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Joishthya 11, 1421

Rajab 25, 1435


Regd. No. DA 6238
Vol 2, No 55

SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

7 | BACK TO SCHOOL

9 | SHARIF TO ATTEND MODIS SWEARING-IN

20 pages | Price: Tk10

13 | REAL SECURE LA DECIMA

11 | NOTES FROM UKRAINE

RAB: Jihad of AL
masterminded
Ekrams killing
Another suspected AL leader
Shiblu surrender to police
n Ashif Islam Shaon
The Rapid Action Battalion yesterday
claimed that local Awami League leader Jihad Chowdhury had masterminded the killing of Fulgazi Upazila Chairman Ekramul Haque.
Interrogating eight people, seven of
whom were arrested from the capital
and another from Feni, RAB found that
internal feud between Jihad and Ekram
over establishing supremacy led to the

Jihad provided firearms


to Abid, Shahnan,
Shifat, Saikat and one
Sunny to carry out the
mission
killing that took place four days back in
broad daylight in Feni town.
However, Jihad Chowdhury, joint
secretary of Fulgazi upazila unit Awami
League, is still at large.
Seven of the arrestees, aged between 20 and 24, took part in the killing
mission on Tuesday on the instructions
of Jihad Chowdhury, RABs Media Wing
Director Habibur Rahman told a press
briefing arranged at its headquarters.
The plan had been made at Salam
Gymnasium in Feni a day before the
murder, he added.

One of the arrestees was accused


of giving shelter to the killers at his
Bashundhara residence.
The alleged killers arrested from
the residence are Abidul Islam Abid,
Jahidul Islam Saikat, Chowdhury
Md Nasir Uddin Anik, Kazi Shahnan
Mahmud, Sajjadul Islam Patwari alias Shifat, Shahjalal Uddin Shipon and
house owner Helal Uddin. Based on
their statements, another youth named
Jahid Hossain was picked up from Feni.
Abid, one of the prime accused, is
son of the general secretary of Feni Mohila Awami League and cousin of MP
Nizam Uddin Hazari.
Habibur Rahman told the press conference that around 8:00am on Tuesday, Jihad briefed the killers on the
entire plan for the killing of Ekram. A
group of 60 to 70 people took part in
the killing mission. Dividing into several groups, they had followed Ekram
from his house.
Jihad provided firearms to Abid,
Shahnan, Shifat, Saikat and one Sunny to carry out the mission. Minutes
before the incident, the armed attackers, led by one Ruti Sohel, created panic among the local people by blasting
crude bombs and vandalising vehicles.
When Ekrams car arrived in Bilashi
Cinema Hall in Academy area around
11am, the attackers pushed an easy bike
PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Elite force RAB produces eight persons, arrested for their alleged link with the killing of Fulgazi upazila chairman, at its headquarters yesterday

Feni murder: Financier, arms provider under scanner


n Mohammad Jamil Khan, from Feni
Investigators of the Fulgazi upazila
chairman murder incident are crosschecking the information that a local
BNP leader had financed the killing.
A highly-placed source in the Feni
police, seeking anonymity, said information extracted from the arrested revealed that the BNP leader had
used local Awami League leader Jihad
Chowdhury, who had longstanding
feud with the slain chairman, Ekramul
Haque Ekram, for the murder.
The suspected BNP leader, who is

Khaleda warns of out of control


situation if election delayed
n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia gave a


warning yesterday that the situation
might go beyond everyones control if
the government does not hold an election under a non-partisan administration, before it is too late.
The party, which boycotted the January 5 election, asked the government
not to indulge in excesses and to hold
the parliamentary election immediately to resolve the political deadlock.
We have the right to hold meetings
and processions...excesses will not
bring any good [for the government],
Khaleda told the government.
Hold an election under a non-partisan government before the time expires. Any initiative after the expiry of
[right] time will not work. The situation
PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

also a key accused in the case, had apparently given Jihad Tk2 crore, to be
used for the killing.
Besides them, two influential leaders of the Awami League knew about
the plan beforehand and had remained
silent.

P3 WHO IS THE BENEFICIARY


Top criminal Jihad, the joint general secretary of Awami Leagues Fulgazi unit,
is involved in drug peddling. He is from
the Hasanpur village of Anandapur union in Fulgazi. He is a former member of

HASINAS VISIT TO JAPAN

Dhaka to seek assistance


for six mega projects
n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Law enforcers stand guard at the entrance of the Supreme Court after they bar a pro-BNP
lawyers rally on the premises yesterday
RAJIB DHAR

Joynal Hazaris steering committee and


the cousin of local BNP leader Mahtab
Uddin Chowdhury Minar.
According to several high officials
involved in the investigation process,
Jihad allegedly provided the assailants
with guns.
Suspected financier Minar is accused
in a number of cases filed with different
police stations in Feni. He is also the accused in several cases including one for
murder with the capitals Mohammadpur police station. Minar controls a portion of Fenis transport business.
Earlier, Jihad had tried to kill Ekram

During the visit of Prime Minister


Sheikh Hasina to Japan, Bangladesh will
seek assistance for six mega projects.
The projects are Ganges Barrage,
multimodal tunnel under Januma
Bridge, new nuclear power plant, new
rail bridge parallel to Bangabandhu
Bridge, Eastern bypass, restoration of
four rivers around Dhaka city and improvement of Mawa-Kalna-Narail-Jessore road with the construction of a
bridge over Kalna.
All of these are big projects and we
dont expect they will agree to provide
assistance for all the projects, Foreign
Minister AH Mahmood Ali told a press
briefing held at the ministry yesterday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last

night left Dhaka for Tokyo at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Shinzo
Abe. This is her third trip to Japan as the
prime minister and first bilateral trip after she assumed power in January.
Both the prime ministers will have
official talks on May 26 and a joint
statement will be declared afterwards.
Mahmood said the two prime ministers would negotiate the projects and it
is not possible to say now what projects
would be selected or how much assistance would be provided.
About the deep sea port at Matabari,
he said it had not been included in the
project list. If Japan wants to discuss it,
Bangladesh would response positively.
About assistance for new nuclear
power plant, he said an accident took

Thailands military junta said yesterday


it had disbanded the Senate and placed
all law-making authority in the army
chiefs hands, dramatically tightening
its grip after a coup that has sparked
Bangkok protests and drawn international condemnation.
The regime also confirmed it had
detained former premier Yingluck
Shinawatra and scores of other ousted
government leaders and would hold
them for up to a week as it corralled

potential opponents to its takeover.


The Senate is dismissed. Responsibility for any laws needing the approval
of the parliament or Senate will instead
be assumed by the leader of the (junta), said an army bulletin on national
television.
Thailands fragile democracy has
been repeatedly stunted by 19 actual or
attempted coups since 1932.
Analysts called yesterdays developments an ominous sign that the junta
led by the army chief, General Prayut
Chan-O-Cha, could be digging in for

a long-term, pervasive takeover, as it


had earlier said the Senate would be
retained.
Sporadic protests flared in Bangkok
for a second straight day, with hun-

P9 HOW COUP UNFOLDED


dreds of demonstrators defying a ban
on political gatherings to denounce the
coup, echoing calls from Washington,
the EU and elsewhere around the world
for the restoration of civilian rule.
Prayut seized control Thursday af-

ter anti-government forces had waged


a several-month campaign, marked by
deadly Bangkok street protests, to oust
Thailands civilian leaders.
Civil liberties have been curbed, media restrictions imposed, most of the
constitution abrogated, and rival protesters from both sides of the political
divide cleared from the capital.
Political analysts view the coup
as part of a long-running effort by a
Bangkok-based power elite aligned
with the monarchy and military to
eliminate the political dominance of

Reducing total revenue by 0.62%

Target
Tk149,000cr

Income tax target


Tk56,620cr
From income
tax Tk56,620cr
or 38%

From corporate
tax Tk36,803cr
or 65%

From rest
Tk19,817cr

2.5% fall in corporate tax will reduce


revenue by Tk920cr

From rest
Tk92,380cr

News

4 Though the draft of the proposed Palli


Sanchay Bank is still waiting in the parliament
for passage, the authorities have already
started preparation to set up around 100
upazila branches for the bank.

Infograph: Tahmidur Rahman

Business

B1 The rate of corporate income tax is likely


to remain unchanged in the upcoming fiscal
year as the National Board of Revenue forwarded a fresh recommendation to PMO.

Nation

6 There is a serious shortage of storage


space in the districts government provided
warehouse where Boro harvest is kept. This
has farmers and the millers deeply worried.

Entertainment

12 Kazi Nazrul Islam, has many distinct


features that set him apart from other more
ordinary beings. Besides his literary talents,
Nazrul was also an actor and a filmmaker, a fact
that is hardly acknowledged.

n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

11 Study hard. It helps you become a good


human being. This is probably a piece of
advice most parents give to their children, or
at least thats what they should be doing.

8 Were in a war situation, says one of the


deliverymen bringing ballot papers in under
armed guard to a polling station in the eastern
Ukrainian town of Dobropillya. There is more
security this time, he adds.

Suspected
thief dies in
DB custody

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Op-Ed

World

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Yinglucks elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra.


Thaksin, a billionaire telecoms tycoon, shook up Thai politics by winning devotion among millions of rural
poor with populist measures, catapulting him to prime minister in 2001 polls.
He was deposed in 2006 in a military
coup, fleeing abroad two years later to
avoid a corruption conviction, but his
family and allies have continued his
success at the ballot box.
The military said yesterday that

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE
FY15 REVENUE OUTLAY (PROJECTION)

three times during the upazila polls


that took place on March 15. At that
time, Ekram filed two cases and a general diary against him. The first case
was filed on March 13 accusing Jihad
of attacking his motorcade. The second
case was lodged on March 19 and the
GD was filed on March 23, according to
Feni police records.
Jihad is also one of the 23 accused in
the Jubo League leader Bashir Ahmed
murder case.
According to sources, Jihad, Bashir
and Golap Chairman were three of

Police and doctors in the district gave


different versions of the death of a suspected thief yesterday, a day after he
had been picked up by the DB police
personnel.
Ashraf Hawlader, 50, was taken to
the Gopalganj 250-bed General Hospital at around 10:30am. He was already
dead.
But the police allegedly pressured
the doctors to mention in the death
certificate that the detained had died at
the hospital. OC of Gopalganj DB police
Alimul Huq refuted the allegation that
Ashrafs death occurred in custody.
However, Dr Imtiaz Faruq at the hospitals emergency ward said the man
had died at least 30 minutes before he
was taken to the hospital.
Ashraf, who was from Ballabdi village in the Madaripur sadar upazila,
was caught by locals in the DC Office
area on Friday noon. He had allegedly
stolen a wallet from a team of Tabligh
Jamaat who had stopped to prepare for
prayers, the OC said.
When he ran, locals caught him and
handed him over to the DB police. The
DB team handed him over to the Sadar
police station at around midnight.
Ashraf fell sick just after he got into
the police car at around 9:20am, yesterday. He died after he was taken to
the hospital, the OC claimed. He might
have died due to cardiac arrest, fear or
any internal complication, he added.
Rathindra Nath Tarafder, an SI of

Thai coup leader cements grip, assumes law-making power


n AFP, Bangkok

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Sport

13 Chennai Super Kings cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over an out-of-sorts


Royal Challengers Bangalore to strengthen
their second place in the seventh edition of
the IPL, here today.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, May 25, 2014

'13 AL, BNP men


killed Mannan'

Murderers are involved in illegal trade


n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur
At least 13 people affiliated with the
ruling Awami League and the BNP
took part in the killing of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan on Wednesday to ensure
the smooth passage of their business
in drugs, firearms and other criminal
activities.
The mystery behind Mannan killing is almost resolved. We have some
confirmed information about those involved in the murder. The suspects are
leaders of two political parties, district
Police Superintendent Shah Mizan said
yesterday.
The slaughtered body of Mannan,
president of sadar upazilas Charshahi
union Awami League unit, was recovered early Thursday near his house in
Rampura village.
Relatives said Mannan had received
a call on his phone and left the house
around 11pm on Wednesday.

According to a preliminary report by


the police, three of the criminals had
slaughtered Mannan while 10 others
guarded the place near a road.
Police have the names of at least
seven people who are leaders of the
Awami Leagues student and youth
bodies Bangladesh Chhatra League
and Jubo League, and the BNPs Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Jatiyatabadi
Jubo Dal.
The killing was not a result of an
internal conflict, rather some unscrupulous people from different parties
planned to kill Mannan, police say.
These criminals are involved in different illegal businesses that they conduct
through the shelter provided by these
political parties.
Some of them were enemies of
Mannan as he used to protest the
illegal businesses in the area, police
said. He was a respected person of
the area. l

More women officers


to be employed
n BSS

State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadek yesterday said the
government is determined to employ
more women officers in higher posts
in various institutions including in the
administration to create ample scope
for participation of women in the decision-making process of the state and all
the fields of social life.
The state minister said this while
speaking at the first Annual General
Meeting of the BCS Women Network in
the capital.
Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Women Network was formed in the year
2010 with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) for raising mutual cooperation,
sympathy and feeling of unity among
the BCS women officers and enhancing their professional skill and standard. The organisation has now a total

member-strength of nearly 1100.


The state minister called upon the
women BCS officers to play their due
role in transforming the administration
suitable for facing the challenges of the
21st century through development of
their professional skill.
She said that no barrier and any conservative or communal force would be
able to jeopardise the forward march of
the countrys womenfolk.
Ismat Ara Sadek disclosed that out
of a total of 5,174 officers working in the
BCS Administrative Service at present,
only 931 are women. She expressed her
optimism that the number of women
officers in the administration would be
increased speedily.
Secretary of the Implementation,
Monitoring and Evaluation (IME) Department Suraiya Begum chaired the
function which was also addressed by
Prof Dilara Hafiz, principal of Titumir
Government College, Dhaka. l

RAB: Jihad of AL masterminded


PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

into the way of his vehicle that veered off


the main road before it got stuck in the
central reservation. Abid first pumped
two bullets, into the chest of Ekram.
Someone inside the car tried to resist the attackers by firing bullets from
a pistol, but failed. At one stage, four
of the injured companions of the chairman managed to get out of the car. Bullet-hit Ekram was lying motionless on
the seat next to the driver.
To ensure his death, Sohel poured
patrol into his vehicle and set it on fire,
the RAB official said quoting Abid.
Later, they handed over their firearms to Jihad Chowdhury who asked
them to take shelter in Helals resi-

dence at Bashundhara. Based on their


statements, Habibur said, they were
trying to hunt down other perpetrators.
Talking to reporters, Shahjalal, another arrestee, said they were taken to the
spot to take part in a BCL showdown. He
claimed that he did not know about the
attack. They were 50-60 in number.
Meanwhile, another suspect Abdullahil Mahmud Shiblu, president of
Feni Municipality Ward 5 unit Awami
League, surrendered to Feni Sadar Police around 3:15pm, said Paritosh Ghosh,
superintendent of police in Feni.
A RAB team along with some arrestees was on the way to Fulgazi to launch
drives there when this report was being filed around 7:30pm. l

Suspected thief dies in DB


PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

DB police, and SI Monzel Ali, duty officer at the sadar police station, gave
similar versions of the arrest and death.
On the other hand, physician Faruq
said two police personnel had brought
Ashraf, who was already dead, to the
hospital at around 10:30am. When he
declared the detained to be dead, the
policemen left the emergency ward.
We registered his name at around
1pm when the police provided his name
and address. In the report, we mentioned that the person had died before
he was brought to the hospital, he said
adding that things would be clear after

the post mortem report came in.


A senior official at the hospital said
some people in the police were trying
to influence the doctors and the senior
health department officials so that the
report was prepared stating that Ashrafs
death had occurred at the hospital.
If the person died naturally, there
is nothing to be worried. But now it
seems that he did not die normally,
the official said, seeking anonymity.
Civil Surgeon of the district Dr SM
Sirajul Islam said they will produce a
post mortem report with accurate information about Ashrafs death and
the reasons behind it. l

Dhaka to seek assistance


PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

place in Russia in 80s, but power production from nuclear plants was not
stopped.
France, Germany, and other countries in Europe have nuclear power
plants and Bangladesh should not be
afraid, he said. Accidents may happen,
but we should not sit idle, he added.
The minister hoped that a formal
announcement about 35th Japanese
loan package of $1.18 billion for Bangladesh would be made.
We hope that our request for ODA
package will be declared during the
trip, he said, adding, The visit of the
prime minister is considered as an important step to uplift the relationship to
a level of comprehensive partnership.
The prime minister will encourage

Japanese investors to invest in Bangladesh as they are looking for new avenues of investment and Bangladesh
would like to take the opportunity.
We hope that Japanese investors
would invest in power and energy, infrastructure, ICT, textiles and RMG and
pharmaceutical sectors, he said.
Dhaka will request Tokyo to relax
rules of origin so that Bangladeshs exports to Japan increase. A business delegation would also accompany Hasina.
At present, 176 Japanese companies
are operating in Bangladesh with an
investment of $1.3 billion and it was 61
in 2007.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs
Shahriar Alam said Bangladeshs export to Japan would touch $1 billion
this calendar year. l

Retractable device installed in the city's Hare Road to prevent vehicles from going the wrong lane creates traffic congestion yesterday as most of the drivers saw it for the first time as
no awareness was created among them before the move
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Higher Secondary admission


begins from May 28
n Mushque Wadud
The admission process for Higher Secondary level for the academic year 2014
will begin from May 28, the education
board officials told the Dhaka Tribune
yesterday.
Interested students can apply online
or via SMS from May 28 to June 12. Selected candidates list will be published
on June 22. The deadline for submitting
application fees is June 30 and classes
will commence from July 1.
Chairman of Board of Intermediate
and Secondary Education, Dhaka, Taslima Begum told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that like the previous years, there
will not be any admission test this year.
Students will be admitted according to the results of Secondary School
Certificate and its equivalent examinations and through online. She asked the
students to visit the boards website for

detailed information on the admission


process.
Leading colleges in the city have
already issued their circulars for admission in 2014. Among them, Dhaka
College set GPA 5 as minimum score for
science students to apply, GPA 4.80 for
Business Studies, and GPA 4.50 for Humanities group.
Viqarunnisa Noon School and College seeks GPA 5 for science group,
GPA 5 for business studies group, and
GPA 3 for Humanities group. Students
have to apply through text messages.
Colleges website has details about the
admission process.
However, Rajuk Uttara Model College issued a circular only for their internal students.
The Higher Secondary admission
guidelines by education ministry said
colleges under MPO facility in the
Dhaka metropolitan area cannot col-

lect more than Tk5,000 for admission,


Tk9,000 for colleges under partial MPO
in the metropolitan area, Tk1,000 for
colleges in upazila level, Tk2,000 for
district level and Tk 3,000 for other
metropolitan cities except Dhaka.
It also said colleges cannot take
more than Tk120 for single admission
form.
The SSC result was published on
May 17. This year, the pass rate was
91.34%, a 2.31 percent increase than
the previous year, and a total of 142,276
students got GPA 5, which were 51,050
more than the previous year.
There were concerns among the students and the guardians whether all
the passed students would be able to
get admitted to the colleges. Education
Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, however,
said there wont be any crisis as a good
number of seats in the colleges remain
vacant every year. l

Rumours spread
over todays HSC
math question leak
n Mushque Wadud
Rumour of HSC mathematics question
leak spread fast when a question paper,
claiming to be of todays mathematics
exam, was posted on Facebook yesterday night.
The question paper did not resemble a board format paper and there
were comments that it was mainly of a
coaching centre based paper.
Several examinees said they became
worried after seeing the question paper
on Facebook.
Dhaka Education Boards exam
controller SM Wahiduzzaman told the
Dhaka Tribune they were not aware of
any question leak. It is nothing but a
rumour, he said.
The board earlier had to postpone
English (paper 2) examination when allegations of a leak surfaced. A committee,
headed by an additional secretary, was
also formed to investigate the incident. l

Thai coup leader cements grip, assumes law-making power


PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Prayut had sent a letter regarding his


takeover to the countrys revered king,
Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Prayut had sent a letter regarding his
takeover to the countrys revered king,
Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The monarch, 86, commands great respect among his subjects, and his blessing is traditionally sought to legitimise
Thailands recurring military takeovers.
The army said the king had acknowledged Prayuts letter, but stopped

short of describing the response as an


endorsement. The palace has yet to issue a statement on the crisis.
Briefing the media for the first time
since the coup, the military said Yingluck and other prominent figures
had been taken in under a martial law
provision allowing detentions of up to
seven days without charge. It was not
known whether any charges were being prepared, but military officials said
the detainees were in no danger.
(Yingluck) is under detention, and

she is fine, Lieutenant General Thirachai Nakwanich, head of the military


command for central Thailand including Bangkok, told AFP. A military official told AFP she was being held at an
unspecified army barracks in Bangkok.
A night-time curfew imposed by
the junta has tamed the capitals often
rowdy tourist districts, further chilling
a vital visitor industry already cooled
by the long-term strife.
Tensions spiralled in early May
when a court ruling controversially

stripped Yingluck of office, setting the


stage for the coup.
Meanwhile, the US is suspending
$3.5 million in military aid to Thailand,
its first punitive step against the country for the coup, the State Department
announced Friday.
Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the
department is still reviewing a further
$7 million in direct US assistance to
Thailand, and an undetermined amount
of aid from other global and regional
programs. l

Khaleda warns of out of control situation if election delayed


PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

may go beyond everyones control. So


beware, the former premier said while
addressing a pro-BNP lawyers rally at
the National Press Club.
Earlier, police barred the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum the BNPs lawyers
front from organising a rally on the Supreme Court premises. Police said the
organisers had not taken any permission from the Supreme Court registrar.
Khaleda said: The government is
already rotten [to the people]. We are
giving it some scope to come back on
the right track. We will announce our
programme at the right time. Let them
rot more. She asked party leaders and

activists to have patience and that victory will come in time. When the people will come out of their houses, they
[government] will be compelled to surrender to the people, she said.
Referring to the governments bar
on holding a citizens gathering at the
Engineers Institute auditorium last
week, the former premier said: They
did not allow us to hold any rally because they are weak and afraid of the
people. They are in power with the
help of guns. But this situation will not
prevail for long.
Khaleda alleged that there had been
conspiracy to victimise her by filing
false cases. I am not afraid, she said

demanding that the cases against Prime


Minister Sheikh Hasina be resumed to
ensure the rule of law in the country.
There were 15 cases against Hasina
and four cases against me. If there is a
rule of law, then the cases filed against
Hasina should be resumed and my cases continued. It is not acceptable that
the cases filed against Hasina have
been withdrawn as she is the prime
minister, Khaleda said.
She alleged that the government
high-ups were behind the seven murders in Narayanganj and that the three
former RAB officials were in safe custody because they might divulge many
truths if allowed to go free.

If Hasina thinks that she will be in


power forever, she is wrong. One day,
the government has to be accountable for all the killings. Hasina will be
brought to book and interrogated for the
misdeeds, Khaleda said. She demanded
that all the suspects of the Narayanganj
and Fulgazi killings be brought to book.
Reiterating her demand to dissolve
RAB, Khaleda said the elite force has
been used for political purposes.
Opposing the passing of the budget
in parliament, she said: This government is illegal as there are no peoples
representatives in the House. So, this
illegal government cannot place any
budget in parliament. l

Feni murder: Financier, arms provider under scanner


PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Ekrams close associates during 19962001. Golap had a conflict with Ekram
before 2000 and became detached.
Bashir was killed by Jihad, on
Ekrams orders, because of a conflict in
establishing supremacy in the area that
falls under ward number nine.
The conflict between Jihad and
Ekram aggravated during the upazila
polls as the former wanted to take part
in the election from Fulgazi where the
latter was elected as chairman. At that
time, Ekram suspended Jihad from the
party.
However, Nizam Hazari, Awami
League lawmaker of Feni 2 and general
secretary of its district unit, later withdrew the suspension order stating that
the upazila committee has no authority
to suspend anybody.
After the incident, Jihad publicly
announced: Ekram suspended me

from the party, and I will suspend him


from life.
Several political leaders of Feni told
the Dhaka Tribune that they also suspected Minar of being a financier of the
killing.
Minar patronises Golap Chairman.
So, it may be true, Madhab Sarker,
president of NAP (Bhasani), said.
On the other hand, Mohibul Haque
Russel, president of the Feni unit Communist Party of Bangladesh, said both
Ekram and Minar had crime records
and they wanted to harm each other.
So, its not impossible that Minar was
involved in the murder.
During interrogation, the arrested
told the police that the killing was conducted the way Bashir had been killed
earlier. As per the plan, the killers waited since morning on Academy Road
and committed the murder by dividing
into three separate groups.

The first group stopped the running vehicles to create obstacles on


the road, the second one opened fire
and the third group broke the vehicles
glasses and set it on fire. In the killing
mission, councillor Shiplu played an
important role.
Around 3:20pm yesterday, Shiplu went to Feni model police station.
When asked why, he told the Dhaka
Tribune that the members of Rapid
Action Battalion had blamed him for
the killing. Since I am involved in the
murder, I have come to the police personally, he stated.
In the meantime, Feni police interrogated Rezaul Haque Jasim, who is
the brother of the victim and the plaintiff of the case, at the police superintendents office.
After the interrogation, Jasim told
the Dhaka Tribune: We are happy
about the activities conducted by the

police and the RAB. Now we believe that


the killers may be brought to justice.
When asked about the suspects,
he said it was a well-planned murder
in which some influential people had
been involved. He, however, refused to
give the names of the suspects.
Since the incident had been committed by some hired goons, we are
not sure about those responsible for
the murder, he added.
When contacted, Paritosh Gosh,
police superintendent of Feni, told the
Dhaka Tribune that Shiplu, whose name
appeared in media a couple of times,
was under custody for interrogation.
Action will be taken against those
responsible after the investigation. No
one involved in the murder will get
mercy, he added.
Meanwhile, police are conducting
raids in different areas to arrest the suspected killers. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Law enforcers bar BNP from holding rally again


n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
Police barred pro-BNP lawyers from
holding a rally on the court premises,
saying they did not take any permission
from the court authorities and there is
a court directive not to hold any political programme on the court premises.
The Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum a proBNP lawyers platform organised the
rally at the court premises, protesting the
killing of senior lawyer Chandan Sarkar in
Naryanganj, where BNP chief Khaleda Zia
was scheduled to deliver a speech.
Shibli Noman, assistant commissioner of Ramna police station, said
they did not take permission from the
court registrar. There is a directive
from the honourable court not to hold
any political programme on the court
premises. We are detaining the people
who forcefully wished to gather and
tried to hold an illegal rally, he said.
Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, president of the Supreme Court Bar Asociation, told the Dhaka Tribune: Many
meetings took place on the Supreme
Court premises earlier. There was no
need to take any permission from the
court registrar or the chief justice to
hold any rally. It is my jurisdiction as the
president of the bar to give permission.
Police personnel allegedly broke the
stage at midnight on Friday and put up
barricades to control the entry of the
lawyers, party leaders and activists
into the court area. A huge number of
police took up positions inside and outside the court area and barricades were
placed in the area to control vehicular
movement as well.

Five cops hurt in


sound grenade
blast
n Kailash Sarkar
At least five policemen were injured
in a sound grenade explosion during a
training exercise e in the capitals Rajarbagh Police Lines yesterday evening.
The injured were whisked off to
nearby Rajarbagh Police Lines Hospital
and other hospitals in the city, whose
details could not be known immediately.
Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said: A few policemen
sustained minor injuries in a sound
grenade explosion due to improper
handling of it while they were running
during a training exercise in Rajarbagh
around 6pm.
The exercise was arranged for
police officials who are going to join
the UN Peace Keeping Mission, the DC
continued. l

When the lawyers tried to enter


the court area, 15 lawyers, including a
woman, were picked up by police from
the Mazar gate of the court. However,
some pro-BNP lawyers dodged the police and entered the venue and held a
short meeting.
The meeting started at 10am with
some 50 lawyers. The speakers used
hand mics. The meeting ended at
around 12:15pm, half an hour before
BNP chief Khaleda Zia entered the National Press Club.
Since the police barred the lawyers
from holding a rally on the court premises, they shifted to the National Press Club.
As the lawyers were not allowed
to hold a rally on the court premises,
Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum President
Rafiqul Islam Miah announced that a series of agitation programmes will commence, including a boycott of the court.
Rafiqul Islam, also a standing committee member of BNP, said lawyers
will boycott the court tomorrow from
10:30am to 1pm, across the country.
They will stage countrywide demonstrations on the court premises tomorrow, form a human chain on Tuesday
and bring out a black flag procession on
Wednesday and Thursday in law offices.
On May 22, police refused to permit
some BNP activists to hold a citizens
gathering at the Engineers Institute
in the capital on the same issue. On
that occasion, police claimed that the
hall authorities had cancelled the hall
booking. Earlier, the party wanted to
hold a rally at Naryanganj and then
Jatrabari, but the party did not get permission then either. l

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday speaks at a rally at the National Press Club organised by Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum after police barred the organisation from holding it on the
Supreme Court Bar Association premises in the city
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

FULGAZI CHAIRMAN MURDER

Both Nizam and Joynal Hazari are likely to gain benefit


Nizam emerges as a key figure in the politics of Feni after Joynal Hazari fled to India
As things
out that during his abn Mohammad Jamil Khan from Feni exile. He foundand Nizam had built a parliamentary election. had been zam, Ekram started going wrong with Nidrew close to Joynal again.
Nizam saw that Ekram
sence, Ekram
Fulgazi sans Ekram was likely to benefit both Joynal Hazari and Nizam Hazari
one a former MP of the area and the
other the current.
Expelled Awami League leader
Joynal Hazari, once called the godfather of the area, had been out of Feni
for many years.
During the period from 2001 onwards that Joynal had not been in the
area, slain Ekramul Haque, once close
to Joynal, drew close to Nizam Hazari.
Nizam mainly emerged in Fenis local politics after Joynal fled the country
in 2001 as the BNP-led alliance came to
power.
Things were not easy for Joynal,
who used to be most powerful man in
the area, even after he returned from

strong clan.
In fact, Joynals relation with Ekram
started deteriorating during the last
days of his stay in the area before exile.
Back in those days, as a member of
Joynals steering committee, Ekram
had allegedly made a huge fortune by
manipulating local tenders but had
stopped keeping contacts with Joynal.
However, Ekrams good terms with
Nizam started going haywire. Reportedly, Nizam realised that Ekram was a
barrier for his ambitions.
In January, Nizam was elected a
lawmaker from Fulgazi while a month
later, Ekram was elected the upazila
chairman.
Local residents said Ekram wanted
to run against Nizam in the January

BNPs roar will go in vain


n Tribune Report
Awami League Joint Secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif said the government is not worried about Khaleda Zias
statements as they are aware of BNPs
organisational strength and their inability to start a movement.
We know the strength of BNP. Currently they have no organising capacity
to conduct anti-government movements, the leader said while talking
to the journalists yesterday at his TCB
Bhaban office in Karwan Bazar in the
city, in response to BNP Chairperson
Khaleda Zias statement announcing

anti-government movements.
He alleged that the BNP chief has tried
to hold a rally on the Supreme Court
premises to undermine the judiciary.
They tried to hold the rally in the
Supreme Court premises without prior approval. There is also a ruling of
the High Court which prohibits the
holding of rallies on the court premises. Through her bid to hold the rally at
the court premises, Khaleda Zia proved
again that she does not believe in the
rule of law, he added.
The leader alleged that Khaleda Zia
and her family members are facing cases with charges of corruption, militan-

cy and arms dealing, so her anger at the


court can be easily understood.

BNP chief has tried


to hold a rally on
the Supreme Court
premises to undermine
the judiciary
Expressing the governments strong
stance on the Narayangani and Feni
Murders, ruling party lawmaker Hanif
said no one will go unpunished, even if
they are influential leaders. l

Plain-clothes police yesterday arrest a lawyer while he was trying to enter the Supreme Court premises to attend a rally of BNP-backed
Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum on the Supreme Court Bar Association premises
RAJIB DHAR

controlling nearly all the tenders floated for infrastructural works in the area.
Moreover, taking advantage of Joynals
absence, Ekram had established supremacy in Fulgazi.
The conflict between the two peaked recently centring the construction of
the Feni Diabetic Hospital. Their supporters locked into a clash after one of
Nizams associates locked the hospital.
According to local politicians, there
was one other big reason why Ekram
was dangerous for Nizam. They said
the deceased was the witness of all of
Nizams wrongdoings and crimes.
Recently, after a national Bangla
daily published a report on Nizams activities, he started fearing that Ekram
might have tipped off the daily.

When contacted, Joynal Hazari told


the Dhaka Tribune that he had nothing
to do with the murder of Ekram.
Claiming that it was now clear who
had been behind the murder, Hazari
said he had all kinds to proof and was
ready to hand them over to the investigators if they consulted him.
On the other hand, Nizam told the
Dhaka Tribune: Investigation is underway. We hope that the mystery
would be solved soon.
Although local BNP leader Mahtab
Uddin Chowdhury Minars name was included in the list of accused of the case
filed in connection with the murder of
Ekram, interestingly, even the plaintiff
did not believe that he was involved.
Ekram brother Jasim, plaintiff of

the case, has said before that Minar was


made an accused only because his men
had attacked Ekram twice during the
upazila parishad election.
When contacted, Minar said: It is
true that I contested the upazila election against Ekram. But a gruesome
killing like that is beyond my imagination. The allegations against me are
totally baseless. A group of people are
trying to lead the investigation astray.
Abdur Rahman, president of Feni
district Awami League, said a vested interest had been trying to tarnish
the ruling partys image through preplanned activities.
Abu Taher, acting president of Feni
district unit BNP, said: It is now clear to
all that Ekram was killed because of Awami League internal conflicts. None of our
party members was involved with it. l

Banned Hizb-ut Tahrir reawakening


n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The banned Islamist organisation Hizbut Tahrir has been trying to be organised again in the port city and elsewhere of the district, especially in the
hilly areas to establish their controversial ideology amongst the people.
Publishing leaflets, jihadi books, different outlets and pasting posters on
city street walls secretly, the banned
organisation has been trying to build
up their network amongst the students
of different reputed educational institutions in Chittagong.
The organisation, however, was silent in last few months, but recently
they have become secretly active, said
police sources.
Police nabbed 48 Hizb-ut Tahrir
men from the district with many leaflets, zihadi books and banners in last
three months, while the number of arrestees was 17 from November, 2013 to
February, 2014, they added.
In the latest incident, Kotwali police
early yesterday nabbed Hizb-ut Tahrir
leader Atikur Rahman, 24, an MBA student of Chittagong University, from a
student mess in the port citys Anderkillah area acting on a tip-off.
AKM Mohiuddin, officer-in-charge
of Kotwali police station, told Dhaka
Tribune that they found some zihadi
books and leaflets from his possession,
while they also nabbed seven activists
of the banned organisation from Anderkillah Shahi Jam-e-Masjid premises after Jumah prayer on Friday when
they attempted to bring out a procession.
The arrestees are students of different colleges and universities of the city,
while they did not give mentionable
information after repeated queries in
initial interrogation, he said.
Two cases were filed with Kotwali
police station in this connection, while
the arrestees were produced before
court yesterday, he added.

Metropolitan Magistrate Rahmat


Ali sent the eight arrestees to jail rejecting a seven-day remand prayer and
bail plea from police and defence, said
Rezaul Masud, additional deputy commissioner of prosecution of the CMP.
Sources said around about 10,000
members of the banned organisation
were working actively across the country where most of them are students of
reputed educational institutions, including Dhaka University, Chittagong
University, Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology.
The banned organisation, however,
did not conduct any subversive activities elsewhere in the country, but they
were publishing anti-state, communal
and militant statements by pasting
posters, publishing leaflets and Zihadi
books, sources said.
Police said although around 200
leaders and activists of the banned organisation were arrested from different
brisk processions in the port city and
elsewhere of the district in last five
years, police could not find out any
mentionable information about the organisation.
Kotwali police station OC said that
the organisation had no office and they
carried out their programmes secretly.
It is tough to trace the high com-

mands of the organisation, as police


could nab the root-level activists only
who have no contact with the high
command because of their several-step
organisational structure, he said.
Seeking anonymity, a high official of
the CMP told the Dhaka Tribune that
CMP still did not know where they had
been printing their publications, who
had been leading the organisation in
Chittagong region or who had been donating to the organisation.
ADC Babul Akhter of Detective
Branch of the CMP said police were
working to collect information about
the organisation. The organisational activities are being operated such a
system so that a portion cannot know
another portions activities except their
high command.
CMP
Additional
Commissioner
(crime and operation) Banaz Kumar
Majumder claimed that Hizb-ut Tahrir
was only enclosed with pasting posters, distributing leaflets and attempt
of bringing out processions secretly,
while the CMP had a strong vigil over
the militant and banned groups.
Home Ministry of Bangladesh had
banned the organisation in the country
on September 24, 2009 as its objectives
were contradictory to the constitution
of the country, internet sources said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Palli Sanchay Bank to start soon


n Mohosinul Karim
Though the draft of the proposed Palli
Sanchay Bank [Rural Savings Bank] is
still waiting in the parliament for passage, the authorities have already started preparation to set up around 100
upazila branches for the bank.
The Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar [One
House One Farm] project authorities
had allocated money for constructing
own buildings for the 100 branches
of the bank. Rest of the branch offices
would be built phase by phase, Project
Director Dr Prosanta Kumar Roy told
the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The government has decided to set
up the Palli Sanchay Bank for the poor
to reduce poverty, realising the Ekti
Bari Ekti Khamar project for the rural
development under the LGRD Ministry.
The draft of the Rural Savings Bank
Act 2013 was prepared by the Rural De-

velopment and the Cooperative Division to establish the bank, which was
approved by the cabinet meeting on
November 10, 2013.
Dr Roy said the draft of the act was
waiting in the parliament to get its nod
for setting up the bank. It was expected
that it would get approval of the parliament soon to eliminate poverty of the
country.
It would be a unique initiative in the
country, even in Saarc countries to set
up such a bank funded by the savings
of the poor beneficiary groups of the
project and would be established with
100% online banking system as the existing system of online transaction of
the project would be handed over to
the bank, the project director said.
He also said the proposed bank for
the poor people would be established
so that the rural people could utilise their savings for a better life, and

change their fate.


Its banking activities will be started
after the bill is passed in the parliament.
But, we have already started the process of building own offices for the bank
as its banking activities is already going
on. We will just hand over the assets
and resources to the bank, he added.
We are hopeful that the branches of
the bank will be set up in all the upazilas by this year and gradually it will be
opened at union level.
He said the way the One House One
Farm project had been showing a new
path in poverty alleviation, the same
way the Palli Sanchay Bank would
help rural people build their fortune
themselves and shield them from the
high interest charged by microfinance
institutions. The bank members would
get loan at less than 10% interest. The
initiative of the government would reduce poverty of the country to below

20% by 2015 from the present rate of


29.75%, he opined.
The project director also said the
number of beneficiaries from the project was 21.6 lakh under around 36,000
societies across the country. The savings of the beneficiaries had already
risen to Tk570 crore, he added. The
government had given Tk355 crore as
bonus for the members according to its
terms and conditions.
Total investment of the project is
around Tk925 crore while over Tk579
crore was distributed among the
members. Earlier, the project director
briefed some reporters about the progress and success of the project.
He said the project was expecting
that it would be possible to create a
fund of around Tk9 lakh for each society under the project. It would be created with the contribution of the members and donation of the government. l

Modern computer lab for


BCB members launched
n Tribune Report
Under the mutual co-operation agreement between American International
University Bangladesh (AIUB) and Bangladesh Cricket Academy (BCB), an international standard computer lab with
ten modern computers was installed at
the latters academic building in Mirpur.
Dr Carmen Z. Lamagna, vice chancellor of AIUB and Acting Chief Executive Officer of BCB Nizam Uddin Chowdhury jointly inaugurated the lab on
May 17, said a media release.
The release also stated that AIUB
emphasises on Computer Science and
Information technology for which has
it earned a good reputation both at
home and abroad.
As per the agreement, AIUB has
been providing training to all members

concerned of BCB under the English


Language Teaching Program, Leadership Program and Public Awareness
Program, in order to improve their
merit and professional experience. The
members availing these programmes
are comprised of players from the National team, BCB Academy, pace foundation, Under-19 team, upto-17 team,
womens cricket team, coaching staff
and the coordinating and operational
staff.
AIUB offers scholarship at undergraduate and graduate level to six BCB
players and three officials every year.
The program was also attended by
AIUB Pro Vice Chancellor Dr Charles C.
Villanueva, Founder and Vice President
(student Affairs) Nadia Anwar and BCB
Game Development Chairman Khaled
Mahmud Sujan and Acting Operations
Manager AEM Kawsar, among others. l

Bangladeshs autism
resolution passed at WHA
n Moniruzzaman Uzzal
In an immediate board approval, the
World Health Assembly (WHA) passed
a resolution on Friday regarding autism, which had been placed by Bangladesh last year.

The resolution means


the capacity of health
and social care systems
will increase in terms of
providing services for
individuals with autism
spectrum disorders and
their families
The annual Assembly is the supreme
decision making body of the World
Health Organisation (WHO) which
passes such resolutions. Passing a resolution means all 194 member states
agree with it.
The assembly urged member states
to include the needs of individuals affected by autism spectrum and other
developmental disorders in policies
and programmes related to child and
adolescent health and development
and mental health.

NSU freshers
orientation
programme held
n Tribune Report
The reception programme of honours first year students enrolled for
the summer-2014 semester at North
South University (NSU) was held at its
Bashundhara campus yesterday.
More than 500 students were enrolled for the undergraduate programme under different departments
said a press release.
Speakers at the programme said in
line with the professional courses, the
NSU has been teaching students General Education such as ethical, moral,
religion values, responsibilities to society and the state.
In the session, Ragib Ali, Chairman
of NSU Trust was present as the chief
guest, while Dr Amin Sarkar, Vice
Chancellor of NSU, chaired the ceremony, as well as Benajir Ahmed, member of NSU Trust as the special guest
among others. l

Autism spectrum disorders comprise a range of development disorders


that include autism, childhood disintegrative disorder and Asperger syndrome. All over the world, most people
with autism spectrum disorders and
their families do not receive any care
from health care and social care systems.
The passing of the resolution means
the capacity of health and social care
systems will increase in terms of providing services for individuals with
autism spectrum disorders and their
families. It also means the focus of care
will be shifted from long-stay health
facilities to non-residential services in
the community.
With the resolution passed, health
surveillance systems for capturing data
on autism spectrum disorders will be
improved and will ensure that countries are better able to diagnose and
treat autism spectrum disorders.
The resolution highlights the
need for the WHO Secretariat to help
strengthen countries capacities to
address autism spectrum and other
developmental disorders, facilitate
resource mobilisation, engage with
autism-related networks and monitor
progress. All efforts will be put in alignment with the WHO Mental Health Action Plan 20132020. l

Relatives of Rana Plaza victims form a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding compensation. Although 13 months have passed since the building
collapsed, all the victims are yet to recieve proper compensation
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Free educational institutions from


destructive politics
n

DU Correspondent

Prominent personalities urged the students to free educational institutions


from destructive politics for bringing
back transparency in politics, as it has
lost its glorious image.
Practicing destructive politics has
now become a trend to the youths of
this generation which could be eliminated through practising democratic
politics and giving up terrorism, said
Mujahidul Islam Selim, president of
Bangladesh Communist Party.
He said this while addressing a memorial ceremony held at the Madhur
Canteen in Dhaka University marking
43rd death anniversary of Madhusudhan De (Madhu Da).
DU acting proctor Amzad Ali conducted the memorial meeting and
Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique
presided it over while former DAC-

SU vice-president and Workers Party


President Rashed Khan Menon, former commerce minister Dilip Barua,
Mahfuza Khanam, former DACSU VP,
Aktaruzzaman former DACSU VP and
leaders of several students and progressive organisations were present,
among others.
Mujahidul Islam also said our political culture has been tainted and it has
affected the student politics. Now student leaders remain busy with extortion, smuggling and terrorist activities
which spoilt the view of exalted student
politics. He emphasised reactivating of
DASCU for stopping such political menace at the Dhaka University campus.
Commemorating Madhu Da, Selim
said he used to patronise the progressive politics and he was non-communal
as an individual.
Rashed Khan Menon said Madhu Da
played a significant role in our countrys

democratic movement by the students


during the 1960s. His contributions will
be remembered for eternity, he added.
He also expressed disappointment
over the political atmosphere in the
educational institutions and urged the
youths to remain tolerant to the oppositions. Speaking on the occasion,
DU VC Arefin Siddique said Madhusudhan De was one of them who laid
down their lives in 1971 for the greater
interest of our country. He will be remembered with deep respect by all the
teachers, students and officials of Dhaka University forever.
The memorial ceremony began
at 11pm through placing wreaths on
the sculpture of Madhu Da at Madhur
Canteen by Arefin Siddique. It was followed by singing the national anthem
by the guests and one minute silence
was observed to show respect to the
liberation war martyrs. l

Govt to announce nonmonetary facilities


n Asif Showkat Kallol
Finance Minister AMA Muhith is likely
to announce the non-monetary facilities of the government staff in the next
fiscal year budget speech as per the recommendations of the Permanent Pay
Commission.
Officials of the Finance Division
said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had
directed the finance minister to give
some hints about the new pay scale in
his budget speech at the budget preparation meeting a week ago.
Quoting the prime minister, the Finance Division officials said the government will announce the new pay scale
despite the pressure from the countrys
macroeconomics and the negative impacts on the consumer price level.
Chairman of the Pay Commission
Dr Mahmmand Farashuddin is now
preparing a draft of recommendations
for the new pay scale that will be incor-

CNG-run auto-rickshaw
owners threaten
strike again
n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Bangladesh Biplobi Workers Party form a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding a stop to murder and
forced disappearence
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Owners of CNG-run auto-rickshaws


have threatened again to go on a 36-hour
strike from Tuesday if the lifespan of auto-rickshaws is not extended to 15 years.
Dhaka Metropolitan CNG Auto-rickshaw Owners Association issued the
threat from a human chain in capital
yesterday.
The announcement came hours after the CNG refuelling station owners
threat of an indefinite strike to meet
their 7-point demand.
Barkat Ullah Bhulu, president of
the organisation, said: We got information from a credible source that the
government is planning to keep condition for overhauling CNG engines at the

12th year.
But, only six months are left to end
the 12th year for overhauling engine.
It is not possible to overhaul engines
within such a short period of time.
He demanded the gazette in line
with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) recommendation on the extension of CNG
auto-rickshaws lifespan.
In 2002, the government banned all
two-stroke auto-rickshaws in urban areas and paved the way for four-stroke
CNG-run three-wheelers, for which the
lifespan was set at nine years.
Currently, there are around 13,000
commercially-run green auto-rickshaws and 3,000 private ones, usually
painted grey, operating in the capital. l

porated in the next fiscal year budget


speech scheduled to be announced on
June 5.
The chairman said the pay scale
hike of 13 lakh government staff definitely had an impact on inflation rate.
Given that circumstance, they will
consider raising the facilities of non-financial items. We will consider recommending the introduction of health
insurance and the government will buy
books for its staff, he said.
The government pays Tk700 for
health allowance for each of its staff
in the existing pay structure, and the
Permanent Pay Commission has asked
for opinions about raising the health
allowance to about Tk1,500-2,000. The
commission also wants to raise the
two children education allowance to
Tk1200 from the existing Tk300.
The government formed the Pay
Commission on November 24 last year
and issued an order in this regard. l

Road crash kills


ex-college principal
n CU Correspondent
A former principal of the Hathazari College was killed in a road accident in the
Hathazari upazila, Chittagong yesterday morning.
AM Obaidullah, 70, was from Hathazari upazila in Chittagong, said police
sources.
Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Alamgir Hossain of the Hathazari police
station said a CNG-run auto-rickshaw
knocked Obaidullah down in front of
the Medical Gate near his residence in
the upazila at around 10am while he
was crossing the road, leaving him critically injured.
He was rushed to the Hathazari
upazila health complex and later, was
shifted to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where he succumbed to his injuries after an hour,
said Nayek Abdul Bashar of the CMCH
police outpost. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Drive against unfit vehicles yet to start in the capital


n Abu Hayat Mahmud
Almost a month into a planned drive
against all unfit and unauthorised vehicles, the authorities are yet to make any
emphatic move to remove such vehicles
from city roads and highways across the
country.
Although Communication Minister
Obaidul Quader announced last month
that a crackdown on unfit vehicles
would start from May 1, the Bangladesh
Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and
other relevant authorities have extended the deadline by a month.
BRTA officials said they set the new
deadline to give time to transport owners to renew fitness certificates of their
vehicles.
Although the drive against unfit vehicles was supposed to start from May
1, we have internally set it to May 31 for
the owners to collect fitness certificates
afresh for all kinds of unfit vehicles,
BRTA Chairman Nazrul Islam told the
Dhaka Tribune.
If any motorised vehicle is found
plying on the roads or highways without
a fitness certificate after the deadline,
tough action will be taken, he added.
Nazrul Islam said the decision to
push the deadline came from a meeting
of the taskforce charged with implementing the drive.
The taskforce comprises of officials
from BRTA, Roads and Highway Division, Dhaka Transport Coordination
Authority, the police and associations of
motor vehicle owners.
The BRTA chairman also said mobile
courts would continue to clamp down on
unfit vehicles, and after the May 31 deadline, they will take tougher measures.
Nazrul also said action would be taken against all unauthorised transports,
such as three-wheel mishuks, human
haulers and battery-run rickshaws.
BRTA data show a total of 87,795 unfit
motor vehicles are plying on the roads of
Dhaka, posing threat to road safety and
contributing to traffic congestion.
According to the vehicle registration
authority, there are around 800,000 registered vehicles in the capital.
Motorcycles and bicycles, however, do not require fitness certificates to
ply on city roads. On the other hand,
BRTA-issued fitness certificates are
mandatory for CNG auto-rickshaws,
human haulers, cars, buses, trucks and
other types of motor vehicles.
A Dhaka Tribune investigation found
a large number of motor vehicles running on faulty brakes, with engines and

bodies in poor condition. Such vehicles


run on the city roads under the very nose
of law enforcers and BRTA, creating traffic jams and polluting the environment.
A BRTA official, seeking anonymity,
alleged that the owners of unfit vehicles
had the upper hand over the authorities
because of political clout.

Buses

City-dwellers look upon public buses as a


more affordable mode of mass transport.
But a large number of unfit buses
with faulty engines are creating congestion on busy roads. Passengers also face
problems due to overcrowding, dilapidated seats and broken windows.
Despite the poor condition of the buses, passengers hardly complain because
they are more concerned with getting a
seat and reaching their destination.
To avert transport shortages, the road
transport advisory council at a meeting
on April 24 decided to give a six-month
grace period to bus owners to replace
their rundown vehicles.
At the time, Obaidul Quader, who
heads the council, said: Although we
have taken a decision to withdraw all unfit
public transports, it would not be possible
to remove all at one time. ... So, we will
give six months time to replace them.
Admitting that Dhaka faced transport
shortages, the minister said there were
only 4,000 buses operating in the city of
more than 15 million people.

CNG-run auto rickshaws

At present, there are around 13,000


commercially-run green CNG auto-rickshaws and 3,000 private ones,
usually painted grey, operating in
the capital. In 2002, the government
banned all two-stroke auto-rickshaws
in urban areas and introduced the fourstroke three-wheelers, licensing them
for nine years.
After the licences expired in 2011, the
authorities extended them by two more
years at the demand of vehicle owners.
The authorities are set to allow four
more years for running the CNG vehicles, on condition that old gas cylinders
and rundown bodies are replaced.

Mishuks

Unfit and illegal two-stroke mishuks,


a motorcycle based three-wheeler run
on petrol, continue to run on city roads
without any permission or licences.
The BRTA banned 2,829 mishuks
from city roads after their route permits
expired on December 31, 2011.
Later, through different movements

47kg touchstone statue


recovered in Barisal
n Our Correspondent, Barisal
A touchstone-made, 47kg antique statue was recovered from the Kasemabad
area in the Gournadi municipality here
yesterday.
Gournadi police station OC Abul Kalam said day-labourers found the statue
in the area at around 1:15pm, while they
were re-excavating an old pond which
belonged to Jalal Hawlader and they informed police. The statue is 27inches in
height and 16inches in width.

WEATHER

THUNDERSHOWER
OR RAIN

SUNDAY, MAY 25
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:39PM
SUN RISES 5:12AM
FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka

35

27

Chittagong

32

26

Rajshahi

36

27

Rangpur

36

26

Khulna

34

26

Barisal

33

26

Sylhet

34

25

Coxs Bazar

32

27

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW

49.0C
Jessore

21.0C
Bogra

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES
Fajar
Sunrise
Zohr
Asr
Magrib
Esha

3:48am
5:12am
11:56am
3:17pm
6:38pm
8:03pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org

Police recovered the statue and


lodged a general diary, informing the
higher authorities, the OC continued.
However, the locals claimed the
statue to be one of Buddha.
When contacted, Afroza Khanam
Mita, assistant director of the
Department of Archaeology under
the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, said
before examining the statue, it would
be difficult to ascertain its proper
value, identity, construction materials
and age. l

CNG filling station


owners threatens
to call indefinite
strike from June 8
n Aminur Rahman Rasel
CNG refuelling station owners threatened to go on an indefinite strike across
the country from June 8 if the government does not meet their 7-point demand including a rise in commission.
President of Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop
Owners Association Zakir Hossain Noyon issued the threat at a press briefing
at its office in the capital yesterday.
We will go tough if our demands
are not met by June 7 as many CNG
filling station owners are incurring loss
due to a rise in electricity cost, he said.
CNG refuelling station owners demanded CNG prices be raised when
power price is raised saying that prices
of both the energy sources were interlinked.
For the owners, the margin at present is a mere Tk0.12 for per cubic metre
CNG after adjustment of all costs and
they demanded the margin be raised
to Tk2.98. They called for providing gas
connections for the 54 new stations.
The association demanded installation of Electronic Volume Correction
(EVC) metres at the refuelling stations
by replacing the existing ordinary metres so that the bill could be generated
accurately according to the pressure
readings of gas. l

A run-down mishuk plies in city yesterday despite the communication ministers


announcement to remove all unfit vehicles from May 1
ABU HAYAT MAHMUD
and court rulings, mishuk owners got
permission to run the vehicles on condition that the two-stroke engines are
replaced by four-stroke CNG ones.
The owners, however, have not taken
any steps for conversion and continue to
operate the vehicles illegally.

Battery-run rickshaws

A section of unscrupulous owners are


running their pedal rickshaws on battery-power, flouting a ban.
Hundreds of unregistered battery-run rickshaws are plying across the
capital with little or no resistance from
traffic police.
The government imposed a ban on
the manufacture and import of the bat-

tery-run three-wheelers as they consume a lot of electricity for recharging


batteries.
Regardless of having valid licences
or road permits, the owners are operating the vehicles without any fear as they
have links to the ruling party, sources
claimed.

Human haulers

There are around 5,000 unfit human


haulers running on city roads. In 199697, three-wheel auto-tempos were replaced with the haulers to decrease environmental pollution.
According to BRTA, there are 3,547
registered and around 1,500 illegal human haulers plying on city roads. l

USTC staff work abstention


continues in Chittagong
n CU Correspondent
The academic activities of University
of Science and Technology Chittagong
(USTC) has collapsed as the teachers, doctors, officials and employees
continued their work abstention programme for the sixth consecutive day
yesterday.
Despite passing six days of the deadlock, the trustee board of the USTC remained silent turning a blind eye and
are yet to take any step to resolve the
issues, said the agitators.
Because of the strike, all the academic and administrative activities remained suspended since May 18, while
the services of the Bangabandhu Memorial Hospital under the university
remained out of purview.
Demanding implementation of service rules, the teachers, doctors, offi-

cials and employees started their work


abstention on the sixth day on the campus yesterday.

Despite passing six


days of the deadlock,
the trustee board of the
USTC remained silent
turning a blind eye and
are yet to take any step
to resolve the issues
Meanwhile, a team of teachers, doctors, officials and employees met Dr
Afsarul Amin, former minister, also
chairman of parliamentary standing
committee of Education Ministry, at
his residence and informed him about
their demands.

Auto-rickshaw driver
shot dead, 2 held

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Dr Kamal Uddin, joint secretary


of the Teachers-Doctors and Officials-Employees Coordination Parishad also an assistant professor of the
ENT department at the Medical Faculty of the USTC, said Dr Afsarul also
expressed his solidarity with the demands.
Dr Kamal said the USTC authorities
had not been implementing the service
rules, pay scale and other job facilities for its staff, while the universitys
vice-chancellor and pro vice-chancellor who were fully controlled by the
university trustee board, could not give
any solution.
Students of the USTC said no class
and examination was held in the last
six days because of the strike. They
are concerned about their professional
examination scheduled to be held next
month. l

An auto-rickshaw driver was shot dead


allegedly by a group of robbers at Gucchagram of Ichhakhali union under
Rangunia upazila in Chittagong early
yesterday.
Police nabbed two alleged robbers
Selim, 32, and Jahur, 32 near Sotya
Pirs shrine around 5:30am in this
connection, said Owaliullah Oli, officer-in-charge of Rangunia police station.
The dead body of Mohammad
Rubel, 22, of Gucchagram was sent to
Chittagong Medical College Hospital
morgue for autopsy, he added.
The OC also said around 10-12 robbers attacked Rubel who was returning
to his residence with his CNG-run auto-rickshaw, and shot him to death on
the spot around 12:45am, as the victim
identified some of the robbers.
Hearing the sound of gunshot, locals rushed to the spot. However, the
robbers opened fire at the villagers and
managed to flee away, the OC said.
On information, Rangunia police
set eight check posts across the upazila and nabbed two alleged robbers,
said the OC, adding that they found 10
rounds of cartridges and three robbed
mobile phones from their possession.
Police caught the duo while they
were fleeing the upazila by a CNG-run
auto-rickshaw, he also said. Police
were interrogating the duo and conducting drives to nab the other robbers.
The victims father lodged a case
with Rangunia police station in this
regard. l

Road crash kills 7


in Bagerhat
n UNB

Water-logged Green Road in Dhaka yesterday exposes the citys poor storm water drainage system following a moderate rainfall
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

At least seven people, including two


children, were killed and three others injured in a collision between
a microbus and a bus in Taiyabs Battala area on Khulna-Mawa Highway in
Fakirhat upazila on Saturday.
The deceased were identified as
Moin, 35, his wife Munni, 25, their twoyear old son Mahin, Sagar, a constable
of Khulna Metropolitan Police, Dola,
Mim and Monir. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Boro procurement face


setback in Sherpur
n Tribune Desk
There is a serious shortage of storage
space in the districts government provided warehouse where Boro harvest is
kept. This has farmers and the millers
deeply worried.
Sources at the district food controllers office said the authorities have set
a target to purchase 38,553 tonnes of
Boro paddy and 2,832 tonnes of rice in
the current season.
The government has fixed Tk20 and
Tk31 for each kilogram of paddy and
rice respectively as per official procurement rates.
Farmers can directly sell their produce to the governments food warehouses while the authorities will
procure rice from millers during the
procurement drive.
To attain the target of food crop procurement, the food officials concerned
have already made an agreement with
387 rice-mill owners.
The procurement move began on
May 17 and it will continue till August
30, reports UNB
Officials concerned said the authorities targeted to purchase 21,568 tonnes
of rice and 743 tonnes of paddy from

Vegetable vendor
hacked in Jhenaidah

n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah


A vegetable vendor was hacked to
death early yesterday in Jhenaidah Sadar upazila.
The dead was identified as Abdul
Khaleque, 42.
Quoting locals sources, Jhenaidah
police Officer-in-Charge Shahbuddin
Azad said a gang of miscreants came to
his house in the early hours and started
hacking Khaleque when he was sleeping on the courtyard.
He was rushed to a local private clinic but later referred to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital in critical condition where
duty doctors declared him dead.
Police said since Khaleque had
two wives there might have been
conflicts in the family. The OC said:
After primary investigation, it is been
suspected that conjugal dissatisfaction
might have been reason behind the
murder. l

Sadar upazila during the ongoing procurement drive.


However, with the total storage capacity is 7,000 tonnes of food grains,
there are 13 government LSD (Local
Supply Depot) go-downs in Sadar upazila.
They said there is very little space in
the go-downs as they already have previous stocks of 6,000 tonnes of paddy,
rice and wheat.
If paddy and rice are collected as
per the governments procurement
target, stocks of the go-downs have
to be shifted elsewhere three times
over.
In the current situation, it will not be
possible for the food officials to collect
over 2000-2500 tonnes of food grains
during the procurement drive if the godowns are not cleared to make more
space.
Talking to the UNB correspondent, general secretary of district
Rice Mills Owners Association Asaduzzaman Rawshan said the food
crops procurement drive is likely to face difficulties due to some
limitations in the procurement policy
adopted by the government this year.
He further said that rice mill op-

erators making contact with the food


department have to supply rice to the
government warehouses within 15 days
into the procurement drive according
to the government policy, adding that
food officials cannot procure all rice
from millers due to shortage of storage
facilities.
He demanded changes in the procurement policy and extension of the
supply period for the millers taking into
account other local problems including natural disasters.M Asaduzzaman
Khan, Preservation and Movement Officer (SMO) of Sherpur LSD go-downs,
admitted the fact and said they wrote
to higher authorities to shift previous
stocks from the go-downs in Sadar
upazila elsewhere.
When contacted, district food
controller GM Faruk Hossain said
due to good quality and higher demand of Sherpur rice, there will be no
problem for the authorities in shifting stocks of rice to other districts
from Sherpur.
He hoped that the higher authorities
will take steps to clear the go-downs
crammed with previous stocks of food
grains and help achieve the target of
Boro procurement. l

Govt cannot skip its


3,000 farmers become self-reliant
liability on Narayanganj by cultivating chilli in Pirojpur
and Feni murder
n
Tribune Desk

n Our Correspondent, Coxs Bazar


The government cannot skip its liability on the Narayanganj and Feni murder,
said Communication Minister Obaidul
Kader yesterday in Coxs Bazar.
Obaidul Kader told this to reporters
while visiting the construction work
of Coxs Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive at
Imamer Daile in Jaliapalang union under Ukhia upazila of Coxs Bazar.
The minister said it is the responsibility of the government to bring the
criminals to justice by revealing the
truth. We have to be accountable and
unearth the conspiracies behind the
murders.
Those who are involved in these
murders should be given exemplary

punishment irrespective of their political and social affiliations, he said.


When asked about the telephonic
conversation between Shamim Osman and Nur Hossain, the minister
observed that if this were true, legal actions would definitely be taken against
him and there is no scope of flexibility
for criminals even if they are ruling party men.
The minister also said the construction work of Coxs Bazar-Teknaf road
will be completed by the December of
2015 and funds will be disbursed to implement the project in time.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, the head of Bangladesh Armys engineering corpse Major General Abdul
Kader were present, among others. l

Traffic system breaks down in


Rajshahi city

Over 3,000 farmers of twenty-eight villages under Sharupkathi upazila of the


district are now self-reliant through
commercial cultivation of Bombai Chilli, a chilli variety of the South-Asian
region.
Although the Bombai Chilli cultivation has increased significantly in
the upazila during the last 2-3 years, it
has currently gained huge popularity
among the farmers of the region.
The commercial farming of this variety first began in all the villages of AtgharhKuriana union, in addition, cultivation began in most of the villages of
Sohagdal and Sutiakhati unions under
the upazila.
A farmer of Bangkura village Shusil
Mistri said:I have cultivated the chilli

for the first time on 12 decimal land


with a cost of Tk50,000. So far, by
selling the chilli, I have earned nearly
Tk3 lakh and is expected to earn Tk1
lakh more.

Bombai Chilli
cultivation has
increased significantly
in the upazila during
the last 2-3 years, it has
currently gained huge
popularity among the
farmers of the region
The selling price of Bombai Chilli is
Tk400-500 (per thousand) and at least
60,000-70,000 chillis are produced

from one decimal of land, said Moklesur Rahman another farmer from the
upazila.
It is impossible to earn such a huge
amount of money by growing other
crops. Cultivation of the the chilli is
profitable as it is grown on a small piece
of land, said the farmer.
Shahidullah Mia, agriculture officer
of Sharupkhati upazila, told BSS that
Bombai Chilli cultivation has started at
a commercial level for the first time in
the region.
However, the officer could not provide details about the total quantity of
chilli being been produced in the upazila.
The official expects that the farmers
will be able to earn at least Tk3 to 3.50
crore by selling the special variety of
chilli during this year. l

Rajshahi division
transport strike
starts today
n Our Correspondent, Bogra

Tk50,000 embezzled from


school fund, headmaster
accuses UP chairman

Bangladesh Road Transport Workers


Federation (BRTWF) Rajshahi Regional
Committee and Rajshahi Transport
Owners Group jointly called an
indefinite strike from today in Rajshahi
division.
The transport bodies called the
strike to press home their six-point demand including stoppage of shallow
engine-run vehicles on the highways,
end to police harassment on transport
workers, stopping of carriage of overloaded goods on the trucks etc.
The President of Rajshahi Regional
Committee of BRTWF Abdul Latif
Mandal told the Dhaka tribune that
the strike will come into effect in the
eight districts of the division from 6am
today.
Transport sources said although the
Rangpur division was outside the purview of the strike but the coaches from
and to the division will not allowed to
ply on the strike affected highways of
the Rajshahi division. l

n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi


Traffic system has broken down in the
absence of the functional Automatic
Traffic Light Signal System in Rajshahi
city.
Traffic jam is a common sight in
most points of the city. Road crashes
often take place because commuters
and drivers do not go by manual signals.
But neither traffic police nor the city
corporation are eager for setting the
system right for reasons unknown.
According to Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), automatic traffic lights were
established C&B, Laskhmipur, Bindu,
Saheb Bazar Zero Point, Moni Chattar
and Talaimari crossings forTk36 lakh
1996.
In 2002 Medical College Gate, Bohorompur Bypass Road, Court Station,
Kashiadanga Bypass, Kashiadanga Bypass (old) crossings were brought under automatic traffic light system for
Tk49 lakh.
Automatic traffic lights were then
installed at the intersections of Utsab
Cinema Hall, Sagarparha, Shiroil Station, Zia Shishu Park and Nouda Paras
Aamchattar in the city.
This correspondent visited the traffic lights and found some flickering
sometimes and some totally out of order and the remainder have been set
up at such a place that drivers cannot
catch sight of them at all.
A city traffic constable, seeking
anonymity said, We are struggling
to make commuters and drivers go by
traffic laws, but neither the city corporation nor the traffic police are going
for setting the lights right.
The city accounts for 113 traffic constables, five assistant sub-inspectors
and three inspectors, one officer-incharge and one traffic inspector for policing traffic system.
Traffic lights have not been working for so long, says the traffic constable, adding: Traffic policing could be
made much better if they are repaired.
Golam Murshed, acting Executive
Engineer (power division) at Rajshahi

A local Chhatra League leader lifts earth illegally from a government road at Satarpara in Lakshmipurs Ramganj upazila causing sufferings
to people. The picture was taken yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari


An allegation of misappropriating
Tk50,000 from the fund of Sindukchhari High School in Mohalchhari upazila has been brought against the
members of the schools managing
committee by its headmaster in Khagrachhari yesterday.
The headmaster, Jagadish Chandra
Tripura, also alleged that his office was
locked down after he protested the incident and a plot to remove him from
the post is being planned.
He claimed that the school
managing
committee
President
Suinuprue Chowdhury, also the
local Sindukchhari union parishad
chairman,
committee
members
Kongyorang Marma, Ripruchai Marma
and the schools teacher Parimal
Chakma forcibly took Tk50,000 from
the school fund on May 4.
After I requested them to return the
money, the same group accompanied

by six-seven outsiders came to my office on May 6 and compelled me to sign


a regulation book, he added.
Jagadish said: On May 13, they
locked my room so that I cannot operate official tasks.
Right after the incident, I informed
the issue to Mohalchhari Upazila Nirbahi Officer Laboni Chakma but the matter was not paid any heed yet.
When contacted, the managing
committee
President
Suinuprue
Chowdhury denied the allegations and
claimed that the headmaster himself
had embezzled the amount from
the schools fund and was staging a
propaganda against them to hide his
crimes.
But we will take stern action
against him, Suinuprue added.
Terming the headmaster non-qualified and dishonest, Suinuprue requested this correspondent to investigate
more and find out the true characteristics of the headmaster. l

Nazruls birth anniversary


celebration begins
n BSS

The photo taken yesterday shows a broken-down automatic traffic signal light at a
crossing in Rajshahi city
DHAKA TRIBUNE
City Corporation says, Most of the
traffic signal lights have gone out of order. We have a plan to repair them.
But we will do the repairs on the
fast-track basis if traffic police contact
us about this.
Rajshahi Metropolitan Traffic Inspector Raihan Ibne Rahman says, We

cannot enforce traffic laws properly because of the broken-down traffic lights
and so we cannot enforce the laws even
if we want it eagerly.
However, if Rajshahi City Corporation repairs and re-install traffic lights
consulting us, we can enforce traffic
lights properly. l

Police arrest top


criminal in Jessore
A top listed criminal was arrested by
the police from the Naldanga upazila of
the district on Friday.
The arrestee Taufiqul Islam Shafin
was an accused in several cases including extortion, police sources said.
Sub-Inspector Shoyeb of Jessore
Kotwali police said Shafin was arrested
from his residence around 11:30pm and
a gun, two rounds of bullets, 75 pieces
of yaba pills and 15 bottles of phensedyl
were seized from his possession. l

The 115th birth anniversary of National


Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam began at Trishal
in Mymensingh through a three-day
national level programme.
The celebration, jointly organized
by Cultural Affairs Ministry and Mymensingh district administration, has
begun today at Darirampur Nazrul
Mancha and continue till May 27.
The programme included colourful
rallies, discussion meetings, cultural
shows, gathering of poets, staging of
dramas and dance sequences. Eminent
artistes of the country will attend the
cultural shows.
A three-day fair styled Nazrul Mela
will also be held marking the occasion.
Rebel poet Nazrul, born at village

Churulia of Bardwan district in


West Bengal in India on May 25 in
1899, stayed for about a year in his
boyhood at village Darirampur in
Trishal and studied at Darirampur
High School.
Kazi Rafiz Ullah, a sub-inspector of
police working at Bardwan at that time,
brought Nazrul to his village home at
Kazir Shimla in Trishal in 1914. Still the
people of Trishal and Mymensingh district as well remember Nazrul as their
near and dear
ones.
F i n a n c e
Minister
AMA
Muhith will inaugurate the celebrations as the
chief guest. l

n Our Correspondent, Jessore

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

Rising levels of grades at examinations in schools have not


been matched by the delivery of even the most basic skills

BIGSTOCK

n Tim Steel
By 2008, the changing dynamics of
tertiary education in UK, especially following the introduction, in England, of
tuition fees, saw all four of the leading
accounting firms revisiting recruiting
practices that seemed to have died out
with the dramatic increases in capacity
for advanced studies. The Big Four,
the major audit and accounting firms
in UK, all working worldwide, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst and Young had
all revived the practice of recruitment
of school leavers.
As someone whose corporate career,
which, having included posts as Head
of Marketing of Jaguar cars, and GM of
SONY UK, has been described as successful, commenced as school leaver
recruit to the Unilever giants Unilever
Companies Management Development
Scheme, the revival of such schemes

grabbed my attention.
The Unilever programme ended
its school leaver recruitment in the
seventies, citing the development of
business schools, and the free access to
such institutions.
By 2014, the widespread reintroduction of the practice was reported
by the Association of Graduate Recruitment of UK as accounting for inclusion
in the programmes of over 54% of their
members.
Financial services businesses, including the prestigious Bank of England, may have led the revival, but
that 54% of businesses also include
such FMCG giants as Nestle and
Cadbury.
The move gives a warning light to
the tertiary education business, as,
around the world, including UK these
days, it may reasonably be described.
Whilst few are referring to the qual-

ity of education delivered, and its failure, especially, in areas where personal
skills require mental acuity in pursuit
of profits, such as in financial services,
that such businesses should be leading
the chase, clearly raises questions.
More discretely, such as Gaenor
Page, then Head of People, PwC, in
2008, commented: For us, this is
about getting the right people into the
right place, at the right time for our
business.
Many, including myself, as chairman
and CEO of a major advertising business, have had reason to question the
delivery, by academic institutions, of
effective education, especially in terms
of managing thought processes, as distinct from memory. Even elementary
skills, such as grammar and numeracy,
have been conspicuously at lower levels of attainment.
Even in UK, rising levels of grades at

Sunday, May 25, 2014

examinations in schools have not been


matched by the delivery of even the
most basic skills, and where, especially, tertiary education is a business, in
which the customers demand delivery
of service quality, but a delivery that
they can, as parents and guardians who
pay for the service, only really judge by
results of examinations, in which failure could damage reputations of institutions/businesses and must be treated
with scepticism.
As an employer in UK of many thousands of employees, the certificates
they bring with application have never
mattered to me as much as personality,
and evidence of achievements outside
the classroom.
I am quite sure that this was also the
approach of the interviewers who selected me for the Unilever programme.
My academic record was far less distinguished than my social and sporting

achievements.
As chairman of the regional Sixth
Form Society, whose membership included, not only my own ancient Grammar School, but also leading public
schools, and as President of Debating,
and Chairman of Games Committee
(despite my own lack of team sporting interests), it seemed, apparently, worthwhile to Unilever personnel
to subject me to psychographic tests
which lay at the foundation of their selection process.
(I have never been sure if my selection and posting to Lever Brothers, the
soaps and detergents giant as, presumably, psychologically suited to marketing soaps, was the tribute to my personality and skills I suppose I should
have regarded it!)
In Bangladesh, I have often found
non-graduates more fluent in the use
of English, as much, being less inhibited in its use, as anything, and certainly
better equipped to deliver outcomes
rather than being preoccupied by processes.
Since, in the real world, there is no
such thing as perfect English, they
are less inhibited in their communication, if less entirely literate. Universities, it appears, are not great developers of either physical or intellectual
achievement, both qualities that are
vital to successful performers in, especially, the private sector in competitive
economies.
The constant appearance in social
media of a roll call of the successful in,
especially, the private sector, and the
political, both requiring imagination,
courage, initiative and flexibility, is an
embarrassment that universities have
learnt to live with. Names like Bill Gates
and Richard Branson may be claimed to
be exceptions.
However, research that I was asked
by the major British investment bank
3is, to undertake in the 80s revealed, in
profiling successful entrepreneurs that
two thirds had characteristically left
school at the age of 16, and most had
gone bankrupt at least twice, before finally succeeding.
A profile that may well represent
a challenge to financial institutions
seeking potential winners to back, but
also represents a challenge to business
schools. University degrees in Entrepreneuralism flourished, briefly, but
closed, in at least one university, when
none of its graduates even attempted
to become an entrepreneur.
The worldwide reversion to school

leaver recruitment has not yet arrived


in Bangladesh. Perhaps, opening vocational skills training programmes to
offer companies a subcontracted programme in skills tailored to their needs
might protect this business sector.
However, it is hard to see how, in a truly
competitive environment, companies
can survive, based on the recruitment
of wealthiest students from the most
expensive universities.
Rather, as a Unilever recruiter put it
to me, when I asked why I was posted
to Lever Brothers, rather than to Van
Den Burghs, their highly successful fats
and margarine business: Lever Brothers has to fight for every point of market share against some of the toughest
competitors in the world, Procter and
Gamble, and Colgate; they need street
fighters. If Van Den Burgh gain more
market share the Monopolies Commission will be all over them; its the place
for gentlemen.

It is hard to see how,


in a truly competitive
environment,
companies can
survive, based on
the recruitment of
wealthiest students
from the most
expensive universities

Street fighter! Me! Well, I often wonder how stellar my career might have
been if Id opted for university. And
that doesnt only give me pause for
thought. It must, I suspect, be giving
the better businesses of Bangladesh
pause for thought, too. And it needs to
give young Bangladeshis, eyeing a career, reason to listen less to parents and
teachers, and more to their own sense
of self belief.
There can be little doubt that, as,
increasingly, in the rest of the world,
in Bangladesh, the first line of recruiters for effective management performance may well, soon, be forming at
the school gate, rather than university
graduation ceremonies. l

What anchors us to success


n Ahsan Sajid
Some people know exactly what they
want with their career how they would
like to close the quarter, and where they
would like to be in five years. For the
vast majority of people, however, their
idea of what they want out of their career is a vague idea at best.
University programmes follow standard curriculum for all and organisations manage their employees' careers
according to what is best for the organisation. This is why one must become
self-reliant when it comes to career
management and do it on their terms.
Understanding career anchors may help
us understand what we are best suited
for and where we should be heading.
Career anchors represent ones
unique combination of perceived career competence, motives and values.
According to Edgar Schein, a former
professor at the MIT Sloan School of
Management, a career anchor is that
one element in a persons self concept
that he or she will not give up, even in
the face of difficult choices.
Personality, motivation and values
affect career choices and preferences,
through the metaphor of an anchor pulling people towards particular roles that
they are ideally suited for. Career anchors
become apparent to us gradually; the early years of anyones career is a time for
learning about the job and about the self.
More often than not, it is during the
first few years of our careers that we
come to challenge our idea of ourselves.
This happens when we find out that
what we thought we were good at and
the nature of the work that we thought
we would do all throughout university
is inconsistent with the actual day-today work experience. This forces us to
confront ourselves about what we are
good at, and what we really want to do.
As ones job experience accumulates, strengths and weaknesses and
preferences become clearer. Having
made difficult choices and decisions,
we are better equipped to know what
we really want with our life.
In Career Anchors: Discovering
Your Real Values, Edgar Schein, a former professor at the MIT Sloan School
of Management, identifies eight different anchor types. One or more of these
types may match your interests and
preferences, as identified through your
work experience so far.

Your type will become clearer the


further along your career you go. People dont fall neatly into any one category and therefore you are most likely
a combination of two or three.

something of value, such as making the


world a better place to live in, solving
environmental problems, improving harmony among people, helping others, improving peoples safety, curing diseases
through new products and so on.
People under this anchor pursue
such opportunities even if it means
changing organisations, and they do
not accept transfers or promotions that
would take them out of work that fulfils those values.

Technical/Functional

Those with an anchor placed strongly


in some technical or functional area
never give up the opportunity to apply
their skills in that area and to continue to develop those skills to an every
higher level. They derive their sense of
identity from the exercise of their skills
and are most happy when their work
challenges them in those areas. They
may be willing to manage others in
their technical or functional area, but
are not interested in management for
its own sake and would avoid general
management because that would mean
having to leave their area of expertise.

Pure challenge

People with an anchor of pure challenge love the opportunity to work


on solutions to seemingly unsolvable
problems, to succeed over tough opponents, or to overcome difficult obstacles. For them, the only meaningful
reason for pursuing a job or career is
that it permits them to succeed in the
face of the impossible.
Some people find such pure challenge in intellectual kinds of work such
as engineering, while others find the
challenge in complex, multi-faceted
situations, such as strategy consultancy; most think of it as an interpersonal
competition. Novelty, variety and difficulty are what these people look for,
and easy is another word for boring.

General managerial

People with a key career anchor in general managerial strive to climb to a level
high enough in an organisation to enable
them to integrate the efforts of others
across functions and to be responsible
for the output of a particular unit of the
organisation. They want to be responsible and accountable for total results; they
identify their own work with the success
of the organisation for which they work.
If you are presently in a technical or
functional area but your anchor is general managerial, you view that as a necessary learning experience; however,
your ambition is far wider. Just being
at a high managerial level in a function
does not interest you.

Lifestyle

Autonomy/Independence

People with the autonomy/independence anchor like to define their own


work in their own way. If you are in an
organisation, you want to remain in
jobs that allow you flexibility regarding
when and how to work. If you cannot
stand organisational rules and restrictions, you seek occupations in which
you will have the freedom you seek,
such as teaching or consulting.
These people routinely turn down
opportunities for advancement in order to retain autonomy. They may even
seek to have a business of their own in
order to achieve a sense of autonomy;
however, this motive is markedly different from the entrepreneurial creativity described later.

BIGSTOCK

Security/Stability

Those with an anchor of security/stability seek employment security or tenure in a job or organisation. Their main
concern is to achieve a sense of having
succeeded so that they can settle down.
The value is illustrated by a concern for
financial security (such as pension and
retirement plans) or employment security. Such stability may involve trading
loyalty and willingness to do whatever
the employer wants from you for some
promise of job tenure.
If this is your anchor, you are less
concerned with the content of your
work and the rank you achieve in the

organisation, although you may achieve


a high level through dedication and
consistency alone. As with autonomy,
everyone has certain needs for security
and stability, especially at times of financial stress or when one is facing retirement. People biased in this way are
so concerned with these issues that they
build their entire self-images around the
management of security and stability.

Entrepreneurial creativity

People who have entrepreneurial creativity strive to create an organisation


or enterprise of their own, built on their
own abilities and their willingness to

take risks and to overcome obstacles.


They want to prove to the world that
they can create an enterprise that is the
result of their own effort. They may be
working for others in an organisation
while learning and assessing future opportunities, and go out on their own as
soon as they feel they are ready. Commonly they want their enterprise to be
financially successful as proof of their
abilities more than for profit.

Service

If your key anchor is service and dedication to a cause, you would not give up the
opportunity to pursue work that achieves

People under the lifestyle anchor


seek a situation that permits them to
balance and integrate their personal
needs, their family needs, and the requirements of their career. They want
to make all the major aspects of their
life work together toward an integrated
whole and therefore need a career that
provides enough flexibility to achieve
such integration.
If this is your anchor, you may have
to sacrifice some aspects of the career.
However, you define success in terms
broader than just career success. You
feel that your identity is more tied up
with your life, where you live and how
your family situation is than with any
particular job or organisation.
Understanding the eight career anchors identified by Schein may help
you assess how well suited you are for
your current job and what your organisations plans for you are, as opposed to
your plans for yourself. You are either
in what is the ideal role for yourself, or
you need to make a change to succeed
along your desired career path. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Sunday, May 25, 2014

War situation as Ukraine goes to polls


n AFP, Donetsk
Were in a war situation, says one of
the deliverymen bringing ballot papers
in under armed guard to a polling station in the eastern Ukrainian town of
Dobropillya. There is more security
this time, he adds.
Ukraine goes to the polls today to
elect a new president, but pro-Russian
separatists have threatened to disrupt
the vote in towns and cities they control in the industrial east.
We intend to make sure that voting does not take place here on our
territory. If necessary we will revert to
the use of force, said Denis Pushilin, a
top leader of the self-declared Donetsk
Peoples Republic.
We have the right to do so because
our countrymen are dying here every
day, he told reporters.
The Kiev authorities have warned
they may not be able to ensure voting
takes place across the east, where there
are already numerous reports of militants intimidating election workers and
seizing polling stations.
Security concerns have also been
heightened after a deadly surge in violence in the past week, with well over
two dozen people perhaps many more
killed in fighting between Ukrainian
forces and the rebels.
In Dobropillya, the ballot papers arrived in a funeral van along with a security guard carrying an AK-47 rifle and
were carried into the town hall basement by local election workers.
A few dozen unarmed policemen
stood around nearby, looking bored.
The elections will definitely take
place here, said Yelena Ganicheva,
head of the election commission in
Dopropillya, which lies some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Donetsk and is

Pope opens Mideast trip


lamenting Syrian conflict
n AP, Amman, Jordan

Members of the election commission prepare ballots at one of the polling stations in Kiev on May 24
under Kievs control.
Inside the town hall, a Ukrainian flag
flying from the roof, workers from the
district election commission were filling in forms as they awaited the delivery of the ballot papers.
Around the district covering some
80 polling stations almost all are planning to operate, except in separatist-controlled Druzhkivka where the
election commission was disbanded.
The voting booths are in place, the
ballot boxes are there, said Ganicheva.
- Vote will not happen -

But in the town of Makiivka, just


to the east of Donetsk, polling station
head Tetyana Fyodorovna said preparations had been halted after armed
men seized the district election commission on Friday.
We were getting ready for the vote
but now the elections are not going to
happen here, she told AFP by phone.
In the main city of Donetsk and
neighbouring towns in the heart of eastern Ukraines coal and steel industry,
most of the campaign posters are for
Mikailo Dobkin, a hardliner standing for

AFP

the Regions Party of ousted pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych.


But quite often the posters are vandalised, splattered with mud or the
eyes of the candidates torn out.
At a school in central Donetsk that
should be a polling station, caretaker
Olga Viktorovna showed AFP around
an empty hall where there were no visible preparations.
We have always held presidential
and local elections here, but this time
there will not be anything it seems,
she said. l

Pope Francis thanked Jordan yesterday


for welcoming hundreds of thousands
of refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, calling for an urgent, peaceful
solution to the conflict in the neighboring nation as he began a three-day visit
to the Middle East.
Francis also lauded Jordan for the
climate of serene coexistence enjoyed by Christians and Muslims in the
desert kingdom. He called for greater
protections for minority Christians
across the region in a speech to King
Abdullah II and Jordanian political and
religious leaders.
Religious freedom is in fact a fundamental human right and I cannot fail
to express my hope that it will be upheld throughout the Middle East and
the entire world, he said.
Francis plane touched down at Ammans Queen Alia International Airport,
where an honor guard, Catholic leaders
and Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed, King
Abdullah IIs chief adviser for religious
and cultural affairs, met him. He immediately headed to the kings palace
in a simple, four-door sedan, a group of
motorcycles riding alongside him. Small
groups of people waving Jordanian and
Vatican flags cheered him as he passed.
At the palace, Francis met with Abdullah and Queen Rania, their children
gathered for the meeting. In his palace
speech, Francis said Jordans generous
welcome to Syrian refugees warranted
international appreciation and support.
Jordan last month opened a third
refugee camp, evidence of the strains
the conflict is creating for the country.
Jordan is currently hosting 600,000
registered Syrian refugees, or 10 per-

Al Qaeda gunmen storm Turkish PMs aide who kicked mine


Yemeni city, kill at least 27 disaster protester sacked
n Reuters, Aden

At least 27 people were killed in an


overnight raid by gunmen on a city in
southeastern Yemen, residents and a
local official said yesterday, as al Qaeda
continues its fightback against a government offensive in the country.
Armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and explosives, attackers drove in from the surrounding desert on 15 pickup trucks into Seyoun after
detonating a car bomb at the entrance
to the city in Hadramout province.
Al Qaeda has carried out many hitand-run attacks since the Yemeni army
drove it from its southern strongholds
in Abyan and Shabwa provinces last
month. The West is concerned the
group could use Yemen, which borders
major oil producer Saudi Arabia, as a
base for international attacks.
The militants targeted at least seven
locations, including the main military
posts, the local police headquarters,
bank branches and the airport.
Residents said the citys electricity
supply was cut during the attack and
they heard explosions and gunfire
throughout the night. The militants
briefly captured some buildings before

withdrawing early on Saturday.


They wanted to capture the city
and control it, a local official, who
asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
The official said 20 attackers died
and said they took away 18 bodies. Five
members of the security forces and two
soldiers died in the fighting, he said.
Local officials said they suspected
the attack was led by Jalal Balaidi, a senior al Qaeda figure in the region.
Hadramout province stretches from
the port of Mukalla in the south to the
Saudi border, through arid valleys and
empty desert, the type of landscape al
Qaeda uses to its advantage across the
Middle East. A regional website said the
attackers were wearing Yemeni army
uniforms. It said that dozens of casualties were taken to local hospitals.
A US ally, with a population of 25
million, Yemen is trying to end three
years of political unrest, which began
when mass protests erupted in 2011
against Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president of 33 years, who stepped down.
Apart from the fight against al Qaeda, the government faces by southern
separatists for independence and battles with rebels from the Shiite Muslim
Houthi movement. l

n Reuters, Ankara
An aide to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan who made front page news
around the world after being filmed
kicking a protester in the wake of Turkeys worst ever mining accident has
been sacked, a government official said
yesterday.
Footage earlier this month showing
Yusuf Yerkel apparently lashing out
at the man - who was being held on

the ground by two security officers sparked widespread outrage and came
to symbolize the governments widely
criticized handling of the disaster.
Despite expressing regret for what
happened, Yerkel was sacked by Erdogan earlier this week, although news of
the decision only emerged at the weekend, the official told Reuters. Yusuf
Yerkel apologized but it was too late. At
the end of the discussion the Prime Minister fired him directly, the source said.

The incident had threatened to become a major embarrassment for Erdogan, who is already under heavy
fire himself. During the same visit to
Soma he became embroiled in angry
altercations with protesters, who were
expressing rage at Turkeys poor work
safety record.
Yerkel had been off work since
shortly after the incident, reported to
be suffering with leg injuries sustained
whilst kicking the man. l

7 dead in California college shooting


n AFP, Los Angeles

Seven people were killed and seven


others wounded in a mass shooting
at a college town in southern California, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill
Brown said yesterday.
Brown said at a pre-dawn press conference that the shooting in the town of Isla
Vista, near the campus of the University
of California at Santa Barbara, appears to
be a mass murder situation. Police said
the gunman was among the dead.

The suspect, driving a black BMW,


opened fire on pedestrians from his
vehicle at several locations in the town
last night, is among those killed.
Police received their first emergency
calls about the shooting around 9:30
pm local time on Friday.
Twice, the shooter exchanged gunfire
with police from his car, and fled both
times. He then crashed into a parked vehicle. When police approached him they
determined that the suspect ... was
dead of an apparent gunshot wound to

the head, Brown said. Police recovered


a handgun from the suspects vehicle.
Authorities believe that the shooter
acted alone, and said they are investigating a threatening video posted
by the alleged shooter on YouTube
as evidence.
Police are analysing both written
and videotaped evidence that suggest
this atrocity was a premeditated mass
murder, Brown told reporters.
Authorities have not yet released
the suspects name. l

Obama win on Guantanamo prison may be short-lived


n AP, Washington

President Barack Obama scored a rare


win in his 5-year-old campaign to close
the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, as a Senate panel approved giving him the authority to transfer terror
suspects to the United States if Congress signs off on a comprehensive plan
to shutter the facility.
Its not a done deal, however, as top
Senate Republicans vowed on Friday to
do all they can to keep the Guantanamo
facility open and leave the 154 detainees incarcerated.
The Senate Armed Services Committee wrapped up a defense bill Thursday
that would authorize the transfer of
terror suspects to US soil for detention, trial and incarceration, subject to
stringent security measures and legal
protections, once the president has
submitted a plan to Congress for closing Guantanamo and Congress has had
an opportunity to vote to disapprove
that plan under expedited procedures.
The bill also authorizes the temporary transfer of detainees to a US medical facility operated by the Defense
Department to prevent death or significant imminent harm.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman
of the Armed Services Committee,
hailed the defense bill provision as a
significant change in the long standoff
between the Obama administration
and bipartisan congressional oppo-

nents over the post-Sept. 11 prison for


terror suspects.
Levin said the bill has created a
path to close Guantanamo.
The effort still faces resistance from
Republicans and Democrats in Congress who have repeatedly and successfully fought White House efforts to
move detainees to US soil.
Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the
top Republican on the Armed Services
Committee, voted for the overall defense bill but is determined to work
with his allies in the House to scuttle
the provision. Inhofe maintains that
Guantanamo is the only option to
house terror suspects.
If Obama offers a plan, Im hoping
that anything that comes can be slowwalked till hes out of office, Inhofe
said in an interview Friday. Another
member of the committee, Sen. Kelly
Ayotte, R-N.H., said the administration
has failed to produce a coherent policy
on detention and interrogation, and
she promised to lead the Senate effort
to keep Guantanamo operating.
Bringing members of al-Qaida and
its affiliates to our homeland and telling them they have a right to remain
silent defies common sense, represents
a serious national security risk, and
prevents us from collecting the intelligence we need to prevent future terrorist attacks and save American lives,
Ayotte said in a statement.
Ayotte prevailed in adding anoth-

Protestors wearing orange prisoners jumpsuits hold signs as they call for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility during a
global day of action for the closing of the prison and the end of indefinite detention in front of the White House in Washington
AFP
er provision to the defense bill a
one-year moratorium on transferring
detainees from Guantanamo to Yemen, where al-Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula is considered one of the terror groups most dangerous off-shoot
worldwide.
Efforts in committee to give the

president unfettered authority to close


Guantanamo attracted unusual conditions. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,
won approval for establishing a process
in which any administration plan would
be subject to a joint resolution of disapproval from both houses of Congress.
The president could veto the resolu-

tion, thus requiring a two-thirds majority to override the move.


But even before that, the full Senate
must pass the defense bill and that version has to be reconciled with the House
legislation, which passed on Thursday.
The House bill prohibits any transfer of
terror suspects to the United States. l

cent of its population, but Jordanian


officials estimate the real number is
closer to 1.3 million.
Francis is due to get a firsthand look
at the plight of Syrian, Iraqi and Palestinian refugees later Sunday when he
celebrates Mass at Ammans international stadium and then meets with
some 600 refugees and disabled children at a church in Bethany beyond
the Jordan, which many believe is the
traditional site of Jesus baptism.

Christians believe they


are being targeted in
part because of antiChristian sentiment
among Sunni Muslim
extremists
Christians make up about 5 percent of
Syrias population, but assaults on predominantly Christian towns by rebels
fighting President Bashar Assads rule
have fueled fears among the countrys
religious minorities about the growing
role of Islamic extremists in the revolt.
Christians believe they are being targeted in part because of anti-Christian
sentiment among Sunni Muslim extremists and partly as punishment for
what is seen as their support for Assad.
Francis has frequently lamented
the plight of refugees, denouncing the
globalization of indifference that often greets them in their newly adopted
homelands. At the same time, he and
his predecessors have decried the flight
of Christians from the Holy Land. l

Somali parliament
under attack by
Shebab rebels
n AFP, Mogadishu
Somalias Shebab rebels launched a major attack on the national parliament
yesterday, setting off a car bomb and
penetrating the building with suicide
commandos, police and witnesses said.
A huge car bomb went off outside
the gates of the parliament in central
Mogadishu shortly before midday, and
a string of smaller blasts followed by
intense gunfire were also heard coming
from inside the complex.
Police said at least four attackers
were killed, and AFP reporters at the
scene also counted four dead security
guards, adding that a number people
had also been wounded. Exchanges
of gunfire could still be heard coming
from inside the building more than an
hour after the attack started.
There is an attack near the parliament building. There was a car bomb
explosion and gunfire broke out, police official Husein Ise told AFP.
Witnesses said Shebab militants, the
Al-Qaeda-linked group fighting to overthrow Somalias internationally-backed
government, stormed into the complex
while MPs were meeting inside, and a
spokesman for the militants confirmed
they were behind the attack.
The so-called Somali parliament is
a military zone. Our fighters are there
to carry out a holy operation, Shebabs
military spokesman, Abdulaziz Abu
Musab, told AFP by telephone. We shall
issue a comprehensive report after the
conclusion of the operation, he added.
Recent Shebab attacks have targeted key areas of government, or the
security forces, in an apparent bid to
discredit claims by the authorities that
they are winning the war against the Islamist fighters.
The parliament attack appeared to
be a repeat of an assault on February
against the heavily-fortified presidential palace, which saw a car bomb go
off at the gates of the Villa Somalia followed by an attack by suicide gunmen
which left at least 16 dead including the
attackers. In that attack, the Shebab
gunmen were dressed in police and
military uniforms.
Last month two Somali MPs were
also assassinated by the Shebab in
shooting and bomb attacks inside
Mogadishu, and the Shebab said they
hoped to kill all MPs one by one.
The Shebab, who also claimed responsibility for the September 2013 attack on Nairobis Westgate mall in which
at least 67 people were killed, have also
carried out a string of other high-profile
attacks in Mogadishu this year.
Hardline Shebab insurgents once
controlled most of southern and central Somalia, including large parts of
the capital, but were driven out of fixed
positions in Mogadishu and Somalias
major towns by a 22,000-strong African
Union force. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

How the Thai


coup unfolded
n AP, Bangkok
Thailands all-powerful army chief
started the extraordinary meeting by
asking participants to give a progress
report on their homework.
The participants were the countrys
most important political rivals, plus
four Cabinet ministers from the embattled government, election commissioners and senators. The homework:
solving a crisis so complex it has split
the Southeast Asian nation for nearly
a decade, fueling repeated spasms of
bloodshed and upheaval.
They didnt know it then, but they
only had about two hours to figure it
all out. Just after 4:30 p.m. Thursday,
the conference room would be sealed
by soldiers, and the man who called
the meeting, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha,
would become Thailands new ruler.
Accounts of those pivotal moments
at a military complex in Bangkok
known as the Army Club, relayed by
two lawmakers who were present and
Thai media, indicate that Prayuth had
no intention of engaging in the kind of
protracted negotiation necessary to mediate a conflict that reignited last year
when protesters took to the streets.
The sequence of events raises questions about whether the meeting was
a ruse to neutralize anyone who might
oppose the coup. The fact it happened
so swiftly suggests that Prayuth was
already planning to do what demonstrators had pushed for all along: overthrow the government, if the two sides
could not reach a compromise.
There was never much hope they
would. The intractable divide plaguing
Thailand today is part of an increasingly precarious power struggle between
an elite, army-backed conservative
minority based in Bangkok and the
south that can no longer win elections,
and the political machine of exiled exPrime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and
his supporters in the rural north who
backed him because of populist policies
such as virtually free health care.
The army deposed Thaksin in a
2006 coup. And on Friday, it detained
his sister, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was forced
from office earlier this month by a
controversial court verdict for abuse

World

ANTI-COUP PROTESTS ACROSS BANGKOK


Clockwise from top left:
Anti-coup protesters hold
placards during a protest
at the Victory Monument
in Bangkok on May 24. A
girl holds a candle during
another protest against
military rule in central
Bangkok. Thai soldiers ask
people to disperse after
they broke up an anticoup gathering. A Thai
riot-policewoman stands
guard in Bangkok. Local
commuters take pictures
and watch from a bus as
demonstrators attend an
anti-coup protest.

of power, which she denies.


Deputy army spokesman Col. Weerachon Sukondhapatipak said Saturday
the junta would likely hold her for one
week so she can calm down and have
time to think.
When Prayuth declared martial law
on Tuesday, the 60-year-old officer
insisted he was only trying to restore
stability and force all sides to talk. The
next day, he summoned rival factions
and Cabinet officials who had little
choice but to show up.
After that initial two-hour meeting,
everyone was told to come back with proposals to end the crisis, said a lawmaker
who attended and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Could rival protest groups call off
their demonstrations? Could an interim
government be agreed upon? Should
political reform (demanded by protesters) or new elections (demanded by
the government) come first? Could the
country hold a referendum on its fate?
When talks resumed Thursday, the
atmosphere was much different.
Participants were ordered to leave
their cellphones outside, more soldiers
were on guard and they were heavily
armed. Prayuth opened the meeting,
saying his aim was to bring peace.
What Im doing today is in the interest of security, he said, in a video
released by the militarys TV station.
If this steps over anyone, then I have
to apologize. I insist that I will honor
every side, always.
An hour later, there was, predictably, no agreement, the lawmaker said.
The talks kept returning to a single
point: how would the government go?
Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the Cabinet could sacrifice for
the nation and resign. Somebody else
suggested that the civilian administration might just take leave. Others said
ministers could step down one by one,
or en masse. The government officials
said they couldnt do it, claiming they
were brought to power by the people and
therefore could not step down, said Sirichoke Sopha, a former member of Parliament from the opposition Democrat
Party who was present at the talks. We
pleaded for them to step back, asking
them to sacrifice to save democracy. l

Twitter to take India election innovations global


n Reuters, New Delhi

US social networking company Twitter is planning to replicate parts of


itsIndiaelection strategy across countries that go to polls this year, after it
emerged as a key tool for politicians
and media companies during the
worlds largest democratic exercise.
In India, Twitter Inc worked closely with politicians including the victor
Narendra Modi who used the platform
for election campaigning, and also partnered with mobile and media firms to
distribute tweets online and offline.
Now, with polling due in countries such
asBrazil,Indonesiaand the United States
later this year, the San Francisco-based
company plans to take its India lessons
abroad to expand its foothold in the political arena and increase its user base.
The election more than any other
moment provides a nice microcosm
of the value Twitter can add ... we are
sharing widely the lessons of this Indian
election around the world, said Rishi
Jaitly, India market director at Twitter.
Last week, the company sent its top
political strategist to Brazil to explain
the potential of the social network to
senators, who are likely to use Twitters
six-second video app Vine for campaigning after it was used by Indian
politicians, the company said.
For the US election, the company

has started looking for partners to replicate their Tweet To Remember feature used in India, which enables users
to add the voting date automatically to
their mobile calendar using a tweet.

ter election, and the novelty of the technology gave an advantage to the politicians who adopted first - especially the
BJP, said Milan Vaishnav of Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.

Twitter widely emerged


as a political tool first
during the 2012 US
presidential elections,
and then during the
Arab Spring uprisings
in North Africa and the
Middle East
Twitter widely emerged as a political tool first during the 2012 US presidential elections, and then during the
Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa
and the Middle East. Today, US President Barack Obama has more than 43
million Twitter followers.
In India, Modis Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) embraced the technology ahead of rivals, collaborating with
thousands of volunteers to spread the
Hindu nationalist leaders message and
counter criticism on the web.
It was the countrys first major Twit-

The Indian experience will serve as a


model for other developing countries
... In the US, the saturation of the social
media space by all parties may have a
cancelling out effect, Vaishnav said.

The modi way

Tech-savvy Modi, who now has 4.3 million Twitter followers, used the platform
relentlessly. He recently tweeted selfies and pictures with his mother. On
May 16 he set a Twitter India record with
his victory acknowledgement tweet.
His rivals lagged. A few years before

UN rights envoy: Myanmar needs


constitution change
n AP, Yangon
The UN human rights envoy to Myanmar yesterday expressed concern over
the militarys veto power on constitutional changes, which he said are crucial for the countrys democratic transition and next years elections.
Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea
Quintana, who is completing his sixyear term this month, said in a statement that the militarys power to block
constitutional amendments did not augur well for the 2015 elections. He said
there must be civilian oversight over
the military.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

The 2008 constitution, drawn up


under the previous junta regime, gives
the military a mandatory 25 percent
parliamentary seats, which is enough
to veto any constitutional change
and disqualify pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running for
president.
Constitutional reform in Myanmar is a crucial step in the transition to a more democratic nation,
Quintana said.
Suu Kyi considers the current constitution undemocratic and boycotted
the 2010 elections. However, she ran in
by-elections in 2012 after changes were

made in election laws and won a seat in


the lower house of Parliament.
The Nobel laureate has been holding rallies to gain public support and to
convince the military and the government to amend the constitution.
An article in the constitution says
anyone whose spouse or children owes
allegiance to a foreign power cannot
become president or vice president.
Suu Kyis sons are British nationals.
Several other provisions are also
under scrutiny for revision, and some
proposed changes would strengthen
self-government in regions of the country dominated by ethnic minorities. l

Indias mammoth election, Congress


leader Shashi Tharoor asked Rahul
Gandhi, the lead campaign manager of
the now ousted party, to join Twitter.
Gandhi declined.
With about two-thirds of Indias
population under 35, Modi targeted the
young and smart by topping up campaigning with social media, holograms
and recorded voice calls.
The potential was, and still is, huge:
India has the worlds third largest internet user base of 239 million and more
than 900 million mobile connections.
Many access web on their phones.
Twitters reach was not restricted to
its estimated 35 million India users, as
nearly 400 multilingual news channels
that closely tracked politicians on the
website reached 153 million households,
data from TAM Media Research showed.
Modi, who is due to be sworn in on
Monday, has not let up his Twitter onslaught since the election and like other
global leaders will make the service a central part of his communications arsenal.
Meanwhile, Tharoor has again advised
his top leadership to adapt to social media platforms as a part of their renewed
strategy to improve communication.
There is no reason why we should
cede that space to the BJP. This is an
area in which we can be just as good,
said Tharoor, who has over 2 million
Twitter followers. l

Double blow for


AAP as two top
leaders quit
n AFP, New Delhi
Indias upstart anti-corruption party
suffered a heavy blow yesterday when
two of their leaders quit after accusing
their high-profile chief of impulsive decision-making. Shazia Ilmi and GR Gopinath of the Aam Aadmi (Common Man)
Party said they did not approve of the
sensationalism agenda followed by the
fledgling partys leader Arvind Kejriwal.
They were referring to Kejriwals
recent decision of choosing to remain
behind bars rather than pay bail in a defamation case. Kejriwal has been branded a drama queen by opponents on
Wednesday for refusing to pay the bail. l

Nawaz Sharif to attend


Modis swearing-in

Nawaz Sharif

n AFP, Islamabad
Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif will
attend Indian prime minister-elect Narendra Modis inauguration tomorrow,
his office said, in an unprecedented
diplomatic move aimed at mending strained ties between the nuclear-armed rivals.
The Pakistani PMs attendance will
be a first in the history of the South
Asian neighbours, which have fought
three wars since independence in 1947
and remain bitterly divided over the
disputed region of Kashmir.
Like all other heads of government
from the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which
includes Pakistan, Sharif had also been
formally invited by India this week.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has
decided to visit India and attend the
swearing-in of... Modi, his spokesman
told AFP on Saturday.
Modi will take the oath as prime
minister on Monday, 10 days after his
right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) scored a landslide
victory, securing the first majority by a
single party in 30 years.
Its very good news that Nawaz
Sharif has accepted Mr Modis invitation, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters in New Delhi. It
will mark a new beginning in our ties.
Sharif, who is himself a centre-right
leader, has hailed Modis impressive
victory and many diplomats hope the
two men can thaw ties between the
neighbours.

Narendra Modi
Sharif has cited his working relationship with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indias
last prime minister with the right-wing
BJP as a reason for optimism, according to diplomatic sources. It was during
Sharifs second term in 1999 that Vajpayee rode a bus to Lahore to sign a peace
accord, raising the prospect for normalisation between the two-nuclear armed
neighbours that have fought three wars.
Vajpayee had said you can choose
your friends but you cant choose your
neighbours. Mr Modi is following just
that principle by extending an invitation to Sharif, Javadekar said.

Modi-Sharif handshake

In Pakistan, Sharifs move to attend


the searing-in ceremony was hailed by
the religious right-wing party Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), an ally of his government. Pakistan conveyed a positive gesture to India. The decision to
attend swearing-in is a welcome sign,
said JUI chairman Maulana Fazalur
Rehman, who also head a parliamentary special committee on Kashmir.
He added that close ties with India
may help resolve the Kashmir issue.
Omar Abdullah, the chief minister
of Indian-held Kashmir, echoed similar
sentiments.
I hope that this will mark a new beginning in ties between our two countries. The people of J & K (Jammu and
Kashmir) will be watching closely, he
said on Twitter. Cant help feel sorry for
others taking oath or attending because
the only photo op that will matter now
will be the Modi-Sharif handshake. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Sunday, May 25, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Time to govern
in prose

e welcome Narendra Modis scheduled trip to Dhaka, as it


could be a positive step towards repairing India-Bangladesh
relations.
Much has been made of Modis recent comments about Bangladeshi illegal immigrants in India, escalating tensions between the
two neighbours. However, we see it as a good sign that Modis first
official trip as prime minister of India might be to Bangladesh, with
the Teesta water-sharing deal
looking to be high up on the
agenda.
Although details of the
visit are vague, we believe this
meeting between the two heads
of state could serve as a golden
opportunity to put hostile
sentiments arising from some
comments made by Modi during
his campaign, behind us.
It is said that one campaigns
in poetry but governs in prose.
Modis sometimes inflammatory
speeches on the campaign trail,
though they understandably antagonised many Bangladeshis, can
now hopefully be seen as campaign rhetoric. Now that he has officially
been elected prime minister of India, Modi must, for the sake of his
own country, demonstrate the qualities of good statesmanship. This
means governing in prose.
India cannot prosper by alienating Bangladeshis, and we hope this
meeting will yield the right kind of result for both nations. The signing
of the eagerly anticipated Teesta water-sharing deal and negotiating
the land boundary agreement for the betterment of both nations will
be a constructive start to Modis rule.

Modis first official


trip as prime
minister could be
a positive step in
India-Bangladesh
relations

Action needed on
food contamination

ampaign groups held a human chain outside the Jatiya Press


Club this week to protest the scourge of rampant food adulteration in the country.
Random tests carried out by the Institute of Public Health in different markets last month found that around 50% of vegetables and
35% of fruits were contaminated with unsafe level of pesticides.
The traders who attacked a mobile court at Mohammadpur Town
Hall Kitchen Market, for taking action against formalin found in fish,
should heed the bigger picture. It is not in the interest of anyone,
including traders, for the
marketplace to be tainted by
contaminated food.
Consumers are entitled to
expect all food products in
every marketplace to be safe
and for authorities to take all
necessary action on their behalf.
The government needs to
take speedier action to stamp
out the most rampant abuses.
Poultry industry association
leaders have, for instance,
repeatedly urged the shutdown of factories that have been producing
toxic feed using tannery waste, and this would be a good place to
start.
It should go further, however, and recognise that consumer concerns extend beyond simply deliberately adulterated food.
High levels of pollution across the country have wreaked havoc
with many supply chains. Fish resources in the Sunderbans have been
placed at high risk by the practice of fishermen using pesticides to
catch fish, while ashes from brick kilns that have been illegally set up
near farmlands have caused huge damage to crops.
Comprehensive action is needed across all parts of the supply
chain to ensure that food is kept safe and free from contaminants.

Action is needed
across the supply
chain to ensure
food is kept safe

Be heard
Write to Dhaka Tribune
FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207
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BNP still unclear about gains from Modi government


May 18

Ronnie
BNP leaders ought to muster greater maturity on
this issue. The unconcealed glee, with which a few
of them appear to welcome the ascension of prime
minister-elect Narendra Modi to power in India, is
pretty naive and silly. The new BJP government in
India is neither going to hasten the end of the ruling
regime in Bangladesh, nor guaranteed to grant any
favours to a future BNP government. So there is no
need for BNP leaders to get their hopes too high.
To be sure, the scandalously elected ruling AL will
inevitably have a more daunting time dealing with
a wholly democratically-elected (by a landslide,
no less) BJP in India. That said, BNP ought to do
its own rigourous homework on its policies and
strategies to properly prepare to deal with this new
government in India, should Khaleda Zia return her
party to power in the near future. Personally, I much
prefer to have a BNP government in Bangladesh
dealing with a BJP one in India. It might seem
counter-intuitive to many people, but I still feel
these two proven principled, assertive political
parties are (potentially) best suited to sort out the
myriad issues between the two countries.
123
Yes, but did the democratic country have an election under a militant-backed CTG like you have been
demanding?
No country in the world has an election under
CTG, unless it is a failing or a failed state, and under
this government Bangladesh is not a failing or a
failed state, like Pakistan is today, but when BNP
was running the country, Bangladesh was becoming

New record in pass rate, GPA 5


scores
May 18
Tarik Chowdhury
They pass the exam, but learn nothing.

Kaniz Fatema
Tarik Chowdhury: Indeed.
Hossain Sajjad
This year, students faced creative question
system on 21 subjects, while Nahid said some five
lakh teachers were trained on the new system.
This new system is going to create more pain in
our education process.
Kaniz Fatema
Hossain Sajjad: Completely agree with you,
and yeah, it will be another painful system for
students. I dont think itll work to make them into
human resources.

Police, polling officer killed in


road crashes
May 19

Rasel Adam
I was there when the accident happened.
Shondhaya Tara
Rasel Adam: Then it must be a sad experience for
you. God bless them.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

How to solve: Each number in our


CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 11 represents T so fill T every
time the figure 11 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.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

a failing state; that is why we had elections held


under the CTG!
Ronnie
123: Who are you talking to? Im only assuming it
could be me. Your circuitous comments are all too
recognisable.
First, Im no fan of a CTG system either; yet,
everything the current ruling party has perpetrated
both prior to, and subsequent to the January 5
national fiasco, (including most glaringly the upazila
elections) prove at least two things: 1) As flawed
and undesirable as the CTG system is, Bangladesh
has obviously some way to go yet before ditching
the practice for good; 2) BNPs consistent argument
that any election let alone a free and fair national
election is impossible under this PM/ruling party
has already been verily vindicated. By the way,
heaven knows what you mean by a militant-backed
CTG. Pulp fiction, I guess.
Now, your constant tantrums about Pakistan
have gotten pretty stale ... pretty fast. I fail to understand this paranoia, though I know of its appeal
as conventional propaganda against BNP. It simply
doesnt wash, to be honest. Your favoured party in
Bangladesh has just lost its patron in India. Id go
so far as to say that had the AL held a credible, free
election on January 5 (as was the overwhelming
public demand in Bangladesh not just mine or the
BNPs), then they would have met the same fate as
the Congress has suffered in India. And gosh, look
around the country today and tell everybody with
a straight face that it doesnt resemble a failing
state.

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 numberrepeating.

How history was made


May 19
nds
History is a sort of vegetable-like potato that one
can use for any recipe that he or she likes. Mr
Akbar, a long-time supporter of the Gandhi family,
who put in all his available knowledge to glorify as
the true representative of secularism, his one time
favorite agenda, now finds history being made
by Modi. He is now finding the bright future and
prospect of a shining India only in the hands of
this leader. What an amazing volta face!
TJ
Very well-written piece. The article captures the
essence of the recent Indian election and singles
out the reasons behind the BJPs victory in the
election.

BASIC bank seeks Tk600cr to


plug capital gap

CROSSWORD
ACROSS

DOWN

1 Wagers (4)
4 Passing crazes (4)
8 Liable (3)
9 Musical instrument (4)
10 Not working (4)
11 Male honey-bee (5)
12 Grotto (4)
14 Sharp blow (3)
15 Gratuity (3)
17 Tree (3)
19 Fate (3)
21 Article (4)
23 Satisfied fully (5)
26 Intellect (4)
27 Singing voice (4)
28 Bricks carrier (3)
29 Day labourer (US) (4)
30 Tear (4)

1 Card game (6)


2 Soft powder (4)
3 Weapon (5)
4 In favour of (3)
5 Concerning (5)
6 Spanish nobleman (3)
7 Bishops territory (3)
11 Storehouse (5)
13 Legally sound (5)
16 Went by (6)
18 Coat of arms phrase (5)
20 Singer (5)
22 Fashion (4)
23 Plant juice (3)
24 Beverage (3)
25 Vast age (3)

May 19

SM Tahidul Islam
Hey, sure, lets keep paying our taxes only to save
those banks, as they clearly cant save themselves.

Hasina calls Narendra Modi


May 18

Samia Khan
I wonder what he told her!

Sunny Leone to make


Telugu debut
May 18

Abu Syeed
Why should this be published as news in
Bangladesh?
Sheikh Jinat Mahmid
Probably because a lot of people from
Bangladesh have shown interest in knowing
about her movies!
Derek Hess
Im a big fan of her work.

Biggest dinosaur ever


discovered

YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

May 18

PEANUTS

Sanchia Reaz
Wow, just in time for release of the new
Godzilla movie! Now thats amazing!

Pass rate: A boon or bane?


May 18

Islam Shaheed
Pity that many Golden GPA 5 holders do
not even get pass marks on their university
admission exams!

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Sunday, May 25, 2014

A reason to learn
n Rushiba Ahmad

Kiev has a chance to change things by electing a new leader

AFP

Notes from Ukraine

n Yuliya Zoricheva

t is February 18. Municipal authorities close the subway. Kiev


has around 3 million residents.
Around 4:30pm the head of
my office authorises staff to leave
early due to danger. I drive to pick up
my brother, and on the way home we
give rides to two women. Pavements
are crowded with people walking
home, including the elderly.
The rest of the week is a blur. We
work from home. I watch the news
about the Maidan killings. One day, my
friends and I make sandwiches for the
protesters. It takes me two hours to get
to the main square. The subway is still
not operating.
The next day I go to a church close
to Maidan a sorting centre for food,
medicine, closing, linens, blankets,
etc. The church area is like an anthill,
with some people bringing staff and
volunteers sorting, packing, loading,
and transporting materials to the protesters. They work in an assembly line.
I stay there to help for a while. As I
see an old lady bringing used blankets
and pillows and a young couple, most
probably students, giving away old
yoga mats, I recall the words of my
father that Maidan protesters are paid
by the West.
My cousin from Saint Petersburg
emails me periodically. She asks why
we hate Russians so much. At first I
laugh, and then I dont.

March

Crimea is gone. They always wanted to


be part of Russia. I remember scornful
comments my friends mother made
about Ukraine and Ukrainians in Sevastopol seven years ago. To each his
own, as they say, but I am afraid Putin
wont stop. And I feel sorry for the
Crimean Tatars.

April

We expect a war, every night. Crimea


was greatly subsidised from the state
budget. Many Russians dont know
that. My cousin thinks Ukraine made
that up. Crimea is back is like music
to their ears, and they are deaf to any
evidence-supported arguments.
Meanwhile, as Russian armed
forces are stationed along the border
with Ukraine, men enroll in the army,
some volunteer, some are called up for
military services. Women gather funds
to buy food, clothing and flak jackets
for the army. The army is in ruins. It
has been systematically destroyed in
the past 5 years.

a small village close to the border with


Russia. She calls the protesters and the
government in Kiev fascists. She says
she has the right to speak Russian and
no one will take it from her. I try to tell
her about my personal experience, but
she chooses to believe Russian mass
media. She rebuffs all my arguments
with intensely emotional responses.
It seems to me that there is a divide
in the mentality of people in the East
and the West. It is not even about the
nationality. It is about the path they
want to take and to what extent they
are ready to leave their comfort zone
to build the future they want. I also
think that right now someone is skill-

Ukraine cannot win this unannounced war with


Russia. This confrontation will continue as long as
Russia and Europe-US have conflicting interests

before an official investigation is over.


A Russian friend calls it a Holocaust
arranged by the Ukrainian nationalists.
Meanwhile, preliminary investigation
reports show that in the burned down
building, people died from chloroform poisoning. The question as to
why chloroform was there remains
unanswered. The city police head has
fled the country. Ukraine is mourning.
Tensions rise.

May 11

Donbas holds a referendum that has


no legitimacy. Voters do not need to
produce an ID. There are no accurate
voter lists. There is no law on regional
referendum. But one cannot be blind
to the fact that some people still vote.
I think Ukraine needs to acknowledge
that some citizens are not happy with
the government, and start a dialogue.
Currently, there is an anti-terrorist operation under way in Donbas. An open
question remains as to who supplies
weapons to separatists.

May 21

Meanwhile Donbas, an economically


depressed area in the east of Ukraine,
becomes another centre of conflict.
During Soviet times there was a large
wave of labour migration to Donbas
from various parts of the Soviet Union,
and now it is primarily populated by
Russian-speaking people. Naturally,
many show affection towards Russia.
The influence of Russian TV channels
is tremendous there.
Residents of Donbas represent a
great share of voters who brought Yanukovych to power in 2010. And now
many are not happy with the reshuffle.
Dialogues are not easy nowadays.
One day I call my aunt, a mine worker in

fully using divergence and differences


to create hatred and fear.

May 2

Some 48 people die and 250 are


injured during confrontations in
Odessa, a major seaport along the
coast of the Black Sea. The conflict
begins as pro-Russian groups, with
the police forces shielding them, open
fire at pro-Ukrainian protesters. The
fight ends with the burning down of a
trade union building with pro-Russian
groups in it.
Russian mass media immediately
covers the event and focuses on the
burning exclusively, accusing Ukraine

Four days before election day. The


country needs a legitimate president.
This is that matters now. This is not an
easy task with armed separatists occupying offices and intimidating election
officials in Donbas.
This is also just the beginning.
Right now, Ukraine cannot win this
unannounced war with Russia. This
confrontation will continue as long as
Russia and Europe-US have conflicting interests and influence. This is
Ukraines chance to change things by
becoming stronger, and we all hope
that the new president will become the
new leader of Ukraines consolidation
and strengthening. l
Yuliya Zoricheva works for an international
organisation. She lives in Kiev.

tudy hard. It helps you become a good human being.


This is probably a piece
of advice most parents give to their
children, or at least thats what they
should be doing. And children should
be asking about the importance of
studying at the very beginning of their
student lives. Its not enough to just
do something with our lives, it has
become vital to know why we do it.
What are we all studying for? Is
it truly because we want to become
good human beings? Is it working?
Maybe, but the real question is does
it matter?
Ask the people around you about
the major problems in our country
today, they will have an earful to give
you. Theyll all tell you about the
traffic jam, the poverty, the bhejal in
our food, the electricity scarcity, the
corruption ... the list goes on and on.
Sure we have a lot of problems,
but all is not lost. Theres hope that
someday these problems will just be
vague fragments of our past. Since we
have acknowledged these as problems,
there must be some out there thinking
about how to solve them. And one
day, these people will break down the
barriers and put these dilemmas to
rest. I, for one, truly believe this. And
so, even though these problems are
frustrating, there are other problems
that worry me more.
Im worried about the problems
that we dont even consider as
problems the anomalies that our
eyes fail to see. Like the way student
life has become nothing but a mere
chase for most, a chase for that high
CGPA. Or that race to add more bullet
points to our CVs, how only the
students winning the race are treated
as worth caring about and the rest are
not looked upon twice, and the sheer
ridiculousness of how teachers and
parents alike are all part of this high
pressure race, instilling in childrens
minds that they have to top the class
to be able to do something worthwhile
in life.
The ones that do not shine through
their academics are not thought
about, for as long as the toppers are
given attention, nothing else seems
to matter. But sadly, its the students
who have fallen a bit behind who
need the most help.

Student life has become


nothing but a mere
chase for most, a chase
for that high CGPA

This chase has made us lose focus of


why we study at all. So, questions are
getting leaked and students are committing suicide for not doing well in
their exams. Its almost as if children

are being brainwashed into believing


that being the best in the competition, at any cost, is all that matters.
As long as youre getting the highest
grades even if its in a dishonest
way youre a shining star. What sort
of a message is that to the younger
generation?

Isnt it sad that we are


studying not for the sake
of learning, but just to
get through our exams?

Isnt it a scary thought that the mindset of students, parents, and teachers
today are all based around winning
this horror of a competition? Isnt this
need to shine the reason why students
resort to cheating? Isnt it sad that we
are studying not for the sake of learning, but just to get through our exams
and to a position of respect?
If we dont achieve the results our
parents want us to, are we a lost case?
Society seems to think so. What if we
need someone to still believe in us so
that we can push ourselves forward to
do something good with our lives? Will
anyone believe in us if we dont get the
right grades?
Its a sad and scary thought, for
it shakes our faith in the growing
generation, a generation that is slowly
losing its grip on ethics. We memorise
like totapakhis, and we vomit
everything onto our exam papers
year after year. But do our certificates
or degrees ensure that we are
educated? If we lose our morality in
search of enlightenment, what value
does it hold?
Traffic, corruption, etc are problems
that we can hope will change. Adapting to these problems is not a sign that
the human race has no future. But if
we have to learn to live with the diminishing of ethics and morals, it will
be hard to get out from the mess the
human race will find itself in.
We can only get up so many times
until we are in too deep to see the
edge. All problems matter, but it is
time we decide which ones matter
enough for us to be terribly concerned.
At least we should start realising that
they are indeed problems. Then, maybe someday, we ourselves will start
to solve them. But first, we have to
identify the problems themselves the
problems that are threatening the very
existence of a world where goodness is
of any value.
We need to remind ourselves of
why we do what we do, so that we
dont do it for the wrong reasons. We,
the next generation, are in dire need
of being reminded of the right reasons,
for we have many distractions to lead
us towards the wrong ones. Remind
us, wont you? l
Rushiba Ahmad is a freelance contributor.

Intruders? Not so fast


n Junaed Shahid

his month, Indians elected Narendra Modi of the BJP to be the


prime minister of the country a
man known to be a religious hardliner,
and infamous for his actions (or lack
thereof) in Gujarat during the communal riots of 2002 when he was the
chief minister of the state. During his
pre-election speeches, Modi referred
to illegal Bangladesh infiltrators
in India on several occasions, and
pledged that if elected, he will make
sure that they go back to Bangladesh.
It proved to be a successful election
ploy for Modi, as he won a landslide
victory, along with absolute majority in the Indian parliament. This
is alarming for Bangladesh for two
reasons. Firstly is the fact that the
most powerful man in India at the
moment harbours such beliefs. And
secondly, that India is willing to vote
him to power because he harbours
such beliefs.
But is there really massive illegal
intrusion by Bangladeshis to India as
Modi and his supporters believe? Let
us look at the information in hand.
India has over 140 million Muslims
at the moment, and many of them
are living as second class citizens in
their own country. It has been widely
reported that they are denied proper
representation in civil and military
services, and are even denied from
opening bank accounts and renting
suitable apartments in some cities.

Their education level is among the


lowest in India, and their political representation is next to nil (the Modi-led
BJP government does not have a single
Muslim amongst the 282 members
who won seats in parliament). This
poor attitude towards Indian Muslims
does not get the attention it deserves
because of the rousing economic
success that Indias elite enjoyed in the
last two decades. But the fact remains,
that for 140 million Muslims in India,
life has been pretty bleak, and is about
to get much worse with the Modi-led
BJP in power.

Modi needs to accept


the demographic
realities of India and
try to address genuine
grievances
Undoubtedly, a sizable chunk of the
140 million Muslims in India are
Bengali-speaking (Bihar, Orissa, and
Assam have languages that are close to
Bengali as well, and historically they
were part of greater Bengal), and it
is this demographic group that Modi
keeps referring to as illegal Bangladeshi intruders.
Forty-one of the accused intruders lost their lives in the first week

of Indian elections in Narayanguri,


Assam. The situation bares resemblance with the Rohingya issue, as the
Burmese government, like Modi, also
claims that Rohingya Muslims who
speak a language close to Bangla are
actually Bangladeshis.
To label these people as Bangladeshis is just another form of economic marginalisation of the minority,
and will undoubtedly cause tension
not only amongst communities
within India and Burma, but will also
affect bilateral ties with the people of
Bangladesh. This trend has historic
connotations as well, and it dates back
to colonial era that led up to the partition of Bengal, and later, the Indian
sub-continent.
From a Bangladeshi point of view,
this latest rhetoric by Modi is rather
hollow and lacks factual evidence.
Over the past two decades, Bangladesh significantly curbed population
growth, and enjoys lower rates of
population increase (1.2%) compared
to India (1.3%). Bangladesh also leads
India on most social indicators such
as life expectancy (69 vs 65), infant
(aged<1) deaths per 1,000 live births
(37 vs 47), infant (aged<5) deaths per
1,000 live births (46 vs 61), maternal
death per 100,000 live births (194 vs
200), infant immunisation rate (94%
vs 66%), female (aged 15 24) literacy
rate (77% vs 74%), and underweight
children (36% vs 44%). It is rather inconceivable that people would migrate
to a country that has a lower standard

Is there trouble at the border?


of living than their own.
Conversely, a large influx of people
from India and Burma already had an
adverse effect on the socio-economic
environment of Bangladesh. An estimated 200,000 to 500,000 Rohingya
refugees are living in Bangladesh
at the moment, and they comprise
largely of low-skilled peasants who
are attracted to careers in crime and
religious extremism in Bangladesh. In
addition, an estimated half a million
Indians are living and working illegally
in Bangladesh, without paying any

AFP

taxes. They sent $3.7bn in remittance


to India from Bangladesh in 2013,
making Bangladesh the 5th largest
source of income for Indians.
The Bangladesh governments open
door policy, along with economic
marginalisation of people from the
border states of India and Burma
(mostly Muslims) makes Bangladesh
an attractive location for illegal immigration. The Bangladesh Bank needs
to do more to curb the illegal outflow
of money, and the government needs
to make sure that it is protecting the

country from illegal foreign intrusion.


With a high level of youth unemployment in Bangladesh, such a large
inflow of people is not desirable for
the economy and society in general.
As for Mr Modi, he needs to accept the
demographic realities of India, and
try to accommodate and address the
genuine grievances of the economically
marginalised Indians, including Bengali-speaking Indian Muslims. l
Junaed Shahid is a development
professional.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Nazruls film legacy and beyond


n Hasan Mansoor Chatak
Kazi Nazrul Islam, has many distinct features
that set him apart from other more ordinary
beings. Besides his literary talents, Nazrul was
also an actor and a filmmaker, a fact that is
hardly acknowledged. He is considered the pioneer filmmaker among the Bangalee Muslims
of the subcontinent and his contributions to
film range from direction, to music direction,
songs, screenplay writing, acting and playback.
He was directly involved in approximately 17 to
18 films.
Nazruls film career took off in 1931, when he
recited his poem Naari and rendered a song
for the experimental and first ever sound film
in Kolkata titled Jolsha under the historical
Madan Theatres, originally a collection of short
pieces of film consisting of song, recital and
drama act. He worked for the film company to
brush-up the voice of actors, because in sound
films, every actor had to sing and therefore required a vocal coach. The following year, he
worked in two films, Tohollaad and Bishnu
Maya.
His major contribution in film was in 1934
when he co-directed Dhrubo with Satyendra
Nath Dey and wrote 17 out of 18 songs of the
film. He also played the character of Narod under the Pioneer Film Company. His work in the
fantasy film collected both appraisal and criticism as he illustrated a young Narod in the film
instead of the conventional image of the character.
In 1935, he worked as the music director and
lyricist for the film Paatal Purri, developed an
experimental tune santhal jhumur for a film
which was centered on the Santhal people and

also enacted a short role in the movie.


In 1936, he gave music direction for Groher
Pher, a murder-thriller-romance flick. Subsequently, he faced several obstacles when his
capability as a music director was questioned
by scholars of Bishyabharati when he got the
opportunity to direct music in Rabindranath
Tagores Gora, as all were Tagore songs. Following the incident, Nazrul got special permit
from Tagore for the work.
His other remarkable work include the films
Bidyapoti and Sapurey, the story and songs
of both the films were written by Nazrul.
In 1941, under the chairmanship of Kazi Nazrul Islam, the first Bangalee Muslim production house was formed. Bengal Tiger Pictures,
named after Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque
had illustrious people in the committee including Abbas Uddin Ahmed, Humayun Kabir and
others. However, the company never took off as
Nazrul became seriously ill and their first project Madina, never came to light. His other
noted work of 1941 include a song for the film
Nandini and 8 songs for Chourangi, before
he took to bed for his illness.
Nazruls love and devotion to God reflected
in his works, while his political consciousness
and activism was utterly absent in his films.
The Nazrul Institute has not yet archived the
contribution of the literary doyen in the film
arena. The films in which Nazrul worked are
currently unavailable in any forms in Bangladesh, except for the one reel of his film Dhrubo, which has a total of 18 reels. The Nazrul Institute, sole research institute and autonomous
body of the government, has no plan to collect
this works and archive.
Anupam Hayat, Nazrul exponent and film

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Channel i to
celebrate Nazruls
153rd birthday
n Entertainment Desk
Channel i will observe the 153rd birthday of the National
Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam at their premises in Tejgaon today.
The organisation is gearing up to host the 9th Nazrul Joyonti Mela which will be conducted by Amirul Islam and
Shahidul Alam Sachchu. The event is titled AB Bank Channel i Nazrul Joyonti Mela.Every aspect of Nazrul's life and
work will be the focus of the event, which includes paintings on the legendary poet. The celebration is planned to
be a colourful and fun-filled affair. The fair will have 20
stalls featuring products of the cottage and handicraft industries, Pansupari (betel nut and betel leaf) by Kona Reza
and traditional food by Keka Ferdousi. Live performance of
renowned Nazrul Geeti singers and dance will also be presented at the event.
Channel i will telecast the occasion live. l

Shilpakala to
celebrate Nazruls
birth anniversary
n Entertainment Desk
Poster of the film Chourangi where Nazrul worked as music director
historian said: Nazrul revolutionised the art of filmmaking during that
era, when the Muslim community faced many restrictions. Nazrul made
an impression on his disciples through his songs and films. His works inspired many to indulge in arts, culture and the overall business of the expressive medium.
Rafiqul Islam, litterateur and eminent Nazrul exponent said: Film and
theatre related endeavors of Nazrul were his occasional acts along with his
literary and musical pursuits. Unfortunately, many of his recordings for
the radio are unaccessible today due to the lack of the archiving process
and his films faced the same fate. It has become a necessity to archive his
works that are still accessible.
Nazruls film contributions face the threat of obscurity . To carry on the
legacy of Nazrul, his work should be collected in every available form and
archived by the Nazrul research institutes and organisations. l

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academys celebration marking


the 115th birth anniversary of the National Poet Kazi
Nazrul Islam will begin with the laying of flower wreath
to the poets grave in the Dhaka University campus this
morning. A discussion and cultural programme will be
held at the National Natyashala Auditorium at 6:30pm
with the presence of littrateur Zillur Rahman Siddiqui
as chief guest and novelist Rashid Haider as discussant.
BSA director general Liaquat Ali Lucky will preside the
session.
A cultural show will take place after the session
which will open with Nazruls granddaughter Khil Khil
Kazis performance of the Nazrul song Mora Ei Britte.
The session will feature eminent singer Sujit Mostafa
and a few others. Syed Hasan Imam who is an eminent actor and cultural personality will recite Nazruls
peom Manush, Ahkamullah will recite Bidrohi and
Naari will be recited by Mahmuda Akhter. Nobochetona and Bangladesh Academy of Fine Arts ( BAFA) will
perform dance pieces synchronised with popular Naz-

NAZRUL SPECIALS ON TV
Gobhir Nishithe

Gobhir Nishithe, a drama based on Nazruls


song will be aired on NTV at 9pm. Written
by Pantha Shahrear and directed by Noim
Imtiaz Neamul, the drama features popular soap actor Intekhab Dinar, Badhon, Kazi
Ujjal, Mahmudul Islam Mithu and many others. The plot of the drama revolves around
a writer named Afzal who is working on a
book. He revisits Rangamati as the place is
related to the book he is writing. He passes a
busy day hardly noticing when evening falls.
Slowly he begins to recall his previous visit
where he became close to a woman named
Nayantara, who was his only companion for
three long months. He asks himself about his
feelings for Nayantara.

Moron Pother Jatri

Based on Kazi Nazrul Islams poem Obhishap, a special drama titled Moron Pother Jatri, will be aired on Banglavision at
9:05pm. Written and directed by Kaunain
Sourav, the drama features Anisur Rahman Milon, Sumaiya Shimu, Amirul Haque
Chowdhury, SS Mohsin, Sayed Khan Dilu
and many others. The plot of the drama revolves around Mir Shahebs daughter Aleya,

who is in a relationship with a flautist named


Khaled. Aleyas father refuses to accept their
relationship and in his denial, throws Khaled
out of the village. Deprived of all contact
with Khaled, Aleya suffers from a nervous
breakdown. After several attempts to get her
treatment, her family finally succumbs into
seeking out a spiritual healer who informs
them that the problem lies with her family
and they are the ones in need of treatment.

Agnigiri

Agnigiri featuring Arfan Nisho and Bidya


Sinha Saha Mim will be aired at 8:25pm tonight on RTV. The play based on Nazrul Islam's short story with the same title has been
adapted by Mohiuddin Ahmed and directed
by Sajjad Sumon. The story of the drama revolves around a self-effacing and religious
college student named Sabur, played by
Nisho, who pursues his studies by working
as a lodging master in Patwar Ali Nasib Mia's
home. He teaches Arabic and Persian to Patwar Mias only daughter Nurjahan played
by Mim. Sabur is shy in nature and never
even looks at Nurjahan properly, and yet
they fall in love with each other at one
point. Faced with the harsh realities
of life, their love story meets a tragic
end.

A live programme Droheo Tumi Premeo Tumi


featuring a dance piece by Puja Sengupta will
be aired from 8pm to 10pm tonight on SATV.
The show also features musical session and
recitations based on the work of the legendary
Rebel Poet Nazrul

Nazrul

Nazrul will be aired tonight at 8pm on ATN


Bangla. Popular actor Riaz will play the role of
Nazrul in the single episode play which will
air marking the birth anniversary of the rebel
poet. Written and directed by Ferdous Hasan,
the story is about a teacher who named his
son Robi as a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore.
He was always in fear that his son will turn out
to be a rebel like Nazrul. Growing up, Robi fails
in all spheres of life. When his father cannot
tolerate his sons failure any longer, he advises Robi to read books of Rabindranath Tagore.
During his search, Robi stumbles upon works
of Nazrul which gives him a new purpose in
life.

Did you know?


Newcastles Shola
Ameobi has made more
substitute appearances
(138) in the Premier
League than any other
player

Sport

Sunday, May 25, 2014

14 Brazil hit by new


pre-World Cup
strikes, protests

14 Chelsea to sell
David Luiz to PSG
in record deal

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Zamora fires
10-man QPR back
into Premier League

Real secure
La Decima
Real Madrid capped
the 2013-14 season
with a hard fought
4-1 win over city
rivals Atletico Madrid in the final of
the Uefa Champions
League in Lisbon yesterday.
The decisive moment came in the
sixth minute of the second half of the
extra time Gareth Bale headed Real into
the lead while Marcelo added the third
two minutes later, the rout was completed by Ronaldo who converted a
penalty in the last minute of extra time.
Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos
scored the equaliser with just a minute
left of the five minute stoppage time
against Atletico Madrid to take the
match into extra time with an unlikely 1-1 score line after Atletico played a
more measured game and looked set to
win a tactical battle 1-0.
Gareth Bale broke through the Ateltico defence with a solo effort in the
32nd minute but put his shot just wide
from the middle of the box.
A mistake from Real goalkeeper Iker

Casillas handed Atletico the lead in the


37 minute. It was Diego Godin again, the
centre back who scored the title-winning
goal at Barcelona seven days ago. A corner from the right was half cleared by the
head of a Real defender, and the defence
charged out Casillas came into no mans
land, and Godin got above Khedira near
the penalty spot to loop a gentle header towards goal. Casillas ran back desperately
and clawed the ball out, but it was behind
the line when by the time he got there.
In the 45th minute Real earned a
corner on the left but Di Marias outswinger was headed away by Villa.
Six minutes after the resumption
Atletico midfielder Kokes left-wing
cross bounced across the line of the
area to Raul Garcia, who shot over from
an advantageous position.
The game started on an unexpected
note as Atletico started with injured
striker Diego Costa, but the gamble did
not pay off as he limped off the pitch in
the 7th minute.
This mirrored his early substitution
against Barcelona a week ago, except this
time around Atletico did not go one to
secure a fairy tale finish to what has been
an epic and unprecedented season. l

Karate team
finish runner-up
in Nepal

Sarwar Imran appointed as Tigers


assistant coach

Bangladesh karate team finished as


runner-up in the 8th NSKA International Martial Art Karate Championship
which concluded in Kathmandu, Nepal
yesterday.
Bangladesh bagged five more gold
medals on the closing day.
Bangladesh won a total of 12 medals
including seven golds, two silvers and
three bronzes. Nasima Akter Jui was
adjudged the best player of the tournament in womens section.
On the last day, Munni Khanom
clinched gold in womens single kata
event where her compatriot Jui won

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) named


Sarwar Imran as national teams assistant coach yesterday for the threematch ODI series against India in June.
Imran, who is considered as one
of the most respected coaches in the
country with three decades of coaching
experience, will assist the new national
head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Hathurusingha, the former Sri Lanka
cricketer, is likely to take charge of the
Tigers on June 10.
On previous occasions Imran per-

RESULTS
Real Madrid
Ramos 90+3,
Bale 110, Marcelo 118,
Ronaldo 120-pen

Real Madrids Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring a goal against Atletico Madrid during their Champions League final at the Luz Stadium in Lisbon yesterday

formed well in his roles as the head


coach, assistant coach and the bowling
coach of the national team. He has also
worked as the head coach of the A team,
Bangladesh Under-19 team and National
Academy teams for different tenures.
We have appointed [Sarwar Imran]
Imran bhai as the assistant coach for
the upcoming India series, said BCB
cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan yesterday.
Since the head coach (Hathurusingha) arrives on June 10, Imran bhai
will begin the training from Monday
(tomorrow), Akram revealed. He has

Mariners thrash
Old Ideals in
premier handball
Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club thrashed
Old Ideals 41-10 in the Cute Premier Division Handball League at the handball
stadium yesterday. The winners led the
first half 23-3.
For Mariners Hamidur scored 10,
Miozanir 7 while Robiul and Rakibul
both scored 6 goals each.
In the other match of the day, Prime
Sporting Club beat Menzis Krira Chakra
45-27 with the winners leading the first
half 21-14.
Imran scored 11, Ashik 10 while
Shandhi and Mamun scored 7 each. l

been Bangladeshs coach before. He will


be with the team till the India series and
then we will take it from there.
When queried about when the other recruited national coaching staffs
are likely to join, Akram replied, The
trainer is likely to come by June 5 or 6.
Our local trainer Ifti (Iftikhairul Islam)
will work with the players till then.
Bangladeshs preliminary squad for
the India series will start training from
tomorrow. The players have been asked
to report to assistant coach Imran at the
Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at 8.30am. l

Atletico
Godin 36

REUTERS

Natl Championship starts today


The 34th National Cricket Championship 2014 kicks off today. The first day
will see 12 games from the first round of
the tournament being played at different venues across the country.
In Khulna Division, Khulna will face
Bagerhat in Jessore while Jessore will
lock horns with Jhenaidah in Narail.
In Sylhet Division, Moulvibazar and
Sunamhanj will come face to face at
Sylhet.
Chittagong will face Bandarban in
Coxs Bazar in the days only game from
Chittagong Division while in Barisal Division, Patukhali will play against Barisal in Barisal.

Nilphamari will take on Lalmonirhat


while Ranpur will face Panchagar in the
days two games from Rangpur Division.
From Rajshahi Division, Pabna will
face Chapinawabgonj at Rajshahi Divisional Stadium while Rajshahi will take
on Sirajgonj in Bogra.
In Dhaka Division, Narayangonj will
face Netrakona while Mymensingh and
Manikgon will be locking horns against
Gazipur and Sariatpur respectively.
The first round of the 50 over competition will be played on pitches covered by mat. The sixty-four participating district teams are divided into
14 groups where the teams will play
according to league system in the first
round. l

Maruf to become Sheikh Jamals


chief technical advisor

Bangladesh won a total


of 12 medals including
seven golds, two silvers
and three bronzes
silver. Munni also grabbed gold in the
womens open kumi event.
Nasima Akter Jui, who earlier won
two golds on the opening day, clinched
her third gold in the womens minus
55kg kumi event. Nipasha won bronze
in the minus 50kg kumi.
Md Hasan Khan and Md Shamim
Osman were the only ones from Bangladesh who won gold in mens section. Hasan Khan bagged gold in mens
single open kata event while Shamim
Osman won gold in mens single minus
60kg kumi.
Shamim also won silver in open single kumi and bronze in U-18 age group
kata category. Bangladesh mens team
also won bronze in mens team kumi
event. l

4 1

Bangladesh karate team display their runners-up trophy of the NSKA International Martial
Arts Karate Championship at Kathmandu, Nepal yesterday
COURTESY

Sheikh Jamal are all set to appoint


former Sheikh Russell coach Maruful
Haque as the clubs chief technical consultant today for the rest of the season.
Maruf guided Sheikh Russell to their
historic treble winning campaign last
season before being sacked by the club
on 20th April for the clubs poor performance in the ongoing season. Maruf
had criticized Sheikh Jamal on many
occasions since the clubs foundation
but he couldnt reject when the club
president Manjur Kader offered him
the job over phone on Friday. Maruf
will be officially appointed as the technical advisor today, confirmed Manjur
Kader yesterday.

This team required a very good


consultant like Maruf. He is experienced and to protect our championship, we need a technical consultant or
advisor whose experience would guide
the team in the right way, said Sheikh
Jamal president Manjur Kader.
His position will lie between the
coach and the manager. We expect
a very good result for the team from
him, he added.
From main critic to technical advisor, Maruf wants to see the change
from a professional points of view. I
dont have any personal problem with
Sheikh Jamal and any official of the
club. Whatever I said before was the
demand of the situation and for the
sake of the club I coached. I spoke for

Sheikh Russell and it didnt stop me


from being sacked. The professional
football world is like that, explained
Maruf.
Marufs actual job will be to share
his experience and thoughts with the
club and the players. Everything will
be like before. All the responsibility
will be on the coach (Joseph Afusi). I
will only share my knowledge and experience, he added.
This new role will see Maruf reunited with players from his former club.
Sony Norde and Mamunul Islam, who
were the most influential catalysts in
Marufs treble winning campaign with
Sheikh Russell last season, left the club
for Jamal at the beginning of this season. l

Record-setting Yusuf powers KKR to second spot


A
phenomenal
knock from Yusuf Pathan, who
blasted his way to
a 22-ball 72, catapulted Kolkata Knight
Riders to the second-place in the point
table as the hosts hammered Sunrisers
Hyderabad by four wickets in their final
IPL match at a jam-packed Eden Gardens yesterday.
Pathan made full use of the two lives
to smash the fastest fifty in IPL history
as KKR knocked off a 161-run target in
14.2 overs when they were required to
overhaul it in 15.2 to make it to top-two.
Bangladesh allrounder Shakib al
Hasan conceded only 25 runs including
a rear maiden in his four overs and took
a wicket despite missing one when
Yusuf dropped Darren Sammy before

the latter scored his first run. But in


the second half the in-form batsman
Shakib given his wicket away scoring
only 1 run.
Pathan enthralled the packed Eden
Gardens crowd with his exceptional knock which featured seven sixes
and five fours. After being dropped
on nought and 15, he completed his
half-century in just 15 balls.
The result pushed Chennai Super
Kings to third place and KKR will now
clash with table toppers Kings XI Punjab in the first Qualifier on May 27 at
Eden Gardens.
Leading run-getter Robin Uthappa
(41) and Gautam Gambhir (28) set up
the chase before Yusufs blitz. Yusuf
was on his way back to dug out before
he could open his account after hitting
straight to midwicket fielder Anirudha,
who dropped the sitter.

BRIEF SCORES
Hyderabad 160/7 (20ov)
Dhawan 29, Sammy 29, Shakib 1/25
Kolkata 161/6 (14.2ov)
Yusuf 72, Uthappa 41, Sharma 4/38
Kolkata won by 4 wickets
Bangalore 154/6 (20ov)
Kohli 73, Yuvraj 25, Nehra 3/33
Chennai 160 (17.4ov)
du Plessis 54, Dhoni 49, Rampaul 1/21
Chennai won by 8 wickets
It would have been a second wicket
in the Karn Sharmas over after the leggie dismissed Manish Pandey but the
breather turned around KKRs fortunes
as they were reeling 78/4 in 9.4 overs
after Uthappa (41) and Ten Doeschate
were dismissed in the same over.

Yusuf made his intention clear in the


next over when he slammed Parvez Rasool one six and a boundary and even
got a second life when Steyn dropped
him at the square leg boundary, that
went over the rope. The JK spinner
leaked 22 runs in that over.
Steyn had to bear the brunt of dropping Yusuf as the biggest onslaught
from the Baroda hitter came only
against the South African speedster
who conceded 26 runs in his last over
with two sixes and three fours.
Such was Yusufs fury that he made
the worlds no 1 bowler look sorry with
the bowling sequence of 4-6-6-4-4-2.
ate flourish from skipper Darren SRH
skipper Darren Sammy (29) had guided
Sunrisers to a 160 for seven after being
invited to bat. Shikhar Dhawan (29 from
31 balls) and Naman Ojha (26 from 23
balls) also contributed in teams total. l

Yusuf Pathan celebrates his 15-ball half


century against Sunrisers Hyderabad at
Kolkata yesterday

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Klose ready to break records in Brazil

Germanys veteran striker Miroslav Klose has said he will be 100 percent
ready for next months World Cup in Brazil, where he aims to break the tournaments goal record. With 14 goals at three previous World Cup finals, the
35-year-old Klose is just one short of Brazil striker Ronaldos record of 15 for
the all-time goal-scorer. As one of only two strikers in the squad, the veteran
says he will be ready when Germany open their Group G campaign against
Portugal in Salvador on June 16 after being blighted by injury at his Italian
club Lazio from the end of March until the start of May.
AFP

Sport

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Katsouranis rejects talk of division

Greece vice-captain Kostas Katsouranis stressed there were no rifts in the


squad ahead of the World Cup after publicly apologising to team mate
Giannis Maniatis for a public bust-up while playing for their clubs. The pair,
two of coach Fernando Santos most senior players among his 23-man squad,
almost came to blows in controversial circumstances in a tense Greek Cup
semi-final last month. PAOK midfielder Katsouranis, 34, was sent-off in the
April 16 match against Maniatis Olympiakos, and both players had to be
separated after the final whistle as scuffles broke out.
Reuters

Lahm and Neuer join Germans

Coach Joachim Loew welcomed Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer into Germanys pre-World Cup camp on Saturday before holding a closed doors training
session on Saturday to fine-tune their Brazil 2014 plans. German captain
Lahm, who has laboured with an ankle injury, and goalkeeper Neuer (shoulder) finally joined the squad late on Friday having missed the first few days
in north Italy where Loews squad assembled on Wednesday for their 10-day
camp. The Bayern Munich pair had remained in the Bavarian capital to receive
intense treatment from the German Football Association (DFB).
AFP

Brazil hit by new


pre-World Cup
strikes, protests

Toure receiving
treatment in Qatar
for minor injury

Brazil faced new protests and strikes


Friday as bus drivers continued their
walkout in Sao Paulos suburbs and Rio
de Janeiro braced for demonstrations
20 days from the World Cup.
The bus drivers strike stranded
commuters in 10 towns in the greater
Sao Paulo metropolitan area for a second day.
It came on the heels of a two-day
strike by their colleagues in the city
center that affected more than a million people and caused transport chaos
in the countrys economic capital.
The suburban drivers are demanding a 10-percent salary increase, like
their counterparts in the city.
Only 13 buses left the garage in the
suburb of Osasco, said union spokesman Roberto Meiado, quoted by news
website G1.
Sao Paulo, Brazils largest city, has 20
million people in its greater metropolitan area, and buses are the backbone of
its public transportation network.
Employees of its metro system are

meeting next week to decide whether


to stage their own strike.
Brazil has been hit by a wave of
strikes and protests in the months leading up to the World Cup and elections
in October.
Teachers, police and bank security
guards have all gone on strike in recent
days. A new protest by activists opposed to the cost of hosting the World
Cup was meanwhile planned for Friday
evening in Rio de Janeiro.
The protesters say the more than $11
billion being spent on the tournament
would have been better used on education, health care, housing and transport.
On Thursday, thousands of people
joined a similar rally in Sao Paulo organized by the Homeless Workers Movement. Sao Paulo will host the opening
match of the World Cup on June 12, and
Rio the final on July 13.
Last year, protests during the Confederations Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal, drew one million people to the
streets and at times turned violent, to
the embarrassment of tournament organizers. l

Long-serving
Ameobi to leave
Newcastle

Hillsborough jury visit


disaster scene

Nigeria striker Shola Ameobi is to leave


Newcastle after 14 years with the Premier League club.
Ameobis current contract expires
imminently and after discussions with
Magpies boss Alan Pardew, he has decided to bring down the curtain on his
long spell at St James Park. The 32-yearold was handed his senior debut by Bobby Robson as a teenager, but often struggled to establish himself in the starting
line-up, with a succession of managers
preferring to use their own signings instead of the youth team product.
Following discussions with Newcastle, both parties felt it was the right time
for us to part company, Ameobi said. l

Jurors on the inquests into the deaths


of 96 football supporters in the 1989
Hillsborough disaster visited the stadium on Friday to witness the scene of
the tragedy for themselves.
The 11-strong jury visited the Hillsborough ground in Sheffield, northern
England, where Liverpool fans were
crushed to death on a terrace in Britains worst sporting disaster.
Listening through wireless headphones, the jurors were guided by Lord
Justice John Goldring, the coroner presiding over the inquests, to some of the
key locations around the stadium, home
to second-tier side Sheffield Wednesday.
They were taken to the site of pens

A graffiti painted by Brazilian street artist Paulo Ito on the entrance of a public schoolhouse in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Friday. A picture of the
graffiti depicting a starving child with nothing to eat but a football has been shared more than 50,000 times on Facebook
AFP

three and four at the Leppings Lane


end of the ground, formerly a fenced-in
standing section which is now covered
by open seating.
Orange tape illustrated the height of
the fence dividing the two pens, while
a cane was placed at the front of the
terrace to show the height of the fence
between the pitch and the pens.
They also saw the tunnel leading
to the area, plus the site of the former gymnasium, which was used as a
make-shift morgue on the day of the
disaster, but is now a club shop.
The jurors were also taken to the
train station where some Liverpool supporters arrived from, a pub where some
of them drank before the game and hospitals where casualties were taken. l

Chelsea to sell Luiz to PSG in record deal


David Luiz is on the verge of joining
Paris St Germain after Chelsea on Friday revealed they have agreed a deal
to sell the Brazil defender to the French
champions.
Luizs move is reported to be worth
a world record fee for a defender of 50
million ($84 million, 61 million euros)
and the transfer will be rubber-stamped
once he has agreed personal terms and
passed a medical.
Chelsea Football Club and Paris
Saint-Germain have agreed terms for
the transfer of David Luiz to the French
club, a statement on Chelseas website
announced.
The move is now subject to David
Luiz agreeing personal terms with PSG
and passing a medical examination.
PSG representatives are believed to

Evra signs new


deal with United

Colombian national players Jackson Martinez (C), Carlos Sanchez (L) and goalkeeper Farid Mondragon play during the farewell for the
squad ahead of the Fifa World Cup Brazil 2014, at the Campin stadium in Bogota, on Friday. The team is heading to Argentina to play
friendly matches against Senegal and Jordan as part of their preparation for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil
AFP

Klinsmann praises Donovan reaction


United States coach Juergen Klinsmann
praised Landon Donovan on Friday for
the professional way he handled being left off the World Cup squad and
kept the door open for him to return in
case of injuries.
But the German gave few clues as to
the motives behind the controversial
decision announced on Thursday to
leave Donovan, the countrys all-time
top scorer, off the final 23-man squad
saying other forwards had just edged
out the Californian.

He said that he doesnt kind of understand it, he thinks he should have


been in the 23 which is well taken. I
want the player to speak up and say
that, Klinsmann told a news conference in Palo Alto, California.
I tried to lay out a couple of reasons, those are technical parts ... I am
not going into those details right now. I
told him that I hope for his understanding and that he stands by us and that if
something happens tomorrow and that
I can call him and he is back right away.
He assured me that 24/7 he is at our
disposal and when the call comes he

is ready to go but obviously he also expressed his disappointment but also in a


very professional way - I admire that a lot.
As a coach you have to make a decision based on what you want to execute in Brazil, what do you want to see
and how do you want to build those
components into the group, said the
former Germany striker and coach.
I felt, we coaches felt, that the
guys we chose are a little step ahead of
Landon in certain areas. Asked for specifics on what areas Donovan had been
lacking in, Klinsmann threw the ball
back to the media but gave some clues. l

Yaya Toure is receiving treatment in


Qatar for an unspecified injury before
joining up with his Ivory Coast team
mates at their World Cup training camp
in the United States, the Ivorian Football Federation said on Friday.
He is the only one of the 28 players
named in the preliminary squad by coach
Sabri Lamouchi to miss the start of World
Cup preparations in Dallas on Thursday.
The midfielder will only fly to the
US next Thursday to join up with his
colleagues, the federation added in a
statement.
The Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports
Medicine Hospital in Doha confirmed
the African Footballer of the Years
admission for what it called, in a statement, a minor injury.
Toure had suffered a thigh injury in
mid-April but returned after two weeks
to help Manchester City secure the Premier League title. On the last day of
the season on May 11 he went off in the
second half with a reported hamstring
injury as City beat West Ham.
Toures build-up to the June and
July finals in Brazil has been overshadowed this week by comments from his
agent Dimitri Seluk who said the midfielder was upset with City after an apparent birthday snub and could leave
the English champions. l

Patrice Evra ended speculation that he


was set to leave Manchester United by
signing a one-year contract extension
with the Premier League club on Friday.
France left-back Evra was reportedly considering quitting United after
eight years but, following the confirmation of Louis van Gaals appointment as
the teams new manager, he has decided to extend his contract, which was
due to expire next week, by another 12
months.
A tweet from Uniteds official Twitter account read: We can confirm that
Patrice Evra has extended his contract
at mufc for another year.
Evra seemed likely to leave after it
emerged that United had tabled a bid
for Southamptons England left-back
Luke Shaw. l

Duff, Riise among


Fulham exits after
relegation
Damien Duff, John Arne Riise and Mahamadou Diarra were among the casualties of Fulhams relegation from the
Premier League as the west London
club announced a string of departures
on Friday.
Republic of Ireland winger Duff, Norway left-back Riise and Mali midfielder
Diarra have all been released, with Steve
Sidwell, Giorgos Karagounis and John
Heitinga also among nine players who
have left Fulham following their slide
into English footballs second tier. l

have flown out to Brazil to complete


Luizs medical at the World Cup hosts
training base on Friday.
The French clubs willingness to
shatter the record for a defender was
motivated by their desire to seal a deal
before Barcelona or Bayern Munich

could swoop for the centre-back.


PSG claim the formalities of the deal
will be completed on June 10 to ensure
Luiz can concentrate on the forthcoming World Cup. A statement on the PSG
website read: Paris St Germain, Chelsea
FC and David Luiz would like to confirm
that they reached an agreement regarding the terms of an upcoming transfer of
the Brazilian defender that would occur
during the next transfer window which
is to start on 10 June 2014.
In accordance with the players wish
to prepare for and play in the World Cup
in his home country in the best possible
conditions, both clubs and David Luiz
wished to reach an agreement as soon as
possible between, on the one hand, Paris
St Germain and Chelsea FC, and on the
other, between the Parisian club and the
player, in order to formalise the transfer
as soon as the transfer window opens. l

Ronaldo hopes Brazil can


deliver home triumph
Embarrassed about his countrys inability to complete the promised infrastructure ahead of next months World Cup,
Brazil great Ronaldo believes the hosts
will get it right on the pitch and win the
tournament for a record sixth time.
Brazil will stage the World Cup in
June and July for the first time since
1950 and are favourites to lift the trophy
at the Maracana stadium on July 13.
The hosts have struggled to build stadiums on time and many of the promised infrastructure projects such as airports, bus lanes, and metro lines have
been either cancelled or scaled down.
Ronaldo, who as a member of the
Local Organising Committee is one
of the most visible backers of soccers
world governing body FIFA and the
Brazilian government, said Brazil has
always faced problems of corruption,
embezzlement, overcharging and he
lamented the late delivery of stadiums,
three of which are still not ready.
In 2007 when they decided that
the World Cup would be in Brazil,
President Lula signed everything and
agreed to everything and then they get
here and theres this bureaucracy, total
confusion and lateness, Ronaldo told
Reuters in an interview on Friday at his
office in Sao Paulo.
Its a shame. I am embarrassed,
this is my country and I love it and we
shouldnt be transmitting this image
abroad, he added.
But we mustnt forget that Brazil
wasnt perfect before the World Cup. It
was the same or worse.
The former Barcelona, Real Madrid

and Inter Milan striker is betting on


Brazil to win the competition, with
Germany his second favourites, followed closely by Argentina and Spain.
Brazil are on a rich run of form and
have won 13 of their last 14 encounters,
including the five games that won them
the Confederations Cup last year.
However, no side has ever won the
World Cup a year after lifting the Confederations trophy and there is also the
little matter of pressure. Local fans are
desperate for a home win and yet only
six players in Luiz Felipe Scolaris 23-man
squad have been to a World Cup before.
Ronaldo, 37, said the players were
experienced enough for the big occasion and will be well prepared by Scolari - the man who led Brazil to their
last title triumph in 2002, with the help
of two goals from Ronaldo in the final.
The first match against Croatia on
June 12 could set the tone for the tournament, he said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Makelele rubber
stamps Bastia
coaching deal

QUICK BYTES

Womens Club Cup


from today
The 6th Womens Club Cup will begin
today. The 14 teams participating in the
tournament this season are Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited, Abahani
Ltd, Kalabagarn Krira Chakra, Khalaghar
Shamaj Kalyan Shamity, Associates in
Community and Rural Development,
Rayer Bazar Athletic Club, Dhaka Cricketers, Indira Road K.C., Jahurul Islam
City Cricket Club, Dipali Jubo Shangha,
BKSP, Gulshan Youth, Ansar & VDP and
Orient Sporting Club.
Tribune Desk

Joe Cole to leave


West Ham
West Ham United have released former
England midfielder Joe Cole, the Premier League club said on Friday. Cole,
32, first joined the club 20 years ago and
had two spells with them. He moved
to Chelsea in 2003, staying for seven
years and winning the Premier League
three times, then had three years at
Liverpool, one of them spent on loan to
French club Lille. Returning to London
in January last year on an 18-month
contract, he could not command a
regular place and was not offered a
new deal. His 56 games for England,
with 10 goals, included appearances
at three World Cups. Defender George
McCartney and midfielder Jack Collison
have also been released, West Ham said
on their website (www.whufc.com).
Reuters

Watford sign
goalkeeper Gomes
Championship side Watford have signed
Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes
on a free transfer from Tottenham.
Heurelho Gomes has agreed terms on a
one-year deal at Vicarage Road and will
officially become a Watford player on
July 1, the clubs said on its website. The
33-year-old Gomes spent part of last
season on loan at German Bundesliga
side Hoffenheim. He made 135 appearances for Tottenham over a six-year
period having arrived at White Hart
Lane from PSV Eindhoven in 2008. But
his last game for Spurs was in November
2011 and he subsequently lost his place
to Brad Friedel and then Hugo Lloris.
Having been given his international
bow in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup,
Gomes was also part of Brazils 2010
World Cup squad in South Africa.
AFP

Murray close to hiring


new coach
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray on
Friday revealed he is close to appointing a new coach after identifying the
person he wants to succeed Ivan Lendl.
Murray began his coaching search last
month after the announcement that
the Scottish stars successful two-year
partnership with Lendl had ended. The
27-year-old, who won Wimbledon, the
US Open and the mens Olympic singles
gold medal during his time with Lendl,
has been linked with legends like John
McEnroe and Mats Wilander, as well as
well-respected coaches Bob Brett and
Larry Stefanki. Brett and Roger Rasheed have been considered by Murray in
the past but the latters successful partnership with Grigor Dimitrov means he
is not a contender this time.
AFP

Leicester complete
treble swoop
Newly promoted Leicester made a
treble swoop for Marc Albrighton, Matt
Upson and Jack Barmby on Friday as
the Foxes prepare for life in the Premier
League. Nigel Pearsons side booked
their place in the English top-flight by
winning the Championship and they
have wasted no time strengthening the
squad for the step up in class. Albrighton was the most significant of the signings, with the 24-year-old agreeing to
join on a free transfer from Aston Villa.
AFP

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Sony Six
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4:30PM
Punjab v Delhi
8:30PM
Mumbai v Rajasthan
Star Sports 1
3:30PM
Badminton
Thomas & Uber Cups 2014
Star Sports 2
3:30PM
England v Sri Lanka
Second ODI
Star Sports 4
5:45PM
F1: Monaco GP
Main Race

15

Sunday, May 25, 2014

QPRs English striker Bobby Zamora scores the winning goal against Derby County during their English Championship Play Off final at Wembley Stadium in London on yesterday AFP

Zamora fires 10-man QPR


back into Premier League
Ten-man QPR clinched promotion to
the Premier League in dramatic fashion as Bobby Zamoras stoppage-time
strike secured a 1-0 win over Derby
in the Championship play-off final at
Wembley on Saturday.
Harry Redknapps side were reduced to 10 men for the final 30 minutes after Gary ONeils red card, but
Zamora punished a mistake by Richard
Keogh to steal victory against the run
of play and ensure the west Londoners
will make a quick and lucrative return
to the English top-flight after last seasons relegation.
It was a real smash and grab raid by
QPR, who struggled to find any rhythm
even before ONeils dismissal, but although Derby dominated they had only
themselves to blame for failing to make

the most of their chances.


QPRs triumph made them the
first team to win promotion after
finishing fourth in the second tier for
16 years.
In a scrappy first half, McClarens
men appealed in vain for a penalty
when teenage midfielder Will Hughes
raced onto Jamie Wards pass, cleverly
turned back in the other direction and
took a tumble after Richard Dunnes
awkward challenge.
Robert Green came to QPRs rescue
in the 40th minute when he plunged
low to his left to turn away an inswinging free-kick from Ward that almost
crept in at the far post.
The momentum swung back in Derbys favour moments later when ONeil
was sent off in the 60th minute.
Hughes seized on a loose pass and
picked out Johnny Russell, who flicked

the ball through Dunnes legs and appeared poised to bear down on goal
until ONeils desperate lunge sent him
crashing to the turf and brought a red
card from referee Lee Mason.
McClarens side tried to press home
their numerical advantage and substitute Craig Bryson drew a smart save
from Green before Martins near-post
strike was repelled by the former England goalkeeper.
And with extra-time looming there
was an astonishing sting in the tale.
QPR winger Junior Hoilett showed
great determination to win the ball
wide on the right, but his cross should
have been cleared by Keogh.
Instead the Derby defender diverted
his clearance straight to Zamora, who
could hardly believe his luck as he dispatched a fine first-time finish past Lee
Grant to send QPR back to the big time. l

Paris Saint-Germain assistant boss


Claude Makelele has finalised a twoyear deal to manage Bastia, the Ligue 1
side confirmed on Friday.
This will be the 41-year-old former
Chelsea, Real Madrid and PSG midfielders first full managerial role.
He will arrive in Corsica on Monday to sign a deal to succeed Frederic
Hantz, who in a four-year spell gained
Bastia promotion to Ligue 1 with a 10th
place finish last term.
Makelele will be assisted by former
Bordeaux player Didier Tholot, 50, who
coached Ligue 2 Chteauroux from
June 2010 to late 2013.
Goalkeeping coach Herv Sekli will
remain and has signed a three-year deal.
Makelele has acted as PSGs assistant manager since 2011 after his retirement from the pitch where he won the
Champions League with Real in 2002,
and the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2005 and 2006. He has also won
league titles in France with Nantes in
1995 and twice in Spain with Real in
2001 and 2003.
He played 71 times for France, and
was part of Raymond Domenechs side
that were beaten on penalties by Italy
in the final of the 2006 World Cup. l

Pietersen slams Downton


over axe row
Kevin Pietersen has blasted England
and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton for claiming he
was uninterested during the dismal
Ashes series in Australia.
Downton launched a scathing attack
on former England batsman Pietersen
during an interview with BBC Radios
Test Match Special on Thursday.
The ECB chief said Pietersen appeared disinterested and distracted in the fifth Test in Sydney, and that
he was unable to find anyone within
the England set-up who wanted the
controversial 33-year-old to remain in
the team.
Englands thrashing in the Test series in Australia was the beginning
of the end for Pietersen, who was reported to have strained relations with
several members of the squad and
was eventually axed in February with

Downton overseeing the decision.


Until recently, the ECBs explanations for effectively ending the South
Africa-born stars international career
had contained only limited detail, but
while Downton may have been hoping
to draw a line in the sand on Thursday,
Pietersens response ensures the saga
will rumble on.
The suggestion that I was uninterested during the winter Ashes series
against Australia is wholly untrue, Pietersen said in a statement.
Although I was having injections in
my knee, which inhibited my mobility
and thus my ability to field close to the
wicket, I was fully motivated to play
for England and whilst I accept that
the series as a whole fell well below my
own personal standards, I finished the
series as the top scorer.
I did, and continue to have a good
relationship with most of the England
players. l

Corruption inquiry nears Hamilton hints at Senna-style


revenge on Rosberg
end: ICC chief
An inquiry into corruption that has
rocked world cricket is entering its final
stages, officials said Saturday, as former New Zealand international Chris
Cairns was to fly to London to be interviewed by police.
Cairns has vehemently denied any
involvement in corruption but believes
he is the person alleged to be Player
X -- the match-fixing ringleader mentioned by former team-mates Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum.
International Cricket Council (ICC)
chief executive Dave Richardson said
he believed investigators were not far

away from interviewing Cairns and


the inquiry would be wrapped up in a
matter of weeks.
We are at the end of the investigation. It is close to being finalised and
Im sure Chris Cairns will be spoken
to and given an opportunity to put his
side of the story, Richardson told Radio Sport.
Cairns lawyer confirmed to the New
Zealand Herald that he was heading to
England on Saturday to be interviewed.
Chris Cairns is meeting with the
Met police to conclude the interview he
started and is also hoping to meet with
the ICC anti-corruption unit, lawyer
Aaron Lloyd said. l

Lewis Hamilton has hinted that he


may inflict Senna-style revenge on
his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg
in Sundays Monaco Grand Prix as payback for the Germans controversial
pole-claiming performance in qualifying on Saturday.
Race stewards are holding a lengthy
investigation into the authenticity of a
mistake made by Rosberg which evidently incensed Hamilton.
The world championship-leading
Briton, who has always held an emotional fascination with three-time
champion Brazilian Ayrton Senna, sug-

gested he may copy one of his idols


moves.
Asked to compare his currently
strained relationship with his teammate and closest championship rival
Rosberg with the infamous rivalry at
McLaren of Senna and Frenchman
Alain Prost, Hamilton said he was
thinking of taking his own action.
When a BBC reporter asked: Are
you even more like Senna and Prost
now? Hamilton replied Essentially.
Then asked if he would sit down
(with Rosberg) and sort it out, the Englishman said: I dont know if Senna
and Prost sat down and talked it out.
I quite like the way Senna dealt

Rivals wary of clay king Nadals backlash


Rafael Nadal might be seen by some
as losing his grip on the French Open
crown, but his main rivals for the title
dont share that view ahead of Sundays opening day at Roland Garros.
The 27-year-old Spaniard has been
strangely subdued during the long
buildup to the consecration of the claycourt tennis season with just the one
title to his name - at Madrid when Japans Kei Nishikori was forced to retire
in the final with a back injury.
Quarter-final defeats to David Ferrer
in Monte Carlo and Nicolas Almagro in
Barcelona were shocking and he was
swept aside in the second and third
sets by Novak Djokovic in the Rome final last week.
But ATP tour events are one thing,
taking on eight-time winner Nadal at
his Roland Garros stronghold is quite
another. French hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said that it would be pure folly to
downplay the Spaniards hopes of a record ninth title in Paris.
If we have to look at the results
these last couple of weeks, of course
we can say that, he said.
But when we look, you know, in

Spanish Rafael Nadal poses for photographers on a tennis court built in front of the Eiffel
tower ahead of the 2014 French Open in Paris on Thursday
AFP
the past, there is no reason to say Rafa
is different than the other years.
You know, hes still the same guy, the
same champion, and Im sure he wants
to win again here in Roland Garros.

Words echoed by Andy Murray, who


led Nadal 4-2 in the deciding set in the
Rome quarter-finals last week before
losing it 7-5.
It would not take long, he said, to es-

tablish whether or not there were any


chinks in the Nadal armoury.
Normally when the tournament
starts, you know, whether Rafa has
been playing well or not, I would expect him to play great tennis here, the
Wimbledon champion said.
I would expect Novak to play great
tennis here. Roger, I would also expect
to play very well.
So there is nothing there to suggest
that they are all of a sudden going to
stop performing well in the slams and
struggle. I would expect them to all
have great tournaments.
For Djokovic the win over Nadal in
Rome was encouraging, but he knows
from past experience that getting the better of Nadal in the years second Grand
Slam is a different challenge altogether.
He has played the Spaniard five
times at Roland Garros in their marathon rivalry and lost all five times - albeit getting closer to turning the tables
every time.
The tournament win in Rome came
at the right moment for me, he said.
For my confidence level its definitely a booster and positive thing, and
hopefully I can carry that confidence
coming into Roland Garros. l

with it, so Im going to take a page out


of his book.
It was not clear what Hamilton was
referring to, but Senna deliberately
drove Prost off the circuit in one infamous Japanese Grand Prix in 1990
when their relationship had deteriorated beyond repair.
In Saturdays qualifying session,
28-year-old German Rosberg, who is
three points behind Hamilton after five
races in the drivers championship, lost
control of his car on his final flying lap
and went off down the escape road at
Mirabeau, prompting waved yellow
flags to slow down the rest of the field
behind him. l

Kohlschreiber
buoyed for
French Open by
Duesseldorf title
Germanys Philipp Kohlschreiber says
he will take plenty of confidence into
the French Open after claiming the
clay-court ATP Duesseldorf title in Saturdays final.
The 30-year-old top-seed cruised to
a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Croatias Ivo
Karlovic, 35, to claim the fifth title of
his career and his fourth in Germany.
Kohlschreiber, ranked 29th in the
world, needed just 72 minutes to claim
victory against the giant Croat, who
is 6ft 11in (2.11m) tall, having won on
clay at Munich in 2007 and 2012 and on
grass at Halle in 2011.
Kohlschreiber, seeded 28th for Roland
Garros, is enjoying a good run of form having taken the first set off Novak Djokovic
in his last 16 defeat to the world number
two at the Rome Masters last week.
At the French Open, he will take on
Spains Pere Riba, ranked 85th in the
world, in the opening round on Monday or Tuesday. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Sand intrusion damaging arable land in Haor basin


Bakar Siddique back from
n Abunortheast
the
The intrusion of sand brought by the
downhill water from India has turned
a vast tract of arable land in the countrys northeast Haor basin into barren
land, resulting in the destruction of local ecology and depriving thousands of
their livelihoods.
According to the Sunamganj District
Agricultural Extension office, at least
3,000 acres of arable land have gone
under sand in the past six years, creating huge losses of agricultural production in the district.
The crisis was triggered on July 20,
2008, when a flash flood from the nearby West Khasi Hill of the Indian state of
Meghalaya brought in a huge amount
of sands and stone chips to the Tahirpur upazila in Sunamganj, destroying
vast areas of arable land.
Within a few minutes, the nearby
ponds and wetlands filled up with sand
and stone chips that day, said 42-yearold local Rokon Uddin, who had experienced the flash flood.
More than 2,000 acres of agricultural land in three villages Chanpur,
Rojoni Line and Rajai owned by local
farmers and villagers disappeared in
that single event which changed the areas ecosystem and robbed thousands
of their livelihoods.
Since then, unplanned mining in
Meghalaya one of Indias main source
of mineral resources has reportedly
been causing a large amount of sand to
get mixed with the downhill water that
eventually flows into Bangladesh and
ruins large areas of arable land every
monsoon. Mass deforestation, caused
by unplanned mining, had also caused
the soil in the hills to become more vulnerable to landslides.
Ponchashol Haor, which locals said

Rain brings relief


n Abu Bakar Siddique

Moderate rainfall yesterday was a relief


to people in Dhaka and elsewhere in the
country, which had been suffering under
a moderate heat wave for a few weeks.
According to the Met Office, the
city witnessed 34 mm of rainfall from
11:45am to 5:00pm while 68mm rainfall
took place in Jessore, 44mm in Comilla, 48mm in Maijdee Court, 14mm in
Bhola, 21mm in Patukhali, 9mm in Kutubdia and 9mm in Barisal.
The temperature dropped by 3.3 degrees Celsius from Fridays 38 degrees
Celsius in the capital. The countrys
highest temperature was 39 degree Celsius in Chuadanga yesterday while it was
40.6 degree Celsius in Jessore on Friday.
Moderate rainfall may continue for
three to four more days in the country until the deep convection over the
North Bay disappears, said Abdur Rahman Khan, Meteorologist of Bangladesh
Meteorological Department, Dhaka.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall is predicted, according to weather office
sources. It is also likely to occur at
some places in Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Dhaka divisions in the next
24 hours starting from 3 pm yesterday.
Earlier on Friday, the weather office in a special bulletin advised Chittagong, Coxs Bazar, Mongla and Payra
to keep all fishing boats and trawlers
close to the coast until further notice. l

Sand brought by the downhill water from India has turned a vast tract of arable land in the countrys northeast Haor basin into barren land
used to cover a large area of land near
Chanpur village, has now vanished because of sand intrusion from the West
Khashi Hills.
Andru Sholomar, a leader of the

Khashia community in Rajai village


who lost 20 acres of arable land to sand
intrusion, told the Dhaka Tribune that
over the past few years, he had failed
to produce any crop on the land that

previously produced harvests thrice a


year.
He also claimed that he had lost
three more acres of land in the past
two weeks alone because of the sand

DHAKA TRIBUNE

brought in by the rain-triggered floods


from the nearby hills in India.
Locals said the government was yet
to take any initiative for saving the areas ecology or removing the layers of

Thousands of cases piling up under DMP


n Mohammad Jamil Khan

Over thousands of cases with different police stations in the capital have
remained unresolved for years due to
lack of coordination and manpower
shortage.
Investigations into at least two hundreds sensational cases in 49 police
stations in the capital are yet to see the
light of the day while everyday some
new cases are being added to the existing ones.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, a
numbers of officials of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said it was a gigantic task to complete regular duty
and investigate previously filed cases
at a time. Besides, most of the officials
are to deal with at least 15 cases.
For this reason, investigation officers are submitting charge sheets
without completing proper investigation to get rid of additional duty and
thus the main accused in those cases
have remained untouched, he said.
On April 22 in 2012, the body of a
woman was recovered from the MP
Hostel. The corpse remained lying in the
Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH)
for 15 days. Later, the body was buried
unidentified by Anjuman Mufidul Islam
without taking any DNA sample.
Asked about it first Investigation
Officer of the case Sub-inspector Azim

Uddin said they did not find any suspected criminal. The next Investigation
Officer Sirajul Islam, inspector of the
Detective Branch (DB) of police, said:
We have come to know that she was a
street sex worker.
On June 6 in 2012, criminals killed
Nishat Banu at her residence on the
Topkhana Road in the capital after confining her mother to a room. Khaleda

The figure came up in a


report submitted to the
police headquarters a
couple of days back
Banu, mother of the victim, blamed
police officials of the police station concerned for the delay in the investigation.
Later the case was transferred to the
DB police who arrested six people in
connection with the murder but yet to
unearth the mystery behind the murder.
Fazlur Rahman, inspector of the DB
and investigation officer of the case,
said the investigation is underway.
Similarly, no headway has been
made in the investigation of the murder case of former army official Nasir
Uddin, 63, and his wife Mahmuda Akther, 58. They were killed at their own
residence at Sayednagar of Dakhinkhan

on July 31 of 2012.
After Rapid Action Battalion and police the DB police are now investigation
the case.
Daughter of a lawyer couple Tasnim
Rahman, 13, was killed at Hazaribagh on
September 24 of 2012. However, Nuruzzaman, sub-inspector of the DB, said
the murder is still veiled in mystery.
Police constable Badal Mia was
killed while on duty at Gonojagoron
Moncho programme on February 21 in
2013 but no clue to the murder has been
found as of today. Investigation Officer
of the case, Abul Khayer, inspector of
the DB police, said they were yet to
identify the killers.
According to sources in the police
headquarters there have been over
16,357 cases gathering dust with 49
police stations of the DMP. The figure
came up in a report submitted to the police headquarters a couple of days back.
Investigation officers of those cases
have been changed a number of times
but to no avail. Under pressure from the
high officials investigation officers have
recently started working on those cases.
Several investigation officers of
the DMP said due to lack of cooperation and coordination investigations
in many of those cases had remained
halted.
They, however, said they had already started investigation but were

facing trouble as in most cases they did


not know the motive behind the murders. They also attributed lack of clue
and witnesses to their failure.
They are now thinking about submitting the final reports without and
investigations only to get rid of extra
workload.
There are 853 sub-inspectors at the
49 police stations of the DMP. A sub-inspector has to deal with the investigation of at least 20 cases. After a case is
filed the officer-in-charge of the police
station concerned assign a field-level
sub-inspector to investigate the case.
Not only the new investigation
charges the sub-inspector has also to
submit update of the previous cases
to court. Moreover, the investigation
officers are bound to investigate politically filed cases.
Monirul Islam, joint commissioner
of the DB police and also the spokesperson of the DMP, said filed-level police officials are always a bit under pressure to investigate cases but the crisis
would go with regular monitoring.
When asked Hassan Mahmood
Khandker, inspector general of police,
said they were discharging their duties
properly and investigating the cases. Some cases need some more time
for investigation but we are hopeful
about completing them shortly, he
said. l

Man submits fake letter


to be in PMs entourage
n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

A long-awaited rainfall brings them outdoors for fun and game yesterday afternoon, when they used to remain indoors amid the intense
heat engulfing Dhaka city and elsewhere in the country for a few weeks
RAJIB DHAR

In a daring attempt, an imposter forged


a document by Prime Ministers Office
to become a member of the entourage
of Sheikh Hasinas tour in Japan.
One Mohammad Khorshed Alam
on Wednesday went to the protocol
section of the Foreign Ministry and
submitted a fake letter which stipulated that four journalists including him
should be members of the premiers
entourage to Japan.
The letter said the four were included in the prime ministers entourage in
addition to the list earlier supplied by
her office.
In the letter, Khorshed was described
as a reporter of Primenewsbd.com. The
others were Mohammad Nazrul Islam,
photojournalist of Primenewsbd.com,
Mohammad Masud Parvez, reporter
of weekly Ajker Surjodoy, and Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, photojournalist of
weekly Ajker Surjodoy.
When an enquiry was made from the
Foreign Ministry, the Prime Ministers

Office said no such letter was issued.


When Foreign Ministry officials asked
where he got the letter, Khorshed said
a contractor of the Roads and Highways
Department named Ratan gave it to him.
When I called Ratan after reaching
the Foreign Ministry office, his phone
was switched off, said Khorshed.
We handed Khorshed over to the
police, said a Foreign Ministry official.
The police arrested Khorshed under
Section 54 and produced him before
court on Thursday requesting a remand
order. The court, however, refused the
remand plea, sent him to jail, and also
instructed police to interrogate him at
the jail gate within three days.
An officer of Shahbagh police station
said he would be interrogated today or
tomorrow.
We are yet to know his full identity.
We only have a national identity card
which says he is a resident of Moghbazar area, he said.
Police are yet to arrest the three others whose names were mentioned in
the fake letter, he added. l

sand by excavating or dredging.


Although local administration and
the ministries concerned had previously exchanged letters on the matter, no
effective initiative had been taken so
far.
On November 24, 2008, the Environment Ministry issued a letter to the
Foreign Ministry, asking them to inform the Indian counterpart about the
issue.
On September 3, 2009, the Environment Ministry finally received a reply
from the Foreign Ministry, which said
the Indian government had been informed of the issue through the High
Commission of India in Dhaka.
However, a joint secretary of the Environment Ministry, seeking anonymity, said: The ministry is not aware of
any such incident right now, as most of
our present officers were not affiliated
in the office during that time.
Nurul Qadir, head of the ministrys
Environment Pollution section that is
now handling the issue, told the Dhaka
Tribune that the Environment Ministry
would try to address the matter soon
after locating the documents of previous communications.
The Foreign Ministry was now also
ignoring the crisis.
Currently the ministry is not giving
priority on the issue at all, as it is an old
issue, said Tareq Md Ariful Islam, director of South Asian Desk of the Foreign Ministry told the Dhaka Tribune.
The ministry could move forward with
the issue if the local administration
sent specific request again, he added.
Asked about the issue, Yamin Chowdhury, deputy commissioner of Sunamganj, admitted that they were yet
to have any specific plan to solve the
problem even though local administration had been informed of the crisis
since the very beginning. l

Foreign minister
unaware of Modis
visit to Dhaka
n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali yesterday said they have no knowledge
about the possible visit of Indian Prime
Minister-designate Narendra Modi to
Bangladesh.
We still dont know about it. We
want that he visits Bangladesh, the
foreign minister told a press briefing.
Indian media had recently published
reports that Modi would go on the first
foreign trip to Bangladesh and during his
visit, he would ink Teesta water sharing
deal which was supposed to be signed
during the visit of former Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011.
Mahmood said Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina during her talks with
Modi invited him to come to Bangladesh. Let him take an oath and form a
government, he said.
Modi is set to swear in as the prime
minister of India tomorrow and he invited the heads of government and
state of the SAARC countries to attend
the swearing-in ceremony.
Bangladesh Speaker Shirin Sharmin
Chaudhury is expected to attend the
programme on behalf of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina.
In its election manifesto, BJP said
it would pursue a foreign policy based
on Equations will be mended through
pragmatism and a doctrine of mutually
beneficial and interlocking relationships
based on enlightened national interest.
According to its manifesto, BJP
would work towards strengthening regional forums like SAARC and ASEAN. l

Bangabandhu's
cousin Mominul
Haque dies
n Tribune Report
Cousin to the 'Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman', Mominul Haque Khoka died at
81, in Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on Friday night.
Khoka, also a valiant freedom fighter, breathed his last breath at around
8:15pm in the hospital, according to his
family members.
He left behind his wife, a son, a
daughter and a host of relatives and
well-wishers to mourn his death.
The body of Khoka will be brought to
Dhaka by a flight of Bangladesh Biman
this evening, BSS reports. He will be buried at Banani graveyard after Zohr prayers
on Sunday after namaz-e-janaza on Eidgah ground at Satmasjid road in the city. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.
Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

B3 India hits US, China

with solar imports anti-dumping duties

B4 German economy gets


off to good Q1

SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Tax cut for listed companies unlikely


Hope for non-listed ones yet to evaporate
n Syed Samiul Basher Anik
The rate of corporate income tax is
likely to remain unchanged in the
upcoming fiscal year as the National
Board of Revenue (NBR) forwarded a
fresh recommendation to Prime Ministers Office.
The case for non-listed companies
has not been, however, cancelled as
the prospective candidate for the tax
exemption.
The revenue authorities put forward
the recommendation on Thursday, following the PMs instruction to see the
extent of revenue loss due to previously proposed rate cuts.
The previous proposal, if implemented, would cause a revenue loss
of at least Tk600 crore annually, said
a senior official as the NBR worked on
the PMs instruction.
He said the NBR considered the tax
cut proposal made earlier would make
it difficult to achieve around Tk149,000
crore of revenue target likely to be set
for the for the fiscal 2014-15.
The corporate tax contributes
around 65% of the revenue comes from
the income tax. The NBR is planning to
mobilise highest revenue from income
tax - 38% of the total revenue targeted
for fiscal 2014-15.
In its fresh proposal, the official
said, the NBR recommended reduction
of tax rate only for the non-listed companies.
Earlier at few pre-budget meetings,
the finance minister as well as the NBR
chairman indicated that the new budget would accommodate some exemption from the corporate tax.
Different trade bodies have long
been urging the government to reduce
the corporate tax for both publicly list-

NBR may liberalise UP


for 2 export sectors
n Syed Samiul Basher Anik

ed and non-listed companies.


The tax-cut indication emerged after the businessmen proposing for the
exemption to recover from the setback
they suffered due to political turmoil
before the January 5 national election.
The tax authorities last week held
a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina when they recommended a
corporate tax-cut plan, but the PM instructed making an estimate of revenue
loss to be incurred if the plan is implemented, another senior official said.
We have changed our previous position as NBR will surely fail to achieve
the revenue target, he added.
In the revised proposal, he said the
NBR recommended reduction of tax
rate for the non-listed companies from
the existing 37.5% to 35% and keep the
rates for other companies unchanged.
Currently, banks and financial institutions are paying 42.5% corporate

tax while it is 27.5% for publicly traded companies, 37.5% for non-publicly
traded companies, and 37.5% for merchant banks. For the publicly traded
mobile companies, the tax rate is 40%
while it is 45% for the non-publicly
traded operators.
NBR officials said they would finalise the tax rates after getting consent
from the Prime Minister. The NBR
would hold another meeting with the
PM before the budget scheduled to be
placed in parliament on June 5.
Centre for Policy Dialogue Executive Director Prof Mustafizur Rahman
emphasised on bringing the non-listed
companies under the listed companies
list first, rather than lowering the tax
rate, to support increasing the revenue
collection.
There is a huge possibility that
lowering the corporate tax rate will
have negative impact on the revenue

collection as the revenue target set for


the FY2014-15 is already challenging to
achieve, he said.
According to a KPMG conducted
Corporate and Indirect Tax Rate Survey 2014, the corporate tax rate in
some South Asian countries are 20% in
Afghanistan, 27.5% in Bangladesh, 28%
in Sri Lanka, 33.99% in India and 34%
in Pakistan.
Former NBR Chairman Muhammad
Abdul Mazid said the government
should opt for alternative methods,
may be expanding the tax net, to cover
up the revenue losses.
Before lowering the tax rate for
corporate companies, NBR has to ensure the revenue losses to be incurred,
as a result, would be compensated
through taking effective measures like
plugging of loopholes in the tax system, and expansion of the income tax
base, he said. l

Coxs Bazar to
have special
economic zone
n Tribune report

Speakers at a dialogue on ICT budget held at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka yesterday

Planning Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal


yesterday said the government will develop a special economic zone in Coxs
Bazar considering its tourism and economic potentials.
Coxs Bazar will be developed as
a special economic zone and a special
tourist spot, the minister said while
visiting the marine drive project in the
sea beach town.
A marine drive road is being constructed between Coxs Bazar and
Teknaf to develop the districts tourism and economy.
Mostafa Kamal said Coxs Bazar
didnt get proper attention of the international tourism though it is blessed
with the worlds largest sea beach.
The 84-kilometer marine drive project will be completed by December 2015,
he said, adding the city will be the most
potential place of the countrys economic development in next five years. l

The countrys apparel accessories and


plastic goods manufacturers would be
entitled to get utilisation permission
(UP) from their respective associations
in exporting goods from next fiscal
year.
Bangladesh Garments Accessories
and Packaging Manufacturers &
Exporters Association (BGAPMEA)
and
Bangladesh
Plastic
Goods
Manufacturers & Exporters Association
(BPGMEA) would get the authority of
issuing UP certificates in favour of their
members.
The National Board of Revenue took
the primary decision in response to a
long standing demand by the exporters, said a senior official yesterday.
The tax authority has primarily decided to allow it to avoid unnecessary
costs and harassments, he said, adding that a summary has already been
forwarded to the finance minister for
consideration.
If provided, members of the associations will enjoy duty-free import of
raw materials to execute export orders,
he said.

Both the industries are now producing and exporting a good number
of items including buttons, cartons,
packages, elastic, embroidery, labels,
poly bags, sewing thread, zippers,
plastic items etc.
The tax authorities were earlier
against providing the support as a
section of the RMG exporters abusing
such facility, another NBR official said.
Industry insiders said allowing
them for issuing UP certificates would
help minimise the hidden costs and
time that would help grow the sectors.
BGAPMEA President Rafez Alam
Chowdhury said providing the facility will help minimise hassles and unwanted complexities being faced by
the exporters and will help expedite
the export process.
We are exporting 30-35 items in
many countries. To make the export
process faster like the BGMEA and BKMEA, the government should allow us
issuing UP certificates to our association members, he said.
He also urged the government to
allow the facility with easy conditions
as being provided to the BGMEA and
BKMEA. l

ICT refinancing fund on cards


n Muhammad Zahidul Islam
The government is planning formation of a refinancing fund worth between Tk500 crore and Tk1,000 crore
for further development of the countrys Information Communication and
Technology sector by collecting funds
from both from the private and public
sector.
State Minister for Information
and Communication Division Zunaid
Ahmed Palak came up with the disclosure at a pre-budget meeting organised
by three IT-related business bodies at a
city hotel yesterday.
The government is planning to run
two different projects through refinancing, which will be collecting from
both the private and the public sector
and the fund will be in between Tk500
crore to Tk1,000 crore, said the state
minister.
One laptop for each student and
a Research and Development sector
(RND) will be launched under this project. Apart from that we are also planning to distribute laptops among all the

3 crore students, which will help them


to be acquainted with the ICT since
their student life, said Palak.
Through setting up the RND
centers, we can do researches for the
market, which will help scrutinise the
best fit IT related businesses in the
country.

'Through setting up the


RND centers, we can
do researches for the
market, which will help
scrutinise the best fit
IT related businesses in
the country'
Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS)
president Abu Hanif Md Mahfuzul Arif
demanded a special fund for the ICT
sector worth Tk5,000 crore, which the
industry entrepreneurs can use for the
development of this sector with only
in 8% interest rate during his presentation in the meeting. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

ICT people demand Vat-free Internet

Reduce disparity to meet MDGs, speakers say

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

n Tribune Report

Information and Communications


Technology (ICT) sector people demanded making Internet free of value
added tax to reach the goal of building Digital Bangladesh by 2021.
The demand was placed at a
pre-budget discussion meeting at a
city hotel yesterday.
Bangladesh Computer Samity
(BCS), Internet Service Providers Association Bangladesh (ISPAB) and
Bangladesh Association of Software
and Information Services (BASIS) organised the function.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid
Ahmed Palak addressed the discussion and said he would place a set of
recommendations on Internet Vat before the finance ministry.
I will place a proposal to reduce
or withdraw Vat on Internet use to
the finance minister and will also
speak about the matter at the parliaments budget discussions, he said
while speaking at the discussion.
He sought help from his colleagues
in this regard.
As a user, I also think Vat should
be reduced on Internet use.
The speakers said although Vat on
jewellery purchase is only 2.5%, the

rate for Internet use is 15%.


The government earns around
Tk300 crore from Vat on Internet use.
Some speakers suggested the government can at least slash the Vat rate on
the Internet use.
According to them, the Vat cut will
bring about revolution to the Internet
market.In his speech, the state minister said he wants to make income
from online freelancing also tax-free
and will place such proposal before
the finance minister.
He said as freelancing is contributing to earning of foreign currency, it
should be free of tax like remittance.
Palak said five years back the ICT
sector budget size was only Tk200
crore and in the next budget the figure will be Tk3,700 crore. It shows
the government has given importance on the sector.
BCS president Abu Hanif Md Mahfuzul Arif said there are around 3.5
crore Internet users now in Bangladesh, which will reach around 10
crore by 2021 if the market receives
support from the government.
ISPAB Akhtaruzzaman Manju also
spoke at the discussion and demanded tax holidays for Internet market
for next five years.
BASIS president Shameem Ahsan

sought at least 5% allocation of the


national budget (Tk12,500 crore) for
the ICT ministry. ICT ministry currently gets Tk1,250 crore.
ICT could better help the country
than any other sector in Bangladesh
become economically solvent, Shameem Ahsan said.
Senior Vice President of BASIS
Syed Almas Kabir sought tax exemption on income from ICT sector till
2025 as the facility is valid through
June 2015.
However, the state minister wants
it be given till 2021 as per the governments digital goals.
Ex-president of BASIS Fahim
Mashroor said in 2012 the National
Board of Revenue decided to automate tax collection system for which
the companies have deposited over
Tk50 lakh as Vat.
But suddenly the NBR stopped the
automation process, he alleged.
According to BASIS, the government can add at least Tk2,500Tk3,000 crore to its present revenue
earning from the sector if the NBR
introduces the automation process.
Former BCS president Md Faizullah Khan and former BASIS president
Habibullah N Karim also spoke at the
discussion. l

It is a must to reduce the growing


disparity between rich and poor
people of the country and also among
the countries as it has been appeared
as a huge challenge, which needs to
be addressed properly under a new
framework initiated by the United
Nations, speakers said at a seminar
yesterday.
They said still most of the people
are living under the extreme poverty although the target for reaching
the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) set for 2015, aiming
to halve the poverty on top
of the goals.
The speakers were addressing a national seminar
styled Post 2015 Development Agenda: Towards
a
Transformative
and
Rights Based Development
Framework held yesterday at the National Press
Club in the city.
VOICE, a right-based
organisation, arranged the
seminar presided over by
Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of Palli Karma-Sahayak
Foundation
(PKSF).

Despite
remarkable
progress
in achieving MDGs, a good number of the goals will not be fully attained by 2015. Thats why we need
more efforts for poverty alleviation,
preventing child and maternal mortality, ensuring childrens access to
good health, education, pure drinking
water, sanitation and sustainable environment.
Dr. Kazi Khaliquzzaman noted that
that having a remarkable success to
achieve MDG goals, Bangladesh still
needs to make sincere efforts to meet
its development needs.

The post-2015 development agenda


should ensure inclusive and equitable
economic growth while it needs more
attention to reduce the poverty level
and inequality, particularly among the
marginalised groups and improve living conditions, he added.
The meeting was addressed, among
others, by Rustom Ali Foraji, MP,
Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, executive
director of Unnayan Onneshan, and
Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, executive
director of VOICE while Farjana Akter,
coordinator of VOICE presented a key
note paper. l

B2

Bearish spell
grips stocks for
4th week
n Tribune Report

DSE Broad Index :


DSE - 30 Index :
CSE All Share Index:
CSE - 30 Index :
CSE Selected Index :

Golden Son -A
Purabi G Insu.A
Northern Jute -Z
Apex Footwear-A
Janata Insur -A
In Tech Online -A
Square Textile -A
Summit Power -A
Federal Insu.-A
People`s Leasing-A

Company
Apex Footwear-A
Golden Son -A
Popular Life Insu. -A
Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A
In Tech Online -A
Square Textile -A
Summit Power -A
Asia Pasific Insu. -A
Federal Insu.-A
Janata Insur -A

-27.01
-22.51
-18.13
-16.25
-13.42
-12.05
-11.65
-11.60
-10.88
-10.75

(-) 0.73%

8435.2437

Closing (%
change)

(-) 0.76%

11122.1463

CSE LOSERS

(-) 0.92%

13553.7846

-22.82
-16.36
-15.86
-13.98
-13.70
-12.84
-11.77
-10.54
-10.42
-10.22

(-) 0.74%

(-) 0.86%

Average (%
change)
-21.72
-16.07
-15.86
-13.91
-12.91
-12.47
-11.61
-10.91
-11.99
-10.32
Average (%
change)
-27.02
-21.88
-18.12
-16.23
-12.80
-11.31
-11.53
-11.60
-11.44
-11.41

311,574
304

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

103

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

199

Closing
average
44.81
18.44
122.00
342.28
19.03
12.98
87.90
31.27
21.44
16.78

Closing
average
332.05
44.70
203.23
29.93
12.94
88.42
31.08
22.10
21.22
19.03

Weekly
closing

Weekly
high

Unchanged Issue (Avg.


Price Basis)

Market Capital Equity


(Billion. Tk.)

2,261.16

Market Capital Equity


(Billion US$)

22.41

CSE key features


May 18-20, 2014
Turnover (Million Taka)

984.73

Turnover (Volume)

26,848,848

Number of Contract

40,570

44.30
18.40
122.00
342.00
18.90
12.90
87.70
31.40
21.50
16.70

Weekly
closing

48.20
22.00
135.00
380.00
19.70
13.30
101.00
32.00
24.60
17.30

Weekly
high

332.10
44.40
203.20
29.90
12.90
88.30
31.10
22.10
21.30
19.10

345.00
48.30
205.00
34.00
13.50
100.00
31.70
23.00
23.70
19.30

Traded Issues

244

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

91
148

Unchanged Issue (Avg.


Price Basis)

Market Capital Equity


(Billion. Tk.)

2,148.90

Market Capital Equity


(Billion US$)

26.05

Weekly
low

Turnover
in million

41.20
18.30
122.00
322.00
18.90
11.60
84.00
27.00
19.90
15.00

Weekly
low

221.003
18.797
0.078
165.023
2.311
6.572
55.651
46.318
10.410
17.409

Turnover
in million

319.10
43.20
201.10
29.90
12.50
86.20
27.00
21.50
20.80
19.00

0.133
18.776
1.016
0.415
0.693
4.190
3.754
0.214
0.444
0.076

Ambee Pharma -A
MeghnaCement -A
SummitAlliancePort.-A
BSRM Steels-A
S. Alam CR Steel -A
Mercantile Bank -A
Southeast Bank-A
Barakatullah E. D.-A
Al-Haj Textile -A
GPH Ispat Ltd-A

23.64
9.78
9.68
9.30
9.21
8.97
5.64
5.61
5.42
5.38

CSE GAINERS

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

1589.60172

Closing (%
change)

291,279,697

Traded Issues

4384.06428

DSE LOSERS

11,732.21

Number of Contract

Weekly capital market highlights

Closing (%
change)

Company

Turnover
(Million Taka)
Turnover
(Volume)

Sunday, May 25, 2014

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features


May 18-20, 2014

ulatory actions played the role of a


protagonist.
It said expected cancellation of
whitening of black money through
capital market investment facility
coupled with the central banks more
stringent actions to monitor and control banks and their subsidiaries investment portfolio outweighed the
strong possibilities of corporate tax
cut and subsequently improved profitability, in investors mindset, exerting a bearish vibe.
Consequently, market was continuing its downbeat note with
7-month record low turnover up to
the mid-point of the week.
Lanka Bangla Securities said despite stable economic scenario and
ample liquidity, the market has been
going down.
It said the economic activity has
not yet picked up after last years
disruption. First quarter 2014 performance of listed companies were
not that much encouraging, said the
stock broker.
On the other hand, banks are reducing their exposure to the capital
market following central banks directive, it said.
All these are weighing on the
market. Investors are eagerly looking for the upcoming budget. They
are expecting this budget to be progrowth, the leading stock broker
said.
Losers took a strong lead over the
gainers as out of 303 issues traded
during the week, 192 declined, 87
advanced and 24 issues remained
unchanged. l

Bearish spell gripped stocks for the


fourth consecutive week, as investors
were cautious ahead of upcoming
budget to be announced on June 5.
Moreover, long downward trend
put damper on investor mood, according to stock brokers.
During the week that ended
Thursday, the DSEX came down below the psychological threshold
of 4,400-mark and settled at 4,384,
shedding 33 points or 0.8%.
The blue chips comprising DS30
was down 15 points or 1% to close at
1,589. The DSE Shariah Index DSES
fell 12 points or 1.3% to 973.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange
(CSE) Selective Categories Index,
CSCX, was down 73 points or nearly
1% to close the week at 8,435.
Of the weeks five trading sessions, four finished in the red and
only one session managed to close
positive.
The weeks average daily turnover
stumbled to Tk234 crore, registering a decline of more than 35% and
which is much steeper over the previous week.
With the quarterly declarations
slipping on the negative territory, investors started to search for
new stimulus to rebalance portfolio, which ended in vain, said IDLC
Investments in its weekly market
analysis.
It said budgetary expectations
and current macroeconomic scenario took the spotlight of last weeks
show, while the central banks reg-

Company

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

4.08
0.92
-11.08
-11.44
1.40
-0.80
6.60
3.00
1.36
1.08

Latest
EPS

11.0
20.0
-ve
-ve
13.6
-ve
13.3
10.4
15.8
15.5

Latest
PE

-11.44
4.08
17.00
1.84
-0.80
6.60
3.00
2.48
1.36
1.40

-ve
11.0
12.0
16.3
-ve
13.4
10.4
8.9
15.6
13.6

Closing (%
change)

Company
Ambee Pharma -A
MeghnaCement -A
BSRM Steels-A
S. Alam CR Steel -A
Mercantile Bank -A
SummitAlliancePort.-A
Eastland Insur -A
Southeast Bank-A
Active Fine Chem.-A
ISN Ltd. -Z

24.59
10.23
9.57
9.42
9.03
8.72
6.88
6.70
5.84
5.77

Average (%
change)
21.19
11.09
9.13
10.18
13.21
10.38
5.96
6.44
4.81
7.92
Average (%
change)
20.08
10.22
9.93
13.68
10.16
9.45
6.77
6.53
9.27
4.71

Closing
average

Weekly
closing

355.55
127.13
24.02
71.46
34.70
17.12
20.61
30.58
115.04
48.11

361.40
125.70
23.80
70.50
33.20
17.00
20.60
30.10
114.70
47.00

Closing
average

Weekly
closing

350.36
125.20
71.17
34.91
16.92
23.85
40.40
20.56
70.58
10.89

361.30
125.00
71.00
33.70
16.90
23.70
40.40
20.70
68.90
11.00

Weekly
high

Weekly
low

368.00
131.40
24.60
73.50
35.70
17.40
21.50
31.80
123.00
49.50

Weekly
high

278.00
114.50
20.00
60.00
27.00
14.10
17.60
25.70
105.00
42.50

Weekly
low

367.90
129.80
73.00
36.00
17.20
24.30
40.70
21.00
71.30
11.00

264.50
115.50
62.00
28.00
14.30
20.00
38.90
17.50
65.30
10.10

Turnover
in million

Latest
EPS

81.187
51.330
29.887
168.502
43.775
152.349
141.520
46.053
77.753
61.825

Turnover
in million

3.20
7.00
1.08
4.72
1.90
1.16
3.04
1.69
2.00
2.42

Latest
EPS

15.155
1.510
12.634
4.165
7.691
3.966
0.097
9.716
13.624
0.441

3.20
7.00
4.72
1.90
1.16
1.08
4.24
3.04
3.72
0.20

Latest
PE
111.1
18.2
22.2
15.1
18.3
14.8
6.8
18.1
57.5
19.9

Latest
PE
109.5
17.9
15.1
18.4
14.6
22.1
9.5
6.8
19.0
54.5

Weekly news from trade server


CITYBANK: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 204.50
million with consolidated basic EPS of Tk.
0.29 (restated 0.25) as against Tk. 111.43
million and Tk. 0.16 (0.13) respectively.
MONNOSTAF: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 0.11
million with EPS of Tk. 0.28 as against Tk.
0.50 million and Tk. 1.25 respectively.
BDTHAI: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 9.94 million
with basic EPS of Tk. 0.22 (restated 0.21)
as against Tk. 8.48 million and Tk. 0.19
(0.18) respectively.
NTC: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. (118.33) million with
EPS of Tk. -17.93 as against Tk. -1.60 million
and Tk. -0.24 respectively. Accumulated
profit/(loss) of the Company was Tk.
(117.91) million as on 31.03.2014.
BDWELDING: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 4.94 million
with EPS of Tk. 0.12 as against Tk. 10.09
million and Tk. 0.25 (restated) respectively.
SUMITPOWER: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 512.27
million with consolidated basic EPS of Tk.
0.87 ( restated 0.75) as against Tk. 508.61
million and Tk. 0.86 (0.75) respectively.
KPCL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 690.88 million
with consolidated basic EPS of Tk. 2.01
(restated 1.91) as against Tk. 583.72 million
and Tk. 1.70 (1.62) respectively.
SPPCL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 160.34 million
with basic EPS of Tk. 1.16 (restated 1.06)
as against Tk. 146.76 million and Tk. 1.30
(1.16) respectively.
CMCKAMAL: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 28.75
million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.38 (restated
0.33) as against Tk. 31.78 million and Tk.
0.42 (0.37) respectively.
ORIONPHARM: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 380.79
million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.63

as against Tk. 294.17 million and Tk. 1.26


respectively.
INTECH: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. -4.18 million
with basic EPS of Tk. -0.22 (restated
-0.20) as against Tk. 0.77 million and Tk.
0.04 (0.04) respectively.
JANATAINS: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 12.37 million
with basic EPS of Tk. 0.40 ( restated 0.35)
as against Tk. 9.49 million and Tk. 0.31
(0.27) respectively.
PROVATIINS: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 13.29
million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.63 (restated
0.56) as against Tk. 11.69 million and Tk.
0.55 (0.50) respectively.
PARAMOUNT: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 9.04
million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.45 (restated
0.41) as against Tk. 8.06 million and Tk.
0.40 (0.37) respectively.
ASIAPACINS: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 26.36
million with EPS of Tk. 0.62 as against Tk.
29.73 million and Tk. 0.70 respectively.
DHAKAINS: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 17.35 million
with EPS of Tk. 0.46 as against Tk. 16.81
million and Tk. 0.45 respectively.
HWAWELLTEX: (Q3): As per un-audited
quarterly accounts for the 3rd quarter
ended on 31.03.2014 (Jan'14-Mar'14), the
Company has reported net profit after
tax of Tk. 37.37 million with EPS (including extra ordinary income) of Tk. 0.98
as against Tk. 29.01 million and Tk. 0.83
respectively for the same period of the
previous year. However, EPS excluding
extra ordinary income was Tk. 0.55 as on
31.03.2014 (Jan'14-Mar'14) and Tk. 0.83
as on 31.03.2013 (Jan'13-Mar'13). Whereas
net profit after tax was Tk. 125.71 million

with EPS (including extra ordinary income)


of Tk. 3.44 for the period of nine months
(Jul'13-Mar'14) ended on 31.03.2014 as
against Tk. 104.25 million and Tk. 2.98
respectively for the same period of the
previous year. However, EPS excluding
extra ordinary income was Tk. 2.99 as on
31.03.2014 (Jul'13-Mar'14) and Tk. 2.98 as
on 31.03.2013 (Jul'12-Mar'13).
Fixed Assets/Right/Investment:
MICEMENT: The Company has informed
that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to install two Packing Units
in its factory which will cost Tk. 210.00
million approximately including civil
construction.
BANKASIA: The Company has informed
that the Board of Directors has taken the
following decision: "Resolved that the
proposal to issue Bank Asia 7 Year Floating
Rate (11.50% to 14.50%) Non-Convertible Subordinated Bond with an issue
price of Tk. 300.00 crore to raise capital
of the Bank, subject to the approval of
Bangladesh Bank, BSEC and the general
shareholders of the Bank in the EGM be
and is hereby approved, provided that
any changes in the feature of the Bond,
tenor, issue size or whatever as deemed
necessary by any regulatory advice or
otherwise may be decided by the Board of
Directors of the Company." Date of EGM:
26.06.2014, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Institute of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh,
Council Hall (2nd Floor), 160/A Kakrail,
Dhaka-1000. Record Date for EGM:
29.05.2014.

CHANGE OF DSE BROAD INDEX VS SECTORAL INDEX


3%

Pharma & Chemical Index

DSE BroadIndex

2%

1%

22

15

08

01

24

17

10

03

27

20

13

06

27

20

13

0%

06

ANALYST

Consequently, market was continuing


its downbeat note with 7-month
record low turnover up to the midpoint of the week

-1%

-2%

-3%

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY


Sector
Bank
NBFI
Investment
Engineering
Food & Allied
Fuel & Power
Jute
Textile
Pharma & Chemical
Paper & Packaging
Service
Leather
Ceramic
Cement
Information Technology
General Insurance
Life Insurance
Telecom
Travel & Leisure
Miscellaneous
Debenture

DSE
Million Taka
1314.85
340.21
331.36
1135.14
643.30
1022.64
6.53
1757.96
2094.12
2.94
287.92
239.93
44.43
1086.13
70.43
177.03
269.42
574.49
80.83
251.41
1.13

% change
11.21
2.90
2.82
9.68
5.48
8.72
0.06
14.98
17.85
0.03
2.45
2.05
0.38
9.26
0.60
1.51
2.30
4.90
0.69
2.14
0.01

Million Taka
101.12
34.03
15.05
95.18
57.13
107.11
0.00
196.79
172.81
63.86
11.18
71.99
5.40
86.32
7.82
5.31
17.71
68.93
20.44
36.86
0.20

CSE

% change
8.60
2.90
1.28
8.10
4.86
9.11
0.00
16.74
14.70
5.43
0.95
6.13
0.46
7.34
0.67
0.45
1.51
5.87
1.74
3.14
0.02

Million Taka
1415.97
374.24
346.41
1230.32
700.43
1129.75
6.53
1954.75
2266.93
66.80
299.10
311.92
49.83
1172.45
78.25
182.34
287.13
643.42
101.27
288.27
1.32

Total

% change
10.97
2.90
2.68
9.53
5.43
8.75
0.05
15.14
17.56
0.52
2.32
2.42
0.39
9.08
0.61
1.41
2.22
4.98
0.78
2.23
0.01

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

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS


Company
LafargeS Cement-Z
Square Pharma -A
Hwa Well Textiles-N
Grameenphone-A
Matin Spinning-N
HeidelbergCement -A
Eastern Housing -A
Orion Pharma-N
Meghna Petroleum -A
Golden Son -A
CSE TURNOVER LEADERS
Company
Hwa Well Textiles-N
Square Pharma -A
LafargeS Cement-Z
BD Submarine Cable-A
Grameenphone-A
Appollo Ispat CL -N
Matin Spinning-N
Orion Pharma-N
BEXIMCO Ltd. -A
Golden Son -A

Volume
shares
8,799,530
2,179,805
10,788,500
1,594,553
6,002,000
533,380
4,083,500
4,374,860
793,998
4,807,323

Volume
shares
1,679,500
260,790
763,500
199,562
123,400
1,034,400
590,800
403,840
853,844
408,855

Value in
million
601.00
571.56
463.58
416.45
277.84
269.15
251.26
228.36
224.46
221.00

Value in
million
71.77
68.92
51.86
36.71
32.22
27.95
27.30
21.27
19.86
18.78

% of total
turnover
5.12
4.87
3.95
3.55
2.37
2.29
2.14
1.95
1.91
1.88

% of total
turnover
7.53
7.23
5.44
3.85
3.38
2.93
2.86
2.23
2.08
1.97

Weekly
closing
69.30
255.00
42.30
255.30
45.20
513.40
59.10
51.50
282.30
44.30

Weekly
closing
42.20
256.50
69.00
180.10
255.70
27.10
45.30
51.40
23.70
44.40

Price
change
2.82
-4.57
-2.76
-3.48
-4.03
0.21
-6.78
-1.90
1.26
-22.82

Weekly
opening
67.40
267.20
43.50
264.50
47.10
512.30
63.40
52.50
278.80
57.40

Weekly
high
70.90
280.00
44.70
270.00
48.30
528.00
65.00
55.00
287.20
48.20

Weekly
low
66.20
239.00
39.90
240.00
44.70
479.20
55.00
46.20
255.00
41.20

Weekly
average
70.04
258.02
42.85
257.77
45.71
519.64
60.03
51.36
283.32
44.81

Price
change
-2.54
-4.93
2.99
-5.31
-3.03
0.00
-4.03
-2.10
-8.85
-22.51

Weekly
opening
43.30
269.80
67.00
190.20
263.70
27.10
47.20
52.50
26.00
57.30

Weekly
high
44.70
272.90
70.90
192.50
264.80
28.30
48.30
57.00
24.50
48.30

Weekly
low
39.90
255.40
66.00
179.90
255.00
26.00
44.80
48.00
20.50
43.20

Weekly
average
42.62
259.47
70.06
181.44
257.27
27.53
45.76
51.26
23.79
44.70

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Sunday, May 25, 2014

India hits US, China with solar


imports anti-dumping duties

Buoyant sentiment
boosts dollar in Asia trade
n AFP, Tokyo

n Reuters, New Delhi


India will impose anti-dumping duties on solar panels imported from the
United States, China, Taiwan and Malaysia to protect domestic solar manufacturers, according to a government
statement seen by Reuters on Friday.
The order, almost certain to anger
Indias trading partners, sets duties of
between 11 and 81 US cents per watt
and comes after a investigation which
started in 2011. The ruling by a quasijudicial body has to be published by the
Finance Ministry before it takes effect.
The decision adds to Indias growing
trade disputes just before Narendra Modi
takes office as prime minister on Monday.
Imposition of anti-dumping measures would remove the unfair advantages gained by dumping practices,
said Indias Anti-Dumping Authority in
its order released on Thursday.
Local manufacturers have long complained that US, Chinese and Malaysian
companies enjoy state subsidies and
are selling their products at artificially
low prices to capture the Indian market.
India also believes that anti-dumping
duties imposed on Chinese solar producers by the European Union and the
United States have further driven down
the price of Chinese solar products, to
the detriment of Indian suppliers.
India aims to raise its solar power
capacity to 20,000 MW by 2022 from
1,700 MW currently. It imported solar

A man cleans panels installed at a solar plant at Meerwada village of Guna district in Madhya Pradesh
products worth nearly 60bn rupees
($1.03bn) last year, according to an industry estimate. Domestic manufacturers got less than 2% of that business.
Indias solar manufacturing is now
bound to revive and further increase
with both local and overseas participation ensuring a robust supply chain,

said HR Gupta of the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association.


Under the new duties, importers
will have to bear additional costs of
between 5% and 110% while importing
solar cells and panels from the United
States, Malaysia and China.
The U.S. Trade Representative has

B3

REUTERS

filed two cases against India at the


World Trade Organisation (WTO), complaining local content rules discriminate against US solar companies.
A senior USTR official said the United States would look carefully at the
new duties given the importance of the
US solar industry. l

Buoyant investor sentiment lifted the


dollar against the yen and euro in Asia
on Friday, while the Thai baht logged
modest gains after a military coup that
followed months of deadly street protests.
In midday Tokyo trading, the greenback fetched 101.78 yen compared with
101.72 yen in New York Thursday.
The euro inched up to 138.92 yen
from 138.90 yen while it slipped to
$1.3648 from $1.3653, following a slight
downturn in a key eurozone gauge of
business activity.
Traders remain upbeat following a
sharp improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity and positive comments about interest rates from the US
Federal Reserve.
On Thursday, the US Labour Department said initial jobless claims, a measure of the pace of layoffs, ticked up
slightly from the previous week, while
existing homes sales were 1.3 percent
higher in April, the first positive month
so far this year.
The trend is declining and we
should see further improvements in
the unemployment rate in coming
months, National Australia Bank said
of the US jobless figures.
In contrast to the better Chinese
and US manufacturing data, European
manufacturing readings were disappointing, it added.
Markit Economicss May composite
purchasing managers index (PMI) for
the eurozone fell to 53.9 points from 54

in April, a slight pullback in the pace of


expansion.
The baht rose to 32.51 against the
dollar from 32.54 on Thursday. Thailands new military junta summoned
the kingdoms ousted leaders Friday
as an international outcry grew over a
military coup that has brought a harsh
crackdown on civil liberties.

'The coup reduces


uncertainty about the
immediate outlook
and, in particular,
the possibility that
the political standoff
would turn much more
violent'
Claiming the army was acting to halt
months of deadly political turmoil, the
tough-talking military chief declared
a nationwide night-time curfew and
ordered masses of rival demonstrators
off the streets.
The coup reduces uncertainty
about the immediate outlook and, in
particular, the possibility that the political standoff would turn much more
violent, said Mark Williams, chief Asia
economist for Capital Economics.
For these reasons it could actually
be positive both for Thailands economy and financial markets in the near
term. l

India best performing


eBay initially believed user data safe after cyberattack
equity market in Asia-Pac n
Reuters, Boston

n Reuters, Mumbai
The BSE Sensex rose more than 1% on
Friday, making India the best performing equity market in Asia-Pacific for
2014 in dollar terms.
The benchmark has gained 2% this
week on continued hopes the incoming
Narendra Modi government would unveil substantial economic reforms.
Gains were also helped as State Bank
of India surged after reporting bad
loans fell in January-March, sparking a
rally in other state-run lenders.
Modi will be sworn in on Monday,
ushering in the new Bharatiya Janata
Party government, and investors will
first focus on his cabinet appointments,
especially the finance ministry portfolio. The administration would then need
to unveil a new budget by early July.
Still, not all analysts are as optimistic. Deutsche Bank downgraded Indian stocks to neutral from neutral/
overweight relative to other global
emerging markets, saying valuations,

appeared very stretched.


Earning multiples look a little
stretched for short term. July budget
would be the next check point for this
rally, said Alok Roongta, chief financial
officer at Bharti AXA Life Insurance.
The BSE Sensex rose 1.3%, or 318.95
points, to end at a record closing high
of 24,693.35, although the index is still
around 3 percentage points away from
the all-time high hit last week.
This brings the Sensexs gain so far
for the year in dollar terms to 23.71%
in 2014, compared to the next best
performer, Indonesias IDX Composite
which gained 22.7%. The Sensex rose
2.4% for the week, marking its third
consecutive weekly gain.
SBI surged 9.6%, after earlier hitting
its highest since May 2011. The staterun lender said net non-performing
loans as a percentage of total assets fell
to 2.57% in the March quarter from 3.24
per cent in the preceding quarter. The
Sensex rose 2.4% for the week, marking
its third consecutive weekly gain l

Singer launches FIFA


World Cup offer
n Tribune Business Desk
Singer Bangladesh Limited recently
launched its new campaign Singer
Bishwa Kapano Offer targeting FIFA
World Cup Football Brazil 2014.
The campaign starts today and will

remain valid till the end of the tournament, - July 13. Under the campaign
customers can win cash discount,
scratch cards, gifts on purchase of its
products from Singer Mega, Singer
Plus and Singer Pro outlets all over the
country. l

eBay Inc initially believed that its customers data was safe as forensic investigators reviewed a network security breach discovered in early May and
made public this week, a senior executive told Reuters on Friday.
eBay has come under fire over its
handling of the cyberattack, in which
hackers accessed personal data of all
145 million users, ranking it among the
biggest such attacks launched on a corporation to date.
For a very long period of time we
did not believe that there was any eBay
customer data compromised, global
marketplaces chief Devin Wenig said,
in the first comments by a top eBay executive since the e-commerce company disclosed the breach on Wednesday.
eBay moved swiftly to disclose
the breach after it realized customer
data was involved, he said.
Wenig would not say when the company first realized that the cyberattackers accessed customer data, nor how
long it took to prepare Wednesdays announcement.
He said hackers got in using the credentials of three corporate employees,
eventually making their way to the
user database.
Hackers accessed email addresses
and encrypted passwords belonging
to all eBay users. Millions of users
have since reset their passwords and
the company had begun notifying users, though it would take some time to
complete that task, Wenig said.
You would imagine that anyone
who has ever touched eBay is a large

number, he said. So were going to


send all of them an email, but sending
that number all at once is not operationally possible.
At least three U.S. states are investigating the companys security practices. Customers have complained on
social media about delayed notification
emails. And New Yorks attorney general called on eBay to provide free credit
monitoring services to users.
But the Internet retail giant has no
plans to compensate customers or offer
free credit monitoring for now because
it had detected no financial fraud,
Wenig said.
Wenig declined comment when
asked if he thought eBay had good security prior to the breach. He said the
company would now bolster its security systems, and has mobilized senior
executives in a subsequent investigation of the attack.
We want to make sure it doesnt
happen again so were going to continue to look our procedures, harden our
operational environment and add levels of security where its appropriate.

The breach marked the latest headache for eBay this year. In January, it
crossed swords publicly with activist
investor Carl Icahn, who mounted a
campaign to get it to spin out PayPal.
Then in April, the e-commerce company disappointed investors with a weak
second-quarter outlook, pressuring its
shares.

Avoiding back doors

Buying and selling activity on eBay remained fairly normal though eBay is
still working out the cost of the breach,
which included hiring a number of
security firms. Wenig, who was previously a senior executive at Thomson
Reuters Corp, declined to comment on
whether the cost could be material to
eBays results.
Wenigs revelation that the company initially believed that no customer
data had been compromised might
take some of the heat off eBays executive team.
Cyber forensics experts said its not
uncommon for large companies to take
weeks to grasp the full impact of an

attack, because hackers are often able


to steal data without leaving obvious
clues.
In some cases you go in and find
the smoking gun immediately. Other
times, it takes a few days or even a few
weeks, said Kevin Johnson, a cyber-forensics expert who was not involved in
the eBay investigation but has worked
for other Fortune 500 companies.
Daniel Clemens, a forensics expert
and CEO of Packet Ninjas, said investigators often ask companies to hold off
on disclosure until they believe they
understand the full extent of an attack.
Otherwise, they risk tipping off attackers who might cover their tracks or
leave back doors so they can return
after the investigators complete their
probe.
On Wednesday, the e-commerce
company announced that hackers
raided its network between late February and early March. The company said
financial information was not compromised and its payments unit PayPal
was not affected.
When eBay first discovered the network breach in early May, the senior
team was immediately involved and
held multiple daily calls on the issue.
EBay staff have been working around
the clock since Wednesday.
Wenig said he could not provide
much more detail about what happened in the attack beyond the scant
information given out so far.
He declined to provide further specifics, citing ongoing investigations by
the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
several forensics firms including FireEye Incs Mandiant division. l

Rupali Bank introduces online


banking in 532 branches
n Tribune Report
Modhumoti Bank Limited recently held its 11th executive committee meeting that was
presided by the committees chair, Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, MP
Md Fahad Rahman, the youngest Fide master of the world became brand ambassador
of Prime Bank for the next one year. The banks managing sirector (currently in charge)
Ahmed Kamal Khan Chowdhury and Fahad Rahman signed an agreement on this regard
at its head office

The state-run Rupali Bank has introduced online transaction system in its
532 branches across the country.
The bank took the initiative for introducing computerised system in all the
branches recently as part of its overall
development plan to provide modern
banking service to the clients, said Rupali Bank chairman Dr. Ahmad al- Kabir.

We have started automation system, ATM service into the banks to


conduct competitive banking activities
as like as the other banks, he said.
We will introduce online banking system in the rest of 131 branches
soon.
The bank has established 40 ATM
booths in different districts across the
country. Clients of 58 branches of the
bank are getting the ATM service. l

China: economy faces pressure,


policy fine-tuning needed
n Reuters, Reuters

PRAN recently held a gala award ceremony of the 14th PRAN National Pickle Competition
2013 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital. Singer Sabina
Yasmin handed over the awards at the presence of Faridur Reza Sagar Managing Director
Channel I and Uzma Chowdhury, director of corporate finance at PRAN-RFL Group

Rotary International and Bangkok Hospital recently signed a memorandum of


understanding on providing health service and other facilities to Rotarians at a ceremony
in Dhaka. Rotary governor Ghulam Mustafa and governor nominee SAM Shawket Hossain
were present on the occasion

Chinas economy still faces relatively


big downward pressures and timely
policy fine-tuning is needed, Premier
Li Keqiang was quoted by state radio as
saying on Friday.
Chinas annual economic growth
slowed to an 18-month low of 7.4% in
the first quarter, raising the risk that
China could miss its economic growth
target - set at 7.5% in 2014 - for the first
time in 15 years.

Currently, the economy is generally stable and we see positive structural


changes, but downward pressures are
still large and we cannot be complacent, Li said during a visit to the northern region of Inner Mongolia.
We should use appropriate policy
tools and pre-emptive fine-tuning in a
timely and appropriate manner to help
resolve financing strains for the real
economy, especially small firms difficulties in financing and high borrowing
costs, he said. l

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Sunday, May 25, 2014

German economy gets off to good Q1


n AFP, Frankfurt
Booming investment provided the German economy with a healthy kick start
into this year, but business confidence
in Europes biggest economy appears
to be stalling already, data showed on
Friday.
The German economy grew by 0.8
percent in the first three months, according to the calculations of the the
federal statistics office Destatis.
That is the biggest GDP increase in
three years.
And the momentum came solely
from domestic demand, the Destatis
said, pointing to a 3.3% rise in investment in equipment and a 3.6% jump in
investment in construction.
In addition, consumer spending
was up by 0.7% and public spending by
0.4%.
Germany is one of the worlds biggest exporters, but net foreign trade
- the balance between exports and imports - is actually putting the brakes on
recovery, knocking a total 0.9 percentage point off the overall growth rate,
Destatis said.
The strong first-quarter performance had been widely expected, especially because the winter has been
so mild, which is positive for outdoor
industries such as construction.
Analysts have therefore cautioned
that the momentum is unlikely to be
sustained. And the latest sentiment indicators back this up.

Confidence indicators stall

Last week, the ZEW investor confidence

agreed Timo Klein at IHS Global Insight.


The ECB is expected to keep monetary policy very soft until late 2015,
probably even introducing some further loosening measures in June.
Financing conditions will thus remain very favourable in Germany for
a considerable period. In addition, it
needs to be kept in mind that the euro,
despite having strengthened modestly
since mid-2012, is still at quite competitive levels for Germanys export industry, Klein said.

Uptrend still intact

Growth of the German economy was driven exclusively by booming domestic demand in
the first quarter, while foreign trade put the brakes on activity
AFP
survey fell unexpectedly sharply in May.
And on Friday, the even more closely
watched Ifo business climate index fell
this month instead of holding steady as
analysts had predicted.
Ifo chief Hans-Werner Sinn said that
companies are no longer as positive
about either their current business or
the outlook for the next six months.
A lull was seen in the German economy in May, he said.
Nevertheless, most analysts believe
the German recovery has not come off
the rails just yet, even with the situation in Ukraine and the potential fall-

out for the euro area remaining a big


unknown.
The Ifo business climate has
dropped far more than expected
this month, but this setback doesnt
mean the German economy is changing course, said Commerzbank chief
economist Joerg Kraemer.
For one thing, the GDP data show
that the German corporate sector is finally investing more, he said and he
believed they would continue to do so,
given the very low level of interest rates.
Germanys near-term economic
recovery prospects remain quite good,

Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics took a more cautious view.


The breakdown of German GDP
for the first quarter confirmed that the
strong quarterly gain was partly down
to temporary factors. And the renewed
fall in the Ifo business climate index in
May suggested that the recovery may
now be slowing, she said.
Stefan Kipar at BayernLB said he
was now pencilling in slower growth
for the second quarter.
The strength of the first quarter
was exaggerated by weather effects,
which will fall away in the second quarter, he said.
In addition, uncertainty about the
situation in Ukraine is weighing somewhat on export-orientated sectors, the
expert said.
Nevertheless, the upward trend remains intact, Kipar said.
The clouding of sentiment is more
a process of normalisation following
the very sharp increases seen in the
first quarter, he said. l

Putin tries to woo


investors to Russia but
many stay away
n Reuters
President Vladimir Putin tried on
Thursday to warm up relations with
foreign investors chilled by the crisis
in Ukraine, but many senior executives
snubbed him by boycotting a conference billed as Russias answer to Davos.
The St Petersburg International
Economic Forum has for years drawn
global business leaders to the elegant
former imperial capital on the shores of
the Baltic Sea, and deals worth billions
of dollars have been signed at it.
But not this year. Many chief executives have stayed away under pressure
from the US government, which said
attendance would be inappropriate
after Russias annexation of Crimea
and the imposition of US and European
Union sanctions on Moscow.
Putin is not due to show up until
Friday, when he delivers the keynote
speech. But he sent a telegram to delegates with two messages: Russia wants
to do business with the West but it will
not do so at any price - it must be treated as an equal partner.
Russia is ready to broaden multifaceted contacts with all partners on
the basis of true equality and respect
for one anothers interests, he wrote as
he made his way back from China after
signing a landmark gas supply deal.
At the forum, Putin is likely to hold
up the 30-year supply deal with Beijing

French economist
Piketty: FT's criticism
'ridiculous'
n AFP, Paris
French economist Thomas Piketty hit
back Saturday at criticism by the Financial Times of his best-selling book
on income inequality, telling AFP the
newspaper was being "ridiculous".
The FT claimed Friday there was
little evidence in the 43-year-old's original sources to underpin his argument
in "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" that an increasing share of total
wealth is in the hands of the richest.
But Piketty said: "The FT is being
ridiculous because all of its contemporaries recognise that the biggest fortunes have grown faster.
"The data that we have on these fortunes is imperfect but data for other
things such as tax declarations on estates is more reliable."
He worked "completely transparently" and posted all his data online, he
added.
The FT said in its report that once
it had "cleaned up and simplified the
data, the European numbers do not
show any tendency towards rising

wealth inequality after 1970".


But Piketty told AFP in an interview:
"Where the Financial Times is being
dishonest is to suggest that this changes things in the conclusions I make,
when in fact it changes nothing.
"More recent studies only support my
conclusions, by using different sources."
The English-language version of
Piketty's book topped the Amazon
bestseller list in the United States and
has sparked a political debate about the
gap between rich and poor.
Critics have tried to deride his work
by labelling him a neo-Marxist, but it
gained him an audience at the White
House last month with top economic
advisors to US President Barack Obama.
Piketty uses data from the past two
centuries across 20 countries to demonstrate how inherited wealth has ensured the dominance of a small class of
people and will continue to do so unless action is taken.
He rejects the argument that economic growth in the capitalist system benefits
everyone, and advocates a punitive global tax on wealth to address the issue. l

as a sign to the West that it cannot isolate Russia globally because it has powerful allies in Asia.
But with Russias economy tilting
into recession and capital flight accelerating, an exodus by foreign investors
would be a painful blow for Putin.
Although
US
and
European
sanctions have so far targeted only
a few dozen individuals and small
firms, the overall chill and the threat of
broader measures in future are having
real economic consequences, Russian
officials say.
We sense and understand that the
informal character of the pressure ...
is all causing serious consequences for
our economy, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov was quoted as saying by RIA news agency.

Growing dangers

After a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine in February, Putin triggered the biggest confrontation with
the West since the Cold War by declaring the right to send troops.
Russia seized and annexed Ukraines
Crimea peninsula in March and has
since then massed tens of thousands
of troops on the frontier. Kiev and its
Western allies say Moscow is behind an
uprising in eastern Ukraine by armed
separatists who have declared independence and called for Russian military support. l

Chinas economy
entered manageable
slowdown

n Reuters

Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum on East Asia 2014, World Wide Fund for Nature, Yolanda Kakabadse, (left), Chairman of the Board
Toashiba Corporation, Atsutoshi Nishida (2nd left), Executive Director of Lippo Group, John Riady, (2nd right) and Chairman of Lawson
Incorporated Takeshi Niinami (right) join hands at a press conference during the World Economic Forum in Manila on May 22, 2014. The
forum, focusing on the fastest-growing region of the world, needs to look at ways to make growth more equitable and sustainable to bring
more people out of poverty while also finding ways to minimise environmental damage brought on by the group
AFP

Chinas economic slowdown is manageable as the country is in a stage of


development where reforms and environmental protection take precedence
in policy considerations, Central Bank
Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said.
Speaking at a conference in Rwanda
on Thursday, Zhou repeated the governments stance that China should
no longer only pursue high economic
growth rates, but should also focus on
delivering high-quality expansion.
I think this is manageable slowdown, Zhou said. We have come into
a new stage where we emphasize more
on structural changes, economic reform and having much better environmental protection.
He did not comment on the direction
of Chinas monetary policy, which some
analysts predict will be loosened this
year by lowering the reserve requirement
ratio to free up more cash for bank loans
and shore up the economy. Up against
unsteady global demand, weaker domestic demand and investment growth,
Chinas economy has lost steam this
year with growth falling to an 18-month
low of 7.4% in the first quarter. l

US wins WTO case against China on luxury cars Google making 3D tablet
n AFP, Washington
The WTO on Friday rejected Chinese
tariffs on US-made luxury cars, handing Washington a victory on one of the
growing number of disputes between
the worlds two largest economies.
A World Trade Organization panel,
responding to a US complaint, found
that China was inconsistent with the
global bodys rules when it imposed
tariffs in December 2011 over alleged
US dumping and subsidies.
China, the largest foreign market
for US automakers after Canada, ended the tariffs in December 2013 as the
WTO case progressed. But a US official
said Washington insisted that the WTO
formally rule against the measures to
ensure they stay off the books.
The message is clear - China must
follow the rules, just like other WTO
members, US Trade Representative
Michael Froman told reporters, echoing a common message from President
Barack Obamas administration when
responding to concerns about Beijing.
Americans deserve to compete on a
fair and level playing field, and we will
never stop fighting to ensure that our
trading partners live up to the commitments they made in our international
trade agreements, Froman said.
China imposed the tariffs over what
it said were unfair US practices amid
a raft of trade disputes. But Froman
noted that the United States had won
in all three cases that had come to WTO
resolution, the others concerning steel
products and broiled chickens.
The WTO decision came at the end
of an especially tense week between

the two powers, with the United


States on Monday for the first time indicting Chinese military officers for
allegedly stealing trade secrets through
hacking.

Strong market for US

China in 2011 had imposed tariffs for


alleged dumping - selling in a foreign
market at below home-market prices
- that ranged from 2 to 21.5%. It also
slapped tariffs of up to 12.9% for what
it said were US subsidies.
Consumers in China, unlike those
in some more developed Asian nations
such as Japan and South Korea, have
shown a strong appetite for cars from

the United States as incomes grow.


In 2013, the United States sold
$8.5bn in cars to China, about 13% of
global US auto exports. The US Trade
Representatives office said that the duties in question affected more than half
of US car exports to China.
The tariffs applied to cars from
Detroits Big Three - General Motors,
Chrysler and Ford Motor - and also to automobiles from BMW, Mercedes-Benz
and Honda that were manufactured in
the United States. US lawmakers, who
frequently accuse China of using unfair
trading practices to sell low-cost goods
overseas, cast the WTO decision as a
victory for ensuring the worlds largest

developing economy abides by rules of


the WTO, which it joined in 2001.
It is laughable for China, the biggest
dumping perpetrator in the world, to
claim that US vehicle exports are being
sold in China below the cost of production when they are obviously not, said
Senator Carl Levin, who represents the
auto state of Michigan.
China did not immediately react to
Fridays ruling. The state-run Xinhua
news agency noted that the WTO did
not agree with all US points and quoted
a commerce ministry spokesman as
saying in 2011 that US subsidies and
dumping had substantially harmed
Chinas auto industry. l

n AFP, San Francisco

Google next month will start cranking


out prototypes of a 3-D tablet designed
to give users immersive experiences
that could include virtual reality, according to US media reports.
The tablet will have a 7-inch display
and an array of sophisticated cameras,
sensors and software, the Wall Street
Journal said in a story citing unnamed
sources. Google on Friday said they
had nothing to announce.

Indian oil cos to pay $11.4


bln fuel subsidy
n Reuters
India has ordered oil companies to provide $11.4bn subsidy for 2013/14 to help
cover losses of state retailers that sell
fuels at cheaper rates - a jump of 12 percent from the previous year, a source
with knowledge of the matter said on
Thursday.
India regulates retail prices of liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene and die-

DILBERT

A visitor poses for a photo with an Audi R8 Spyder at Auto China 2014 in Beijing

AFP

The tablet was reported to be part of


a Project Tango worked on by a special
team at the California-based technology firm.
The project was said to involve giving advanced mapping and virtual reality capabilities to mobile devices powered by Googles free Android software.
Nearly 42% of people in the United States used tablets at least once a
month last year and that figure was expected to top 46% this year, according
to industry tracker eMarketer. l

sel to keep prices under check for the


masses, leading to revenue losses at
Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp
and Hindustan Petroleum Corp.
ONGC, OIL and GAIL will jointly
cover about 48% of the 1.4tn rupees
($23.82bn) revenue losses of the retailers in the fiscal year to March 2014,
while the government has agreed to
provide a cash subsidy of 702.72bn rupees. l

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