May 13, 2016

SECOND EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016 | Boishakh 30, 1423, Shaban 5, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 21 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend supplement | Price: Tk10

EU envoy: Militancy, political uncertainty bar investment n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi Despite having huge potentials to attract investment from the European Union countries, Bangladesh is not getting much response due to growing militancy and political uncertainties, EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon said yesterday.

“First we are collectively convinced that Bangladesh is a land of opportunities for foreign companies. It has many assets for attracting foreign investments that you have eloquently highlighted, but foreign investments are not yet coming to Bangladesh in a big way,” he told reporters at the Commerce Ministry in Dhaka.

Shortage of energy and limited infrastructure are the other reasons why the foreign investors think twice before coming to Bangladesh, he added.

The EU is the highest importer of Bangladeshi products, especially the clothing items. In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh fetched $15.36 billion exporting apparel products, which is about 60% of the total RMG export.

Mayaudon was addressing the media after the first-ever meeting of the Bangladesh-EU Business Council titled “Business Climate Dialogue.”

Commerce Minister Tofail

BANGLADESH'S EXPORT TREND TO EU

12.74 11.37

10.52

2010-11

Source: Export Promotion Bureau

2011-12

Ahmed, senior Commerce Ministry officials, representatives from eight EU countries – the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain, and five joint chambers took part in the event.

The council was officially launched on February 5 last year. It was formed to act as a facilitator in

together with growing militancy that now translate into multiple savage and still unexplained and unpunished assassinations, including of foreigners,” said Mayaudon.

In his speech, Tofail said that the government was investing heavily on large-scale infrastructure and energy projects. “To spur  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

RMG export value (in $bn)

17.03

16.38

11.95

14.75

15.36

12.57

2012-13

dealing with trade and investment issues between the EU and Bangladesh, and to play an advocacy role on issues of common interest.

Some 25 members from the EU, an economic bloc of 28 countries, are its members.

“Of course, the uncertainties of the political context are often put forward to explain this stagnation,

n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Dhaka North Mayor Annisul Huq has urged residents of the capital to be patient for two more years to get better services from different city authorities.

The mayor’s comments followed a week of extensive coverage by the Dhaka Tribune on the performance of the two mayors during their first year in office.

During a two-hour webcast on the Facebook page of “Amra Dhaka” from 8pm to 10pm yesterday, the mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) answered queries from his constituents and welcomed their suggestions on solving the problems of the city.

Most participants in the webcast expressed their complaints against illegal occupation of Dhaka’s footpaths, roads, water bodies, playgrounds and parks.

They also asked the mayor to solve different issues like water stagnation, random road digging, crisis of drinking water, traffic jam, poor condition of both waste management and transportation systems, mosquitoes and sky-rocketing house rents.

Faisal Arif, a resident of Gulshan, asked Annisul when road digging would end at posh residential areas like Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara.

Total export value (in $bn)

13.97

Annisul to Dhaka dwellers: Be patient for better services

2013-14

2014-15

PHOTO: RAJIB DHAR, INFOGRAPHIC: ASMAUL HOQUE MAMUN

Bangladesh protests Pakistan’s Turkey recalls its envoy reaction to Nizami’s execution Dhaka n n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday strongly protested the press release published on the Pakistan Foreign Ministry website and a resolution passed at the Pakistan National Assembly on the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami.

Pakistan High Commissioner to Dhaka Shuja Alam was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and handed over a note verbale.

“We asked the high commissioner to convey the message to his authorities to refrain from such actions in the future as it is not acceptable,” said Secretary (Bilateral

and Consular) Mizanur Rahman after the meeting, which only lasted 10 minutes.

The envoy was summoned twice in a short period of time, so one can understand how strong the protest language is, he added.

“We consider it as an interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh and we made it clear to him,” he went on.

According to the note verbale, this is an impediment to the bilateral relations.

Bangladesh’s acting high commissioner to Pakistan Nazmul Huda was also summoned by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry where he made Bangladesh’s position clear

in this regard.

High Commissioner Shuja Alam did not make any comments at the meeting.

The note verbale stated that by repeatedly siding with Bangladeshi nationals who are convicted of crimes against humanity and genocide, Pakistan has once again acknowledged its direct involvement and complicity with the atrocities committed during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.

By doing so, it relentlessly opposes Bangladesh’s effort to ensure justice and break the culture of impunity for the crimes committed 45 years ago, it stated.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Tribune Desk

Turkey has withdrawn its ambassador to Bangladesh Devrim Öztürk, Reuters reported yesterday quoting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for genocide and other crimes during the 1971 Liberation War. Quoting a diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity, leading Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News reported that the ambassador was expected to arrive in Ankara yesterday.

The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has no information about the move. “We have no information about it,” Secretary (bilateral and

consular) Mizanur Rahman said.

Another official seeking anonymity said: “We did not get any information – formally or informally.”

The Turkish Embassy in Dhaka sent a note verbale on Wednesday informing the Foreign Ministry that their ambassador would go on leave from the following day.

The same day, the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the execution of Nizami. President Erdoğan made a statement on the eve of the execution, while demonstrators in Ankara and Istanbul protested against the hanging of the war criminal.

Chief of notorious al-Badr force that collaborated with the Pakistani  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

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‘Country being plunged into darkness of incivility’

Hasina: Next budget aims at investment, generating jobs

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Showkat Kallol and Syed n Asif Samiul Basher Anik

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday alleged that the incumbent government has been pushing the country towards a darkness of incivility.

“The illegal government has been issuing certificates of despotism to ruling party men. They are plunging the country into a darkness of incivility,” she said in a press statement.

The BNP chief claimed that citizens were concerned as lawlessness was prevailing in the country.

“The ruling party men have created a chaotic situation in the country through their despotism and unruly behaviour under direct patronage from the ruling party.

Shameless partisanship and misuse of administration and law enforcement agencies have not kept any space of normal operation in those organisations,” she said.

Khaleda alleged that even after that, Awami League criminals were attacking administration officials and police personnel. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday emphasised attracting investment and focusing more on employment generation while formulating the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2016-17.

She also called upon the respective authorities to take initiatives to increase government investment as the private investment is not coming up to the demand.

The prime minister has asked the finance division under the Finance Ministry to take necessary initiatives and organise programmes like fairs and road show to encourage investment, sources who attended the meeting told the Dhaka Tribune.

Prime Minister Hasina made the remarks at a meeting with taxes authorities and finance division officials at Ganabhaban yesterday.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, State Minister for Finance and Planning M A Mannan, NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman and NBR

members, finance division top officials attended the meeting among others.

Hasina also called upon the taxes authorities to act more efficiently in boosting revenue collection, said a top official, who declined to be named.

Hasina called upon tax authorities to act more efficiently in boosting revenue collection In regards to confusion among public over establishment of economic zones, she asked the Finance Ministry to come forward to clear the concept and confusion among people.

The finance division officials informed the prime minister that the growth target of the gross domestic product (GDP) may be set in between 7.3% and 7.5% for 2016-17 annual budget, the sources said.

Finance Minister Muhith is all

set to place the budget for 2016-17 on June 2.

According to meeting discussions, the next budget size may be set at Tk3,40,735 crore.

The government may set the total tax and non-tax revenue target at Tk2,42,752 crore for the next fiscal year and the budget deficit may stand at little over around Tk95,000 crore. The NBR revenue amount may be set at Tk2,03,152 crore for the year that will begin from July.

To achieve the NBR revenue target, the government may emphasise the expansion of tax-base making necessary changes to its tax and duty structure and preventing tax evasions with the help of policy measures.

The next budget will be putting the highest importance on skills development, generation of human resources and employments, and on development of power, energy and information technology sectors.

Prime Minister Hasina will deliver her closing speech on the budget before the House passes it on June 29. l

Turkey recalls its Dhaka envoy Army during the war, Nizami, 75, was hanged at 12:10am on Wednesday following due legal process inside the Dhaka Central Jail amid tight security.

Erdogan earlier called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to stop the execution of condemned war criminal Abdul Quader Molla.

The Jamaat leader was hanged on December 12, 2013.

In December 2012, then Turkish president Abdullah Gul wrote to his Bangladeshi counterpart, calling on him not to put former Jamaat ameer Ghulam Azam to death if he was found guilty.

The Bangladesh wing of Jamaat has close ties with the Turkish ruling party – Justice and Develop-

ment Party, abbreviated JDP or AK in English.

“Egypt’s Brotherhood, Turkish AK Party, and Jamaat in Bangladesh and Pakistan want to establish Islamic state in their own countries after coming to power,” BBC Bangla said yesterday quoting Kolkata-based political science teacher Moidul Islam as saying.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry has also condemned the execution while its parliament passed a resolution expressing concern.

The ministry said that the only sin of Nizami had been to uphold the constitution of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Turkish Hürriyet Daily News yesterday reported that groups connected to sever-

al Turkish NGOs had protested in front of the Bangladesh Embassy in Ankara late on Tuesday. On the other hand, members of the Anatolia Youth Association (AGD) gathered to voice their objections at a park in Istanbul.

“I condemn the mentality that sentences to death a mujahid, who is over the age of 70 and who we believe has no earthly sin. I think that such proliferation of hatred there, and the ordering of such death sentences despite our repeated initiatives, is neither fair governance nor a democratic mentality,” Erdoğan said on Tuesday, Hürriyet Daily News reports.

“Twelve million people have been victimised in Syria and about

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Annisul to Dhaka dwellers Apologising for any inconvenience, the mayor replied: “Although the city corporation is not the authority concerned to develop storm-water drainage system, we have taken the project considering the harassment of the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara area, as these are the areas affected by water stagnation during monsoon.”

Replying to a query about 3,000 new buses, Annisul told a city resident named Jabed that two more years would be needed to improve city bus services because of a strong syndicate of around 190 companies.

Answering a question on illegal encroachers, the mayor said: “When we asked local ruling Awami League leaders, lawmakers and local councillors, they all assured of providing cooperation. But it becomes a great problem when any of these persons provide shelter to agitators during a drive.”

Annisul further referred to the obstruction he faced during a drive to remove a truck stand from the city’s Saat Rasta intersection.

He added that it would need the effort of everyone – not only the mayor – to make a green, clean, and liveable modern Dhaka. l

BD protests 600,000 innocent people have been killed. No Muslim can completely free himself/herself of responsibility for this sin. Those who keep silent now in the face of what happens in Bangladesh cannot abdicate their responsibility either,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry also strongly condemned the execution of Nizami in a written statement, saying that it did not believe that “Nizami deserved such a punishment,” reports the Daily Sabah.

The statement said that Turkey, which has abolished capital punishment, feared that the use of such methods risked creating “rancor and hatred between our Bangladeshi brothers.” l

Bangladesh also strongly rejected Pakistan’s version of Nizami’s “only sin,” as mentioned in the press release, which was to uphold the constitution of Pakistan. In fact, he was tried for specific crimes during 1971.

“The election of Nizami as a parliament member, needless to say by a flawed and widely rigged voting, did not exonerate him from prosecution for such crimes,” the note said. For a die-hard anti-liberation person like Nizami to become a minister in Bangladesh will remain one of the darkest and most shameful episodes in history.

The government deeply regrets that the malicious campaign by Pakistan against the trials of the crimes against humanity and genocide in Bangladesh, it said. l

EU envoy: Militancy, political uncertainty bar investment the industrialisation-led growth, we have taken initiative to establish 100 economic zones all over the country,” he said, adding that the economic zones provide wide scope for investment as a developer or unit investor.

He also urged the EU Business Council to assess the incentives offered to foreign investors in Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh has the world’s largest demographic power in the world with young people, which can attract foreign investment,” Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah

Al Mamoon told reporters during the briefing. Bangladesh is developing infrastructure projects to achieve its vision of becoming a middle-income country by 2021, he added.

The council is composed of key EU business representatives who are members of the national chambers of commerce, the ambassadors and/or heads of commercial sections of all the EU member state missions, as well as representatives of the EU delegation to Bangladesh. It also has a select number of members representing the EU companies having a strong market

presence in Bangladesh.

What’s the actual situation?

Asked about the EU envoy’s concerns, Centre for Policy Dialogue Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman said: “It is their perception. Yes, there is uncertainty to some extent as the country has witnessed some extremist attacks in the recent time.”

To improve the image of the country, the government has to identify the culprits through rapid investigation and bring them to book, Mustafizur told the Dhaka Tribune, adding that such steps

would help restore investors’ confidence and attract more investment.

“The country’s infrastructure and energy situation has improved, and if the economic zones are implemented, it will be possible to adjust,” he said.

However, BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman thinks that there is no political instability in the country at the moment.

The country’s business environment is in favour of foreign investment as well as local investment,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. “On the other hand, there is no militant

activities in the country linked to global militancy that can threaten foreign investments. Those attacks were carried out by local militants centring the war crimes trials,” he claimed.

Siddiqur quoted the US ambassador to Bangladesh to claim that Bangladesh is a suitable place for foreign investment.

According the latest data of the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh earned $17.04b in the last fiscal year and $16.38b in FY201314. Import from the EU countries stood at $2.45b in the last fiscal. l

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'Free wifi zones in 50 Government approves DSCC public places' Tk123,345cr ADP outlay n n Tribune Report

The government has approved a Tk123,345 crore Annual Development Programme outlay for the next fiscal year, with the largest allocation going to the transportation sector.

A meeting of the National Economic Council, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, endorsed the outlay for the 2016-17 fiscal year yesterday.

The Planning Ministry originally proposed a Tk109,200cr outlay, which was 20% higher than the Tk91,000cr revised ADP for the ongoing fiscal year.

On top of the ministry’s proposal, the prime minister allocated a further Tk1,500cr to meet demands from different ministries

and divisions, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters after the meeting.

The total ADP becomes Tk123,345 crore when the Tk12,645cr outlay for autonomous bodies is taken into account.

Kamal said that from the approved ADP outlay, Hasina assigned Tk3,000cr for the Power Division.

He added that a total Tk70,700cr would come from the government exchequer, Tk40,000cr from foreign assistance and Tk12,645cr from autonomous bodies.

“We have allocated Tk28,503cr for the country’s transportation sector, with the biggest allocation of Tk6,025cr going to the Padma Bridge project,” Kamal said.

According to the ADP proposal, the Education Ministry would

get the second biggest allocation of Tk14,457cr, followed by Tk12,664cr for Power Division and Tk8,988cr for rural development and enterprises.

A total Tk2,977cr would be allocated as development assistance for local development projects in city corporations, zila-upazila-union parishads, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Minister Kamal said.

Sheikh Hasina also issued a directive that the same project director cannot be appointed for multiple development projects from the coming fiscal year, while all directors would have to stay in their respective project areas.

The projects that have been going on for a long time would not get any more deadline extension from the next fiscal year, the premier ordered. l

Abu Hayat Mahmud

The mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, Mohammad Sayeed Khokon, has announced that 50 public places will have free wifi zones, enabling residents free access to the internet.

Sayeed Khokon made the announcement after the launch of free wifi access at the Lalbagh Fort in old Dhaka yesterday.

DSCC Chief Executive Officer Khan Mohammad Bilal and BTCL Managing Director Golam Fakhruddin Ahmed Chowdhury, among others, were present during the inauguration ceremony.

“We have started the free wifi zoning from Lalbagh and it will also be at every important building under DSCC within six months,” he said, adding that Dhaka South will be a re-

formed and planned part of Dhaka.

BTCL and DSCC have been jointly arranging the free wifi access in the south part of the capital.

The areas which will also come under free wifi zones are – Bangabandhu Museum, Bangabandhu Avenue, Russell Square, Ahsan Manzil, Curzon Hall, Kamalapur Railway Station, Bahadur Shah Park, Osmani Uddyan, Ramna Park, Baldha Garden, Mahanagar Natyamancha, Shishu Park, Dhanmondi Lake, Nagar Bhaban, DSCC Zones 2, 3 and 5, Sayedabad Bus Terminal, Fulbaria Bus Terminal, Sadarghat Launch Terminal, Dhaka Mohanagar General Hospital, Najirabazar Maternity Clinic, New Market, and all the community centres and public auditoriums, libraries and cultural institutions under DSCC. l

BD, India work closely to fight against terrorism n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Bangladesh and India have vowed to work closely to fight against terrorism and violent extremism.

“This is an issue which is of direct concern to us as neighbours and we are in touch and we work closely bilaterally and closely together on those matters,” Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said after meeting his Bangladeshi counterpart Md Shahidul Haque in Dhaka yesterday.

Jaishanker said he conveyed Delhi’s strong support to Dhaka as it battles terrorism and extremism.

He came to Dhaka on Wednesday and handed over an invitation letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend BRICS summit to be held in Goa in October.

“The prime minister on principle agreed to attend the conference,” Foreign Secretary Shahidul said.

He said they discussed eliminating terrorism and extremism. “For this, we are working bilaterally, regionally and internationally.”

They exchanged notes of their respective countries and found out that they have many things in common, Shahidul said. Jaishanker said the purpose of his visit was to review bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Bangladesh last year and they reviewed the progress made during the visit, Jaishanker said.

“I must tell you we had a very good report to present. We have really moved forward in a number of areas,” he added. l

Traffic was as usual in Dhaka during the day-long strike imposed by Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday in protest of their Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami’s execution. The photo was taken at Banani RAJIB DHAR

Lightning kills 22, injures 20 in the country n Tribune Desk

At least 22 people were killed and 20 others injured by lightning in Dhaka and several other districts yesterday.

In Dhaka, two university students were struck by lightning and killed in Jatrabari in the evening, while another was injured.

The deceased were Dhaka polytechnic student Mohammad Noman Hasan Lincoln, 21, and Ahsanullah university's Shahed Sohag, 20.

Witnesses said the victims were playing football in a field when they were struck by lightning around 5pm.

Locals rushed them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Lincoln and Sohag were pronounced dead. The injured, Raiyan, is undergoing treatment there.

In Rajshahi, three people were killed and four others injured by lightning in Mohonpur upazila.

The victims – Abdur Razzak, 28, Abdul Aziz, 50, and Sri Soito Chandra, 30 – died on the spot when a thunderbolt struck them during a storm around 1:30pm, said Abdus Samad, chairman of Mohonpur upazila.

In Brahmanbaria, 50-year-old Jahanara Begum was killed while her daughters Tasmina Akhter, 32, and

Romeza Akhtar, 12, were injured by lightning at Dobazail village in Sarail around 1:30pm.

In Gazipur, a farmer and a housewife were killed in Kapasia around 4:30pm. The victims were Abdus Sattar, 30, of Kurigram, and Rubina, 36, a local.

In Habiganj, a farmer named Habib Miah, 25, was killed by lightning in Baniachong upazila around 4:30pm. Eight others were injured in the same upazila.

In Kishoreganj, Hossainpur Degree College student Shariful Islam Shuvo, 18, was killed by lightning in Hossainpur around 3pm.

In Narshingdi, three people were killed by lightning and two others were injured. The deceased were Josna Begum, 38, Abdul Karim, 50, and Fuli Begum, 32. The injured are Tayeb Ali, 17, and Meher Begum, 40, from Raipura.

In Natore, two people were killed by lightning in Lalpur upazila. The victims were Sahara Banu, 48, from North Lalpur, and Mobarak Ali, 30, from Raghunath village. Two others were injured in the upazila as well.

In Sirajganj, five people were killed by lightning in the district’s Raiganj and Ullahpara upazilas.

The victims were Nupur Khatun, 8,

from Chokpur village, Abdul Motaleb, 42, and Anwar Hossain, 45, from Baikanthapur village, and Abdul Latif, 35, and Shahinur Begum, 30, from Shimla village.

In Pirojpur, two people of the same family were struck by lightning at Harji villiage in the district’s Mathbaria upazila early yesterday.

Yunus Sikdar, 60, a farmer, was killed on the spot, while his sisterin-law Ayesha Begum, 55, was severely injured.

In Nilphamari, a housewife named Lalbibi Begum, 35, was killed by lightning at Phulerghat village in Kishoriganj upazila. l

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$400 Brahmanbaria power plant in the works n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd (APSCL) is inviting tenders to build a half a billion dollar 400MW gas-based combined-cycle power plant in Brahmanbaria.

“We are inviting bids … for site preparation, detailed engineering, design, installation and commissioning, on a turnkey basis, of the Ashuganj 400MW power plant project (East),” APSCL Managing Director AMM Sazzadur Rahman yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bids are expected to include the demolition and disposal of existing unit 3 plant, Sazzadur added.

The company has already invited international tenders for the project. The deadline for tender submissions is July 20.

“We have received a loan from the Asian Development Bank and have applied for a loan from the Islamic Development Bank to implement the project,” Sazzadur said.

“We hope to sign a $220 million credit assistance agreement with the Islamic Development Bank by

June for the Ashuganj (East) power plant project,” an APSCL official said, asking not to be named.

The loan will help replace the old steam and gas turbine power plants with a more efficient 400MW gasfired combined cycle power plant at the Ashuganj Power Station complex.

The 400MW plant project is a five-year project running from January 2016 to December 2020. The estimated cost of the project is Tk4,000 crore, or roughly $500 million.

Prospective bidders are required to have experience building at

least one combined-cycle power plant with a minimum capacity of 300MW within the last 10 years.

That plant should have been in satisfactory operation for at least three years at the date of bid submission, according to bid documents.

APSCL is the largest stateowned power production company, and is an enterprise of the Power Development Board (PDB) under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

The company was registered on June 28, 2000 under the Companies

Act, 1994. It supplies 16% of the total electricity produced in the country.

APSCL produces around 982MW of electricity and has the capacity to produce 1,127MW through its nine units.

At the same location, APSCL is installing the 450MW gas-based combined-cycle power plant (South) that is expected to go into commercial operation from June this year and the 450MW combined-cycle power plant (North), which is expected to be commissioned in June 2017. l

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BERC approves retail power tariffs hike n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) at a recent meeting accepted proposals by four state-owned electricity distribution companies to raise retail power tariffs.

There are five electricity distribution companies in the country.

The Power Development Board (PDB), the single authority to sell bulk electricity in Bangladesh, is yet to submit its proposal. The regulatory body has asked the PDB to send retail power tariffs proposals soon.

In regards to tariff hike of bulk electricity, BERC in the meeting asked PDB to come up with a complete proposal soon, as the PDB proposal suggesting a 29.39% tariff

raise at bulk level was found incomplete.

The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), responsible for transmission of power, is also yet to send its proposals to BERC on electricity wheeling charge from its clients – distribution companies.

“Wheeling” refers to the transfer of electrical power through transmission and distribution lines from one utility’s service area to another.

“We have recently accepted proposals for electricity price hike from the power distribution companies,” a BERC member told Dhaka Tribune yesterday. “However, the BERC cannot make any decision until it gets the proposal from PDB on bulk and retail price hike.”

The power distribution com-

BERC to make the proposed tariff effective as soon as possible.

According to the PDB bulk tariff proposal, the production cost of each unit of power is Tk6.34 while the wholesale price of per unit now is Tk4.90, leaving the PDB counting Tk1.44 loss per unit.

In January last year, the BERC organised a series of public hearings after state-owned power distribution companies moved to have electricity tariffs increased.

After the hearing, the BERC on September 1 hiked power tariffs

by Tk0.23 or 4.93% per unit for bulk consumption, propelled by a 0.05% rise in transmission charges.

It means that the wholesale price of every unit was hiked from Tk4.67 to Tk4.90. Besides, each unit of electricity is now effective at 2.93%

panies have been incurring huge losses by purchasing electricity from costly rental and quick rental power plants.

Earlier, the four state-owned electricity distribution companies submitted their proposals in accordance to a government decision to hike retail power tariffs by between 7.08% and 10.76% per kilowatt-hour.

The Rural Electrification Board (REB) sought a 7.08% rise in its existing tariff, West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited asked for an increase of 10.76%, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) 8.86% and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO) 8.35%, according to the proposals.

The four companies urged the

hike or costs a retail price of Tk6.33 from Tk6.15, as per the September 2015 decision.

The five power distributors supply electricity to around 20 million consumers across the country. The government also reduced the price of furnace oil, used mainly to generate electricity, by Tk18 per litre, effective from April 1 this year.

Consumer Association of Bangladesh’s energy adviser Prof Shamsul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that the proposals on bulk and retail power price hike was completely illogical.

“The price of furnace oil was reduced. So, the government do not need to increase the price of electricity as per the proposal of the power distribution companies,” he said. l

RAB arrests Dhaka unit JMB ameer n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

The Dhaka unit ameer of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and three other members of the banned militant outfit were arrested by RAB yesterday from two different areas of Dhaka.

The detainees are JMB Ameer Md Abdul Baten alias Khairul Islam alias Mamunul Hoque, Md Monir Mollah alias Monir, Md Golam Kibriya alias Akter and Md Roman Khan alias Rumon. Of them, Abdul Baten and Monir were detained from Dhaka’s Khilgaon area and the other two were held from Kamalapur.

RAB sources said a pistol, four rounds of bullets, 31 petrol bombs, splinter nuts, one kilogramme of explosives and jihadi books were found in their possessions.

“We arrested the four militants based on intelligence information that they were planning to carry out subversive activities in the country,” RAB Legal and Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan told reporters at a press conference held in RAB Headquarters yesterday.

Acting on a tip-off, a RAB team conducted a drive around 10:30pm on Wednesday and arrested Abdul Baten and Monir Mollah from Khilgaon bus stand area, Mufti Mahmud said. “We had information that two other JMB men were coming from Chittagong for a meeting, so we conducted another drive in Kamalapur area and arrested Kibria and Roman,” he added.

He claimed the current JMB Dhaka chief Abdul Baten was a close associate of Mohammad Naim whose name came up during the investigation of the JMB attack in West Bengal’s Bardhaman on October 2, 2014, along with the name of another JMB leader Shaikh Rahmatullah alias Masum alais Sajid.

He said the banned militant outfit was trying to increase its manpower and under the leadership of Baten, Golam Kibriya – an ehsar member – and Monir – a gayebe ehsar member – of JMB has been collecting money from certain individuals from Dhaka’s Gulshan and Badda areas for carrying out sabotage.

“In primary interrogation they revealed names of their financiers. We are currently verifying the names and if we find any link, we will arrest them,” he added.

The RAB director said JMB top leaders who are in the hiding and who have secured bails from courts are trying to reorganise the banned outfit, taking advantage of the country’s political instability.

He said: “In Baten’s interrogation, it was found that he had his militant training in Chittagong Hill Tracts and other remote areas of the country.” “The JMB men have been trained in bomb-making and operating small arms,” he added.

Replying to a question, Mufti Mahmud said that they are keeping a close eye on the JMB men who have secured bail or came out of jail but he could not state the exact numbers. l

TEMPERATURE FOREC AST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN FRIDAY, MAY 13

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RAB presents before the media four people, including the chief of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh’s Dhaka unit, detained from different areas of Dhaka in possession of petrol bombs, bomb-making materials and Jihadi books. The photos were taken at RAB Headquarters yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

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TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:17AM

37.8ºC Jessore

23.2ºC Rangpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

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PRAYER TIMES

Sylhet

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Cox’s Bazar

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Fajr: 4:45am | Jumma: 1:15pm Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:40pm Esha: 8:30pm Source: Islamic Foundation

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FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

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FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

No impact of Jamaat’s hartal n Tribune Desk The 24-hour long hartal yesterday, enforced by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting execution of its Ameer and Al-Badr Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for committing crime against humanity, had no impact on public life.

Our Chittagong correspondent said traffic was almost normal since morning as a good number of motorized vehicles mostly commuters’ services, buses, rickshaws and CNG-run auto-rickshaws were seen plying in the city streets defying the hartal.

Attendance at public, private offices and banks were as usual while trading at Chaktai-Khatungonj, the prime wholesale business hub in the country, was also normal, Khatungonj business association sources said.

Operational activities inside all 174 industries at Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) went on in full swing and attendances of the workers were almost normal while all scheduled trains to and from the port city left and arrived as per schedules, Railway and CEPZ authority sources said.

All domestic and international flights at Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport took off and

landed according to schedule, airport sources said.

Operational activities including loading and unloading of cargoes at ships inside the port and outer anchorage were as usual but transportation of goods to and from Chittagong port slightly halted.

Police and witnesses said that there was no picketing or procession

by Jamaat-Shibir activists during the shutdown. Metropolitan and District police control room sources said there were no reports of any untoward incident from any part of the city and district during the strike.

Bangladesh Awami League (AL) and its front organizations including Bangladesh Chhatra League dominated almost all the city streets by holding rallies and bringing out processions.

Chittagong city unit President of Awami League and former Mayor A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury and city mayor A J M Nasir Uddin addressed at least 23 series of rallies organized by Awami League and it’s front organizations where they said the Jamaat’s hartal totally failed as the people of Chittagong rejected it.

Huge law enforcers including, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were seen patrolling in different parts of the city and district to

avert untoward situation.

In Rangpur, according to the police control room and local sources, the leaders, activists and workers of Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Chatra Shibir and pro-hartal picketers remained off the city streets in all eight upazila towns in the district throughout the day.

The concerned administration have deployed huge number of police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members and also set up check posts in the city, its adjoining areas and other places for maintaining law and order.

The civic life and normal activities remained unaffected today as the common people did not show any response to the hartal enforced

by Jamaat. Rickshaws, auto-bikes, bicycles, motorcycles, private transports, trains, long route buses and coaches, trucks and heavy vehicles plied normally and as per schedule on the roads and highways, reports BSS. Besides, activities in government and non-governmental offices, educational institutions, banks, insurance offices, other financial institutions, business establishments and markets were normal.

The Awami League, its associate bodies and other pro-liberation or-

DT

News ganisations today brought out processions denouncing the Jamaat’s hartal against execution of Jamaat Ameer and infamous Al-Badr Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Thana ABM Zahidul Islam said adequate security measures have been taken and no untoward incident took place anywhere in the city and its adjoining areas today.

Our Barisal correspondent reports no procession or picketing was seen in support of the hartal across the city during the hartal hours.

The daily life was normal as there was no report of any untoward incident during the period.

Government and private offices, and financial institutions were open. The presence of motorised vehicles on the streets was usual.

However, yesterday’s HSC examinations were rescheduled due to the strike.

Earlier, condemned war criminal Matiur Rahman Nizami was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail in the early hours of Wednesday for leading the atrocities that had been committed during the Liberation War in 1971.

The sentence was executed after Nizami refused to file any mercy petition to the president. l

BCL demands removal of magistrate who arrested Rony n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

The Chittagong unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) yesterday demanded release of its Secretary Nurul Azim Rony, arrested with arms and ammunition during the union parishad polls.

BCL activists have been staging protests in the city since Rony’s arrest on May 7. They also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina through Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Mesbah Uddin, who had described Rony as a “good and noble leader” he knew personally.

BCL leaders claimed the arrest of the “popular student leader” was part of a conspiracy by Judicial Magistrate Harunur Rashid and Hathazari police’s Officer-inCharge Md Ismail against BCL. Rony’s leading role in driving out Islami Chhatra Shibir from Chittagong College and Mohsin College made him an eyesore of Jammat-e-Islami and anti-liberation forces, the memorandum claimed, requesting the prime minister to release him to save his political career. l

Promod Mankin to be buried at Haluaghat n BSS The burial of state minister for social welfare Advocate Promod Mankin will be held at Haluaghat today.

Mankin, a Christian in belief, died of lung cancer on Wednesday in a Mumbai hospital at the age of 77. He left behind five daughters and a son to mourn his death.

The body of Mankin, a threetime parliament member from Haluaghat-Dhobaura constituency, was kept at the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in capital Dhaka yesterday to pay last homage.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, Chief Whip ASM Feroz, whips, parliament members and Awami League leaders paid their respect to the deceased by placing wreaths over his coffin.

President’s Military Secretary also paid last honour to Mankin on behalf of President Abdul Hamid.

A guard of honour was accorded to Mankin while a special prayer was offered for his eternal peace. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina consoles the family members of Promod Mankin, the late state minister of social welfare, at the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Dhaka yesterday BSS

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News

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

Teenage hotel boy Risky wiring big menace for residents tortured to death Gaibandha n n Md Selim Reja, Benapole

A teenage worker of a residential hotel, who was severely injured after allegedly being beaten and dropped from the hotel building by its owner, died at Jessore Medical College Hospital yesterday night.

The deceased was Mafiqul Islam Munna, 16, son of Jahangir Hossain, a resident of Bahilapota village in Sharsha upazila.

Munna used to work at Sonar Bangla Residential Hotel as a hotel boy.

Jahangir claimed hotel owner Abu Taleb beat up Munna on May 8 over a trifling matter and dropped him from the rooftop of the hotel building,

leaving him seriously injured.

Later, Taleb sent Munna to his uncle Shamim’s house at Sadipur village.

On the following day, Munna was admitted to Navaron Clinic and later. As his condition deteriorated, he was later shifted to Jessore Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Victim’s uncle Shamim filed a case with Benapole Port police station against the hotel owner, his wife and son in connection with the incident, said Apurba Hasan, officer-in-charge of the police station.

The police arrested Nurunnahar Begum and son Milon Ali while the hotel owner was absconding. l

Journalist goes missing Hossain, n Tanveer Narayanganj

A journalist of the Dainik Bhorer Katha, a Bangla daily, has remained missing since Wednesday night in the district.

The victim is Mahbub Rahman, local correspondent of the daily and a member of Sonargaon Press Club.

Fatema Begum, wife of Mahbub, said her husband went out in the evening and did not return home.

“When I phoned him at night, his mobile phone was switched off,” she said.

Following the incident, the relatives of Mahbub started to find out him.

Later, they found the motorcycle of him in abandoned condition in front of Royal Hospital in Mograpara intersection.

Babul Moshrraf, president of the press club, visited the resident of Mahbub yesterday evening and requested the local administration to rescue the journalist immediately.

Md Manjur Kader, officerin-charge of Sonargaon police station, said they were trying to rescue the missing journalist. l

Man to die for killing wife in Bagerhat M Samsur Rahmann, n SBagerhat A court in the district yesterday sentenced a man to death for killing his newly married wife, also a student of Eden College, Dhaka.

The convict is Mahmudul Alam, 35, a resident of Udaypur Daibokanti village in Mollahat upazila.

District and Sessions Judge M Mizanur Rahman Khan handed down the verdict in the morning.

According to the prosecution, Mahmudul secretly married Sharifa Akhter Putul, 21, a 3rd year student of History de-

partment at the Eden College, following a love affair. As both families came to know the matter, they arranged a reception programme on May 10, 2013.

On May 13, after revealing some indecent text messages in Putul’s cell phone, Mahmudul slaughtered her on suspicion that Putul had developed an extramarital affairs.

On May 14, Md Abu Doud Sheikh, father of the victim filed a case with Mollahat police station.

On November 10, ANM Khairul Anam, officer-incharge of the police station, submitted a charge-sheet against 14 persons. l

Md Tazul Islam, Gaibandha

Risky electrical wiring in different areas of Gaibandha are causing frequent accidents, with eight people dying from electrocution in the last seven months.

Gaibandha electricity distribution office sources said almost 200 kilometres of electric lines out of 894 kilometres riskily run through trees, bamboos and on top of houses without any safety measures.

Wiring in some places has also been badly damaged.

Ramjan Ali, an electrical engineer who lives in Bridge Road and works at a private firm, said such risky wiring could easily cause

short circuit, leading to fatal accidents.

According to police sources, eight people have so far died from electrocution since November 15 last year in the district.

Officer-in-Charge of Gaibandha Sadar police station Mehedi Hasan said unnatural death cases had been filed over the eight deaths.

The risky lines are mostly seen in the district’s Daspara, Dhankuti and Kutipara under Lakshmipur union, Burir Khamar under Kuptala union, and Kheyaghat, Koyarpara, Pulbandi and Trimohani under Boali union.

Swapan Miah, a school teacher in Daspara village, said risky wiring

is seen beside Gaibandha-Sundarganj road where electric lines have been tied to trees and bamboos.

“Hundreds of people risk their lives every day as they travel by vehicles on this road. A big accident can happen any time,” he said.

Farmer Lal Miah of the same village said it has even become risky to tie cattle to objects on the roadside.

“Power officials allowed such risky wiring by taking bribes, and they did not care about safety.

Even though these electric lines are risky, they are not taking any measure to ensure safety,” said Mukul Miah of Kumetpur village in Palashbari upazila. l

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DT

Feature

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

Something beautiful happened when a duck crossing went horribly wrong

n Samier Mansur So, I was the guy who stopped rush hour traffic on Washington DC’s busy GW Parkway last night, and fought with a mother duck.

Let me explain:

Mother’s Day just came and went and the whole episode reminded me that the courageous spirit and strength of motherhood travels through all creatures of this earth - no matter how big or small

As I sat in traffic, I saw a mother duck crossing the road with about half a dozen little ones waddling in tow. “Aww,” I thought. “How beautiful springtime is in DC.” Cue melodious Disney music. Right then, the car in front of me - which

probably didn’t see the family of ducks - sped on ahead, and right over them. My jaw dropped.

I cringed and closed my eyes anticipating the worst. Hard stop on Disney music.

As the car drove off, I saw that one duckling was completely squashed under the tire, and another had a leg torn off.

Thankfully, most made it out.

Mother-duck was naturally in hysterics. She wouldn’t leave her fallen one behind. She kept nudging at it in a panic - as if her repeated nudges would revive it all the while tending to the other ducklings scrambling about the road in a state of confusion. It was a sad scene.

At this point, I feared other cars might start shooting into the road, so I hit the breaks and used my car to block traffic, and ran out into the street. My mission: get the ducks across the road before the onslaught of rush-hour made its way around my car. To complicate matters, mother duck began to attack me in the middle of the road

as she would not leave the fallen one behind! So, with the help of another kind lady, we gathered the little ducklings to take them over to the other side, knowing mother duck would pursue. Seeing us make off with the little ones, mother duck did just that, and gave furious chase behind us.

Finally, we made it across the road with all of them intact, including the injured ducking.

Mother was not happy with me, and while I helped the last one over the curb, she attacked again with the full wrath and fury of any mother who just endured the loss.

For all she knew, I was trying to steal her ducklings. I forgive you, mother duck!

Some of you may laugh at the triviality of this story. Tragedies and epic catastrophes are taking place all around us every moment of the day. I even prepared a succulent tandoori chicken for dinner, so what gives! I get it. It was remarkable, sad, and - dare I say - almost human to see the mother duck struggle to revive her

lost one; how she wouldn’t leave its side, even fighting a grown man just to be near it and protect the others. Mother’s Day just came and went and the whole episode reminded me that the courageous spirit and strength of motherhood travels through all creatures of this earth - no matter how big or small.

And that’s a powerful lesson, especially for this urbanite.

As I hurried back to my car, I expected the wrath of DC rush hour commuters (there’s no wrath quite like it) to descend upon me in a fury of honks and expletives or worse! But to my surprise, there was absolute silence. Every car that passed slowly by rolled down their window to say “thank you,” or give a silent thumbs up. It was encouraging and heart-warming because I knew that in that moment we all recognised what was happening, and did our part to share the space with nature as best as we could. We all cared, and rooted for these little guys.

There’s time and space for us all.

And perhaps there’s hope, too. l

DT

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Feature

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

Pitch perfect Behind every successful publication, there’s an idea that got sold

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Whether you’re a screenwriter or a novelist, a features journalist or a copywriter, if you’re making a living out of your words and phrases, at some point, you’re going to have to convince someone that the brilliant idea percolating in your head deserves an audience, and more importantly, an investment.

And usually, the person who’s going to make you very rich or famous probably hears a million such ideas every day, and is hard pressed for time. This is where it becomes imperative to perfect your pitch, to get your foot in the door. Let’s take a look at the basic rules of writing pitches.

Brevity Above everything, aim to be

concise. You only get a few minutes to stick your foot in the door before it slams in your face, so if you want to be invited in, you have to make a quick sell, and that just won’t work if you’re making a speech of it. The best pitches are super short, and to the point. We’ll look at a few samples in a bit.

Clarity The real challenge comes from explaining your idea as clearly as possible within a limited space and time. No matter what the scope or scale of your work, if you can’t sum it up in a few sentences, you need to go back to the drawing board to revisit your ideas. Before convincing anyone else, you need to be clear on what your main objective is, and then you take it from there.

Value So you’ve put your heart and soul into your work. Why should anyone else care? The final piece in the puzzle is to find the selling

point. You need to show your publisher/investor why they should spend their time and resources into getting your work out there. You have to therefore include a hook that shows how

your work can benefit them and/or your target audience.

With these basic points in mind, you’re now ready to start writing your pitch. l

luck talking about the intricacies of corn harvesting in Tanzania, for example.

Find an angle; you don’t want your subject to be too broad.

Mention the kind of sources you’ll be chasing. Here’s a pro tip: you don’t want it to be a musings article without some sort of current affairs basis. Have a good title and standfirst (roughly the topic sentence) in mind. Now try selling your story in three sentences. For example, “My story is about how students who apply abroad could be potential cultural ambassadors for Bangladesh.

I’m thinking of calling it “Export Quality Bangladeshis.” Now watch your editor sit up straighter.

involves a lot more elbow grease and homework. Assuming that your agency has arranged the client meet and you do have your presentation wardrobe together, what you need to focus on is an intro that includes a profile of the target market for the campaign.

Bring in any research you’ve done (and there has to be plenty of market research!). Your profile should have the target audience detailed right down to their lifestyle and purchase patterns.

Then you have to explain how your advertising message aligns with those product factors that have had a high value rating from the clients. Above all, your campaign should have an USP that sets it apart from ads proposed by your rivals.

Once you’ve laid the foundation that you know who you’re selling to, knock them dead with your creative idea (pays to have visual aids) and a budget quote. l

3 Types of pitches And how to nail them The elevator pitch This one is for all budding entrepreneurs dreaming of your own startup venture. There will come a point when you have to start hitting up potential investors for capital. If you’re lucky enough to get five minutes in a meeting with them, it pays to have a spiel prepared so that your time (and theirs) is not wasted.

This is essentially what an elevator pitch is - a short, preprepared speech that explains what you or your organisation

does, clearly and succinctly.

To write a killer elevator pitch, first write a couple of drafts about what you do. Add stories to illustrate how it can help others.

Narrow down your objective or goal. Write about 10-20 action statements. So let’s say you’re developing a new traffic app. You want to start with a description of how hard it is for daily commuters.

Move on to how you think you can alleviate some of the problems.

Throw in your qualifications and/or research into the issue.

Talk about how your app works (highlights) and the potential benefits to readers, read them all out, and record yourself doing so. Now play back the recordings and find out what sounds the best. Highlight the good stuff, and put the best parts together in a way that flows. Edit out the rest, chopping it down to no longer than a 60 second spiel, et voila!

Your elevator pitch is ready.

Features story pitch Almost all of us have, at some point, tried to get published in a newspaper or magazine, if for nothing else, than to pad up a college application. The easiest way to score is through writing a feature story. But what ultimately sees print is but a mere fraction of the hundreds of pieces thrown at the editors every week.

To ensure that your article gets a sporting chance, first do some research into the target audience of the publication you’re pitching to. Even newspapers, which have a varied readership, aim for a particular demographic. Your story must be of some relevance to that target demographic. So if you’re writing for a magazine that caters to young Dhakaites, you’re probably not going to have much

An advertising pitch The AMC series Mad Men will have you believe that a good suit, a pretty face and a moment of brilliant inspiration will get your ad sold in no time, but the reality

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Editorial 11

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

INSIDE

Assassins: The Bangladesh level But the sad and damning truth is that, in not condemning the murders and instead the murdered, the Government of Bangladesh is increasingly representing the views of its people PAGE 12

The NizamiPakistan-BNP circle Pakistan still cannot accept that Bangladesh is no longer East Pakistan, and that Bangladesh is not compelled to listen to its advice and notice its comments after each execution PAGE 13

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Donald the doer People expect government to solve problems. They’re angry because the federal government can’t solve problems anymore. It can’t stop illegal immigration. It can’t keep jobs in the United States. It can’t stop terrorists from killing Americans. Trump says he can do all those things PAGE 14

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/ DhakaTribune.

The views expressed in Opinion articles are those of the authors alone. They do not purport to be the official view of Dhaka Tribune or its publisher.

No child left behind

T

hough an 88.29% pass rate in the 2016 SSC exams is to be lauded, the fact that 53 education institutions had a zero pass rate leaves much to be desired. This number is up six more from last year, when only 47 schools experienced a zero pass rate.

There were three each from Dhaka, Comilla, and Jessore, and two each from Rajshahi, Barisal, and Dinajpur, and one from Sylhet. The rest were from madrassa institutions.

The Secondary School Certificate examination is a crucial point in a child’s educational path and to see so many young minds failing at this stage is a disheartening statistic.

Both the SSC and HSC have been criticised for not providing the well-rounded education that the children of our country deserve, but that is beside the point.

Schools with zero pass rates speak of a culture of educational neglect within our schooling system. This cannot be allowed to persist as more and more children from less privileged backgrounds are slipping through the cracks as they are not receiving the quality of education and attention they require.

It is also interesting to note that the majority of the zero pass rate schools were madrassa institutions. All schools, including madrasas, should be routinely scrutinised and checked to ensure that the children partaking in these institutions are receiving the standard of care they deserve.

Education is a significant factor in the development of any nation and if more it is taken lightly, dreams of progress and prosperity will not be allowed to reach fruition.

The government should ensure that education is properly administered to every single child and that no child is left behind.

Education is a significant factor in the development of any nation

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DT

Opinion

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

Assassins: The Bangladesh level How much longer will Bangladesh keep appeasing the extremists? most eager to live in an Islamic polity. Going further back, in the 1800s, Bengal was one of the few places in the world that took up Abdul Wahhab’s (the founder of Wahhabism) call for a puritanical purging of culture, and hosted the Faraizi Movement which sought to expunge Bengali Islam of “pollutants” that had entered its body through Hindus and Europeans.

A radicalist society?

We are all victims of the government’s inaction against fundamentalists

BIGSTOCK

n Zeeshan Khan

B

rutal attacks on people who have or champion values, opinions, and lifestyles that are held in contempt by the Salafi-slanting religious right, have become an established reality in Bangladesh.

With many more potential attacks on the way, the ground for people who don’t subscribe to the Islamist ideology has become shakier than it has ever been.

The government and the security apparatus of Bangladesh have, so far, demonstrated a total reluctance to face the issue head on. From excuses by the police to attempts at framing it within the narrative of party-political attrition, nearly every statement issued by the authorities has been farcical, and falls well short of the kind of declaration of resoluteness the hour demands. In fact, no such declaration has even been attempted. Instead, what has been attempted is a condemnation of the dead.

The Bangladeshi prime minister was congratulated by Hefazat-eIslam, a large and largely antigovernment Islamist platform, for condemning the murdered bloggers by saying “offending religious sentiments shows a perverted mindset,” at a Bengali New Year celebration.

She did add, “killing another person in response to what they have written is not Islamic,” but the damage was already done.

The timing of the statement, days after another writer was hacked to death for defending atheism, can be interpreted by the murderers as tacit approval of their motives.

Her attempt to de-legitimise the murder as un-Islamic is equally worrying. First, it doesn’t matter whether murders are “Islamic” or not because the only thing the State of Bangladesh and its executive branch should be

But the sad and damning truth is that, in not condemning the murders and instead the murdered, the Government of Bangladesh is increasingly representing the views of its people thinking about is whether it is criminal or not.

Second, several Islamic scholars would be able to show her exactly which Hadith shows that it is in fact lawful “Islamically,” to kill people for “corrupting” society which is why this line of argument is best left to theologians.

When LGBT magazine editor Xulhaz Mannan was butchered, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said: “Our society does not allow any movement that promotes unnatural sex. Writing in favour of it is tantamount to criminal offence as per our law,” thereby implying that Xulhaz was not an innocent but a criminal, deserving of punishment, perhaps not a machete to the head, as he was careful to clarify, but punishment nonetheless. A crueller form of victim blaming can’t be imagined.

The same minister also said, after the last blogger was murdered, that his writings would have to be examined to see if they offend religious sentiments, a sinister suggestion that the government of Bangladesh intends to determine whether he brought it upon himself or not.

In recent weeks, a Hindu Sadhu, a Hindu tailor, a Muslim Sufi, and a music loving professor have also been brutally murdered in a similar fashion and for similar reasons. Given this, the minister is essentially saying that the Hindu could have avoided being killed by not being Hindu, the Sufi could have stopped being Sufi, and the professor could have stopped

loving music.

In February last year, when US citizen and science writer Avijit Roy was murdered at a book fair, the prime minister’s son went on record in the international press saying that the government could not strongly condemn the attack, because it would make them look like they support atheism, and that this would be used against them by their political opponents.

He might as well have said: “Yes, we’re throwing him and all of you under the bus because it is politically expedient for us.”

Two other writers and a publisher were killed shortly after that incident. No one has been arrested in any of the attacks.

But the sad and damning truth is that, in not condemning the murders and instead the murdered, the Government of Bangladesh is increasingly representing the views of its people.

Despite claims that Bangladeshi culture is pluralistic, it would be foolish to think of extremism and extremist attitudes as new or foreign. A cursory glance at the comments on social media about Xulhaz or any of the murdered writers will reveal just how many people in this country actually agree with their killers’ convictions. Public opinion about Ahmadiyyas (and increasingly about Shias) is largely in line with a Salafi world-view, khutbahs in mosques routinely denounce Christians and Jews, and the word “Hindu” is used as a slur often and easily.

The presence of violent religious extremism in Bangladesh is also as old as it is globally, with the first attack taking place in 1999, on a cultural troupe, not long after the very first al-Qaeda strikes on American embassies in East Africa took place in 1998.

Several attacks in fairly consistent succession have followed since, on writers, on Bengali New Year celebrations, on artists, on minorities, on mystics, on shrines, on women’s education -- standard targets of the Salafist Project -- and more than one serious attempt has been fielded to replace the People’s Republic with an Islamic one.

None of this should come as any surprise. In fact, the real surprise is how social commentators carry on about our “own” Islamic orientation, suggesting that such an orientation is essentially tolerant and secular. Once again, there is no evidence to support this.

Bengal was the scene of the very first communal riots in undivided India following the 1946 Direct Action Movement, which unleashed terror and violence across the country, and was instigated by Bengali Muslims who were led by the very people that went on to create the Awami League, which went on to create Bangladesh.

East Bengal also overwhelmingly supported the Pakistan Movement, more so than most of what was then West Pakistan, meaning Bengali Muslims were among the people

The social DNA of this land has always been religiously radical. It’s not extremism that’s the foreign element here but liberalism, which, following the dismantling of East Pakistan, tried to control the narrative but is losing ground to the newest incarnations of global Islamism -- ISIS and alQaeda -- which have both claimed the recent murders.

It’s sheer hubris to believe Bangladesh is a bastion of sensible, civilised Islam, no matter how badly we wish it to be true, and as long as the government refuses to call a spade a spade, denying ISIS operates in Bangladesh and continuing to choose its own realpolitik over the welfare of the people, we should expect things to get much worse.

But one wonders what the government intends to gain from this sort of posturing. If it expects it will be able to win over the religious right by appearing to share their indignation and their values, it is mistaken, because the Islamist end-game has no room for democratic traditions, secular institutions, or legislative bodies and it certainly has no room for a female head of state.

There is nothing the Awami League can do, short of declaring itself an Islamist party, to appear legitimate enough for the likes of ISIS. Ironically, Jamaat-e-Islami might have been more amiable, but they have all but been chased into the arms of a more uncompromising brand of Political Islam.

If, on the other hand, their intention is to appease them long enough to be able to consolidate power, perhaps the words of Winston Churchill can offer some perspective.

Churchill once said: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” But this crocodile has a voracious appetite and at this rate, the government will rapidly run out of people to put in its way. l Zeeshan Khan is a journalist.

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DT

Opinion

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

The Nizami-Pakistan-BNP circle Every time Bangladesh executes a war criminal, Pakistan’s allegiances become clearer

The execution of Nizami is another step towards justice

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Pakistan still cannot accept that Bangladesh is no longer East Pakistan, and that Bangladesh is not compelled to listen to its advice and notice its comments after each execution

n Nadeem Qadir

A

t a time when progressive Bangladeshis around the world celebrated the news of the execution of 1971 war criminal Matiur Rahman Nizami, the vibes from Pakistan and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party make matters very clear. It is a circle of brutality, lies, and hood-winking.

It was with great relief Bangladesh got rid of Nizami after four others, including BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, went to the gallows.

First, Pakistan’s “sympathy syndrome.” Despite appeals from the Dhaka government not to interfere in the internal affairs of Bangladesh, Islamabad continues to issue statements every time a war criminal is hanged.

This proves the old fact that the Pakistani Army not only carried out the genocide in Bangladesh

during the 1971 war, but also patronised militias like Al-Badr headed by Nizami.

Nizami and his ilk served the Pakistani interest by killing the intellectuals of Bangladesh during the war and conspiring in favour of Pakistan since the 1975 assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Pakistan still cannot accept that Bangladesh is no longer East Pakistan, and that Bangladesh is not compelled to listen to its advice and notice its comments after each execution.

This has proven beyond any doubt or court order the atrocities committed by Nizami and others. They also have remained committed to the cause of Pakistan and conspiring against Bangabandhu and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

If their notorious activities were not true, why would Pakistan feel so “sad” at their executions? When

Pakistan -- which many people call a “failed state” -- has so many issues at home to handle, why would they support those who have been proven beyond doubt to have committed crimes against humanity?

With each statement supporting the war criminals, Pakistan is being recognised as a country which supports war crimes, dashing any hope of improving bilateral ties with Dhaka.

A minister recently revealed that Pakistan went to the Commonwealth to place an issue in favour of BNP chief Khaleda Zia and against the elected government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The question is: Why does Islamabad feel so close to BNP and Zia? The Pakistan PM’s foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj Aziz, raised a pro-Zia issue in the Commonwealth ministerial group but, despite the absence of Dhaka at that time, others present snubbed it out. He talked like he was a BNP spokesman.

First, Bangabdhu banned Jamaat, along with all religionbased parties, in Bangladesh. But it was General Ziaur Rahman who opened the floodgates to Pakistani collaborators and parties like Jamaat-e-Islami.

The influence of Pakistan on BNP is clear when Khaleda Zia visited Pakistan and condoled the death of a middle-ranking military officer who served in the then occupied Bangladesh of 1971.

Secondly, Khaleda Zia took Dhaka closer to Islamabad by raising the anti-India card in all her activities.

She had stunningly shunned a country which helped Bangladesh gain independence and opted for those who carried out genocide and against whom her husband also fought in the 1971 war.

Third, Khaleda Zia and her BNP welcomed two Jamaat leaders in her cabinet with important portfolios of industries and social welfare.

This enabled Jamaat to spread its tentacles, especially in the NGO sector, with hundreds of Islamic organisations being set-up during the 2001-2006 tenure.

Fourth, the birth of Bangla Bhai and the grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina heralded the first step of “Talibanising” Bangladesh.

Fifth, the BNP’s false Islamic words have been proven by its hobnobbing with Israel’s Mossad to unseat the government.

Sixth, the Ruling Awami League lawmaker Mahjabeen Khaled, also the daughter of famed freedom fighter Khaled Musharraf, recently revealed that Ziaur Rahan had conspired to reunite with Pakistan and create a confederation.

It sounded similar to the one by a Bengali army officer sacked for collaboration soon after Zia came to power. He said: “Mujib is gone, and now we will have a confederation with Pakistan.”

Some of my British colleagues asked me recently: “What is the major issue now in Bangladesh?”

My answer is our prime minister is on a war-footing to establish Bangladesh as a democratic, secular, and free society against Islamic radicals, who lie about Islam and all that the Bangladeshis want.

The second question is: “Will you win?” My answer: “Most Bangladeshis are with Sheikh Hasina, at least on this issue, and you cannot impose forcefully anything on Bangalis. We will win.

Joy Bangla!”

Hats off again to the premier for ensuring the executions of war criminals. l Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism. He is the Press Minister of Bangladesh High Commission in London.

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Donald the doer The secret to Trump’s political success

n Bill Schneider

T

rump triumphs. Clinton struggles. Who would have predicted that?

Soon it will be Donald Trump, who is now the presumptive Republican nominee, versus former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton by a landslide in the general election?

The great philosopher Yogi Berra once said: “Never make predictions. Especially about the future.”

Safer to talk about the past. So what explains Trump’s astonishing political success? The best explanation was given in October by, of all people, the legendary rock star Alice Cooper, who said: “I know Donald, and I know he’s a ‘doer.’ He’s not a sayer.”

That’s it exactly. Trump is a “doer.” Why are so many voters going for that? Because they are exasperated by President Barack Obama.

They see Obama as a “sayer” and a thinker, but not much of a doer.

Actually, Obama has gotten a lot of things done: Health care reform, the elimination of Osama bin Laden, economic recovery when the country was teetering on the edge of another Great Depression, Wall Street reform, the rescue of the US auto industry.

Nonetheless, his critics see Obama as ineffectual. They look at Washington and they see gridlock.

They expect a president to get things done. They don’t want to hear, “Congress won’t give me what I want.”

Tough leaders like Presidents Lyndon B Johnson and Ronald Reagan could get what they wanted out of Congress by twisting arms and turning on the charm.

Instead, all critics see is that Obama can’t stop Islamic State.

He can’t do anything about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and Syria.

They don’t believe he can stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

He can’t bring well-paying jobs back. As for health care reform, most Americans never supported it, and increasing numbers are turning against it.

Even Democrats are frustrated, which helps explain their continuing support of Senator Bernie Sanders, (IndependentVermont). Obama can’t shut down Guantanamo Bay. He can’t deliver immigration reform or gun control. He can’t do much about climate change.

Why does Trump come across as a doer? For one thing, he’s a real-estate developer.

Last month, Faroll Hamer, a retired planning official, wrote a Washington Post op-ed contending that Trump fits the stereotype of a developer -- bold, pragmatic, decisive, and “megalomaniacal.”

In Hamer’s experience, developers haggle and push and scheme and contrive to get what they want.

They have no ideology, except success. Trump wrote the book on getting what you want called The Art of the Deal.

With a builder, the results are there for everyone to see. And benefit from “everything they do is for us,” Hamer wrote, “because they are building places for us to live, shop, or work.” Builders see themselves as public heroes.

In some works of fiction, they are: Ayn Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead, Henryk Ibsen’s play, The Master Builder. Hamer’s

Clinton struggles while Trump triumphs

REUTERS

People expect government to solve problems. They’re angry because the federal government can’t solve problems anymore. It can’t stop illegal immigration. It can’t keep jobs in the United States. It can’t stop terrorists from killing Americans. Trump says he can do all those things

prediction: “Trump really would build a wall.”

Trump was surprisingly magnanimous in his comments on Tuesday night after the Indiana primary. After Senator Ted Cruz of Texas dropped out of the race, Trump called him an “incredible competitor.”

That’s the way developers operate. Once they get what they want, they’re all sweetness and light.

There’s another reason Trump comes across as a doer. He’s not a politician. On Monday, Cruz was confronted by pro-Trump protesters as he campaigned in Indiana.

An angry young man pointed to Cruz and said: “You are the problem, you politician. You are the problem.”

People expect government to solve problems. They’re angry because the federal government can’t solve problems anymore.

It can’t stop illegal immigration.

It can’t keep jobs in the United States. It can’t stop terrorists from killing Americans. Trump says he

can do all those things.

Most Americans see politics as the enemy of problem solving.

Why can’t government deal with the national debt?

Because of politics. Why can’t we deal with climate change?

Too much politics. Why can’t we control our borders? Politics gets in the way.

“For years,” former President Bill Clinton once argued, “politicians have treated our most vexing problems like crime, welfare and the budget deficit as issues to be exploited, not problems to be solved.”

Trump offers himself as a strongman. He’ll ignore politics and just get the job done. It’s not quite clear how. But his supporters don’t care.

He’ll just do it. It’s the reason why voters have always been attracted to political outsiders like Ross Perot and Colin Powell -- and now Trump. They can put politics aside and just fix what’s wrong.

Can Trump actually get elected president? It’s not likely. He’s too risky. And viewed as dangerous.

Obama warned this week: “He is not somebody who, even within the Republican Party, can be considered as equipped to deal with the problems of this office.”

But it’s not impossible.

What it would take would be an extraordinary event.

Suppose there is another serious financial crash in October.

Or, God forbid, a terrorist attack in the United States like the ones in Paris or Brussels.

A catastrophe could cause voters to lose their inhibitions.

They would be desperate for change.

People would start saying: “We can’t go on like this.” That could doom Clinton, who represents the status quo to most voters (“a third term for Obama”). Both parties are experiencing a wave of dissatisfaction with the status quo. It’s putting Trump over the top on the Republican side and fueling the Sanders surge among Democrats.

The polls show Clinton’s lead over Trump is narrowing. She will not be an easy candidate to elect.

Clinton has a negative favourability rating, an average of 55% unfavourable. What she has going for her is that Trump’s unfavourability rating is even higher -- 65%.

The key unknown is turnout.

A lot of people might stay home because they don’t want to vote for either Trump or Clinton.

But if polls begin to show Trump winning, that could generate a huge turnout of fearful anti-Trump voters.

Hamer, the former planning official, warned that developers get into trouble when they “act for short-term tactical gain without principles and without knowing where [they’re] going.”

Replacing a thinker with a doer would be a grave risk. Americans could end up with a president who “does” without thinking.

The United States has a safeguard against a megalomaniac: The constitutional system. The last time Americans elected a president who had no political experience was General Dwight D Eisenhower in 1952.

His predecessor, President Harry S Truman, famously predicted: “Poor Ike! He’ll say, ‘Do this!’ and ‘Do that!’ and nothing will happen. It won’t be a bit like the army. He’ll find it very frustrating.” l Bill Schneider is a visiting professor in the Communication Studies Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. This article has been syndicated from Reuters.

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INSIDE EAB President: Budget for next fiscal year should promote SME sector The budget for next fiscal year should promote SME sector to include its products in the export basket and also to diversify the export-oriented products, Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) President Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune in an interview. PAGE 16

Global oil supply glut to ‘shrink dramatically’ A global oil glut that has sent prices tumbling is set to “shrink dramatically” later this year, as wildfires have disrupted Canada’s output and demand in India soars, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday. PAGE 17

IMF: Bribery eats up 2% of global economy The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that bribery sucks up between $1.5 and $2tn dollars annually around the world, dragging down economies and worsening social services for the poor. PAGE 18

Capital market snapshot: Thursday DSE Broad Index

4,298.7

-0.5% ▼

Index

1,056.1

-0.6% ▼

30 Index

1,667.2

-0.4% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

3,112.9

-3.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

73.0

-7.3% ▼

All Share Index 13,232.5

-0.4% ▼

30 Index

12,298.4

-0.0% ▼

8,043.6

-0.3% ▼

167.4

-8.5% ▼

CSE

Selected Index Turnover in Mn Tk Turnover in Mn Vol

5.3 -18.9% ▼

Banks asked to limit single borrower exposure n Jebun Nesa Alo Bangladesh Bank has asked all scheduled banks to bring down their overexposure to a single borrower limit, which is 25% of the bank’s capital, by December 31 this year.

The banks that have provided funded loans to their single clients, exceeding the ceiling, will have to bring down the overexposure by the end of the year, said a circular Bangladesh Bank issued recently.

The instruction came in the wake of misinterpretation of the rule of single borrower exposure limit by banks providing loan facilities beyond the ceiling, said the circular.

According to the Bank Company Act, the loan borrowed by any individual, organisation or group will not exceed a certain limit of the capital set by the central bank, but a condition is applicable that the ceiling will not exceed 25% of the bank’s capital by any means.

Bangladesh Bank set the single

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

borrower exposure limit at 15% of the capital in line with the act. But the ceiling is exempted for some cases including public limited companies, government borrowing and power supplier companies.

The central bank has awarded the exemption of 15% ceiling, but

the ceiling of 25% set in bank company act will remain applicable.

But banks are providing loan for different power projects beyond 25% of their capital, misinterpreting that the companies are excluded from the single borrower exposure limit, said Sayful Islam, deputy general manager of Bangladesh Bank.

He said the central bank clarified that the beneficiaries under ‘’Exceptions’’ clause of single borrower exposure guideline are excluded only from 15% ceiling, but not that 25% set in the act.

Currently, a large portion of financing from banks goes to the power sector and no limit is maintained in case of providing loans against power projects, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

The single borrower exposure limit set by the central bank is not applicable for a public limited company, which has 50% or more public shareholdings, and shall not be considered as an enterprise/organisation of any group, according to the single borrower

exposure guideline.

In case of credit facilities provided to the government or against the government guarantees, the 15% ceiling shall not be applicable.

In case of credit facilities sanctioned by the banks to the borrowers in order to produce, transmit and distribute electricity against any award provided by the Power Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources or the institutions controlled by the said division such as – Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Rural Electrification Board (REB), Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB), Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO), Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited (APSCL), West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDCO), North West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (NWZPGC) shall not be applicable. l

NBR collects Tk1,05,432cr Grameen Bank gets fresh revenue in nine months tax exemption till 2020 n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The National Board of Revenue has achieved 15.91% growth in revenue collection during the July-March period of the current fiscal year compared to same period of last year.

An amount of Tk1,05,432 crore revenue has been collected in nine months against the revised target of Tk1,50,000 crore for the fiscal.

The government had, earlier, revised down the revenue target to Tk1,50,000 crore from original allocation of Tk1,76,370 crore on apprehension that the target would not be achieved, according to NBR data released yesterday.

During the period, a total of Tk32,338.05 crore was collected as customs duty with a 19.52% rise, Tk39,915.43 crore as VAT with a 14.34% rise and Tk53,436 crore as income tax and other taxes with a 14.44% rise.

However, there has been massive shortfall in revenue collection since first month of the fiscal year because of sluggish economic activities, poor performance by

large business sectors including banks, telecommunication, manufacturing and services, and fall in consumption.

Government had, earlier, revised down the revenue target to Tk1,50,000 crore from original allocation of Tk1,76,370 crore However, NBR officials hoped that the revenue collection achievement would be easier if progress of annual development programme implementation became satisfactory, export income rose, import flow increased and investment grew.

NBR is now focusing on expanding tax net, exploring new sectors, preventing loopholes in tax collection and checking tax evasions to reach the revenue collection target. l

n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The government has extended its tax exemption benefit to micro-credit institution Grameen Bank for another five years till 2020 following a request from the institution.

The income tax wing of the Internal Resources Division (IRD) on May 4 issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) signed by its Senior Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman to implement the decision.

At a meeting held in November last year, the National Board

of Revenue (NBR) had decided to allow the tax break to the micro credit institution following a request from the Grameen Bank.

As per the decision, the bank will be exempted from paying any type of taxes including income tax, super tax and tax on profits.

The Grameen Bank has been enjoying tax exemption facility since its inception in 1983 but the facility was expired on December 2015. So, the NBR has extended the benefit once again to the bank and the decision came into effect from January 1, 2016. l

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EAB president: Budget for next fiscal year should promote SME sector n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The budget for next fiscal year should promote SME sector to include its products in the export basket and also to diversify the export-oriented products, Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) President Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune in an interview.

Dhaka Tribune: What the government can offer to promote SME and to diversify its products?

Salam: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are considered as backbone of the industrialisation.

SME sector contributes a lot to the country’s national economy and generates employment opportunities for people especially the rural people. The small investors later on turn into industrialists. That is why, the government should promote them in the budget through offering policy support along with the finan-

EAB President Abdus Salam Murshedy

TAHMIDUR RAHMAN

cial supports to bring the SME people’s production under the export net and to diversify their products.

son, the government should keep an allocation for the skill development and it should be utilised in a proper way.

How to improve workers productivity through budgetary support?

For increasing productivity of the workers, training is one of the key-element. Because of that rea-

What are the supports needed for the export growth?

RMG sector has been going through reforms in terms of safety and compliances. The sector’s people had

to spend a lot of money to upgrade safety standards of their factories.

That is why, incentives for the sector are needed to retain the competitive edge in the global markets.

Being a platform of the exporters, the EAB urges the government to continue all the previous incentives packages as before and to make source tax at 0.30 % for all the export-oriented sectors.

The government should also set a time frame for the implementation of Economic Zones as political stability now prevails in the country and it would help enhance the overall production capacity.

What should be the measure to increase investment in the country?

As the private investment is now facing a sluggish trend, budget should be prepared in such a manner that would pave the way for attracting local as well as the foreign investments to create more jobs in

the country.

Backward linkage industry in the textile sector needs more investment but the sector people don’t have the required money to invest.

In an attempt to attract the foreign direct investment, the government should provide policy support to the local investment first to make it more vibrant, so it could further encourage the foreign investors.

What is the prospect of the apparel industry in the year 2016-17?

Next fiscal year will be a vibrant one in terms export earnings as RMG sector, the lifeline of the country’s export earnings, turnaround after the factory disaster. The inspection has been completed and the safety standards have witnessed a remarkable progress as the remediation process is going on in full swing. By mid of 2018, the remediation will be completed and the sector will turn into a complaint in terms of safety and compliance issues. l

EU warns against market TOAB for interest-free bank loan economy status for China for developing tourism industry n AFP, Strasbourg

The EU said granting market economy status for China at the World Trade Organisation was “untenable” due to the loss of jobs it would cost Europe in key industries such as steel.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has given itself until this summer to decide on whether to grant China the designation that would make it much harder for major economies to fight Beijing over alleged unfair trading practices.

China argues its 2001 deal to join the World Trade Organization dictates that from December 11 the WTO members must switch their designation.

But Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, Lithuania’s representative to the EU executive, told European lawmakers in Strasbourg that the Commission all but ruled out the option of granting China the status, given the consequences.

“Our analysis of this option so far and the feedback from many stakeholders show that it would involve a very high cost in terms of potential job losses in the European Union,” Andriukaitis, who is officially health commissioner, told the MEPs. “Even without the current climate of overcapacity, any such move would be untenable,” he said, adding that the commission

would discuss the issue again before this summer.

As an alternative, he said the EU was considering granting China the status only partially, which would leave special exceptions for threatened industries, a tactic adopted by the United States.

“This approach would help ensure that the dumping margins calculated would, for the most part, reflect the ongoing distortions in the Chinese economy more accurately,” he said.

The issue has become extra sensitive amid a world steel crisis caused by overcapacity in China, the world’ top steel producer.

China produces more than half of the globe’s steel output and is accused of flooding the world market with oversupply sold at below cost in violation of global trade rules.

Approval of the commission’s decision is required by the European Parliament as well as the EU’s 28 member states.

MEP’s on Tuesday staunchly opposed granting the status to China, insisting that the EU needed as many tools as possible to fight off what they said were unfair trade practices by Beijing.

“The most important question is not whether we should yes or no give China market economy status, but jobs,” said David Caspary, MEP from the right-of-centre EPP group, the biggest party in parliament. l

n Ishtiaq Husain Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) has urged the government to allow interest-free bank loan against 25% yearly income of a company for the development of the tourism industry.

Top leaders of the association said: “The government should take all the necessary positive steps to allow interest-free loan for further expansion of the tourism industry.”

They made the plea while attending a pre-budget discussion organised by Aviation and Tourism Journalists’ Forum of Bangladesh (ATJFB) at the National Press Club in the city yesterday.

Speaking as chief guest, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said: “Though it’s a big challenge for me to work in the field of aviation and tourism, I am still enjoying the challenges.”

He, however, stated that it would be difficult for him to continue development work in this sector without necessary financial allocation.

MA Mannan, state minister for Finance said: “The government will seriously consider for purchasing separate tourist coaches with different number plates for the tourists, so we can identify them easily and can ensure their safety.”

Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon attends a pre-budget discussion at the National Press Club in the city as the chief guest while TOAB members demand interest-free loan for expansion of the tourism industry ISHTIAQ HUSAIN Khan Kabir, CEO of Bangladesh Tourism Board, Air-Vice Marshal Ehsanul Gani Chowdhury, chairman of CAAB, Syed Ahsan Hossain Kazi, general manager (marketing) of Biman, Aslam Khan, secretary general of ATAB, ATM Nazrul Islam, EC member of Aviation Operators Association of Bangladesh attended the discussion.

ATJFB President Nadira Kiron conducted the discussion while its vice president Mujib Masud attended the discussion.

Masud Hossain, director of TOAB, said: “Tourism is an industry, which needs more attention to grow further, otherwise, we can’t

expect anything from this potential sector.”

In his key note paper, Dr Khondokar Golam Moazzem, additional research director of CPD said: “The present government’s allocation on tourism is appreciateable. But the government doesn’t give any attention on the publicity centring the tourism year. The government should empower the tourism ministry further for the betterment of the industry.”

Ashish R Choudhury, COO of Regeng Airways stated that the private airlines of the country are working hard to flourish the tourism sector in Bangladesh. l

Global oil supply glut to ‘shrink dramatically’ n AFP, Paris A global oil glut that has sent prices tumbling is set to “shrink dramatically” later this year, as wildfires have disrupted Canada’s output and demand in India soars, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday.

Demand for oil worldwide is set to grow at a “solid” rate in 2016, with India the “star performer” after making up nearly 30 percent of the global increase in demand in the first quarter of the year, the IEA said.

“This provides further support for the argument that India is taking over from the China as the main growth market for oil,” the 29-nation IEA said in its closely watched monthly report.

The oil market has for months been depressed by vast oversupply, badly hurting producers but meaning lower prices at the pump for consumers.

Oil prices surged to six-month highs this week and are well over $46 a barrel after plummeting below $30 early in the year. They are nevertheless far below the $100-a-barrel

mark of mid-2014.

In Canada devastating wildfires near Fort McMurray forced a shutdown of 1.2 million barrels a day (mb/d) of production early this month.

The IEA said the events in Canada, however, had not sent oil prices sharply higher, as would have been expected some years ago, with crude having shown little reaction amid overall improved market sentiment.

Iran, the IEA said, had provided the other surprise.

Its oil production and exports increased slightly faster than expected following Iran’s return to the market after the lifting of sanctions in January under its nuclear deal.

‘Dramatic increase’

Iranian oil production in April was nearly 3.6 mb/d, a level last achieved in November 2011 before Western sanctions against Tehran were tightened, the IEA noted.

“Even more important for global markets, oil exports reached 2 mb/d, a dramatic increase from the 1.4 mb/d seen in March,” it added. l

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Iraq overtakes IMF: Bribery eats up 2% of global economy Saudi as biggest Indian exporter n AFP. Washington for April n Reuters, New Delhi Iraq overtook Saudi Arabia as the top crude exporter to India in April for the first time since December, according to data compiled by Reuters, as the two biggest OPEC producers fight for market share in Asia’s fastest growing oil market.

Saudi Arabia also lost its top spot in China, Asia’s biggest oil consumer, last month when Russia overtook the world’s biggest crude exporter due to strong purchases

by Chinese independent refineries.

Overall, April oil imports by India rose 6% from March and are up 9.9% in the first four months from a year ago. For the first four months of 2015, imports fell 0.6% from a year ago because of refinery outages.

Iraqi oil exports to India were 960,700 barrels per day (bpd) in April, a 41% jump from March and 79% higher than a year ago, data obtained by Reuters and compiled

by Thomson Reuters Oil Analytics showed.

India imported about 787,700 bpd of oil from Saudi Arabia last month, about 14% lower than a year ago, the data showed.

Iraq accounted for 22% of April Indian imports, up from about 15% a year ago, while Saudi Arabia’s share dropped to 18% from about 25% a year ago.

“Iraqi oil is much more beneficial than Saudi because they are better priced. There is a significance difference in prices,” said AK Sharma, head of finance at Indian Oil Corp.

Iraq has consistently maintained their official selling prices (OSP) below Saudi Arabia. In April, Iraq set the OSP for its flagship Basrah Light crude at a discount of 2.60 a barrel to Middle East benchmarks, 20 cents under the OSP for comparable crude grade Arab Medium.

Overall, Indian crude demand rose in 2016 as refiners normally avoid maintenance shutdown in the first quarter to meet annual crude processing target for the fiscal year.

Also, Indian Oil Corp, the country’s biggest refiner, boosted imports after commissioning the 300,000-bpd Paradip refinery.

Iran is also raising its share in Indian imports. The country accounted for about 9 percent of overall purchases in April compared to about 7.2% a year ago.

Overall in January to April, Iranian oil accounted for about 7.4% of Indian imports from about 4% a year ago, becoming fifth-largest oil supplier to India compared with the eighth position a year ago. l

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that bribery sucks up between $1.5 and $2tn dollars annually around the world, dragging down economies and worsening social services for the poor.

In a new report on the economic impact of corruption, the IMF said that bribery, graft and other cheating common in both rich and poor countries limits economic growth and undermines sound government policies.

In a speech prepared for the global Anti-Corruption Summit in London Thursday, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that more and more leaders are openly seeking help to fight the scourge.

“Both poverty and unemployment can be symptoms of chronic corruption,” she said, according to the text of her speech.

“While the direct economic costs of corruption are well known, the indirect costs may be even more substantial and debilitating, leading to low growth and greater income inequality.”

Lagarde dismissed the idea that corruption is a stubborn cultural phenomenon in many countries.

In fact, it is common across cul-

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund takes part in a panel discussion at the Anti-Corruption Summit in London REUTERS tures, and countries with diverse backgrounds have found ways to address it, she said.

The late Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew “was very effective in both signalling a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and building competent institutions at a time when corruption was pervasive in Singapore,” she noted.

The economic impact of corruption is hard to quantify, according to the IMF report released Wednesday. But despite claims that it helps

“grease the wheels” to make economies work, the overall impact is very negative.

The cost of bribery alone tops more than two percent of global gross domestic product - a broad measure of economic output - and because it is tainted, that money is often sucked out of economies to offshore havens, meaning it does not contribute to growth.

Corruption perpetuates economic inefficiency, undermines public policy, and exacerbates in-

equality, the report says. It also scares off both domestic and foreign investors.

“Investors actually seek out countries that can give them the assurance that, once an investment is made, they will not be blackmailed into providing bribes,” Lagarde said.

The report says that data shows that higher corruption generally correlates with lower social services for the poor. That in part is because government budgets in more corrupt countries get loaded up with the kinds of spending - like big-ticket projects - that offer greater graft opportunities.

Lagarde said that the IMF includes guidance on anti-corruption measures in its support programs for governments, because “pervasive corruption makes it harder to conduct sound fiscal policy.”

Certain approaches have proven effective in a number of countries: paying civil servants more; setting up special anti-corruption courts; punishing companies for corrupt practices in other countries; and creating special offices to collect taxes from the largest taxpayers, to improve compliance.

But Lagarde also stressed the need for rule of law and firm leadership. l

CORPORATE NEWS

Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Ltd has recently signed an agreement with media agency Maxus for handling media investment operations of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Ltd, said a press release. Executive director of Maxus, Iresh Zaker and director of device business at Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Ltd, Ingmar Wang have signed the agreement

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently opened its 115th branch at Begumgonj in Noakhali, said a press release. The bank’s chairperson, Major Dr Md Rezaul Haque (retired) inaugurated the branch

National Bank has recently promoted Abdus Sobhan Khan and Shah Syed Abdul Bari as the bank’s deputy managing directors, said a press release. Khan started his career at National Bank Limited as probationary officer in 1984 while Abdul Bari started his banking career with AB Bank Ltd in 1983

STS Holdings Limited has recently held its 19th annual general meeting, said a press release. The company’s chairperson, Bhagwan Wassiamal Kundanmal presided over the meeting

19

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

| appointment|

| book signing |

ULAB faculty made Ambassador for Bangladesh 2016

Vice Chancellor of BRAC University signs book contract

The Asian Council of Science Editors (ACSE) has launched the ACSE Ambassador Program with the view to engage the research community effectively, to publish quality scientific research and disseminate results towards the wider community.

After careful deliberation by the ACSE authorities, Md Shafiqul Islam, assistant professor, Center

for Sustainable Development, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) has been selected as an Ambassador of Bangladesh for 2016.

The program will provide a lot of benefit to the members and ambassadors. The ambassador will be benefited through easy access to ACSE events, complimentary, downloadable ACSE communications that has a great learning content and industry updates, opportunities of networking with national and international editors, scholars and researcher community, likelihood to join and build associations and affinity groups with other ACSE ambassadors and ACSE staff.

The person accepted as the

ACSE Ambassador will also be featured on the ACSE website and ACSE newsletter, and can be engaged as a panelist or copresenter at ACSE-sponsored events such as workshops, seminars or conferences.

There is also the scope to build up other employability skills including confidence, team-work, presentation and creativity.

During his time as the Ambassador, Md Shafiqul Islam can disseminate and share ongoing and upcoming ACSE event among the research communities, organise workshops and seminars in home countries to disseminate quality research findings, and create and post regular activities related to ACSE on the Facebook page, ambassador blog and web page.

He is also responsible for inviting other researchers to become members and contributors for the program, taking initiatives to publish research findings in high quality publishing journals and attending the annual meeting, conference and seminars organised by ACSE. l

DT

Biz Info

Vice Chancellor of BRAC University, Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb, PhD, with his co-editor, Dr Khalid Hassan, recently signed a book contract with Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, titled Strategic Marketing Management in Asia: Case Studies & Lesson across Industries.

Research work of Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb, PhD titled

“A model of customercentric banking practices for corporate clients in Bangladesh” is also going to be published in the International Journal of Bank Marketing. Mamunur Rashid (Nottingham University, Malaysia) and Quazi Akhlaqur Rahman coauthored the paper.

Customer-centric banking envisions that banks should meet both tangible and intangible satisfaction criteria of their customers.

This study investigates the customer-centric banking practices that drive satisfaction of corporate customers in Bangladesh.

The International Journal of Bank Marketing aims to present the latest thinking, practice and research findings on issues of current or future concern to banking and financial services marketers.

Professor Andaleeb is also Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Pennsylvania State University and Editor, Journal of Bangladesh Studies. l

| appointment |

| offers |

GEEKY Social’s new director

Red Shift introduces new dishes

GEEKY Social, the 360-degree digital marketing company in Bangladesh’s rapidly growing economic and business scene, announced that M Asif Rahman has joined the management team and the Board of Directors. The founder CEO of AR Communications, and the renowned web industry and

optimisation expert brings outstanding technology, content, and operations expertise. GEEKY Social plans to invest heavily in its own full-service marketing platform, and aggressively prepares for growth and creativity.

“With his extensive experience in web development, Web 2.0 marketing, HTTP 2.0, applications and lean product development, Asif Rahman has established himself as a well-known technology and content distribution talent, who will play an important role in GEEKY Social’s future growth plans,” said Saimum Hossain, co-founder of GEEKY Social.

“GEEKY Social is dedicated to creating powerful advertising and marketing tools driven by technology for businesses seeking to more profitably engage with their customers and prospects across newer and more creative touchpoints.

Asif Rahman’s addition to the team and the Board puts even more horsepower behind our vision of making GEEKY Social one of the most creative techadvertising firms in South Asia,” added Mahadi Hasan Sagor, the other co-founder and currently, the managing director of GEEKY Social.

GEEKY Social’s growth strategy includes driving innovative product development and educating clients for greater allocation of media and promotions budget to social and digital media platforms by businesses: big and small alike.

“I was already involved with digital media buying and social media marketing, but the main factor that made me move to GEEKY Social was the team. I know the founders very well; not as an outsider but more closely in some other projects. I know how capable and energetic they are.

As it’s a very developing vertical, their passion to disrupt will come very handy. And they have already proven me right in the past one year,” said Rahman. l

Red Shift is adding a special crunchy-juicy chicken popcorn to their menu. This crispy chicken popcorn is ideal as a snack or as a light lunch meal.

To try out their new dishes,

visit: Red Shift Coffee Lounge, Bays Galleria, 5th floor, 57 Gulshan Avenue.

For more information, contact: 02-8833473 l

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Downtime

20

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Abstain from food (4) 5 Exploits (5) 9 Plea (6) 10 Present (3) 11 Incline (4) 12 Token of membership (5) 14 Lawful (5) 16 Article (4) 19 Venture (4) 21 Tracking system (5) 24 Principal (5) 27 Clock face (4) 29 Large cask (3) 30 Country (6) 31 Sanity (5) 32 Speck of dust (4)

DOWN 1 Tumbled (4) 2 Tool (3) 3 Climbed (6) 4 Melody (4) 5 Discussed (7) 6 Finish (3) 7 Domestic animal (3) 8 Dilate (5) 13 Drink (3) 15 African animal (7) 17 Breed of sheep (6) 18 Cults (5) 20 Land measure (3) 22 Biblical character (4) 23 Run away (4) 25 Colour (3) 26 Tavern (3) 28 Perform (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 3 represents C so fill C every time the figure 3 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 DE FG H I J K L MN 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

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World 21

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

INSIDE

Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff suspended from office n Reuters, Brasilia WHO: 80% of world’s city dwellers breathing bad air Over 80% of the world’s city dwellers breathe poor quality air, increasing their risk of lung cancer and other life-threatening diseases, a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report warned Thursday.

PAGE 22

Countries pledge to fight graft by revealing company owners Countries from Britain to Afghanistan pledged on Thursday to set up public registers of company ownership in a collective effort to make it harder to launder the proceeds of corruption around the globe.

PAGE 23

Brazil’s Senate voted on Thursday to put leftist President Dilma Rousseff on trial in a historic decision brought on by a deep recession and a massive corruption scandal.

With Rousseff to be suspended during the Senate trial for allegedly breaking budget rules, the centrist Vice President Michel Temer will take the helm of a country that again finds itself mired in political and economic volatility after a recent decade of prosperity.

The 55-22 vote ends more than 13 years of rule by the left-wing Workers Party, which rose from Brazil’s labour movement and helped pull millions of people out of poverty before seeing many of its leaders tainted by corruption investigations.

Rousseff, a 68-year-old economist and former member of a Marxist guerrilla group who was the country’s first woman president, is unlikely to be acquitted in a trial that could last as long as six months.

The scale of her defeat on Thursday showed the opposition already has the support it needs to reach a two-thirds majority required to convict Rousseff and remove her definitively from office.

Early Thursday, a Temer aide said the incoming government would announce a series of austerity measures to help reduce a massive budget deficit.

Senate Speaker Renan Calheiros said Rousseff would be formally notified of her suspension on Thursday morning, after which she would leave Brasilia’s Planalto presidential palace. As suspended head of state, she can continue to live in her official residence, have a staff and use an Air Force plane.

Rousseff, who has denied any wrongdoing and has called the impeachment process a “coup,” was expected to make a brief statement, aides said. She would later address a rally of supporters accompanied by her mentor, Workers Party founder and former president

Brazil’s impeachment process 1

2

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE April 11

Recommended launch of impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES Vote on April 17

367 for impeachment 137 against

3

SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF SENATORS May 6

Approved action against Rousseff

4

SENATE Vote on May 12

Approved launch of Senate impeachment proceedings 55 for impeachment 22 against

5 6 7 Dilma Rousseff

SUSPENSION

Rousseff must step down for up to 180 days during Senate proceedings FINAL VOTE

Senate votes in plenary session: 2/3 majority required (54 out of 81 members) If approved Rousseff is ousted and ineligible for public office for 8 years

Photo: Evaristo Sa

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Rousseff dismissed her cabinet, including the sports minister, who is in final preparations for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August, Brazil’s Official Gazette showed.

While opposition supporters celebrated in the central Paulista Avenue of Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, many Brazilians are concerned that the end of Workers Party rule could bring back bad times for the poor, who have made great strides in the last decade.

And many Brazilians are unsure whether a new government will make much difference in the short term. l

Michel Temer Brazil’s acting president

1940 Born to Lebanese family 1963 Graduates in law 1983 Prosecutor, Sao Paulo state 1984 Secretary for Public Security for Sao Paulo state 1987 Elected MP for centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDP), the 1st of 6 terms 2001-10 Leader of PMDB 2011 Vice-president under President Dilma Rousseff Oct 2015 Publicly criticises “excesses” in government policy March, 2016 Takes PMDB out of ruling coalition May 12, 2016 Becomes acting president during Rousseff’s impeachment process Source: micheltemer.com.br

Brazil: Key players in the crisis Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Eduardo Cunha

Ex-president 70 years old Her ally, mentor, who is also accused over the same affair

Speaker of the lower House 57 years old Roussef’s enemy is himself being investigated for alleged corruption

Kenya to shut world’s biggest refugee camp Kenya is drawing up a timetable to close Dadaab refugee camp that hosts about 350,000 Somalis because of security concerns, the interior minister said on Wednesday, after the United Nations urged the East African nation to reconsider such a move.

PAGE 24

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World

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

WHO: 80% of world’s city dwellers breathing bad air Mega-city air pollution PM10 levels for selected cities with over 14m population, based on WHO data

PM10:

New Delhi

Fine particulate matter of 10 microns or less WHO-recommended maximum annual mean levels of PM10: 20*

229 53

Shanghai

Cairo Mexico City

42

Buenos Aires

26

*Annual average, micrograms per cubic meter of air Source: WHO

Beijing

108

Istanbul

84

179

Mumbai

Sao Paolo

35

117 Kolkata 135

Dhaka

Data for last available year in the period 2011‐2015

n AFP, Geneva Over 80% of the world’s city dwellers breathe poor quality air, increasing their risk of lung cancer and other life-threatening diseases, a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report warned Thursday.

Urban residents in poor countries are by far the worst affected, WHO said, noting that nearly every city (98%) in low- and middle-income countries has air which fails to meet the UN body’s standards.

That number falls to 56% of cities in wealthier countries.

“Urban air pollution continues to rise at an alarming rate, wreaking havoc on human health,” Maria Neira, the head of WHO’s department of public health and environment, said in a statement.

The UN agency’s latest air pollution database reveals an overall deterioration of air in the planet’s cities, and highlights the growing risk of serious health conditions also including stroke and asthma.

The report, which focused on outdoor rather than household air, compared data collected from 795 cities in 67 countries between 2008 and 2013.

Tracking the prevalence of harmful pollutants like sulfate and black carbon, WHO found that air quality was generally improving in richer regions like Europe and North America, but worsening in developing regions, notably the Middle East and southeast Asia.

Overall, contaminants in outdoor air caused more than 3m premature deaths a year, the UN body said.

158

The quality of air pollution data provided by individual countries varies considerably, and WHO does not compile a ranking of the world’s most polluted cities.

But, in a sample of selected mega-cities with a population above 14m, New Delhi was the most polluted, followed by Cairo and Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka.

Crucially, key African centres like Nigeria’s mega-city Lagos were excluded from the list because of the sparse availability of air quality data in many parts of the continent, WHO said.

A sample of European data showed that Rome had slightly worse air than Berlin, followed by London and Madrid.

Key factors

Carlos Dora, coordinator at WHO’s public health and environment department, pointed to several key factors that determine the quality of a city’s air.

First was transportation, Dora said, noting that cities which succeed in reducing vehicle traffic while promoting walking, cycling and mass public transport inevitably see their air quality improve.

Energy inefficiency -- especially with respect to heating and cooling buildings -- is a major cause of dirty air, along with the widespread use of diesel generators as a replacement for cleaner electricity sources, Dora added.

Another crucial factor, especially in developing countries, is waste management, with the smoke generated by burning garbage ranking among the top pollutants. l

New Delhi government has introduced several initiatives; like ban on disel taxicabs, allowing oddeven numbers vehicle on specific days of a month, aimed at improving air quality in the world’s most polluted capital AFP

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FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

S Asian nations unite over anti-child trafficking drive, helpline planned Reuters n Thomson Foundation, New Delhi

South Asian nations will set up a toll-free helpline and online platform to fight human trafficking, one of the region’s biggest problems, and trace the thousands of children who go missing in the region annually, India’s government said late on Wednesday.

Ministers from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal came to the agreement after a conference on child protection held under the auspices of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).

South Asia, with India at its centre, is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime.

India’s women and child development ministry said delegates from the eight South Asian countries adopted a series of measures to boost cooperation to end child exploitation. “(These include) regional cross sharing and programming on ICT

Bigstock

initiatives to trace missing children, working towards establishing a uniform toll free helpline, developing a regional strategy and common standards for addressing all forms of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking,” it said in a statement.

There are no accurate figures on the number of people being trafficked within South Asia, but activists say thousands of mostly women and children are trafficked within India and as well as from its poorer neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh.

Many are sold into forced mar-

riage or bonded labour working in middle class homes as domestic servants, in small shops and hotels or confined to brothels where they are repeatedly raped.

Sex tourism, child pornography

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh told delegates that curbing human trafficking was a major challenge for all nations, but that by sharing information and best practices, it was possible to develop regional solutions.

“With increasing access to information technology and changing nature of our globalised econ-

omy, new threats for children are emerging - sex tourism, child pornography, online threats to children among others,” said Singh.

“To address these challenges comprehensively, within Saarc countries, we can all benefit from reinforcing regional cooperation and strengthening mechanisms for sharing of information, experience, expertise and good practices.”

In India alone, government data shows 73,549 children went missing in 2014, of which 31,711 were not traced compared to 90,654 missing in 2011, of which 34,406 were not found.

India has over the years implemented a series of child protection measures, such as a national toll free helpline called Childline http://www.childlineindia.org.in/ which receives millions of calls every year.

It has also launched a Track Child http://trackthemissingchild. gov.in/ web portal for authorities to share information on missing children, and a “Lost and Found” portal for the public, where parents can register details of missing children and citizens can report sightings. l

#PANAMAPAPERS LEAK

Countries pledge to fight graft by revealing company owners n Reuters, London C o u n t r i e s from Britain to Afghanistan pledged on Thursday to set up public registers of company ownership in a collective effort to make it harder to launder the proceeds of corruption around the globe.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced the steps at a global anti-corruption summit he was hosting; but critics said the registers might have no meaningful impact unless tax havens, many ultimately controlled by Britain, also ended secrecy.

The build-up to the London event was marred by Cameron being caught on camera describing Nigeria and Afghanistan, which are both taking part, as “fantastically corrupt”; but he later said that the leaders of both countries were tackling the problem.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, addressing a plenary session at the summit, said he had been shocked by the degree to which he found corruption “pandemic” around the world.

“It is a contributor to terrorism

in many different ways and the extremism that we see in the world today comes to no small degree from the utter exasperation that people have with the sense that the system is rigged,” Kerry said.

“We see this anger manifesting itself in different forms in elections around the world, including ours,” he said, alluding to the unexpected success of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders in the US presidential primaries.

Britain, France, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Afghanistan pledged to launch public registers of true company ownership while Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, Indonesia, Ireland and Georgia announced initial steps towards similar arrangements.

Kerry said the United States had already announced measures to improve transparency on business ownership.

The countries taking part in the summit issued a 34-point communique outlining pledges to tackle issues ranging from doping and match-fixing in sports to tax evasion and bribery.

The summit organisers also published separate statements

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World SOUTH ASIA

Pakistan army chief inks death warrants of 5 terrorists Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Thursday signed the death warrants of five hardcore terrorists. An ISPR statement issued said the men were convicted for perpetrating Safoora bus attack and were also involved in improvised explosive device blast near Saleh Masjid Karachi, killing of social worker Sabeen Mahmud.

-REUTERS

INDIA

India passes bankruptcy law in long-awaited reform India has overhauled its archaic bankruptcy laws in a key reform that will make it vastly easier to wind down companies and help banks to recover bad loans. The long-awaited bill that cleared the parliament’s upper house late Wednesday replaces a patchwork of outdated legislation with a single law and lays down a host of new rules.

-AFP

CHINA

China claims to have wide support for stance on South China Sea case China has widespread support in the international community for its decision not to have anything to do with a legal case lodged by the Philippines against Chinese claims in the South China Sea. China says it is fully within its rights not to participate in what it views as forced arbitration, and says the Philippines is using the case to directly undermine Chinese sovereignty. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Australia prime minister listed in Panama Papers

Offshore account and overseas banking concept as a tax haven symbol as a piggy bank on an island surounded by a tutbulent ocean as an icon for tax evasion or financial secrecy BIGSTOCK from 40 countries, each one setting out commitments for which, Cameron said, civil society, media and others should hold governments to account.

The release of the “Panama Papers”, leaked documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca, put tax avoidance at the top of the global agenda by showing the extent to which tax havens were used by politicians and businesspeople from around the world.

Anti-corruption protesters who

gathered close to the summit venue, some dressed as bankers with bowler hats reclining on deck chairs as they fanned themselves with banknotes, said what was needed was an outright abolition of tax havens.

The British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory that the Panama Papers suggested was home to more than half of the 200,000 companies set up by Mossack Fonseca, was not represented at the London summit. l

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is named in the Panama Papers, it emerged Thursday, causing an unwanted headache for him in the middle of an election campaign. He is listed as a former director of a British Virgin Islands company, Star Technology Services Limited, set up by Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca in the 1990s. -AFP

MIDDLE EAST

Iranians to miss 2016 hajj pilgrimage Iran said Thursday its nationals will miss the annual hajj, accusing Saudi Arabia of sabotaging arrangements following a major diplomatic row and a deadly stampede at last year’s pilgrimage. A delegation from Tehran held four days of talks in Saudi Arabia last month to solve the issue. But with Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran still closed and Iranian flights to the kingdom halted, the talks hit deadlock.

-AFP

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World

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

USA

US, China cyber group holds 1st talks since September pact A group of senior US and China cyber officials on Wednesday held its first meeting since the two countries struck an anti-hacking agreement in September to try to ease years of acrimony over the issue. The September pact, reached during a US visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, included a pledge that neither country would knowingly carry out hacking for commercial advantage.

-REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

Mexico drug violence displaces up to 35,000 people Mexico’s drug violence has forced up to 35,000 people to flee their homes, the National Human Rights Commission said Wednesday in a report urging the government to protect internally displaced people. The governmental body lamented that the government lacks a clearcut position on the issue and that it is not in the public agenda.

-AFP

UK

‘Brexit could rekindle Northern Irish conflict’ If Britain votes to quit the European bloc, it might reignite conflict in Northern Ireland because the phenomena would re-erect a border, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned on Thursday. A new border “could at least have the potential of rekindling a conflict that has seemingly calmed down,” he added.

-AFP

EUROPE

Pro EU minister favourite to be Austria’s chancellor The head of Austria’s rail operator, Christian Kern, has emerged as the strong favourite to become its next chancellor after the other main contender for the post of Social Democratic Party (SPO) leader pulled out of the race. Werner Faymann stepped down as chancellor this week, bowing to a revolt inside the SPO after it suffered a heavy defeat in the first round of a presidential election.

-REUTERS

AFRICA

Sudan’s Bashir heads to Uganda for rare visit Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir flew to Uganda Thursday, state media reported, in his first visit to Kampala since his indictment by the International Criminal Court in 2009 for alleged war crimes in war-torn Darfur. Relations have been strained for years amid accusations that both Khartoum and Kampala support rebel groups in each other’s country.

-AFP

INSIGHT

Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, and the search for common ground n Tribune International Desk Donald Trump and US House Speaker Paul Ryan met face to face for the first time Thursday as they sought to repair their breach and unify a party torn over Trump’s rise to the cusp of the GOP presidential nomination.

The much-anticipated meeting unfolded Thursday morning as polls suggest Republican voters are getting behind Trump, who effectively clinched the nomination last week, reports Associated Press.

GOP lawmakers are increasingly calling for the party to end its embarrassing bout of infighting and unite to beat likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in November, and many want to see Ryan get on board.

Trump entered the Republican National Committee building, the venue a few blocks from the Capitol, through a side door as about a dozen protesters who oppose his immigration positions demonstrated at the front, chanting “Down, down with deportation.

Up, up with liberation.” They tried to deliver a cardboard coffin to the RNC representing the suffering of immigrants under GOP policies and what they say will be the death of the party under Trump.

They were not allowed inside.

Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas walked by and remarked that Trump is “tearing people apart. You can see the circus out here. He’s just bad for the country.”

Before the meeting, Ryan insisted party unity was his goal.

A week earlier, he refused to endorse Trump, a slight that the billionaire said “blindsided” him.

“We come from different wings of the party,” Ryan said Wednesday. “The goal here is to unify the various wings of the party around common principles, so that we can go forward to unify it.”

“I don’t really know him,” Ryan said of Trump, noting they’ve met only once, briefly, at a fundraiser in 2012 when Ryan was his party’s vice presidential nominee. “We just need to get to know each other.”

For his part Trump insisted defiantly that he doesn’t need the blessing of Ryan or other Republican leaders wary of the candidate.

“If we make a deal, that will be great,” Trump told Fox News Channel. “And if we don’t, we will trudge forward like I’ve been doing and winning all the time.”

The two men represent vastly different visions for the Republican Party, and whether they can come together may foretell whether the GOP will heal itself after a bruising primary season or

Donald Trump

Paul Ryan

face irrevocable rupture.

Trump, for years a registered Democrat, has offended women, Hispanics, and others while violating establishment party orthodoxy on numerous issues Ryan holds dear, from trade to wages to religious freedom. Ryan, a policy-focused conservative, insists the GOP must be a party of ideas, and has championed an agenda that has drawn Trump’s scorn by pushing cuts in Medicare and other government programmes.

Indeed, a broader swath of Republican voters appears to be moving behind Trump, despite bigname holdouts such as Ryan, both former president Bushes and the party’s 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney. Romney went after Trump on Wednesday over his refusal thus far to release his taxes, calling it “disqualifying” and asserting that the only explanation must be “a bombshell of unusual size.”

Still, almost two in three Re-

publican-leaning voters now view Trump favourably, compared with 31% who view him unfavourably, according to a national Gallup Poll taken last week. The numbers represent a near total reversal from Gallup’s survey in early March.

And on Capitol Hill, where Ryan has managed to remain popular since taking over as speaker in the fall, some Republicans made clear that they would like to see him come around to supporting Trump sooner rather than later.

Three meetings were on tap for Trump: one with Ryan and the party chairman, Reince Priebus; then one with Ryan joined by other senior House GOP leaders; and one with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Senate Republicans.

McConnell was quick to embrace the mogul after he clinched the nomination and said this week that Trump is looking like he’ll be “very competitive” in November. l

REUTERS

Kenya to shut world’s biggest refugee camp n Reuters, Nairobi

Kenya is drawing up a timetable to close Dadaab refugee camp that hosts about 350,000 Somalis because of security concerns, the interior minister said on Wednesday, after the United Nations urged the East African nation to reconsider such a move.

Kenya, which has suffered from a spate of attacks claimed by the Somali militant group alShabaab, has set up a taskforce to handle the closure plan of the biggest refugee camp on the planet, Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said.

“They will present the timetable based on all the resources required,” the minister told a news conference, adding that state funds had been allocated to proceed with the programme.

“The government has commenced the exercise of closing the complex of Dadaab refugee

Refugees stand outside their tent at the Ifo Extension refugee camp in Dadaab, near the Kenya-Somalia border REUTERS camp,” he said, without specifying what new action had been taken beyond a voluntary repatriation programme already in place.

US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement voicing deep concern about the decision and urging Kenya “to maintain its longstanding leadership role in protecting and sheltering victims

of violence and trauma ... and not forcibly repatriate refugees.”

Kenya’s government has long said Dadaab, which lies near the Somali border, has been used by militants to launch attacks, such as the Westgate shopping mall assault in Nairobi in 2013.

Hundreds of Kenyans were killed in that attack and other

assaults mainly in Nairobi, the northeast and coast.

The Interior Ministry says it hosts 600,000 refugees, many from neighbouring Somalia and South Sudan. Some refugees have lived in Dadaab for decades and some were born there.

Last year, Kenya said it was setting a three-month deadline to close Dadaab, but backtracked on the plan following UN criticism of any forced return. Last week, the Interior Ministry said it would shut Dadaab in the “shortest time possible”, prompting the UN refugee agency UNHCR to voice “profound concern” and renew its call for Kenya to reconsider.

The UNHCR, Kenya and Somalia signed a tripartite agreement in 2013 to repatriate Somali refugees voluntarily. As Somalia has slowly started recovering from war and chaos, Dadaab has shrunk from more than half a million people to about 350,000. l

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Sport 25

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

BRIEF SCORES

INSIDE

ABAHANI LTD 183 (Shanto 42, Taskin 38*, Shubhashish 3/34) lost to MOHAMMEDAN SC 185/2 (Tharanga 77*, Ezaz 42, Amit 1/34) by eight wickets PRIME BANK CC 274/7 (Maruf 63, Taibur 45, Nurul 40) lost to VICTORIA SC 211/2 (Sohrawardi 105*, Al Amin 82*, Shuvagata 1/33) by nine runs (D/L)

BFF lifts Mamunul, Sohel suspensions

PRIME DOLESHWAR 216 (C Silva 89, Rony 2/25, Nahidul 2/52) lost to RUPGANJ 222/4 (Mosharraf 81, Asif 51*, Mithun 51) by six wickets

Former Bangladesh captain Mamunul Islam and winger Sohel Rana are eligible for national selection. The decision to overturn the bans of Mamunul and Sohel came yesterday in the emergency meeting of the BFF. PAGE 26

Victoria, Rupganj take 2nd, 3rd places in DPL n Minhaz Uddin Khan Sohrawardi Shuvo’s unbeaten century as an opener boosted Victoria Sporting Club to jump to second position in the Dhaka Premier League, after they defeated Prime Bank Cricket Club by nine runs in a rain-affected game at the BKSP-3 ground yesterday. In the other game of the day in Fatullah, Legends of Rupganj reached third in the points table after their six-wicket victory over Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club.

Ailing Federer ousted in Rome Roger Federer’s Masters bid ended with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 third round defeat to Dominic Thiem yesterday.

Swiss third seed Federer admitted Wednesday he had been surprised to get past 2nd round opponent Alexander Zverev. PAGE 27

Mohammedan Sporting Club paceman Subhashish Roy bowls against Abahani Limited in the Dhaka Premier League at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

MSC ace Dhaka derby Big Sam master survivor yet again Ripping back his jacket to flex his muscles to a feverish crowd, Sam Allardyce led the Sunderland fans in celebration at a delirious Stadium of Light having once more proved the perfect man for a relegation scrap. PAGE 28

Everton sack Spaniard Martinez Roberto Martinez’s three-year spell in charge of Everton is over, media reports said on Thursday.

The Spaniard has come under increasing criticism this season after a mediocre Premier League season that has left them 12th in the table. PAGE 29

Subhashish, Tharanga star with ball and bat out for less than 150. we continue playing like this, we n Mazhar Uddin However Taskin Ahmed and will not get the result even if we Lack of excitement was the feature of the lead-up to the Dhaka derby, and then the match itself yesterday at Shere Bangla National Stadium turned out to be as lacklustre.

Mohammedan Sporting Club registered the one-sided win over Abahani Limited, by eight wickets, in the Dhaka Premier League.

They strengthened the position at the top of the points table too, now with 10 points from six games. Mohammedan later rode on the Sri Lankan batsman Upul Tharanga’s unbeaten 77 that helped them reach the target with 6.1 overs to spare.

Abahani captain Tamim Iqbal said his side is now under pressure to confirm their place in the tournament’s Super League phase.

“We already lost three matches and we have to win all of our next matches. It’s not only about winning though. We are quite far from playing our best cricket. If

have the best team in the world and now we have to play our best cricket,” Tamim said after the game.

Abahani’s third defeat came on the back of too much dependency on Tamim’s bat. It gave Abahani the reality check as they were bundled out for just 183 runs in 48.3 overs. Tamim, their most consistent batsman of the season, suffered his first low score after he was caught at slip off Subhashish Roy in the first over.

Liton Kumar Das (three) and Avishek Mitra (seven) also perished quickly as Abahani were struggling at 15/3 inside six overs.

The contest was effectively over at that point but young batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto continued his fine form with 42 after Indian batsman Manvinder Bisla was dismissed for 23 in the 18th over. Mosaddek Hossain Saikat fell to a poor shot after making 23 and in the 34th over, Abahani were in danger of getting bowled

Abul Hasan scored some valuable runs at the end where the latter was out after scoring 28. Taskin remained not out on 38 off 49 balls with three fours and a six.

Pacer Subhashish picked up 3/24 from his 10 overs while off-spinner Habibur Rahman and left-arm spinner Naeem Islam Jr bagged two wickets each.

Mohammedan started their chase cautiously. Opener Saykat Ali was retired hurt following a huge caught-behind shout off Taskin. Things had heated up, and it turned out to be the only exciting moment of the game.

Later opener Ezaz Ahmed and the left-hander Tharanga controlled the chase with their 78run first wicket stand. Ezaz made 42 off 68 balls with three sixes and as many fours.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim departed cheaply but Tharanga remained unbeaten on 77 off 105 balls featuring seven fours while Naeem Islam was not out on 25. l

Victoria v Prime Bank

The pinch-hitter Shuvo was unbeaten on 105 off 118 balls after Victoria were without one of their regular opener Fazle Mahmud. Chasing 274 runs, Shuvo and Al Amin, unbeaten on 82, added 155 runs for the third wicket as they cruised to 211 in 42.1 overs. Rain came at that point, and it was called off at 5:00pm, handing them the win. Shuvo had slammed six boundaries and two sixes in his 118-ball innings.

Earlier, opener Mehedi Maruf’s 63 helped Prime Bank to post 2747 in 50 overs. Pacer Kamrul Islam Rabbi picked two wickets. With four wins in six matches, Victoria are in a strong position in the run for the Super League.

Prime Doleshwar v Rupganj

High-flying Prime Doleshwar tasted the bitter side as their second consecutive defeat pulled them down to fourth spot in the table.

Despite losing opener Soumya Sarkar for a duck, a combined effort by the Rupganj batsmen, led by captain Mosharraf Hossain’s 81 and 51 each by Mohammad Mithun and Asif Ahmed edged the side to reach the shore in 46.2 overs losing four wickets. Prime Doleshwar had a poor start with the bat, losing the openers with only 14 runs on the board in 5.2 overs but later managed to post a 216 after Chamara Silva’s 76-ball 89. Abu Haider picked up two wickets. l

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Mustafizur expensive in Sunrisers defeat n Tribune Report

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Mustafizur Rahman bowls during match 42 of the Vivo Indian Premier League 2016 against Delhi Daredevils yesterday BCCI

Bangladesh pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman had a rare day-off with the ball as his team Sunrisers Hyderabad faced a heavy seven-wicket defeat against Delhi Daredevils in their IPL 2016 match yesterday. Mustafizur conceded 39 runs in his four overs without any success.

Delhi Daredevils were without captain Zaheer Khan who missed a game for the second time in the season because of a niggle. Chris Morris stepped up and unfurled cutters, fast yorkers, slower yorkers, and bouncers. Mishra tested Sunrisers Hyderabad with googlies and claimed two wickets, both with seam-up balls, clocked at over 110kph. Nathan Coulter-Nile then impressed in the end overs as the

bowlers triggered Sunrisers’ disintegration, after a fast start from David Warner. From 80 for 1 in the first ten overs, Sunrisers finished with 146 for 8. Warner later said that they were 20-30 runs short.

Quinton de Kock took charge of the chase. The cuts and the pickup shots flew off his bat. He looked unstoppable until he was given out caught behind by umpire, despite no signs of a nick, after an exaggerated appeal. De Kock slashed at a short, wide ball and the noise came from his helmet falling onto the ground. When de Kock was dismissed for 44 off 31, Daredevils needed 69 off 59 balls and Mustafizur had three overs left. Sunrisers had hope but the 21-year old Sanju Samson and 18-year old Rishab Pant showed nous to end Sunrisers’ four-match winning streak. l

Manohar elected as ICC chairman BFF lifts Mamunul, n Sohel suspensions Reuters, Dubai

India’s Shashank Manohar has been elected unopposed as the first independent chairman of the International Cricket Council, the governing body said yesterday.

Under reforms Manohar himself had initiated within the ICC as its former chief earlier this year, the chairman must be an independent candidate with no formal links to his home board.

Manohar, who resigned as the president of the powerful Indian cricket board (BCCI) on Tuesday, commenced his two-year term at ICC with immediate effect.

“It is an honour to be elected as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council and for that I am thankful to all the ICC directors who have put their faith and trust in my abilities,” Manohar, 58, said in a statement.

“I also take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues in the BCCI who have supported me during my recent time as the BCCI’s President.”

During his previous ICC stint, Manohar was instrumental in overturning the constitutional changes made in 2014 that gave India, England and Australia almost total control of cricket’s administration.

The ICC full council approved

the constitutional amendments which will see the president’s post abolished after the governing body’s annual conference in Edinburgh.

A lawyer by profession, Manohar served as BCCI president from 2008-2011 and was re-elected to the powerful position in October 2015 after the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya.

As BCCI president, Manohar brought significant transparency into the functioning of a board traditionally perceived as an efficient but opaque body.

“These are exciting times for international cricket as we are presently carrying out a comprehensive review of the 2014 constitutional amendments which is aimed at not only improving governance structures, but cricket structures as well,” he said.l

n Tribune Report Former Bangladesh captain and midfielder Mamunul Islam and winger Sohel Rana, who were recently suspended for breaching team protocol, are eligible for national selection.

The decision to overturn the bans of Mamunul and Sohel came yesterday in the emergency meeting of the Bangladesh Football Federation’s national team management committee.

The duo were punished following the Bangabandhu Gold Cup but are now free to feature for the national side after apologising to football’s governing body in the country recently. And yesterday,

the BFF’s national team management committee accepted their letters of apology.

The meeting also informed that temporary Dutch head coach Lodewijk Darius de Kruif will arrive in the capital city in the third week of this month, ahead of next month’s AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Play-off matches against Tajikistan.

The men in red and green will take on Tajikistan away on June 2 and will depart Dhaka on May 29.

Yesterday’s meeting was chaired

by BFF senior vice president Abdus Salam Murshedy in the absence of president Kazi Salahuddin, who is attending the ongoing 66th Fifa Congress in Mexico. l

AFRASIA BANK MAURITIUS OPEN

Bright start for Siddikur n Tribune Desk Siddikur Rahman started the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on a good note as the Bangladesh golfer carded four-under 68 under windy conditions to share second position after the opening round yesterday.

Australian Andrew Dodt set the early pace, shooting an impressive six-under 66 for the clubhouse lead to hold a two-shot advantage over Siddikur and Rashid Khan of India at the €1m event staged at the Four Seasons Golf Club Mauritius in Anahita.

Siddikur, who is not in good

form in recent times, started the event from back-nine and posted three birdies before the break.

Bangladesh golfer carded four-under 68 under windy conditions to share second position Then he got a setback in the penultimate hole, scoring a bogey, but came back strongly to finish the day with a birdie in the 18th hole.l

An action from the friendly kabaddi game between Border Guard Bangladesh and Border Security Force in Peelkhana on Wednesday. Border Security Force won by 32-24 points COURTESY

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QUICK BYTES Flying start for Abahani in Hockey League opener Abahani Limited made a flying start against Bangladesh Railway Sporting Club as the most prestigious hockey competition of the country, the Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League, got underway yesterday at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium. Abahani thumped 14 goals past the Railway outfit without reply with midfielder Rajib Das bagging four field goals and defender Farhad Ahmed Situl grabbing three field goals. In what turned out to be a dominating display by the Sky Blues, Maksud Alam Habul and Shafqat Rasool scored a brace each while Mohammad Irfan, Sheikh Mohammad Nannu and Kashif Ali shared three goals between themselves. Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan inaugurated the competition as the chief guest.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

Arsenal’s Welbeck out for nine months Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck will be out for around nine months after undergoing knee surgery, the club announced on Wednesday, ending his hopes of playing for England at Euro 2016. The 25-yearold forward damaged cartilage in his right knee during a challenge with Bacary Sagna in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Manchester City on Sunday.

–AFP

De Boer leaves Ajax Ajax Amsterdam coach Frank de Boer will leave the Dutch side after five and a half years in charge, the club announced yesterday, amid reports of the 45-year-old replacing Roberto Martinez at Everton in the English Premier League. De Boer’s contract runs out next year but after their final day implosion in the Dutch title race Ajax announced they had agreed to part ways after their tour of china is completed.

–REUTERS

Pochettino extends Spurs contract Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has extended his contract until 2021, the Premier League club announced yesterday.

The highly regarded Argentine, 44, arrived from Southampton in 2014 and came close to leading Spurs to their first league title since 1961 this season, only for them to lose out to Leicester City.

–AFP

The legendary voice of West Indies' Tony Cozier goes silent n Agencies Tony Cozier possessed a voice with a melodic lilt that brought to mind waves gently lapping on a Caribbean beach.

But he could reinforce it with a journalistic rigour and work ethic that was anything but laid-back, and it made him a master of his craft with words in either the written or spoken form.

Cricket was mourning him on Wednesday night after he passed away aged 75 following a latest bout of ill-health that last week saw him admitted to hospital in his native, beloved Barbados.

As the tributes poured in, colleagues and listeners alike were coming to terms with the loss of another irreplaceable personality whom many will bracket with another of the recently departed, Richie Benaud.

Cozier was not just a brilliant commentator but something akin to the conscience of West Indies cricket, whose often turbulent history he had chronicled since the early Sixties for a wide array of outlets.

For British listeners of a certain age, Cozier was among those you listened to from childhood days under bedclothes, his mellifluous tones still instantly identifiable with the era when the islands rose to rule the world of cricket with a

terrifying artillery.

His voice has been heard on Test Match Special for 50 years and on Wednesday night, Jonathan Agnew, among those fortunate to work with him for decades, spoke of him as one of the West Indies’ great all-rounders.

"Tony moved seamlessly between television and radio boxes throughout the world, gleefully describing the West Indies' domination of the 1980s and then lamenting their subsequent demise," he said.

"He was a wonderfully descriptive and disciplined commentator,

the master of going between TV and radio ball-by-ball commentary."

In publicly sending his condolences to the Cozier family, West Indies captain Darren Sammy added: "That voice will forever be in my head."

Cozier was also a prolific and authoritative writer, and a great believer in the islands as an integral force in the sport beyond divisive nationalist feeling. His work resonated equally with his love of the region and infuriation with incompetent administrators and sometimes feckless players.

He was a worldly figure and no hopeless cricket romantic, quite prepared to upset the great and the good of the Caribbean game if need be.

Like many of the greatest radio commentators — such as John Arlott and Christopher Martin-Jenkins — he was not a former professional player, having gone no further than club cricket and also been keen on hockey and football.

The son of Jimmy Cozier, a wellknown editor and publisher in St Lucia and Barbados, he did his journalism training in Canada before breaking into broadcasting in his 20s.

Thereafter he became a fixture in most of cricket’s global outposts when the West Indies were touring. Professionally admired by colleagues, he was also extremely well-liked, the most courteous and welcoming of men.

No visit to the Caribbean for English colleagues to Barbados was complete without an invitation to a barbecue at his glorified beach hut on the wild and more authentic east side of the island.

Memories are guaranteed to live on at the Kensington Oval, as the media centre there was named after him in 2011. But for most people it is the soothingly rich timbre of his voice that will echo in the mind whenever and wherever the West Indies are to be found playing cricket.l

Ailing Federer ousted in Rome Masters n AFP, Rome Roger Federer’s Rome Masters bid ended with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 third round defeat to Austrian 13th seed Dominic Thiem, as world number one Serena Williams sailed into the Italian Open quarters yesterday.

Swiss third seed Federer, who withdrew last week from Madrid with back pain, admitted Wednesday he had been surprised to get past second round opponent Alexander Zverev in straight sets.

Rome marks only the fourth tournament of the season for Federer, who underwent knee surgery in early February, the first operation of his career.

And amid ongoing back pain that has compounded his hopes of an 18th Grand Slam title in Paris, Federer admitted: “I actually thought I could really do a good result in Paris. Now, after the last couple of weeks, it’s been more

difficult.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion only decided to face Thiem at the last minute on Central Court, and the Austrian capitalised to finish off an obviously ailing Federer in 1hr 18mins.

In the quarter-finals, Thiem will now play Japan’s sixth seed Kei Nishikori, who swept aside French 11th seed Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-4.

A former four-time finalist who has never triumphed in Rome, Federer will now consider his options as he tries to regain full fitness ahead of next month’s French Open at Roland Garros.

But as for competing in Rome, Federer said: “My body’s just not ready... I’m not going to go into specifics, because I’m not in the mood."

Federer said he will only be able to gauge his expectations for Roland Garros over the coming fortnight. l

Dominic Thiem of Austria returns the ball to Switzerland's Roger Federer during the ATP Tennis Open tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome yesterday AFP

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Newcastle and Norwich go down n Reuters, London Sunderland secured their Premier League survival on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory over Everton that condemned bitter local rivals Newcastle United and Norwich City to relegation and sparked wild scenes of celebration at the Stadium of Light.

It was the fourth season in a row that Sunderland’s fans had to endure a gruelling relegation battle before popping the cham-

RESULTS Liverpool

1-1

Chelsea

Benteke 90+2

Norwich

Hazard 32

4-2

Watford

Redmond 15, Mbokani 18, 57, Cathcart 37-og

Sunderland

Deeney 11, Ighalo 51

3-0

Everton

Van Aanholt 38, Kone 42, 55

Hapless Magpies apologise to fans

n AFP, London Newcastle United’s managing director issued an apology to fans after Wednesday’s relegation from the Premier League, saying the club were “devastated” and “truly sorry”.

Bitter north-east neighbours Sunderland’s 3-0 win at home to Everton on Wednesday was enough to put Newcastle in the Championship.

“Tonight we are devastated at our relegation from the Premier League,” said managing director Lee Charnley in a statement. l

POINTS TABLE Team

GP W D L GD PTS

Leicester

37 23 11 3 32

80

Tottenham

37 19 13 5 30

70

Arsenal

37 19 11 7 25

68

Man City

37 19 8 10 30

65

Man Utd

37 18 9 10 12

63

West Ham

37 16 14 7 15

62

Southampton 37 17 9 11 15

60

Liverpool

37 16 11 10 13

59

Chelsea

37 12 13 12 6

49

Stoke

37 13 9 15 -15

48

Swansea

37 12 10 15 -10

46

Everton

37 10 14 13

44

Watford

1

37 12 8 17 -10

44

Crystal Palace 37 11 9 17 -11

42

West Brom

42

37 10 12 15 -14

Bournemouth 37 11 9 17 -20 42 Sunderland

37 9 11 7 -14

38

Newcastle

37 8 10 19 -25

34

Norwich

37 9

7 21 -25

34

Aston Villa

37 3

8 26 -45

17

pagne corks, and their victory was a crushing blow for Newcastle and Norwich, whose 4-2 win over Watford on Wednesday proved in vain.

Sunderland’s win, which came courtesy of two goals from surprise hero Lamine Kone, moved them up to 38 points with one match remaining, four clear of Norwich and Newcastle.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce led the Sunderland fans in celebration, pulling off his jacket and flexing his muscles to the crowd after the final whistle.

Sunderland came into the game knowing victory would secure their survival regardless of other results and they dominated a lacklustre Everton from the start.

They took the lead six minutes before halftime when Patrick van Aanholt’s free kick was completely misjudged by Everton keeper Joel Robles before nestling in the net. l

Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino (C) in action with Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and midfielder Nemanja Matic (R) during their English Premier League match at Anfield on Wednesday REUTERS

Allardyce proves to be the master survivor yet again n

Reuters, London

Ripping back his jacket to flex his muscles to a feverish crowd, Sam Allardyce led the Sunderland fans in celebration at a delirious Stadium of Light on Wednesday having once more proved the perfect man for a relegation scrap.

A 3-0 victory over Everton moved Sunderland decisively clear of their rivals for the drop with one game remaining, leaving the club’s bitter foes Newcastle United and Norwich City to face up to life in the Championship.

For Allardyce, it was another personal triumph that extended his record of never having been relegated from the Premier League as a manager despite a CV that includes some of England’s less glamorous clubs.

After stints at Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United as well as Newcastle, Allardyce was appointed by Sunderland in October when they were 19th in the table and without a league victory.

Sunderland have become used to fighting at the wrong end of the table in recent seasons, with their last four campaigns ending in a battle to avoid the drop.

In Allardyce, however, they found a manager who seems to relish that point in the season when his players have to roll up their sleeves and scrap for survival.

He set about slowly turning

them into a more combative and organised team and the one-sided demolition of Everton was his ninth win in 29 games in charge.

When the dust settles on the campaign Sunderland fans might point to their business in the January transfer window as key to their success.

Wahbi Khazri arrived from Bordeaux to provide midfield creativity while Jan Kirchhoff, a 750,000-pound ($1.1 million) signing from Bayern Munich, has been

steadying presence in midfield.

Lamine Kone, the unlikely twogoal hero against Everton, arrived from Lorient to add a physical presence at the back.

With the Premier League set to be flooded with cash as a new TV deal begins next season, avoiding relegation has perhaps never been so important.

“I hope I am here next season,” joked Allardyce, who parted company with West Ham after leading them to a 12th-place finish last year. l

BEFORE AND AFTER BIG SAM BOLTON WANDERERS When Allardyce took over: 12th, Championship (October 1999) Where he left them: 5th, Premier League (April 2007) Where are they now?: 24th, Championship - relegated to League One

NEWCASTLE UNITED When Allardyce took over: 7th, Premier League (May 2007) Where he left them: 11th, Premier League (January 2008) Where are they now?: 18th, Premier League - relegated to the Championship

BLACKBURN ROVERS When Allardyce took over: 19th, Premier League (December 2008) Where he left them: 13th, Premier League (December 2010) Where are they now?: 15th, Championship

WEST HAM UNITED When Allardyce took over: 20th, Premier League - relegated to the Championship (June 2011) Where he left them: 12th, Premier League (May 2015) Where are they now?: 6th, Premier League

SUNDERLAND When Allardyce took over: 19th, Premier League (October 2015) Sunderland's Jermain Defoe celebrates with manager Sam Allardyce after the EPL game against Everton at The Stadium of Light on Wednesday REUTERS

Where are they now?: 17th, Premier League - safe from relegation

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Doping charges dropped, Sri Lanka’s Perera cleared to play n Reuters, Colombo Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kusal Perera has had all anti-doping charges brought against him dropped by the International Cricket Council after the Qatar-based laboratory that conducted the test withdrew its initial finding.

Perera was sent home from Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in December after it was announced he had failed a test during the series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last July. He had faced a four-year ban from cricket.

“We wish to make it clear that there is no evidence that Mr Perera has ever used performance-enhancing substances and we wish him well in his future cricketing endeavours,” ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said in a statement.

“I am very happy that the cricket board and all the others believed in me,” Perera, 25, told reporters in Colombo.

“I always said I never took anything. Now I can start practising again from today and then let’s see

what happens.”

Perera, who featured in the Sri Lankan team in all three formats, missed the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20 while the provisional suspension meant he was not picked for the England tour as well.

“Some people said if I accept guilt the suspension time will be reduced,” he added. “But I didn’t want to accept guilt when I had not done anything wrong. That is what I said then.

“If I had done something wrong I can accept it, but when I haven’t I was not going to accept guilt.”

Richardson said cricket’s governing body would talk to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which had accredited the laboratory, about the case.

“Whilst I am confident that this is an isolated incident in respect of tests commissioned by the ICC, we are seeking an urgent explanation from WADA and the laboratory in an attempt to understand what has transpired and what will be done to ensure it does not happen again,” Richardson said.l

Brazilian former football player Ronaldinho (C) vies for the ball with Mexican former football players Luis Alves Zague (L) and Juan Perales during a match between Fifa legends and Mexican football stars on the eve of the 66th Fifa Congress in Mexico City on Wednesday AFP

Foxes rule EPL player nominations Everton sack Martinez NOMINEES

n Reuters, London

Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City)

Champions Leicester City have been rewarded for their remarkable campaign with five players nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season Award.

Star striker Jamie Vardy and attacker Riyad Mahrez are among the 10 nominees, along with captain Wes Morgan, tireless midfielder N’Golo Kante and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Claudio Ranieri’s men were shock winners of the league crown

Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) N’Golo Kante (Leicester City) Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) Wes Morgan (Leicester City) Dmitri Payet (West Ham United) Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur)

DAY’S WATCH CRICKET SONY SIX 8:30PM Indian Premier League Mumbai v Punjab

TENNIS TEN 3 4:00PM & 11:30PM WTA: Internazionali BNL d’Italia Quarterfinal 1, 2

SONY ESPN 3:30PM & 1:00AM ATP: Rome Open Day 5 Quarterfinals

– the club’s first top-flight title in their 132-year history.

The league’s top goalscorer, Tottenham’s Harry Kane, has also been nominated, as have team-mates Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld.

Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet make up the 10. That means there was no room for Manchester City star Sergio Aguero, who like Vardy has scored 24 league goals this season.

Mahrez has scored 17 goals and created 11, leading to links to numerous clubs – including Barcelona.l

n Reuters, London

Roberto Martinez’s three-year spell in charge of Everton is over, media reports said yesterday.

The Spaniard has come under increasing criticism this season after a mediocre Premier League season that has left them 12th in the table.

According to the reports, Martinez failed to take training yesterday ahead of the final game of the season against Norwich City on Sunday while the BBC and Sky

Real Madrid top Forbes’ most valuable teams list n Reuters Spanish soccer giants Real Madrid retained top spot on a list of the world’s most valuable soccer teams for a fourth consecutive year, according to a Forbes poll released on Wednesday.

The value of the 10-time European champions rose 12 percent to $3.6 billion, making them the world’s second most valuable sports team, surpassed only by the National

Football League’s Dallas Cowboys ($4 billion), Forbes said in a statement.

Barcelona were second on the list with a value of $3.5 billion, also up 12 percent from last year. Manchester United ($3.3 billion), Bayern Munich ($2.7 billion) and Arsenal ($2 billion) rounded out the top five.

According to Forbes, the 20 most valuable soccer teams are worth an average of $1.44 billion, a 24 percent jump from last year that was driven by new lucrative television deals. l

Sports television said he had been sacked.

Everton have won just one of their last 10 league games and some fans turned on the manager after they lost 4-0 to local rivals Liverpool last month.

Banners calling for him to be sacked have appeared at recent games and a protest was planned for Sunday’s finale.

Martinez gained a reputation for an attractive football style in previous stints at Swansea City and Wigan Athletic.l

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FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

Cannes Film Festival kicks off with Woody Allen film From the Cannes opening night red carpet Cannes film festival began in style yesterday with the premiere of Woody Allen’s Cafe Society. Stars including Julianne Moore, Jessica Chastain and Victoria Beckham graced the red carpet in a series of dazzling looks before changing for the after-party.

n Showtime Desk The 69th Cannes Film Festival opened Wednesday amid heightened security and the premiere of a new Woody Allen film, 1930s Hollywood romance Cafe Society.

Allen helped kick off the Cannes festivities with some help from the movie’s stars, Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg. Eisenberg stars as a Bronx native trying to make it in Hollywood, where his uncle (Steve Carell) is a powerful agent.

In the process he becomes smitten

with his uncle’s assistant, played

by Stewart.

However, the film will not be competing for the Palm d’Or, the film festival’s top honour, because according to Allen, it would be against his common sense.

“I’m happy to come to Cannes.

I love the atmosphere, I love the enthusiasm of the crowds and the fact that everybody is here about movies and I run in to people I know and you talk cinema. And that’s a great atmosphere and the south of France is a beautiful place to be for a few days, it’s charming.

But to be in competition would be against my common sense,” Allen said.

Over the next 10 days, they will screen an especially strong slate of films vying for the Palme, including new releases from Pedro Almodovar, Jim Jarmusch, Asghar Farhadi, Andrea Arnold, Sean Penn and the Dardenne brothers.

Coming just six months after the Paris terror attack, the atmosphere at this year’s fest is a little bit subdued under the watchful eyes of the French security forces. l

Tisha and Hridoy Khan to appear in TV drama n Rupkotha Chowdhury Although Tisha and Hridoy Khan hail from different media backgrounds, the actress and the singer have confirmed that they will be acting together in Rupkotha, a TV drama.

Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Raz will be directing the TV drama, while Asad Zaman is the writer.

The drama casts Shaon and Abdullah Rana in supporting roles.

Talking about working in a TV drama Hridoy Khan pointed out his naivety in the field of acting, saying, “I am not an actor - I have a deep sense of camera shyness.”

“However, my first acting experience was in a short TV fiction directed by Mostafa Sarwar Farooki.

That was a long time ago. This time, when Mostafa Kamal Raz told me the story, I couldn’t help but like it.

The story raised a level of curiosity in me and I thought about how

Blake Lively

Kirsten Dunst

Julianne Moore

Jessica Chastain

Victoria Beckham

Anna Kendrick

The final conclusion

it would be to work for this film.

Eventually I ended up giving the film my nod,” he added.

The TV drama is going to be made on the occasion of the forthcoming Eid-ul-Fitr while the shooting has already started in the capital’s Uttarkhan area. It will be aired on Channel i. l

n Showtime desk Recently, the mega final of 16th PRAN National Pickle Contest completed on April 22.

Channel I is going to telecast the show today 5:25pm.

Winners have been selected from a pool of 2,751 contestants

and were declared in four categories. Each category has a winner with one contestant taking home the best-of-the-year award.

In total, 13 winners have been been selected from this popular contest from its inception. l

Ash kicked off her shoes swing. While promoting the film on a music realty show, much to the delight of the audience present, Aishwarya grooved to the famous dance track “Dola Re Dola” from her superhit film Devdas.

Aishwarya has proven she is the timeless queen of Bollywood, with her killer dance moves and mesmerising voice.

Aishwarya performed on stage at an Indian TV show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, where the actor readily agreed

n Showtime Desk Former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stunned her fans by going de-glam for her upcoming

film, a biographical drama titled Sarbjit.

The movie is all set to hit theatres on May 20 and the promotion activities are in full

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FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

WHAT TO WATCH

to show off her moves to iconic songs from previous ventures.

She first kicked off her shoes to dance to “Dhola Re.” The Devdas actor will be seen in two films this year - Omung Kumar’s Sarbjit and Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, alongside Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.

The movie, based on Sarabjit Singh who was killed by fellow prisoners at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, is set to be released in a week.l

Ghost Rider HBO 4:22pm Stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze gives up his soul to become a hellblazing vigilante, to fight against power hungry Blackheart, the son of the devil himself.

Cast: Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes, Brett Cullen, Peter Fonda, Matt Long Life of Pi Star Movies 6:49pm A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.

Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Adil Hussain Transporter 3 WB 7:31pm Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukranian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina’s safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.

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FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016

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Where should Bangladesh spend its money? n Tribune Desk More than 30 economists from Bangladesh and around the world have analysed a long list of 1,000 ideas for development in Bangladesh and picked out seventy-two policy options which they say are

E-PROCUREMENT ACROSS GOVERNMENT

TB TREATMENT

1

the most beneficial in terms of return to investment.

The project, Smarter Solutions for Bangladesh, was carried out by Brac Research and Evaluation Division in cooperation with Copenhagen Consensus Center.

These proposals were then

80,000

TB kills Bangladeshis annually, that is one in eleven deaths.

Research outlines a cost-effective TB treatment strategy using community health clinics. Treating one person can save multiple lives.

Cost: Tk7,850 per patient Return on investment: Tk for each taka

21

2

Bangladesh spends more than

Tk72,000 crore on

public procurement annually.

Making this more efficient would avoid delays, cost overruns and increase efficiency. Research shows the cost of e-Procurement is Tk144 crore. This would bring savings of an estimated Tk5,274 crore per year.

Cost: Tk144 crore Return on investment: Tk for each taka

663

INCREASE SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR GIRLS

6

Educational access for girls means higher productivity and earnings, but also better health of their children. Research shows this leads to better nutrition status for their children and malnutrition is one of the factors most influencing child mortality.

Cost: Tk6,112 per girl per year Return on investment: Tk for each taka

6

IRON AND FOLIC ACID IN PREGNANCY

7

Providing all pregnant women with iron and folic acid would decrease risk of anemia in and reduce lowmothers by weight births by nearly 3%. Benefits would come from reducing infant and maternal mortality and lowering healthcare costs for children.

Cost: Tk591 per pregnancy Return on investment: Tk for each taka

69%

27

ranked by priority by a panel of experts including Nobel laureate economist Finn E Kydland.

They ranked the proposals primarily based on the costs vs benefit of each project, but also their ethical and humanitarian importance and structural requirements for

NUTRITION & MICRONUTRIENTS, ½-5 YEAR OLDS

3

If delivered to everyone, nutrition-focused improvements would cause stunting to fall from 36% to an estimated 29%. A significant impact of better nutrition is the higher incomes these children will

2

have - about Tk crore over the course of their careers.

Cost: Tk9,800 per child Return on investment: Tk for each taka

19

PSYCHO-SOCIAL STIMULATION FOR STUNTING

8

Research suggests a project for stunted children - with weekly visits by education social workers to develop cognitive, and psychosocial skills - could bring an estimated wage increase of for each child, worth nearly lakh over their careers. over Tk Cost: Tk12,450 per child each year Return on investment: Tk for each taka

20% 15

18

implementation.

Over five years, spending just 1% of the Bangladeshi budget on smarter policies could make Tk3.7 trillion better off, and development agencies could achieve $4 billion more of benefits if just 1% of their spending was better allocated, Co-

LAND RECORDS DIGITISATION

BUS PRIORITY FOR DHAKA

4

Today, a typical transaction involving land records costs Tk1,045. With digitisation, the cost would fall to just Tk80. The largest benefit will be the increased security of property rights. The indirect benefits amount to possibly crore more than Tk by 2070.

Cost: Tk276.2 crore Return on investment: Tk for each taka

130,000

619

IMMUNISE CHILDREN IN URBAN SLUMS

9

penhagen Consensus Center Director Dr Bjorn Lomborg said.

The full list of priorities, and all the research papers involved, are publicly available on the website: bangladesh-priorities.com.

Here are the top ten of those policies.

665,000

An estimated under-five children live in urban slums, of which or are currently unvaccinated. Globally, of deaths are linked to vaccine preventable diseases.

Cost: Tk1,400-1,900 per child Return on investment: Tk for each taka

57% 372,000 17%

15

5

Study suggests the government should focus on greater investment in buses to eliminate private cars and other vehicles, with more buses. This would mean less than a third of cars expected under RSTP, more road space, reduced congestion and higher traffic speed.

Cost: Same as RSTP Return on investment: Tk for each taka

9,000

6

HYPERTENSION MEDICATION

10

Hypertension, or abnormally high blood pressure, affects women and men over 35. It’s also a primary factor for serious conditions like heart disease. But treatment is straightforward and fairly cheap.

Cost: Tk7,000 per person per year Return on investment: Tk for each taka

in 3

1 1 in 5

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