Joishthya 19, 1421

Shaaban 3, 1435
Regd. No. DA 6238
Vol 2, No 63

MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

7 | CHANGING FACE OF LOCAL BOURSES

8 | ASSAD RUNS AGAIN FOR PRESIDENT

20 pages | Price: Tk12

11 | FROM JAPAN, WITH LOVE

15 | PANDEY FIRES KKR TO SECOND TITLE

Reshuffle likely
in prosecution
team soon
Tipoo to be sent on forced leave
n Udisa Islam and Nazmus Sakib
The authorities may bring changes to
the prosecution team of the International Crimes Tribunal this month to
solve the recent controversies.
Sources say the Law Ministry is
looking for a new person for the post
of chief prosecutor since current chief
Ghulam Arif Tipoo is too old for
the job. He is likely to be sent on six
months forced leave.

P3

SHAFIQUE DIFFERS

As a second option, senior prosecutor

Syed Haider Ali will continue as the
acting chief prosecutor until further
decision.
The ministry is likely to decide on
the matter this month.
Conflict within the prosecution
team surfaced some two months ago
when Tipoo went on a medical leave
and the ministry appointed Haider Ali
the acting chief prosecutor in a gazette
notification.
Confusion mounted when Tipoo returned after 15 days and submitted his
joining letter but the ministry did not
withdraw the gazette. Meanwhile, Haider Ali convened several meetings of the

prosecution without informing Tipoo.

The chief prosecutor recently urged
the ministry to resolve the issue.
In the latest move, the ministry has
decided to grant Tipoo six months
leave.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam
yesterday said the prosecution team
should be reshuffled as soon as possible. He said coordination between the
chief prosecutor and other prosecutors
was absent now.
There is no doubt that he was a
prominent lawyer. But he has become
old now. Age weakens all. At this point,
the person concerned should consider
whether he is fit for work or not.
Mahbubey said: A prosecution
lawyer of the tribunal should have the
experience of conducting 5-10 criminal
cases. There is no scope of adventurism
here. I think there should be coordination between the chief prosecutor and
others which is largely absent.
The prosecution team should function the way the Law Ministry wants
to run it. Law Minister Anisul Huq is
a criminal law expert. He conducted
the Bangabandhu murder case and the
case concerning the killing of four national leaders in Jail, he said.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh along with locals dig out mines planted by Myanmars Border Guard Police inside Bangladesh Territory in Naikhangchhari upazilas
inaccessible hilly parts in Bandarban yesterday. Story on Page 2
BANGLAR CHOKH

First phase Rooppur plant work to cost $50m more

n Aminur Rahman Rasel
The first phase of construction for the
Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP)
would now require $50m more than
the initial estimated cost of $550m, according to sources at the Science and
Technology Ministry.
The third of the four agreements

regarding the construction of the

Rooppur plant in Pabnas Ishwardi was
approved yesterday by the Cabinet
Committee on Public Purchase.
As per the third agreement, the
Russian company Atomstroyexport
will construct different structural work
in the Rooppur site involving $190m,
said Additional Secretary of Cabinet Di-

vision Nurul Karim to journalists, after

a committee meeting at the secretariat.
On May 23, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) signed the third
initial under phase-one; titled performance of first priority construction and
the construction work of preparatory
stage prior to the first concrete, with
Atomstroyexport.

The third agreement is likely to be

officially penned soon.
Seeking anonymity, a senior official
of the Science and Technology Ministry said the third agreement which
would see the physical construction
of the plants infrastructure would
cost $190m, while the total cost would
PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

9 RAB men sued Making history wont be a bed of roses

for murder
n Asif Showkat Kallol
This budget is
Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria

CPD raises eyebrows over

GDP growth estimate

A case was filed yesterday against 11

people, including nine Rapid Action
Battalion (RAB) member on charge of
torturing a businessman to death in
custody.
Mehedi Hasan, brother of victim
Shahnur Alam, son of Rahis Uddin of
Bagdahar village in Nabinagar upazila,
filed the case with the court of Nabinagar Senior Judicial Magistrate Nazmun
Nahar.
The accused include RAB 14 Bhairab
Camp Commanding Officer Major AZ
Sakib Siddique and sub-inspector M
Enamul Haque.
The court fixed June 4 for further
hearing on the complaints.
As the case goes a team of nine RAB
members detained Shahnur from his
house on the night of April 29. He was
first taken to Nabinagar Police Station.
Later he was taken to the Bhairab Camp
of the RAB.

n Kayes Sohel

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

He may be only a couple of days away

from making history, but AMA Muhith,
the first finance minister of the country to present six consecutive budgets,
sees this as more of a challenge than an
achievement.
In an interview with the Dhaka
Tribune, Muhith said: We must now
seriously think about implementing
everything that we have said, started or
failed to launch over the last five years.
[Coming to power for the second time
on the trot means that] we must now
be far more responsible to the people
of the country [than before].
He said there were both advantages
and disadvantages of one party forming two consecutive governments.
The advantage is that we will now
be able to maintain a continuity of the
work that we have done over the last
five years... The reality in our country
is that whenever a new government
assumes power, everybody thinks it
will start many things, but will not be

fundamentally
different as
there is no
option but
to focus on
implementation

able to finish many of them... We sometimes think let us leave it for the next
government. But, we cannot do that
now.
While talking to the Dhaka Tribune
correspondent at the Sylhet circuit
house on Thursday, the minister said
the coming budget was fundamentally different from any previous budget,
there was the added pressure of wrapping up unfinished jobs.
We have taken our economy to an
unprecedented level and for that, we
need to think big, think about big projects. The coming budget will be a reflection of this.

INSIDE
3 | News

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday

approved filing of charges against 11 Sonali
Bank officials, including its former managing
director M Humayun Kabir and T & Brothers
Limited Director M Taslim Hasan.

4 | News

United Kingdom
will cooperate with
Bangladesh in facing
climate change
and river erosion
challenges, the British
envoy to Bangladesh
yesterday assured at
a meeting held at the Barisal City Corporation
office.

5 | News

Two years have passed since the new

organogram (organisational chart) of the
Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh was
placed before the ministry concerned but the
government has not yet finalised it.

6 | Nation

Speakers at a daylong field level stakeholders

workshop here on Saturday emphasized
the need for collective efforts of all quarters
including the local government institutions for
successful disaster preparedness.

9 | World

The last US prisoner

of war from Americas
waning Afghan war
was handed over to
US Special Operations
forces in Afghanistan
on Saturday in a
dramatic swap for five
Taliban detainees who
were released from Guantanamo Bay prison
and flown to Qatar.

12 | Entertainment

While most TV actors are eager to switch from

the small screen to the silver screen, TV actor/
director Mahfuz Ahmed has a different game
plan. Mahfuz plans on directing films a few
years down the line.

13 | Sport

The Bangladesh
Cricket Board selection
panel will keep
faith and retain the
existing set of national
cricketers for the
upcoming three-match
ODI series against
India despite the disastrous performance put
in by the team in the opening quarter of this
year, it was learnt from a close source.

Thankfully, we have two big projects in our hands the Padma bridge
and turning the Dhaka-Chittagong
Highway into four lanes... The work on
the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway has already begun. There were some complications with the Chinese contractor...
But we have resolved those, Muhith
said.
Terming the proposed Padma bridge
as one of the transformative projects,
he said: The countrys economic
growth does not get a boost unless
these transformation projects are completed.
He asserted that the Padma bridge
would be built within the next four
years, that is during the present tenure
of the government.
He also shared some of his plans for
the coming years: Initiatives will also
be taken for the metro rail and building
a convention centre of international
standards near Dhaka. We hope to begin the work for the metro rail in the
next years budget.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

The Centre for Policy Dialogue has

raised questions about the 6.12% economic growth projected by the national statistics agency for the outgoing
fiscal year.
According to the CPD, the projected GDP growth was shown so high at a
time when the economy went through
turbulent political stage atmosphere in
the first half of the fiscal year 2014.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
(BBS) has recently come up with the
provisional estimate of 6.12% GDP
growth in FY2014. This was 1.1% lower
than the target of 7.2% set in the FY14.
Many analysts including the World
Bank and the Asian Development Bank
expected the economic growth in FY 14
to be between 5.5%-6% in view of political unrest in the first half of the fiscal
year.
The CPD in January 2014 also pre-

dicted that the GDP growth rate in

FY2014 would be ranging between
5.6% and 5.8%.
CPD Executive Director Professor
Mustafizur Rahman said the BBS estimated that the service sector worst
sufferer during political unrest grew
by 5.8% in FY14 against 5.5% in FY13.
This is quite surprising that the service sector grew by 0.3% over its previous fiscal when the political field was
relatively peaceful, he said.
The service sector that contributed
more than 50% of the total GDP was
adversely affected due to restive political programmes in the run up to the national election on January 5, according
to the CPD.
Prof Mustafizur Rahman said: All
subsectors under service sectors were
affected by the political turmoil, but
have shown higher growth which we
call into question.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, June 2, 2014

AL allies say conspiracy on against banning Jamaat

Army man killed

in road crash

n Emran Hossain Shaikh

n Our Correspondent, Coxs Bazar

The political allies of Awami League

have claimed that a conspiracy is on
against the process of banning Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party, adding that a quarter of the government
was against such a ban.
Leaders of the 14-party alliance said
there was a national consensus in support of banning the party, adding that
there was no scope for the government
to make an about-turn regarding the
issue. There would be misconception
among the public if the government
was to change its stance against the Jamaat, they added.

The comments came following

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas recent comment about the legal barrier
against trying Jamaat under the tribunal law.
Workers Party President Rashed
Khan Menon told the Dhaka Tribune it
was possible to ban the Islamist party
under the existing laws of the country.
The legal ground that has been
brought up by the prime minister will
not create any barrier. It will not create
any contradiction, said Menon, also
the tourism minister; adding that they
wanted to see legal action for banning
the party that was involved with war
crimes.

The people of the country want Jamaat to be banned as a political party.

We hope the government will take action as soon as possible, he said.
Sharif Nurul Ambiya, general secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, claimed
that a conspiracy had been planned at
a time when a national consensus was
made in favour of banning Jamaat
He added that his party respected
the premiers statement as it might
have a legal ground, but claimed that
the law ministers comment was questionable.
The statement of law minister has
proven that there is a quarter in the
government who do not agree on ban-

ning Jamaat, Ambiya said.

On Wednesday, referring to a pending case at the Supreme Court about
cancelling the registration of Jamaat as
a political party, Law Minister Anisul
Huq said Jamaat cannot be tried now
under the tribunal law as it lacks provision for the purpose.
Nurur Rahman Selim, general secretary of Ganatantri Party, said the law
ministers statement has created confusion among the people and it also
has raised questions on the war crimes
trials.
This statement is contradictory to
public demand, he said.
The Ganatantri Party leader urged

the government to take necessary steps

for banning all political parties that
were involved with war crimes, saying:
We do not want to see any statement.
We want to see Jamaat as a banned political party.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, however, defended Anisuls
comment about Jamaat issue.
In a press conference at Ganabhaban, the premier said: Our minister has said the right thing. A writ [on
Jamaats registration] is pending with
the higher court. And the government
has nothing to do until judgement of
the case is delivered. Two similar cases
cannot run simultaneously. l

Ban on firearms,
rallies ahead of
parliament session
n UNB
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has
banned carrying of all kinds of firearms, explosives and other harmful
objects around the parliament building
starting today night, a spokesman said.
DMP Commissioner Benazir Ahmed
yesterday said the ban has been imposed also on processions, rallies and
demonstrations in the areas to ensure
security during the second session of
the 10th parliament.
The session begins on Tuesday.
The prohibited areas cover Mohakhali
crossing of Mymensingh road-Bangla motor crossing trough Old Airport
Road, Bangla motor link road (west
side)-Sonargaon SAARC fountain, Panthapath (East)-linking point-Farmgate,
Mirpur road Shyamoli intersectionlinking point of Dhanmondi-16 (old27), Rokeya Sarani-linking road-old
9th division (aircraft) crossing-Parjatan
crossing (Bijoy sarani), Indira road (east
point)-Manik Mia avenue (west side),
JS restricted areas and all roads under
this areas and lanes. l

An army man was killed in a road accident yesterday as his car fell into a
roadside ditch near Chakaria Degree
College in Coxs Bazaar.
The deceased was identified as Gulzar
Hossain, 32, driver of Coxs Bazaar 16 Engineering Construction Battalion.
Additional Superintendent of Police of Coxs Bazar (Chakaria Circle) Md
Masud Alam said the car was heading
towards Coxs Bazaar from Chittagong.
The driver lost control near the college
gate and the car veered off the road
into the ditch, leaving Gulzar injured.
He died at Chakaria Jamjam Hospital. l

EC cancels Rabbis
nomination
n Our Correspondent, Narayanganj

A truck is being laden with jackfruit at Khagrachhari following a bumper production in the district this season

BANGLAR CHOKH

The Election Commission cancelled the

nomination paper of Rafiur Rabbi, father
of murdered Tanvir Mohammad Twoki,
due to defaulting on repayment of loans.
Mihir Sarwar Morshed, returning
officer of Narayanganj Election Office,
informed media yesterday.
Rabbi collected nomination paper
on May 21 to contest in Narayanganj-5
by-polls.
Quoting Bangladesh Bank Morshed
said Rabbi did not repay the loans taken for his organisation Sign Knitwear.
Narayanganj 5 constituency fell vacant following the death of Jatiya Party
lawmaker Nasim Osman on April 30.
The by-election of Narayanganj 5
constituency will be held on June 26.
Rafiur Rabbis son Tanvir Mohammad Twoki, was found dead on the
bank of the Shitalakkhya River on
March 8 of last year, two days after he
had disappeared.
Since the death of Twoki, Rafiur
has been accusing the ruling Awami
League lawmaker Shamim Osman for
the killing. l

Bangabandhu first BNP: Tarique has no Facebook or blog accounts 'AL as risky as formalin'
president
ones mercy and it is moving ahead with
there, said BNPs acting secretary gen- que would take the responsibility of any
n UNB
n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
the affection and support of people.
statement posted in the fake accounts. He
eral Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Mohsinul Karim
n
He urged Hasina to lay aside her ego,
I want to clearly state that Tarique called upon people to refrain from open- Pointing to Prime Minister Sheikh HasiBNP yesterday claimed that its Senior
Rahman has no Facebook or blog accounts, he added.
The BNP leader made the claim
while addressing a press conference at
the partys Nayapaltan central office.
Fakhrul said neither BNP nor Tari-

The Cabinet Division has sent a list

of the countrys presidents to Bangabhaban, mentioning Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the first
president of the country.
Abdul Wadud, joint secretary of the
Cabinet Division, said they sent the list
of the presidents on Thursday.
On May 26, Bangabhaban sent a letter to the Cabinet Division asking for
the list of the presidents of Bangladesh
with their tenures.
The move came following BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahmans
claim that Ziaur Rahman was the first
president of the country.
Tarique, son of former president
Ziaur Rahman and former three-times
prime minister Khaleda Zia, had previously claimed at a seminar in London
that Ziaur Rahman, a sector commander in 1971, was the first president of
Bangladesh. l

Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, now

living in London, has no Facebook or
blog accounts.
We have noticed some Facebook
accounts in the name of Tarique Rahman with various statements posted

9 RAB men sued

Making history wont

be a bed of roses

PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

He was reportedly tortured at the RAB

camp before he was handed over to the
police station on April 30. Shahnur was
shown arrested in a case and produced
before a court which sent him to jail on
May 1.
As his condition deteriorated the jail
authorities took him to Brahmanbaria
Sadar Hospital on May 4. He was then
shifted to the Comilla Medical College
Hospital where he died on May 6.
The complainant said the victims
body bore the marks of injury as per the
viscera report. l

Reshuffle likely
PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

No one from the prosecution team including the acting chief agreed to be
quoted on the matter.
A prosecutor, seeking anonymity,
claimed that the ministry was searching for a fresh person for the post and
until then Haider Ali would continue as
acting chief.
He observed that the reform meant
changes in the mid-level, not in the
post of chief prosecutor.
Another senior prosecutor said it
did not matter who would be made the
chief prosecutor, but he/she should be
a qualified person with non-partisan
views. Reform does not mean changing a person but to change the system.
Anisul Huq, the law minister, told
the Dhaka Tribune that Tipoo was sick
and that he would be given six months
leave. l

ing fake Facebook accounts and posting

statements using Tariques name.
The BNP spokesman also said they
were trying to detect those indulging in
such acts and would take legal steps to
this end. l

Kamal: Fire exchange a misunderstanding

n Rabiul Islam

The recent fire exchange between

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB)
and Myanmar Border Guard Police
(BGP) in Naikkhyangchari border in
Bandarban was a misunderstanding, State Minister for Home Affairs
Asaduzzaman
Khan
Kamal
has
said.
The minister made the observation
while talking to journalists at the Home
Ministry yesterday.

PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

Muhith said one of his major achievements was the level of revenue collection.
Despite numerous obstacles, we
have achieved unthinkable success in
collecting revenue. When I placed the
budget five years ago, revenue collection was only Tk53,000 crore. Today,
it has increased more than twofolds
going past Tk1,30,000 crore, the minister said.
Asked what his regrets were, he
said: Corruption has been a big headache. Many corrupt people have been
spared... Things cannot go on like
this... Criminals are also sometimes indulged. That is painful.
I admit that my party has also
sometimes given them [the criminals]

Bangladesh had called the Myanmar

envoy in Dhaka for their army
deployment at Myanmar-Bangladesh
border, he said.
However, he also expressed hope
that the border issue with Myanmar
would be solved soon.
The tension between two forces
has been dismantled and an adequate
measure has also been taken to avert
any untoward situation in the border
area with Myanmar.
The minister has also urged people

shelter. They should never be spared,

the minister said.
By presenting the FY2014-15 national budget in parliament on June 5,
Muhith will equal late Saifur Rahmans
record of presenting eight budgets during two separate tenures of the BNP
government.
Muhith presented his first two
budgets on behalf of military ruler HM Ershads government in the
1980s.
In reply to another question, he
claimed that the defence ministry
was not getting the highest allocation this year since a portion of that
money would be spent for the cadet
colleges and the other educational institutions run the by the armed
forces. l

adjacent to the border areas not to get

panicked.
Naik Md Mizanur Rahman of the
BGB has been shot dead following an
indiscriminate firing by the Myanmar
Border Police.
The BGB men were patrolling along
the Bangladesh-Myanmar border with
the team when he went missing amid
random firing.
After three days, Myanmar border
police handed over the body of Mizanur
to BGB on Saturday. l

nas claim that the preservatives like

formalin keep BNP alive, the largest
opposition party, in a counterattack
yesterday, termed the ongoing PM-led
government just as risky as formalin.
Her (Hasina) tenure is characterised
by formalin and they are using formalin in every sector, including politics
and economy, very efficiently, Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary
general of BNP, said at a press briefing in
its Nayapaltan office.
Earlier on Saturday, the PM at a
press conference in Gono Bhaban said
her party members were trying to keep
BNP alive by using formalin. This was
in reply to another comment made by
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at a public rally in Munshiganj where she had
said AL had gone rotten and formalin is
needed to keep the party alive.
Criticising the PMs speech, Fakhrul
said: BNP does not depend on any-

and demanded holding interim elections under a non-partisan government

to test the partys popularity. Then it
will be clear who has been alienated
from people, mentioned Fakhrul.
The spokesperson also expressed
doubt about the trial of Jamaat-e-Islami,
saying that people have already started
raising questions whether the ruling AL
will stick to its previous stance.
Criticising PMs speech, Fakhrul
said:AL presidents speech is out of political norms. She (Hasina) is being aggressive while making verbal attacks at
her political opponents. Autocracy and
fascism was reflected in her speech.
The leader continued that the premier did not even spare the judges
from her attack.
Indicating the PMs claim that BNP is
illegal, the acting secretary general said:
It is necessary to investigate the birth
of AL because its birth is akin to BNP. l

First phase Rooppur plant work to cost $50m more

PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

be around $550m in four phases.

Weak negotiations from the Bangladesh side resulted in the $50m increase
in estimated costs, the source claimed,
adding that the work for constructing the pit foundation which would
now be penned under the fourth deal
could have been signed under the third
one.
So far three agreements worth
$500m have already been penned with
the Moscow-based company, while
another deal worth $50m is currently
pending.
Russia has agreed to provide a maximum of $500m under state credit to
finance the first phase of construction, but only under the condition that
Bangladesh would provide 10% of the
total construction costs.
The $500m state credit from Russia has an interest rate of 1% plus libor
(which would not exceed 3.5%), which

Bangladesh would need to start paying

back from 2018. Libor, or the London
Interbank Offered Rate, is the average interest rate estimated by leading
banks in London that they would be
charged if borrowing from other banks.
An official of Science and Technology Ministry said the government would
sign the fourth deal within the next 12
to 15 months based on design documentation under second deal.
The fourth deal for pit foundation
will be signed based on soil test at the
proposed site.
The government has appointed Russian consultancy firm Atomstroyexport
to supervise and monitor the construction of the plant.
The $190m from the third agreement
is expected to be spent for performance
of first priority construction and the
erection work of preparatory stage, prior to the first concrete at Rooppur site.
The $265m cost under the second

agreement will be spent on the development of design documentation, first

priority working documentation and
engineering survey for design stage;
while $45.9m under the first agreement
will be spent for the development of
feasibility evaluation, environment impact assessment analyses for the RNPP
site as the performance of the necessary engineering survey and environmental studies.
The BAEC, under the Science and
Technology Ministry, will implement
the project.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the groundwork of the
2,000MW plant on October 2 last year.
Russian State Atomic Energy Commission (Rosatom) will build, operate
and provide fuel to the plant and take
its waste back to Russia regularly. The
total cost of the proposed plant has
been estimated at between $5bn and
$6bn. l

CPD raises eyebrows over GDP growth estimate

PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

We want detailed data and I think the

BBS will meet our queries.
The CPD raised the question on
the BBS estimation yesterday in its
third review of the state of economy
in FY14.
The executive director of the think
tank said the growth projection was
important as the next budget would be
formulated based on it.
The CPD said according to the BBS
latest estimate, the agriculture sec-

tor grew by 3.4%, which is nearly

1% higher than that in the last fiscal
year.
The BBS estimation shows a slightly
lower growth only in the manufacturing sector which is 8.4% against 10.3%
in the last fiscal.
The construction sector witnessed
a sluggish growth in the first half of
the fiscal year, but the BBS showed
its growth at 8.6%, which is 0.6%
higher.
The CPD executive director said in

the last ten years, the final GDP growth

estimates were six times lower than
provisional estimates.
Indeed, a number of adjustments
need to be made during finalising the
GDP estimate for FY14.
He said the provisional estimate
of growth rates for crop sector would
need to take into account the production of Boro, the most important
crop.
In FY 14, domestic savings as a share
of GDP experienced a significant in-

crease from 22% in FY13 to 23.4%.

The CPD also suggested more foreign aid for budget deficit.
There are around $19bn aid in the
pipeline, so we should utilise it, Prof
Mustafizur Rahman said.
Bangladesh Bank has been buying
dollars from the local market to keep
exchange rate stable, saying it might
cause inflationary pressure on the
economy, observed the CPD.
It also recommended restoring the
investors confidence and addressing

the ever-increasing infrastructure demand in a cost-effective manner.

The local research organisation
suggested institutional strengthening,
targeted reform and good governance
at all levels, plus an inclusive and participatory political culture to address
challenges.
If the participatory politics is
ensured and the confidence of investors restored, the pace will come
back to the economy, said Professor
Mustafizur. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Shafique differs with sitting

minister on Jamaat trial
n Nazmus Sakib
Differing with the law minister, former
law minister Shafique Ahmed said it
was the tribunal that would decide
whether Jamaat-e-Islami could be tried
under the International Crimes Tribunals Act 1973.
On Thursday, Anisul Huq told the
journalists the trial of the party was
not possible now as the law does not
say anything about who would be punished if Jamaat was found guilty for
their role in 1971. Moreover, a case on
Jamaats registration is pending with
the Appellate Division of the Supreme
Court and as per the law of the country,
trials of two cases on the same subject
cannot go on at the same time.
Shafique was at the helm of the ministry when the Act of 1973 was amended in February last year making a provision to bring an organisation to justice
for war crimes.
Shafique said as the investigation
team submitted investigation report,
which found Jamaat guilty, to the prosecution, now the two teams would decide whether the case should be filed

against the party.

If the case was filed, the prosecution would place their arguments and
the defence would try to refute. Then
the tribunal would decide whether the
party could be tried under the existing
law, Shafique said.

Shafique was at the

helm of the ministry
when the Act of 1973
was amended making
a provision to bring an
organisation to justice
for war crimes
As the investigation was completed
and the probe report was submitted to
the prosecution, it was not right to create controversy on the matter. I think
the law should be run on its own speed
and the tribunal should follow its own
course, he added.
Anisul said: Suppose Jamaat faces
trial and is convicted for war crimes.
Then the leaders of the party will serve

the punishment for the crimes of Jamaat as per the existing laws. But many
leaders of Jamaat have already been
sentenced by the tribunal. So how can
a person be punished for the same offence again? It should be considered
that imposing punishment twice is
contradictory with the constitution.
In reply to a question on whether
the law minister interfered with tribunal proceedings, Attorney General
Mahbubey Alam yesterday told journalists: The law minister did not say
about the work of the tribunal. Rather,
he talked about the legal part.
If the prosecution moves the tribunal for trial of Jamaat and it is then seen
that the party cannot be banned or
fined because of lack of provision, we
will run into trouble. For this reason,
the law minister said the Jamaat trial is
not possible now.
Justice M Enayetur Rahim, now the
chairman of International Crimes Tribunal 1, in his judgement cancelling
the registration of Jamaat said the tribunal law should include the provision
of punishment for a convicted organisation. l

HALLMARK-SONALI BANK SCAM

Former Sonali Bank MD, 11

others to face charges
n Tribune Report
The Anti-Corruption Commission
yesterday approved filing of charges
against 11 Sonali Bank officials, including its former managing director M Humayun Kabir and T & Brothers Limited
Director M Taslim Hasan.
The accused were charged with embezzling Tk354.55 crore from the Ruposhi
Bangla Hotel Branch of Sonali Bank.
The ACC has also approved three
final reports into the investigation
against Nakshi Knit Composite Limited as the company already deposited
around Tk13.34 crore, including around
Tk10.82crore as embezzled money and
Tk2.52 crore as bank interest, an ACC official told reporters.
Along with the T & Brothers director,
the ACC will soon file charges against
Sonali Bank Ruposhi Bangla Hotel
Branch former deputy general manager
AKM Azizur Rahman, former assistant
general manager Saiful Hasan, executive officer M Abdul Matin, General
Managers Office former general managers, Noni Gopal Nath and Mir Mohidur

Rahman, and Head Office branch former

managing director and chief executive
officer M Humayun Kabir, deputy managing director M Mainul Haque, deputy
general managers, Sheikh Altaf Hossain
and M Safizuddin Ahmed, and assistant general managers, Kamrul Hossain
Khan and Ejaj Ahmed.
Earlier on October 4, 2012, the ACC
filed 11 cases against seven officials of
Hallmark Group and 20 of Sonali Bank,
including Hallmark Managing Director
Tanvir Mahmud and Sonali Bank former
managing director Humayun Kabir on
charges of allegedly swindling the Sonali Banks Ruposhi Bangla Hotel Branch
out of over Tk1,568 crore.
The commission on May 5 approved
10 charge sheets against 21 people including 11 Sonali Bank officials and 10
executives of Paragon Knit Composite
Limited, DN Sports Limited, and Khan
Jahan Ali Sweater Limited for embezzling
Tk18.68crore from the state-owned bank
in connection with the misappropriation
of loans from the bank by five companies,
including the Hallmark Group, the ACC
official told reporters. l

30 Bangladeshi
students caught in
Russia-Ukraine fight

HC order on Annisul
Huq to buy 20%
share stayed
n Nazmus Sakib
The Supreme Court yesterday stayed
the High Court order that directed Annisul Huq, chairman of the board of directors of Desh Energy Ltd, and his son
Navidul Huq, to buy the remaining 20%
of the company from two other directors.
Annisul Huq and Navidul Huq already hold 80% of the shares.
Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, the
chamber judge of the Appellate Division, imposed the stay order for four
weeks following a plea filed by Annisul
Huq.
Reshad Imam, lawyer for Nuher Latif Khan and Saba Khan the two directors who are also the founders of the
company told the Dhaka Tribune that
We have not opposed the stay petition
because we havent got the HC order
copy yet, but we sought a status quo
on the order so that no one can transfer
the shares. Finally, the judge advised
us to file a petition in this regard.
During the companys incorporation
in 2005, Nuher and Saba owned 50%
shares which came down to 20% as
Annisul Huq, former president of FBCCI and BGMEA, and his son gradually
bought 80% shares of the company. l

Musa Ibrahim sued

as he allegedly
gives false
information
n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

At least 30 Bangladeshi medical students have been stranded in Ukraines
Lugansk city ahead of a planned government offensive against pro-Russian
militias, who are occupying several important buildings.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune over
phone from the embattled eastern
city yesterday, one of the students at
Lugansk State Medical University expressed concerns about their safety as
there is no Bangladesh mission in the
country to arrange their evacuation.
We come to know that the Ukrainian
forces have encircled the city and plan
to carry out a military offensive against
pro-Russian militias. They have occupied the government buildings. Thirty of
us (from Bangladesh) are in the middle
of the war zone, Liton Chandra Bhowmick, a student, said. Please save us.
He added that the Indian mission in
Ukraine had already evacuated their students. But here, we have no guardian.
We have to contact the Bangladesh mission in Moscow, said Liton, who comes
from Koshbain Brahmanbaria district.
He said they had telephoned the foreign ministry in Dhaka to ask for help.
Foreign Ministry officials said they
had already referred the matter to the
Bangladesh embassy in Moscow, which
oversees diplomatic relations with Kiev.
We will try our best to protect our
students from any probable danger,
an official who answered Litons phone
call told the Dhaka Tribune. l

Vehicles maneuver the water-logged road at Moghbazar intersection after a brief spell of rain yesterday. Commuters suffer every day on the road because of the sluggish pace of the
construction of the Moghbazar-Malibagh Flyover
BANGLAR CHOKH

Nephew describes
torture as witness
n Udisa Islam

Martyrs sons testify

in Azhar case

A new witness from a victims family in

the trial against Syed Mohammad Qaisar yesterday claimed that the accused
had been involved in the atrocities that
took place at their house in Habiganj
during the 1971 Liberation War.
Babu Santal, who was 12-year-old
during the war, said the accused had
assisted the Pakistani occupation forces
to rape his aunt at Chandpur Tea State.
On May 11, I and my grandfather Bipin
Santal were at home while other members
of the family were out to work. A person
dressed in white came to our house along
with two Pakistani Army men and two
other Bangalees named Gafur and Abdul
Huq. The man in the white dress directed
the army to enter my aunts room.
I was hiding in a nearby bush. My
grandfather went to save my aunt but
the two Bangalees beat him up severely.
I heard my aunt screaming for help,
but at one point she stopped. The two
army men and the collaborators left the
place after around an hour. When my
uncle returned home, my aunt told him
that the army men had raped her. The
neighbours confirmed us that they saw
Qaisar with the army, the witness said.
Babu claimed that his mother had told
him not to mention the name of Qaisar to
anyone fearing further repression. The
next day, the family left the area for safety.
The victim had been sick following the
rape. She is now 80 and unable to talk.
After liberation they had recognised the
accused as he took part in the election.
Babu told the tribunal that the workers of
the tea state had never voted for Qaisar. l

Monday, June 2, 2014

n Udisa Islam
Two new prosecution witnesses yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal 1 about their fathers abduction and
killings in the war crimes case against
Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul
Islam, an alleged al-Badr commander
in Rangpur during the Liberation War.
AYM Moazzem Ali and Tapan Kumar
Adhikari submitted their depositions
as 16th and 17th prosecution witnesses.
Their fathers were abducted and taken
to a torture camp, and they never returned.
The hearsay the witnesses heard
about the incidents from Montu Doctor, who had also been confined along
with another 10 people but somehow
managed to escape.
Tapan, 59, said his father and one
brother had been abducted from in
front of their house by the occupation forces aided by collaborators and
killed along with eight others on April
3 of 1971 at the Dahiganj Crematory in
Rangpur.
We could not conduct a funeral for
our family members. When the locals
went to collect the bodies from the spot
immediately after the incident, the local collaborators along with Pakistan
Army personnel chased them away, he
said.
Both the witnesses said one Dinesh
Chandra Bhowmick alias Montu Doctor
had told them about the incidents after
the independence.

Quoting Montu Doctor, Tapan said

many leaders of Islami Chhatra Sangha, then the Jamaats student wing,
including Azhar, used to go to Rangpur
Cantonment. The accused had been
present at the scene when his cohorts
and the army tortured the pro-liberation people.
Sixteenth witness Moazzem, 57,
said his father, then president of NAP
(Bhasani) Rangpur district unit, had
been abducted from the same place on
the same day. His father hoisted the flag
of Bangladesh on March 23 and asked
people to take part in the Liberation War
with a view to ensure independence.
Just after three days, the Pakistani
Army men had abducted him from in
front of their house, the witness said.
The confined people had been taken
to the Dahiganj Cremation ground and
killed by gun shot. At least 10 people
were killed at the place that day.
Meanwhile, the prosecution yesterday submitted two petitions one
seeking permission to submit some additional documents and another for accepting the statement of a prosecution
witness recorded by the investigation
officer as the witness has died.
After hearing both sides, the tribunal accepted the first plea and said it
would pass order on the other petition
later.
After their depositions, defence
counsel Abdus Subhan Tarafder cross
examined them and the tribunal adjourned the hearing until tomorrow. l

Two local lawyers in Rajshahi city

lodged a case against the first Everest
conqueror Musa Ibrahim yesterday on
charge of giving false and fabricated information in the primary text book.
Court Sources said that two lawyers
Ahmed Ibnul Wakto and Hasan Imam
lodged the case with the Rajshahi Sadar Senior Judge Court at noon against
Musa Ibrahim and the secretary of Education Ministry.
The court taking the case fixed the
hearing date on June 9.
In the case description the plaintiffs
alleged that an article written by Musa
Ibrahim was published in the class V
text book Amar Bangla where Musa
wrote that he climbed the Everest
around 5:55am. But his certificate says
that he reached around 6:50am and the
Himalayan database says the time was
4:50am.
Ahmed Ibnul Wakto, member of Rajshahi Bar Association, told the Dhaka
Tribune: As Musa provided false and
fabricated information in the text book
we lodged the case against him and the
education secretary.
He also said: We have no ill motive.
We just want to know the truth. For the
sake of public interest we have lodged
the case.
Musa Ibrahim could not be reached
over his mobile phone after several attempts. l

NEWMOORING CONTAINER TERMINAL

Interest groups behind delay in

operation: Shipping Minister
n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong
The parliamentary standing committee
Chairman on the Shipping Ministry
Rafiqul Islam yesterday said the New
Mooring Container Terminal of the
port could not be operated even seven
years after its construction because of
some interest groups.
If there was no interest of any
quarter, why the operation of the terminal is yet to be initiated even seven
years after its construction? he posed
a question at a meeting with the port
officials and users.
The tender was floated to appoint
operator, but it was halted due to legal
complexity, He said, adding that they
would go through the documents and
take measures to operate the terminal
immediately in consultation with the
government.
He told the reporters after the meeting that they had heard the problems
of the port users at the meeting.
A committee would be formed to
solve the problems and expedite port
activities by two or three months, the
minister continued.
According to the sources at the
Chittagong Port Authority, the project
was implemented involving Tk582
crore in December, 2007 while the
tender procedure for the appointment
of operator was initiated on August 11
in 2008.

Sources also said five companies

submitted tenders on completion of
the procedure while the authorities
sold out tender schedules to four foreign companies, which were found
pre-qualified in July 2009.
Later, two more companies were
included as pre-qualified and tender
schedules were sold out to six companies; however, one of the pre-qualified
companies filed objection to the Central Procurement Technical Unit, raising question regarding the transparency of the procedure.
The CPTU in 2012 issued order to
suspend the tender procedure with
four other companies, which were
pre-qualified earlier.
Local company SaifPowertech,

which was dropped from the second

pre-qualification list, filed a case with
the court against the order of the CPTU
when the court issued a stay order on
the order of the CPTU.
The CPA recently floated tender to
procure equipment with an aim to operate the terminal on their own, however, the standing committee directed
the authorities to suspend the procedure.
The standing committee chairman
said they had issued directive to suspend the procedure as there was a decision to run the terminal with private
operator.
He added that the private operator,
which would be appointed, was supposed to procure the equipment. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, June 2, 2014

Hasina: Preserve
original design of
Jatiya Sangsad
n Kamran Reza Chowdhury
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday expressed her dissatisfaction over
the dilly-dallying of the public works
department in maintaining the Luis
I Kahns design of the Jatiya Sangsad
Bhaban saying the situation is such
that the patient would die before the
arrival of the doctor.
Sheikh Hasina expressed her frustration at the 25th meeting of the Jatiya Sangsad Commission as the public
works department could not place the
proposal of a project for the maintenance of the majestic building at the
ECNEC for approval.
She also did show her reservation
about installing split air conditioners
in violation of the original design of
Luis I Kahns master plan he approved
in 1974.
Leader of the Opposition Raushan
Ershad also backed the prime ministers proposal to preserve the original
design of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, a
national heritage.
I have been saying about it (restoring some basic repairs) from the 9th
parliament. Why did the public works
department fail to place the proposal
(of the project) to the ECNEC? Situation is such that the patient would die
before the arrival of the doctor, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, who
chaired the meeting, quoted the prime
minister as saying.

The public works department envisaged an Umbrella Project costing Tk103

crore aimed at replacing the central air
conditioning system that was installed
33 years ago, fitting marble stones and
other minor repair works.
Hasina also said there were many
spilt air conditioners in different rooms
of the Jatiya Sangsad.
This does not match with the original master plan, said the prime minister, who suggested that the Luis I Kahns
design should be displayed digitally in
different parts of the national assembly.
She also said Luis I Kahns idea was
to allow natural light and air in the Jatiya Sangsad building snubbing the use
of long curtains that stood in the way of
natural air flow.
Shirin Sharmin told the meeting that
one of the two chillers was out of order
and the second one was 50% damaged.
So, she said, two new chillers should be
installed immediately.
After installation of the chillers,
we will examine whether the split ACs
would need to be removed, she told
the Dhaka Tribune.
The commission meeting approved
the parliaments annual budget of
Tk209 crore 61 lakh.
Shirin Sharmin said she would form
a technical committee, tasking it to
come up with the report on inconsistencies with the buildings master plan.
Then will we decide about it, she
said. l

The coffin of slain BGB 31 battalion member Mizanur Rahman lies on the premises of its headquarters in Bandarban yesterday

Nahid smells a conspiracy in question paper leakage

n Mushque Wadud
Education Minister Nurul Islam
Nahid yesterday accused people
involved with the coaching business
as conspiring against him because they
considered him to be a threat to their
business.
Nahid explained they were not
happy with him as he was trying to stop
their business. They have a Tk 32,000
crore business and so it is not difficult
for them to spend money to hatch a

DU admission test
on September 5
n DU Correspondent

Teenage football fan

electrocuted in the capital

The admission test of Dhaka University

(DU) for the first year honors courses
under the academic session of 2014-15
will begin on September 5.
The decision came at a general admission committee meeting yesterday,
with Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique in the chair, according to a press
release.
The admission test will begin this
year with that of Ga unit (commerce)
on September 5.
Ka unit (science) admission test
will be held on September 12, Cha unit
(Fine Arts) on September 13, Kha unit
(B unit-humanities) on September 19
and Gha unit (D unit-combined) on
September 26.
The online application process will
begin on August 14 and it continue till
August 31.
Admission-seekers can also see the
DU website (www.du.ac.bd) to know
more details about the admission. l

Tribune Report

A teenage football fan died as a result

of being electrocuted when he tried to
hoist a Brazilian flag on the rooftop yesterday in Adabor area in the capital.
The victim Nazimuddin, 16, son of
Abdul Motaleb, from Bhola and used to
live in a rented tin-shed at Road 16 of
Adabor. The teenager was a milk vendor by profession.
Brother of the victim, Alauddin said:
Some local boys made a Brazil flag together ahead of the World Cup football
match. Nazimuddin went to the roof-

top of an adjacent two-storey building

to hoist the flag around 3:30pm.
While hoisting the flag, he
accidentally touched an electric wire
close to the building. He fell from the
rooftop having been electrocuted, he
also said.
Locals and family members rushed
him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital
(DMCH) immediately where the on-duty doctor declared him dead around
6pm.
The family members were in a bid to
bring back the victims body without an
autopsy while filing this report. l

conspiracy against me, he said.

Nahid came up with such a remark
at a time when his ministry is facing
widespread criticism due to question
paper leakage in some examinations of
this years Higher Secondary Certificate
examination
The Dhaka Education Board had to
postpone the English Second Paper examination after allegations of question
paper leakage had surfaced.
He was speaking at the launching
programme of Global Monitoring Re-

port at Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information & Statistics.

After the programme, while he was
asked whether he saw coaching centres
behind the question paper leakage, the
education minister replied, Investigations are going on. My remarks might
hamper their progress.
Earlier, Nahid, however, said coaching business persons might have a hand
in the question paper leak.
The Global Monitoring Report,
which was launched yesterday, found

low budgetary allocation in the

way of the progress in the education
sector.
It said Bangladeshs condition was
worse than some African countries in
terms of public spending.
The report showed that the South
Asian country was among 25 countries
that dedicate less than 3% of Gross
National Product (GNP) to education
while Tanzania, an African country,
was spending more than 6% of its GNP
on education. l

11 JU BCL men held over extortion charge

n JU Correspondent
Police yesterday detained 11 leaders
and activists of Jahangirnagar University (JU) unit of Bangladesh Chhatra
League (BCL) over extortion charge on
the Dhaka-Aricha highway.
The BCL men were held at Gate 3
of the university near Mir Mosharrof
Hossain Hall around 4:45pm yesterday
as they stopped three Hanif Paribahan
highway buses and demanded money,
source said.
Russel Sheikh, assistant superintendent of Savar circle police said: Journalism and media studies department
student Abdur Rahim Jewel, also deputy secretary of information and research

affairs of JU unit BCL, along with other

Chhatra League activists of Mir Mosharrof Hossain Hall demanded extortion
from Hanif Paribahan around 4pm.
They were threatening the paribahan authorities to meet their demand
immediately and had blocked three
of their buses. On information, Savar
police detained the students from the
university gate around 5pm in this connection, ASP Russel Sheikh said.
The authorities of Hanif Paribahan
were planning to file a case in this regard, he added.
Meanwhile, JU unit Chhatra League
suspended Abdur Rahim Jewel from his
post for violating the code of the organisation. They also demanded proper in-

vestigation from the university authorities regarding this incident, source said.
JU unit BCL President Mahmudur
Rahman Jony said Chhatra League never allows any kind of extortion and the
organisation would take necessary action after proper investigation.
When contacted, JU Proctor Professor Dr Tapan Kumar Saha told the Dhaka Tribune that he didnt have much information as he was not present at the
university during the incident.
However, JU proctor asked the reporter to contact with JU Pro-Vice
Chancellor Professor Dr Abul Hossain
but he was not available to comment
over his cell phone despite several attempts. l

IMPLEMENTATION OF SERVICE RULES DEMANDED

USTC staff continue

strike, block road in
Chittagong

Nine, including
bridegroom,
injured in robbery
attack in Jhalakathi
n Our Correspondent. Barisal
Arms-wielding masked robbers yesterday attacked a house that was being set
up for a bridal party at Nalcity upazila
in Jhalakath, leaving at least nine people, including bridegroom injured.
Some 10 to 15 robbers attacked the
house of Malek Hawlader at Kushangal
village about 300am, said Abul Khair,
officer-in-charge (OC) at Nalcity police
station.
They held the guests and residents
hostage at gunpoint and looted gold
ornaments weighing 20 tola (1 tola =
11.66 grams) and Tk 80,000 in cash and
other valuables, he said.
OC Khair said the gold ornaments
and other valuables were worth around
Tk 13 lakh. Six people were injured with
gunshots while three others were beaten
up as they tried to resist the robbery, he
said.
They were Akkas Molla, 45, Zakir
Haoladar, 30, Jalil Molla, 38, Hassan
Hawladar, 14, Hanif Hawladar, 46,
Kawsar Hawladar, 28, bridegroom
Sabuj Hawladar, 26, Mizanur Rahman,
35, Shahin.
Of them, bridegroom Sabuj Hawladar, Mizanur Rahman, 35, generator
operator Shahin were beaten up while
the others received gunshot wounds.
Except Shahin, others who were
injured were admitted to Basrisal
Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, said Habibur Rahman, emergency
medical officer at the hospital.
OC Khair said they were trying to arrest the robbers and recover the looted
belongings. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

n CU Correspondent
Teachers and staff of University of Science and Technology Chittagong are
on strike where demonstrations were
held yesterday by blocking a road in the
citys Khulshi area to bring attention to
their demand for the implementation
of service rules.
Sources said over 300 demonstrators brought out a procession from the
USTC campus and held a rally on Jakir
Hossain Road, halting vehicular movement for an hour.
Teachers, officials and other employees have been observing four
hours of work abstention daily since

Barisal City Corporation Mayor Ahsan Habib Kamal presents a replica of the key to the city to British High Commissioner in Bangladesh
Robert W Gibson CMG during a courtesy visit to Barisal yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE

Britain will help Bangladesh in

facing climate change
n Our Correspondent, Barisal
United Kingdom will cooperate with
Bangladesh in facing climate change
and river erosion challenges, the British envoy to Bangladesh yesterday assured at a meeting held at the Barisal
City Corporation (BCC) office.
Robert W Gibson CMG, the British
High Commissioner to Bangladesh yesterday met the officials at the divisional commissioners office in Barisal and
exchanged views with Ahsan Habib
Kamal, the BCC mayor, in a meeting organised by BCC. The diplomat also paid
courtesy visits in the ongoing British

funded projects aimed at rural development in a day long tour in Barisal.

In the meeting at BCC, the British
envoy said Bangladesh has natural climatic problems like climate change effects and river erosions. UK will assist
Bangladesh in this regard through different development agencies in facing
these challenges.
The disaster management and cautionary signaling systems in Bangladesh have been developed and as a
result of casualties notably reduced
during recent cyclones such as Sidr and
Aila than the disasters of 1970s, Gibson
explained.

About the readymade garment sectors of Bangladesh, Gibson said this is

a sector in Bangladesh that is dynamic
and advancing even after the disasters
like Rana Plaza.
At present half a million Bangladeshi
people are living in Britain and making
notable contributions in developing
both the countries. There is a road to
prosperity and the UK-Bangladesh bilateral relationships have been increasing day by day since the emergence of
the country in 1971, the ambassador
noted.
The British High Commissioner left
Barisal yesterday afternoon. l

May 18, severely disrupting academic and administrative activities of the

university.
Alleging mismanagement and irregularities by the USTC trustee board, speakers at yesterdays rally urged the government to appoint a credible administrator
for the Janasheba Foundation, a charity
that runs the private university.
Mainul Islam Bhuiyan, officer in
charge of Khulshi police station, said
the agitating teachers and staff put up
barricades on the road at 11am.
Police rushed to the scene and persuaded the demonstrators to remove
the blockade after an hour, the officer
added. l

26 Feni policemen,
including six SI transferred
n UNB
In a mass transfer, 26 policemen of Feni
Sadar police station were transferred to
different police stations under the district
yesterday, 11 days after the killing of Fulgazi upazila chairman Ekramul Haque.
The transferred policemen include six
sub-inspectors Alamgir Hossain, Golam
Hakkani, Mohammad Mejbah Uddin, Ershad Ullah, Fakhrul Islam and Jobayedun
Nahar. The rest are constables.
District police super Paritosh Ghosh
confirmed the news.
Meanwhile, police on Sunday afternoon arrested Mohammad Ashraful Karim alias Nayon, who allegedly
torched the vehicle of Ekram, from the
district town.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team
conducted a drive at Birinchi around

5:15pm and arrested Nayon, son of Fazlul Karim, of the area.

With the arrest of Nayon, a total of
23 people have so far been arrested in
connection with the killing of the upazila chairman.
Besides, local Awami League leaders
and activists demanded expulsion of
Jahangir Kabir Adel, joint general secretary of district unit of the ruling party.
They made the demand from an
emergency meeting of Fulgazi Awami
League on Sunday.
On May 20, Ekramul was shot and
burnt to death by miscreants in the
academy area of the district town.
Ekram, also president of upazila Awami League, came under the attack by the
miscreants, numbering 40-50, on his
way to the Fulgazi upazila headquarters
in his vehicle from his town residence. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, June 2, 2014

CAAB still awaits new organogram approval

Extra staff is needed to cope with increased airport traffic
n Tazlina Zamila Khan
Two years have passed since the new
organogram (organisational chart) of
the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) was placed before the
ministry concerned but the government has not yet finalised it.
CAAB officials were hopeful of
having it finalised before this month
but no effective step was taken by
the government.
The new organogram consists of
around 7,045 new civil aviation employees divided into 17 grades.
Top CAAB officials believe the existing organogram is not well-structured, with two of the categories remaining unfilled.
Grade 1 and grade 8 posts have
remained vacant since the organogram came into being. Officials proposed upgrading the post of chairman to grade 1 from grade 2 in order
to fill the category but no decision
concerning grade 8 was taken. The
grades range from one to nine, in-

cluding first-class staff, chairman,

director, chief engineer and others.
Earlier on February 8 2012, the authorities sent a proposal for the new
organogram of around 13,776 employees to the Ministry of Civil Aviation
and Tourism. The ministry, however,
revised the draft organogram and reduced the number of the employees
to 10,602 in April this year.
On April 13, CAAB sent the draft
to the Ministry of Public Administration seeking approval. If approved, it
would then be sent to the Ministry of
Finance for another approval.
CAAB Director (administration)
GM Abdul Quader said: At present,
we have 3,557 employees under 17
grades.
Federal Aviation Administration
of America placed us in category 2
because of the manpower shortage.
Unless the new organogram is approved, we are unable to resume direct flight between Dhaka and New
York, he added.
Around 1,100 Armed Police Bat-

talion officials and 1,000 Ansar

members have been maintaining
security at the airports. In the new
organogram, recruitment of another
2,500 security guards has been proposed to ensure additional safety.

The new organogram

consists of around
7,045 new civil
aviation employees
divided into 17 grades
CAAB member (operations and planning) Air Commodore M Shafiqul
Alam told the Dhaka Tribune:
Around 100 aircrafts land at Hazrat
Shahjalal International Airport daily while the number was less in the
past. We need extra staff to cope with
the increased workload. We have also
formulated a draft recruitment rule.
CAAB Airworthiness Consultant
Pranay Kumar Biswas said: We now
have a mere four to five airworthi-

ness officers and this is not enough.

The number of airports has grown
and more manpower has become the
necessity.
CAAB Assistant Director Nurul
Islam expressed concern that the
ministry would want to reduce the
number of proposed manpower.
He said: If the organogram is approved this year, recruitment will
start from 2015. It is not possible to
recruit around 7,000 officials at once.
We will recruit for 15 years while 1,000
will be recruited in the first year.
On February 13 this year, a meeting was held with officials of the
Public Administration Ministry and it
was led by Aktari Mamtaz, additional secretary (development & medical
education) of the Health Ministry.
At the meeting, CAAB officials
explained why they need additional
staff but we have more queries. Once
we get the answers, another meeting
will be held, said Aktari.
It is a time-consuming process,
she added. l

Employees

Grades

Current Proposed

01

01

12

03

03

55

04
First class staff

02

01

12

94

05

28

06

39

497

07

71

08

09

117

976

10

275

1,442

11

250

668

12

Second class staff

47

756

13

664

292

978

15

348

881

16

Third class staff

227

14

224

430

17

Fourth class staff

Total

668

918

18

58

165

19
20

54
843
3,557

316
1,749
10,602

Mentally
challenged girl
commits suicide
in Chittagong
n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong
A 12-year-old girl committed suicide
by hanging herself at her residence in
Chittagong citys Panchlaish area late
Saturday night.
The dead, Swapna Akter, daughter
of Shamsujjaman of Brahmanpara upazila in Comilla, was found hanging
by her scarf from the ceiling around
11:00pm, police said.
According to the girls family claims,
Swapna was mentally challenged.
Quoting the victims mother Parvin,
an apparel worker, Sub-Inspector Rasib
Khan of Panchlaish police station said
Parvin and her son left home for their
workplace after lunch.
Later when they returned home at
night, they found the hanging body.
The SI, however, said Swapnas
mother and brother used to lock
her up at home to prevent her from
wandering off as she was mentally
challenged.
Swapna had already left home a
couple of times without informing anyone and this has been happening quite
a few times, he said.
The dead body bore a few bruises,
and also had the scarf wrapped around
her neck.
The body was sent to the Chittagong
Medical College Hospital morgue for
autopsy and a case was lodged with
Panchlaish police station in this connection.
Police are looking into the matter, said Abu Jafor Mohammad Omar
Faruk, officer-in-charge of Panchlaish
police station. l

WEATHER
LIGHT TO HEAVY
RAINS

MONDAY, JUNE 2
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:42PM
SUN RISES 5:11AM
FORECAST FOR TODAY
35

27

Chittagong

32

26

Rajshahi

34

26

Rangpur

35

25

Khulna

32

25

Barisal

32

26

Sylhet

35

25

Coxs Bazar

32

27

Dhaka

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW

35.1C
Sayedpur

21.6C
Khulna

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES
Fajar
Sunrise
Zohr
Asr
Magrib
Esha

3:45am
5:11am
11:57am
3:16pm
6:42pm
8:09pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org

RMG workers
stage demo
n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong
The workers of a readymade garment
(RMG) factory yesterday took to the
streets and blocked the busy Badamtoli
Intersection in Chittagong city alleging
the lay-off in the factory as owners
whimsical decision.
Several hundred workers of Ambia
Apparels Limited in Agrabad commercial area under Double Mooring police
station in the city yesterday blocked the
Badamtoli Intersection of Sheikh Mujib
Road for nearly half an hour from 1pm resulting in long tailbacks in the four connecting roads of the busy intersection.
They claimed that the factory authorities declared the lay-off in the factory without giving them prior notice.
Later, police rushed to the spot and
dispersed them from the road by arranging a meeting inside the factory,
said Hasanuzzaman Mollah, assistant
commissioner of Double Mooring circle
of Chittagong Metropolitan Police.
Workers alleged Akther Hossain,
general manager of the factory, proposed that the workers would not have
to work full time for the next one and
a half month as there is no work order
in a meeting with workers on Saturday.
They have to come to the factory at
8am and leave at 10am and they will
get half of their basic salary for the period, he also said in the meeting.
Denying the proposal, the workers
demanded either the authorities have
to pay full salary for next one and a half
month or the authorities should give the
workers three months full salary as compensation for shutting down the factory.
Consequently the workers started
work abstention from yesterday morning to press home their demands.
Abul Hashem Raja, the owner and
managing director of the factory, came
to the factory around 12pm and reiterated the lay-off decision. l

Two killed in road

accidents
n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Water of the Trimohinee Canal has turned pitch black as sewerage lines of Rampura and Banasri area discharge wastage into it daily. The photo was snapped from Nandipara area of
Khilgaon yesterday
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Two persons including a minor girl

were killed in two separate road accidents in Chittagong city yesterday.
Riyajul Islam, 22, son of Nurul Islam, was injured critically after a covered-van knocked him from behind at
Ispahani circle under Akbar Shah police station around 1am, said police.
The victim was declared dead after
he was brought to Chittagong Medical
College Hospital, CMwCH sources said.
Meanwhile, eight-year-old Sharmin,
was hit by a city bus at New Market area
in the morning.CMCH sources said shehad died on the spot and the dead body
was kept at the hospitals morgue.
They said the childs identity could
not be confirmed immediately. l

Row over prostitute led to Chittagong BNP leaders distribute

cooked food among poor
double murders, claims suspect
n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong
A suspect in the murder of two people, whose bodies were dumped by
the roadside in Chittagonglast month,
confessed in court yesterday that an
altercation over a prostitute led to the
killings.
On May 4, police recovered the body
of a woman from the port citys CRB
Kather Bungalow area, while a mans
body was found on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Jorarganj in Mirsarai
upazila.
Two separate cases were filed with
Kotwali and Jorargonj police stations.
However, law enforcers could not immediately ascertain the motive behind
the double murders, or whether they

were connected.
The suspect, Md Munir, in a confessional statement before Chittagong
Metropolitan Magistrate Syed Masfiqul Islam, claimed that a man named
Habib brought a woman from Dhaka to
work as a prostitute at Akash Hotel in
Majhir Ghat area.
But the hotel owner, Bahar, attempted to have a physical relation with the
woman, called Josna, on the night of
May 3, Sub-Inspector Jafor Iqbal, who
is investigating the case lodged with
Kotwali police, said quoting from Munirs statement.
When the woman refused, Bahar
allegedly beat her up, leaving her unconscious. Habib, who probably felt
responsible for Josna, protested the

assault and threatened to inform the

police.
Later, Bahar and an accomplice,
Baccha, made a plan to murder Josna
and Habib. Bahars employees, Babloo,
Khorshed, Johir, as well as Munir, assisted in the killing.
The killers allegedly strangled Josna
and Habib, carried their bodies in a microbus and dumped them away from
the crime scene, Munirs statement
said.
Police arrested Bahar, Baccha,
Babloo and Khorshed earlier, while
Munir was nabbed from the New Market area on Saturday, said Shah Mohammad Abdu Rouf, assistant commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan
Polices Kotwali circle. l

n UNB

BNP leaders distributed cooked food

among poor people for the third and
final day yesterday at different areas of
the city in observance of the 33rd death
anniversary of the partys founder Ziaur Rahman.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza
Fakhrul Islam and some other senior
party leaders distributed food at 22
points in the city in favour of Khaleda
Zia as she was sick. Fakhrul started the
social charity service from Azimpur
Government Primary School ground
at noon. Later, he also distributed food
in Kamrangir Char, Lalbagh Crossing,
Sadarghat and Dholaikhal areas.
Addressing a press conference at
the partys Nayapaltan central office,

Fakhrul alleged that ruling party men

intercepted their programme at many
places in the city.
The BNP chairperson, because of her
illness, had assigned senior BNP leaders,
including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, to attend the food distribution programme at different parts of the city.
BNP took a three-day programme of
distributing food among the destitute.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia inaugurated the programme on Friday by distributing food at 25 points of the city.
BNP, its associate bodies and different
socio-cultural organisations have been
observing the 33rd death anniversary of
Ziaur Rahman with various programmes.
On May 30, 1981, Zia was assassinated by a group of disgruntled army officers at Chittagong Circuit House. l

Disparity elimination
needs for development
n UNB
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury
yesterday viewed that the issue of
eliminating disparity between rich and
poor should be prioritised for achieving
overall development of the country.
She said its not possible to ensure
the countrys overall development only
by eliminating poverty.
Shirin was addressing the Banquet
Session of the 27th annual convention
of Lions Club International Multiple
District-315, Bangladesh as chief guest
at a city hotel on Saturday evening.
The speaker said all including Lions
will have to be more enthusiastic for tak-

ing forward the societys disadvantaged

people including women and children.
Inequalities will have to be removed
for the development of the society. No
sort of discrepancy should be expected, she said.
Former Director (International) of
Lions Club International Sheikh Kabir
Hossain, FBCCI President Ln. Qazi
Akram Uddin Ahmed, former council
chairperson Ln. Nazmun Nisha Ali and
newly elected council chairperson Ln.
MA Rashid Shah Samrat addressed the
function which was held with presiding officer of the function and also the
council chairperson Ln. Dr SM Jaglul A
Majumder in the chair. l

Visitors cast a look on photos of an exhibition titled 150 Years of Humanitarian Action organised by International Committee of the Red
Cross at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital yesterday
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Monday, June 2, 2014

Holistic approach for successful

disaster risk reduction
n Tribune Desk

Speakers at a daylong field level stakeholders workshop here on Saturday emphasized the need for collective efforts
of all quarters including the local government institutions for successful disaster preparedness and management.
Stressing the need for a comprehensive approach to effective risk reduction, they mentioned that strengthening of the local level government
bodies could be the effective means of
managing any natural calamity.
Disaster Management Bureau (DMB)
under its "Hyogo Framework for Action Progress Monitoring 2013-2014"
program organized the workshop titled

"A Disaster Resilient Future: Mobilizing Communities and Institutions for

Effective Risk Reduction" in the conference hall of Deputy Commissioner
Office, reports BSS.
National Alliance for Risk Reduction
and Response Initiatives (NARRI) Consortium supported the workshop.
The discussants noted that a needoriented and realistic plan should be
formulated through wide-ranging survey and importance should be given
to timely implementation of the timefitting programmes to face the risks as
early as possible.
Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi
Mejbah Uddin Chowdhury addressed
the workshop as chief guest with

District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Mojibur Rahman in the chair.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate
Adaptation
consultant
Shashanka
Saadi moderated the discussion while
DMB Assistant Director Netai Dey
Sarker narrated the objectives of the
workshop.
In his welcome speech, Dr ANM Bazlur Rashid, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), highlighted objectives of the programme and good
collaboration and coordination towards
mitigation of any disaster reduction.
The chief guest underscored the
need for reducing disaster losses substantially.
He also gave an overview of the ef-

forts taken by the present government

for disaster management alongside risk
reduction.
In the group discussions, the participants viewed that massive siltation of
the Padma river and its tributaries and
other water bodies trigger the ecological degradation leading to many natural disasters including drought and
flood in the region.
To overcome the problem, they suggested capital dredging ofthe river and
its tributaries along with massive afforestation.
They called for an environmentfriendly irrigation system instead of
indiscriminate use of groundwater resources for irrigation purposes. l

Ruling party men

demand Joydebpur
OCs removal
n Our Correspondent, Gazipur
Ruling Awami League men demanded
removal of the officer-in-charge (OC) at
Joydebpur police station in Gazpipur.
OC SM Kamaruzzaman had been
harassing innocent locals, including
many AL men, by lodging false cases,
they alleged at a rally in the district
town on Saturday.
Under the banner of Gazipur Sachetan Nagarik Samaj, leaders and activists
of the Awami Leagues student wing
Chhatra League and voluntary wing
Swechchhasebok League organised the
rally.
Kamaruzzaman hails from Narail

and his mother from Gopalganj, but

introduces himself as being from Gopalganj, as he tries to wield influence
over people here, they said.
He also misbehaves with people
who go to take service at the police station, they added, demanding his immediate removal.
Earlier, a procession paraded main
roads in the district town. It was taken
out from the districts Awami League
office and also ended there.
OC Kamaruzzaman said, Those who
are demanding my removal are extortionists and terrorists. They might have
become outraged at the filing of several
sensational cases against them. l

BANGLADESHI WOMAN OPPRESSED IN QATAR

Family assaulted for

demanding return
n Our Correspondent, Gazipur
Family members of a woman, who the
brokers sent to Qatar allegedly by hiding real information in the visa, have
been assaulted for demanding she be
brought back to the country.
Residence of the woman, who could
not be identified, is located at Rajendrapur village of Sreepur upazila in
Gazipur. Brokers sent her to Qatar on
November 22 last year where she now
works as a housemaid.
The woman recently told her family
over phone that she had been subjected to oppression and violence by family members of her employer.
She urged her family to arrange her
return.
Kamal Uddin, husband of the woman, and Hasan, one of her sons, asked
the brokers to bring her back but the
brokers did not pay any heed.
They even attacked the two in Ra-

Fake physician
among 4 arrested
in Jamalpur
n Our Correspondent, Jamalpur
Police in a drive arrested a fake doctor
as well as three officials of a hospital
from Daripara bypass area in the district town on Saturday night.
The arrestees are GH Rana, the sham
doctor, and also one of the directors
of Sunlight Healthcare and Diagnostic
Centre; Swapan Miah, another director of the centre, while the rest two are
pathologist Saiful Islam and marketing
official Raju Miah.
Sources said the healthcare centre
was launched a year ago in the area and
there were many allegations of patient
harassment, demanding extra charges
etc. against it.
As sequel to it, a team of DB police
raided the centre around 10pm and arrested the false doctor as well as the
three on charge of having no legal papers in favour of the hospital. During
the drive, some sex stimulating tablets
were also seized.
A case was filed in this connection. l

Work abstention
at Thakurgaon
n Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon
Doctors, nurses and other staff abstained from duty at Thakurgaon
Swasthaseba Hospital yesterday for the
second day running, demanding their
nine-month arrears, causing sufferings
to hundreds of patients.
They said they had repeatedly requested the authority to repay their
arrears, but that did not yield any results and so they had to resort to such
a protest.
Locals said hundreds of diabetic and
eye patients were returning home frustrated, without getting any treatment
for the last two days.
The work abstainers said they would
form a human chain at the intersection
next to the hospital around 10am today.
Earlier
in
2006,
Thakurgaon
Swasthaseba Hospital was set up as a diabetic hospital under a joint healthcare
project of Bangladesh andNetherlands.
Nobody joined work, rendering the
hospital inoperative today, said Ekramul Haq Swapan, executive director at
the hospital, adding: The hospital also
owes to me a salary for the last nine
months. l

jendrapur and beat them up indiscriminately on May 30. Locals later recovered the injured.
The father and the son also received
death threats as the brokers said they
would be facing loss of lives and property if they continued demanding the
womans return.
A day after Kamal and Hasan were
attacked, the son filed a general diary
with Sreepur police station against Kulsum, wife of a local named Siraj Uddin,
Delwar Hossain, son of the Siraj Uddin, Giaus Uddin, son of another local
named Yakub Ali, and Hakim.
Delwar Hossain admitted to sending the woman to Qatar but denied the
allegation of perpetration of domestic
violence against her.
She is fine there, Delwar claimed.
Officer-in-charge of Sreepur police
station Mohsinul Qadir said legal action was underway with regard to the
general diary. l

Two trucks lie overturned on Kumira bypass road in Sitakunda after a salt-laden truck lost control and rammed another stationary truck early yesterday

Herbal plant cultivation stressed

n Tribune Desk

Speakers at a daylong workshop have

called for more expansion of herbal
plant cultivation and promotion of
herbal medicine to meet up the gradually increase in the people's demand.
They viewed emphasis should be
given to peoples participationtowards
large- scale cultivation of herbal plants
as the role of herbal products in improvement of public health is inevitable.
In this context, mainstreaming traditional medicine into public health
care to achieve the objective of improved access to healthcare facilities
needs to be considered, they added.
Bangladesh Ayurbedik Medicine
Manufacturers Association organized
the regional workshop titled "Herbal
plants production, harvest, conservation and application of Ayurbedik
medicine" held at Nanking Darbar Hall
in Rajshahi city yesterday, reports BSS.
Main thrusts of the workshop were
to see and update the knowledge on
the contributions of natural products,
such as plants from the natural resources to medicine and healthcare.
Medicinal Plants and Herbal Products
Business Promotion Council of Bangladesh supported the workshop.
With Fakrul Islam Munshi, President of the associaion, in the chair,
former Mayor of Rajshahi City Corpo-

raion AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Prof

Dr Golam Sadique of Pharmacy Department and Prof Dr Hamidul Haque
of Chemistry Department of Rajshahi
University spoke on the occasion.
Fakhrul Islam Munshi said the present government has exempted VAT on
the herbal products aimed at fostering
the sector and urged all the authorities
concerned to unearth its potentialities.

Natural compounds
are contributing
towards medicine and
healthcare systems and
their use is not really
declining
Besides, he laid stress on creating mass
awareness about the medicine through
arranging more advocacy meeting,
seminar and symposium.
As many as 80 percent of people rely
on traditional medicines for their primary
healthcare and remedies, and the use of
traditional medicines is rising in the country like other developed ones, he opined.
"A new avenue for herbal medicine
has opened up as many investors are
looking for venturing in making such
medicines," he added.
In this regard, he said some of the
well-known allopathic drug makers

are gearing up for establishing herbal

medicine units.
Fakhrul Munshi said Bangladesh is
the home to over 550 medicinal plants
of which 300 are commonly used in the
preparation of traditional medicines
around the country; the market for traditional and herbal products is worth
around Tk3.3bn annually.
Prof Golam Sadique said the countrys drug administrator has set a definition for herbal medicine and selected
a set of reference books for manufacturers to follow while making herbal
medicines to push the sector forward.
The sector started pulling attention
after the government had endorsed
herbal medicine in the drug policy along
with two other traditional branches of
medicine- Ayurbedic and Unani.
He said the demand for herbal medicine is on rise as it has no side effect on
human body. Prof Sadique said natural
compounds are contributing towards
medicine and healthcare systems and
their use is not really declining.
"In Bangladesh, if we consider traditional medical knowledge and home remedies as a baseline, natural products and
traditional medicine is being used possibly by 80% of our population," he says.
Around 150 herbal medicine practitioners, manufacturers, government
officials and others concerned attended the workshop. l

NGO worker
killed
n Our Correspondent,
Gopalganj

Doctors, nurses and other staffs of Thakurgaon Gonoswastha Hospital form a human
chain yesterday demanding their nine-month arrears
DHAKA TRIBUNE

An NGO worker was killed in

Tungipara of Gopalganj on Saturday morning.
The man was identified as
Mithun Roy, 21, son of Dulal
Chandra Roy of Bhandarkhola
village under Mollahat upazila
in Bagerhat.
The killing took place at Patgati Jagarani Chakra Foundation
in Tungipara. The killers, who
were alleged to be colleagues of
Mithun, sent his body by nasiman, a local human haulier, to
his village home. The killers are
on the run.
Dulal alleged his son was killed
by his colleagues. His head, legs,
and several other parts of the
body bore marks of injury. l

FOCUS BANGLA

BATBC official shot,

mugged in broad daylight
n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj
Miscreants shot and mugged a British
American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited (BATBC) official and fled with
Tk120,000 in broad daylight at Fukra in
Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj district.
Injured Izabul Sheikh, a marketing
representative of Gopalganj BATBC,
was shot in his left leg and admitted to
Gopalganj General Hospital by locals.
Hejabur Rahman, the Gopalganj
manager of BATBC, told the Dhaka

Tribune that the culprits put a barricade before his baby taxi while he was
returning home after collecting companys daily dues from the local markets.
They forced the driver to stop at gun
point and had a scuffle with Izabul to
snatch the money.
At one stage the muggers shot Izabul
and fled the scene with the money.
Assistant Superintendent of Goplaganj police Md Monirul Islam said he
had visited the crime scene and found
the evidence of mugging. l

Abducted schoolgirl rescued

n Our Correspondent, Tangail
A schoolgirl was rescued by police, two
days after her abduction in Sadar upazila yesterday.
The abductor was identified as SahAlam, alias Sabuj, 30.
Md Monir Hossain, officer-incharge of Kalihati police station said:
Sah-Alam alias Sabuj abducted
schoolgirl Jhumur from Gazipur area
on May, 30.
Later, he demanded Tk1,40,000
over mobile phone from Jhumurs fa-

ther Zakir Hossain as ransom.

He also threatened to kill her if the
demand was not paid, said Monir Hossain.
Sabuj and Jhumurs father also
worked together in a garments factory.
Zakir Hossain filed a case with
Gazipur police station on the same day.
Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Sabuj from Kalihati Bus stand
around 12pm.
After his confessional statement,
Jhumur was rescued from Daoula area
around12:30pm. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

Monday, June 2, 2014

The changing face of the local securities industry

n Nakibul Hoq

damental analysis. Companies like

LankaBangla and BRAC EPL now have
access to the best young graduates
coming into the industry and they are
making excellent use of these talented
people by providing them with a huge
avenue for success.

Let us rewind back to 10 years ago.

Bangladesh was probably one of the
least likely places in the world where
global fund managers and investors
would inject their money for wealth
generation. This constantly politically
problematic, bureaucratically chaotic
and internally unfriendly state could in
no way occupy investors dreams and
aspirations.
We were recognised as one of the
N-11s, a list of eleven economies that
can become major markets after the
BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa) according to global
investment banking giant Goldman
Sachs and were maintaining constant
GDP growth rates. However, when it
came to long-term investment in the
money market and capital market, we
lagged far behind neighbours India and
China. There simply was no interest.

Bangladesh has
undergone some world
class improvements
in its securities and
brokerage firms, which
are thriving in the
country

However today, in 2014, when we

press the play button, the equation has
changed drastically. Alongside Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan
Stanley and Merrill Lynch are taking a
serious interest in us and have injected more than $200mn in the money
market of the country. Private equity
and impact investors, such as Tau Investment have also seen value in the
activities and evolution in Bangladesh.
Japanese and German entrepreneurs
are now seriously looking into infrastructure and manufacturing projects
in Bangladesh. This reinforces the findings of Citigroup, who in 2011 ranked
Bangladesh in the list of Global Growth
Generators (3G countries).

To make the entire

process sustainable,
global practices
and international
standards must be
met by the existing
corporate governance
of the country

BIGSTOCK

The increased interest in the financing industry of Bangladesh has resulted

in a corresponding shift in the financial
services industry. Bangladesh has undergone some world class improvements in its securities and brokerage
firms, which are thriving in the country. There are opportunities now which
were not there for any of our previous
generations. Educational institutes of
the country are emphasising the role of
finance in the future and what we are
now seeing is a plethora of these young
graduates who are interested in working and making a name in this industry.
I had an opportunity to sit with
Manager and In-Charge of Institutional
and Foreign Trade Rehan Muhammad
and Research Analyst Maksudul Haque
Chowdhury at the Capital Market Research Department, both of LankaBangla Securities. The underlying message
was that the securities industry provided a career path for the supremely

bright and ambitious and has become

one of the most prominent sources of
profit in the newly-emerging knowledge-based economy.
The corporate office, in Motijheel,
reflected more of Wall Street than any
of the passers-by outside the air-conditioned office could presume. The comparison goes beyond aesthetics to the
organisational culture of LankaBangla.
The intense nature of the business is
such that it requires you to be on your
toes and ready for all permutations.
Brokers facilitate movement of money
across the various investments available and are required to utilise their
knowledge of finance and business
nous to survive in this industry. A good
day can enable a stockbroker to earn
commissions like never before, and
likewise a bad day can make them lose
so much of their clients money that
they can be left sitting back, wondering
what just happened.

Stockbrokers need to be able to

understand the messages behind the
numbers and seize the opportunities for profits and commissions. The
power of analysis is absolutely crucial,
and being passionate about building
wealth, both for you and your clients,
is an integral part of the job.
Office is almost never over for stockbrokers involved in foreign trade, such
as Rehan. While he is analysing and
making crucial decisions in Dhaka, his
clients are probably sitting in distant
places like New York, London and Singapore unaware of the chaos taking
place in this city.
This means that even when the markets close down, he has to be ready for
all sorts of client meetings and further
preparations for the next day. It is never too late to analyse and research, and
Rehans finance background helps him
to use his power of analysis to provide
the pertinent information to support

investment decisions.
Similarly, Maksudul Hoque at LankaBangla has his own set of challenges
as a research analyst. Financial statements of most Bangladeshi corporations meet only the minimal standards,
thereby hindering the ability to provide
any assurance on recommendations.
In a globalised era in which the stock
market in Tokyo rises up as the one in
London closes down, while that in
Mumbai goes for a lunch break, Maksud
finds it a constant challenge to ensure
the information he requires is available
at the right time. Making sure that the
best information is provided accurately is a daily obstacle for him, and as a
proactive professional looking forward
to a very fulfilling career, he works tirelessly to make things happen.
The securities industry in Bangladesh has progressed from the rumour
and sentiment driven systems of stock
trading towards one based on fun-

Equipped with the right tool for the right kind of stress
n Ahsan Sajid
We must first understand the nature of
stress, before we can think about what
is causing it and how we can manage it.
According to Karl Albrecht, an expert in
the field who identified the four main
types of stress, an understanding of the
different types that people deal with is
ones ideal prescription to good health
and success.

The four main types of stress

A management consultant and conference speaker who pioneered the development of stress reduction training
for business people, Karl Albrecht defined the four types of stress in his 1979
book Stress and the Manager as time
stress, anticipatory stress, situational
stress and encounter stress.
Stress occurs when an environmental situation is perceived as presenting
a demand that threatens to exceed a
person's capabilities and resources
for meeting it. More simply put, it is a
manifestation of thinking and worrying about the future. Anxiety is created
by focusing attention away from the
present. It is created by expectations
of the future the tension between the
now and the later.
Imagine one of those busy workdays when you dont even have time to
check the new emails and text messages youve been getting alerts for all day.
You were just about to head out when
you get called in for a wrap-up interview, and this agitates you so much
that you have to take a minute, or five.
No matter how one defines stress,
we all face it at work, and our success
eventually depends on how well we are
able to deal with it.

Time stress is the most common type

of stress and it is essential to learn how
to manage it if you're going to work productively in any busy organisation. To
counter this kind of stress, one needs
to learn good time management skills,
get accustomed to regularly using todo lists, and set goals and make action
plans. It is also important to get used to
prioritising day-to-day tasks.

Situational

One experiences situational stress

when one is in a situation with little or
no control over its outcome. Generally,
it is a situation that involves conflict, or

a loss of acceptance in ones immediate peer group. For instance, making a

mistake in front of a big team can cause
situational stress.
Situational stress is sudden and
not anticipated. To manage situational stress better, one needs to learn to
become self-aware, or be able to recognise the physical and emotional signals that the body exhibits when under
pressure. Since conflict is the biggest
cause of situational stress, one needs
to pick up conflict resolution skills to
better handle it. It is most important to
be able to manage ones emotions and
think on ones feet.

Anticipatory

Anticipatory stress is stress about experiences concerning the future. It is

often focused on a specific event, for
example, an upcoming public speaking engagement that one might have.
However, anticipatory stress can also
be indistinct and indeterminate, such
as an overall sense of dread about the
future, or a foreboding sensation that
"something will definitely go wrong."
Because anticipatory stress is based
on the future, managing it starts by recognising that the event one is dreading
doesn't have to play out as imagined.
This type of stress commonly results

Stress occurs when

an environmental
situation is perceived as
presenting a demand
that threatens to
exceed a persons
capabilities and
resources for
meeting it

Encounter

Time

Time stress is experienced when one

worries about time, or rather, the lack
of it. Those who stress about time
the most, worry about the number of
things that they have to do, and constantly fear that they wont have time
to achieve something important, or
simply forget about them. These types
of people commonly feel trapped, unhappy, or even hopeless.

from a lack of confidence and can be

countered by focusing on the present
instead of dreading the future.

BIGSTOCK

Encounter stress is caused by other

people. You may not like a person, or a
group of people, or you may feel unsafe
around them for whatever reason and
you experience this stress whenever
they are around. Encounter stress can
also occur if your role involves a lot of
personal interactions with customers
or clients, especially if those groups are
in distress (for example, doctors, social
workers, counselors etc).
Since encounter stress is caused
by people, one will manage this type
of stress better by working on ones
people skills. A good place to start is to
develop greater emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to
recognise the emotions, wants, and
needs of yourself and of others. This
is an important skill in interacting
with others and in building good
relationships.
A common symptom of encounter
stress is getting grumpy in your interactions. When this symptom manifests,
do whatever you can to take a break.
Counter it by taking a break, going for
a walk, drinking water, and relaxing before talking to the next person. l

These companies are also symbolising

the changing face of Bangladesh in
various ways. By employing worldclass research departments and making
use of the best available technologies
at the backdrop of a strong financial
system, companies in the category are
representing the modern face of an
economy that is desperate to thrive in
the world market.
To make the entire process sustainable, global practices and international
standards must be met by the existing
corporate governance of the country.
Regulators and company CEOs need to
make sure that there is a highly transparent system in place for the securities
industry to flourish and sustain them.
While the industry is in rapid
development, only when our standards
are assured to a global audience can we
hope to become a major investment
destination in the world market. This
is an exciting industry and it will rise
as will motivated and fast thinking
graduates. l
Nakibul Hoq is a research analyst at
GradConnect, an international career
information and advisory firm. You can email
him at nakib@grad-connect.com and find
more career information at www.gradinsights.com and www.grad-connect.com.

Time management
for the working
student
1) Employ daily to-do lists. Take time after waking up to create it, and do not
start the day till you have planned it.
Schedule time for everything, including things you want to do instead of
just things you have to do, so you
have at least some points in the list
to look forward to.
2) Carry your on-going projects from
both university and work in your
backpack. Free time opens up
unexpectedly from sitting in a bus,
waiting for a doctors appointment,
the time it takes for the food to arrive
at a restaurant. Use all these time
blocks to get small things done.
3) Learn to say no. Colleagues will always
try to pile more work on you. Friends
will always want to plan going out. You
have to prioritise and learn to say no to
things that you do not want to do, and
that you do not have to.
4) Schedule your important tasks
at your own convenience. Some
people work best first thing in the
morning, while others need the
night to put in their 100%. Find out
what works for you and do your
important tasks during the time you
are likely to work most efficiently.
5) Compartmentalise and re-dedicate
your time. You have to find time
blocks for work and for university
that do not overlap. While you are
doing university work, do just that,
before moving on to other work.
6) Plan for the future. While the daily todo list helps you get through everyday
more efficiently, you have to consider
your plans for the future as well
maybe a certain activity you put in for
Tuesday could easily be completed on
the way to another task today, freeing
up time to relax, or get something
else done, on Tuesday.
7) Do not focus on the little things
because you are dreading the bigger
things. When your plate is full it is
often easier to tell yourself you are
doing your best by keeping yourself
busy with smaller, inconsequential details. Re-evaluate your to-do list and
get to the big, important tasks first. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Israel urges world

not to accept
Palestinian govt
n Reuters, Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday warned against
any international rush to recognize a
Palestinian government due to be announced under a unity pact between
the Fatah and Hamas Islamist groups.
Israel and the West classify Hamas
as a terrorist organization and have no
official dealings with the movement,
which advocates the destruction of the
Jewish state.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party
signed a reconciliation deal with
Hamas in April, said a unity government due to be announced on Monday would be comprised of ministers
without political affiliation, a status
that could ease the way for Western
engagement.
I call on all responsible elements
in the international community not to
rush to recognize a Palestinian government which has Hamas as part of it and
which is dependent on Hamas, Netanyahu, who has said such an administration would be a front for the Islamist
group, told his cabinet.

World

CELEBRATING HEROES

Hamas is a terrorist organization

that calls for Israels destruction, and
the international community must
not embrace it. That would not bolster
peace, it would strengthen terror, Netanyahu said in public remarks at the
cabinet meeting.
Israel froze US-brokered peace talks
with Abbas when the unity deal was
announced on April 23 after numerous
unsuccessful attempts at Palestinian
reconciliation since Hamas seized the
Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in fighting
in 2007.

Boycott?

Abbas said yesterday that Israel informed us ... they would boycott us if
we announced the government. Netanyahu, in his brief statement on Sunday, made no reference to any Israeli
sanctions.
Israel has withheld tax revenues
from Abbass aid-dependent Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited
self-rule in the West Bank, in retaliation for his signing in April of international conventions and treaties after
Israel reneged on a promised release of
Palestinian prisoners. l

Children carry portraits of Ukrainian heroes, fighters for the freedom of Ukraine since Kievan Rus times (from the 9th to the 13th centuries) to the present day, to commemorate them
during annual Heroes Day in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv yesterday
AFP

Turkish police crackdown on protests

n AFP, Ankara

A heavy-handed police crackdown on

Turkish protesters marking the one
year anniversary of deadly anti-government demonstrations earned Ankara yesterday strong rebuke from the
Council of Europe. I condemn the
excessive use of force by the Turkish
police against demonstrators and journalists, Nils Muiznieks, the Council
of Europe commissioner for human
rights, said in a statement sent to AFP.

Saturdays events add to the list of

cases in which the handling of demonstrations in Turkey has raised serious
human rights concerns, he added.
Police clashed with protesters in
Istanbul, firing tear gas and water cannon at people clustered on side streets,
defying a government ban on demonstrations on the iconic Taksim Square
the epicentre of last years turmoil.
Some 25,000 police officers were
deployed in Istanbul alone, as well as
dozens of armoured vehicles and wa-

ter cannon trucks, as police helicopters

hovered above.
In Ankara, police also clashed with
protesters hurling fireworks and responded with water cannon. In several neighbourhoods, people whistled and banged
pots and pans hanging from their balconies reminiscent of last years protests.
Minor clashes ocurred in both cities overnight, but most protests died
down after activist group Taksim Solidarity announced late Saturday that
the demonstrations were over. l

YouTube still blocked in Turkey

n AFP, Ankara

Popular video-sharing site YouTube

remained blocked in Turkey yesterday
despite the countrys top court ruling
that the blanket ban contravened the
right to free speech.
Turkeys constitutional court ruled
Thursday that the ban on YouTube violated individual rights and freedoms,
clearing the way for access to the service
to be revived following a two-month ban.

Transportation Minister Lutfi Elvan,

who is also in charge of communications, said the court decision had not
yet reached the relevant government
agencies.
What is needed will be done after
the decision reaches the countrys
telecommunications authority, he was
quoted as telling local media on Sunday.
A government official said this week
that access to YouTube would be restored once government agencies were

US carbon cut plan

likely to get muted
applause abroad
n Reuters, Oslo
President Barack Obamas plan to cut
greenhouse gas emissions from US
power plants, due to be announced today, will win muted applause abroad
with some hopes it could help a UN
deal to fight climate change in 2015.
Emerging economies including China and India are likely to be lukewarm
because they have often said that
Obamas plans for emissions cuts until
2020 - even if fully implemented - are
far short of the curbs they say are needed by the rich.
But the US plan to limit emissions by
existing power plants could put pressure on other nations in UN talks on a
deal meant to be agreed at a summit in
Paris in late 2015.
Obamas plan will be a good signal
for Paris by showing that one of the
worlds biggest emitters is taking the future of the planet and its people seriously, said Christiana Figueres, head of the
UN Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn.
The Paris summit is meant to agree
plans by almost 200 nations to slow
global warming beyond 2020, when it
will enter into force. It will succeed the
1997 Kyoto Protocol, which sets cuts
only for about 40 industrialized nations until 2020.
Governments and companies are
looking to China and the United States
in the run-up to 2015 for signs of their
commitment to move away from fossil
fuels in what could be a trillion-dollar
economic shift.
A UN panel of climate scientists says
it is at least 95 percent likely that manmade greenhouse gases are the main
cause of warming that is threatening
water and food supplies with ever more

Monday, June 2, 2014

informed of the court verdict.

YouTube has been banned in Turkey
since March 27 after the site was used
to leak a top-secret security meeting,
which featured top government, military and intelligence officials discussing
war scenarios inside neighbouring Syria.
The government scapped a similar
ban on Twitter which was blocked in
March after it had been used to spread
a spate of anonymous leaks implicating
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. l

Remains of five
WWI soldiers
found in France
n AFP, Metz

UN: May deadliest

month in 2014 for Iraq

The remains of five French soldiers

who fought in World War I have been
found along with their weapons in a
wood in the countrys east, a man behind the discovery said yesterday.
The skeletons were discovered
along with Lebel rifles, the basic weapon of the French infantry during the
Great War, in a forest near the town of
Luneville, Philippe Sugg told AFP.
One of them had his identity tag and
was a 27-year-old from an area near the
southern city of Perpignan, he said.
Other items found included a pocket
watch, a hip flask, two wallets and a little figurine of the Virgin Mary, he said.
Sugg, who is behind a two-man initiative to track down the remains of soldiers who died in the war which broke
out a century ago, said they appeared
to have been killed in the exact spot
they were found.
The remains are likely to be interred
in a nearby military cemetery apart
from those of the identified soldier. l

Almost 800 people have been killed in violence across Iraq in May, the United Nations
has said, making it the deadliest month for
the country this year, Aljazeera reported.
Of the 799 people killed, 196 were
members of the Iraqi security forces while
and the rest were civilians, the UN mission
to Iraq (UNAMI) said on Sunday.
It said that 1,409 Iraqis, including 1,108
civilians, were wounded.
Attacks by Sunni fighters have been
gaining momentum in Iraq during the past
year, underlining the challenges facing the
government.
The real toll is higher because the UN
figures do not include casualties in the
western province of Anbar, where the Iraqi
army has been fighting tribal and fighter
groups since they overran two cities at the
start of the year.
Excluding Anbar, UNAMIs figures show
that the worst-hit city was the capital
Baghdad, with 315 people killed. The

n Agencies

Once on the edge of defeat, Syrias Assad

runs again for president
occasions he did appear in public,
looked troubled and strained, has reemerged looking relaxed, confident
and smart as he gets out and about,
campaigning with his wife, Asma.

heatwaves, downpours and rising sea

levels.

Inadequate

Ronny Jumeau, ambassador of the

Seychelles at the United Nations and
a spokesman for the Alliance of Small
Island States (AOSIS) which fears rising
sea levels, said Obamas plan on Monday would be inadequate in the greater scheme of things.
Still, he said the plan, to be announced by the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), might trigger
action.
If he manages to do as planned,
will this be the moment when the US
can finally say to China, India and other
major developing emitters: Ive done
as youve asked all these years, now
what about you?
Many nations have been disappointed by Obamas actions since he took office in 2009 talking of fixing a planet
in peril. Obamas plans to legislate cuts
in emissions failed in 2010 because of
Senate opposition.
I have increasingly the feeling that
the epicenter of success is the United States and China finding common
ground in what they are willing to sign
up for in Paris, said Yvo de Boer, who
was UN climate chief when a 2009
summit in Copenhagen failed to agree
a climate treaty.
De Boer now heads the Global Green
Growth Institute in South Korea.
Obamas goal of a 17 percent emissions cut by 2020 from 2005 levels has
been helped by a shift to shale gas from
coal and amounts to a 3.5 percent cut
from 1990, the UN benchmark year.
Many other rich nations are on track for
deeper cuts. l

northern province of Ninevah came in

second with 113, followed by Salahuddin
province with 94 deaths.
The UN said figures from the Anbar
health directorate put the number of
civilian casualties there at 195.
Maliki in power
Despite deteriorating security, Iraqs
prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, won the
largest share of parliamentary seats in
national elections last month, a blow to his
opponents who blame him for leading the
country to ruin.
Bloodshed remains below the levels
seen in 2006 and 2007, when sectarian
violence reached their peak, but last year
was Iraqs deadliest since violence began
to ease in 2008.
I strongly deplore the sustained level
of violence and terrorist acts that continues rocking the country, UN envoy to Iraq
Nikolay Mladenov said in a statement.
The previous months death toll stood at
750, according to UNAMI, making April the
second deadliest month of the year. l

Triumphalism

A Syrian girl with Free Syrian Army flags drawn on her face attends a protest against the election of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in
Tripoli yesterday
REUTERS

n Reuters, Beirut
It was not so long ago that Bashar al-Assads enemies thought he was finished.
In the summer of 2012, the rebels
were not just at the gates of Damascus,
but inside the capital, preying on Assads harried forces.
His government had lost big chunks
of Syrias territory and a string of strategic towns, and a small number of loyal and tested army units were rotating

around the country in an exhausting

attempt to hold back rebel advances on
many fronts.
Not any longer.
Now, even as the United States seeks
to increase aid and training to moderate rebels to fight Assads forces, US
officials privately concede Assad isnt
going anywhere soon.
Buoyed by a sequence of victories
over the past year, won in large part
through Iran and Hezbollah, its Leba-

nese paramilitary proxy, Assad will be

elected president this week for a third
seven-year term, symbolically contested by selected opponents playing walkon roles to pad out the main drama.
The old Syria - at its core a security
state run by the Assad clan, their Alawite allies and selected partners from
other minorities and the Sunni majority - is reasserting itself.
Assad himself, who had almost
dropped out of sight and, on the rare

There is a note of triumphalism when he

speaks, a sense that the tide of the crisis,
that began as a popular revolt against
his rule, has turned in his favour.
Despite the loss of 160,000 lives and
the displacement of 10 million Syrians,
the shattering of cities like Homs and
Aleppo and wholesale destruction of
infrastructure and the economy, Assad
proclaims Syria will become again what
it once was.
During a visit to the ancient Christian town of Maaloula on Easter Sunday, after it had been recaptured from
rebels, he told soldiers: We will remain steadfast and bring security back
to Syria and defeat terrorism. We will
hit them with an iron fist and Syria will
return to how it was.
The battle may be long but were not
afraid; Syria has been like that all its life,
he said on another stop at nearby Ain
al-Tina. As long as were together...well
rebuild it. However much they destroy
we will rebuild and make it even better.
Such is his confidence that he is contemplating retaking the whole country
after the presidential election, according to a Lebanese political ally who sees
him regularly.
Having regained control of a chain
of cities up the north-south backbone
of the country, secured his grip on the
north-west coast and Alawite heartland, and cleared rebels away from
Lebanons border, he is mulling a new
offensive against Aleppo, before pushing right up to the northern frontier
with Turkey. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

US soldier freed in
Taliban prisoner swap

Bowe Bergdahl was the last US prisoner of war in Afghanistan

n Reuters, Washington
The last US prisoner of war from Americas waning Afghan war was handed
over to US Special Operations forces in
Afghanistan on Saturday in a dramatic
swap for five Taliban detainees who
were released from Guantanamo Bay
prison and flown to Qatar.
Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had
been held for nearly five years by Afghan militants and his release followed
years of on-and-off negotiations.
President Barack Obama hailed the
release in a brief appearance with Bergdahls parents, Bob and Jani, in the White
House Rose Garden, saying that while
Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten.
Bergdahl was on his way to an American military hospital in Germany, a US
defense official said. US special forces
took custody of Bergdahl in a non-violent exchange with 18 Taliban members
in eastern Afghanistan, senior US officials said, adding that he was believed
to be in good condition. Before leaving
for Germany, he received medical care
at Bagram Air Base, the main US base in
Afghanistan.
Bergdahl, 28, was handed over about
6pm local time on Saturday, a senior official said. The US forces, who had flown

Tough recovery process

in by helicopter, were on the ground

very briefly, said the officials, who
would not specify the precise location
of the handover. A US defense official
said Bergdahl was able to walk and became emotional on his way to freedom.
Hours later, a second US defense
official said the five Taliban detainees,
now formally in Qatari custody, had
departed the Guantanamo prison for
foreign terrorism suspects. They were
aboard a US military C-17 aircraft and
en route to the Gulf emirate.

His recovery after long years in captivity could be difficult. At the White
House, Bergdahls father began his
words speaking a Muslim prayer and
said his son was having difficulty
speaking English. He asked for patience
from the media as the family helped
him readjust.
Bergdahls release could be a national security boost for Obama, whose foreign policy has been widely criticized
in recent months.
But some members of Congress
have worried in the past over the potential release of the five Taliban detainees, particularly Mohammed Fazl,
a high-risk detainee held at Guantanamo since early 2002. Fazl is alleged
to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistans minority Shiite
Muslims between 1998 and 2001.
A US defense official, speaking
on condition of anonymity, identified the five men as Fazl, Mullah
Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi,
Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul
Haq Wasiq. Pentagon documents released by the WikiLeaks organization
said all five were sent to Guantanamo in 2002, the year the detention
facility opened. l

Monday, June 2, 2014

Mullah Omar hails

prisoner swap as
big victory
n AFP, Kabul

Thai troops and protesters

play cat and mouse

Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar yesterday hailed the

release of five senior insurgents in exchange for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl as
a big victory.
I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation, all the mujahideen and to the families and relatives of the prisoners for
this big victory regarding the release of
five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo
prison, he said in a rare statement.
I thank the government of Qatar,
especially its emir Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad (Al Thani), who made sincere
efforts for release of these leaders and
for their mediation and for hosting
them, he added.
Mullah Omar was Afghanistans de
facto head of state during their 19962001 rule ovwr Afghanistan. He has
continued to lead the groups insurgency since they were ousted from power.
The five transferred Taliban detainees
have been named by the US State Department as Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah
Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq.
A Taliban source in the Pakistani
city of Quetta told AFP that the five
had been officials in the Taliban regime
driven out by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001
attacks in the United States. l

Thousands of security personnel,

backed by armoured vehicles, were deployed on Bangkoks streets yesterday
in a show of force against small but defiant anti-coup flashmob rallies.
One group of peaceful protesters
evaded soldiers, police and roadblocks
to stage a demonstration in the citys
commercial centre in what has become
a now daily dance with authorities.
Police said they had arrested some
of the protesters who had gathered at
a walkway linked to a major shopping
centre. Political assemblies of more
than five people were banned under
martial law declared by Army Chief
Prayut Chan-O-Cha two days before he
seized power in a coup on May 22.
But small, daily protests have been
held in the capital since Prayut ousted
the civilian government.
A flashmob of around two dozen
people gathered at midday near the
downtown shopping mall, according to
an AFP reporter.
Security forces, many carrying riot
shields, swiftly encircled the rally and
were briefly backed by an armoured
humvee with a soldier manning a
mounted machine gun.
Protesters unfurled a giant poster of
Prayuts face with the words Thailand
1984 emblazoned below, a reference
to George Orwells anti-authoritarian

n AFP, Bangkok

novel which has become an accessory

for many of the Bangkok protesters.
I want to call for my freedom...
there should be equality for everyone,
protester Nantachaporn told AFP, giving only one name.
Protesters also gave a three-fingered
salute, in an apparent nod to the fictional peoples power movement from
The Hunger Games film.
Earlier, more than 6,000 soldiers
and police had been deployed at eight
locations across the city.
In a game of cat-and-mouse played
out over social media, the protesters
appeared to wrongfoot authorities, instead gathering at the shopping centre.
Other small protests were reported,
with at least one person detained by
police earlier in the commercial district.

Necessary evil or pretext for coup?

General Prayut has warned protesters that they and even their families
face punishment under strict martial law, which has imposed sweeping
curbs on freedoms.
So far his troops have taken a relatively light touch to marshalling the
rallies, making several arrests but not
using force.
But rights groups have condemned
Prayut for using intimidation to deter
protesters, summoning likely dissenters to army camps as well as moving to
stifle the media. l

Pakistan clerics
issue stoning
death decree
n Agencies

Protesters march in
Hong Kong ahead
of Tiananmen vigil
n AFP, Hong Kong

A coalition of Pakistani religious leaders has issued a religious edict declaring honour killings to be a highly
condemnable and un-Islamic action, Aljazeera reported yesterday.
The All Pakistani Ulema Council
is also organising a summit on June
5, involving leaders from all sects, to
discuss honour killings, following the
murder of a 25-year-old pregnant woman, Farzana Parveen, outside Lahore
High Court.
[A] daughter is a gift by Allah. And
the feeling of being dishonoured by
your daughter is forbidden in Islam,
the edict, issued on Friday, reads.
Killing ones daughter and humiliating them is a sign of ignorance.
The councils secretary general, Zahid Mehmood Qasim, told Al Jazeera on
Sunday that the decree should serve as
a reminder to those who kill their kin on
the name of protecting honour.
He said the woman, who was murdered by relatives for marrying the
man she loved instead of a cousin selected for her, did not deserve death.
The act falls outside the ambit of
the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran and Sunnah [Islamic
way of life], he said.
Qasim said the Council would meet
on June 5 in Islamabad to discuss how
to tackle honour killings and other
pressing social issues. l

Pro-democracy protesters marched in

Hong Kong yesterday to call for greater
political freedoms in China and an end
to one-party rule, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.
Organisers said 3,000 people took
to the streets in sweltering heat for the
annual protest, calling on Beijing to
release imprisoned political dissidents
and formally acknowledge the bloody
crackdown of 1989.
Hong Kong police put the number of
protesters lower at 1,900. It comes ahead
of a mass candle-lit vigil planned for
Wednesday to mark the anniversary of
the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy
protests in which hundreds of people, by
some estimates more than 1,000, died.
Marchers shouted slogans such as
Democracy Now, End One-Party
Rule and Release Gao Yu, referring to
a Chinese journalist recently detained
for allegedly leaking state secrets.
China still forbids public discussion
of the events of June 3-4 1989 when the
military brutally suppressed pro-democracy protesters, mainly students,
in central Beijing.
Hong Kong is the only city in China
to mark the anniversary openly.
As for many years, it is a continuous
struggle hoping to find justice and have
a democratic China. This is the case
even after 25 years, Richard Tsoi Yiucheong, a protest organiser, told AFP. l

Now a big brand,

Modi tries to drive
party too
n Agencies
Indias new Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has asked BJP general secretaries
to build upon the gains made in the Lok
Sabha polls and aim to win the coming
assembly elections.
In a nearly two hour-long meeting
with party general secretaries, he also
said the party should not lose sight of
its priorities because of the excitement
over the stunning LS poll victory.
He made it clear that we cannot
afford to rest on our laurels, and that
we have to consolidate what we have
achieved by engaging in ceaseless action, sources familiar with the deliberations said.
The interaction, in the presence of
BJP chief Rajnath Singh, was significant
because it was seen as a clear evidence
of Modis keenness to retool the anemic
organization which independent observers are almost unanimous could
end its decade-long power drought almost solely because of the strength of
brand Modi, and cast it in his mould.
Coming just ahead of the likely appointment of one of his trusted general secretaries Jagat Prakash Nadda
or Amit Shah as the BJP chief, Modis exhortation amplified not just his
emergence as the new saffron strongman, but also his desire to exercise
his new-found authority to drive
the party. l

Protesters hold banners and placards as they shout slogans at a rally in Hong Kong on June 1, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, in which
hundreds of people, by some estimates more than 1,000, died. Hong Kong is the only city in China to openly mark the anniversary
AFP

Eyeing Pakistan and China, Modi

bolsters security team
n Reuters, New Delhi
Indias new Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has chosen a daring former spy
with years of experience in dealing
with Pakistan as his national security
adviser, a move officials say signals a
more muscular approach to New Delhis traditional enemy.
The choice of Ajit Doval, alongside former Indian army chief General
V.K. Singh as a federal minister for the
northeast region, underscores plans
to revamp national security that Modi
says became weak under the outgoing
government. The two top-level appointments, reporting directly to Modi, point
to a desire to address what are arguably
Indias two most pressing external security concerns - Pakistan and China, both
of which, like India, have nuclear arms.
Doval, a highly decorated officer
renowned for his role in dangerous
counter-insurgency missions, has long
advocated tough action against militant groups, although operations he
has been involved in suggest a level of
pragmatism.
In the 1980s, he smuggled himself
into the Golden Temple in the city of
Amritsar from where Sikh militants
were later flushed out, and he infiltrated a powerful guerrilla group fighting
for independence from India in the
northeastern state of Mizoram. The

group ultimately signed a peace accord.

Doval was also on the ground in
Kandahar, Afghanistan, when an Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu was
hijacked by Pakistan-based militants
on Christmas Eve, 1999. The crisis was
resolved when top militants were freed
in exchange for hostages.

The choice of Ajit Doval

underscores plans
to revamp national
security that Modi
says became weak
under the outgoing
government
Doval is an out-of-the-box thinker,
said an Intelligence Bureau officer with
long years of service in Kashmir and
other Indian hotspots. Expect him to
shake things up.
The official, who did not want to be
named, said he expected the new security team to push for a rapid expansion
of border infrastructure and a streamlining of intelligence services, which
still function in isolation and often impede one other.
Singh has declared his priority is to
develop the northeast in order to nar-

row the gap with Chinese investment in

roads and railways on its side of the frontier. India is also creating a new mountain corps and beefing up border defences, although that initiative has stalled.

Fears of Afghan spillover

A secure India is a long-standing goal

of Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), and the new prime
minister himself wants strong borders
so the country can focus fully on giving
economic growth a much-needed boost.
He won the election in May in a
landslide victory largely on economic
pledges that Indias 1.2 billion people
hope will secure jobs and raise living standards. But with most foreign
troops withdrawing from Afghanistan
by the end of this year, India is concerned that Islamist militants fighting
there will turn their sights towards the
disputed region of Kashmir, which is
also claimed by Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have fought two
of three wars since independence over
the Himalayan territory, and their armed
forces are separated there by a rugged,
mountainous Line of Control which militants have the capability to cross.
Doval, 69, formerly head of the Intelligence Bureau domestic spy agency,
will be National Security Adviser, only
the second officer from the intelligence
community to hold the post. l

China hits back at US, Japan

for provocative remarks
n AFP, Singapore
China denounced Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe and US Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday for
provocative remarks accusing Beijing of destabilising actions in contested Asian waters.
Lieutenant General Wang Guanzhong,
deputy chief of the general staff of the
Peoples Liberation Army, told an Asian
security forum in Singapore that strong
comments made by Abe and Hagel at the
conference were unacceptable.
Abe had opened the Shangri-La Dialogue on Friday by urging countries
to respect the rule of law an apparent
reference to what rivals consider aggressive Chinese behaviour over disputed areas in the South China Sea and
East China Sea.
Hagel on Saturday warned China
against destabilising actions in the
South China Sea and listed a number of
alleged infractions, including against
the Philippines and Vietnam, the two
most vocal critics of Beijings claims.
The Chinese delegation... have this
feeling that the speeches of Mr Abe
and Mr Hagel are a provocative action
against China, Wang, dressed in full
military uniform, said in an address to
the forum.
Abe had left Saturday and Hagel
departed early Sunday before Wang
spoke.

The Pentagon said Hagel and Wang

held a brief meeting Saturday in which
they exchanged views about issues
important to both the US and China, as
well as to the region.
About midway into his prepared
speech in which he said China will never seek hegemony and foreign expansion, Wang diverted from the script. He
accused Abe and Hagel of coordinating with each other to attack China.
This is simply unimaginable, said
Wang, the highest ranking military official in the Chinese delegation, adding that the US and Japanese speeches
were unacceptable and not in the spirit of this Shangri-La Dialogue.
The speeches made by Mr Abe and
Mr Hagel gave me the impression that
they coordinated with each other, they
supported each other, they encouraged
each other and they took the advantage
of speaking first, he said.

Destabilising actions

Hagel issued a blunt message to Beijing

on Saturday, saying China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea.
He accused China of restricting the
Philippines access to Scarborough Shoal,
putting pressure on Manilas long-standing presence in Second Thomas Shoal,
beginning land reclamation at various
locations and moving an oil rig into disputed waters with Vietnam. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Monday, June 2, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

CSR means business,

not charity

e welcome the Bangladesh Bank governors call for the boards

of banks and financial institutions to avoid financing ventures
which harm the environment.
The central bank has been the driving force behind a large increase in
CSR and green banking activity by Bangladeshi banks over the last five
years.
It is commendable that it is asking banks and financial institutions
to put more focus on their corporate social responsibility policies upon
encouraging social and environmental investments, rather
than just seeing CSR as primarily
about charity-based activities.
Donations to community,
Education and health activities
are commendable in their own
right and should be encouraged
by tax incentives. They are especially worthwhile when they
encourage leading companies to
volunteer staff time and share
expertise.
However, the real benefits
of CSR are gained when it is integrated into a companys core activities.
Reputation and human capital are increasingly the most important assets of a business. By helping to attract and retain staff, CSR policies can
help attract consumers and capital and build long-term value.
It is encouraging to see the Bangladesh Bank increase reporting
on how banks integrate CSR within their operations and among their
customers.
If more financial institutions disclose figures in their own annual
reports on such topics as their environmental emissions and gender
diversity policies, this will encourage more companies in other sectors to
do likewise.
Corporate transparency on their social and environmental impacts
is a proven way to help consumers and companies drive improvements
and should be encouraged.

CSR can help attract

consumers and
capital and build
long-term value

Corruption is the
common enemy

t is unfortunate that the Anti Corruption Commission and Transparency International Bangladesh have been engaging in a war of words.
An ACC commissioner recently made implied allegations about
TIBs own shortcomings when it came to matters of transparency and
integrity. The commissioner objected to TIBs access to foreign funds
for its research, and said ACC
should investigate TIB, after
the latter had criticised the
ACCs effectiveness in fighting
corruption.
Such accusations are futile
acts of mudslinging, and serve
no productive purpose. It is
particularly ironic considering
the TIB has, in the fact, helped
the ACC in fighting corruption in
recent years.
The way to rid society of
corruption is for these two powerful bodies to work together fruitfully, not to engage in puerile verbal
battles which have no tangible effects on society.
We commend TIBs response in offering to open up its books to the
ACC. It is important for a corruption watchdog to put its money where its
mouth is and we believe the TIB executive directors offer to have their
books examined is a genuine one. If TIBs claim of not spending money
without government approval is true, then there are no grounds for the
accusations by the ACC commissioner.
Civil society institutions must keep their eyes on the ball corruption
is the common enemy. We cannot afford to be distracted by investigative bodies pointing fingers at each other for political reasons, while the
real problem remains to be tackled.

We cannot afford
ACC and TIB to be
distracted from the
real problem

Be heard
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Jinnah made a mistake and I am ashamed

of being Pakistani

How to solve: Each number in our

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a
different letter of the alphabet. For
example, today 12 represents A so fill A
every time the figure 12 appears.
You have two letters in the control grid
to start you off. Enter them in 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

May 27

Hafeejul Alam
Its useless to blame Jinnah. Jinnah once tried
his best for Hindu-Muslim unity, but failed due to
intransigent Hindu leaders. Therefore, the natural
outcome was Pakistan. The Pakistan which he
envisaged is not the Pakistan of today. Jinnah
was after all a very liberal and secular-minded
Muslim. However, the saddest part of the history
of Pakistan is that, after the demise of Jinnah, the
rulers (mostly khakis) were more often than not
dogmatic, dictatorial and narrow-minded, so much
so that within a short time (in 1971), the people of
Eastern Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had to liberate
themselves through a bloody war with Pakistani
occupation forces.
Todays Pakistan is nothing but the extension of
the similar symptoms, aggravated by the Talibans
and other religious groups. It is still too early to
say if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs government
can improve the situation. On the other hand,
despite many problems, Bangladesh, with a more
secular and mature outlook, is doing better socially,
politically, and economically. The country, with
over $20bn forex reserve (second only to India),
is the worlds second-largest exporter of garments
and textiles after China. Its social development
indicators are reported to be the best in South Asia.

an exceptionally dysfunctional state, run by a

procession of despots that has made this tribal,
feudal nation a bastion of ceaseless bigotry,
brutality and misery.

Someone
The fall of Dhaka? Okay, youre, after all, a Pakistani. Your outlook on December 16, 1971 is easily
understood. Given the comparatively worse state
of your country (than independent Bangladesh),
dear author, Id have thought even you would at
least grudgingly admit it was nothing short of the
inevitable liberation of Dhaka that we have to
thank for being Bangladeshis today, and not still
your fellow Pakistanis.
Israel and Pakistan stand out in the world as
the two nations founded explicitly and entirely
on the basis of religion. Israel, for all its myriad
evils, is still a modern, advanced, prosperous
democracy, whereas Pakistan has for long been

Deen Sheikh
All the author seems to be doing is Pakistanbashing and pandering to India.

Storm in a teacup
May 27

Lisa_54
Will it be easy for Bangladesh to make peace with
India and resolve the issues as it seemed to be for
the USA?

Defence allocation to grow

12.71%
May 27

Raihan Al-Beruni
You have to have strong defence forces to establish authority on Bay of Bengal; otherwise, Burma
will send offshore oil rigs into Bangladeshi waters
once again.
The time has come for Bangladesh to buy the
HQ-9 long-range air defence missile system and
J10B fighters. I hope and cross my fingers that
Hasina will press for this when she visits China.

KKB
Time to consider a South Asian Confederacy?
Someone
KKB: With Bangladesh as the only member in your
SAC with a manifestly unelected, unaccountable
government in power? Not by a long shot. :)
Anon
The timing of this piece is queer. All the writer said
about her country is true, but as a nation, not alls
doom and gloom for Pakistan. It has a democratically-elected government for a start. And the
government is sincere in neutralising the myriad
insurgent groups.
The country is going through a rough patch,
no doubt. But with democracy taking roots, with
the fairly robust civil society and the relatively free
media, it has a good chance of getting out of this
morass. A strong, stable, and prosperous Pakistan
is a sine qua non for South Asia as it is for the
Pakistanis.

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.

Rodders
Deen Sheikh: You make it sound as if Pakistan is
some sort of paradise. Is it true?
sufi
Rodders: The problem with Pakistan is religion.
And that is the problem with Saudi Arabia too. So
no matter how rich Saudi Arabia is, to me, its still
a place not for free people. And 99% of the world
is free. So why trap yourself in a country inside the
cage of religion?

Values to walk the gallows

May 26
TJ
The writer perfectly points out that before
blaming the youngsters, the elders should ask
themselves if they are passing on the right values
to their children in the right way. It is extremely
sad to see that our political leaders see using the
youth of the country for the formers political
gains as culture.

CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Line of soldiers (4)
5 Grinding tooth (5)
9 Things to be done (6)
10 Be indebted (3)
11 Festivity (4)
12 Storms (5)
14 Lukewarm (5)
16 Extremities (4)
19 Irish republic (4)
21 Tempted (5)
24 Gems (5)
27 Ground spice (4)
29 Bands engagement (3)
30 Newspaper
executive (6)
31 Halts (5)
32 Examine (4)

DOWN
1 Floating structure (4)
2 Mature (3)
3 Stinging plant (6)
4 Joint (4)
5 Seaman (7)
6 Ships record (3)
7 Respectful fear (3)
8 Plant secretion (5)
13 Say further (3)
15 Reads carefully (7)
17 Composed (6)
18 Wooden shoes (5)
20 Unwell (3)
22 Send out (4)
23 Saucy (4)
25 Mine (3)
26 Past (3)
28 Long-leaved lettuce (3)

ZA
Its morbidly sobering to come to grip with this fact.
We are indeed victims of a culture that prioritises
comfort and ignorance over literally everything
else. Things are just operating under the natural
order of this ecosystem, which is the saddest part.
nds
Yes, the author says it all. Where money is involved, everything else is disposable.

The enemy within

CALVIN AND HOBBES

May 27

Shabnaz
I genuinely wonder if it will take some form
of well-timed mass slaughter or kidnapping
in Bangladesh for people to realise that the
government, while not directly responsible for
these atrocities, is clearly not above reaping
political benefits from them.

PEANUTS

Fahad
There was a lot of criticism justifiable, largely
of how Michelle Obama and Malala Yousafzai
both got behind the hashtag, without criticising
similarly destructive world policies like drone
warfare. Yet, people ignored the politicisation
of the Nigerian kidnappings by their own government. This, alongside the lack of discussion
about the ALs dubious links, proves that these
governments are getting away with it, and it is
time that stopped.
Madiha
It took three weeks for the Nigerian government to react to the abduction, but, as soon as
they did, they made it look like they were the
saviours. It is absolutely disgusting that political
leaders are utilising these horrendous events
for selfish gains instead of actually helping.
Zero-Agenda
I always thought that evil was an imagined
concept, that it was stupidity, ignorance and
just plain bad choices that made people do
terrible things. Guess I was wrong.

YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Monday, June 2, 2014

From Japan, with love

n Sako Mari

believe that the recently

concluded state visit by the
honourable prime minister of
Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, to
Japan is set to be a turning point
in economic relations between the two
countries. While I am not an economist, the agreement by the Japansese
prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to commit
Y600bn ($5.9bn) in economic assistance to Bangladesh over the next
four to five years has the potential to
catalyse growth in both countries.
The joint communiqu has emphasised that the funds, mainly in
low-cost loans, will be used to build
infrastructure projects in Bangladesh.
Also exciting is Prime Minister Abes
statement that Bangladesh has great
economic potential. In order to realise
its potential and expedite further
growth, Japan has come up with the
concept of the Bay of Bengal industrial growth belt or what he termed
The BIG-B.
Leveraging Bangladeshs geographic position, right between Asias two
economic giants China and India, is a
clear opportunity for the country. The
Japanese initiative can build on the recently announced BIMSTEC agreement
for developing economic corridors via
Bangladesh and Burma to link China
and Japan.

ti-modal Dhaka eastern bypass, and

the ecological restoration of four rivers
around Dhaka.
The two prime ministers also welcomed the memorandum of understanding signed between JETRO and
Bangladesh Export Processing Zones
Authority, which reserves important
facilities in five EPZs in Bangladesh for
Japanese investors. Abe also expressed
his decision to instruct relevant ministries to start reviewing rules of origin
of generalised system of preferences
(GSP) for knitwear in order to boost
Bangladeshs exports.
Beyond economic ties, Hasinas
other cultural and diplomatic gestures were broadly appreciated by the
Japanese people and the government.
On the former, Hasina gifted a pair of
Bengal tigers to Japan and she hoped
it would help school children become
more acquainted with the culture of
Bangladesh. On the diplomatic side,
Hasina reaffirmed Bangladeshs support
for Japans aspiration to become a permanent member of the United Nations
Security Council while Abe expressed
his intention to share Japans experience, including dispatching experts for
the proposed project of establishing a
Peace Building Centre in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh support for Japan,
amid heightened tensions between
China and not only Japan but other
countries such as Vietnam, Philip-

I am particularly heartened and encouraged that

Bangladesh is being recognised by my homeland,
Japan, for its economic opportunity

Beyond that, it was reported that Hasina asked her counterpart to consider a
range of specific projects like a Ganges
barrage, building multi-modal tunnels
under the Jamuna River, a railway
bridge over the Jamuna River, a mul-

pines, Korea, Malaysia, over Chinese

territorial expansionism in the South
China Sea, comes at a particularly
welcome time, and something that the
Japanese people and its government
will not forget. Indeed, an article in the

A sucessful trip

PID

Financial Times several months back

by Ifty Islam of AT Capital (Senkaku
Accelerating the China Relocation
Trade, FT, Dec 9, 2013) suggested
geopolitical tensions would have
an increasing influence on Japans
economic diplomacy. He wrote that
it is becoming more apparent that
political risk mitigation in the face of
resurgent Chinese regional territorial
ambitions and aggressiveness will
reinforce the macroeconomic justification for diversifying away from China.
Countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam,
Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka
are likely to see a more focused and
aggressive push from corporate Japan
to step up FDI in 2014. Indeed the
intersection of geopolitics and China
rebalancing is likely to be the dominant
macro catalyst and opportunity for
such countries for the coming decade.
As a Bangladesh optimist, or Bangla-phile, as I tell my friends, I am
particularly heartened and encouraged
that Bangladesh is being recognised by

my homeland, Japan, for its economic opportunity. This contrasts with a

more typical impression of Bangladesh, among a majority of Japanese,
as the country of poverty and natural
disasters, and as the home of microfinance, Professor Yunus, and Brac.
Indeed, my first visit to Dhaka five
years ago was, when I was a graduate student reading Agricultural
Science at the University of Tokyo, I
came and spent several weeks in the
villages studying microfinance with
Brac and was undoubtedly impressed
by the innovative thinking behind
improving access to credit among the
extreme poor. A number of my friends
had been to Bangladesh on the JICA
volunteer program and had returned
enthused about the opportunities to
help the poor. But at the same time, I
was convinced that the key to poverty
alleviation was not microfinance, but
rather catalysing economic growth and
unlocking the self-evident and natural
entrepreneurial spirit of the Bangla-

ome time ago, a comment made

by a football federation official
that Bangladesh will improve its
sagging glory in football by targeting
the 2022 World Cup, was met with
huge criticism. Rationally speaking, I
think it wont happen. At least, not in
my lifetime.
However, there was a moment
when the dream of playing in the
World Cup did not seem far-fetched.
In the late 80s, when Bangladesh
won the local President Cup and our
boys (a little more than boys perhaps)
trounced top teams like Brazil and the
lot in the Dana and Gothia Cup in Sweden and Denmark, there was optimism
all around.
A confession though: When we
saw the recorded final match between
Bangladesh and Brazil, where we
possibly won by seven goals, the age
difference was too conspicuous to
ignore. Bakhtiar and company looked
far above the age limit of fourteen.
Anyway, in the elation of victory, we
decided to talk less about the flouting
of the age limit.
The boys from Brazil actually cried
in the end. Yes, they were just that,
teenagers.
Whatever the case, the country was

on a roll. Bangladesh was better than

most Southeast Asian nations, we were
almost always the finalists with India
and, in the club level, Mohammedan
had beaten Iranian champions Pirouzi
to move to the Asian Club final round.
Incidentally, even in the next round
in 1989, Mohammedan won against
the North Korean champions in April
25, fuelling hopes of a World Cup place
in the years to come.
The expectation wasnt irrational
at all. Iran had played the World Cup
in 1978, North Korea in 1966, and our
clubs were prevailing against them
so there was ground for envisioning a
Bangladesh team walking into a stadium filled with supporters in a World
Cup match.
Football in the 80s was all about
strides forward. The Iran-Iraq war
paved way for top players from both
countries to come and play in the
local league. The Eagle of Asia, Nasser
Hejazi, captain of the Iranian team in
1978, made Dhaka his home, becoming
coach to Mohammedan.
He brought two top level players,
Naljegar and Vijen Taheri, who, along
with Abahani recruits from Iraq, Karim
Mohammad Alawi, and Samir Shaker,
injected a much needed international
touch to the local game.
Incidentally, Samir Shaker became

infamous after spitting at the referee

in the 1986 World Cup match between
Iraq and Belgium. He also coached
the Bangladesh team to the first SAF
Games gold in 1999.
When the 1986 World Cup came,
games could be seen directly from
Mexico. This was not the case in 1982
when many matches, including the
quarter finals, were recorded and
shown later.
In 1982, very few heard of or noticed Maradona. Eyes were on Brazil
as always. They played like magic and
lost like gentlemen. The Tango Espana
ball had become the ultimate sporting
gift. Back in the early 80s, local league
games used another ball called the
Mikasa. Lightweight and fast, Mikasa
was soon supplanted by the Tango.
Local players wore boots made by
Globe while only the lucky ones who
had the privilege to travel abroad to
play for the national team came back
with the famous Adidas Copa Mundial
boots. The 1982 World Cup ended but
left no lasting legacy. Paolo Rossi, the
Italian redeemer in the final against
Germany, wont be recognised by most
current-day fans.
Kuwait was the Asian country to
qualify and I recall after their place
was confirmed, each player was gifted
a luxury boat and a residence by the
sea. To go through some farcical World
Cup matches click on to Kuwait-France
1982, where the Sheikh intervened to
have a goal scored by France disallowed.
It was 1986 that impacted football
in Bangladesh the most. From the
ashes of Brazil rose a diminutive man
called Maradona, sparking off a cult
which is the main reason why Argentina has so many supporters today.
There were many other players
that shone in that World Cup: Platini,
Enzo Francescoli, Preben Elkjaer, Gary
Linekar, Emilio Butragueno, and so on,
but about 28 years later, ask anyone
and only one name will prevail: Maradona!
After the World Cup, Bangladesh
was swept by the Argentina cyclone
stationary, books, lollipops, posters,
and shirts all had the image of the
Argentinian with his iconic kiss on the

up choosing Bangladesh as the country

that offered the greatest opportunity
for EM skincare products having the
right balance between low labour costs
and a large domestic market of 160
million people.
I am excited and encouraged by the
recent deepening of Japanese-Bangladeshi economic ties. It offers major
opportunities for Japanese companies
to use Bangladesh as a low cost and
competitive re-export and logistics
hub for the region. For Bangladesh,
Japanese FDI will help export diversification, technology transfer, and the
rapid development of new industries.
The key remains follow through by the
Bangladeshi and Japanese governments and private sector companies to
ensure the opportunity is not wasted.
This Bangla-phile remains optimistic about a bright future for this great
country. l
Sako Mari is an entrepreneur in the skincare/
healthcare sector.

Ghosts of World Cups past

n Towheed Feroze

deshi people.
Even after I graduated and had
joined LOreal, the French cosmetics company, in their Tokyo office, I
continued to return to Bangladesh,
to continue my relationship with this
wonderful country and its optimistic
and resilient people. Over time, I made
a number of very good Bangladeshi
friends who continued to keep me updated about developments in Dhaka.
Last year, I decided to leave LOreal
and set up a cosmetics/healthcare
business focusing on developing
products for emerging markets using
cutting edge Japanese technology and
key ingredients developed by global
market leaders in beauty products
such as Shiseido and Kanebo, but
with a goal of manufacturing them
more cheaply in a low cost developing
country. I travelled to a wide range of
countries to find the best market to
start my business including Morocco,
Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and
Thailand among others. But I ended

Look to theWest
trophy.
As for boots, the small master alone
catapulted Puma King, which he wore,
to sublime status.
Some were determined to be Maradona and Argentina fans/worshippers
forever. In the Dhaka University area,
there are many Argentina eccentrics,
one such person is called Kaliji.
A thin, short guy, Kaliji can be
passed off as a 25-year-old, though he
once practiced with the famed Mohammedan footballers Kaiser Hamid,
Jewel Rana, and so on in the late 80s.
That makes him around 40 or more!
Kaliji has three passions in life
biriyani, marijuana, and Argentina. He
must have some sort of polao-based
dish every day, he will be spotted in
dark corners smoking a joint at ungodly hours, and, if there is a football
game on, he will usually arrive in his
Argentina t-shirt.
Once, after a heavy joint session, he
came to the DU field to practice on his
own nothing wrong with that, but it
was 3am at night and he was stoned
immaculate.
The 90s will be remembered for the
rise of the African lions, Cameroon,
but I doubt if any other event from the
following World Cups created a lasting
impact on Bangladesh. For me, the
best World Cup match involves none
of the big teams, but Iran and USA in
1998.
We supported Iran like our national
team, screaming till the end with a
landmark 2-1 win. When I called my
uncle to share my joy, he responded
it was not a match, it was Jihad.
Alas! In 2014, we do not expect to
play in the great spectacle any time
soon. Bangladesh has lost its superiority in the region, which is rather pejoratively regarded as the third tier of Asian
football, so the cup is far, far away.
Unless of course, we join Kaliji in
one of his sessions and then begin to
experience delusions. Meanwhile, its
that time to revive the age-old question: Are you Argentina or Brazil?
Nah! I am none of those. For me, its
Iran! l
Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently
working in the development sector.

n Jyoti Rahman

est Bengal (no one usesPaschimbangait seems!) that is.

While Bangladeshi chatteratti online/offline, print/electronic
are all agog about what Mr Modi
might mean, hardly anyone is talking
about whats happening in West
Bengal. And yet, just as analysing the
political development offormer West
Pakistancan shed light on our own
failures, analysing our co-linguists to
the west can also help in charting our
path.
Let me stress the word analysis
I am calling for an unsentimental
look at politics/society/economy, not
another round ofdui Bangla/epar-opar
tearjerking.
Over the fold are four topicsthat
ought to be explored by serious analysts.

1.Unity of the left

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the

left movement parties, unions, intelligentsia in both sides of the Radcliffe Line, became heavily fractured.
As around the world, the Sino-Soviet
rupture was a key issue. But local
factors were also important after all,
Naxalbari is in West Bengal.
After 1971, Indira Gandhi and SS
Roy used the full might of the Indian
Republic to crush the left in a manner
that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or Ziaur
Rahman could only wish for, for the
simple reason that the newborn Bangladeshi Republic didnt have much
might.
And yet, in 1977, a united Left Front
vanquished the mighty Congress. How
could the West Bengal Left pull it off ?
Was it just the mercurial personality
of Jyoti Basu? But Mr Basu was hardly
without blemish. First shots at Naxalbari were fired by a government where
he was the Deputy Chief Minister.
Or was it more structural? If so,
what?

2.Left Front in office

It seems that the Left governed with

the consent of the people in a way that
isnt matched by any major democracy
in history. Between 1977 and 2006,

first under Mr Basu and then his successorBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the

Left Front won seven state elections
in a row.
Over that time, they also repeatedly
won most seats from state to the Indian federal parliament, and completely
dominated the elected local government bodies. That kind of electoral
domination for so long is unlikely in
any democracy. Was it the so-called
pro-poor policies such asland distribution? Or maybe the Left Front was
really good atpatronage politics? What
was the secret to their success?

3.Mamata Banerjee

What do we really know about her?

Not just biographical factlets, but
rather, what her politics is about. Is
she just about defeating, crushing the
left? Does she have broader ambition.
If so, what?
And similarly, what do the West
Bengalis Calcutta babus and theshikkhito bhodroloksas well asthe not so
educated and not so genteel folks
see in her?
It was interesting that in theirNew
York Times articles, neither Naeem
Mohaiemen nor Arnab Ray spent much
time on Mamata Banerjee. I hope
future analyses do better.

4. Calcutta/Kolkata vs themofussil

In his NY Times article, Mr Ray

equated West Bengalis with a
particular type of Kolkata people.
Thanks to nearly two centuries of art,
Calcutta/Kolkata looms large over the
Bengali psyche. But the vast majority
of West Bengalis are notof the city
of joy. In an electoral democracy,
numbers matter.
Millions of rural and mofussil West
Bengalis propped up the Left Front
for over four decades, and in the past
five years they have swung firmly
behind Ms Banerjee. Why? What has
been happening in district towns and
urbanising villages around the state?
What are the views and aspirations of
people there? l
Jyoti Rahman is a political blogger.This
article was previously published in jrahman.
wordpress.com.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

I am not a talented artiste but I

am a very hard-working person
n Shadma Malik
While most TV actors are eager to switch from the
small screen to the silver screen, TV actor/director
Mahfuz Ahmed has a different game plan. Mahfuz
plans on directing films a few years down the line.
At present, he is shooting for Animesh Aich's film
Zero Degree which will be released at the end of
this year. Dhaka Tribune caught up with the actor to
learn about his current ventures and preferences.
In an interview with the Dhaka Tribune, you quoted
that acting and directing simultaneously can hamper
your productivity. Did things change?
It is a very tough job to work as an actor and
director at the same time. But with proper
planning and utilisation of time, it is possible to juggle both. I would say that I am not a
talented artiste but I am a very hard-working
person and my experience in the industry has
also helped me to manage both acting and directing.

includes the TV play Settle Marriage. In three other productions, I will work as both the director and an actor. The drama
Shurjaster Age talks about hope, telefilm Hello Bangladesh is the story of an Australian immigrant who returns
to Bangladesh in-order to explore her roots, Settle Marriage focuses on choosing the right partner and lastly,
Prem Jai Prem Ashe is about love and relationships. To
me, a lasting relationship is precious and I try to portray it
in all my productions.
I am the brain behind most of the stories of my projects. Whenever I come up with an idea, I share
it with the scriptwriters and they
give me a proper format to work
with. If I don't like something, I
usually change it during shooting. This is how I maintain the
essence of a story.
How do you juggle between personal and professional commitments?
To tell you the truth, my
family is deprived of my
company. I am so much
into work that I don't
even spend quality time
with my son Marvin. I
regret every moment.
Someday, I would make
up for my absence and
spend more time with my
family. l

Tell us about the concept/story of your Eid

specials.
My Eid project as a director-only

Monday, June 2, 2014

Bratya Boyan
is on display at
Gallery Jolrong
n Entertainment Desk
Ujjal Ghosh's solo painting exhibition Bratya
Boyan is going on at the Gallery Jolrong. The
display is the outcome of a month-long artistic
project organised by the gallery. A former student
of the Fine Arts department of the University of
Dhaka, Ujjal's canvas dominates his philosophy in life.
His artworks portray his take
on various subjects including
the fluctuating state of affairs
of the society, nature and the
mystic life of bauls. His painting of Buddha in mediation is
done to showcase the Ramu
incident and other pieces on
the display showcase portraits
of people of all ages. The versatile artist is also displaying a
few of his figurative artworks
and the adept use of mediums
including oil paint, water colour and pencil is visible in his
artworks.
Born in 1985, in Pabna, Ujjal
first acquired his artistic training from his parents and later
went on to Dhaka University for further studies.
So far, the artist has participated in numerous

group exhibitions and workshops.

The exhibition will remain open till May 7. l

Razzak, Moushumi and

Ferdous in a murder mystery

n Entertainment Desk
Leading stars of the film industry, Razzak,
Moushumi and Ferdous are set to share the
screen in an upcoming flick Mon Jane Na

Moner Thikana. The muharat (official announcement) of the film was held at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation yesterday. Information Minister Hasanul Haque
Inu and the cast/crew of the production was
present at the programme.
Directed by Mushfiqur Rahman
Gulzar and produced by Impress
Telefilms Ltd, the film also
features newcomer Porimoni in a lead role. Here, she
plays the role of twins. By
chance, one of the twins
witness
a
murder
and the other one
is accused of the
crime in a false
case designed by
the actual criminals. Moushumi
plays the lawyer
who handles the
case for the sisters
and Ferdous makes
a special appearance in the film.
Popular
duo
of the music industry,
Habib
and Nancy lent
their voice in
the playback titled Bhalobeshe
Kachhe Eshe Diyechho E Mon. l

High Court stops TV

channels from showing
Salman Khans
Hit-and-Run case
n Entertainment Desk
Television channels have been restrained by the
Bombay high Court from telecasting any programme on the hit and run case involving Bollywood actor Salman Khan or publishing its contents
on the Internet.
The order was passed by Justice S C Gupte on
Salmans application pleading that allegations
made in the shows were defamatory and sought to
dramatise and sensationalise the case in which
he is being prosecuted.
The programme was first shown on May 21 on a
news channel and its contents were submitted before the High court in a CD.
The Bollywood actor has filed a suit against the
defendants and also moved a notice of motion
seeking a restraint order against the channels from
repeating the controversial programme.
Salmans lawyer Gaurav Joshi, argued that allegations would influence and prejudice the outcome of the case. He gave several instances of the
offending allegations levelled in the programme
against the plaintiff.
No lawyer appeared for the defendants despite
being served with a copy of the suit, notice of motion and the application seeking a restraint order,
Salmans counsel said.
The Judge felt that the interest of justice would
be served if the plaintiff (Salman) was asked to renew his application on June 2 with a fresh notice to
the defendants. The Court has posted the matter
for hearing on June 2 for ad-interim reliefs.
Salman is facing prosecution in the 2002 case in
which he is alleged to have run his SUV over a group
of people sleeping on a pavement at suburban Bandra, leaving one dead and four injured. l

Amitabh to star
in Shamitabh
n Entertainment Desk
Jannatul Sumaiya
Himi and Shahbaz
Ahmed Moin declared
the winners of the TV
reality show Rong RTV
20-20 Colours Model
Search 2014. The
grand finale was held
at the Bengal Studio in
the capitals Tejgaon
area on Saturday
with a cultural
programme featuring
performances of
singers Fahmida Nabi
and Kona

TODAY IN DHAKA
Exhibition

Of Man and Earth II

Time: 12pm 8pm
Bengal Art Lounge,
Gulshan Avenue,
Rd-131, Circle -1,

Ultramarine
By Sultan Ishtiaque
Time: 3pm 8pm
Alliance Franaise de Dhaka
Lost in the Urban World
Group art exhibition

Dhaka Art Center

Dhanmondi 7/A
Second Sight
Time: 12pm 8pm
The Daily Star Centre, 64-65, Kazi
Nazrul Islam Avenue

Steven Tyler turns street musician!

n Entertainment Desk
American rock star Steven Tyler took over a street
musician's self-made instrument consisting of water-filled wine bottles to play in the streets of Helsinki on Saturday, performing Aerosmith's 1973 hit
"Dream On."
Tyler played a glass-bottle xylophone, a concoc-

tion made of bamboo, rope and some 20 wine bottles,

which belongs to Russian street musician Fedor Grigorev, who regularly performs in the center of Helsinki.
While the veteran rocker seemed to enjoy his
performance, the Finns were less impressed. The
video Tyler posted on his Facebook site showed
only a handful of people stopped to listen to the
impromptu show. l

Director R Balakrishnan, fondly called Balki, has been busy

filming his new project starring Amitabh Bachchan, but it is
only now that he has revealed the title of the film - Shamitabh.
The movie, also starring Dhanush, marks the Bollywood
debut of southern superstar Kamal Haasans daughter Akshara.
We are happy to announce that the film is titled Shamitabh. As in SH before Amitabh. We are half way through
the shoot of the film, so will finish and talk more about it.
Right now, Im enjoying watching the lethal combo of
the intensity of Amitabh Bachchan, the intelligence of Dhanush and the innocence of Akshara in action daily, R Balki
said in a statement.
The two had also worked together in films like Cheeni
Kum and Paa. l

Neha Dhupia turns

style director
n Entertainment Desk
Model turned actress Neha Dhupia,
known for several hits in Bollywood
has recently taken on the position of
Limeroad Style Director.
Neha, the twitter face of the
Wills India Fashion Week (Mar
2014), has been a part of the
LimeRoad Style Council
since 2013 and has now the
core team to play a pivotal role as Style Director of
Indias social shopping platform, building a strong community of women who love to
play with products and style.
As the LimeRoad Style Director, Neha Dhupia will be
responsible for sharing her
own strong sense of style, and
anchoring LimeRoads growing
scrapbooking community into a
space where fresh styles and trends
come together to make product discovery for users an absolutely delight.
Neha Dhupia in her new role as
a business woman said, I always
wanted to build something of my own
and LimeRoad is my idea of a breakthrough company. Exclusive products shown through beautiful user
generated scrapbooks streaming live
on mobile, is one of a kind concept
in India. I want every girl/woman
across the country to find a platform
to express their own personal style.
Nothing around me allows them to do

just that, like LimeRoad. This new role

gives me the opportunity to interact
with the community on a more personal level and encourage them to express
their creativity. l

Did you know?

Frank Lampard is
one of only two
players (along with
Rooney) to score
10+ goals in 10
consecutive Premier
League campaigns

Sport

Monday, June 2, 2014

10

DAYS TO
GO

14 Brazil must
erase 1950
heartache: Cafu

Selectors to
put faith on
limping Tigers

PROBABLE SQUAD
Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shamsur
Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib al
Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain,
Mahmudullah, Arafat Sunny, Mashrafe
bin Mortaza, Sohag Gazi, Abdur Razzak,
Rubel Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain,
Taskin Ahmed

Mushfiq signs for Prime Doleshwar

The Dhaka Premier League (DPL) returned to its traditional form of player
recruitment for the upcoming season
bringing relief to the majority of the
cricketers, including national captain
Mushfiqur Rahim. The wicket-keeper-batsman informed that he will be
playing for Prime Doleshwar Sporting
Club in the forthcoming season.
Obviously it feels good [to have the
traditional recruitment system] and
most importantly I am happy to be in
Prime Doleshwar, Mushfiq told the
media yesterday.
They (Prime Doleshwar) targeted

performers who played very well in

the last one or two years. I hope we can
have a great team spirit and put on a
good show, said the 25-year-old.
Mushfiq, who has agreed terms with
Prime Doleshwar for Tk4.5m, however, is
unhappy with the payment irregularities
centering on the last edition of the DPL.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB),
after a long-running dispute with the
cricketers, introduced the Players by
Choice (players draft) system. However, eight months have elapsed since
the season concluded and there are
still several players who are yet to be
paid by their clubs. Mushfiq expressed
his disappointment over the issue and

said, It is actually the responsibility of

the clubs as they should pay the cricketers maintaining regularity. But as far
I know, many cricketers are yet to receive their salary which is a bad sign.
But I hope the players will receive their
payments and there is nothing more
important than this.
When queried about the probable
recruitment of foreign cricketers in his
side for the upcoming season, Mushfiq
said, It actually depends on who are
free at that particular time. Last season
Joshua Cobb and Dawid Malan played
for Prime Doleshwar and did very well.
If they are free we will take the decision
after talking with them. l

BTV, Maasranga and Gazi

TV reach consensus
The uncertainty over the live broadcast
of the 2014 FIFA World Cup has been settled after the issue earlier went to court.
Two local private television channels Gazi Television (GTV) and Maasranga TV along with state run television BTV can all run all of the upcoming
World Cup matches.
Sony Television earlier signed a deal
with a local consortium - Total Sports
Marketing (TSM) but denied inking the
final deal and was then taken to court
by TSM.
Sony Television honored the court
order and thats why we all can broadcast all the matches, a senior official
of the TSM consortium told the Dhaka
Tribune yesterday evening. He added
everything was settled but the final process would be completed in a meeting
on Tuesday at Information Ministry.

A senior official of Maasranga TV

also acknowledged the consensus but
was unwilling to comment on it.
Earlier TSM who are partners with
GTB signed a primary deal with Sony
TVs appointed agency, Seven3Sports
on March 25 for $1.41m and paid 50% of
the money immediately.
Soon after the deal was signed other
Bangladeshi channels contacted Seven3Sports and they then demanded
more than the already agreed contract
and were then taken to court by GTV
and TSM.
Sources said all three parties will
pay the same amount of money and
can broadcast all 64 matches live.
But for the matches with time clashes the three parties will settle which
match they air, sources informed.
Another source said Impress Telefilm bought a chunk of matches from
Bangladesh Television (BTV).l

CUTE PREMIER HANDBALL

Narinda, Menzis title-decider today

Narinda Pragati Boys and Menzis Krira
Chakra will fight for the title of the Cute
Premier Handball League at the Shahid
(Capt.) M. Monsur Ali Handball Stadium today.

Sports secretary Nur Mohammed

will distribute the prizes as the chief
guest. Bangladesh Olympic Association treasurer and Mousumi Industries
Ltd. director Kazi Razibuddin Ahmed
Chapal will be gracing the occasion as
special guests. l

15 Gulbis sends
Federer crashing
from French Open

Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak

is likely to reach Dhaka today and officially take charge as the bowling coach
of the Bangladesh cricket team.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)
roped in Streak for two years with the former Zimbabwean fast bowler contracted
to work for a span of 450 days starting
from June 2014-June 2016. Besides working with the national pacemen, Streak
will also be responsible for consulting
with the other BCB age-level teams.
As far as I know, Heath Streak is on
his way to Dhaka and will land here
around 7:45pm on Monday (today), said
BCB media manager Rabeed Imam yesterday.
Streaks first assignment with the national side will be the three-match ODI
series at home against India. The short
series is scheduled to begin on June 15 at
Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Streak played 65 Tests and 189 ODIs
scoring 4933 runs (1990 runs in Tests
and 2943 runs in ODIs) and scalping
455 wickets (216 in Tests and 239 in
ODIs) between 1993 and 2005. During
his 13-year international career, Streak
played six Tests and 10 ODIs against
Bangladesh. He also featured in the
Bangladesh domestic circuit for Abahani Limited in 2000 and 2001 in the
Dhaka Premier League.
The 40-year-old ex-cricketer from
Bulawayo also acted as Zimbabwes
bowling coach for five years between
2009-2013.
Meanwhile, newly appointed Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha is likely to take charge of
the national team from June 10 while
strength and conditioning coach Mario
Villavarayan is scheduled to reach Dhaka within the next two-three days. l

another opportunity to exhibit his talent and seal the No. 3 spot in the Tigers
50-over side.
It will be Taskin Ahmeds first call-up
in the limited over squad and after an
impressive debut in the T20s, it is very
likely the rising fast bowler will also get
the taste on ODI cricket though the pace
department will be led by Mashrafe bin
Mortaza alongside Al-Amin Hossain.
The Tigers will be relying heavily on
star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan while
the squad might also see two other
left-arm spinners in Abdur Razzak and
Arafat Sunny who produced some eye
catching spells during his ODI debut in
the Asia Cup in March.
Former vice captain Mahmudullah,
who was not part of Tigers Asia Cup
squad initially but came in as injured
Sohag Gazis replacement, will also return to the national fold and he must
make use of his call up to clear any
doubt over his place in the side. l

the title last season but unluckily they

could not win it. By the grace of the
Almighty, we have a very good team
this season but at the end of the day we
have to play well in the field. Hopefully
we will get full support from the club,
he added.
Mushfiq believes the blend of youth
and experience will propel Prime
Doleshwar to the title which eluded
them last season as they finished runners-up.
I hope the combination will work
for us. We have Mehedi [Hasan], Mizanur [Rahman], Rony Talukdar, Mominul Haque, Elias Sunny and a few
other youngsters and all are tested

13

Streak sets foot

in Dhaka today

Taskin lone rookie likely for India series

The Bangladesh Cricket Board selection panel will keep faith and retain the
existing set of national cricketers for
the upcoming three-match ODI series
against India despite the disastrous
performance put in by the team in the
opening quarter of this year, it was
learnt from a close source.
It was also learnt that Nasir Hossain,
Mominul Haque and Shamsur Rahman
who are currently in West Indies playing for the Bangladesh A team will
return after playing the second fourday match which ends on June 5. In
that case Farhad Reza, Ziaur Rahman
and Soumya Sarkar will be traveling to
West Indies to replace the trio for the
remainder of the tour.
According to the source, the selectors
are reluctant to make any drastic change
and wants the cricketers to play against
the untested Indian side who will be
touring without their regular skipper
MS Dhoni and star batsman Virat Kohli.
The news might come as a relief for
both Nasir Hossain and Shamsur Rahman as the duo struggled with the bat
and failed consistently to put up a decent performance in the field during
their last assignments. Meanwhile,
for Mominul Haque a bench warmer
during the World Twenty20 it will be

DHAKA TRIBUNE

An Indian kite maker arrange kites bearing pictures of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo
(R), Brazilian Neymar (C) and Argentine Lionel Messi at his shop in Kolkata yesterday
AFP

Anderlecht trial for Badsha

After Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Abahanis juvenile defender Tutul Hossain
Badsha is set to become the second
player from Bangladesh to go for trial at
a European club.
The under-17 national center back,
who can also play as fullback, is likely
to try his luck at Anderlecht, the current champion of Jupiler Pro League,
also known as the Belgian Pro League.
Anderlecht, which has recently secured
their third consecutive Belgian First Division title, is also the club where EPL
giant Manchester Uniteds new Belgian
sensation Adnan Januzaj and another EPL heavyweight Chelseas Belgian
striker Romelu Lukaku spent a significant part of their youth career.
Bangladesh national teams head
coach Lodewijk de Kruif and assistant
coach Rene Koster had earlier talked
about the possibility of giving Badsha
a trial in an European club before and
the duo had been working as the bridge
between the player and the club.
The trial will begin from July 21 this
year and Badsha will leave for Anderlecht before that with the club bearing
all his expenses. Badsha impressed
and caught the attention of the Dutch
coaches during the qualifiers of last
years AFC U-19 Championship in Iraq.
After the end of the tournament,
Rene Koster sent a video of Badshas
performance to Anderlecht officials
which was satisfactory enough for
them to offer Badsha a chance for trial.

The Dutch coach confirmed the news

saying, Im sure he (Badsha) can handle the level.
Badsha emerged as a very promising talent in the Bangladesh Premier
League at a very young age for four-time
professional football champions Abahani Limited and had played in one game
as substitute in the league this season.
The young defender was excited after
he heard the news of his trial at Anderlecht. Its like a dream that I would play
in Europe. The coaches took a signature
of mine at the federation (BFF) one
day and said they would try to give me
a chance for trial in Europe. Im really
grateful to them, said Badsha.
Earlier Mohammedan midfielder
Hemanta became the first ever Bangladeshi player to go to a European club
(FC Twente) for a trial. The youngster
impressed the club but could not secure a deal due to some age issues. The
Dutch coaches, however, said that they
would try to manage another trial for
Hemanta in Belgium or Greece. l

Uncertainty surrounding BFF concert

Bangladesh
Football
Federations
planned fund-raising concert at the
Bangabandhu National Stadium may
not see light due to unfavorable circumstances created by the negative
attitude of the government.
BFF intended to host a grand concert under the theme of Celebrating
World Cup 2014 on June 21 to collect
fund for its development program.
They also contacted Zero Degree, an
event management firm to deal with
the artists and the performers. However, BFF encountered strong resistance
from Bangladesh Athletic Federation
and a quarter of sport organizers who

raised their voice to stop non-sporting

program in the coveted venue. Though
the National Sports Council allotted the
Big bowl to Bangladesh Cricket Board

We applied for
the venue but had
not received any
feed-back from the
government till date
for holding a ICC World T20 celebration
concert on April 14, now it has taken an
evasive stance.
After its meeting a few days back,

the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Youth and Sports Ministry sent
a recommendation to the sports ministry to not allow any non-sporting event
like concert at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. It also recommended
that the Bangabandhu National Stadium would be allowed to host only state
programs along with the opening and
the concluding ceremony of sporting
events.
BFF general secretary Abu Naeem
Shohag appeared upset. We applied
for the venue but had not received any
feed-back from the government till
date. Theres a lot of dilly-dallies in the
process and when we ask the NSC secretary for any information, he says the

application is under process. Overall,

I feel a negative atmosphere over our
appeal in the NSC although they are yet
to reject our application, said Shohag.
Meanwhile,
Shakil
Mahmud
Chowdhury, the CEO of Zero Degree
said it would be impossible for him to
keep the booking of the performers
and new booking would not be possible
if BFF suddenly gets the venue. I
have contacted Arijit Singh, Sunidhi
Chowhan, Honey Singh and others,
and have paid money to their agents.
As the venue is still uncertain, I am
afraid that I may have to incur a big
loss. Observing the current scenario, I
dont think BFF will be able to organize
the concert, said Shakil.l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Evangelicals galore in Rio

Sport

Monday, June 2, 2014

Ghanaian defender Akaminko out

Costa hopeful of comeback

Hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians held a March for Jesus

Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, a show of their churches growing heft in the
worlds largest Roman Catholic country. Dancing to Christian rock, gospel
and hip-hop blasted from eight enormous sound trucks, participants flooded one of central Rios main avenues in a march that took its theme from
the World Cup, which Brazil is hosting from June 12 to July 13. Police said
600,000 people joined the march.
AFP

Striker Diego Costa is hopeful of playing some part in Spains friendly against
El Salvador next weekend as he battles to be fit in time for the World Cup. The
Atletico Madrid player, who has chosen to play for Spain ahead of his native
Brazil, has been struggling with various muscle problems for the past two
months. Despite concerns over his fitness he was included in coach Vicente
del Bosques 23-man squad on Saturday. I hope to have some minutes
next week against El Salvador in Washington, Costa said.
Reuters

Ghanaian central defender Jerry Akaminko will miss the World Cup finals
after breaking his left ankle during Saturdays friendly with the Netherlands,
the Ghanaian football federation announced on Sunday. The 26-year-old,
who plays his club football for Eskisehirspor in Turkey, broke his ankle in
the third minute of time added on in the match in Rotterdam which Ghana
lost 1-0. Akaminko is due to be sidelined for at least three months. Ghana
begin their campaign in Brazil on June 16 against USA in Natal.
AFP

Probe exposes
World Cup
match-fix mess
An confidential FIFA
report
raises
concerns about World Cup
match-fixing vulnerabilities just 12 days before
the global football showdown kicks off in Brazil, the New York
Times reported Saturday.
The newspaper obtained a copy of
the 44-page internal report over incidents from the 2010 World Cup in
South Africa by footballs world governing body and other related documents raising issues of bettors influencing outcomes and referee honesty.
In a report on the newspapers website, the Times interviewed officials,
referees, gamblers and others in South
Africa, England, Malaysia, Singapore
and Finland looking into issues that
could compromisde the showcase
event for FIFA, which is expected to
receive about $4 million in revenue
for sponsor deals, television rights and
ticket sales from this years World Cup.

Were the listed matches fixed? On

the balance of probabilities, yes, the
previously unpublicized FIFA report
said, according to the newspaper.
A match-rigging betting syndicate
whose referees fixed exhibition matches and exploited them even made a
death threat after one match against
an official who tried to stop the fix, according to the Times.
In one cited example, Niger referee Ibrahim Chaibou brought a bag with
thousands of dollars in $100 bills into a
bank and made suspect hand ball calls
later that night in an exhibition match
between South Africa and Guatemala in
May of 2010 at Peter Mokaba Stadium in
Polokwane, according to another referee.
In all, fixers manipulated at least five
matches and possibly more in South
Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup and
targeted up to 15 matches, including a
US-Australia fixture, according to the
FIFA report obtained by the newspaper.
Such warm-up exhibitions for this
years World Cup are being played this
week, some of them in the US. l

Italys midfielder Riccardo Montolivo lies injured during the international friendly against Republic of Ireland at Craven Cottage in London on Saturday

Brazil must erase 1950 heartache: Cafu

Cafu, captain of the last Brazil team to
win the World Cup, has urged his compatriots to put to bed the nightmare of
their 1950 loss to Uruguay this year.
The trauma of a 2-1 loss in the trophy
match 64 years ago before a 200,000
crowd, hangs over Brazil as they target
a sixth World Cup triumph.
Cafu, born Marcos Evangelista de
Moraes, told AFP in an interview that
only winning this time will finally slay
the 1950 demons. Brazil open the tournament on home territory against Cro-

atia on June 12.

If we do not win this World Cup
then the spectre of 1950 will become
that of 2014 and will haunt us until
there is another World Cup here, he
insisted.
And Brazil are used to being the
team to beat, said Cafu, who also
played in the 2006 World Cup finals
where they were eliminated by France
in the quarter-finals.
I do not think that the business of
playing at home and the great expectations are a negative for the Selecao.
Winning is always a great respon-

Modric, Mandzukic
spearhead Croatia squad
Croatia coach Niko Kovac on Saturday
named his 23-man squad for the World
Cup finals led by experienced stars like
midfield magician Luka Modric of Real
Madrid and Bayer Munich striker Mario
Mandzukic.
The Croatians kick off the tournament on June 12 against hosts Brazil in
the opening match.
Since he had named a 30-man provisional squad in mid-May, Kovac had
to rule out four injured internationals
- QPRs Niko Kranjcar, Hamburg duo
Milan Badelj and Ivo Ilicevic and Ivan
Strinic of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
Young players such as Dinamo Zagreb
goalkeeper Oliver Zelenika, currently
on loan at Lokomotiva, as well as Rijeka
midfielder Ivan Mocinic, both aged 21,
have also found a place in the squad.
Kovac announced the squad after
a friendly against Mali which Croatia
won 2-1. The FIFA deadline for naming
squads is Monday.
The Croatia squad includes two Brazilian-born players forward Eduardo
Silva of Shakhtar Donetsk and midfielder Sammir, both former Dinamo
Zagreb key players.
Sammir, renowned for his off-the-

field antics, joined Spanish side Getafe

this year.
The Fiery Ones (Vatreni) were to
leave for Brazil on Tuesday and will
play their last World Cup warm-up
match on June 6 against Australia. l

SQUAD

Goalkeepers
Stipe Pletikosa (Rostov/RUS), Danijel
Subasic (Monaco/FRA), Oliver Zelenika
(Lokomotiva Zagreb)
Defenders
Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR),
Domagoj Vida (Dynamo Kiev/UKR), Sime
Vrsaljko (Genoa/ITA), Danijel Pranjic
(Panathinaikos/GRE), Vedran Corluka
(Lokomotiv Moscow/RUS), Dejan Lovren
(Southampton/ENG), Gordon Schindelfeld
(Panathinaikos/GRE)
Midfielders
Luka Modric (Real Madrid/ESP), Ivan Rakitic
(Sevilla/ESP), Mateo Kovacic (Inter Milan/
ITA), Marcelo Brozovic (Dinamo Zagreb),
Ognjen Vukojevic (Dynamo Kiev/UKR), Ivan
Mocinic (Rijeka), Sammir (Getafe/ESP)
Forwards
Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich/GER),
Nikica Jelavic (Hull City/ENG), Ivica Olic (VfL
Wolfsburg/GER), Eduardo Da Silva (Shakhtar
Donetsk/UKR), Ivan Perisic (Wolfsburg/
GER), Ante Rebic (Fiorentina/ITA)

sibility for Brazil -- but that is the case

at home and away, said Cafu, now 43,
who is acting as an ambassador for the
World Cup.
When they play away there is already great pressure on them, so imagine here! Its normal for there to be
pressure on a team which has won the
title five times.
But as they didnt manage to win in
1950 finally the pressure is rising.
All the teams can pose problems,
all our rivals. You have to respect those
who have already been world champions England, Argentina, Uruguay,
Spain and Italy, who can certainly
cause problems.
With social protests and strikes
marring the final preparations for the
World Cup, Cafu stresses social unrest
is not just a Brazilian preserve.
Its not just Brazil there are demonstrations and mobilisations the world
over. There are even countries at war.
In Brazil, there are democratic
demonstrations over matters which are
good for the country. But it is sure that
Brazil is more exposed right now -- the
whole world is watching Brazil and that
provides an echo for these mobilisations.
Asked whether FIFA had been right
to award the 2014 tournament to Brazil, Cafu said simply: I dont work for
FIFA so I cant answer that. l

Japan has potential

to win World Cup
Japan playmaker Keisuke Honda believes the Blue Samurai have the potential to pull off a huge upset in Brazil
and win the World Cup.
The AC Milan player is central to
coach Alberto Zaccheronis attacking
plans and is one of the surviving
members of Japans 2010 World Cup
campaign, when they advanced
to the knockout stage only for the
second time.
I am very eager to surprise the
world so we just (have to) believe in
our style and ourselves. We will see
at the World Cup, the 27-year-old
told Kyodo news agency when asked
to reassert his earlier claim that Japan
could go all the way.
At this moment, we just need to
progress. I dont want to look back
(over the last four years). I think the
most important thing is how we spend
time over the next two weeks, how we
make a good atmosphere, he said.
We can do that. We have experienced players who can make it (a good
atmosphere) and I am one of them so
I have to do a lot of things in the next
two weeks.
The bleach-blond player also said he
would approach the World Cup as if it
was his last. l

Qatari paid
millions for World
Cup bid support
A former top Qatari football official
paid more than $5 million to get support for the tiny emirates controversial
campaign to host the 2022 World Cup, a
British newspaper alleged Sunday.
The Sunday Times said it had obtained millions of emails, documents
and bank transfers relating to alleged
payments made by Mohamed bin Hammam, who was then on the executive
committee of FIFA, the sports global
governing body.
It alleged that Bin Hammam, who
is also a former Asian Football Confederation president, used slush funds to
pay cash to top football officials to win
a groundswell of support for Qatars
World Cup bid.
Bin Hammam, who launched an
abortive challenge against incumbent
FIFA president Sepp Blatter, resigned
from his FIFA and AFC posts in 2012,
shortly before he was banned for life
from football administration by FIFAs
ethics committee.
FIFA is investigating the 2010 vote that
awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and
the 2018 tournament to Russia, following
previous corruption accusations. l

AFP

Italys Montolivo breaks

leg, Dutch edge Ghana
Italys World Cup build-up suffered a
major blow on Saturday when midfielder Riccardo Montolivo broke his
leg against Ireland, while in other Brazil 2014 warm-ups Holland beat Ghana

RESULTS
Netherlands
Van Persie 5

Portugal
Norway
Konradsen 77

Croatia
Perisic 15, 64

Algeria
Belkalem 14,
Ghilas 22, Slimani 41

Italy

1 0

Ghana

0 0
1 1

Greece

2 1
3 1
0 0

Russia
Shatov 3

Mali
Traore 79

Armenia
Sarkisov 46

Ireland

and Greece held Portugal.

AC Milan captain Montolivo was injured in the early stages of the friendly
at Fulhams Craven Cottage following a
crunching tackle from Ireland defender
Alex Pearce. Skippering Italy on the night
he needed several minutes of treatment
and was seen mouthing its broken before eventually being carried off.

GREAT WORLD CUP SHOCKS

Montolivo has what we suspected,

a broken tibia, Italy physician said.
I havent seen the X-ray yet to evaluate the extent of it but for a broken
bone you can expect surgery.
Montolivo played seven times in Italys World Cup qualifying campaign
and had been expected to be a key
member of the team in Brazil.
To make matters worse for Italian
coach Cesare Prandelli, he also saw
Fiorentina midfielder Alberto Aquilani,
who had come on for Montolivo, forced
off with an injury before half-time.
In Rotterdam, Holland continued
their build-up to the finals with a 1-0 win
over fellow Brazil-bound Ghana, Manchester United striker Robin van Persies
fifth minute goal proving decisive.
In Lisbon, Portugal, without injured
star striker Cristiano Ronaldo (thigh),
Pepe and Raul Meireles, played out a
goalless draw with Greece.
Croatia tuned up for their clash
with hosts Brazil in the World Cup curtain-raiser with a 2-1 win over Mali,
while in Oslo Fabio Capellos Russia
were held 1-1 by Norway. Elsewhere,
Algeria saw off Armenia 3-1 and Bosnia
Herzegovina beat Ivory Coast 2-1 with
Man City striker Edin Dzeko responsible for both of Bosnias goals. l

Episode

Gerry Armstrong scores the all-important goal against Spain in the 1982 Fifa World Cup

Northern Ireland 1 Spain 0 (1982)

Unfancied Northern Ireland crashed Spains World Cup fiesta,
beating the hosts 1-0 through a Gerry Armstrong goal early in
the second-half. Spain could not even take advantage of their
opponents being reduced to 10 men for the final half hour as
defender Mal Donaghy was sent off. Northern Ireland went
through to the quarter-finals but their adventure ended there
while ironically Armstrong earned a move to Spanish side Real
Mallorca. Armstrong told the BBC in 2008 that the win that night
had given hope to the minnows of world football. I think its a
great inspiration for smaller nations who have a bond like we had
and can also achieve success if theyre organised.
AFP

Gerry Armstrong celebrates with Billy Bingham after

beating Spain at the 1982 World Cup

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

15

Monday, June 2, 2014

QUICK BYTES

BD U-19 v MPCA U-19

Rain forces
dull draw

Atleticos Villa set for

New York City FC
Spain striker David Villa bade farewell
to Atletico Madrid on Sunday saying
he had received an irresistible offer -reportedly a transfer to New York City
FC. This is another very big challenge
for me in my career and my life in general, Villa, 32, said in a video posted on
Atleticos website. He did not mention
details of the next step but various media were linking him to the US side. Villa
joined Atletico from Barcelona at the
start of last season and helped them to
their first league victory in 18 years. Atletico also came within 90 seconds of
winning the Champions League final on
May 24 before their rivals Real Madrid
scored a dramatic equaliser and won
4-1 in extra time. Villa is the top scorer
in Spains national team and has been
called up to the squad for this months
World Cup in Brazil.
AFP

Marquez wins thriller

to record perfect six
Spanish world champion Marc Marquez
made it six wins from six races this
season after claiming victory in the
Italian MotoGP in thrilling style at
Mugello on Sunday. The 21-year-old
Honda rider, who has also recorded six
successive pole positions this season,
edged out compatriot and two-time
world champion Jorge Lorenzo on a
Yamaha after an engrossing duel for
over half the race. Marquez finally got
the better of Lorenzo, who has had
a miserable season up till this race,
going into the final lap while Lorenzos
team-mate, 35-year-old Italian great
Valentino Rossi, took third spot in what
was his 300th Grand Prix and the 187th
time he has finished on the podium.For
the second successive race Marquez
got a poor start and was passed by
Andrea Iannone, who set a new official
top speed record for the MotoGP World
Championship during practice on Saturday, clocking 349.6km/h (217.2 mph),
and Lorenzo on the first bend.
AFP

Hodgson welcomes
Lamberts Liverpool
switch

England manager Roy Hodgson has

publicly given his backing to striker
Rickie Lamberts impending transfer
from Southampton to Liverpool. Lambert, 32, underwent a medical examination in Liverpool on Saturday with a
view to a move that will reportedly cost
an initial 4 million ($6.7 million, 4.9
million euros), rising to 9 million with
add-ons. A former Liverpool trainee,
Lambert has emerged as an important
squad player for England since scoring
against Scotland with his first touch as
an international footballer in a friendly
last year. He is a member of the 23-man
World Cup squad that will fly to Miami
on Sunday for a pre-tournament training camp and Hodgson said that his
move to Anfield would be good news
for the national side.
AFP

Bale scores legions of

fans in Indonesia
Real Madrid midfielder Gareth Bale
wooed hundreds of Indonesian fans
on Sunday in a personal promotional
tour of Jakarta on the back of his teams
Champions League glory. Fans cheered
wildly as the Welshman kicked a soccer
ball from a stage into a crowd of around
1,000 at the massive Gelora Bung Karno
sports stadium in the Indonesian capital.
He thanked the crowd for turning out
and said it was an honour to be invited
to the event. Hopefully a lot of young
people in the crowd here today can
work hard, practise football and be a
professional one day, he said. Bale is
enjoying a boost to his fame following
Reals win in last Saturdays Champions
League final, in which he scored a crucial
goal in extra time to defeat Atletico Madrid. His performance was widely seen
as vindication for Real, which reportedly
paid a world-record 100 million euros
($136.3 million) to have the player transferred from Tottenham. British media
reported that Bale would receive about
2.5 million pounds ($4.2 million) for the
two-day Indonesian tour and would be
treated like royalty in Indonesia.
AFP

KKR players celebrate after winning the final match of the Pepsi Indian Premier League Season 2014 against Kings Xi Punjab in Bangalore yesterday

Pandey fires KKR to second title

n Agencies

Kolkata Knight Riders beat Kings XI

Punjab in a thrilling
final to lift the IPL
trophy for the second time in Bangalore yesterday. While the homeboy
Manish Pandey scored a magical 94 in
chase, it was Piyush Chawla who stole
the show, game and more importantly
the IPL trophy from KXIP.
Chasing a huge total of 199 in the final, KKR lost the Orange Capper Robin
Uthappa in the first over. But Gautam
Gambhir immediately took control of
the inning to up the ante.
Making sure they remain in the hunt
to lift the IPL trophy for the second
time, KKR scored 48 in the first five
over of their chase. The Gambhir-Pandey duo brought up KKRs fifty in the
sixth over. In the same over, these two
completed their fifty run partnership
after losing Uthappa early.
But KKRs joy was immediately put
to an end by Karanveer Singh on the
first ball of the seventh over when he
dismissed Gautam Gambhir. Pandey
and Yusuf Pathan though did not bog

Flintoff warms-up
with club treble
Andrew Flintoff prepared for his anticipated Lancashire comeback by taking
three wickets for his old club side on
Saturday.
Lancashire announce that the
36-year-old all-rounder was back in their
Twenty20 squad five years after the former England captains injury-induced
retirement. And ahead of his expected
return to county duty in Lancashires
Twenty20 clash at home to arch-rivals
Yorkshire at Old Trafford this coming Friday, Flintoff took three for 26 in 12 overs,
including five maidens for St Annes
against Penrith in the Northern League.
He fared less well with the bat, managing just two but St Annes, chasing 133
for victory, still won by two wickets.
Flintoff told his Twitter followers:
Loving my day - 11 (sic) overs and
great fun. Had a bit if help from Watty
the keeper for my first wicket, still not
sure it carried. l

down. Manish Pandey being the chief

attacker. He completed his half-century and brough up teams hundred in the
11th over.
Yusuf who joined Pandey had his
feel of hitting sixes and he did well in
his 36 off 22 balls. But he could not continue longer and fell prey to Karanveer
Singh. In came Shakib and he dazzzled
but just briefly as George Bailey pulled
off another brilliant run-out following
his jaw-dropping stuff to run-out in the
previous game.
Manish Pandey though continued
his blitz as he attacked Karanveer Singh
in the 17th over. But call it nervous
nineties or just the pressure of final
getting better off him. He got out on a
superb 94. The match tilted heavily in
favour of KXIP as KKR lost too many
wickets in cluster.
In the final 2 overs, KKR needed 15
runs to win. Johnson bowled a brilliant
19th over untill the Piyush Chawla hit
the six that changed the game on the
final ball of the penultimate. The six
turned the mathc in the favour of KKR.
While Awana bowled two good deliveries giving away just a single at the start
of the final over, he could not hold his

nerve any further and bowled full-toss

that Piyush Chawla dispatched for a
boundary to give KKR a stunning win
helping them secure their second IPL
trophy.

BRIEF SCORE
Kings XI Punjab
199/4 in 20 overs (Saha 115*, Vohra 62;
Chawla 2-44, Shakib 0-26)
Kolkata Knight Riders
200/7 in 19.3 overs ( Manish Pandey
94, Yusuf Pathan 36, Karanveer 4-54,
Johnson 2-41)
Kolkata Knight Riders won by 3 wickets
Earlier, put in to bat first, Kings XI
Punjab were powered to 199 by Wridhiman Sahas breathtaking hundred. The
opening pair of Sehwag and Manan
Vohra made a positive start scoring 9
off first over.
The first 5 balls of the 2nd over
bowled by Umesh Yadav could only
fetch two runs for KXIP. But Vohra hit
a boundary on the final ball of the second over to keep KXIP run-rate above 7
run/over. Morkel then bowled a six-run
third over.

But KKR found real succeess when

Umesh Yadav dismissed the last match
centurian Virender Sehwag in the
fourth over. KKR struck quickly in the
6th over when Sunil Narine castled
George Bailey who promoted himself
up the order only to get out for 1 Vohra
and Saha started to rebuild their inning as they targetted Piyush Chawla
in the 8th over to bring up KXIPs fifty.
But KKR quickly tightened the screws
to push back KXIP run-rate under six
once again, By the end of 10 over, KXIP
were 58/2.
For KXIPs good fortune, Wridhiman
Saha cut loose and took liking to Chawlas bowling smashing 2 sixes in the
12th over he bowled. Vohra, at the other
end, made sure to rotate the strike and
give Saha the optimal change to bat.
The duo brought up KXIPs hundred
and their respective half-centuries in
the 14th over as they smashed Narine
all-round the park for runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders made no
changes to the team that beat KXIP in
the qualifier 1. KXIP, on the othe hand,
brought in more experienced Laxmipathy Balaji in place of young-Sandeep
Sharma. l

Gulbis shocks Federer in French Open

n AFP, Paris

Ernests Gulbis condemned Roger Federer to his worst French Open defeat in
a decade on Sunday as Novak Djokovic
remained calmly on course for a maiden Roland Garros title.
Gulbis, the controversial Latvian,
beat the fourth seeded 2009 champion
6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 as Federer, 32, suffered his earliest loss in Paris since 2004 when he was demolished
in the third round by Gustavo Kuerten.
Gulbis, the 18th seed, was a break
ahead in the first set at 4-2 before Federer retrieved it in the seventh game.
The Latvian was also a mini-break
to the good in the tiebreaker but still
could not convert.
After surrendering the advantage of
an early break again in the second set,
Gulbis was warned for breaking his racquet by stamping it into the Paris dirt.
However, his pressure on Federer
eventually yielded rewards in the second set tiebreak and then in a one-sid-

ed third set.
Eighth seed Milos Raonic became
just the fourth Canadian man in history
-- and first in the Open Era -- to reach
a Grand Slam quarter-final when he
defeated Spains Marcel Granollers 6-3,
6-3, 6-3.
Berdych made the quarter-finals
for the second time with a 6-4, 6-4,
6-4 win over 10th seed John Isner who
was bidding to become the first American to reach the last eight since Andre
Agassi in 2003.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray
battled to a four-hour 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6,
12-10 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber to
reach the fourth round.
The British seventh seed, who next
faces Spanish left-hander Fernando
Verdasco, had been level at 7-7 with the
German 28th seed when the match was
halted on Saturday night.
When the pair reappeared, Murray
squandered a match point at 9-8 but
wrapped up the match in the 22nd
game of the decider in a clash which

Ernests Gulbis reacts after winning his mens

singles match against Federer
REUTERS
featured 18 breaks of serve and 123 unforced errors.
The 30-year-old Verdasco, seeded
24, reached the fourth round with a
6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over Frances 12th seed
Richard Gasquet. l

Zimbabwe A
squad declared for
Bangladesh tour
n Cricinfo
Batsman Mark Vermeulen, whose career has been troubled by off-field incidents, has been picked in Zimbabwes
A squad for the tour to Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe A are scheduled to play two
four-day and three one-day games
during the trip, but the final schedule
will be announced at a later date.

Zimbabwe A squad for four-dayers

Regis Chakabva, Brian Chari, Michael

Chinouya, Luke Jongwe, Roy Kaia,
Timycen Maruma, Shingi Masakadza,
Tinotenda Mawoyo, Brighton Mugochi,
Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Raymond Mutumbami, John Nyumbu, Donald Tiripano, Mark Vermeulen, Malcolm Waller

Additions for one-dayers

Sikandar Raza (for Mark Vermeulen),

Joylord Gumbie (for Roy Kaia),
Tafadzwa Kamungozi (for John
Nyumbu), Neville Madziva (for Michael
Chinouya), Forster Mutizwa (for
Malcolm Waller) l

BD U17s concede
good position
The Bangladesh Under-17 cricket team
were all out for 327 in the first innings of their three-day match against
Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association
(MPCA) U-17 in Indore yesterday.
Replying to the visitors 327, MPCA
U-17 were batting on 102 for the loss of
two wickets in 38 overs before stumps
were drawn signalling the end of the
second and penultimate days play.
Following the conclusion of the second
day, the hosts were trailing Bangladesh
U-17 by 225 runs.
Earlier, Bangladesh U-17, resuming
on their overnight score of 233/4, lost
their last six wickets for the addition of
94 runs. Shafiul Hayet top-scored with
89 runs while Jaker Ali Manik chipped
in with 67.
Nitin Yadav was the most successful
bowler for the home side taking 3/58
while Ritik Diwan and Nikhil Sikarwar
scalped two wickets each. l

Army, Ansar claim mens,

womens boxing titles

DAYS WATCH
Neo Sports
3:00PM
French Open, 4th Round, Day 2
Womens & Mens Singles
Ten Sports
Hockey World Cup 2014
5:00PM
Australia v Spain
8:00PM
England v India

BCCI

The first four day game between Bangladesh U-19 and Madhya Pradesh
Cricket Association (MPCA) U-19 ended
in a draw at the Khan Shaheb Osman
Ali Stadium yesterday.
Only 74 overs of play was possible
on the final day due to rain and bad
light. Resuming the fourth day on 193
for 3, Bangladesh scored 352 runs for
six wickets before declaring the innings
after the 132nd over.
Overnight batsmen Zakir Hossain
and skipper Mehedi Hasan propelled
the innings further as Zakir went on
to score 110 runs off 290 balls with
nine fours and a six. Mehedi, on the
other hand, scored a patient 88 runs
off 212-ball deliveries which contained
six boundaries and two sixes.
Mohammed Saifuddin was unbeaten
on 64 runs when the declaration was
made.
Ashwin Das and Rahul Batham
picked up two wickets each for MPCA
U-19.
In reply the visitors were at 65 for
three in their second innings when rain
forced the umpires to remove the bails
after 27th over. Number-three batsman
Nitish Lashkari was unbeaten on 20.
The second four-day match of
the series will begin on June 5 at BKSP
3 ground. l

Winners of the mens and womens boxing championship pose with the chief guest at the Muhammad Ali Boxing Stadium yesterday

Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Ansar emerged as the champions of the

mens and womens event respectively
in the Walton National Senior Mens
and Womens Boxing Championship at
the Muhammdad Ali Boxing Stadium
yesterday.
The Army boxers claimed seven gold
and one silver medal to top the medals
table while Ansar clinched three gold,
three silver and three bronze medals to
finish runners-up. Bangladesh Police
finished third and BGB finished fourth.
However, the female boxers of Ansar
reigned supreme in their section win-

ning four gold and one bronze medal.

Police won one silver and three bronze
medals and finished runners-up in the
womens section.
Al Amin (64kg) of Bangladesh Army
and Sweety (50Kg) of Bangladesh Ansar were adjudged the best boxers of
the meet.
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Mosihur Rahman Ranga, distributed prizes as the chief guest. Boxing
federation vice president Sheikh Md.
Maruf Hasan, general secretary MA
Quddus Khan and additional director
of Walton, AFM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn
were also present on the occasion. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, June 2, 2014

Why is digging
always during
the monsoon?

15 expats held with

2.5kg gold at the
Dhaka airport
n Kailash Sarkar

City corporations failure to meet

deadlines compounds commuter woes
Work began in February but could not
n Abu Hayat Mahmud
be completed because of shortage of
Utility service providers of different
government agencies are carrying out
excavation works on different roads in
the capital in violation of city corporation rules, increasing the sufferings of
residents in the process.
Officials of two city corporations in
Dhaka said according to the rules, all
the work should have been over by May
15 and would only resume from October so that people, especially commuters, do not suffer when it rains.
Oddly enough, city corporation and
other government service providers
only seem to get busy as soon as the
rainy season sets in.
A number of roads and walkways in
Dhaka have become unusable as different public service providers are separately excavating them. Soil, garbage,
brick chips, sand and other construction materials have occupied a large
part of the roads.
The DNCC has excavated Airport
road in Banani, Panthapath road near
Bashundhara City and several roads
in Mirpur to lay pipes for a storm drain
system.
The excavation work, which began
in February, was part of a plan for infrastructural development and beautification of the capital ahead of the ICC T20
World Cup.
The Local Government Division is
implementing the Tk115 crore project,
with Tk92 crore coming from government funds and the rest from DNCC
funds. On January 19, the Executive
Committee of the National Economic
Council (Ecnec) approved the project.
A city corporation official said the
development work had to continue
during monsoon because of lack of an
effective plan from the top authorities
and also the negligence on the part of
city corporation authorities and contractors.
Brig Gen Md Abul Khair, chief engineer of DNCC, told the Dhaka Tribune:

High Court to
probe Hasinas
comment on its
order
n Nazmus Sakib
A High Court bench has said the court
will investigate whether the prime
ministers Saturdays remark that she
does not care if the court considers
contemptuous her comment censuring
its order to arrest three RAB officials on
seven murders in Narayanganj.
A daily report yesterday quoted Hasina as saying: When we were still investigating the matter and before that
investigation was complete you tell us
how come a High Court bench orders arrest of the three [Rab officers] ?
Now if you want any evidence, seek
it from the judges of that court.
She continued, When we struggle to
take one step, some of them there take
two/four steps and create such a situation
that does not allow conducting a probe
properly. The Premier also said, What?
Scared? Will it warrant contempt [proceedings]? Doesnt matter. I dont care.
Supreme Court lawyer Tamzida Mila
informed the bench of Justice Mirza
Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid
Alam Sarkar about the report yesterday.
She also started reading out the report before the bench, but before she
finished it, Justice Mirza Hussain asked
her to submit it. After she submitted it,
she asked the court about the report
around 2pm, when the bench said, We
are looking into and we will look into.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, the
lawyer said he had drawn the attention
of the court on the prime ministers reported comment because such a comment might encourage others to ignore
the High Court order.
It is up to the bench whether it will
issue any order on the comment or it
will not, she said, adding: I did not
ask the court to initiate contempt proceedings as the court will then ask me
to file a petition. l

time.
Before the world cup, we only completed the beautification work, and we
also temporarily suspended development work because of the sporting
event, he said, adding that work had
since resumed.
All the excavation work should
have been over by May 15 but we failed
to meet the deadline. We hope it would
be complete by this month.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Water Supply
and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) could
not finish installation of water and
sewer lines in Tejgaon industrial area,
Indira road, Pallabi and Dhanmondi
residential area before the monsoon
either.
Neither Dhaka Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan nor Deputy Managing Director (operation and maintenance) SDM Kamrul Alam Chowdhury
could be reached over phone.
Bangladesh
Telecommunications
Company Limited is also digging different roads in the city for laying optical
fibre cables.
Meanwhile, city dwellers said such
excavation and development work,
particularly during the rainy season,
leads to problems for both pedestrians
and vehicles, contributing often to tailbacks in the city.
Shafiqul Islam, a resident of Banani,
said: Digging roads during the monsoon
has become a common practice in the
country. I do not understand why they
always do it right when it is rainy season.
We suffer on rainy days because of
this excavation. Sometimes pedestrians slip and fall into potholes, said Rahima Begum, who lives in Green Road.
Ashoke Madhab Roy, additional secretary for the urban development wing
of the Local Government Division, told
the Dhaka Tribune: We do not set the
deadline for any development work.
The city corporation is the authority
here. l

Digging roads by utility service providers during the monsoon has become a most common practice, much to the sufferings of
pedestrians. The photo was taken at the capitals Banani yesterday
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The Armed Police Battalion (APBn)

members at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka yesterday
arrested 15 Bangladeshi expatriates in
Saudi Arab with 22 gold-bars weighing around 2.5kg of gold minutes after
their arrival at the airport.
Alamgir Hossain Shimul, additional
superintendent of the APbn, told the
Dhaka Tribune that they arrested the
Saudi expatriates with 22 gold bars at
7pm while they were leaving the airport evading customs duties.
They arrived in Dhaka by two
separate flights of the Saudi Arabian
Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines and the gold bars were seized by
searching their bodies while departing
the airport, said the APBn official.
Apart from those 15 Saudi expatriates arrested yesterday, 13 other Saudi expatriates had been arrested with
3.1kg of gold on Saturday and eight
more on May 25 with 1.6kg of gold.
When asked, the APBn official said
all the 36 expatriates were arrested for
carrying the gold without paying the
duties at the customs.
According to sources at the airport,
around 40 expatriates were arrested in
the last five days for smuggling of gold
and carrying gold, evading customs
duties.
However, mysteries shroud over
how the expatriates could cross the
checking by the personnel of the custom department inside the airport.
In a reply, the APBn official declined
to comment on how the expatriates
could be able to cross the customs
checking.
Airport sources said the expatriates
are used to evading the customs duties by managing the customs officials
somehow.
According to sources, smuggling of
gold through the airports is an open secret and it has intensified since last one
year when the Indian government imposed some restrictions on the import
of gold.
The sources also said around 60
rings used to smuggle in and out of
gold, diamond, various precious metals and stones, currencies and other
items through the airport. All the rings
are aided by a section of corrupt officials and employees of different agencies at the airports.
There had been records of the seizures of 124kg and 109kg of gold in two
separate hauls at the Dhaka airport. l

Half of all medical, dental colleges unapproved

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal
Around 50% medical and dental colleges
in the country are not recognised by the
Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council
(BMDC), even though most of them have
been operating for many years.
According to the Health Ministry,
the number of government-approved
medical and dental colleges currently stands at 124, with only 63 of those
public and private colleges having the
necessary approval from the BMDC.
The rest, however, continue to carry
out their activities ignoring the existing
rules.
ABM Abdul Hannan, director (medical education and manpower development) of the health directorate, told
the Dhaka Tribune that a medical or
dental college must have the approval
of three bodies: Health Ministry, the
university concerned, and the BMDC.
Running operations without the approval of the BMDC would be illegal,
Hannan said, but added that it was the
BMDC who were the designated organisation to oversee the issue.

The BMDC Act 2010 dictates that

a medical or dental college can admit
students after getting primary and administrative approval from the Health
Ministry, as well as securing permission from the university concerned.
However, in a bid to get the BMDCs
approval, the college must submit a list
to the council within the next couple of
months, containing details about its admitted students, infrastructure, manpower, laboratory and other facilities.
According to the Private Medical and
Dental College Establishment Policy, a
50-seat medical college applying for approval must have a 250-bed hospital that
has been operative for at least two years,
as well as have 75% patient occupancy
at the time of application. The college
must also ensure certain facilities in
terms of infrastructure, equipment, the
number of departments, doctors, nurses, supporting staff and laboratories.
The policy also suggests that a medical or dental college, after getting permission, has to ensure adequate accommodation facilities for students in
line with the BMDC act.

Dr Zahedul Hoque Basunia, registrar

of the BMDC, told the Dhaka Tribune
that the council does not recognise any
public or private medical college until
a BMDC committee inspects the college
and makes sure that it fulfilled all requirements.
However, the process takes a long
time to be completed, as most medical or dental colleges delay filing the
necessary paperwork, while a detailed
scrutiny by the BMDC team usually
takes around two years, he added.
Seeking anonymity, a senior official
of the Bangladesh Private Medical College Association, however, said it was
not the fault of the colleges alone; the
BMDC too has to take a share of the
blame as it cannot inspect colleges regularly because of manpower shortage.
Documents show that among the
countrys 124 medical and dental colleges, 67 were private medical colleges and 19 were private dental colleges.
Among the private sector colleges, the
approvals of 13 colleges currently remain suspended.
Ministry sources said former health

minister AFM Ruhal Hoque gave administrative approval to 14 colleges

just before the end of his tenure; but
those approvals were suspended by incumbent Health Minister Mohammed
Nasim based on corruption allegations.
Several probe committees were formed

A medical or dental
college has to ensure
adequate space
for students
to look into the graft claims, while one
of the suspended colleges Advocate
Abdul Hamid Medical College was later given conditional approval.
On the other hand, senior officials of
the Health Ministry said although a total of 29 public medical colleges have so
far been approved, six of them Manikganj, Sirajganj, Patuakhali, Rangamati, Jamalpur and Tangail would only
start admitting students from the upcoming academic session. l

MEDICAL AND DENTAL

COLLEGES WITHOUT
RECOGNITION OF BMDC
Existing Unrecognised
Public
medical
college

29

14

Private
medical
college

67

28

Public
dental
college

Private
dental
college

19

11

Total

124

61

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

An archaeological monument dating back to king, Motok, lies uncared for and unguarded at
Kodomshohor village in Rajshahis Godagari as the Department of Archaeology has done
nothing to protect and preserve it except for putting up a signboard. Locals say some precious
stone artifacts have already been stolen due to lack of any effective measure AZAHAR UDDIN

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 Britains zero-hour

contracts eyed by other

countries

B4 More bonds, varieties

to make debt market
vibrant: Kothari

MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

CPD suspects huge capital flight in FY14

n Kayes Sohel
A substantial amount of capital flight
might have taken place from the country in the first nine months of the current fiscal year as reflected by abnormal
jump of imports in few items.
The money laundering would have
taken place through misinvoicing as
Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a civil
society think-tank, spoke of the apprehension at a briefing on Bangladesh
Economy in FY2014 in Dhaka yesterday.
They examined the detailed import
shipment data for the July-March period and compared it to the figures of
the consecutive period of last fiscal and
found the recent rise in imports at a
more disaggregated level.
Seventeen items accounted for
about 40% of the total imports and
93.5% of incremental growth during
the period this fiscal year.
Import of tanks, casks, drums cans
or iron/steel (50-300 litre) stood at
$329m, which was only $1m a year ago,
according to the CPD report.
Transporter cranes, gantry cranes,
bridge cranes and overhead traveling
cranes was of $466m as compared to
only $7m in the previous fiscal year
and, aeroplanes and other aircraft of an
unladen weight (2,000kg) was $326m,
which was $2m, it said.
There is a possibility of illicit finan-

Centre for Policy Dialogue Executive Director Dr Mustafizur Rahman addresses a press briefing in the city yesterday
cial outflow from the country as the
import growth is abnormal on items
having low or zero duty, said CPD Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman
while addressing the briefing.

He urged the Bangladesh Bank and

National Board of Revenue to scrutinise the matter.
Three of the 17 items which include
tanks, casks, drums, cans, made of

NASHIRUL ISLAM

steel or iron (50-300 litre), different

types of cranes and aeroplanes and
other aircarft6s, contributed about 73%
of the incremental growth in imports
during the period, the report said.

It said data received from Bangladesh Bank shows that these crane
items were imported from France in
the month of March 2014, which accounted for about $433m.
Import of such a large amount of
cranes in a single month warrants a
double check, the CPD said, adding
that such exception pattern of import
figures will call for appropriate scrutiny
on the part of the NBR.
Costumes duty on crane product
was only 2%; on aeroplanes and other
aircrafts, it was zero.
According to a recent report of Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research and advocacy organisation, the annual average money
laundering through manipulation of
commercial invoices hit $1.2bn during
a period between 2002 and 2011 in Bangladesh.
The figure of trade misinvoicing was
slightly down from $1.4bn estimated
between 2001 and 2010.
Trade misinvoicing involves the deliberate manipulation of commercial
invoices in order to misreport the value
of a transaction, thereby illegally shifting money across international borders
without detection.
According to the report, cumulative
amount of illegally siphoning off money stood at over $11bn during the period and over $1.7bn was drained out of
Bangladesh in 2011. l

FBCCI: Bangladesh may offer special

zone for Chinese investors

BUET experts find 2 RMG

factories risky for operation

n Tribune Business Desk

n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Bangladesh would offer either an industrial park or a special economic

zone for Chinese investors during business leaders coming visit to China,
FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin
Ahmed said yesterday.
Invest and develop your industries
here. We promise well give you an
industrial park or a special economic
zone, he told a press conference at FBCCI conference room. Well tell them
that Bangladesh is a safe destination
for investment.
He hinted that there might be a positive outcome over a deep seaport to be
built at Sonadia Island near Cox's Bazar
during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas
upcoming China visit, reports UNB.
The PM is scheduled to fly to China on June 6 on a five-day official visit
while FBCCI delegation, led by its President, will go to China on June 4.
China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC), a subsidiary of stateowned China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), has
shown interest in financing and constructing the port, which would boost
the country's GDP growth by 2%.
The Federation of Bangladesh
Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FBCCI) arranged the press conference

Bangladesh University of Engineering

and Technology (BUET) experts have
identified two apparel factories as
structurally flawed and risky after safety assessment.
They are Hema Sweater in Tongi and
Crystal Apparel in Mohakhali. Of them,
Crystal Apparel was already closed as
the building that housed it was found
faulty during an Accord inspection
earlier. Accord inspected other three
factories in the building used by its signatories. The inspection review panel
will decide on Hema Sweater only.
For another 25 factories the BUET
team recommended detailed engineering assessment. The factories may
need some retrofitting works, the experts said.
The recommendations were made
on a report submitted by the BUET
inspection team to the Department of
Factory Inspection and Establishment
(DFIE) after inspection of 252 factories.
The BUET team has red marked
two factories and the review panel will
sit tomorrow (today) to take decision
on Hema Sweater. Other factory has
been already been closed after Accord
inspection, Syed Ahmed, Inspector
General of DFIE, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Kazi Akram

Uddin Ahmed speaks at a pess conference in Dhaka yesterday
to brief media about their recent Japan
visit.
Responding to a question, the FBBCI President said he would attend China-South Asia Business Forum and China-South Asia Expo in Kunming where
they would discuss issues relating to
investment and expansion of trade between the two countries.
Well also have a meeting with
business leaders in Beijing, Kazi
Akram said. The FBCCI President said
Bangladeshs export might reach $50bn

within a year if Bangladesh can grab

10% share of Japans total import.
BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, addressing the press conference, said
Japan imports apparels worth about
$32bn. Its a huge Japan imports
only 1.77% of its total apparel import
from Bangladesh.
He said: We told them to import
more from Bangladesh and take it to
10% to minimise the huge trade gap
(almost 50%) that remains in favour of
Japan. l

700 band spectrum auction on cards

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam
The telecom regulator has formed a
special committee to prepare auction for 700 band spectrums, which is
planned to be made available for the
mobile phone operators by 2016.
The committee was formed at a meeting of Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission (BTRC) last
week, as part of a draft roadmap to sell out
the most valuable spectrum as of now.
Roadmap formulation committee
convener ATM Monirul Alam, who is

also the commissioner of spectrum

management division, has been made
chief of this committee.
Telecom experts said the government could earn more revenue than
any other spectrum as the 700 band
covers more people than other band
spectrums. This band is cost-effective
for the operators.
This band also efficiently transmits
internet services, and that is why it is
called digital dividend band.
In September last year, BTRC made
an auction for 2100 band spectrums

where per megahertz spectrum price

was fixed at $21m plus 15% vat. And
the government had earned more than
Tk4,055 crore.
In November 2011, the regulator sold
spectrums at Tk155 core per megahertz
from 800 and 1800 bands, official
sources said. That time, the government
earned another Tk3,000 crore.
Other members of the committee
are director general (Spectrum) Brig.
General Md Wahid-Uz-Zaman, DG (legal) AKM Shahiduzzaman, director
(spectrum) Lt. Col. Mohammad Sajjad

Hossain, director (finance) Ashis Kumar

Kundu, director (System & Service) Md
Monirul Islam, director (legal) Tareq
Hasan Siddiqui and five other officials.
The committee will present a draft
guideline about the auction.
By then, BTRC will engage a consultant for spectrum management and
the committee would take assistance
from the consultant too, committee
sources said. Mobile phone operators
praised the decision as they earlier sent
a proposal to the regulator to declare a
schedule for the auction. l

Breeders Association places budget demands

n Tribune Business Desk
Breeders Association of Bangladesh submitted five-point proposals before the
Finance Minister for his consideration in
the next fiscal years budget, including
extension of the tax holiday facility for
the poultry sector up to 2025 from.
A delegation of the association, a
platform of the businesspeople involved in poultry breeding and hatching industry, placed the demands
before AMA Muhith at his secretariat
office in Dhaka yesterday, reports UNB.
The proposals are aimed at saving

the sector alongside attracting more investment, the association said.

Association
Secretary
General
Saidur Rahman Babu led the delegation.
Their demands also include fixing
the bank interest rates of all public and
private banks for the poultry sector
at 9%, allowing feed meals under the
tax holiday schemes as in the past and
non-enforcement of 16 CCC of the Finance Act in this sector.
The association demanded the government take strong steps so that the
local companies do not face setback

amid aggression by foreign companies,

formulating a policy to make mandatory the foreign companies to invest about
90-95% of their profits in the country instead of taking back their profit abroad,
making it mandatory for the foreign
companies to take local companies as
partners while making investment in
Bangladesh and not imposing VAT on
collected agriculture produces.
Rationalising their demands, the
Breeders Association of Bangladesh
said the sector having an investment
of about Tk25,000 crore with some 70
lakh people directly involved in it are

passing a tough time as the

poultry farm owners had to
incur continuous losses due
to political instability for
the last couple of months
alongsideuncertainty in the
transport sector.
Emerging from the meeting, Kazi Zahedul Hasan,
managing director of the
Kazi Farms Limited, told
UNB that the Finance Minister gave them a patient hearing and assured them of considering their demands. l

In November last year, the team

started inspections to 1,500 factories
in collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO) to improve factory safety in Bangladesh.
Through the inspections, we have
been able to identify the fault of RMG
factories and can decide how to take
initiatives to make the buildings safer,
said Syed Ahmed.
As per BUET recommendations, we
have directed 10 factories to improve
safety measures. Follow-up will also
be done to see if they have improved
or not.
Commenting on fire and electrical
safety, Ahmed said electrical wires in
the factories have not been set up in
a planned way while the stare cases
are not spacious enough to exit safely
during emergency.
After Rana Plaza disaster last year,
the European retailers' Accord on Fire
and Building Safety and the North
American retailers' Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety have inspected
600 and 520 factories respectively. The
factories were being used by the Western retailers and brands as their source
of products.
A total of 19 factories have faced closures after having been found flawed
and short of safety measures in the
buildings. l

BASIC Bank
chairman may
be fired before
tenure
n Asif Showkat Kallol
BASIC Bank Chairman Sheikh Abdul
Hye Bachchu would be removed before
his tenure in the wake of huge financial
irregularities in the bank.
The second term of his appointment
in the bank, allegedly involved in credit scams of Tk4,500 crore, is scheduled
to expire on September 9 this year.
It can be considered as a punishment due to involvement in the credit
scam, Banking Division Secretary Dr
Aslam Alam told the Dhaka Tribune
yesterday. He would not say the exact
date of the announcement, however.
He said the removal of the chairman is being done at the directive of
Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
Sources in the Bank and Financial Institutions Division said the bank
board will be restructured instead of
Bangladesh Banks recommendation to
remove the board of directors.
The move is, however, getting delayed as the finance minister now busy
preparing the budget for the next fiscal
year scheduled to be placed on June 5,
officials said. The announcement may
come soon after the budget, said one
of them.
The board of director of the bank
has recognised the allegation of huge
corruption, sources in the finance division said.
Shubhashish Bose, Shyam Sunder
Sikder, Neelufar Ahmed, Quamrun
Naher Ahmed, Md. Anwarul Islam and
Anis Ahamad are in the banks board.
Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu had entered into the deep sea fishing business
in 2011 when he has been made chairman of Basic Bank and he spent around
Tk150 crore on 11 deep-sea fishing
trawlers in less than two years.
Bangladesh Bank investigations
detected massive financial irregularities involving around Tk4,500 crore of
loans in the banks three branches between 2009 and 2013.
The Gulshan branch alone lent more
than Tk3,111 crore last year against its
deposit of Tk695 crore only.
The loan-deposit ratio reached to
whooping 427%, meaning it has lent
Tk427 against a deposit of Tk100.
Troubled BASIC Bank has doubled
its branches to 68 in the last five years,
but 70% of its business activities are
controlled by graft-ridden four branches. Of the four branches, loan activities
have recently been suspended in three
Dilkusha, Gulshan and Shantinagar
by the central bank on charges of loan
frauds. The fourth one is the banks
main branch.
The bank had only 32 branches in
September 2009 when the incumbent
board of directors was appointed by
the government.
The central bank last week fired
BASIC Bank Managing Director Kazi
Faqurul Islam for presiding over a period of serious irregularities at the staterun bank. l

EPB, Paris-based group to

facilitate Texworld 2014
n Tribune Report
Bangladesh Business Consulting (BBC),
a Paris-based group, and Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh have offered facilitating Bangladeshi RMG and
handicrafts manufacturers to participate
in Texworld 2014, one of the worlds
leading textile fair, scheduled to be held
in Paris, France in mid-September.
The 4-day fair will be held Paris Le
Bourget Exhibition Centre from September 15 to September 18. Twice a
year, in February and September, it
gathers the producers from 27 countries, with about 850 exhibitors.
Interested exhibitors from Bangla-

desh would be entitled to a substantial

cost cut while enjoying facilities to be
provided under an agreement signed between EPB and BBC, said a press release.
Fifty stalls have already been booked for
the Bangladeshi manufacturers.
They would get half price for the
stall allotment and much lower than
usual air fare, hotel accommodation,
transportation, food and drinks, logistics and translation during the negotiations with the buyers.
We have all the necessary establishments and team of experts in marketing and branding in Paris and in
Bangladesh, BBC Chairman Kazi Enayet Ullah said. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stock
DSE GAINERS

Stocks inch up
with increased
turnover

DSE key features

June 1, 2014

Traded Issues

295

n Tribune Report

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

119

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

167

3,760.69
74,336,132

Number of Contract

more preferred, top 10 of the group

occupied 45% of the days turnover.
International Leasing Securities
said, despite the upcoming budget
of this week and associated uncertainty, the investors were positive
as reflected on the market through
their optimistic sentiment and better momentum.
Zenith Investments said the
Dhaka bourse got off to a strong
start at the first day of the week,
and was able to highlight constructive performance throughout the
trading day.
Much of the strength was generated from large cap scrips. The total
turnover volume slowly crawling
up is encouraging news, indicating
that money is being pumped up
into the market again, it said.
It said the movement of large
cap stocks looks very promising for
the future, as positive momentum
of these shares is enough to keep
the market healthy.
Losers, however, took a modest
lead over the gainers as out of 295
issues traded, 139 declined, 125 advanced and 31 closed unchanged on
the DSE floor.
Pharmaceuticals went up by
1.7%. All other major sectors ended
in red banks and NBFIs lost 0.9%
and 0.2% respectively. l

Stocks inched up yesterday with

turnover hitting 12-session high as
investors went for buying spree on
large cap stocks.
The benchmark index DSEX rose
18 points or 0.4% to close at 4,448.
The comprising blue chips DS30
soared 17 points or 1% to 1,626.
The Shariah index DSES gained 10
points or 1% to 1,003. Chittagong
Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective
Categories Index, CSCX, was fractionally down 0.8 points to 8,468.
The total turnover at DSE stood
at Tk376 crore, registering an increase of 16% over the previous
sessions value of Tk323 crore.
Market started with a mild positive tone in the month of national
budget, said IDLC Investments, in
its daily market analysis.
It said as market was slow after
recent early-year rally, particularly at higher valuation multiples,
budgetary expectation was only
enough to create little buzz across
the bourses.
Besides, as sector-wise movement was not vigilant due to lack of
room in each sector with respect to
respective valuation level, market
was more script concentrated, it
said. As the large cap stocks were

Company

Turnover
(Million Taka)
Turnover
(Volume)

83,337

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

2,293.27

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

27.80

CSE key features

June 1, 2014
Turnover (Million Taka)

263.71

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights

6,025,594

Number of Contract

9,507

DSE Broad Index :

4448.57610

(+) 0.41%

Traded Issues

211

DSE Shariah Index :

1003.24560

(+) 1.05%

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

75

DSE - 30 Index :

1626.08419

(+) 1.04%

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

130

CSE All Share Index:

13693.97280

(+) 0.18%

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

CSE - 30 Index :

11160.25100

(-) 0.41%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

2,196.04

8468.21010

(-) 0.01%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

26.62

CSE Selected Index :

DSE LOSERS

CMC Kamal Tex. -A

Midas Financing-Z
Union Capital -A
MBL 1st M. F.-A
Meghna Con. Milk -B
Eastern InsurA
Intl. Leasing-B
Golden Harvest Agro-N

-11.39
-7.85
-7.47
-5.00
-3.75
-3.74
-3.48
-3.31

Average (%
change)
-11.12
-7.36
-5.06
-3.31
-3.13
-2.19
-1.21
-2.05

4th ICB M F-A

Bay Leasing.-A

-3.30
-3.00

-3.30
-2.46

Company

Closing (%
change)

CSE LOSERS

Standard Ceramic -A
BDCOM Online-A
Union Capital -A
Asia Pasific Insu. -A
Brac B.C. Bond-A
LR Global BD MF1-A
Northern G Insur-A
AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A

-8.00
-7.08
-6.15
-6.09
-6.00
-5.88
-4.75
-4.05

Average (%
change)
-5.72
-7.08
-2.69
-6.09
-6.00
-5.88
-4.75
-4.05

NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A

Miracle Industries -B

-4.05
-3.89

-3.78
-3.00

Company

Closing (%
change)

ANALYST

Closing
average

Closing

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
301.07
83.26
65.42
462.24
154.48
507.35
2.35
304.03
571.52
0.21
59.40
33.98
9.74
454.81
20.51
42.53
180.55
361.01
70.33
75.75
0.18

Turnover
in million

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

21.27
17.75
22.87
5.84
7.75
36.10
11.42
32.42

21.00
17.60
22.30
5.70
7.70
36.00
11.10
32.10

21.80
18.00
24.30
6.00
8.00
37.40
11.50
33.50

20.00
17.50
21.70
5.70
7.40
36.00
11.10
30.00

16.720
0.071
4.239
12.751
0.705
0.465
5.383
3.209

1.32
-6.91
2.08
1.44
-4.85
3.44
-1.28
1.55

16.1
-ve
11.0
4.1
-ve
10.5
-ve
20.9

205.00
26.22

205.00
25.90

205.00
26.70

205.00
24.20

0.103
4.420

23.11
1.44

ICB Islamic Bank-Z

ACI Limited- A
Delta Life Insu. -A
Savar Refractories-Z
Kohinoor Chem -A
Stylecraft -A
The Ibn SinaA
Reckitt Benckiser -A
GlaxoSK (BD) -A
Unique Hotel RL - A

Closing (%
change)
8.70
8.61
7.97
7.61
7.46
6.01
6.01
5.77
5.70
5.64

CSE GAINERS
Company
Delta Life Insu. -A
ACI Limited- A
Sinobangla Indu.-A
Safko Spinning-A
Berger Paints-A
MJL BD Ltd.-A
Unique Hotel RL - A
BSRM Steels-A
Aftab Auto.-A
LafargeS Cement-Z

Closing (%
change)
8.72
8.63
8.30
6.70
6.25
6.15
6.12
5.53
5.42
4.84

Average (%
change)
3.91
7.07
6.00
(1.00)
7.47
6.09
4.03
4.69
2.90
4.10
Average (%
change)
6.50
8.16
7.69
6.65
6.28
3.53
4.02
3.39
4.42
7.85

Closing
average
4.78
254.55
195.99
59.40
407.52
1,067.50
107.73
1,081.11
1,697.09
68.22

Closing
average
196.87
254.38
24.66
22.29
1137.90
79.74
68.25
77.81
82.46
83.35

Closing
5.00
261.00
200.60
59.40
407.60
1,066.70
109.30
1,092.30
1,745.40
69.30

Closing
201.90
260.60
24.80
22.30
1137.90
81.10
69.40
78.30
83.60
82.30

Daily high
5.00
261.30
203.30
59.40
409.00
1,069.00
110.00
1,097.20
1,748.90
69.80

Daily high
203.20
260.80
25.10
22.30
1137.90
81.60
69.90
79.40
84.00
85.50

Daily low
4.60
235.00
187.00
59.40
370.00
1,060.00
100.10
1,046.00
1,657.00
59.50

Daily low
188.00
246.00
24.00
22.20
1137.90
76.00
65.60
75.00
78.50
80.00

Turnover
in million
6.780
186.354
128.842
0.003
1.640
0.427
8.606
1.946
27.408
53.991

Turnover
in million
13.634
3.240
3.145
0.201
0.057
3.340
4.600
8.644
9.378
36.759

Latest
EPS
-1.12
5.28
2.92
0.52
9.37
47.83
3.12
41.12
76.20
2.84

Latest
EPS
2.92
5.28
1.04
1.08
57.68
4.72
2.84
4.72
3.14
2.16

Latest
PE
-ve
48.2
67.1
114.2
43.5
22.3
34.5
26.3
22.3
24.0

Latest
PE
67.4
48.2
23.7
20.6
19.7
16.9
24.0
16.5
26.3
38.6

News from trade server

SINOBANGLA: (H/Y): As per un-audited
half yearly accounts as on 30.04.14 (Nov'13
to Apr'14), the Company has reported profit
after tax of Tk. 10.32 million with EPS of
Tk. 0.52 as against Tk. 2.82 million and Tk.
0.14 respectively for the same period of
the previous year. Whereas profit/(loss)
after tax was Tk. 6.28 million with EPS of
Tk. 0.31 for the period of 3 months (Feb'14
to Apr'14) ended on 30.04.14 as against Tk.
(1.02) million and Tk. (0.05) respectively for
the same period of the previous year.
ISLAMIBANK: Credit Rating Information
and Services Limited (CRISL) has rated the
Company as "AA+" in the long term and
"ST-1" in the short term in consideration of
financials of the Company up to December
31, 2013 (audited) and other relevant quantitative as well as qualitative information up
to the date of rating declaration.
BRACBANK: Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB) has announced the
surveillance rating of the Company as "AA3"
in the long term and "ST-2" in the short
term based on audited financial statements
of the Company up to 31 December 2013
and other relevant quantitative as well as

qualitative information up to the date of

rating declaration.
SONARBAINS: Alpha Credit Rating Limited (AlphaRating) has rated the Company as
"A" in the long term and "AR-2" in the short
term along with a stable outlook based on
audited financial information of the Company up to 31st December 2013 and relevant
qualitative information up to 31 May 2014.
PHENIXINS: Credit Rating Information and
Services Limited (CRISL) has announced
the CPA (Claim Paying Ability) Rating of
the Company as "AA-" in consideration of
financials of the Company up to December
31, 2013 (audited) and other relevant quantitative as well as qualitative information up
to the date of rating declaration.
AIMS1STMF: Bangladesh General Insurance Company Limited (BGIC), the Trustee
of Aims First Guaranteed Mutual Fund,
has informed the following: The current
tenure of the fund which is due to mature
on June 30, 2015 i.e. one year from now,
is pleased to call an Unit holders' meeting
on June 25, 2014 at 11:00 AM at Samarai
Convention Center, 23/G/7 Panthopath,
Dhaka to discuss and vote on the options of

Liquidation/Redemption, Extension or Conversion of the Fund on maturity as per SEC

(Mutual Fund Rules) 2001 and other related
matters. The Record Date: June 10, 2014 to
participate in the meeting and receive the
necessary documents in this regard.
PHARMAID: The Company has informed
that the Board of Directors of the Company
has decided to import following assets
immediately: (1) Spare Parts for Ampoule
Manufacturing Machine @ Tk. 20.00 Lacs
(approx.) and (2) PSA Oxygen Generator
(Oxygen Gas Producer) with standard
accessories @ Tk. 55.00
Lacs (approx.).
Final Status of IPO: Khulna Printing &
Packaging Ltd.: All concerned are hereby
informed that the final status of the IPO
of Khulna Printing & Packaging Ltd.,
Total subscription received from General
Public=Tk. 2,321,850,000, Affected Small
Investors=Tk.292,430,000, NRB=Tk.
232,345,000 & Mutual Fund=Tk. Nil. Total
subscription received=Tk. 2,846,625,000
against Public Issue of IPO of Tk.
400,000,000 which is over subscribed by
7.12 times.

8.9
18.2

Closing
average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover
in million

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

40.07
21.00
22.80
21.60
940.00
6.40
38.10
7.10

39.10
21.00
22.90
21.60
940.00
6.40
38.10
7.10

41.60
21.90
23.20
21.60
940.00
6.40
38.10
7.10

38.30
20.70
22.70
21.60
940.00
6.40
38.10
7.10

0.260
0.079
0.160
0.022
0.005
0.003
0.019
0.004

1.32
1.43
2.08
2.48
0.00
1.56
6.40
1.49

30.4
14.7
11.0
8.7
4.1
6.0
4.8

7.12
17.45

7.10
17.30

7.20
17.90

7.00
17.20

0.036
0.166

1.52
0.19

4.7
91.8

Market started with a mild positive

tone in the month of national
budget

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company
Grameenphone-A
LafargeS Cement-Z
Meghna Petroleum -A
ACI Limited- A
MJL BD Ltd.-A
Delta Life Insu. -A
BSRM Steels-A

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

Sector

Daily high

Monday, June 2, 2014

% change
8.01
2.21
1.74
12.29
4.11
13.49
0.06
8.08
15.20
0.01
1.58
0.90
0.26
12.09
0.55
1.13
4.80
9.60
1.87
2.01
0.00

Million Taka
23.85
6.81
2.50
36.94
7.75
23.05
23.91
33.92
8.93
1.37
10.77
1.02
45.22
1.70
1.30
14.79
26.85
8.14
11.60
0.07

CSE

% change
8.21
2.34
0.86
12.72
2.67
7.93
0.00
8.23
11.68
3.07
0.47
3.71
0.35
15.57
0.59
0.45
5.09
9.24
2.80
3.99
0.02

Million Taka
324.92
90.08
67.93
499.18
162.23
530.40
2.35
327.94
605.44
9.14
60.77
44.75
10.76
500.03
22.21
43.82
195.34
387.86
78.47
87.35
0.24

Total

% change
8.02
2.22
1.68
12.32
4.00
13.09
0.06
8.09
14.94
0.23
1.50
1.10
0.27
12.34
0.55
1.08
4.82
9.57
1.94
2.16
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

HeidelbergCement -A
Mercantile Bank -A
Square Pharma -A

Aftab Auto.-A
National Tubes -A
Olympic Ind. -A
Unique Hotel RL - A
Eastern Housing -A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company
LafargeS Cement-Z

Grameenphone-A
Square Pharma -A
Delta Life Insu. -A
Aftab Auto.-A
BD Submarine Cable-A
BSRM Steels-A
Appollo Ispat CL -N
Meghna Petroleum -A
Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A
Unique Hotel RL - A
BEXIMCO Ltd. -A
UNITED AIR-A
BSC-A
National Bank - B

Volume
shares
1,132,600
3,290,500
698,028
732,100
1,849,551
657,400
1,619,420
205,160
4,320,848
272,418

782,017
389,320
240,759
791,415
858,959

Volume
shares

441,000
65,600
54,940
69,250
113,720
49,340
111,100
243,600
20,500
195,000
67,400
177,686
317,220
6,645
305,769

Value in
million
309.10
273.64
195.13
186.35
145.64
128.84
125.76
107.54
79.19
73.32

64.57
62.93
56.23
53.99
52.65

Value in
million

36.76
17.89
14.80
13.63
9.38
8.97
8.64
6.73
5.72
5.01
4.60
4.07
3.54
3.37
3.34

% of total
turnover
8.22
7.28
5.19
4.96
3.87
3.43
3.34
2.86
2.11
1.95

1.72
1.67
1.50
1.44
1.40

% of total
turnover

14.18
6.90
5.71
5.26
3.62
3.46
3.33
2.60
2.21
1.93
1.77
1.57
1.36
1.30
1.29

Daily
closing
275.40
82.20
278.30
261.00
80.30
200.60
78.30
519.40
18.40
269.10

83.10
164.10
234.20
69.30
60.70

Daily
closing

82.30
275.70
269.20
201.90
83.60
183.00
78.30
27.40
278.40
25.10
69.40
22.80
11.10
506.30
10.80

Price
change
3.42
4.71
-1.59
8.61
4.42
7.97
5.10
-0.65
2.22
-0.33

Daily
opening
266.30
78.50
282.80
240.30
76.90
185.80
74.50
522.80
18.00
270.00

Price
change

Daily
opening

4.92
5.19
2.14
5.64
-2.10

4.84
3.80
-0.30
8.72
5.42
1.95
5.53
-0.36
-1.42
-2.71
6.12
-2.15
-1.77
-1.46
-0.92

79.20
156.00
229.30
65.60
62.00

78.50
265.60
270.00
185.70
79.30
179.50
74.20
27.50
282.40
25.80
65.40
23.30
11.30
513.80
10.90

Daily
high
276.40
84.30
283.40
261.30
81.30
203.30
79.00
533.80
18.60
270.00

85.00
164.80
235.60
69.80
62.40
Daily
high

85.50
277.40
270.00
203.20
84.00
184.70
79.40
28.00
282.20
26.40
69.90
23.40
11.30
515.00
11.00

Daily
low
260.00
80.00
259.00
235.00
70.00
187.00
73.00
516.40
16.20
246.40

Daily
average
272.91
83.16
279.55
254.55
78.74
195.99
77.65
524.19
18.33
269.14

Daily
low

Daily
average

75.00
152.00
220.00
59.50
59.50

80.00
267.90
268.50
188.00
78.50
179.00
75.00
27.30
278.10
25.10
65.60
22.70
11.00
501.00
10.70

82.57
161.63
233.56
68.22
61.29

83.35
272.68
269.33
196.87
82.46
181.72
77.81
27.63
279.13
25.71
68.25
22.93
11.15
506.73
10.94

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Britains zero-hour contracts

eyed by other countries
n AFP, London

Britain is leading the way in so-called

zero-hours contracts that keep employees available but with no guarantee of work - and other countries are
watching with interest.
Trade unions are waging a bitter
war against the contracts which some
1.4 million Britons have signed up to,
saying people feel forced into signing
them.
The latest skirmish is over plans
by Prime Minister David Camerons
Conservative-led government to halt
unemployment benefits to those who
wont take a zero-hours contract.
But to EU nations looking to increasing flexibility and boost their economies, the ultra-liberal British policy
looks increasingly attractive.
The contracts were introduced in
1996 by Conservative prime minister
John Major to make it easier to employ
students and seasonal workers.
But now they are being used by employers ranging from McDonalds to
Ryanair and even Buckingham Palace.
The British government itself uses
250,000, according to a survey carried
out by the Guardian newspaper.
The Office of National Statistics,
which bases its figures on a period of
two weeks in January and February,
said that around 13 percent of employers admitted to using them, rising to
50 percent in tourism, the restaurant
trade and the health industry.
Laura Lewis, 25, worked for three
years on a zero-hours contract at a
home for the severely physically disabled in Cambridge, eastern England,
before quitting.
You have to be on call 24/7. You
dont get a say in when you can and
cant work, or when you want holidays, she told AFP.
I could work 25 days in a row or

none if the boss decided it.

Around 300,000 care workers in
Britain are employed on zero hours
contracts in difficult conditions.
Rochelle Monte, 38, who has worked
as a housekeeper for 20 years in Newcastle, northeast England, said that
when it came to zero-hours contracts
there was no choice - its just the way
it is.
My agenda is never the same. It can
be 20 or two people, it varies a lot. So it
can be difficult to plan, she said.
Her salary varied wildly as a result
of the contract, ranging from 400 to
1,100 (490 and 1,300 euros, $670 to
$1,840) per month.
Britains unemployment rate of under seven percent is one of the lowest
in the European Union, and Camerons

Crude prices mixed

in Asia
n AFP, Singapore

gested robust petrol demand going into

the US summer driving season when
Americans take to the roads for their
holidays.
Traders are also tracking the escalating fighting between government
troops and separatist rebels in Ukraine,
a major pipeline conduit for Russias
natural gas exports to Europe.
In one of the biggest setbacks in Kievs seven-week campaign against insurgents, 12 Ukrainian troops including
an army general were killed Thursday
when their helicopter was shot down.
The West has accused Russia of fomenting unrest in its neighbour since
the ousting of pro-Kremlin president
Viktor Yanukovych in February. Moscow denies the allegation.
Investors fear a full-blown conflict
in the ex-Soviet state will disrupt supplies and send energy prices soaring. l

government says the contracts add

flexibility that the British economy
needs.
Yet critics say there is a heavy price
to those who are on the contracts.
Its impossible to ask for a mortgage, to buy a house, to make plans for
the month when you have a family and
to plan a budget, Dave Prentis, secretary general of UNISON, Britains largest public service union, told AFP.
The government unveiled new rules
at the start of May so that now anyone
attending a state-run Job Centre who
turns down a zero-hours contract can
have their benefits suspended for several months, a spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said.
The change angered the unions,
which were weakened in Britain in a

B3

Monday, June 2, 2014

series of brutal confrontations with

prime minister Margaret Iron Lady
Thatcher during the 1980s.
Frances OGrady, secretary general
of the TUC, Britains biggest union, said
the plan was more a punishment than
a way to encourage jobseekers to find
a job.
The British government is sticking
to its guns, though.
Business Minister Vince Cable, a
member of the Liberal Democrat party
which is in coalition with the Conservatives, recently rejected an opposition demand to offer employees a fixed
contract after they had worked a year
on a zero-hours basis, saying that many
workers were happy with the contracts.
But he said that the government
would tackle abuses of the contracts. l

In China, managers are

the new labour activists
n Reuters, Shanghai
Behind Chinas biggest strike in decades
last month was a new player in Chinese
labour activism: management.
A previously unpublished account
from inside the strike at Taiwanese shoe
manufacturer Yue Yuen obtained by Reuters shows that supervisors were the
first to challenge senior plant leaders
about the social insurance contributions
that became the focus of the dispute.
Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings declined
to comment.
The involvement of managers underscores the growing complexity and
unpredictability of labour relations in
China. A generation of long-serving
migrant factory employees is starting
to retire just as the economy slows and
the spread of social media makes strikes
easier to organize.
Yue Yuens strike wasnt the first time
in recent years managers, rather than
front-line workers, helped orchestrate
industrial action in China. Managers
were also involved in leading a strike at
IBMs facility in Shenzhen in March, according to a worker and another person
briefed on the strike. IBM declined to
comment.
Supervisors and other low- and midlevel managers also helped corral workers during a March strike at Shanmukang
Technology, which supplies mobile
phone cases to Samsung Electronics, a
former employee said.
Managers have been orchestrating
strikes during international deals for
years, lawyers said. It happens all the
time that managers encourage workers
to strike during an international transaction that affects a companys Chinese
operations, said Jonathan Isaacs, special
counsel with responsibility for Chinese
employment and labor issues at law firm
Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong.
In many cases the reason an M&A
transaction, layoffs or restructuring goes
sideways or causes labour unrest is that
the local management were disgruntled

and riled up the rank-and-file workers,

he added. In November 2011, mid-level
managers led thousands of PepsiCo
Inc workers to strike in protest against
the terms of the companys acquisition
by Tingyi Holdings, according to Hong
Kong-based worker advocacy group China Labour Bulletin (CLB).
However, some of the largest recent
strikes, including the Yue Yuen action,
dont involve a factory sale or restructuring. Labor unrest has surged in China
in recent months as slowing economic
growth and rising costs have squeezed
companies in industrialized areas like
the Pearl River Delta in southern Guangdong province. CLB has recorded 319
strikes and labour protests since the beginning of the year.

More active role

Chinese factory disputes typically start

with younger employees pushing management for higher pay. But in the last
few years, as restructurings have become more common, managers have
begun to take a more active role in negotiations and work stoppages because
they have more at stake, lawyers said.
Chinas 2008 labor contract law requires companies terminating employees to pay compensation worth one
months salary for every year of employment. The longer an employee has been
working at a factory, the greater the potential payoff from a closure, merger or
restructuring.
Turnover at Chinese factories is high
reaching 100% a year in some companies. Younger workers spin through jobs
quickly, sometimes staying only months
in one plant. Managers can be among a
plants longest serving employees.
Strikes started by older workers
often come about because of a change
in the company, when a company is being merged or restructured, says Dong
Baohua, professor at the East China
University of Politics and Law. Older
workers want to cash in on their years
of service. l

China official PMI hits five-month high in May,

boding well for second quarter
n Reuters, Beijing

nying the data.

As one of the first leading indicators
gauging economic momentum, the
improved reading could bode well for
other May data, bolstering market expectations that the economy is regaining some strength as the governments
pro-growth measures started to kick in.
The official survey showed a broadbased recovery in manufacturing activity in May, with nine out of the 13 subindicies pointing to improvement from
the previous month.
A sub-index for new orders, a measure of foreign and domestic demand
edged up to 52.3 in May from 51.2 in
April, marking the highest level since
last November.
The PMI data also showed export
orders inched higher to 49.3 in May
from 49.1 in April, though the indicator

remained below the 50-level threshold

that separates growth from contraction.
Beijing stepped up policy fine-tuning
in recent weeks and has unveiled
a slew of targeted measures this
year to help shore up the economy,
which has dipped to a 18-month low in
the first quarter and is seen on track to
post the weakest annual showing in 24
years.
It is clear that the government has
become more concerned about the
continued economic slowdown and
wants to further increase the strength
of policy support, said Wang Tao,
economist at UBS in a note to clients.
Chinas cabinet announced fresh
easing measures on Friday to help lower funding costs and reduce operating

burdens for companies to give more

support for the real economy.
The measures included lowering the
reserve requirement for more banks,
increasing the scale of re-lending and
bond financing to support smaller
firms, and a further reduction of administrative fees for businesses.
Chinas finance ministry had also
urged their local branches to quicken
the pace of budget allocation to guarantee the completion of key projects
and lift the slowing economy.
Those policy moves, together with
the earlier steps, such as hastening
construction of railways and public
housing, tax cuts for smaller enterprises, have combined to give a boost
to the economy, though officials and
economists warned that the downside
pressure still exists. l

Jamuna Bank Foundation has recently awarded scholarship of Tk56 lakh in total to 119
students of its employees who have got GPA-5 in SSC and Dakhil examinations in 2014. AlHaj Nur Mohammed, Chairman, Jamuna Bank Foundation presided over the award giving
ceremony

Phoenix Finance & Investments Limited recently held its 19th annual general meeting at the Institution of Diploma Engineers in Dhaka.
The company declared a cash dividend of 20% to its shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2013. The companys chair, Deen
Mohammad presided over the meeting

Ogilvy & Mather Bangladesh, an advertising

agency network has recently appointed
Razeeb Hasan Chowdhury as its general
manager and chief creative officer. Razeeb is
one of the most sought after creative talents
in the advertising industry. He led the teams
that created the Kacche Thakun and Din
Bodol positioning for Grameenphone and
Banglalink respectively

Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited recently held the 442th meeting of the boards executive
committee at the board room of the bank. The committees vice chair Alhajj Abdus Samad
presided over the meeting

National Housing Finance And Investments Limited recently held its 15th annual general
meeting at a city hotel in Dhaka. The company approved 12.50% cash dividend for the
shareholders on the performance of the year 2013. The meeting was presided over by the
companys chair Latifur Rahman

Oil prices were mixed in Asia Friday

as traders took a breather after recent
gains, but signs of stronger US gasoline demand and escalating tensions in
Ukraine provided support.
US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in July, was
down 12 cents to $103.46 a barrel after
rallying 86 cents in Yew York Thursday.
Brent North Sea crude for July
gained six cents to $110.03 a barrel in
afternoon trade.
The US Department of Energys
weekly oil report Thursday showed
overall US inventories rising, but gasoline supplies falling in the week ended
May 23.
Desmond Chua, market analyst at
CMC Markets in Singapore, told AFP
the decline in gasoline supplies sug-

Chinas factory activity expanded at

the fastest pace in five months in May
due to rising new orders, official data
showed on Sunday, reinforcing views
that the worlds second-largest economy is regaining momentum in the
second quarter following Beijings targeted measures to bolster growth.
The official Purchasing Managers
Index rose to 50.8 in May from Aprils
50.4, the National Bureau of Statistics
said on Sunday, beating market expectations of 50.6.
The PMI reading continued to improve in May, indicating that a trend
of economic stabilization is becoming more evident, Zhang Liqun, a researcher at the Development Research
Centre said in the statement accompa-

Policy support

Fast food chain, Fridays Fast Food & Restaurant recently opened its new outlet at Jamuna
Future Park Shopping Mall in Dhaka. The outlet was inaugurated by Environment & Forest
Deputy Minister Abdullah-Al-Islam Jacob and Deen Group Chair Alhaj Goni Ahmed

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, June 2, 2014

'More bonds, varieties to make debt market vibrant'

n Tahmidur Rahman
Every country needs an active bond
market and Bangladesh is no exception
to that rule, said Vinod Kothari during
an interview with Dhaka Tribune. He
recently came to Bangladesh to attend
a IDLC Finance Ltd workshop on bond
markets.
Vinod Kothari is an internationally
recognised author, trainer and consultant on specialised financial subjects.
He lectures around the world including
New York, Washington, London, Milan,
Malaysia, Bangladesh and so on.
He said the businesses in Bangladesh can avail more debt and wider
primary markets and therefore talks
should be held on developing such
markets in a well-planned manner. Following is the details of his interview.

At what stage is our bond market at the

moment?

The market is yet to come out of its primary stage. It needs to be more active,
with sufficient buyers and sellers in the
market to increase liquidity. It will increase willingness of investors to buy
bonds.

Why do we have an illiquid bond market

despite having plenty of treasury bills?

It seems like the banks need to hold

on to these government issued bonds
for meeting regulatory purposes and
therefore it is not much of their interest
to let go one particular bond to buy an-

other one of the same rate. Plus there

may not be enough excess bonds that
could be traded.

If so, then should the government

consider issuing more bonds to make
the market vibrant?

I do not follow the economy of Bangladesh to comment on the macro-economic issues. However, credit crunch
(as the action will contract the supply of
liquidity) and crowding out effect could
take place if government issues more
bonds, because they would be taking
back the money from the economy.
Also these macro-economic decisions
are based on the Finance Ministrys
strategy and not specifically restricted
to make a market more vibrant. However, I think more bonds and different
varieties have to be introduced in the
market to make it more vibrant.

How will the corporates benefit from

an active market?

Bonds of different types are sources of

financing debt, which makes the companys profile more diversified and
therefore reduces risk. In addition to
this, the corporates are not into issuing
privately placed bonds either. The corporates can publicly list the privately
placed bonds, which would make the
debt market more active.

We have only three corporate bonds

while several others are not even
publicly listed. What is your insight on

this issue?

There can hardly be any reason behind

not listing the privately placed bonds,
which are commonly bought by the
foreign investors if the cost of listing is
not troubling. I am told that, this is the
norm in Bangladesh and few corporate
claims due to low foreign participation
in the equity market, the gain from
listing is not significant. This has to be
changed in the near future.

How does a bond market align with

equity markets that show abnormal
trend?

This is the fascinating part, a bond market is less likely to go through a cyclical
bubble and burst and therefore it reduces risk to some extent, particularly
the systematic risk.

A strong and active bond market is

needed to figure out a yield curve
while we mostly see corporate bonds
have a short tenure. What should be
the right approach?

Today, I saw the yield curve of Bangladesh, so there is one that can be used
for further calculations. Yes, I do agree
that more corporate bonds are needed
and also in several varieties so that the
companies get various options to finance debt. For instance if municipal
bonds and mortgage backed bonds are
introduced then the companies would
avail switching options and small scale
investors could trade and make a profit
out of it.

Former egg farm thrives after

chickens depart
n AFP
Elliot Gibber likes to quip that he started as an egg as he recalls a childhood
toiling in the chicken houses.
After nearly 45 years in the business, Gibber still works on his fathers
old farm site in upstate New York. But
todays egg business is completely
different from the one Gibbers father
and uncles knew when they started the
family business in the 1940s in Thompsonville, New York.
For one thing, there is the proliferation of what Gibber calls designer
eggs, fresh eggs labelled organic,
cage-free and, finally, GMO-free
for those hatched from chickens fed
only grains with that certification.
Perhaps even more significant has
been the rise of egg products, a oncetiny sliver of the business that today is
the main growth engine of Deb El Food
Products.
Once an egg farm, the 165-acre
Thompsonville site today is an indus-

trial egg-cracking facility that receives

thousands of fresh eggs each day from
neighboring states and then churns out
dozens of products from egg whites,
yolks and whole eggs.
Gibber led a visitor past a giant vat
containing 50,000 pounds of egg yolk,
which will be salted and shipped to
Mexico later this week for mayonnaise
production.
Other products will be directed to
candy makers, bakeries and ice cream
makers. Deb El sells egg scramble mix
and egg whites from cage-free eggs.
Gibber sees parallels between the
evolution in eggs towards more valueadded products and the meat industrys growing emphasis on branded
prepared products, as reflected in
this weeks bidding war for Hillshire
Brands. Both US giant Tyson Foods and
Brazilian titan JBS seek Hillshire assets
like Jimmy Dean sausage and other
branded prepared foods.
Its for convenience, Gibber said.
You work all day and you want to be

Vinod Kothari gestures while speaking to the Dhaka Tribune in an interview recently

From the perspective of an issuer,

why would it issue a bond rather than
taking a bank loan, given the risk free
rate is too high to begin with?

The risk free rate can be high. A strong

debt market is inevitable for a developing economy and no one doubts the
relevance of it. The corporates need
an alternative to bank borrowings for
several reasons including reducing

n AFP, San Francisco

Apple today kicks off its developers
conference, where the focus will be on
software in iPhones, iPads, iPods and
Macintosh computers with scant hope
for the next big thing.
In trademark style, Apple has remained mum about what it will unveil
at the keynote presentation opening a
sold-out World Wide Developers Conference devoted to tailoring applications or services for the companys
coveted devices.
As is usually the case leading up to
Apple events, rumors about what the
California company may be planning
have ricocheted across the Internet.
Public comments by Apple chief
executive Tim Cook that the company
will weigh into a new product category
by the end of this year have added impetus to speculation that includes talk
of a smartwatch or a system for using
iPhones or iPads to control door locks,
security systems and other computerenlighted devices in smart homes.
I think we will see bells and whistles from the developer perspective,
but otherwise a low-key event, Gartner analyst Van Baker said of this years
WWDC in downtown San Francisco.
Apple will be keen to spotlight capabilities added to the operating systems
powering its mobile devices and Macintosh computers, according to analysts.

Developer devotion desired

AFP

Finance Minister Jaitley vows fiscal discipline

n Reuters, New Delhi
Indias new finance minister vowed on
Sunday to uphold fiscal discipline, despite pressure on public finances from
figures showing the economy grew by
less than 5% in the fiscal year just ended.
Investors are looking to see whether
Arun Jaitley, also handed the defence
portfolio in Prime Minister Narendra
Modis new government, will allow some
slippage on the budget deficit when he
presents his first budget in early July.
In a post on his Facebook page,
Jaitley said pulling India out of its cur-

rent economic malaise would involve

fiscal rectitude as (a) combination of
monetary and fiscal policy.
Slower GDP growth will imply lower
tax buoyancy and (a) higher fiscal deficit, he added. We must move towards
an era of fiscal discipline where we can
reduce the fiscal deficit, contain inflation
and improve upon our growth rates.
Figures on Friday showed that Indias economy grew by 4.7% in the
year to the end of March, too slow to
generate enough jobs for the 10 million
young people who enter the workforce
each year.

Regulators believe a derivative market

is on the cards. What are the cons and
pros of it for Bangladesh given experts
believe the general investors will not

Software to star at Apple

developers conference

able to go to the store and buy something thats already made.

Deb El today employs about 30
people around the clock. It stopped
producing fresh eggs in Thompsonville
after a fire in 1969 killed the chickens,
but has 2.5 million chickens in Pennsylvania, where there is closer access to
chicken feed.
About 12 years ago, after buying the
Thompsonville property from his parents, Gibber installed industrial eggbreaking equipment. The move ultimately raised production from about 800
cases of eggs per week from eggs cracked
by hand to 40,000-50,000 per week.
Gibber is spending $1.8m to add
more egg-cracking capacity, as well
as $2m to meet state regulations on
sewerage treatment. He is also adding
freezer capacity.
Egg whites are the biggest boom
right now, but other segments are also
strong, he said.
Our business is growing. We need
more product. l

Employees, of Deb El Food Products, LLC, inspect eggs at the Deb El egg processing plant in Thompsonville, New York

the systematic risk. Once the market is ready, the scenario where getting a bank loan is more convenient
than issuing bond, would alter automatically.

Weak growth has fueled speculation

that Jaitley may revise up the
federal fiscal deficit of 4.1% of gross
domestic product originally targeted
in his predecessors interim budget in
February.
Jaitley did not name any deficit
numbers, but said he would target fiscal discipline in the near term so as to
maximise Indias growth potential over
the longer run.
We must commit ourselves to this
discipline, he wrote. Short term disciplining till we reverse the present
trend will give us long term benefits. l

Apple, Microsoft and Google vie for devotion of third-party developers whose
hip, fun or functional applications are
essential to the popularity of smartphones or tablet computers.
Software features that Apple might
crow about could include a mobile payments platform to challenge Google
Wallet on Android smartphones, according to analysts.
Apple might also expand Passbook
capabilities for storing and using digital airline tickets, movie passes and gift
cards to include health-related information in a move that could tie to an
iWatch.
While we might see some interesting extensions of iPhone, I am skeptical
we are going to see anything groundbreaking, Forrester analyst Frank Gillett said.
Think of this as their event for
evolving the existing things they have
- new software but no important new
hardware.
Apple could upgrade its line of Ma-

DILBERT

cintosh computers while it touts the

next generation operating system.
The company has consistently preferred to spotlight big new products
at stand-alone events surrounded by
ample buzz.

Dr Dre could cameo

The keynote speech, which will be

webcast, is likely to include cameo appearances by music industry legend
Jimmy Iovine and rapper Dr Dre, cofounders of Beats Music bought this
week by Apple in a deal valued at $3bn.
Apples biggest-ever acquisition includes the maker of high-end audio
equipment and a streaming music service, but more importantly, the talent
of Beats brains Dr Dre and Iovine.
The wild card in the deal could be

While we might see

some interesting
extensions of iPhone,
I am skeptical we are
going to see anything
groundbreaking
Iovine, 61, a Brooklyn native and son
of a longshoreman who started in the
business by cleaning studios and later
was a recording engineer for John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen, before becoming a producer.
Iovine, a producer for U2, Dire
Straits, Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Lady
Gaga and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, is seen by some as a visionary for recognizing the trend of online
streaming and subscriptions - and
away from Apples model of purchasing individual songs online.
Iovine was key in helping persuade
late Apple chief Steve Jobs in 2002 to
launch the iTunes store, according to
several accounts of Apples history.
Yet for some, Apples tie-up with a
company best known for its high-end
headphones is a mismatch.
Other analysts see more harmony
in the deal for Apple, a pioneer in digital music that appears to have been
overtaken by the successful models
of streaming services like Pandora,
Spotify and others. Trip Chowdhry,
analyst with Global Equities Research,
said Beats can help Apple improve its
iTunes Radio, which he called a total
disaster while Beats offers one of the
best streaming music experiences. l

IDLC FINANCE

be able to handle the sophistication?

Yes, I completely agree that a lot to be

summoned but that cannot be a reason
to hold back its inclusion. Anything
may cause stability and also instability
but working towards making it should
be the goal. All the problems can be
fixed at a particular time. One needs
to understand the problems and solve
one by one. l

Time for ECB to put

money where its
mouth is
n Reuters, London
The European Central Bank will eclipse
all else in economic terms this week,
following heavy hints that monetary
policy will be loosened in a variety of
ways.
Financial markets have been buoyed
by the prospect of cheaper money in
the euro zone and would react sharply
if the central bank does not deliver on
Thursday. Its policymakers have done
nothing to disabuse investors of the
notion of imminent action.
A clutch of senior sources told Reuters earlier this month that the ECB
was preparing a package of policy options for its June 5 meeting, including
cuts in all its interest rates and targeted
measures aimed at boosting lending to
small- and mid-sized firms (SMEs).
Action being readied includes taking
the ECBs deposit rate negative for the
first time - effectively charging banks to
park money at the central bank in the
hope they will lend it out instead.
The ECB insists it sees no threat
of deflation but euro zone figures for
May, due before it meets, are forecast
to show inflation at just 0.7%. That
is within what ECB President Mario
Draghi has termed the danger zone
below 1% for the eighth successive
month.
We are aware of the risks of a too
prolonged low inflation period, Draghi
told an ECB conference outside Lisbon
last week, adding that he and his colleagues had to be particularly watchful for any negative price spiral.
At the last policy meeting in May,
Draghi said the ECB was comfortable
with acting in June if updated staff
forecasts merited - as close as a central
banker gets to a nod and a wink.
Draghis May press conference
raised market expectations of action,
and the ECB will want to appear bold,
said Nikolaus Keis, economist at Unicredit. The risk is that monetary conditions may quickly start tightening
anew if the ECBs moves are perceived
as too timid. What is not yet on the
cards is the ECB following the Federal
Reserve and Bank of England down the
road of printing money.
The British central bank delivers its
latest policy decision on the same day
as the ECB. While it is too early for an
interest rate rise, a now strong economic recovery and a housing market running hot are dismantling the consensus
that no tightening is in prospect until
next year. l