23 Aug, 2015

SECOND EDITION

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

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Bhadro 8, 1422, Zilqad 7, 1436

FOREIGN FUNDS KEEP FLOWING FOR MILITANTS PAGE 3

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 129

NORTH, SOUTH KOREA OFFICIALS MEET AT DMZ

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

PAGE 9

Felani family sees no point in applying to BSF again Jamil Khan and Syed n Mohammad Samiul Basher Anik from Kurigram The family of teenage girl Felani Khatun – killed four years ago in BSF firing at the border – has said there is no point in applying to the Indian force as it has already acquitted the alleged killer twice.

“We have seen how they [Border Security Force] have proceeded with the two trials before. We got nothing. The Indian Supreme Court has accepted our appeal [for reinvestigation]. We would therefore like to pursue the appeal instead of filing an application with them [BSF],” said Felani’s father Nurul Islam.

During a director general-level meeting between BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) earlier this month, the Indian force’s chief DK Pathak advised Felani’s family to file an application with them if they are aggrieved with the killer’s acquittal.

On July 3 this year, a second makeshift BSF court acquitted its constable Amiya Ghosh, the accused killer. He was acquitted once be-

AL leaders divided over crossfire deaths n Tribune Report

Two opposite streams of opinions are emerging out of the ruling Awami League, as several of the party’s leaders and activists have fallen victim in recent times to what have come to be known as extra-judicial killings.

While one stream condemns the deaths, saying so-called crossfires could not be a solution to the law and order situation, despite the government’s avowedly “tough stance” against crime; others have taken a contrary position, pointing out that it is not unlikely that those who were killed attacked the law enforcers, as the law enforcers claim, and suggesting that there is no cause for alarm.

In a recent cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said criminal activities could not be tolerated no matter which party the perpetrators belong to.

Over the last one week or so, at least three Awami League leaders and activists have been killed by law enforcement in encounters the law enforcers term as “gun-fights.”

One of the dead is local Chhatra League leader Arju, accused of beating a 17-year-old boy to death in Dhaka’s Hazaribagh.

Another is a ruling party activist named  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Felani’s father Nurul Islam fore in September 2013 by another BSF court that delivered the verdict after internal investigation and trial.

Nurul Islam had testified as witness during both the trials, but both courts said the evidence against the self-confessed killer was “inconclusive and insufficient.”

BSF arranged the second trial following a huge outcry by media and rights groups against the acquittal in the maiden border killing lawsuit. Border killings have made it to virtually every Indo-Bangla bilateral negotia-

tions in recent years.

However, on Friday August 14, the matter took a new turn after the Indian Supreme Court accepted a plea for independent reinvestigation into the case; the plea was filed jointly by Nurul Islam and Indian rights group Manabadhikar Surakkha Mancha (MASUM).

The Indian SC issued a notice to the federal and West Bengal governments, the BSF and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), seeking their opinion on the demands placed in the plea.

Saying that Felani’s family had been denied justice, the plea sought reinvestigation

by CBI or any other neutral probe agency.

Nurul and MASUM also sought compensation for the family.

Fourteen-year-old Felani Khatun was killed on January 7, 2011 at the Anantapur border when she and her father were coming to Bangladesh from Asam of India.

The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a copy of a letter that Nurul has recently sent to the BGB.

JOBS FOR THE BOYS PAGE 32

‘There are proofs that Amiya lied’ Kurigram district public prosecutor Abraham Lincoln has been providing legal services to Felani’s family since the beginning of the trials. Dhaka Tribune’s Mohammad Jamil Khan and Syed Samiul Basher Anik have recently talked to him to get some insights into the legal technicalities.

What is the current status of the case?

Lincoln: On August 14, the Indian Supreme Court accepted a petition, jointly filed by Felani’s father Nurul Islam and Kolkata-based human rights organisation Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), that challenged the earlier acquittal of the BSF jawan.

BSF said they would consider a fresh trial if Felani’s family is unhappy with the acquittals. So, have to applied? If not, why?

BSF has already held two trials by being self-motivated. Interestingly, the case was filed by BSF, the accused was from their own force, the judge  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Flood unlikely to take alarming turn HEAVVY RAINFALL TRIGGERED FLOOD SUBGERED NORTHERN BANGLADESH

STATIONS ABOVE DANGER LEVELS

●

Station name

River

●

Jariajanjail Kanaighat Sunamganj Jhikargacha Sheola

Kangsha Surma Surma Kobadak Kushiyara

Baghabari Kurigram Sylhet Serajganj Sariakandi

Artrai Dharla Surma Jamuna Jamuna

Above Danger (cm)

+135 +68 +58 +42 +33 +27 +24 +9 +5 +3

●

Vast areas of agriculture fields inundated Major losses unlikely if water recedes soon Extent of losses to be assessed after recession of water

RAINFALL AT STATIONS ABOVE Station name Chilmari Kaunia Rangpur Dawanganj Kurigram

Rainfall in 100 mm

316 267 198 150 126

n Abu Bakar Siddique The flood situation across the country’s northern and north-eastern parts has deteriorated in last two days, submerging vast areas of several districts in the Brahmaputra, Padma and Surma basin.

The monsoon flood occurred due to heavy rainfall in the region and some areas of upper riparian Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya in last few days.

According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, Ganges-Padma and Meghna river systems were in the rising trend, which is likely to continue in next 72 hours. The situation would then start improving.

During the period, the flood situation might deteriorate in some areas of Kurigram, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Bogra, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Paban, Faridpur, Shariatpur, Rajbari and Munshiganj districts.

At the same time, the Surma-Kushiyara river systems likely to fall in next 48 hours. As a result, the flood situation in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Netrokona districts likely to improve while it is likely to remain steady in Satkhira district.

According to the flood forecasting centre,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

DT

2 NEWS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

AL leaders divided over crossfire deaths Ajibor, the accused in the shooting of a baby in her mother’s womb in Magura. The third is Saidur Rahman, accused of committing murders in Dhaka’s Badda.

They were killed in gunshot exchanges between RAB, police, and detectives, respectively.

After all these deaths, the law enforcement agencies concerned gave virtually identical statements. First they either got hold of the accused killers and took them to catch his cohorts; or raided an area in search of them; gunfights ensued and the criminals were hit by bullets in the skirmish.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s nephew and Dhaka-based lawmaker Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh has openly vented at the law enforcement agencies, particularly after Arju’s death.

He said Arju was not killed in a gunfight; he was picked up and killed by RAB – the elite force that has for many years been accused of being involved in extra-judicial killings.

Yesterday, while attending Arju’s qulkhani in Dhaka, Taposh stressed the needs for reshuffling RAB. “RAB was formed during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government and so

the law enforcement of the Sheikh Hasina-led administration cannot be run with them.”

Reminding the audience about the killing of Awami League men by RAB at that time, he said the force was then formed as the “killing squad of the BNP-Jamaat alliance.”

“If anyone gets injured or killed in the custody of any law enforcement agency, that agency will have to take the responsibility for that...So, RAB cannot avoid the responsibilities of killing Arju,” he added.

On August 20, Law Minister Anisul Huq said a judicial inquiry might be launched into the incidents of recent gunfight deaths.

Suranjit Sengupta, a member of the Awami League advisory council, said: “The party is in power and Chhatra League leaders are getting killed – this is not the right approach. The problem should be fixed politically. Crossfire is not the solution to all problems.”

But HT Imam, political adviser to the PM, said: “What the rights bodies in Bangladesh termed as extra-judicial killing, should be termed homicide by the law enforcing agencies.

“As a party, the Awami League is always

against of any sort of extra-judicial killings. We do not know what happened in those incidents and what the circumstances were. We need to know these before we can say anything clearly.

But so far it seems that the incidents are acceptable. It is not unlikely that those who were killed attacked the law enforcers,” he said.

AL MP AFM Bahauddin Nasim said: “These are stray incidents. The Awami League or the Chhatra League do not have anything to feel embarrassed about. A criminal is a criminal.

They do not have any political identity. It can only be understood through investigations, what happened during the so-called gunfights.”

When contacted, Monirul Islam, chief of DB, said: “Every incident is followed by a departmental inquiry. A detailed investigation is conducted on how, where, and under what circumstances an incident takes place. If any allegation is proved against any of our members, actions are taken.”

He also said: “We have seen that after any incidents, the family of the deceased tries to cook up stories. But as a law enforcement agency, we have to carry out our due responsibilities.” l

‘There are proofs that Amiya lied’ was also one of them. They did not require any application from us when they held two trials before. Then why do they need an application from Bangladesh now? Does it not seem that they are showing pity? If they really respect law, they can hold another trial of their own.

a ladder placed on the fence and had to fire for his own and the country’s security. Now, the question is, if the BSF man felt threatened, why could not they recover any arms, cutters or ammunitions? They (BSF) found nothing.

but they were at home at the time of the incident. So, it was not a violation of section 144 because it takes more than four people to do that. So, there is no justification for the firing on the day.

The Border Security Force Act 1968 of India says civil offences are triable by a criminal court. But both trials of Felani killing were held in BSF courts. What is your take on this?

Do you have any more evidence to prove the accused guilty?

Of course! There are two more ways to do it: analysing the autopsy report and the border line act. The autopsy report states that the bullet pierced her chest and she was on the ladder placed on top of the two fences. For bullets to hit her chest, shots had to be fired with the gun parallel to the ground. But, Amiyo said he fired blank shots and we know when someone does that the gun is pointed towards the sky in a vertical position. This proves that Amiyo lied.

Guards can take action if any offences violate section 144 at the border. Felani’s father Nur Islam has told courts twice that there were four people including himself, Felani, and two brokers when the shooting took place. Two other brokers were also involved

Do you see any chances of justice being served?

They had the options to hold the trial in a civil court, but they opted against it. While testifying before the BSF court, accused Amiya Ghosh said it was a foggy morning on the day of the incident and he was on duty near the fence. Suddenly, he heard some unusual sounds. When he tried to close in, some miscreants from the other side of the fence hurdled bricks at him. Amiyo said he fired blank shots in response. But later he found that a body was hanging from the fence.

But, the BSF commandant, who filed the case, said that Amiyo saw a person walking on

I am a Bangladeshi lawyer, so that there are some complexities in me fighting the legal battle in an Indian court. However, an Indian human rights organisation has come forward to give us support via the Ain O Salish Kenda.

That has raised our hopes.

We were not sure whether the Indian Supreme Court was going to accept the writ.

But, thankfully, a bench consisting of the Indian chief justice has approved the writ and asking four top Indian officials – the federal home secretary, West Bengal chief secretary, BSF director general and chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation to response on some case-related matters within a certain time frame. So, we can now be hopeful that Felani’s family may get justice. l

Flood situation

the water level at 10 measuring stations out of 85 was above danger level as of yesterday.

Dhalra river in Kurigram point was flowing 24cm above the danger level and Atrai river at Baghabari 27cm, Kobadak at Jhikargacha 42cm, Surma at Kanaighat 68cm, Surma at Sunamganj 58cm and Kangsha river at Jariajanjail 135cm.

The met office in its weather bulletin issued at 6pm yesterday said under the influence of active monsoon over the country, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at places over Rangpur division during in next 24 hours.

However, the rainfall in the northern districts would decline in next 24 hours, contributing to improvement of the flood situation in next 48 hours or so.

Meanwhile, the met office recorded more than 100mm rainfall, more than daily average, in several areas of the northern districts.

Of them, 316mm of rain was recorded at Chilmari station, 267mm at Kaunia, 198mm at Rangpur, 150mm at Dewanganj and 126mm in Kurigram in last 24 hours.

Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, duty officer of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the ongoing flood situation will be improved in next 72 hours or so as the met office forecasts the rainfall to decline after 24 hours.

“This flood can be considered as the last one this year as the monsoon is in its last phase if there is no anomaly in the forecast,” he said.

However, he said, the flood like situation is very usual in this period of a year, which is not alarming. Citing example of last year, he said during the same period of last year, the country’s northern and north-eastern parts experienced the same type of flood for the same reasons – over behaved monsoon and heavy rainfall in the upstream.

Meanwhile, vast areas of agriculture fields, including Aman paddy and vegetables, inundated and damaged due to the flood triggered by heavy rains and onrush of hilly waters over the past few days.

A deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension said that crops would not be heavily damaged if water recedes soon.

“We can measure the extent of damage of croplands once water recedes. A few days later, we will also measure the extent of losses incurred by farmers,” he added. l

Felani family sees no point in applying to BSF again He wrote: “After the latest verdict on July 2 this year, I applied to the Indian ambassador in Dhaka, requesting for all the documents of the murder case, but they did not give me anything. In such a situation, I filed a writ with the Indian Supreme Court...with help from human rights organisations and the public prosecutor appointed by the Bangladesh government.

“As the Supreme Court bench, led by its chief justice, accepted it for hearing and asked the federal home secretary, West Bengal chief secretary, director general of BSF and the chief of CBI to give answers about the murder case, I do not want to file any complaints with the BSF. Or else, BSF might take advantage of the time needed for the Supreme Court to hear on the writ and hold another trial quickly and acquit the accused again,” Nurul told the BGB in the letter.

When contacted, BGB 45 Battalion Commanding Officer Jakir Hossain, corresponding the issue with Felani’s family, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have discussed the BSF chief’s

statement [with Felani’s father]. Her father informed us in a formal letter that they do not want to file any complaints with BSF as they had already filed a writ with the [Indian] Supreme Court.

“We have forwarded the letter to our high command and following proper processes, an appropriate answer will be given to the BSF,” Jakir said. <b> From Nurul’s memory <b> In a recent one-to-one interview with the Dhaka Tribune, Felani’s father Nurul said: “I had no intention of crossing the border illegally. My target was to cross legally by contacting custom officials. But the Indian brokers led us astray.

Before January 2011, Nurul had been working in India’s Asam for a decade and Felani used to live with him. After Fenali’s wedding was fixed with a Bangladeshi man, the father and the daughter decided to come back to Bangladesh.

“As soon as we reached the Indian side of the border, some Indian brokers surround-

ed us. They forcefully took our bags and the Rs3,000 we had with us. They said they would make arrangements for crossing the border.”

Asked if he remembers the names of the brokers, Nurul said: “First we met Mosharraf. He kept us in his house until midnight of January 6. Then another broker named Ganzu took us to his house. We waited there for about half and hour and then another broker named Bazrat took us to his house.

“Around 1:30am, he told us to go to sleep while he made arrangements for our border crossing. After the early morning Fazr prayers, another broker, whose name I did not know, told us that everything was ready.

They had placed a ladder over the barbed wire fence and we were told to run and climb over the border using the ladder.

“I did not want to cross the border that way because it was already daytime. I wanted to do it the legal way. But they did not listen. Instead, two of them grabbed mine and Felani’s hands and pulled us towards the bor-

der. Then they forced us to climb the ladder.

“We were on top of the border fence when BSF men, without any notice, opened fire on us.

I fell down inside the Bangladesh border. But Felani got stuck and was soon hit by a bullet.

Breaking into tears, Nurul said: “I was surprised when BSF men, without talking to the brokers, who were present right beside the border, or alerting us just opened fire on us.

“They just let my daughter’s body hang there for more than six hours. I am thankful to the local BGB officials because of whose protests I at least got my daughter’s body back.”

The Dhaka Tribune correspondents have recently visited Felani’s home in Kolnitari village in Nageshwari upazila, some 25km away from the Kurigram district headquarters.

There they saw Felani’s grave right beside their homestead – a one-room tin-roofed house.

Felani’s mother Jahanara Begum said: “We have nothing to say but [can] only [demand] a fair trial of my daughter’s killing...I do not know how anyone can kill a child like Felani.” l

DT

NEWS 3

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Foreign funds keep flowing for militants n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Following the recent arrest of a number of leaders and members of old, new and hybrid militant groups in Chittagong as well as across the country, investigators have found that most of those outfits are funded by foreign organisations and individuals.

In some cases, the funds come for establishing mosques and madrasas, or as aid to so-called NGOs working for the welfare of persecuted Muslims, mainly the Rohingyas living in peril in the country’s southern part, police said.

On the other hand, coordinators of international militant groups visit the country, holds meeting with the militant leaders and hand over money themselves.

The militant outfits are taking advantage of the ordinary Muslims while recruiting new members. They try to convince the youths, mostly from poor families or the Rohingyas, by saying that their activities are meant for pleasing the Almighty and saving the religion from the clutches of anti-Islam quarters.

Some members of Jamaat-e-Islami’s radical student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir are also involved with the militant groups, police said.

Maj (retd) Emdadul Islam, a security expert based in the port city, said that the ministries concerned should strictly monitor money transaction by foreign organisations and individuals. Moreover, visas must be issued only after tight scrutiny.

Different law enforcement agencies including DB police and elite force Rapid Action Battalion are working to identify the militant outfits, their masterminds and financiers.

Given the rise of militant activities, the

Chittagong Metropolitan Police have decided to reshuffle its anti-militancy cell, Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“Islamist militant activities have now spread across India and Bangladesh from Pakistan and Afghanistan as the ordinary Muslims of this region are blind about Islam.”

RAB 7 has found that with the money, Hamza Brigade purchased at least 25 sophisticated local and foreign-made arms including eight AK22 rifles, 4443 rounds of bullets, 76 powerful bombs, 150kg explosives, and 30 types of bomb-making materials with which around 2,000 bombs can be made. The law enforcers also recovered audio-visual

The militant outfits are taking advantage of the ordinary Muslims while recruiting new members. They try to convince the youths, mostly from poor families or the Rohingyas, by saying that their activities are meant for pleasing the Almighty and saving the religion from the clutches of anti-Islam quarters He thinks that the spread of the militant and radical outfits can be prevented through proper education on religion. “On the other hand, the authorities should strictly monitor suspected bank transactions,” the CMP commissioner added.

The three Supreme Court lawyers including the daughter of a former BNP whip arrested last week for their suspected link to newly-discovered militant outfit Shahid Hamza Brigade have confessed to channelling Tk1.08 crore to five accounts of the group.

At least 27 other members out of 29, most of who are former members of Chhatra Shibir, also admitted that the three were involved with Hamza Brigade.

Investigators have also found that a Dubai-based person named Allama Libdi also financed the group during his visits to Chittagong.

training materials and jihadi documents from the dens busted in Chittagong region since February.

The elite force is now interrogating the arrestees to learn about the other financiers.

The chief of Hamza Brigade is believed to have fled to Malaysia.

In November last year, the Detective Branch of police nabbed Myanmar sectarian outfit Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) Bangladesh Chapter’s top leaders Salamatullah and Shafiullah, also an Awami League leader of Naikkhyangchhari upazila in Bandarban; and Global Rohingya Centre (GRC) Vice-President Mohammad Alam, also a Pakistani national, among five for funding militant groups.

Several CMP officials seeking anonymity said that the Bangladesh wing of RSO had been split over share of foreign funds. Before

the arrest, the militants were distributing funds among them for donations to mosques, madrasas and providing other facilities for the Rohingyas in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Majid confessed that they visited many countries especially Thailand, India, Qatar, Bahrain and Turkey last year to collect funds for the Rohingyas.

In an investigation last year, Dhaka Tribune found that from London, a Pakistan national had sent 1.5m pound sterling (about Tk20 crore in Bangladeshi currency) to a bank account in Chittagong. The account was opened using forged signatures of the members of Maizvandar Sharif Shah-eJame Mosjid Directors and Development Committee.

Committee President Syed Nazibul Bashar Maizvandari, also a lawmaker of Fatikchhari, said that they had taken legal action against two members of the committee for forging signatures and inspiring radical Muslims.

Also chairman of Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, Nazibul said that the case was under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Meanwhile, after the arrest of banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh’s Chittagong district Commander Ershad Hossain alias Mamun on March 23, detectives said that the members of outlawed militant groups – JMB, HujiB, Hizb-ut Tahrir and Ansarullah Bangla Team – were working in concert to establish an Islamic state with the help of international terrorist group Islamic State by 2020.

To implement their agenda, four IS members visited Chittagong in October last year and sat with the top leaders of the four banned outfits. l

Shawkat Mahmud lands in jail n UNB

A court yesterday sent BNP chairperson’s adviser and journalists’ union leader Shawkat Mahmud to jail on the expiry of his three-day remand in an arson case filed with the city’s Ramna Police Station.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Waez Kuruni Khan Chowdhury passed the order when Shawkat Mahmud was produced before the court.

Sub-inspector Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman, also general recording officer of the court, said no bail petition was submitted for Shawkat as he had no lawyer.

Earlier on August 19, the court placed Shawkat Mahmud on a three-day remand after his arrest from in front of Samurai Convention Centre in the city’s Panthapath area on August 18. He was shown arrested in an arson case filed with Ramna Police Station.

On January 9, a group of miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at a private car in the city’s Moghbazar area in front of Celebration Community Centre, leaving its driver injured with burns.

Later, the driver, Abul Kalam Azad, was admitted to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to his injures on January 15.

Sub-inspector Atiqur Rahman Biswas then filed a case with Ramna Police Station in this connection. l

Autorickshaw drivers assault three mathematics students of Rajshahi University at Talaimari intersection on Friday night after an altercation over taking the students to their destination MEHEDI HASAN

DT

4 NEWS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

PM: Government to set up trust fund for community clinics n UNB Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the government has a plan to create a Trust Fund for Community Clinics across the country to give those a permanent shape and ensure smooth medicare services for people.

“We would like to form in the future a Trust Fund like the PM’s Education Trust Fund for ensuring the medicare services for people,” she said.

The Prime Minister was addressing a programme arranged by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry at Osmani Memorial Auditorium to distribute Best Community Clinic Award 2014 and launch the Interactive Learning Module for community clinic health providers.

Sheikh Hasina said the objective to establish such a Trust Fund is to give a solid ground for the community clinics across the county so that no one could shut these down through just an order after the change of government.

“We’ve had a very bitter experience… we want to make these community clinics self-reliant financially.”

She mentioned that each community clinic will have its own account and local people will be the members of the committee for running it. “Government grants will go to that account and the affluent section of the community will donate to the fund, too.”

The local committee will fix how many signatures to be needed to withdraw money from the account, said Hasina adding that the people who will come to the community clinics for receiving preliminary treatment could donate if they want to. “Different organisations can donate to this Fund as well,” she added.

From this Fund, she said, the community clinics will be operated, while the utility bills of the clinics will be paid from this fund to make the clinics self-sufficient.

The Prime Minister recalled that the community clinic project was launched during the past Awami League government in 1996, but

n Tribune Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and guests pose with recipients of the Best Community Clinic 2014 award at Osmani Memorial Auditorium yesterday BSS after the change of the government in 2001, the BNP-Jamaat regime shut down the clinics through issuing an order.

“But, with the formation of the Fund, local people will be able to run their community clinics and then those will be permanent ones,” she said.

Briefly describing various development programmes of the present government for developing the medicare services across the country, the Prime Minister said there would be two new Medical Universities in Rajshahi and Chittagong. “We’ll gradually set up medical universities in all the divisional headquarters,” she told the function.

Criticising the whimsical demands for to set up medical colleges everywhere of the country, Hasina said, “Medical colleges are necessary, but setting up so many medical colleges is not logical because this is a specialized subject. If this is done indiscriminately, then patient-saving doctors will hardly be

OIC secretary general arrives n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad Ameen Madani arrived in the city yesterday on a three-day visit to discuss the organisation’s future work plan with Bangladeshi policymakers.

“It is part of a visiting programme the secretary general has undertaken. He will hold consultations with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali about OIC’s future work plan,” Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune.

This is his second visit to Dhaka and this time he is leading a six-member delegation.

He will pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tomorrow and have a meeting with the foreign minister today.

Book on Bangabandhu’s possible progress launched

He is likely to visit ICDDR,B at Mohakhali.

Meanwhile, British Minister for International Development Desmond Swayne is scheduled to arrive today on a three-day trip.

He is coming to see for himself how effective the British aid is and how it helps Bangladeshi people to get out of poverty, said a diplomatic source.

He is scheduled to visit some UK-funded projects in the city and outside Dhaka, he said.

The UK minister is scheduled to have a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, and have a meeting with Leader of the Opposition Roushan Ershad, and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. l

produced…we don’t need patient-killing doctor.”

She said there should a policy recommend where medical colleges could be established.

“What type facilities are there, we have to know that before setting up medical colleges, we shouldn’t succumb to whims,” the PM added.

Held with Health and Family Welfare Secretary Syed Monjurul Islam in the chair, the function was attended, among others, by Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim, State Minuster for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque, PM’s former Health Affairs Adviser Dr Syed Modasser Ali, WHO Representative Dr Navaratnasamy Paranietharan and Project Director of Revitalisation of Community Health Care Initiatives in Bangladesh (RCHCIB) Dr Makhdum Nargis.

Earlier, she distributed certificates among seven winners from seven divisions, and launched the interactive learning module. l

In an event for launching a book tilted ‘Bangabandhu-Equality-Imperialism’, the speakers have said Bangladesh could be more developed than Malaysia if Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman remains alive presently.

They termed understanding Bangabandhu mandatory for a Bangladeshi and the nation has been lagging behind in the global arena and the book would usher us to forward, opined the speakers yesterday in the programme in Senate Building auditorium of Dhaka University.

The book authored by renowned economist prof Abul Barkat with 252 pages in eight chapters tried to depict the country’s progress brought by Bangabandhu if he remains alive still now.

As the chief guest of the book launching ceremony former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman introduced us Bangali identity. He termed it handy, simple, unique and beautiful and urged all to read it.

“This book will inform us the unknown history and it will lead us into a vivid future”, he added.

“Small in size but it speaks the whole history of Bangladesh. Our country would be Sonar Bangla if Bangabandu remains alive. This book manifests us that prove”, said National Human Rights Commission Chairman Dr Mizanur Rahman.

Barrister M Amirul Islam said: “This is a unique tribute to Bangabandhu in the month of mourning. If the book is included in textbook, we will understand the father of the nation.”

Muktobuddhi Prokashana published the book with price of Tk300.

Prof Dr Asraf Uddin Chowdhury presided over the programme while emeritus prof AK Azad Choudhury, former DUCSU vice-president prof Mahfuza Khanam addressed also among others. l

RAIL ROUTE AROUND DHAKA CITY

Feasibility study begins next month n Asif Showkat Kallol The government starts a feasibility study next month for building a circular railroad around Dhaka which is expected to ease traffic congestion, officials said.

A meeting at the Finance Division last week approved a human resources structure for the study. According to the Railways Ministry proposal, the rail route will enable commuters to travel from one corner of the city to the other without entering the city centre.

The route will provide the people with a better and more efficient traveling facility avoiding the capital’s severe traffic jam, the proposal reads, adding that this will also help

sub-urban people of Gazipur, Narayanganj, Keraniganj, Savar and Munshiganj enter and exit from Dhaka.

About 15m people live in the mega city of Dhaka which is expanding every year in terms of areas and population, but its transportation system has failed to cope with this increasing pressure.

The proposal says the total cost of the study will be Tk29.32 crore and the study will end in December next year. During the period, several surveys will be conducted by the consultancy firm, including detail topographic, hydro-graphic and soil investigation surveys.

Construction of such route was an election pledge of the ruling party. l

DT

NEWS 5

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Draft law requires compulsory insurance for BRT operators n Shohel Mamun The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) has finalised the draft Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Act, 2015, requiring service operators to be covered by compulsory passenger and vehicle insurance.

In the event of an accident, insurance claims will help cover victims’ compensations. Failure of operators to maintain insurance coverage could result in 10 year prison sentences and fines of up to Tk5 lakh.

DTCA Executive Director Kaikobad Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: “The draft of the BRT Act includes compulsory insurance for

operators and stipulates penalties so that it runs smoothly.”

Project Director Anisur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune the draft Act was integrated with the Metro Rail Act. The draft has been sent to various ministries, departments and experts for opinions and feedback.

The BRT will operate bus services on dedicated lanes on existing roads. Drivers of nonBRT vehicles who get caught using BRT lanes could face a one-year prison sentence and fines of up to Tk2.5 lakh.

BRT services will be operated by the government and by private firms in six districts: Dhaka, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Narayanganj,

Manikganj and Munshiganj.

According the draft law, private firms must obtain licences from the DTCA to operate BRT services.

The government has formed a seven-member committee to set BRT bus fares.

Fare-dodgers will be punished with 5 times the fare rate or a 3-month prison term, according to the draft law.

Soil testing for BRT Line 3, the first of six proposed fast bus lanes to be developed, is being carried out between Gazipur and Keraniganj.

The first phase of the project, which will connect Gazipur to Dhaka airport, is scheduled to be completed by 2018. l

Soil test for Bus Rapid Transit project goes on on Airport Road in the capital. The photo was taken two days ago

MEHEDI HASAN

Three sentenced to different jail terms for producing contaminated mineral waters n UNB A mobile court of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday sentenced three people of three mineral water producing factories in the city to different jail terms for producing germ-contaminated bottled water.

The convicts are: Md Mamun Miah, manager of ‘Dytal Drinking Water’ at RK Mission Road of Gupibagh, Md Harun-ur-Rashid, owner of ‘Sabrina Drinking Water’ in Gulapbagh, and Salman Rahman, owner of ‘Alpine

Fresh Water’ at Begumganj Lane of Narinda area of the city.

Mamun was sentenced to three months’ simple jail and fined Tk50,000, in default, one month’s more jail.

Harun was sentenced to six months jail and fined Tk1 lakh, in default, 15 days more jail.

Salman was given two years’ simple jail and fined of Tk1 lakh, in default, one month more jail.

Sources at the Rab headquarters said act-

ing on a tip-off, a team of Rab-10, led by ASP Md Raselur Rahman along with executive magistrate Md Sarwar Alam, conducted the drive the three areas mentioned above in between 11:30 pm and 4:00 pm.

During the drive, the elite force found that germ water of Dhaka WASA was being bottled illegally inside the three mineral water producing factories.

Md Rashed Al Mamun, field officer of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), was also present during the drive. l

Work begins on Bus Rapid Transit Line 3 n Shohel Mamun

Soil testing has begun for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line 3, the first of six dedicated fast bus lanes that are being planned to improve the capital’s transportation infrastructure.

Soil testing is scheduled for completion

by December. Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) is conducting the soil tests, under the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project, at 16 spots from Gazipur to the airport.

“The main work of the project will start at the beginning of next year,” BRT Line 3 Project Director Anisur Rahman said.

Line 3 will stretch from Shibbari in Gazipur to Keraniganj. The first phase of construction will link Gazipur to Dhaka’s Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport.

A feasibility study is being conducted on the portion of the route that runs between Dhaka airport and Keraniganj.

Line 3 will feature two bus lanes, one for travel in each direction, and will be separated from other roadways by a divider. It will stretch 42.5 kilometres from Gazipur to Keraniganj, with a total of 41 stations planned along its path. Twenty-five stations are planned on the 22-kilometre stretch of the route between Gazipur and Dhaka airport.

Fast-moving, high-capacity BRT buses will move between the stations in just three minutes.

Line 3 is expected to be able to transport an estimated 20,000 passengers each way, every hour.

Passengers will be covered by a mandatory insurance policy. BRT ticketing will done using smart cards.

BRT buses will be equipped to allow level boarding, making it easier for older people, children and disabled passengers to get on and off the buses. Passengers will only be able to get on or off the buses at BRT stations.

The BRT will be operated by both public and private transportation service providers under the Bus Rapid Transit Company. Alongside the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, private bus companies can join the venture, but must import designated BRT buses.

Six overpasses, including a bridge over the Turag River, will be built under the project.

The project will cost Tk2,034.84 crore and is scheduled for completion by 2018.

The government plans to implement BRT services in six districts – Dhaka, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Narayanganj, Manikganj and Munshiganj. l

Two held with 5kg gold at Kamalapur n Kamrul Hasan Railway police arrested two persons and recovered 5kg of gold from their possession from Kamalapur railway station yesterday.

The arrestees are Jhutan Biswas, 21, and Rahul, 28. Kamalapur Government Railway police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdul Majid said they had information about gold smuggling via the railway station.

When Jhutan and Rahul get off from Turna Nishita express train around 8:30am, a GRP team challenged the duo as their behaviour seemed to be suspicious, the OC added. Majid went on that they searched them and found 32 gold biscuits and bars worth Tk2.6 crore.

A case was launched against the duo with GRP police station in this connection. l

DT

6 NEWS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Flood situation worsens across country n Tribune Report

Heavy rains and onrush of hill water over the past few days caused floods in different parts of the country that inundated houses and crop fields.

Low-lying areas in eight unions of three Gaibandha upazilas went under water while at least 35 families hit by river erosion moved elsewhere.

Water in the Brahmaputra, Jamuna and Teesta rivers increased in the past five days but was still under the danger level.

Uria union Chairman Abdul Hamid said a number of places in Kalasona, Uttar Uria and Ratanpur villages saw erosion of the Brahmaputra River.

Habibur Rahman, chairman of Fulchhari union, said the families displaced by erosion would be given relief materials.

He said the local office of Water Development Board had been informed of the situation.

Chairmen of several other unions said water in the Teesta River was rising in their re-

spective areas.

Abdul Awal, executive engineer of Gaibandha office of Water Development Board, said necessary steps would be taken.

In Sherpur’s Jhenaigati upazila, 17 villages were submerged early yesterday while downpour destroyed huts and washed a huge amount of fishes from ponds away.

Traders at Dhanshail Bazar incurred losses as water destroyed products and goods. Crops in Aman fields were also damaged.

Chairmen of several unions visited the afflicted areas while local Jubo League members doled out relief goods among flood victims on behalf of lawmaker AKM Fazlul Haque Chan.

Jhenaigati upazila Chairman Aminul Islam Badshah said flood was the result of sudden onrush of hill water.

He said the scale of the damage would not be large if water receded fast.

“We are trying to deal with the situation.” added Badshah.

In Kurigram, Aman crops in 30,000 hectares of land were inundated as a rise in water in the

Dharala River aggravated flood situation.

Water in the river flew 24cm above the danger level after heavy rains while several other rivers in the district, including Teesta and Brahmaputra, saw a dramatic rise in water level.

Local officials said more than 50,000 people living in over 100 villages under nine upazilas were marooned. Flood also wreaked havoc on houses and roads, multiplying people’s woes.

Amir Hossain, chairman of Panchgachhi union, some 5,000-7,000 people living in his area had been marooned.

“The road communication system has collapsed, forcing people to move by boats. Croplands were heavily damaged too,” he said.

Local Water Development Board officials said yesterday that water in the Brahmaputra River increased by 51cm and 50cm at Chilmari point and Nun Khawa point respectively in 24 hours.

The maximum rainfall in Kurigram in the last 24 hours was measured 316mm yesterday.

In Netrokona, 50 villages in three upazilas – Kalamakanda, Durgapur and Barhatta - were inundated while water in several small and

big rivers increased in the last two days.

Water entered houses in many villages located in low-lying areas such as Barakapan, Harinakul, Keshabpur, Chauhatta, Rajnagar and Baushari.

Fish in more than a thousand ponds and enclosures was washed away while farmers said Aman seeds in at least 5,000 hectares of land were damaged.

Flood victims said local officials had visited the afflicted areas but no relief had yet been distributed.

AKM Hadisuzzaman, chairman of Barakapan union in Kamalakanda, said some 25,000 people in 22 villages of the union were marooned.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension Bilash Chandra Paul said crops would not be heavily damaged if water receded soon.

“We can measure the extent of damage of croplands once water recedes. A few days later, we will also measure the extent of losses incurred by farmers,” he added. l

Suspected robber killed in gunfight n Our Correspondent, Comilla

An alleged robber was killed in a gunfight between his cohorts and members of the Detective Branch (DB) of police at Perul on the Comilla-Laksam Road in Sadar Dakkhin upazila early yesterday.

The deceased Abdul Kader, 35, was son of Sahadat Hossain of Bharanikhanda village in Monoharganj upazila.

Shah Kamal Akanda, sub-inspector of Comilla DB police, said on a tip-off, a team of DB police conducted a drive in the area around 3:30 am while a gang of robbers was taking preparation to commit robbery.

Sensing the presence of the police, the robbers opened fire to them and the law enforcers also retaliated with firing, triggering a gunfight.

During the gunfight, four robbers, including Abdul Kader, were injured. Police also arrested eight robbers while fleeing the scene.

Abdul Kader died on way to Comilla Medical College Hospital while his two associates were admitted to the hospital. l

Marooned people along with their cattle and personal belongings in Kurigram are passing their days in great anxiety as water level of Dutkumer and Brahmaputra rivers rose sharply. The picture was taken yesterday from Jatrapur in Sadar upazila DHAKA TRIBUNE

Native fish species decline in Chuadanga n Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

Native fish populations at water bodies in the district have seen a sharp decline in recent years.

According to sources, the indigenous fish species, especially the small ones, are disappearing due to drying-up of major rivers and water bodies. As a result, most fishermen are either leading miserable life or switching over to other professions.

Fisheries office sources said fish had been cultivated at around 1.65 lakh hectares of land in four upazilas of the district.

In recent years, most of the water bodies of the district including rivers, ponds and canals have dried up which has left an adverse impact on the growth of fish species.

Besides, frequent and random use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in croplands has

escalated the crisis.

At present many indigenous fish including catfish, mola, walking fish, sheat fish, carplet, goby, spring ceil, dwarf gourami, and snakehead murrel are rarely seen in the local markets.

A good number of fishermen here, who used to live on catching country fish in different water bodies including the Mathabhanga River before, are facing hardship and leading their families in substandard conditions since they are getting poor catches of fish.

Many of them have switched over to other professions like rickshaw- and van-pulling and auto-rickshaw driving.

Nirmol Halder of Dinnathpur village under Sadar upazila said: “I have left my ancestral profession as there is less catch of fish, and it is hardly possible to lead my family. Finding no other alternative, I am pulling rickshaw now.”

Locals mentioned that the small fishes enriched with high nutrition which is capable of protecting the human beings particularly the growing aged ones from various diseases.

They, however, said with wide-ranging promotion of exotic and hybrid fish species, the indigenous species, particularly the small ones, are gradually being endangered everywhere.

Both farming and marketing of the high yielding species have been enhanced significantly during the last couple of years. The local wholesale markets, hats and bazars are now flooded with the promoted varieties of fish which are less tasty and nutritious than the local ones.

District Fisheries Officer Bazlur Rashid said: “Massive silt has been deposited on the riverbeds and other water bodies that is responsible for reduction of fish breeding grounds in the district.” l

Two held with yaba n Our Correspondent, Comilla

Police arrested two people, including a woman, along with 2,100 yaba tablets from a bus on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway near Daudkandi toll plaza at Daudkandi upazila in the district early yesterday.

The arrested are Rabeya Begum, 30, wife of Manirul Islam of Boalia village in Sadar upzila of Madaripur district, and Abul Bashar, 35, son of Ershad Master of Nikli upazila in Kishoreganj district.

Abdus Salam, officer-in-charge of Daudkandi police station, said on a tip-off, a team of police intercepted a Dhaka-bound Shyamoli Paribahan bus and arrested Rabeya along with 1,500 yaba tablets, kept inside the soles of her shoes.

Later, the police also arrested Abul Bashar along with 6,00 yaba tablets from the bus. l

DT

NEWS 7

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Company ready to roll n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The country’s first ever Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Ltd is set to start functioning from today through its first board meeting to develop the 2,000 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

“The meeting of the Nuclear Company will be chaired by Science and Technology Secretary Sirajul Islam at Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) headquarters in Agargaon,” first Managing Director of the company Mohammad Shawkat Akbar told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

BAEC under the Ministry of Science and Technology would own the company.

Shawkat said the new company has recently registered with the Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms.

He said the company would start functioning by setting up a new office in Dhaka and preparing an organogram to start manpower recruitment.

On July 13, 2015, the cabinet approved the draft Nuclear Power Plant Ordinance, 2015 in order to ensure the proper establishment and operation of the country’s nuclear power plants, including the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

According to the law, the company will have a board with the secretary for science and technology as its chairman and the chairman of the BAEC as its director.

The previous project director of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project will be the first managing director of nuclear company.

The board will have a minimum of seven and maximum of 12 directors who will be appointed by the government.

“The Ministry of Science and Technology has already appointed 11 members as board directors,” Acting Secretary for Science and Technology Sirajul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The 11-member company board will include Power Development Board Chairman Khandker Maksudul Hasan, Federation of

Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Matlub Ahmad while the rest will be taken from different ministries and organisations.

He said the Rooppur project would be implemented with financial and technical support from the Russian government.

Bangladesh plans to produce 1,000MW of electricity by 2021 and another 1,000MW by 2022 from the Rooppur plant. The plant’s tenure is 60 years with the option to extend it by another 20 years.

In April 2013, the executive committee of the National Economic Council approved the establishment of the first phase of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project. The project site in Pakshi union, Pabna, sits on 105 hectares of land.

The initial project duration is from March 2013 to June 2017. The plant is scheduled to go into operation by 2021 involving Tk5,087.81cr, including project aid of Tk4,000cr from the Russian government. l

Death anniversary of Birshreshtho Motiur held n Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

The 44th death anniversary of Shaheed Birshreshtho Flight Lieutenant M Motiur Rahman was observed at the Motiur Rahman Smriti Sangsad premises with due solemnity yesterday.

Jointly organised by Raipura Upazila Muktijoddah Sangsad and Shaheed Birshreshtho Motiur Rahman Smriti Sangsad, Speakers in the discussion said the heroic sacrifice of Flight Lt Motiur Rahman in the country’s liberation war very painful.

Speakers said in August 1971, Motiur Rahman tried to escape with a plane from Mashror Airport, Karachi to join the country’s liberation war, but he died when his plane unfortunately crashed near the Indian border on way to that country.

A Milad mahfil was also held at Muktijuddah Sangsad office and special munajat was offered seeking divine blessings for the departed soul of Motiur Rahman. l

WEATHER THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 DHAKA TODAY

TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:25PM

SUN RISES 5:37AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

33

26

Chittagong

32

26

Rajshahi

32

26

Rangpur

30

25

Khulna

33

26

Barisal

32

26

Sylhet

30

25

Cox’s Bazar

31

26

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.5ºC

23.5ºC

Khulna

Maizdi Court Source: Accuweather/UNB

Participants row boats during a boat race organized by Beraid Krira Sangstha, a local sporting club, at Beraid in Badda yesterday

Coordinated efforts to ensure development stressed n Tribune Report

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:15am 5:35am 12:02am 4:35pm 6:27pm 7:57pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Speakers yesterday at a view-exchange meeting stressed on the need for coordinated efforts and joint initiatives for all-out development for the greater Mymensingh through formulating long and short term development programmes.

They also put emphasis for setting up strong coordination among the high officials of greater Mymensingh working in different ministries and autonomous bodies to ensure the development.

Local Government Department, district administration and Zila Parisad jointly organized

the meeting at the auditorium in the town.

Upazila Parisad chairmen of greater Mymensingh include Mymensingh, Tangail, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrakona and Kishorganj districts took part in the first session, reports BSS. Principal Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office Abul Kalam Aazd presided over the discussion. LGRD Secretary Abdul Malek gave opening remarks and described the objectives of the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Abul Kalam Azad said Bangladesh, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been a model for development before the world, and the greater Mymensingh will be included in the develop-

ment process.

Mentioning the existing problems and prospects in their areas, the upazila chairmen urged the concerned authorities to take necessary steps to resolve the problems for allout development of greater Mymensingh.

The chairmen highlighted on communication, education, health, continuous river erosion and protection of crop land and dwelling houses from the river erosion.

Later, a meeting with the administrators and secretaries of the Zila Parishad in greater Mymensingh was held at the same venue. Primary and Mass Education Secretary Mezbah ul Alam chaired the meeting. l

DT

8 WORLD

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

India warns Pakistan against meeting separatists, talks on brink n Reuters, New Delhi/Islamabad India and Pakistan blamed each other yesterday for putting at risk a planned peace meeting, with New Delhi warning that talks would be called off if its bitter rival decided to meet separatist leaders of the disputed region of Kashmir.

The trading of charges just hours before a meeting of the national security advisers (NSA) of the nuclear-armed neighbours could derail talks for the second time under the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and further sour relations.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since becoming separate nations in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part.

New Delhi has for years accused Islamabad of backing separatist Muslim rebels in India’s part of Kashmir. Pakistan denies the allegations.

India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said yesterday’s talks would be cancelled if the Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz insisted on meeting the separatists. India detained a Kashmiri leader yesterday after he landed in New Delhi for a meeting with Aziz.

“If they say ‘we still do not agree’, then there will be no talks,” Swaraj told a press conference.

India is ready to discuss only terrorism-related issues at the talks and “no third party” should be involved, Swaraj said, referring to the separatist leaders.

She asked Pakistan to decide by yesterday evening. A Pakistan government source said talks were “not possible in this bitter environment.”

Earlier, Aziz said in Islamabad he was

Indian Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gestures during a press conference in New Delhi yesterday. India issued an ultimatum to Pakistan yesterday, giving Islamabad until midnight to agree to restrict high-level bilateral talks to militancy alone AFP disappointed that India had “virtually cancelled” the scheduled talks.

The prospects of the much-awaited talks, set between Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Russia last month, had also been clouded in recent weeks by a series of militant attacks and border skirmishes.

Swaraj said there has been 91 ceasefire violations since the meeting between the premiers.

The divergence of talking points has also been a stumbling block: Indian official sources had said they wanted to provide proof that

Greek opposition leaders weigh coalition despite crises, poll pressure n Reuters, Athens

Greek opposition politicians embarked on the laborious and apparently futile exercise yesterday of trying to form a new government, oblivious to pressure for rapid elections so the nation can start tackling an array of crises.

The two biggest opposition parties, one of the centre-right and the other of the far left, queued up to exercise their constitutional right to spend three days negotiating a new coalition, even though their efforts are almost certain to fail.

When leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned on Thursday, he had in mind a quick election next month when he hoped to return to power, strengthened by a mandate to implement the new bailout programme he negotiated to save Greece from financial collapse.

But the conservative New Democracy and the anti-bailout Popular Unity - founded only on Friday after splitting from Tsipras’s Syriza party - do not share his sense of urgency.

Fofi Gennimata, who leads the small PASOK socialist party, reminded fellow opposi-

tion leaders that Greece’s future in the euro zone was far from secure, even though funds began flowing from the new 86 billion euro ($98 billion) bailout on Thursday.

“It is obvious that ... this parliament cannot form a new government. Therefore, any delay can have destructive consequences for the country because, as I have said many times, Grexit remains in our backyard,” she told reporters after meeting conservative New Democracy leader Evangelos Meimarakis.

Meimarakis was also due to meet leftist Popular Unity chief Panagiotis Lafazanis - his ideological polar opposite - later yesterday.

The two are also split over the bailout, with Meimarakis backing the deal which this week averted a debt default and Lafazanis saying “we will either finish off the bailouts or the bailouts will finish off Greece.”

Even if they could come to terms, the two parties would command only 101 seats in the 300-member parliament, with the rest of the deeply divided opposition ranging from communists to the ultra-right Golden Dawn. l

militants were getting support from over its western border, while Pakistan wanted the talks to be broader and include issues on Kashmir.

Aziz said he was planning to present India’s NSA Ajit Doval three dossiers on what he called the Indian intelligence wing’s involvement in promoting terrorism in Pakistan.

Pakistan said it was not expecting the scheduled peace talks to lead to any breakthrough and that the purpose was only to reduce tensions between the neighbours. l

Typhoon death toll in Philippines rises to nine n Reuters, Manila

The death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Goni rose to nine after five more people were buried by landslides in mountainous areas, officials said yesterday.

Packing gusts of up to 185 kph (115 mph), Goni was estimated to be 105 km (65 miles) east-northeast of Batanes, the northernmost province in the Philippines, and moving at 13 kph towards southern Japan.

Weather forecasters said Goni would be out of the region of the Philippines by Monday, improving conditions in the capital Manila, where some workplaces and schools had been closed because of rainfall. Storm alerts were lifted in some northern provinces.

“There was a new landslide early this morning, which buried some houses,” Nestor Fongwan, governor of Benguet province, told radio stations. “We’ve pulled out four bodies.”

In Baguio City, capital of the Cordillera mountain region, the amount of rain overnight exceeded the average volume for the whole month, disaster officials said.

Alexander Pama, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said nearly 1,000 people had been displaced by landslides and floods in the north.

In some areas, shipping was suspended, flights grounded and roads closed by floods, landslides, toppled power lines and uprooted trees. Soldiers have been clearing roads to speed up delivery of food, drinking water and other vital supplies, Pama said.

An average of 20 typhoons a year pass through the Philippines. The most deadly and destructive, Haiyan, killed more than 6,300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in November 2013. l

Russian PM visits disputed Kuril islands, triggering Japan protest n AFP, Moscow

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev landed yesterday in the Kuril islands, prompting a swift rebuke from Tokyo, which claims sovereignty over the northwest Pacific archipelago in a long-running dispute.

Medvedev visited Iturup, one of four islands in the chain that lies off Russia’s far eastern coast and just north of Japan, Russian media reports said.

“Everything is perfectly modern here,” Medvedev was quoted as saying on his arrival.

“This is the result of our development programme for the Kuril islands.”

Hajime Hayashi, the head of the Japanese foreign ministry’s European division, phoned the Russian ambassador in Tokyo over the visit to the islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories.

The trip “contradicts Japan’s position over the Northern Territories and hurts the feelings of the Japanese people... It is extremely regrettable,” Hayashi said, quoted by a Japa-

nese foreign ministry official.

Soviet troops seized the islands just after Japan surrendered in World War II. The seven-decade-old dispute has hampered trade and prevented Moscow and Tokyo from signing a formal post-war peace treaty.

Both the Kremlin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had hoped to start mending relations in order to revive trade, with Japan seeking broader access to Russia’s plentiful oil and natural gas supplies.

According to the government’s website, Medvedev visited the island’s new airport, sea port, a fish processing factory, and a youth forum where he met with young scientists and teachers. He and the forum participants took selfies and unfurled a giant Russian flag on the island’s shore for a group picture to mark Russia’s flag day, according to Medvedev’s Instagram account.

He went to the Kurils after making an official visit to Russia’s Far East region of Amur, where he visited a space port being built in Vostochny. l

DT

WORLD 9

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

North, South Korea officials meet at DMZ to ease tension n Reuters, Seoul Top aides to the leaders of North and South Korea held talks at the Panmunjom truce village straddling their border late yesterday, raising hopes for an end to a standoff that put the rivals on the brink of armed conflict.

The meeting at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) village, known for its sky-blue huts and grim-faced soldiers, began soon after the deadline for North Korea’s previously set ultimatum demanding that the South halt its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border or face military action.

That deadline passed without any reported incidents. The negotiations continued after roughly three hours, according to the South’s Unification Ministry.

An exchange of artillery fire on Thursday prompted calls for calm from the United Nations, the United States and the North’s lone major ally, China.

South Korea’s military remained on high

alert despite the announced talks, a defence official said.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s national security adviser and her unification minister met with Hwang Pyong So, the top military aide to the North’s leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yang Gon, a veteran official in inter-Korean affairs.

“The South and the North agreed to hold contact related to the ongoing situation in South-North relations,” Kim Kyou-hyun, the presidential Blue House’s deputy national security adviser, said earlier in a televised briefing.

Pyongyang made an initial proposal on Friday for a meeting, and Seoul made a revised proposal yesterday seeking Hwang’s attendance, Kim said.

The North’s KCNA news agency also announced the meeting, referring to the South as the Republic of Korea, a rare formal recognition of its rival state, in sharp contrast to the bellicose rhetoric in recent days.

North Korea, technically still at war with

the South after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, declared a “quasi-state of war” in front-line areas and on Thursday set the deadline for Seoul to halt its broadcasts.

South Korea began blasting anti-North propaganda, news reports and even entertainment over the DMZ on August 10, days after landmine explosions in the DMZ wounded two South Korean soldiers. Pyongyang denies it planted the mines.

Seoul said it would continue the broadcasts unless the North accepted responsibility for the blasts.

“The situation on the Korean peninsula is now inching close to the brink of a war due to the reckless provocations made by the south Korean military war hawks,” the North’s KCNA news agency said earlier.

North and South Korea have often exchanged threats over the years, and dozens of soldiers have been killed in clashes, yet the two sides have always pulled back from a return to all-out war. l

South Korean soldiers sit on a military vehicle, just south of the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Yeoncheon, South Korea yesterday. South Korea stands ready to respond to further provocations from North Korea, the presidential Blue House said yesterday, as an ultimatum loomed for Seoul to halt anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts by late afternoon or face military action REUTERS

Thai police investigating CCTV showing second suspicious bag drop n AFP, Bangkok

Thai police yesterday said they were investigating new security camera footage showing a man dropping a package into a canal as the hunt for those behind Monday’s deadly Bangkok bomb blast entered its fifth day without arrests.

CCTV video widely circulated by local media yesterday showed a man in a blue t-shirt kicking the package off a footbridge in the same spot where a device exploded on Tuesday without injuries.

That second blast intensified anxiety in an already rattled city, following Monday’s bomb attack on a religious shrine in Bangkok’s commercial heart that cut down 20 people and wounded scores more.

Authorities have not ruled out a link between the two explosions.

The shrine bomb killed mostly ethnic Chinese tourists from across Asia, and has left police scrambling to find the assailants.

National police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri confirmed that the new footage was being examined to decide whether the man dropping the package into the water near Saphan Thaksin pier was a suspect. “We have to verify the information,” he told told AFP adding the situation was “still confusing.”

The unverified footage is time-stamped just a few minutes after Monday’s blast, which struck at 18.55pm (1155 GMT).

It shows the man in the blue t-shirt carrying something heavy in a plastic bag. He goes to the side of a footbridge, places the bag down and then uses his mobile phone.

Around a minute later he pushes the bag into the canal with his foot, kicking up a visible splash of water.

The following day, shortly after 1pm on Tuesday, an explosion went off in the canal, which is near a popular tourist pier, sending people scurrying for cover but causing no injuries.

Until now the search for the perpetrator of Monday’s attack has focused on a primary suspect in a yellow t-shirt seen placing a heavy rucksack under a bench at the shrine.

Moments later the blast struck, scattering body parts, glass and debris over a bustling Bangkok shopping district.

Asked whether the man in the blue t-shirt and the yellow t-shirt could be the same perpetrator, Prawut said: “It’s likely the two men are different.” l

France train gunman identified as known Islamist militant n Reuters, Paris/Madrid

A gunman overpowered by passengers on a train in France is known to European authorities as a suspected Islamist militant if the identity he has given is correct, France’s interior minister said yesterday.

Two people were wounded in the struggle to subdue the Kalashnikov-toting attacker aboard the high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday. Two US servicemen, one of whom suffered knife wounds, were among the passengers who stopped the gunman.

Cazeneuve said the man’s identity was

not confirmed, but if he was telling the truth “he is a 26-year-old man of Moroccan nationality identified by the Spanish authorities to French intelligence services in February 2014 because of his connections to the radical Islamist movement.”

The man Spanish authorities had under surveillance left Spain for France in 2014, travelled to Syria, and then back to France, a Spanish counter-terrorism source said yesterday.

In Spain, he lived in the southern port of Algeciras and appeared to have stayed in the country for about a year, the source said.

Cazeneuve did not mention any visit to

Syria or France, only naming Spain and Belgium as the suspected militant’s places of residence, this year and last. He said inquiries in collaboration with other European authorities “should establish precisely the activities and travels of this terrorist.”

French newspaper Le Voix du Nord said the suspect may have had connections to a group involved in a suspected Islamist shooting in Belgium in January. The Belgian government confirmed an inquiry but would not comment further.

The attacker was armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an automatic pistol,

both with accompanying ammunition clips.

He also had a box cutter knife. Cazeneuve said the struggle started when a Frenchman on his way to the toilet tried to stop the man entering a carriage.

The gunman was transferred yesterday to the Paris region from Arras in northern France where the incident took place. Cazeneuve said under the terms of his arrest the man can be held for four days without being charged.

The shooting took place on a Thalys highspeed train. The Franco-Belgian state transport group runs international trains linking France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. l

DT

10 World

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Hundreds of migrants force their way over Macedonian border n AFP, Guevgueliya

Macedonian police clash with migrants trying to cross an illegal crossing point on the border between Greece and Macedonia near the town of Gevgelija yesterday AFP

Italy rescuing 3,000 migrants, 18 boats in trouble n AFP, Rome Italy’s coastguard said yesterday it was coordinating the rescue of up to 3,000 migrants from waters off Libya after receiving SOS calls from 18 different crowded vessels.

At least seven boats - six Italian and one from Norway - were involved in an operation to get the migrants safely off 14 rubber dinghies and four other vessels carrying an estimated total of between 2,000 and 3,000 people.

More than 104,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia have landed at Italy’s southern ports so far this year after being rescued in the Mediterranean.

A further 135,000-plus have landed in Greece and more than 2,300 people have died at sea while trying to make it to Europe with the help of people smugglers.

Police in Palermo, on the Italian island of Sicily, announced yesterday that they had arrested six Egyptian nationals on suspicion of people smuggling following the rescue of a stricken boat on August 19.

Testimony from the 432 migrants on board suggest the vessel had been packed with more than ten times the number of people it was designed for, with many of the passengers, including a number of women and children, locked below decks.

They had each paid the traffickers 2,000

euros for the passage from Egypt to Italy, according to statements given to police.

On board, the crew were reported to be demanding further payment to allow those locked in the hold to come up temporarily for air.

Humanitarian organisations say the surge in the numbers of people trying to reach European Union countries is the result of conflicts or repression in east Africa and the Middle East.

They have called on European governments to shoulder more of the burden of absorbing the wave of asylum seekers and to help create safer routes for them to reach Europe. l

Kabul car bomb kills 12, wounds 66 others n AFP, Kabul At least 12 people including three NATO contractors were killed yesterday when a suicide car bomber struck a foreign forces convoy, officials said, underlining the precarious security situation in the Afghan capital.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, which struck outside a civilian hospital in Kabul following a wave of fatal bombings earlier this month that rattled the city.

The piercing explosion in a residential Kabul neighbourhood reverberated around the city and left a trail of devastation, with an AFP photographer seeing the mangled wreckage of a burning vehicle at the scene of the attack.

A foreigner was among 12 people killed in the blast, with 66 others – including women and children – wounded, health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said on Twitter.

He did not give the nationality of the foreigner.

Senior health official Sayed Kabir Amiri confirmed that toll from the attack, which comes as Taliban insurgents escalate their annual summer offensive against the US-backed Afghan government.

“One Resolute Support (NATO) contracted civilian was killed in the attack and two others died of wounds as a result of the attack,” NATO said in a statement, without specifying their nationalities.

Fraidoon Obaidi, the head of Kabul’s Criminal Investigation Department, said officials were investigating the bombing.

The loud explosion prompted the heavily-fortified US embassy, located a few kilometres (miles) away in the centre of Kabul, to sound its emergency sirens and a “duck and cover” alarm warning.

US-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan in December last year,

although a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.

Yesterday’s blast comes amid heightened security in Kabul after a wave of bombings earlier this month that killed more than 50 people and wounded hundreds, prompting fury from President Ashraf Ghani who blamed Pakistan for failing to rein in Taliban insurgents.

The Taliban are stepping up their summer offensive, launched in late April, amid a bitter leadership dispute following the announcement of the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar. Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Omar’s longtime trusted deputy, was named as the new Taliban chief in late July in an acrimonious power transition.

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri recently pledged his group’s allegiance to Mansour, in a move which could bolster his accession amid the growing infighting within the Afghan militant movement. l

Hundreds of mostly Syrian refugees forced their way over the Macedonian border yesterday as police hurled stun grenades in a failed bid to stop them from breaking through, an AFP reporter said.

The people scrambled over the barbed wire fence on the border between Greece and Macedonia despite the police action.

Some 2,000 refugees and migrants have been stuck in no-man’s land between the two countries since Thursday, halting their bid to reach Western Europe.

Police subsequently seemed to regain control of the situation, stopping the flow of people after hurling a dozen stun grenades in some 30 minutes. Some 1,500 migrants and refugees are estimated to have remained in no-man’s land after the incident.

Those who managed to cross into Macedonia rushed to the town of Gevgelija and sought taxis or other transportation toward Serbia on their way to the European Union border.

Macedonia on Thursday declared a state of emergency and sealed off the border for 24 hours. But after clashes between police and migrants on Friday that left at least eight refugees injured, Skopje decided to allow a limited number of refugees in to continue their journey.

Since late Friday Macedonian police was allowing groups of several dozen to cross and take a train to the north in a bid to reach western Europe. l

Turkey detains over 400 migrants trying to cross to Greece n AFP, Istanbul

Turkish security forces have detained 435 migrants and Syrian refugees along with three suspected people smugglers, before they embarked on an attempt to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece, reports said yesterday.

There has been an upsurge this summer in the numbers of refugees and migrants using shaky vessels to make the crossing, sparking a humanitarian crisis for the European Union.

The latest arrests in the district of Ayvacik on the Aegean in the Canakkale region of western Turkey appear to have been made even before they put to sea to try to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.

Of those detained, 345 are Syrians, 64 from Afghanistan, 19 from Myanmar and 7 from Pakistan, the official Anatolia news agency said, adding that police were acting on a tip-off.

Three suspected people smugglers – all Turkish nationals – were also detained.

Turkish officials say the security forces have been detaining thousands of migrants around the Aegean seeking to cross to Europe every week this summer.

Many have been trying to make the short crossing from the Turkish resort of Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos in the southern Aegean.

Far from striking out independently, they rely on the services of people smugglers who coordinate the enterprise, paying around $1,200 a head for the risky crossing. l

DT

EDITORIAL 11

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

INSIDE

Tax and wane Our government should neither impose VAT on the right to education, nor should it derogate from the principles laid out in our constitution, the UN Charter, UDHR, and ICESCR. Any attempt like that should be protested and stopped

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PAGE 12

Guilty as charged The concept of guilt initially grew as a component for social control, utilised for keeping the mass population in order. We can manage without it PAGE 13

Next stop: Tomorrow Our expanding transport sector is and will remain the next major source of environmental pollution. It is high time that we look towards cleaner options for this sector

PAGE 14

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Mayors need to show more progress on green pledges

N

early four months have passed since elections for new mayors and city corporations in Chittagong and Dhaka.

While nobody expects miracles during their first 100 days, and many challenges require long-term strategic planning, the public deserves and needs to start seeing tangible improvements in the day to day management of public services.

This applies especially to the most basic city services of waste management and recycling. These have suffered from years of chronic mismanagement and neglect, and cause an enormous amount of blight and public nuisance.

With a growing economy generating ever higher amounts of waste, Dhakaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Plan is lagging far behind the capitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs.

A lot of waste is not even properly collected in the first place. Even where household and office waste is regularly collected, the dysfunctional state of collection services daily sees noxious and often toxic materials tipped out onto major roads, for informal sorting.

There is little evidence that this is improving either collection or recycling rates. It also fails to pay sufficient attention to safely removing hazardous substances out of the environment.

The mayors have a duty to transform this dire state of affairs. There is no shortage of labour and expertise to make a city-wide waste and recycling service work properly.

What is needed is leadership.

The mayors and city corporations urgently need to make sure proper sites and centres are set up to enable sorting and recycling to take place safely and without causing public nuisance.

Authorities should also educate businesses and residents to take more responsibility, to help make waste become better managed. Growing recycling rates can not only help to clean the streets, but also generate more funds to support the livelihoods of waste pickers and recyclers.

Community-based recycling schemes should be rolled out city-wide, so more household waste is processed responsibly at source. Experience shows wellmanaged schemes are highly cost-effective and not only boost recycling rates, with residents taking more care to help pre-sort materials and to re-use organic waste as compost, but also make people less likely to litter in other areas.

There is no excuse for not placing more priority on improving this most essential of core city services.

Leadership is needed to transform the dire state of basic waste and recycling services

DT

12 OPINION

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Tax and wane Is a tax on education a violation of a basic human right?

n Md Saimum Reza Talukder

W

hen we were taught about human rights, we came to know about the “need-based approach,” the “charity-based approach,” and the “rights-based approach.”

All these three approaches are considered ways for a modern nation-state to secure the rights of its citizens. Now, the question is: Which approach should the state follow?

A need-based approach is a kind of temporary solution that is followed during an emergency, usually for a particular need. A charity-based approach is a kind of top-down approach, where people receive aid from a higher or influential authority or from a privileged section of society.

But the rights-based approach always says that the state shall respect and abide by the internationally settled norms and principles of human rights in each and every decision that the state makes. It is the people’s inherent and indivisible right to be protected by the state during times of peril. In this sense, the state cannot make such rules or regulations that hamper or curtail the enjoyment of these rights by its people.

Now, the first question is, as a state, is Bangladesh obliged to follow the rights-based approach in every aspect of its affairs or not?

And, secondly, is the right to education protected and promoted by Bangladesh as one of the fundamental human rights?

According to the preamble of our constitution, it is declared that rule of law and fundamental human rights will be secured for all citizens. We also have declared in the preamble that it is our sacred duty “to make our full contribution towards international peace and co-operation in keeping with the progressive aspirations of mankind.”

In Article 11, it is said that the fundamental human rights shall be guaranteed by the republic and it will be ensured in administra-

the UN Charter, it is evident that Bangladesh is not only bound to respect the rights-based approach, but is also bound to promote and implement internationally settled principles and norms of human rights in every sphere of the state’s affairs.

That is why the right to education under Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 13 of the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) should be followed by the Bangladeshi government as well.

Unfortunately, according to our constitution, the right to education is neither considered a fundamental human right and nor does it have any judicial enforceability, resulting in us being unable to approach a regular court if our right to education is curtailed or if any decision is taken which is detrimental to the enjoyment of it.

Article 15 of our constitution puts it under “basic necessities” and the state will take effective measures to promote the educational needs of society under Article 17. But, according to Article 8 (1) of the constitution, these principles in Article 15 and 17 shall be applied by the state in the making of laws and shall be a guide to the interpretation of the constitution and of other laws.

Moreover, if we take the essence of the Masdar Hossain case, which was decided in 1999, the state cannot bypass the obligations to follow the fundamental principles of state policies that are enshrined in part II of the constitution. So, from the abovementioned national and international laws and principles, education shall be considered a “human right,” not a commodity.

According to Section 41, 42, and 44 of the Private University Act, 2010, private universities cannot collect and spend any fund except to promote education, being non-profit entities. But, VAT is considered a form of consumption tax that is imposed on

Our government should neither impose VAT on the right to education, nor should it derogate from the principles laid out in our constitution, the UN Charter, UDHR, and ICESCR. Any attempt like that should be protested and stopped VAT on private education is an undeserved punishment for students tion at all levels through effective participation by the people through their elected representatives. And in Article 25, the republic confirms that it will respect the international law and the principles enunciated in the United Nations Charter.

This means, being a signatory, Bangladesh is bound to respect and oblige by the internationally settled norms and principles of human rights according to Article 55 and 56 of the UN Charter. So, from our constitution and

commercial bodies.

Now, can we say that the private universities are peddling a commodity? Is education a commodity, or is it a human right? If it is a human right, is it justifiable to levy a 7.5% VAT on private education? Does that decision comply with the national and international laws, norms, and principles?

The answer is a simple no. Our government should neither impose VAT on the right to education, nor should it derogate from the

principles laid out in our constitution, the UN Charter, UDHR, and ICESCR. Any attempt like that should be protested and stopped by citizens.

As a government that is failing constantly to provide free education to us, despite spending billions of dollars in the misguided policies, and fanciful projects, it should not interfere with any private initiative providing education.

The historic Mujibnagar Government of

BIGSTOCK

1971 declared the Independence of Bangladesh based on equality, human dignity, and social justice. Perhaps it is the legal version of our much debated “swadhinotar chetona.”

But by imposing a 7.5% tax on our students, what kind of equality, human dignity, and justice will we achieve? l Md Saimum Reza Talukder is a Lecturer, Department of Law, East West University, and an Advocate, Judge Court, Dhaka.

DT

OPINION 13

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Guilty as charged It’s time to stop playing the blame-game with yourself

Is guilt necessary to stop us from doing awful things?

BIGSTOCK

The concept of guilt initially grew as a component for social control, utilised for keeping the mass population in order.

We can manage without it

n Rehan Kabir

M

ost of the ugliness of our current reality -- the aggressiveness, the threatening vibe, the hatred, the nervousness -- can be drawn into a frame-work we can term the “guilt mechanism.”

We have each concocted our own form of hell from experiences of guilt or blame. The fall-out happened in the earliest stages of our lives when we got the message (usually from our guardians) that we were somehow insufficient. This prompted our first awful thought, bringing about the terror that is guilt from which we’ve been running since that point onwards.

One cannot underestimate the depth of this blame. With respect to the child’s already guiltless universe, doing something terrible is identical to killing all that is holy. With the absence of how to dissipate this biting feeling of guilt, we inevitably entered the realm of everyday society which operates as a guilt projection frame-work for unprocessed, unresolved guilt.

How the mechanism functions This unprocessed, unresolved guilt is some-

thing that we have been burdened with since our adolescence.

We deny it, hide it, stifle it, and cast it on everyone else. We exist altogether in an aggressive, undermining world, yet we do not take responsibility for bettering it; it’s those other mongrels who are to be blamed for creating this “ugliness.”

With its tightening trepidation, unimportance, and stifled fierceness, this “competitive society” has the ability to hurt us mentally, in the event that we place ourselves in this blame game. The burden of our own unresolved guilt makes us powerless against the frame-work; it creates a constricted anticipation of discipline, which turns us defensive, and in turn, easier to manipulate.

Society’s most well-known hobby is contrasting itself with others in ways that make it appear to be great by correlation. This is only a frantic, unacceptable endeavour to adjust for our irksome feelings of inadequacy.

This is taken advantage of by advertisers and publicists, who empower these endeavours, and guarantee fulfilment in purchasing their publicised items.

Consumerism, consequently, has a reason for keeping up this frame-work. Thus, our very distorted perception of beauty is generally aligned only with being fairskinned.

We must acknowledge the existence of identity programming as a part of our lives, which pushes us towards deep-rooted hopelessness, yet it seems crazy to accept that an idea or activity could have such a hand in corrupting our consciousness.

Indeed, anything other than the impression of our genuine unconditional innocence and superiority in our current state of awareness prompts madness.

Sadly, the socially-customised identity rejects this point of view as corrupt. It can’t

escape the assessment of its own blame; it judges the dismissal of blame as a definitive liable act.

The concept of guilt initially grew as a component for social control, utilised for keeping the mass population in order. We can manage without it. In any case, we can anticipate questions such as: In what capacity will individuals refrain from doing awful things in the event that they don’t feel remorseful?

Guilt most likely never stopped anybody from doing awful things. Insight, empathy, and fair laws appear to be better applicants for that purpose.

That is not to say we should be callous and insensitive, but it is meant to be a push towards the road to prevent us from being blamed for everything, to undo the way society uses guilt, to help us awaken from our socially-modified stupor, and to sense and experience the peaceful immunity of our innocence.

The work of innocence An approach to combat this guilt mechanism is to plainly quit projecting it. Most of us take potentially dangerous social indoctrination to varying extents, at times prompting shocking results and substantial psychological damage.

Putting guilt on the individuals out there as the liable ones will just keep us oppressed. It is better to honestly unwind and uncover this broken social calibration.

So embedded is this mechanism of guilt, that it will take more than one snippet of rational soundness to fix its consequences.

It will return, as will the projection of it. Yet, every instance of virtuousness facilitates the ineffectiveness of the guilt mechanism, and lessens its ridiculous after-effects. l Rehan Kabir works at the Dhaka Tribune.

DT

14 OPINION

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Next stop: Tomorrow We need to find alternative sources of energy for public transport

Technology such as the maglev train would be great for our burgeoning nation

REUTERS

n SA Mansoor

A

ll of us are aware of environmental pollution. The biggest factor in this increasing pollution is carbon dioxide, which most living creatures breathe out into the atmosphere. It is also produced when we burn solid, liquid, or gaseous fossil fuels.

This can come in the form of cooking at home, restaurants, or hotels. Furthermore, electro-mechanical power is invariably needed for all industries and for electric power generation in almost all conventional thermal power plants; except for U236-fueled atomic reactor-based power plants, where the fatal danger of leaking radiation is a continuously present hazard.

For these reasons, nuclear power plants are still few and far in between, even in technologically advanced countries. In contrast, non-exothermic electric power generation, led by hydro-powered plants, are comparatively fewer, and only where the terrain and the flow of rivers and natural or dammed waterfalls permit its feasibility.

Nowadays, the sources of alternative power are expanding, with roof-mounted solar-voltaic panels becoming predominant.

However, it will be many decades before there can be widespread commercial electricity available from this source.

In Bangladesh, except for the Kaptai Dam hydro-electric power plant, almost all our

Our expanding transport sector is and will remain the next major source of environmental pollution. It is high time that we look towards cleaner options for this sector

industries and power plants use conventional fuel, which are either coal, furnace oil, or natural gas. To a very limited extent, we have now started using alternative sources like solar panels for residences, houses, and offices, but even that is mostly as an alternative source of emergency, when the traditional power supply is disrupted.

We are now planning to go for a dangerous U236 fueled nuclear power plant. It is the most dangerous process for power generation, where the uranium rods and the spent fuel rods, laced with unsafe and high levels of U236 radiation byproducts, the prime waste of a nuclear power reactor, can lead to wide-spread leakage of fatal radiation. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant catastrophe is still fresh in many of our memories.

To top it off, we are getting it from Russia, who, till date, has the world’s worst record

for radiation leakage among countries that have nuclear power plants, in terms of number of deaths, injuries, and other forms of radiation sickness amongst future generations.

In our everyday life, at homes, offices, and in most industries, we regularly use conventional fuel as the major source of energy, and the resulting carbon dioxide is the major cause for environmental pollution. This we have unfortunately taken more or less for granted.

This is followed closely by the nationwide road, rail, and water transport sectors, which, in a decade or two, if we don’t stop the way it is going now, will lead to a major environmental crisis.

National safety should be a concern, and we should aim to avoid having such a potentially dangerous nuclear power plant.

If a nuclear power plant we must have, then we should go for the much safer U238 power plant, which is smaller in size (from 150 to 299MW). These are radiation safe, and are currently running in many countries.

Our expanding transport sector (land, water, and air) is and will remain the next major source of environmental pollution. It is high time that we look towards cleaner options for this sector.

Two interesting options are now being looked into in this respect for future mass transport in the USA. One is maglev (magnetic levitation) technology that is now being seriously studied. These are like conventional trains, except that they hover over the rails based on the principle of magnetic poles repelling each other. Only when it stops and the power is shut off does it rest on the rails.

Some of these trains being tried out are running at over 250km/h, faster than the famed, super high-speed Hikari electric trains in Japan. Maglev trains can run at over 600km/h, which is nearly half the speed of many commercial aircrafts!

Another major concept, now under development, that could eliminate both track friction and atmospheric air resistance, is called “Evacuation Tube Technology” or ETT. In the long run, this concept can be a tremendous breakthrough. It could run in tunnels under the sea, or on trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific routes.

Such trains could well achieve speeds of over 8,000km/h! Imagine a traveler going from Washington to Beijing in around two and a half hours. However, for this mode of transport, we need to use conventional electric power sources, located on land, to maintain the vacuum along the length of the tube in which these trains will run.

However, it is estimated that the power needed to create and maintain this vacuum will hardly be 2% of the electric power needed to run a conventional electric train of similar load capacity and track length. The pollution emitted will even be lower than any passenger jet carrying the same number of people.

One can imagine the inside of an ETT as a luxurious passenger cabin, similar to the interior of a large inter-continental passenger jet, riding smoothly on frictionless “maglev” rails. This is not science fiction; it is based on observation and experimental results carried out on actual small-scale research models.

In reality, once maglev trains are operating, it will be a safe way of traveling, but at far higher speeds and with lower gas emissions. The Hikari trains, introduced in Japan back in the 1960s, also faced scepticism at the time of its inception. Today, however, it is just another express train. It is run automatically, from a central computer set up in Tokyo that controls all the functions of the train.

Let us hope that technology such as the maglev becomes commonplace in the future, or else our country, and the world, will eventually run out of places to go. l SA Mansoor is an engineer with over 50 years of experience in chemical and other process industries.

16

Fed’s tightening cycle scenario involves risky bet on inflation

17

Disappointing business surveys intensify world growth fears

19

Stock markets recover in past week

20

DT

Business

15

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Online business process to be launched

ADB may provide $250m more to help continue capital market reforms n Kayes Sohel Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to give $250 million more to help continue capital market reforms of Bangladesh, officials said.

The proposed third capital market programme (CMDP-III) represents a continuation of previous works carried out.

“Negotiation for the fund is on and likely to be finalised by next month,” said an official of Economic Relations Division (ERD).

After the agreement for the CMDP-III, $80 million will be disbursed in the first installment and the remaining $170 million by December 2017.

Reforms planned under CMDP-III include increased liquid benchmark issues through introduction of floating rate notes, enhanced insurance industry participation in the capital

market by issuing of investment guidelines by the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority, improvements in the settlement and clearing system, as well as promotion of alternative financial instruments to develop a deeper and broader capital market, according to the ADB’s opinion.

ADB is set to continue its full support for ensuring a smooth transition in the development of capital markets reform process in line with the capital markets master plan and CMDP-II reforms.

Further structuring of the capital markets will require continuation of the technical approach adopted under CMDP-II and close collaboration with the coalition of stakeholders to crucially maintain the momentum of reforms.

Reform initiatives under CMDP-II under which ADB provided $300 million were suc-

cessfully implemented and completed by the end of 2014.

Demutualisation of the stock exchanges in Dhaka and Chittagong was one of the achievements of reform initiatives.

‘Negotiation for the fund is on and likely to be finalised by next month’ Other achievements include amendment to the SEC Act in November 2012 that paved the way for BSEC to have unhindered access to its own BSEC Fund, operationalisation of a real-time market surveillance system that helps BSEC to detect trading irregularities and enhancement of BSEC’s enforcement capacity

through creation of a capital market tribunal in January 2014 that can expedite resolution of security cases pending in Bangladesh’s court system.

The capital market in Bangladesh has had its share of stock market booms and busts.

Following a bull run in 2010, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) crashed in December 2010, and by March 2011, the index had fallen by half from its all-time high, wiping out large share value gains.

“The crash resulted in bankruptcies, loss of employment and disruption to the economy. It also underscored the vulnerability of Bangladesh’s capital markets and confirmed the pressing need for reforms,” said the ADB. The government embarked on a programme of meaningful reforms and was partnered by the ADB under the CMDP-II in November 2012. l

RMG makers to leave for Gujarat today

Negotiations for new ECF fund likely in October

n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

n Asif Showkat Kallol

A team of Bangladesh’s RMG manufacturers will leave Dhaka today for India’s westernmost state of Gujarat to see the prospect of setting up a warehouse for grabbing the local market there.

During the visit, a five-member delegation, led by Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Matlub Ahmad, will try to know about the possible challenges and prospects of setting up a warehouse and distribution center there.

Among others, the delegation includes BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim.

During a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on June 7, the BGMEA President informally sought a 50-acre land in India for a warehouse and a distribution centre.

In response, PM Modi gave an assurance of considering the proposal and invited a business delegation to visit India.

“We’re going to visit India to discuss the business plan and see the location of the proposed site to get first-hand experience,” BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Azim said: “We’ll hold several meetings with the authorities concerned to know more about the Foreign Direct Investment Policy of

India, the legal aspects for securing proposed land and its cost, availability of power and energy connection and cost, workers’ wage structures and labour rights situation.”

“We will also try to gather information about Indian custom duty, income tax, municipals taxes,” said Azim.

With the first hand experience after the visit, a feasibility report on the business proposal will be finalized for further action.

Azim also stated that if the findings found positive prospects in India, a company would be formed comprising the garment and the textile sector people for exporting products to India, as BGMEA or BKMEA cannot run any business.

On June 14, the BGMEA submitted a formal proposal to the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran to convey the message to the Indian authorities concerned.

According to the proposal, the land will be procured in the name of the company to be formed by BGMEA, BKMEA and others.

The trade bodies will make an investment of approximately US$25m to set up the warehouse and distribution centre.

The apparel makers will open 1,000 retail stores in different Indian cities to display and sell out their products to earn a sum of $1b in the next few years, reads the BGMEA proposal. l

Bangladesh is likely to start negotiations with International Monetary Fund in October for a fresh $1bn loan under Extended Credit Facility, said official sources.

Economic Relations Division sent a letter to Finance Division last week requesting to prepare a proposal for the interest-free credit.

The negations are likely to be held at the next World Bank-IMF yearly board meeting on October 9-11 in Peruvian capital Lima.

A copy of the letter has also been dispatched to Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman.

Finance division sources said the government wants to get continued support from the donors and lenders in the current “cloudy political situation” of the country.

However, the government still fails to fulfill two major conditions under the existing ECF programme.

Officials said the lender could ask the government to implement the national budget announcements as conditions to get the new ECF fund.

They believe that if the IMF comes up with another ECF loan, other donors will feel en-

couraged to give loans to Bangladesh, which will help the Awami League government to show that it has international supports.

Early this month, the IMF extended the tenure of the ECF programme by three months to give the government sufficient time to meet the unrealised conditions for release of the last two instalments of the $1bn-loan.

The government will have to fulfill the conditions by October 31 for release of the remaining two instalments, amounting to $280m.

The multilateral lender deferred the sixth tranche of the seven-part instalments for the $1bn loan in November last year after the government failed to meet two pertinent conditions. l

DT

16 BUSINESS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Fed’s tightening cycle scenario involves risky bet on inflation n Reuters, Washington Federal Reserve officials planning to lift interest rates as soon as September have been encouraged by solid US jobs growth, but inflation holds the key to how far the Fed can go in moving rates away from zero.

Fed officials have said that they do not need to see prices accelerate to start raising rates after six years near zero, and “lift-off ” appears nearly ordained by a 5.3% unemployment rate, the lowest since April of 2008.

But it would be a leap of faith to move any further without proof that prices are on the rise, say current and former officials familiar with the central bank’s debate and the current state of inflation research.

If prices remain stalled as the Fed tightens, inflation-adjusted “real” rates would rise faster than the Fed wants, and threaten the recovery. Given the uncertainty among economists about how inflation works in the post-crisis world, it may be risky to assume higher prices will necessarily follow a tightening job market. (For graphic, click here) “There is a big component of inflation that is just going to be idiosyncratic and unexplained,” leaving policymakers to take their best guess about it, said former Fed research director David Stockton.

He said that after an initial rate increase, Fed Chair Janet Yellen would lead her colleagues on a “cold, dispassionate examination” of what the inflation data are actually showing.

“If inflation is not moving back to target ... then she can argue for a go-slow approach.”

New dynamics

Inflation will be the key topic at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole economic conference on Aug. 27-29 and the gathering is likely to highlight how little policymakers and economists feel they understand about the behavior of something so central to monetary policy.

Inflation did not fall as much as expected

The sun rises to the east of the US Federal Reserve building in Washington during the 2007-2009 recession, it has not risen as much as expected during the recovery, and there is suspicion it may remain hard to budge, said Michael Owyang, an assistant vice president at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank.

“There has been a lot of new research.

Volumes of new research. And I am not sure there is a consensus about how policy affects inflation at the zero lower bound,” Owyang said, referring to the fact that the Fed’s benchmark has been held near zero since late 2008.

“Inflation dynamics have changed.”

The rest of the world is not helping. A weak global economy has depressed world commodity prices. The prospect of the Fed raising rates has boosted the dollar, further undercutting inflation through lower import prices.

That has confounded the Fed’s forecasts for a year now, and according to minutes of its July meeting remains a central concern - and one of the risks that could delay an initial rate hike

Dollar drops as China’s economic woes spook investors n AFP, New York

The dollar fell against other major currencies Friday as weak Chinese data stoked fresh jitters about the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy and its impact on global growth.

“A hazy outlook for US interest rates and persistent concerns about the shape of the world economy continued to weigh on America’s currency,” said Joe Manimbo of Western Union Business Solutions.

The greenback was on the defensive amid a global equity selloff after a Chinese manufacturing report showed activity contracted the most since the 2009 financial crisis.

The rout on Wall Street was severe: the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 3.1% to a 10-month low, entering correction territory with a loss of more than 10% since its peak in mid-May. The dollar, typically a safe-haven currency in times of uncertainty,

remained under pressure after Federal Reserve minutes released Wednesday seemed to lower the likelihood the Fed will raise near-zero interest rates as early as September.

“It used to be that in times of trouble, the US dollar reigned supreme,” said Kit Juckes of Societe Generale in a client note.

The dollar fell 1.3% against the euro, at $1.1386, and 1.1% against the yen, at 122.06 yen, compared with late Thursday.

Juckes said the pattern this week has been for the dollar to drift lower against the euro and yen, and soar against a range of emerging market currencies.

“It’s a pattern that is unlikely to change much unless or until better US data give the dollar a lift and change the debate about Fed policy, or better Chinese data change the debate about PBoC (People’s Bank of China) policy and the outlook for emerging market assets and commodities,” he said. l

REUTERS

beyond the Sept. 16-17 policy meeting. After the minutes laid out the internal debate about inflation, investors cut their expectations for a September “liftoff ” in favor of December.

The Fed, keen to move away from zero and create some policy wiggle room, may still move. But at some point it needs inflation to do so as well.

Thin cushion

Part of the logic of the Fed’s 2% inflation target is to allow the central bank to lift its benchmark rate and build a cushion for monetary policy to respond to any new economic threat without letting inflation-adjusted rates go up too much.

The Fed’s estimated “neutral” federal funds rate of around 3.75% is premised on inflation rising to target, and unless it does the tightening cycle will have to go slow, or stop altogether.

“Seeing inflation converge ... will clearly be an important signpost for us as we are looking

at decisions to be made post-liftoff,” said Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart.

The Fed’s latest forecasts see inflation hitting the 2% goal in 2017, and interests rates reaching a neutral level sometime in the next year.

Inflation was a mere 0.3% in the second quarter, and even the Fed’s preferred gauge, that excludes volatile food and energy prices, stands at 1.3% and has been falling since 2013.

Recent research shows how much the inflation landscape has changed. Falling unemployment and consequent wage increases, for example, no longer drive near-term inflation as they did in the 1960 and 1970s, according to research at the Fed’s Washington-based board. That possibly reflects labor’s declining share in the value of goods, or the fact that a tightening labor market no longer translates dependably into significant wage increases.

Studies also show a break between the unemployment rate and short-term inflation some time in the 1990s, with price increases flattening out and impervious to fluctuations in the employment level.

Consumer and business expectations, meanwhile, are thought to play a larger role.

Since 2007, a series of shocks have also weighed on prices, beginning with the US financial crisis, followed by the euro zone’s debt troubles, China’s economic slowdown, a world commodity rout and households’ efforts to reduce debt and save more.

The success of Yellen’s tenure may hinge on whether she and other Fed officials are correct in their view that all of this will prove temporary, that the US economy is more “normal” than it might seem - and that tight labor markets will ultimately spark price increases.

The conviction is rooted in the decades-old, mainstay theory that there is an inverse “Phillips curve” relationship between unemployment and inflation. The relationship seems to have weakened over the years, and some argue Yellen should seek more proof about inflation - or risk a potential policy mistake. l

CORPORATE NEWS

MasterCard in association with BRAC Bank has recently announced the winners of its unique ‘CardStart-Go!’ campaign for its debit cardholders. The campaign was designed to encourage cardholders to use their debit cards for payment-related purposes instead of using them only as an ATM card. Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager from MasterCard and Firoz Ahmed Khan, head of retail banking from BRAC Bank were present on the event

DT

BUSINESS 17

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Global stocks plummet on fears over world economy n AFP, New York

A laborer works at a construction site of an amusement park next to new property buildings in Hefei, Anhui province

REUTERS

Disappointing business surveys intensify world growth fears n Reuters, London Signs China’s economic slowdown is deepening and weak growth in Europe and the US reported on Friday further damaged the outlook for the global economy, sending stocks and commodity prices reeling.

China’s factory sector shrank at its fastest rate in almost 6-1/2-years in August, a private survey showed, pushing investors who fear China’s sagging economy will translate into slower global economic growth to take refuge in gold and bonds.

World markets had already been on edge after China’s surprise devaluation of the yuan last week and a 33% fall in its stock markets since mid-year.

“Uncertainty about China growth is now the main swing factor in markets,” said Tim Condon, an economist at ING Group in Singapore.

“Today’s data reinforced the doubts about global growth.”

The preliminary Caixin/Markit China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 47.1 in August, well below a Reuters poll median of 47.7 and down from July’s final 47.8.

It was the worst reading since March 2009, in the depths of the global financial crisis, and the sixth straight one below the 50-point level, which separates growth in activity from contraction on a monthly basis.

The downdraft from China is particularly rattling economies of its trade-reliant Asian neighbours.

South Korea, which counts China as its biggest trading partner, said on Friday its exports slumped and Taiwan reported on Thursday its export orders in July fell more than expected.

And while a similar factory survey in Ja-

pan pointed to a pick-up there due to stronger domestic demand, policymakers in Tokyo are keenly aware of the dangers if China slows further.

Following three decades of fast economic growth, Chinese authorities have had limited success in shoring up activity this year despite four interest rates cuts since November.

Last week’s shock 2 percent devaluation in the yuan and a slump in Chinese shares over the summer have unnerved investors further.

The yuan has slid nearly 3 percent since its Aug. 11 devaluation, a fall some analysts say is too modest to boost Chinese exports but notable enough to raise fears of competitive currency devaluations between governments.

The speed with which China’s economy is losing steam has led to analysts warning the government may struggle to meet its growth target of 7% this year if it doesn’t ratchet up policy support. China’s factory output, retail sales and investment all disappointed in July.

“While we do not have enough information to assess all the details of official releases, we share the view that real GDP growth probably slowed more than reported in recent quarters,” said Wei Yao at Societe Generale.

Stock markets around the world tumbled towards their worst week of the year on Friday as the weak Chinese data sent investors scurrying to safe-haven assets.

Eurozone activity edges up, worries linger

A relatively upbeat euro zone survey, one of the bloc’s earliest monthly economic indicators, suggested the European Central Bank’s massive bond-buying programme and a weaker euro may be finally having an impact on activity.

Markit’s Composite Flash PMI, rose to 54.1

this month from July’s 53.9, confounding expectations in a Reuters poll for a modest dip to 53.8.

The headline index has been above 50 since mid-2013 and Markit said the PMI suggested third-quarter GDP growth of 0.4%, matching the prediction in a Reuters poll last week.

“It points to weak growth that will do little to erode the spare capacity in the region,” said Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics.

“We still see euro zone growth slowing in the coming months as earlier boosts from falling inflation and the euro’s depreciation fade, particularly if renewed uncertainty surrounding the Greek election damages confidence.”

Adding to uncertainty for investors following a brief period of relief after Athens avoided default and signed a third bailout to stay in the euro zone, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned on Thursday.

Us factory activity slows

Growth in the US manufacturing sector slowed unexpectedly to its weakest pace in almost two years in August, according to Markit.

The preliminary US Manufacturing PMI fell to 52.9 in August, its lowest since October 2013, from a final July reading of 53.8. Economists polled by Reuters forecast an August reading of 54.

Job creation also slowed, with the index at 52.2, its weakest since July 2014, down from 53.8 in July.

“August’s survey highlights a lack of growth momentum and continued weak price pressures across the US manufacturing sector, which adds some fuel to the dovish argument as policymakers weigh up tightening policy in September,” said Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit. l

World stock markets were hammered with heavy losses on Friday, as China’s economic woes triggered European and Wall Street equity sell-offs and stirred up fears for global growth.

Losses of more than 3% on Wall Street capped the day of market carnage, which began with a 4.27% drop in Shanghai after another unnerving sign of slowdown in China’s manufacturing sector.

It capped the Shanghai exchange’s worst week since 2011, losing 11.5%.

Among leading indices, Tokyo shares lost 2.98%; Hong Kong 1.53%; London’s benchmark FTSE 100 2.83%; the CAC 40 in Paris 3.19%; and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 2.95%.

The three key US indices were, after two days of heavy selling, all below where they started 2015, after repeatedly punching through record highs during the past eight months.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 3.12% for the day and was down 5.82% for the week. The S&P 500 shed 3.19% in the session and 5.77% for the week - a loss representing some $1.14tn in share value. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fared worse, losing 3.52% and 6.78% in the week.

Among other key markets, Singapore and Sydney dropped 1.3%; Johannesburg 1.47%, and Brazil’s Ibovespa 1.99%.

The spark to the selloff was weak Chinese manufacturing data: Caixin’s purchasing managers’ index came in at 47.1 this month - below 50 means contraction - falling from 47.8 in July and the worst reading in over six years.

But behind that were the signs that Beijing is struggling to prevent a stall in the world’s second-largest economy, and that its actions - like the devaluation of the yuan last week - was having a negative impact throughout emerging markets and would drag in developed economies as well.

“China’s currency devaluation is at the heart of the rout in global markets,” said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets UK. The effect of the downturn in China could be seen in the hit on specific US blue-chip stocks with large China business: Apple lost 6.12% on Friday; General Motors slid 4%; and Boeing lost 3.88%.

Meanwhile oil prices slid to six-year lows during trade Friday in part on big importer China’s weakness, the impact spilling over to the shares of oil industry businesses.

“We have a challenging economic situation in China, which has now taken the extreme step of devaluing its currency to support its economy. That weakness is ricocheting through emerging markets and the global industrial sector,” said Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly, director of asset allocation at Fidelity, in a client note.

‘Catching falling knives’

“With more Chinese-led carnage on the markets today, only the very brave are venturing into equities as buying stocks is currently like catching falling knives,” said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at stockbroker Interactive Investor.

In New York, some analysts called the fall a long-needed correction in shares whose valuations - especially for tech companies - were pushed too far helped by the continued supply of cheap money from the leading central banks in Tokyo, Beijing, Frankfurt and Washington. l

DT

18 BUSINESS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

News, analysis and recent disclosures AGM/Dividend GREENDELMF: 4.50% Cash Dividend. Record date: 06.09.2015. EPU= Tk. 0.49.

ABB1STMF: EPU= Tk. 1.67. 15% Unit Dividend. Record date: 07.09.2015.

EBLNRBMF: EPU= Tk. 0.43.

6% Unit Dividend. Record date: 07.09.2015.

PHPMF1: EPU= Tk. 0.68. 7.50% Unit Dividend Record date: 07.09.2015.

POPULAR1MF: EPU= Tk. 0.86.

12% Unit Dividend. Record date: 07.09.2015.

FBFIF: EPU= Tk. 0.89, 9% Unit dividend. Record date: 03.09.2015.

TRUSTB1MF: EPU= Tk. 0.75, 8% Unit dividend. Record date: 03.09.2015.

EBL1STMF: EPU=Tk. 0.66, 7% Unit Dividend Record date: 03.09.2015.

EXIM1STMF: EPU=Tk. 0.79, 8% Unit Dividend. Record date: 03.09.2015.

IFIC1STMF: EPU= Tk. 0.99, 10% Unit dividend. Record date: 03.09.2015 1JANATAMF: EPU=Tk. 1.04, 12% Unit dividend. Record date: 03.09.2015 RELIANCE1: EPU= Tk. 1.10. 11% cash dividend. Record date: 06.09.2015.

AIMS1STMF: EPU= Tk. 2.24.

175% Unit Dividend. Record date: 07.09.2015 DBH1STMF: EPU= Tk. 0.45. 4% Cash Dividend. Record date: 06.09.2015.

APEXTANRY: The Board of Directors has recommended 45% cash dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2015. Date of AGM:

04.10.2015, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Spectra Convention Centre Ltd., House # 19, Road # 7, Gulshan # 1, Dhaka-1212. Record date: 09.09.2015. The Company has also reported EPS without fair valuation surplus of Tk. 6.25, NAV per share of Tk. 73.48 and NOCFPS of Tk. 6.05 for the year ended on June 30, 2015.

GRAMEENS2: The Trustee Committee of the Fund decided to distribute 10% cash dividend and taking into consideration available fund from distributable reserves, the Trustee Committee approved 15% Dividend on the Capital Fund of Tk. 1,581,250,000.00 in the form of Re-Investment units to be issued at a valuation based on last published NAV per unit before Record date. Record date: 07.09.2015. The Trustee Committee of the Fund has approved the audited accounts of the fund for the year ended on 30.06.15. The Fund has reported net profit of Tk. 184,780,779.00 with earnings per unit of Tk. 1.17.

GRAMEEN1: The Trustee Committee of the Fund has approved the audited accounts of the fund for the year ended on 30.06.15. The Fund has reported net profit of Tk. 57,803,374.00 with earnings per unit of Tk. 1.74. Taking into consideration available fund from profit & distributable reserves, the Trustee Committee approved 82% Dividend on the Capital Fund of Tk. 3,31,500,000.00 in the form of Re-Investment units to be issued at a valuation based on last published NAV per unit before Record date. Record date: 07.09.15.

Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

Closing (% change)

Company Apex Foods -A Northern Jute -Z Apex Tannery -A Monno Ceramic -B BD. Autocars -Z IFIC Bank - A Apex SpinningA 1st ICB M F -A People`s Leasing-A Pubali Bank - A

28.84 27.08 20.42 19.10 18.75 18.63 16.58 15.68 14.97 12.38

CSE GAINER Closing (% change)

Company Apex Foods -A Apex Tannery -A Monno Ceramic -B Apex SpinningA IFIC Bank - A People`s Leasing-A Pubali Bank - A Prime Textile -A Zahintex Ind.-N ICB -A

28.11 21.13 20.94 20.41 18.14 12.84 11.59 11.11 10.73 10.30

DSE LOSER Company Trust Bank 1st MF-A EBL NRB M.F.-A EBL First M F-A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A Navana CNG-A Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z PHP 1st M. F.-A LR Global BD MF1-A 7th ICB M F-A AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A

Closing (% change) -12.50 -12.50 -9.26 -8.50 -8.36 -8.22 -8.16 -8.16 -8.15 -8.00

CSE LOSER Company 8th ICB M F-A 6th ICB M F-A EBL First M F-A Trust Bank 1st MF-A AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A 7th ICB M F-A 1st Janata Bank MF-A Zaheen Spinning -N Navana CNG-A Pioneer Insur -A

Closing (% change) -20.21 -14.26 -11.11 -10.91 -10.00 -9.91 -9.43 -9.25 -9.12 -8.81

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

DSE key features August 16-20, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka)

DSE GAINER

Sector

28,196.27 722,098,011 641,265

Traded Issues

324

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

134

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

189

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

1

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,711.76

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.87

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 1452.32 679.52 182.99 3114.58 619.04 3829.15 14.16 1123.61 3969.17 57.08 315.75 113.74 657.57 1642.21 153.19 131.23 186.22 900.81 406.46 667.04 2.05

% change 7.18 3.36 0.91 15.41 3.06 18.94 0.07 5.56 19.63 0.28 1.56 0.56 3.25 8.12 0.76 0.65 0.92 4.46 2.01 3.30 0.01

Million Taka 60.38 54.85 7.57 305.41 24.97 272.88 0.00 87.22 185.68 6.03 19.75 3.85 26.16 185.05 11.26 4.70 13.46 92.33 56.52 76.19 0.08

Average (% change) 26.23 29.18 22.29 19.98 23.96 14.73 20.94 15.41 14.81 11.02 Average (% change) 26.26 22.53 17.52 21.37 14.91 12.74 10.17 10.30 9.75 9.87

Average (% change) -12.70 -11.39 -7.71 -7.26 -8.17 -4.56 -7.02 -7.45 -2.00 -7.54

Average (% change) -20.32 -13.76 -10.78 -13.22 -8.20 -9.91 -7.21 -6.43 -8.13 -5.29

CSE

Closing average 173.23 361.12 164.31 42.81 29.59 23.68 91.55 1,661.96 16.90 23.47

Closing average 172.43 163.22 42.66 90.53 23.59 16.72 22.86 21.41 22.52 146.14

Closing average 4.88 4.20 4.91 14.05 55.08 6.70 4.50 4.47 98.00 4.66

Closing average

% change 4.04 3.67 0.51 20.44 1.67 18.26 0.00 5.84 12.43 0.40 1.32 0.26 1.75 12.38 0.75 0.31 0.90 6.18 3.78 5.10 0.01

60.00 57.72 4.80 4.79 4.59 99.10 4.89 28.22 55.25 32.06

Weekly closing 173.80 352.90 161.60 42.40 28.50 24.20 87.20 1,665.80 16.90 23.60

Weekly closing 175.00 161.10 43.90 89.10 24.10 16.70 23.10 21.00 22.70 145.60

Weekly closing

Weekly high 186.00 385.00 173.00 44.50 29.90 24.70 97.00 1,667.90 17.20 24.10

Weekly high

Weekly high

Weekly low 138.60 123.00 35.60 74.10 20.50 14.70 20.50 19.00 19.80 135.00

Weekly low

5.50 4.80 5.30 15.50 59.90 7.20 4.90 4.80 99.90 5.20

Weekly high

60.00 57.70 4.80 4.90 4.50 99.10 4.80 26.50 54.80 32.10

Million Taka 1512.70 734.36 190.55 3419.99 644.01 4102.03 14.16 1210.83 4154.84 63.10 335.50 117.59 683.73 1827.26 164.46 135.93 199.69 993.14 462.99 743.24 2.13

137.00 280.00 129.50 35.00 23.50 18.60 74.90 1,400.00 14.60 20.60

187.00 175.00 44.00 92.50 24.70 17.00 23.50 23.00 22.80 148.00

4.90 4.20 4.90 14.00 54.80 6.70 4.50 4.50 98.00 4.60

Weekly closing

Weekly low

4.80 4.10 4.80 13.90 54.30 6.50 4.40 4.40 96.10 4.60

Weekly low

72.00 60.30 5.00 5.20 4.90 99.20 5.50 28.70 60.50 32.20

Total

60.00 57.70 4.80 4.70 4.50 99.00 4.80 26.50 54.00 32.00

% change 6.97 3.38 0.88 15.75 2.97 18.89 0.07 5.58 19.14 0.29 1.55 0.54 3.15 8.42 0.76 0.63 0.92 4.57 2.13 3.42 0.01

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

214.585 21.517 718.766 32.338 5.364 402.843 101.112 6.598 298.897 40.788

Turnover in million

0.36 1.75 6.25 0.16 0.19 3.36 2.52 142.00 0.20 2.84

Latest EPS

2.149 38.122 0.672 2.504 24.959 36.900 2.487 8.272 4.678 6.513

Turnover in million

0.36 6.25 0.16 2.52 3.36 0.20 2.84 0.99 1.03 3.49

Latest EPS

26.239 0.398 8.374 518.829 110.719 0.008 10.517 7.114 0.213 6.926

Turnover in million

0.75 0.43 0.66 2.44 3.28 -45.17 0.68 0.40 20.76 4.76

Latest EPS

0.074 0.029 0.935 1.258 0.167 0.040 0.734 1.048 14.691 0.051

17.26 13.93 0.66 0.75 4.76 20.76 1.04 1.92 3.28 3.44

Latest PE 481.2 206.4 26.3 267.6 155.7 7.0 36.3 11.7 84.5 8.3

Latest PE 479.0 26.1 266.6 35.9 7.0 83.6 8.0 21.6 21.9 41.9

Latest PE 6.5 9.8 7.4 5.8 16.8 -ve 6.6 11.2 4.7 1.0

Latest PE 3.5 4.1 7.3 6.4 1.0 4.8 4.7 14.7 16.8 9.3

CSE key features August 16-20, 2015 Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume) Number of Contract

2,618.82 60,030,810 87,529

Traded Issues

281

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

109

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

169

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,616.47

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.71

DT

BUSINESS 19

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Stock markets recover in past week n Tribune Report

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Square Pharma -A Islami Bank BD - A Shahjibazar Power-N Ratanpur Steel -N LafargeS Cement-A United Power-N Apex Tannery -A Central Pharm-A FAR Chemical-N Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A

BSRM Ltd. -A Al-Haj Textile -A Grameenphone-A Bengal Windsor-A IFIC Bank - A Ifad Autos -N

Volume shares 5,178,725 35,306,155 4,958,800 13,203,900 7,067,132 4,929,806 4,603,254 18,930,715 10,032,866 35,786,115

4,030,331 3,368,417 1,325,777 5,167,613 17,648,985 5,696,805

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Marico BD Ltd-A United Power-N BATBCL -A LafargeS Cement-A Islami Bank BD - A Shahjibazar Power-N BSRM Ltd. -A Olympic Accessories -N Square Pharma -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A

UNITED AIR-A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A Ratanpur Steel -N Central Pharm-A Apex Tannery -A

Volume shares 333,486 832,511 35,002 793,065 2,302,374 357,171 559,885 1,033,716 260,937 1,895,194

5,178,622 3,357,966 698,455 1,247,295 242,550

Value in million 1246.27 1080.97 966.82 899.96 827.29 789.14 718.77 582.94 559.83 518.83

477.35 456.47 416.03 411.38 402.84 669.83

Value in million 480.66 133.23 103.26 92.61 70.38 69.64 66.21 63.92 62.75 60.47

54.86 48.66 47.63 38.31 38.12

% of total turnover 4.42 3.83 3.43 3.19 2.93 2.80 2.55 2.07 1.99 1.84

1.69 1.62 1.48 1.46 1.43 1.79

% of total turnover 18.35 5.09 3.94 3.54 2.69 2.66 2.53 2.44 2.40 2.31

2.09 1.86 1.82 1.46 1.46

Weekly closing 247.20 30.40 194.20 67.10 116.30 157.50 161.60 30.90 55.40 14.00

120.80 137.90 314.40 76.40 24.20 114.30

Weekly closing 1470.00 157.20 3000.00 115.90 30.20 194.80 120.60 60.60 247.00 31.90

10.60 14.00 67.00 30.90 161.10

Price change -7.76 1.33 3.24 4.68 -4.04 -2.54 20.42 6.92 -1.25 -8.50

Weekly opening 268.00 30.00 188.10 64.10 121.20 161.60 134.20 28.90 56.10 15.30

Weekly high 249.00 31.50 203.00 70.70 121.60 164.80 173.00 32.30 58.30 15.50

Price change 1.99 -2.60 -1.64 -4.21 0.67 3.34 2.20 -0.33 -7.80 -2.45

Weekly opening 1441.30 161.40 3050.00 121.00 30.00 188.50 118.00 60.80 267.90 32.70

Weekly high 1480.00 164.00 3000.0 121.00 31.60 202.00 123.80 63.80 248.70 33.20

3.16 5.75 -0.66 -7.28 18.63 1.06

-1.85 -7.89 4.52 6.92 21.13

117.10 130.40 316.50 82.40 20.40 113.10

10.80 15.20 64.10 28.90 133.00

124.00 147.00 320.00 82.80 24.70 124.50

10.80 15.30 70.60 32.00 175.00

Weekly low 234.20 29.50 186.30 63.90 113.60 156.60 129.50 28.90 53.60 13.90

112.50 125.00 309.00 75.50 18.60 110.10

Weekly low 1400.00 156.80 3000.0 113.50 29.70 187.40 112.20 60.30 234.60 31.00

10.40 13.90 64.00 29.00 123.00

Weekly average 247.06 30.36 194.52 67.70 115.16 157.84 164.31 31.32 55.93 14.05

118.80 135.36 313.86 77.35 23.68 116.84

Weekly average 1441.30 157.64 2950.00 115.10 30.21 193.35 118.18 60.79 246.59 32.28

10.59 14.06 67.61 31.26 163.22

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

4840.15900

(+) 0.65%

1850.94740

(-) 0.45%

14824.3495

(+) 0.29%

12515.4565

(+) 0.84%

9027.4491

(+) 0.30%

▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲

Stock markets recovered some points in the past week after witnessing profit-booking fall in the past two weeks.

During the week that ended Thursday, the benchmark of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, rose over 31 points or 0.7% to 4,840.

The blue-chip comprising index, DS30, shed 8 points or 0.5% to 1,850.

The DSE Shariah Index, DSES, witnessed a fractional rise of 0.07 points to end 1,191.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, fell 27 points or 0.3% to 9,027.

Cautious trading over the persisting market volatility has pushed down the turnover.

The week’s daily average turnover was Tk564 crore, down 9% over the previous week’s average of Tk620 crore.

Engineering, pharmaceuticals and power stocks were the most traded stocks, accounting for 18%, 16% and 14% respectively of the week’s total turnover.

IDLC Investments said after last week’s consolidation, which was extended

for first two sessions, the market tried to turn around, riding on some of the investors’ expectation that the consolidation is complete for now.

It said the market observed powerful actions from both buyers and sellers, trying to take the lead of the market. On a net basis, the buyers took the baton, it said.

Lanka Bangla Securities, a leading stockbroker, said the market closed the week in green zone with a mild gain, as investors continued their cautious trading behavior.

Non-banking financial institutions were the week’s best performer gaining over 5% while the cement sector was the worst loser with more than 3.2% losses.

Banks came to spotlight during the week on the news that their asset quality in second quarter improved.

The sector advanced 3.2%, followed by pharmaceuticals 0.8%.

Telecommunic ation closed the week 0.8% lower.

Food and allied lost marginally.

Losers outpaced gainers as out of 324 issues traded, 171 declined, 133 advanced and 20 remained unchanged on the DSE. l

ANALYST

The market closed the week in green zone with a mild gain, as investors continued their cautious trading behavior

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20 BUSINESS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Online business process to be launched n Syed Samiul Basher Anik Businesses are likely to get the privilege of doing any business procedures sitting at home as the government has agreed to establish the National Single Window (NSW) in the country.

Once the NSW – the virtual platform is established, it is expected to improve trade facilitation and reduce the cost of doing business since everything will be done online connecting different government entities.

The system will enhance trading operations by eliminating paper works and reducing timescales through keeping the information up-to-date.

At an inter-ministerial meeting in early July, stakeholders, including representatives from NBR, the Ministries of Commerce, Finance, Information and Communication Technology, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the World Bank (WB) agreed to establish NSW, recommended by the World Bank.

The NSW would be established under the Regional Connectivity Project of the World Bank.

The customs wing of National Board of Revenue (NBR) will act as the lead agency for setting up the NSW, officials said, adding that the customs will provide services to investors, entrepreneurs, exporters and importers in the NSW. NSW is a facility that allow parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements.

The virtual platform technology simplifies trade, saves time and money and increases efficiency by submitting export, import documentation and transit-related regulatory requirements through one electronic portal, allowing agencies to easily access information.

China woes push oil lower; WTI dips below $40 n Reuters, New York

US oil dipped below $40 for the first time in six years Friday as weak Chinese manufacturing data deepened worries about the slowdown in China’s economy, weighing on the market.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery dropped 87 cents to finish at $40.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent North Sea crude for October, the international benchmark, closed at $45.46 a barrel, down $1.16 from Thursday’s settlement.

WTI briefly fell below $40 a barrel for the first time since February 2009, to $39.86. The dip occurred after the release of the Baker Hughes US oil rig count, showing producers added two more rigs this week, the same number as last week, bringing the overall tally of active drilling oil rigs to 674.

Brent dropped as low as $45.07 earlier in the session, a level last seen in March 2009.

A much weaker-than-expected report on China’s manufacturing sector rattled investors.

Caixin’s Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 47.1 this month, falling from 47.8 in July and its worst reading since March 2009. A reading below 50 signifies contraction in activity. l

National Single Window will be launched to help business do all procedures sitting at home. National Board of Revenue is part of the system The NSW will be linked with customs of NBR, Bangladesh Bank, Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, banks, Board of Investment and other service-providing agencies.

The government will also form a National Council for Trade and Transport Facilitation under the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to coordinate among stakeholders in dealing with different issues on trade and transport.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Director Abdul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune the establishment of NSW is a good decision if considered from an ideal perspective.

“Now, we have to go through many places to complete a customs procedure, but once the NSW is established, it will facilitate trade largely as businesses can complete customs and other procedures through one single plat-

Bangladesh to sign development cooperation deal with Sweden n Asif Showkat Kallol Bangladesh is going to sign a development cooperation agreement with Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) to improve human rights, democracy, rule of law and independence of judiciary in the country.

Under the deal, SIDA will give Bangladesh 1.6bn Swedish krona ($213m) during a six-year period till 2020 to make improvements in the areas.

In addition, poverty will be addressed in all its dimensions through policies and plans, and in its patterns of public expenditure.

A draft deal paper also says the concerned authorities of Bangladesh will pursue transparent and accountable management of resources and integrity in public life and fighting corruption.

Swedish embassy in Dhaka sent the draft to the Economic Relations Division on 13th this month and the ERD is likely to finalise it at a ministerial meeting on 30th.

Under the deal, Bangladesh is expected to

pursue a sound economic policy to achieve economically, environmentally and socially sustainable development.

The authorities concerned including the Ministry of Environment will ensure sustainable management of natural resources integrating environment and climate perspectives in development cooperation.

The concerns regarding non-compliance with any of these principles will primarily be handled through dialogue with Bangladesh authorities, says the draft document.

The Swedish support may also be extended to partners outside the government sphere, but such cooperation falls outside the scope of this agreement. The contract can be canceled in six months notice by the two parties.

Sweden has supported Bangladesh’s own development agenda for many areas, particularly in health and education, where the Scandinavian country has supported sector programmes for almost 30 years. The country has been giving Bangladesh nearly $35.95m (Tk280 crore) in grants every year. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

form,” he said.

The businessmen, however, said the government has to be aware and conscious to implement the plan properly.

“Earlier, the Board of Investment introduced one stop service, but it did not work out properly, neither did it help businesses.

So, the government and implementing agencies have to be aware about implementation of NSW effectively,” he added. l

5-day international clothing expo begins August 26 n Tribune Report

A five-day international exhibition of branded clothing and fashion products will begin from August 26 at a city hotel.

Over 45 companies from home and abroad are going to participate in the exhibition titled “5th Bangladesh Fashion Carnival 2015’.

Redcarpet365 Ltd & Freelancerz, an event management firm, is going to organise the event with the theme ‘Do Your Eid Shopping with Us.’ This expo will remain open for common and trade visitors from August 6 to 30 (10am to 9.30pm) at Emmanuell’s Banquet Hall at Gulshan-1 in the city.

“We’re expecting a good number of visitors from the entire South Asia in the fashion carnival,” said Ahmed Imtiaz, chief executive officer of Redcarpet365 Ltd. A wide range of quality products will be put on display in the fashion carnival, he added.

The products include clothing (women), Sarees, fashion wear, home textile, Kurtas, Original Lawns, premium clothing, salwar-kameez, 3-pieces, shawals, beauty aids, beauty products and equipment, fashion house, gift and novelty items and other services. l

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T-JUNCTION

Evening with the stars

21

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

INSIDE

Stay tuned for T-Junction’s upcoming Trial Room

22 news

Unique Training on Sustainable Living Held at ULAB

23

interview

Bangladeshi designers to hit the New York Fashion Week runway

24

style session

Karishma Khan (left) and Faiyaz Shoumo (right) from Infinity Management, with Dia Mirza (centre) at Pond’s Lustrous Runway 2015

Photo: Rajib Dhar

Too short but never too late

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22 T-JUNCTION

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

News

Unique Training on Sustainable Living Held at ULAB An interactive class on Sustainable Living was held on August 20, 2015 at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). The class took place at the university’s permanent campus in Ramchandrapur, Mohammadpur.

This day-long class is part of the university’s training programme titled Skills for Life. Recent HSC and A Level Examination graduates took part in the class.

The classes were conducted by ULAB faculty members Dr Hamidul Huq, Dr Shahana Afrose Chowdhury and Shafiqul Islam.

The classes were designed as a combination of lectures, group discussions, individual assignments and workshops.

Besides being educated about sustainable living, the participants were taught about proper application of knowledge to improve their quality of life. The partakers received first-hand experience on organic farming.

They were also taught how to make organic household compost. The aim of organising these classes is to create a skilled, intelligent and thoughtful generation in order to ensure

a green future for the world.

The course specifically focused on areas such as sustainable living (green living), current problems our planet is facing and why sustainable living is important to effectively deal with it, organic farming, and living hand in hand with nature instead of destroying it.

‘Skills for Life’ by ULAB is designed to complement the usual knowledge gained from books, and help students become well-rounded thinkers. The curriculum includes materials which are rarely taught in educational institutions; they are mostly designed to show students how to discover their inner strength, set goals, and overcome obstacles in everyday life. The students also receive valuable tips for their desired career paths, social responsibility, savings planning and disaster preparedness.

The programme which commenced with 129 students on July 30, 2015 will end on August 29, 2015.l

GD Assist and R&R Aviation Signs Agreement

A signing ceremony between GD Assist and R&R aviation was held recently at the capital’s Gulshan Club. This significant event was jointly organized by GD Assist and Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC). GD Assist is a subsidiary of Green Delta Insurance and Official representative of MHTC in Bangladesh, who are working to promote Malaysia Healthcare Tourism in the country.

Farzana Chowdhury ACII (UK), Director of GD Assist and Ron Haque Sikder, Managing Director of R&R Aviation signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

H.E Norlin Binti Othman the High

Commissioner of Malaysian in Bangladesh, Abdul Hafiz Choudhury, Chairman of Green Delta Insurance and the President of Gulshan Club Mr. Shahbuddin Khan were also present in the occasion.

In the ceremony the Managing Director and CEO Farzana Chowdhury ACII (UK) talked about the significant agreement between GD Assist and R&R Aviation which will allow them to be able to provide emergency air ambulance service to their patients. According to The CEO, this historic collaboration will activate newer doors of opportunities for both the organizations. l

Lady’s monsoon collection

Fashion house Lady has released a new monsoon collection, featuring shalwar kameez, long kameez, tops, fotua etc. The collection, which focuses more on cool monsoon shades like green, olive, blue, and orange, magenta, and yellow. The collection is available in all outlets in Dhaka. Check out their show rooms at Bashundhara City, Karnaphuli Garden City, and Navana Baily Star.

T-JUNCTION 23

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Trending

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

interview

Bangladeshi designers to hit the New York Fashion Week runway

Photos: Courtesy

n T- Junction Desk A stylish international women’s label Nadz & Sabs, with strong Bangladeshi roots, will walk the ramp for the Fashion Palette New York Fashion Week show on September 10.

The evening wear label was founded in 2013 by two Bangladeshi friends living in Australia: designer Nadia Khan and business director Sabrina Rashid.

Standing out for their embellished outfits featuring detailed threadwork, beading and hand painting, the label is known for unique pieces for special occasions.

Designer Nadia Khan said she was

fascinated by silk, and this luxurious and beautiful fabric was good for all seasons.

“Silk is the ‘new’ ancient fabric and features strongly in our 2015 collection. It’s organic, extremely versatile and easy to maintain,” Nadia said.

“Keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter, we have chosen the finest raw silk, silk organza and silk georgette for our spring/summer 2015 collection.”

Nadia Khan said she loved Bangladeshi crafts such as beading, embroidery and hand-painting and the label’s new range would combine these timeless luxuries in contemporary styles.

“The collection is embellished with exquisite beading and intricate thread embroidery, adapting age-old artistry for contemporary western sensibilities.”

Business director Sabrina Rashid said the runway show was an amazing opportunity to connect with people from the international fashion world.

“We are thrilled to present our work on the international stage alongside renowned designers,” Sabrina said.

“New York Fashion Week was an event I always wanted to attend to see what’s on trend, but to present our label there is just so exciting.”

She also added that Bangladesh had a rich textile history which inspired them.

“We both take enormous pride in our country’s textile history,” she said.

The label is currently stocked across stores in Queensland and New South Wales in Australia.

Nadia Khan was an established fashion designer in India and exported her clothes across Europe and the Middle East.

Sabrina Rashid worked in marketing and communications in Sydney and Brisbane.

She has a strong interest in fashion and oversees the business side. l

Bathtime for the silk Treating your saris right

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad It’s soft and feels great against the skin, it’s mostly eco-friendly, and can add an instant touch of luxe to your look, even without embellishments. Small wonder that the silk sari will never go out of fashion. But if you want to get the most of that gorgeous katan or that ravishing Rajshahi silk, you’ve gotta treat your saris right. Let’s look at how:

Washing don’ts • • •

Washing do’s •

•

Wash the pallu, border and body separately. This is doubly important for saris that have different materials in each of these sections.

Skip the detergent and reach for some protein shampoo and warm (but not hot) water. The proteins in the shampoo will nourish the silk protein.

• •

After buying a brand new silk sari, avoid using soap for the first three washes.

Rinse gently in cold water instead.

Avoid using chemicals as much as possible, as these hurt the silk fibres and reduce their lifespan.

You know the thing that dhopas do, where they whack the wet garment down against a flat surface to smack the dirt out? A terrible thing to do to a silk sari. Older fabric might just split from the impact, and the zari might just come off from new ones.

Ditto for wringing and twisting the silk; just don’t.

Do not bundle and keep wet for long durations. l Photo: Bigstock

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24 T-JUNCTION

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Tailored

his style

Too short but never too late This one is for the short guys out there. We hear you, and we’re here for you

n Mahmood Hossain Some of us are fortunate enough to have the full package, being tall, dark and handsome. Most of us, well, at least we give an admirable effort to look our best.

As much as we promote self-confidence, there are still ways to create the illusion that we’re taller than our actual height. It’s not to say we haven’t fully embraced who we are, we just want to look respectable standing next to the other guy.

It all comes down to the overall image we present to the rest of the world. You might be 5’3” but you can walk around like you’re 6’3”. But there’s more to the strut than just confidence. There are style tips every short guy should live by.

Monochrome

Displaying a monochrome colour palette on a regular will help create the illusion of height. It’s better to contrast shades than contrasting colours. Being in the same colour family gives you a more polished look. Also, the darker shades are better.

In fact, going darker at the bottom, while the top half of you is slightly brighter, can divert the eyes upward. This makes a

lengthening effect when people view your entire outfit.

Don’t need to bag it up

Repeat with us, “I am not a rapper or hip hop artist.” If you are one, you’re excused.

Then again, seeing a legitimate Bangali rapper in the streets is like finding the Loch Ness Monster. Wearing baggy clothes at any time is highly unflattering for any man, regardless the height. We’re sure we’ve dug into your head about fitted clothing. However, it doesn’t end there.

Low-waisted trousers or jeans are also a no-no. You want to wear your pants at your natural waist line. When the fitting is right, try and make sure to wear a smaller rise in your jeans or trousers. The rise is the distance between the middle of the crotch seam to the waistband. This will make your legs look longer, and that’s always a good thing for short men.

Blazing glory

A well fitted blazer can be your best friend.

There are a couple of things a blazer or even a tailored suit jacket can do for you.

First, it helps build your shoulders, which instantly adds height. Second, always

Photos: Bigstock keeping your blazer buttoned (only the top button on a two-button jacket; top two for three-button) makes your chest look larger too. Not only does this create a slimming silhouette, it also adds height to your look. In addition, try to make sure the top button is slightly above your naval and that the cut of the jacket is shorter. This will make both your torso and legs look longer.

Tailored to perfection

The name of this page says it all. No matter how tall or short you are, a tailor is and will always be important, especially for us short men. Let’s face it, those off-the-rack items don’t necessarily look perfect on us. They may be good or even great, but nowhere near perfect. This is where the role of the tailors come in, which happens to be a huge advantage for short men. It’s easier to cut down and tighten from a larger piece of fabric than the other way around. You can be the tailor’s clay sculpture, while he caters to every necessary alteration.

It’s good to be hip

This can be a tad tricky. If you have to make sure that your shirt doesn’t go past your hipbone. This goes for the dress shirts as well as t-shirts. Yes, tucking your shirt in will instantly make your legs look slightly longer. But what about t-shirts?

We can’t tuck those in, now can we? It’s simple. All you have to do is make sure the hem doesn’t go past your hipbone, and you can tailor the hemline whenever you want.

If that’s too much of a hassle, bunching up your t-shirt around the waist is an alternative choice. But again, shortening the hem is the best way.

Keep lookin’ up

If you choose to accessorise, keep things very simple. Make sure whatever you have to show off is on the top half of you. You always want to direct the eyes upward, and try to avoid anything below your chest.

Wearing a suit is an easy way to distract the eyes the right way. You’ve got your ties, pocket squares, lapel pins and so on. l

Louis van Gaal claims unsettled goalkeeper David De Gea will not be sold to Real Madrid before the transfer window closes. De Gea was once again be left out of the matchday squad on Saturday

Sport 26

BANGLADESH UNDER-19s INTO SAFF SEMIS

28

GEMCON BEAT BANDO TO WEAR CORPORATE CROWN

29

25

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GOING NOWHERE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

BARCA TRAVEL TO BILBAO DEMONS ON OPENING DAY

National camp begins amid several absences n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Mahmudullah lifts himself using the pull up bar in the BCB Academy gymnasium as his teammates look on during the first day of the national strength and conditioning camp at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Nazmul chalks out uncomplicated BPL n Minhaz Uddin Khan Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan is doing everything in his jurisdiction to make sure that the third Bangladesh Premier League, planned in November, does not resemble the controversial first two editions.

And in order to keep the players’ payment irregularities from surfacing again, Nazmul revealed that the companies submitting the “Expression of Interest” will also need to submit a bank-guarantee and pay-order.

Flora Limited, previous owners of the Rangpur Raiders, cleared their dues with the board as the number of interested buyers for the upcoming season went up to 12.

“The other old franchises can also submit their EOI but for that they will need to clear the dues by this Thursday,” said Nazmul after a meeting with the BPL governing council at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

According to the BCB chief, five of the old franchise owners owe approximately Tk 36 crores 81 lacs with Khulna Royals owing highest 8.19 crores.

This time around, BCB will ask for Tk 5.5

crores – 4.5 crores in bank guarantee and one crore as pay order – in the bank before selling a team.

Teams Khulna Royals

Outstanding (Taka) 8.19 crores

Sylhet Royals

8.5 crores

Chittagong Kings

7.45 crores

Barisal Burners Duronto Rajshahi

6.5 crores 6.09 crores

“The guarantee money will cover both the players and participation fee. We won’t have to worry about the payment any more after that and I believe this will eliminate all the irregularities that we saw in the first two seasons of the tournament,” said the BCB president.

He even hinted of increasing the number of teams in the tournament if needed. “In case the number of eligible parties are more than the number of teams in the tournament, we might decide to increase the number of teams. This can be eight or even 10.”

“What we have experienced from the first

two editions of BPL is that few franchises took this as a business. We don’t want those kind of owners. We will check the background of the owners and their interest in the game before awarding them a team. The owners will have to have the tendency of contributing for Bangladesh cricket,” said Nazmul.

BCB realised that the previous payment structure was never realistic in the cricket market in Bangladesh. In order to omit the chaos with regards to players’ payment, both domestic and international, the BCB has decided to adopt the “Players by Choice” system as opposed to the traditional auction.

“I have already asked the concerned parties to prepare categories for the players, both domestic and international. There will be three categories – A, B and C. The Players

by Choice system will allow us to make sure that all the teams are balanced equally,” said Nazmul.

Four foreign cricketers will be allowed per side in accordance with the Players by Choice system. However, a franchise can also register an overseas player through personal arrangements but in that case the BCB will not be liable for the cricketer’s payment issues, if any.l

Following an 18-day break, the Bangladesh cricketers got back to business at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

The 21 leading cricketers of the country reported to national strength and conditioning coach Mario Villavarayan and will work towards enhancing their mental and physical strength over the next few weeks.

The camp was organised to get the cricketers ready for both domestic and international cricket in the next six months.

“Fitness test, that’s all purpose of testing and achieving. We got four weeks to work with them and these four weeks are important for going forward because six months of games is coming up. These four weeks are very important for the next six months,” Villavarayan told the media at SBNS yesterday.

Day one of the conditioning camp was marked with a gym session followed by a bleep test and one round of football game.

Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim, ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza, all-rounders Shakib al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman, top-order batsman Rony Talukdar and paceman Abul Hasan were absent yesterday.

Mushfiq, who is suffering from fever, is on sick leave while Mashrafe and Shakib are out of the country. Mashrafe is expected to return to the capital this Tuesday while Shakib is all set to come back this Thursday.

Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal reported for the camp on time but underwent a different routine as opposed to the bleep test.

The hard-hitting southpaw was seen running around the centre field of SBNS alone under the supervision of Villavarayan.

“He did extra. He is running separately. He is not going to do bleep test. He did test running,” said Villavarayan. The Sri Lanka-born coach said Tamim performed a separate routine due to an injury in his knee.

Villavarayan also informed that he is concerned with the fitness of national spinner Sohag Gazi. “[Gazi] was away from cricket for a long time. Hopefully he will work with us for the next four or six weeks and try to take up his fitness level,” said Villavarayan.

The cricketers will continue with their physical training routine till September 5. It is expected that national head coach Chandika Hathurusingha will then join the camp and make the cricketers work on their skill development.

The Tigers’ upcoming assignment is at home against Australia this October. The Aussies are scheduled to arrive on September 28 for two Test matches, beginning on October 9 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. The second and final Test will get underway in Mirpur on October 17.l

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26 Sport

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Bangladesh U19s into Saff semis n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh swept into the semi-finals of the inaugural Saff Under-19 Championship after outclassing Bhutan 2-0 in their opening match of the six-nation event at ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal yesterday.

The junior Tigers exhibited a dominating display en route to salvaging all three points with Rohit Sarkar and Mannaf Rabby getting their names on the score-sheet. Bangladesh will now face the hosts in their final Group A match tomorrow and the winner of the tie will emerge as group champions.

Mohammad Ibrahim and Mannaf, the two rising stars of the Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League, were at the hub of most of the Bangladesh attacks. The duo however, were denied by the opposition defenders and goalkeeper numerous times before the much-anticipated breakthrough came three minutes before the first half whistle.

Bangladesh initially took some time to be organised but when they did get into the groove, they put two past the Bhutan custodian in the space of just two minutes.

Rohit gave the junior Tigers the deserved lead with a powerful volley from just outside

the box after Ibrahim's long ball forward was headed down by Mannaf.

Following a couple of near misses after the first goal, Mannaf succeeded in doubling the lead a minute before the interval. The Bhutan netminder came out of the box to clear a long ball but failed and Mannaf controlled the ball well inside the box before unleashing a fierce effort between the legs of an opponent defender.

RESULT Bangladesh U19

2–0

Bhutan U19

Rohit Sarkar 42 Mannaf Rabby 44

After resumption, Ibrahim twice went close to making it 3-0 but both of his efforts flew over the crossbar. Ibrahim further wasted a glorious chance in the 71st minute when the Mohammedan youngster failed to meet a Mannaf cross in front of an empty net.

Bangladesh squad

Anisur Rahman; Rahmatullah, Mohammad Emon, Tutul Hossain Badshah, Mohammad Rocky; Masuk Mia Jony (C), Shahriar Bappy, Biplob Ahmed, Mohammad Ibrahim; Rohit Sarkar, Mannaf Rabby l

Mannaf Rabby celebrates his first and Bangladesh’s second goal against Bhutan in the Saff U-19 Championship at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal COURTESY

Triumphant Bangladesh Under 16s to be looked after Goalkeeping coach's tenure extended among other issues n Shishir Hoque

A man in a flat overlooking the ground with a banner during the fifth Ashes Test at Kia Oval yesterday REUTERS

The executive committee of the Bangladesh Football Federation has asked the development committee to ensure the nurturing process of the national Under-16 team who recently won the third edition of the Saff U-16 Championship at home.

The announcement came within a week since the young Tigers emerged as the unbeaten champion of the six-nation regional age-level competition. BFF president Kazi Salahuddin had earlier promised the same thing in that the U-16 boys will be nurtured in the next four years by football's regulatory body of the country.

As per the decision of the executive committee, the entire U-16 squad will reside at the BFF academy in Sylhet for the next four years.

Following the hour-long meeting yes-

terday, the committee also hinted that this season's Independence Cup and Super Cup might not take place if the proposed Sheikh Kamal International Gold Cup is held in Chittagong this October. Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, along with the top four clubs of Bangladesh, will partake in the tournament that will be hosted by top-flight side Chittagong Abahani.

The committee also decided to hold the second-tier Championship League from October 25 this year with the participation of 10 teams, including one from BFF Academy. The players' transfer window will open on October 1 this year and conclude nine days later.

Among other agendas, a Fifa delegate will tour Dhaka soon to inspect the installation process at the Kamalapur stadium. The BFF hopes to complete the installation process by September 28 this year so that they can get three more turfs from world football's gov-

erning body in the future.

The committee also decided to extend the tenure of Bangladesh's German goalkeeping coach Christian Schweichler by three more months. Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif's situation is, however, the same as before.

The BFF will also send a “letter of intent” to UK-based event management company Soccer International, informing them to provide £1m if they are to buy the rights of the professional football league and become a partner of the BFF. Meanwhile, the committee introduced the national team's new jersey after the meeting.

The colour of the official home jersey is red while the away one is green.

The meeting was presided over by BFF supremo Salahuddin while senior vice president Abdus Salam Murshedy briefed the media after the meeting. l

DT

Sport 27

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

United held to goalless draw by dogged Newcastle n Reuters, London

QUICK BYTES Atletico in the market for midfielder, says Simeone Atletico Madrid have been one of the most active La Liga clubs in this transfer window but coach Diego Simeone said on Friday they may not be done yet and want another midfielder.

After finishing third behind champions Barcelona and second-placed Real Madrid last term and qualifying for the Champions League, Atletico sold Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic to Juventus and Turkey playmaker Arda Turan to Barca.

–REUTERS

Gerrard tells Lampard: ‘It’s war’ Steven Gerrard warned Frank Lampard to be ready for “war” as the two former Liverpool and Chelsea midfield adversaries prepared to lock horns once more for their Major League Soccer sides here Sunday. Gerrard’s Los Angeles Galaxy and Lampard’s New York City FC meet in Carson on Sunday in a game being hyped as the most star-studded clash in MLS history, pitting two of the league’s big-spending sides against each other.

–AFP

Juve’s drive for five begins Juventus chief executive Beppe Marotta has warned the loss of key players won’t put the brakes on their their bid for a record-equalling fifth consecutive scudetto, which begins Sunday with the visit of Udinese. The Turin giants notably sold midfielders Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC) and Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich) and striker Carlos Tevez (Boca Juniors) over the summer.

–AFP

PSG make perfect start A second-half strike by the excellent Blaise Matuidi gave Paris Saint-Germain a 1-0 win away to Montpellier on Friday as the French champions maintained their perfect start to the new Ligue 1 season. Matuidi’s 61st-minute goal gave PSG a win that they deserved for their dominance of possession in a match of few chances on a hot night at the Stade de la Mosson.

–AFP

Serena survives Ivanovic scare in Cincinnati Defending champion Serena Williams reached the semi-finals of the Western & Southern tournament in Cincinnati but not before having her mettle tested in a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win over sixth-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic on Friday. Up next for Williams will be 14th-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, a 6-4 2-6 6-0 winner over Czech Lucie Safarova, seeded seven.

–REUTERS

Djokovic, Federer reach Cincy semi-finals World number one Novak Djokovic brushed aside Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in straight sets to advance to the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters Friday. The top-seeded Serb breezed past Wawrinka with little difficulty in just over an hour, winning 6-4, 6-1 to avenge his defeat to the Swiss in the French Open final.

–AFP

Manchester United’s Dutch midfielder Memphis Depay (R) takes the ball around Newcastle United’s Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul during their EPL match at Old Trafford in Manchester yesterday AFP

Manchester United’s 100 percent start to the Premier League season ended when they were held to a goalless draw against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Wayne Rooney had an early goal ruled out for offside as United, 1-0 winners in their opening two league games, dominated but it was Newcastle who went closest to scoring in the first half when Aleksandar Mitrovic hit the crossbar.

Substitutes Javier Hernandez and Antonio Valencia then had opportunities to snatch a late goal for the home team who are top of the table with seven points.

“It was a very important result for us,” said defender Fabricio Coloccini as Newcastle ended a run of seven successive away league defeats. “We worked really hard.

“It’s very hard to play at Old Trafford because they have a lot of possession,” he told BT Sport. “We were told to defend as well as possible and we did really well.”

United captain Rooney has made a mediocre start to the season but began brightly against Newcastle, having a sixth-minute goal chalked off. l

Dominant Australia scent consolation win n AFP, London

England, following-on, were 123 for three in their second innings - a deficit of 209 runs - at tea on the third day of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval yesterday.

Alastair Cook, the England captain, was 54 not out and Jonny Bairstow 20 not out.

England, who have already regained the Ashes, lead the five-match series 3-1.

England resumed on 107 for eight in their first innings, having lost seven wickets for just 46 runs during Friday’s evening session.

That left them 374 runs behind.

Their collapse was not as bad as Australia’s

rapid decline to 60 all out on the first morning of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, a match England went on to win by an innings and 78 runs to regain the Ashes on the back of Stuart Broad’s stunning eight for 15.

But Friday’s clatter of wickets-- where several batsmen contributed to their own downfall with reckless shots -- made a mockery of the ambition of Cook’s side to become the first England team to win four Tests in a home Ashes series. Moeen Ali and Mark Wood, both eight not out overnight, hit out in sunny conditions ideal for batting during a ninth-wicket partnership of 57.

But they each fell to Mitchell Johnson as

the left-arm fast bowler wrapped up the innings with two wickets in two balls.

Wood, all of whose 24 runs came in boundaries, was the fourth England batsman in the innings to fall to a miscued pull shot when he skyed Johnson to Mitchell Starc at mid-on.

Ali was then caught behind for an innings-top score of 30.

Clarke, who will retire from international duty after this match, then asked England to bat again. It was the first time any Australia captain had enforced the follow-on since Ricky Ponting did so against New Zealand at Wellington in 2010 -- a match Australia eventually won by 10 wickets. l

Champions Sheikh Jamal end with win against Abahani n Shishir Hoque Champions-elect Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club came from behind to conclude their Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League campaign with a narrow 2-1 win over Abahani Limited at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The encounter between the two Dhanmondi giants was the final league game of this season.

Nigerian striker Emeka Darlington cancelled out Abahani’s lead, scored by Nasirul Islam Nasir, before Gambian midfielder Landing Darboe grabbed the winner a minute before the end of regulation time.

The traditional Sky Blues had the opportunity of finishing in the top three if they had beaten Sheikh Jamal by a margin of more than one goal. Instead, Abahani finished fourth with 35 points from 20 matches while Sheikh Jamal’s final points tally is 51.

Sheikh Jamal began the game without the presence of talismanic midfielder Mamunul Islam, in form Haitian striker Wedson Anselme and exciting winger Sohel Rana.

Following a barren opening half, Nasir put the Sky Blues ahead in the 65th minute. Receiving a pass from Shahedul Alam Shahed, the defender drifted into the penalty area and calmly placed home into an empty net.

The delight however, lasted only four minutes as Emeka equalised, slotting home past Abahani goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman, after being fed by Landing. Landing then turned from provider to scorer in the 89th minute, grabbing the all-important goal.

Abahani went down to nine men by the end of the clash. Wahed Ahmed received his marching orders after incurring two yellow cards while Mamun Mia was shown a straight red card for using obscene language. l

STANDINGS Team

GP

W

D

L

GD PTS

Sheikh Jamal 20

16

3

1

38

51

Sheikh Russel 20

13

3

4

16

42

Mohammedan 20

11

5

4

21

38

Abahani

20

10

5

5

19

35

Brothers

20

10

5

5

8

35

Muktijoddha

20

8

4

8

0

28

Team BJMC

20

6

4

10

-2

22

Soccer Club

20

5

3

12

-16

18

Ctg Abahani

20

3

7

10 -22

16

Rahmatganj

20

3

5

12

-18

14

Farashganj

20

0

6

14 -44

6

DT

28

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

Ascent Cup 2015

CHAMPIONS

TWO IN A ROW

Jubilant Gemcon Group players and official celebrate their consecutive title of the Ascent Cup at the STM Hall, Scholastica yesterday. With the win Gemcon also extended their unbeaten run in the tournament to 12 games (2014, 2015) MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Gemcon beat Bando to wear corporate crown n Arsalan Quddus Goals from Shahinur Rahman Monu and Prashanto saw Gemcon Group emerge as champions in the 10th Ascent Cup yesterday. Thunderbolt and lightning cannot even explain what was witnessed at the STM Hall in the Cup finals as it was a repeat of the last year with Gemcon Group and Bando Design Ltd going at each other with hammer and tongs, unwilling to budge or give a quarter.

It was end to end football, with each team trying their bagful of party tricks trying to outwit one another as step overs and back heel chips were awarded with ooh’s and aah’s by the audience inside the hall.

All it took was a lack of concentration from Bando Design for the defending champions to capitalise. The last two minutes saw Gemcon score twice which just about knocked

the stuffing out of Bando. Monu first assisted right-footed Prashanto to break the deadlock before the attacking veteran sealed the game himself.

Congratulations Gemcon, champions two years running – you deserved it too. Commiserations to Bando, better luck next time guys.

It has been a roller coaster ride of chills, thrill, and heart thumping action as the STM hall has been witness to blood, sweat, and tears in the past week by teams showing much passion yet displaying immense sportsmanship spirit.

Earlier in the morning, the first match of the final day was the mouth watering encounter between five times champion Beximco Pharma and the reigning champions Gemcon going head to head in the semifinals of the Cup. Over the years this encounter has been dubbed by those of us in the sports desk as “El Scholastico”.

However, all comparisons to its Spanish namesake ended there as Gemcon took the

game by the scrap of its neck as soon as the referee blew the whistle at kick off.

Sohel, Riqta, and Monu dismantled the aging Beximco Pharma team and made this much touted encounter a one-sided affair.

The new wave Gemcon players proved too much for the pharmaceutical company. It is surely a sign that the paradigms of power are shifting towards the teams that have taken precedence in the past few years.

The second semifinal saw the exciting Bando narrowly beating newcomers Comfit Composite in a high tempo match. Bando certainly did not find life easy but ultimately Shakil scored a glorious hat-trick to earn his team a 4-2 victory.

It was the end of the road for Comfit Composite who has made many a fan in their first outing in this tournament.

In the other categories, Green Delta Insurance beat HRC 5-4 to lift the Plate while Asiatic Exp handed Mutual Trust Bank a narrow 2-1 defeat to win the Bowl. l

RESULTS CUP Final: SF1: SF2:

2-0 6-0 4-2

Gemcon Gemcon Bando

Bando Beximco Comfit

PLATE FINAL 5-4

Green Delta

HRC

BOWl FINAL Asiatic

2-1

MTB

Most Valuable Player Masudur Rahman Mukul (Beximco Pharma)

Highest Scorer Imranur Rahman (Bando Design)

Best Goalkeeper Rajib (Bando Design)

Fair Play Award Rahimafrooze Renewal

DT

Sport 29

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

INDvSL, DAY 3

DAY’S WATCH

INDIA 1ST INNINGS 393 (L. Rahul 108, V. Kohli 78, R. Sharma 79, W. Saha 56, D. Prasad 2-84, A. Mathews 2-24, D. Chameera 2-72, R. Herath 4-81)

Star Sports 1 4:00 PM

Pro Kabaddi League: 3/4 Place

SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS (overnight 140-3) L. Thirimanne c Saha b I. Sharma A. Mathews c Vijay b Binny D. Chandimal c Rahul b I. Sharma J. Mubarak b Mishra D. Prasad c Rahane b Mishra R. Herath lbw b Ashwin T. Kaushal st Saha b Mishra D. Chameera not out Extras: (b2, lb6, nb5)

62 168 102 167 11 23 22 46 5 4 1 16 6 14 0 5 13

9:30 PM

Total (all out, 108 overs)

306

Pro Kabaddi League 2015 : Final

Bowling

Australia Tour of England (Ashes) 5th Test Day 4 11:30 PM Bundesliga FC Ingolstadt 04 v Borussia Dortmund

Star Sports 2 8:20 PM

Star Sports 4 IAAF World Athletics Championships 5:55 PM FIA F1 World Championship : Main Race Circuit of Belgium 8:50 PM Barclays Premier League

WTA : Western & Southern Open SF 1 7:00 AM WTA : Western & Southern Open SF 2 11:00 PM ATP 1000 Masters Western & Southern Open: Final 1:00 AM WTA :Western & Southern Open: Final

Ten Cricket, Ten HD 2:00 PM New Zealand Tour of South Africa 2nd ODI

Ten Action 5:50 PM French Ligue 1 LOSC Lille SA v Bordeaux 8:50 PM FC 56 Lorient v AS Saint-Etienne 12:50 AM Olympique De Marseille v Champagne

Sony Six 10:30 AM India Tour of Sri Lanka 2nd Test Day 4 9:30 PM Serie A Juventus v Udinese 12: 30 AM Fiorentina v AC Milan

Sony Six HD 10:30 PM Liga Bbva Athletic Club v FC Barcelona 12:30 AM R. Sporting v Real Madrid 2:30 AM Levante UD v RC Celta

R 39 2 28 1

Total (for one wicket, 29.2 overs)

70

B 89 3 84

Prasad 4-0-12-1, Herath 11.2-3-23-0, Chameera 4-014-0 (w1), Mathews 2-1-1-0, Kaushal 8-0-20-0.

11:30 PM

5:00 AM

INDIA 2ND INNINGS M. Vijay not out L. Rahul b Prasad A. Rahane not out Extras: (w1)

Bowling

Everton v Manchester City

Ten Sports

B

I. Sharma 21-3-68-2 (nb4), Yadav 19-5-67-1, Binny 18-4-44-1 (nb1), Ashwin 29-3-76-2, Mishra 21-3-43-4.

6:20 AM

West Bromwich Albion v Chelsea

R

Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews watches his shot during the third day of their second Test match against India in Colombo yesterday REUTERS

India lead by 157 runs with nine wickets in hand

India take charge after Mathews’s century n AFP, Colombo Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews hit a century before India fought back to assume control of the second Test at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Saturday.

The tourists, seeking a series-levelling win after losing the first Test in Galle, ended Sri Lanka’s first innings at 306 after tea on the third day in reply to their own 393.

India closed the day at 70-1 in their second knock, an overall lead of 157 runs with nine wickets in hand on the slow, wearing pitch that promises to help spinners on the last two days.

Murali Vijay was unbeaten on 39 and Ajinkya Rahane was on 28, the pair having put on

67 runs for the second wicket after Lokesh Rahul was bowled by Dhammika Prasad off the fifth ball.

The duo saw off the last five overs in fading light as play was extended by more than an hour due to a rain interruption after lunch.

Mathews hit a glorious 102 to lift his team to a strong position before India turned the tables after a barren morning session.

Sri Lanka, who started the day at 140-3, were cruising at 241-3 soon after lunch when India hit back to take the last seven wickets for 65 runs.

The collapse started soon after Mathews notched up his sixth Test century with a reverse-hit boundary against off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra finished with four wickets, while seamer Ishant Sharma and Ashwin claimed two each.

Mathews and his overnight partner Lahiru Thirimanne batted through the morning session to put on 127 for the fourth wicket before Sharma claimed two wickets in the space of three overs after the break.

Sharma had left-handed Thirimanne caught behind by Wriddhiman Saha for 62 and then dismissed first Test hero Dinesh Chandimal for 11, caught at second slip by Rahul.

All-rounder Stuart Binny, who was added to the touring squad before this match, claimed his first success after going wicketless in three previous Tests when he forced Mathews to edge a catch to the slips.l

Barcelona travel to Bilbao demons on opening day n AFP, Madrid Barcelona won’t have to wait long to try to correct the errors that saw them lose the Spanish Super Cup to Athletic Bilbao as they return to San Mames on Sunday in their La Liga opener.

The European champions were thrashed 4-0 in Bilbao just a week ago as an under-manned Catalan defence failed to cope with the presence of Aritz Aduriz, who struck

FIXTURES Athletic Bilbao Sporting Gijon Levante Real Betis

v v v v

Barcelona Real Madrid Celta Vigo Villarreal

a hat-trick and then also netted in the return as the Basques won the final 5-1 on aggregate.

Barca coach Luis Enrique has even more defensive problems as his side look for revenge on league duty.

Gerard Pique has been banned for four matches after being sent off in Monday’s 1-1 draw in the return leg of the Super Cup for verbally abusing the match officials. Jordi Alba remains a doubt with a hamstring injury, while Neymar hasn’t returned to training since he was diagnosed with the mumps two weeks ago.

The coach must also decide who to play in goal. Claudio Bravo made his first appearance of the campaign in the home game against Athletic after Marc-Andre ter Stegen had been selected for the first two matches of the season in which Barca conceded eight times. l

Barcelona’s Neymar takes part in a training session at the Sports Center FC Barcelona yesterday AFP

DT

30 DOWNTIME

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Deeply engrossed (4) 4 Astound (5) 9 Monkey (3) 11 At all times (4) 12 Begin (5) 13 Wicked emperor (4) 14 Walked (4) 15 Slow (mus) (5) 19 Carries (5) 21 Woe! (4) 25 Skeletal part (4) 26 Cunning (5) 28 Golf club (4) 29 Perfect score (3) 30 Impressions left by blows (5) 31 Honey drink (4)

DOWN 1 Skin eruption (4) 2 Liable (3) 3 Concretion of nacre (5) 5 Wise counsellor (6) 6 Affirm with confidence (4) 7 Nothing (4) 8 Wear away (5) 10 Fixed gaze (5) 16 Not present (6) 17 Criminal groups (5) 18 Fanatical (5) 20 Venomous ill will (5) 22 Traditional learning (4) 23 Soon (4) 24 Curve (4) 27 Meadow (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 21 represents C so fill C every time the figure 21 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

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

The prancing pony

n Mahmood Hossain While nothing is yet to be set in stone, former Batman star Christian Bale is in talks to play Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann’s Ferrari movie. Some even say he’s already signed with Mann. The new biopic is a project that Michael Mann has been holding

BOX OFFICE BUZZ

onto for quite some time, and it seems to be back on track. Now that Bale is tagged onto playing the role, they are hoping to round up some buyers and financiers during the Toronto Film Festival.

The film will be an adaptation of the 1991 book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine, written by Brock

Yates. The book is a detailed account on the rise of one of the most famous names in motor world history. The only issue is, will this do well enough in the box office that need to garner more than just racing fans or motorheads. Ron Howard’s fantastic film Rush premiered at Toronto before wide release but didn’t do too well at the box office. Critically acclaimed, the film failed to bring in the crowd.

However, having the likes of Mann directing and Bale in the starring role might just have moviegoers leaning into the theatres a tad more. Again, nothing is solid as of yet and getting our hopes up wouldn’t be a wise thing. Not too long ago, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were to star in a film together called Go Like Hell, which was a story that told the rivalry between Ferrari and Carroll Shelby. Unfortunately, the project fell part because of budget restraints. And let’s not forget that other Ferrari movie starring Robert De Niro, which is still in the works. Stay tuned as Showtime will bring you the latest updates. l

Insidious Chapter 3 (2015) Review:

Ticket parade Another Parade of Quietin Compton Quiet-Boo n Showtime Desk Straight Outta Compton continues to bring in the big numbers at the Hollywood box office. NWA’s biopic earned an impressive $60.2 million in its first outing. The train has no plans on stopping, as it picked up another $26 million in its second weekend.

Alongside the leading film, horror flick Sinister 2 was released in 2,100 locations on Thursday night, racked up $850,000. The movie is expected to add around $13.5 million after this weekend.

The videogame adaptation of Hitman earned around $600,000, hoping to reach around $10 million after the weekend. Hitman: Agent 47 doesn’t seem to be in the same flow as the first film back in 2007. While Rupert Friend’s portrayal of Agent 47 has been applauded, the overall film has fallen flat apart from the thrilling action.

Another quiet start has been made

by American Ultra, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. The marketing for the film hasn’t been too wide, even though it opens to 2,778 locations. However, it’s expected to receive a little over $6 million in its debut.

Rogue Nation, on the other hand, continues to steam roll through the box office, capturing another $11 million, after its fourth week in the theatres.

And WB’s Man From UNCLE looks to rake in another six to $7 million. l

n Sadia Khalid I have a theory. The farther you are from the next living soul and the darker the room is, the scarier a horror movie seems. If this theory holds, you would be scared out of your wits watching Insidious Chapter 3 on a winter night in Antarctica. Watching it alone in the dark in your room, however, will give you a moderately good scare, but not quite enough, as you probably can still sleep right after with the lights on. All in all, fans of the Insidious franchise will not be thoroughly disappointed.

Insidious Chapter 3 is the prequel to

the original Insidious movie. Before the haunting of the Lambert Family, there was an aspiring teenage actress named Quinn (Stefanie Scott)who had just lost her mother. When Quinn tried to communicate with her mother’s spirit, a malicious supernatural entity responded instead. She reached out to Psychic Elise (Lin Shaye), who had given up on helping people after a near death experience in ‘The Further’.

Something about Quinn sways her to use her gift again. She collaborates with her high tech Ghostbusters team for the first time through this perilous mission.

There was nothing new to take away from this film. They tried to bring some variations in the appearance of the demons and the possessed. The creaking femur and the vanishing faces seemed more of a triumph in the special effects department, rather than an addition to the scariness of the film. The quiet-quiet-boo formula of horror films have been used so many times for so many years that we have simply become immune to their shock tactics. There were, however, a few scary scenes that can come back to haunt the more fainthearted audiences. For the rest, this film will fade into oblivion faster than they can make the next sequel, or prequel. l

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

Taylor Swift @taylorswift13 It was a beautiful night in Los Angeles.

Thank you @kobebryant, Ryan Tedder @OneRepublic, @STAPLESCenter & the fans!

Priyanka @priyankachopra That’s what I’d teach my kid! That’s what my parents taught me! #Upbringing jimmy fallon @jimmyfallon Chipped front tooth trying to open tube of scar tissue repair gel for recovering finger injury. Thank you Dr. Jobe DDS!

WHAT TO WATCH

King Kong Star Movies 9:30pm In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with leading lady Ann Darrow.

Cast: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Zee Studio 12:00am The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization’s name.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg The Exorcism of Emily Rose WB 7:10pm A lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.

Cast: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo

DT

32 BACK PAGE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW ECF FUND LIKELY IN OCTOBER PAGE 15

NAZMUL CHALKS OUT UNCOMPLICATED BPL PAGE 25

THE PRANCING PONY PAGE 31

Jobs for the boys n Aminur Rahman Rasel A flurry of appointments to the top posts of publicly-held power and energy companies has stirred disquiet in the country’s critically important and lucrative energy sector.

Twelve former Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders, a Mahila Awami League leader, two Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (Rehab) leaders and three businessmen with alleged political connections to the decision-makers in the ministry, have recently been appointed to the boards of the various high-level companies under the Power and Energy Ministry.

The Chhatra League is the student wing and the Mahila Awami League is an associate body of the ruling Awami League.

It is unprecedented for political appointments of this nature to be made to the top posts of public companies in this sector, according to multiple sources who wished to maintain anonymity.

Typically experts are appointed to these posts.

None of the new directors can claim expertise in the power or energy sectors.

A managing director of one of the companies in question, asking not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune that an “unhealthy” environment had been created at the state-owned companies because of the newcomers.

He said managing directors at the firms were facing pressure to recruit people preferred by the new director-appointees and to provide tenders to pre-selected parties.

The new directors’ lack of knowledge of the sectors they had been called to preside over has meant that trivial matters often displaced more important issues at board meetings, he said.

“They are just interested in new recruitment and staying updated about new tenders,” he said.

The presence of the political appointees has left other directors and expert directors feeling uncomfortable at meetings.

“This could affect company operations,” he added.

Among firms under the state-run Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla) – Rashedul Mahmood Russel is now director of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd, Khan Moinul Islam Mustaq is director of Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution Company Limited, Maksudul Alam Dablu is director of Sylhet Gas Fields Limited, Hasanuzzaman Majumdar Liton is director of Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited, Md Kawsar Ahmed is director of Sundarban Gas Company Limited, Sk Faruk Hassan Hitlu is director of Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited, MAS Imon is

Among the Power Division companies, Md Rabiul Hasnat, a Rehab executive committee member, is the new director of Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited and Banasree Biswas Smritikona, executive member of the central committee of Bangladesh Mahila Awami League, is director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited.

Among the Power Development Board companies, ex-Chhatra League leader S M Monjurul Haque Monju and Mammur Rashid, deputy managing director of the Index Group of companies, are both new directors of West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd.

THE NEW DIRECTORS BY THE NUMBERS

12 ex-Chhatra League leaders 3 businesspeople with connections to the ruling party 1 Mahila League leader 0 years of experience running a power or energy company director of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited and Md Saiful Islam is director of Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Ltd. Among firms under the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation – Istak Ahmmed Shimul is now director of Meghna Petroleum Limited, Md Arifuzzaman Miah Tutul is director of Padma Oil Company Limited and Saifuddin Nasir is director of Jamuna Oil Company Limited.

All are former leaders of the Chhatra League.

Rehab Vice-President Liakot Ali Bhuyan was appointed director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited.

Monowara Hakim Ali, director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, has been appointed director at both the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh and the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited.

Kamal Ahmed, managing partner of Benfish, is the new director of Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd. Contacted, the new director of Sylhet Gas Field, Mahmudul Haque Dablu, told the Dhaka Tribune he had been awarded the job as a Chhatra League member although he had no experience in the sector.

“I have been made a state minister. The govern-

ment evidently thinks I am fit for the job,” he said.

Banasree Biswas Smritikona, director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited, who has no professional experience in the field, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I have links with politics and may be politically appointed. What is the problem?”

The new director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, Liakot Ali Bhuyan, said: “There is no bar to appointing us. It may be that we do not have any experience. Our duty is to see if the company is working properly. We are doing this.”

Asking not to be named, an official of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry told the Dhaka Tribune that the state minister for power had convinced the government to back the appointment of party leaders and allied businessmen.

The state minister is a former president of Rehab.

He claimed the state minister had even appointed some people who were his personal assistants.

He added that many of the newly appointed directors had regularly visited the state minister’s office to lobby him.

The ministry official said political appointments would increase irregularities and corruption at the state-held companies.

State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid, who oversees the ministry’s operations, was not available for comment, declining to receive phone calls or reply to an email from the Dhaka Tribune.

A high official at the Prime Minister’s Office who said he was disappointed with the appointments said he had managed to block some of the appointments, especially to companies under the Power Division.

According to company law, the Power Division and Energy and Mineral Resources Division may at any time appoint or discharge anyone to or from directors’ posts. Company authorities must confirm the decision at the annual general meeting.

According to the law, directors receive Tk5,000 for every board meeting they attend. Meetings are typically held at least once a month but may be more frequent. l

AL men protest Jubo League leader’s killing n UNB Local Awami League activists yesterday staged demonstrations and blocked Dhaka-Tangail highway with the body of slain Jubo League leader Rafiqul Islam demanding immediate arrest of his killers.

They put barricade on the busy highway in Kaliakoir bus stand area in Kaliakoir upazila at noon when the body reached was brought home after an autopsy. During the demonstrations the upazila Awami League called a half day hartal in the upazila.

On Friday, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, former president of Kaliakoir upazila unit of Jubo League was killed in an infighting during a programme marking the National Mourning Day and August 21 grenade attack anniversary at Chandra in Kaliakoir upazila. l

Nandik Natyadal Sylhet brings out a bicycle rally in the city protesting child abuse in different parts of the country

COURTESY: MD AKHLAS UDDIN

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