Thursday April 2, 2015

SECOND EDITION

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015 | Chaitra 18, 1421, Jamadius Sani 11, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 2, No 356 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 8-page Treehouse | Price: Tk10

CITY POLLS CANDIDATES COME UNDER SCRUTINY TODAY PAGE 3

BRTA OFFICIAL’S WIFE KILLED, 3 MORE INJURED PAGE 5

Blogger murders may be linked One of the two attackers was arrested earlier as member of the banned outfit JMB

n Mohammad Jamil Khan Detectives suspect that the killers and mastermind of the attacks on bloggers Oyasiqur Rahman Babu and Avijit Roy might belong to the same extremist group.

“Oyasiqur, who was not a regular blog writer, started giving posts on Facebook condemning the murder of Avijit. The two killers caught red-handed said in interrogation that they killed Oyasiqur for his anti-Islamic writings [protesting the murder of an atheist],” Monirul Islam, the DMP joint commissioner and spokesperson, said yesterday.

Oyasiqur was an admirer of Avijit. After the attack on Avijit and his wife – both US citizens – on February 26, Oyasiqur made the hashtag #iamavijit his profile picture and made an image of the hashtag #WordsCannotBeKilled his cover photo. He also expressed frustration in many posts that there had been little progress in the case.

On his Facebook account, Oyasiqur regularly wrote against irrational religious beliefs, superstitions and radical Islamists, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami. In 2013, as a supporter of the Shahbagh movement, he protested the arrest of four bloggers on charges of hurting religious sentiment.

Meanwhile, detectives say they have found the involvement of a “sleeper cell” in the attack on Oyasiqur. Although three people  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Captors of Oyasiqur’s killers fear being named n Adil Sakhawat A day after two trangendered people helped to capture two of Oyasiqur Rahman Babu’s three killers, the Begunbari transgender community to which they belong yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that the duo would not be publicly identified for fear of reprisals.

Two third-gender people, helped by other Begunbari residents, succeeded in capturing alleged killers, Jikrullah and Ariful Islam, before handing them over to police.

Oyasiqur was brutally hacked to death by three Islamist extremists wielding machetes.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

PAGE 3 Who is your future mayor?

Law enforcers take Zikrullah and Ariful – two alleged killers of blogger Oyasiqur – to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court yesterday seeking 10-day remand in the murder case MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Ruling alliance partners not on same page n Abu Hayat Mahmud and Tarek Mahmud

Awami League-led 14-party alliance is yet to reach a consensus over whether the partners will support common candidates or make individual endorsements in the upcoming city polls.

Partners made conflicting remarks on the issue after a meeting yesterday in which the alliance was supposed to make a decision in this regard.

Ruling party’s presidium member and alliance spokesperson Mohammad Nasim told reporters after the meeting that the partners were going to support the three mayor aspirants that alliance chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had selected.

However, when contacted, Sharif Nurul

PAGE 4 Top power plant falters during peak season

Ambia, general secretary of Awami League’s partner Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), told the Dhaka Tribune last night that no such decision had been made as yet.

“I was in the meeting, but not at the press conference. I have no idea why Nasim Bhai said that,” he said.

Ambia also said: “No definitive decision was made in the meeting about single candidates. We discussed what our strategy should be for the polls. If BNP comes, 14-party will back common candidates, but that will not happen without discussions. If BNP does not then the partners can make their own decisions.”

He said JSD is backing actor Nader Chowdhury in the north of Dhaka and Shahidul Islam in the south. Both of them are involved with

PAGE 5 HSC, equivalent exams begin today

the politics of JSD, which is led by Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu. Reserved female MP Shirin Akhter, also a presidium member of JSD, was present at the press conference but she did not oppose Nasim.

In the press conference, Nasim said that the 14-party alliance partners were also going to extend their support to the ward level candidates that Sheikh Hasina would finalise.

Hasina, also Awami League president, has already endorsed business tycoon Annisul Huq, former FBCCI and BGMEA president, for mayor of Dhaka north; Sayeed Khokon in the south; and AJM Nasir Uddin, general secretary of Awami League’s Chittagong city unit, for Chittagong.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PAGE 32 Indian police detain 4 Bangladeshis in nun gangrape case

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

reserve crosses Int’l communities concerned over Forex $23bn-mark again n freedom of expression Tribune Report

n Tribune Report Death of a second blogger within a span of barely one month triggered strong reaction from the international community with the UN expressing “tremendous concern” and European countries condemning the attack.

UN deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, during his regular briefing at the UN headquarters on Monday (Tuesday in Bangladesh) said: “…it is a matter of tremendous concern that different journalists and other intellectuals are being attacked.”

He said the UN has been calling for basic rights in Bangladesh, including the right to

freedom of expression when asked if the UN had any response to another blogger being hacked to death.

The European Union issued a statement condemning the murder of Oyasiqur Rahman, a liberal thinker.

“The Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh condemns the brutal assault and killing of blogger Oyasiqur Rahman...” EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon said in a message on Monday as reported by UNB. France and Germany have also condemned Monday’s murder of the progressive writer.

Paris conveyed its condolences to Oyasiqur’s family and relatives, said a press release of the French embassy.

France called upon the authorities to investigate these revolting acts and reiterated its commitment to freedom of opinion and expression, including online expression.

The German Embassy said it was an attack on the freedom of expression as this was already the second case of an assault against liberal bloggers within a month of the gruesome killing of Avijit Roy. Blogger Oyasiqur Rahman was hacked to death in the Tejgaon Industrial Area when he was on his way to work.

Blogger and science writer Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh born US citizen, was hacked to death on Dhaka University campus on February 26 by Islamist fanatics. l

The country’s foreign exchange reserve yesterday crossed $23 billion-mark again after it reached the level for the first time on February 26 this year.

It stood at $23.05bn – enough to meet import expenditure for more than six months, according to Bangladesh Bank figures released yesterday.

The figure was 20% higher than a reserve of $19.23bn registered on March 31 last year.

“Bangladesh will be able to face any type of internal and external economic shock with the present level of foreign exchange reserve,” the central bank said in a statement.

“The reserve is comfortable considering the overall economic situation of the country.

Yet, it needs to be increased further.” l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Ruling alliance partners not on same page Filmstar and former Awami League MP Sara Begum Kabari has also submitted nomination papers for the mayor in the north.

The problem of multiple leaders running for same posts is much more serious at the ward level for the Awami League. On an average, five Awami League leaders in each ward have submitted nomination papers for contesting in the councillor election.

However, things are less critical for the ruling alliance in Chittagong.

In a closed-door meeting at Hotel Peninsula in the port city yesterday afternoon, local leaders of the 14-party alliance reached a consensus to back AJM Nasir Uddin, Awami League’s choice for the polls there.

Chittagong-based JSD leader and lawmaker Moin Uddin Khan Badal informed reporters about the decision after the meeting.

Nasir, who is running in the polls under the banner of Nagarik Committee, was not present in the meeting although he is one of the top leaders of the alliance in Chittagong. l

Today with Dhaka Tribune

Captors of Oyasiqur’s killers fear being named The heroines of the day now fear for their lives. Members of their community told the Dhaka Tribune that if their names are published, they may be killed in revenge.

The Dhaka Tribune yesterday spent the day with the area’s transgender community led by Sapna Hijra, discussing their feats and fears in the aftermath of Oyasiqur’s murder.

They spoke as a group and did not divulge who among them actually took place in snaring the murderers.

Sapna Hijra is an influential person in the Begunbari area where the killing took place, and leads the trangender community that lives there.

At the time of the murder, they said, five transgender people were out collecting mon-

ey from shops in the Begunbari area, as they do every week.

When they saw Oyasiqur’s attackers running away, the hijras chased them, grabbing two while the third got away.

Police have said the two arrestees confessed to a role in the murder of Oyasiqur, but Begunbari’s transgender community remains wary of divulging too much to the media.

One trangender person told the Dhaka Tribune: “Our Guru Ma [Sapna Hijra] is now away from Dhaka. Without her permission we will not tell you who among us caught those killers that day.”

“The killers’ accomplices might attack us if we disclose their names to you,” another member of the community said.

Blogger murders may be linked directly took part in Monday’s attack, the investigators suspect that at least three to four other people were present around the spot to cover the assailants.

This modus operandi of silent killing is usually used by radical Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team where the executors remain in the dark about their superiors – who are the masterminds or coordinators of the attacks. Detained Zikrullah and Ariful Islam were able to give the names of only two other people whom they met the day before the attack.

Ansarullah members have been found to be involved in the murder of blogger Ahmed Rajeeb Haider. Detectives suspect that secular writer Avijit was killed by members of a similar sleeper cell.

Zikrullah and Arif said they had been instructed to kill Oyasiqur upon an order by their spiritual leader Masum to protect Islam.

Monirul said Masum, which could be a fake name, might have coordinated the attack.

In the Avijit killing case, investigators suspect Ansarullah member Redwanul Azad Rana, also charge sheeted accused in the Rajeeb murder case, as the coordinator. He is currently on the run.

It has been learnt that Ansarullah has prepared a hit list of 84 people including noted bloggers who took part in the Shahbagh movement of 2013. Of them, at least eight

people were killed in the last two years.

Monirul said they were suspecting Ansarullah for the attack on Oyasiqur as the organisation, after several murders, had claimed responsibility on websites and social media platforms.

“Interrogating the duo, we are trying to find Ansaullah’s link to the attacks on Oyasiqur and Avijit,” said Monirul, who is also the chief of DB police.

The detectives also found that Zikrullah had been arrested earlier in Narsingdi as a JMB member. It could not be confirmed whether he still was involved with the outfit.

Meanwhile, Zikrullah and Arif were taken into police custody yesterday after a court granted eight-day remand in the case, filed

by Oyasiqur’s brother-in-law Monir Hossain Masud.

Inspector Mizanur Rahman of Tejgaon industrial police, also investigating officer of the case, placed the duo before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Younus Khan seeking 10-day remand.

During the hearing, Zikrullah told the court: “Although we were involved in the murder of Oyasiqur, we do not know anything about Avijit killing. Oyasiqur was killed for making defamatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on Facebook which hurt us.

“But the person who attacked the

When told that the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) wanted to reward the duo for their bravery, the community still refused to tell the Dhaka Tribune their names.

Tejgaon Zone Police Deputy Commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We are looking for the two that caught the criminals to thank them. We have not yet found out who they are.”

Sapna Hijra, speaking to the Dhaka Tribune over the phone yesterday, said: “When I return to Dhaka, I will find out who caught the killers and then I can tell you their names.”

DMP Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam told reporters: “We are thinking about rewarding them for their courageous work. We applaud such bravery.” l

blogger [Oyasiqur] directly, fled the scene immediately.”

He claimed that Abu Taher had hacked Oyasiqur and fled the scene. He also said they had carried out the attack under the directives of Masum.

However, the police found two of the three machetes to have blood stains.

Monirul said the arrestees during the interrogation said they had attacked the blogger from a sense of religious responsibility and claimed it to be their first killing.

“The two arrestees are not experts in the use of the internet, blogging or Facebook. We can easily understand that someone might have instructed them to commit the murder.

This case may give us a breakthrough to solve previous killings,” he added.

Of the arrestees, police earlier claimed that Zikrullah was a student of Hathazari Madrasa in Chittagong – run by radical Islamist platform Hefazat-e-Islam, while Arif studied at Mirpur’s Darul Uloom Madrasa.

Hathazari madrasa authorities, however, claimed that Zikrullah was not their student.

Monirul said they were yet to confirm Zikrullah’s studentship at Hathazari madrasa.

Visiting Darul Uloom Madrasa, the Dhaka Tribune found that Arif was a second-year aleem (HSC equivalent) student. He had applied for 12 days’ sick leave on December 29 last year but did not return to his studies.l

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Police given major role in scrutiny n Tribune Report Police yesterday said they would send the details of criminal records of all the mayor and councillor aspirants of the upcoming Dhaka city polls to the Election Commission.

At a press briefing last evening in the DMP media office, Detective Branch (DB) of police chief Monirul Islam said: “The EC wanted to know if there is any criminal record against any of those who had submitted nomination papers for the elections. We will send those details to the EC by tonight [last night].

“However, we will need further investigation to know if any of the candidates have any case or complaint filed outside their electoral areas,” Monirul, also a joint commissioner of the DMP, told reporters.

The EC will scrutinise the nomination papers today and tomorrow. From today, representatives of police will be present at the election offices during scrutiny.

A senior DMP official told the Dhaka Tribune that during every election – both national and local, the EC holds meeting before scrutinising the nomination papers.

“But this is the first time in history that the law enforcement agency is being involved at such a massive level with the scrutiny process,” the official said.

The highlights of the long list of information that the EC has sought from the DMP includes number of criminal cases, type of crimes committed, and number of licensed and illegal arms in possessions. The EC also wanted to know if any of the nomination seekers are now underground or in jail.

Among the heavyweight aspirants, BNP leaders Mirza Abbas and Abdus Salam – just like many party colleagues – are now underground to avoid arrest. Their nomination pa-

pers were collected and submitted by representatives on their behalf.

Another BNP leader Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, a mayor aspirant for Dhaka south, is now serving life term in jail in the BDR carnage case.

DB boss Monirul said the EC has all the rights to make any decision under the election code of conduct in case an aspirant has any of the issues mentioned above.

If someone has a case but is out without bail then police will arrest him or her no matter how big a leader they are. Police will also keep those out on bail under close surveillance, Monirul said.

Although Monirul refused to say exactly how many names are there in their list, he said: “Most mayor and councillor aspirants have 30-40 cases against them...It is entirely up to the EC whether they will allow the candidates in hiding. The police have nothing to do in this regard.”

Asked whether they would launch any special drive before the polls, the DB boss only said: “A drive is already going on.”

Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Shah Newaz yesterday said that police do not need to seek the EC’s permission in case they want to arrest someone. He was talking to reporters at the EC office in the city’s Agargaon.

Asked whether aspirants accused in cases would be allowed to contest the polls, he said the commission has specific rules about who can take part and how they campaign.

He also said that the current commission has already successfully organised six free and fair city polls.

Asked what would happen to the ward councillor aspirants who failed to file their papers on time on Sunday, Shah Newaz said there was no scope for considering their cases. l

Activists of a progressive writers’ platform form a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday protesting the murder of blogger Oyasiqur Rahman DHAKA TRIBUNE

BNP team to meet EC today n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

A delegation of BNP will meet the Election Commission today to place its eight-point proposal that includes a demand for creating level-playing field for all in the city corporation polls.

A source at the BNP Gulshan office said the delegation led by the party’s Standing Committee member Jamiruddin Sircar will go to the EC. “Khaleda Zia has discussed the proposals with some senior leaders and finalised them,” the source said.

The other demands include immediate release of all the opposition leaders including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, action against violators of election code of conduct, steps to stop vote rigging and use of muscle power and recovery of illegal arms.

“Scrutiny of nomination papers has already started but supporters of the BNP-

backed candidates have not yet been able to take to the street. Almost all of its leaders are either in jail or in hiding because of cases filed against them,” said a senior BNP leader.

“Release and bails of those BNP leaders are very significant right now for a fair election.”

The party, however, in a press release signed by party Joint Secretary General Barkatullah Bulu, expressed hope that the EC would play its role to restore democratic process by creating a congenial atmosphere.

Party insiders also said pro-BNP professional platform Sommilito Peshajibi Parishad expressed their will to coordinate the city corporation polls as the pro-BNP civil society platform Shoto Nagorik does not have experience and capacity to do so.

Senior leaders of the party, however, said candidates would participate from such a platform that will work in coordination with the Shoto Nagorik Committee.

The platform will be announced on April 3. l

Who is going to be your future mayor? n Mohammad Al Masum Molla and Asif Islam The city corporation elections slated for April 28 will see nearly 12.5% of the country’s population exercise the franchise, offering not only a barometer reading on the state of the republic but also a glimpse into the current state of leadership in Bangladesh.

As the 18.5 million residents of the country’s three most populous city corporations go to the ballot box to elect their next chief metropolitan officer, citizens rightly ask: Who exactly are their would-be leaders?

The Dhaka Tribune has collated data on 59 of the 60 candidates for the three mayoral polls to answer this very question.

The wealth of information in the candidates’ nomination papers shows tremendous variety among the contenders for the Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Chittagong city mayoral race.

Representing an array of occupational and educational backgrounds, candidates appear to reflect the diversity of the constituencies

they aspire to serve.

Work-wise, the vast majority of the mayor aspirants, 37 to be exact, described their profession as “business.”

Just under half of the candidates, 28 to be exact, are at least graduates, meaning that they completed the tertiary level of education One, Sarah Begum Kabari, is an actress, while several other aspirants described themselves as writers, even though they did not describe how writing contributed to their incomes.

Descriptions of professions ran the gamut of occupations from ASM Akram, who is a rentier, to Bazlur Rashid Firoz and Abdulah Al Kafi, who described themselves as full-time politicians.

Another candidate described his work as being a politician but also listed writing as a profession.

Four wordsmiths joined a clothier in the competition for mayor, describing their occupations respectively as writer or poet, and tailor.

Journalists, travel agents, lawyers, wholesalers, contractors and publishers rubbed shoulders with each other in the match for the mandate.

One proud business proprietor, Abdul Khalek, named his nutritive product as his occupation – tehari, a rice casserole popular in the three metropolises. Another, who presumably offers nourishment of a spiritual kind, described himself as the Imam of a mosque.

Just under half of the candidates, 28 to be exact, are at least graduates, meaning that they completed the tertiary level of education.

Two candidates, Asaduzzaman Ripon and Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, identify themselves as PhD holders, while another two were

educated in the madrasa system and hold Master’s-equivalent Kamil degrees.

The remaining tertiary educated candidates include those who describe themselves simply as graduates as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s degree holders in the arts, commerce and sciences. Two have LLMs, and one, Bobby Hajjaj, is an MBA. Eight candidates describe their educational attainment as “self-educated” and two as “literate.”

Seventeen candidates say they received formal schooling up to the secondary level, ranging from the completion of class VIII to the completion of HSCs. This includes a number who completed their SSCs and one who completed the madrasa system’s Alim qualification.

Without making any scientific claims, it is probably fair to say that the breakdown of candidates’ educational and occupational backgrounds reflects the diversity of the citizenry who will choose their mayors from among them later this month. l

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

BD-US partnership, Top power plant falters during peak season security dialogue n likely in April Aminur Rahman Rasel

n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman The government is planning to hold the fourth Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue and Security Dialogue in April to boost relationship.

“We have proposed to hold the dialogues on April 30 and are waiting for the US approval,” a senior official of the Foreign Ministry told the Dhaka Tribune.

The fourth partnership dialogue will be held in Dhaka while the security dialogue will be held in Washington.

The venues were reversed in the third meeting.

In the partnership dialogue to be held in Dhaka, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque will lead the Bangladesh side while US State Department Under-secretary Wendy Sherman the US side.

“Wendy Sherman is currently busy with negotiation with Iran on nuclear issue and it is expected that it would be concluded very soon,” he said.

Both the governments will follow the format of last three dialogues and it is expected that no new issue will be included in the negotiation.

“We have lot of things to do and we need to consolidate the existing areas of cooperation,” the official added.

Dhaka is engaged with

Washington in a wide range of areas including trade, investment, assistance, security cooperation and people-to-people contact.

In the partnership dialogue, it is expected that both the parties would discuss three broad areas – development and governance, trade and investment, and security cooperation.

In cluster discussion, investment climate, energy, labour and terrorism issues will dominate the dialogue.

In the last partnership dialogue held in Washington in October last year, both the parties in the cluster discussion talked about strengthening democratic institution, civil society, rule of law, climate change, migration and Rohingya, science and technology, labour, blue economy peacekeeping and law enforcement.

Education, diaspora, culture, regional integration, human rights and security were also discussed. A joint statement had been issued after the dialogue.

Another Foreign Ministry official said the Fourth Security Dialogue is proposed to be held in Washington.

“We are working on it and hope to have a good meeting,” he said.

Last time, the Security Dialogue was held in Dhaka. l

14 evicted Hindu families get back land n Our Correspondent, Barguna Local administration and police yesterday reinstated 14 Hindu families on their land at Chandantola village of Taltoli upazila and started construction of houses.

A temporary police camp was also set up in the area to ensure security of the families, evicted by influential quarters over the last two years.

The families returned to the village around 11am amid presence of Deputy Commissioner Mir Jahurul Islam, Superintendent of Police Saiful Islam, Additional District Magistrate Habibur Rahman, Union Parishad Chairman Nazir Hossain Patwary and representatives of civil society and rights bodies.

At a views-exchange meeting organised by Community Police, local Awami League

leaders demanded punishment of Jubo League leader Zakir Hossain, his brother Abdus Salam who with the help of BNP leader Abdur Rashid for evicting the Hindu families.

Three families left the village and started living in Barguna town early 2013 in the face of torture by the three leaders and their cohorts, locals say. Two more families had to leave the area early last year while the nine other families on March 13 this year.

Each family was given Tk6,000, two bundles of corrugated iron sheets, 30kg rice, grocery items and food grains.

Moreover, the district administration has started installing deep tube-well while the public health engineering department constructing hygienic sanitary latrines. l

In the middle of peak demand season, the country’s largest public sector power plant has been temporarily shut down due to technical problems.

Power sector insiders said the disruption of the 412MW gas-fired Haripur Power Plant in Narayanganj will

have an impact on the country’s electricity supply.

“Production was halted on March 16 as its filter was damaged. We have already started maintenance work,” Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) Managing Director Mostafa Kamal told the Dhaka Tribune, adding commercial production is

likely to resume next month.

The plant was shut down due to technical glitches during its test run two years ago and has been switched off repeatedly since commencing commercial operations.

On August 24, 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the power plant’s operations. l

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

equivalent exams begin today BRTA official’s HSC, n wife killed, 3 more injured Tribune Report

Jamil Khan n Mohammad and Abid Azad

The assailant came to the flat of Sitangshu Shekhar Bishwas, deputy director of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, on Monday night with gifts and food to greet him on his belated birthday. He was apparently known to the family.

He gave Sitangshu juice, presumably laced with sedatives, that he had brought. After drinking the juice, Sitangshu fell unconscious, and then the man hit his head with a hammer.

As Krishna Kaberi Bishwas, 36, wife of the BRTA official, came to the living room with a boti, a unique kitchen sickle, the killer snatched it and hacked her on the head.

Stunned at the incidents, the couple’s daughters Adri, 6, and Shruti, 15, rushed to the living room of the second floor flat of a building on Iqbal Road, Mohammadpur to save their parents. They were also hit and eventually fled. Shruti informed their neighbours about the attack over land phone.

Before leaving the house, the killer switched off the light in the living room and set the room on fire. He also threw Krishna into the fire, Sanchita Bishwas, sister of Sitangshu, told the Dhaka Tribune quoting Shruti.

Krishna, who is a teacher at Mission International College in Adabar, Mohammadpur, was critically injured. The neighbours took the couple to Care Hospital at Asad Gate and later to Mohakhali’s Dhaka Metropolitan Hospital where Krishna

succumbed to her injuries around 3am.

Doctors said both Sitangshu and Adri were in a critical state from excessive bleeding and were being treated at the Intensive Care Unit. Shruti was recovering in a regular cabin.

Relatives, neighbours and security guard of the building identified the killer as Zakir Hossain, manager of a broker house named Hazi Ahmed Securities, who had been known to the family and visited them around 9pm on Monday night.

As the man identified himself at the reception, Sitangshu, whose birthday had passed several days ago, asked the guard to allow Zakir.

Sanchita said the attacker had addressed Sitangshu as “sir.”

Sitangshu’s neighbour Saber Ahmed said they had found the BRTA official and his daughters bleeding and lying on the floor.

“We brought them to our flat.

When I went to rescue his wife, we found the flat filled with smoke. I rescued her – burnt and bleeding severely,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Hailing from Rajbari, Sitangshu is a serving deputy director for operation in BRTA head office. Shruti is a grade X student while Adri reads in class II. Azizul Islam, OC of Mohammadpur police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that they were yet to learn about the motive behind the killing.

“We have got some clues and vital information from the victims’ relatives. We will talk to the victims once they get well.” l

7,500kg of jatka confiscated from city n Tribune Report Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday in a drive confiscated 7500kg of jatka from the capital’s Kawran Bazar fish market yesterday morning.

The elite force fined 11 fish traders Tk5000 each for selling jatka (hilsha fry) defying government ban.

Rab 2 operation officer Maruf Ahammed said on in-

formation they raided the Karwan Bazar fish market yesterday morning with the officials of Fisheries Department and seized 7500kg of jatka.

RAB 2 Magistrate Anisur Rahman fined 11 illegal fish traders Tk5000 each for selling jatka, said the official.

ASP Maruf Ahmed as the Pahela Baisakh is approaching fish traders are illegally selling jatka. l

The Higher Secondary Certificate exams begin today amid political agitations sponsored by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

More than 10 lakh students will take part in the HSC and equivalent exams this year – 67,490 fewer than last year.

The theoretical tests are scheduled to be held between April 1 and June 11; the practical exams will be held between June 13 and June 22.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday said the government decided to hold the exams as per schedules despite the ongoing political turmoil.

“We are holding this year’s exams in

an unusual situation in which the students are panicked,” he said. “The students will lose a year from their academic lives if the exams are not held on time.”

The 20-party alliance has called a 24-hour nationwide hartal for Thursday, while the Dhaka and Chittagong city corporations will remain out of the hartal purview. l

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Oishee’s friend gets bail n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to a suspect in the murders of Special Branch Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman, who were allegedly killed by their own daughter Oishee Rahman.

Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal 3 Judge Syeed Ahamed granted the bail to Oishee’s friend Mizanur Rahman Rony, 25, after hearing a bail petition.

Rony’s counsel Md Shahidul Islam said the investigation officer had brought allegation under section 112 of the penal code against Rony for sheltering the key accused; so the court granted the bail as Rony did not know about the murder.

“The main accused in the case – Oishee – also did not mention his [Rony’s] name in the confessional statement she earlier gave to the court under section 164.”

The tribunal has so far recorded depositions of four prosecution witnesses, out of 57, and has also fixed April 6 for the next hearing.

According to the case statement, the bodies of Mahfuzur and Swapna were found at their Chamelibagh residence in the capital on August 16, 2013.

On September 18, 2013, detectives arrested Oishee’s friend Rony.

On March 9 last year, DB Inspector Abul Khair Matubbar, the investigation officer of the case, submitted two charge sheets – one against Oishee and her friends Jony and Rony, and another against household help Sumi – before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

Later on November 12 last year, the case was shifted to the Speedy Trial Tribunal 3 in accordance to a Home Ministry decision. l

Rizvi on remand again n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was placed on a fresh three-day remand yesterday in a case of instigating vandalism and arson in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on January 18.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mustafizur Rahman passed the order when Sub-Inspector Markarias Das of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station, also the investigation officer of the

case, produced him before the court seeking a five-day remand for interrogation.

Meanwhile, the defence counsel sought his bail but the court rejected the bail petition after hearing.

With the fresh remand, Rizvi is now on 30 days of remand in several cases filed with different police stations in connection with vandalism and arson.

Rizvi was arrested by law enforcers on January 31 from a house in Baridhara. l

BOU publishes HSC results

German course for SSC examinees

Results of the first and second year final examinations of the Higher Secondary Certificate Programme under Bangladesh Open University have been announced in the grading system.

The results are available on BOU’s website bou.ac.bd. The first and second year results are available at exam.bou.edu.bd.

The results can also be accessed via mobile SMS. For this, Banglalink subscribers will have to type “bou<space>student ID” and send to 2700. The subscribers of other operators can type the same message and send to 2777 for the results. l

Students who have just taken their Secondary School Certificate examinations can now take a six-week German language course at Die Sprache, a German language teaching centre in Chittagong.

“SSC examinees have a lot of time before going to college. They can utilise this time to learn a new language,” said Die Sprache Director Joyonto Chowdhury at a press briefing yesterday.

Admissions will begin from April 8 and classes are scheduled to start from April 16. l

n Tribune Report

Correspondent, n Our Chittagong

DT

NEWS 7

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

4 drown, 9 missing in boat capsize n Our Correspondent, Chapainawabganj Four people died and nine others went missing as a boat capsized in the Padma River at Shibganj upazila under the district on Monday night.

The deceased were identified as Jonab Ali, 55, son of Eshak Ali of Monohorpur, Tazrin Khatoon, 17, daughter of Azizul Haque of Bheshapara village, Sumi Akhter, an SSC examinee and daughter of Arshad Ali of Raninagar village, and Rishad, 9, son of Nasir Uddin of Monkosha village of the upazila.

Local sources said a boat carrying 15-16 people and 7-8 cattle from Gaipara village to Monohorpur capsized in the middle of the river being hit by a stormy wind.

Although some of the people on board managed to ashore, several of them had remained missing since the boat capsize, said Durlabhpur UP chairman Abu Ahmed Nazmul Kabir Mukta.

Moinul Islam, officer-in-charge of Shibganj police station said on information, police forces had been sent to the spot and they had started rescue operation.

A rescue team started for the spot.

Local people were also continuing their rescue operation from night.

They became angry to the team for late protested the negligence of the authority concern. l

Elevated expressway work to begin after 3 missed deadlines n Shohel Mamun The proposed Dhaka elevated expressway have been facing uncertainties centring acquisition of a land in Kuril but the authority said the issue is in the process of being resolved.

The work for building the first phase of the expressway from the airport to Banani in the capital could not be started because of a complication in acquiring a 1.4 acre land in Kuril.

At least six multi-storied buildings stand on that land and the owners had filed a petition with the High Court.

According to Bangladesh Bridge Authority sources a mutual understanding was reached with the stakeholders with the help of Bangladesh Army regarding land acquisition for the first phase of the project.

Sources said the owners of the buildings have agreed to the government proposal for resettlement.

Today (Wednesday) Bridge division have arranged a workshop with the stakeholders of the land to finalise the resettlement action plan. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quder will preside over the meeting.

Asked about the construction start date, the Bridge division Secretary Khandaker Anowarul Islam said: “We are going to start the construction work immediately and we hope it will be complete by 2018.”

The elevated expressway project have already missed three deadlines in starting construction. In December last year the construction company Ital-Thai opposed to start work unless they had final confirmation about land

Mother, daughter hacked to death n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:14PM

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:50AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 32 32 33 32 32 32 30 31

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

24 25 23 20 23 24 20 24

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

33.8ºC Mongla

19.4ºC Syedpur Source: Accuweather/UNB

Unpaid for three consecutive months, workers of Hemstitch Design Garments stage a demonstration in front of the BGMEA building in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Rajshahi College students protest hike in fees n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

PRAYER TIMES Fajr

4:35am

Sunrise

5:50am

Zohr

12:03am

Asr

4:30pm

Magrib

6:14pm

Esha

7:31pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

acquisition. Earlier, the construction work was delayed for fund crisis.

In January 2011, the government signed an agreement with Bangkok-based Ital-Thai to build the four-lane expressway at a cost of Tk8,703 crore under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. After continuous fund crisis, last year the Ital-Thai Development Corporation Limited entered into a $1.062bn contract with China Railway Construction Corporation to build the Dhaka elevated expressway.

The proposed expressway starts at the Shahjalal International Airport and runs alongside the New Airport Road via Mohakhali, Tejgaon and Moghbazar to Kamalapur Railway Station and connects with the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway near Kutubkhali via Golapbagh and Jatrabari. l

The students of Rajshahi Government College went on a demonstration in protest at the increase in the fees of from fill-up on the campus yesterday.

Over 100 students started demonstration and chanting slogans against the authorities concerned around 11am. On information, a team from Boalia police station rushed to the campus and took the situation under control.

The agitated students alleged that the authorities concerned allegedly had increased the amount of fees for form fill-up of the third year final examination.

Several students of English department said the amount had been increased to Tk5,700 from Tk4,600.

It will be burdensome for a huge number of students who have come from poor and underprivileged families, said several students while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

The students also alleged that when they had gone to the principal of the college to register their complaint, Principal Hobibur Rahman got furious.

However, Principal Mohammad Hobibur claimed that the amount of fees was fixed by the higher authorities of National University. l

A woman and her daughter were hacked to death by unidentified miscreants in Pabur area under Kapasia upazila of the district on Monday night.

The victims were identified as Surjo Begum, 75, and Mabia, 40, inhabitants of Pabur village.

The mother and the daughter were sleeping in the house when they were killed at dead of night, Kapasia union chairman Asgar Hossain said, quoting the relatives of the victims.

Kapasia police station Officer-in-Charge Ahsan Ullah said, on information, police went to the spot and recovered the bodies.

The bodies were to Gazipur Shahid Taz Uddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

However, the police and the locals could not ascertain the reason behind the murder immediately.

The assailants took away some money from the house, the relatives said. l

Two to die for killing minor girl after rape n Our Correspondent, Netrakona A Netrakona court sentenced two people to death penalty for killing a minor girl after rape three years back.

Judge of Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Dr AKM Abul Kashem gave the verdict against Ali Hossain and Mamud Hossain.

Both of them are the residents of Horipur village at Dhormopasa upazila, Sunamganj.

According to the prosecution, the convicts raped Shabnur, 10, daughter of Jahangir Alam, a resident of Atithipur village, after taking her in a jute field and later killed her on July 14, 2012.

Later, police recovered the body from the field the following day.

Father of the victim filed a case with Netrakona Sadar police station accusing Ali Hossain and Mamud Hossain. l

DT

8 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

CONSEQUENCE OF BLOCKADES, HARTALS IN THAKURGAON

Demu train services suspended for 85 days n Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon Commuters suffer as the Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (Demu) train services on Parbatipur-Thakurgaon and Parbatipur- Lalmonirhat routes have remained suspended for 86 days due to security reasons.

Authorities of Bangladesh Railway (BR) had stopped the plying of the Demu trains on the routes on January 5 when the BNP-led 20-party alliance enforced blockade across the country.

The BR’s officials in Thakurgaon told the Dhaka Tribune that they stopped the train

services to avoid any attack on the trains by pro-blockade and pro-hartal activists.

Shamsul Haq, a station master of BR in Thakurgaon, said they stopped plying of the trains to ensure security of the passengers.

Maleka Parvin Bithi, a lecturer of Abul Hossain Sarkar College, was a regular commuter of the train on Parbatipur-Thakurgaon route.

“I used to travel by the train regularly to go my college. But now I am facing various problems as the train service has remained stopped for about three months,” she said.

Shahdat Hossain, a student of Thakurgaon

Village women are seen doing household chores with the water of a deep tube well installed under Barind Project in Bhimarpara village of Godagari upazila in Rajshahi yesterday. People of the Barind tract have been immense suffering for a few days for lack of water due to falls in underground water level.

Almost all the ponds, canals and even tributaries have dried up AZAHAR UDDIN

Delay in getting power connections puts 400 farmers in difficulties n Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon About 400 Thakurgaon farmers have been struggling to bring their land under Boro irrigation for long as the local power authorities have allegedly ignored to give power connection to newly-installed 101 deep tube-wells for long.

Consequently 3,000 hectares of the farmers under five upazilas remain out of the irrigation net.

Sources said this may impact production set by the agriculture office.

On the other hand, many farmers have started setting up shallow pumps for irrigation which will eventually double the production cost.

The local agriculture office set a target of 245,393 tonnes of rice from 61,859 hectares for the current Boro season.

Barind Multipurpose Development Authorities last year installed 107 deep tubewells in the upazila to ensure smooth Boro cultivation.

Of them, only 6 managed to get electricity connection as both Barind and local power authorities are locked in blame game in this regard.

Farmers Tawhidul Islam and Abul Kasem in Sadar upazila said almost eight months had elapsed since the tube-wells were set up.

They were facing much trouble as they had earlier sold their shallow machines expecting electricity connection.

Another farmer named Shahaduddin said his production cost had doubled as he began to irrigation with shallow pumps. Rather, delay in irrigation might decrease his production volume as well, he continued.

Joyanti Sarker, from Bhomradah village in Pirganj upazila, said they welcomed the project to get low cost irrigation facility, but their dreams faded away want of electricity connection.

Farmers, namely Dipo Rai and Joyesri, from the upazila, said ten shallow machines are needed in lieu of only one deep tube-well.

Thakurgaon Palli Bidyut Samity General Manager (GM) Khalekuzzaman denied the allegation of delay in electricity connection, saying they did not receive any application in this regard from the Varendra authorities.

Those applications placed for deep tubewell connection to them already secured permission, the GM continued.

On the contrary, Varendra Multipurpose Development Authority Executive Engineer Shahidur Rahman termed the claim of GM Khalekuzzaman baseless. l

Government College, was another user of the train service.

“Now I have to travel about 30 kilometers by bicycle from my home to the college. Its really difficult to attend my classes by driving bicycles,” he said. “I cannot pay attention to my study at home as I become tired to travel to my college and home,” he added.

AKM Lutfar Rahman, officer-in-charge of Parbatipur Railway police station, said no subversive activities could take place in the area because of active role of the law enforcers.

“We will ensure necessary securities if the

railway authorities resume the train services,” he said.

On August 27, 2013, Railway Minister Mujibul Haque inaugurated the Demu train services at the Thakurgaon Railway Station.

With three bogies, the train can carry 300 passengers – 149 sitting and 151 standing.

The train on Parbatipur-Thakurgaon rout stops at five stations at Chirirbandar, Dinajpur, Setabganj, Pirganj and Thakurgaon.

Meanwhile, the train on ParbatipurLalmonirhat route stops at Kholahati, Badarganj, Rangpur, Kaonia, and Lalmonirhat. l

DT

LONG FORM 9

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Breaking Britain n Tim Steel

R

eturning from Bangladesh in time for the 2015 General Election, apart from the evident absence of a continuous threat of political mayhem, endangering life, limb, and commerce, there is a palpably familiar air in the United Kingdom. In a word, uncertainty.

With two major parties lunging at each other’s throats, with large, and growing numbers of political fragments snapping around them, the citizens may well ask themselves how, through a fog of media induced confusion of threats and drama, can they sensibly take a view which can most probably offer the leadership required to plan and deliver a prospect of a better sustainable world in which to live in the future United Kingdom.

The difference, of course, is that the sun still seems to be rising on a thriving future for the lands that, once before were a centre of world economic development in Bangladesh, at the heart of which lies one of the world’s earliest and most prosperous centres of trade. But, in Britain, there seems to be a real prospect that the sun may, finally, be threatening to set on the last vestiges of “the empire, upon which the sun never sets.”

Ironically, perhaps, an empire of which these lands of Bangladesh were, undoubtedly, a foundation stone.

The usual kind of opening skirmishes characterise the onset of the eighth week before election day on May 7.

Accusations of taking of illegal donations for election funds have already erupted, and school yard standard of parliamentary abuse about who could, would, and should participate in televised debates assail the eyes and ears in what should probably be properly referred to as the “Views Media.” Intelligent, objective coverage of political issues, already in short supply, may be regarded as a seriously endangered species!

With so many weeks to go before polling day, such abuse seems already in the gutter; how much lower can it go? But it all makes apparent drama and conflict upon which the media thrives! From whether the Labour leader has two kitchens in his modest London home, to whether the present prime minister has been too close to such criminals as his former press adviser and unprosecuted bankers still evidently misappropriating funds in undeserved bonuses, spice the stories.

However, this election is being fought a scarce 200 years after the famous Battle of Waterloo, that might be said to have consolidated the international supremacy of the British Empire since the Battle of Plassey. An empire in the making, that would thrive for another century, and then commence the decline to Little Britain, this may yet come to be regarded as the last election to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and its place as a leading member of the European Union, and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

With high opinion polling for parties who wish to pull in such polarised directions, of exit from the European Union, and the fragmentation of the United Kingdom, this could well prove to be an election that will go down in history.

Elections since the end of World War 2, that brought the British Empire to its end, have, by and large, been fought on domestic

BIGSTOCK

But, in Britain, there seems to be a real prospect that the sun may, finally, be threatening to set on the last vestiges of ‘the empire, upon which the sun never sets’

issues, from “The Pound in Your Pocket,” to the provision of citizen health and welfare at all stages of life.

The last five years, however, has seen the most inequitable reverse of economic security for most voters in modern times, with the poorest estimated, over the past five years, to have become over 50% poorer, and the wealthiest over 60% wealthier. The very evident decline in the ability of the world famous National Health Service now appears, possibly, to have reached a terminal stage, and this, certainly, looks set to be a major issue in the election campaign. Even in the dying weeks of this government, massive privatisation contracts have been announced for the NHS. Strangely, the possibility of Britain making its final exit from any international alliance, in which it has always dominated, and even the stark reality of the breakup of the Union,

something roundly defeated by involved voters a mere six months ago, seem not to be debatable at the present stage of the campaign, representing, “elephants in the room,” visible to few. However, the fairly inevitable consequence of what all pollsters presently predict to be the “tartan wash” of Scottish politics, seems, slowly, to be emerging as an issue to occupy most voters’ attention, more as a possible effect on the make up of the next UK government than on the virtual certainty that independence will be, rapidly, back on the agenda, leading inevitably, to that fragmentation.

The “No more Tories” appeal of last September’s referendum in Scotland, which threatened, then, to precipitate the breakup of the British Union, was then resisted on practical grounds. The subsequent performance of the London-based coalition government, however, has confirmed sceptics in

the suspicion that the Tories, in fact, sought, “No more Scotland,” where Conservatism has never truly flourished, and, instead, provided the foundations of almost all Labour Party governments in the UK parliament. Excluding Scotland from that parliament would probably give the Conservatives an almost continuous majority.

Parliament, of course, has yet to be prorogued; that will take place at the end of March. The only real effect of this is that, until the election is “called”... since legislation in 2010 set a firm future timetable for elections to “prevent opportunist manipulation of the date, giving an apparent advantage to incumbent governments” ... the date has been known, constituency campaigns may not commence use of funds they will be required to account for in declaration of expenditures within the legal limit for such local activity.

Posters, therefore, have not begun to sprout from hedgerows and in front gardens, as committed voters declare their allegiances.

It seems, to most UK citizens, therefore, something of a “phoney war,” with the background grumble of the sounds of conflict evident in the media, but no real evidence of activity on the ground.

This will certainly change as soon as the election is called. The telephones will ring off the hook with telephone banks of canvassers disturbing the peace of bewildered householders; letter boxes will be stuffed with leaflets, personal messages from candidates, and newspapers claiming the objectivity of such print to urge support for one candidate or another.

As usual, such activity will, doubtless, lead to confusion, and probably assault the defences of indifference. Scratch most potential voters and the polls, and experience tells us that the likelihood of actually voting on the day will still be at a low level.

For commentators, who can see past the immediacy of such issues as the future of the National Health Service, in the management of which neither of the major parties have a track record to excite credibility, or the likelihood of massive profiteering by privatised utility suppliers being tackled, or the conspicuous abuse of position by those seeking votes being curtailed -- the prospect of such seismic change as the fragmentation and international isolation of the nation that once ruled a third of the world through an empire in which, somewhere every day, the sun always shone, there is a growing depression.

Anyone who had stood upon the beach at Cox’s Bazar, and watched the sun dip slowly below the horizon, having, momentarily, perhaps, been photographed cupping the red orb in their hand, may just appreciate the sense of the inevitable loss of a light that once burnt so brightly, that appears to threaten this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island.

Well might the great eighteenth century English poet, Percy Bushe Shelley’s immortal words resound throughout Britain, not to mention the political halls of USA, Russia and China, especially, “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.” l Tim Steel is a Communications and Marketing Consultant. His half century experience in politics includes speechwriting, research and consultancy to two Labour Party prime ministers and leaders of the opposition.

DT

10 WORLD

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Palestinians join ICC with Israelis in sights

n AFP, Ramallah, Palestinian Territories The Palestinians formally gain membership of the International Criminal Court yesterday with the aim of pursuing Israelis for war crimes, despite uncertainty over the move’s wider ramifications.

The accession is another step in the Palestinian diplomatic and legal international campaign, which gained steam in 2014.

It has uncertain consequences, not only because it is highly unlikely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israelis will find themselves being tried at the ICC, but also because it constitutes a new deterioration in the strained relationship. But the Palestinians are beyond caring.

Exasperated after decades of failed negotiations with Israel, with no perspective for the state they have been yearning, they have decided to take their case to the international arena.

On January 2, the Palestinians moved to join The Hague-based court in a process that will be finalised on April 1, setting the scene for potential legal action against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. l

‘Heaviest’ Arab raids rock Sanaa n AFP, Sanaa Explosions lit up the skies over Yemen’s capital overnight in the heaviest bombing raids yet in

A Yemeni man looks at his house in ruins near Sanaa Airport yesterday

Iran seeks nuclear deal but not normal ties with ‘great satan’ n Reuters, Lausanne, Switzerland Iran is not expected to normalise relations with the United States even if Tehran reaches agreement with world powers on its nuclear program, officials and analysts said.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are trying to reach a deal with Iran aimed at stopping Tehran being able to develop a nuclear bomb in exchange for an easing of sanctions that are crippling its economy.

Loyalists of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, drawn from among Islamists and Revolutionary Guards who fear continued economic hardship might cause the collapse of the establishment, have agreed to back President Hassan Rouhani’s pragmatic readiness to negotiate a nuclear deal, Iranian officials said.

“But it will not go beyond that and he (Khamenei) will not agree with normalising ties with America,” said an official, who spoke in condition of anonymity.

“You cannot erase decades of hostility with a deal. We should wait and see, and Americans need to gain Iran’s trust. Ties with America is still a taboo in Iran.”

Tension between the hardline and pragmatic camps over the nuclear talks has reduced in recent months since Khamenei publicly backed the negotiations.

However, Khamenei has continued to give speeches larded with denunciations of Iran’s “enemies” and “the Great Satan”, words aimed at reassuring hardliners for whom anti-American sentiment has always been central to Iran’s Islamic revolution.

Khamenei, whose hostility towards the Washington holds together Iran’s faction-ridden leadership, remains deeply suspicious of US intentions.

a six-day operation led by Saudi Arabia, which hit out at Iran for supporting Shiite rebels.

The coalition has vowed to keep up the strikes until the Huthi rebels end their up-

But despite disagreement over Iran-US ties, Iranian leaders, whether hardliners or pragmatists, agree that a nuclear deal will help Iran to rebuild its economy.

Relations with Washington were severed after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and enmity to the United States has always been a rallying point for hardliners in Iran.

“As long as Khamenei remains Supreme Leader the chances of normalising US-Iran relations are very low. Rapprochement with the US arguably poses a greater existential threat to Khamenei than continued conflict,” said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

“After three decades of propagating a culture of defiance against the US, it will be curious to see whether and how Khamenei spins a nuclear compromise as an act of resistance, not compromise.”

“There are different views among top officials over the normalisation of ties with America when the nuclear dispute is resolved. But the Supreme Leader is against it,” said another Iranian official. “And he is the decision-maker.”

Economically, the stakes are high, meaning that while Khamenei needs to keep the hardliners on side, a nuclear deal is a price he seems willing to pay.

Iran is under UN, US and European Union sanctions for refusing to heed UN Security Council demands that it halt all enrichmentand plutonium-related work at its nuclear sites.

The sanctions have severely damaged the Iranian economy, halving oil exports to just over 1 million barrels per day since 2012 while the country is also struggling with a sharp decline in international crude prices. l

AFP

rising against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.

The fighting has sent tensions between Sunni Arab nations and Shiite Iran soaring, even as marathon nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers in Switzerland enter a crucial final phase.

The Huthis and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, “decided with the support of Iran to destabilise Yemen,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Tuesday.

“We are not warmongers but when they beat the drums of war we are ready,” Saud told the Shura Council advisory body, according to its Twitter account.

Kuwait’s Al-Watan newspaper launched a vitriolic attack against Tehran, describing the air strikes as “the biggest blow to Iran in decades.”

The coalition campaign “raises hopes of a historic success for the Arabs and a rout of one of their worst enemies: the Persian state,” added the daily.

Huge blasts were heard overnight in Sanaa when coalition forces hit a missile depot belonging to the renegade Republican Guard, which is loyal to former strongman Saleh.

“Sanaa lived through a day of terror due to

DT

WORLD 11

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Near miss for Etihad, Emirates flights over Mumbai airspace

n Tribune Desk

Emirates flight EK-706 was heading to Dubai from Seychelles while Etihad flight EY-622 was on way to Seychelles from Abu Dhabi when they came tantalisingly close over Mumbai airspace, sources said.

A possible mishap involving aircraft of two Gulf carriers over Indian airspace early on Monday was averted when the Mumbai ATC alerted one of the commanders, aviation sources said on Tuesday.

The incident involving Emirates and Etihad Airways was reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which has started its investigation, the sources said.

While Emirates confirmed the incident in a statement from Dubai, Etihad when contacted said it will respond soon.

The incident occured on the intervening night of March 29 and 30, when Emirates flight EK-706 was heading to Dubai from Seychelles while Etihad flight EY-622 was on way to Seychelles from Abu Dhabi. l

Politics spoils meat festival in India’a Kolkata n Tribune Desk It was billed as a unique protest against the ban on cow slaughter in some Indian states.

However, politics has cast a spoiler on what was to be the Kolkata’s show of defiance against the assault on taste.

While it’s despair for those who had planned to let their eating do the talking and send across a subtle yet clear message by sampling the delectable kebab and tandoori spreads at the fest yesterday, the organisers aren’t likely to die wondering and have begun preparing for a legal battle against the venue authorities for cancelling the event.

The event, planned by Leftleaning NGOs at Muslim Institute on Park Street, was to host over 1,000 people. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya and veteran Congress leader Abdul Mannan were to be among the high-profile guests at the event.

Experts caution reality check on joint Arab force n AFP, Cairo Despite an agreement at a weekend Arab summit to establish a joint military force, serious doubts remain that it will become a reality on the ground, experts say.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the accord on Sunday at the end of the summit he hosted in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, setting a four-month timeframe for the 22-member Arab League to decide on the composition and rules of engagement of the joint force.

“The notion of a truly joint Arab military force still remains an aspiration rather than a reality,” said Frederic Wehrey, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He said it faced “inter-operability problems, political distrust amongst the states and a lack of realistic training”.

A host of questions remain unanswered, starting with how many member states would participate and the strength of the force.

Key decisions also have to be made on whether it would be a permanent force, on where it would be based and its command structure.

“I don’t think there is a lot of substance to this force,” said James Dorsey, a Middle East analyst with the Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of Inter-

national Studies.

“Despite the statements of unity, there are vast differences between the Arab states and that was evident with the situation in Yemen,” he said.

The Arab League has for months stressed the “pressing need” for a joint force to combat “terrorist groups” such as Islamic State group jihadists.

But the Saudi-led Arab air strikes launched last week against Yemen’s Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels have highlighted the divergent interests and priorities of the League’s members.

For Sunni-majority countries, the Huthis’ military advance in Yemen was a step too far, following the spread of Shiite Iran’s influence in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

“The problem is that this force can be seen as a Sunni Arab force. It must therefore prove that its actions will not be guided by sectarianism,” said Mathieu Guidere, professor of Arab geopolitics at France’s University of Toulouse.

“Some countries will negatively view any interference in their domestic affairs, and perceive it as a threat to national sovereignty,” Guidere said.

Iraq, whose Shiite-led government is allied with Tehran, was the only Arab state to officially express reservations about the joint force at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit. l

While the venue authorities were tightlipped on why the event had to be cancelled, sources said they had to yield to political pressure.

A Trinamool MP claimed an obvious political motive behind hosting the event and said it was a CPI(M) ploy to draw minority votes in the KMC (Kolkata Municipal Corporation) polls.

Organisers said they would move court against the venue authorities for giving in to political pressure and canceling the event.

“We sense a conspiracy by the ruling Trinamool Congress. We were told by authorities of the Muslim Institute that the event had to be cancelled at the very last moment. We see this is as Trinamool’s covert support to the BJP on the ban on cow slaughter. We’ll move court against the venue authorities for canceling the event,” former CPI(M) councillor Faiyaz Ahmed Khan, who was to be one of the principal organisers of the event, told HT on Monday. l

Aligarh: ‘Ganesha’s wife’ worshipped in Aligarh

n Tribune Desk

A baby girl born with a “trunk” has become a big attraction in Aligarh, where people are flocking to worship her. They believe her to be an incarnation of lord Ganesha.

The child was born last Thursday with a protuberance between her two eyes which people believe resembles the trunk of the elephant god. l

Pakistan to get 8 submarines from China

n Tribune Desk

Naval officials informed the Pakistani Standing Committee on Defence Monday that the federal government has endorsed a summary to get eight submarines from China.

Pakistan's military has long been a major importer of defence equipment, particularly from key ally China. After the Cold War ended Pakistan began to deepen defence and economic ties with China. l

DT

12 EDITORIAL

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Avijit’s case needs independent inquiry

I

t is concerning that the three-member probe committee formed to look into the allegations of negligence by law enforcers during last month’s murder of Avijit Roy outside Dhaka University has found “no fault” among on-duty police personnel.

While it had previously said some on-duty officials had not performed their duties properly at the time of the attack, the committee is now stating only that there may have been defects in co-ordination.

At the time, it was widely noted that when Avijit and his wife Bonna were attacked, a number of on-duty policemen standing close by did not act to stop or apprehend the assailants. Given the high profile security attached to the book fair location at the time, this pointed to negligence on the part of officers stationed nearby. This point has now been reinforced by the help shown by courageous members of the public in apprehending the suspected attackers of Oyasiqur Rahman.

Speaking at a public meeting after the attack, a prime ministerial adviser had publicly recommended to the inspector general of police that the probe needed to “identify black sheep among the force” and hold them to account.

The probe committee consisting of police officials appears however to have interpreted the case in a defensive and narrow manner.

An independent inquiry is needed to make sure necessary lessons will be learned to prevent future negligence by law enforcers. Anything less will fail to reassure the public this case is being fully addressed, and any failings will be held to account.

Police probe fails to reassure especially now members of the public apprehended the attackers of Oyasiqur Rahman

Shipping minister needs to show results

T

he new law introducing jail sentences for factory owners who pollute rivers will only be effective if properly enforced.

It is certainly vital that government does more to protect the country’s rivers and waterways from industrial pollution. But while it is true existing penalties and fines have not proved adequate to reduce the growing pollution of our waterways, the real problem lies not in the absence of stringent enough laws, but in the ineffective policing and enforcement of these laws.

The Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan who announced the new jail sentences, has repeatedly failed to do enough to protect our rivers.

His poor track record of handling past crises includes his ineffectual response to December’s oil tanker capsize in the Sela river, which inundated environmentally precious sanctuaries in the Sundarbans.

Now, instead of correcting the ministry’s former mistakes, there is tough talk of jail terms being added as a disincentive. This will not help if there is no improvement in enforcement and accountability.

Past faults in the upholding of anti-pollution laws need to be addressed across all government ministries and agencies.

If we are indeed serious about saving our rivers, we need tangible action to ensure proper enforcement of laws that sees perpetrators brought to book. Tougher laws can help, but to do good we need better systems and accountable politicians to make sure they are fully enforced.

Accountability and enforcement key to saving rivers

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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Maldives: A new democracy in crisis March 21

concerned We need further awareness about the recent violence in the Maldives against Bangaldeshi expatriates ... two deaths and three stabbings in less than a week! Bangaldeshis wanted to protest, but the government threatened to revoke the work permits of those who protest. guiburi Kangaroo court, banana republic. bithufangi The writer did not mention the Nasheed case, there are more questions to that. matter Ex-president Nasheed, who claims that he did not abduct criminal court’s chief judge, had indeed, during his presidential term, met with security forces following the abduction of the Judge, and admitted his deed. He ordered the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) to kidnap Judge Abdulla Mohamed, and to detain him at an MNDF training base, Girifushi, without any legal documents or evidence, or notifying a court.

Judge Abdulla Mohamed’s family, the whole nation, and the courts were deliberately kept in the dark about the judge’s whereabouts. Judge Abdulla Mohamed was also deprived of all fundamental human rights for nearly a month.

Some international organisational views are different. Like HRCM, they investigated the Criminal Court’s Chief Judge abduction case during that time and they sent a charge sheet to PG to charge them with abduction and kidnapping. The prosecutor general charged the case against Ex-president Nasheed in 2012. Under powers conferred upon the same under Article 223 of the constitution, the prosecutor general withdrew the earlier charges on February 17 filed against ex-president Nasheed under Section 81 of the Penal Code 1968, and re-filed the same case at the male criminal court on February 22.

The charge against the four co-accused

in the matter was also refiled on the same grounds with similar amendment. Among the co-accused include inter alia, ex-president Nasheed’s former defense minister, chief of defense force, and the commander of the male area.

Sobe bithufangi: Abdulla Mohamed was abducted by the country’s security forces by order of the head of the state, as the judge became a national security threat?

The judge released a suspected murderer, who had criminal records and who was convicted for several other criminal acts, for not getting official documents of the death case from Ministry of Health.

Judge Abdulla Mohamed also, on another occasion, had asked an underaged rape victim to recall the rape case in detail in the court room and perform some of the acts of the said rape case. He also asked the minor to touch her body parts, which is a shame to the whole judicial system.

The judge was arrested or abducted by the national security forces as he became a national security threat. President Nasheed should be given a fair trail. This whole case is biased and baseless and President Nasheed was arrested and Jailed for 13 years for political reasons -- ie to eliminate President Nasheed from contesting 2018 presidential election.

Ibrahim Sobe: If someone is a threat to national security, he should be arrested, not kidnapped, and he should be guaranteed basic rights for someone who is arrested. He must be presented to the court in 24 hours. His family must be notified about his whereabouts.

Just because the president thinks someone is a threat to national security, he can’t order the military to dislodge him from his house in the middle of the night.

Iit’s unconstitutional, unlawful, and simply unjustified.

DT

OPINION 13

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

20 years after Beijing n Nausheen Khan

H

as it really been 20 years? How far have we come?

These were the questions that came up during the two weeks I spent at the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations.

2015 is a special year for several reasons. It is the expiration date for the Millennium Development Goals and the adoption of a new post-2015 development framework that proposes a comprehensive set of goals entitled “Sustainable Development Goals.” 2015 also marks the 20-year anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women that was held in Beijing in September 1995 that produced the historic Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This is considered to be the “most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights.”

I was not present in Beijing, and did not have the opportunity to be a part of the energetic, passionate, and dedicated civil society and NGO community of 30,000 activists that gathered to establish gender equality and empowerment of all women, everywhere.

However, I was fortunate to be one of the 9,000 registered civil society representatives from across the world that flooded New York during the first weeks of March to discuss the progress since Beijing, experiences and best practices from the field, what challenges were encountered, and what the next steps should be.

As a CSW first-timer, I found that it was just as easy to get confused with the UN jargon and the different negotiations and processes as it is to get lost among the thou-

sands of participants who are trying to keep up with their delegations, their colleagues, or the item that is next on the agenda.

However, what I found most useful in navigating through this labyrinth is joining one of the various caucuses that aim to influence the member states into formulating and adopting critical policies that affect our lives and our futures.

I actively participated in the process through the Women’s Rights Caucus, which included representatives of feminist and women’s organisations and organisations working to promote the full realisation of the rights of women and girls.

We were extremely dissatisfied with the way we have been excluded from both the negotiation of the political declaration and the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) Methods of Work resolution. The growing concern emerges from the fact that the civil society is being strategically and intentionally restricted from the different negotiations, shutting off our collective voices, and preventing us from holding our governments accountable to the commitments they have made.

Some of the tactics employed included pre-negotiating the Political Declaration for CSW59, preventing NGO observers from attending the negotiations of the agreed conclusions, placing the NGO interventions at the end after the government interventions during the general debates, when many member-states have already left the conference room, limiting the participation of (diverse) NGOs at the panels, roundtables, interactive dialogues, and so on.

The Women’s Right Caucus “counts on UN Women and member states to stand with us

in ensuring our seat at the decision-making table so that we can make sure that nothing is discussed about us without us.”

From two weeks of deliberations among member states, delegates, civil society, activists, parliamentarians, ministers, major groups, and stakeholders on the topic of gender equality, several themes or narratives emerged.

Although tremendous progress towards gender equality has been made, many of the gains are under threat due to grave challenges, which include economic inequalities, climate change, conflict and displacement, violent extremism, and so on.

Another narrative placed forward by many western and emerging countries is the idea that investing in gender equality is smart economics and results in monetary benefits in terms of higher economic growth.

Although this may be true, this notion is problematic because of the fact that gender equality is first and foremost a human rights issue. I believe that using monetary benefits to entice member states to invest in gender equality is not the right approach, and this idea, although motivational, can have negative consequences and undermine the gender equality and women’s rights movements.

Data, data, data -- in order to monitor progress and make policy recommendations, we need data disaggregated by gender, age, race, ethnicity, geographical location and setting (urban vs rural), socio-economic status, and so on.

Although statistics are crucial, it is also important to take note of the qualitative changes and a number of new digital tools, such as social media, which could be the best

approach to track and publish these changes through storytelling. Last but not least, another important message that has been resonating for years is the importance of involving men and boys into the conversations and actions around gender equality.

We have been reiterating that gender equality is not a women’s issue and evidence from the different interventions have shown that involving the 50% can have positive benefits not just for women, but women and men alike. As we reflect upon the last 20 years and envision the next 20 years, what we need is strong political will and a comprehensive accountability mechanism for monitoring and review of the actions of both state and non-state actors, including multi-lateral institutions. l Nausheen Khan is a democracy and human rights activist working at Khan Foundation.

Law, outlaw, and brother-in-law n MJ Akbar

A

perplexed question: Through which kink in our Freudian sub-strand has “saala” become a vituperative pejorative across the Indian subcontinent?

We may be divided by caste, creed, colour, community, and country, but there is unprecedented unity within our cultural and linguistic commitment to “saala.”

You could be speaking in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, or indeed our healthy local variant of English, and “saala” (or “shala” in Bangla) will find its place on the roll of dishonour. You could run a course in an acting school over the many forms of intonation we use for this ubiquitous term.

Why? I don’t know. After all, it means nothing more exciting than a younger brother-in-law, a fairly humdrum relationship in most families.

Does “saala” represent some deep, dark, mysterious guilt or desire whose meaning is beyond the collective ability of psychoanalysts?

Its overt meaning, however, is plain enough. When used in a fit of rage or outrage, it acquires a special virulence. Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi, fashionable hero of middle class moralists, and sacred hope of the capital’s newly-dispossessed, used it to describe the two men he currently loathes, his former comrades Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.

He added “kameena” to the angry lexicon, dismissing their challenge as vicious betrayal. The froth bubbling through his voice meant that this pent-up lava has been waiting on an opportunity to burst out.

Kejriwal, Bhushan, and Yadav constituted the triumvirate who created a party that has had the rare distinction of converting two very local victories into national news. Bhushan was the quiet ideologue, Yadav the chief strategist, and Kejriwal was the public campaigner and therefore presumptive leader.

Success was a result of complementary skills. Without Bhushan and Yadav’s help, Kejriwal could not have reached where he has.

But success is cruel, where failure is sympathetic, for triumph feeds the ego where defeat blunts its impulses. Kejriwal was happy, even anxious, to share street space with his mentors during the phase of agitation and struggle.

The podium is another story. The acronym for AAP becomes a very polite “you” in Hindi, and this happy pun was used effectively in the plea for votes. In power Kejriwal’s message is blunt. AAP has become “me.” It is now Kejriwal’s party. Others serve at his pleasure.

He is not a first among equals. He is simply the first. Period.

Details of any divorce are titillating for a few minutes, and utterly boring thereafter. But since the acrimonious AAP divorce involves disputes over property rights, the

interest will last a shade longer.

And because sanctimony is among the claimed assets, arguments will also be holier than thou. It is already noticeable, however, that only the faction without power is laying any claim to morality. The Kejriwal lot, with one field marshal, 66 brigadiers, and ebbing platoons of infantry, has already told rules and regulations to take a running jump. Its new catechism is realpolitik.

This change took shape during the recent Delhi election campaign. Kejriwal collected funds without questioning the colour of that cash or the source of at least four Rs500,000 cheques that walked, without a crutch in sight, into his picnic hamper.

He sought money from dubious characters seeking a ticket, another dutiful homage to convention. His candidates distributed liquor to voters before polling day, as the police will testify in court.

What is interesting is Kejriwal’s repeated, livid, assertion that Bhushan and Yadav are “kameena” because they did their best to sabotage the party’s victory in Delhi. How precisely? Neither Bhushan nor Yadav said anything harmful about Kejriwal in any election speech or press conference.

They kept quiet about their reservations.

We can only assume therefore that they must have been vocal in private, telling Kejriwal to maintain the values of integrity and transparency which was part of their commitment to

the people.

Bhushan and Yadav thought this was their party’s USP. Kejriwal was equally convinced that only Kejriwal was the USP. The rest is semantics.

The debate over whether the party should remain Delhi-centric or be more expansionist is irrelevant. Kejriwal has decided that theoretical idealism was good for initial ballast, but will not serve in either preserving the party or running a government.

He has given virtually every MLA a loaf or a fish from the basket of power. They are ministers or parliamentary secretaries. What precisely is the function of the second category? Who knows? Who cares? But you will get a car and an office and bragging rights.

When Kejriwal was sworn in as chief minister in 2014, he sang a number from a Dilip Kumar movie: Insaan ko insaan se ho bhai chara, yehi paigham hamara. He refrained from music in 2015, but he could have considered another Dilip Kumar song: Saala, main to sahab ban gaya ...

In Arvind Kejriwal’s revised Model Code of Conduct, the destiny of brothers-in-law is the gloom of exile. Any brother ready to become a conventional outlaw, however, is most welcome. l MJ Akbar is an Indian journalist. He is the founder of The Sunday Guardian. This article was first published in The Sunday Guardian.

DT

14 OPINION

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Politics can be a bit like cricket

REUTERS

The right umpires n Aaqib Md Shatil

A

t last, the BNP, desperately counting on its international friends to put an end to the current political stalemate, has found two new friends in Aleem Dar and Ian Gould -- who have made the prime minister of the country, Mrs Sheikh Hasina Wazed, understand the necessity of fair umpiring in a game.

It seemed that the prime minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has realised how important it is to have fair umpires to ensure fair play on the field on March 19, when the national cricket team of the country faced India in their quarter-final match on Melbourne Cricket Ground. After the match, our PM remarked that the national cricket team of India would not have been able to defeat Bangladesh had there been no umpiring errors.

The comments came after the shocking defeat of Bangladesh by India in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 due to some very controversial and partial decisions of the umpires who were assigned to foresee the match. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) backed the umpires and their controversial calls in the field.

Let us take a look at what happened one year and three months ago, on January 5, 2014, when an election was held leaving half of the population of the country disenfranchised and letting 21 people die within 24 hours on the election day.

The election was largely boycotted and deeply disputed as only 12 of the total 40

registered political parties had taken part. 153 members of the parliament were elected uncontested in that election, while not a single vote was cast in at least 40 polling centres.

The Bangladesh-India match reminded many of the January 5 election

The turnout was low, while reports of extensive rigging were found on the pages of national dailies on the very next day of the election. Though the Election Commission had estimated that the turnout was 40%, unofficial accounts suggested that the turnout never exceeded 20-30%. London-based magazine The Economist termed it a farcical poll.

The “umpires” of that poll, the election commissioners, were criticised for their role during the election. 19 candidates, mostly rebels of the ruling party, boycotted the polls alleging massive rigging. However, their “ICC,” the interim government led by the AL chief, backed the Election Commission by thanking them for conducting the election.

The Bangladesh-India match reminded

many of the January 5 election. And for those who argue that BNP should have participated in the January 5 polls, the second quarter final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 can be an eye-opener.

Had BNP joined the polls, they would have been made to lose it, the way Bangladesh was made to lose against India. And after the poll, with no possibilities of change in the result, there would have been a crying BNP, shocked by the result, angry over the whole thing, just like Bangladesh was after the match.

The BNP’s participation in the election could have hardly made any change; rather, it would have given the poll the credibility it needed. Boycotting the election was the best possible option the BNP had.

Let us compare these two events again: In cricket, umpiring errors are not a very rare case, in other words, controversial decisions of the umpires, especially in matches against the comparatively weaker teams, are very common in cricket. But when it comes to the World Cup, the tournament from where the cricket world gets their champion for the next four years, the umpires need to be very careful on the field.

The same goes for the elections in Bangladesh. Voting errors, rigging, stuffing, etc are not very uncommon experience in Bangladesh, especially during the local government elections. But when it comes to the national election, the whole process must be carried out fairly and by a credible authority, since national elections decide who the ruler of the country will be for the next five years. There are undoubtedly certain differences between

a local body election and a national election.

A neutral and credible authority is a must to foresee the national one.

In the quest for a credible authority to conduct the national election, it was AL who led a movement and established the caretaker government system in 1996. And again it was the AL who scrapped it from the constitution in 2011 after a Supreme Court appellate division verdict. The abolishment of the caretaker government system sparked violent protests all across the country, and ruined the economy in the process.

On the other hand, hundreds of people have been killed either by bomb attacks or by police firing, while a handful of opposition leaders and activists, including a former state minister, have been forcefully disappeared since the abolishment of the caretaker government system came in effect. A non-stop blockade has been carried on by the opposition throughout the country since January 5 of this year, which has rendered district-level businesses dysfunctional.

It is high time we realised the actual crisis in Bangladesh, which has emerged due to the lack of trust between the parties. Bangladesh is badly in need of a number of fair umpires, a credible authority to foresee the next general election, whenever it takes place. And dialogue must be initiated between the major political parties to sort it out. The sooner, the better. l Aaqib Md Shatil is an Executive of Brand Development at Build Better Bangladesh Foundation.

16

German inflation creeps higher in March

17

Oil prices to stabilize as demand rises

19

Stocks post modest gains with high trading

20

DT

Business

15

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

NBR pre-budget talks begin today

Ecnec okays grid expansion project to facilitate power imports from India n Tribune Report

With the political violence on the streets easing, the supply chain across the country is slowly becoming normal

Cautious comeback for business as political violence eases n Kayes Sohel Business got back its rhythm amid cautious mood as the violence eased but the political turmoil continues to deepen, according to people involved with the supply chain.

Suppliers and traders opined that supply of food grains and industrial raw materials across the country was restored but fear of return of violence still hunted them due to the rolling transport blockade and shutdowns.

“We are back to business,” said Rustom Ali Khan, general secretary of Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Owners’ Association.

But some stray incidents still happened, which scares us, he said.

Transport cost also fell compared to before and during political violence, as demand for vehicles declined due to the ongoing lean season for exports, he said.

About compensation announced by the government for vehicles damaged in arson or vandalism during blockade and hartals, he said this compensation only covers 25% of their losses.

After weeks of deadly arson attacks by anti-government protesters enforcing transport blockade, commercial vehicles have slowly begun to return to the streets and highways due to strong monitoring of law-enforcing agencies.

Three months of the widespread violence

across the country has left at least 118 people dead, extended a stranglehold on the economy and cost the country thousands of crores.

The transport blockade called by the BNPled 20-party alliance demanding a neutrally administered national election has continued non-stop for the past three months.

“Trucks loaded with vegetables are now plying as like as before,” said a vegetable trader Mohammad Abdar from Chuadanga district.

“At least 10 to 12 trucks left Dhaka tonight, which is quite normal in this period. The number will increase when new crops in summer season will be harvested,” he added.

A factory owner said: “A couple of our production sites are located out of the city. Our supply chain remains unaffected throughout the week but we are closely watching the situation.”

Abdul Matin, a trader in the city’s Karwan Bazar, said around 500 trucks were now entering the Karwan Bazar wholesale market every day. The number dropped to below 200 just one month ago.

“Vehicles, of which 60% from the northern districts, are coming here from across the county,” said Matin who belongs to North Karwan Bazar Beboshayi And Jono Kollyan Samity, a platform of the local traders.

At present the fare of a truck carrying goods from Dinajpur to Dhaka ranges between

RAJIB DHAR

Tk12,000 and Tk14,000, which was over Tk 25,000 several days back, according to him.

Nizam Uddin, a trader in the city’s Badamtoli wholesale rice market said goods-carrying trucks are now available in the city.

“But businesses affected by the blockade is yet to recover losses,” said Nizam, also general secretary of Badamtoli Chal Aratdar Malik Samity, an association of rice wholesalers.

“We are still afraid of political violence.”

Nizam said the farmers have badly been affected by the blockade as they failed to ship their produces to the capital and other places of the country as the transportation cost soared.

He also said rice import from India was an additional pain for the farmers. l

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www.dhakatribune.com

A project of Tk1,404.8 crore has been approved for the expansion of Bangladesh-India (Bheramara-Baharampur) existing grid line to import an additional 500 megawatt of power from India.

The approval was given at the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting held at the NEC conference room yesterday.

Power Grid Company Bangladesh Limited (PGCB) will implement the Bangladesh (Bheramara)-India (Baharampur) grid connection project by June 2018 with the Asian Development Bank providing Tk844.88 crore as project assistance.

The project works include construction of 12 km Bheramara-Ishwardi 230 KV double circuit transmission line, including river crossing, construction of Bheramara 500MW HVDC back-to-back substation.

The project was one of six development projects approved at the meeting. The total value of the projects is Tk52,778.11 crore.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan said of the total project cost, Tk40,481.75 crore will come from the national exchequer, Tk117.76 crore from the respective organisation’s own fund and the remaining Tk12,178.60 crore will be received as project assistance.

Replying to a question, the state minister said the import of power from India through this grid interconnection would be a win-win situation for both Bangladesh and India.

The Ecnec meeting also approved another project titled Tripura (India)-Comilla south substation (Bangladesh) grid interconnection project at a cost of Tk179.45 crore.

PGCB will implement the project by June 2016 under which Bangladesh would import 100MW of power from Palatana power station of Tripura through Comilla south power substation. l

DT

16 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Euro under pressure on jitters over Greece debt deal n AFP, Tokyo

The previous month, the consumer price index had risen by just 0.1% on a 12-month basis, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement

REUTERS

German inflation creeps higher in March n AFP, Frankfurt Inflation in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, crept higher in March, driven by rebounding energy prices, preliminary data showed on Monday.

The national consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.3% year-on-year in March, up from 0.1% in February, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.

But the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) -- which is the yardstick used by the European Central Bank - was also back in positive territory, rising by 0.1% year-on-year in March, compared with a drop of 0.1% the previous month.

Nevertheless, both numbers are way below the ECB’s target of 2%, which the central bank defines as price stability.

The March data are still only preliminary, since they are based on consumer price statis-

tics from only six out of Germany’s 16 regional states.

Final data including all 16 states will be published on April 15, Destatis said.

Analysts said the data should offer some hope that the eurozone can avoid a dangerous deflationary spiral of falling prices, since energy prices - which have fallen sharply in recent months - are now back on the increase.

The modest pick-up in inflation “was driven by a modest rebound in the oil price, amplified by the weaker euro,” said Berenberg Bank economist Christian Schulz.

Commerzbank economist Marco Wagner agreed.

“According to our calculations, this increase is mainly attributable to energy prices, which have been rising again since February,” he said.

“We assume that the inflation rate in Germany will continue rising in the course of the

year. Energy prices will probably start to increase more quickly around mid-year. Moreover, labour costs, which are accelerating in part due to the minimum wage, will also intensify the underlying inflation pressure,” Wagner said.

The Commerzbank economist predicted that German inflation could reach around 2% by the end of this year.

Capital Economics economist Jennifer McKeown said she expected energy prices “to continue to exert a heavy drag on the headline rate for the next six months or so, which may see headline inflation dip back into negative territory in the near future. But the drag should ease somewhat later this year.”

Given the relative strength of the German economy, “there is little risk of sustained deflation in Germany. And temporary falls in inflation and price cuts should have positive effects” on the economy, McKeown said. l

The euro drifted lower in Asia yesterday with investors following talks between debt-hit Greece and its international creditors as Athens looks to reform its bailout obligations.

In Tokyo, the single currency slipped to $1.0813 and 129.92 yen, from $1.0825 and 130.10 yen in New York, while the dollar was at 120.16 yen against 120.18 yen.

Experts from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union are scrutinising a list of reforms that Athens has proposed in its bid to get the creditors to release 7.2bn euros in much-needed loans that will help it avoid a default.

Greece’s government says the reforms would help raise an extra three billion euros for its coffers without resorting to wage and pension cuts.

But European authorities warned Monday that there was still no deal.

“We’re not there yet,” European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters. “This is why the talks should benefit from further fact-finding in Athens that should continue.”

A defiant Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers late on Monday that he wanted a deal but would not submit to creditors unconditionally.

“We seek an honest compromise with our partners, but do not expect us to sign an unconditional surrender,” he said during a parliamentary grilling on the negotiations.

Tsipras swept to power on a pledge to end the austerity measures imposed as part of a bailout by Greece’s creditors, which Athens blames for hammering the economy.

“There are still differences between what Greece is apparently prepared to offer in the way of further reform and what the Brussels group... is seeking before the... funds are made available,” National Australia Bank said in a note.

“This is sounding like a well and truly broken record, but it is what it is. More meetings are planned... to work through their differences.” l

Japan denies plan to join China-led development bank n AFP, Tokyo Japan yesterday ruled out any immediate plan to join the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), categorically denying a news report that its ambassador to China said Tokyo is likely to take part.

The Financial Times reported that Masato Kitera, Tokyo’s envoy in Beijing, said in an interview Japan is likely to join the AIIB within a few months, a move that would leave Washington as the only big holdout. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said yesterday the ambassador had not made any such comment and Japan’s position on the AIIB had not changed.

“I have been informed that it is not true that Ambassador Kitera made such remarks forecasting (Japan’s) participation,” Suga told a news conference.

The report comes just before the end-March deadline China has set for participation in the bank

as a founding member.

Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia have all said they intend to join the Beijing-headquartered $50bn institution, despite scepticism in Washington and Tokyo. China’s neighbour and long-time foe Taiwan said Monday it would also make a formal application to join.

“Japan is dubious about whether (the AIIB) would be properly governed or whether it would damage other creditors,” Suga said. Japan is a key player in the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which would be a rival. “Anyway, I think it’s impossible for Japan to take part today,” the government’s top spokesman said, adding that Tokyo would work together with Washington, its top ally, and other countries to ask Beijing for clarification.

The new multinational lender is seen as a threat to the World Bank and the ADB, two institutions that are heavily influenced by the US and Japan.

Washington has been left increasingly isolated

in its opposition to the AIIB, which opponents claim could end up as a Chinese vehicle that has low standards on governance, the environment and social issues. President Barack Obama’s administration has waged an intense but low-profile lobbying campaign against it, but has watched with frustration as allies around the world pile in, with some hoping to curry favour in Beijing and others not wanting to miss out on a lucrative part of the world.

China is expected to foot the bulk of the initial money needed to get the AIIB started, with donations from other members set to increase the size of the overall fund to more than $100bn.

Taiwan to apply to join AIIB Taiwan will submit an application to join the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) yesterday, despite historical animosity and a lack of formal diplomatic relations between the island and China.

In a statement released late on Monday, Taiwan presidential office spokesman Charles Chen said joining the AIIB will help Taiwan in its efforts at regional economic integration and raise the possibility of joining other multinational bodies.

It was not immediately known whether Beijing would accept Taiwan’s application to join the AIIB. The bank is seen as a significant setback to US efforts to extend its influence in the Asia-Pacific region and balance China’s growing financial clout and assertiveness. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan due to pressure from China.

Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.

China set a Tuesday deadline to become a founding member of the AIIB, prompting a rush of nations including Russia, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands to announce their intent to join. A total of 42 countries have applied, Taiwan’s statement said. l

DT

BUSINESS 17

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Pump jacks are seen in the Midway Sunset oilfield, California

Oil prices to stabilize as demand rises n Reuters Oil prices should stabilise in the second half of this year and rise in 2016 and 2017 as consumers respond to a period of much cheaper fuel, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday.

The survey of 34 analysts predicted North Sea Brent crude LCOc1 would average $59.20 a barrel in 2015, up from around $55 so far this year. The forecast is up just 20 cents from the projection in last month’s Reuters survey.

Brent is expected to rise to $72.10 in 2016 and $78.70 in 2017, the poll showed.

Oil prices fell more than 60% between June 2014 and January, and although they have

Google unveils unified email for Android users n AFP, San Francisco Google said Monday it was updating its mobile Gmail app for Android device users to allow them to manage multiple email accounts from a single program.

“Starting today, you’ll be able to view all your mail at once, regardless of which account it’s from, using the new ‘All Inboxes’ option,” Google software engineer Regis Decamps said in a blog post. “This way, you can read and respond to all your messages without having to hop between accounts.”

The new app will aggregate email from rival services such as Yahoo and Microsoft Outlook, among others. Gmail had allowed users to access multiple accounts from desktop computers, but the new app aims to seamlessly integrate the various email services in a unified inbox with search and preview capability. l

recovered a little since then, they are still around half their level a year ago.

This has encouraged motorists to make more use of their cars and let factories and other businesses boost fuel consumption.

London-based consultancy Energy Aspects expects world oil demand to rise by up to 1.5 million barrels per day this year. That’s double the rate of oil demand growth seen last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

“Strength is broad-based,” Energy Aspects analyst Virendra Chauhan told Reuters Global Oil Forum. “On-road diesel demand has continued at a stellar pace.”

Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Daniela Corsini

agreed, saying the rise in consumption appeared to be worldwide.

“Global oil demand will surprise upwards, driven by the United States, China and emerging Asia,” Corsini said.

Increasing demand should help absorb any extra oil coming onto the market from Iran, if it can agree a nuclear deal with the West that would bring an end to sanctions.

And some analysts see demand outstripping supply.

“The global market is expected to move into supply deficit in the second half (this year), with that deficit reaching 1 million bpd in the fourth quarter,” Standard Chartered an-

IDC: Apple Watch to spark wearable tech growth n AFP, Washington Wearable technology devices are seeing a growth surge that is likely to continue over the next few years, helped by the soon-to-bereleased Apple Watch, a market tracker said Monday.

IDC said it expected some 45.7 million wearable tech gadgets to be shipped globally this year, up 133 percent from 2014.

By 2019, the research firm sees volumes of 126.1 million units, or an average growth pace of 45%.

Propelling the market higher will be devices like the Apple Watch, along with other smartwatches like Motorola’s Moto 360, and Samsung’s Gear watches.

Wrist-worn wearables, including bands, bracelets, and watches, will account for more

than 80% of the market over the coming years, IDC said. But it also sees strong growth in smart clothing - shirts, socks, hats, and other products with computing power - along with connected eyewear and earwear.

“Smart wearables are about to take a major step forward with the launch of the Apple Watch this year,” said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas.

“The Apple Watch raises the profile of wearables in general and there are many vendors and devices that are eager to share the spotlight. Basic wearables, meanwhile, will not disappear. In fact, we anticipate continued growth here as many segments of the market seek out simple, single-use wearable devices.”

IDC analyst Ryan Reith said that fitness bands, the early leader in wearables, have come down in price and are now being bundled with smartphones at little cost. l

REUTERS

alyst Paul Horsnell said.

Standard Chartered, one of the most bullish banks, expects Brent to average $76.00 in 2015.

Twenty of the 32 analysts who contributed to both the February and March Reuters polls left their 2015 Brent forecasts unchanged. Six of them increased their outlooks, with equal numbers seeing lower prices.

European investment bank Barclays raised its Brent forecast for 2015 by $7 to $51, the biggest increase by any contributor.

The poll forecasts US light crude CLc1 will average $53.60 a barrel this year and $66.50 in 2016. l

IBM to invest $3bn in Internet of Things unit n Reuters International Business Machines Corp said yesterday it will invest $3bn over the next four years in a new ‘Internet of Things’ unit, aiming to sell its expertise in gathering and making sense of the surge in real-time data.

The Armonk, New York-based technology company said its services will be based remotely in the cloud, and offer companies ways to make use of the new and multiplying sources of data such as building sensors, smartphones and home appliances to enhance their own products.

For its first major partnership, IBM said a unit of the Weather Co will move its weather data services onto IBM’s cloud, so that customers can use the data in tandem with IBM’s analytics tools. l

DT

18 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

News, analysis and recent disclosures PHOENIXFIN: The Board of Directors has recommended 20% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 21.05.2015, Time: 11:30 AM, Venue: Muktijuddho Smrity Milonayaton (1st floor), Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, 160/A, Kakrail, VIP Road, Dhaka-1000. Record Date: 13.04.2015. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 1.64, NAV per share of Tk. 20.59 and NOCFPS of Tk. 3.81 for the year ended on December 31, 2014.

CONTININS: The Board of Directors has recommended 10% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 01.06.2015, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: Spectra Convention Centre Ltd., House 19, Road 7, Gulshan 1, Dhaka-1212. Record date: 16.04.2015. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 1.66, NAV per share of Tk. 17.51 and NOCFPS of Tk. 1.71 for the year ended on December 31, 2014.

DELTASPINN: WASO Credit Rating Company (BD) Ltd. (WCRCL) has announced the entity rating of the Company as BBB1 for long term and P3 for short term along with a stable outlook based on latest audited financial statements of the Company for the year 2013-2014 and other relevant quantitative and qualitative information of the Company.

GPHISPAT: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to issue Rights shares at the rate of 1R:1 at an issue price of Tk. 20.00 (including premium of Tk. 10.00 each) on paid up capital subject to approval by shareholders in EGM and the Regulatory Authorities. Date of EGM: May 5, 2015, Time: 11:30 AM, Venue: Hotel Agrabad, Chittagong. Record date April 9, 2015. The purpose of the Rights Issue is to enhance Production Capacity of MS bar and Section product. Another record date for entitlement of the proposed rights shares to be notified later after obtaining approval from BSEC. SINGERBD: The Company has further informed that the 35th AGM of the Company will now be held on April 30, 2015 at 10:00 AM instead of April 28, 2015. Other information of the AGM will remain unchanged.

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 UNITEDINS: 10% cash, AGM: 26.04.2015, Record date: 09.04.2015.

EASTLAND: 10% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 31.05.2015, Record Date: 08.04.2015.

RUPALIINS: 10% cash and 5% stock, AGM: 27.04.2015, Record Date: 08.04.2015.

APEXFOOT: 55% cash, AGM: 30.04.2015, Record date: 09.04.2015.

ISLAMICFIN: 8% cash and 4% stock, AGM: 14.05.2015, Record Date: 09.04.2015.

Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

Company BD Fixed Income MF-A Hwa Well Textiles-A Global Insurance -A IDLC Finance -A Jute SpinnersA Bangas -A Khulna Power-A BDCOM Online-A ICB AMCL3rd NRB MF-A Delta Brac HFCL-A

Closing (% Change) 9.26 6.69 6.21 6.07 6.00 5.95 5.89 5.35 5.13 5.07

CSE GAINER Company Monno Ceramic -B IDLC Finance -A Rahima Food -Z National Tea -A BDCOM Online-A MutualTrust Bank-A Sonargaon Tex -Z Bay Leasing.-A Bangas -A Khulna Power-A

Closing (% Change) 10.00 8.85 8.16 7.50 6.69 6.52 6.38 5.79 5.61 5.58

DSE LOSER Company Bangladesh Welding -Z Modern Dyeing -Z Dhaka Bank -A National Feed-N Bangladesh Lamps -A Monno Ceramic -B Agrani Insurance -A Imam Button -Z Ambee Pharma -A Desh Garments -A

Closing (% Change) -6.02 -5.70 -4.40 -4.12 -3.91 -3.85 -3.80 -3.74 -3.72 -3.52

CSE LOSER Company Midas Financing-Z Asia Pasific Insu. -A Prime Islami Life -A Sandhani Life -A NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A Bangladesh Welding -Z SonarBangla Insu. -A National Feed-N Pragati Gen. I -A Ambee Pharma -A

Closing (% Change) -9.92 -8.59 -6.08 -5.08 -4.88 -4.85 -4.38 -4.10 -3.78 -3.70

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

DSE key features March-31, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka)

DSE GAINER

Sector

4,527.23 87,837,044 106,947

Traded Issues

314

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

111

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

194

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,533.12

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.70

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 241.95 125.54 30.38 492.08 242.76 1085.78 2.80 391.79 760.55 8.08 112.90 26.10 12.48 225.74 207.42 21.04 71.60 329.12 35.72 102.65 0.75

% change 5.34 2.77 0.67 10.87 5.36 23.98 0.06 8.65 16.80 0.18 2.49 0.58 0.28 4.99 4.58 0.46 1.58 7.27 0.79 2.27 0.02

Million Taka 18.10 138.31 3.34 40.29 7.25 66.21 45.27 31.37 1.77 9.13 2.34 1.59 23.06 12.19 0.63 0.93 24.80 8.24 15.17 0.00

Average (% Change) 9.26 4.28 4.94 6.57 6.00 3.61 3.20 3.46 1.50 2.68

Average (% Change) 10.00 7.71 8.24 7.50 3.70 3.04 6.38 3.47 2.98 2.93

Average (% Change) -7.18 -5.06 -1.12 -3.78 -2.92 -3.17 -3.75 -3.46 -2.58 -2.41

Average (% Change) -9.77 -8.59 -6.08 -5.41 -1.97 -4.85 -3.35 -3.70 -3.97 -3.34

CSE

ClosingAvg. 5.90 29.26 14.87 51.73 53.00 354.02 63.48 25.15 4.05 77.04

ClosingAvg. 26.40 52.13 31.80 752.50 24.95 14.25 10.00 25.07 353.30 63.19

ClosingAvg. 15.52 75.00 17.58 23.70 114.00 25.07 15.16 10.32 331.05 77.66

ClosingAvg.

% change 4.02 30.74 0.74 8.95 1.61 14.71 0.00 10.06 6.97 0.39 2.03 0.52 0.35 5.13 2.71 0.14 0.21 5.51 1.83 3.37 0.00

11.82 14.90 52.50 55.81 3.98 15.70 15.30 23.92 35.53 327.51

Closing 5.90 30.30 15.40 52.40 53.00 359.60 64.70 25.60 4.10 78.80

Closing 26.40 52.90 31.80 752.50 25.50 14.70 10.00 25.60 359.60 64.30

Closing 15.60 74.50 17.40 23.30 112.90 25.00 15.20 10.30 325.70 76.80

Closing

DHIGH 5.90 30.80 15.40 53.40 53.00 362.00 64.90 26.00 4.10 79.80

DHIGH

5.90 27.00 14.00 49.60 53.00 341.00 61.40 24.50 4.00 74.80

DLOW

26.40 53.40 31.80 752.50 25.80 15.10 10.00 25.90 362.00 64.70

DHIGH

26.40 49.40 31.80 752.50 24.00 13.70 10.00 24.00 338.60 61.90

DLOW

16.50 80.00 18.00 24.80 117.20 25.30 15.40 10.50 341.00 80.70

DHIGH

11.80 14.90 52.50 56.00 3.90 15.70 15.30 23.40 35.60 325.10

Million Taka 260.05 263.85 33.73 532.38 250.01 1151.99 2.80 437.06 791.92 9.85 122.03 28.43 14.06 248.80 219.61 21.66 72.53 353.92 43.96 117.82 0.75

DLOW

15.00 74.40 17.30 23.10 111.50 24.50 15.00 10.00 322.70 76.10

DLOW

11.90 14.90 52.50 56.00 4.00 15.80 15.30 24.80 35.60 331.50

Total

11.80 14.90 52.50 55.80 3.90 15.60 15.30 23.20 35.50 322.50

% change 5.22 5.30 0.68 10.70 5.02 23.15 0.06 8.78 15.91 0.20 2.45 0.57 0.28 5.00 4.41 0.44 1.46 7.11 0.88 2.37 0.02

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

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

0.005 3.550 1.374 43.782 0.000 59.985 197.822 17.365 0.128 3.808

Turnover in Million

0.48 2.66 1.12 4.95 -43.64 5.54 6.36 1.68 0.46 4.26

Latest EPS

0.020 2.037 0.001 0.001 0.146 0.144 0.002 0.153 2.275 9.132

Turnover in Million

12.3 11.0 13.3 10.5 -ve 63.9 10.0 15.0 8.8 18.1

Latest PE

0.20 4.95 -0.42 -6.49 1.68 2.60 -0.84 2.28 5.54 6.36

Latest EPS

3.152 0.030 1.303 15.527 3.009 0.201 0.437 0.065 9.137 3.760

Turnover in Million

Latest PE

132.0 10.5 -ve -ve 14.9 5.5 -ve 11.0 63.8 9.9

Latest PE

0.44 -0.50 1.36 1.37 1.13 0.20 1.97 -1.48 4.68 1.82

Latest EPS

0.007 0.001 0.007 0.005 0.024 0.065 0.002 2.223 0.004 0.295

35.3 -ve 12.9 17.3 100.9 125.4 7.7 -ve 70.7 42.7

Latest PE

-3.24 2.32 4.95 2.12 0.32 0.44 1.77 1.37 2.47 4.68

-ve 6.4 10.6 26.3 12.4 35.7 8.6 17.5 14.4 70.0

CSE key features March-31, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

449.99 18,923,658 16,232

Traded Issues

244

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

96

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

139

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,440.07

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.58

DT

BUSINESS 19

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Stocks post modest gains with high trading n Tribune Report

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company MJL BD Ltd.-A Grameenphone-A ACI Limited- A Khulna Power-A LafargeS Cement-Z Shasha Denims -N Square Pharma -A Ifad Autos -N Agni Systems -A BATBCL -A

WesternMarine -N ACI Formulations-A Shahjibazar Power-N DESCO Ltd. -A Pharma Aids A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A

VolumeShares 3,310,944 823,691 377,204 3,116,210 1,700,120 4,235,764 592,823 2,169,899 4,376,988 34,333

Value in Million 439.51 295.28 203.01 197.82 191.66 180.16 154.88 141.54 140.33 108.34

% of TotalTurnover 9.71 6.52 4.48 4.37 4.23 3.98 3.42 3.13 3.10 2.39

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

2,422,948 505,923 409,097 1,151,974 230,156 2,022,154

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

Shahjibazar Power-N Agni Systems -A ACI Formulations-A Zaheen Spinning -N SummitAlliancePort.-A Ifad Autos -N Square Pharma -A

10,937,401 252,003 579,417 171,513 404,837 42,382 337,145 19,340 78,107 144,520

39,784 222,667 42,486 267,490 100,773 74,674 18,534

107.66 79.35 76.17 73.97 69.28 65.13

130.17 33.51 24.48 19.35 17.96 15.20 10.86 10.39 9.59 9.13

7.44 7.13 6.66 6.29 5.58 4.87 4.85

2.38 1.75 1.68 1.63 1.53 1.44

28.93 7.45 5.44 4.30 3.99 3.38 2.41 2.31 2.13 2.03

1.65 1.58 1.48 1.40 1.24 1.08 1.08

ClosingP 133.70 358.20 535.20 64.70 114.50 42.00 263.10 65.30 32.50 3156.70

44.90 156.00 184.90 65.90 300.40 32.30

ClosingP

Change % 4.62 1.53 0.15 5.89 0.00 2.19 1.70 1.24 4.50 3.18

3.94 -1.83 -3.04 3.29 -0.43 0.31

Change %

12.10 133.50 41.90 114.40 44.90 359.00 32.20 534.40 122.50 64.30

186.00 32.50 155.70 23.00 55.10 65.00 262.90

0.83 4.46 2.70 -0.69 4.18 1.61 0.31 -0.24 1.24 5.58

-2.11 4.84 -2.50 -1.29 -0.18 0.62 1.04

ClosingY 127.80 352.80 534.40 61.10 114.50 41.10 258.70 64.50 31.10 3059.50

43.20 158.90 190.70 63.80 301.70 32.20

ClosingY

12.00 127.80 40.80 115.20 43.10 353.30 32.10 535.70 121.00 60.90

190.00 31.00 159.70 23.30 55.20 64.60 260.20

DHIGH

DLOW

134.70 361.00 547.00 64.90 115.30 43.70 263.70 66.20 32.70 3180.00

128.50 354.50 530.40 61.40 110.80 41.50 258.60 64.30 31.20 3063.00

DHIGH

DLOW

12.20 134.70 43.10 115.50 45.00 360.50 32.60 550.00 124.20 64.70

11.80 129.00 41.00 110.80 43.30 355.00 31.60 530.00 122.00 61.90

45.10 161.90 194.00 66.30 307.00 32.50

192.00 32.70 161.00 24.20 56.50 66.00 263.20

43.30 154.00 183.00 62.90 295.10 31.90

183.00 31.40 154.50 22.70 54.80 61.50 259.50

AvgPrice 132.74 358.48 538.18 63.48 112.73 42.53 261.26 65.23 32.06 3155.54

44.43 156.84 186.18 64.21 301.02 32.21

AvgPrice

11.90 132.97 42.24 112.83 44.36 358.73 32.21 536.97 122.83 63.19

186.97 32.01 156.71 23.53 55.36 65.24 261.51

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

4530.48314

(+) 0.47%

1728.47611

(+) 0.64%

13864.50110

(+) 0.30%

11467.50240

(+) 0.39%

8429.65400

(+) 0.34%

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Stocks registered a modest rise yesterday with a high volume of trade boosted by the fresh injection of fund.

However, the market went into the negative zone at the mid-session before buying pressure particularly on large cap issues helped the stocks end higher.

The benchmark index DSEX rose 21 points or 0.5% to 4,530, after losing in the previous session.

The Shariah Index DSES inched 6 points or 0.6% up to 1,103. The comprising blue chips DS30 gained 10 points or 0.7% to 1,728.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, settled at 8,434, shedding 32 points. Trading activities improved as turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange stood at Tk452 crore, hitting the highest level since December 4 last year.

The market breadth remained negative as out of 313 issues traded, 123 advanced, 144 declined and 46 remained unchanged.

After suffering over the several session, food and allied gained highest 2.7%, driven by heavyweight BATBC that rallied more than 3%.

Investors still remained indifferent to financial sectors as non life insurance, bank and non-banking financial institutions declined.

LankaBangla Securities said the market was very positive from the beginning as there was no strike.

Although there was a lot of up and down movements during the day, increased participation of the investors ultimately took the trading session to the green zone, it said.

IDLC Investments said the bourse observed an influx of money from the sideline, especially in the large caps in search of safe bets.

Mobil Jamuna Bangladesh was the most traded stocks with shares worth around Tk44 crore changing hands, followed by Grameenphone, ACI, Khulna Power Company, Lafarge Surma Cement and Shasha Denim.

The top gainers included First Bangladesh Fixed Income Fund, Hwawell Textile, Global Insurance, IDLC, Khulna Power Company Limited and Bangas. l

ANALYST

There was a lot of up and down movements during the day, increased participation of the investors ultimately took the trading session to the green zone

DT

20 BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

to NBR pre-budget talks begin today Government import 800,000

n Tribune Report The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will start pre-budget meetings with different stakeholders from today.

The month-long discussion will be attended by representatives from all leading chambers, business organisations, and associations on the upcoming national budget for the current fiscal year.

The pre-budget talks are a regular phenomenon every year and intended to make an inclusive budget.

A schedule of meetings was finalised recently in this regard. NBR Chairman Md. Nojibur Rahman will chair the meetings which will continue till April 30.

On the first day, the representatives from service sectors named hotel, restaurants, guest houses and various service sector; paper, printing, publications, films and advertisement firms; and clinic and diagnostic centres will be heard.

On April 2, the NBR will hold discussions with stakeholders from construction sector (brick, sand, cement, steel, sanitary, ceramics and hardware); Real Estate & Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB); medicine; rubber and plastic sector, Small, medium and large businesses and industries.

On April 5, the board will sit with Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

Representatives from Bangladesh Chamber of Industries, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) will hold talks with NBR on April 7.

The file photo shows Finance Minister AMA Muhith placing the 2014-15 fiscal budget in the parliament Talks with Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh-India Chamber of Commerce and leading chambers will be held on the same day in a separate meeting.

Meeting with export sectors with bond facility (readymade garment, composite, packaging and accessories) is on April 8.

Discussions will be organised with financial institutions, Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange, and SME Foundation is on April 9.

On April 12, the tax authority will hold meetings with C&F agents, shipping, clearing

IPFF extends financing for new power project n Tribune Report

Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) Project of Bangladesh Bank, funded by the International Development Association (IDA) of World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh, has extended a term loan of $19.15 million equivalent to Tk149 crore to Midland Power Company Limited (MPCL).

The fund was awarded yesterday through the lead arranger, Eastern Bank, while Mutual Trust Bank and Trust Bank are also the syndicate members. Bangladesh Bank has been

implementing the PPP-based infrastructure development projects since 2007 on behalf of Finance Division under the Ministry.

Apart from this power plant, IPFF has financed $154.72 million equivalent to Tk1,148 crore in nine power plants, one inland container depot, one IT infrastructure project and three water treatment plants till date through Participating banks and financial institutions.

The World Bank released $81 million to the PPP-based infrastructure financing window yesterday. IPFF has disbursed 77% of the total fund on the same day. l

and forwarding associations, freight forwarders, tax lawyers, and indenters.

Meeting with large taxpayers from ceramic sector, mobile operator companies and cigarette manufacturers is on April 15.

Meeting with agriculture and poultry sector; oil, gas, foods, beverages; chemical, paint, varnish, leather and cosmetics sectors is on April 16.

On April 16, NBR will sit with electronics and electrical computer, ICT and telecommunications, and with automobile and transport sector representatives.

Meeting with Economic Reporters’ Forum is on April 19.

On April 26, NBR will sit with leading divisional chambers namely Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and with C&F Association, Chittagong.

The month-long meetings will conclude on April 30 with the last one with representatives from Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

After the pre-budget talks, NBR and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) is expected to jointly sit with the finance minister at the “NBR-FBCCI Consultative Committee Meeting” on the first week of May. The business representatives can directly place their recommendations to the finance minister at that meeting for the next fiscal budget.

Budget will be placed in the parliament in early June for the July-June fiscal year.

The NBR has assigned its first secretary Abdus Samad Al Azad as chief budget coordinator. l

tonnes of urea n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has planned to import 800,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer from Qatar under a state-level arrangement with a cost of around Tk3,200 crore for meeting the country’s demand for the current fiscal year.

As part of the yearly urea procurement plan from aboard, the Ministry of Industries will import the fertiliser from Chemical and Petro Chemical Marketing and Distribution Company (Muntajat) of Qatar.

According to an official document, as the prices of urea is now too low in the international market, the agriculture input from Qatar will be cheaper than the previous price.

A proposal of the Industries Ministry is likely to be placed before the cabinet committee on economic affair scheduled for today, said an official.

The cost of the imported fertiliser will be of Tk40,000 per tonne, but would be sold at Tk14,000 in the local market.

“Now, the stock of the country’s fertilizer is around 800,000 tonne and the demand for urea fertiliser will be increased in August because of paddy season,” BFA Chairman Qamrul Ashraf Khan told the Dhaka Tribune.

The country’s total yearly demand of urea is 2.7m tonnes, which comes from Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Ltd (KAFCO), Bangladesh and three other foreign countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates while rest of the amount is procured through international tender. l

BRAC Bank partners Transfast to quicken money transfer n Tribune Report Global money transfer company Transfast, LLC and BRAC Bank Ltd of Bangladesh have teamed up to serve Transfast customers to make instant bank transfers into the accounts at BRAC Bank – the first-ever instant bank deposit service to Bangladesh by a global money transfer company.

Under the agreement, Transfast customers will be able to send money online via mobile or through agent locations around the globe to their friends and family in Bangladesh.

The BRAC Bank account-holders can get the money directly from their bank accounts within minutes.

In addition to direct-to-bank deposits, Transfast customers can pick up cash from any of BRAC Bank’s 166 branches, 50 SME unit offices and more than 100,000 bKash agents.

“We are excited to offer our customers the ability to deposit money instantly and securely there,” said Samish Kumar, CEO of Transfast at a press conference in a city restaurant yesterday. l

Citi ASEAN bosses arrive today n Tribune Report Citi’s Head of ASEAN and Country Officer for Singapore, Michael Zink, will come to Dhaka today for a two-day official visit, said a press release yesterday.

Michael will be accompanied by Melvyn Low, head of Treasury and Trade Solutions, ASEAN, and Manish Kumar, country risk manager for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The group is scheduled to meet senior Citi officials, key clients, senior government officials and review Citi’s potential for further growth in Bangladesh.

During their visit, the high-ups will also

visit Citi’s operation in Chittagong as well as meet clients at the port city.

A 27-year Citi veteran, Michael Zink oversees Citi’s businesses in ASEAN that includes Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Michael was appointed to this role in February 2012.

Based in Singapore, Citi’s ASEAN Treasury Head Melvyn Low is entrusted with strategic direction, product development, cash management and trade finance services while Country Risk Manager Manish Kumar credit approval and portfolio management in line with the bank’s risk-return metrics and streamlining overall risk processes. l

Eastern Bank Ltd (EBL) recently signed an agreement with Home n Décor, a concern of Building Technology and Ideas (bti) Ltd, offering special privileges to the EBL card-holders at Home n Décor

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Photo: Sabah Rahman

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Rising reflections

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

INSIDE

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Trial Room

Asia ascendant

Adding dimensions: One gracious way to welcome guests to your crib is by hanging a large mirror in the entryway. It reflects light and makes the foyer look more spacious. Have a defect somewhere on the wall in your foyer? Just cover it up with one of these.

24 decor

Rocking back and forth

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Trial Room

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Asia ascendant

Sa Meh Wa Meh’s Khao Swe taking the food industry by storm

n N Anita Amreen Barely over two weeks have gone by and Sa Meh Wa Meh has been on the tip of every foodie's tongue. Coming up with a fresh concept of authentic Burmese Khao Swe delivery, their delicious dish and quirky packaging have cut into the traditional restaurant market, making them one of Hungry Naki's most requested deliveries. While restaurants come and restaurants go, only a few manage to stay current. While most entrepreneurs in the food service industry are riding the most obvious trends, Sherfehnaz Khan has bravely

I really believe that people don’t buy a product or a commodity, they buy a belief.... not only must you convince others that your idea is something worth doing or buying, but you must convince yourself. And there are always a million reasons not to take a risk, but convincing yourself to do so is the toughest.

What was the original source of inspiration behind the Khao Swe line?

One night, we decided to get burgers from a cart. While waiting to be served a friend suggested selling Khao Swe in the same manner. The idea stuck with me for a while and that's when I decided to take the plunge.

Initially was it difficult to manage and fund your business?

In the beginning I had discussed SMWM with two of my cousins and we were a team of three working towards getting the project off the ground. So the capital investment was split three ways, which became a less daunting figure for us.

According to you what was the toughest phase throughout your entrepreneurial journey?

Proof of concept is the toughest. I really believe that people don't buy a product or a commodity, they buy a belief. It isn't sufficient to have a hunch, “Oh yeah, I can sell this cheaply so it will sell” or “This isn't available, so if it is it will sell.” Not only must you convince others that your idea is something worth doing or buying, but you must convince yourself. And there are always a million reasons not to take a risk, but convincing yourself to do so is the toughest.

And you must be willing to slog it out.

Before Sa Meh Wa Meh, did you try your hand at any other start-up or entrepreneurial project?

I started my first company at 17, after I graduated from boarding school. I took a gap year and launched an ice cube production plant in Chittagong, the first one of its kind after realising that the ice sold in markets were unfit for consumption. It wasn’t a wildly successful venture, but it did teach me a lot about perseverance and made me a firm believer in Murphy’s law.

pushed into an unknown territory, finding a niche that already has the city abuzz with whispers of a delectable Burmese delicacy. What began as a mere "passion project" has spurned itself into a full fledged takeaway restaurant that is sold out on most days.

As a driven, grounded individual Sherfehnaz has always believed in thinking out of the box, starting her very first entrepreneurial project at 17, launching the first of its kind ice cube production plant in Chittagong. Despite being a firm believer in Murphy's law, Sherfehnaz has been undaunted by the challenges that come with most

While I was in college I tried my hand at scrap trading with a friend, and that was the first time I felt like I was handling a substantial sum of money, and the fear of failure mixed with adrenaline sparked the drive to be an entrepreneur.

After graduating I moved to New York, and was collaborating with friends to get a real estate project off the ground, but we just couldn’t make the time commitment, given our full time jobs. Since moving back to Bangladesh, I have done a little commodity and livestock trading alongside pursuing a few other things in the pipeline.

However, the most prominent project I am involved with is A K Khan Plywood Co Ltd. a subsidiary of A K Khan Co Ltd. The work I have done for A K Khan Plywood has been the most challenging and rewarding in my career thus far and is also what I am most proud of. My experience here has single handedly impacted me as an entrepreneur, more than anything I have ever done before.

During my university days I would also scalp tickets for events taking place at my university’s arena.

Tell us about your first customer or your first sale.

The night before we launched, my head of Operations, Alif and I were forecasting sales figures for the week. We were trying to think about the bare minimum we’d have to sell daily to cover our expenses.

It would be an understatement to say we were nervous. You know that moment when you start questioning yourself, and the concept, and your thoughts just start to scramble and you ask yourself, "What on Earth was I thinking doing this?" Well, that was the mood of our discussion. And then we started justifying the mistake to ourselves. “Hey, it's just money. This isn't our livelihoods on the line. We can sustain this hit. So what if no one orders?…” Yes,

entrepreneurial projects, going on to indulge in commodity and livestock trading alongside working for A K Khan Plywood Co Ltd. As a young entrepreneur, Sherfehnaz is all about keeping the fences swinging. As a food enthusiast with Burmese heritage, Sherfehnaz launched Sa Meh Wa Meh on March 15, combining and taking her love for food and business savvy to greater heights. Today we go behind the scenes to find out what makes the Sa Meh Wa Meh machine tick by talking to the woman behind it all. We discuss her entrepreneurial roller-coaster, the story behind Sa Meh Wa Meh and how it felt to have her first customer.

we had started tumbling down that rabbit hole.

As a last minute prayer, we called our cousin Vidiya Khan and asked her to try our food and to promote us to her circle of friends. She was our first customer/sale and she worked wonders for us. Shamelessly name dropping and sending all her friends and acquaintances our way, before we knew it, we sold out. A big thank you to Vidiya, our first customer.

What's the magic behind Sa Meh Wa Meh's Khao Swe? What do you personally think is its USP? I wish there was magic behind the Khao Swe or a secret ingredient, or any aspect that can’t be replicated, therefore giving us a competitive advantage. But the truth is there isn’t any. I believe that we have a great chef and we put a lot of thought behind what we wanted to achieve and how we wanted to do so. I guess what sets us apart is the importance that we have placed on customer satisfaction. Unlike restaurants, we don’t get face-to-face time with our customers.

So we needed to compensate for this in various ways. I would say that is our USP; our customer relations management with our inherent constraints.

If there’s one thing that keeps you up at night, or that you’re paranoid about – what is it?

We source majority of our ingredients from Chittagong. For example the chillies we use are from a special region, the coconuts come from our own groves, and the protein is bought from vendors that our family has been using for decades. But all of this is also a logistical nightmare. Especially with the political activity going on, trying to coordinate our trucks getting to our kitchen on time and making sure we don’t skip a beat can be troubling.

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PHOTOS: COURTESY

What would you attribute Sa Meh Wa Meh’s success to?

I don’t know if you can call us a “success” yet. We have only completed two weeks of operations. But I think the popularity of SMWM is due to our best efforts to give our customers a unique experience. Firstly, there isn’t a Burmese restaurant in Bangladesh.

Secondly, we realised that we won’t get to interact with our customers, so the very minimal interaction they do get with us, must be something memorable. That is the reasoning behind our packaging, and the way we handle our phone orders. Thirdly, and most importantly, we listen to the complaints and constructive criticism. It is easy to get a bad Facebook review, get disheartened and pretend it never happened. But we have decided that it isn’t acceptable for anyone to be unhappy with their SMWM experience. So when we do get negative feedback, we talk to that customer and try to get to the bottom of it. Why did it happen? And how do we prevent it from repeating itself?

How far are you willing to go to see Sa Meh Wa Meh succeed?

Every business has a life cycle and certain ups and downs. Having said that, I will of course do all that is necessary for the company to succeed, but I think it is also important to realise when it is time to move on.

For more information log on to www.facebook. com/samehwamehbd or www.samehwameh.com or order online through Hungrynaki.com

Location

Road 136 House 12, Gulshan 1 Ph: +8801865-662-606 Tell us a little about the key milestones that you’d like to achieve within the next year.

Honestly, this is a passion project for me. It is not about the recognition or the project’s feasibility. I just wanted to share food that I enjoy eating. So, there aren’t any goals or milestones in that sense. I just wanted to try something in the food and beverage industry, and I am happy that we were able to materialise a concept.

Are there any plans to expand the menu? If yes, what surprises are in store for us?

We are always experimenting to improve on our existing food, and we just finished our special for the Cricket World Cup. So, yes, there will be new menu items in the near future, but I’ll refrain from ruining the surprise. l

Hours

Mon - Thu: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm Fri - Sat: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm Sun: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Tucked In

decor

Rocking back and forth Add an element of fun or two to your home decor

n Adila Hoque No matter how much your life changed since you were five years old, you haven’t forgotten what it was like flying back and forth in that red swing in your nursery play field. As an adult, swings have a lot more to offer - it makes for a great fun retreat after a long day at work, and it serves the purpose of making your home appear more warm and playful.

Swings are something you can place in almost any part of the house - your front porch, living room, balcony, backyard, rooftop and even your bedroom. Just imagine yourself enjoying a cup of Earl Grey on a bright, sunny morning, swinging gently, taking in the early morning view. If you’re lucky, it might even save you a trip to the massage parlour.

When it comes to swings, there are almost countless options to choose from wrought-iron, wooden and wicker hammock

chairs, and you should choose your type depending on where you intend to place them. Oh, and let’s not forget the classic tire swing! But it probably only applies if you have an open space in the front or the backyard.

Most people feel like their homes need to be large mansions to fit a normal-sized swing in them, but the truth, however could not be any more different. You could replace your boring old couch in the living room to have a swing large enough to seat three to four people. Or if you feel like that might be too much of a gamble, have one wicker hammock swing hang from one corner of your living room or balcony.

Although swings are traditionally overlooked and very heavily undermined as home-decorating pieces, they are also growing increasingly popular when it comes to decorating modern homes. It is definitely something you should think about if you think your home has lost all its charm. l

Bangladesh spinner Enamul Haque Jr did not forget to pay tribute to legendary NZ cricketer Daniel Vettori who announced his retirement yesterday. Enamul tweeted: “He was my inspiration. Dan vettori.”

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VETTORI RETIRES FROM INT’L CRICKET

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BCB LODGES OFFICIAL COMPLAINT TO ICC

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SYRIA RIDE ON KHARBIN TO PASS WITH DISTINCTION

De Kruif cries for proper guidance n Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh striker Aminur Rahman Sajib tries to evade the challenge of an Indian defender during their final AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifier at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Bangladesh football head coach Lodewijk de Kruif urged for making more space for the national U-23 players in the club teams and grow them capable of handling the future challenges.

“How can you expect these players to perform at the top level when they have not played any 90 minute match in the last one year, the first two matches were as expected.

Syria and Uzbekistan were way ahead of us but in the last match we were a little bit better.

In the second half or in the last 20 minutes we dominated with Sohel Rana and Toklis coming close to a strike but I admit I lacked a quality striker,” said the Dutch after Bangladesh’s goalless draw with India in their last AFC U-23 qualifiers Group E match.

“All the positions of strikers in the Bangladesh Premier Football league clubs are occupied by foreigners, how cane they develop?

These Under-23 boys must play at least 25 matches in the league, they have to lay more international matches and they need proper guidance to be prepared for the future,” he said.

The Dutch expressed his disappointment in simple words. “Finishing at the bottom of the group is not desired by any coach, I am satisfied with the last match but overall I am not happy.”

However, his counterpart Savio Medeira was more content with the outcome from his charges. Both Bangladesh and India crashed out of the qualifiers with one point each.

“This tournament showed where we and the South Asian football stand, we need very good grass root level programmes with efficient coaches. My team played the first two matches at 3pm and that swapped all the energy out of my boys. I told not to give up in the last match and they fought till the end. With just 12 days of preparation I can’t ask more from them and I happy with my team,” said Medeira.l

Bangladesh, India end goalless campaign n Shishir Hoque A spirited Bangladesh side concluded their AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifiers with a goalless draw against rivals India in a power-interrupted game at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The hosts were all over the visitors throughout the entire game, dominating midfield, holding ball possession and creating the most chances but a lack of composure in the final third ensured Bangladesh would end their campaign without a single goal to their name.

India also finished the Qualifiers without scoring but ended third in the group, ahead of Bangladesh, due to a better goal difference.

Syria topped Group E with maximum nine points while Uzbekistan finished second.

Bangladesh and India’s encounter yesterday was a repeat of the previous two clashes between the senior teams of the south Asian rivals in the last couple of years. While Bangladesh displayed better football on both the occasions, they were denied by some dogged Indian defending. Bangladesh striker Wahed Ahmed made way for Aminur Rahman Sajib and although the latter was unable to score a goal, his movement and ball distribution were more visible than Wahed.

Lodewijk de Kruif made two more changes in the line-up. Nurul Naim Faisal replaced the suspended captain Rayhan Hasan while de-

fender Shahedul Alam Shahed was included in place of right-back Nahidul Islam Nahid.

India on the other hand brought in two changes for the Bangladesh tie. Defender Sandesh came in place of the suspended centre-back Shankar Samingiraj while forward Sumeet Passi started ahead of Rai Vinit.

The first half was not a memorable one for either side. The home side bossed midfield but were unable to create any concrete chances. Instead, India almost went ahead in the 33rd minute when Holicharan Narzary snatched the ball from the feet of Faisal outside the box. Faisal was anticipating a backpass from Shakil Ahmed but Holicharan beat him to it. Faisal, however, atoned for his mis-

take by stopping Holicharan just when he was about to pull the trigger.

The game was then stopped for 21 minutes due to a sudden power failure. And it seemed like Bangladesh benefitted the most from the unscheduled breather as they started the second half brightly. At the hour-mark, Yeasin Khan was unlucky not to connect his header from a Sohel Rana corner.

In a bid to break the deadlock, Toklis and Rubel were brought on in the final 10 minutes in place of Jewel Rana and Sojib. The young duo repaid the coach’s faith by continuously threatening the opposition terrain. However, the Indian backline held strong as the game petered out in a stalemate.l

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THE GENTLEMAN RETIRES BATTING AND FIELDING AVERAGES Runs

HS

4s

6s

Ct

Tests

Mat Inns NO 113

174

23

4531

140 30.00 7787

Ave

BF

58.18

SR

100 50 6

23

556

17

58

0

ODIs

295

187

57

2253

83

17.33

2715

82.98

0

4

175

15

88

0

T20Is

12.81

0

0

9

0

38

0

34

22

6

205

38

190

107.89

14

2

First-class 174

257

31

6695

140 29.62

9

34

98

0

List A

365

241

65

3549

138 20.16

2

10

121

0

Twenty20 134

86

25

1039

57

857

121.23

88

25

17.03

0

1

St

BOWLING AVERAGES Mat Inns Balls

New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori confirmed what many expected in announcing his retirement from international cricket upon the team’s return from the World Cup on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old former captain had been widely expected to retire from international cricket at the conclusion of New Zealand’s involvement in the tournament.

New Zealand were beaten by seven wickets by co-hosts Australia in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, with Vettori suffering a lower leg injury before the game.

He finished with 0-25 from five overs, though took 15 wickets at 20.46 throughout the tournament with an economy rate of 4.04.

“It was my last game for New Zealand so it was a lovely way to finish,” he told reporters at Auckland airport.

“It would have been great to win but I’m pretty proud of everyone and the way they’ve gone about things for the last six weeks.

“To be able to finish in the final albeit without a win, I’m just very grateful for the amount of support I had particularly from Brendon (McCullum) and Mike (Hesson).

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

SR

4w 5w 10

7/87

12/149

34.36

2.59

79.5

19

31.71

4.12

46.0

8

2

0

19.68

5.70

20.7

1

0

0

73.0

113

187 28814 12441

362

ODIs

295 277 14060 9674

305

5/7

5/7

T20Is

34

38

4/20

4/20

34

787

748

20

3

First-class 174

41258 17981

565

7/87

31.82

2.61

33

3

List A

17628 11993

387

5/7

5/7

30.98

4.08 45.5

8

2

0

3032

127

4/20

4/20

25.32

6.36

1

0

0

365

Twenty20 134 134

n Reuters, Wellington

Runs Wkts

Tests

3216

“To be able to get back from a number of injuries and to be here and to be part of it ... is something I’ll always treasure.”

Vettori retires as New Zealand’s most capped test and one-day player having played his 113th Test match against Pakistan in United Arab Emirates last November, more than two years since his last appearance in the longest form of the game.

Daniel Vettori’s parents Robyn and Renzo Vettori with the news of their son’s 1997 Test debut

23.8

Achilles and back injuries restricted his appearances in the latter years of his career but he worked hard on his fitness to be included in New Zealand’s World Cup squad.

He took his 300th ODI wicket during the tournament against Afghanistan in Napier, becoming the 12th bowler to achieve the mark.

He finished with 305 wickets in total from 295 games for New Zealand and a World XI. Vettori is the ninth player to take more than 300 wickets in both tests and ODIs, having finished his test career with 362 wickets and is the second-highest test wicket taker for New Zealand.

Fast bowler Richard Hadlee, the first man to 400 test wickets, ended his career with 431.

Vettori, who made his international debut as an 18-year-old, led the side following the retirement of Stephen Fleming in 2008 until after the 2011 World Cup. A succession of injuries since then ended his hopes of surpassing Hadlee’s wickets tally, though Vettori scored more runs than the fast bowler, notching 4,531 runs in tests at an average of exactly 30, with six centuries.

Across all teams, he is the most prolific number eight batsman in tests, having scored 2,227 runs with four centuries at an average of just under 40 there. l

First sightings (January 18-21, 1997) At the age of 17, makes his first-class debut for Northern Districts against the touring England side in Hamilton, and snares Nasser Hussain as his first wicket, caught at slip attempting a drive.

Test cricketer at 18 (February 6-10, 1997) Makes Test debut barely three weeks later, against the same opposition. Despite having turned 18 in the meantime, is still the youngest man to play Test cricket for New Zealand. Takes 2 for 98 and his first victim is, once again, Hussain.

Youngest in ODIs (March 25, 1997) Becomes New Zealand’s youngest ODI player when he lines up against Sri Lanka. Is only given two overs, which cost 21 runs.

Lethal against old enemy (Mar 11-15, 2000) Tears through Australia with 12 wickets in a losing Test side, and in the process becomes the youngest spinner to reach 100 Test wickets.

Too much work? (September, 2000) Heavy bowling workload starts to take its toll, and he succumbs to stress fractures in his back which sideline him for several months.

Test centurion (December 19-23, 2003) Scores his maiden Test century, an unbeaten 137 against Pakistan.

Back in form (October, 2004) After a lean patch of form, returns to his dangerous self in a two-Test series against Bangladesh. Takes 20 wickets in the series at a cost of just 11.20 per victim.

First-time captain (November 2, 2004) Captains New Zealand for the first time in an ODI. They enjoy a comfortable 138-run win over Bangladesh.

Recognition at home (March, 2005) Is named New Zealand’s Player of the Year, just reward for a season that includes 42 Test wickets at 27 and 22 ODI victims at 20.

And then there were three (Aug 7-8, 2005) Traps Heath Streak lbw in the Harare Test to become the third New Zealand bowler to reach 200 Test wickets, joining Chris Cairns and Richard Hadlee. Also has a match to remember for his blistering 82-ball century, the fastest by a New Zealander in Test cricket.

New format, new captain (August, 2007) Is handed the captaincy for the ICC World Twenty20 after Fleming, who quit the ODI leadership following the World Cup, is not selected.

New Zealand make it to the semi-final, losing to Pakistan.

Full-time captain (November, 2007) Is named the leader of the side for a long term, starting with a two-Test series in South Africa, which New Zealand lose 2-0.

Power? Responsibility? I’ll take it (Aug 23, 2009) Is appointed a national selector, with a formalised voting right in the selection committee.

Says he is objective enough and equipped enough to do the job.

Excellent eight (August 26, 2009) Gets Kumar Sangakkara caught at midwicket, in the SSC Test, to complete the double 300 Test wickets and 3000 runs. Only seven others have managed that.

The end? (September 28, 2014) A Test sabbatical for over two years. At 35 years old, his body was not keeping up and Vettori admitted his five-day career may be over.

One last time (March 29, 2015) The World Cup final. New Zealand’s first World Cup final. Took down 15 batsmen and was an integral part of his side’s emphatic dominance at home. Became the first from his country to claim 300 ODI wickets The farewell (March 31, 2015) Daniel Vettori retires after an 18-year career in international cricket. One of three players in history to couple 300 Test wickets with with 4000 Test runs

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After England’s cricketers were left battered and bruised during a dismal World Cup campaign, another symbol of the English game took a beating on Monday when the famous Father Time weather vane at Lord’s was buffeted by high winds. The vane, situated above the Lord’s Mound Stand clock, features a steel figure of an elderly man with a scythe on his back putting a bail on some stumps, and is synonymous with cricket in England. But like the country’s national team, who tamely bowed out of the World Cup at the group stages, Father Time encountered some unexpectedly fierce turbulence and was left flat on his back by gales in north London over the weekend AFP

BCB lodges official complaint to ICC n Minhaz Uddin Khan Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury revealed yesterday that the board has made an official complaint to the International Cricket Council regarding controversial decisions by match officials during the 2015 ICC World Cup quarter-final between Bangladesh and India. According to the BCB high-up, a written complaint was made to the ICC on March 20, a day after the game took place in Melbourne.

The BCB CEO made the disclosure after Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond sent

a legal notice to the BCB authorities requesting them to appeal to the ICC for punishing the umpires for their wrong decisions during the match. The SC lawyer had sent the notice to BCB president Nazmul Hasan, Secretary to the Sports Ministry and Bangladesh team manager Khaled Mahmud.

Nizamuddin said he is yet to receive the notice and can only comment further after receiving it. He also informed that the BCB is yet to get a reply from the ICC regarding their objection. Mahmud on the other hand remained tight-lipped on the issue and did not wish to comment.

In the notice it was mentioned that onfield umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar had given three wrong decisions during the match – the dismissals of Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal and all-rounder Mahmudullah and the no-ball call of Rubel Hossain which denied the dismissal of Indian opener Rohit Sharma.

Rohit was adjudged not out in his 90s when he was caught at the deep square leg region. The on-field umpires were quick to rule out the delivery as a no-ball claiming that the ball was above the batsman’s waist. The quick decision surprised commentator Shane

Warne who agreed that generally the umpires take a little more time before making such decisions. At the same time, the replays showed that the ball was under the waist when the batsman played the stroke. Rohit went onto post 137 to allow India to go past the 300-run mark.

The Tigers faced another horrendous decision when Mahmudullah, in tremendous form having scored back-to-back centuries, was caught at fine-leg by Shikhar Dhawan.

Doubts immediately arosed as to whether his foot touched the rope when he took the catch. l

Fawad, Voges get Windies, Ashes call up n AFP, Sydney

Legspinner Fawad Ahmed, batsman Adam Voges and wicketkeeper Peter Nevill were all called up by Australia Tuesday for their upcoming tour of the West Indies and the Ashes campaign in England.

But there was no room in the 17-man squad for allrounders James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell, who were a potent part of Australia’s one-day World Cup winning side.

Joe Burns was also overlooked, despite scoring two half-centuries in Australia’s last Test, against India in January, while paceman James Pattinson missed out with a hamstring injury, opening the door once again for Peter Siddle.

Australia play two Tests in the West Indies from June 5, with their five-Test Ashes series starting in England on July 8.

Pakistan-born Ahmed, who sought asylum in Australia in 2010, got the nod ahead of Ashton Agar as the second spinner behind Nathan Lyon after a stellar Sheffield Shield season in which he took 48 wickets.

Voges won his place on the plane for similar reasons, with the 35-year-old Western

Australian captain smashing 1,358 Shield runs to be the season’s highest scorer and player of the year with an average of 104.46.

New South Wales keeper Nevill was picked as Brad Haddin’s understudy, preferred to Matthew Wade.

SQUAD Michael Clarke (capt), Steve Smith, Fawad Ahmed, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris (Ashes only), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Peter Nevill, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson.

National selector Marsh said selectors could not ignore Ahmed and Voges after “sensational seasons” at domestic level.

Fast bowler Ryan Harris was included in the squad, but will only play the Ashes series, remaining in Australia throughout the West Indies tour for the birth of his first child. While Faulkner and Maxwell missed out, selector Marsh cast an air of mystery over his plans for them.l

New Zealand cricket team coach Mike Hesson strides out amid massive applause at Queen’s Wharf, Auckland yesterday INTERNET

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The Syrian players celebrate their win over Uzbekistan in the AFC Under-23 Championship Group E Qualifiers at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Syria ride on Kharbin to pass with distinction n Shishir Hoque The fairy tale run of Omar Kharbin continued as Syria maintained their 100% winning record to confirm their place in the AFC U-23 Championship 2016. Riding on Kharbin’s third consecutive brace in the tournament qualifiers

Action from the Independence Day Physically Challenged cricket match between Bangladesh Physically Challenged cricket team and an able team. The Physically Challenged side won the game by two runs at Dhaka University’s Jagannath Hall field yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

converting the resulting spot kick.

Uzbekistan, however, did threaten to make a comeback by scoring from a lovely build-up in the 57th minute through, possibly their best player on the pitch, midfielder Abbosbek Makhstaliev but that was that.

Syria progressed with six points and Uzbekistan are left praying with three points to become one of the five best runners-up sides across 10 groups. l

Syria topped Group E beating a hard-working Uzbekistan 2-1 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

It was the third time in as many matches Kharbin drilled two in the opponent goal inside the first 45 minutes as Syria went to the breather with the match half won. Dominating football paid off for the Syrians who could have gone ahead with Kharbin in the 16th minute, but the forward’s header on Yousef Kalfa’s

cross was only an alarm and hit the woodwork.

Soon after though, Uzbekistan goalkeeper Akmal Tursunbaev produced the save of the tournament to deny Mohmood Albaher’s headed effort but Kharbin would not miss again and smashed home the rebounder.

The pair was in action once again at the stroke of half-time as Uzbek defender Sardor Rakhmanov’s took down Albaher inside the penalty area and Kharbin made no mistake in

Khulna DSA, shop owners at loggerheads n Hedait Hossain from Khulna

Racial quotas controversy re-emerges in Proteas sport

Lack of coordination between the district sports association and the local business personnel has delayed the renovation work of the Khulna Zila Stadium. The refurbishment work which was supposed to begin three months back is yet to see light.

The major issue here is that the shop owners in the stadium premises are looking for guarantees that they will be given a shop following the renovation work but the Khulna Zila Sports Association has not given any such assurances.

A tender worth Tk8.75 crore was passed for the redecoration work one-and-a-half years ago. KZSA general secretary Kazi Shamim Ahsan informed that the modernisation work has been planned by the government and they are only providing money to rebuild the stadium. KZSA is liable for building the market for which a lot of money will be needed. That is why KZSA is not being able to give any assurance to the shop owners.

“Tk8.75 crore has been passed by the government to rebuild the stadium but I think it is not enough. More money is needed to rebuild the stadium properly. I request everyone to coordinate and help us rebuild the stadium,” said Shamim.

On the other hand, former Zila Stadium Shop Owners Association general secretary Amin Ullah said the stadium does need an upgrade. However, interest of the shop owners should also be taken care of.

“The shop owners will only leave their shops if they are guaranteed one once the work is completed,” he added. l

n AP, Cape Town Did South Africa’s cricket team drop a white player and replace him with an injured black player for a World Cup semifinal match to make its lineup more racially acceptable?

The question has revived an uncomfortable conversation over race and change in South African sport, where the two most successful national teams — cricket and rugby —

are still mainly white more than two decades after the end of apartheid.

Sports minister Fikile Mbalula denied that he influenced the cricket team to drop white bowler Kyle Abbott for Vernon Philander in last week’s World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. Mbalula, who is black, said he was responding to accusations made by “a dying breed of political dinosaurs.” He didn’t identify the source of the accusations.l

NAVY LIFT CITYCELL INDEPENDENCE DAY BASKETBALL

Bangladesh Navy lifted the Citycell Independence Day basketball title beating Bangladesh Army 7058 in the final at the Dhanmondi Indoor Basketball Gymnasium yesterday. President of Bangladesh Basketball Federation Dr. Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Suman Bhattacharjee, Citycell HR director along with other dignitaries were present during the presentation ceremony COURTESY

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Hummels hints on Man Utd switch n AFP, Berlin Manchester United-target Mats Hummels admits he is pondering his future at Borussia Dortmund and refuses to rule out a transfer abroad.

“Everyone knows how much I like Dortmund, but I also want us to have a powerful team which has a powerful approach,” Hummels told German magazine Kicker.

“I have had a few conversations recently, which were very relevant for me to get a general overview, but I haven’t made a decision about my future.”

The 26-year-old Germany international has a Dortmund contract until 2017.

But the World Cup-winner has long been courted by United, whose coach Louis van Gaal is seeking a defensive leader with the Premier League giants reported to be willing to meet Dortmund’s 35 million euro (US$37.9m) price tag.

“I often think that I definitely want to move abroad, but then there are other days where I say I don’t need it,” added Hummels.

“Basically, I think a foreign move would be good both for both personal and footballing developement, so it could well transpire that I’d someday like to move abroad.

“It’s definitely not the case that I am saying I will definitely go.

“When there is a decision from me in which direction things are heading, I’ll talk about it openly.

“I’m not a fan of those who claim they are staying, but behind the scenes have already secretly settled the matter.”

Dortmund host defending German champions Bayern Munich on Saturday.l

Djokovic, Nishikori and Raonic reach last 16 in Miami n Reuters, Miami Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Belgium’s Steve Darcis 6-0 7-5 on Monday to power into the last 16 of the Miami Open along with Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Canada’s Milos Raonic and American John Isner.

The Serbian world number one, who just like last year won at Indian Wells before heading to South Florida, will face Alexandr Dolgopolov, a 7-5 6-4 winner over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, in the fourth round.

Djokovic, who is seeking a fifth win at Miami, wrapped up a one-sided first set in 26 minutes but faced a sterner test in the second.

Darcis broke to go ahead 5-4 but after the Serb levelled up the set, he broke back and held on to secure the match.

Fourth-seed Nishikori had even less trouble as he crushed Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 6-2 6-2 in 63 minutes.

Troicki, who needed medical treatment to his left side during the match, struggled to cope with Nishikori throughout with the 25-year-old converting five of his six break points.

Raonic also moved into the fourth round after a hard-earned 6-1 5-7 7-6 (3) win over French 31st seed Jeremy Chardy.

Raonic was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second and then Chardy went on to force the third set.l

Pietersen shouldn’t expect England recall says Stewart n AFP, London

Japan’s midfielder Toshihiro Aoyama jumps into the air to celebrate his goal against Uzbekistan during their friendly match in Tokyo yesterday. Japan won the match 2-0 AFP

Exiled England star Kevin Pietersen shouldn’t expect an international recall despite his return to county cricket, according to his Surrey coach Alec Stewart.

Pietersen has rejoined Surrey to play in County Championship Division Two this season in a bid to win a Test recall for England’s Ashes showdown with Australia later this year.

The 34-year-old South Africa-born batsman was sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board after the 2013-14 whitewash in Australia. ECB managing director Paul Downton insists Pietersen will not be brought back into the fold, while Test captain Alastair Cook rated the prospect “highly unlikely”, and former England opener Stewart agrees.

“If England are winning, they have a good West Indies tour which we expect, then it’s going to take an injury or a huge loss of form for a vacancy to become available,” Stewart told BBC Radio Five Live. “But all Kevin can do and, that’s what he’s said to us, he’s going to score runs, sit back and see what happens.”

Pietersen was reported to have fallen out with several senior members of the England squad before he was axed, but Surrey director of cricket Stewart claimed he has never had any problems with his attitude.

“He’s been as good as gold with us. If he was a bad character we wouldn’t have had him,” Stewart said.

“Whenever he’s been with us he has been outstanding. He’s helped the youngsters, he’s been in the nets, he’s put on batting clinics and he’s tried his heart out. l

Vettel win is a relief for all except Mercedes n Reuters, Sepang

An ebullient Sebastian Vettel spoke at length about the importance of his first win for Ferrari when addressing reporters after his Malaysian Grand Prix triumph on Sunday, yet his beaming smile pretty much said it all.

He was back, Ferrari were back and most importantly, Formula One was back.

Vettel upset the odds with a stunning drive at Sepang, overhauling pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes thanks to Ferrari’s ability to get the best out of the faster medium-compound tyres in Malaysia’s sweltering heat.

The team tactics were also superb, opting to keep the four-time world champion out on track during an early safety car period as rivals dived into the pits for new tyres, and he rode the advantage all the way to the chequered flag.

Not only had the German and Ferrari claimed their first victories since 2013 but, by finally finding a way to beat the dominant Mercedes “fair and square” as he put it, the series can now hope for a proper title race.

The 2015 season is only two races old, yet before Malaysia Formula One was awash with negative storylines and feared Mercedes could win everything at a canter.

Red Bull’s Christian Horner, principal of Vettel’s once-dominant but now troubled former team, had suggested Mercedes needed to be reined in by the authorities to level things out.

Vettel’s own German Grand Prix had been

axed due to a lack of finances and the confusion surrounding Fernando Alonso’s winter testing crash and withdrawal from the Melbourne opener all added to the negative tone.

A Ferrari victory was the shot in the arm that the sport needed. As Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg said on the podium at Sepang: “All I can say now, on behalf of our team is: Game on, Ferrari.”

Vettel, following in the footsteps of seven-times champion compatriot Michael

Schumacher, fulfilled a dream when he joined Ferrari at the end of last season but there remains plenty of work to do.

“Since I joined Ferrari I felt incredibly welcome and together we have worked to improve things. The potential, as I always said, is huge, it’s good to see what a step forward we did over the winter,” Vettel said.

“This is a special day, it has been a while since both I and team won for the last time.l

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates winning the Malaysian Grand Prix on the podium on Sunday

REUTERS

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30 DOWNTIME

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Small nail (4) 4 Long detailed story (4) 8 Spirit (3) 9 Spoken (4) 10 Outer covering (4) 11 Incline (5) 12 Dexterous (4) 14 Prosecute (3) 15 Curve (3) 17 Spinning toy (3) 19 Dry, of champagne (3) 21 Dash (4) 23 Exhibits (5) 26 Beak (4) 27 Tree (4) 28 Nothing (3) 29 Copied (4) 30 That following (4)

DOWN 1 Container (6) 2 Dry (4) 3 Low sand hills (5) 4 Sun personified (3) 5 Fragrance (5) 6 Opening (3) 7 Beverage (3) 11 Metal (5) 13 Electrical items (5) 16 Summer hut (6) 18 Disposed (5) 20 Ship’s small room (5) 22 African river (4) 23 Mineral spring (3) 24 Part of the body (3) 25 Marry (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 5 represents R so fill R every time the figure 5 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

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

Helmut Dietl, 70, dies n Showtime Desk

Amitabh Bachchan @ SrBachchan T 1819 -Interesting talk with those in knowledge .. on digital platforms stored for eternity, there should be a ‘right to be forgotten’

Bavarian-born director, writer and producer Helmut Dietl recently passed away from lung cancer. He was 70.

Once described as “the German answer to Woody Allen”, Dietl was known to international audiences largely for his send-up of the fake Hitler diaries saga in the 1992 film Schtonk!, which was subsequently nominated for a best foreign language film Academy Award.

Dietl was already a famous name in German TV with critically acclaimed shows such as Münchner Geschichten (1974/5), Der Ganz Normale Wahnsinn (1979/80), Monaco Franze and the six-part series Kir Royal, a biting satire on Munich high society and tabloid journalism.

Schtonk! was followed by Rossini with a stellar cast including Uwe Ochsenknecht, Mario Adorf, Joachim Krol, Veronica Ferres and introducing the then little-known actress Martina Gedeck.

Dietl’s later productions did not repeat the success of these two films but the director himself, who had publicly announced his illness in 2013, remained popular both in terms of film and television. Last year, the German Film Academy recognised his achievements with an Honorary German Film Award. l

Ricky Gervais @rickygervais Only 3 more days to wait for the Derek feature length special on @ netflix Diddy @iamdiddy #Diddys15secofmotivation i’m Christopher Columbus! good morning everyone.!

It’s time to go to… https://instagram. com/p/05EfWLJl1b/

Screening around the town

Distribution Rewired: helping filmmakers explore new distribution channels n Showtime Desk The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has taken up an initiative to launch a two-day long event called Distribution Rewired to support filmmakers and help them connect with online distributors. This “market” is one that is solely dedicated to emerging distribution models that include “direct” and “self-distribution.”

As part of EIFF industry programme, Distribution Rewired is all about informing filmmakers about new distribution platforms alongside ensuring that great films find their way to audiences. The main segment of the event is the physical marketplace where filmmakers will be given a solid platform to showcase their films to stakeholders including aggregators as well as related service providers.

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

n Showtime Desk April 3, The Hot Snow Marking the 70th anniversary of victory in Great Patriotric War of Russian People, the 1972 Soviet war film will be screened at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Dhaka at 11am. Directed by Gabriel Yegiazarov, the film is an adaptation of Yuri Bondarev’s eponymous novel, which was itself based on Bondarev’s own wartime experience as a battery commander in Stalingrad.

EIFF is planning to raise $22,000 (£15,000) of essential funding through an Indiegogo campaign and will contribute $15,000 (£10,000) of in-kind costs towards the event.

The event will take place from June 22- 23 during the Edinburgh International Film Festival and will be managed by Holly Daniel, industry and talent development manager at EIFF, and Beatrice Neumann from BeA Film, a sales and distribution consultancy.

Mark Adams, the new EIFF artistic director said: “EIFF is dedicated to addressing the most current and relevant events for attending filmmakers and industry professionals each year. The world of distribution has changed massively in recent years and Distribution Rewired will create a space that represents the importance of these changes whilst supporting filmmakers in utilising the new models on offer.” l

April 4, L’Avventura Italian legend Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterwork will be screened at the Daily Star-Bengal Arts Precinct at 6.30pm.

Bengal Cinematheque presents the show to uphold the films and ideas of cinema’s greatest two auteurs, Michelangelo Antonioni and Terrence Malick.

Antonioni’s controversial international sensation is a gorgeously shot tale of modern ennui and spiritual isolation.

April 5, Tree of Life The Palme d’Or winner will be screened at the Daily Star-Bengal Arts Precinct at 6.30pm. Terrence Malick’s masterpiece follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Through Malick’s signature imagery, the film depicted both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only peoples’ lives as individuals and families, but all life. l

WHAT TO WATCH TELEVISION World War Z C+ HBO 9:30pm It’s one man’s race against time as he plays a UN employee who is trying to prevent the deadly outbreak of a Zombie Pandemic which is toppling armies, nations and more so, threatening to wipe out humanity.

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox, Daniella Kertesz 47 Ronin BStar World 7:13pm The outcast Kai (Reeves) joins a group of ronin, led by Kuranosuke Oishi (Sanada), who seeks vengeance on Lord Kira (Asano) for killing their master and banishing the group. The ronin embark on a journey with challenges that would defeat most warriors.

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki, Min Tanaka, Rinko Kikuchi, Tadanobu Asano Paranormal Activity 4 C+ Zee Studio 9:30pm Katie is possessed by a demon, kills her boyfriend Micah, sister Kristi, her husband Daniel and runs away with Kristi’s son Hunter. The story then takes a leap of 5 years and focuses on siblings Alex and Wyatt, Alex’s boyfriend Ben, and a frightening little boy across the street named Robbie. The family experiences weird stuff since the new neighbors moved in the town.

Cast: Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively, Aiden Lovekamp, Brady Allen, Stephen Dunham

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BUSINESS MAKES CAUTIOUS COMEBACK PAGE 15

BD, INDIA END GOALLESS CAMPAIGN PAGE 25

Indian police detain 4 Bangladeshis in nun gang rape case n Tribune Desk Police in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, have detained four persons, claimed to be Bangladeshis, in connection with the gang rape of an elderly nun in Ranaghat, West Bengal, and the subsequent robbery incident at a convent, Indian daily Hindustan Times reported.

Two persons each were detained on Monday and Tuesday. “All four are Bangladeshis.

Ludhiana police commissioner himself is looking into it,” Dinkar Gupta, additional DGP (security), told Hindustan Times.

Naveen Singla, Ludhiana deputy commissioner, said: “We are interrogating them and also conducting search operations on the basis of information received from them. Bengal police have been informed. At present, I can’t share anything more. It’s a sensitive matter.”

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials, with the assistance of Mumbai Police crime branch, had made the first arrest in the case from a Mumbai slum in the wee hours of Thursday. The person was identified as Sheikh Salim.

The next day, a CID team arrested Gopal Sarkar, a resident of Habra in North 24-Parganas for providing shelter to those who committed the crime. Police said that eight people were involved and that after committing the crime they possibly fled to Bangladesh.

The Ranaghat incident, which took place in the wee hours of March 14, came against the backdrop of attacks on the Christian community and triggered shock waves.

The breakthroughs in the case came after Bengal police circulated photos of four culprits to state police authorities across the country. l

HELMUT DIETL, 70, DIES PAGE 27

Iran-based human trafficking gang leader detained n Mohammad Jamil Khan

The CID has detained the leader of a human trafficking gang, which collects ransoms by holding Bangladeshi expatriates as hostages in Iran and torturing them.

Nannu Miah, a Bangladesh-born human trafficker based in Iran, was picked up at Dhaka airport on Monday evening by the Criminal Investigation Department following his extradition from Iran.

Md Matiur Rahman, a special superintendent of CID, said Iranian police had previously caught the criminal and made arrangements for him to be sent back to Dhaka on a Fly Dubai flight.

“Nannu and his associates arranged for Bangladeshi expatriates living in the UAE to move to European countries, but held them hostage them once they were outside the UAE. They were also involved in torturing the victims for ransoms,” Matiur told a press briefing at the CID headquarters in the capital yesterday.

“If anyone failed to pay the money to traffickers, the criminals brutally tortured the

hostages before pushing them across the border into Pakistan,” he said.

The CID official added that law enforcers had been trying since 2012 to organise the capture and extradition of Nannu from Iran.

Originally from Sylhet, Nannu went to Iran 35 years ago and formed a human trafficking syndicate there. CID officials claimed that Nannu was directly involved in kidnapping around 100 migrants and collecting ransoms from their families back in Bangladesh.

“Nannu, along with some Turkish and Pakistani traffickers, used speed boats to illegally take the victims to Bandar Abbas in Iran, where they were held hostage,” said Special Superintendent of Police for the CID’s organised crime unit, Mirza Abdullahel Baqui.

The CID provided information to the Interpol and the Iranian police, who arrested Nannu and sent him back to Bangladesh.

Nannu was shown arrested in a case filed with Dhaka’s Bhashantek police station in connection with the abduction of Bangladeshi expatriate Shafiul Alam in 2012. l

BTRC to monitor internet service quality n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The government has taken an initiative to set up a special monitoring arrangement for ensuring superior internet service quality.

The Post and Telecommunication Division has directed the telecom regulator to set up a special telephone hotline where users can easily file any complaint on internet service quality.

A letter in this regard, signed by Deputy Secretary Md Mahbub-Ul-Alam, was received by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Monday. Sources said the initiative came after a request from State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

“We have already discussed the issue and decided to formulate a mobile team for surveillance,” a senior official of the engineering and operation wing of the BTRC told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, adding that the team will be led by a deputy director-level officer from the wing Seeking anonymity, he, however, admitted that it would not be easy to respond to every single complaint with limited resources.

Commenting on the directive for a telephone short code system, the BTRC official said: “To launch a short code we need to set up a technical system which requires investment and time.”

The BTRC currently has a programme that records objections from mobile phone users about service quality.

As of February, there are 4.34 crore active internet connections in the country, including 4.19 crore mobile internet users. l

Freedom fighters gather at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka yesterday to protest the prevailing political violence that has been claiming lives

MEHEDI HASAN

Kamaruzzaman’s lawyers seek more time n Tribune Report

The defence of death row convict war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman yesterday moved a plea with the Appellate Division, second time in a month, seeking four-week adjournment in the hearing on his review petition.

The apex court bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha on March 9 set today for the hearing. The judge deferred the hearing allowing an adjournment petition filed by defence that

showed personal difficulties of senior lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain.

Yesterday, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Kamaruzzaman’s lawyers submitted the time plea saying that Khandker Mahbub, also an adviser to the BNP chief, was physically ill and had been advised by his doctor to take rest.

Kamaruzzaman’s lawyers filed the petition on March 5 seeking review of the death penalty upheld by the Appellate Division on No-

vember 3 last year.

The full text of the Appellate Division judgement was released on February 18 and the International Crimes Tribunal the following day issued a warrant to execute the death sentence. l

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