May 15, 2015

SECOND EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

|

Jyostha 1, 1421, Rajab 25, 1436

NEC OKAYS TK97,000 CRORE ADP PAGE 3

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 33

| www.dhakatribune.com

MODI AND XI JINPING IN HISTORIC MEETING PAGE 9

| 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend | Price: Tk10

WOMAN KILLED BY CO-WIFE IN CHITTAGONG PAGE 32

CCTV cameras yet to deliver

155 cameras installed in 2009 have all ceased to function; existing ones only temporary

Gulshan to get 600 more

n Mohammad Jamil Khan Five years ago, Dhaka Metropolitan Police installed more than 150 CCTV cameras at different points in Dhaka, hoping for better crime surveillance, command system and traffic control.

However, none of those closed-circuit television cameras installed at that time at a cost of Tk61.39 lakh are operational now.

Just about a week or so after being installed in November 2009, most of the cameras started malfunctioning, especially during night time when light was low, and the command centre set up on the Abdul Gani Road in the city stopped receiving footage from these cameras.

Within a year, all the CCTV cameras went out of order and they have never been repaired or reinstalled since.

When contacted, Sharmin Afroz, system analyst of DMP, said that the cameras and display boards were operated with radio-wave signals, but the system faced difficulty because the high-rise buildings in the city blocked the signals. Moreover, failure to ensure uninterrupted power supply also crippled the surveillance system.

“The supplier has suggested that we should increase the number of base stations and install fibre optic connectivity rather than depending on radio waves,” she said.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

n Kamrul Hasan

Almost hidden in the jungle of various service cables and electric wires, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera keeps an eye on the important Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue near the Hotel Ruposhi Bangla. Recently the government has taken an initiative to set up CCTVs at various points of the capital in a bid to enhance security measures MEHEDI HASAN

Over 600 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed in phases on different streets under Gulshan police station to bring the area under close vigil.

Of them, 100 CCTV cameras have already been installed.

The area covers Gulshan, Baridhara and Niketan, said Dhaka Metropolitan Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah at the inaugural programme of a project named Digital Track.

The project was initiated on January 7; It is entirely being financed by local businessmen.

The DMP will manage the surveillance and maintenance of the project.

The DMP boss said after Gulshan, Banani will be given the first priority before they bring Uttara of Dhaka North city under the project.

He said Dhanmondi Housing Society Leaders requested him to take the same initiative in their locality. “Gradually the whole Dhaka City will come under CCTV Surveillance.”

It will help to control traffic and catch criminals operating in the area, Asaduzzaman Miah said.

The newly elected mayor of Dhaka North  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Cumulative increment suggested instead of time scale n Asif Showkat Kallol

The secretarial review committee on the National Pay Commission has recommended a cumulative increment policy for public servants, instead of the existing time scale and selection grade, effective from this July.

Government employees will also be eligible for home loans – the minimum amount being worth 50 months’ salaries – at a very low interest rate, which officials hope may reduce corruption among public servants.

The existing interest rate, which is also known as bank rate, is 5%.

Under the time scale and selection grade systems, public servants are now getting the increment without promotion.

An official of the review committee told

PAGE 2 IGP: Interpol red notice not needed for Salahuddin

the Dhaka Tribune that officials in the higher echelons will benefit from the cumulative increment but not the grade III and IV public servants as the review committee decided to drop the existing two provisions.

The official said: “The National Pay and Services Commission recommended a 5% increment for low-grade staff members and 4% for upper-level officials in a fiscal year with compound increment.”

The bank-rate home loan from commercial banks is definitely good for the class III and IV employees who now get an amount of only Tk150,000 as home loan, the official said.

On Wednesday, the secretarial review committee submitted its report on the pay hike proposals to Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

Senior Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf

PAGE 3 College student hacked to death in Pallabi

Hossain Bhuiyan told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We have recommended cumulative increment along with some other facilities and these will be made public after approval from the cabinet.”

According to a report prepared by Finance Division officials, 1.38 million Grade II, III and IV employees of the six major ministries – home affairs, defence, primary and mass education, education, health and family planning, and public administration – constitute 65.41% of the government’s total workforce of 2.10 million employees.

Almost two-thirds of public employees will lose out financially if time scales and selection grades are scrapped in accordance with the recommendations, official sources said.

Two-thirds of public employees are at risk

PAGE 4 All accused in Shamarukh murder case relieved

of decreased purchasing power if the review committee proposals are implemented.

An employee of Bangladesh Secretariat said the fourth and third class staff members are going to face huge financial loss of up to Tk8,000 per month if these recommendations are implemented.

According to the Bangladesh Secretariat Administration Officers Association, the salaries of lower grade staff will increase only 47% while the salaries of higher officials will raise 100% which is discrimination.

Last December, Pay Commission Chairman Mohammad Farashuddin announced scrapping of time scales and selection grades.

He admitted that most administrative cases filed with court by government employees are over disputes regarding the two provisions. l

PAGE 5 HC: Why not task force for police’s HR violation

PAGE 8 Malaysia turns away 800 migrants

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2 NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

IGP: Interpol red notice not needed for Salahuddin n Tribune Report As Salahuddin Ahmed is already arrested in India, there is no question of issuing Interpol red notice, Bangladesh police chief said yesterday.

“The Delhi National Central Bureau [NCB] has informed its Dhaka unit that Salahuddin is now undergoing treatment in Meghalaya,” IGP AKM Shahidul Haque said.

Shahidul said Bangladesh has a criminal exchange treaty with India and “we will bring him back shortly.”

Salahuddin was found loitering aimlessly in Shillong on Monday. He had no proof of identity or travel permit and so he was arrested by the Meghalaya police.

Salahuddin’s family declared him missing on March 10 alleging that law enforcers abducted him from Uttara. On Tuesday, Salahuddin talked to his wife Hasina Ahmed from Shillong. His family is now trying to get Indian visas. The Telegraph yesterday quoted Meghalaya police chief Rajiv Mehta as saying that Interpol Dhaka had sent a red corner notice to India requesting Salahuddin’s arrest.

But Meghalaya police is not clear if the notice was issued previously or after Salahuddin surfaced in India. Officials in Meghalaya said the identity of Salahuddin was yet to be confirmed. Interrogators said they would get the opportunity to interrogate him only when he is discharged. l

PALLABI DOUBLE MURDER

Business partner shown arrested n Kamrul Hasan A lawsuit was filed yesterday in connection with Wednesday’s double murder in the capital’s Pallabi, with police saying that the investigation was zeroed in on business disputes and family affairs.

Sweety Khatun’s husband Jahidul Islam, an engineer of Desco, filed the case with Pallabi police station against two unidentified people.

Sweety, 24, and her husband’s maternal uncle Aminul Islam, 44, were killed in their Pallabi house Wednesday afternoon.

Ashraful Islam Shahin was detained hours after the murders as police suspected that he had a dispute with Sweety over business partnership. He was shown arrested in the case and remanded for four days.

Jahidul earlier said he was threatened over phone by extortionists in late March and then filed a general diary with the police station.

Pallabi police station OC Syed Ziauzzaman said the call was made from Madaripur.

Investigators said Jahidul’s reaction was suspicious as he looked quite normal after the murders.

“He did not even say that those were his wife and relative. Apart from being a government official, Jahidul had bought a flat, land properties and started his own firm, which indicates that he had made money illegally,” he said.

Relatives said Jahidul and Sweety were going through difficult times. Morgue sources said Sweety was hacked in left chest and Aminul in the back, shoulder and hand.

Jahidul’s family alleged that police initially declined to register the case, but later took it. l

Busting the office of a recruiting agency in Fakirerpul, RAB personnel detain three people and seize fake passport-making equipment and documents MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

4 human smugglers held in capital n Kamrul Hasan Law enforcers yesterday arrested four human smugglers from the capital’s Fakirerool along with seven aspiring migrants who sought illegal passage abroad.

The arrestees were Abdul Kuddus Mridha, Md Zafar, Md Biplob and Md Shah Uddin.

The seven seeking illegal passage were Md Masum Hossain, 22, Md Shaon, 27, Mostafizur Rahman, 24, Md Amjad, 36, Md Rejaul Islam, 35, Md Motahar, 33 and Saidul Islam, 23.

In a press briefing around 10:15pm, Major Mohammad Mohiuddin, deputy director of Rapid Action Battalion 3, said Kuddus, Zafar, and Biplob were arrested from Hotel Shelter after a drive was conducted by a team follow-

ing a tip-off.

He said among the seven aspiring illegal migrants they had found at the hotel, Masum and Shaon were set to go to Iraq and the rest were Malaysia bound.

The main culprit of the smuggling gang, Tanjil, was absconding, he added.

He said a computer, an image scanner, a printer and documents related to trafficking were seized from their possession.

The illegal migrants did not have any official documents however a document was found that contained fake names to be memorised if caught, the official added.

“We suspect that they would have been smuggled to Malaysia by sea,” Major Mohiuddin said. l

Huda, also the chief advisor to Law and Order Coordination Committee, was also present at the programme.

Earlier, the DMP authorities told the Dhaka Tribune that the capital’s diplomatic zone including Gulshan, Baridhara and Niketon, would be brought under surveillance of 400 CCTV cameras to ensure maximum security.

The cameras, apart from functioning as regular CCTV cameras, will send beeps to the nearby police station and the control centre once any blacklisted vehicle or person or object is spotted.

Speakers of the cameras will be set up at 11 police check posts where the duty officers would be able to hear the beeps. l

and now we are trying to trace the culprits.”

This correspondent has seen from time to time that the DMP has the technology to enhance the footage captured by surveillance cameras and come up with workably clear pictures of criminals.

On January 9, miscreants attacked Law Minister Anisul Haque’s residence in Banani and hurled bombs at the Canadian embassy.

DMP has surveillance mechanisms in both the areas but none of the miscreants have been tracked down so far.

On January 13, BNP chairperson’s advisor Riaz Rahman got badly injured in an attack at Gulshan. CCTV cameras installed in the area showed that the criminals fleeing the area on motorbikes after the attack, but police have not managed to arrest any of them.

Lutuful Kabir Chowdhury, deputy commissioner of police’s Gulshan Division, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “From time to time, we have arrested a number criminals by identifying them from CCTV camera footage. And sometimes, we have not been able to do so.”

Seeking anonymity, a security professional told the Dhaka Tribune: “If the authorities want, tracing the criminals is not impossible.

The quality of the existing cameras needs to be upgraded. But first, the authorities must have the will.”

DMP boss Asaduzzaman Miah said that they are installing better cameras at the capital’s entry points which would be able to clearly shoot even the number plates of vehicles.

“That would definitely help us in better combating crime in near future,” he said. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Gulshan to get 600 more Annisul Huq who attended the inauguration programme as special guest at the capital’s Lakeshore Hotel, said he wanted to take the whole Dhaka North under CCTV surveillance within five years.

Director General of Rapid Action Battalion Benazir Ahmed said this could be helpful for general people to avoid traffic jam in the city.

He further said no matter whatever the ratio of the investment is, the authority of the surveillance system must come under police department.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed inaugurated the project as the chief guest.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former election commissioner Shamsul

CCTV cameras yet to deliver Sharmin also said that there had been very little progress because technology has rapidly improved since the project had been undertaken. “Moreover, nobody is ready to take the responsibility. As a result, the CCTV cameras have remained nonfunctional.”

Those 155 cameras were installed at Uttara, Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, in the 49 police stations in the city. A total of 94 internet protocol (IP) cameras were installed at the 12 entry points to the capital.

Recently, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have been facing strong criticism for not being able to catch the killers of science writer Avijit Roy or those who assaulted women on Bangla New Year’s day, despite having relevant CCTV camera footage.

But DMP sources said these cameras had

been installed on the Dhaka University campus temporarily for special occasions such as the Ekushey book fair and the Pohela Boishakh; they were not part of the 2009 project.

DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah did not admit that the CCTV camera footages had been of no use.

“We have been able to get an idea about what happened on those days by analysing the footages. If there were no cameras, then we have been totally blind,” he said.

Asked why then none of the criminals have so far been arrested in connection with the Boisakh assualt on women, he said that police officials had been working on it.

When contacted, Monirul Islam, chief of DMP’s Detective Branch (DB), said: “We have identified around 12 people from the footage

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FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

NEC okays Tk97,000cr ADP for FY15-16 Original Revised (Amount in Tk Cr)

0

2010-11

Source: IMED

20000

55,000 52,366

40000

46,000 41,080

60000

65,870 60,000

80000

97,000

100000

38,500 35,800

The government has approved a development spending of Tk97,000 crore for the next fiscal year, thanks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who influenced enhancing the figure by Tk4,500 crore from the actual proposal.

The allocation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) is 16.7% higher than Tk80,315 crore original outlay and 30% more than the Tk75,000 crore revised allocation of the outgoing fiscal year.

The National Economic Council (NEC) approved the ADP for the 2015-16 fiscal at a meeting, chaired by the prime minister.

However, the total development expenditure stood at Tk1,00,997 crore with an additional amount of Tk3,997 crore allocated for the self-financed projects of autonomous bodies and corporations.

The allocation for the autonomous bodies and corporations, however, came down from Tk5,685 crore in previous fiscal year.

Explaining the salient features of the ADP, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the ADP size had been fixed to match the demands of different ministries and agencies.

He said proposals of Tk92,500 crore outlay for the original ADP and another Tk4,500 crore for the autonomous bodies and government corporations were placed before the NEC meeting.

Under new ADP, the transportation sector got the top priority in the new ADP, led by the country’s largest infrastructure project Pad-

TREND OF ADP ALLOCATION 80,000 75,000

n Tribune Report

2011-12

2012-13

ma bridge construction.

Of the total outlay, around Tk62,500 crore, which is nearly 61.88 % of the total ADP, will come from domestic resources and Tk34,500 crore or 38.2% from foreign assistance.

Kamal said the development strategy includes improvement of existing infrastructure and construction of new roads and bridges to improve connectivity, social services delivery through establishment of new facilities, upgradation and removal of deficiencies

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

from existing education, health and drinking water facilities.

The government has taken up 1,123 projects for the next ADP. Of which, some 854 projects are for investment, 132 for technical assistance, 12 included in the Japanese Debt Cancellation Fund (JDCF) and 125 to be implemented with the corporations and autonomous bodies’ own funds.

A total of 857 unapproved projects without allocation were kept on the green page in the

College student hacked to death in Pallabi n Kamrul Hasan

A college student was hacked to death by the associates of a lawmaker during a clash over a dispute on land ownership in the capital’s Pallabi area yesterday afternoon.

The deceased, Abdur Rahman Chanchal, was caught in the middle of the clash between

two rival groups in the area, one of which is affiliated with MA Awal, member of parliament from Lakshmipur 1 constituency and leader of Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, locals told the Dhaka Tribune. Chanchal was a student at Bangabandhu College in Mirpur.

Witnesses said the clash broke out in the morning between the groups of Momen Baksh – who is associated with lawmaker Awal – and Shahinuddin Shahin inside a ceramic factory in Pallabi when Momen’s group went to put up a signboard on the 120-bigha land to establish ownership.

Ansar Commander Didar Hossain, who was stationed in the area, said Momen’s men chased Shahin’s men with machetes and sticks.

The dispute continued as the groups chased and counter-chased each other, spreading pan-

ADP, 368 new unapproved projects were kept for foreign assistance, while 40 projects were included under the public-private partnership.

The number of unfinished projects taken in the previous fiscal year was 209.

Power sector got the second highest allocation, followed by physical planning, water supply and housing, education and religion.

The above sectors were followed by rural development and rural institution, health, nutrition, population and social welfare sector and agriculture.

Like previous years, former finance adviser to the caretaker government Mirza Azizul Islam, however, expressed doubts over the implementation of the new ADP. “It will be very difficult to implement such a large ADP as we have seen before,” he said.

“I have lots of doubt about the financial resources needed to implement this, if the revenue growth trend and possible foreign aid disbursement are taken into account.”

It has become a tradition that big size ADP with too many projects are taken every year for boosting public expenditure in order to keep the wheel of the economic growth running, observers said.

But expenditure scenario is very poor at the end of the fiscal year, they said.

In 10 months of the current fiscal year, only 56% of the ADP has been implemented, meaning the rest 44% will have to be spent in two months, which is quite difficult. l

BNP’s Rizvi, Rafiqul charge-sheeted n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu Police yesterday submitted a charge sheet against BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the party’s standing committee member Barrister Rafiqul islam Miah and 34 other leaders and activists in a case filed with Mirpur model police station for torching a bus on January 28.

Sub-Inspector Md Rafiqul Islam of Mirpur model police station, also investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court’s general register office. l

Friends and relatives break into tears at DMCH over the untimely and tragic demise of Abdur Rahman Chanchal, left, who was killed in a clash between two groups over land dispute at Uttar Kalshi of Pallabi in the capital yesterday MEHEDI HASAN ic among the locals. Chanchal, who happened to be in the area, tried to find a safe place, but as he ran, Momen’s men mistook him as a member of Shahin’s group and attacked him.

He was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in critical condition, where the doctor on duty pronounced him dead.

Sources at the DMCH said Chanchal’s body had lacerations on his limbs, back and waist.

When contacted, Awal said his men were attacked by the rival group when they tried to establish their rights on the land.

He said Momen was a contractor who acquired the land for him.

Six more people of both the groups were also injured in the clash. Three of them – Shahin, 30, Rajib Hossain, 28, and Mohammad Ali, 25 – were stabbed severely and taken to the DMCH. Police are quizzing the injured admitted at the hospital and will focus on Chanchal’s murder for now, said Mohammad Jasim Uddin, additional deputy commissioner.

Asked about the land’s ownership, he said they had yet to be confirmed.

No case was filed when this report was filed, and the postmortem had yet to be conducted, he said. l

One held with 101 passports in capital n Tribune report Police early yesterday arrested one person with 101 passports from the capital’s Darussalam area. The arrestee was identified as Shah Uddin, 48 of Comilla.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Mirpur zone Mohammad Jasim Uddin said they had raided a house at Bardhanbari area at around 2:30am being tipped off.

Police further said they had called the passport holders and learned that they paid Tk1 lakh to Tk1.5 lakh each for the passports.

When asked if they knew the person they gave money to, the passport holders said they had no idea since the money was given by their relatives who lived in Malaysia or Saudi Arabia.

A case was filed against Shah Uddin with Darussalam police station. l

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FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Tk20 crore worth yaba seized from the bay, seven held Mahmud, n Tarek Chittagong Rapid Action Battalion 7 seized 500,000 yaba from a fishing boat at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port yesterday late at night and arrested seven smugglers in this connection.

RAB 7 Commanding Officer Lt Colonel Miftah Uddin Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that they conducted the drive around 11pm and detained a fishing trawler, MT Hena, with six fishermen and a boatman following a tip-off.

He said: “The fishing trawler was coming from the direction of Myanmar. This gang was smuggling yaba for quite a while.”

The seven arrestees – Mohammad Hannan, 40, Lokman, 33, Rasel, 30, Elias, 18, Oliullah, 21, Reaz, 19, and Osman, 20 – were handed over to Patenga police station and a case was filed in this connection.

So far RAB 7 seized 1,055,115

yaba tablets in 2015, said RAB 7 Media Officer Assistant Superintendent of Police Sohel Mahmud.

Sources at different law enforcement agencies said yaba smugglers were bringing the drug into the country from neighbouring Myanmar by fishing trawlers.

Bangladesh Coast Guard (East) Zonal Commander Captain Shahidul Islam said the smugglers easily convinced the fishermen with the offer of good money and telling them that the tablets were medicine. Most of the times, the fishermen did not know that they were carrying contraband items, he added.

Directorate of Narcotic Control, Chittagong Metro region’s Superintendent Inspector Chowdhury Imrul Hasan said the smugglers used the sea route as only the coastguard and Bangladesh Navy watched the sea whereas the land routes were under surveillance of many law enforcement agencies. l

All accused in Shamarukh murder case relieved n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu Considering police’s final report, a Dhaka court yesterday exempted former Awami League MP Tipu Sultan, his wife and son from the charge of killing Dr Shamarukh Mahjabin.

On March 29, Investigation Officer of the case CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Munshi Ruhul Kuddus pressed the final report before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

Kuddus said the victim had committed suicide on November 13 last year and that he did not find any clue of murder. He also submitted a prayer for the release of the accused.

Victim’s father Nurul Islam, an assistant PDB engineer in Jessore, had filed a no-confidence petition against the final report. He sued the trio alleging that they had tortured Shamarukh physically and mentally.

After yesterday’s order given by Metropolitan Magistrate Ashok Kumer Datta, he told the Dhaka Tribune that the accused had influenced the case politically, and that he would appeal against the order.

The released accused are former Awami League lawmak-

er from Jessore Khan Tipu Sultan, his wife Dr Jesmin Ara Begum and son Humayun Sultan.

Humayun was arrested on November 14 last year allegedly for murdering his 24-year old wife. Twenty days after her death, the authorities concerned exhumed the body for fresh postmortem examination in line with a court order. Three postmortems were conducted on the body – at Jessore Medical College Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College and Khulna Medical College Hospital.

According to the final report, Shamarukh in her diary wrote addressing her father that she had been too weak to tolerate trivial matters, and so she chose to take her life. She also did not accuse anyone for her committing suicide.

Shamarukh’s body was found hanging in the bathroom of her in-law’s Dhanmondi house on November 13. After completing MBBS at Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College, she was preparing for FCPS. Nurul yesterday also alleged that the court had not considered the documents and evidence submitted before it and the investigation officer. l

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FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

HC for task force on law enforcers’ HR violation n Tribune Report The High Court has asked the government to explain in four weeks as to why it should not be directed to form a permanent task force to address human rights violations committed by law enforcers.

In response to a writ petition, the bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akanda also asked the government to explain why it should not be ordered to adopt a guideline or a policy to restore people’s confidence in the law enforcers.

Executive Director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA)

Salma Ali had filed the petition following the police action on demonstrators who were marching to lay siege to the DMP commissioner’s office on Minto Road on May 10.

They were protesting against police inaction to bring to book culprits who had sexually assaulted women and children during the Pohela Boishakh celebrations on Dhaka University campus on April 14.

The home secretary, inspector general of police, DMP commissioner, deputy commissioner of Dhaka and DMP deputy commissioners concerned were made respondents to the ruling, Deputy Attorney General Amatul Karim Swapna said. l

Wasa boss finally grilled by ACC n Adil Sakhawat The managing director of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa), Taqsem A Khan, finally appeared before the Anti-Corruption Commission but secretly.

Taqsem was issued notice two times to face interrogation regarding irregularities in the proposed Padma (Jashaldia) Water Treatment Plant Project (Phase 1) worth Tk3,509 crore.

On Wednesday, he called the commission and said he would appear before the commission, an ACC official said requesting anonymity.

He was questioned by Assistant Director Sheikh Abdus Salam at the ACC’s Segunbagicha headquarters from 9:30am to 12:30pm yesterday, ACC’s Public Relation Officer Pranab

Kumer Bhattacharya told the Dhaka Tribune.

The allegations say Wasa selected a Chinese company, CAMC Engineering Company Ltd, for the project without inviting an open tender and signed an agreement with them on November 5, 2013 – 13 months prior to the project’s approval by the cabinet.

It is alleged that Taqsem awarded the workorder to the Chinese company without following due procedure of tender and vetting, costing the state exchequer around Tk350 crore.

Moreover, Wasa will have to count Tk150 crore more for importing pipes, allegedly substandard, to be used in the project long before acquiring land.

However, Taqsem refuted all allegations against him and submitted a written statement. l

BTRC can now monitor int’l call traffic n Tribune Report International call traffic can now be monitored by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) as the High Court yesterday rejected a writ petition challenging the legality of the BTRC’s decision to monitor the traffic.

The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam passed the order after hearing arguments on the petition, BTRC’s lawyer Khandaker Reza-E-Raquib said.

International gateway oper-

ators DBL Telecom, Bangla Tel Limited and BG Tel Limited collectively submitted the petition on May 4, challenging the legality of the BTRC’s decision to run IGW operators switch (IOS) for monitoring international call traffic. The petitioners argued that the commission cannot create IOS for monitoring the call traffic without giving IGW operators licence.

Additional Attorney General Murad Reza and Khandaker Reza-E Raquib stood for the BTRC while Ajmalul Hossain and MK Rahman for the petitioners. l

Tribunal verdict in Bergman statement case June 10 n Ashif Islam Shaon The International Crimes Tribunal has fixed June 10 to decide whether to punish for contempt the 23 eminent citizens who did not apologise before it for their statement, issued expressing concern over the conviction of Dhaka-based British journalist David Bergman.

The court also asked those living in Bangladesh to be present before it.

The tribunal led by its Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan fixed the date after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defence, and three alleged contemnors.

On April 1, the tribunal issued a rule asking them why they should not be punished for contempt of court. After

they responded to the rule, lawyer Asaduzzaman argued yesterday for 10 of them while Akhter Imam and Rehnuma Anam for two others. Shirin Haque stood for three of them. The hearing ended with prosecutor Turin Afroze’s argument.

During the hearing, the tribunal said those who issued the statement were irresponsible. The statement was sent to the media in Bangla and English.

The signatories could not say which version they signed on and who had translated the statement.

On December 2 last year, the tribunal found Bergman, editor (special reports) of the New Age, in contempt for making derogatory remarks in two of his three blogs published in 2011 and

2013 and sentenced him to imprisonment “till rising of the court” and fined Tk5,000. In the other article, the tribunal did not convict him but condemned and warned for his writing where he had criticised the death figure in 1971.

The tribunal in the unanimous order said: “...in the name of exercising right to freedom of expression, he [Bergman] has crossed the limits of his professional ethics.”

After the verdict, 50 eminent citizens, in a statement, expressed concern saying that the order would restrict freedom of expression. Of them, rights activist Khushi Kabir withdrew her name while 26 others were exempted from the charge for apologising unconditionally. l

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FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

7 die in diarrhoea 2 girls raped in Munshiganj, Nilphamari n outbreak Tribune Report

Correspondent, n Our Khagrachari At least seven people died in an outbreak of diarrhoea at remote Sajek area under Bhagaichari upazila of Rangamati district yesterday.

Bhagaichari upazila chairman Bororishi Chakma and headman Jipputong Tripura said 30 people of Shialdaha and Chaillatal villages became sick as the disease broke out in the area on Thursday.

Of the victims, Tarai Tripura,35, Bodratri Tripura,45, Teerbabu Tripura, 50, Lakshmi

Tripura,30, Dirbora Tripura 30, Bidhamohon Tripura,85, Kushumoti Tripura,52, died.

Sources said army, BGB and police personnel visited the area.

A medical team also had been sent to the area, said Deputy Commissioner Shamsul Arefin.

When contacted, Superintend of Police Sayed Tarikul confirmed the death of four persons.

The correct information could not be gathered instantly as the remote area was far away from the district town and the communication system was in vulnerable condition, said the deputy commissioner. l

Chapainawabganj gets ready for PM Correspondent, n Our Chapainawabganj Centring the tomorrow’s visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the district has been experiencing a busy and festive mood among the locals to give a warmth reception to her.

The whole district town is getting facelift touch, in line with which repair works of roads and bridges is also going on. Besides, the district has been covered with archways, banners and festoons.

Sources said the PM would inaugurate new projects promised by her earlier.

The residents of seven unions located in remote char lands were very upbeat as the PM is going to inaugurate the new-

ly-built bridge, the only linking bridge to the Sadar upazila with their localities.

Emancipation from the long-pending suffering ensued for want of the bridge gave them a great relief, sources added.

Earlier, the local unit AL called a rally on Nawabganj Government College ground, where the PM was supposed to address it in the afternoon. The district’s SP Bashir Ahmad said a four-tier security measures have already taken there.

Intelligence surveillance has been beefed up and raids at the criminals’ den are also going on, the SP continued.

Chapainawabganj 3 MP Abdul Odud admitted the allout preparations regarding the visit.l

Sechchasebak League leader held over Gazipur Nagar Bhaban vandalism Correspondent, n Our Gazipur Joint Convenor of Gazipur district unit Sechchasebak League was arrested yesterday on charge of vandalising Gazipur Nagar Bhaban.

Officer-in-Charge of Joydebpur police station Khandaker Rezaul Hasan Reza said Shahjahan was arrested from his residence around 11:30pm.

A clash ensued between supporters of two contractors over work order at Gazipur City Corporation on Wednesday.

During the clash, supporters of both groups vandalised several rooms and ransacked documents of the city corporation.

At least 10 people, including three councilors, were injured during the clash over internal conflict of two contractors who are also local leaders of ruling party Awami League.

Following the clash, Assistant Secretary of Gazipur City Corporation Mohammed Nezamul Haque filed a case with Joydebpur police station on Wednesday against 10 people, including the contractor. l

At least two girls were raped in Munshiganj and Nilpahamari districts yesterday.

Our Munshiganj correspondent reports: A minor girl was violated brutally in Sreenagar upazila.

Police sources said Joy, 19, son of

Jahangir of Kandugaon village raped the girl while she was sleeping in her room around 2.30pm. The parents of the girl were busy in their work outside of home at that time.

Later, an arbitaory was held in this connection where the rapist had to give Tk10,000 as compensation to the family.

The girl was admitted to the upazila

hospital in critical condition. Mujibar Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sreenagr police satation confirmed the incident.

In Nilphamari, a schoolgirl was raped in Beruband area of Shimul Bari union under Joldhaka upazila, reports our correspondent. Selim, 21, son of Azizul Islam of the area raped the Class V student girl while she was alone in the house. l

DT

NEWS 7

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Adulteration concern keeps people away from buying summer fruits n Munir Momtaj A variety of summer fruits are available in the market but there is reluctance among people to buy as they are concerned about possible adulteration.

Mango, lychee, watermelon, pineapple and jackfruit are among the fruits that have started arriving in the market more than a week ago but the question that is preventing people from purchasing is: Are we buying poison in the name of fruits?

The uncontrolled use of formalin and carbide in fruits has repeatedly made headlines over the past few years but anti-chemical drives are yet to be carried out this year.

Assistant Director of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, Riazul Haque, said there would be drives in the capital’s fruit markets shortly.

Rafiqul Islam, a fruit vendor at Badamtoli Bazar in Sadarghat, claimed he sells fresh and

WEATHER DRY WEATHER

FRIDAY, MAY 15 DHAKA TODAY

TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:34PM

SUN RISES 5:16AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

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27

Chittagong

33

28

Rajshahi

35

28

Rangpur

35

25

Khulna

33

27

Barisal

36

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Sylhet

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Cox’s Bazar

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YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

38.2ºC

22.0ºC

Satkhira

Sylhet Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr

3:50am

Sunrise

5:15am

Jumma

11:55am

Asr

4:34pm

Magrib

6:34pm

Esha

8:04pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

chemical-free mangoes.

But he kept mum when asked if the fruits he sells have been tested.

The trader also claimed his fruits had been tested when those were collected from orchards.

Like Rafiqul, many fruit sellers in the capital claimed their fruits contain no adulterant.

The use of formalin detection kits drew criticisms last year after the effectiveness of the devices was questioned.

This, sources said, is one of the reasons why officials have not yet begun carrying out drives against adulterated fruits this year.

A Bangladesh Council of Science and Industrial Research (BCSIR) report submitted to the High Court last year said the formalin detection kit, Formaldehyde Meter Z 300, used in Bangladesh is unable to perfectly measure the presence of chemical in fruits and food items.

The High Court then ordered the government to form a committee of experts by a week which will be tasked with selecting a new and proper kit.

Md Zahurul Haque, director of Food Science and Technology Institute at the BCSIR, said no problem was found in the kit when it was tested.

“But the problem is that the kit was not made to measure the level of formalin in fruit or fish but it is being used in our country for that. Besides, people who use this to test food items do not know the proper use.

“We can also test the presence of formalin in our laboratory which takes two to three days,” he said.

“Many people think that for the natural preservative formalin kit give different result but it is a wrong idea,” he added.

Serajul Islam, general secretary of Dhaka City Fruit Import Export and Merchants Association, said traders incurred losses last year for the use of formalin in fruits. “This year, we are very careful about that.” l

Protest continues at SUST over killing of Ananta n Our Correspondent, Sylhet Activists of different socio-cultural organisations staged demonstrations on the campus protesting killing of Mutomona blogger Ananta Bijoy Das. They brought out a procession that paraded main points on the campus.

Assailants have hacked to death secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das in Sylhet on Tuesday, two months after the killing of writer-blogger Avijit Roy. Teachers and students of the university continued protest demanding withdrawal of statement made by a local lawmaker against professor of computer science and engineering department of the university Muhammad Zafar Iqbal. l

DT

8 WORLD

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Philippine factory inferno toll rises to 72 n Reuters The death toll has risen to 72 in a fire that gutted a rubber slipper factory in the Philippine capital of Manila on Wednesday, a firefighter said yesterday as police vowed swift action against those responsible for the mishap.

As many as 72 bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the two-storey factory. Estimates by local government and fire officials have been in conflict since Wednesday, complicated by the difficulties of retrieving bodies from the wreckage.

Police said the fire started when sparks from a welding machine set ablaze flammable chemicals near the main entrance of the factory, triggering a huge explosion, followed by billows of black smoke and flames.

Arson investigators have gone to the site to help city police in the probe. l

Thailand to prosecute abandoned migrants n AFP, Satun Hundreds of migrants are seen on a boat drifting 17 km off the coast of the southern island of Koh Lipe, Thailand yesterday

REUTERS

Malaysia turns away 800 migrants n Agencies Rohingya and Bangladeshis migrants abandoned at sea by human traffickers had nowhere to go yesterday as Malaysia turned away two crammed boats with 800 aboard, and Thailand kept at bay a large vessel with hundreds of hungry people.

A boat crammed with scores of Rohingya was found drifting in Thai waters.

As dusk fell several visibly emaciated men jumped into the sea to retrieve food packages dropped by a Thai navy helicopter.

An AFP reporter saw one of the men eat handfuls of raw instant noodles in the water before swimming back to the boat.

“About 10 people died during the journey.

We threw their bodies into the water,” one of

the migrants shouted in Rohingya to a boat full of journalists.

Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Jafaar said: “What do you expect us to do? We have treated them humanely but they cannot be flooding our shores like this.”

“We have to send the right message that they are not welcome here,” he told The Associated Press. Four days earlier, about 1,000 refugees landed on the shores of Langkawi in northern Malaysia. Another 600 arrived surreptitiously in Indonesia.

Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chanocha made it clear that his government does not have resources to host refugees.

“If we take them all in, then anyone who wants to come will come freely. I am asking if Thailand will be able to take care of them all.

Where will the budget come from?” Prayuth said. “No one wants them,” he said.

South-east Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million Rohingya but finds itself caught in a spiraling humanitarian crisis that in many ways it helped create. In the last three years, more than 120,000 members of the Muslim minority, who are intensely persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, have boarded ships to flee to other countries, paying huge sums to human smugglers.

Despite appeals by the UN and aid groups, no government in the region — Thai, Indonesian or Malaysian — appears willing to take the refugees, fearing that accepting a few would result in an unstoppable flow of poor, uneducated migrants. l

Nearly 200 migrants detained since Thailand launched its recent crackdown against human trafficking in the country’s deep south will be prosecuted for entering the country illegally, police said yesterday.

In the last fortnight Thai police have rounded up more than 250 Myanmar Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants following the discovery of dozens of graves in secret jungle camps run by people smugglers.

Many were abandoned in desperate conditions in the remote southern jungle bordering Malaysia after smugglers fled following the crackdown.

“Police have already indicted 187 on illegal entry charges... so those cases are being processed now,” deputy national police chief Aek Angsananont told AFP from southern Thailand.

He added that a committee of officials and police were scrutinising whether 63 others are victims of human trafficking.

Rights groups have long urged Thailand to offer asylum to Rohingya migrants fleeing persecution in western Myanmar, something Bangkok has so far resisted. l

Vatican move on Palestine adds fuel to European debate n Reuters

The Vatican’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine in a treaty for the first time has drawn a stern response from Israel, but it may usher in a freer debate in Europe about how to proceed on the Palestine question.

The Holy See has referred to Palestine since 2012, but the treaty concluded on Wednesday, which covers the Church’s activities in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, marks a more formal recognition.

An Israeli foreign ministry official described the Vatican’s move as a “disappointment” and indicated that it may lead to reprisals, although he did not say of what kind.

The Vatican, increasingly proactive in foreign policy under Pope Francis, is far from the only state to have recognised Palestine - 135

members of the United Nations already do so, nearly 70 percent of the total. By comparison, 160 of the UN’s 193 members recognise Israel.

‘That scares the hell out of most Israelis, but that is the consequence of walking away from the two-state solution ... accepting a onestate solution’ Last October, Sweden became the first major European country to acknowledge Palestine.

The European Union as a whole does not recognise Palestine. Last year, an EU foreign minister visiting the region asked during

closed-door meetings whether it wasn’t time to drop the goal of a two-state solution - the bedrock of peace negotiations since the mid1970s - and consider alternatives. They could include the unilateral recognition of Palestine by the EU as a whole or by member states.

Another option, favoured by some high-profile Israelis, including President Reuven Rivlin, is a one-state solution, which would involve one nation with equal rights for Jews and Arabs living in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

While a radical proposal - would it be a Jewish state if more than half the population is Muslim? How would Islamists in Gaza accept it? - it has begun to be mentioned in some corners of Brussels.

Ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, one senior EU diplomat said the

time was drawing near when the 28-country bloc might have to acknowledge that a twostate solution cannot be reached.

“Ministers need to have an informed discussion,” the diplomat said. “Part of that is to say: ‘OK, the two-state solution is dead.”

If Israel’s primary objective is to maintain the status-quo, pursuing a one-state solution would put Tel Aviv under considerable pressure, he added. “That scares the hell out of most Israelis, but that is the consequence of walking away from the two-state solution ... accepting a one-state solution.”

The United States shows no signs of shifting from the two-state goal.

But the Obama administration has expressed frustration with Netanyahu’s policies, including continued settlement building on land the Palestinians seek for a state. l

DT

WORLD 9

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Modi in Xi’s hometown for historic meeting n Reuters Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ancestral home town at the start of a three-day visit to China yesterday as the two Asian giants work to boost economic ties despite decades of mistrust.

It was the first time Xi had invited a foreign leader to his father’s home province of Shaanxi, in the heart of central China, a signal that the two may set aside suspicions over a festering border issue to sign billions in trade deals.

Modi’s visit reciprocated Xi’s trip to India in September, when Modi took Xi to his home state of Gujarat.

“China is a huge market. As far as India is concerned, it’s a totally under-exploited market,” said TCA Rangachari, a former Indian ambassador to France and Germany who worked on China affairs for more than 15 years.

The sunglasses-clad Modi posed for photos near a pit of 2,000-year-old terracotta warrior sculptures in the historic northwestern city of Xian.

The two leaders also visited a pagoda connected to Xuanzang, also known as Tripitaka, the monk who bought the Buddhist sutras to China from India thousands of years ago, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs said via his Twitter account. Modi was given a figurine of Xuanzang.

The two sides have also agreed to speed up work on rail links in India, as China seeks to cash in on Modi’s vision of a modern train system.

The long-standing Himalayan border dispute, as well as recent forays by China’s navy into the Indian Ocean, have overshadowed ties in the past. Some in China, which is a strong ally of India’s longtime foe Pakistan,

Indonesia urged to stop ‘virginity tests’ n AFP, Jakarta Indonesia faced calls yesterday to stop virginity tests for women seeking to join the military, with a leading rights group calling the practice “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”

Human Rights Watch said interviews with female members of the military showed that the examination, normally conducted through a “two-finger test” to ensure the hymen is intact, was required of women joining the armed forces or planning to marry military officers.

The armed forces defended checking female applicants’ virginity, saying that people of low morals could “damage the military.”

This is just the latest controversy around virginity tests in conservative, Muslim-majority Indonesia, with the national police facing criticism last year for forcing female applicants to undergo the examinations.

In a statement, HRW said the military “should immediately end the use of so-called virginity tests, which violate the prohibition of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international human rights law.”

The group described the practice as gender-based violence and said it was “scientifically baseless” as a method of proving that a woman was a virgin.

Military spokesman Fuad Basya defended the tests, saying they stop immoral women from entering the armed forces. l

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks to a monk at Daxingshan Buddhist temple, in Xian, Shaanxi province, China, yesterday have reacted to the visit with scepticism.

“Due to the Indian elites’ blind arrogance and confidence in their democracy, and the inferiority of its ordinary people, very few Indians are able to treat Sino-Indian relations accurately, objectively and rationally,” wrote

Hu Zhiyong of the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences in the state-owned Global Times.

Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said via his Twitter account that “surging adoring crowds”

UK experts urge $2bn global fund to develop antibiotics n AFP, London The global pharmaceutical industry should set up a $2.0 billion (1.8-billion euro) global innovation fund to help kickstart research into developing more resistant antibiotics, experts said yesterday.

The report was by the British government appointed Review on Antimicrobial Resistance committee, which has warned that drug-resistant microbes could kill 10 million people a year worldwide by 2050.

“We need to kickstart drug development to make sure the world has the drugs it needs,” the review’s author, economist Jim O’Neill, told the BBC. O’Neill, who used to work at Goldman Sachs investment bank, has also warned that antimicrobial resistance – when bugs become immune to existing drugs – could cost $100 trillion in lost economic output.

Speaking on the BBC Panorama programme, he said big pharma should act with “enlightened self-interest.”

“If it gets really bad, somebody is going to come gunning for these guys just how people came gunning for finance” during the 2008 global financial crisis, he said.

He said a fund with $2.0 billion over five

years would give a vital boost to research and development by universities and small biotech companies.

The report said that one potential direction was the development of “resistance breakers” that could boost the effectiveness of existing antibiotics without the additional cost of developing new ones.

With $2bn over five years, the fund could prioritise payment to universities and small biotech companies and break the link between profitability of the drug and volume of sales.

“Too many good ideas are not being pursued for lack of funding,” the report said.

O’Neill was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron last year.

The World Health Organization last month warned that the world was doing far too little to combat the misuse of antibiotics, which is fuelling drug resistance and allowing treatable diseases to become killers.

In its first ever analysis of how countries are responding to the problem of antimicrobial resistance, the UN health agency revealed “major gaps” in all six regions of the world.

“This is the single greatest challenge in infectious diseases today,” Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s assistant director general for health security, said in a statement. l

REUTERS

greeted Modi in Xian, posting photos taken outside a shopping centre.

Modi is set to travel to Beijing on Friday, when he will meet Premier Li Keqiang. He will visit the economic powerhouse of Shanghai after that to meet business leaders. l

Burundi fighting amid claims coup attempt foiled n Reuters The head of Burundi’s army said yesterday that an attempted coup had failed and forces loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza were in control but heavy gunfire in the capital suggested the battle for power was not yet over.

Army Chief of Staff General Prime Niyongabo’s announcement came a day after another general said he had sacked Nkurunziza for seeking an unconstitutional third term in office, developments that have alarmed neighbouring governments.

Heavy gunfire was heard coming from the direction of the state broadcasting headquarters, a Reuters witness said. State radio and television both went off air. The state broadcaster is seen as a vital asset for both sides to reach the population.

It was difficult to determine who was now in control of the capital, with periods of relative calm broken by bouts of heavy gunfire.

A Reuters witness saw one dead soldier lying near the Interior Ministry.

Nkurunziza sparked more than two weeks of protests by saying he would seek another five years in office.

There is no official confirmation of his whereabouts, but Tanzanian sources said he was at a secure location in Dar es Salaam. l

DT

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EDITORIAL 11

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

INSIDE

Authority where it’s needed Studies have found that most standing committees of the local government institutions are inactive

PAGE 12

The rice we eat The government should not play hide and seek over rice imports

PAGE 13

Mayor’s green pledges should go further The Indian parliament creates history It is a big achievement for the Union government which enunciated India’s “neighbourhood first” policy

PAGE 14

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email letters.dt@ dhakatribune.com

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W

e support the plan by Dhaka’s newly elected mayors to form a coordination authority to reduce the bottlenecks created by city corporation works currently being dependent on 20 different ministries.

It is encouraging to see them take a co-operative approach to addressing funding and planning issues.

The two mayors are also right to set waste management as a top priority.

As DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq points out, some issues such as rehabilitating street hawkers who are illegally clogging up footpaths, will require more time and many different policy interventions. Improving waste management, however, should be much more straightforward.

It is good then, to see DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokon, make time bound promises to distribute free garbage bags among 143,000 Dhaka South houses and repair all street lights before Ramadan begins.

Commitments of this type which can be readily measured and monitored are important to help improve city governance.

However, the mayors still need to go further in supporting recycling schemes.

Free bin bags alone will not solve any problems and will only add to plastic waste if collection and processing systems are not themselves addressed.

The city corporations should invest in larger plastic bins for all buildings which can be marked to enable more pre-sorting of organic waste, bottles and paper.

Experience from successful community projects shows that such a household centred approach can dramtically boost recycling rates and cut litter. They can also pay for themselves by increasing the income generated for waste pickers and recyclers.

Improve collection and processing systems to boost recycling rates

DT

12 OPINION

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Authority where it's needed n Sadiat Mannan

NASHIRUL ISLAM

A

lthough the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh maps out three institutions (zila or district, upazila or sub-district, and union) at the local government level, there is no common legal framework that governs the institutions and each unit has their own laws as “acts.”

The first upazila elections after the inception of electoral democracy in 1991 were held in 2009 to directly elect three representatives in each upazila, and the complex and cumbersome legal framework, which at times may be considered to contain contradictions, deters the devolution of power and authority to the elected.

The Upazila Parishad Act, 1998, with the latest amendment in 2011, currently establishes the council at the upazila level and, according to law, 17 departments belonging to 12 ministries are transferred to the upazila parishad.

In effect, all their functions belong to the upazila parishad and the government officials remain accountable to the council of the elected representatives. Nevertheless, the law stipulates that their performance appraisals are to be written by the superiors of their respective line departments as well as the upazila parishad chairperson: It is the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) in case of departments and the Annual Performance Report (APR) in case of upazila parishad.

Furthermore, the law does not clearly mention any sanctions that are to be imposed from these appraisals, particularly from the council. The fact that the upazila parishad has been newly introduced, in addition to the loyalty of the line agencies, belong to their respective departments -- having formal sanctioning authorities -- makes such exercises problematic.

This “dual accountability” feature, or rather lack of accountability to the upazila parishad, results in the council being marginalised in the governance process.

According to the most recent amendment of the Upazila Parishad Act, there are a total of 17 standing committees that can be formed by the members of the upazila parishad with the provision that the committees are to be chaired by the elected representatives except for the upazila chairperson.

The standing committees, as mentioned in Article 29 of the Act, provide support to the parishad in performing its functions where the relevant government officials of the departments are the member-secretaries to the committees.

The line agencies, to a certain extent, fulfill the mandates of the upazila parishad and these committees hold the government officials accountable for their functions. Various studies have found that most standing committees of the local government institutions, predominantly at the upazila level, are inactive.

Again, absence of formal sanctioning mechanisms to hold the upazila administration accountable to the elected representatives contributes to the problem of inactivity without proper devolution of administrative authority to the parishad.

Although the local government institutions fall under the Local Government Division (LGD) of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives, only four departments of the upazila administration belong to the LGD. The lack of an overall legal framework matched by the lack of coordination among the agencies leads to circulars and guidelines to be circulated by the ministries establishing rules at an ad hoc basis that, in certain cases, do not complement each other and, in numerous others, are found overlapping.

Various committees exist through these notifications whose functions, as well as functionaries, overlap with that of standing committees.

Even though most of these committees formed by various ministries have existed prior to the introduction of the parishad, there are no legal provisions that require the dissolution of such committees. The upazilas tend to function as they used to, essentially making the standing committees redundant.

Despite the overlap of functions of the two types of committees, the functions of the committees belonging to the administration are not limited to that of the standing committees and indeed extend beyond that.

There have been efforts of incorporating the upazila chairpersons as chairs of such committees.

However, the local member of parliament is also included in these committees with an advisory capacity. The law stipulates that, as translated from Bangla, the parishad “will have to take the advice” or “shall accept the advice” of the MP (Article 25 of Upazila Parishad Act).

The MP, being a prominent, and moreover

powerful figure, can dictate the play at the upazila level with the “mandate” provided by law. Also, the upazila parishad forms a council with union parishad (UP) chairpersons and one-third women from the reserved seats at the UP (and councillors of the pourashava, if any) under the territory of the upazila.

Each of these members of the upazila parishad, in addition to the directly elected chairperson and vice-chairpersons, has equal voting authority for the council to function collectively.

This, however, constrains the decision-making power and authority of the three elected representatives at the upazila level.

Additionally, these representatives are not incorporated in “all” the committees belonging to the line ministries, and there remain some important ones, for example the committee for old-age allowance, where the UP chairpersons are members leaving the UP more inclusive, and, in essence, more decentralised in the local government governance process.

The Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) remains the most important actor in the governance of the upazila. The charter of duties of the UNO requires the generalist to coordinate the transferred departments of the upazila in addition to remaining the representative of the central government.

According to the Upazila Parishad Act, the UNO communicates with the central government if the official deems it necessary and/ or if any “abnormal” or “unusual” situation arises in the upazila parishad. Although an official transferred to the council, the legal precedents provide the UNO with the formal oversight power “over the parishad.”

Furthermore, the act, as amended in 2011,

has changed the previous formal position of the generalist from “secretary” to “chief executive officer” of the parishad.

The above laws, guidelines, and the overall formal powers of the actors highlights only some of the issues that tend to deter the devolution of power and overall decentralisation process at the upazila level.

With the collegial setup, it can be asserted that the lowest tier of local government, which is the UP, enjoys greater power and autonomy to the extent that, along with greater financial capacity, the UP budget is not approved by the tier above it, the upazila parishad. Whereas, to reiterate, the UP members have equal decision-making authority as the upazila chair and vice-chairpersons.

In addition to “reporting” to the central government, the UNO is required to also report to the local MP, who enjoys an advisory role that, at times, can be termed as discretionary. Apart from the legal overlaps, the political jurisdictions of the elected bodies -- MP, upazila chairperson, and UP chairpersons -- also overlap, where vested political interests can coincide.

The asymmetric power relations and interests within their constituencies are exacerbated by the formal rules, leaving the upazila parishad with hardly any authority to fulfill its mandate. l Sadiat Mannan is a Research Associate at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University (Politics, Democracy and Governance cluster). This article is based on a study under the SHARIQUE Local Governance Programme supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), which is a consortium project of Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and BIGD.

DT

OPINION 13

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

The rice we eat n M Abdul Latif Mondal

W

hile the government is claiming self-sufficiency in rice production, rise in rice imports hit a four-year high this fiscal year.

A visit to the website of the Food Ministry shows that the total quantity of rice imported till April of the current fiscal year stands at more than 1.3 million tonnes, the highest since the fiscal year 2010-11.

The government publications show that in fiscal 2010-11, the total quantity of rice imported by the government and private sectors stood at 1.5 million tonnes. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, it came down to 0.51 million tonnes and 27 thousand tonnes respectively. In 201314, rice imports stood at 3.75 tonnes.

The media reports say that our traders are importing Indian rice because of the price difference between the Indian and Bangladeshi rice. The Indian variety is cheaper by 20% or so than local rice. The increased imports have put Bangladeshi rice-millers in a tight spot as the demand for locally grown coarse and medium quality rice has come down. Consequently, the price of paddy has dropped, causing loss of income to farmers.

Is the price difference between the Indian and Bangladeshi rice the only cause for rice imports by our private sector? It is true that our rice production has trebled since independence. But it is also equally true that in recent years the annual growth rate in rice production has failed to keep face with the annual population growth rate in the country.

According to Bangladesh Economic Review-2014, the growth rate of crop subsector (rice, wheat, vegetables) of broad agriculture sector (crop, livestock and fishery, and forests) in fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14 stood at only 0.59% and 1.91% respectively.

This heavily influenced the rice production growth rate. In fiscal years 2011-12, 201213 and 2013-14, growth rate of rice production stood at 1.03%, 0.00% and 1.33% respectively.

This means that the average annual rice production growth rate (0.78%) in these three years was lower than the annual population growth rate (1.37%).

The government has been playing hide and seek over rice imports for the last one year or so. In the last week of June 2014, Food Minister Md Qamrul Islam said: “India usually releases its low-quality stock every three years at low prices and our private sector imports them as cattle feed.”

The importers immediately rebuffed the minister’s claim, and said that they had imported rice for human consumption and not for cattle feed. They also claimed that there was a shortage in supply of rice in the market. As a result, the food minister had to subsequently say: “We need 30 to 40 million tonnes of rice a year. In comparison with [our] requirement, a small quantity of rice is imported from India.”

Dhaka Tribune reported that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opposed a proposal for imposing additional duty on rice import from India. She said: “The government would not

BIGSTOCK

The government should not play hide and seek over rice imports. If the domestic production of rice falls short of national requirement, there is nothing wrong in going for imports

bother its losses once the poor people get the Indian rice at a cheaper rate.”

The PM is right if we take into account the continuous rise in rice price in the last five years or so. Coarse rice was selling at Tk20-22 per kg in the open market in mid-2009. The website of the Food Ministry shows that coarse rice was selling at Tk31-33 per kg in retail markets in the capital on April 29 this year.

But the media reports suggest higher prices of coarse and medium quality rice in open markets. This means a 50% or more rise in rice price in the past five years, thereby, causing suffering to the poor and vulnerable. The

food ministry has, however, recently asked the National Board of Revenue to impose additional duty on rice imports.

It may be noted that while the price of paddy has reportedly dropped to a three-year low -- almost the same as the price of 2012, the price of rice has not fallen to that extent.

A syndication of the rice-millers and their allied traders is adding to the woes of the farmers during the peak harvesting period.

This has also happened before.

The syndication wants to buy paddy from the farmers at the lowest price possible, and sell the rice they get from paddy at the highest possible price. Rice procurement policy

of the government helps implement their nefarious design.

For instance, the government has decided to procure 1 million tonnes of boro rice this year from the rice-millers and 0.1 million tonnes of boro paddy from the farmers. This has been the policy for many years. Experience from the past ten years or so shows that even the small quantity of paddy is not fully procured from the farmers.

The marginal and small farmers sell paddy and not rice immediately after the start of the harvesting season to repay their loans and meet the family needs. In the absence of government policy to procure large quantity of paddy directly from the farmers, they have to depend on the mercy of the millers and traders to sell their produce.

The government should not play hide and seek over rice imports. If the domestic production of rice falls short of national requirement, there is nothing wrong in going for imports. After all, ensuring sufficient supply of rice, the staple food of the people of the country, is the responsibility of the government. l M Abdul Latif Mondal is Former Secretary, Ministry of Food.

DT

14 OPINION

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

The Indian parliament creates history n Sudhanshu Ranjan

I

ndia and Bangladesh have suffered ever since the hastily drawn Radcliffe Award which demarcated the border between India and Pakistan. In June 1947, the British government appointed Sir Cyril Radcliffe to chair two boundary commissions -- one for Bengal and the other for Punjab.

Since he had a little time and was not genned up, he did it in a haphazard manner leading to untold suffering and hardships for a large number of people. There are instances when a village was divided with one part going to Pakistan while the other remaining within India.

In a few cases, the dividing line passed through a single house with some rooms in one country and the remaining in the other.

Radcliffe justified all this with the truism that no matter what he did, people would suffer.

The rationale behind such a casual approach may never be known since Radcliffe destroyed all papers before he left India. In fact, he left on August 15 itself, even though his Award was not yet published.

On August 16 at 5pm, the Indian and Pakistani representatives were given two hours to study the Award and it was published the next day.

One of the many blunders of the Radcliffe Award was to leave the enclaves of India in the erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and that of Pakistan in India, even though there was no mechanism to exercise control over them by the concerned countries.

These enclaves, also called chitmahals or pasha enclaves, are enclaves along the India-Bangladesh border in Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, and Meghalaya. As the story goes, the enclaves were used as stakes in card or

chess games centuries ago between the Raja of Kooch Behar and the Maharaja of Rangpur.

After the partition of India, Rangpur merged with East Pakistan and Kooch Behar was transferred to India in 1949.

The first attempt to de-enclave them was made in 1958 with the Nehru-Noon Agreement for an exchange between India and Pakistan without considering loss or gain of territory. But it was challenged in the Supreme Court of India which ruled that constitutional amendment is required to transfer the land.

It is a big achievement for the Union government which enunciated ‘India’s neighbourhood first’ policy

So, the government of India introduced the constitutional (Ninth Amendment) bill in parliament for implementing the agreement but it could not be passed due to objections to the transfer of southern Berubari enclave.

It continued to hang fire as India’s relations with Pakistan deteriorated.

The process received another push only after Bangladesh attained independence in 1971 and India became the first country to

recognise it. On May 16, 1974, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed the Land Boundary Agreement which provided for the exchange of enclaves and the surrender of adverse possessions.

The spirit behind the agreement was to boost up regional peace, progress, and cooperation, as the two countries had inherited atavistic hand-me-downs of controversial and complex issues. Though Bangladesh ratified it the same year, the Indian parliament could not. No one expected that India would take 41 years, as the two countries had shared extremely cordial relations and India had played an active role in its independence.

However, better late than never, the unanimous passage of the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013, on resolving the 4,096km land boundary dispute, is a momentous occasion in the parliamentary history of India, as political parties which are generally so poorly divided have gone above politicking and passed it.

Since it is a constitutional amendment, more than half of the state legislatures have to ratify it. But this is just a formality as all parties have shown their support in parliament.

The bill seeks to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution to exchange the disputed territories occupied by both countries in accordance with the 1974 agreement and the additional historic agreement on demarcation of land boundaries signed by then PM Manmohan Singh in 2011 in Dhaka. The LBA envisages a notional transfer of 111 Indian enclaves to Bangladesh and 51 enclaves to India.

There is no exchange of population, and the 37,334 residents of India’s enclaves within Bangladesh will become Bangladeshi citizens

after the land swap, while 14,215 people residing in Bangladesh’s enclaves inside India will become Indians. Those who want to go back to their respective countries are free to do so.

It was a humanitarian issue as the inhabitants of these enclaves were virtually stateless people who could not move out and did not get any amenities essential for dignified and healthy living. These enclaves had, in fact, turned into dens of crime and smuggling.

It is a big achievement for the Union government which enunciated “India’s neighbourhood first” policy. Due to Look West policy, small neighbouring countries in South Asia had formed the opinion that India is a big elephant which behaves like a big brother.

All this will change Bangladesh’s perception of India -- a country which had been viewed with suspicion -- and will promote trade and co-operation between the two countries. Bangladesh has taken long strides in economic fields and so its trade with India has grown. India’s exports have more than doubled over the past five years, from $2.7bn to $6.1bn in 2013-14. The co-operation between the two countries will be mutually beneficial.

It is hoped that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Bangladesh, he will effectively tackle the problem of the waters of the 54 rivers that the two countries share.

The vexing question of the sharing of Teesta waters needs immediate attention. With the trust level going up, the peoples of the two countries can be sanguine about many positive outcomes. l Sudhanshu Ranjan is a senior TV journalist, columnist and author.

ICT training for underprivileged

16 women kicks off tomorrow

Facebook dives deep into

17 news with publisher deal

DT

Business

15

FRIDAY, MAY 15 2015

Stocks drop with

19 continued volatility

Outgoing fiscal registers over 10%

growth in per capita income n Tribune Report In the outgoing FY2014-15, the economy has registered a 10.42% growth in per capita income - rising to $1,314, based on nominal value, from $1,190 - putting the economy in the world’s 58th.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said the country’s economic growth would stand at 6.51% after the ending of this fiscal year.

The figure is still lower than the government’s revised forecast of 6.8%, but beats other forecasts made by different agencies, including the World Bank and the ADB. Due to the January-March political unrest, the government brought down its own projection from earlier 7.3%.

Although the state-run Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is yet to make official release of the figure, Mustafa Kamal revealed it to journalists after the National Economic Council meeting in Dhaka.

World Bank cut its growth forecast for Bangladesh to 5.6% from 6.2% and Asian Development Bank 6.1% from 6.4% as the economy was hit by the political turmoil in the third quarter of the fiscal year.

Kamal said, “I estimated that GDP growth will be 7% this fiscal year. But political unrest held back the economic growth particularly in the last six months of the fiscal year.”

The total size of GDP stood at Tk15,13,599 crore, which was Tk13,43,674 crore last fiscal year, he said. In FY2013-14, the gross domestic product growth was 6.12%, which was also higher than the analysts’ forecasts.

This fiscal year, agriculture sector suffered as it contributed 15.59% to the GDP, down from previous fiscal’s 16.11%, according to planning minister.

Likewise, the industry sector account-

ed for 27.98%, slightly up from 27.71% and service sector 56.42%, marginally up from 56.18%, he said.

He said the investment to GDP ratio increased to 28.99% from 28.58% last fiscal.

Public investment is 6.6% and private investment is 22.39%.

The purchasing power parity-based per capita income stands at $3,019, Mustafa Kamal said. l

MCCI forecasts better economic performance for Q4 n Tribune Report The country’s exports, imports, remittance and foreign exchange reserves will increase in the last quarter of the current fiscal year if the peaceful political situation continues, said a leading business chamber.

It said the foreign exchange reserves will rise to record high of US$25.5bn by the end of the fiscal, which has already exceeded $24bn in April.

Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry released the forecasts yesterday in it its review on economic situation of Bangladesh in January-March period of FY2014-15.

Reviewing the past nine months’ growth trends, the MCCI made the projections.

It said the rate of inflation can be expected to fall in April and May as the supply situation is very likely to get improved with a relatively

calm political environment.

However, the inflation may rise due to increase in demands during the month of Ramadan fasting.

According to June forecasts, exports figure will be $2.80bn, imports $3.7bn, remittance $1.6bn, foreign exchange reserves $25.5bn and inflation 6.25% for the month of June of the current fiscal year.

MCCI review said political violence in the third quarter disrupted economic activities and caused loss of lives and properties, but with extensive government and private sector efforts, the normalcy has been restored.

“Overall scenario is encouraging, although the slower export growth and slowing private sector investment remain a major challenge,” it said.

Shortfalls in revenue collection and weak annual development programme implemen-

tation are also worrying for the economy, it added.

The fall in fuel oil prices in the world market has given a fiscal space to the government, while the plummeting fuel oil prices in the international markets enable the government to slash it subsidy expenditure and enhance public allocation to priority sector of the economy, the chamber said.

But the political stability would be vital to ensure sustainability of the growth process, according to it.

MCCI said the continuous efforts of the government to accelerate power, energy and transport sector reforms would result in better environment for investment in future. l

Grameen Bank finally gets tax exemption for Jan-June 2011 n Tribune Report The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has finally exempted Grameen Bank from payment of income tax for a period of six months with retrospective effect from January to June 2011, which was earlier left out from the tax break facility.

The revenue body has taken up the decision following requests from the microcredit institution as the bank said it was facing a number of complexities in preparing its financial statement for the financial year 2011.

The revenue authority last week provided the tax break to the bank with an official gazette, signed by its chairman Nojibur Rahman.

With this order, the bank will enjoy exemption of all types of taxes including income tax, super tax and business profit tax of the bank from January to June 2011.

The Grameen Bank had enjoyed tax exemption facility since its inception in 1983 to December 2010. However the decision for extending the tax break to the bank remained pending till June 2012 when the tax authority again provided the Grameen Bank with tax exemption from July 2011 to December 2015 with retrospective effect, officials said.

In the process, the period from January to June 2011 remained left out of the exemption facility. During that period, the bank has paid Tk10 crore as advance income tax in the fiscal year 2011-12 as the decision for tax break was pending at that time.

NBR officials, however, said the board will not refund the money that the bank paid as tax because the exemption will continue till December 2015.

“The money can be adjusted if the exemption period if not extended after its expiry in December 2015,” said an official. l

DT

16 BUSINESS

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

ILO suggests quality employment generation n Tribune Report

Visitors at a laptop fair at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka which began yesterday. Techshohor.com has organised the three-day fair DHAKA TRIBUNE

ICT training for underprivileged women kicks off tomorrow n Shadma Malik An SMEF training programme involving 300 underprivileged women is going to kick off tomorrow on a pilot basis in Bhaluka upazila in Mymensingh.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation in collaboration with the digital centre of A2I programme and Bangladesh Women In Technology will train the womenfolk who have passed SSC and have basic computer literacy.

It was revealed in a seminar titled Women ICT Freelancer and Entrepreneur Development Programme held on SMEF premises in the capital yesterday.

The objective of the training is to bring

grass-root women to a series of training on graphic design, data entry, accounting, etc in different rural and urban areas with a view to making them empowered through jobs or entrepreneurship.

“If they can receive training properly, after one month they will get job opportunity and be able to access even international market as a freelancer,” said SMEF General Manager SM Shaheen Anwar.

He added that the female population need to have adequate training in order for bringing in sustainable development for the country.

To facilitate employment for women, job fair will be arranged and a linkage will be created with Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services highlighting the

skilled women profiles, Anwar said, adding that the link will be posted on websites.

In her address, Bangladesh Women In Technology (BWIT) president Luna Shamsuddoha echoed the same as Anwar.

She claimed that the trained women will be able to access international market after attaining a good profile in specialised areas.

The training programme will also be held in Khulna, Rajshahi and Narayanganj in phases.

Following the pilot project, a mega training programme will be designed incorporating 3,000 women with 150 training sessions in the next three years.

The pilot programme is expected to end in August this year. l

International Labour Organisation (ILO) has suggested generating quality employments instead of simply employment generation.

The organisation made the suggestion at a seminar titled “Challenges of Price Stability, Growth and Employment in Bangladesh: Role of Bangladesh Bank”.

The seminar was jointly organised by Bangladesh Bank and ILO held at the central bank headquarters.

“Simply employment generation should not be a country’s goal” said Srinivas Reddy, ILO country director, Dhaka.

He put emphasis on ensuring quality employments suggesting Bangladesh Bank to take policy steps in this regard.

He said financial inclusive growth requires employment generation as well as compatible income.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman attended the seminar as the chief guest while it’s Chief Economist Biru Paksha Paul moderated the seminar.

“Bangladesh Bank is trying to make new entrepreneurs by promoting green financing and SME loan,” said Atiur Rahman.

Mentioning the target set for the banks by BB to make minimum one woman entrepreneur in a year, Atiur said it will help establish women empowerment as well as make a huge number of woman entrepreneurs.

The central bank in a circular in April ordered every branch of banks and non-banking financial institutions to finance at least one woman entrepreneur every year.

At least three new women entrepreneurs, who did not take loans earlier from any bank or FI, will have to be found out by every bank branch in their operational areas.

Atiur claimed that SMEs and other businesses in Bangladesh have faced no credit crunch during the global financial crisis.

He observed that Bangladesh is running through quality growth over the last six years.

The poverty rate is reducing gradually while inequality is not rising.

He said development partners including World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency have come forward in partnering with BB in extending policy support for SME and green financing with low cost refinance fund. l

Flower cultivators assured of cash incentives n Tribune Report Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said the government would provide cash incentive to the flower cultivators to boost production and export.

He assured Bangladesh Flower Society of the incentive at meeting at his office at Bangladesh Secretariat. BFS President M Abdur Rahim led a 10-member delegation at the meeting.

“Through introduction of modern technology in cultivating flowers, Bangladesh can

produce flowers which can be exported after meeting the local demand,” said the minister.

At present, two districts of the country produce huge quantity of flowers and over two million people are engaged in flower cultivation.

Leaders of the society urged the government to provide capital for cultivation, laboratory for testing facilities, disease free seeds and saplings, and proper infrastructure for smooth marketing.

Currently, Bangladesh exports flowers to Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in small quantity. l

Nestlé Nutrition Institute organised a discussion meeting marking International Nurses Day recently.

Prof Dr Md Ismail Khan, principal of Dhaka Medical College was present as chief guest. Deputy Director (Education) of Directorate of Nursing Services also attended

DT

BUSINESS 17

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Facebook dives deep into news with publisher deal n AFP, Washington Facebook moved deeper into the media business Wednesday by crafting a deal with news publishers, which allows the social network to deliver articles directly to readers.

The long-anticipated move

by Facebook means it will host news items on its servers to give readers faster access.

The plan has been hotly debated in the news industry - by those who argue it can help struggling media groups, and others who say news organizations will lose control of their content to the social network.

The new feature called Instant Articles “makes the reading experience as much as ten times faster than standard mobile web articles,” Facebook said in a blog post on its website.

Sharing articles on Facebook’s mobile app is growing but the average article takes about eight second to load, according to Facebook.

The nine partners in the launch are The New York Times, National Geographic, BuzzFeed, NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian, BBC News, Spiegel and Bild, Facebook said.

Facebook said publishers will be able to sell advertisements in the articles and keep the revenue or use Facebook’s ad network. Publishers will also be able to track traffic and other data of their content hosted by the social network.

Instant Articles will initially be available on the Facebook app for iPhone, but Facebook is working to expand the platform.

“As a lover of journalism, storytelling and mobile, I have high hopes for the positive impact Instant Articles will have on how we read, and share, the news,” Facebook’s news partnerships manager Liz Heron said of the plan.

News juggernaut

A recent Pew Research Center report found some 30 percent of Americans get at least some of their news from Facebook.

But media groups have been struggling with the shift to digital from print, both in terms of delivering relevant articles to readers and in getting ad revenue from their online services.

Some in the news industry argue the plan gives Facebook too much control of the news.

“Overall I don’t think it is

a good idea,” said Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University.

Kennedy said Facebook is not transparent about how it shows users news and the site can make changes that promote or demote content, which can have a major impact on news organizations.

“When news organizations turn over a key part of their publishing platform to large corporation with its own agenda there are some real risks,” Kennedy said.

New York Times media critic David Carr, who died in February, said last year that media outlets “would essentially be serfs in a kingdom that Facebook owns” under such a plan.

“I can see why these news sites are tempted by the offer, but I think they’re going to regret it,” said John Gruber who writes the “Daring Fireball” news blog.

Facebook’s formula for structuring its news feed has long been a source of controversy, with some arguing it creates an “information bubble” that segregates readers into like-minded groups.

A study published last week

by Facebook found this was not the case -- that the site’s members were exposed to considerable “cross-cutting” content -- but some analysts said the conclusions were debatable.

The future of news

Danny Sullivan, founding editor at the Search Engine Land blog, said the move opens the door for Google to make a similar news partnership that could have a major impact on the news industry.

“I worry what it means when the free and independent web is mirrored within the walled gardens of two giants, Facebook and Google,” Sullivan said in a blog post.

But City University of New York journalism professor Jeff Jarvis said the Facebook move is a watershed event for news.

“This is good news for news,” Jarvis said. “If news and technology can come to terms, we can begin to reinvent journalism in a distributed world with new business models.”

Jarvis said Facebook’s move along with Google’s efforts to partner with news organizations show a path for the future of the industry. l

DT

18 BUSINESS

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

News, analysis and recent disclosures

Number of Contract

Nitol Insurance -A National Feed-N BSRM Ltd. -N Samata LeatheR -Z FAR Chemical-N ACI Formulations-A Argon Denims Limited-A GBB Power Ltd-A MeghnaCement -A United Power-N

Closing (% Change) 9.91 9.90 9.90 9.44 9.43 8.71 8.27 8.00 7.84 7.58

CSE GAINER Company BSRM Ltd. -N National Polymer -A National Feed-N FAR Chemical-N SonarBangla Insu. -A MeghnaCement -A ACI Formulations-A Prime Insur -A Hwa Well Textiles-A United Power-N

Closing (% Change) 9.90 9.89 9.85 9.72 9.62 8.90 8.82 8.11 7.72 7.41

DSE LOSER Company Renata Ltd. -A ACI Limited- A Bay Leasing.-A Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A FAS Fin. & Inv. Ltd-B PrimeFin. 1st MF-A Intl. Leasing-B FarEast Knitting -N Bangladesh Welding -Z Reliance Insur -A

Closing (% Change) -17.01 -10.94 -9.52 -9.31 -9.23 -8.33 -7.89 -7.85 -7.56 -7.14

CSE LOSER Company Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A ACI Limited- A Central Insur -A Aziz PipesZ Bay Leasing.-A FAS Fin. & Inv. Ltd-B Asia Pasific Insu. -A Intl. Leasing-B ICB Sonali Bank 1 MF-A IFIC 1st MF-A

Closing (% Change) -11.71 -10.42 -10.00 -9.71 -9.05 -8.89 -8.54 -8.44 -7.58 -7.55

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

DSE key features May 14, 2015

Turnover (Volume)

Company

ISLAMIINS: 5% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 19.05.2015.

NCCBANK: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 24.06.2015, Record Date: 18.05.2015.

PEOPLESINS: 13% cash dividend, AGM: 09.06.2015, Record Date: 18.05.2015.

LEGACYFOOT: 5% stock, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015.

RUPALIBANK: 15% stock , AGM: 31.05.2015, Record date: 14.05.2015.

UNIQUEHRL: 20% cash dividend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 24.05.2015.

WATACHEM: 5% cash and 25% stock dividend, AGM: 11.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015.

CMCKAMAL: 12.50% stock dividend, AGM: 31.05.2015, Record Date: 17.05.2015.

ARAMITCEM: 10% cash dividend, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 13.05.2015.

GOLDENSON: 12.50% cash dividend, AGM: 27.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015.

GQBALLPEN: 10% cash dividend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015.

SUMITPOWER: 10% cash and 5% stock dividend, AGM: 28.06.2014, Record Date: 17.05.2015.

SPPCL: 25% cash dividend, AGM: 28.06.2015. Record Date: 17.05.2015.

TAKAFULINS: 12% stock dividend, AGM: 25.07.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015.

PRAGATIINS: 10% cash dividend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 20.05.2015.

PLFSL: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 17.05.2015.

Financials: [Company: (Quarter): Current EPS/Previous EPS in taka] PLFSL: (Q1): 0.15 (restated 0.14)/ 0.27 (0.25).

ONEBANKLTD: (Q1): 0.40 (restated 0.36)/0.10(0.09).

BEXIMCO: (Q1): 0.29 (restated 0.26)/0.28(0.24).

GBBPOWER: (Q1): 0.39 (restated 0.34)/0.36(0.31).

BXPHARMA: (Q1): 1.11(restated 1.05)/0.90(0.85).

KARNAPHULI: (Q1): 0.39(restated 0.37)/0.35(0.33).

TAKAFULINS: (Q1): 0.40(restated 0.35)/0.44(0.39).

BXSYNTH: (Q1): -0.16/0.19 BRACBANK: (Q1): 0.58/0.79.

ALARABANK: (Q1): 0.20/0.52.

PRIMEBANK: (Q1): 0.76/1.25.

SPCERAMICS: (Q1): 0.03/0.16.

UNITEDINS: (Q1): 0.62/0.61.

UNITEDFIN: (Q1): 0.45/0.43.

UNIONCAP: (Q1): 0.15/0.47.

BAYLEASING: (Q1): 0.19/0.36.

GSPFINANCE: (Q1): 0.21/0.25.

PRAGATIINS: (Q1): 0.41/63.

AMBEEPHA: (Q1): 0.77/0.80.

IPO Subscription: Aman Feed Limited Subscription 25.05.2015 TO 04.06.2015. Offer Price per share Tk. 36.00, Market Lot (Shares) 200.

Dividend/AGM ORIONPHARM: 15% cash dividend, AGM: 28.06.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015.

ISNLTD: No dividend, AGM: 28.06.2015, Record date: 16.06.2015.

PURABIGEN: 15% stock dividend, AGM: 30.07.2015, Record date: 07.06.2015.

JANATAINS: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 25.07.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015.

AMBEEPHA: 28% cash dividend, AGM: 14.06.2015, Record Date: 25.05.2015.

Turnover (Million Taka)

DSE GAINER

Sector

6,693.91 173,322,142 153,699

Traded Issues

301

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

131

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

166

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,445.91

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.65

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 300.45 260.53 54.14 1113.64 148.12 1664.40 1.90 557.04 1310.37 32.23 214.99 13.31 126.12 115.43 105.96 48.10 36.30 187.19 126.34 277.29 0.05

% change 4.49 3.89 0.81 16.64 2.21 24.86 0.03 8.32 19.58 0.48 3.21 0.20 1.88 1.72 1.58 0.72 0.54 2.80 1.89 4.14 0.00

Million Taka 31.25 41.54 3.52 103.61 7.35 130.26 43.55 55.67 2.61 14.75 0.26 8.56 8.58 6.47 1.66 1.57 29.94 19.46 39.24 0.00

Average (% Change) 10.07 9.33 8.65 9.44 9.34 5.05 11.20 (6.49) 8.32 4.10

Average (% Change) 8.87 5.82 8.72 9.90 9.17 7.17 5.77 8.11 7.98 4.07

Average (% Change) -17.29 -8.98 -9.49 -9.62 -9.55 -5.28 -5.02 -5.48 0.89 0.76

Average (% Change) -10.26 -8.93 -9.41 -9.71 -9.72 -4.51 -8.85 -6.92 -7.58 -8.66

CSE

ClosingAvg. 25.24 21.79 55.00 19.70 45.31 210.97 28.80 18.60 114.88 212.65

ClosingAvg. 55.01 79.41 21.94 45.09 17.03 115.65 210.50 16.00 35.03 212.47

ClosingAvg. 886.13 495.88 21.08 18.61 11.75 12.56 14.18 22.77 16.99 43.48

ClosingAvg.

% change 5.68 7.55 0.64 18.84 1.34 23.69 0.00 7.92 10.12 0.48 2.68 0.05 1.56 1.56 1.18 0.30 0.29 5.45 3.54 7.14 0.00

18.10 495.48 19.93 15.80 21.17 12.28 14.93 14.12 6.10 4.85

Closing 25.50 22.20 55.50 19.70 46.40 214.70 28.80 21.60 115.50 218.50

Closing 55.50 82.20 22.30 46.30 17.10 117.50 214.70 16.00 34.90 217.30

Closing 888.50 486.80 20.90 18.50 11.80 12.10 14.00 22.30 15.90 40.30

Closing 18.10 488.40 19.80 15.80 21.10 12.30 15.00 14.10 6.10 4.90

Million Taka 331.70 302.07 57.66 1217.25 155.47 1794.66 1.90 600.59 1366.04 34.84 229.74 13.57 134.69 124.01 112.43 49.76 37.87 217.13 145.80 316.53 0.05

DHIGH

DLOW

25.50 22.20 55.50 19.70 46.60 215.00 29.20 22.00 117.70 219.90

DHIGH

22.70 20.70 51.20 19.70 39.00 199.00 27.60 18.00 108.00 204.50

DLOW

55.50 82.20 22.30 46.40 17.10 118.60 214.80 16.00 35.60 219.00

DHIGH

52.00 77.10 20.90 42.70 16.00 100.10 202.20 16.00 34.00 205.00

DLOW

897.00 510.00 22.40 19.50 12.20 13.40 15.50 24.60 17.90 41.00

DHIGH

875.00 480.00 20.80 17.60 11.70 12.00 13.80 21.90 15.80 39.70

DLOW

18.10 505.70 20.10 15.80 21.80 12.90 15.00 15.90 6.10 4.90

Total

18.10 474.00 19.80 15.80 20.90 12.20 14.80 13.90 6.10 4.80

% change 4.58 4.17 0.80 16.80 2.15 24.78 0.03 8.29 18.86 0.48 3.17 0.19 1.86 1.71 1.55 0.69 0.52 3.00 2.01 4.37 0.00

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

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

5.275 26.326 87.099 0.000 118.289 458.033 42.158 182.268 34.507 547.160

Turnover in Million

3.14 1.61 0.73 -0.05 3.23 6.80 2.89 1.36 8.52 9.52

Latest EPS

20.428 4.272 5.456 10.503 0.090 0.503 12.995 0.000 0.168 56.940

Turnover in Million

8.0 13.5 75.3 -ve 14.0 31.0 10.0 13.7 13.5 22.3

Latest PE

0.73 3.36 1.61 3.23 1.65 8.52 6.80 2.41 2.32 9.52

Latest EPS

57.148 201.537 5.680 1.289 2.852 5.085 100.449 20.430 3.597 0.001

Turnover in Million

Latest PE

75.4 23.6 13.6 14.0 10.3 13.6 31.0 6.6 15.1 22.3

Latest PE

31.87 7.92 0.76 1.72 -0.32 0.40 0.74 2.64 0.44 5.12

Latest EPS

0.045 7.602 0.004 0.002 0.446 0.007 0.002 24.822 0.006 0.039

27.8 62.6 27.7 10.8 -ve 31.4 19.2 8.6 38.6 8.5

Latest PE

1.72 7.92 2.05 -2.64 0.76 -0.32 2.32 0.74 0.97 0.73

10.5 62.6 9.7 -ve 27.9 -ve 6.4 19.1 6.3 6.6

CSE key features May 14, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

549.85 17,954,444 25,821

Traded Issues

237

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

89

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

144

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,375.04

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.79

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BUSINESS 19

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Stocks drop with continued volatility n Tribune Report

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company United Power-N ACI Formulations-A WesternMarine -N Khulna Power-A ACI Limited- A GBB Power Ltd-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A MJL BD Ltd.-A Ifad Autos -N Baraka Power-A

BD Submarine Cable-A RAK Ceramics-A FAR Chemical-N BD. Thai Alum -B SAIF Powertec-N

VolumeShares 2,573,017 2,171,066 5,761,803 3,332,209 406,427 9,798,035 5,655,941 1,314,712 1,508,874 4,382,984

Value in Million 547.16 458.03 280.33 208.78 201.54 182.27 180.03 157.43 147.78 147.41

% of TotalTurnover 8.17 6.84 4.19 3.12 3.01 2.72 2.69 2.35 2.21 2.20

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

914,904 1,804,205 2,610,519 2,724,054 1,533,432

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company United Power-N WesternMarine -N BD Submarine Cable-A Intl. Leasing-B BEXIMCO Ltd. -A BSRM Ltd. -N MJL BD Ltd.-A UNITED AIR-A ACI Formulations-A Appollo Ispat CL -N

Baraka Power-A Shahjibazar Power-N Khulna Power-A FAR Chemical-N Aftab Auto.-A

267,986 695,269 189,880 1,758,183 676,999 371,336 137,713 1,840,458 61,731 779,645

340,153 60,400 169,688 232,959 157,002

124.37 118.99 118.29 117.87 114.57

56.94 33.92 25.77 24.82 21.45 20.43 16.66 14.29 12.99 12.00

11.45 10.87 10.69 10.50 9.40

1.86 1.78 1.77 1.76 1.71

10.36 6.17 4.69 4.51 3.90 3.72 3.03 2.60 2.36 2.18

2.08 1.98 1.94 1.91 1.71

ClosingP 218.50 214.70 47.70 62.00 486.80 21.60 31.00 119.90 96.40 33.70

138.10 65.10 46.40 42.70 74.40

ClosingP

Change % 7.58 8.71 -6.10 -3.13 -10.94 8.00 -6.06 -1.24 -1.83 4.66

1.32 -1.96 9.43 0.71 0.00

Change %

217.30 48.00 138.20 14.10 31.10 55.50 120.20 7.70 214.70 15.40

33.60 178.20 62.10 46.30 60.10

7.41 -5.88 1.62 -8.44 -5.18 9.90 -1.23 1.32 8.82 4.76

4.35 -2.41 -3.42 9.72 -0.33

ClosingY 203.10 197.50 50.80 64.00 546.60 20.00 33.00 121.40 98.20 32.20

136.30 66.40 42.40 42.40 74.40

ClosingY

202.30 51.00 136.00 15.40 32.80 50.50 121.70 7.60 197.30 14.70

32.20 182.60 64.30 42.20 60.30

DHIGH 219.90 215.00 51.00 65.00 510.00 22.00 33.00 123.40 101.70 34.50

141.90 67.50 46.60 44.20 76.00

DHIGH

219.00 50.70 140.50 15.90 32.90 55.50 123.90 7.90 214.80 16.00

34.40 183.00 65.00 46.40 62.60

DLOW 204.50 199.00 47.50 61.50 480.00 18.00 30.80 117.50 95.00 32.60

133.00 64.60 39.00 42.50 73.60

DLOW

205.00 47.70 130.50 13.90 30.80 52.00 118.60 7.60 202.20 14.50

32.70 176.20 61.50 42.70 57.60

AvgPrice 212.65 210.97 48.65 62.65 495.88 18.60 31.83 119.74 97.94 33.63

135.94 65.95 45.31 43.27 74.71

AvgPrice

212.47 48.79 135.72 14.12 31.69 55.01 120.98 7.76 210.50 15.39

33.66 179.99 63.01 45.09 59.84

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

4314.88970

(-) 0.64%

1623.71460

(-) 0.73%

13331.54770

(-) 0.53%

10720.15030

(-) 0.48%

8136.56790

(-) 0.51%

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

Stocks fell amid continued volatility yesterday as investors went for profit booking.

The market swung between positive and negative several times, as intra-day volatility was 65 points.

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, fell around 28 points or 0.7% to settle at 4,315.

The Shariah Index DSES was slightly down 2 points or 0.3% to 1,046. The comprising blue chips DS30 declined 12 points or 0.8% to 1,623.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, ended at 8,133, shedding 45 points.

Profit-booking sell-off was widespread with most of the large cap sector closing in the red. The worst hit were shares from banking and pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, micro cap also witnessed marginal correction after previous session rally.

At the end of the session, power was the biggest gainer with a rally of 1.5%, followed by pharmaceuticals 0.7%.

Trading activities at the Dhaka Stock Exchange continued to improve as the total turnover stood at Tk670 crore, up almost 5% over the previous session.

Lanka Bangla Securities said after gaining around 200 points in index in the past week investors were more active on the selling side.

IDLC Investments said although participation from the sideline improved further on the back of recent gaining streak, profit booking motivation was stronger in the accomplished trades.

Large number of earning disclosures entered into the market and assisted pricing of scrips, it said.

After gaining around 200 points in index in the past week investors were more active on the selling side A total of 299 issues traded on the day. Of which, 98 closed in green, 178 in red and 23 remained unchanged.

United Power Generation and Distribution Company Limited topped the liquidity chart with a turnover of almost Tk55 crore.

It was ACI Formulation, Western Marine Shipyard, Khulna Power Company Limited, ACI and Beximco Limited. l

ANALYST Although participation from the sideline improved further on the back of recent gaining streak, profit booking motivation was stronger in the accomplished trades

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FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

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FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

T-JUNCTION

Detoxify Photo: Bigstock

INSIDE

22 news

Movers and shakers

24

listology

23

tantalise

Fitness cleansers

Here are a few healthy items for your workout routine

Shaky characters, get to know who’s who when the ground starts to tremble

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22 T-JUNCTION

News

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

International course on Climate Change begins at IUB

The Vice Chancellor IUB Prof. M Omar Rahman is inaugurating the international short course on climate change and development entitled ‘Developing networks to build urban climate resilience’.

Intex Technologies expands ahead

“There is a huge potential in the Bangladesh smartphone market, and we have seen it grow rapidly in the past year and see a great opportunity. We plan an aggressive 360 degree marketing campaign in Bangladesh in the next six to eight months, which is definitely going to increase the brand image and brand acceptance among Bangladesh consumers,” said Keshav Bansal, Director of Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. “We are a customer centric brand.

Hence, we have developed products

as per the requirements of people of Bangladesh. We have various advantages over other brands - our partnerships, our innovations, our quality of products; there is a lot of difference in buying Intex,” he added.

Recognised as India’s number three smartphone brand in the last quarter and the number one smartphone brand according to import data, the company’s strength lies in providing innovative products at an impeccable price range. l

WowBox app for GP users The WowBox lifestyle application was introduced on May 12 for Grameenphone customers in an attempt to expand their lifestyle choices through easy access to lifestyle promotions and discounts from popular outlets and more.

WowBox, developed by Telenor Digital for Bangladesh, is available exclusively for Grameenphone subscribers.

WowBox is available on the Android platform and is free to download and use.

Notably, the app does not use data from the user’s data plan or account balance, as it is zero rated for Grameen-

phone and selected Grameenphone partners - as long as the users remain within the WowBox app. Additionally, GP Bondhu customers will get a 20MB free data pack every day (upto 1GB in total) from WowBox. WowBox offers a wide range of lifestyle benefits to users, such as daily articles, discounts at popular hotels, restaurants, safes, concert/movie tickets, contests and so on. However, most of these user benefits are limited to only Bondhu users at this time. The offers will gradually be accessible by the rest of the GP customer base. l

An international short course on climate change and development entitled “Developing networks to build urban climate resilience” begins on Thursday, 14th of May at a local hotel in Baridhara, Dhaka.

The International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) has organized the programme. A total of 23 participants from 10 different countries are participating into

this course. Dr. David Dodman, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Dr Diane Archer, Researcher, IIED, are conducting the course.

The programme was inaugurated by Prof. M Omar Rahman, Vice Chancellor of IUB. Dr. Saleemul Huq, Director of ICCCAD, delivered the welcome speech and described the background and objectives of the course. l

International Nurses Day 2015

Like other countries of the world, Bangladesh has also celebrated International Nurses Day on May 12 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, and to mark the nurses’ contributions towards people’s health. For this year the theme is “Nurses: A Force for Change: Care Effective, Cost Effective.”

To celebrate this day Directorate of Nursing Services & Nestlé Nutrition Institute jointly organized a grand rally followed by a discussion & scientific session. Deputy Director (Edu), Directorate of Nursing Services hosted as chairperson & Prof Dr Md Ismail Khan, Principal Dhaka

Medical College was present as chief guest.

Brig Gen Mohammad Mizanur Rahaman, Director of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, was also present in the program. All the speakers emphasised on increasing the public awareness about the nursing and nurses’ contribution towards the health care innovation.

Nestlé Nutrition Institute has published a brochure on this occasion with the message from the respective dignitaries and scientific articles of proficient nurses from different territories. These articles has briefed about the importance of Nutrition during first 1000 days of a baby’s life. l

T-JUNCTION 23

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Tantalise

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Detoxification inspiration A game-changer for your fitness regime

n Farhana Shahnaz Remember that low-carb diet fad? That is so 2008! But the latest craze that celebrities like Beyonce are swearing by is here to stay. Detox water is not only for the waistwatchers but a very effective way of flushing out harmful toxins from your body, boosting your immunity and if that wasn’t enough to get you excited, it also gives you amazing skin!

We know detox water sounds like something very high-end and pretentious, probably out of a size-zero Victoria’s Secret Angel’s fitness regime. In the most reductive terms, it basically is water infused with slices of fruits and vegetables. Detox water is made by soaking fruit and vegetable slices, letting their nutrients, flavours and all other unadulterated goodness diffuse into the water. Yes, its that simple. You can kiss your bland cereals and protein shakes goodbye because now you have a better tastier alternative.

Aloe water We all know about the wonders of aloe vera. Adding aloe vera to your detox water will give you amazing results too. Mix two tablespoons of aloe vera gel with a glass of water and a squeeze of lemon, then blend.

This drink aids in digestion and pumps up your energy.

One good news is you don’t have to starve yourself to death to benefit from detox water. Yes, this may be the best discovery you ever made. If you don’t know where to start from, we have got a few detox water recipes lined up for you that should do the trick - be it weight-loss, detoxification or just for amazing supple skin.

Cucumber chiller This drink is the undisputed king of detox waters. Dice up cucumbers and lime and mix in a pitcher of water. Add a sprig of mint and slurp! This drink is full of vitamin C and also leaves a fresh minty aftertaste.

Mango ginger water If you are not feeling mango milkshakes and mango juices this summer, you should definitely try out some mango ginger water instead. Chop up some fresh mangoes and slice up some ginger. Mix them up with a good helping of water. What will make this drink your new favourite is that it helps relieve migrain and menstrual cramps.

Watermelon cooler If you have been avoiding watermelons for that sticky juicy mess they make while eating, this recipe is just the one for you. Add chunks of seedless watermelon to water and leave them overnight. Have a glass before breakfast to flush out your system and start the day with a healthy dose of vitamins.

You can also cook up your own detox water recipes. Try out any combination of fruits, vegetables and herbs, the sky is the limit. You might also want to add some honey or a pinch of pepper for a little kick to your drink because variety is the spice of life. Too much water and fruits can never be a bad thing so get slurping! l

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24 T-JUNCTION

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Listology

Types of reactions to Earthquakes

LISTOLOGY

The quakes shake up some, some not so much

n Farhana Shahnaz The Captain Obvious Everything is shaking. Unless there is some kind of paranormal activity at play, it is most likely an earthquake. But these people, Captain Obvious as we are calling them, will make it a point to call you up, text you and use whatever method they can use to let you know that an earthquake just occurred. You totally wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for them, would you?

The Courage Even an earthquake not strong enough to shake a leaf off a dead tree will cause these people to run for their lives. They will panic and scream and make you worry about your apparent nonchalance. If you think you don’t know any belonging to this category, next time an earthquake strikes, just look down your window at the congregation in the street below. Yup it’s them, the chickens.

In the most reductive terms, if they have

to choose between fight or flight, they will almost always go for the latter.

The YOLO “Oh yeah! The ground is shaking. Buildings are crashing, people are dying. But no biggie. I am good. Imma take selfies, nay, “quakefies” and break the internet yo!”

Unfortunately, we all have at least one of these in our Facebook friend-lists. All hell may break loose but they will first take a selfie. They will be insensitive to such a potentially fatal issue and will poke fun at whoever shows the least bit of concern.

The Mother Teresa These kind souls are the modern renditions of Mother Teresa. Expect a panicked phone call from them as soon as the earthquake subsides to know about your whereabouts.

They will kindly ask you how you handled the whole thing and if you are unhurt. Then, they will move on to check up on the many others on their list. Best part is they do this

news

The Blank Space And then there are those who don’t have a care in the world for what’s going on. Earthquake shaking everything up - meh. They don’t feel scared, they don’t feel amused; they feel nothing.

If you happen to know them, do ask what medication they are on. Don’t worry, they won’t do anything to you. They’ll just stare at you blankly, blink once or twice, and get lost in their own little world.

The Badass The badasses will only do the one thing they

are capable of - bullying.

You show concern for a grave situation, bam! you are on their hitlist. You don’t show any concern and go around taking selfies because you are just cool like that, kabam!

You will still end up on their hitlist.

Situations such as these only present opportunities to the badasses to show that they deserve to be called so. No wrath of God or nature is enough to shake them up. Swoon before them you fools! Or not.

The Usuals Of course there are some who don’t exhibit any signs of abnormalities. They do just what is expected of them. If the situation demands it, they get scared. If there’s nothing to worry about, they don’t worry. They just calmly go with the flow. Boring! l

Samsung brings Galaxy Tab 3V with exciting GP internet offer!

Magnito digital

Magnito Digital, a leading digital marketing agency in Bangladesh has recently signed an agreement with Telenor Digital Norway to become the content management agency for WowBox Android Application in Bangladesh.

Under the agreement, Magnito Digital will be responsible for content development, establishing the offer network and developing periodical campaigns for WowBox. The signing ceremony was held at The Wave, FR Tower, Dhaka.

Grameenphone users can download this application from Google Play Store and it does not use data from their plan

only out of the goodness of their heart.

Thank God for people like them who restore faith in humanity!

or account balance as it is zero rated. The users will enjoy an array of lifestyle tips, news, sports updates, reviews and daily horoscopes, along with exclusive offers, rewards, free internet data everyday and much more.

“WowBox, as the name suggests, is all about surprises. Users will always be surprised with cool new offers,” said Mr. Holger Hussmann, VP of Device & OS at Telenor Digital.

Riyad Husain, CEO, Magnito Digital said, “We look forward to working on this groundbreaking Lifestyle Application and bringing a change in the digital content landscape of Bangladesh.” l

For the tab lovers, Samsung Mobile Bangladesh brings an amazing Galaxy Tab 3V offer with 3G internet package from Grameenphone. The Tab 3V is the perfect solution for business on the go and educational needs, as well as equipped to meet enterprise and entertainment needs.

Customers can purchase the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3V at only BDT 14,900, and enjoy an exciting internet package from Grameenphone. Galaxy Tab 3V customers will receive 24GB 3G internet for free, which is valid for three months.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3V comes with a 7” display, along with quad core processor and 1 GB RAM, providing great user experience while browsing, gaming, and watching movies. Powered

by Android KitKat (4.4), the Galaxy Tab 3V also features 2-megapixel front and rear camera to take amazing photos and quality selfies with friends and family.

It also comes with 8 GB built-in storage expandable up to 32 GB. This offer is also available with Tab 4, which is available at BDT 19,900.

To know more detail about this offer, customers can call at 09612-300-300 or visit the nearest Samsung Store. l

Shunned England batsman Kevin Pietersen has a calf injury and will not fly to India to play in the IPL as he had planned, British media reported on Wednesday

Sport 26

INSPIRING ABAHANI OUTSHINE HOLDERS JAMAL

27

TERRY WANTS TO IMPROVE SKILL OF YOUNGSTERS

28

25

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NO IPL

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

FARAH BACKS PLANS FOR 2019 NIGHT MARATHON

1-1

2-3 ON AGGREGATE

Juventus’ Alvaro Morata (C) reacts after scoring against Real Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain on Wednesday

REUTERS

Winner ‘bittersweet’ for Morata n Reuters, Madrid

Real Madrid have splashed out millions of euros on forwards in recent years but one of their former youth players, deemed surplus to requirements, shattered their Champions League dream on Wednesday.

Alvaro Morata left Real to join Juventus for around 18 million euros ($20.4 million) in the close season and the Spain international’s second-half equaliser sent the Italian side through to the final of Europe’s elite club competition against Barcelona.

The 22-year-old also scored in last week’s 2-1 Juve win in the semi-final first leg in Turin and a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu put them through 3-2 on aggregate and kept them on course to win a third continental crown in Berlin on June 6.

“Morata is becoming a very important player, he has grown physically,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told a news conference.

“He is a young lad who grew up at Madrid with many champions by his side,” he added.

“He started from the bench at Juventus but has grown a lot and I think there is still

room for improvement.”

After Cristiano Ronaldo had put Real ahead midway through the first half, Morata’s goal came 12 minutes into the second period when he controlled the ball in the centre of the penalty area and sent a bouncing effort into the roof of the net.

He barely celebrated his goals in either game and told Spanish television Wednesday’s strike had left him with a “bittersweet feeling”.

“Here and in Turin I came on to the pitch thinking that it was a training session (with

my old team mates) and I had to stop and focus,” Morata, who scored 10 goals in 37 appearances for Real, said.

“I would have liked to have scored against another team but that’s life,” he added.

“My feelings will be different against Barcelona. They are a great team but we are as well.”

Morata ended Real’s hopes of a record-extending 11th European title and they face the prospect of ending the season without winning any of the Champions League or the Spanish league and Cup.l

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26 Sport

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

It is for my mother and wife: Wahed n Raihan Mahmood

Abahani forward Wahed Ahmed’s brace against Sheikh Jamal inserted a new lease of life for him and also for his team as the national forward arrived as the man of the moment in the Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The forward dedicated his goals to his mother and his newly-wed wife at the postmatch press conference.

“I am still not fully fit. I scored in the last match of the previous league campaign for Mohammedan and till now, I have not scored a goal in this campaign. It is my second match as a first-choice starter and I am really happy to contribute when my team needed it the most. I dedicate my goals to my mother and my wife Shehnaz Ahmed Priya,” said Wahed.

It would be mentionable that the two goals were his first since his marriage to Priya last month.l

RESULT Sheikh Jamal

0–2

Abahani Wahed Ahmed 20, 58

TODAY’S MATCHES Mohammedan v Rahmatganj, 4:15PM Brothers v Feni Soccer Club, 6:30PM

Abahani forward Wahed Ahmed is the toast of his teammates after one of his two goals against Sheikh Jamal in BPL at BNS yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Inspiring Abahani outshine holders Jamal n Raihan Mahmood Abahani inarguably displayed their best match of the season while inflicting the first defeat upon holders Sheikh Jamal with a 2-0 win in the Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Sheikh Jamal played the last 23 minutes with ten men after their Nigerian marksman Emeka Darlington received his marching order.

It was a day to remember for Abahani forward Wahed Ahmed, who scored a brace. The youngster’s brace helped Abahani enjoy a new life after some wretched performances of late. It would be mentionable that Abahani drew blanks against relegation candidates

EMEKA’S MOMENT OF MADNESS

Farashganj in their last encounter. The win also meant that the title race has been blown wide open.

While Abahani were celebrating their best day in the top-flight this season, the Sheikh Jamal players were shocked and stunned.

The defending champions lost their 26-match winning streak following their defeat to Abahani. A win yesterday would have consolidated their position at the top of the 11-team points table.

Abahani was the dominant force from the very beginning and in the third minute, midfielder Shahedul Alam saw his curved effort from the edge of the box miss the side-post by a whisker. Defender Nasirul Islam was looking towards the sky in the sixth minute when his dipping corner from the right flank

rebounded off the side-post and was cleared by a Sheikh Jamal defender.

Abahani kept charging and Wahed squandered a golden chance in the 17th minute, failing to place the ball past Sheikh Jamal goalkeeper Mazharul Hemel in a one-on-one situation.

However, Wahed amended the failure with an opportunistic strike in the 20th minute. He was unmarked when a free-kick floated by Shahedul took an unexpected dip to deceive a Sheikh Jamal defender and Wahed headed the ball home from close range.

Sheikh Jamal was unusually below par with their attack and the foreign trio of Wedson Ansleme, Emeka and Landing Darboe appeared toothless. Sheikh Jamal’s first notable chance was scripted by Wedson in the 39th

minute but he fired wide from a convenient position.

Following resumption, Landing was denied by Abahani custodian Ziaur Rahman, who punched the glancing header away for a corner in the 56th minute.

Wahed sealed the fate of the match two minutes later with a left-footed placing shot from a low Komol cross.

The day was over for Sheikh Jamal as Emeka failed to control his emotions while hitting compatriot Abahani defender Obum Henry in an off-the-ball incident. Emeka was duly shown the red card.

Sheikh Jamal are still at the top with 23 points from 10 matches while Abahani climbed to second with 17 points from nine matches.l

A combo of photos are showing Sheikh Jamal’s Nigerian forward Emeka Darlington being escorted by policemen after he was sent off against Abahani in the Manyavar BPL at BNS yesterday. While he was returning to the dressing room, some Abahani supporters booed Emeka and threw objects towards him. Emeka lost his composure, took a turn suddenly, picked up a brick and threw it towards the fans. The policemen, however, stopped the situation from getting out of control and quickly took Emeka inside. Emeka’s teammate Mamunul Islam then retaliated with the fans MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

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Sport 27

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Save the Children denies Ronaldo gave £5m to Nepal victims n Agencies

QUICK BYTES Black Caps sceptical about day-night Tests New Zealand’s top players are overwhelmingly against plans to play “day-night” Test cricket when they tour Australia this year, fearing it will “devalue” the game, the New Zealand Cricket Players Association said Thursday. The concept of day-night cricket played under lights using a pink ball has been enthusiastically promoted by Cricket Australia (CA), which is keen to bring the five-day game to prime-time television audiences.

–AFP

Baines has ankle surgery Everton left back Leighton Baines has had ankle surgery and will be out of action until pre-season, ruling him out of England’s European Championship qualifier against Slovenia next month. “We had Leighton’s ankle checked. He has had surgery. It was straight-forward. He will be out until the start of pre-season,” Everton boss Roberto Martinez said at a news conference on Thursday.

–Reuters

Evra will shake Suarez’s hand in UCL final

Juventus defender Patrice Evra confirmed he will shake Luis Suarez’s hand before the Champions League final with Barcelona despite their troubled past over a racism row. Suarez was banned for eight matches after being found guilty of racially abusing Evra during their time at Liverpool and Manchester United respectively.

–AFP

Sorry Nadal on Champions League fence

Number four seed Rafael Nadal admitted suffering from the Real Madrid blues as he advanced to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with a straight sets win over American John Isner. The Spaniard’s hopes of seeing his beloved Real Madrid go all the way in the Champions League, however, were kept in check when the record 10-time champions were ousted from the semi-finals of the competition by Juventus on Wednesday.

–AFP

Veteran Friedel to retire Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Brad Friedel is to retire at the end of the season, bringing down the curtain on a career spanning three decades, the English Premier League club announced Thursday. The 43-year-old has played for several other English top-flight clubs, including Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool and Aston Villa.Friedel, capped 82 times by the United States, joined north London club Tottenham in 2011 but has been back-up to Hugo Lloris since the Frenchman arrived at White Hart Lane the following year.

–AFP

Rajasthan Royals coach and mentor Rahul Dravid and English cricketer Isa Guha attended a presser to extend support towards the development and welfare of the ‘Girl Child’ in Mumbai yesterday AP

Save the Children has denied reports that Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo made a £5m donation towards its earthquake relief effort in Nepal.

According to the reports in France, the 30-year-old made the donation while also launching an appeal to his 100 million Facebook followers to support the charity’s work.

However, in a statement, the charity clarified: “The global ambassador for Save the Children, Cristiano Ronaldo, has used his voice and his global visibility to raise awareness of the problems faced by the most vulnerable children around the world, including those affected by the earthquake in Nepal.

“The latest information on the donation of Cristiano Ronaldo to the emergency response of Save the Children in Nepal is false. After the second earthquake, which has brought further devastation to the country, the NGO wants to thank Cristiano Ronaldo and other influential people for their support in publicising the situation facing children and families in Nepal.”

The Portugal striker became the charity’s new global ambassador for child hunger and nutrition in 2013, and has worked closely with other charities including Unicef and World Vision. In 2008 he flew to Indonesia having seen a survivor from the tsunami there wearing a shirt with his name on the back.l

Terry wants to improve skill of youngsters

La Liga season allowed to continue

n Mazhar Uddin

A Spanish court on Thursday suspended a planned strike by star footballers in protest against a new TV rights law, meaning Barcelona could seal the La Liga title this weekend.

The National Court said in its ruling that allowing the strike to go ahead would “prevent the conclusion of the championship” and would “cause a serious organisational disorder”.

A strike would also disrupt “the international commitments of Spain and its clubs, as well as players’ holidays”, the court added.

The AFE players’ union announced last week that footballers would go on strike indefinitely from Saturday and the league, which controls clubs in the top two divisions, filed a petition to have the action declared illegal.

The RFEF federation, which controls topleague referees as well as lower-league clubs, had earlier decided to halt all competition from the same date.

Backed by top players such as Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta, they are demanding that a bigger share of broadcast revenue be channelled to smaller clubs.

The court said the decision to suspend the strike was an interim measure while it studied the case, with a final ruling expected in June.

The stoppage threatened to halt the clash between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday which could seal the championship for Barca.l

Paul Terry, the newly-appointed coaching director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s High-Performance Unit, informed that his first task will be to develop the skill of his charges in order to prepare them well for the national side.

The former English cricketer said this while addressing the media yesterday at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium after agreeing a 100-year deal with the BCB. “It’s a great opportunity for me to work here as Bangladesh played brilliantly in the [2015 ICC] World Cup and at the moment, I am looking forward to working with the young and talented cricketers. I will work with the local coaches as well,” said Terry.

“My aim will be to develop the skill of the young cricketers as there are quite a few cricketers who play for the ODI and Test side for Bangladesh and there is a lot of competition among the cricketers. So, I think this is a great platform for the cricketers to showcase their talent,” he added.

The 55-year old, who have played two Tests for England, however, said his job will be a challenging one where he will have to work with the local coaches and set various programmes for them.

“Basically, I will work with the coaches where I will set programmes. There will be a head coach who will be appointed soon along

with some other local coaches who will also work with me,” he said.

Terry inspected the facilities at the home of cricket and was impressed with what he had to see. He believes there is enough facilities for the youngsters to train and improves themselves as a cricketer.

Australian Richard McInnes was earlier at the helm of the coaching director job of the HPU and was credited for the emergence of young cricketers like Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and several others.

However, since then, there has been a lack of activities in the HPU and Terry thinks this should not be the case.

“The activities of a High-Performance squad should run for a longer period to get the best result. And, it’s a platform to prepare young cricketers for the national side. I think if we can go ahead with proper planning, the programme will be fruitful,” said Terry.l

n AFP, Madrid

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28 Sport

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo, Marco Storari, Arturo Vidal and Patrice Evra celebrate after reaching the UEFA Champions League final on Wednesday

‘Sky is the limit for Juventus’ n AFP, Milan

The “Sky is the Limit” for Juventus against Barcelona in the Champions League final in Berlin, screamed the Italian sports press a day after the Turin giants swept aside defending champions Real Madrid.

A second-half leveller by Alvaro Morata, a Real Madrid striker until his move to Juventus last summer, proved decisive as the Italians overcame the record 10-time champions 3-2 on aggregate following the second leg of their semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday to book their first final in 12 years.

Although Barcelona are fancied for a fifth title in Europe’s premier club competition at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on June 6, if nothing

else Juve’s achievements so far this season have lifted the spirits of the country’s oncemighty but now flagging Serie A. The Italian sports press was unanimous in its belief that Juve - who remain in contention to emulate Inter Milan in 2010 by winning a treble of league, Cup and Champions League - can defy Barca and go all the way.

“Fiesta!” was the headline on the country’s biggest sports daily, La Gazetta dello Sport, above which was written: “Juventus go crazy against Real, now we’re off to Berlin.”

An editorial by Andrea Monti said the sky is now the limit for Massimiliano Allegri’s men: “Juve have booked the eighth Champions League final in their history and can now dream of a third trophy.

“We’ll see what happens with Barcelona, but last night Juventus embarked on a stellar

journey. And (goalkeeper, Gianluigi) Buffon’s finger, pointed into the dark of the Madrid night sky, has shown the direction they’re taking.”

With a twist on one of Juve’s several monikers - the “Old Lady of Turin” - he concluded: “The sky, young Lady, is now the limit.”

Italian hopes of a first Champions League title in five years, however, should be kept in check, said former Juventus and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli, a pundit on Sky Sport.

“Juve were handed a kind draw against Monaco and fully deserve their place in the final after how they dealt with Real Madrid.

But Barcelona are on another planet,” he said.

Juventus - crowned European champions twice, in 1985 and 1996, but also notorious for losing five finals - last appeared in the last four in 2003. l

Real forwards flop as holders exit n Reuters, Madrid Real Madrid paid more than 200 million euros ($227.76 million) to assemble their forward line of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema but the attacking trio failed them again in Wednesday’s Champions League exit to Juventus.

Ronaldo did manage to score from the penalty spot to give holders Real a 23rd-minute lead in the semi-final, second leg at the Bernabeu but faded out of the match in the second half, while Benzema and especially Bale missed a string of chances.

It was left to a Real reject to make the decisive contribution, their former striker Alvaro Morata, who joined Juve for 20 million euros in the close season, netting in the 57th minute to send the Italians through 3-2 on aggregate to face Barcelona in next month’s final.

Morata’s goal ended Real’s dream of a record-extending 11th European crown and they are almost certain to end the season

without winning one of the three major trophies.

Dumped out of the King’s Cup by Atletico Madrid in January, they are four points behind La Liga leaders Barca with two games left and the Catalans can make sure of a fifth title in seven years with a win at Atletico on Sunday.

After a successful first season in Spain following his record move from Tottenham Hotspur, Bale has been under scrutiny amid Real’s recent struggles, with many fans blaming him for the club’s woes.

He won applause for testing Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon with a powerful longrange effort in the first half on Wednesday but later fluffed at least two opportunities, including a header from Ronaldo’s lofted cross that he put over the crossbar.

“I couldn’t quite get over the ball which was disappointing but it’s one of them things that happens in football and you move on,” Bale told Sky Sports.l

REUTERS

Ancelotti probed on future n Reuters, Madrid

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti fended off questions about his future after the Champions League holders were dumped out in the semi-finals by Juventus 3-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.

Italian Ancelotti, a former Juve coach, led Real to a record-extending 10th European triumph in his first season in charge last year but they now look highly likely to end the campaign without a major trophy.

That is unacceptable at the world’s richest club by income, where memories are short and impatient, deep-pocketed president Florentino Perez typically responds to lack of silverware by sacking the coach.

Accordingly, Wednesday’s post-match news conference was peppered with ques-

RESULT Real Madrid (ESP) Cristiano Ronaldo 23-P

1-1

Juventus (ITA) Morata 57

tions about whether Ancelotti would see out his three-year contract, which runs until the end of next season.

“There is not much point talking about the future today,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“I would always give myself 10 out of 10 because I always give everything to my work, although I don’t like awarding myself a mark,” added the 55-year-old, who lost the chance to become the first coach to win the Champions League four times. “We did everything we should have. We attacked a lot. We had chances. If there is anything we should reproach ourselves for it’s the first leg.”

Juve came from behind to draw 1-1 at the Bernabeu thanks to a goal from former Real forward Alvaro Morata, having won last week’s first leg in Turin 2-1. Real are four points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona with two games left and were eliminated from the King’s Cup by city rivals Atletico Madrid in January.l

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Sport 29

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

‘Tired’ Murray pulls out of RomeMasters, Federer through n AFP, Rome Britain’s world number three Andy Murray announced his withdrawal from the Rome Masters on Thursday, citing fatigue following his unbeaten start to the claycourt season.

Murray’s decision to participate in the weeklong event in the Italian capital came late, following his sensational triumph over claycourt king Rafael Nadal in Madrid last week.

But the Scot’s exertions in recent weeks have left him feeling “stiff and sore”. After consultation with his coach, Amelie Mauresmo, following practice on Thursday morning, Murray said he would take time off the courts completely for several days in a bid to recover.

“I’m going to take a few days’ rest, not go on the court,” said Murray, who added that he had a practice session in the morning before realising he had little to offer.

“I did a proper practice this morning for a full 40 minutes, and I was just flat. My body’s tired ... it’s acceptable to feel like that.”

Murray, who beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in straight sets on Wednesday, pulled out of Rome prior to his scheduled third round match against Belgian David Goffin.

He added: “We had a proper conversation, weighing up all the pros and cons, but I’m very tired just now and need to take a break.”

Murray said he had no injury worries but that his decision was a precaution with the

DAY’S WATCH Channel 9 Bangladesh Premier League 4:15PM Mohammedan v Rahmatganj

Sony Six 8:30PM Indian Premier League Hyderabad v Bangalore

Star Sports 1 11:30PM Natwest T20 Blast Nottinghamshire v Birmingham Bears

Star Sports 2 11:00AM Badminton: Sudirman Cup Qf: Indonesia v Chinese Taipei

Star Sports 4 4:00PM ATP: Internazionali Bnl D’italia Quarterfinals

Ten Cricket Euroleague Basketball 10:00PM SF: CSKA Moscow v Olympiacos Piraeus 1:00AM SF: Real Madrid v Fenerbahce Ulker

Ten Sports 4:00PM WTA: Internazionali BNL d’Italia Quarterfinals 12:45AM Sky Bet Championship SF 2: Middlesbrough v Brentford

French Open looming.

“There’s no long term injuries to worry about. Things are a little bit stiff and sore because of the amount of matches I’ve played,” he added.

“It wasn’t just about today’s match. It was about the rest of the tournament... and further down the line the possibility of getting sick and missing five, six or seven days.”

Meanwhile, Roger Federer defeated Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas for the second time this month as the Swiss legend began his campaign at the Italian Open with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 win on Wednesday.

The second-round success in 80 minutes came just over a week after Federer beat the Uruguayan on clay in the final in Istanbul.

Federer was tested all the way by Cuevas, ranked 24th in the world, with the second seeded 33-year-old winning a tiebreak to seal the opening set in 45 minutes.

A break for 3-2 in the second gave Federer -- seeking his first title in Rome after losing three times in the final in 14 previous appearances -- the lead which he never surrendered.

“I know I’m not the favourite like I’ve been in other years for the title here - but who cares, really?,” said Federer.

“I was focusing on getting through this round and I’m happy I won it. So right now I’m glad to go through. It was nice to get the victory tonight.”l

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer returns the ball to Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas during the ATP Tennis Open tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome on Wednesday AFP

Independent review to probe Hughes death: Cricket Australia n Reuters, Sydney Cricket Australia has commissioned an independent review into the cause and circumstances of last year’s death of Test batsman Phillip Hughes in a bid to prevent anything similar happening in the future.

Australia was engulfed in a wave of mourning after Hughes, 25, died from catastrophic injuries on Nov. 27 last year, two days after he was struck in the neck by a ball during a domestic Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The review, which will be chaired by senior lawyer David Curtain, will have a wide

brief to make recommendations on the safety of matches organised by Cricket Australia, including on the design and mandatory use of helmets to prevent injuries.

“When this tragedy happened, I said that it was a freak accident, but it was one freak accident too many,” Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement.

“This is not an exercise designed to apportion blame on any individual for what took place. It is about making sure that as a sport we are doing everything in our power to prevent an accident of this nature happening again.”

In addition to looking at protective equip-

Farah backs plans for 2019 night marathon n AFP, Doha British double Olympic champion Mo Farah on Thursday backed plans for a night-time marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships to be held in Qatar.

Farah, speaking in Doha where he will compete in the 3,000m at the 2015 Diamond League opener on Friday, said he supported any idea that would make athletics more “exciting”.

“A night marathon which is proven is bet-

ter for us in terms of climate... why not?

“I think sometimes I look at athletics and how do we make it exciting? It can be exciting if we work together,” the Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m gold medallist told a press conference. “All the time you see football on TV. It’s important that we give back something to the sport and to build athletics.”

A night-time marathon was one of the proposals in Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2019 event.l

ment, it will assess the level of medical support on hand during matches, the medical screening of contracted players and Cricket Australia’s approach to players who suffer head and heart injuries.

“There were certain measures put in place soon after Phillip’s passing such as increasing the medical presence at all CA matches and working very closely with our helmet supplier to investigate the suitability of protective head equipment offered to all players,” Sutherland said.

“This review will help determine whether we need to implement further measures before the 2015-16 season.”l

DT

30 DOWNTIME

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Minute particle (4) 4 Church recess (4) 8 By way of (3) 9 Narrow opening (4) 10 23 centimetres (4) 11 Country (5) 12 Fondness (4) 14 Disencumber (3) 15 Drunkard (3) 17 Digit (3) 19 Faucet (3) 21 Dry (4) 23 Unmoving (5) 26 Colour (4) 27 Heap (4) 28 Speed an engine (3) 29 Copied (4) 30 Floating structure (4)

DOWN 1 Away (6) 2 Egg-shaped (4) 3 Person under age (5) 4 Tree (3) 5 Employs busily (5) 6 Transgression (3) 7 Greek letter (3) 11 Tree (5) 13 Essential (5) 16 Proof of payment (6) 18 Banishment (5) 20 Scottish musician (5) 22 Prima donna (4) 23 Mineral spring (3) 24 Helpful hint (3) 25 Was leading (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 19 represents G so fill G every time the figure 19 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

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

DT

SHOWTIME 31

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

The Bollywood bug

CELEBS ON SOCIAL David Gandy @davidgandy_ official It’s like stepping back in time.

Can’t wait to start. #jaguarmile #kiddgandy

n Showtime Desk The beautiful thing about music is that it can be appreciated in any part of the world.

What’s more attractive is the collaboration between two nationalities. The electronic dance music producers/production band, Apeiruss has made significant moves in the music world. Apeiruss have recently taken on a Bollywood project, along side Atif Aslam in a new single called Zindagi Aa Raha Hoon Main.

The group have worked as co-producers and music programmers on the new track, which was released earlier this month.

After featuring at Dhaka Comicon 2014, CloseUpVolt at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, and Radio Shadhin, electrifying the crowed with their signature masks doesn’t seem to end. The group’s next international projects include a collaboration with Stephan Nera of France, Nick McChord of the US and so many more around the world. Our country isn’t lacking in talent, and Apeiruss is making sure their success remains for years to come. l

SRK hits 13 million followers on Twitter

Karan Johar @karanjohar 140 characters to describe the most wonderful film I have seen this year is not enough... #Piku is all hear and stomach.....and so much more Rob Delaney @robdelaney The main riding a black horse to Johnny Depp’s villa to poison his dogs his called Barnaby Joyce. Pirates of the Caribbean is real.

Photos: Courtesy

AJ launches talent hunt campaign

n Showtime Desk Bollywood baadshah Shah Rukh Khan hit a landmark on his massive twitter following of 13 million. Only about a million behind Amitabh bachchan, the legendary actor grew his twitter family past Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s over 12 million. The growth over the past two years was exponential, for his following was a mere five million in 2013, comparatively.

SRK fans made the baadshah’s latest feat an occasion, making the hashtag #SRK13Million a recent trend. The actor commonly shares photos and moments with his family and children, his experiences, quotes on his views and opinions and even philosophies.l

Ananta Jalil’s upcoming flick The Spy: Agrojatrar Mohanayok will see a collection of new faces as Moonsoon Films, the film producing house, has launched a talent hunt campaign to pick out actors for the film. A total of 11 new faces of different ages will get opportunity to work with the lead, Ananta Jalil and Barsha, in the romantic action.

The details of the campaign came out in a press conference which was held at The Westin Dhaka in the capital. The campaign will take a few months to complete the task in selecting the cast, and then the shooting for the film will commence.

In The Spy, Ananta will be seen as a spy and paired with Barsha, his real-life wife and frequent collaborator in most of his films.

Most of the shooting of the film will take place in foreign locations.

The Spy proceeds to be the third directorial venture of Ananata Jalil, while Chotku Ahmed has written the screenplay and dialogue for the film on Ananta Jalil’s original story. l

WHAT TO WATCH The Twilight Saga - Eclipse HBO 9:30pm Cast: Christine Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Robert Pattinson With the start of a series of murder happening in the streets of Seattle, a young new vampire rises from the dark to seek his lovers revenge. On the other, completely unaware of the future threat, Bella deals with her own emotional battle where she has to choose between Edward and Jacob.

X- Men days of the future past Star Movies 9:00pm Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Ian Mckellen, Patrick Stewart Peeking in the past, Wolverine decides to jump back in time to change the future.

Meanwhile, old enemies join hand in hand to battle the machines specifically designed by the humans to hunt down mutants. Charles Xavier and Magneto together forms a strong defense as their future lays in the hand of Wolverine.

Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros 9:00pm Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Anne-moss, Hugo Weaving The battle continues as Neo, Trinity and Morpheus continue their revolt against the machine army to prevent them from wiping out the human race. They try to find and fight their way into the heart of matrix to gain control of the machines.

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32 BACK PAGE

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

FY2014-15 REGISTERS OVER 10% PER CAPITA INCOME GROWTH PAGE 15

WINNER ‘BITTERSWEET’ FOR MORATA PAGE 25

AJ LAUNCHES TALENT HUNT

PAGE 31

Woman stabbed to death by co-wife n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A 25-year-old woman was stabbed to death by her co-wife in an apartment in Chittagong’s Panchlaish area yesterday.

This comes a day after a woman of similar age was hacked to death in Dhaka’s Mirpur and a week after a mother and her daughter were slaughtered in the port city.

The family of deceased Sharmin Akhter alleged that she was killed by her co-wife Rozi Akhter, 35, who wanted to be the only heir to their expatriate husband’s wealth.

During primary interrogation at the Panchlaish police station, Rozi confessed that she and two of her brothers had killed Sharmin, her husband’s second wife.

Mohiuddin Mahmud, OC of the police station, said that they had recovered a knife from the apartment which was used for the murder.

Sharmin, mother of a one-year-old boy named Ahmad, is the second wife of Abdul Hakim, a Bangladeshi expatriate living in Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates (UAE).

About a week ago, Sharmin came to live in the apartment where Rozi Akhter, lives with her three daughters, domestic help Nazmin and her cousin Md Ali, 16, who has been missing since the murder.

According to Md Anis, Rozi’s chauffeur and the first witness of the incident, Ali is a first year student of the Patia Government College.

He used to live with Rozi and give tuition to her three daughters.

Anis said that around noon yesterday, he took Ali and two of Rozi’s daughters to the Kalamia Bazar area. They went there to visit an ailing female cousin of Rozi. After dropping them there, Anis called his boss who answered the phone but was crying. Anis then told Ali that something might be wrong back at home.

Anis came back in a hurry and found that Sharmin was lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the dining room, writhing in pain. He then called the security guard of the building and neighbours and took Sharmin to hospital.

Police said that they had found five people, including Rozi, in the apartment when they went there. But there was no explanation about how the two daughters had returned from their aunt’s and why Ali was still

Rozi Akhter and deceased co-wife Sharmin’s one-year-old son Ahmad are taken into police custody yesterday in front of Rozi’s residence in Chittagong’s Panchlaish area yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE missing. All five of them were taken to the Panchlaish police station for primary investigation.

Dipok Jyoti Khisha, an assistant commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said the incident took place sometime between 1pm and 1:30pm. Sharmin’s body was taken to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital where doctors declared her dead. The body had been kept at the morgue for autopsy.

Sharmin’s uncle Mohammad Azim alleged that Rozi had killed his niece because she

wanted to be the only heir to their husband’s wealth.

Azim said that Hakim and Sharmin got married two years ago. “Sharmin used to live in an apartment in the city’s Bahaddarhat area. Hakim visited the country about a month ago. Before going back to Abu Dhabi, he left Sharmin and her son to her maternal home in Boalkhali of Chittagong.

“However, Rozi asked Hakim to leave Sharmin at her apartment. She said the place was too big for them and Sharmin could easi-

ly stay there. When I went to visit them a few days ago, Rozi told me that she was worried with the recent incidents of robbery and murder. That made me suspicious,” Azim told the Dhaka Tribune.

“If it was robbers who killed my niece, then they would have ransacked the apartment and harmed the others. But, apart from Sharmin, nobody else was harmed,” he said.

When this report was being filed last evening, Panchlaish police was making preparations for filing a case. l

3 policemen charge-sheeted for stealing smuggled gold bar n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday pressed charge sheet against three police personnel and two others in a case filed over embezzlement of 149 smuggled gold bars.

The charge sheet accused are Sub-Inspector Md Manzurul Islam, constables Md Akash Chowdhury and Md Wahidul Islam, police source Mahfuz Alam Roney and microbus driver Sajib Shikder.

The accused were terminated from their department and are now behind bars.

Investigation officer ACC’s Deputy Director Mirza Zahidul Islam submitted the charge sheet, mentioning 54 people as witnesses.

According to the charge sheet, SI Manzurul and his patrol team, who were on duty in Banasree’s Balurmath area on March 13 last year, chased a microbus on suspicion and later found the vehicle abandoned.

They brought the vehicle to the police sta-

tion and filed a GD. On March 16, two individuals named Samir Biswas and Zahid Hossain came to the police station to claim the vehicle.

Police detained them and found out that they were professional gold smugglers and were transporting 235 gold bars by the microbus.

However, police officials could only recover 70 gold bars from the abandoned vehicle.

Earlier, detective police in separate drives

arrested the three policemen and their informer with 149 gold bars from their possession in the capital, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Bogra areas on April 1 last year.

On April 8, DB Inspector Md Fazlul Haque filed a case against the accused with Rampura police station.

Later, detectives recovered 149 of the missing gold bars from different parts of the capital on the basis of information gleaned from the detained policemen. l

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