30 March, 2015

SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

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Chaitra 16, 1421, Jamadius Sani 9, 1436

BACHCHU RAZAKAR STILL TRACELESS PAGE 3

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 2, No 354

KHULNA WATER SUPPLY UNDER THREAT PAGE 7

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www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

PROJECT TO IMPROVE HAOR LIVING SOON PAGE 32

Rebels remain in the game Most mayor aspirants apparently violate electoral code, staging showdowns with scores of supporters Bhowmick with Adil Sakhawat, n Rajib Munir Momtaz and Tarek Mahmud The last day of submitting nomination papers saw 60 mayoral aspirants, including 47 in Dhaka and 13 in Chittagong file their nomination papers for the April 28 city polls.

As is usual at local government elections in Bangladesh, “rebel” candidates are likely to play a key role in these city polls as well.

Both Awami League and BNP have already decided upon the candidates they will support, but many other leaders – the so called rebels – from these parties filed their papers.

Most of them are hopeful of getting their parties’ blessings eventually.

Interestingly, Old Dhaka-based influential Awami League leader Haji Mohammad Selim did not file his papers, even though he has been running a major publicity campaign over the last month or so.

Another Dhaka-based ruling party leader Eklash Uddin Molla, who had collected papers for mayor of Dhaka north, did not submit the papers in the end.

Apparently, they have made way for the aspirants who got party nods – former Dhaka mayor late Mohammad Hanif’s son Sayeed Khokon in the south and business tycoon  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Dhaka North City Corporation mayor aspirant Nayeem Hasan (signing some documents) came to the returning officer’s office at Agargaon on a horse cart to submit nomination papers yesterday. A mobile court there fined him Tk20,000 for violating the election code of conduct RAJIB DHAR

Aussies seal 5th title as Clarke bids farewell n Mazhar Uddin from Melbourne

Skipper Michael Clarke bid the perfect farewell as Australia clinched the ICC World Cup yesterday for a record fifth time following a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Australasia rivals New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Clarke made it an occasion to remember as his 72-ball 74 guided the Aussies to their target of 184 in 33.1 overs for the loss of three wickets. The Kiwis earlier posted just 183 runs before losing all of their wickets in 45 overs after opting to take first strike.

Chasing a relatively small target in their seventh final appearance, Australia received a minor jolt when opener Aaron Finch (nought) dished out an easy return catch to Trent Boult. Boult ended his maiden World Cup  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PAGE 3 14 Hindu families flee political musclemen

Aussie skipper Michael Clarke, in ODI jersey for the last time, along with his emphatic teammates holds the 2015 Cricket World Cup trophy high at MSC yesterday ESPNCRICINFO

PAGE 4 Minister’s brother found dead in Dhanmondi Lake

PAGE 6 Wasa appoints Korean firm to rehabilitate water supply network

Indian Srini steals Kamal’s moment at trophy ceremony n Minhaz Uddin Khan International Cricket Council President AHM Mostafa Kamal says he will take legal action against the ICC for not letting him present the ICC 2015 Cricket World Cup trophy to champions Australia in Melbourne yesterday.

According to the ICC constitution, the president will “present trophies at global competitions.”

Kamal’s moment was stolen by the organisation’s Chairman Narayanswami Srinivasan as the Indian, booed to the podium, gave the trophy to Australia captain Michael Clarke.

What irked the general public was that the ICC did not even extend the courtesy of  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

PAGE 32 Jail terms to be introduced for river polluters

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Rebels remain in the game Annisul Huq in the north.

However, filmstar and former Awami League MP Sarah Begum Kabari is still in the race for mayor in the north. She is now the only female mayor aspirant in Dhaka as Helena Jahangir did not file her papers yesterday.

She later told reporters: “I submitted the papers as I have Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s blessings. I have been involved with the country’s cultural arena for long. If I am elected, women will be empowered...If the prime minister asks me to pull out, then I will think about it.”

On the other hand, all BNP-backed aspirants filed nomination papers – business tycoon and BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo in Dhaka north, former Dhaka mayor Mirza Abbas for Dhaka south and incumbent mayor M Manjur Alam in Chittagong.

Abdus Salam, finance secretary of BNP’s central committee, also filed forms yesterday to contest the mayoral race for Dhaka south.

His wife Syeda Fatema Salam submitted the papers because her husband in on the run – like many other BNP leaders – to avoid arrest in the ongoing security crackdown.

“The party [BNP] has not yet made the final decision about my husband. But there is silent support from Khaleda Zia,” Fatema told reporters. Convenor of a civic platform, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, also a former organising secretary of the ruling party, however did not file nomination papers for the mayoral race of Dhaka north yesterday. He is currently in police custody.

Although BNP’s top ally Jamaat-e-Islami as not floated any mayoral candidates, Awami League’s alliance partners Jatiya Party (JaPa) – also main opposition in parliament – and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) are backing aspirants.

JaPa is backing Bobby Hajjaj in the north and Haji Saifuddin Ahmed Milon in the south of Dhaka. JSD is backing actor Nader Chowdhury in the north.

For the polls in Dhaka north, a total of 21 mayoral, 494 general ward councillor and 135 reserved female councillor aspirants submitted papers yesterday. For the south, a total of 26 mayoral aspirants submitted forms on the last day.

In Dhaka north, other mayor aspirants include Bikalpadhaka Bangladesh’s Mahi B Chowdhury and leftist Gonoshonghoti An-

dolan’s Zonayed Saki.

In the south, BNP leaders Asaduzzaman Ripon and Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu also filed their papers yesterday. Pintu is convict with life in prison in the BDR carnage case.

When asked whether he had got his party’s blessings, Ripon, also international affairs secretary of BNP, said: “I will extend my support to the party-backed candidate.”

He also said: “We won in the last five city polls. If free and fair polls are held, we will win in Dhaka and Chittagong as well... It would not be appropriate to mix hartal and election. Hartal is for restoring democracy. It will continue.”

Mintoo family drama

Breach of code

In Chittagong

Dhaka Tribune correspondents yesterday visited the two election offices in Dhaka and found that most aspirants, especially the mayoral aspirants, violated the electoral code of conduct which bars them from bringing more than five persons when filing nomination papers. Some aspirants brought as many as 30 people with them.

Mihir Sarwar Morshed, returning officer of Dhaka city polls, said: “We will monitor electronic and print media reports and then take action. We have already served show cause notices to 92 aspirants on the basis of media reports.”

However, no such notice has yet been served to any of the mayor aspirants.

Annisul Huq was accompanied by lawmaker Col (retd) Faruk Khan, former food minister Abdur Razzak, Jahangir Kabir Nanok, BGMEA President M Atiqul Islam and former BGMEA president AK Azad.

“I am so happy because I got the chance to contest. The electoral environment is much better now and I hope it will improve further,” said Annisul after submitting his papers around 3:30pm.

South’s mayor aspirant Sayeed Khokon submitted his papers around 12:30pm. He was accompanied by Awami League lawmakers Fazle Nur Taposh and Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin and MA Aziz.

Asked whether he had broken the code of conduct, Khokon told reporters: “Only five people accompanied me to the returning officer’s office. Others were councillor aspirants.”

Hours after BNP’s contender in the north Adbul Awal Mintoo’s papers were filed by his son Tafsir M Awal, his other son Tabith placed his own nomination papers, which were collected on the same day.

Tabith’s papers were filed by his relative Shahidul Alam.

Asked if there was any conflict between the father and the son, Shahidul told reporters: “They might be looking to run for the same post but there is no conflict. Tabith is young and has studied abroad. He thinks that the young voters will give him their support.”

In Chittagong, 13 out of the 18 mayor aspirants who collected nomination papers, filed their forms yesterday. BNP-backed Manjur submitted his nomination papers around 9:30am.

BNP Vice-Chairman Abdullah Al Noman and Chittagong city unit BNP’s President Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury accompanied Manjur along with some other local leaders of the 20-party alliance.

On the other hand, Awami League-backed AJM Nasir Uddin was accompanied by the party’s port city unit chief AKM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, a former three-time mayor, and other senior leaders. Jatiya Party is backing its presidium member Solaiman Alam Seth Chittagong mayor.

A total of 71 aspirants for the reserved female ward councillor posts and 288 aspirant ward councillors submitted forms yesterday in Chittagong.

Those who missed

Around 24 ward councillor and reserved female councillor aspirants yesterday failed to submit their forms within the stipulated deadline of 5pm. Of them, 10 were female councillor aspirants. Around two minutes past five in the afternoon yesterday, some 2025 aspirants gathered in front of Mihir Sarwar Morshed, returning officer of Dhaka south, when he was briefing journalists.

They kept requesting him to accept their papers, blaming their delay on heavy traffic.

Mihir told journalists that he had accepted an application from these aspirants and would make a decision later. l

Aussies seal 5th title as Clarke bids farewell campaign with 22 wickets, joint-highest alongside Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc.

However, the Aussies never really panicked as they kept cruising to their destination, courtesy of David Warner and Steve Smith. The second wicket duo punished anything wayward as Warner was slowly moving towards his fifty.

The pugnacious left-hander, though, fell just five runs short but Smith made no such mistake, reaching his fifty in what turned out to be an exceptional summer for Australia’s future captain.

Warner’s departure brought Clarke to the crease amid deafening cheers from a record MCG crowd of 93,013.

The Smith-Clarke third-wicket partnership toyed with the Kiwi bowlers with the former remaining unbeaten on 56 from 71 balls.

Clarke, however, was unable to stay undefeated as he departed after scoring a well-made 74

in his final one day international.

Man of the summer Smith hit the winning runs to spark wild celebrations in the Australian dugout as well as the huge galleries and stands at the MCG. The Black Caps had only themselves to blame for the convincing defeat as they made the worst possible start. Marauding skipper Brendon McCullum, arguably his side’s most menacing player at the moment, became the first-ever captain to be dismissed for a duck in a World Cup final.

A scorching yorker from the brilliant Starc was good enough to undo the Kiwi captain as he totally misjudged the line of the delivery to be clean bowled in just the fifth ball of the final.

Opener Martin Guptill too perished soon after but not before elevating himself to the summit of the highest run-scorers list. Guptill, with 547 runs, surpassed Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who has six runs fewer.

The Kiwis were reeling at 39/3 inside 13

overs when Kane Williamson gifted a simple caught-and-bowled opportunity to Mitchell Johnson.

From there, the experienced Ross Taylor and semi-final hero Grant Eliott tried to rescue the Black Caps and somewhat succeeded, putting on 111 runs for the fifth wicket.

Just when they appeared to be maximising the latter overs, the Kiwis threw away their initiative.

Veteran wicket-keeper Brad Haddin took a magnificent catch to dismiss Taylor for 40 while the quick departures of big-hitters like Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi, both dismissed for nought, hardly helped New Zealand’s cause.

Eliott’s fine knock of 83 from 82 balls went in vain as the Kiwis were unable to post a challenging total.

Johnson and man of the final James Faulkner bagged three wickets each while Starc picked up two wickets. l

Mayor candidate fined for violating electoral code n Tribune Report A mayoral aspirant was fined Tk20,000 yesterday for violating electoral code of conduct in front of Dhaka North City Corporation returning office.

Sarwar Alam, magistrate of the mobile court, said Nayeem Hasan came to the returning office by riding a horse which is against the electoral code and conduct.

He has to pay the fine of Tk20,000 and in default of which he has to serve one month in jail, said the magistrate. The mayoral aspirant, however, paid the fine immediately.

Nayeem Hasan said some of his supporters bought the horse and put it behind a market but members of the mobile court found it and fined him.

Shah Alam, returning officer of the Dhaka North City Corporation said: “We are seriously about the electoral code of conduct so that none can violate them. l

Indian Srini shows ICC President Kamal up inviting Kamal to the presentation party.

“I am very disappointed to see this and I will consult the relevant authorities once I return to Dhaka and make a strong decision on this,” Kamal, the former Bangladesh Cricket Board president and Bangladesh’s planning minister, told the media in Melbourne yesterday. “I will take legal action if needed.”

A Kolkata-based daily reported that the move had been planned. It said: “Srinivasan, the ICC chairman, had decided that he and not ICC president Kamal would give away the World Cup to the winning captain whereas the ICC’s constitution clearly states that the president will present trophies at global competitions.”

It was during Jagmohan Dalmiya’s tenure (1997-2000) that the ICC president started to give away the World Cup. The first presentation was in the 1999 edition.

The report also said Srinivasan usurped Kamal’s role during an “informal” meeting of the ICC’s board members held in Melbourne on Saturday. Kamal protested, citing the constitution, but he was left isolated.

According to sources, Mostafa Kamal was insulted not once but twice and was asked to leave the meeting room when his conduct came up for discussion.

The informal ICC meeting also agreed on asking Kamal to explain his stinging comments on the umpiring after India halted Bangladesh in the quarter-final. Kamal offered a verbal explanation straight away, saying he had expressed his views in an “individual capacity” and not as the ICC president.

However, Kamal’s explanation did not seem to impress Srinivasan and the others.

The board asked Kamal to prepare a written explanation which would be discussed during the full-fledged ICC board meeting next month in Dubai.

Srinivasan has been barred by the Indian Supreme Court from seeking re-election as the head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Kamal, the first president after the ICC’s restructuring, has three months of his one-year term left. l

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Convicted 3 years back, Bachchu Razakar still traceless n Mohammad Jamil Khan Bachchu Razakar used to preach Islam on private television channels. No one, apparently, was aware of his complicity in killing, rape, abduction, torture and arson attacks during the 1971 Liberation War in Faridpur until a war crimes tribunal issued arrest warrant against him upon a prosecution plea.

He fled his house – amid surveillance of law enforcers – in between filing of the plea and issuance of the warrant that took a week. Unofficial sources say he went to Pakistan via India and Nepal – without a passport or visa.

He never came back, neither to prove himself innocent during the trial period nor to challenge the death sentence he was awarded on January 15, 2013 by the International Crimes Tribunal.

He was the first war crimes accused to face judgement after a trial in absentia.

The law enforcers, however, have not been able to locate him until date let alone bringing him back. Even no agency or government offi-

cial agrees to confirm that he fled to Pakistan.

Abul Kalam Azad, known as Bachchu Razakar during the war, had been an associate of Zahid Hossain Khokon of Faridpur. Khokon and another convicted war criminal Mohammad Abdul Jabbar managed to flee the country.

Campaigners say the suspected war criminals would not have fled the country had the law enforcers been sincere.

Bachchu Razakar managed to flee the country sensing that he could be arrested. He got several days to chalk out an exit route, and with the help of family members and aides, he went to Dinajpur from his house at Dhaka’s Uttarkhan, then to India through Hili Land Port, and finally reached Pakistan via Nepal.

The prosecution sought a warrant for his arrest on March 25, 2012 and the tribunal issued the warrant on April 2 after receiving a report from its investigation agency. But it was too late to catch him.

Bachchu Razakar was under watch, police and detectives said, since the prosecution had sought the arrest warrant. He left the capital on

March 30.

The tribunal on October 7 the same year decided to continue the trial in absentia. He was indicted on November 4 on the eight charges brought against him by the prosecution. After the trial, the tribunal handed down death penalty for the committing war crimes.

The law enforcers later detained sons, relatives and friends of Bachchu Razakar for assisting him to leave the country. Interrogating them, the law enforcers came to know about his escape route.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of the DMP, said the police were trying to locate and arrest Bachchu Razakar.

Similar statement came from Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, media wing director of the force Rapid Action Battalion.

Alongside the law enforcers, a high-powered task force comprising several ministers has also been working to bring back all the fugitive criminals inclining the war criminals staying abroad.

But there has been no breakthrough as yet. l

Five companies submit tenders for offshore survey n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Five international geophysics companies yesterday submitted tender documents to conduct a 2D seismic marine survey of Bangladesh’s offshore areas.

The objective of the survey is to provide the oil and gas industry with 2D seismic data of the offshore areas of Bangladesh to aid basin evaluation, prospect generation and robust bid-round participation.

“Five interested companies submitted tender documents to conduct a 2D seismic marine survey,” Chairman Istiaque Ahmad of the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, commonly known as Petrobangla, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We have formed a tender evaluation committee headed by a director to evaluate the documents. After they are evaluated, Petrobangla will select a company and enter into a 10-year deal with it. Petrobangla will share in the profits from selling the data,” he said.

The five companies are Chinese company BGP, Norwegian-US joint venture TGS-NOPEC and Schlumberger, Norway-based Dolphin Geophysical Company, Russian Dalmorneftegeophysica (DMNG) and UK-based Geotrace.

Petrobangla earlier invited tenders from international geophysics firms to conduct the survey on a non-exclusive multi-client basis.

After a three-year pause, the government is planning to formulate a fresh production sharing contract (PSC) model to award offshore hydrocarbon blocks in the Bay of Bengal.

The survey, the first of its kind in the country’s history, was deemed necessary after Bangladesh’s maritime boundaries with Myanmar and India were settled recently.

The maritime border settlement awarded Bangladesh a territorial sea covering 118,000 square kilometres and an exclusive economic zone extending to 200 nautical miles.

The survey coverage area is around 118,000 square kilometres with water depth ranging from 20 metres to greater than 2,500 metres. l

Tk432cr tax dodged by steel importers realised Marking the Corruption Prevention Week 2015, the Anti-Corruption Commission brings out a rally in the capital’s Purana Paltan area yesterday

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

14 Hindu families flee political musclemen n Our Correspondent, Barguna

At least 14 Hindu families, allegedly evicted from their homesteads by a local Jubo League leader, have been living like refugees for years.

There are allegations that Zakir Hossain, a leader of ruling Awami League’s youth wing Jubo League in Taltali upazila of Barguna district, has been looking to gobble up the lands owned by these Hindu families for a long time.

In the face of torture by goons hired by Zakir and his elder brother Salam, the first three of these 14 families left their homestead and took refuge in the Borguna district town in 2013.

Two more families followed them next year.

On March 13, the last nine families left their homesteads together and came to Barguna town.

During a recent visit to the Chandantala

village – home of these 14 families – this correspondent saw deserted homesteads and ponds.

Locals, who did not want to be named for understandable security concerns, said grabbers have for long been trying to persuade these Hindu families to sell their lands at low prices.

As they refused, politically influential grabbers inflicted inhuman torture on these Hindu families, eventually forcing them out of their homes.

Jadav Sarker, a victim, said: “Abur Rashid, a local influential, have been pressuring me for a long time for extortion. His men teased my daughter on her way to and from school. I filed a case under the women and children repression prevention act and he served jail terms in that case. Later I withdrew the case after local Awami League leaders told me to. But after getting released from jail, Rashid started torturing

us again. That was why we had no option but to leave.”

Locals said Rashid is known a close associate of Jubo League leader Zakir and his brother.

This correspondent tried to contact Zakir and Salam but found nobody at home. They were not available on their mobile phones either.

Local union parishad Chairman Nazrul Islam Kalu Patwari said: “Locals formed a human chain against Rashid. There have also been several arbitrations. But nothing worked. The way the Hindu families left their home, this is unacceptable.”

When contacted, Barguna police chief (SP) Md Saiful Islam and Deputy Commissioner Meer Zahurul Islam both assured doing whatever needed to bring these Hindu families back to their homes and ensure their security. l

n Tribune Report A gang of fraud steel sheet importers had long been dodging taxes by placing fabricated bank documents and other ways.

“During the last eight months, the Directorate Of Customs Intelligence and Investigation identified 277 such consignments through which those importers dodged Tk432 crore in taxes,” its chief Moinul Khan said at a press briefing at its office at the capital’s Moghbazar area yesterday.

The 277 consignments were stopped during this time. “Later the importers were forced to pay Tk432 crore in taxes to get their products released.”

He said: “A influential gang was evading crores of money in taxes by making false announcement of importing steel sheet materials and steel products. After getting such allegation, we beefed up monitoring in Chittagong and Mongla ports in the last eight months.”

Moinul said their drives against fraud importers would continue. l

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Wife appeals for better medical care for Manna n Tribune Report Failing to provide Manna with better medical care while he remains in custody could imperil his life, his wife said yesterday.

At a media briefing at the family’s Gulshan residence, Meher Nigar, wife of Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna, appealed for better medical care for her husband, a coronary artery disease patient.

“I pray humbly that Manna be sent to a hospital abroad for better treatment, rather than being kept in jail,” Meher said.

She said her husband, a heart disease patient, was found to have three blocked arteries before his arrest. He also suffers from eye problems, she said.

If not provided with proper care, Manna’s condition will deteriorate, she said.

Meher claimed that heavy torture in remand caused Manna to fall ill and be admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). She claimed the hospital doctor sent him back to jail without providing adequate treatment.

“I appeal to the government to continue with a fair trial,

based on proper evidence.

But before that he needs better medical treatment,” Meher said.

Asked about taking part in the Dhaka City Corporation polls, Meher said the elections were far less important than preserving her husband’s health.

Manna’s daughter, Nilom, and lawyer, Begh Masum Jahan, were present at the briefing.

Manna was arrested on February 24, a day after the leak of a controversial telephone conversation between him and Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who has been residing in the United States for medical purposes.

After his arrest, Manna was placed on a 10-day remand in a case filed with Gulshan police station on charges of trying to instigate a revolt by the armed forces.

On March 7, a Dhaka court placed Manna on another 10day remand in a sedition case filed at the same police station against him and BNP senior leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

Three days after the remand, he fell ill and was sent to DMCH for treatment.

Manna is now being held at Dhaka Central Jail. l

Rail minister’s brother found dead in Dhanmondi Lake n Tribune Report The elder brother of the railways minister was found dead yesterday in the waters of the Dhanmondi Lake in the capital.

The body of 70-year-old ABM Abdul Latif, a retired additional secretary of the government, was found floating in the lake near the BGB gate in Dhanmondi 2 at around noon.

Dhanmondi police station Officer-in-Charge Abu Bakar Siddiqui told the Dhaka Tribune that they suspected that the death was an accident where no foul play was involved.

“He [Latif] went for a walk at around 9pm on Saturday and did not return home. No injury marks were found on his body, while a bunch of grass was

found clasped in his hands; this suggests that he may have grasped onto the grass while falling down [in the lake].

“Although his mobile phone could not be found, he still had some money in his pocket” the OC added.

The family of the deceased requested not to have an autopsy performed on Latif as they also believed that the death was an accident, the police officer told the Dhaka Tribune.

Talking to reporters at the late additional secretary’s Dhanmondi residence, Railways Minister Mujibul Hoque said his brother’s namaz-e-janaza would be held later in their native village at Comilla’s Sripur union in Chauddagram upazila. l

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

RACE TO MAYORAL ELECTIONS HEATS UP AS CANDIDATES SUBMIT NOMINATION PAPERS

Police struggle to contain the supporters of mayoral candidates crowding the main entrance to office of the returning officer RAJIB DHAR

Left: For Dhaka South City Corporation polls, Advocate Abdus Salam and Advocate AKM Shahjahan file the nomination form for their BNP city unit Convener Mirza Abbas Right: Awami League supported candidate Sayeed Khokon submits his nomination paper to the returning officer MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Left: Awami League-backed candidate Annisul Haque waves at journalists after submitting his nomination form to contest the office of mayor in Dhaka North City Corporation Right: Tafsir M Awal submits nomination papers on behalf of his father Abdul Awal Mintoo, the adviser to the BNP chairperson RAJIB DHAR

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Wasa appoints Korean firm to rehabilitate water supply network n Tribune Report Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority has appointed a Korean firm to rehabilitate and expand a 376 km of water supply pipe network of Fakirapool, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Mouchak, Rampura and adjacent areas of Dhaka.

Dhaka Wasa and Kunhwa Engineering and Consulting Company, inked an agreement in this regard yesterday.

Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan and the Korean firm’s Bangladesh representative Wui Jae Kim signed the deal on behalf of their respective organisations, while Charge de Affairs of the Korean Embassy, Kim Hyun Joo, was present as guest of honour.

Financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the 42-month project will start next month.

Once this project is completed as part of the Wasa’s En-

vironment-Friendly Sustainable Water Supply Project the quality of water is expected to improve.

After signing the deal, Kim Hyun Joo said Bangladesh would continue to receive support from Korea, especially concerning water supply know-how.

He said the two countries would also share experience of this utility.

The WASA managing director said: “In the recent years, Wasa has brought many substantial changes in the water supply system. We are gradually moving towards an environment-friendly, sustainable and people-oriented water supply system.”

“During the term of the incumbent government, Wasa’s capacity has grown. At present, Wasa has a capacity of producing 242 crore litres of water every day against a demand of 230 crore litres.” l

Level-playing field for gentlemen only! n Tribune Report On the demand by BNP to ensure level-playing field during the upcoming city polls, Awami League leader Quamrul Islam yesterday said such an atmosphere would be created only for the well-mannered aspirants, not for the persons backed by criminals.

“It will not be possible to create level-playing field for the criminals as you [BNP-Jamaat alliance] are supporting people having criminal backgrounds,”

Quamrul, also the food minister, told a discussion marking the 96th birthday of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the National Press Club.

“It is good that you have decided to participate in the election. But do not make any plot to foil the polls by creating anarchy in the name of election,” he warned.

Quamrul also said the BNP-Jamaat alliance should withdraw the nationwide nonstop transport strike to participate in the polls. l

Indictment hearing against Fakhrul, 72 others deferred n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday deferred the indictment hearing against 73 BNP activists, including its acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, till June 16 in a case filed on charges of vandalism and obstructing law enforcers

from discharging their duties.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Alamgir Kabir Raj passed the order following a time petition filed by the defence counsel.

Last year, the charge sheet of the case filed with Jatrabari police station in 2009 was submitted. l

Plan demands legal action over office attack n Tribune Report Plan International Bangladesh Country Director Senait Gebregziabher has demanded legal action against those who attacked his staff members and

vandalised Plan’s Lalmonirhat office on March 25.

The director made the call yesterday through a media release.

In the attack, four employees, including the office’s Programme Unit

Manager Mahfuzar Rahman, were injured. They are still under treatment in hospital.

Later, Plan temporarily suspended activities at Lalmonirhat office to ensure security of its staff and partners. l

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

55 injured in 2 districts n Tribune Report At least 55 people were injured in clashes in Gopalganj and Rangpur districts yesterday.

Our Gopalganj correspondent reports: 30 people were hurt in a clash between two groups at Gopinathpur-Maddyapara village under Majhikandi union in Sadar upazila yesterday.

Police said there had been a longstanding conflict between the supporters of present UP chairman Maksud Ali and former chairman Hafizur Rahman over establishing supremacy in the area.

In the morning, the supporters of two groups attacked each other with local weapons leaving 30 injured.

On information, police went to the spot and fired 50 bullets to bring the situation under control.

The police also arrested 16 people from the spot.

Of the injured, six were sent to Sadar Hospital in critical condition.

Zakir Hossain Molla, officer-in-charge of Sadar police station confirmed the incident.

In Rangapur, 25 people were injured as the supporters of both contesting group clashed with each other during Union Parishad poll in Sadar upazila.

Sadar police station SI Abu Taher said, the clash ensued between the supporters of both candidates at Harpalli Bahumukhi Fazil Madrasah centre around 2:15pm, leaving 25 injured. l

Groundwater depletion threatens water supply in Khulna n Our Correspondent, Khulna An alarming drop in groundwater table in Khulna has put the city at risk of water crisis that is likely to get worse in summer, according to a recent survey by Khulna Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa).

Sources at Khulna Wasa said around 240 million litres of water is required to support the daily need of 1.6 million people living in the metropolitan city, which is entirely met by harvesting groundwater.

Of the 240 million litres, 110 million is produced by 83 tube wells installed by Wasa, and the rest is harvested by both tube wells and motorised water pumps owned by the city dwellers.

The drop in groundwater table will make it increasingly difficult to pump water up with the existing water pumps, said Md Kamal Uddin, deputy managing director of Khulna Wasa.

“Hand-driven tube wells cannot pump groundwater up if the water table drops below 26 feet. And the motor pumps do not

work if the table drops below 30 feet,” he told the Dhaka Tribune recently.

The water table was between 28 feet and 30 feet in most places of the city last year due to insufficient rainfall in the region. “This year we found more places where groundwater has decreased,” Kamal said.

The situation will worsen in summer as the groundwater level is likely to drop further in many places in April.

The effects of groundwater depletion is already evident in many places around the city; several locals complained about not getting the usual amount of water from the water pumps.

“The water flow started to decrease towards the end of winter. Before, we could pump up at least 100 big containers of water via our hand-driven tube wells in three hours, but nowadays it takes two extra hours,” Tajel, a resident of Sonadanga area, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Md Selim, resident of Farazipara, said: “Before, I could fill up my water tank in two hours, but now, running the pump for even

DRY WEATHER LIKELY MONDAY, MARCH 30 DHAKA TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:33AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 32 32 32 31 30 31 31 30

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

23 23 22 21 21 22 21 22

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.0ºC Ishwardi

19.3ºC Teknaf Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr

4:37am

Sunrise

5:52am

Zohr

12:03am

Asr

4:30pm

Magrib

6:13pm

Esha

7:30pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Khulna Wasa working on remedy

As the situation is likely to get worse, Khulna Wasa is already looking into other options to avert the water crisis. “We are considering alternative ways to maintain uninterrupted water supply throughout the city,” Kamal Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune.

“The water pumps will be run more than usual to keep up the water supply,” said Md Abdullah, managing director of Khulna Wasa, on Tuesday. “The hand-driven tube wells are being repaired and modernised. We are planning to install more tube wells in the affected areas.”

The Wasa water trucks will also regularly supply water in the areas that are most affected, he said. l

Teacher denigrates Islam, students boycott classes n Our Correspondent, Narail

WEATHER

TODAY SUN SETS 6:13PM

four or five hours is not enough.”

Dileep Kumar Datta, professor of environment science in Khulna University, said the crisis would get severe in a few months. “People are already facing the effects of groundwater depletion. Their sufferings will increase in summer.”

Bangladesh Meat Traders Association protests the ongoing transport blockade enforced by BNP led 20party alliance through forming a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, claiming the violent movements have resulted in a hike in the price of meat SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Malnutrition and density of population heightens TB n Our Correspondent, Sylhet Number of children suffering from Tuberculosis has increased by 22 within a year in the Sylhet City Corporation, according to Brac NGO. Through research they found malnutrition and density of population to be the main reasons behind the increase in the number of TB patients.

Last year, a total of 1,255 patients were detected with TB while in 2013 the number was 1,207 in the zone.

Brac’s study suggests that in 2014, among the registered TB patients, 740 are male while 515 are female.

Of them, New Smear Positive (bacteriological confirmed) are 479, New Smear Negative (clinically diagnosed) 330, extra pulmonary 367, 45 patients had a relapse, default (those who did not follow up) 4, treatment outcome unknown

in 25 and registered child TB patients 113.

Six multi-drug resistance (MDR) TB patients exist in the area while a total of 36 patients died in the year.

Md Gulam Noor, Brac’s technical assistant (lab) said: “Ten TB patients are undergoing treatment at Sylhet Central Jail. Recently, a prisoner died at Osmani Medical College Hospital who was suffering from MDR-TB.” Brac has opened five cough examination centres in Sylhet City Corporation – Osmani Medical College Hospital, Jalalabad Ragib Rabeya Medical College and Hospital, North East Medical College and Hospital, Sylhet Central Jail and Uposhohor Brac Centre. Around 1000 people come to these centres every month, he said.

Sufia Begum, a TB patient residing in Masimpur area, said she started taking Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) one and a half months ago. l

Hundreds of students of Dighaliya Secondary School in Narail have boycotted classes following derogatory remarks on Islam and burqa allegedly made by a teacher of the school.

They have demanded legal action be taken against the teacher, Kinkor Chandra Samajdar, who termed Islam as a “superstition based” religion while taking a private coaching class on English of the tenth graders of the school on March 25.

The students made the claim at a protest procession in front of the school in Lohagora upazila yesterday.

Kinkor Chandra Samajdar had said Islam was a superstitious one among all the religions existing in Asia and that burqa, the garment worn by women in Islamic traditions, is just a show on the outside while it is hollow on the inside, a number of students told this reporter requesting anonymity.

The students informed the matter to the headmaster on the same day and the headmaster assured of taking legal action against the alleged.

Although four days had elapsed, no action was taken against Samajdar so far, said the agitating students.

Khalid Hasan, a class nine student of the school and organising secretary of Chhatra League Dighaliya union unit, said: “We will not return to our classes until Kinkor is brought under trial. If needed, we will approach the Upazila Nirbahi Officer and the District Commissioner. General Secretary of Chhatra League Dighaliya union unit has echoed with our demand.”

Acting headmaster of the school Ratan Kumar Bagchi said: “We have come to know that Kinkor Chandra Samajdar have slandered Islam religion while giving private tution. l

DT

8 NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Firefighters’ activities hampered due to shortage of equipment n Nazim Mridha, Rajshahi Rajshahi fire station often fails to provide quality services to townspeople for lack of sufficient equipment and firefighters much to cause annoyance of city dwellers.

According to the fire station, the station sometimes cannot response properly following arson attacks during the on going blockade sponsored by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Currently, the fire station is running with 56 officials which is insufficient, said an official of the station, adding that the fire station has three ambulances, three rescue cars and three water-tender cars.

According to the fire service station, the fire station extinguished fire of nine incidents caused by petrol and crude bombs attack in the last two months while a total of 20 fire incidents took place in the city.

During rescue operation of these fire incidents, firefighters faced many difficulties.

So, the city dwellers think that the fire sta-

tion has completely failed to help them during their crisis periods.

Sometimes, when the fire fighters are called over phone to come to a spot, they failed to come within times and even they do not reach at all, said several victims of fire incident.

Akbar Ali, a city dweller, told the Dhaka Tribune that recently he had made a phone call to fire service office for dousing a fire that broke out near his shop at Shalbagan area.

“Then I was informed from fire station that they were not be able to send anyone as all of their staff were involved in extinguishing fire at another place of the city.”

Anisuzzaman, another city dweller, told the Dhaka Tribune that when city dwellers fall into a danger, staff of local fire station could not even pick up phone.

“Sometimes, they cut the phone connection,” he said.

An official of the fire station wishing anonymity said because of manpower shortage, they could not enjoy their due vacation many

times and if these problems are not solved soon, the station will not be able to cope up with the difficulties during summer time when incident of fire increases generally.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Shariful Islam, senior station officer of Rajshahi fire service station, refusing the claim of their non response to call of the victims said: “We are trying our best to face the present situation with limited facilities.

“Considering the present political situation, it is quite tough for the fire station to response to each and every call of fire incident, said the official.

Asked about why they did not go to each and every spot where fire broken out in the last two months, he said they provided services considering the seriousness of fire incident at the same time with their existing firefighting teams and equipment.

He, however, said manpower and necessary equipments should be increased as soon as possible. l

Police prevent BNP activists from holding procession n Our Correspondent, Barisal Police dispersed the activists and leaders of the BNP-led 20-party alliance when they started a procession in Jailkhana yesterday.

Barisal city unit BNP arranged the rally in protest against the killing, torture, arrest and harassment of leaders and activists of the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

The BNP men were also supposed to demand holding of a general election under a non-partial government in the procession.

The procession started from Nazir Mahalla area. When participants of the procession reached Jailkhana Hospital area, police personnel waylaid them and asked them to return back. After altercation with the law enforcers, BNP activists then held a short rally at Jailkhana and went away from there.

The rally was addressed by BNP leaders Moniruzzaman Monir, Advocate Mohsin Montu, Advocate Ali Haider Babul, and Anwarul Huq Tarin. At the rally the speakers demanded immediate stoppage of torture, arrest, killing and harassment of their party men. l

Two die in Satkhira primary school collapse n Our Correspondent, Satkhira At least two people died and ten others got injured as walls of an abandoned primary school collapsed at the time of going on an Independence Day programme in Bhomra land port area in Sadar upazila on Saturday night.

The deceased are fish enclosure worker Saddam Hossain, 25, son of Shafiqur Rahman, from Baliadanga village in Debhata upazila, and van puller Faridul Islam, 18, son of Karim Gazi, from Sekendara village of the upazila.

Of the injured, two were admitted to Satkhira Sadar Hospital in a critical condition while the rest were to different clinics of the district.

Sources said there was a cultural programme on the premises of Bhomra Government Primary School around 10pm marking the Independence Day, where many local senior public officials including Satkhira Superintendent of Police (SP) Chowdhury Manjurul Kabir also joined alongside a good number of locals.

At one stage, the walls of an abandoned establishment of the school collapsed, leaving the duo died on the spot. l

Grameenphone sales executive shot dead n Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

A sales executive of Grameenphone was shot dead by unidentified miscreants. Around 10:30am, the dead Arif Miya along with two other sales executives, Shahadat and Zakir, were on way to Shorishabari from Jamalpur on a motorbike.

Three muggers on two motorbikes blocked their way at Hasil Bot Tola and fired a bullet on Arif’s chest. They snatched away three bags carrying mobile phone sets, sim cards and scratch cards from them. Arif was taken to Jamalpur General Hospital where he died. l

Local people form a human chain in Magura town yesterday, demanding removal of the officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur police station

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Five killed in road accidents in four districts n Tribune Report

At least five people were killed in road accidents in Gopalganj, Tangail,Joypurhat and Narail districts yesterday.

Our Gopalganj correspondent reports: A farmer was killed in an accident in Kalnaghat area under Kashiani upazila of the district.

Zakir Hossen, officer-in-charge of Sadar police station said Kallayni Mondol,49, of Bannabari village under Tungipara upazila were critically injured as a truck ran over him while he was coming from a local herbal practitioner in the afternoon.

Later, he was sent to Sadar Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Tangail correspondent said an unidentified

man was killed in an accident on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge road in the district.

Sergeant Md Asad said the accident took the place when passenger bus coming from opposition direction ran over the man, leaving him dead on the spot.

Following the incident, agitated people blocked the road for two hours.

Joypurhat correspondent said two people were killed and three others injured in a head-on collision between two human haulers in Barkandi area under Panchbibi upazila of the district.

The deceased were identified as Dony Hossain and Bipul Chandra, drivers of the vehicles.

Locals said the accident took place on the Panchbibi-Barkandi road.

Panchbibi police station officer-in-charge Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal said Dony died on the spot while Bipul died after taken to Joypurhat District Hospital around 10pm.

The hospital emergency unit Doctor Mostafizur Rahman said: “Of the injured, passengers Hamidul and Joybor Ali have been sent to Bogra Shaheed Ziaul Rahman Medical College Hospital in a critical condition.”

Our Narail correspondent said a boy was killed in Maitkumra area on the Narail-Lohagara-Kalna Highway in Lohagara upazila of the district as a covered van hit him.

The deceased was identified as Billal Sheikh, 13, son of Dulu Sheikh of Kumarkanda village.

Lohagara police station officer-in-charge Sheikh Lutfer Rahman confirmed the incident. l

DT

NEWS 9

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Gaibandha life normal but the road still haunts Correspondent, n Our Gaibandha Life in Gaibandha became normal early this month after nearly two months of violence during BNP’s indefinite blockade and general strikes but locals are still scared of making bus journeys.

The Gaibandha-Palashbari road connects Gaibandha with several districts, including Dhaka, Comilla, Pabna, Chittagong, but this is the road where some of the vicious petrol bomb attacks left many injured as well as killed during the unrest.

On February 6, eight people were burned to death when a bus was firebombed at Tulshighat area. Vehicles were also vandalised in different areas on the road during the blockade and people still do not consider it safe.

Buses setting off from Gaibandha central bus terminal would get police escort but the service was discontinued from March 14. The Dhaka-bound buses do not run at night either.

Gaibandha Additional Police Super Mosharraf Hossain said escort for buses during the daytime is not provided anymore but the Gaibandha-Palashbari road is still regularly patrolled.

“Resumption of long-haul night trips is at the discretion of the bus owners but a few services have returned,” he said.

Hafizur Rahman, an official at the district bus terminal, said yesterday some 50 to 60 buses now carry passengers in the day.

“The number is just half compared to the past,” he said.

Liton Sheikh, a driver of Pabna-bound Mitali Paribahan, said trips on the road do not entail any trouble now but it is the passengers who are still reeling from the past violence.

Gaibandha District Motor Owners Association General Secretary Nazibul Islam said bus services would fully resume soon.

Mahmudul Haque Gani, a resident of Masterpara, said his wife needs to be treated in Rangpur but he is unable to remove the fear of a possible attack on the road from his mind.

“Even the trains are overcrowded,” he said.

Rustam Ali, president of Gaibandha District Truck Owners Association, said more than a hundred trucks now run both in the day and at night.

Gaibandha Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abul Khayer Morsalin Parvez said even he himself is scared of going on a journey on Gaibandha-Palashbari road.

“There is still a sense of panic about the road among people but life is normal. People now go shopping but the losses traders had incurred in the last two months cannot be recouped,” he said.

“Trucks have returned on the road but transport costs have risen. Traders now have to spend more to hire trucks for transporting goods,” he added.

Debashish Roy, who runs a clothing store at Salimar supermarket, said he, like other traders, faced difficulties in bringing goods from Dhaka in the last two months but the situation has improved now. l

Road blockade seeking withdrawal of tender Correspondent, n Our Tangail The businessmen of Tangail Samobai Super Market put a blockade on a road in Niralar area in the district town yesterday demanding cancellation of a tender floated by a cooperative to build high-rise market there for them.

Besides, the businessmen also demanded return back of their money because of announcing the tender without

any discussion with them as the cooperative earlier had collected the money on promise of giving shops to them in the new building.

Sources said the businessmen blockaded the road around 9am disrupting vehicular movement there and police from Sadar police station drove away them from the spot after two hours.

Later, they started a sit-in programme on local Shaheed Minar premises. l

A bird dies after getting stuck in a net locally known as current net. Local fisherman used the net in fish netting in the Padma River in the last rainy season, but they have carelessly put the net on a tree which causes the death of the bird. The photo taken from Charmazardia area in Poba upazila, Rajshahi yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

DT

10 WORLD

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

ARAB SUMMIT

Yemen airstrikes to go on until rebels withdraw n AP, Egypt Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen will continue until Shiite rebels there “withdraw and surrender their weapons,” a summit of Arab leaders decided yesterday, as they also agreed in principle to forming a joint military force.

The decision by the Arab League puts it on a path to potentially more aggressively challenge Shiite power Iran, which is backing the

Honour guards carry the coffin bearing Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew during his funeral in Singapore yesterday. Tens of thousands of mourners braved torrential rain, howitzers fired a 21-gun salute and jet fighters screamed across the sky yesterday as Singapore staged a grand funeral for its founding leader Lee Kuan Yew AFP

Netanyahu: Dangerous accord worse than feared

n AFP, Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday denounced as “dangerous” a nuclear accord that world powers are negotiating with Iran, saying it goes beyond what his government had feared.

“The dangerous accord which is being negotiated in Lausanne (Switzerland) confirms our concerns and even worse,” Netanyahu said in remarks at a meeting of his cabinet broadcast on public radio.

Netanyahu denounced the “Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis which is dangerous for all of humanity and which must be stopped,” making a reference to the Swiss city where the talks are taking place.

The premier warned that Iran could be in a position to “conquer” the Middle East through what he called the “axis” of control it has over the capitals of Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.

The Israeli leader also said that his country had “strong, bipartisan support” from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the United States. l

GERMANWINGS CRASH

Co-pilot may have had detached retina

n Reuters The co-pilot suspected of crashing a passenger jet in the Alps may have been suffering from a detached retina but investigators are unsure whether his vision problems had physical or psychological causes, a German newspaper said yesterday.

Bild am Sonntag also reported how the captain of the Germanwings Airbus screamed “open the damn door!” to the co-pilot as he tried to get back into the locked cockpit before the jet crashed on Tuesday, killing all 150 aboard.

Another German newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, quoted a senior investigator as saying the 27-year-old co-pilot Andreas Lubitz “was treated by several neurologists and psychiatrists,” adding that a number of medications had been found in his apartment in the German city of Duesseldorf.

Police also discovered personal notes that showed Lubitz suffered from “severe subjective overstress symptoms,” he added. l

Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis.

A Saudi-led coalition began bombing Yemen on Thursday, saying it was targeting the Houthis and their allies, which include forces loyal to Yemen’s former leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

At the summit, held in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby read a final communique outlining the leaders’ views. l

DT

WORLD 11

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Discontent, suicides puncture Modi’s popularity in rural India n Reuters, Vaidi, India Over a dozen debt-laden farmers have committed suicide in recent weeks in India, and discontent in many rural areas against government policies is turning into anger against Prime Minister Narendra Modi less than a year after he swept into office.

Unseasonal storms have badly damaged the winter crop in large parts of the fertile northern plains, most likely contributing to the suicides, and villagers have blamed Modi for not stepping in to help the distressed farmers or ensuring that crop prices remained stable.

The farmer suicides in India’s most politi-

cally sensitive region are the latest in several setbacks for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is hoping to consolidate power by winning local elections in large, predominantly rural states over the next two years.

The government has delayed a comprehensive health plan as it shifts focus from subsidies to investment, while religious tensions have made minorities uneasy. Nevertheless, Modi has made progress with economic reform in his first year - although not as rapidly as some investors would like - and has reined in inflation.

In a village in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, Dharmendra Singh mourned

Meltdown imminent in Aam Aadmi Party ranks n AP, New Delhi Just a few weeks ago, the upstart Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, was seen by many as a breath of fresh air in the chaotic, corruption-tainted world of Indian politics, promising to root out graft and display complete transparency.

Now, however, with its top leaders spending the weekend slugging it out in public, it seems the party that promised to transform India’s political landscape is more likely to bring disappointment to millions of Indians despairing of their politicians.

“To think that commentators were actually advising older political parties to be more like #AAP seems #AAP has decided to be more like us (smiley face),” Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of Indian-controlled Kashmir, tweeted Saturday.

The Common Man’s Party, formed in late 2012, emerged out of hugely popular street protests against the deeply entrenched culture of graft in this nation of 1.2 billion. The party chose former tax official and longtime anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal as its leader.

After some initial hiccups, the AAP appeared to hit its stride last month when it was swept to power in local elections in India’s capital, crushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

It won all but three seats in Delhi’s 70-member legislature.

In that moment of ecstatic victory, it seemed that the party had the potential to one day parlay that success to being a serious player in national politics.

But the cracks in the party’s leadership appeared quickly.

Over the last few weeks, sharp differences began to emerge between Kejriwal, now

Delhi’s chief minister, and two top leaders of his party who had been his allies since the AAP’s inception.

This past week, a secret recording of Kejriwal accusing the two men, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, of working against the party made the rounds of several television stations. On the tape, Kejriwal threatens to walk out of the party with the lawmakers who support him if the two rival leaders aren’t thrown out.

The two men then came out in the open and denied Kejriwal’s charge, and led a bitter attack against what they have described as his autocratic way of leading the party.

At an AAP meeting on Saturday, both were booted out of the party’s national executive group for what a statement described as “anti-party activities.”

At a hastily called news conference, the men said the meeting was a sham in which they were booed and heckled and their supporters kept out by bouncers hired by the Kejriwal camp.

Yadav called the meeting the “murder of democracy,” and Bhushan said the party that promised to clean up Indian politics had “resorted to the kind of hooliganism that other political parties display.”

The party denied their allegations and said 247 of 311 members who attended the meeting voted to remove the men for anti-party activities.

As the Common Man’s Party has unraveled under the constant media spotlight, it is now open season for India’s older political parties to mock the party that once held the promise of being a serious threat to them.

Congress party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi took to Twitter to call the party “corrupt” and “immoral.” l

his brother Babu Singh, who committed suicide after rain destroyed wheat growing on the five-acre farm he leased from a landlord.

Babu Singh, who had run up debts amounting to $13,000, soaked himself in kerosene and set himself on fire on March 19. He succumbed to burn injuries six days later.

“My brother was banking on the crop so the loss came as the last straw,” Dharmendra Singh said in his village, Vaidi, 185 km (115 miles) southeast of Delhi.

“For God’s sake why hasn’t the government reached out to us? We overwhelmingly voted for Modi as he promised to take care of us but he has stabbed us in the back.”

In more than a dozen villages visited

by Reuters this week across the state that sends the most lawmakers to parliament, farmers said there was a “crisis” in the countryside, where 70% of India’s 1.2 billion people live.

Angered by low farmgate prices and the lack of state compensation for crop damage, some villagers said they have ostracised local members of Modi’s BJP and barred them from attending weddings.

Parties crushed by the BJP in last year’s general election have coupled the discontent with street protests against a land acquisition bill that will make it easier for businesses to buy farmland, a potent issue in the countryside. l

DT

12 EDITORIAL

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Transport key to new urban policy

W

e welcome the goals being advanced by the newly proposed National Urban policy to move towards greater decentralisation and ensure better protection for environmentally sensitive areas.

The policy which has been put out for consultation is a tangible sign that the government is at last listening to the many concerns citizens have expressed about the negative consequences of unplanned urban development.

It is encouraging that the proposed policy is starting to take a proper longterm nationwide view and is aimed at improving our systems for allocating and managing land use.

The policy, if passed, will incorporate community planning and participation to decide on setting-up and managing parks, playgrounds, rivers, canals, local wetland, and waste management systems. Its 23-point plan will set new targets to develop city slums, reduce urban poverty, and improve law and order.

We strongly support the new emphasis provided by the plan on ensuring proper protection for wetlands and river systems, and explicitly seeking to decentralise the most densely populated cities and steer more large investments across the nation.

To achieve this, the government also needs to ensure significantly more investment in transport infrastructure. If we are to maximise the benefits of our small land area and large population, we need all parts of the country to be served by fast railways and modern highways.

Enabling people to commute longer distances would not only reduce pressure on our major cities, but create the conditions to spread investment and the benefits of development across the nation.

Back its welcome emphasis on decentralisation with faster connections to maximise benefits

City contests bring new hope

A

s nominations close for the Chittagong and Dhaka city corporation elections scheduled to be held on April 28, it is welcome to see the participation of a broad range of candidates, including from the BNP alliance.

We hope the opening-up of political space created by these polls will give fresh impetus to moves to end the series of blockades and political strikes that have created so much violence and harmed our economy.

The country needs constructive politics to end the cycle of destructive conflict. The fresh start offered by these elections signals hope that a peaceful resolution, if not immediately around the corner, is possible and practical.

For residents of Dhaka in particular, the elections are an urgent imperative.

The failure to hold any local government elections in Dhaka since 2002 has hugely harmed quality of life in the capital, by allowing corruption and mismanagement of city services to go on unimpeded because citizens have not had a chance to hold authorities to account.

Mayoral elections can not only help to improve essential city services, but bring forth the new leadership and vision needed to take our two major metropolises forward.

Giving residents the opportunity to choose fresh leaders is vital to help overcome the many challenges faced by our leading urban centres. As drivers of our economy, overcoming the blights of poor planning and infrastructure are vital to future prosperity and helping the country as a whole.

Local elections vital for constructive politics

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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Kindle the common light March 10

Kmak “The true heretics are not those who do not believe in the existence of God, brahman, or nirvana.”

Says who? rose One should be honest and humble, then one can learn a lot, be it religion or anything else.

sundar I have some questions: First, are religion and light comparable? Second, is the essence of all religions really common? Third, is there any religion, the believers of which do not hate atheists? Fourth, is it not a reality that the believers of one religion strongly disbelieve the faiths and tenets of other religions? Fifth, does religion only emit light like all lamps or does it emit more darkness?

And finally, have the authors come across believers of any religion who is a better human being than an atheist?

Barely Legal Alien sundar: The Q/A session with the authors is THAT way --> Evil People Politics Bravo! This was one of the best articles I’ve read so far in any Bangladeshi newspaper.

Rajeeb Sadly, the philosophical aspect of religion you talk about is far from the practical aspect of it. Being a follower of a particular religion, you are inherently misogynist, homophobic, bigoted, rigid, unfair, and all that. If you are not, you are not religious enough. Period.

Kmak Rajeeb: That was a highly bigoted comment.

Now, if bigotry can only be expected from a follower of religion, and your comment exhibits bigotry, it logically follows that you too must belong to a religion. So which religion is it?

Rajeeb Kmak: If you could kindly explain “bigotry” and specify how my comment exhibits that … and can you ever make a rational comment without being personal?

Kmak Rajeeb: If you don’t see the bigotry in characterising religious folk as basically evil, then you’ve got issues.

DT Concert to be held for DMCH burn patients March 10

Wenner It’s good to raise money for the burned, but more than Tk250 should be charged and it needs to be linked to a telethon to raise some serious funds. As for comparing with George Harrison’s concert -- held in America when It didn’t even recognise the name Bangladesh -- and millions were fleeing the land, the cirucmstances are more different but also refreshingly similar. Unless, that is, the organisers are going to surprise everyone with an appearance by Bob Dylan.

Obama mocks Congress letter to Iran March 10

Chas Holman These GOTea Senators should have great shame and humility this evening.

Trying to warn Iran that their country’s “best interests” are to not negotiate with the executive branch of the US. Wow ... just wow!

My heart is heavy and sick by the behaviour of these “allegedly” United States Representatives.

The hate that they harvest against this president, it must be one powerful thing.

Man o man o man.

DT

OPINION 13

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Eulogy for Lee Kuan Yew n Faruque Hasan

S

ingapore achieved independence from the British colonial rule in 1957. They joined the Federation of Malaya in 1962, only to be kicked out in 1965. At that time, Singapore was a sleepy fishing village being pummeled by abject poverty.

In the 1960s, Lee Kuan Yew, who was the prime minister of the country from 1959 to 1990, hired experts from India to develop Singapore’s economy. Under his able leadership, Singapore -- devoid of any natural resources -- became an internationally recognised economic powerhouse.

At present, the per capita income in Singapore is $55,182 (nominal), and in India, it is $1,626 (nominal). Singapore does not have a full democracy in the strictest sense, while India does. In the 2014 general elections, voters in India elected 186 members of parliament who have criminal cases against them. Democracy in Bangladesh is not even applicable in this regard.

For three decades, Lee ruled with an iron fist -- a country with an area of 718.3sq-km and a population of nearly 5.5 million. Given the reins of such a tiny country, he attained the stature of a world-class leader. More than a political leader, he was a true statesman.

What made Lee such a great figure? He was a dictator. He suppressed his political opponents ruthlessly but he did not have an

anonymous offshore bank account. Not even any of his “cronies” or members of his family have such accounts.

Lee did not have the heart to nurture nepotism. He shunned sycophants. Nepotism on the part of the political leaders in power lynches the countries they are supposed to rule.

Joseph Tito was the president of the now defunct Yugoslavia: It was a country comprising of many ethnicities -- Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Bosnians, and such. He and his wife were Croats. Once his wife exerted her influence to get a fellow Croat promoted to the rank of general in the country’s army, Tito divorced her for her “crime.”

Konrad Adenauer, the first post-war Chancellor of West Germany (1949-63), led his country from the ashes of the World War 2 to a productive and prosperous nation. Under his leadership, Germany achieved democracy along with economic prosperity.

Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping changed China. Mao put the country firmly on its feet while Deng laid the foundation for its economic development. Now, China is the second largest economy in the world.

In my view, Deng was inspired by Lee, specifically by his success in ruling the country and following the free market economy.

General Park Chung-hee, the authoritarian president of South Korea (1961 to 1979), laid the economic foundation of that country. He transformed South korea from its destroyed

state after the Korean War to the wealthy and developed country it is now. Now prosperous South Koreans may criticise his rule as being unjustified, while North Koreans still tighten their belts to feel less hungry.

An authoritarian rule does not guarantee economic development. The Soviet Union was ruled with an unyielding iron fist. Till its disintegration it had very little to show, except for the first few years, in terms of economic progress. North Korea is another glaring example, along with Zimbabwe, which is currently under the authoritarian rule of Robert Mugabe.

An upright leader with vision and intelligence can change the fate of a country in a short time. While a big-mouthed politician

who can make exciting speeches but lacks intelligence and patriotism, can often do very little for his country.

Lee’s dedication to his country was unquestionable and unwavering. Old generation Singaporeans saw in him a parent who deeply cared for them. Present-day prosperous Singaporeans, who have never seen the sleepy fishing village that was Singapore, are not satisfied with the extent of democratic rights they enjoy in the country.

Lee did his job perfectly, now it is the responsibility of Singapore's present-day political leaders to transform the country into a full-on democracy. l Faruque Hasan is a freelance contritutor.

The shadow of Westphalia n William B Milam

I

n 1648, the Treaty of Westphalia ended 30 years of religious conflict that had exhausted and brutalised most of Western Europe. The “Peace of Westphalia” that followed is often called the “Peace of Exhaustion,” although in fact, the treaty did not bring peace. For Western Europe, peace had to await the apocalyptic destruction of the 20th century.

With that came a new level of understanding among European states. But while the Westphalia Treaty did not succeed in ending war, it introduced principles of international law and comity that reduced the political space for war, and which now serve as bedrock principles of international relations -- however more honoured they are in theory than in practice.

The 1648 treaty produced “Westphalian Sovereignty,” a new system of political order based on sovereign states held in check by a balance of power. While the balance of power part didn’t keep the peace because of shifting interests, alliances, and ideologies, the sovereignty principles remained at the core of relations between European states.

The principle that nations should not interfere in the affairs of others took hold and, over time, it became a principle of international law that each state has complete sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs.

The Westphalian principle of sovereignty spread with the expansion of Western influence throughout the world and has become

central to international law in the post-World War 2 system of world order.

After 1945, Europe, on its own, modified the definition of Westphalian Sovereignty to something that might be termed “shared sovereignty” by creating the European Union.

Each member country had given up strict Westphalian sovereignty for the political and economic benefits of union; of course, the original motivation for this was to meld the interests of the larger members and avoid war between them.

But now we see that the Westphalian sovereignty concept has come back to haunt Western Europe. The shadow of Westphalia hovers over the Eurozone crisis with Greece and is probably at the bottom of its currently roiled relations with Russia. Greece asserts, correctly I think if one were to follow the letter and spirit of Westphalian Sovereignty principles, that in insisting that Greece run its economy more conservatively (like Germany for example) the EU is infringing on Greek sovereignty.

On the other hand, the stronger countries of the Eurozone are realistically right to insist that Greece must begin to live within its means to be a viable member of an economic union and a single currency zone. This is not a zero-sum issue; the other members of the Eurozone will give up something too to keep the monetary union together.

The Eurozone crisis will probably be resolved after a lot more hand wringing and cliff hanging when all sides come to recognise that shared sovereignty means exactly that

-- countries in a union have a right to expect each member to live up to the code, but that they all have a certain duty of care if the union is to hold together. I am not so optimistic about the roiled relations with Russia.

The Westphalian Sovereignty concepts are, after all, peculiar to Western Europe.

Russia was not a participant and did not sign the treaty. But that is a minor point. The major point is that Russia, according to experts, has always had a different view of sovereignty. For Russia, only a few powerful states in the world are truly sovereign.

The rest, situated around and near one of these powerful states, exist as suzerains (in other words vassals) of the powerful state.

Russia, according to experts, refers to the states and territories in its vicinity as “the near abroad,” and considers that these states’ sovereignty is limited to policies and behaviour that does not threaten Russia. Russian ability to enforce this concept has varied over the centuries, but the concept remains firmly embedded in the Russian psyche.

This has been especially sensitive since about 2000, as the NATO alliance has incorporated countries bordering Russia, and the EU has seemed to be recruiting these countries into its system of shared sovereignty. In effect, the Western concept of sovereignty -- Westphalian shared sovereignty -- came to clash with the Russian concept of near abroad suzerainty.

The result we know: substantial death (around 5000) and damage in Eastern Ukraine, and a not insubstantial chance of

another European war.

Readers are certain to point out that the suzerainty mindset has not, historically, been limited to Russia. The few states that have been or are regional superpowers appear to have similar mindsets.

As far as I can tell, China and India see their immediate regions in the same way, but China, after several hundred years of passive behaviour, is beginning to get aggressive in the Far East, while the new government of India seems to be on a charm offensive in South Asia, except where Pakistan is concerned.

I would have hoped for more attention in India to the rising instability in its eastern neighbour and more openness with its western neighbour.

And the Western Hemisphere? Well, the Monroe Doctrine, which was originally announced by the US in 1823, but enforced by the British navy for the next 40 or so years, was meant to be an anti-colonialist doctrine -- no European colonial ventures allowed in our patch.

It turned slowly and erratically into a suzerainty system after the Civil War and in mid-20th century narrowed its focus almost solely to an ideological anti-communist doctrine -- Westphalian Sovereignty is fine, except where pernicious foreign ideologies are concerned. l William B Milam is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC, and former US Ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh.

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14 OPINION

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

A romantic and a freedom fighter n Towheed Feroze

T

his is an attempt to remember a young man called Naseem Mohsin -- a romantic to his friends, an adrenaline junkie to his seniors and, to his relatives, a rebellious star that shone briefly and then vanished.

From what I have heard, he used to be one of the top students of St Joseph High School back in the early sixties. At that time, the actual school was being shifted from Narinda to the current location in Mohammadpur. Many years later, sifting through the pages of the school graduation magazine of the sixties, I saw his photo.

A smiling face, a valedictorian, and a member of the school cricket, football, and basketball teams!

Curious, I asked one of the revered Brothers of the school who had seen him close up and he said that the guy was anything but a quiet, disciplined boy.

“He had millions of mischievous ideas running through his mind; some were pranks, others were reckless adventures,” observed the late Brother Thomas.

But, despite the involvement in these escapades, the academic side was never neglected and hence, everyone became resigned to his rather wild demeanour.

After all, it was the 60’s; the west was undergoing a phenomenal societal change with conventional ideas thrown out to permit rambunctious rebels.

Revolution was in the air, counter culture was the fad, and ripples were also felt here in what was then East Pakistan.

All of this was topped by the espionage theme of the period that influenced

everything from literature to films to television.

Cold War was at its height and spy thrillers reigned.

Sometimes, I rummage through the collection of books belonging to the young man who, later on, went on to enter Notre Dame College. Today, many of these books are frayed and the pages are yellow; yet, if one tries to think deep, the feelings of a restless soul of the sixties begins to emerge.

He was barely 20, but when his favourite teacher, Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta, was killed, Naseem, like many others, decided to join the war

James Bond editions from the period, Nick Carter, James Hadley Chase, and Perry Mason books -- a reflection of the thriller genre of a time long lost.

Then there are the manuals of communism, the profound books that take a critical (read pejorative) look at the overpowering force of capitalism-driven consumerist culture.

A typical collection for a young person standing at the mind-boggling cross roads of adulthood.

Sometimes, I sit and try to fathom the

vortex of conflicting emotions someone feels at such an impressionable age.

I try to find resonance to my own growing up -- on the one hand, the rhetoric of elder brothers of the locality about the importance of embracing anti-imperialist communist ideals and, on the other hand, the allure of Simon Templar, Hawaii Five-0, Duran Duran, and branded clothing.

Naseem Mohsin, from what I have heard from his friends and relatives, in the end, decided to live life filled with the blended flamboyance of the period.

Trying to understand the beliefs of the young of that time, I have come to the conclusion that they went with the flow, taking in what suited them both from capitalism and communism and chalked out what can now be termed a rather Utopian ideology.

So many years later, we can now say that philosophy was totally impractical, but look at it this way, romanticism is a notion which resurfaces from time to time to sway millions, whether it succeeds to the end or not is never the point.

I am told, when he was in college, Naseem Mohsin spent more time having fun than concentrating on studies and in the end had to be given the incentive of an overseas trip before his HSC, called I.A exam, back then.

With a place in the merit list, he went and joined the English Department of Dhaka University -- a melting pot at that time for all kinds of enlightened people.

At university he was deeply engaged in an intellectual group, experimenting with new age poetry, ideals and so on …

And then, in 1971, the country was thrown into a maelstrom. He was barely 20, but when

his favourite teacher, Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta, was killed, Naseem, like many others, decided to join the war.

Don’t know how his escapades went but when he was caught by the collaborators in Comilla, the end came brutally -- shot and then dumped in a mass grave with other freedom fighters.

Later on, witnesses observed, like other freedom fighters, he was in a lungi and a round-collared cotton shirt … plastered to his chest by sweat.

In the early 90s, as a Dhaka University student, I used to drive a fire red Toyota RT40 1969 to the campus and, one day, found a few teachers, including Dr Fakhrul Alam of the English Department, all of Naseem Mohsin’s friends from his university days, gathered around the car.

Seeing me, they broke into a smile and pointed at the number plate: Chittagong Kha100, and said, “Naseem used to drive this car in 1970 and most of us know that registration plate by heart.”

The English Department now runs the Naseem Mohsin Scholarship, aimed at supporting students facing financial constraints.

In 1995, Dhaka University decided to hand out crests to families of students who were martyred in the war, and when I walked to the podium to accept the crest, my teacher, Ratanlal Chakravarty of the History Department and the organiser of the event, looked a bit puzzled and asked, “you are related to him?”

“Yes sir,” I replied as I accepted the crest, he was my uncle. l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

16

German wages, consumer confidence rising

17

China central bank governor calls for vigilance on deflation

19

Stocks rally as political violence subdues

20

DT

Business

15

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

NBR urged to launch ADR promotion campaign

BTRC defers spectrum auction to May 20

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The telecom regulator has deferred the spectrum auction date to May 20 following the major cellphone operators’ non-participatory approach to the April 30 bidding.

Yesterday was the deadline for filing application to participate in the April 30 auction that has been rescheduled for May 20.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) also rescheduled all other related activities of spectrum auctions and also extended the application filing date to April 16 from March 29.

Through this auction the telecom watchdog also plans to allocate 10.6MHz spectrum on 1,800 band and 15MHz on 2,100 band.

The government will be ableto earn at least $650 million if all spectrum blocks are sold.

BTRC has already made public its rescheduled notification through its website.

SPECTRUM AUCTION SCHEDULE Application submission deadline

April 16

Publication of qualified applicants

April 21

Consultation on auction procedure

April 26

Submission of bidding earnest money

May 12

Mock auction

May 19

Auction

May 20

The notification says the commission has decided to change the timetable of the said auction to perform the overall proceedings of 1,800MHz and 2,100MHz band spectrum auctions efficiently under the revealing circumstances.

The mobile operators welcomed the rescheduling of auction date, but said 20 days are a very short period of time to resolve the pending issues.

It seems that the postponement period for the auction submission date is too short to resolve the long pending industry issues at hand, said Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer, GP. “We should request the relevant authorities including the regulator to utilise this time through expediting the resolution process.”

The Grameenphone official was, however, hopeful that the government will take the issue seriously to find the mobile operators being a vibrant partner for building digitised Bangladesh.

On the long standing unresolved SIM replacement tax issue that attached around Tk2,464.88 crore, the tax regulator claimed that from four mobile operators.

According to the notification, after filing the application for spectrum auction, BTRC will publish the list of qualified applicants on April 21. l

The country’s ongoing political unrest causes donors to slow down aid commitments

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Foreign aid pledges fall 14% n Tribune Report Foreign aid commitment fell almost 14% in the first eight months of the current fiscal year mainly due to continued political unrest, officials said.

According to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) data, the foreign assistance commitment during July-February period of the current financial year stood at around US$2.5bn in loan and grants compared to around $2.9bn in the same period a year earlier.

Of the total commitments during the period, $2.2bn came in the form of loans while more than $336m as grants.

During the period, the foreign aid disbursement grew marginally $1.84bn from $1.82bn in the corresponding period a year ago. Of which, over $1.5bn came as loans and $346m as grants.

Among the development partners, the leading multilateral donor World Bank disbursed $576.5m, followed by the Asian Development Bank $527.8m, Japan $152.6m and Islamic Development Bank $101.4m aid during July-January period in FY2015, the ERD data

showed.

An ERD official said, “Continued political turmoil slowed down the foreign aid commitment. However, increase in its disbursement is a positive sign.”

During the period, the government had paid over $793.7m, of which nearly $660m as principal amount and $134.4m interest, to the development partners against the outstanding loans.

In the corresponding period last fiscal,

visit our website @

www.dhakatribune.com

the government had paid $912.8m, of which $765.5m as principal amount and $147.4m.

In the first seven months of this fiscal year, foreign aid commitment rose over 25% to $2bn largely supported by World Bank’s funding promise in poverty alleviation.

On January 26, the World Bank signed with the government to provide $375m loan for constructing the multipurpose disaster shelter in the country’s natural disaster-prone areas. l

DT

16 BUSINESS

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Low interest rates causing huge problems’ in Germany n Reuters, Berlin German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday that record low interest rates were causing considerable problems in Germany but added that he was not criticizing the European Central Bank which needed to defend its inflation target.

“We have an interest rate environment that is causing huge problems for us in Germany,” he said at a banking event in Berlin.

“A low interest rate leads to a misallocation of resources with all the risks and side-effects that you see when bubbles are forming,” he said, adding that there was too much central bank money and debt in the world. l

Fed must take account of global economy in US outlook

n Reuters, San Francisco German retail sales, a closely watched measure of household confidence

German wages, consumer confidence rising n AFP, Frankfurt German salaries are rising faster than expected, official data showed on Thursday, which augurs well for a continuation of the consumer-driven recovery that Europe’s biggest economy is currently enjoying, analysts said.

When adjusted for inflation, “real” salaries in Germany increased by 1.7% in 2014, the strongest increase in six years, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.

In nominal terms - or not taking inflation into account - wages increased by 2.6% in Germany last year, Destatis noted. Both figures were revised upwards from a previous estimate in February. “Both the regular salary components as well as bonus payments contributed to this increase,” the statisticians said.

Rising wages look likely to help keep Germany’s economic recovery on track, especial-

ly with consumer confidence currently higher than it has been in 13 years, analysts said.

Market research company GfK, which calculates a monthly consumer confidence index, said households were feeling increasingly optimistic about their income expectations and the outlook for the economy as a whole.

As a result, they were increasingly willing to open their purses and spend money.

“The tug of war in Europe over the future of Greece has left no impression whatsoever on German consumers,” GfK said.

“Consumers feel the economy is in a clear uptrend, buoyed by the weak euro, which boosts exports, and low energy costs,” it said.

“Income expectations and a willingness to spend are rising in tandem with the brighter economic prospects.”

Looking ahead to next month, GfK’s headline household confidence index was forecast

AFP

to rise to 10 points in April - the highest level since October 2001 - from 9.7 points in March.

Consumption boom

Analysts welcomed the data.

“German consumers have become real optimists and any worries about the current Greek crisis were clearly outweighed by low inflation and the strong labour market,” said ING DiBa economist Carsten Brzeski.

“This is not a debt-driven shopping craze, but rather an indulgence-and-there-is-no-alternative consumption boom. On the back of the strong labour market, wage increases, low inflation and low interest rates, private consumption has become an important growth driver,” Brzeski said.

BayernLB economist Stefan Kipar agreed.

“There is hardly anything standing in the way of strong consumption growth in 2015,” he said. l

The Federal Reserve must take the global economy into account when judging the US domestic outlook, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday, noting that a stronger dollar buoyed by weakness abroad may restrain US exports Still, she added, US consumer spending is “robust,” and if monetary policy easing by foreign central banks works to boost growth abroad, demand for US exports should rise. l

German economic advisers hike 2015 growth forecast to 1.8% n Reuters, Berlin Germany’s panel of economic advisers raised their annual growth forecast for the German economy on Thursday to 1.8% for this year from its previous estimate of 1%, citing cheaper oil and a weaker euro.

“The oil price has fallen significantly since October 2014, which lifted households real income and improved consumption expenditure. At the same time German exports are stimulated by the devaluation of the euro,” the advisers said in a statement. l

EU unveils ambitious overhaul of digital economy n AFP, Brussels The EU unveiled an ambitious plan to overhaul Europe’s fragmented digital landscape on Wednesday that would allow Europeans traveling in other bloc countries to get their Netflix film fix or watch BBC iPlayer even when abroad.

Europe is the world’s biggest economy, but despite its 500 million potential consumers, in many ways it remains a divided continent of 28 distinct economies, especially when it comes to media and the Internet.

Across the EU, digital services like music streaming site Spotify or shopping behemoth

Amazon, often remain confined to national borders, with separate accounts required from one country to another.

“Let us do away with all those fences and walls that block us online,” Andrus Ansip, the Commission’s vice president for the digital single market, said in a statement.

The push to make all online media whether music, film or TV - available across the EU is just one of several proposals that the EU will officially unveil in a policy package on May 6.

But already Ansip said the road to implement the plan will be arduous, despite being a top ambition of European Commission head

Jean-Claude Juncker who has promised to put all his energy into creating a single digital economy in Europe during his mandate.

“I am under no illusions: it will be an uphill struggle,” Ansip told journalists.

The biggest block to the plan is its sheer ambition, almost certain to draw a dizzying array of opponents from digital powerhouses - such as Google or Apple - to filmmakers and shopkeepers afraid for the livelihood and revenue streams.

Probably the thorniest issue to resolve are copyright and trademark laws that vary hugely across the EU and are the key barrier to blocking content mobility in Europe.

“Today the situation is lose-lose, People are ready to pay, but we are not accepting their money,” Ansip said.

“We would like to create win-win,” he said, adding that a more “modern” attitude to copyright could help ween users away from illegal downloads.

Ansip also unveiled measures to encourage cross border online shopping. Today, only 15% of consumers shop online from another country, the EU said.

“According to entrepreneurs, the price of parcel delivery and lack of transparency is main obstacle for (cross border) e-commerce,” Ansip said. l

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BUSINESS 17

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

President Xi says China should not focus on growth rate only n Reuters, Boao Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that the country should not focus on its economic growth rate only, reiterating China’s push for a more sustainable, higher-quality expansion.

Chinese leaders have announced an economic growth target of around 7% for this year, below the 7.5% goal in 2014 and the slowest rate in a quarter-century.

Xi, who was speaking at a forum in Boao on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, said 7 percent growth was still impressive and would be a big driver of momentum.

He said the Chinese economy was resilient and had much potential, allowing for a host of policy tools. Analysts anticipate further interest rate cuts in China this year.

The theme of the Boao forum is: “Asia’s New Future: Towards a Community of Common Destiny”. l

China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan delivers a speech about Sound Monetary Policy in the New Normal at China Development Forum, in Beijing REUTERS

China central bank governor calls for vigilance on deflation n Reuters, Boao China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan warned yesterday that the country needs to be vigilant for signs of deflation and said policymakers were closely watching slowing global economic growth and declining commodity prices.

Zhou’s comments are likely to add to concerns that China is in danger of slipping into deflation and underline increasing nervousness among policymakers as the economy continues to lose momentum despite a raft of stimulus measures.

“Inflation in China is also declining. We need to have vigilance if this can go further to reach some sort of deflation or not,” Zhou said at a high-level forum in Boao, on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

Zhou added that the speed with which inflation was slowing was a “little too quick”, though this was part of China’s ongoing market readjustment and reforms.

Beijing is determined to keep the world’s second-largest economy from taking the same path of recession and deflation that has blighted its neighbor Japan for the past 20 years.

The central bank’s newspaper warned last month that China is dangerously close to slipping into deflation.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has cut interest rates twice since November and taken other steps to support growth, but economists believe it will be forced to take more ag-

gressive measures in coming months if prices and the economy weaken further.

tually be able to achieve capital account convertibility.

No timetable on liberalization

Slowing commodity prices

zhou also said China had a “clear direction” in terms of interest rate liberalization - a longterm goal - although he added it was difficult to put a clear timetable on the move. He pointed to comments made last year when he said the country’s deposit rates were likely to liberalized in one to two years.

Inflation in China is also declining. We need to have vigilance if this can go further to reach some sort of deflation or not

Last week, Zhou said China could undermine structural reforms if it adopts an excessively loose monetary policy, while pledging to relax capital controls to help make the yuan currency fully convertible.

Zhou also said on Sunday that China hoped to work on streamlining regulations around foreign exchange this year and that through the adoption of new rules China would even-

china is also “cautious” about the wider global slowdown, falling inflation and tumbling commodity prices, Zhou said. The price of oil, for example, is down by over 50% since mid 2014, aggravating a broader commodity price rout which has pushed down inflation in all the major industrial economies.

China is particularly susceptible as the world’s largest net importer of petroleum and iron ore.

Earlier this month, China announced an economic growth target of around 7% for this year, down from 7.4% in 2014, already the slowest in 24 years.

But weak data so far in 2015 suggest the new target may already be at risk, with sluggish domestic demand, a cooling property market, industrial overcapacity and high debt levels dragging on activity.

China’s annual consumer inflation quickened to 1.4% in February from a 5-year low of 0.8% the previous month.

However, Qian Yingyi, a member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee, told Reuters earlier this month that the bounce could be a one-off blip as a result of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Producer prices declined 4.8% in February, the sharpest drop since October 2009 and extending a long-running factory deflation cycle to nearly three years. l

India’s top three mobile phone operators spend $13.6bn in airwaves auction n Reuters, Mumbai India’s top three mobile phone network operators have spent a combined $13.6bn in a government auction of airwaves to secure almost 80% of the spectrum on offer, reinforcing their positions in the world’s second-biggest mobile market.

The heavy bidding reflects their confidence in the potential for data traffic in the world’s fastest growing smartphone market, while also stoking concerns about debt levels in an industry which is already among the most leveraged in Asia.

“The outcome of this auction ... will eventually lead to a significant outflow of funds and further burden the industry, which already remains under a debt of 2.5tn rupees ($39.8bn),” Cellular Operators Association of India said in a statement.

Altogether India raised $17.6bn in the auction after 19 days of fierce bidding, of which the government expects to receive about 288.72bn rupees ($4.6bn) in initial payments, telecoms minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday.

Idea Cellular, the country’s third-biggest mobile operator by market share, spent 303.06bn rupees in the auction, the single biggest amount spent.

Market leader Bharti Airtel paid 293.10bn rupees, while Vodafone India spent 259.59bn rupees, according to figures provided by the minister.

Auction revenues are much needed by the government to help it meet an ambitious budget target. The winners have until April 4 to make the upfront payment.

“I would very earnestly appeal to the companies that national revenue is equally important for growth and India’s image,” the minister said, appealing to winning bidders to submit initial payments before the current fiscal year ends on March 31. l

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18 BUSINESS

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

News, analysis and recent disclosures APEXFOOT: The Board of Directors has recommended 55% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 30.04.2015, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Dhaka Ladies Club, 36 Eskaton Garden Road, Dhaka-1000. Record date: 09.04.2015. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 18.05, NAV per share of Tk. 234.43 and NOCFPS of Tk. 9.60 for the year ended on December 31, 2014.

ISLAMICFIN: The Board of Directors has recommended 8% cash dividend and 4% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 14.05.2015, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: Institution of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh (IDEB), 160/A, Kakrail, Dhaka-1000. Record Date: 09.04.2015. The Company has also reported Net Profit of Tk. 193.16 million, EPS of Tk. 1.66, NAV per share of Tk. 12.98 and NOCFPS of Tk. 2.70 for the year ended on December 31, 2014 as against Tk. 86.03 million, Tk. 0.74 (restated), Tk. 11.90 (restated) and Tk. 0.95 (restated) respectively for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

ECABLES: The Company has informed that they have signed a contract with Local Agent M/s. Polymax International, Baridhara Balee, Plot-17, Road No.-14, Suite-GB, Baridhara R/A, Dhaka-1212 for purchasing an Automatic Aluminium Wire Drawing Machine and a Copper Wire Drawing Machine with Annealer manufactured by Jun Rong Machinery Equipment Co. Ltd. China with a total value of

USD 434,820.00.

PREMIERBAN: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors has decided to purchase 21 katha and 1 chatak Land at Plot 98/A, Road 7, Block F, Banani Model Town, Dhaka in the name of The Premier Bank Limited for its own use at a cost of Tk. 63.00 crore excluding Stamp duty, registration fees and other relevant expenses subject to approval by respective regulatory authorities. It is to be noted here that the Company has decided to purchase the land under compelling situation to recover its classified loan.

GREENDELT: 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 25, 2015.

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.

Dividend/AGM 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.

Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

Company S Purbanchol Power-N Khulna Power-A Samata LeatheR -Z SonarBangla Insu. -A Progressive Life-A FAS Fin. & Inv. Ltd-B Aziz PipesZ Aramit -A Khulna Printing-N Padma Oil Co. -A

Closing (% Change) 9.60 9.25 6.67 6.62 6.53 5.88 5.70 5.18 4.97 4.91

CSE GAINER Company Khulna Power-A Janata Insur -A S Purbanchol Power-N Fine Foods A ICB -A Saiham Cotton-A Summit Power -A Sonargaon Tex -Z Meghna Petroleum -A Padma Islami Life*-N

Closing (% Change) 9.28 8.53 8.44 6.38 5.90 5.82 5.67 5.26 4.76 4.65

DSE LOSER Company ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A Ambee Pharma -A United Insur -A Shampur Sugar -Z Reliance Insur -A H.R. Textile -A ACI Formulations-A Standard Insurance-A Apex Footwear-A ICB Islamic Bank-Z

Closing (% Change) -7.33 -6.07 -5.90 -5.33 -5.07 -5.00 -4.86 -4.85 -4.74 -4.65

CSE LOSER Company ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A Ambee Pharma -A Premier Cement-A Peoples Insur -A Shinepukur Cera-Z ACI Formulations-A Usmania Glass -A Zaheen Spinning -N Sandhani Life -A Apex Footwear-A

Closing (% Change) -9.85 -7.81 -7.07 -6.21 -5.51 -4.99 -3.97 -3.29 -3.28 -2.92

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

DSE key features March-29, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka)

DSE GAINER

Sector

3,930.05 71,165,116 108,272

Traded Issues

310

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

226

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

79

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,534.42

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.72

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 171.78 93.96 26.88 367.06 85.18 918.81 4.86 387.59 906.90 12.34 65.41 43.40 13.23 168.15 99.94 20.35 74.97 301.00 35.34 132.90 0.01

% change 4.37 2.39 0.68 9.34 2.17 23.38 0.12 9.86 23.08 0.31 1.66 1.10 0.34 4.28 2.54 0.52 1.91 7.66 0.90 3.38 0.00

Million Taka 13.53 4.91 0.97 25.55 4.30 57.85 49.03 43.96 0.68 3.32 2.62 1.80 10.10 4.45 0.45 1.74 23.27 6.68 17.93 0.02

Average (% Change) 7.92 7.86 6.67 3.59 6.05 5.50 5.23 5.03 3.07 4.57

Average (% Change) 7.32 6.63 7.82 5.37 5.75 5.52 6.00 5.26 4.62 4.68

Average (% Change) -7.33 -2.01 -5.83 6.67 -5.26 -3.13 -2.35 -4.11 -1.25 -2.58

Average (% Change) -9.85 -4.02 -7.07 -6.75 -1.38 -2.10 -3.04 -6.81 -3.28 -2.89

CSE

ClosingAvg. 47.94 61.48 16.00 15.85 77.85 14.39 20.31 300.51 18.78 247.56

ClosingAvg. 61.13 14.00 48.12 10.00 132.80 19.89 35.49 10.00 203.98 36.00

ClosingAvg. 17.70 347.20 25.53 8.00 39.28 21.34 158.27 21.70 393.72 4.16

ClosingAvg.

% change 4.95 1.80 0.35 9.35 1.57 21.18 0.00 17.95 16.09 0.25 1.21 0.96 0.66 3.70 1.63 0.16 0.64 8.52 2.45 6.56 0.01

18.30 342.20 63.10 16.57 12.18 158.40 112.41 23.26 59.00 382.10

Closing 49.10 62.60 16.00 16.10 78.30 14.40 20.40 302.40 19.00 249.90

Closing 62.40 14.00 48.80 10.00 132.80 20.00 35.40 10.00 204.80 36.00

Closing 17.70 339.10 25.50 7.10 39.30 20.90 152.60 21.60 382.00 4.10

Closing 18.30 335.40 63.10 16.60 12.00 152.40 111.40 23.50 59.00 382.00

Million Taka 185.31 98.87 27.85 392.61 89.48 976.66 4.86 436.62 950.86 13.02 68.73 46.01 15.03 178.26 104.39 20.80 76.71 324.27 42.02 150.82 0.03

DHIGH

DLOW

49.20 63.00 16.00 16.20 79.00 14.50 21.00 308.90 19.20 251.90

DHIGH

45.30 57.90 16.00 15.20 74.30 14.20 19.50 288.70 18.20 238.00

DLOW

62.80 14.00 49.10 10.00 134.00 20.30 36.00 10.00 205.90 36.00

DHIGH

58.00 14.00 46.00 10.00 130.00 19.40 33.50 10.00 201.90 36.00

DLOW

18.90 362.20 26.10 7.20 43.00 22.10 163.00 21.90 403.90 4.40

DHIGH

17.20 330.00 25.20 7.10 38.00 20.00 150.00 21.60 381.40 4.00

DLOW

18.30 360.00 63.10 16.90 12.30 163.90 119.00 25.00 59.00 382.20

Total

18.30 332.00 63.10 16.50 12.00 150.10 110.00 22.20 59.00 382.00

% change 4.41 2.35 0.66 9.34 2.13 23.24 0.12 10.39 22.62 0.31 1.64 1.09 0.36 4.24 2.48 0.49 1.83 7.71 1.00 3.59 0.00

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

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

28.558 154.314 0.032 0.461 0.239 0.116 0.162 7.678 11.878 34.425

Turnover in Million

4.60 6.36 -0.46 1.77 2.30 1.27 -0.37 14.12 1.96 18.00

Latest EPS

8.617 0.001 1.755 0.000 0.552 0.687 1.294 0.001 2.533 0.018

Turnover in Million

10.4 9.7 -ve 9.0 33.8 11.3 -ve 21.3 9.6 13.8

Latest PE

6.36 0.37 4.60 -0.36 6.08 1.43 3.16 -0.84 19.76 1.10

Latest EPS

0.177 18.884 0.550 0.004 0.089 0.800 146.589 0.092 28.672 2.051

Turnover in Million

Latest PE

9.6 37.8 10.5 -ve 21.8 13.9 11.2 -ve 10.3 32.7

Latest PE

2.86 4.68 2.91 -52.72 4.34 1.36 3.27 3.07 18.05 -0.43

Latest EPS

0.018 0.390 0.000 0.004 0.042 8.261 0.399 6.956 0.001 0.192

6.2 74.2 8.8 -ve 9.1 15.7 48.4 7.1 21.8 -ve

Latest PE

2.86 4.68 1.78 2.25 0.39 3.27 -0.88 1.32 2.12 18.05

6.4 73.1 35.4 7.4 31.2 48.4 -ve 17.6 27.8 21.2

CSE key features March-29, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

273.16 6,439,244 15,157

Traded Issues

231

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

158

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

64

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,445.68

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.64

DT

BUSINESS 19

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Stocks rally as political violence subdues n Tribune Report

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company ACI Limited- A LafargeS Cement-Z Shahjibazar Power-N ACI Formulations-A Ifad Autos -N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Agni Systems -A Social Islami. B-A MJL BD Ltd.-A Grameenphone-A

Shasha Denims -N SummitAlliancePort.-A Singer BD -A BSRM Steels-A WesternMarine -N

VolumeShares 383,943 1,380,362 852,120 789,736 1,721,914 2,170,255 2,191,558 4,907,782 532,904 191,974

Value in Million 182.68 171.54 168.54 114.83 110.80 71.69 68.15 67.09 65.32 64.66

% of TotalTurnover 6.81 6.40 6.28 4.28 4.13 2.67 2.54 2.50 2.44 2.41

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Shasha Denims -N MJL BD Ltd.-A ACI Limited- A Grameenphone-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A BD Submarine Cable-A Khulna Power-A ACI Formulations-A Shahjibazar Power-N LafargeS Cement-Z

Zaheen Spinning -N WesternMarine -N Square Pharma -A Jamuna Oil -A The Peninsula CTG.-N

1,650,739 957,041 287,675 659,508 1,066,374

738,205 155,366 34,759 41,223 398,432 69,920 140,955 52,152 41,418 63,426

299,054 132,019 20,965 24,225 208,203

62.73 56.73 52.06 47.68 44.33

28.96 19.88 18.23 14.61 13.12 8.66 8.62 8.26 8.10 7.52

6.96 5.55 5.49 5.15 4.12

2.34 2.12 1.94 1.78 1.65

10.60 7.28 6.68 5.35 4.80 3.17 3.15 3.02 2.97 2.75

2.55 2.03 2.01 1.89 1.51

ClosingP 482.50 123.50 202.80 151.00 63.40 32.90 31.70 13.30 123.40 336.30

37.80 58.90 182.40 74.80 41.90

ClosingP

Change % 5.01 7.77 9.27 9.42 -2.31 0.30 5.67 0.76 1.90 0.57

0.27 0.17 3.46 8.88 2.95

Change %

39.80 128.00 511.80 357.00 32.80 122.70 62.40 152.40 191.20 117.40

23.50 41.90 262.40 213.10 19.80

4.46 3.48 -0.56 3.54 2.50 -0.41 9.28 -4.99 2.25 -1.34

-3.29 2.20 1.94 2.90 2.06

ClosingY 459.50 114.60 185.60 138.00 64.90 32.80 30.00 13.20 121.10 334.40

37.70 58.80 176.30 68.70 40.70

ClosingY

38.10 123.70 514.70 344.80 32.00 123.20 57.10 160.40 187.00 119.00

24.30 41.00 257.40 207.10 19.40

DHIGH 483.50 126.00 203.10 151.70 67.00 33.30 31.90 13.80 124.00 338.80

38.60 60.10 182.80 75.30 42.00

DLOW 463.80 118.00 187.00 139.40 62.80 32.70 30.10 13.00 121.20 335.10

37.50 58.70 176.00 69.00 41.00

DHIGH

DLOW

40.10 129.10 537.00 360.00 33.40 125.40 62.80 163.90 202.00 121.00

37.90 125.00 505.20 348.50 32.10 121.80 58.00 150.10 189.00 116.90

25.00 42.40 263.00 215.90 20.00

22.20 41.70 259.00 209.00 19.40

AvgPrice 475.80 124.27 197.79 145.41 64.35 33.03 31.10 13.67 122.58 336.82

38.00 59.28 180.96 72.30 41.57

AvgPrice

39.23 127.97 524.56 354.50 32.92 123.81 61.13 158.40 195.59 118.61

23.26 42.06 262.03 212.63 19.78

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

4558.08122

(+) 1.08%

1737.88210

(+) 1.40%

13945.99300

(+) 1.38%

11502.03670

(+) 1.78%

8468.69490

(+) 1.53%

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Stocks rallied yesterday amid higher volume of trade, ending bearish spell over the several weeks, as continued political unrest subdued.

The market opened the week on a positive note, following previous session’s uptrend and remained upbeat for the whole session, led by financial institutions.

The benchmark index DSEX rose 48 points or 1% to close at 4,558.

The Shariah Index DSES gained 14 points or 1.4% to 1,111. The comprising blue chips DS30 was up 24 points or 1% to 1,737.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 8,468, rising 130 points.

Buying binge has pushed up turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange that stood at Tk390 crore, an increase of 12% over the previous session and highest in 12 weeks.

Four out of top ten turnover scrips came from fuel & power sector, which accounted for 23.4% of the total turnover.

Non-banking financial institutions gained highest 3.3%, driven by IDLC that surged 4.6%. Telecommunication soared 3%, followed by power 2.95%, pharmaceuticals o.8% and banks 0.2%.

On the other hand, tannery sectors suffered most tumbling 1.4%, dragged down by Apex Footwear that dropped 4.7% on its poor earnings. Cement lost 1.31% and food & allied 1%.

IDLC Investments said investors tried to reverse the market, exploiting apparent political calm. In addition, although first quarter was abysmal for the economy, earning expectations built up and played a complementary role in stock pricing, it said.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market performed quite well during the first day of the week as investors are getting a little hopeful about the country’s political situation.

ACI Limited topped the liquidity chart with turnover worth more than Tk31 crore, making up 8% of the total turnover. l

ANALYST

Market performed quite well during the first day of the week as investors are getting a little hopeful about the country’s political situation

DT

20 BUSINESS

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

NBR urged to launch ADR promotion campaign n Tribune Report Discussants have recommended the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to launch massive campaigns through organising workshops, seminars, and views exchange meetings to encourage taxpayers for quick disposal of cases through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

“It would benefit both the taxpayers and taxmen if the tax related cases were resolved through ADR instead of pending them at courts for years,” they said.

To further boost up the revenue collection, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) held a meeting with the facilitators of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) at its headquarters the capital yesterday for faster settlement of the pending cases. The NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman chaired the meeting.

Currently, hundreds of cases are pending at different courts involving about Tk28,000 crore from all the three wings of NBR- income

tax, customs duties, and value added tax (VAT).

The facilitators including former adviser to the caretaker government Tapan Chowdhury, former NBR member Ali Ahmed, ACI Group Managing Director Anis Ud Dowla, FBCCI Director Manzur Ahmed placed a number of recommendations to the NBR chairman for further facilitating the ADR process.

Addressing the meeting, the NBR chairman instructed all field level commissioners to expedite the ADR process.

The NBR has taken up the move to discuss about the ADR issue with stakeholders in the wake of the ongoing political turmoil, that has put extra pressures on NBR in collecting the large amount of stuck up revenue.

The BNP-led alliance has been observing non-stop countrywide blockade since January 6 that has hampered business, creating an unwanted situation for NBR to meet the revenue target set for the current fiscal year.

The taxmen in 2012 introduced ADR, a

mechanism to resolve the tax-related disputes and ensure a win-win situation for both the taxmen and taxpayers. However, the mechanism is yet to get momentum as only a few taxpayers has adopted it to resolve cases, due to lack of awareness among taxpayers.

According to the system, a panel of facilitators will assist both taxpayers and revenue officials to resolve disputes within two months of filing applications.

During the last three years, only 743 cases were referred to NBR for settlement through ADR, according to NBR records.

The NBR has recently instructed all its field offices to motivate taxpayers, mainly businesses to adopt the process. It also published a number of advertisements in the newspapers to aware the people on the new mechanism.

Top officials from NBR including its members Begum Jahan Ara Siddique, Kalipada Halder, and Khandker Aminur Rahman also attended the meeting, among others. l

Mofazzal Hossain

Khairul Hossen

PRASB forms new EC committee

n Tribune Report Public Relations Association of State-owned Banks (PRASB) has formed a new executive committee with Sonali Bank Deputy General Manager Mofazzal Hossain as president while Rupali Bank Assistant General Manager Khairul Hossen Razu General Secretary.

A 13-member working committee has been approved at a meeting held on Saturday, said a press release.

Other members of the committee include Kabir Ahmed Khan, Manager Sayda Khanom, Sazedur Rahman, Pervez Ahmed Chowdhury and er Jashim Uddin Khan. l

ADB becomes first accredited bank to receive UN green fund n Tribune Report Asian Development Bank has become the first multilateral development bank accredited to receive financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for projects to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation in its developing member countries, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

The GCF was established in 2010 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to serve as the central global investment vehicle for climate financing.

It will help the developing countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. To date, a number of 32 countries including seven developing countries have pledged an initial $10.2bn to the fund, with the largest contributions pledged by the US, Japan, the UK, France and Germany.

Bangladesh is a major fund recipient from the ADB for developing its infrastructure and reducing poverty.

“Combining the Green Climate Fund’s concessional finances with ADB’s financing, knowledge, and regional experience will boost much-needed climate change investments in Asia and the Pacific,” said ADB President Takehiko Nakao.

“Successful deployment of financing will help create momentum for the climate agreement expected in December at the UNFCCC climate summit in Paris, France.”

ADB hopes to make its first formal submissions to the fund before the end of this year, said Nakao.

Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change given its many low-lying countries, reliance on agriculture, and rapid urbanisation.

The region’s adaptation costs are estimated at $70bn-$100bn annually through 2050, and failure to act could undo the poverty reduction and economic gains of recent decades.

Moreover, Asia’s share of global green-

Bangladesh has constructed cyclone shelters in the coastal areas with financial assitance from donors. The photo was taken from Nijhum Island in Noakhali recently RAJIB DHAR house gas emissions could rise to 46% by 2035 from 37% in 2010 without aggressive efforts to promote low-carbon growth.

The GCF will allocate its resources equally to adaptation and mitigation efforts. Half of the adaptation funds are to be allocated to small island developing countries, least developed countries and African states, with the rest going to other developing countries.

The GCF Board is expected to allocate resources for the first projects and programmes before the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC which will be held in Paris, France on 30 November-11 December.

Helping the region cope with climate change is a strategic priority for ADB. In 2014, ADB approved climate financing of just over $3bn — about 75% for climate change mitiga-

tion and 25% for adaptation.

In addition, ADB manages $2.6bn through bilateral and multi-donor funds, including Climate Investment Funds, to support areas including clean energy, integrated disaster risk management and urban climate resilience.

Earlier this month, ADB raised $500m from its first Green Bond to finance climate mitigation and adaptation projects. l

DT

21

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

T-JUNCTION

Long luscious locks Photo: Bigstock

INSIDE On your feet

Down with the cold that’s been going around for a while? Follow these tips to bid that flu farewell for good before you go back to school.

From the hair book

Rock that salt and pepper do like a pro. And you may as well take the natural route of cleansing your hair while you’re at it.

22

school survival

Stiffen up that upper lip

23

prevention

Baby, don’t hurt me

24

teen health

Ditch the diet (soda)

DT

22 T-JUNCTION

Schoologistics

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

book review

school survival

Stiffen up that upper lip Stop the flu from circulating any further

n Pragya Rahman

Doctor Sleep

‘Tis the season of snotty noses, rib-breaking coughs and a whole lot of chicken soup.

Nothing is worse than the curse of the common cold also known as the “flu.”

There is no known cure for it. Sure you can have your doctor prescribe you with plenty of antibiotics whose names you can’t pronounce, but there is no guarantee that those meds and their secret ninja warrior army will make the flu disappear for you. No siree! The flu is one of the most annoying and popular illnesses out there, it is the Paris Hilton of Kardashians! Here’s some tips to walk hand in hand with the flu.

vitamin C will also help boost your immune system. When you’ve got a cold you tend to feel cold, you’ve got the chills and that’s where the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom come in. They keep your body temperature within normal limits and make sure you’re warm and no longer get the chills.

Diving into unfathomable layers of the mystery

n Pragya Rahman “Doctor Sleep” is a sequel to Stephen King’s spine chilling and earth shattering horror novel “The Shining.” Following the events of the shining, little Danny Torrance remains psychologically traumatised by the events from his past as his mother slowly begins to recover from her injuries. Danny is haunted in his dreams by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent an unforgettable year of his childhood. Danny soon realises that he has the power that is “shining” inside of him, in other words he is clairvoyant and knows things that others don’t. He is soon dragged into an adventurous battle between the good and evil by a little girl who also has the gift of the “shining” and the True Knots. What will happen now? Who will win? Is this some sort of a deranged and delusional dream of a 12-year-old boy who just saw his father being taken away from him? To find out more and to chill your bones read this book and don’t wait for another 20 years for the movie to come out.

Aroma therapy So this is something very soothing and relaxing, believe it or not, it works like a charm. When you’ve got a nasty cold that just won’t let go and has vowed to be with you in sickness and in health till death brings

Grogs When the vicious cold and flu virus attacks you and leaves you feeling weak and powerless, it may seem that the only thing you have left to do is wrap yourself up in a blanket with a warm cup of tea next to you.

But here’s a way that might help with the sore throat, the runny nose, the cough, the blistering headache, and even taste buds that are bitterer than 100% dark chocolate cacaos. Ok folks ready? This one’s called a hot toddy and is the perfect thing you need to warm you up and ease your pain during a cold. All you need is hot water, freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and a dollop of your favourite honey. Mix them all together and drink it hot, be careful not to burn your tongue.

The honey and the citrus will help restore your taste buds to their former glory and the

you apart - you’ve got to say NO! First dip your feet in some lukewarm water with some bath crystals or fragrant oils of your choice like lavender, green tea, mandarin and pomegranate. Now, take a large bowl of piping hot water and add fresh eucalyptus leaves followed by mint leaves, rose petals and a dash of lavender oil. Now cover your head with a towel and keep breathing in the aroma and vapour from the bowl. Do this for at least 30-45 minutes. By the time you’re done you will feel much different; almost like a new person in no time, ready to go to school the next day.

Photos: Bigstock

T-JUNCTION 23

DT

Tempt

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

prevention

Baby, don’t hurt me Your hairstyle routine may be hurting your hair

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Dust, pollution, bhejal products...you don’t have to look very hard to find external factors behind hair loss and damage. But they’re not the only culprits behind your receding hairline and bald patches. Your hair habits may actually be doing more harm than good. Here’s how: Tight, tight!

That high ponytail might look like it’s made of money. Those cornrows may look real gangsta. But when you’re repeatedly pulling your locks into tight configurations, you’re stressing your scalp out, and this leads to hair loss. Try not repeating the tight hairdos too often, and change your parting every now and then, and where you really need it to look tight, consider some maximum hold styling product instead of an extra hard yank.

The ties that bind us Ever been in a bind (pun intended) where you needed to get your hair off your face and there were no proper hairbands available, so you just grabbed the rubber band lying on your table?

We’ve all done that at least once, and it’s the worst thing you can do. Those little suckers can yank out your hair like a jealous ex. Save yourself the pain, and always keep some actual hair ties, or alligator clips in your bag.

A brush with disaster So you’ve been smart about not brushing wet hair. But if you still find locks of it coming out in your brush, maybe it’s the brush itself that’s the problem. Invest in a good brush that glides smoothly through your hair and doesn’t have any broken bristles that could snag a few strands every time you groom yourself.

Towel head Remember being scolded to towel dry your hair before you catch your death in a cold?

Yeah, that’s probably what led to your hair loss. Wet hair needs to be left alone; that vigorous rubbing will not help it. If airdrying it is not an option, use a gamcha to bundle up your hair. It’s twice as effective as a towel, and won’t hurt your precious mane.

Too little, too late It’s always wise to go easy on the product, but sometimes you run into the problem of too little product. That’s right. Use a heatprotection serum before you use a heating tool, and don’t scrimp on the conditioner and hair vitamins.

hair

A hair affair Just so you know

n Sabah Rahman This week, we bring you a mixed bag of hot hair news. Don’t worry, we won’t repeat the boring old FAQs. You’ve got Google for that The no ‘poo movement No, this doesn’t have anything at all to do with poo. In this case, ‘poo is an abbreviation for shampoo and there has been an underground movement pioneered by folks who refuse to use the shower staple any longer. Say what? Well, it kind of makes sense, since most widely available, not to mention affordable shampoos in the market really aren’t that great for our hair.

Full of fillers and detergents, some people will argue that we need to stop using these formulas, while others have been washing their hair with regular shampoos and still swear by them. Meanwhile, the followers of this journey have eschewed the suds for alternatives like eggs, vinegar, baking soda and much more and swear that their locks are thanking them for the big change. Like it or hate it, it’s a thing. Whether you want to take this route or the thought of having your

hair smell like eggs makes you want to gag, this one is totally up to you.

Granny hair While you were busy playing the “What breed of cat are you?” quiz on Facebook, there was something of a phenomenon you may have missed on good old Instagram.

Grey hair is all the rage at the moment. You can thank or blame Kylie Jenner if you want, but Kelly Osbourne sported this do a while back. This one’s just not for the ladies as countless men have dyed their hair with salt and pepper highlights. Who wants to wait to graduate into a blue haired individual when we can speed up the process? Surprisingly, this trend suits more people than you’d be able to imagine.

BREAKING NEWS! Stop fighting that frizz. It’s a look that most designers sent their models strutting down the runway with. Who ever thought the day would come when the pesky mess on your head would actually be cool?

Here’s your chance to go au natural in a fierce way.

Our very own Abeer Hoque was sporting the grey do way before Kylie Jenner

Photos: Bigstock

DT

24 T-JUNCTION

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Take Care

news

teen health

Ditch the diet (soda) 5 compelling reasons why you should

Pohela Boishakh at Shwapno Shwapno Life welcomes Pohela Boishakh 1422 with their newly designed, clothing collection, launched under the theme of “Reflection of Life.” The new cuts and patterns reflect our tradition blended with contemporary styles.

With the scorching heat of summer around the corner, cotton and kota materials have been wisely chosen in the making of saris, kameez and panjabis which are available at Shwapno Life outlets around the country.

The colour white being synonymous

with peace and prosperity, alongside the colour red which resembles exuberance of youth have been the two primary colours selected for the theme.

The attractive, new Boishakhi collection of Shwapno Life is now available at their outlets. Prices of saris range from Tk1,150 to Tk2,995, salwar kameezes range from Tk1,215 to Tk3,990, kurtis from Tk1,150 to Tk1,550, panjabis for men range from Tk1,140.00 to Tk1,400.00 and kids’ clothing range from Tk600 to Tk950.

Photos: Bigstock

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad So you need to shave off a few inches from your waistline, and since a comprehensive weight loss plan seems like too much work, you’re starting with making changes in the way you eat. All good, but if you think diet soda drinks are the way to go, you might need to pause and reconsider. Here’s why.

Toss a fresh lemon in a blender with a glass of water, honey to taste, a dash of salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper, and refrigerate the resulting drink for a cool, healthy, and low-cal refresher

Up, not down That’s right. It might say “diet,” but it leaves you feeling empty and peckish after you’ve downed a can, and that makes it harder to resist looking for a snack, and before you know it, you’re going up a dress size, instead of down.

Nokol chini The fake sugars in diet soda create stimuli in the brain, causing greater cravings for sweet food. Not only does this mess with the diet plan, increased sugar intake takes a toll on your teeth and skin.

Plumbing issues Consumption of diet soda has also been linked to kidney disease. In a long-term study conducted by Julie Lin, M D, a kidney specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Dr Lin observed that the kidneys of diet soda drinkers declined at three times the rate typical of ageing.

EMK jazz ensemble by Imran Ahmed Quintet An experimental jazz ensemble by Imran Ahmed Quintet, organised by EMK Center, was held at the Midas Center on March 28.

Imran Ahmed Quintet tries to combine harmony, improvisation with strong emphasis on rhythm and time signatures to make their music sound like what it

is. They don’t label their music under a specific kind of genre. They mostly played their originals. The Quintet was Imran Ahmed on guitars, Rahin Haider on the saxophone, Apurba Mustafa on the trombone, Mohaimin Karim on bass and Towfiq Arifin Turjo on drums.

System under attack If diabetes runs in the family, it’s all the more reason to kick the diet soda habit.

Lyn Steffen, PhD, R D, a professor in the division of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota, studied the food habits of thousands of people over nine years. He found that consumers of diet soda were more likely to

have the “soda gut,” higher blood pressure, less of the “good” cholesterol, more fatty acids, and higher blood sugar. All of these things are linked to heart disease and pretty much put you on the one-way street towards Type-2 diabetes.

Stroke of misfortune If all of the above doesn’t scare you enough, this one should. A study published in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that people with a daily diet soda habit have a 43 percent higher risk of stroke and heart attack than people who don’t drink diet soft drinks.

A ground record crowd of 93,013 watched the WC final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday. It shattered MCG’s previous record attendance for a cricket match of 91,112

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93,013

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

HOSTS CRASH OUT OF AFC U23 QUALIFIERS

Emotional Clarke gets fitting farewell n Reuters, Melbourne Australia captain Michael Clarke had hoped his retirement from one-day international cricket would be a foot-note to Australia’s successful bid for a fifth World Cup. But having topscored for Australia with a 74 to push his team to victory over New Zealand, the 33-year-old bowed out with guns blazing in a fairytale farewell at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

James Faulkner won the man-of-the-

match award for his three-wicket haul that sent New Zealand crashing to 183, but the night belonged to Clarke who saved his best for last.

“I said yesterday that I thought it was the right time. Now I know it’s the right time,” Clarke told reporters after his 245th ODI match left him with a total of 7,981 runs at an impressive average of 44.58.

“There’s no such things as fairytales in sport but that’s as close as it gets.”

In front of a roaring crowd of 93,000, Clarke had the golden touch from the start, his first left-field bowling change bringing an immediate wicket.

Bringing in Glenn Maxwell in the 12th over, the part-time spinner bowled New Zealand

opener Martin Guptill for 15, leaving New Zealand rocking at 33-2.

Clarke would later position himself at slip, and took a sharp catch to dismiss Luke Ronchi for a duck off the bowling of player-of-the-tournament Mitchell Starc.

Though Australia were set a modest chase of 184 for victory, Clarke came to the crease with his team wobbling at 63-2.

Watchful at first, he dominated his partnership with captain-in-waiting Steven Smith, crunching 10 fours and a six in a 72-ball knock, his most fluent of a mostly scratchy World Cup campaign.

He seemed destined to push Australia to victory, so his dismissal, bowled by paceman Matt Henry, drew groans from the crowd then

a standing ovation as he left the MCG for the last time in a gold outfit.

At times a polarising figure in cricket-mad Australia, Clarke finishes his one-day career with a second World Cup win after the 2007 triumph, and with legacy intact after a tumultuous few months in which he struggled with the death of his “little brother” Phillip Hughes.

Clarke’s role in leading the mourning for his team mate, who was killed by a short ball during a domestic match in November, endeared him to the Australian public.

His stirring test century against India when battling injury in the tribute match to Hughes in Adelaide will remain a part of Australian sporting folklore for decades to come.l

Trophy dedicated to Phil Hughes Australian opener David Warner poses with the 2015 ICC World Cup trophy alongside his wife and baby girl after their win against New Zealand yesterday

n AFP, Melbourne Australia captain Michael Clarke dedicated Sunday’s World Cup final triumph to Phillip Hughes, the team-mate who died after being hit on the head by a bouncer last year.

Clarke, who made 74 in the seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in what was his last one-day international, described Hughes as the squad’s 16th man at the sixweek tournament.

“I’m sure everybody standing on this stage will say we played this World Cup with 16 players,” said Clarke.

“This victory is dedicated to our little brother Phillip Hughes. Hughesy used to party as good as any of them so I guarantee we’ll celebrate hard tonight.”

Clarke will continue to play Test cricket and vowed to keep wearing a black armband in honour of his close friend.

“The band has got PH on it. I will wear it every game I play for Australia. It’s been a really tough few months.”

Australia batsman Hughes died on November 27 last year, two days after being hit on the head by a Sean Abbott bouncer in a first-class match in Sydney.l

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

AUSTRALIA’S WC WINS 2015 2007 2003 1999 1987

beat New Zealand by 7 wickets beat Sri Lanka by 53 Runs (D/L) beat India by 125 runs beat Pakistan by 8 wickets beat England by 7 runs

Aussies continue to enjoy finals n Mazhar Uddin from Melbourne

Australia’s Mitchell Starc (C) celebrates with captain Michael Clarke after dismissing New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi for a duck during their Cricket World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday REUTERS

MOST RUNS Player

In

Runs 100 50

MJ Guptill (NZ)

9

547

2

1

KC Sangakkara (SL)

7

541

4

0

AB de Villiers (SA)

7

482

1

3

BRM Taylor (Zim)

6

433

2

1

S Dhawan (India)

8

412

2

1

HIGH SCORES Player

Run

Ball

Opp

MJ Guptill (NZ)

237*

163

WI

CH Gayle (WI)

215

147

ZIM

DA Warner (AUS)

178

133

AFG

AB de Villiers (SA)

162*

66

WI

TM Dilshan (SL)

161*

146

BAN

MOST WICKETS Player

In Wkt

Ave

Econ

MA Starc (Aus)

8

22

10.18

3.50

TA Boult (NZ)

9

22

16.86

4.36

UT Yadav (India)

8

18

17.83

4.98

M Shami (India)

7

17

17.29

4.81

M Morkel (SA)

8

17

17.58

4.38

BEST BOWLING FIGURES Player

O-M-R-W

Opp

TG Southee (NZ)

9-0-33-7

ENG

MA Starc (AUS)

9-0-28-6

NZ

TA Boult (NZ)

10-3-27-5

AUS

MR Marsh (AUS)

9-0-33-5

ENG

Imran Tahir (SA)

10-2-45-5

WI

Starc award defies trend in bat-dominated tournament n Reuters, Melbourne At a World Cup dominated by batsmen and huge scores, it was an old-fashioned fast bowler who ultimately played the biggest role in Australia’s success.

Mitchell Starc, whose devastating pace and movement troubled almost every batsmen who faced him, was named player of the tournament after Australia wrapped up their fifth title with a seven-wicket over New Zealand on Sunday.

Glenn McGrath (2007) is the only other specialist bowler to have won the award but Starc was a popular choice after terrorising his opponents for the past six weeks.

“It’s nice to see bat dominate ball every now and again,” Starc told reporters. “There’s been some fantastic performances with both.

Obviously, it’s been a couple of big scores, a couple of double tons... but it’s just been fantastic the whole tournament.”

Although New Zealand opener Martin Guptill and Chris Gayle scored double centuries during the World Cup, Starc was an obvious choice for the player of the tournament award.

He took 22 wickets, equal best with New Zealand seamer Trent Boult, but at a far better average of 10.18.

Perhaps the left-armer’s most telling contribution, however, came in the first over of Sunday’s final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when he cleaned bowled New Zealand’s captain and most destructive batsman

Year

MoM

PoT

1975 1979 1983 1987 1992 1996 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015

C Lloyd (WI)

N/A

V Richards (WI)

N/A

M Amarnath (Ind)

N/A

D Boon (Aus)

N/A

W Akram (PAK)

M Crowe (NZ)

De Silva (SL)

S Jayasuriya (SL)

S Warne (AUS)

L Klusener (SA)

R Ponting (AUS) S Tendulkar (IND) A Gilchrist (AUS) G McGrath (AUS) MS Dhoni (India)

Y Singh (India)

J Faulkner (AUS)

M Starc (AUS)

*MoM= Man of the match *PoT= Player of the Tournament

Brendon McCullum with a yorker.

The Black Caps never recovered and were bowled out for just 183 in the 45th over.

“He’s been a key player for them right from the beginning, and he’s been fantastic for the Kiwis to get them off to great starts,” Starc said.

“We knew we had to sort of assess him as he went because he’s very unpredictable. I think personally it was a bit of a planning game with (bowling coach) Craig McDermott about just bowling in pace and yorker to him first up.

“I’m not sure how that first one missed, but lucky the third one hit. There’s a lot of luck involved, but just nice to see that plan come off.” l

Australia once again ruined the excitement of a World Cup final as they outclassed New Zealand by seven wickets yesterday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to lift their fifth world title. Australia, playing their seventh World Cup final, skittled out their Oceania rivals for just 183 in 45 overs and later romped to their target in 33.1 overs losing three wickets.

The mighty Aussies yesterday elevated themselves to the next level as Michael Clarke and his troop totally outplayed the Kiwis.

However, it was anything but a surprise as this is not the first time the Aussies have clinched glory after crushing their final opponents.

With the exception of their seven-run win over Ashes rivals England in the 1987 ICC World Cup final at Eden Gardens, the Aussies have been dominant in all the finals they have contested in.

Pakistan might be unpredictable and the enigma of world cricket but they were the first team to face the music as Australia thrashed them in the 1999 ICC World Cup final at Lord’s.

Batting first, Pakistan were bundled out for just 132 in 39 overs and the Aussies, led by the indefatigable Steve Waugh, encountered little trouble overhauling the target, cantering to victory with eight wickets and 29.5 overs to spare.

The Aussies continued their demolition act in 2003 and this time, India were on the receiving end. Ricky Ponting’s side thumped Saurav Ganguly’s team by 125 runs to record their second successive triumph and third overall.

Although Australia’s 53-run success against Sri Lanka in 2007 might appear comparatively competitive, it was anything but thanks to the controversial Duckworth/Lewis method.

If the Aussies continue to make merry of the opposition in the ICC World Cup finals, the other teams will find it extremely tough to challenge them for the title, let alone winning it. l

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Kiwis hold back retirements to allow Australia to bask n Reuters, Melbourne Some New Zealand players may have decided to call time on their one-day or international careers but there will be no immediate announcements to allow Australia to bask in their World Cup triumph, skipper Brendon McCullum said on Sunday.

Australia skipper Michael Clarke announced his retirement from one-day internationals on the eve of the seven-wicket victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, which earned his country a fifth world title.

New Zealand spin bowling all-rounder Daniel Vettori, 36, is widely expected to call time on his international career after his fourth World Cup, while there have even been rumours McCullum might follow Clarke’s lead and quit the 50-over format.

“There may be some players in our group who have decided to retire,” McCullum told reporters.

“We’ll let the dust settle on this one and we certainly won’t try and grab any headlines over the next couple of days because they belong to Australia and they’ve earned the right to them.

“We’ll be gracious in defeat and then we’ll work a plan for those who may want to retire but I think it’s the right thing to let Australia bask in the glory of their success.”

Whatever retirements might be on the cards, McCullum said he hoped the New Zealand team would maintain the aggressive style of play with which they lit up the World Cup. “I think the team perhaps will change over the next sort of while,” he added.

“But hopefully the style of cricket and the things that we’ve been able to implement with this team and the brand that we’re trying to play will remain and develop over the next sort of while.l Yousuf Rahman (Babu), former national cricketer, vice captain and first centurion writes from New York for Bangladesh fans all across the globe.

Same two teams, same competition but a different ball game than the pool fixture

Two best teams in the competition justifiably played for final glory but one team proved to be years ahead of the other in its preparation and, more importantly, execution. Australia was methodical and tenacious as it turned a match that was to provide a cliffhanger into a one-sided affair. Perhaps, the fact that the Kiwis were in the final for the first time and that too at the MCG may have been a bit overwhelming. It curbed their natural instincts to come out with their best game.

Captain Courageous on both sides but only one is triumphant

Both Michael Clarke and Brendon McCullum are known to be the most aggressive leaders in world cricket. New Zealand cricket has been re-energised with the McCullum approach and we see a new brand of cricket that has grown in popularity in a nation that has been a huge follower of rugby. Clarke is as aggressive but, in many ways a better tactician. His leadership on and off the field has been remarkable and he has turned a young,

NZ v AUS NEW ZEALAND

R

B

M Guptill b Maxwell B McCullum b Starc K Williamson c and b Johnson R Taylor c Haddin b Faulkner G Elliott c Haddin b Faulkner C Anderson b Faulkner L Ronchi c Clarke b Starc D Vettori b Johnson T Southee run out (Maxwell) M Henry c Starc b Johnson T Boult not out Extras (lb7, w6)

15 0 12 40 83 0 0 9 11 0 0 13

34 3 33 72 82 2 4 21 11 7 1

Total (all out, 45 overs)

183

Fall of wickets 1-1 (McCullum), 2-33 (Guptill), 3-39 (Williamson), 4-150 (Taylor), 5-150 (Anderson), 6-151 (Ronchi), 7-167 (Vettori), 8-171 (Elliott), 9-182 (Henry), 10-183 (Southee)

Bowling Starc 8-0-20-2 (1w); Hazlewood 8-2-30-0; Johnson 9-0-30-3 (2w); Maxwell 7-0-37-1 (1w); Faulkner 9-1-36-3; Watson 4-0-23-0 (2w);

AUSTRALIA

R

B

D Warner c Elliott b Henry A Finch c and b Boult S Smith not out M Clarke b Henry S Watson not out Extras (lb3, w6)

45 0 56 74 2 9

46 5 71 72 5

Total (3 wkts, 33.1 overs)

186

Fall of wickets 1-2 (Finch), 2-63 (Warner), 3-175 (Clarke)

Bowling

New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori (C) hugs captain Brendon McCullum (L) as Kane Williamson looks on after their final defeat against Australia in Melbourne yesterday AFP

Southee 8-3-65-0 (3w); Boult 10-0-40-1; Vettori 5-0-25-0; Henry 9.1-0-46-2 (2w); Anderson 1-0-7-0 (1w); Result: Australia won by 7 wickets Man-of-the-match: James Faulkner (AUS) Man-of-the-tournament: Mitchell Starc (AUS)

TALKING POINTS

AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND, THE FINAL perhaps the youngest, Australian team into a fantastic winning combo. This victory has been a clinical display of the highest class.

Bowlers win matches and the Aussie quartet is superior to the Black Caps

The Australian foursome is the best fast bowling combination in world cricket today.

Mitchell Starc has been phenomenal. Add Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner and you have the most lethal group of fast bowlers that any captain would love to have. Clarke had the luxury to have this quartet and it allowed him to attack the opposition throughout the innings. Although the Kiwis recovered from an early collapse of 39 for 3 through a Ross Taylor-Grant Elliot partnership, which gave them the distinct possibility of reaching a defendable total, the Aussie seamers came back and ran through the lineup that literally placed the match for Australia to take.

Starc sets the tone by dismissing McCullum

The fifth ball of the first over from Starc set the tone for the match. The moment of the

match was when a fast swinging Starc delivery hit the off stump of McCullum followed by the roar of the MCG crowd in acknowledgement of the dismissal. Earlier, McCullum swung wildly and missed two in-swingers until the third one beat him by sheer pace. The return to the pavilion must have been the longest walk McCullum had taken for a long time and the roar of the crowd did not make it a pleasant one.

New Zealand cricket is on a new plane

Cricket in New Zealand is no longer a back bencher. The McCullum syndrome has changed all that. He has shown what it takes to win matches with his positive and attacking approach to the game. This syndrome is irreversible and the Black Caps can only get better in the years ahead. The result of the final is not a true reflection of the quality of this team. They have shown the world and their own nation what good cricket is all about and what it feels to be on the winning side. Unfortunately, the Kiwis top order did not come good and they were on the back foot through the match. This team has sever-

al young players that will serve New Zealand cricket well for a long time. New Zealand fans need to despair. They lost to a great team in superb form.

Clarke passes the torch and maybe his number 23

Since he took over the leadership of the Australian squad, he has been a 5-star General for his country on and off the field. His aggressive and thoughtful strategies have kept Australia on top of world cricket. During his tenure, he has been instrumental in establishing the careers of many new stars of Australian cricket. He has played his last ODI and what a farewell for this icon of Aussie and world cricket. Winning the World Cup for this country and contributing significantly with the bat in the match are appropriate honours for this great cricketer who will go down as one of the best that Australia has produced. Jersey No 23 was passed on to him by none other than the great Shane Warne, and it is time for Clarke to nominate a successor. Something tells me that this torch will be handed over to Steve Smith who is the undeniable future leader of this Aussie squad. l

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Hosts crash out of AFC U23 Qualifiers n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh crashed out of the AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifiers after suffering a humiliating 5-0 defeat against a strong Uzbekistan side at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Skipper Sardor Rakhmanov led his side from the front as the defender netted a brace in the opening half but midfielder Masharipov Jaloliddin played the most influential role in the huge win by scoring one and assisting two for Rakhmanov.

The struggle against set-pieces remained a major problem for the home side. Among the four goals conceded in the first half yesterday, three were shipped in set-pieces. The height of the Bangladesh players made it difficult to resist Uzbekistan, who are ranked sixth in the AFC rankings.

The scoreline could have been more embarrassing for Bangladesh had Uzbekistan played their best eleven. The Uzbeks drafted six changes from the playing eleven that had defeated India in the previous Qualifier. Three key Uzbekistan players – skipper Vladimir Kozak, Igor Sergeev and Jamshid Iskanderov – were rested.

Bangladesh on the contrary received a fillip before the Qualifier kicked off as juvenile midfielder Hemanta Vincent Biswas returned

to the best eleven after serving his suspension. Omar Faruk Babu made way for Hemanta while the other change saw Shakil Ahmed replacing Yousuf Sifat.

The opening goal came with just four minutes into the clock from a brilliant Masharipov free-kick from 20 yards out. Masharipov then set up the next two goals.

Rakhmanov doubled the lead in the 13th minute, heading home another brilliant Masharipov free-kick. Rakhmanov added his second and his side’s third in the 29th minute and from here, there was no comeback possible for the hosts. Midfielder Abbosbek Makhstaliev made it 4-0 five minutes before the end of the first half.

Uzbekistan were then reduced to 10 men in the 54th minute when Shagulyamov Alisher received a straight red card for reacting furiously towards a foul on Tapu Barman but the hosts were unable to take advantage as they also played with a man less from the 70th minute onwards after skipper Rayhan Hasan received his marching orders. Rayhan also received a straight red card.

Uzbekistan will now face Syria in their third and final Group E Qualifier tomorrow.

Both sides have six points each from two Qualifiers which means the winner of the tie will progress to the final round as the group champions. l

Masharipov Jaloliddin (19) celebrates scoring Uzbekistan’s opening goal against Bangladesh in the AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifier at BNS yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Kharbin, Almawas inspire Syria n Shishir Hoque

A brace each from Omar Kharbin and Mahmoud Almawas guided Syria to their second consecutive victory as they humbled India 3-0 in the AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifiers at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The combination of Kharbin and Almawas, who both netted a goal apiece against Bangladesh in the previous Qualifier last Friday, made the Indian defence look ordinary as the duo notched one goal each in either half. In addition to his two goals, Almawas also assisted one to put Syria in a comfortable position to qualify for the final round as the group

Syrian and Indian players vie for the ball during their AFC U-23 Championship Group E Qualifier at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

champions.

Syria are now at the summit of Group E with six points from two Qualifiers. In all likelihood, the winner of the final Group E Qualifier between Syria and Uzbekistan will decide which team progress to the final round. With 10 group winners and five best runners-up sides making it through to the final round, the loser of the tie between Syria and Uzbekistan must wait to find out whether they will qualify.

Yesterday, it took Syria just 15 minutes to open the scoring. Almawas, who looked unstoppable in the right flank, slotted home past India goalkeeper Amrinder.

Kharbin doubled the lead at the stroke of

the first half. The forward headed the ball into the near post from a Amro Jeniat cross from the left wing.

Syria heaped more misery upon India in the second half as Kharbin hit the back of the net in the 61st minute to make it 3-0. Almawas was the architect of the goal as he set up Kharbin with a neat pass.

Amrinder further saved India’s blushes, producing three consecutive saves to thwart Kharbin and Almawas in the space of five second-half minutes but the custodian was powerless to deny the latter eight minutes from time. He headed home from an Omro al Midani cross to complete the rout. l

De Kruif at a loss of words n Raihan Mahmood A dejected Lodewijk de Kruif, head coach of Bangladesh, revealed yesterday he does not have any clue as to why his charges perform differently in a match in comparison with their training sessions.

The Dutch coach was speaking to the media after Bangladesh’s 5-0 loss against Uzbekistan as the hosts conceded nine goals in two AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifiers. “We have conceded six of the [nine] goals from set-pieces and I cannot understand the players. I have showed the videos to them, told them how to act and also react. They responded well in the analytical sessions but appear totally different in the pitch. Actually, there were no problems before the match,” said De Kruif yesterday.

“I think it can happen due to a lack of concentration, a lack of standard of playing in the top level and two mistakes in the initial 12 minutes and two goals conceded. The game is destroyed there. Two silly mistakes by Rayhan [Hasan], [Atiqur Rahman] Fahad and Sohel [Rana] and the team never got the rhythm back,” he added.

On the other hand, Uzbekistan coach Bakhtiyor Ashurmatov thought his team should have scored more goals. “We played well in the first half but the sending off on a forward spilled the plans. I think we would have scored another three goals. I rested six players as I have different players and we have to play three matches in five days,” said Bakhtiyor. l

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MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

TWITTER REACTION “@cricketworldcup. @MCG. @ICC Forget the duck, Starc is now more popular than the Easter Bunny in AUS #AUSvNZ#CWC15pic.twitter. com/7D1y14KncR.” - Google Australia, NZ on Mitchell Starc’s trending popularity.

“You beauty!!!!”

- Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait on Mitchell Starc’s first over dismissal of Brendon McCullum for a duck.

“Starc produces the best ..against the best ..on the best stage... BIG !!!!!!!”

- Ex-Sri Lanka international Russel Arnold.

“Boooooooommmmm !!!! Wow, what a start that is for Australia..... Well done Mr Starc, just awesome.....”

- Aussie spin great Shane Warne.

“Back to bed for me now McCullum is out!! Script is written for Clarke to win it now!! #CWC15.”

- Yorkshire county cricketer Will Rhodes.

“Elliott has achieved the highest score by a South African in a World Cup final. (By getting off the mark.)”

- Sydney journalist Richard Hinds.

“What a catch by Haddin. Catches win matches.. and.. bang bang go the Aussies!! Game changer.”

- Arnold again as Ross Taylor falls to a fine onehanded catch by the Australian keeper.

“What this World Cup has clearly shown is that a fast, full and straight Yorker is a very good delivery!”

- Former Australian seamer Jason Gillespie.

“@mstarc56 & @MitchJohnson398 showing the old fashion yorker is still very much in vogue. #CWC15Final.”

- Ex-Australian all-rounder Tom Moody in full agreement.

“A duck for the former Australian Luke Ronchi.”

- Fox Sports revels in the Kiwi batsman’s misery.

“Bugger.”

- New Zealand team’s official website.

“Great toss to lose as always good to bowl first in big finals... #justsaying ha ha #CWC15Final.”

- Former Australia batsman Damien Martyn.

“Have to say this @CricketAus bowling attack is outstanding...... The reason why they will be World Champions...”

- Former England skipper Michael Vaughan.

“Southee and Boult shared 10 wickets to bowl Malaysia out for 47 in the 2008 ICC U19 World Cup. They need a performance like that today.”

- Malaysia Cricket Board.

“Great 50 @MClarke23 you are a champion.”

- Former Australia batsman Damien Martyn.

Members of the Australian side run on to the field after their World Cup final victory against New Zealand in Melbourne yesterday

Smith burnishes captaincy STATS credentials with final flourish 547 n Reuters, Melbourne

Steve Smith’s pull to the Melbourne Cricket Ground fence to bring up the winning runs for Australia on Sunday was a fitting ending for a player who was instrumental in his team’s campaign for a fifth World Cup triumph.

Smith, heir apparent to captain Michael Clarke, shared a poignant 112-run stand with the retiring skipper, who bowed out with a team-high 74 after driving Australia to the brink of victory over New Zealand in his final one-day international.

While sentimentalists may have hoped for Clarke to push his team over the line, the 33-year-old’s exit to a standing ovation from

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Steven Smith (L) jumps on Shane Watson after hitting the winning runs yesterday REUTERS

the 93,000-strong crowd was itself a moving image, with Smith left to carry the baton.

Smacking seamer Matt Henry for four to complete a seven-wicket rout, Smith tore off his helmet and bounded in the air for joy, a suitable celebration for the baby-faced 25-year-old.

Unbeaten on 56, he was quick to credit his team mates in a captain-like debriefing.

“Unbelievable feeling, we said we wanted to play our best game towards the end of the tournament and to win this final three (wickets) down, I thought the boys were outstanding tonight,” Smith said in a pitchside interview.

“The bowlers really set it up for us. They’ve done it all tournament.”

Smith could also lay a big claim to sealing Australia’s triumph, with his 402 runs at an average of 67 the highest tally of their batsmen in the tournament.

Brushing off a total of nine runs from his first two innings of the tournament, he finished with five consecutive scores above 50, including a match-winning 105 in the semi-final to send reigning champions India spinning out of the tournament.

Improbably, only months before the World Cup, the he was barely part of the World Cup conversation, still fighting for his place in a team laden with batting talent.

He had long cemented his place in Australia’s formidable test side, but had to punish South Africa’s world class attack in a lead-up series to truly put himself in the frame.

With Clarke injured in the first test against India in December, Smith stepped up to lead the team to a 2-0 series win, blasting four consecutive centuries to confirm his standing as one of the very best batsmen in the world.

With a successor yet to be named, Clarke was mindful of stepping on selectors’ toes, but endorsed Smith’s leadership from the front at the tournament.Having had an invaluable apprenticeship, Smith is likely to play a big part in defending Australia’s title at the 2019 World Cup in England. “I thought it was a fitting farewell for Pup,” he said. “I wish he was there with me at the end.” l

Runs scored by Martin Guptill in the 2015 World Cup, the most by any batsmen in the tournament. He is the only New Zealand batsmen to score 500-plus runs in a single World Cup. Scott Styris scored 499 runs in the 2007 edition.

0

Runs scored by Brendon McCullum in this match, the lowest by any captain in a World Cup final. No other captain has scored a duck in a World Cup final.

1

New Zealand’s opening partnership, their lowest this World Cup. New Zealand’s opening pair averaged 56.5 in the World Cup prior to the final.

400

The final was the 400th World Cup game. In all, there have been 3646 ODIs, so World Cup matches account for 11% of all ODIs.

1

Number of individuals who have played in a World Cup final (1996) and also umpired in one; Kumar Dharmasena is the only such man.

37

Brad Haddin’s age (37 years, 157 days), making him the oldest Australia player to feature in a World Cup final.

The previous oldest Australian was Glenn McGgrath (37 years, 78 days) when he played the 2007 final. The oldest man to play in a World Cup final is Rohan Kanhai (39 years, 177 days), in 1975.

7

Ducks scored by New Zealand against Australia in this World Cup. No New Zealand batsman has a scored a single duck against any other opposition during this World Cup.

22

Wickets taken by Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc during this World Cup, the joint-most in this tournament. Boult’s 22 wickets is also the most wickets by any New Zealand bowler in a single World Cup.

5

Number of World Cups that Australia have won, by far the most for any team.

DT

30 DOWNTIME

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Sibilate (4) 6 Bath (3) 7 Silent (4) 9 Fruit (4) 10 Musical note (5) 11 Singer (5) 12 Flightless bird (3) 14 Start (5) 17 Unpleasant (5) 20 Bustle (3) 21 Bird (5) 23 Worked into a fabric (5) 25 Peruvian Indian (4) 26 Golf club (4) 27 Drink (3) 28 Remain (4)

DOWN 1 Occur (6) 2 Social standing (6) 3 Certain (4) 4 Cricket score (3) 5 Precious stone (3) 7 Deep mud (4) 8 Bashful (5) 10 Unruly crowd (3) 13 Army rank (5) 15 Large pelagic bird (6) 16 Certifying official (6) 18 That time (4) 19 Japanese monetary unit (3) 22 Lubricates (4) 23 Hairpiece (3) 24 solemn promise (3)

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

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

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

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

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

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Arnob’s new venture

n Showtime Desk Shayan Chowdhury Arnob is getting ready to release renewed music since his 2012 Tagore cover “Adheko Ghume.” The new album titled “Khub Doob” is expected to launch just in time for the upcoming Pohela Boishakh.

In conversation with Dhaka Tribune, Arnob also announced that he is going to take a break from his solo music career to pursue a career in directing films, behind the camera.

In the album, Arnob focuses on experimental songs, mostly with his vocals.

“I don’t know where I am heading, but

the whole album is an improvisational piece. Basically, I used my vocals as an instrument in order to reach my target music composition,” he said.

As the versatile singer-musician conveys a reputation of rejuvenating Tagore’s songs among the new generation with his mastery of fusion music, he made sure to include a Tagore number, “Esho Shyamolo Sundaro,” in the album. Other tracks include “Chader Shidi,” “Khub Doob,” “Takhon Jonak Dake,” “Policer Chire Tupi,” “Obhijan” and others. Apart from the singer himself, Tokon Thakur, Rajib Ashraf and Sahana Bajpaie, to name a few, have penned lyrics for the album.

Highly disappointed in the country’s intellectual property rights situation, Arnob complains, “The haphazard copyright situations are the grounds behind my decision to not make music my sole profession in the future.” Currently working on a script, he is ready to gear up his film directing operation through a short training course in the USA just after the album release.

Hopefully the album will see a digital release prior to the special edition’s limited release. l

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

ADAM LEVINE @adamlevine LET THERE BE LIGHTS! https:// instagram.com/ p/0rNSSfqja6/ ELLIE GOULDING @elliegoulding Truth prevails and that’s all that matters.

SHANKAR MAHADEVAN @Shankar_Live Amazing interview by deepika padukone on @ ndtv talking about depression!! Really an eye opener to lots of people! She is so genuine!

Turn it up

This week, we cornered Alif Alauddin to share her playlist with us and for good reason. Alif knows a thing or two about her jams, being a singer and a musician herself. Here is what she’s got on repeat and the reason why she loves each number

A rising star n

Showtime Desk

Based in Dhaka, local musician Obaidur Rahman debuted his double albums, Prahelika-1 and Prahelika-2. These albums have been self-produced and showcase 15 of the artist’s work. The interesting part about his work is the fact that the music is entirely acoustic guitar based and the first of its kind in Bangladesh. You could call it a one man show since Obaid played every instrument and sang each song preproduction. He also happens to have done all the artwork on the album itself.

Inspired mainly by hard rock from the 80s, as well as early 90s alternative to name a few genres, the artist’s goal was to make some good, soulful music.

Not only has Obaid’s music been welcomed with open arms in the local community, Joe Lynn Turner, ex-singer of Deep Purple and Rainbow / Yngwie Malmsteen wrote a review of the album on his Facebook page, Now that’s something to be proud of!

Find the CDs in outlets nationwide.l

n Showtime Desk 1.

2.

Take on me - A-ha. The catchy synth intro instantly takes me back to my childhood. I love the melody.

Tajmohol – Ark. I love the lyrics & the feel with which Hasan sang it. Even though he says it is not a love song, to me, it is an evergreen love song.

Wouldn't it be good - Nik Kershaw. I love 80s music. I guess this one needs no explanation.

4. Walk this way – Aerosmith. I love to sing this song at the top of my lungs every time it plays somewhere; this song has so much energy. Tyler's voice and the catchy guitar-drums combo make it my all time favorite song.

5. I go to sleep – Sia. The perfect song to listen to when I am relaxing.

6. Silent lucidity – Queensryche.

"Visualize your dreams" - that's what the song is about. The guitar solo rips my heart apart.

7. Hey you - Pink Floyd. What a perfect song. I love how it ends with Mr. Waters singing a higher octave than Gilmour. This song is pure addiction.

8. Fix you – Coldplay. A song of hope,encouragement and positivity.

Who needs a reason to love this song?

9. Shesh korona - Late Zafar Iqbal. The chord progressions, the lyrics, the singing style, everything put together made this song one of the best romantic songs of all time. I hold this song very close to my heart.

10. Kissing a fool - George Michael. His soulful voice makes me want to cry.

The combination of beautiful jazz music with such intense lyrics - it couldn't get any better than this. l 3.

WHAT TO WATCH TELEVISION

BREAKFAST BEATS

B

CELEBRITY STYLE STORY

B

STEP UP 2

C

MTV 7:30am Start your day off in the best way possible by jamming to some upbeat tunes while getting ready for a long day at work.

TLC 9:30am This entertaining show takes you through the fashion evolution of our favourite stars. They have got Cameron Diaz on display this week. Check out her best and worst style moments.

HBO 11:32 am Try out some of the professional, suave moves from this popular dance flick. The cast is not exactly hard on the eyes either.

DT

32 BACK PAGE

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

EULOGY FOR LEE KUAN YEW PAGE 13

FOREIGN AID PLEDGES FALL 14% PAGE 15

EMOTIONAL CLARKE GETS FITTING FAREWELL PAGE 25

New project starts in April to improve livelihood in haor regions Questions raised about the high fees set for hiring a Japanese consultant firm

n Tribune Report A flood management project worth Tk993.37 crore is set to start from April to improve the livelihoods of the people living in the country’s haor regions.

However, questions have been raised regarding the high cost fixed for hiring a consultant firm, which amounts to almost 10% of the entire project.

Sources said the Water Resources Ministry has decided to appoint a Japanese consultant firm to run the eight-year-long project funded

by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

An official at the ministry said a proposal on appointing Nippon Koei Co Ltd will be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Tuesday. The consultant fee is estimated to be around Tk88.32 crore.

According to the proposal, the tender evaluation committee selected Nipon Koei after reviewing other consultants from Netherlands, India, and Australia.

Water Resources Secretary Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan told Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the consultant fee was too high.

“We are helpless regarding foreign-funded projects, as the ministry is appointing a consultant with high cost,” he said.

Under the project, dams will be construct-

A fisherman can be seen dragging his net in the shallow waters of the Etna Haor in Kishoreganj, in this photo taken last October. The people living in the country’s haor basin rely mostly on fishing to make a living, while they suffer to make ends meet during the dry season each year RAJIB DHAR ed and repaired in five Haor basins – Netrokona, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Kishoreganj and Sunamganj – along with constructing floodgates and digging canals.

On March 7, an agreement was signed be-

tween the Economic Relations Division and the Japanese government to construct flood management facilities and strengthen rural infrastructures in haor areas to boost vulnerable farmers’ livelihoods.

Jail terms to be introduced for river polluters n Shohel Mamun A new law, which will introduce jail sentences against factory owners who pollute rivers, is being planned to protect the country’s rivers from industrial pollution.

Chaired by Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, a national task force on protecting rivers held a meeting yesterday, where it discussed the option of adding jail sentence on top of the existing rule of fining the polluters.

However, the length of jail term was not fixed at the meeting.

Under the existing law, factory owners are handed only fines for polluting rivers.

After the meeting, the shipping minister said mobile courts previously did not take any initiative against polluters, while only the Department of Environment carried out some drives.

“We will now include industrial pollution issues in the schedule of mobile courts,” he said.

Shajahan added that as financial penalties were not enough to prevent factory owners from polluting repeatedly, the government has decided to include jail terms as punishment.

The task

force also formed a committee to recover the grabbed areas of the Buriganga. The chief of the National River Protection Commission, Ataharul Islam, has been made the chair of the committee, while the officers of the ministries concerned will be included as members.

The committee was tasked with providing its recommendations within 30 days after visiting the original Buriganga channel.

Sources said a survey would be carried out to identify and punish those who had encroached on the river by moving previously erected boundary pillars.

The task force will also plan forestation and beautification projects on riverbank areas that had recently been recovered from land grabbers.

The task force also decided to allocate land on riverbanks for setting up offices for RAB and the police. l

Under this project, Jica will also lend $97m in the form of agricultural loans and agricultural training services to be provided through microfinance institutions to increase productivity and diversity of marginal farmers. l

BNP calls fresh 48 hours’ shutdown n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla After a brief pause the BNP-led 20-party alliance has called a fresh 48-hour nationwide general strike from today.

The shutdown will end at 6am on Wednesday. The opposition alliance, however, kept Dhaka and Chittagong city corporations out of the hartal’s purview due to the upcoming elections in the cities.

Barkatullah Bulu, BNP’s joint secretary general, in a press release called the shutdown on top of the ongoing countrywide transport blockade. The release demanded an early election under a non-partisan administration.

The BNP, which boycotted the January 5 national election, is making its preparations to contest in the city corporation elections scheduled for April 28. l

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