hanging from your living room’s ceiling.

It went out of style half a decade ago.

Mason jar A classic work of art, the mason jar chandelier will go nicely in your living room if you think your sleek dining furnishings are a little too simple and that the room needs a little something to vamp it up.

Here are the locations of some lighting stores in Dhaka AURORA INTERIOR House 49, Road 11 Block H, Banani Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 883-6497

IMAGE FURNISHING & LIGHTING Gulshan Bhaban Market (1st Floor) 160 Gulshan Avenue Circle Gulshan 2, Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 881-4144

CLASSICAL LIGHTING 214 Habib Super Market 50 Gulshan, Circle 1 Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 881-5591

LIGHTNING PALACE 212/213 Habib Super Market 50 Gulshan South Gulshan Circle 1, Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 988-4329

DESIGN PRO 114 Gulshan Avenue Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 882-5829

LIGHTING PLAZA 18 (new) Bidisha Super Market Gulshan Circle 2 Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 986-2624, 882-7195

GLORIOUS Mehnaz Monsur Plaza House CESF 11/A Road 130, Gulshan 1 Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 881-5988

MARVELLA Road 95, House 1 (1st floor) C#1 Gulshan Palladium Shopping Complex Gulshan 1, Dhaka Tel: (88-02) 986-1441

room of the week

When was the last time you walked into a lounge room and fell in love with the decor? The neatly stacked shelf up top adds just as much character as the slightly warped, rectangular platter on the table.

Name: Rudaina Reaz Area: Gulshan Photo: Courtesy

Communication between on-field officials and TV umpires at the World Cup will be aired on television for the QFs, SFs and final of the World Cup, the ICC said yesterday

Sport 26

WILL PROTEAS BANISH CHOKER TAG?

27

INDIA RELAXED BEFORE TIGERS QUARTER-FINAL

29

25

DT

WIRED

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

LOSING IRFAN HUGE SETBACK, SAYS MISBAH

Shakib matures into complete cricketer n Mazhar Uddin from Melbourne Shakib al Hasan has been the world’s number one all-rounder in Tests and Twenty20 internationals for quite some time now. However, off the field, he was yet to grasp the intricacies of the press.

In recent times though, Shakib has learned to grow as a cricketer when it comes to interacting with the media. Now, the champion all-rounder is at absolute ease while facing tricky questions.

Handling the media well and in a matured way is part and parcel of every international cricketer’s job. At times, a cricketer can land himself in trouble if one of his answers is inappropriate. A wrong answer or even an irresponsible statement can create a controversy in no time.

Shakib though is not one to fall into that trap. These days, he answers more sensibly whenever a tricky question comes his way.

Yesterday, the conference room of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground was packed with the presence of Bangladeshi and Indian journalists ahead of the crunch quarter-final clash between the two south Asian rivals tomorrow. And, the majority of the Indian journalists were quite eager to hear something out-of-the-box from the poster boy of Bangladesh cricket.

Even though the Indian media contingent Down Under rates Shakib highly, they wanted to rile him up in the presser by recalling Virender Sehwag’s statement made during the 2011 ICC World Cup. Sehwag had termed Bangladesh as “easy opponents” but yesterday, Shakib was calm and resolute and instead of getting annoyed, his reply was composed.

“I don’t think any team in the World Cup will take their opponent lightly as it’s a quarter-final and I think no one will be complacent,” he said before adding, “I guess no one will take anyone lightly.”

Things used to be different in the past though. Shakib, who completed his Higher Secondary Certificate exams from the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan, gave a controversial interview to a local daily newspaper last year during Bangladesh’s disastrous ICC World T20 campaign at home.

Shakib had said, “It would be best if we play outside Bangladesh for two years. When there will be less games at home, the people’s expectations will also be reduced. People should put a lid on their expectations.”

“I think when we play a tournament or a series or even when we play any big competition, we try not to focus on the outside.

We generally try to avoid what’s going on off the field. And if there is expectation, I do not think the players take it negatively,” he said. l

Bangladesh cricketers warm up during a training session yesterday ahead of their WC quarter-final match against India in Melbourne tomorrow

AFP

‘We should be calm, pressure is on India’ Habibul Bashar Sumon, a member of the threeman national selection panel and former captain who led Bangladesh to their historical win against India in the 2007 World Cup, shares his memories and expectations of his playing days with Minhaz Uddin Khan.

DT: How should Bangladesh approach the quarter-final?

Bashar: Bangladesh has played a lot of important matches in its history starting from the ICC Trophy in 1997. But I think this game against India tops everything because a win will lead us in the semifinal of the tournament for the first time. To be honest we have nothing to lose and we can only learn. We should remain calm as India is the one under pressure. They lost to Bangladesh in 2007, in 2012 Asia Cup and it will be playing in the back of their mind, doesn’t matter if they deny. What Bangladesh should try is to play their best cricket and enjoy the game. I don’t think we need to do anything different or special, there will be chances in the game and we should grab those. The other day I heard Shakib (al Hasan) saying the start will be very important, doesn’t matter if it is with the ball or bat. I hope they will be able to do that.

Was there any particular event that motivated Bangladesh to beat India in 2007 WC?

It all started when we won against New Zealand in the warm-ups. They were title contenders and in tremendous form. So after that win everyone expected Bangladesh to do something big in the tournament. This boosted us. I have played a lot for Bangladesh but never saw the team so confident, and we were not thinking much about India who were also a very good team. They had all their legends in the team like Sachin (Tendulkar), (Rahul) Dravid and (Virendar) Sehwag.

We never put thought on who were playing but concentrated on what we needed to do. We knew if we do our job properly the result will be huge. I am seeing that confidence in the current

team and I hope they utilise it.

Do you find the coincidence of the month March, death of national cricketer Manzarul Islam Rana and playing India interesting?

I personally don’t like merging Rana and the game. Rana was a very close cricketer to us and we all liked him a lot. I think one doesn’t need any extra inspiration when playing for the Bangladesh team. It was just an incident – Rana died in an accident, we won the game against India a day later. To be honest we were more upset then. Yes its true we have won big matches in the month of March and this includes against India too that’s why March has some significance but I don’t think one will need to find inspiration from anything.

Any weakness in the Indian team that will be advantageous for Bangladesh?

To be honest they have very little weakness.

They are a champion side and have performed very well in the tournament so far. Mostly it is their batting people talk about and this time their bowling is also in the limelight. So their only weak point might be that they are a very good side and its a huge pressure on their shoulders. I want them to take Bangladesh lightly. If you look in their last two games they were little shaky with their batting. I hope Bangladesh will be able to use that as advantage.l

DT

26 Sport

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

1ST QUARTERFINAL Played: 59 Tied: 1 No result: 1

SOUTH AFRICA 28

Wins

SRI LANKA 29

At Sydney Cricket Ground today (9:30am BST)

Umpires

Rod Tucker (AUS), Nigel Llong (ENG) TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

Weather forecast

Partly cloudy, possible chance of showers.

Maximum temperature 31 Celsius.

Pitch report

Promises to be a slow, spin friendly surface. Any cloud cover will assist faster bowlers otherwise batsmen should be able to hit through the line with confidence.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

South African captain AB de Villiers (L) dribbles a football past teammate Faf (L-R) Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo du Plessis during a training session at SCG on Monday AFP Mathews look on during a training session at SCG yesterday AFP

SOUTH AFRICA v SRI LANKA, 2015 ICC WORLD CUP 1ST QF

Will Proteas banish choker tag?

Yousuf Rahman (Babu), former national cricketer, vice captain and first centurion writes from New York for Bangladesh fans all across the globe.

“Kumar Sangakkara’s luminous journey may continue at South Africa’s expense” South Africa and Sri Lanka started their ODI encounter in 1992 with the first match played between the two nations in Wellington in the Benson and Hedges Cup, which to everyone’s surprise, Sri Lanka won by a thumping margin of seven wickets. Since then, the two sides have played each other 59 times in various tournaments at various venues. Sri Lanka leads the Proteas by one game, which is a testimony to the overall consistent quality of the Lankan Lions.

This will be the fourth time that they will confront each other in a World Cup event.

Two of three matches were won by South Africa while the one in the 2003 ICC World Cup in Durban ended in a tie under the Duckworth/Lewis method. Past records clearly indicate that both sides have a lot to offer and, needless to mention, a lot to play for. South Africa has been the “taboo” team of the event. With high-profile players in its roster, they have always managed to not only disappoint their fans, but also shock themselves by making pre-mature exits from several World Cup events.

While Sri Lanka’s performance in the group phase has been somewhat predictable, barring the

comprehensive loss to New Zealand, its standout superstar has been Sangakkara.

With four consecutive hundreds under his belt, a feat unlikely to be repeated in the near future, he is definitely the batsman of the tournament. The cricket world is bemused with his decision to quit the game in the summer of 2015.

Comparatively, the South Africans have been hot and cold. They scored 400 plus in two of its matches, yet went down tamely to a re-grouped Indian team that was made to look more threatening than it really was. To rub salt into its wounds, it lost to a tentative Pakistan side that was struggling to stay in the competition.

It was March 25, 2011 in Dhaka. I was watching South Africa play the Kiwis in one of the quarter-finals of the ICC World Cup. Until that match, South Africa was the team to beat and looked like a side that would go all the way. However, they were their predictable self as it failed to chase a target of 221 on a placid wicket and silently exited the competition with drooping shoulders.

Sri Lanka, in this competition, has the most runs and the most experience in its top order than any other team and Lasith Malinga is among the top wicket takers. Between its top four batters, they have notched up eight hundreds in six matches. This scenario gives the Lankans adequate self-belief and a valid reason to create some doubts in the South African mind.

Coach Marvan Atapattu has laid out his thoughts quite explicitly when he talked about

his side. “We all knew what we were capable of when it came to batting. It’s just a matter of clicking and winning at the right time. When you have four guys out of seven firing, it tells a story. You can’t have all seven guys to fire. In different competitions, people get into form and it’s their responsibility to take the team to big scores, and to ensure the chases are being done successfully. That has been happening, and that’s always a good sign.”

While Atapattu has his own plans, Hashim Amla in his own calm and composed self has a simple plan. He has been particularly prolific against Sri Lanka in the past, hitting three hundreds and two fifties in eight innings against them. “My game plan has been to bat for as long as possible and set the game up for the guys to have fun at the end. We have some very good players at the death that can blow teams away.”

The two that automatically come to mind are AB de Villiers and David Miller.

Both teams play for the glory that awaits them, but between the two, Sri Lanka has more experience in coming up good in big games, They have already been to three World Cup finals, and three Twenty20 finals winning each event once. So they know what it is like to be on the big stage. South Africa on the other hand has worked very hard but has always managed to give it away when it mattered.

Perhaps, this could be the year for the Proteas. They have tasted the rough end of the stick in the group matches having lost to India and Pakistan. The much discussed “jinx” may be over and the time for, as Amla puts it, “fun” has come. l

AB de Villiers (South Africa)

His last innings at the SCG was a staggering 162 not out which included the quickest 150 in an ODI, off just 64 balls, against the West Indies in a pool match.

Blessed with stunning hand-eye co-ordination he is capable of improvising the unlikeliest of shots.

But the question for de Villiers, as it is for South Africa, is can he produce his best in the pressure of a knockout match?

Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

The veteran wicket-keeper has been in sensational form with the bat at this World Cup becoming the first man to score hundreds in four successive ODIs with innings of 105 not out against Bangladesh, 117 not out against England, 104 against Australia and 124 against Scotland.

A left-hander with a supreme ability to pace an innings, the 37-year-old plans to retire from ODI cricket after the World Cup. Sri Lanka are desperate for his run-spree to continue but cricket common sense suggests he is due a low score soon. South Africa will feel like they’ve taken two wickets if he goes cheaply on Wednesday.

DT

Sport 27

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Bat first, don’t obsess over De Villiers, says Murali n AFP, Sydney

Spin great Muttiah Muralitharan told Sri Lanka to bat first against South Africa and not obsess over the destructive batting power of AB de Villiers in Wednesday’s World Cup quarter-final.

Muralitharan, a veteran of Sri Lanka’s defeated sides in the 2007 and 2011 finals, believes all the pressure will be on the team batting second at the Sydney Cricket Ground and that Angelo Mathews’s men can capitalise on South Africa’s poor record when chasing.

“I have two messages - win the toss and do not get too hung up thinking about AB de Villiers,” the off-spin great wrote in his latest ICC column.

“The side batting first in one-day internationals at the Sydney Cricket Ground wins 58 per cent of the time according to the statistics but, in the pressure of a knock-out match as this one is, I reckon the advantage of runs on the board counts for even more than that figure suggests.”

South Africa’s four group game victories all came batting first - piling up 411 against Ireland, 408 facing the West Indies, 341 to beat the UAE and 339 in the win against Zimbabwe.

But batting second, de Villiers’s team made just 177 chasing India’s 307 and a disappointing 202 in pursuit of Pakistan’s modest 222.l

Indian cricket players form a wall in a game of football during a training session in Melbourne yesterday

India relaxed before Bangladesh quarter-final n Reuters, Melbourne If India, the most watched and heavily scrutinised team in world cricket, are under any pressure ahead of Thursday’s World Cup quarter-final against Bangladesh, they are doing well to hide it.

With the weight of expectation of the world’s second most populated country on their shoulders, India’s players could hardly be any more relaxed.

On Tuesday, less than 48 hours before the start of the match, the players ventured to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Rather than hitting the nets to practise

their batting and bowling, the players took it easy, with a light-hearted game of soccer on the stadium’s sprawling outfield.

Despite being followed by a massive Indian media contingent, the team did not make themselves available for media interaction, maintaining a cloak of silence until Wednesday’s mandatory pre-game news conference.

As the defending World Cup champions and one of two unbeaten teams in the tournament - the other is New Zealand - India will go into Thursday’s match as overwhelming favourites to win but still wary about their opponents.

Bangladesh famously beat India at the

2007 World Cup but have beaten their great rivals just once since then and retired India bowler Javagal Srinath said history would not repeat itself this week.

“I know that every time India meet Bangladesh in the World Cup, everyone goes back to 2007 and what happened in Port of Spain.

This Indian side bears no resemblance to that team whose morale was so low right from the start of the competition,” he wrote in a column that appeared in Tuesday’s Hindustan Times newspaper.

“Even though Bangladesh are playing their best cricket, this is a happy Indian side that has mastered the art of winning crunch games.”

AFP

For India, the weight of expectation can sometimes be overbearing. They have been feted like rockstars at every match they have played during the tournament and a crowd of 80,000 is expected to flock to the MCG for Thursday’s sudden-death encounter.

Complacency may have loomed as the biggest danger but India captain Mahendra Singh has said the pressure to succeed was enough to ensure they never let their guard down.

“Irrespective of which team we play or which tournament we play, we are under pressure,” he said after his team’s final pool game win.l

Watson savours World Cup life-line n Reuters, Melbourne Australia all-rounder Shane Watson is savouring his second chance at the World Cup after his omission from the side left him convinced he had played his last match at the tournament.

Struggling for runs, Watson was dropped before the pool match against Afghanistan but was a surprise recall for the co-hosts’ win over Sri Lanka.

He scored a handy 67 in the match at the SCG when pushed down to the middle order after having previously struggled when batting at three in the earlier pool games.

“I wasn’t expecting to play after being dropped for the Afghanistan game for the rest of the tournament,” Watson told reporters in

Adelaide on Tuesday, where the team will play their quarter-final against Pakistan. “(Selector) Rod Marsh at that time made it very clear what their intentions were.

“It was unbelievably disappointing.

“When it really sunk in I’d been dropped, it really hurt.”

Watson’s place in the Australian squad has been questioned for a number of years, with injuries taking their toll and a modest output of runs.

A clutch of promising all-rounders in James Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh have also put pressure on the burly Queenslander.

But the 33-year-old remains a proven World Cup performer, and boasts an impressive average of 40.23 in the 50-over game with the bat and a handy bowling average of 31.45.

Watson was back at number three for the match against Scotland but, with only 130 to chase, the move appeared more for batting practice for he and captain Michael Clarke, who was elevated to open the batting.

Watson said he had made some “mental adjustments” after being dismissed softly by spinner Daniel Vettori in Australia’s narrow loss to New Zealand.

“It’s just amazing how quickly things can turn around,” he added.

“I know (being dropped) is going to hold me in good stead over the next couple of years hopefully, because I don’t want to be feeling like that again.

“I’m going to be doing everything I can to make sure I make the most of this opportunity now.”l

DT

28 Sport

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Fifa postpone Pakistan WC qualifier n AFP, Zurich

Bindubasini shine in Nat’l School Hockey n Raihan Mahmood

World football’s governing body Fifa on Monday took the decision to postpone the 2018 World Cup qualifier between Pakistan and Yemen due to be played on Tuesday, a Fifa spokesman told AFP. “Due to safety and security reasons and in coordination with AFC (Asian Football Confederation), Fifa has decided to postpone the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier match between Pakistan and Yemen which was due to be played on Tuesday, March 17, in Lahore,” the spokesman said.

“Further details on the date of the match, which will take place in a neutral venue, will follow in due time.” l

Bindubasini Government High School registered a 3-1 victory over Patuakhali Government Jubillee School in the final round of the First Security Islami Bank National School Hockey at Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

In the other matches of the day, Kurigram Government High School edged past Pilot High School 2-1, Armanitola Government High School beat Police Lines School, Dinajpur 2-1 while Latif Municipal defeated Mohammed Makon High School 2-1.

These aforementioned schools are playing for the remaining two slots of the last-eight phase. Six schools have already qualified for the quarterfinals. l

Ibrahimovic faces ban over anti-France tirade n AFP, Paris Paris Saint-Germain’s volatile star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could face a four match suspension over comments he made about his host country which one French minister called “insulting”.

The French league will study the Swedish player’s latest outburst at a meeting on Thursday and a source close to the dossier said he could face up to a four match ban.

However, the punishment would not be imposed on Thursday as they would decide then whether or not to summon him to a hearing over the incident and that would be within three weeks, although PSG could demand that he be heard earlier.

Even though Ibrahimovic apologised in a public relations damage limitation campaign, far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen said he should leave France.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Canal Plus he was shocked by Ibrahimovic’s remarks in which the Swede labelled France as being a ‘shit country’.

“I am shocked by the remarks in equal measure about the refereeing as about France,” he said.l

An action from the match between Bindubasini Government High School and Patuakhali Government Jubillee School during their National School Hockey at Maulana Bhashani Stadium yesterday

Mathews banks on ‘home’ support n AFP, Sydney Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews hopes his side can feed off yet more passionate support from their fans come Wednesday’s World Cup quarter-final against South Africa in Sydney.

When Sri Lanka played tournament cohosts Australia at the SCG during the pool stages, the vast number of supporters from local expatriate communities, as well as travelling fans, generated so much noise and colour it made the match seem like a home game for the Islanders.

“If you play at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) or SCG it’s like playing at home,” Mathews told reporters at the SCG on Tuesday.

“Most of the Sri Lankans across Australia or across the world, they fly into Sydney with immense support for us, and we really enjoy playing in Sydney. We’ve been getting tremendous support wherever we played.”

Sri Lanka have a fine record in knockout matches. The reigning World Twenty20 champions, they’ve also appeared in the last two World Cup finals and won the tournament back in 1996.

By contrast, South Africa have yet to win a knockout match at the World Cup. Mathews said the key was to remain positive and not be overwhelmed by the fear of failure - a criticism that has been levelled against South Africa.

“I think that when you come to the knockout stages most of the things, most of the

teams will think that you can’t afford to do mistakes or you’ll be out of the tournament.

“That kind of attitude is hard to get rid of.

You have to play good cricket back ourselves and go out there and enjoy ourselves.”

Turning to the Proteas, he said: “We all know that South Africa are a very hard team to beat, especially in this tournament.l

Sanath Jayasuriya, chairman of the SL selection committee, speaks to the media at SCG on Monday AFP

5 THINGS LEARNT IN WORLD CUP FIRST ROUND

LEFT-ARM FORWARD

ATTACK TO WIN

INDIA PEAK AT RIGHT TIME

GARDEN OF EDEN

ASSOCIATES ON THE RISE

Some 23 years after Wasim Akram lit up the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, this tournament has seen a clutch of left-arm fast bowlers following in the Pakistan great’s footsteps, with batsmen exposed to an angle of delivery many of them don’t face that often. Australia’s Mitchell Starc has so far taken 16 wickets at just 8.50 apiece, with New Zealand’s Trent Boult not far behind with 15.

Cricket tactics are a little bit like flared trousers -- everything comes back at least once. Amidst all the blazing hitting, what this World Cup has shown is that captains prepared to back their bowlers with attacking fields - Australia’s Michael Clarke and New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum being two examples - have the greatest chance of success.

India had a wretched tour of Australia in the lead-up to the defence of their title but, as they showed in winning the 2011 World Cup on home soil and the 2013 Champions Trophy in England, MS Dhoni’s men - and the captain himself - have an admirable ability to raise their game when there’s a major prize at stake.

Before the tournament started, there were fears the short straight boundaries at Eden Park would lead to a riot of run-scoring at the Auckland ground. Yet the venue has staged some low-scoring thrillers, including New Zealand’s one-wicket win over Australia in the match of the tournament so far, with the Aussies all out for 151 after Boult took five for 27, only for Starc to hit back with six for 28.

It is a measure of how things have changed that Ireland’s victory over the West Indies was no longer regarded as a shock.

Meanwhile Afghanistan, UAE and Scotland all had their moments too, adding to the vibrancy of a tournament that otherwise would just be a slightly expanded version of the Champions Trophy.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

Mascarenhas to mentor NZ bowlers against England n AFP, Wellington Former England one-day specialist Dimitri Mascarenhas has been appointed the New Zealand bowling coach for their upcoming tour of England.

The 37-yearold, who played 20 ODIs, replaces Shane Bond who leaves the New Zealand coaching panel at the end of the World Cup to take up a role with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

Mascarenhas, currently coaching the Otago Volts in the New Zealand domestic competition, believed his knowledge of pitches and players in England would be a valuable asset for New Zealand.

“I am newly out of the scene there as a player and I know most of the guys in the current team very well ... and I know all the grounds we are playing at intimately so those factors will be useful in terms of the scouting and bowling plans,” he said.l

Dilshan joins Derbyshire

n AFP, London Sri Lanka batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan will spend two spells with Derbyshire this season, the English County Championship Division Two side announced on Tuesday.

The experienced 38-year-old will be available for up to four Twenty20 Blast fixtures and two County Championship games when he replaces New Zealand’s Martin Guptill as Derbyshire’s overseas player in June. He will then return to the County Ground at the beginning of August after playing in the Caribbean Premier League.

“Derbyshire are an ambitious club with an exciting young team and I’m looking forward to joining them in the NatWest T20 Blast and then returning to help them finish the season strongly,” Dilshan told the club website. “I am really pleased with my current form and this makes me confident I can make a strong contribution to Derbyshire this season.”l

Losing Irfan huge setback, says Misbah n AFP, Adelaide Giant Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan was ruled out of the World Cup Tuesday because of a stress fracture to his pelvis, an injury which captain Misbah-ul-Haq described as a “huge setback”.

The 32-year-old first felt the hip injury in the 129-run win over the United Arab Emirates two weeks ago when he bowled just three overs.

The seven-foot one-inch fast bowler played in the crucial victory against South Africa, taking three wickets, before missing Sunday’s game against Ireland which Pakistan won to secure their place in the last-eight.

The injury is a major blow to the 1992 champions’ chances of defeating four-time winners Australia in the quarter-final at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.

“Irfan was one bowler who was different to all the others in the competition,” Misbah told AFP. “It is a huge setback for us but we have to live with it.”

Irfan, at seven-feet one inch, the tallest man to play international cricket, took eight wickets in the five matches he played at the World Cup.

His injury is the latest in a series of devastating setbacks suffered by Pakistan who have been stripped of an entire first-choice attack.

“It’s difficult because we lost two bowlers to suspension before the World Cup,” said Misbah of ace spinner Saeed Ajmal and spinning all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez.

“We also lost two good quality pacemen - Umar Gul and Junaid Khan - also to injury.

Now just when we have started to perform well this injury hits us badly.

“It’s a worrying sign for a captain but we have to find a way to handle this.”

Junaid was announced in the 15-man squad for the World Cup but injured his leg at a training camp and was replaced by Rahat Ali. If Pakistan wins the quarter-final, it’s understood that Junaid will be called up as a replacement for Irfan.

Before Irfan was ruled out of the rest of the tournament, former captain Wasim Akram told AFP that the player needed to work on his fitness.

“Irfan is different,” said Wasim. “His body stretches more and needs careful handling.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earlier confirmed Irfan’s injury.l

Historic task awaits City in Barcelona n AFP, Barcelona

Manchester City face a huge challenge if they are to reach the last eight of the Champions League for the first time ever by overturning a 2-1 first leg deficit when they travel to an inform Barcelona on Wednesday.

The English champions were outplayed at home for the second season in a row at this stage of the competition three weeks ago and could have been even further behind travelling to the Catalan capital had Joe Hart not saved a Lionel Messi penalty in stoppage time at the Etihad.

Both sides also come into the game at the Camp Nou in contrasting form domestically.

City’s title challenge appears all but over

after a shock 1-0 defeat at relegation threatened Burnley on Saturday, whilst Barca have soared to the top of La Liga in recent weeks on a run of 16 victories in their last 17 games.

Yet, City boss Manuel Pellegrini is insistent that his job is not on the line should elimination at the Camp Nou all but seal a trophyless season.

Pellegrini was criticised by many for his over-eager attacking intent in the first leg, which allowed Barca’s star front three of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar to prosper.

However, he believes that philosophy is what still gives them a chance despite the daunting prospect of having to win at the Camp Nou.

Sharapova, Djokovic advance, Wozniacki out

DAY’S WATCH BTV, Gazi TV, Maasranga TV Star Sports 1, 3

n AFP, Indian Wells

08:45AM ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 QF1: South Africa v Sri Lanka

Ten Action 1:45AM UEFA Champions League Barcelona v Man. City

Ten Sports 1:45AM UEFA Champions League Dortmund v Juventus 3:30AM ATP: BNP Paribas Open IW Last 16

By contrast, Barcelona now have a treble in their sights with a potentially decisive La Liga clash with eternal rivals Real Madrid to come on Sunday and a Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao to look forward to at the end of the campaign.

The backbone of the upturn in form from Luis Enrique’s men has been Messi’s incredible form as the Argentine took his tally for the season to 43 goals in just 39 games with a double against Eibar at the weekend.

However, Suarez has also begun to make his presence felt after a club record move from Liverpool in the summer as last season’s Premier League Player of the Year has struck six times in his last five games, including both his side’s goals in the first leg.l

Victoria Azarenka plays a forehand against Maria Sharapova (unseen) at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Monday

Second seed Maria Sharapova and defending champ Novak Djokovic eased through third round Indian Wells matchups but fourth seeded Caroline Wozniacki bit the dust in the California desert on Monday.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova needed six match points to grind out a 6-4, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka in a rare early round marquee matchup.

Djokovic also had to fend off a spirited opponent in Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a centre court night match but eventually prevailed 7-5, 6-3 to reach the round of 16.

“I managed to play the right shots at the right time and in the important moments to sneak through in straight sets,” Djokovic said.l

DT

30 DOWNTIME

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Extinct bird (3) 3 Faithful (4) 6 Golf club (4) 7 Limb (3) 9 Whip (4) 10 Beverage (3) 11 Uncommon (4) 13 Lift up (5) 16 Worker in mental (5) 18 Hurried (4) 19 Lubricant (3) 20 Liquor dregs (4) 21 Self (3) 23 Timber-dressing tool (4) 24 Solemn promise (4) 25 Donkey (3)

DOWN 1 Grinding tooth (5) 2 Number (3) 4 Acting part (4) 5 Work unit (3) 6 Bury (5) 8 Ingrained dirt (5) 9 Cause corrosion (4) 12 To one side (5) 14 Serpents (4) 15 Find the answer to (5) 17 Head and neck coverings (5) 18 Religious denominations (4) 20 Zodiac sign (3) 22 Fuel (3)

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

You have one letter in the control grid to start you off. Enter it 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.

A B C D E FG H I J K L M N O P Q RST UVWXYZ

SUDOKU

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

DT

SHOWTIME 31

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

2nd International Women Film Festival Celebrating women achievements on the reel

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak While the country’s key film industry continues to be a male-dominated realm, one where women can rarely be found behind the camera, the rise of independent film has begun change to the scene, however slowly. And one of the best showcases for the progress that women filmmakers have made is here in our backyard. The Dhaka-based

International Women’s Film Festival has come around for the second time, making it a continuously running one-of-a-kind festival in the region.

The festival assembles 70 films from 20 countries all made by female filmmakers.

The festival opened with Samia Zaman’s alternative to watching love-tale “The Distant Sky” which stands as the only feature entry from the host country while the rest four are short in length

and largely focus on woman issues and go with the festival’s theme: “Film in women’s eye.”

Five phenomenal entries, “Fight Acid Violence” (Bangladesh), “Self Offence2 (USA), “Lucy vs The Limits of Voice”(Mexico), “Tragedy” (Iran) and “3 Knots” (India), have been honoured as Best Films via audience vote.

During the festival, a film appreciation workshop took place. It consisted of twenty young female enthusiasts along with a seminar on “Women in Making Film: Context Bangladesh.” The workshop and the initiative they have taken have made it both an interactive and intellectually charged platform for all those involved.

As a single participating country Mexico has made the highest entry with 20 films from various genres. This has also made them the focusing country this year. By partnering with Global Mate, International Women’s Film Festival Network, Mexican Film Institute and New York based Women Make Movies, the organisers made sure more participants took part in the competition and vowed to raise the number even further in the future. l

2015 Dhaka Comedy Festival n Showtime Desk

First English-language trailer for ‘Embrace of the Serpent’ released

n Showtime Desk The first English-language trailer for Columbian director Ciro Guerra’s The Embrace of the Serpent has been released

by Ciudad Lunar, and is now available on Youtube.

The Embrace of the Serpent traces the epic journey of encounter, betrayal and, eventually, life-transcending friendship, between the reclusive Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists on a 40 year search for a sacred plant that can heal them.

The cast features Brionne Davis of Savaged fame and Belgian actor Jan Bijvoet, who you may recognize from the Cannes Festival entry Borgman, as well as two non-pro actors, Nilbio Torres, from the Cubeo Vaupes people, and Antonio Bolivar, one of the last of the Ocainas.

The film, which is currently in postproduction, is slated for release in May at the Cartagena Festival.l

Naveed’s Comedy Club, Bangladesh’s first stand-up comedy entity, is hosting the 2015 Dhaka Comedy Festival on March 20, Friday from 4pm – 10pm at the Baridhara DOHS Convention Centre, Dhaka. This festival is the first of its kind and guarantees non-stop laughter for all ages.

The festival will feature the best local comedians performing in front of a crowd of 450 people. The line-up includes comedians such as Naveed Mahbub, Yamin Khan, Aneek Khan, Shahriar Sharif, Solaiman Shukhon, Mosharraf Yaafi, Gulsetyne Ahmed, Tahsin M Khan, Shammi Huda, Max Mystel, Ishtiaquddin Ahmed Ashiq, Ahmed Zunayed, Shawon Majumder, Eftekhar Alam, Istiak Nasir Rajon, Aneek Haque, Nawaf Naser, Mohammad Parash, Pervez Suman, Abu Hena Rony, Farzana Shashi, Mohammad Towhid, Shahryar Khan, Govinda Tarafdar, Fazlul Shaki, Emdadul Haque Hridoy, Saifur Rahman Saiful and many more.

The festival will also provide a variety of other humour based events which include the following:

Open Mic

Anyone can go up on stage and try out performing comedy in front of a real crowd.

The session will be moderated by Naveed Mahbub. There will also be an open mic for ladies and children. Prior registration by emailing Info@NaveedMahbub.com.

Roasting session

There will be a Roasting Session where comedians will field questions, comments

CELEBS ON SOCIAL RUSSELL CROWE @russellcrowe Best coffee in town.

London’s got it going on. Berwick st.

THE AVENGERS @Avengers You did it! Watch the new @ Marvel’s #Avengers #AgeOfUltron trailer and get your tickets NOW: http://Fandango. com/Avengers KEVIN JAMES @KevinJames New poster! Can’t wait for April 17th! #BlartRidesAgain

WHAT TO WATCH TELEVISION

X MEN: FIRST CLASS A-

Star Movies, 9:30pm Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence After Professor X and Magneto realised their powers, they begin working with other mutants to fight some of the greatest threats to mankind. However, a rift between them leads to a war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X Men.

SWORDFISH C+

and yes, even heckling from the audience, all with their wits.

Joke Bucket Challenge

There will be a Joke Bucket Challenge where the audience members write down topics and put into a bucket from which comedians draw the topics on stage and perform comedy based on those topics. The audience cheers on the ones doing well, and boos down those who fumble.

Tickets for the festival are available at Bitter Sweet Cafe (Gulshan), Tastebud (Banani) and online at etunes.com.bd.

More information at www.Facebook.com/ NaveedsComedyClub, 01755618541. l

WB , 7:40pm Cast: John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry Swordfish is a dummy operation that abruptly ends. The DEA earned $400 million, which turned into $9.5 billion in 15 years. Gabriel Shear, head of Black Cell, a counter terrorist organisation tries to get the money to finance his unit’s war against international terrorism.

BLUE BLOODS C+

AXN, 5:29 Cast: Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan This drama series focuses on a family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. It traces the family’s journey as the youngest son Jamie finds himself part of a scandalous police investigation.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

EXPORT GOODS TO BE REDEFINED PAGE 15

‘WE SHOULD BE CALM, PRESSURE IS ON INDIA’

Netanyahu somersaults n Tribune Desk Back in 2009, just three months after he became Israel’s prime minister for the second time, Benjamin Netanyahu delivered what many called “a historic address.” In it, Netanyahu described his “vision” of peace between Israelis and Palestinians: “There are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighborly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbor’s security and existence.”

There are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighbourly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbour’s security and existence.

The speech was deemed remarkable because it contained Netanyahu’s first-ever call for the establishment of a Palestinian state, a statement he had resisted throughout his long and winding political career.

Nearly six years and three Gaza wars later, and with his political legacy on the ropes, Netanyahu issued a major retraction on Monday evening: “I think that anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state today and evacuate lands, is giving attack grounds to the radi-

cal Islam against the state of Israel,” he said in a radio interview.

Needing to siphon off votes from right-leaning parties, Netanyahu’s change in course is the latest moment of panic.

The reversal came as his political fortunes flounder—Netanyahu’s Likud Party is trailing in Israel’s (notoriously fickle) polls, leaving many to believe he might be unseated in Tuesday’s elections. Badly needing to siphon off votes from Israel’s right-leaning parties, Netanyahu’s change in course is the latest moment of panic in a campaign he was never meant to lose. On Sunday, Netanyahu raised the specter that his party might not emerge with enough seats to secure the premiership.

In doing so, Netanyahu sank his long-standing air of invincibility in a country where a majority of citizens have had trouble imagining anyone else as their prime minister.

“One of Netanyahu’s greatest electoral assets—borne out in those relentless polls showing him to be voters’ preferred prime minister—is that he had created a palpable sense of inevitability about his rule,” David Horovitz argues over at The Times of Israel. We’ll find whether that is still true on Tuesday. But given his election-eve reversal, it seems Netanyahu may not even believe it anymore. l

Graphic novel series on Bangabandhu released n Tribune Report The first episode of “Mujib,” a graphic novel series on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was released yesterday, on the occasion of birthday of the father of the nation.

Collaborating with the Centre for Research

and Information (CRI), cartoonists Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy and ABM Salauddin Shuvo are working on the graphic novel which illustrates how Bangabandhu got involved in politics, raised his voice demanding the independence of Bangladesh and eventually earned the title Bangabandhu, which means “friend of Bangalis.” “ We endeavoured to translate into visual art the pulsating story of a young boy who grew up to be the founder of our nation,” Tanmoy said in his Facebook post.

“The series targets children and teenagers who grow up on a steady diet of comics and books. The first episode portrays the childhood and growing up of Bangabandhu. Next episodes will focus on the vision and mission that paved the path towards his great leadership,” said Sabbir Bin Shams, CRI executive director, in a press note.

The graphic novel is first of its kind that will address the country’s youth about the contribution of the father of the nation in such a unique way, he said.

The launching ceremony of the graphic novel was held at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum yesterday afternoon.

Published by State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid and CRI trustee Radwan Mujib Siddiq, the novel series will soon be available nationwide. l

PAGE 25

2ND INT’L WOMEN FILM FESTIVAL PAGE 31

March 1971 Diary

From non-cooperation to People’s Raj This extract is part of a series that will run until March 25, in which we reproduce Rehman Sobhan’s contemporaneous account of the events of that momentous month in Bangladeshi history. This was first published in Forum on March 13, 1971

n Rehman Sobhan This however did not mean that all civil servants were sitting idle. They were carrying the struggle from its phase of non-cooperation to active cooperation with the Awami League.

Groups of officials accepted the task of identifying problems and presenting them to Sheik Mujib for decision.

A sort of improvised Secretariat was in operation where streams of businessmen and civil servants were visiting in search of solutions to problems, consultation and reassurance. The conditions of work were difficult, but decisions were being made and in many cases more rapidly than within the Eden Buildings.

This left much to be desired in the organizational apparatus, conditions of work and modus operandi. The lack of experience of the decision-makers itself is a constraint. But work went on.

Today, as a result, writ of the people’s representatives covers the four corners of Bangladesh. Secretaries, deputy commissioners, circle officers, policemen, are all taking orders from them. Police operate in conjunction with the AL volunteers to enforce a degree of law and order which is unusual, considering the troubled times.

Local authorities in the mofussil have begun to collaborate with the Sangram Parishad (Resistance Committees) and take directives from them. Today, in fact, effective power and decision-making within the administration emanates from

one source -- the Awami League.

Whilst the collaboration of the administration provides a unique dimension to the present situation it is, in terms of effectiveness, far less significant than the response of the people. The sanctions on the senior administrators for instance are, in practice, being exercised by their own subordinates, the Class III and IV employees.

Their overzealousness in safeguarding any attempt to sabotage party decisions has occasionally paralysed those areas where administration has revived and sent officials weeping to Dhanmondi for assistance in imposing their own authority.

It is the workers who are safeguarding the interests of Bangla Desh from evasion by top executives Effective power has now moved from the secretary to his subordinate and, even when normal lines of authority are restored, the relationship between the boss and his subordinate can never be the same again.

In private banks and offices again, as in factories, it is the workers who are safeguarding the interests of Bangla Desh from evasion and possible sabotage by the top executives.

Whilst many of these have collaborated, either out of a genuine sense of commitment or simple fear of their subordinates, some have attempted to use the relaxations permitted by the decree to secrete money out of the system.

That it is not much worse must owe to the patriotism and vigilance of their own employees. 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