25 March, 2015

SECOND EDITION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | Chaitra 11, 1421, Jamadius Sani 4, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 2, No 349 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 8-page Treehouse | Price: Tk10

KHOKON-SELIM CONTEST HEATS UP

PAGE 3

NO HARTAL TODAY, TOMORROW PAGE 3

DE VILLIERS TAKES THE BLAME PAGE 26

Block raids planned before city polls

8 groups of joint forces will be deployed to catch bomb and arson attackers, and other criminals n Mohammad Jamil Khan Police have planned a special week-long security operation they are calling “block raid” as a preparation for the upcoming polls in the two city corporations of Dhaka.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) are assisting the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in the drive.

The DMP wanted to start the drives from yesterday, but police said last night that they did not eventually go on any such drive.

“The BNP, Jamaat and Shibir are carrying out violence, arson and bomb attacks in the name of a political movement. They are spending large amounts to finance criminals, addicts and muggers for these atrocities,” a senior DMP official told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday seeking anonymity.

“The DMP has started the block raid in Dhaka to immediately stop such criminal activities and bring the financiers to book,” the official said.

In January, police and RAB conducted joint drives in violence-prone northern districts including Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Gaibandha, Bogra and Rangpur.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Police frisk a CNG autorickshaw passenger at Panthapath-Green Road intersection yesterday

150 dead in German Airbus crash, black box found n Reuters An Airbus operated by Lufthansa’s Germanwings budget airline crashed in a remote area of the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren.

Germanwings confirmed its flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf went down with 144 passengers and six crew on board.

One of the plane’s black box recorders has been found and will be examined immediately, France’s interior minister said. In Washington, the White House said the crash did not appear to have been caused by a terrorist attack.

The airline believed there were 67 Germans on the flight. Spain’s deputy prime minister said 45 passengers had Spanish names.

One Belgian was aboard.

Also among the victims were 16 children

PAGE 4 Report against 8 razakars ready

and two teachers from the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium high school in the town of Haltern am See in northwest Germany, a spokeswoman said.

Investigators described a scene of devastation where the airliner crashed. Aerial photographs showed smouldering wreckage and a piece of the fuselage with six windows.

“We saw an aircraft that had literally been ripped apart, the bodies are in a state of destruction, there is not one intact piece of wing or fuselage,” Bruce Robin, prosecutor for the city of Marseille, told Reuters in Seyne-les-Alpes after flying over the crash zone in a helicopter.

French police at the crash site said no one survived and it would take days to recover the bodies due to difficult terrain, snow and incoming storms.

PAGE 8 Dilapidated bridge brings miseries for villagers

RAJIB DHAR

Rains pour sunshine on Black Caps n AFP, Sydney New Zealand defeated South Africa by four wickets Tuesday in one of the greatest World Cup matches ever played to win through to Sunday’s final as co-hosts Australia got ready for their last-four clash with defending champions India.

A rain-affected see-saw semi-final at Auckland’s Eden Park, eventually came down to New Zealand needing five to win off the last two balls.

But South Africa-born Grant Elliott, whose

unbeaten 84 was a masterclass of batting under pressure, then stepped up to inflict more World Cup semi-final misery on his compatriots by smashing injured fast bowler Dale Steyn for six as New Zealand reached their revised victory target of 298 with one ball to spare.

The win meant New Zealand, who’d lost all six of their previous World Cup semi-finals, had at last made it through to the tournament’s climax.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PAGE 10 No problem before takeoff, no mayday issued

PAGE 11 India, China agree to foster peace on disputed border

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2 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Pro-BNP delegation to ask EC to create level-playing field n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla A four-member delegation of pro-BNP professionals will go to the Election Commission today to ask the commission to create a level-playing field for all political parties to hold a free, fair and credible election.

The delegation led by former Dhaka University vice-chancellor Emajuddin Ahamed comprises Supreme Court Bar Association President Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, founder trustee of Gonosashthya Zafrullah Chowdhury and Dhaka University teacher Mahbubullah.

Shoto Nagorik Committee, a pro-BNP citizens platform, held a meeting at Emajuddin’s Elephant Road house last night. Some 20-25 professionals were present at the meeting.

Abdul Haye Sikdar, member secretary of Shoto Nagorik, said the weekly meeting of the platform discussed the upcoming city corporation elections. He said the meeting tried to understand why the elections were announced all on a sudden.

“We are yet to understand the roles of the government, the Election Commission and the law enforcers. We have also discussed how the BNP could participate in the polls,” said Andul Haye. l

Ex-police officer’s wife, maid slaughtered n Tribune Report Law enforcers yesterday recovered the bodies of the wife of a former police officer and her domestic help inside their apartment in the capital’s Jatrabari.

The body of landlady Raushan Ara, 60, was found lying on a bed in one room while 11-year-old housemaid Kalpana Akhter on the couch of another room. Raushan’s late husband Abdul Quddus was a former additional police superintendent.

Informed by locals, police recovered the slaughtered bodies in the evening from a flat of a three-storey building around 6pm, Mustaq Ahmed Khan, deputy commissioner of Wari division, said.

Raushan’s five daughters and sons live abroad. She used to stay on the first floor of the building with Kalpana, Kalpana’s mother Lucky Akther and aunt Champa. Police picked up Lucky and Champa, who were not present in the house at the time of murder, for questioning. l

150 dead  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Police said search teams would stay overnight at altitude.

In Paris, Prime Minister Manuel Valls told parliament: “A helicopter managed to land (by the crash site) and has confirmed that unfortunately there were no survivors.”

Lufthansa said it was working on the assumption that the crash was an accident and that any other theory would be speculative.

“For the time being, we say it’s an accident. There’s nothing more that we can say right now. Everything else would be speculation,” Heike Birlenbach, Vice-President Sales and Services Europe, told a news conference in El Prat Barcelona airport, from where the crashed plane took off. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presides over a session of Ecnec in NEC auditorium in the capital yesterday

BSS

Buet teacher Farseem grilled over Avijit murder

Banks open to facilitate city polls n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

All the branches of the scheduled banks located in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan areas will remain open on Friday and Saturday to facilitate the upcoming city polls.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday issued a circular asking the banks to keep their branches open so candidates could deposit necessary fees.

The banks have also been asked to ensure proper security measures during the banking hour.

The Election Commission has scheduled April 28 for holding the polls to the three city corporations. The deadline for submission of nomination papers is March 29. l

The Detective Branch of police yesterday interrogated Buet Associate Professor Farseem Mannan Mohammedy over the gruesome murder of writer Avijit Roy. “Detectives questioned him for about three hours starting from 11am at the DB office,” Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media and publication) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said.

A high official of DB police, requesting anonymity said: “The investigators asked Farseem about the meeting on Amar Ekushey

Book Fair premises on the day of the incident.”

They also asked him about the topic they discussed there, he said. “We have noted down all the statements given by Farseem about Avijit,” he added.

Avijit, founder of the secular platform Mukto-Mona blog, was hacked to death by unidentified assailants on February 26 near the TSC roundabout. The attack also critically injured Avijit’s wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya, who is currently receiving medical care in the US. Avijit’s father Prof Ajoy Roy earlier claimed that he was suspecting involvement of Farseem in the gruesome murder. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Block raids planned before city polls According to a notice that the Dhaka Tribune has accessed, 80 security personnel, comprising 20 from each of the forces, divided into eight groups will conduct the special drives in eight crime zones in the city until March 31.

The notice, signed by DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia, has recently been circulated among all deputy commissioners associated with the crime department. The eight crime zones, actually the eight divisions of the DMP, are Ramna, Lalbagh, Motijheel, Wari, Tejgaon, Gulshan, Mirpur and Uttara.

RAB 3 Commanding Officer Lt Col Golam Sarwar, however, said these drives were nothing new and they had been conducting the drives for some time now. “The drives will continue,” he told the Dhaka Tribune last night.

Tejgaon division Deputy Commissioner of

police Biplob Kumar Sarker said the law enforcers had begun the month-long joint drive on February 23. “The recent notice is just about extending the drives until the end of March.”

Sources said during the raids, the law enforcers will take complete control of these areas – controlling human and vehicular movements – and search for suspected criminals and arsonists.

The notice said BGB Additional Director Maj M Fazle Rabbi, the commanding officers of RAB 1, 2, 3, 4 and 10, and the DMP additional deputy commissioner for crime and ops had been assigned as the focal point officials of the special operation. DMP Joint Commissioner (crime and ops) Meer Reazaul Alam has been tasked with coordinating the drives.

“The drives will be based on information gathered by the deputy commissioners of po-

lice,” the DMP official said.

“The DMP has asked officials to conduct visible drives instead of undercover raids, so that the public can have confidence and faith on the law enforcers,” he said.

“The joint teams can seek support from well-known personalities, public representatives, community police and beat police members to make the drives successful,” he added.

When contacted, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, state minister for home affairs, told the Dhaka Tribune that the government wants to ensure sound law and order for the polls. “We will not let anyone spoil the peaceful atmosphere or create trouble during the elections.”

The city corporation polls are slated to be held on April 28 while deadline for submitting nomination papers is March 29.l

Rains pour sunshine on Black Caps But for South Africa, who’ve yet to play in a World Cup final, this was the fourth time they’d fallen at the semi-final hurdle.

“At the end what a great innings from Grant Elliott,” said New Zealand captain and opener Brendon McCullum, who launched the Black Caps’ reply with a typically aggressive 59.

Elliott, who turned 36 last weekend, finished the match in style to round off a superb 73-ball innings including seven fours and three sixes.

“It is great. I don’t think this win is for myself, or the team, it is for everyone here. The support has been amazing,” said Elliott.

South Africa, who won the toss and batted, overcame a shaky start to recover to 216 for three off 38 overs. But with Faf du Plessis (82)

and skipper AB de Villiers (65 not out) going well, rain then stopped play.

When the match resumed after two hours, it had been reduced to a 43 overs per side clash and the Proteas had lost all their momentum.

David Miller’s blistering 49 off just 18 balls helped South Africa finish on 281 for five – the Proteas scoring 65 in their last five overs.

That left the Black Caps with a stiff revised victory target of 298 under the Duckworth/ Lewis method for rain-affected matches.

South Africa paceman Morne Morkel and leg-spinner Imran Tahir were particularly impressive but the Proteas again came up short.

“It’s really painful,” said a distraught de Villiers. “We had opportunities and it will take

us a long time to get over this.”

Thursday’s second semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground threatens to be more of an ‘away’ match than a home game for Australia, with 70 percent of a sold-out ticket allocation taken up

by India fans. If the pitch suits spinners, India – with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in their side – will feel that conditions are very familiar. Recent Australia-India matches have produced plenty of verbal fireworks.

However, volatile Australia opener David Warner, censured during both the Test and one-day series, will need to be especially careful on Thursday as a third breach of the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct could see him banned from the final. l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Black night of March 25 today n BSS

Awami League leaders Sayeed Khokon, left, and Haji Mohammad Salim, right, collect nomination papers yesterday for DCC polls

MEHDI HASAN

Kokhon-Selim contest heats up n Tribune Report Awami League leaders Sayeed Khokon and Haji Selim, both of whom have been in the race for the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, yesterday collected nomination papers.

Khokon collected the form from the returning officer of Dhaka south around 12pm and Haji Selim about an hour later.

In the last week of February, Khokon was asked by Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina to make preparations for the city polls.

However, Haji Selim, joint secretary of the ruling party but an independent lawmaker from Old Dhaka, believes that he is also going to get the party’s blessings.

The city corporation polls are necessarily non-partisan in nature, meaning that political parties cannot directly nominate candidates but can support them.

In the January 5 national elections last year, Haji Selim – as an independent runner – defeated Awami League nominated candidate Mo-

stafa Jalal Mohiuddin to become the lawmaker from Lalbagh in Dhaka.

“I am an Awami League man. The party is still thinking about who to select as the contestant for Dhaka south mayor. I believe, the party will pick me eventually,” Haji Selim told reporters after collecting nomination papers yesterday.

He claimed that he had the support of people and that is why is running for the post.

There are allegations that Sayeed Khokon, son of former Dhaka mayor Mohammad Hanif, is a bank loan defaulter. He however has always been denying that claim.

After collecting the papers, Kokhon however alleged that a “probable candidate” was violating the electoral codes of conduct.

“Voters are being threatened with arms and muscle power. Many have been campaigning...I have full faith in the Election Commission. I am sure they will take action against those who are violating codes of conduct,” Kokhon told reporters yesterday.

Last month, both he and Selim put up gi-

ant billboards across the Dhaka south region making their intentions about becoming Dhaka mayor clear.

Dhaka north

Meanwhile, representatives of arrested civic leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna and former Awami League lawmaker and filmstar Sarah Begum Kabari collected nomination forms yesterday.

Arifur Rahman, representative of Manna’s Nagorik Oikya, and Sahidul Islam, Kabari’s personal secretary, collected the forms on their behalf.

Sahidullah Kaisar, convener of Nagarik Oikya, told reporters: “The form will be sent to Mahmudur in jail through his lawyer.”

In addition, Ekhlas Uddin Mollah, a ruling party leader, Taiful Siraz and Naim Hasan yesterday collected nomination forms.

The Awami Leauge has already finalised that it will back businessman and media personality Annisul Huq for the mayoral run of the Dhaka North City Corporation. l

JMB leader Ershad remanded in police custody n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court yesterday ordered five-day remand for Ershad Hossain alias Mamun, the alleged Chittagong district unit commander of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) arrested on Monday.

Akbar Shah police produced him before the court of Third Metropolitan Magistrate Nure-Alam Bhuiyan seeking 10-day remand in a case. It was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Explosives Substance Act, CMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (prosecution) Kazi Muttaki Ibn Minan said.

Additional Commissioner (crime and operation) Banaz Kumar Majumder said Ershad would be sent to the Taskforce for Interrogation Cell (TFI) for intensive interrogation.

During his arrest early Monday at a residence in the city’s New Monsurabad area, police recovered crude-bomb like objects, gunpowder, grenade-making materials, jihadi books and JMB’s documents from his possession.

Son of a day labourer in Dinajpur, Ershad left his house four years back when he was a student of grade VIII. He later joined Islami Chhatra Shibir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s student unit, and became the district commander of

the JMB in January last year, police said.

After his disappearance, Ershad’s father Reazul Islam lodged a general dairy with Birol police station in Dinajpur on November 2, 2011, OC Md Abdul Hai Sarkar said. “An unidentified person phoned Ershad’s mother few days after his going missing and said Ershad was in trouble but was serving Islam.”

Informed by Akbar Shah police early yesterday over the phone, Reazul said they never thought that Ershad could be found in such a condition after a long time. “My son was a good student in his school life. I am shocked to hear that he is arrested with illegal items. I am such a poor that I cannot to go to Chittagong from Dinajpur. I do not know what to do now.”

Police said the JMB was working closely with banned militant groups Huji and Hizb utTahrir, Chhatra Shibir and Ansarullah Bangla Team with a common aim to establishing a model Islamic state in Chittagong by 2020 incorporating parts of India and Myanmar.

In the long-run, the militants under a new umbrella named “International Lions Force of Hindustan” will work to bring the three countries under its grip. A four-member team of Islamic State (IS) from Syria visited Chittagong in September last year to coordinate the plans.

Ershad confessed that some JMB members had training from Pakistan. Police said grenade-maker Ershad took training in Bogra on operating sophisticated arms.

He said earlier militants had been asked no to disclose their plans. But now they are giving information deliberately to spread their vision.

Kotwali circle’s Assistant Commissioner Shah Mohammad Abdur Rouf said: “He has given us much information. We are now verifying the information.”

According to Ershad, the JMB has plans to attack on officers of foreign NGOs working in Bangladesh before 2020 to draw attention of the people across the globe. He thinks the whole world should be ruled by the Muslims.

He also said in their journey, the law enforcers could appear as obstacles. The JMB already has its men in some law enforcement agencies and they aim at sending more members to help their target achieved easily.

Asked about funding of the group, Ershad said the JMB takes donations from its leaders and members in Chittagong who run small businesses or work at different shops. They also collect money from residential hotel owners and receives regular funds from a foreign organisation. l

The nation will recall the “Black Night of March 25” today in commemoration of the cowardly attack on Bangalis and genocide in Dhaka city by the barbarous Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.

On the fateful night, the Pakistani military junta resorted to genocide in Dhaka, the provincial capital of the then East Pakistan, to implement their blueprint to negate the Awami League’s election mandate of 1970.

In their dreadful attack dubbed as “Operation Searchlight,” the Pakistani occupation forces mercilessly killed the Bangali members of the East Pakistan Rifles and police, students and teachers as well as thousands of common people in the city.

The Pakistani occupation forces killed people indiscriminately, torched houses, properties and looted shops, business establishments and carried out destruction throughout East Pakistan that night.

Writing about the attack, American journalist Robert Payne said at least 7,000 people were killed and 3,000 others were arrested on the night of the crackdown that started in Dhaka.

In the wake of military crackdown, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who became the undisputed leader of the then Pakistan, declared the independence of Bangladesh through EPR wireless at 12:30am on March 26 from his residence at Road 32 in Dhanmondi.

He also called upon the people to build a united resistance. Soon he was arrested by the Pakistani military junta in a bid to stop the liberation movement, and was taken to the then West Pakistan where he was held in a dark condemned prison cell for the entirety of the Liberation War. Different political parties and socio-cultural organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes in observance of the Black Night to pay homage to the March 25 martyrs. l

No hartal today and tomorrow n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The BNP-led 20-party alliance yesterday did not declare countrywide hartal programme today and tomorrow, despite having enforced hartals during weekdays continuously since February 1 amid a non-stop blockade.

The alliance in a press release yesterday said it would bring out protest rallies across the country today to demand the return of missing BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed and protest the repression of opposition leaders and activists..

As the country gears up to celebrate its 45th Independence Day tomorrow, the opposition alliance abandoned its practice of extending by two days the three-day hartals it customarily calls on Sundays.

The 72-hour hartal called on March 21 ends this morning.

Joint Secretary General Barkatullah Bulu asked leaders and activists to observe Independence Day with due respect.

The statement did not mention the countrywide blockade, which has been enforced since January 6 demanding resignation of the government and mid-term election. l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Report against 8 razakars ready

Court defers indictment hearing of Mirza Fakhrul

n Tribune Report

n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal have found evidence against eight suspected war criminals of Jamalpur, six of who are now absconding, for their alleged involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War in 1971.

“The accused were involved in 10 counts of crimes including killing, torture and abduction in Jamalpur during the war,” Abdul Hannan Khan, coordinator of the agency, told reporters at its Dhanmondi office yesterday.

They submitted the probe report to the prosecution after the press conference.

The tribunal issued arrest warrant against the accused on March 2. Within hours, the law enforcers arrested two of them – advocate Shamsul Haque, 75, and AKM Yusuf Ali, 83.

The duo contested the 1970’s national election from Jamaat-e-Islami for the posts of

member of the Provincial Assembly and the National Assembly. They were involved with local razakar force.

The other accused are Ashraf Hossain, 64, Prof Sharif Ahammed, 71, Abdul Mannan, 66, Abdul Bari, 62, Harun, 58, and Abul Hashem, 65. They all were involved with Islami Chhatra Sangha, formerly the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, and al-Badr – an auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army.

According to the investigators, the accused committed crimes against humanity between April 22 to December 11 in now-defunct Jamalpur Mahakuma (sub-division).

They worked in the formation of local razakar group, al-Badr and Peace Committee units.

The eight are also accused of setting up an office of the Peace Committee and al-Badr by occupying Sadhana Aushadhalaya; providing military training to their men at Singhajani High School; and the abduction, torture and

Beijing seeks Dhaka’s support on UN Security Council reform n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman China wants Bangladesh to support its position on reforming the United Nations Security Council, a debate that has been continuing for over two decades.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang had a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali yesterday and briefed him about Beijing’s position on the UN Security Council reform.

“The debate has been continuing since 1993, and this year, the security council reform discussion will begin at the UN General Assembly from March 26,” said an official of the Foreign Ministry.

China wants reform at the UN Security

Council but they do not want to make any decision hastily, he said.

The security council has five permanent members with veto-power – US, UK, China, Russia and France – and 10 non-permanent members elected for a two-year term.

Japan, India, Brazil, South Africa and Germany have been very vocal about the reform at the UNSC. Bangladesh in 2002 supported Japan, the second biggest donor to the UN, to become a permanent member and 2010 supported India to become a permanent member.

“The foreign minister had listened to what the Chinese ambassador said. Bangladesh has already supported Japan and India and in this situation, Bangladesh cannot make any comment,” the official said. l

IS hostage Helal contacts Actor Sirajul Islam dies family from Libya n Tribune Report

n Our Correspondent, Jamalpur Helal Uddin, who was taken hostage by Islamic militant group Islamic State in Libya, has finally contacted his family in Jamalpur.

Helal made the unexpected phone call to his family members for the first time since he was abducted by the IS militants, around 10:30am yesterday.

Quoting her husband, Helal’s wife Aleya Begum told the Dhaka Tribune the IS militants had assured him that they would release their Bangladeshi hostages in a few days. “The militants let him and the others hostages speak with their families on phone, and they may set the Bangladeshi hostages free within a day or two.”

Helal was taken hostage along with eight other foreign nationals during an attack on a central oil field by militants from Libya’s Islamic State affiliate on March 6.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed his abduction through a press release on March 9. According to Helal, the IS militants have two other Bangladeshi workers as their hostages beside him. One of them is Anwar Hossain, but Helal did not give the name of the other hostage. l

Veteran actor and film-maker Sirajul Islam died yesterday morning at his residence in Niketon area in Dhaka. He was 78.

His death was unexpected to his family as he did not have any major health issues, sources close to the family said. His namaz-e-janaza was held at Niketan Jame Masjid after Asr prayers, and he was buried at Banani graveyard.

Sirajul is survived by his wife Syeda Marufa Islam, son Mobashwerul Islam, daughters Fahmida Islam and Nahida Islam, and scores of friends, admirers and well-wishers.

The veteran actor was born on May 15, 1938 in Hooghly district in West Bengal. The sole surviving child of his parents, Sirajul showed his artistic flare in his childhood. Sirajul appeared in more than 300 films before retiring in 2010. His notable work include “Naachghar,” “Onek Diner Chena,” and “Sheet Bikel,” among others. He won the National Film Award in 1985 for his performance in “Chandranath.” l

killing of over 10,000 people by confining them at PTI Hostel and a dormitory of Ashek Mahmud Degree College.

As many as 40 people have been made prosecution witness in the case. Investigating Officer Motiur Rahman began the probe on June 6, 2013.

Of the accused, Shamsul was the ameer of Jamalpur district unit Jamaat while Yusuf Ali was the headmaster of Singhajani High School.

On the other hand, Ashraf Hossain was the commander of al-Badr’s Jamalpur unit. He formed the al-Badr with some selected members of Islami Chhatra Sangha. Ashraf fled the country soon after the investigation had begun.

Fugitive Sharif served as the director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd for many years.

“We have information that three of the accused fled the country. We are in touch with the law enforcement agencies to arrest the fugitives,” Hannan Khan said. l

A Dhaka court has deferred again the indictment hearing of BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 28 others of the BNP-led 20-party alliance until June 7 in the case of an explosion at the Secretariat in 2012.

Judge Ruhul Amin of Dhaka Metropolitan Special Tribunal 5 passed the order yesterday as the jail authorities could not produce Mirza Fakhrul, Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Moazzem Hossain Alal and some others before the court. The hearing has been deferred several times before.

The case was filed against the 29 by Shahbagh police on April 29, 2012, and on May 31, Inspector Tapash Chandra Saha of the Detective Branch of Police submitted the charge sheet of the case at Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court. l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

RAMPAL POWER PLANT

Bidders anxious over green opposition n Aminur Rahman Rasel International bidders for the construction of a controversial 1,320MW coal-fired power plant situated near the Sundarbans have called for a compensation mechanism to protect them from “unfortunate situations” arising from opposition to the plant.

Bidders raised concerns about the security of their investment in the proposed power plant and sought an extension to submit techno-commercial and financial bid proposals during a two-day pre-bid meeting that ended yesterday at Bidyut Bhaban in the capital.

The proposed plant at Rampal in Bagerhat district will be set up by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL).

BIFPCL is a joint venture between Bangladesh’s Power Development Board and India’s National Thermal Power Corporation, who have 30% equity on an equal share basis. The remaining 70% will be mobilised as Export Credit Agency loans.

Representatives of companies from China, Japan, India, Spain and South Korea sought explanations and clarifications of the financial aspects of the project and raised questions about the security of their investment if they engage as Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors for the project.

The pre-bid meeting is considered a major step in the implementation of the project.

Harbin Electric International Company Limited and Dongfang Electric Corporation Limited of China, Japan’s Marubeni Corporation, South Korea’s Hyundai Electric Company, Larsen & Toubro Limited of India and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited of India attended the meeting.

In response to their queries, representatives of Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG, the consultant of the project appointed by BIFPCL, said the Bangladesh government would issue sovereign guarantees to secure investments made by foreign investors.

Only three companies have so far bought

tender documents to build the power plant, more than a month after the tender period opened. Bidders remain anxious of a movement against the plant which opposes it on environmental grounds.

On March 22, the representatives of the foreign firms made a mandatory visit to the project site.

Companies asked who would carry out soil tests at the project site since it had recently been filled with earth.

The government’s plan to build the large power project near the Sundarbans has already generated much debate and controversy on the grounds that it will adversely impact the world’s largest mangrove forest.

But the government claims the power plant will not affect the Sunderbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“We are glad that many international companies participated in the pre-bid meeting. The company officials focused on techno-commercial and financial aspects of the proposed pow-

er project during the meeting,” Power Division Secretary Monwar Islam, who is the chairman of BIFPCL, told the Dhaka Tribune.

But one bidder said during the pre-bid meeting: “If an unfortunate situation arises while the power plant is being set up, we must get compensation.”

A BIFPCL official said no decision had yet been taken about the bidder’s concern about compensation.

On February 12, BIFPCL invited bids to set up the 2 x 660MW Maitree Super Coal-fired Thermal Power Project in Rampal, Bagerhat on an EPC contract basis. Bids are due by May 18.

Bangladesh expects to get 660MW of electricity from the plant’s first unit by 2018. Another 660MW from the second unit will be available by 2020, officials said.

Environmentalists, left-wing political organisations and the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, a lobby group, object to the power plant’s location so close to the Sundarbans. l

HC questions legality of police torture on Patuakhali journo n Tribune Report

Railway police arrested Aktara Begum with arms and ammunition from an inter-city train at the Rajshahi rail station yesterday

AZAHAR UDDIN

Police: Smugglers mistakenly targeted NBR member n Mohammad Jamil Khan An NBR member might have been mistakenly targeted by unidentified gunmen – who shot and injured 56-year-old Barrister Jahangir Hossain Howlader at Banani on Monday evening, investigators have said.

After receiving a bullet wound to his waist, surgeons operated on Jahangir and was able to bring out the bullet. Doctors said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) member was now out of danger, but was still under monitoring at the ICU of the capital’s United Hospital.

At around 7pm on Monday, some criminals opened fire on Jahangir as we was walking near the customs officers quarters on Banani

Road Number 2.

Ashraf Hossain, nephew of Jahangir, said some four to five people arrived in the area in a car on Monday and shot at Jahangir, who Ashraf claimed had no enemy.

A case was filed with Banani police station on this regard against unidentified persons.

Meanwhile, investigators said they suspect that the attackers might have intended to target another senior NBR official who had similar physical features as Jahangir, and lived in the same place as well.

They said the other NBR official had led several large-scale gold hauls at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet airports during the last two years which eventually resulted in the arrest of many

smugglers; this might have been a motive behind Monday’s attack, investigators said.

They suspect that Jahangir was inadvertently shot by members of a smuggling syndicate who had originally intended to hit the other official, whose name was not disclosed because of ongoing investigation.

Sheikh Shaheen Miah, a sub-inspector of Banani police station and the investigation officer of the case, said the police were communicating with Jahangir’s family and other NBR officials to identify the attackers.

Sources at the police told the Dhaka Tribune that an armed policeman has been assigned to protect the NBR official who the police believe was the original target for the attack. l

The High Court yesterday questioned the legality of police torture on a Patuakhali journalist, issuing a ruling against the government and the police.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Razik Al Jalil set four weeks of time for an explanation on why inhuman physical and mental torture in police custody on ABM Mizanur Rahman, the Bauphal correspondent of Bangla daily Prothom Alo, should not be declared illegal.

On Monday, Mizanur’s father Abdus Salam filed a petition describing how the police detained Mizanur and tortured him physically and mentally in custody. He also sought the High Court’s directives for punishing the culpable law enforcers, and also sought directives for compensation.

The petitioner’s lawyer Rafique Ul Haq told the court that the police torture had violated the law and the constitution.

Deputy Attorney General Tapash Kumar Biswas who opposed the petition said a case was already pending with a Patuakhali court regarding a clash between the police and Mizanur. The Patuakhali court could examine whether or not the police had tortured Mizanur in custody, he said.

On March 17, the police filed a case against Mizanur after arresting him from the Kalaiya Bazar area in Bauphal upazila of Patuakhali on charges of assaulting a policeman.

Meanwhile, our Patuakhali correspondent reports that Judge Bimol Chandra Sikder of the District and Session Judge’s Court yesterday ordered to form a medical board to check Mizanur’s condition, and asked the board to submit the check-up results before it by March 31.

The judge also fixed April 1 for hearing a petition by Mizanur’s lawyers seeking ad-interim bail against a previous magistrate court order denying bail. l

DT

6 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

EC seeks mobile courts to stop poll code violations n Tribune Report The Election Commission has urged executive magistrates from the Ministry of Public Administration to deploy emergency mobile courts to prevent electoral code violations.

Yesterday the EC sent a letter to the ministry stating that large scale poll code violations were seen to be taking place prior to the city corporation polls.

Public Administration Ministry Joint Secretary (Admin) Kazi Rowshan Akter told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are ready to help the election commission for a peaceful mayoral election in Dhaka and Chittagong.”

The EC sought six executive magistrates – two each for the three city corporations – to operate mobile courts for preventing the electoral code vio-

lations. The EC also requested for 18 executive magistratesfor the three city corporations from April 10, the day when the formal canvassing starts.

Election officers in Dhaka monitoring such violations have verbally notified 22 such candidates including Haji Selim. The returning officers will issue warnings to the candidates if their explanations are found dissatisfactory. Possible imprisonment and fines will also be considered as punitive measures.

The code violations include candidates bringing processions to collect nominations papers where only five persons are allowed to accompany a candidate, displaying banners, posters city-wide to gather support before the EC stipulated time of 21 days to the election. l

Student expelled from hostel over anti-religion comments on Facebook Correspondent, n Our Barisal Barisal Government Brojo Mohun College authority expelled a student from the hostel for his alleged anti-religion comments on Facebook.

The student, Jahirul Islam Jasim, is an honours second-year student of Sociology and was a resident of Ashwini Kumar Degree Hostel of the college.

“A group of students circulated printed copies of a status from Jasim’s Facebook account alleging that Jasim is spreading anti-religion propaganda,” said BM College Principal Prof Faz-

lul Huq, adding that the agitated students have been staging demonstrations since Sunday.

Jasim stayed away from his hostel room and class to avoid the protestors.

The principal said: “Jasim denied the allegation saying someone may have created a fake account in his name to humiliate him.”

The college authority held an emergency meeting of the academic council on Monday night and decided to revoke Jasim’s hostel seat. A four-member probe committee also advised Jasim to avoid the campus till a probe report is submitted. l

23 journos get Brac Media Award 2015 n Tribune Report Twenty three journalists and three media organisations have been given Brac Media Award 2015 for their contribution in raising awareness about tuberculosis (TB) in the country.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim handed over the crests and certificates among the award recipients at a function at the Brac Centre Inn in the capital yesterday, said a press release.

Under Bangla and English newspaper, and electronic me-

dia categories, the Daily Ittefaq, Daily Observer and private satellite channel NTV got the award respectively.

Meanwhile, the journalists, who got the award in national level category, are Shepon Habib, staff reporter of the Daily Jugantor; Rabeya Begum Baby, staff reporter of the Daily Ittefaq; Sebika Debnath, staff reporter of the Daily Sangbad; Pradyut Sri Barua, reporter of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha; and Sarwar Sumon, staff reporter of private television Channel 24. l

DT

NEWS 7

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

SWINE FLU OUTBREAK

Medical teams at Khulna border on alert n Our Correspondent, Khulna Medical teams are on alert at the border of Khulna to check passengers travelling from West Bengal, India, a zone where the outbreak of the deadly H1N1 virus has infected around 200 lives in the last two months.

The health department, district and divisional administration are taking measures to stop the intrusion of swine flu in the country through the three land ports and one sea port situated in six districts – Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Jessore, Meherpur and Chuadanga.

The medical teams under the health department are keeping round-the-clock watch on more than thousands of men and women entering the country through the ports every day.

They have placed a “non contract thermometer” to check body temperature of the passengers and mariners at Jessore’s Benapole port, Satkhira’s Bhomra port and Bagerhat’s Mongla port, health department, livestock department and BGB officials told the

Dhaka Tribune. Three physicians are providing treatment at the ports in shifts. The suspected are sent to the Khulna District General Hospital where separate beds are allocated for the swine flu patients.

Director of Health, Khulna, Dr Anil Chandra Dutta said many are becoming affected by swine flu in India, particularly in West Bengal.

In this situation, the virus can spread to many areas under Khulna division as it shares a long border with India.

“Those coming from foreign lands including India are being suggested to take medical help if they have fever or cold. The medical officers have been given the vaccination to prevent swine flu. Moreover, contact details of those travelling to and from India are being recorded. If any of them have fever for 6-7 days continuously then they are being referred to the health department,” he said.

Khulna Medical College Hospital Supervisor Dr Abdus Samad said: “The area falls under the risk of swine flu as it is situated by the border. Physicians and beds have been

specially allocated to such patients. However, necessary materials for treatment are yet to reach the spots. The higher authorities were informed about the matter.”

Additional District Livestock Officer Dr Arun Kanti Mondol said: “In Dumuria and Batiaghata upazila 6,138 pigs are being raised in 17 districts. The farms are being monitored regularly and reports are being informed to the authorities concerned.”

Satkhira Civil Surgeon Saleh Ahmed said passengers were observed from 8am to 1pm and 1:30pm to 5:30pm in Bhomra land port.

No passenger has so far been detected with the virus.

Bagerhat Civil Surgeon Dr Md Bakir Hossain said a medical team comprising five members was working at the Mongla port. The mariners rarely come out of the ships.

On March 9, Khulna District Commissioner Md Mostafa Kamal, in the Khulna District Development Coordination Committee’s monthly meeting, announced that the Khulna health department was alert in tackling swine flu. l

CCC poll: 486 nomination forms collected in six days n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Nearly 500 aspirants collected nomination forms, as of yesterday, seeking to contest the Chittagong city mayoral, ward councillor and reserved female ward councillor elections scheduled for April 28.

Eighty-nine nomination papers were collected from Chittagong Regional Election Commission Office yesterday of which three were for the mayor post, 73 for general ward councillor post and 13 for reserved female ward councillor post.

CCC Election’s Assistant Returning Officer Md Shafiqur Rahman, also the district election official of Bandarban, said BNP Chittagong city unit former joint secretary Abdus Sattar, Bangladesh Islami Front Secretary General MA Matin and another Md Shahjahan collected nomination forms for the mayor post yesterday.

He said a total of 486 nominations have already been collected of which 11 were for the mayor post, 59 for reserved female ward councillor and 416 for ward councillor posts as of yesterday. According to the EC schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination forms is March 29 5pm and the nomination scrutiny will be held on April 1 and April 2. Deadline for withdrawal of nomination is till April 9. l

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:11PM

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:57AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 32 32 34 35 33 33 35 31

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

23 22 22 21 20 23 20 22

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

37.2ºC Rajshahi

16.8ºC Srimangal Source: Accuweather/UNB

Dancers perform at the inauguration of the three-day cultural function titled ‘Swadhinata Utsob’ on the premises of Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka yesterday.

The Sammilito Sangskritik Jote has organised the event in observance of Independence Day MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

PRAYER TIMES Fajr

4:42am

Sunrise

5:57am

Zohr

12:05am

Asr

4:29pm

Magrib

6:11pm

Esha

7:27pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

19 passport brokers jailed in the capital n Tribune Report

A mobile court sentenced 19 passport brokers to three-month imprisonment in the capital’s Agargaon yesterday.

A team of the Rapid Action Battalion led

by Executive Magistrate Anisur Rahman conducted a drive in Agargaon passport office and detained 20 brokers while they were bargain-

ing passport seekers and processing papers of other passport seekers.

Of the detainees, one was fined to Tk10,000 and 19 others were sentenced to three months of imprisonment along with fine of Tk5,000 each.

The executive magistrate said the brokers were hampering official activities and normal procedures of the passport office. They were punished according to mobile court act,

he added. Lieutenant Colonel Masud Rana, commanding officer of RAB 2, said: “We are running an operation to make passport offices free from brokers.

“We have detained many people conducting drives at several passport offices.”

Officials of passport offices involved in such illegal practice will also be identified soon, he added. l

DT

8 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Dilapidated bridge brings miseries for villagers n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah People of nine villages under Jhenaidah Sadar upazila have to suffer a lot every day as the lone bridge that connects the district headquarters to the villages has been lying in a rundown state for several years.

The locals said although four big holes had developed on the bridge in the last 10 years, authorities concerned did not take a single measure to fix the hole, much to cause frustration among them.

Safiqul Islam, a resident of Panami village, said a man had died falling into a hole a few months back.

He said: “It has become a common phenomenon that somebody falls into a hole and get hurt, but there is no way to get rid of the situation.”

According to local people the bridge has been constructed over Ganga-Kapotakho canal by the Water Development Board about 40 years ago to facilitate the communication of people living in the nine villages.

The Fazilpur-Hatgopalpur road where the bridge is located is very significant for local people to transport their agri-produces.

Tariqul Islam, 65, a resident of Pancpakia village, said he had to suffer every year after harvest of winter crops.

“This year, I have cultivated potatoes on 10 decimals of land. We have already harvest potatoes. As people of my village have to spend extra money for transportation of agri-produces, they get less profit compared to other potatoes growers.

He said with agri-produces, growers who depend on Ganga-Kapotakho bridge have to travel extra kilometres for the sorry state of the road for which the production cost of crops increased to a great extent.

He said no vehicle except bicycle could run

A big hole has developed on a bridge over Ganga-Kapotakho canal in Pancpakia village of Jhenaidah Sadar upazila for lack of maintenance. The photo snapped yesterday shows a man riding on a bicycle crosses the bridge amid life risk DHAKA TRIBUNE on the bridge for the last fours years for the sorry state.

Ukil Hossain of Chandrajani village, fell into a hole and received injuries. Later, he succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital a few months back.

Nazrul Islam, who resides near the bridge, said thousands of people of Panchpakia, Jugni, Bagni, Abaipur, Goloknagar, Bakri, Panami, Chandrajani and Rupda depended on the bridge for communication.

Crude bombs exploded during a clash over tender submission n Our Correspondent, Jessore Two gangs of unidentified miscreants yesterday exploded some crude bombs during a clash reportedly ensued over a Tk10 crore tender submission of local education engineering directorate.

Later, the miscreants hurled several crude bombs at the house of former Awami League MP Khaledur Rahman Tito and beat up his son.

On the other hand, any police officials surprisingly denied to make comment in this regard as both masterminds, who are responsible for the clash, were allegedly from the ruling party Awami League.

Earlier, the directorate had floated the tender for building two dormitories in Jessore Government Michael Madhusudan College and its deadline for submission was yesterday.

Witness Zillur Rahman Vito, general secretary of Jessore unit Workers’ Party, said some miscreants around 10am tried to prevent Tito’s sons Masuk Hasan Joy and Habib Hasan Babu when they were on the way to drop the

tender at Jessore Education Engineering Office. A scuffle ensued between both parties there as well, which was later ended on arrival of police.

Around 12pm, when Joy and Babo along with their followers again tried to drop the tender the miscreants hurled crude bombs at them, creating a counter bomb attack. However, none was injured in the blasts.

Acknowledging the blasts Kotwali police station OC Sikder Akkas Ali said the musclemen of former AL lawmaker Khaledur Rahman Tito exploded two crude bombs.

However, the situation finally was under their control and all sides enabled to drop their tender, the OC went on.

When asked, Tito alleged that the local DC and the SP did not pay proper heed to his concern although he earlier informed them that hoodlums would resist his tender drop.

The miscreants stabbed his younger son Babu while he was on move to drop the tender and they later hurled several crude bombs at his house, the former MP continued. l

He said: “The farmers are in great difficulties with their products as they have to travel more four-three kilometers with their outputs to reach district town.”

He said he had got bumper yield of pulse this year as weather was suitable for cultivation and he got seeds and agri-input in time.

Habibur Rahman, an inhabitant of Panchpakia village, said his father Alam Mollah had fell into one of the holes and his right hand got fractured. Iltut Biswas, a resident of Kripalpur

village, also fell into the same hole and was injured severely.

Amjad Hossain Mollah, chairman of Abaipur union parishad, said locals had repaired a big hole with timber which was not enough.

He said he had informed the officials of the WDB several times, but there was no response.

Assistant Engineer of WDB Nazrul Islam in Shailokupa upazila said the bridge had damaged due to movement of heavy vehicle. He said they would take steps soon in this regard. l

DT

NEWS 9

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Cox’s Bazar tourism hard hit by hartals, non-stop blockade n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh’s top tourist destination Cox’s Bazar has been hit hard by the ongoing blockade and hartals enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Business owners there said they had already incurred huge losses as winter, which usually sees a great influx of tourists, was very dull this year.

Tourists, both domestic and foreign, have been discouraged to visit the popular beach town due to the rampant arson attacks on highways and lack of transportation.

As a result, more than hundred hotels and guest houses have been shut down temporarily. Many are laying off and taking other cost cutting measures.

Faisal Shah, general manager (commercial) of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, said: “November to March is the peak season for tourism in Cox’s Bazar. Usually every hotel has 70-80% occupancy during this time. But since the blockade began, it has come down to 10-15%.”

He added that last year the beach town saw

about 50,000 tourists during the peak season. But this season a startlingly low number, about 150, tourists visited Cox’s Bazar so far.

“More than 400 hotels, motels, guest houses and cottages are being forced to close down,” he added.

Communication Officer of Ocean Paradise, a top hotel in the town, Syed Alamgir, said their business was going really slow because of the hartals and blockade.

“Last season, we were fully booked around this time. But now we have only 5% occupancy. We had to send many employees on leave without pay,” he said.

General Secretary of Cox’s Bazar Hotel Motel Guest House Owners Association, Abul Kashem Shikdar and Financial Secretary Shafiqur Rahman said about 2,000 employees had been fired so far.

“More than 10,000 room bookings have been cancelled and no new reservations have been made,” he claimed adding that the estimated loss since January 4 was about Tk250 crore.

“Apart from the hotels, other tourism dependent businesses, such as restaurants, shopping centres, dry fish stores and other

Abducted farmer rescued in Natore n Our Correspondent, Natore

small trades have also been bearing the brunt of the anti-government campaign. About 10,000 people working in this sector have become almost unemployed.”

Towfiq Rahman, director of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh, said international tourists were not coming to Bangladesh because of the political situation.

“Already, 15,000 tourists have cancelled their tours. If the situation improves quickly, we would still face a loss of Tk200 crore. But if it further deteriorates, the loss would be beyond Tk1,000 crore.”

A recent visit to the popular tourist spots of Kolatoli beach, historical Buddhist monastries, Inani beach, Maheshkhali and Teknaf found these places empty and devoid of tourists.

Many hotels, even after offering handsome discounts, were not being able to draw customers. The restaurants along the beach were also empty.

General Manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Md Kamruzzaman feared longterm consequences if efforts were not taken immediately to alleviate the situation. l

Most waterbodies in many areas of the Barind tract in Rajshahi have dried up. People are having to travel afar to collect water from deep tube wells. And just like people, these ducks cannot find respite searching for water in the dried up ponds either. This photo was taken yesterday from Poba upazila, Rajshahi AZHAR UDDIN

Contraband items seized n Our Correspondent, Satkhira Members of Border Guard Bangladesh recovered 125 bottles of Indian Phensidyl syrup, 139 bottles of liquor, 2,000 pieces of ‘Anagra’ tablets and 30 kilograms of cumin seeds from Charabari Math area in Kolaroa upazila yesterday morning.

BGB-38 Taluigachha camp commander Abdur Rab said on a tip-off, a team of the border force conducted a drive in the area around 9:30 am.

Sensing presence of the BGB men, the smugglers fled the scene leaving behind the contraband items. l

Justice for BCL leader demanded n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Sreepur activists formed a human chain at Maona intersection yesterday demanding justice for their leader’s murder, creating traffic congestion on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

Sources said the demonstration took place from around 11:15am to around 11:35am, which blocked vehicular movement on both sides of the highway, which was confirmed by Maona highway police OC Sanowar Hossain.

Al Amin’s elder brother Alamgir Hossain addressed the human chain and demanded punishment for his brother’s killers.

“We have held several demonstrations before seeking justice for my brother’s murder.

Yet his killers are on the loose. I demand exemplary punishment for the culprits.”

The protest was also attended by Al Amin’s father Abul Hossain, his other brother Solaiman Haque Ripon and several Chhatra League and upazila Sramik League leaders.

Al Amin, who was assistant secretary of Chhatra League’s Sreepur unit, was fatally injured in a clash between two rival candidates’ supporters during the upazila parishad election campaign on March 8 last year. He died the next day while undergoing treatment at a Uttara hospital in Dhaka. l

Police rescued a farmer yesterday, who was kidnapped on Sunday, and arrested a female abductor from Station Bazar area in the town.

The farmer was identified as Abul Kashem, a resident of Batash Molla village in Poba upazila of Rajshahi district while the alleged abductor was Munni.

Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman said a gang of kidnappers picked up Kashem when he was going to Madrasa More to meet with a friend.

Later, they demanded Tk5 lakh as ransom from the family members of the victim over phone.

On a tip-off, a team of police conducted a drive in the area, rescued Kashem and arrested Munni. l

Prime accused in AL leader murder case held n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur Police arrested the prime accused in Awami League leader Abdul Mannan murder case from Gobindapur area in Sadar upazila yesterday.

The arrested was identified as Kafil Uddin, joint secretary of Charshahi union unit of AL. Abdullah Al Mamun, officer-in-charge of DB said on a tip-off, a team of police conducted a drive in the area and arrested Kafil.

Police said on 21 June, 2014, a gang of terrorists slaughtered Awami League Charshahi union unit president Abdul Mannan near his house.

Anjumara Begum, wife of Mannan, said criminals had been threatening her husband with death over mobile phone for 15 days She filed a murder case against Kafi in this connection.

The arrested was also wanted in more several cases, including murder, robbery and extortion, the OC added. l

Death rumour prompts RMG workers to torch a bus n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Workers of readymade garments factory at Zirani on the Nabinagar-Kaliakoir Road in the district yesterday set fire to a passenger bus following a rumour over death of one of their fellows in a road accident.

They also blockaded the road for half an hour causing immense suffering to commuters.

SI Musfiqur Rahman of Chakrabarty police camp said Shahin, worker of Hamim Group, was hit by a Pabna-bound clothes-loaded bus of Nabi Textiles Mill in the area around7:30am.

Injured Shahin was admitted to a local hospital.

As a rumour spread that Shahin died in the accident, the workers flew into rage and set fire to the bus.

Later, a fire fighting unit rushed in and doused the fire. l

DT

10 WORLD

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

GERMANWINGS PLANE CRASH

White House warns Netanyahu that ‘occupation must end’ n AFP, Washington

No problem before takeoff, no mayday issued n Reuters, Cologne Germanwings said it was unclear what caused its Airbus A320 aircraft to crash in the French Alps yesterday but that there had been no problems with the plane before takeoff.

“There were no anomalies on the plane,” the Lufthansa unit’s Managing Director Thomas Winkelmann told journalists at a news conference yesterday, hours after the crash.

He said Airbus delivered the plane to Lufthansa in 1991, after which it flew exclusively for the German flagship carrier until it was transferred to Germanwings’ fleet last year.

That makes the aircraft older than the 11.5year average age of Lufthansa’s fleet of 615 planes.

No mayday

“The aircraft did not itself make a distress call but it was the combination of the loss of ra-

Germanwings Airbus disaster

No survivors among the 150 on board the Barcelona-Duesseldorf A320 GERMANY PARIS Airbus A320-200 Germanwings Low-cost affiliate of Lufthansa 144 passengers 6 crew members

dio contact and the aircraft’s descent which led the controller to implement the distress phase,” a spokesman for the DGAC authority said.

Duesseldorf

FRANCE

Trois Eveches Barcelonnette mountain

SPAIN Barcelona 0855 GMT: Take off

0947 GMT: Distress signal

ITALY

The “distress” phase is the third and most serious of three stages of alerts used to help coordinate rescue efforts when an aircraft is considered in difficulty.

Nusra Front quietly rises in Syria as IS targeted n AP, Beirut The Nusra Front, Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, is consolidating power in territory stretching from the Turkish border to central and southern Syria, crushing moderate opponents and forcibly converting minorities using tactics akin to its ultraconservative rival, the Islamic State group.

But while the Islamic State group gets most of the attention largely because its penchant for gruesome propaganda, the Nusra Front quietly has become one of the key players in the four-year civil war, compromising other rebel groups the West may try to work with while increasingly enforcing its own brutal version of Islamic law.

Its scope of influence now abuts the Golan Heights bordering Israel, and its membership largely composed of Syrian nationals refuse any negotiations with the government of embattled President Bashar Assad, further complicating the brutal conflict.

“The Nusra Front will most likely outlast ISIS in Syria, and will represent a severe and existential threat to the aspirations of the Syrian people in terms of a pluralistic, democratic society,” said Fawaz A. Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics, using an alternate acronym for the extremist group.

The Islamic State group helped create the Nusra Front, providing financing, manpower and military hardware in 2012. But the group and its patron eventually had a falling out in 2013 for ideological as well as strategic reasons.

The Nusra Front, while loyal to al-Qaida, has cooperated with other Syrian rebel factions in the fight to oust Assad. l

The White House on Monday bluntly warned Israel that its occupation of Palestinian land must end, dismissing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to take back controversial campaign pledges.

In unusually tough language that underscores the fracture in relations between Washington and Israel, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said “an occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end.”

McDonough criticised Netanyahu’s pre-election pledge to block the creation of a Palestinian state -- the supposed end goal of decades of fruitless peace talks -- and he questioned Netanyahu’s efforts to undo the damage.

“We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they don’t raise questions about the Prime Minister’s commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations,” he said.

“The Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state,” he added. l

Official: US-led force flying over Islamic State-held Tikrit

n AP, Tikrit

US soldiers pictured during a meeting with Bialystok residents at the Market Square in Bialystok, Poland, yesterday. US soldiers meet with the residents of Bialystok as they move in the ‘Dragoon Ride’ convoy from Estonia to their home base in Bavaria, Germany AFP

US troops driving through Poland get warm welcome n AP, Bialystok Hundreds of residents turned out in eastern Poland yesterday to greet a convoy of US troops that is driving through eastern Europe, a region worried that the conflict in Ukraine threatens its security.

Children climbed into the Stryker armored vehicles and residents offered regional souvenirs as the crowd gathered in the main square of Bialystok under sunny skies, applauding troops from the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment for their gesture of reassurance to a Nato ally. Poland borders Ukraine and

Russia, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine has caused anxiety here.

“This really means a lot to us. We see that we are not alone, that there is someone to defend us,” Zdzislaw Narel, 60, told The Associated Press. “This is really a historic moment.”

“You make us feel like movie stars,” a US soldier was heard saying from atop a Stryker.

The “Dragoon Ride” convoy of dozens of armored vehicles started last week from Estonia and passed through Latvia and Lithuania before entering Poland, on a 1,700-kilometer (1,000-mile) return journey to a base in Vilseck, Germany.

The US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group has begun surveillance flights over the extremist-held city of Tikrit and sending intelligence to Iraqi forces fighting to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown, a senior official said yesterday.

The flights and intelligence sharing, which began Saturday, mark the first time the coalition has been involved in the offensive, which up to now largely has been supported by Iranian advisers including Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guard Quds Force.

The coalition official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to journalists about the matter, said the support began at the request of the Iraqi government. He declined to comment on whether they are providing airstrikes, saying he cannot discuss current or future operations. l

Lunched Afghan over Koran-burning ‘innocent’

n AFP, Kabul

Thousands protest woman’s mob killing in Afghan capital Associated Press The woman named Farkhunda was lynched on Thursday by an angry crowd in central Kabul for allegedly burning a copy of the Islamic holy book.

“The accusation against her is completely invalid. Farkhunda was a religious girl, she was not involved (in burning the Koran), she was innocent,” interior minister Noorulhaq Ulumi told MPs during questioning in parliament.

“It is very painful that we were not able to protect a pious young person. We hope this will not be repeated again.” l

DT

WORLD 11

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

India, China agree to foster peace on disputed border n AFP, New Delhi India and China agreed yesterday to foster peace along their Himalayan border after wrapping up two days of talks designed to resolve a long-festering boundary dispute.

In comments issued after the round of talks in the Indian capital, the governments of both countries stressed their common desire to maintain calm and to press ahead with further negotiations.

“Both sides agreed to take necessary steps to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, which is a pre-requisite for continued growth of bilateral relations,” the Indian foreign ministry said.

The Chinese foreign ministry said both sides had agreed to make “joint efforts to safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area,” which has been the scene of several recent military standoffs.

China’s special representative Yang Jiechi and Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval led their respective delegations at the talks,

which were first agreed during President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last year. The talks that started Monday were part of a push to make progress on the border dispute before Modi’s expected visit to China in May. China defeated India in a brief but bloody war in 1962 but an agreement on their border remains elusive, with each side regularly accusing the other of sending soldiers to encroach on territory. Tensions peaked last September when hundreds of Chinese troops allegedly moved into the Himalayan territory just as Xi arrived in India on a landmark visit, casting a shadow over his talks with Modi.

While there was no details on how the negotiators were progressing, the Indian foreign ministry’s statement said both countries had “agreed to further expand such contacts as these constitute important confidence-building measures for maintaining peace and tranquility.”

Speaking at a briefing in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that Yang and Doval “spoke highly of the progress we have achieved.” l

France swings to the right as Europe retrenches n AP, Paris France, long the land of the left, is making a right turn.

The top two parties in weekend local elections were the conservative UMP and the far right National Front. And even the governing Socialists are adopting traditionally right-wing policies: reducing labor protections, expelling immigrants and rounding up trouble-makers.

The election result is the latest sign of a long-running change in attitudes, as many Europeans shift amid economic uncertainty and security fears. That, along with disillusionment with mainstream leaders, is pushing voters in new directions, from Greece to Spain and Britain.

In France, surging support for the National Front has forced mainstream conservatives and leftists to consider ideas that once seemed authoritarian. And a deadly rampage in January by French Islamic extremists is swaying the conversation about security, immigration and integration.

“What seems most striking to me is the bar swinging to the right on the political chess board,” said Frederic Dabi of France’s Ifop polling agency.

That’s in part because of shrinking support for Europe’s open borders and shared currency, which far right groups decry. But Dabi said it’s also because voters from all political backgrounds want to punish the party in charge.

French far-right leader and National Front Party, Marine Le Pen poses prior to a news conference at …

In the voting Sunday for local councils in France, former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative UMP and its allies won 29% of

votes in first-round balloting. Next came Marine Le Pen’s National Front, with 25%. President Francois Hollande’s governing Socialists and their allies trailed with 21.5%, according to official results.

That means that in about a quarter of runoff races March 29, voters will have a choice between the right and the hard right.

It’s a wake-up call for the French left, which boasts several political parties and whose defense of worker rights and the welfare state long set the overall national agenda.

It’s bleeding support amid Hollande’s failure to create jobs and reinvigorate the economy.

Many even expected the National Front to come out on top in Sunday’s vote, since its support has steadily surged over recent years under Le Pen. With her eye on a 2017 presidential bid, she wants to close France’s borders and rails against the “Islamisation” of Europe.

Sarkozy’s conservatives dominated the Sunday elections instead–in part because they have increasingly been borrowing from the far right playbook to win votes.

The French Parliament’s vote in January to extend airstrikes against extremists in Iraq was telling: The Socialist-led National Assembly gave Prime Minister Manuel Valls a standing ovation when he declared “war” on terrorists, and approved the extension by 488-1.

After the January attacks, Hollande’s administration deployed more than 100,000 security forces, and authorities rounded up dozens in a crackdown on hate speech. The government is now pushing to legalise broad surveillance of terrorism suspects, a move activists consider a major blow to France’s famed “liberte.”

Sahara employee jumps to death n Tribune Desk An employee of the Sahara group – who did not get his salary for four months committed suicide by jumping from the eighth floor of his office building on yesterday, police from the Indian city of Lucknow said.

Pradeep Mandal, a 45-year-old deputy manager with Sahara India Co-operative So-

ciety, came to the Sahara headquarters in Aliganj area in the morning.

His colleagues said he was keeping tense for the past few days as he had not been paid salary by the company for the past four months.

The Sahara group has not been able to pay salaries to employees in many wings, as its chief Subrata Roy is in Tihar jail for more than a year now over a legal issue. l

DT

12 EDITORIAL

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Do more than loosen the CHT ban

W

e welcome reports that the government is planning to lift some of the restrictions it imposed in February, which prevent foreign tourists from visiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts without securing advance permission from the Home Ministry.

Although the government is still using security as a justification for retaining restrictions on long-term foreign researchers in the district, the state minister for the Home Affairs did tell reporters that there would be no restrictions on people visiting or meeting with any people from indigenous communities.

This is a small positive sign that the government is relaxing its disgraceful discriminatory decision to bar communications between local and foreign persons or organisations, and the indigenous population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts area.

It is clear to us that it should never have embarked on such discriminatory retrograde policies in the first place.

Such moves are wholly contrary to basic constitutional freedoms and instiutionalise communalism and racism. They impose separation barriers which can only serve to increase tensions in the CHT region.

At a time when it is urgent for the government to take meaningful steps to stop escalating communal tensions, these unwarranted and harmful restrictions have only distracted attention from the key underlying issues.

The government should lift the ban altogether and focus on fully implementing the CHT Peace Accord so that discrimination and land grabbing are ended in the region. Loosening the ban is only a small step forwards. It has to go further to properly ensure peace for all people in CHT.

Lift it altogether and focus on implementing the CHT Peace Accord

Pragmatism is the lesson to learn from Lee Kuan Yew

T

he death of Lee Kuan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore, has justly drawn warm tributes and condolences from across the world.

Singapore’s transformation into a leading financial and trading centre during the three decades of his rule has left a legacy that has seen its per capita GDP grow a hundred-fold in its 50 years since independence, to over $55,000 a year today.

It is important to draw the right lessons from his many successes.

An exceptionally able communicator and statesman, his greatest achievement was his ability to put into practice the vision he had for his people.

This required exceptional pragmatism on his part. For someone who had staked his entire political career on keeping Malaysia and Singapore united after the end of British rule, he showed great adaptability in successfully building and leading an independent Singapore.

It will be regrettable if people associate Lee Kuan Yew only with his authoritarian style of government, which means that, although democratic, a one-party rule is embedded in Singapore. His model of “controlled democracy” in a small city state, is clearly not viable or desirable in larger nations.

It is better to recall the practical steps which Lee took to lift Singapore’s development. They included carrots as well as sticks to eliminate corruption and also increase savings rates.

Above all, Lee invested in education and infrastructure. It was his commitment to building up human capital and creating a conducive environment for business that provides the platform for Singapore’s success today.

Adaptability and commitment to education underlie his achievements

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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Political violence looking like organised crime March 2

Hanzalah Wait a second, so essentially this is a police press release, is it? The same police famous for being the govt’s “enforcers” across the country?

Molla A. Latif If anyone wants to fish in the muddy water, here lies the propitious ground for it: Just count the bomb makers from your own estimation, divide them proportionately, and throw the bombs to kill the people.

Blame all, including the gentleman standing there on the spot, of looting none

Farabi commends Avijit murder

will object to it.

When all that anyone says is right and nothing is wrong, then everything is either wrong or right.

The report is very much correct and deserves an applause. What should we do when we cannot verify its veritability ourselves? deep purple blue it is clearly evident from the report that not only BNP-Jamaat but also the AL leaders/activists are also actively engaged in creating anarchy in the country.

DT

‘Avijit got what he deserved’ March 2

March 5 Shariar Sarwer Supporting a murder should never be promoted as a freedom of speech.

Tarik Chowdhury He has freedom of speech and should enjoy it, but does that necessarily link him to the crime ?

Syed Jawad Quader Is this deluded extremist also the murderer?

Let’s see.

Mahmudullah makes history

March 9

Jay Ohlmacher Congratulations on becoming the first ever Bangladeshi batsman to score a century in a world cup match.

Yasmin Ahmed Bravo Bangladesh!

Imtiaz Since when is it okay for RAB to give line by line commentary on an ongoing investigation? Must this be a spectacle too?

Adom Ali Let this killer get what he deserves, a crossfire. No way, he be given a chance again to risk another life. He is far way off from true Islam.

Maxtor Max I wish Bangladesh will not become 2nd pakistan. It’s all up to the Bangladeshi people to either eradicate this intolerance or see their country soaked in blood in the years to come.

New bird species spotted March 2 Barely Legal Alien Does it have teeth?

DT

OPINION 13

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

A Digital Bangladesh needs open-source land records n Zeeshan Hasan

O

n February 3, newspapers reported that the Ministry of Land had signed a contract with an Indian company to digitise land records of several districts initially at a cost of $10m-20m (which presumably will total over $100m to roll out to all of Bangladesh).

While modernising land records is undoubtedly a critical undertaking for Bangladesh, two big questions arise.

Firstly, is the technology platform which will be used for these land records free/opensource and guaranteed to be available to Bangladesh in perpetuity with no license fee?

Secondly, can’t any of this work be done by local companies?

The nature of land records is such that once they are digitised, they will need to be used forever. So the initial cost, however high, is not as big a factor as the maintenance cost in perpetuity.

Over the last 20 years, free/open-source software (like the Firefox web browser and Linux operating system which forms the basis of Google Android) has established itself in all fields of information technology as having the lowest cost, while simultaneously maintaining quality and security on par with any proprietary technology.

None of the media reports made any mention of open-source software use in the land records project. This critical aspect of the deal may have been overlooked.

In fact, there is an open-source technology which has revolutionised land records and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) around the world.

It is called PostGIS, and is an extension of the free/open-source PostgreSQL database which specifically handles the data requirements of digital land records. PostGIS is the

system underlying www.openstreetmap. org (a Wikipedia-like equivalent to Google Maps), and is proven by use all over the world since 2001.

If the government has had the foresight to specify that PostGIS be the basis of the system it will buy, well and good. However, if they have not, then there will likely be many problems and even larger costs in the future.

First of all, a proprietary database (like Oracle) will require many additional developments to handle geographical data. Certainly, foreign companies which have previously developed digital land records for Indian and other governments have already made such proprietary customisations.

But in that case, will the Bangladesh government be committing to pay these foreign companies a fee to access our own land records forever?

Shouldn’t Bangladesh control access to its own land records? Furthermore, what is the justification of paying for those proprietary customisations if open-source systems like PostGIS provide similar features for free?

Undoubtedly the foreign company selected has experience and expertise in digital land records which local Bangladeshi companies do not, as Bangladeshi land records have not yet been digitised.

That doesn’t mean that the whole work should be given to a foreign company to be done in a proprietary system owned by them.

Rather, what makes sense is to specify that foreign consultants should leverage their experience to prototype and do a pilot project of an open-source land records solution based on PostGIS to digitise existing paper records.

This approach would prevent future problems of being “locked in” to a single foreign vendor forever at high cost, as the solution produced would be based on open-source PostGIS and not a foreign proprietary system;

BIGSTOCK

an open-source system could be taken over by local companies with PostGIS experience after the initial development and piloted by the foreign experts.

Adoption of the above open-source strategy for digital land records would benefit Bangladesh on multiple fronts.

Firstly, Bangladesh would get the involvement of foreign experts. Second, it would not be dependent on the foreign company as the final system and product would be an opensource system and not dependent on a single foreign vendor.

Finally, using an open-source system like PostGIS would open up the field to local companies as well; once the foreign experts designed the initial prototypes and completed pilot projects in a few districts, local companies with experience in PostGIS could take over the system for further roll-out

country-wide.

Such an approach would be a boon for the local software industry as well as a big savings in cost and foreign currency for the Bangladesh government.

In the long term, the fact is that all data of the Bangladesh government should be stored in an open-source format which it can access through free software like PostGIS without dependence on a foreign software company and without any exorbitant fees.

There should be an open-source software procurement policy written by the government to this effect. l Zeeshan Hasan is a Director of Kazi Farms Group (www.kazifarms.com), Dhaka Tribune, and Sysnova IT (www.sysnova.com). His articles on religion are at www.liberalislam.net and his global warming blog is at www.goodbyebangladesh.blogspot.com.

A place for your dream home n Md Ashraf Hossain

H

aving a home is a dream for all, but owning a piece of land or a flat in the capital city Dhaka is beyond the imagination of most people who live honest lives.

It is said that the price of land per katha in Gulshan is around Tk10cr, while in Bashabo it is not less than Tk1cr. A 1,000sq-ft flat in Banani costs more than Tk1cr. Even then, land, as well as flats, are sold and purchased regularly at such sky-high prices. They are mostly bought by the privileged few who can afford them.

Since the emergence of Bangladesh, many people have been enjoying higher incomes, except the honest, low paid employees.

Though their salaries have increased in terms of figures, in reality they have reduced significantly. For instance, in the 50s and 60s, even an employee working at the lower level could at least build a tin-shed house in a city or a town with his life savings.

This is in no way possible nowadays, even for people in good positions. In Bangladesh, many people rise to the peaks of their careers like generals in the army -- secretaries to the

government, managing directors in banks, chairmen and directors in corporations, presidents or general managers in private sector organizations -- but they hardly earn enough legal money to be able to purchase land or flats in big cities.

Owning a piece of land or a flat in the capital city Dhaka is beyond the imagination of most

The deprivation endured by honest service holders, irrespective of public sector or private sector, could be addressed by the government by taking pragmatic steps to meet the basic housing needs of these honest

workers. Building satellite towns for them could be a solution.

Bangladesh is an overpopulated country, and arable land is precious for growing food for the people. Keeping these factors in mind, Lauhajang, Sirajdikhan, and Srinagar upazilas of Munshiganj district are ideal areas which can be developed into satellite towns in order to meet the growing housing needs of the limited-income group. The landing site of one end of the Padma Bridge will be in the area.

Most areas in the three upazilas remain submerged during the rainy season. All these upazilas are located about 20km to 25km away from Dhaka. Taking the zero-point as the centre, this distance is a little more than it is to Uttara or Mirpur. The area can be developed by filling the land with silt from the riverbed. This will also increase navigability while also facilitating the draining of flood waters during monsoon.

The low valued land of the three upazilas could thus be utilised to cater to the housing needs of millions of people, and reduce the ever-increasing pressure on the capital.

It would hardly affect crop production

as the existing low-lying lands are mostly single-cropped.

The proposed satellite towns can be linked to Dhaka via Mawa Road, and as such, no extra money would be required to connect the new townships to the capital. People would be able to commute to the city to go to their offices on a regular basis.

The Housing and Settlement Directorate can be assigned to implement the project, given how Rajuk is overburdened with its present responsibilities. Plots in the proposed satellite town should be allotted to two categories of people: The affected land-owners and the limited income group. A quota system should in no way be considered. All allottees should be selected only by lottery, if and when the number of applicants exceeds the number of plots.

Strict measures must be taken to ensure that only deserving applicants are accommodated, and that the affluent are kept out of the lottery. In this way, a good number of honest, low-paid employees will be able to own their dream houses. l Md Ashraf Hossain is a freelance contributor.

DT

14 OPINION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

March 25 should be International Genocide Day

BANGLADESH OLD PHOTO ARCHIVE

n Nadeem Qadir

W

hen the month of March comes, we all welcome the spring season. I did the same in 1971. I had a small garden in the backyard of our home in Panchlaish residential area in Chittagong.

The rest of the backyard was my mother’s vegetable garden, and in the front was a garden as beautiful and graceful as my late mother -- Hasna Hena Qadir. She had a collection of 27 kinds of roses, including a black one and green one.

That March in 1971 saw the euphoria of a nation on the edge of being born -- not knowing how painful the delivery would be -- even the labour pains were not so acute, as the child called Bangladesh was born.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7 speech declaring the “struggle this time is the struggle for freedom” shook the Bengali nation with a sense of delight that only those of us who witnessed it can feel. The scream of “Joy Bangla” by millions mingled with that of my martyred father.

People like my father tightened their belts to face a possible attack by the Pakistani army with black flags, and the new flag -- red and green with a yellow map -- of a nation

about to be born, dominated the skyline. Oh! How incredible it felt at that time.

Pro-Pakistanis were on the defence, and as predicted by many, they betrayed Bangladesh -- the land where they lived and made their livelihood.

Then suddenly so many colours of spring were draped with red human blood across Bangladesh on March 25 and 26 in 1971. Chittagong was attacked on March 26.

ed screaming. It was strange to see so many birds in the night sky.

Early on March 25 and 26, Dhaka and Chittagong were drenched with human blood as thousands of bodies lay scattered across the country that was waiting to be born, the freedom-seeking people not realising the high cost they had to pay.

Soon after Bangladesh’s birth, the official figure was put at 3 million people killed, but

That March in 1971 saw the euphoria of a nation on the edge of being born -- not knowing how painful the delivery would be

The mortar shells started coming into the city randomly with tracer lights as well as the sound of automatic guns, which cannot be described in words.

The Earth shook, and the birds, which had taken shelter for the night on the trees, start-

vested quarters quickly started a debate soon after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975.

Some still try, and it is a shame to dispute the count for political reasons. The focus should be on remembering March 25 as the

“International Genocide Day” as has been demanded by the Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee for the past several years.

The committee, along with general people, hold a candle light vigil each March 25 in the Dhaka University campus.

In the book Century of Genocide edited

by Samuel Totten, the number of casualties has been listed as 3 million. The figure is the same in National Geographic magazine, Encyclopedia Americana, and Compton’s Encyclopedia. The Sydney Morning Herald put the figure of unarmed Bangladeshis killed in Dhaka on the night of March 25, 1971 alone at 100,000.

Kazi Mukul of the committee told me that the killing of three million people in a land of 56,000 square miles can be considered the most “macabre genocide in the history of human civilsation.”

The genocide in Bangladesh perpetrated by the Pakistan Army was much more brutal than that in Poland by the Nazis, according to the St Louis Post.

Committee chief and writer-journalist Shahriar Kabir said they were making a fervent appeal and demanding that the day be declared International Genocide Day. l Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism.

16

Saudis claw back global market share with oil output push

19

Stocks edge lower amid dull trading

20

Rajshahi power distribution project okayed

20

DT

Business

15

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Furniture exporters to get cash incentives

TB poses potential threat to Bangladesh economy as human cost persists n Kayes Sohel Shiraj Mian died two years ago after suffering multi-drug resistance-Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) for years.

He had lost ability to work and survived 10 years after the diagnosis of the disease. Shiraj had to sell all his ancestral land as the very last resort to bear the treatment expenses.

He left behind his wife and seven daughters, three of them were married off.

“When it was the time for him to earn livelihood for the family, he fell sick. This made us to feel down,” said Sajeda, wife of late Shiraj, standing at a corner of her only small and stuffy room at a city slum. She and her four children live there.

“We faced social stigma, as many did not want to marry us because of TB,” said 22-year Mukta, the second daughter of Sajeda. She later married one of her cousins.

The situation got worse after few days when Sajeda’s last four children were also infected with TB. Currently, they are now under treatment in a TB care centre run by a non-government organisation.

Sajeda and her four children depend on the earnings of her married daughters.

Doctors say Sajeda’s four daughters are very compliant patient, but neither she nor her family have the means to provide the necessary nutrition for their health.

Her story discovers that TB still poses a serious threat to Bangladesh economy in the wake of emergence of MDR-TB, pushing hundreds of thousands of families into wrenching poverty and the country to lose productivity.

It is one such disease that many do not perceive as a public health threat, when in fact it is among the leading causes of death in Bangladesh.

Like Shiraj, millions of people of Bangladesh are suffering from TB. Annually, the country witnesses 80,000 TB deaths and 350,000 new cases, according to the World

A TB patient at the National Institute of Chest Disease and Hospital in Dhaka. The country’s TB treatment programme will need an additional Tk680cr a year to reach global targets by 2030 SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN Health Organisation. TB accounts for 9% of the deaths in Bangladesh every year. Hence, every hour nine people die of TB despite an effective treatment.

Bangladesh having a high MDR-TB burden with around 4,700 cases notified every year ranks 7th globally in terms of the burden of TB on the population, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) Report, 2014. As many as 29% of old patients turned into MDR-TB patients in Bangladesh.

If a TB patient fails to take drugs regularly, or does not complete full course or if the drugs are below quality, then TB germs become drug-resistance, which is called MDRTB, said Shayla Islam, programme manager of TB control Programme, BRAC. She said despite various efforts made by the government and some non-government organisations, factors including poverty, malnutrition, overcrowding, low education, poor access to TB treatment, negligence of patients and still lack of awareness are some of main causes behind the TB infection in Bangladesh.

“It is taking a toll on Bangladesh. Almost half of all cases of active TB go unrecog-

nised,” she said.

“Most tuberculosis patients are unable to work and dependent on others for financial support during the treatment period. To address the challenges we need to make tuberculosis a national priority.”

The death and new case figure indicates that Bangladesh is robbing of billions of taka due to losing productivity of people getting into contact with TB like Shiraj, thus slowing down economic growth.

Officially TB treatment is provided for free, but studies in Bangladesh consistently show that having TB can be catastrophic to poor households, said Anna Vassal, professor of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in her paper on TB in the post-2015 and development agenda.

To reach the global TB target by 2030, around 315,000 persons need to be treated currently in Bangladesh per year. So it is estimated that the current total cost of the TB programme required to reach the target to be an additional Tk680 crore per year, although this estimate falls over time as TB incidence reduces. This is over and above the current TB programme of around Tk450 crore, the paper said.

This investment will give anyone in Bangladesh who develops TB around 19 additional years of life on average, based on the fact that the average to contract TB in Bangladesh is around 45 years, and the life expectancy

in Bangladesh is currently around 70 years— and including an adjustment for the fact that some with TB will self-cure.

MDR-TB is assured of having lower rate of return given that treatment is less effective, at around 13.5 years of life gained.

In total, if scaled up to levels to achieve the TB targets the TB programme in Bangladesh will produce around 2.8m additional years of life for the annual investment.

The life of years saved the recommended methods of using an economic value of Tk78,000 or Tk390,000. Applying this value to life years saved describe above, it is found that the economic return per taka spent ranges from Tk29 to over Tk162, making this a sound investment in post-2015.

The average cost of first line treatment to be found Tk10,140 per person treated, with around Tk1560 of this cost being spent on drugs, said the paper.

There are no studies examining the costs of MDR-TB treatment in Bangladesh, but there have been studies recently conducted in Nepal that estimate that the treatment of those with MDR-TB can cost around Tk335,400 per person.

Despite the economic progress over the years and a 92% cure rate in Bangladesh, it still remains a very poor country, with some 20% of people live in extreme poverty.

According to a survey of National TB Control Programme (NTP) in 2011, among the new TB patients diagnosed, about 1.4% was new MDR-TB cases and about 28.5% MDR patients were identified from previously treated TB cases.

NTP line director Ahmed Hossain Khan said lack of awareness, taking drug irregularly and fear of social stigma is the prime cause for the deaths in Bangladesh. “And MDR case is not only problem in our country but allover the world,” he said.

The government has adopted directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) programme with strong monitoring to control the infection, which improved the situation to a great extent, he said.

Of the new cases, 20% has always been retreated due to drug resistance, said Khan.

“However, combined efforts can help eradicate the disease.”

In Bangladesh, every year approximately 1.4m people on average seek care for TB and from 2004 to 2013, more than 1.5m TB patients have been treated, according to the NTP. NTP has installed new diagnostic tool gene expert machines, which is helping to detect more TB patients including drug resistant TB in a short time. l

DT

16 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Saudis claw back global market share with oil output push n Reuters, London When Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi says he does not want the kingdom to lose market share anymore, he really means it.

Iraq, Venezuela, Russia and Kazakhstan all saw their oil partially replaced by Saudi crude in Asia, the United States and even Europe, with its lackluster demand, as traders said the kingdom offered customers more oil, and more cheaply.

Supplies from OPEC’s leading producer are notoriously difficult to track as they reach customers under confidential direct deals rather than via the spot market. But an indirect confirmation of rising deliveries came on Sunday from Naimi himself.

The veteran minister, who carefully chooses his words and figures in his speeches, said the kingdom was now pumping around 10 million barrels per day - near an all-time high and some 350,000 bpd above the figure Saudi Arabia gave to OPEC for its February output.

And to stress the message, Naimi said the kingdom had the ability to increase if customers asked for more.

Gary Ross, the founder and executive chairman of PIRA, the first consultancy to predict Saudi oil output rising to 10 million bpd in March, said PIRA’s research and conversations with customers showed additional crude would be delivered to Asia and the United States.

In Asia, some Chinese refineries switched from using West African barrels to the Saudi Arab Light grade. In the United States, some customers increased their use of Saudi oil because of very competitive pricing.

Also contributing to the rise in Saudi supplies were much lower loadings of Iraqi crude

n Reuters, London

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna REUTERS because of bad weather in February, said Ross.

“The Saudis have said they are ready to increase supply if there is more demand. So over the past months they got more demand and they supplied the market with additional crude,” said Ross.

“I think Saudi Arabia is comfortable with its current production volumes and is happy to restore market share. They are unlikely to go much above 10 million,” he added.

Naimi has repeatedly said that Saudi Arabia’s loss of its share in major markets was the main reason it decided against cutting production at OPEC’s last meeting in November 2014.

The decision contributed to a steep decline in oil prices to below $50 per barrel in January

from $115 in June 2014.

The Saudis are hoping the development will cut output from high-cost producers, such as US shale explorers, and win back market share for low cost producers such as Saudi Arabia.

The past weeks have shown that Riyadh was not waiting for a bigger market share to come their way, but was pro-actively managing the situation.

“The Saudis have been placing more barrels in Europe since February - something I haven’t seen for a long time. It creates additional pressure on Russia and Kazakh oil grades,” said a trader with an oil major, which buys large volumes of Saudi, Russian and Kazakh crude. l

‘Tough to hit $100-$120 oil again’ n Reuters, Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s OPEC governor Mohammed al-Madi said on Sunday it would be hard for oil to reach $100-$120 per barrel - the peaks it hit last year before falling sharply due to a glut of crude and weakening demand.

Last November, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries kingpin Saudi Arabia persuaded members to keep production unchanged to defend market share and curtail the output of more expensive producers such as the United States. The move accelerated the oil price drop to a low around $45.

“I think it’s difficult to reach $100 or $120 another time,” Madi told an energy conference in Riyadh.

Oil prices recovered since January to over $60 a barrel, but have fallen again in recent days following a bigger than expected crude stock build in the United States that fueled concerns of an oversupply in the world’s largest oil consumer.

Oil companies, including U.S. shale producers, have slashed spending and jobs since the price of oil fell, and may face another round of spending cuts to conserve cash and survive the downturn.

“We are not against anybody or against the

Britain sees no inflation in February for first time on record

(production of US shale oil). On the contrary we welcome it, as it balances the market in the long run,” Madi said.

Benchmark Brent crude settled at $55.32 a barrel on Friday. Madi repeated that Saudi Arabia had no political motives in its oil policy.

“We understand that all countries need higher incomes...We want higher incomes, but we want higher incomes for us and future

generations,” he said.

“There isn’t any political dimension in what we do at the oil ministry - our vision is commercial and economic. We didn’t mean to hurt anybody, our vision is simply the following: the producers which have low costs have to have the priority to produce, but those who have high costs have to wait for their turn to produce,” he said. l

CORPORATE NEWS

GOLDBERG, a mobile brand of Khansons Group has recently signed agreements with its distributors in several divisions including Dhaka and Chittagong. Khansons Group Chairperson AKM Azizur Rahman Khan and Founder & CEO of GOLDBERG, Abrar Rahman Khan were present on the occasion among others

British inflation vanished last month, hitting zero for the first time on record, official figures showed on yesterday.

The annual rate of consumer price inflation dropped to zero percent, from 0.3 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said, keeping a rate rise by the Bank of England firmly off the table for now.

The decline was bigger than economists had expected and marked the first time there has been no growth in consumer prices since comparable records began in 1989.

Sterling GBP= weakened slightly against the dollar after the data and economists said that inflation was likely to dip below zero next month - though they stressed that Britain was at much less risk of entrenched deflation than the euro zone.

“We still think that deflation in the UK will be a ‘good’ development, giving household incomes a welcome boost and supporting the economic recovery this year,” said Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.

The unchanged cost of living will be appreciated by many Britons in the run-up to a national election on May 7, especially as annual wage growth slipped to 1.8% at the start of the year.

But the further inflation falls below the Bank of England’s 2% target, the more speculation there is likely to be on whether low price growth risks becoming entrenched.

Last week the BoE’s chief economist said the central bank was as likely to need to cut rates as to raise them in the immediate future, though for now that view appears not to be shared by other policymakers.

BoE Governor Mark Carney told legislators earlier this month that cutting rates purely in response to falling oil prices would be “extremely foolish”, and most economists polled by Reuters expect the next BoE move to be a rate rise in around a year’s time.

Unlike in the euro zone, where prices are already showing year-on-year falls, most economists think British consumer demand will remain firm in the face of falling prices, due to robust employment growth and signs of a pick-up in wages.

Tuesday’s data showed downward pressure on inflation from falling prices for food, laptops, tablets and computer peripherals, whereas in previous months tumbling oil prices have reduced the cost of fuel and transport.

Cuts in utility bills from companies such as British Gas are among the factors likely to push prices lower in March, economists said.

An underlying measure of inflation, which strips out increases in energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, slowed to 1.2% in February compared with 1.4% in January.

Data also released by the ONS on Tuesday showed that the prices which factories charged for goods fell by 1.8% in annual terms, similar to economists’ predictions. But factories’ raw material costs edged up slightly on the month, as oil prices recovered from lows hit at the start of the year. l

DT

BUSINESS 17

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

German businessmen challenge ECB’s bond purchase programme n AFP, Frankfurt

An employee welds the exterior of a vehicle along a production line at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong province

Study: Feces contains gold worth millions n AFP, Washington Human feces contains gold and other precious metals that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, experts say. Now the trick is how to retrieve them - a potential windfall that could also help save the planet.

“The gold we found was at the level of a minimal mineral deposit,” said Kathleen Smith, of the US Geological Survey, after her team discovered metals such as platinum, silver and gold in treated waste. A recent study by another group of experts in the field found that waste from one million Americans could contain as much as $13m worth of metals.

Finding a way to extract the metals could help the environment by cutting down on the need for mining and reducing unwanted release of metals into the environment.

“If you can get rid of some of the nuisance metals that currently limit how much of these biosolids we can use on fields and forests, and at the same time recover valuable metals and other elements, that’s a win-win,” said Smith.

“There are metals everywhere - in your hair care products, detergents, even nanoparticles that are put in socks to prevent bad odors.”

More than seven million tons of biosolids come out of US wastewater facilities each year: about half is used as fertilizer on fields and in forests and the other half is incinerated or sent to landfills.

“We have a two-pronged approach,” said Smith. “In one part of the study, we are looking at removing some regulated metals from the biosolids that limit their use for land application.

“In the other part of the project, we’re interested in collecting valuable metals that could be sold, including some of the more technologically important metals, such as vanadium and copper that are in cell phones, computers and alloys.” l

REUTERS

China March flash HSBC PMI contracts to 11-month low n Reuters, Beijing Activity in China’s factory sector dipped to a 11-month low in March as new orders shrank, a private survey showed, signalling persistent weakness in the world’s second-largest economy that will likely fuel calls for more policy easing to support growth.

The poor reading added to signs that the economy has lost momentum despite two interest rate cuts since November, a reduction in the amount of money banks must keep in reserve and repeated attempts by the central bank to reduce financing costs.

The flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dipped to 49.2 in March, below the 50-point level that separates growth in activity from contraction on a monthly basis. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 50.6, slightly weaker than February’s final PMI of 50.7.

Some analysts expect first-quarter economic growth to dip below the government’s new full-year target of 7% - widely seen as the level needed to keep employment steady.

“The weaker PMI data could increase pressure for policy loosening,” economists at CICC said in a research note.

They predicted the central bank would cut banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR) six more times this year, on top of another interest rate cut.

JPMorgan said the next RRR cut may come as soon as April.

Asia stocks fell after the PMI report on Tuesday, with shares in Shanghai skidding more than 2 percent, while the Australian dollar dipped. [MKTS/GLOB] The survey suggested that manufacturers faced considerable challenges from weaker domestic demand and deflationary risks.

The new orders sub-index fell to a 11-month low of 49.3 in March. New export orders decreased for a second straight month, albeit at a slower pace.

Strains on the job market continued to rise, with the employment sub-index contracting for a 17th straight month and hitting its lowest since the depths of the global financial crisis.

China’s leaders have said they would be willing to tolerate somewhat slower growth as long as the labour market remained resilient.

“A renewed fall in total new business contributed to a weaker expansion of output, while companies continued to trim their workforce numbers,” said Annabel Fiddes, an economist at Markit said.

“Manufacturing companies continued to benefit from falling input costs, stemming from the recent global oil price decline. However, relatively muted client demand has led firms to pass on savings in a bid to boost new work, and cut their selling prices at a similarly sharp rate.”

In Japan, a similar manufacturing survey added to concerns that its slowly recovering economy also may be losing momentum, with activity expanding at a much slower clip as domestic orders contracted.

China’s economy faces increased downward pressure this year but the slowdown is stabilising, with employment and services among the bright spots, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said on Sunday.

Weighed down by a property downturn, factory overcapacity and local debt, growth is expected to slow to a quarter-century low of around 7 percent this year from 7.4% in 2014, even with expected additional stimulus measures.

Data so far in 2015 indicate the new growth target may already be at risk, though the Asia

Three German businessmen are seeking to block the European Central Bank’s controversial bond purchase programme, arguing it oversteps the bank’s mandate, their legal expert told AFP on Monday.

Christoph Degenhart, a professor in constitutional law at Leipzig University, said that entrepreneurs Heinrich Weiss, Patrick Adenauer and Juergen Heraeus are seeking to challenge the ECB’s so-called Quantitative Easing or QE programme in the Germany’s highest court, the Constitutional Court.

Degenhart has already taken the ECB to court over previous unconventional policy measures such as the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme, which similarly has the central bank purchase bonds, but in this case to help eurozone members forced to pay high rates to borrow in the markets.

“Our argument is that, like in the case of OMT, the ECB is overstepping its mandate,” Degenhart said. A group of eurosceptic politicians and academics in Germany argue that the OMT programme is tantamount to printing money to pay off government debt in crisis-hit countries.

The same was true of QE, Degenhart argued.

“QE is a quantum leap, which essentially means countries’ debt is being financed via the printing press,” he said. On January 22, the ECB announced a massive 1.14tn euro bond purchase programme, which will see 60bn euros in bonds per month bought for at least 18 months.

The aim is to pump liquidity into the financial system so as to kick-start lending and push up inflation, currently below zero.

In the case of OMT, the Constitutional Court partially agreed with the plaintiffs, ruling last year that “there are important reasons to suggest that it goes beyond the ECB’s monetary policy mandate and infringes on the powers of the member states and contravenes the ban on monetary deficit financing.”

But the Constitutional Court referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg before issuing its final ruling.

The ECJ is expected to publish its own judgement later this year. But in January, one of its senior advisors, Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalon, said in a legal opinion that the OMT programme was “in principle” in accordance with European law.

Even if the ECJ does give OMT the go-ahead, the German Constitutional Court is not obliged to follow its argument and could still rule that the programme does not comply with the German constitution.

“Our aim is that the Bundesbank (or German central bank) cannot participate in the scheme.

It’s about ensuring that the legal foundations of European Union are adhered to. It is about ascertaining how far the ECB’s mandate can be extended,” Degenhart said. He insisted there was no sign of deflation in the euro area - the ECB’s main reasoning behind the programme.

Deflation is a dangerous downward spiral of falling prices, which leads consumers and businesses to postpone purchases. That in turns chokes demand, throttles output, leading to job cuts. l

DT

18 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

News, analysis and recent disclosures ICBIBANK: The Board of Directors did not recommend any dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 09.06.2015, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Unique Trade Center, Convention Hall (Level-5), 8, Panthapath, Dhaka-1215. Record Date: 15.04.2015. The Company has also reported net profit/(loss) after tax of Tk. (286.53) million, EPS of Tk. (0.43), NAV per share of Tk. (14.49) and NOCFPS of Tk. 0.45 for the year ended on December 31, 2014.

RUPALIINS: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on March 29, 2015 at 03:00 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2014.

SAPORTL: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on December 31, 2014 to the respective shareholders BO Accounts on March 22, 2015 except fractional shares. The payment of the sale proceeds of fractional shares together with 10% cash dividend distribution schedule will be notified later.

SUNLIFEINS: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors has decided to purchase a land measuring 8 Katha, 6 Chotak and 17 Square Feet at Mohakhali, Shabek Tejgaon, Gulshan, Dhaka at a cost of Tk. 4.51 crore per Katha approximately (excluding registration and other related expenses).

RAKCERAMIC: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has further informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on March 24, 2015 at 08:30 PM to consider, among others, the following agenda:1. To consider and approve the revised standalone financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2014.2. To consider and reschedule the date, time and venue for convening the 16th AGM and EGM.

DSE GAINER Company Aziz PipesZ Pharma Aids A Shahjalal Islami -A 1st Janata Bank MF-A National Life I -A Uttara Bank - A Progressive Life-A Marico BD Ltd-A Mercantile Bank -A Ambee Pharma -A

Company Aziz PipesZ Rangpur Foundry -A Islami Ins.BD-A Northern G Insur-A Shahjalal Islami -A Hamid Fabrics -N Uttara Bank - A Bangladesh Welding -Z Social Islami. B-A National Bank - A

Company

Dividend/AGM

CSE LOSER

Number of Contract

10.00 9.76 9.76 5.00 3.67 3.60 3.18 3.11 2.92 2.91

Company Monno Ceramic -B Wata Chemicals -A Shahjibazar Power-N S.B. 1st M. F.-A Unique Hotel RL - A Sonargaon Tex -Z Fu-Wang Food A Shinepukur Cera-Z CVO PetroChem RL-A GreenDeltaInsu -A

Closing (% Change) -6.58 -5.26 -4.82 -4.76 -4.68 -4.44 -4.39 -4.25 -4.10 -4.00

Closing (% Change) -7.69 -6.86 -5.23 -4.82 -4.79 -4.76 -4.67 -4.62 -4.47 -4.46

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

DSE key features March-24, 2015

Turnover (Volume)

Closing (% Change)

DSE LOSER

IPO Subscription: Tosrifa Industries Limited Subscription March 24, 2015 to March 31, 2015; NRB UPTO April 09, 2015. Offer Price per share Tk. 26.00, Market Lot (Shares) 200.

Turnover (Million Taka)

9.20 6.58 4.59 4.35 4.21 4.07 3.88 3.65 3.42 3.38

CSE GAINER

Dulamia CottonZ Janata Insur -A Shahjibazar Power-N Shinepukur Cera-Z Unique Hotel RL - A ICB Islamic Bank-Z AramitCementA Fu-Wang Food A Saiham Cotton-A R. N. Spinning-Z

SHAHJABANK: 10% cash, AGM: 07.06.2015, Record date: 09.04.2015.

IBBLPBOND: Annual profit rate of 11.18%, Record Date 16.04.2015.

FLEASEINT: 5% stock, AGM: 16.04.2015, Record date: 01.04.2015.

ISLAMIBANK: 15% cash, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record date: 16.04.2015.

UTTARABANK: 20% cash, AGM: 23.04.2015, Record date: 01.04.2015.

BRACBANK: 20% cash, AGM: 23.04.2015, Record date: 30.03.2015.

Closing (% Change)

Sector

2,555.48 58,368,413 73,900

Traded Issues

306

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

89

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

210

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,482.94

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.10

Bank NBFI Investment Engineering Food & Allied Fuel & Power Jute Textile Pharma & Chemical Paper & Packaging Service Leather Ceramic Cement Information Technology General Insurance Life Insurance Telecom Travel & Leisure Miscellaneous Debenture

DSE Million Taka 336.70 73.04 24.29 247.81 74.35 342.10 2.66 217.67 634.53 7.18 70.70 23.93 9.76 190.75 38.00 13.71 29.57 113.52 33.71 71.10 0.41

% change 13.18 2.86 0.95 9.70 2.91 13.39 0.10 8.52 24.83 0.28 2.77 0.94 0.38 7.46 1.49 0.54 1.16 4.44 1.32 2.78 0.02

Million Taka 63.81 4.43 0.88 25.73 3.13 25.95 19.87 32.83 0.69 5.25 1.23 0.45 12.47 3.49 0.22 1.09 16.85 4.44 14.08 0.02

Average (% Change) 8.28 2.90 2.31 1.28 3.28 2.32 4.42 3.21 2.14 3.28

Average (% Change) 10.00 9.76 9.76 5.00 2.59 4.23 1.58 2.80 2.60 1.45

Average (% Change) -6.58 -5.60 -5.01 -3.24 -5.30 -3.36 -3.89 -3.51 -3.06 -4.90

Average (% Change) -7.69 -6.90 -5.08 -4.82 -3.35 -1.90 -2.75 -2.05 -1.84 -4.39

CSE

ClosingAvg. 17.78 267.99 11.09 4.73 234.31 22.52 75.40 1,452.28 11.95 341.32

ClosingAvg. 18.70 105.70 18.00 21.00 11.10 26.39 22.47 16.55 13.82 10.52

ClosingAvg. 7.10 12.64 189.21 12.26 54.00 4.31 28.65 20.64 19.02 24.09

ClosingAvg.

% change 26.93 1.87 0.37 10.86 1.32 10.95 0.00 8.39 13.86 0.29 2.22 0.52 0.19 5.26 1.47 0.09 0.46 7.11 1.87 5.94 0.01

24.00 210.53 188.92 7.90 55.13 10.30 20.86 12.42 403.65 53.60

Closing 17.80 273.60 11.40 4.80 235.40 23.00 75.00 1,468.80 12.10 345.30

Closing

DHIGH

DLOW

17.90 278.80 11.50 4.80 245.00 23.20 79.00 1,479.00 12.30 347.50

16.80 258.30 10.80 4.70 228.00 22.00 72.00 1,430.00 11.60 330.50

DHIGH

DLOW

18.70 105.70 18.00 21.00 11.30 25.90 22.70 16.60 14.10 10.60

Closing

18.70 105.70 18.00 21.00 11.50 27.40 22.80 16.60 14.40 10.70

DHIGH

7.10 12.60 185.50 12.00 52.90 4.30 28.30 20.30 18.70 24.00

Closing 24.00 210.50 185.00 7.90 53.70 10.00 20.40 12.40 186.00 53.60

Million Taka 400.51 77.47 25.16 273.54 77.48 368.06 2.66 237.54 667.36 7.88 75.95 25.16 10.21 203.22 41.49 13.93 30.66 130.37 38.15 85.18 0.44

18.70 105.70 18.00 21.00 10.70 25.60 22.00 16.40 13.50 10.30

DLOW

7.10 12.90 197.00 12.50 57.60 4.50 30.00 21.40 19.60 25.30

DHIGH

7.10 12.50 183.00 11.90 52.50 4.20 28.10 20.10 18.60 23.70

DLOW

24.00 210.60 197.90 7.90 57.80 10.50 21.60 12.60 197.90 53.60

Total

24.00 210.50 183.00 7.90 53.50 10.00 20.30 12.30 183.00 53.60

% change 14.34 2.77 0.90 9.80 2.77 13.18 0.10 8.51 23.90 0.28 2.72 0.90 0.37 7.28 1.49 0.50 1.10 4.67 1.37 3.05 0.02

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

0.200 50.472 8.951 0.252 6.799 11.355 0.080 8.917 6.610 11.222

Turnover in Million

-0.37 10.18 1.02 0.84 12.46 3.51 2.30 48.72 1.71 4.68

Latest EPS

0.002 0.000 0.000 0.021 2.086 2.916 0.615 0.132 46.702 3.245

Turnover in Million

-ve 26.3 10.9 5.6 18.8 6.4 32.8 29.8 7.0 72.9

Latest PE

-0.37 3.23 1.48 2.77 1.02 1.88 3.51 0.44 2.74 1.13

Latest EPS

0.000 0.130 106.993 0.892 19.864 1.205 1.220 15.013 1.593 11.036

Turnover in Million

Latest PE

-ve 32.7 12.2 7.6 10.9 14.0 6.4 37.6 5.0 9.3

Latest PE

-4.02 0.37 8.68 0.39 3.05 -0.43 0.32 1.82 1.43 2.19

Latest EPS

0.003 0.084 10.830 0.012 1.539 0.005 0.460 0.109 2.849 0.009

-ve 34.2 21.8 31.4 17.7 -ve 89.5 11.3 13.3 11.0

Latest PE

0.20 5.37 8.68 1.54 3.05 -0.84 1.82 0.39 8.56 2.96

120.0 39.2 21.8 5.1 18.1 -ve 11.5 31.8 47.2 18.1

CSE key features March-24, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

236.93 8,445,420 10,727

Traded Issues

221

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

66

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

146

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,349.14

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.47

DT

BUSINESS 19

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Stocks edge lower amid dull trading n Tribune Report

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company ACI Limited- A LafargeS Cement-Z ACI Formulations-A Shahjibazar Power-N Grameenphone-A Brac Bank -A MJL BD Ltd.-A Social Islami. B-A Square Pharma -A Shasha Denims -N

One Bank -A SummitAlliancePort.-A Ifad Autos -N Jamuna Oil -A Pharma Aids A

VolumeShares 413,301 1,287,987 991,811 565,481 236,359 2,111,021 538,793 4,528,932 248,671 1,707,446

Value in Million 201.73 156.74 152.99 106.99 79.63 76.40 65.32 64.01 63.71 63.19

% of TotalTurnover 7.89 6.13 5.99 4.19 3.12 2.99 2.56 2.50 2.49 2.47

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

3,675,642 981,554 869,045 248,458 188,338

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Social Islami. B-A BD Submarine Cable-A ACI Limited- A Shahjibazar Power-N LafargeS Cement-Z ACI Formulations-A Shasha Denims -N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A National Feed-N WesternMarine -N

SummitAlliancePort.-A Singer BD -A National Bank - A Ifad Autos -N MJL BD Ltd.-A

3,379,189 110,375 25,299 57,326 79,968 60,691 179,974 168,586 201,228 97,003

64,261 19,841 308,505 52,057 26,685

57.57 56.00 54.29 50.87 50.47

46.70 14.00 12.33 10.83 9.69 9.35 6.64 5.43 5.31 4.07

3.68 3.57 3.25 3.24 3.24

2.25 2.19 2.12 1.99 1.98

19.71 5.91 5.20 4.57 4.09 3.95 2.80 2.29 2.24 1.72

1.55 1.51 1.37 1.37 1.37

ClosingP 495.70 121.10 157.20 185.50 337.20 36.10 120.40 14.10 255.90 36.80

15.80 56.20 62.20 204.20 273.60

ClosingP

Change % 3.29 0.75 2.95 -4.82 0.39 -0.28 -1.95 1.44 -0.39 -1.34

1.94 -3.44 -0.64 1.54 6.58

Change %

14.10 123.70 494.00 185.00 121.10 157.60 36.60 32.00 26.40 41.60

56.10 179.70 10.60 61.70 120.30

2.92 -2.52 2.79 -5.23 -0.49 3.34 -1.61 -0.93 0.38 -0.72

-3.44 -0.99 2.91 -1.28 -1.88

ClosingY 479.90 120.20 152.70 194.90 335.90 36.20 122.80 13.90 256.90 37.30

15.50 58.20 62.60 201.10 256.70

ClosingY

13.70 126.90 480.60 195.20 121.70 152.50 37.20 32.30 26.30 41.90

58.10 181.50 10.30 62.50 122.60

DHIGH 498.70 124.50 158.30 197.00 338.70 37.30 123.60 14.40 258.00 37.70

15.90 59.30 63.40 206.50 278.80

DLOW 480.00 119.80 149.60 183.00 336.00 35.10 119.90 13.60 255.70 36.60

15.40 55.30 62.00 201.90 258.30

DHIGH

DLOW

14.40 129.00 499.00 197.90 124.50 158.00 37.50 32.70 26.60 42.40

13.50 122.70 479.00 183.00 119.50 150.70 36.50 31.90 26.10 41.30

59.00 182.00 10.70 63.40 123.00

55.60 179.20 10.30 61.20 119.50

AvgPrice 488.10 121.70 154.26 189.21 336.92 36.19 121.23 14.13 256.18 37.01

15.66 57.05 62.47 204.75 267.99

AvgPrice

13.82 126.87 487.28 188.92 121.18 154.01 36.88 32.20 26.37 41.91

57.25 180.03 10.52 62.29 121.50

Daily capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index :

4493.40496

(-) 0.29%

1707.22412

(-) 0.25%

13726.76500

(-) 0.50%

11271.31490

(-) 0.46%

8312.16500

(-) 0.49%

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

Stocks edged lower with poor volume of trade and high volatility yesterday extending their losing streak for the second consecutive session.

The market opened higher but started to slide after a few minutes on sale pressure, losing around 35 points. However, some modest buying on financial institutions helped recover some points at the end of the day.

Dealers said trading remained terribly sluggish as most investors kept themselves to the sidelines owing to the continued political unrest.

“The shrinking investor interest is definitely linked to the political uncertainty that remained market drivers.”

The benchmark index DSEX lost 13 points or 0.3% to close at 4,493, hitting highest 4,525 in the morning and lowest 4,490 in the mid-session. The Shariah Index DSES inched over 5 points or 0.6% down to 1,090. The comprising blue chips DS30 dropped marginally 4 points or 0.3% to 1,707.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 8,311, falling 34 points.

The large cap sectors showed mixed performance with pharmaceuticals advancing slightly by 0.6%. Telecommunication, IT, power, food & allied, banks and cement ended flat. Non-banking financial institutions were the biggest loser declining 1.5%.

Trading activities at the Dhaka Stock Exchange went down sharply with the total turnover dipping below Tk300 crore mark once again and stood at Tk260 crore, down 18.7% over the previous session.

IDLC Investments said demoralised investors cashed further out of the market from most of the scrips. “This session’s dip turned down market once again below 4,500 points psychological mark, spraying depression on investment sentiment.” Lanka Bangla Securities said it was another bad day for the investors.

“The ongoing political instability in the country is taking its toll on the capital market as investors are getting more and more concerned about investing in equity market.”

ACI Limited topped the liquidity chart with turnover worth more than Tk20 crore. l

ANALYST

Market started off the week very positively, following a steep correction in last week. The benchmark DSEX index started moving up from the very beginning of the trading session and closed at the day’s high

DT

20 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Rajshahi power distribution project okayed The project, one of five approved by Ecnec, is expected to be completed by 2018 After the Ecnec meeting, State Minister for approved a project to establish a textile instiOnce it is completed by the year 2018 unn Tribune Report der the supervision of Power Development Finance MA Mannan said the Northwest Pow- tute in Jamalpur at a cost of Tk62.5 crore.

The government has taken a Tk915 crore project to improve power distribution system in Rajshahi division to meet the growing demand for electricity in the area where many agro-based industries are being set up.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the project in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the NEC conference room yesterday.

Installation of 1,375km new power distribution line, revamping of 1,808km old distribution line, setting up of sub power station with various capacity and land development will come under the Power Distribution System Development Project, Rajshahi Zone.

Board, around 200,000 people in 60 upazilas of Rajshahi will be under electricity coverage, which will increase 775 megawatt load of electricity and reduce 4% system loss.

Of the total project cost, the government will provide Tk880 crore from the national exchequer and the organisation concerned which owns the project will bear Tk34.98 crore.

The project was one of the five development projects worth more than Tk1,205 crore, which was approved by the Ecnec yesterday. Of the total cost of the five projects, the government will provide Tk1,170 crore from the national exchequer and the organisations concerned will spend Tk34.94 crore from their own funds.

er Distribution Company will start the work soon.

He said the auto rice mills, cold storage, poultry farms and various agro-based industries are being set up in the areas.

Besides, due to the already established export processing zone in Rajshahi and an increasing number of educational institutions in Pabna, the power demand has increased in the area, he added.

He said several peaking power plants, independent power plants and rental power plants have been set up, but power supply from these plants would not be possible without developing power distribution infrastructure.

Apart from the power project, Ecnec also

The project will create 80 textile engineers and technology experts every year to meet the demand in the local industry that requires 44,863 textile engineers every year.

Of the number, 10,189 engineers are recruited locally while others are recruited from India and Sri Lank. The Ministry of Textiles and Jute will complete the project by 2018 taking fund from the national exchequer.

Three other approved projects are residential building construction at the Dhaka University for the staff at Tk87.81 crore, research work for raising crop production by extensive use of technology having less-water consumption capacity at Tk39.02 crore and small irrigation project in Barisal at Tk101.18 crore. l

Yunus clarifies gift tax dispute with NBR n Tribune Report Nobel Laureate Professor Mohammad Yunus has cleared his position about tax dispute ensued between him and the National Board of Revenue over gifting of earned money to his family members.

“This is not legally required as the donation is tax-free according to the Gift Tax of 1990. Professor Yunus has appealed to the High Court and the case is now sub-judice,” he said in a statement yesterday.

His argument came in response to the claim made by the National Board of Revenue that Yunus had given out about Tk77 crore as gift to his family members and others over three assessment years, against which Tk15.39 crore as tax was payable to the state.

On March 23, the revenue board sent a notice, asking Professor Yunus or his nominated representative to meet with tax commissioner on March 29 in respect of this gift tax issue which is currently in court.

The statement said Yunus’ representative will accordingly meet the commissioner on that date.

Yunus receives very high fees for speaking at international conferences, it said.

“In many places, audiences purchase tickets to hear him speak. Several books written by him have been translated into 25 languages around the world. His books have been included in the New York Times Best Seller list. He remits earnings from books, speeches and prizes back to Bangladesh through formal banking channels,” according to the assessment made by the authorities.

From 2011 to 2014 financial years, Professor Yunus donated almost all of his earnings – a total of Tk77.42 crore, after paying all necessary taxes claimed by the Tax Authority – Tk72 crore to Muhammad Yunus Trust for charitable purposes, research and development, plus social development and Tk5 crore to Yunus Family Trust for family members’ welfare, the statement said, adding that these donations were shown in his income tax return.

“The tax authority accepted this up to 2013 and did not raise any questions, and issued tax payment certificate accordingly,” it said. l

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed visits a stall at the Furniture and Interior Decor Expo in the city’s Baridhara yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Furniture exporters to get cash incentives n Tribune Report The government will provide the furniture exporters with cash incentives to accelerate export earnings.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed came up with the disclosure while inaugurating a three-day Bangladesh Furniture and Interior Decor Expo-2015 at Jamuna Future Park at Baridhara in the city yesterday.

Among others, Jute and Textile Minister Emaz Uddin Pramanik, Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed attended the inaugural ceremony. A total of 51 furniture and home-furnishing firms are showcasing their products at the expo.

The government has given importance on the country’s furniture sector, as there is a huge potentiality in this sector, said Ahmed.

Tofail said, “In the sixth five-year plan, the

government has given importance on diversification of products and market as well to reduce dependency only on few markets and products.”

As part of the move, the government will provide cash incentives against the export of furniture products including handicrafts, said Ahmed.

The minister said, “We will prioritise the five sectors-pharmaceutical, leather, information technology, shipbuilding and furniture-to boost the export of non-traditional items.”

“We’ve sent a demi-official (DO) letter to the finance ministry with a recommendation for cash incentives against the export of furniture and the issue will be finalized shortly,” said Ahmed.

Bangladesh Furniture Industry Owners Association President Selim H Rahman said: “If the government provides cash incentives, we will be able to generate employment for 25

lakh workers more.”

Furniture sector can be next to the RMG sector in term of export earnings as it is a labour intensive sector while Bangladesh is country of vibrant population, said Rahman.

During the first eight month of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh earned US $22 million exporting furniture, which was 13% less compared to the same period of last fiscal. In the last financial year Bangladesh exported furniture products of $42.5 million.

The display is being jointly organised by the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association (BFEA), Bangladesh Handicraft Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BANGLACRAFT), Bangladesh Jute Diversified Products Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Furniture Industry Owners Association (BFIOA) in collaboration with Jute Diversification Promotion Center (JDPC). l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

T-JUNCTION

Vision of independence Photo: Sufi Nawaz

NEWS

INSIDE

Muktir Khoje Shadhinotar Ahobaney ‘15 BUET is holding a two day long event beginning on March 25 to celebrate and commemorate the Independence Day. The event includes a whole array of activities ranging from a two part cultural programme, a drama, a candlelight vigil along with a documentary. The event details are as follows:

March 25 - 8pm Ferrari Fouj drama by the BUET Drama Society Venue: BUET auditorium - 11.59pm Black Out: A torch and candlelight vigil Muktir rong: Liberation war themed wall painting

March 26 - 10am Shadhinota Olympiad - 4.30pm Cultural programme (part 1) - 6pm Orchestra - 7pm Short film - 7.30pm A documentary about BUET freedom fighters - 8pm Cultural programme (part 2) - 10pm Fire breathing: releasing sky lanterns l

22

trial room

Surging ahead

24 decor

Heads will roll

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22 T-JUNCTION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Trial Room

Surging ahead 8 questions with Emdad Hoque

Photos: Courtesy

n Khan N Moushumi With 20 years of experience in the fashion industry, founder of Studio Emdad, vice president of FDCB (Fashion Design Council of Bangladesh) and former director of Banglar Mela, Emdad Hoque tells us what’s at stake and discusses all that our local designers have been struggling to resurrect in the fashion industry.

What role does the fashion industry play in a country like ours?

Fashion affects our lifestyle. Nowadays, people are very fashion-conscious, they watch what they eat, the kind of clothes they put on, the beauty products they use, the jewellery items and every other single thing is carefully handpicked by them. People from all walks of life are very concerned about fashion and it really impacts their lifestyle.

We are somewhat in sync with the rest of the world throughout the year in terms of fashion, but when it’s Boishakh, Shadhinota Dibosh or Ekushey, we switch to our local trends, our own colour schemes and that’s where our fashion industry comes into play.

In what ways, do you think, our trends influence the youth and the elderly of the country?

The current timeline of our fashion industry mostly features everything that’s youth-centric. The patterns, cuts and styling are all youth-based. But there are mature people who are very trend conscious as well and they want something fashion forward and age appropriate.

Luckily there are fashion houses that have

designs tailored for them. These fashion outlets have separate segments for the two groups.

There’s a huge demand for Indian, Pakistani and other foreign products in Bangladesh because people think foreign products are better and would waste no time to get their hands on them. How can the local designers or brands compete with the foreign brands?

In all seriousness, we can’t compete with Pakistani or Indian brands because they have their very own production and printing houses. They can easily export their goods in Bangladesh and other countries at unbelievably low costs. Whereas us deshi designers have to chuck a spaz to produce anything half as good at the same price. We work with a bunch of artisans which is very expensive to begin with, and the costs of raw materials that we usually import from other countries are equally pricey. On top of all that, we have tax, vat and other costs to worry about.

Even though we are on the same page with the Indian or Pakistani brands design wise, it’s the costing of our products that makes us massively lag behind.

Do we have to adapt to foreign trends to compete with the rest of the world or should we stick to our local fashion?

We are following foreign trends at the moment and we should continue to do so.

I mean if we can pull them off, why not?

But what we have to keep in mind is that whether we stick to our traditional trends or choose to jump on the international wagon, we have to represent our culture and be in sync with the current timeline. In other words, modernisation will take place but whatever we decide to adapt may need localisation as well.

How do you think we can promote our deshi fashion wear and accessories?

We basically need backward support from the government. The cost of living is so high in a developing country like ours, even producing something as simple as clay jewellery is pricey. But our neighbouring countries have been producing the same goods at much cheaper costs because of soft loan facilities and their ability to produce everything locally.

If government steps up and supports us with backward linkages we can achieve something similar too.

T-JUNCTION 23

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Trial Room

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Over the years, we have noticed how the Indian or Pakistani media has been playing an important role in shaping our trends and influencing the market. A huge segment here religiously follows fashion trends exhibited by Indian TV channels.

Do you think we could promote our deshi trends through similar mediums too?

Not anytime soon, I suppose. The dramas and teleplays that our local TV stations air fail to make an impression on the viewers. The screenplay, costume designs, choreography and presentation are all of the same nature. They all need divergence, so that our deshi stars can make an impact on the viewers and people can learn to love and remember the characters they watch on screen.

As for our people being Indian sitcom aficionados, can you blame them? Their plots, costumes, presentation, execution and all never fail to appeal and bedazzle the audience. That single incident of the girl who killed herself last year because she couldn’t buy a “pakhi” dress on Eid explains the situation very well.

We have ample access to cheap labour this is something that international brands have been exploiting. Do you think we can use this to our advantage?

Our labour is not cheap, to be honest. It’s only cheap for foreign brands because they are producing goods in bulk and their investment is massive. The raw materials they are using are all imported and very reasonably priced. We can’t compare what the local producers are producing to that; that’s a completely different sector altogether.

Where are our local designers headed?

What’s in store for us in the future?

The problem with our local boutiques is that the designers who are relentlessly working hard for these fashion houses are being overshadowed by these big brand names. People across the world know who Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi is because they focus more on the designer than the brand itself. You won’t be able to name any designer of our country maybe except for Bibi Russell or Maheen Khan.

Even when we have a fashion show where models typically display designer wear, the talk of the town will be the makeup artist, the stylist or the choreographer - not the designers. These practices need to change because it’s solely the designers who invest their blood, sweat and tears into their work only to get the short end of the stick. l

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24 T-JUNCTION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Tucked In

decor

Heads will roll Alternatives to a headboard

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad As our living spaces shrink and our lifestyles get busier, these changes are reflected in the way we decorate our surroundings. Our furniture has, over the past decade or so, been pared down to the core of their functionality. Gone are the days when fancy four-poster beds and elaborate armoires and dressing tables were the norm, and if the current trend for minimalism continues, the next thing to get the shave will be the headboard. Here are three quirky alternatives.

Storage space A staggered selection of floating shelves would see the space getting better usage than a headboard. You could place a whole mini library behind your bed; this is an ideal solution for those who love their bedtime

room of the week

Foyer flare The entrance of your home is more than just a pass-through. And since it’s the first thing your guests are greeted with, make sure it makes a dramatic statement, with antiqued mirror and a chandelier that adds a warm glow.

Name: Rifat Kishawar Area: Mirpur Photos: Courtesy

stories. If the structure of your room permits, creating a punch space or built-in behind the bed for storage would also serve the same function.

Art attack Draw the eye to the wall behind the bed by placing a statement piece of art. This could be a large painting, or a wall display of framed photographs. You could also make this the accent wall and paint it a stand out colour, or paint on a mural.

Window treatment In a warm climate like ours, placing the bed right under a window not only anchors it in place, but also provides for a breezy night’s sleep. Be warned, however, this is not the most secure option if you live on the ground floor. l

Kevin Pietersen has been released from the majority of his Indian Premier League contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad so that he can play domestic country cricket in an attempt to earn an England recall

Sport 26

DE VILLIERS TAKES BLAME FOR BLUNDER SHOW

28

UZBEKS DRAW BLANK WITH ABAHANI

29

25

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ENGLAND RECALL?

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

MYSTERY WICKET, RAIN SPICE UP AUSSIE, INDIA TIE

KIWIS FLY, PROTEAS CRY

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26 Sport

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

TWITTER REACTION “Bloody love Cricket ...”

- Former England captain Michael Vaughan.

What a great game of cricket. SA did not lose that game. NZ won it. Well played NZ. And to the Proteas you can be proud of your campaign.

- Former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis Big Congratulations to New Zealand for making the ICC World Cup finals and playing amazing cricket. Its tough to see a side lose in a match like the semis. Well played South Africa. #CWC15.

- Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar Plenty respect for AB De Villiers n his team they played great cricket. We know that 7 overs lost played a big part. #holdheadshigh #WC2015 - West Indian legend Brian Lara What an amazing semi final. Congrats @BLACKCAPS bad luck @OfficialCSA Neither team deserved to lose #CWC15 - Former Australian fast bowler McGrath 2 brilliant teams in a World Cup semi final. Well done NZ. #CWC15 #NZvSA #greatcricket -Former Australian fast bowler Gillespie “Grant Elliot - take a bow!” South Africa DID NOT CHOKE! They got beaten by a better team today...AB led the team wonderfully well! But, well done NZ! See you in Sydney!

- Pietersen on his fellow South African What a game of cricket in NZ, please hold your heads high South Africa, you’ve done everyone proud as you gave it absolutely everything !!

- Australian legendary spinner Shane Warne Woohoo. Who’s coming to Melbourne????

- New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor What an amazing World Cup semi final...

- Australian opener Aaron Finch

“What an unbelievable game. So proud of the @BLACKCAPS and what they have achieved. Also feel the raw pain of @ OfficialCSA on an amazing day.”

- Ex-NZ captain Stephen Fleming “Still proud of my boys, good fight thru out the game. Great game of cricket by u buggers. U can stand up tall and b proud of your performance.”

- South Africa international Lonwabo Tsotsobe What a game @cricketworldcup @ grantelliottnz Brilliant - Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee “What a semi final! I feel for the SA boys.

Well done to NZ.” - Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene.

Congrats to the @BLACKCAPS on a superb win, all the best for the finals.

May the best team win with a spectacular game #cwc15 #NzvSA - Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik

AB de Villiers falls over as he attempts a run out during their Cricket World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in Auckland yesterday

De Villiers takes blame for South Africa blunder show n

AFP, Auckland

Distraught South Africa captain AB de Villiers laid the blame for the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand on a string of costly errors led by his own failure to run out Corey Anderson.

Anderson was on 33 at the time and scored a further 25 in a 103-run partnership with match-winner Grant Elliott.

Elliott clouted a colossal six off the second-to-last ball of the game to get New Zealand home by four wickets as they reeled in a 298-run target, revised under the Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-affected game.

South Africa, batting first, made 281-5 after the match was reduced to 43 overs a side following a two-hour rain interruption.

De Villiers, who proclaimed before the semi-final that South Africa would go on to win the Cup, believed it was a defendable target and his team had paid a high price for their own errors.

“We had our chances especially in the second half of the game and we didn’t take them so it’s difficult to say what kind of emotions I’m feeling. It’s obviously painful,” said the captain, who had made an undefeated 65 when his team batted.

“There were lots of people back home supporting us. It hurts to think of all of them. We wanted so badly wanted to take that trophy back home.”

De Villiers had a chance to break the Elliott-Anderson partnership with a run out

when, with Anderson nowhere near the crease, he dropped the ball and removed the bails with his hand.

“I tried my best to catch it but I didn’t.

Life moves on. I didn’t take that unfortunately, but yes if you want to see it that way that I cost us then I’ll gladly take it.”

De Villiers said it was no consolation in

AP

Three key errors that made South Africa suffer Missed run-out of Anderson, 32nd over of 43

299-6_NZ v S Africa (SF), Auckland, 2015

Corey Anderson had made 33 when, after Grant Elliott pushed the ball to point, he was sent back to the non-striker’s end by his partner.

South Africa captain AB de Villiers, one of the best fielders in world cricket, was at the bowler’s end stumps to take a hard throw on the half-volley but broke the wicket before collecting the ball and was then unable to remove a stump with ball in hand as he made a second attempt to effect a run-out.

Anderson went on to make 58, sharing a fifth-wicket stand with Elliott worth 103 runs.

289-4_Australia v NZ (QF), Chennai, 1996

Missed run-out of Elliott, 41st over of 43

HIGHEST WC CHASE IN KOs

277-4_India v Sri Lanka (F), Mumbai, 2011 264-6_Pakistan v NZ (SF), Auckland, 1992 261-5_India v Australia (QF), Ahmedabad, 2011 knowing he had taken part in a classic match.

“We play to win games of cricket to take glory home and make a difference in our nation’s heart and hope, and we didn’t do that. It hurts quite a bit. Gutted. We had our chances and didn’t take them.”

In the final over, the plan was for Dale Steyn to try to lure Elliott into thinking the last two balls would be yorkers but instead they would be length balls.

De Villiers ruled out using the rain as an excuse, despite South Africa losing seven overs when they had set themselves up for a big charge at the end of their innings.l

South Africa wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock failed to gather a low throw from Rilee Rossouw and knocked the bails off with his gloves, with Elliott, going for a risky second run, outside of the crease by a distance.

Had Elliott been run out for 66, it would have left New Zealand 272 for six.

Elliott dropped, 42nd over of 43.

South Africa-born Elliott, who went on to make a match-winning 84 not out, was on 75 when he tried to pull fast bowler Morne Morkel but got a huge top edge.

Replacement fielder Farhaan Behardien was under the ball but, with JP Duminy distracting him as he rushed in from fine leg, dropped the chance with neither man apparently calling for the ball.

Had the catch been held, New Zealand would have been 284 for seven, needing 14 to win off the final over. l

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Sport 27

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

0

Fifty-plus opening stands for South Africa in this World Cup. South Africa have posted at least three 50-plus partnerships in each of their previous six World Cups.

Their opening pair only averages 16.25 in this World Cup, with the previous low being 42.85 (during the 2011 World Cup).

NZ v SA

71

Runs scored by New Zealand in the first five overs, the second-highest in ODIs since 2001 (prior to which ball-by-ball data is not available).

482

Runs scored by AB de Villiers this World Cup, the second-most by a South African batsman in a World Cup, after Jacques Kallis (485 in the 2007 World Cup).

25

Southee 9-1-55-0 (w1), Boult 9-0-53-2, Henry 8-2-40-0 (w1), Vettori 9-0-46-0 (w2), Williamson 1-0-5-0, Elliott 1-0-9-0, Anderson 6-0-72-3 (w5)

NEW ZEALAND R (victory target 298 in 43 overs under D/L) M. Guptill run out (Amla/de Kock) 34 B. McCullum c Steyn b Morkel 59 K. Williamson b Morkel 6 R. Taylor c de Kock b Duminy 30 G. Elliott not out 84 C Anderson c du Plessis b Morkel 58 L. Ronchi c Rossouw b Steyn 8 D. Vettori not out 7 Extras (b6, lb2, w5) 13

21

Wicket taken by Trent Boult in this World Cup, the most by any New Zealand bowler in a single World Cup. The previous record was 20 wickets, taken by Geoff Allott during the 1999 World Cup.

272

David Miller’s strike-rate during his 49 off 18 balls. This is the highest strike rate by a South African batsman in a World Cup match (minimum 40 runs) and the third-highest by any batsman.

Total (six wkts, 42.5 overs)

A match of brilliance mixed with fortunes

This was a match that produced some great individual performances from both sides.

The magnificent example of some fantastic fast bowling by Trent Boult that took Hashim Amla and Quinton De Kock out of their com-

B 36 26 11 39 73 57 7 6

299

Fall of wickets 1-71 (McCullum), 2-81 (Williamson), 3-128 (Guptill), 4-149 (Taylor), 5-252 (Anderson), 6-269 (Ronchi)

192

After several lop-sided matches that include the quarter finals, the 2015 World Cup had finally produced a match that produced a fantastic game of cricket between two evenly matched teams of the highest quality. Both New Zealand and South Africa were playing for a place in the finals, a place where neither team has been to. The fluctuation of fortunes throughout the game suggested that neither team knew how to win the game as control changed from one team to the other right until the last over of the match. This was a cliffhanger and Dale Steyn fell of the edge as Grant Elliot smashed the 5th ball of the last over into the stands to seal the deal for the Black Caps.

281

Bowling

Number of balls in which McCullum got to his fifty. This is the fourth instance of McCullum making a World Cup fifty in 22 balls or less. Overall, this has only been done nine times.

A match that lived up to its billing

Total (5 wkts, 43 overs)

1-21 (Amla), 2-31 (de Kock), 3-144 (Rossouw), 4-217 (du Plessis), 5-272 (Miller)

22

Yousuf Rahman (Babu), former national cricketer, vice captain and first centurion writes from New York for Bangladesh fans all across the globe.

R B 10 14 14 17 82 107 39 53 65 45 49 18 8 4 14

Fall of wickets

Runs conceded by Dale Steyn off the fifth over of New Zealand’s innings, including three fours and two sixes by Brendon McCullum, the most he has conceded off a single over in his ODI career.

McCullum’s strike-rate during this World Cup, the highest by any batsman in a World Cup (minimum 5 innings). Each of the top-three instances on this list are from the 2015 World Cup, with the others being Glenn Maxwell (183.5) and Andre Russell (185.7).

SOUTH AFRICA H. Amla b Boult Q. de Kock c Southee b Boult F. du Plessis c Ronchi b Anderson R. Rossouw c Guptill b Anderson AB de Villiers not out D. Miller c Ronchi b Anderson JP Duminy not out Extras (b1, w13)

Bowling

New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum embraces South Africa’s Morne Morkel after their Cricket World Cup semifinal in Auckland, New Zealand yesterday AP

Steyn 8.5-0-76-1 (w1), Philander 8-0-52-0, Morkel 9-0-59-3 (w1), Tahir 9-1-40-0 (w1), Duminy 5-0-43-1 (w2), de Villiers 3-0-21-0 Result: New Zealand won by four wickets Man of the match: Grant Elliott (NZL)

TALKING POINTS NEW ZEALAND- SOUTH AFRICA

fort zone, the superb resilience of Paf De Plessis and Rilee Rossouw, the genius of AB De Villiers, the brutal assault of Brendon McCullum in dismantling the Proteas attack, the calm and collective spell of Imran Tahir and the confidence of the Kiwi middle order especially the composed match winning knock of Grant Elliot are some that come to mind immediately. With all the brilliant performances, it was a game of fluctuating fortunes too.

The rain interruption when Du Plessis and De Villiers were going great guns threw the South African batting a step back and it gave the Kiwis a chance to squeeze back into the match that was otherwise about to be taken away from them. Prior to the interruption, the Kiwis were looking at a total of around 350 to chase, which in all probability could not be overcome.

South Africa brilliant on the field but fell short of capturing the key moments:

In spite of the brilliant ground fielding by the South Africans, they failed to capitalize on

some key plays, which prevented them from the MCG appearance on March 29. Two run out opportunities that would have seen the back of Grant Elliot and Corey Anderson with more than 100 runs to go, a catch in the deep that was let off by a Behardien-Duminy near collision are some of the lost opportunities that one does not expect from this Proteas team.

You cannot win a match when only two out of five bowlers are in the match

South Africa’s bowling arsenal is one of the best in the world, yet we saw only two out of five come up big in this match. Imran Tahir was his brilliant self. Undoubtedly, the best leg spinner in the world, he came into the attack when McCullum was on the rampage and immediately brought the match under control. In Morne Morkel, South Africa had a second bowler who also turned up big for the occasion. Sadly, the others were not good enough for the day. Daryl Steyn was shell shocked by the McCullum onslaught and had

its effect in the penultimate over and the selection of Philander may not have the best decision taken the Proteas.

The Black Caps controlled the middle overs better than the Proteas

“Middle” is the key word. One who manages and controls the middle succeeds. Be it the economy of a country, the mid-field play of a soccer team or the middle order of a cricket team, the middle factor is crucial. There is no doubt that the South African middle order batting did extremely well but it was the Kiwis middle order batting management between Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot and Corey Anderson that saw them through. In bowling, Imran Tahir bowled a magnificent spell in the middle but he needed to take wickets, at least two of them.

He could not and no one else looked like getting them. I had mentioned before, Imran Tahir is the “X factor” and if he had taken a couple of wickets in his spell of 9 overs, the Proteas would be smiling today. l

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Uzbeks draw blank with Abahani n Raihan Mahmood

AFC U-23 Qualifiers Group E favourites Uzbekistan drew goalless with Bangladesh Premier Football League outfit Dhaka Abahani in a practice game at the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club ground yesterday.

The Uzbeks who arrived in the capital on March 20, seven days ahead of qualifiers, showed their skills and standards against the local outfit Abahani who fielded five foreigners. However, the game did prove that the visitors are yet to get adapted with the conditions.

“Result of this match does not matter, I am happy to see all my players take the field and play a match which is very useful for them, we came here early to get accustomed with the conditions and still we have three days left ahead of the main fixture, we hope to get accustomed with the conditions before the main fixtures,” said Uzbekistan coach Bakhtiyar Ashurmatov.

Forwards Jamshid Ishkhanderov and Sardor Rashddov, defender Baburbek Yuldashov, Igor Sargeev and Vladimir Kozak from the current Uzbek squad carries the experience of playing against Bangladesh in the Asian Games football at Incheon in September 2014.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh coach Lodewijk de Kruif, assistant coach Saiful Bari Titu and goalkeeping coach Christian Schwichler were also present during the game in Dhanmondi and observed their opponents strength from close.

After the game De Kruif praised Abahani but categorically indicated Uzbekistan as the favourites. “Abahani played with five foreign players who made it a strong line-up. But the Uzbekistan team also showed their capabilities, they are skilled and technically and tactically efficient,” said the Dutch.

De Kruif, however, did not make any comparison between the current team and the team to which he lost 3-0 in the Asian Games.

“Four of five players from that match are here, among them Jamshid Iskhanderov is a very good player, they have the infrastructure and the players, so the standard does not

An action from the practice match between Uzbekistan U-23 (White) and Dhaka Abahani Club Limited (Blue) at the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club ground yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK vary very much,” he added.

“In a practice match the players put their 70 to 80 percent, so its not all,” concluded De Kruif.

India U-23 up and running

India Under-23 football team wasted no time to land their feet at the Bangabandhu National Stadium as they rushed to the venue for practice just hours after arriving in Dhaka

yesterday.

The 23-member squad underwent a twohour practice session under head coach Savio Medeira.

The Indian squad prepared themselves in a camp in Goa from March 4 for the tournament in which they face Uzbekistan in the first match on March 27. They play Syria on March 29 and wrap the fixtures up against hosts Bangladesh on March 31.

Squad

GK: Amrinder Singh, Albino Gomes, Rehenesh.

Defenders: Abhishek Das, Satish Singh, Sankar Sampingraj, Deepak, Bikramjit Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Pritam Kotal. Midfielders: Germanpreet Singh, Nikhil Kadam, Dhanachandra Meetei, Prabir Das, Siam Hangal, Manish Bhargav, Avinash Rui Das. Forwards: Sumit Passi, Haokip Thonghkosim, Rajinder Kumar, Jayesh Rane, Vinit Rai, Holicharan Narzary. l

Strong Bangladesh aim Asian Zonal Chess title n Raihan Mahmood

Benazir Ahmed, the president of Bangladesh Chess Federation speaks at the press conference of the Asian Zonal Chess at the NSC conference room yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Bangladesh is focused to win both the men’s and women’s section titles in the Asian Zonal Chess Championship scheduled to start from March 27 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Premier Bank Ltd, a leading private sector bank is the official sponsor of the Bangladesh contingent.

A strong 16-member Bangladesh team comprising 10 men and 6 women will fly to Nepal tomorrow. The six-team zonal championship comprises Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Bangladesh, ranked above their competitors, are poised to qualify for the World Chess Championships scheduled at the end of the year with the dates and venue still undecided. The event will be played across nine rounds Swiss-League system.

The men’s team players are GM Ziaur Rah-

man, GM Niaz Murshed, GM Mollah Abdullah Al-Rakib, GM Enamul Hossain Razib, IM Mohammad Minhazuddin Ahmed, FM Sheikh Nasir Ahmed, FM Khandaker Aminul Islam, FM Debaraj Chatterjee, CM Sohel Chowdhury and IM Abu Sufian Shakil. The women team comprises of WIM Shamima Akter Liza, WFM Nazrana Khan Eva, WIM Rani Hamid, WFM Zakia Sultana, WFM Sharmin Sultana Shirin and Mahmuda Hoque Chowdhury Moly.

In a press conference held at the NSC conference room yesterday, president of Bangladesh Chess Federation and director general of Rapid Action Battalion, Benazir Ahmed introduced the team to the media. Deputy managing director of Premier Bank Dewan Anwarul Latif, senior vice president Mohammed Emtiaz Uddin and federation general secretary Gazi Shayiful Tareque were also present during the occasion. l

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Sport 29

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Mystery wicket, rain spice up Aussie, India battle n Mazhar Uddin from Australia The Sydney Cricket Ground staffs were on their heels for most part of yesterday as rain threatens to spoil the second World Cup semi-final between cricketing powerhouses Australia and India tomorrow. The ground staffs were busy protecting the pitch since morning before it stopped raining in the afternoon.

However, with ominous clouds still hovering over Sydney and forecast suggesting showers tomorrow, cricket lovers might be in for another rain interrupted knockout game.

In the meantime, Tom Parker the head curator of the Sydney Cricket Ground was the target-man for the large Indian journalist contingent who were eager to know about the wicket that will be used in the blockbuster game.

The Indians did not hesitate to use a false recommendation saying ICC had permitted them to get information on the playing wicket, but Parker was a tough nut to crack as he gave away nothing before it was finally revealed that the traveling journalists were lying about ICC granting them permission.

A typical SCG track with a grass top is expected for the hyped up encounter, but it remains a mystery whether it will be the case.

After training no one from India spoke to the media as they opted to stay disconnected with the news while Australian opener Aaron Finch said they are expecting a competitive game.

“India are playing good cricket but we are also in fine form and I think it will be a very competitive match,” said Finch.

Finch clobbered 135 in their opening game against England but since then his willow has been silent producing 14, 4 , 24, 20 and 2. He said, “I am trying hard to return to form and I will definitely try to score big against India and look to contribute for my team on the big stage.”l

Australia cricketers run during a team training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday

AFP

Pakistan’s retiring Misbah slams critics n AFP, Lahore

Pakistan’s normally mild-mannered cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq on Tuesday launched a blistering tirade against his critics as he confirmed his retirement from one-day internationals.

After patiently enduring years of abuse for almost every failing by the perennially mercurial Pakistan team, the 40-year-old said he was ready for a rest.

He said he had no intention of changing his mind about one-day cricket but would continue to play Tests, in which format he is Pakistan’s most successful captain.

Misbah captained Pakistan in their recent World Cup campaign which ended in a battling quarter-final defeat to hosts Australia.

He said it was disappointing to see former stars on television laying into the team, “using abusive words that are way below the basic standard of ethics”.

“Pakistan’s media houses should have some rules for people appearing on television screens or at least some basic training, because it seems that anyone who can’t find a job in the country becomes an expert or analyst on TV screens,” he told reporters in Lahore.

Critics dubbed Misbah “tuk-tuk” after the

slow-moving rickshaw because of his dogged, patient batting style.

He was also regularly lambasted for supposedly negative tactics as captain and contrasted unfavourably with the swashbuckling, big-hitting all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

“I was being pinpointed for everything: when the batting failed, the media blamed me, when the bowling failed, the media blamed me and when the fielding failed, the media blamed me,” he said. When Pakistan lost their opening World Cup games to India and the West Indies, effigies of Misbah were burned in the street in Lahore.

The phlegmatic Misbah led Pakistan through some of its toughest years, taking over the captaincy after the spot-fixing scandal of 2010 that saw three key players banned.

He has also never led his side in a home series. International cricket in Pakistan was abandoned after the 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus and the side play all their “home” games in neutral venues.

“I can take responsibility to a certain limit but I am not the devil, I did not attack the Sri Lankan team, I did not end international cricket in Pakistan. Why blame me for everything?” he said.l

I’ll sledge India if Warner won’t, says Johnson n Reuters, Sydney

India U-23 team arrived in Dhaka yesterday for the AFC U-23 Qualifiers and wasted no time in reaching the Bangabandhu National Stadium for practice in the evening MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson says he is considering taking on the role of Australia’s Sledger-in-Chief for Thursday’s World Cup semi-final against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Outspoken opener David Warner has been on his best behaviour at the World Cup after getting into hot water over a series of spats with the Indian side during the test series over the New Year.

The fiery exchanges continued into the Tri-series and Warner was fined for asking India’s Rohit Sharma to “speak English” during a slanging match in a one-dayer at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in January.

“I heard Davy said he wasn’t going to get involved in all that stuff,” paceman Johnson told Fox TV on Tuesday.

“Someone’s got to do it and I might put my hand up. It’s part of the game and what happened the other day with Shane (Watson) and Wahab (Riaz) was exceptional.

“I thought it was great entertainment and I think you’re going to see more entertainment in this game.”

Johnson has some history with India in the sledging stakes and made them pay for having the temerity to lampoon him after he went wicket-less in the first innings of the second test at the Gabba last December.

“I love it. The more that comes my way, the better,” he said at the time.l

DT

30 DOWNTIME

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Quick (4) 3 Singer (4) 7 Time period (3) 8 Money drawers (5) 11 Agitate (4) 12 Arched space (5) 13 Harsh (5) 15 Acting part (4) 18 Company of cattle (4) 19 Snake (5) 20 Omit in pronunciation (5) 21 Cat’s contended sound (4) 23 Repairs (5) 24 Land measure (3) 25 Cried (4) 26 Probability (4)

DOWN 1 Fixation (6) 2 Precious metal (6) 4 Allow (3) 5 Popular dessert (6) 6 Rowing implement (3) 9 Food cupboard (6) 10 Heavenly body (3) 11 Long pace (6) 14 Time of holding (6) 16 Laid bare (6) 17 Effaces (6) 19 Vigour (3) 21 Animal’s foot (3) 22 Corded fabric (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 6 represents N so fill N every time the figure 6 appears.

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

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

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

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 25, 2015

The Song of Sparrows n Dwitiya Jawher Neethi Karim (Reza Naji) works in an ostrich farm and lives with his wife, two daughters and a son in a village close to Tehran.

Karim realises that his daughter needs a new hearing aid.

Around the same time, he also loses his job when an ostrich escapes the farm.

Karim starts to commute everyday to Tehran on his motorbike and earn some money by transporting people and goods around the city.

In the Song of Sparrows, Majid Majidi captures the struggles of providing for a family. He portrays real human struggles through Karim’s life and a man’s unyielding efforts to make sure people around him are happy.

In the quest to make a living, Karim is

also faced with moral conflicts – some options are easier, but not easy on his conscience.

Cities present lucrative opportunities that are even more attractive to a man from a village.

But in the end, how much worth do they have?

Majidi’s beautiful stroke to Karim’s life full of hard work is his son and his friends – a group of little boys who are obsessed with gold fish and they are convinced that they can become millionaires by selling them. One of the most touching scenes in the movie involve them and a broken tank of fish -- or dreams.

But life goes on. As it always does.

This movie is a spiritual journey that teaches value for hard work, human relationships and acceptance. l

Kebab Connection to be screened at Goethe

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

n Showtime Desk As a part of German-Bangla Movie Night, Goethe Institut Bangladesh is going to hold a screening of “Kebab Connection” on March 29 at Berlin Hall.

Directed by Anno Saul, the 2004 German-Turkish comedy tells the story of Ibo, a young Turkish-German who dreams about making the first German Kung-Fu movie. While waiting for a big opportunity to make his debut, he films Kung-Futhemed commercials for his uncle’s kebab restaurant. Ibo’s life is turned upsidedown when he learns that his German girlfriend Titzi is pregnant.

The film could have been about multiculturalism and the difficulty of allowing two cultures to coexist, yet it changed its course midway and focused more on Ibo’s acceptance of his oncoming fatherhood. However, the film still manages to give the audience some comedic insights about relationships between identity groups, and the life of a German-Turkish family in Hamburg. l

KARAN JOHAR @ karanjohar Some love stories are eternal..... #loveyoumom

BOMAN IRANI @ bomanirani Sports was designed for recreational viewing! This match was a health hazard! Heart still thumping! What a match!!!!! #CWC15 #NZvSA

HUGH JACKMAN @ RealHughJackman My “office” for the day! Not too shabby. #EddieTheEagle https:// instagram.com/ p/0myy_1ChNy/

WHAT TO WATCH TELEVISION

THE CROODS C

Star Movies 07:06 PM After their cave is destroyed, a caveman family must trek through an unfamiliar fantastical world with the help of an inventive boy.

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone

GOLIYON KI RAASLEELA RAM-LEELA B

Sony Max 02:40 PM A man from a crime family falls in love with a woman who is resistant to her family’s choice of a husband for her.

Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Supriya Pathak

LIFE OF PI A-

Movies Now 09:00 PM A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.

Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain

DT

32 BACK PAGE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

TB POSES POTENTIAL THREAT TO ECONOMY PAGE 15

KIWIS FLY, PROTEAS CRY PAGE 25 M

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THE SONG OF SPARROWS PAGE 31 1

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Negotiating from strength

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This extract is the final part of Rehman Sobhan’s contemporaneous account of the events of that momentous month in Bangladeshi history. This was first published in the final issue of Forum on March 20, 1971. The Forum offices were closed and the magazine shut down by the Pakistan army on March 26

n Rehman Sobhan

RAJIB DHAR

Warfare display to build up civil-military relations n Mohammad Jamil Khan

In hope of improving civil-military relations, the country’s armed forces have put on a nine-day combined Warfare Exhibition at the National Parade Ground.

The event, in honour of Independence Day, kicked off on March 22 and will end on March 31.

Colonel Abdullah Al Mamun of the Civil-Military Relations Directorate of the Armed Forces yesterday said the display was meant to present the history and achievements of the armed forces and to attract new recruits.

Apart from the weapons display, the three forces have stalls highlighting their Liberation War roles.

The display will be open to the public from 9:30am to 5:30pm everyday except March 26.

But on Independence Day it will only be open to Armed Forces’ family members and to students of Dhaka Cantonment schools and colleges from 12:30pm to 5:30pm.

On the final day, there will be a special arrangement for Dhaka city school and college students to view the display from 12:30pm to 5:30pm. l

The totally unprecedented resistance to this move within Bangla Desh has led to the inevitable reaction within West Pakistan.

Whilst many political figures in the West began by supporting the postponement, by the end of the second week of people’s Raj in Bangla Desh, all bar the PPP were demanding that Yahya concede Mujib’s Four Points in toto.

Bhutto, who remained apologetic and on the defensive ever since March 1, was thus compelled to further expose his ambition in Karachi on March 14. Here he introduced West Pakistan for the first time to the concept of the two-nation theory and demanded that power be handed to the two majority parties of Pakistan, namely the Awami League in Bangla Desh and People’s Party in West Pakistan.

Bhutto’s drive towards becoming shahinshah of West Pakistan had of course been exposed in the columns of Forum some time ago, though none would have thought that he would be crass enough to proclaim his ambition at such a psychologically unfavourable moment. Needless to say the reaction in the two regions, NWFP and Baluchistan, where his writ does not run, was the most unfavourable. To them this was a clear attempt to reimpose Punjabi domination on

them through the agency of Mr. Bhutto.

Even within the PPP there were serious misgivings not only at Mr. Bhutto’s present posture but his entire strategy. Whatever their misgivings about Six Points, they must have awakened to the fact that the price of resisting Six Points and also imposing their will on the Baluch and Pathan was a permanent partnership with the likes of General Omar. Far from PPP being the champion of democracy in West Pakistan, they would merely degenerate into the civilian front of another junta.

Whilst the events of last month have exposed Mr. Bhutto for what he is and perhaps in the process inflicted serious damage to the progressive cause in West Pakistan, it is not certain whether the wings of the hawks have at all been clipped.

Whilst no man of whatever persuasion in West Pakistan could now doubt the Himalayan blunder implicit in the act of postponement and fail to be aware of the near fatal damage to the concept of national unity, it is yet to be seen whether the right lessons will be drawn from the experience.

A sensible general as much as a sensible leader having miscalculated would attempt to recoup his losses by trying to come to terms with the people’s representatives in Bangla Desh and handing over power to them in order to create an atmosphere where the future of the country can be examined soberly.

On the other hand, both generals and leaders have also been known to compound their own blunders, thereby converting simple folly into unmitigated disaster. l

I’M MADE IN BANGLADESH: TODAY’S WINNERS STORY OF THE DAY When I hoist the Bangladeshi flag 16499 feet above the ground at Roopkunda and when I represent Bangladesh among 14 rappers, I feel like I am Made in Bangladesh Story: Sadmann What’s your “I’m made in Bangladesh” story?

Send your submissions to my.tribe@dhakatribune.com See facebook.com/JoinDTribe for contest details

PHOTO OF THE DAY

RAINBOW IN HAND: We can make our lives colourful by maintaining communal harmony.

We Bangladeshis can make our society more colourful with participation by all. That is why we are proud to be Bangladeshi PHOTO: MOIN HABIB

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