Joishthya 21, 1421

Shaaban 5, 1435
Regd. No. DA 6238
Vol 2, No 65

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

Treehouse | ALL ABOUT CHICKENS & EGGS

8 | END OF MONARCHY?

20 pages plus 8-page Treehouse childrens supplement | Price: Tk12

12 | BIG SCREEN IS THE PLACE TO BE

14 | SCOLARI TELLS BRAZIL TO SHARPEN UP

Huge stash of arms found in Habiganj

A separatist group from Tripura may have hidden the ammo in the forest, sources say
n Ashif Islam Shaon with
Habiganj correspondent
A huge cache of arms and ammunitions
has been recovered from the bordering
Satchhari forest of Chunarughat upazila in Habiganj yesterday.
The cash included 184 pieces of
40m rocket shells, 153 rocket launcher
charges and other warheads.
RAB recovered the anti-tank ammunitions and charges from a bunker inside the remote forest in a daylong raid.
The elite crime busters have also
identified six more similar bunkers in
the area, said RAB media wing Director
Habibur Rahman.
The bunkers are located 10-15 feet
under the Satchhari forest ground. We
will continue the drive for a few more
days to recover more arms and ammunitions from the forest and the adjoining areas, the RAB official said.
A dog squad and a bomb disposal
team of RAB jointly conducted the operation. The stash was left unattended
inside the bunker.
The RAB official said another drive
was also being conducted in different
parts of the area to nab those who kept
the firearms. However, they are yet to
officially disclose who had left those
there.
Requesting anonymity, a RAB official from the forces headquarters told
the Dhaka Tribune last night that a big
part of the Satchhari forest stretched
across the Bangladesh-India border
PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

BGBs rejoinder
and our reply
n Tribune Report
On Monday June 2, the Dhaka Tribune published a photograph resourced
from Banglar Chokh on the front page.
The photo was captioned: Members
of the Border Guard Bangladesh along
with locals dig out mines planted by
Myanmars Border Guard Police inside
Bangladesh Territory in Nikhangchhari
PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Members of the RAB display a massive cache of arms and ammunition recovered from the forest of Satchhari National Park in Habiganj yesterday

Shamim Osmans family was a victim

of propaganda, said Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina in parliament yesterday,
recalling the Osman familys contribution to the Awami League and the
country.
While taking part in the condolence
reference for Nasim Osman, the late
member of parliament of Jatiya Party
from Narayangaj 5 constituency and
elder brother of Shamim, the premier
said all the governments during the Pakistan era and after the 1975 coup carried out attacks on the family.
The Awami League president said
she would stand by the Osman family,
if necessary.
The prime minister made the comment before the scheduled Narayanganj
5 by-poll on June 26, in which Selim Osman, brother of Nasim and Shamim, is
taking part amid the anti-Osman-family
mood, as suggested by media reports.
This family has faced repeated attacks since the Liberation War. Every
government that came to power after
Bangabandhus assassination spearheaded torture and attack on this family, Hasina told the House before adjourning in honour of Nasim Osman,
who died in India on April 30.
The prime minister said the Awami
League was born in the house of Osman family, adding that Shamim Osmans father Shamsuzzoha led a life
with principle.
DHAKA TRIBUNE

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Buet experts differ with

RMG compliance groups

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

The government now stands at crossroads regarding whom to award the

production sharing contract of the Sunetra gas structure.
On one hand, international oil company (IOC) Chevron Bangladesh, who
operates the adjacent Bibiyana Gas
Field, has been showing a lot of interest
about getting the Sunetra exploration
and production contract, considering it
a potential structure.
On the other hand, is state-owned
Bapex, which, if awarded the contract,
is likely to finish the exploration at
one-third the cost that Chevron is presumed to quote.
Unlike the power sector, there is no
policy that might allow local private
companies to invest in the energy sector.
As a result, local company Summit
Group, who has been waiting in the
wings to play in Bangladeshs hydrocarbon surface and pushing the govern-

As all set, the next

fiscal years budget
announcement
scheduled for
tomorrow is expected
to include a number of
incentive packages to
stimulate investments.

3 | News

World Trade Organisation Director General

Roberto Azevedo has urged the government to
engage with all stakeholders to get duty-free
and quota-free market access in the developed
and developing world.

5 | News

The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation

(BRTC) authorities suspended its special school
bus service on the citys Mirpur-Azimpur route
for summer vacation in the city schools.

6 | Nation

Reza Chowdhury
n KamranHossain Shaikh and
Emran

Gas exploration: The choice is

between cost and efficiency
GAS RESERVE FACTS
PRESENT SCENERIO

Demand
Supply
Deficit

Thirteen years have

passed since the
Baniarchar Catholic
Church bomb attack
claimed the lives of 10
people and injured 20 others, but the Criminal
Investigation Department has yet to file a
charge sheet in the case.

7 | Long Form

Three years ago Shilpi was living in Dhakas

Mirpur Mazar. At 14, she had just given birth to
a child when her husband left her. Apparently,
he also stole from local thugs in the area,
and they exacted their revenge on Shilpi by
beating, torturing, and raping her.

9 | World

Thailands junta said

yesterday that it was
scrapping a curfew
in three major beach
resorts to woo back
tourists in the wake of last months coup.

11 | Op-Ed

Situations that can be

seen from all quarters
suggest that we have
lost our guts and
morale in standing
against the ills of the world. With time, we
have come down to our knees. Our vitality and
strength was drained by imperceptible forces.

13 | Sport

(PER DAY)

3,000mmcf
2,350mmcf
750mmcf

Till 2025
Current reserve
Projected demand
Projected deficit

ment for a favourable policy for many

years, has not been able to contribute
healthy competition in the sector.
In the middle of last year, Bapex
was unsuccessful in finding any gas in
an exploratory well that it had dug at a
cost of Tk80 crore. It then said the well
was dug in the wrong location. The
money was spent from the government
exchequer.
Insiders said if an IOC was given
the same contract, they would have
charged the government at least Tk200
crore; but at the same time, chances would have been higher that they
would dig the hole in the right location.
However, in case the IOC also failed

INSIDE
B1 | Business

Sheikh Hasina
backs up
the Osmans

FIFA oversaw the final World Cup test event at

the Corinthians arena on Sunday and officials
said there was a week and a half of hard work
ahead to get the stadium ready for the opening
match of the tournament on June 12.

16.07tcf
22.76tcf
6.69tcf

COUNTRYWIDE
GAS BLOCKS
22
Total
Unexplored 16
SOURCE: PETROBANGLA

to find gas, the government would not

have needed to pay a single penny to
the company.
Currently, US-based Chevron is extracting around 800 million cubic feet
of gas per day (mmcfd) from Bibiyana.
It is said that the reserve in the field
will run out in eight to 10 years. That is
why Chevron has been trying to get the
Sunetra contract in order to continue
their business in Bangladesh for some
more years.
Chevron held some primary discussions with the Awami League government during the end of its previous
tenure.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Experts of Bangladesh University of

Engineering and Technology and compliance oversight groups, Alliance and
Accord, have differed over the standards of load of the buildings housing
the readymade garment factories.
A team of civil engineers from Buet
inspected 200 buildings accommodating 252 factories between October 2013
and January 2014 and suggested no
abandonment of the buildings while
the oversight groups detected many
buildings for poor safety standards.
Up to June 3, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment
closed down 15 factories housed in five
buildings, its inspector general told
Syed Ahmed the Dhaka Tribune.
According to the standards set by
Accord, an alliance of European buyers,
and Alliance, the group of North American importers, the maximum load for
brick-made buildings in Bangladesh is

1,800 PSI (per square inch) and 2,100

PSI for stone stuffed buildings.
But Buet team set 2,100 PSI and
2,400 PSI for brick-made buildings and
stone stuffed buildings respectively.
If the Accord-Alliance standards are
implemented, the experts fear at least
30% factories of the US $30 billion industry would be shut.
Today, the Buet team members will
meet the Accord-Alliance technicians
to set the standards according to which
they would suggest building conditions
to ensure safety standards for the garment industry.
The Buet team has huge expertise
on the building patterns in Bangladesh.
They have set the standards of 2,100
PSI and 2,400 PSI for brick and stone
stuffed factory buildings. Buet has not
suggested any closure, recommending
minor structural changes and overhaul
of electrical wiring, Syed Ahmed told
the Dhaka Tribune.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Testimony against Jamaat

leader Azhar ends

Three-member ICT fixed June 15 to hear the investigation officers testimony

After his deposition, defence would not be able to establish suprem- his brother. The witness also stated
n Udisa Islam
that when his brother Jhoru Kha recounsel Abdus Sobhan Tarafder acy by this misdeed.
The prosecution yesterday ended the
charge framing hearing against Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam on charges of
crimes against humaniy during the
1971 Liberation War.
The three-member ICT team led by
ATM Fazle Kabir also fixed June 15 to
hear the investigation officers testimony as the prosecution requested for
some preparation time.
As the 18th prosecution witness
Azab Uddin Mia testified before the
court in the case filed against Azhar.
SM Idris Ali, investigation officer of
the case, seized the 1971 news reports
published in the Daily Sangram and the
Azad from the Bangla Academy library
in the presence of Azab.

questioned Azab.
Meanwhile, the tribunal accepted
the prosecutions plea as the additional
document.
On September 13, 1971, the Daily Sangram published a report titled
Mejbahuddin killed by miscreants in
Rangpur, which was based on statements of the then president of Islami
Chhatra Shanghas Rangpur district
unit, and Azhar Islam, president of the
partys Rangpur city unit.
The report stated that they were
shocked at the death of Mejbahuddin
and warned saying that the miscreants would not be able to eliminate the
progress of Islami movement through
killing one or two Mujaheed like Mejbahuddin. The miscreants from India

The report also stated that Mejbahuddin was primary member of Islami
Chhatra Sangha who was killed by the
miscreants from India.
Meanwhile, Mizanul Islam, defence
counsel of Moulana Abdus Subhan,
another Jamaat leader accused of war
crimes, ended grilling the ninth prosecution witness and the tribunal set
Thursday for further testimony.
During cross examination, the defence denied almost every claim of the
witness. At one stage, he termed the
witness an opportunist, who strongly
denied the claim.
Riaz Uddin Mandal, 72, an Ansar
member from Arunkhola in Ishwardi,
Pabna, claimed that Subhan was the
criminal who abducted and tortured

turned from the torture camp, he said

he was brutally tortured by Subhan,
Khoda Box and other razakars. Sometimes, they also charged bayonet on
confined people that made them disabled for the rest of their lives.
During cross examination, when Mizanul Islam asked Riaz whether he had
the freedom fighter certificate, he said
he did.
Later, the defence raised a question on Riazs part in the Liberation
War, which was dismissed by the witness as well.
On December 31 last year, the ICT
1 indicted Subhan with nine charges
of crimes against humanity, but on
March 27 this year the case was transferred to ICT 2. l

Remand granted against

SQ Chowdhurys manager
n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
A Dhaka court yesterday granted five
days remand against Mahabubul Ahsan, manager of convicted BNP leader
Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, in a
case filed over leakage a draft verdict of
war crimes trial of the leader.
Metropolitan Magistrate Rezaul Karim passed the order after DB Inspector
Shahjahan produced him before the
court, seeking 10-day remand for interrogation.
Earlier on Monday, DB police
arrested Ahsan acting on information
from an arrested ICT tribunal staff
who mentioned his name during
confessional statements on October 4
last year.
In this connection on October 4, DB
police arrested ICT employees Nayan
Ali, Faruk Hossain and SQ Chowdhurys counsel Barrister Fakhrul Islam
for their alleged involvement in the
leakage.
Later, Nayan Ali confessed that 7-8
people were involved in the leakage,

Unique way of extortion

n

Kailash Sarkar

The crime busting force Rapid Action

Battalion members yesterday arrested
two criminals of a gang in the capital,
who extort money from people in a
unique style.
The detainees allegedly used to extort money from businessmen and rich
people by threatening that they [gangsters] would damage their properties
or set their business establishments on
fire. Nothing can resist us, even if you
seek help from the law enforcers.
The gangsters identified themselves
as members of Ex-Service Scott Command Force. They used to send letters
to their target people, asking them to
pay huge amount of money.
Surprisingly, they tell their target
people that they will run business
and when time comes they will return
the money.
The RAB 2 personnel in the early hours of Monday arrested two
members of the gang after they had
sent a letter to the owner of Jounpur
Furniture located in the capitals Taltola under Kafrul police station, asking

He said the Alliance-Accord standards

were not acceptable, referring that
their standards, if applied, would spell
disaster for the countrys readymade
garment industry.

Concerns over factory buildings

constructed

The Alliance-Accord Group is obstinate

on changing its stance on standards of
buildings constructed before 2005, a
Buet professor told the Dhaka Tribune,
referring that they would accept the
Buet standards for factories built after
2005.
About 90% of the buildings housing garment factories were built before 2005; so applying their standards
would spell disaster for the industry,
he said.
Syed Ahmed said: There is a little
change in the construction pattern of
buildings in Bangladesh. So, the debate
over standards associating the build-

ings constructed before and after 2005

is illogical.

Buet report highlights

Out of the total 252 factories inspected,

the Buet experts detected some minor
structural problems in 25 factories that
can be renovated within at best six
weeks. The team identified some minor difficulties such as damping walls,
leaking of water, constructing storehouses in 30 factories worthy of being
repaired with renovation.
But almost all of the factories beset
with fire and electrical safety deficits
such as narrow fire door and approach
road for the fire fighters, electrical load
management problems, haphazard
electrical wiring and flaws in the wiring
joints and others, which can result in
short circuit.
According to the figures of fire service and civil defence wing of the Home
Ministry, over 80% of the fire incidents
are caused by electrical short circuits. l

Huge ammo stash recovered

PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

area. Indian state Tripura is situated on

the other side.
We suspect that the arms belong to
one of the separatist groups from Tripura. They crossed the border and used
the reserved forest to hide the huge
ammo, he said.
However, RAB did not inform the
local police about the drive and the recovery, Amullo Kumar Chowdhury, OC
of the Chunarughat police station, confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune.
Col Ziaul Ahsan, additional director
general of RAB, and Habibur Rahman,
director of the media wing, joined the
first days drive yesterday.
We think more arms and ammunitions are hidden under the bankers.
We will dig them out... We believe half
of them are still to be recovered, Col
Ziaul Ahsan said.
Habibur said the hills under which
the bunkers were located, were dwelled
by several families. However, after going there, the RAB members found only
the female members and the children.
According to our Habiganj correspondent, once upon a time the Satch-

PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

Identifying themselves
as members of 'ExService Scott Command
Force,' they say nothing
can resist them, even
if help is sought from
the law enforcement
agencies

Buet experts differ with RMG

compliance groups
PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

BGBs rejoinder

Tk27 lakh.
In the letter, they threatened
that they would set his business
organisation to fire, if their demand
was not met.
The detainees were identified as
Mashiur Rahman of Muladi upazila

in Barisal and Md Sumon of Bakerganj

in Barishal.
Additional Superintendent of Police
Raihan Uddin Khan, also the operation
officer of RAB 2, said those people also
introduced themselves as the major of
the army.l

hari forest was known as a den of the

All Tripura Tiger Forces (ATTF). However, the rebel group does not have
much activity in the area at present.
On June 27, 2003, law enforcers
recovered a stash of bullets from a truck
in the northern district of Bogra which
was believed to be trafficked by Asish
Burma, nephew of Jogesh Burman, an
ex-headman of the Satchhari Tripura
Palli. Asish has been absconding since
then.
At that time, several Indian newspapers reported that the ATTF den was
also being used by the United Liberation Front of Asam (Ulfa) for storing
trafficked arms.
ATTF chief Ranjit Debbarma, who
had close ties with Ulfa chief Paresh
Barua, is now in Tripura jail.
Paresh was given death sentence
in the Chittagong 10-trucks arms haul
case and is believed to have taken refuge in China now.
Detectives
believe
that
Ulfa
and ATTF used to bring arms and
ammo
through
Chittagong
and
Coxs Bazar and hide those in their
Satchhari den. l

including Fakhrul, his assistant advocate Mehedi Hasan, Faruk and SQ

Chowdhurys manager.
DB police arrested SQ Chowdhurys
counsel Fakhrul Islam on November 20
last year.
On October 2, ICT 1 awarded the BNP
leader death sentence for committing
crimes against humanity and genocide
in Chittagong during the 1971 Liberation War.
Immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict, his family members and defence lawyers told the media that the verdict had been available
in a few websites before the tribunal
delivered it.
They also alleged that the draft verdict had been retrieved from a computer of the Law Ministry and that it was
written by the ministry itself.
Later, DB Inspector Fazlur Rahman
filed a case against Nayan, Faruk, Mehedi and some unknown people with
Shahbagh police station under the Information and Communication Technology Act.l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks on the condolence motion adopted on the death of Jatiya Party lawmaker Nasim Osman yesterday
in parliament
BSS

Hasina says she is with the Osmans

PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

I will take care of this family, if necessary,

Hasina said before wrapping up of the discussion on Nasim Osmans life, who fled
to India leaving his newly-wed wife after
the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975.
Hinting at the media for their reports on the family, the Awami League
chief said: Propagandas are spread
targeting some people. In some cases,
a trifle matter is blown up (in media).
However, in many other cases, not a
single word is written on other people
committing serious offences.
She said the members of Osman
family were the few Bangladeshis who
went to see Sheikh Hasina while she
was in political asylum in India.
Giving an indication on the ongoing country-wide debate over the abduction and killing of seven people in
Narayanganj, the premier said: Punishment must follow if anyone commits crime. The law will take its own
course, but the nation must remain

alert about the plots to destroy a family

through political conspiracy.
Claiming there were conspiracies
against her government, the prime
minister said the conspiracy that started at the time of Bangabandhus murder was still on.

Members of Osman
family were the few
Bangladeshis who
went to see Sheikh
Hasina while she was in
political asylum in India
Shamim Osman gave a long speech on
his brother, his familys contribution
to the Awami League and the country,
and the tortures on them during different regimes since 1975.
My brother was a very pious man;
he never missed a single prayer in a
day. He prayed the entire night. Everybody hires hujurs (religious leaders) to

offer Dua Yunus, but he himself recited

it, he said, choking with emotion.
Shamim said he had often raised
concerns about Sheikh Hasina ahead
of the January 5 polls to Nasim Osman, who said: Do not worry, nothing
will happen to Sheikh Hasina. She has
reached the level of Aulia (saint).
He also said his family was a victim
of a group with the help of a section of
Awami League and said: During the
past one and a half years, we have been
subjected to mental torture.
He pointed finger at a Bangla newspaper for slandering his family and said
he had no knowledge about any political
development between April 29 and May
6 due to his brothers death on April 30.
But some people implicated him
and his dead brother in negative publicity. The family members cannot tolerate this mental torture, he said.
I may be killed tomorrow, Shamim
said. I have survived the bomb attack.
I do not know whether I will have a
natural or unnatural death. Bullets are

upazilas inaccessible hilly parts in

Bandarban yesterday.
The Border Guard Bangladesh headquarters sent a rejoinder yesterday that
reads: Information of the captioned
picture is not true. No such operation
was conducted by BGB on that day.
HQ BGB feels that publication of such
news is done intentionally with a view
to hamper our ongoing joint efforts of
rebuilding mutual trust and understanding between two neighbouring
countries. As such, Headquarters BGB
strongly protests the published news.
The Dhaka Tribune would like to assert
that it practises the highest level of professionalism and sincerity in its journalistic
endeavours, which in no way are meant to
hurt the efforts to rebuilding mutual trust
with the neighbouring countries.
The photograph was resourced from
the Banglar Chokh. The agency made
that photograph available on June 2,
but did not mention that it was a file
photo taken in the past.
However, the Banglar Chokh yesterday
in a letter to the Dhaka Tribune acknowledged its mistake of not mentioning that
it was a file photo and was taken a year
back. The Dhaka Tribune sincerely apologises for its unintentional mistake.l

flying around, I do not know whose

bullets will kill me. If I am killed, I beg
pardon in advance; please forgive me.
Deputy Leader of the House Syeda
Sajeda Chowdhury, Telecom Minister
Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Health Minister
Mohammad Nasim, State Minister for
Local Government Moshiur Rahman
Ranga, Jatiya Partys ABM Ruhul Amin
Howlader and Kazi Feroz Rashid also
spoke about Nasim Osmans life.
Following the parliamentary convention, the House was adjourned after
the adoption of the condolence motion
on Nasim Osman and other renowned
citizens of the country.
Earlier, the House started its inaugural sitting with Speaker Shirin Sharmin
Chaudhury in the chair around 5:05pm.
At 4pm, the Business Advisory Committee had its meeting and decided to
run the session until July 3.
According to the meeting, the proposed budget for the 2014-15 fiscal will
be passed on July 29. The House will
resume at 5pm today. l

Gas exploration: The choice is between cost and efficiency

PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

However, since the beginning of this

tenure, the company has been doing
strong lobbying and holding regular
discussions with the government, expressing its interest in getting the contract to explore onshore blocks 11 and
12 at Sunetra, sources said.
On June 4, the company is scheduled to sit in a meeting with State Minister for Energy Nasrul Hamid to discuss the same issue.
The country will need 22.76 trillion
cubic feet (tcf) until 2025 while the
proven and probable reserve of gas is
now a little over 16tcf. That means, the
deficit of gas would be 6.69tcf, given
the current production, says national
oil company Petrobangla.
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration
and Production Company Limited
(Bapex) is a concern of Petrobangla.
Professionals say the gas crisis will
go through the roof if no new gas field
is discovered, 10 years from now.
The country is now facing a shortage of 750mmcf per day, as it supplies
about 2,350mmcf against an estimated
demand for 3,000mmcf per day.
Buet Prof Ijaz Hossain told the Dha-

ka Tribune that the entirety of the

proven and probable amount of gas
might not be recovered for use.
According to Petrobangla, in the last
10 years, gas fields have been discovered in Bagrura, Sundulpur and Srikail
which have a total reserve of about 600
billion cubic feet gas.
Considering the yearly consumption of about 800bcf, the country
needs 10tcf gas for the next 12 years,
Ijaj said, adding that if no new gas field
is discovered during this period, a severe problem will arise.
We think the government should
harness private investment to find
more gas, bring in technical expertise
and bear some of the significant costs
and risks of gas exploration, Naser
Ahmed, a director of Chevron, told the
Dhaka tribune.
Chevron would support a decision
to release exploration rights to the IOCs
to unlicensed acreage in additional
onshore blocks, which would bring in
much needed foreign investment into
Bangladesh, he said.
Chevron does not comment on new
business opportunities, as a matter of
long-standing policy, he continued.

It will be wrong to sign onshore

production sharing contracts with the
international oil companies [IOCs].
We will only hire them on contractual
basis. As Bapex is capable of extracting gas onshore, the IOCs should not
be allowed to get PSC from there,
Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Monsur
told the Dhaka Tribune.
However, former Petrobangla chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain said: The
gas we have been extracting is not
enough. The present situation of the
gas sector is frustrating. We need to explore gas at onshore blocks with international oil companies besides Bapex
to overcome the crisis.
He also said the country needed 1020 new gas wells explored every year.
Bapex has been exploring only twothree on an average. If this continues
we will not be able to tackle the gas crisis, he warned.
For exploring onshore blocks, locals firms should be encouraged to invest. Just like the power sector, strong
local companies must enter the energy
sector as well, he suggested.
At present, there are 22 onshore gas
blocks in the country. Out of these, 16

blocks have not yet been explored and

some of these are located in the Chittagong hill tracts.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune,
Summit Group Chairman Muhammed
Aziz Khan regretted the fact that the
absence of policy has not been allowing local companies to enter the sector.
We have urged the government to
enact a policy for the private sector. We
have the ability to serve the country by
exploring gas. We have showcased our
ability in the power sector over the past
18 years, he claimed.
State Minister for Energy Nasrul told
the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: We have
yet to take steps regarding the proposals sent by the IOC and the local firms.
The decisions are still in the primary
stage. We are thinking about that [making a policy].
IOC Chevron is a key player in Bangladeshs energy sector, accounting for
around 50% of Bangladeshs national
gas supply.
Summit Group of Companies is one
of the leading private sector conglomerates of Bangladesh. Its business ranges from power to shipping to communications. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

WTO DG: Try best

for duty-free
market access
n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
World Trade Organisation Director
General Roberto Azevedo has urged
the government to engage with all
stakeholders to get duty-free and quota-free market access in the developed
and developing world.
I would thus encourage you to
reach out to all the stakeholders involved, particularly other LDCs, and
continue to engage them in a pragmatic manner [to get duty-free and quota-free market access], Azevedo said
at a programme at a city hotel yesterday.
In the WTO Bali Ministerial last year,
it was agreed by everybody that developed and developing world would
open up their market for LDCs without
any duty before the next ministerial.
Azevedo said his experience in the
negotiations on this issue had shown
that the implementation of duty-free
access is not straightforward.
Progress is possible, but will very
much depend on the level of ambition
and the balance that can be struck taking into account the sensitivities surrounding the issue, he said.
Many developed countries including members of European Union, Australia and Canada offered duty-free
market access for Bangladesh but the
biggest economy and the single biggest export destination of Bangladeshi
products, the USA, is yet to provide duty-free access.
About preferential rules of origin,
he said the Bali decision responded to
the long-standing demand from the
LDCs to make the rules of origin simple

and flexible.
The Bali decision therefore will
further help members reform their individual rules of origin for LDCs, he
added.
Azevedo said another important decision taken at Bali concerns the LDC
services waiver through which preferential market access is granted to LDC
services and service suppliers.
I understand that LDCs are working together to table a collective request in this regard. In my view, your
aim should be high, but grounded in
the fact that we are indeed dealing
with new territory, he said.
In Bali, ministers from all member
countries instructed the officials of the
WTO to prepare, by December, a clearly defined work programme to conclude the Doha Development Agenda.
Negotiations on the Doha agenda
have been running since 2001 thats
far too long, he said adding, Now we
have to go further.
He said Bangladesh support is needed to take the position that is required
to finalise Doha agenda.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed
said the main demand of Bangladesh
is to get duty-free market access and
some countries have already given the
facility to it.
The minister said he would visit
Washington from June 10 and meet
US Trade Representative, some senators and Congressmen to negotiate the
market access issue.
Bangladesh would negotiate with
certain countries to have free trade
agreement like Malaysia, Brazil and
Chile. l

World Trade Organisation Director General Roberto Azevedo addresses a programme at the capitals Sonargaon Hotel yesterday

Study: Better midwifery service could save millions

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Addressing the vast shortage of midwives and midwifery services across

low-and-middle-income
countries
could save the lives of millions of women and newborns each year, a global
study has found.
The second Global Report on Midwifery was published in Czech capital
Prague yesterday at the 30th Triennial
Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives.
The report called for urgent invest-

ment in high-quality midwifery care to

prevent about two-thirds of all maternal and newborn deaths.
The 73 countries profiled in the report, including Bangladesh, together
account for 96% of all maternal deaths,
91% of all stillbirths, and 93% of all newborn deaths; but have only 42% of the
worlds midwives, nurses, and doctors.
Asma Akhter, national programme
officer-communication (social and media) of the UNFPA Bangladesh office,
has issued a press release in this regard.
Most countries in the report have

inadequate numbers of midwives, and

more than three-quarters face serious
shortages that will result in unnecessary deaths of women and babies.
The report also highlighted four key
factors the availability, accessibility,
acceptability, and quality of the midwifery workforce that countries and
health systems need to address in order
to provide women and newborns with
the lifesaving care they need.
In 2010, in response to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons Every
Woman Every Child initiative, Prime

n Our Correspondent, Comilla

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The bodies of three workers who had

died in a fire in Saudi Arabia arrived at
the Shah Jalal Internatinal Airport yesterday.
The deceased, Nazir Hossain, 32, the
son of Jamsher Ali of South Narandia
village under Titas upazila in Comilla,
Bahauddin, 27, the son of Hazi Md Ismail Hossain of Chander Char village
under Homna upazila in Comilla, and
Md Abdul Gaffar, the son of Nurul Islam, of Shib Nagar village under Meghna upazila in Comilla.
Assistant Director Mizanur Rahman
of Comilla Employment and Manpower
district office told the Dhaka Tribune
that the bodies arrived at the Dhaka
airport on a Biman Bangladesh flight
around 3pm yesterday afternoon.
Sources said a total of 11 foreign
workers including nine Bangladeshis
were killed in a fire at the Titas Furniture in Riyadh on the night of May 12.
The bodies of six workers arrived at the
capital on Friday. l

The BNP yesterday asked whether

there was any link between Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasinas homecoming
on May 17, 1981 and Ziaur Rahmans
murder 13 days later a day after
Hasina said Zia would have been tried
for Bangabandhus murder if he was
alive.
In reply to a query from a journalist,
BNP acting secretary general Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: People
have questions in their minds as to
whether there is any connection
[between the homecoming and the
murder].
When Fakhrul said they would
probe into the matter if they come to
power again, journalists asked why
they had not done so during their
previous two tenures.
In reply Fakhrul claimed that there
were some investigations but this time,
that is if they come to power again,
there would be a detailed probe.
Zias widow and BNP Chairperson
Khaleda Zia has accused former
military ruler and Jatiya Party chief
HM Ershad for her husbands murder
in the past. Ershad came to power
through a military coup after Zia was
killed.
In 1975, Zia took over state power
through a similar military coup
after the murder of the then prime
minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, to become the first military
autocrat of the country. A few years
later, Zia formed the BNP and became
the president of the country.
The Bangabandhu murder case was
settled in 2009 after Awami League
came to power. Five of the accused
were executed. Zias name did not
feature in the list of the accused.
Mirza Fakhrul said he was not
surprised that the prime minister
tried to implicate Ziaur Rahman with
Bangabandhus murder. We were
not surprised at such an irresponsible
comment from the Awami League

Family members of an expatriate who died in a fire in Saudi Arabia break into tears in front of the coffin carrying their loved one. The
bodies of three victims out of nine arrived at Dhaka airport yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE

CONTEMPT OF COURT ALLEGATION

Ex-CEC cleared, Daily Star seeks

unconditional apology
The High Court cleared ATM Shamsul
Huda of contempt of court for allegedly criticising the judiciary yesterday as
The Daily Star sought the unconditional apology of the court for misquoting
the former chief election commissioner
in a news report last month.
In an affidavit submitted to the
bench yesterday, the newspaper said:
Due to an error and inadvertent mistake in reproducing the statements
of ATM Shamsul Huda, The Daily Star
prays for an unconditional apology before the High Court.
However, the papers lawyer, Tanjib-ul Alam, claimed that the Star did
not apologise, but informed the court
that the paper had already apologised
publicly for the error on May 29.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Tanjib said: The bench of Justice Quazi
Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf
Hossain ordered the paper to authenticate the news published on May 18.
After examining the item, the paper
found that it had committed an error,
and for that, it apologised publicly, in
writing, in the paper. I informed the
court about it. As the court did not issue a contempt rule against the paper,

Minister Sheikh Hasina committed to

train 3,000 midwives. So far, over 1,100
nurse-midwives have been trained to
become certified midwives and currently there are more than 1,200 students enrolled in a newly developed
Diploma in Midwifery programme.
The UNFPA and WHO jointly supported the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare to collect the data from
Bangladesh for the global report. The
midwifery report, focusing on the findings from Bangladesh, will be published
in August. l

Now BNP asks if Hasina was

involved with Zias murder

Workers bodies
arrived from
Saudi Arabia

n Nazmus Sakib

NASHIRUL ISLAM

it did not apologise.

In response to the Stars affidavit,
Justice Altaf Hossain said the report
had created a bad impression about the
former CEC and his image had suffered
because of it.

The bench of Justice

Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque
and Justice ABM Altaf
Hossain ordered the
daily to authenticate
the news
In the report published on May 18,
the paper quoted Huda as saying, All
constitutional bodies, including the
Election Commission and the Public
Service Commission, as well as the
judiciary have been politicised, and
incompetent people are getting important posts there...the constitutional
bodies have to be freed from politicisation. Otherwise, the country will go
backwards.
The High Court on May 19 issued a
rule seeking an explanation from Huda
as to why he should not be charged
with contempt of court for maligning
the dignity of the judiciary. It gave

Huda two weeks to reply.

In an item published last Thursday
under the heading, We apologise,
the Star said: We sincerely regret this
error and apologise for any damage
caused to the image of the judiciary.
The paper said due to an error in reporting Hudas statement, which was
made in Bangla, the impression was
conveyed that incompetent people
were being appointed to the judiciary, which is not what the ex-CEC had
meant to say.
When the former CEC appeared in
court yesterday, Justice Reza asked the
lawyers to make room for him to sit.
Dr Kamal Hossain, Hudas lawyer,
told the Dhaka Tribune that the ex-CEC
did not seek an apology, but the Star
apologised as it had committed an error.
I submitted an affidavit, a (audio)
recording and transcription of the
statement made by Huda, Dr Kamal
said.
The affidavit submitted on Hudas
behalf said: He never remotely had
the intention to derogate the respect
and confidence that is accorded to the
higher judiciary. We can express sincere sorrow that an expression may
have been conveyed from his alleged
reported statement. l

GOLD CRESTS SCAM

Chairman: ACC will

try to find if ex-state
minister involved
n Tribune Report
The Anti-Corruption Commission will
try to find out if former State Minister
for Liberation War Affairs AB Tajul Islam along with other accused was involved in the scandal over gold crests
presented to foreign friends for their
contributions to the 1971 liberation war.
We will try to find out whether the
former state minister was involved in
financial irregularities, ACC Chairman
M Bodiuzzaman told reporters at its Segunbagicha headquarters.
We are waiting for the probe report on gold crest scam prepared by
the inquiry committee formed by the
ministry concerned. As the committee
has already found links of some people
with the scam, we have decided to investigate financial irregularities.
He said a two-member committee was
formed to investigate the matter. The
ACC on Monday decided to investigate
the scam involving civil servants and
public representatives who had allegedly
misappropriated government funds by
making the crests with less gold. A probe
report found that 13 senior bureaucrats,
including AB Tajul Islam, had links with
irregularities in providing less gold and
silver with the crests, causing the government a Tk7.04 crore loss. l

president. She always talks like this.

The nation is familiar with her false
comments, he said.
Fakhrul quoted the PM as saying
that Khandker Mustaque Ahmad the
interim president who filled in for
Bangabandhu made Zia the chief of
army stuff after the murder.
It is historically true that Awami
League men were involved with the
killing of Mujib. Mustaque was his
[Bangabandhus] favourite person...
The members of Mujibs cabinet
joined Mostaks. The then army chief
KM Shafiullah and air force chief AK
Khandakar showed loyalty to the new
government, Fakhrul said.
AK Khandakar was the chief of the
air force when Sheikh Mujib was killed.
Sheikh Hasina made him minister.
Then should we say that Sheikh Hasina
too was involved with the killing of
Mujib? That would not be logical,
Fakhrul answered.
Regarding Ershad, Fakhrul said:
The man, who benefitted the most
from Zias murder, is now a special
envoy to the prime minister.
When asked what the partys
thoughts were on the budget, he said:
This government does not have any
right to place a budget in parliament.
That is why we have been consciously
avoiding saying anything about the
budget.
Fakhrul alleged that everything was
part of a propaganda that was being
conceived in a planned way to destroy
the Zia family and the BNP.
He said the prime minister tried to
give rise to a new debate by bringing up
Zias name with Bangabandhus murder
only to divert peoples attention from
the rampant killings, abductions and
forced disappearances.
Urging the prime minister to take
back her comment, Fakhrul said: We
do not believe in political vengeance.
We believe that our main target is to
take the country forward. So for this,
issues should be resolved through
talks. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Advertisement

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Students suffer as
BRTC bus service
suspended
n Abu Hayat Mahmud
The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) authorities suspended its
special school bus service on the citys
Mirpur-Azimpur route for summer vacation in the city schools.
The state-run agency suspended the
service last month when the vacation
started in the public schools in the capital on May 13.
However, the English medium
schools, mostly in the Dhanmondi area,
will be open at the time, but the BRTC
still discontinued the bus service.
Many of the schools on vacation
have resumed classes this week, but
the BRTC has not resumed the bus
service yet, forcing the school-goers
and their guardians to travel on other
modes of transport.
Although BRTC introduced the special school bus service in January 2011
with 14 buses, only four or five of those
buses remain in service.
Despite directives from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Communications Minister Obaidul Quader to increase the number of buses under the
service, the BRTC reduced the number
without any specific reasons.
Shamima Akter, guardian of a
student at the Azimpur branch of
Viquarunnisa Noon School and a
Mirpur resident, said: I waited for the
bus at Mirpur 12, but it did not come.
I do not see any of those buses on the
street either.
Earlier, we saw only a limited number of these buses on the streets since
the service started in 2011. We urged
the authorities concerned to increase
the number of school buses, but it is
now trying to stop the service altogeth-

er, she said.

Seeking anonymity, a BRTC official
said the number of buses in the special
school service were reduced because
the authorities tried to cover the shortage of staff buses for public service employees as well as its own.
Md Rafiqul Islam Talukder, general manager (operation) at the BRTC,
told the Dhaka Tribune: We have not
stopped the school bus service permanently. It is temporarily suspended due
to the ongoing summer vacation in the
schools.
We will resume the service when
the schools resume classes, he added.
Earlier, Nikhil Ranjan Roy, director
(admin and operation) at the BRTC,
said: The number of buses has
been reduced in the service because
of a lack of sufficient passengers
due to the traffic congestion on the
route. However, the service is still
available.
When the service was launched in
2011, the BRTC high officials said passenger sheds would be built with the
help of Dhaka City Corporation at 33
stoppages on the route, and female
guides would be trained to pick up and
drop off the students.
Traffic police were also ordered to
give priority to the buses to ensure that
the students would reach their destination in time, while GPS technology
was installed in each of the buses to
help the guardians track their charges
through text messages.
BRTC officials said the government
had initially planned to introduce more
BRTC school buses on other routes of
the city, after evaluating the success
of the service on the Mirpur-Azimpur
route. l

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Journalist Benzir
passes away
n UNB
Former editor of vernacular Daily Bhorer Kagoj and veteran journalist Benzir
Ahmed passed away at the age of 68
early yesterday while undergoing treatment at a city hospital.
A confirmed bachelor, Benzir had
been suffering from various diseases,
including heart ailment, said his brother-in-law Sayed Uddin Mahmud.
Benzirs body has been kept at Birdem Hospital Mortuary.
His first Namaz-e-Janaza will be held
on Bhorer Kagoj premises at 10am today.
His second janaza will be held at Jatiya
Press Club. Later, he will be buried at Banani graveyard after the Zohr prayer.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina expressed profound shock at
the death of Benzir Ahmed. l

Road crash kills 7

n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Members of Dhaka Metropolitan Police destroy a huge amount of litchis as the fruits were adulterated with formalin in a drive yesterday
at the Hatirpool bazar in the capital
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Seven passengers of a motorised

three-wheeler vehicle were killed and
two others wounded as truck carrying
goods ran over the vehicle at Abhaynagar upazila in Jessore, police said.
The tragic accident took place at
Nawapara Industrial Town on Jessore- Khulna Highway sometime between 7:30am and 7:45am, said Mollah
Khabir Ahmed, officer-in-charge (OC)
at Abhaynagar police station.
He said seven people died on the
spot while two others were injured.
Of the deceased, five were from
Khulnas Phultala upazila, two from
Jessores Abhaynagar.
The five from Khulna are Faruk Hossain, 40, Mantu Karmaker, 40, Gopal Bala,
60, Paritosh Kumar Saha, 55 and Sagir
Hossain, 30. The two from Jessore were
Tutul Mallik, 35, and Iqbal Mollah, 40.
Of the wounded, Forkan Ali, 35, is
from Phultala upazila and Monirul Islam,
40, from Abhaynagar upazila. They were
admitted to Abhaynagar Upazila Health
Complex. OC Khabir said they had handed over the bodies to their kin. l

Prosecution pleas for further

investigation

Mystery shrouds death of

schoolgirl in Chittagong

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

BAHADDARHAT FLYOVER COLLAPSE

The prosecution of Bahaddarhat flyover collapse case pleaded before a

Chittagong court for further investigation yesterday, expressing discontent
over the charge sheet.
Public Prosecutor Md Fakhruddin
Chowdhury submitted his discontent
plea before the court of Metropolitan
Session Judge, SM Mojibur Rahman,
claiming that an influential accused
had been dropped from the charge
sheet, said court sources.
The court set June 18 for the hearing
of the petition, said the prosecutor.
The collapse happened on the night
of November 24, 2012, killing 12 peo-

ple and injuring 13 others. Three girder

spans 12 and 13 of the under-construction flyover collapsed, due to substandard construction and lack of security
measures.
Sub-Inspector Abul Kalam Azad of
Chandgaon police station filed a case
on November 26 in this regard, against
three officials of Chittagong Development Authority, 10 officials of construction companies Mir Akhter and
Parisha Trade Systems, and 12 officials
of private consultants SRM Associates
and DPM Consultants Ltd.
Inspector Rezaul Karim of Chandgaon police station, the investigating officer of the case, submitted the charge
sheet on October 24, 2013 before the

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

THUNDERSHOWER
OR RAIN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:43PM
SUN RISES 5:11AM
FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka

36

29

Chittagong

32

27

Rajshahi

37

28

Rangpur

36

26

Khulna

36

26

Barisal

34

26

Sylhet

36

24

Coxs Bazar

32

27

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW

24.4C
Faridpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES
Fajar
Sunrise
Zohr
Asr
Magrib
Esha

Mystery shrouds the death of a minor

girl, who was found dead at her residence in a shanty of Jangle Salimpur
area under Sitakunda upazila in Chittagong yesterday afternoon.
But police could not determine how
she was shot or who had shot her.
Deceased Nahima was the daughter
of Ayub Ali, of Rosanggiri in Fatikchhari
upazila of Chittagong, and was a resident of Jangle Salimpur area, said police.
Iftekhar Hasan, officer-in-charge of
Sitakunda police station, said the residents of the shanty heard the sound
of firing in the victims residence at
12 noon and rushed to the house and

found the girl with a bullet injury on

her back.
Later, Nahima was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital
(CMCH) where the on-duty doctor pronounced her dead, said Iftekhar, adding that the body was sent to the CMCH
morgue for an autopsy.
Quoting locals, the OC said Nahimas
elder brother, Piyaru, was involved
with criminal activities and the ill-fated girl might have been shot while he
was handling his firearm.
Police, however, did not find any
firearm in the house but they found the
victims blood there, he said, adding
that, Piyaru and his mother have been
on the run since the incident.

Digital World kicks off today

WEATHER

36.7C
Rajshahi

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court,

implicating only eight people, including the seven accused in the First Information Report.
On March 9, 2014, the court sent the
case to the Metropolitan Session Judge
Court.
The prosecutor said 18 influential
names, including three CDA officials,
had been dropped from the charge
sheet as the investigation officer did
not find any evidence against them
during investigation.
It is to be noted that the Bangladesh
Army completed the construction work
of the flyover after the collapse and it
was opened for public on December 31
last year. l

3:44am
5:10am
11:57am
3:16pm
6:43pm
8:10pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org

Dr Fahima Aziz

Women Leadership
Summit on June 7
n Tribune Report
Women Leadership Summit 2014 will
be held by Bangladesh Brand Forum at
The Westin Dhaka hotel in the capital
on June 7, says a press release.
At the event, Dr Fahima Aziz will
present the keynote speech on High
Participation and Low Representation
of Women while Forbes India Editor
Nazneen Karmali, BELA Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Asian University of Women Vice Chancellor Dr
Fahima Aziz, and The Learning Company, New Zealand Founder MD Kathy
Tracy will address the summit.
There will be a three-panel discussion on the process to support female
leadership.
Prior to coming to Asian University for
Women, Dr Aziz served as the endowed
the Chair at Hamline University in St
Paul, Minnesota, and was the chairperson of the Department of Management
and Economics for ten years. l

Digital World 2014, a four-day exposition

on information technology arranged by
the Information Communication division and Bangladesh Association of
Software and Information Services (BASIS), will begin in the capital today.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will
inaugurate the event at Bangabandhu
International Conference Centre while
Abdul Latif Siddique, Minister of Posts,
Telecommunications and Information
Technology, and State Minister of the
same ministry Zunaid Ahmed Palak
will be present at the ceremony.
BASIS invited Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web (WWW),

to the event but he refused to come.

Hasinas son Sajeeb Wazed Joy will not
be present either.
Thirty-two IT specialists and investors from more than 15 countries are
participating in the event with the aim
to enhance foreign investment and
to give the visitors a glimpse into the
technological improvement they have
made.
Renowned technology figures, including Peter Vogaler, Martin Leive, Dr
Pollob Saha, Ashok Kumar and Dr Henrik Hanson, will address the event.
Russell T Ahmed, BASIS secretary
general and chief project officer of the
Digital World, told the Dhaka Tribune
the programme has been arranged at a

cost of at least Tk8.50 crore but BASIS

received Tk7.22 crore from the ICT Division.
Following the inauguration ceremony, the exposition, which will end
on June 7, will open to visitors at 2pm.
Seminars and workshops will be held
throughout the four-day event. Visitors
will be able to enjoy free unlimited Internet access for the four days.
Russell T Ahmed said it would be a
milestone for the countrys technology
sector.
I hope it will be a world-class programme, he said.
In the past, Digital World was
arranged in 2011 and 2012, but not in
2013 because of political turmoil. l

Government-NGO partnership
stressed for skilled manpower
n Tribune report
The government and non-government
organisations must team up to develop skilled manpower in the country,
said Chief Executive Officer of National Skills Development Council (NSDC)
Jiban Kumar Chowdhury yesterday.
Apart from that, the country needs
proper training for both trainers and
trainees, and support from stakeholders, he said while addressing a roundtable discussion titled Skills training
in Bangladesh: effective planning for
present and future at the Brac Centre

Inn in the capital. Speakers at the discussion emphasised on skill development

following a two-way approach.
The first is by combining foundational skills that come from high-quality
schooling with relevant vocational and
technical skills, which are necessary to
capitalise on the demographic dividend.
The other requirement is scaling up
skills development trainings by four to
eight times the current annual training
capacity to increase labour force productivity in order to contribute to higher
average household income and promote
economic diversification including trade

facilitation and industrialisation.

Pointing out reasons behind the
poor performance of apprentices in
the country, workplace learning and
productivity consultant of International Labour Organisation Francis D
V De Silva said non-cooperation and
non-compliance of industries in recruiting apprentices, poor capacity of
the regulatory authority to monitor the
compliance and enforce the law, poor
incentives given to apprentices, and
low level of awareness among youth
of apprenticeship programmes are the
key factors. l

We are looking into the matter and

a case was lodged with Sitakunda police station in this regard, added the
OC.
Meanwhile, Pahartoli police recovered a beheaded body of a 30-year-old
unidentified man from the sea shore
at Dakkhin Kattoli in the port city at
around 12:30pm, said OC Azizur Rahman of Pahartoli Police Station.
The five foot and three inches tall
person was found unclothed and police
assume that he was killed on the previous night, he said.
The dead body was sent to the
CMCH morgue for autopsy and a case
was lodged with Pahartoli Police Station in this regard, added the OC. l

Reception for
missionary SSC
students
n Tribune Report
Students who passed the Secondary
School Certificate 2014 under the missionary schools run by Chittagong Diocese were honoured with a reception at
citys Saint Placid High School in Chittagongon Monday afternoon.
Chittagong Diocese Education Commission organised the reception programme with the assistance of Formation of Youth and Teachers Programme
of CARITUS.
Professor Harisangkar Jaladas, principal of Chittagong Government College, was the chief guest, while Mahbubur Rahman, secretary of Chittagong
Hill Track Land Dispute Arbitration
Commission of Khagrachhari, was the
special guest.
Bishop Moses Costa of Chittagong
Catholic Diocese presided over the
programme, while the teachers and
head-teachers of the missionary
schools were present among others at
the programme.
A total of 500 students from
Patharghata Saint Placid High School,
Saint Scholastica High School, Mariam Ashram High School, Brother
Andre High School in Noakhali, and
Don Bosco High School in Bandarban
were accorded at the reception programme.
A total number of 1,253 students had
appeared the SSC examination from nine
schools under the Chittagong Diocese,
while 405 of them achieved GPA 5. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

BANIARCHAR CHURCH ATTACK

EKRAM MURDER

Teachers,
employees form
human chain

No charge sheet
in 13 years
n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj
Thirteen years have passed since the
Baniarchar Catholic Church bomb attack claimed the lives of 10 people and
injured 20 others, but the Criminal Investigation Department has yet to file a
charge sheet in the case.
The family members of the victims
of the bomb attack which took place
in the church at Muksudpur upazila
in Gopalganj on June 3, 2001 have
expressed their frustration and uncertainty about the fate of the case.
The two people suspected to have
carried the bomb Muktakin and Mursalin are reportedly behind bars in
Delhi Jail, with a year left to serve for
possessing marijuana. Investigation officers said the charge sheet of the case
will be filed with the court after the two
men are brought back to the country
and if their involvement is proved.
Earlier, Harkatul Jihad chief Mufti
Abdul Hannan and other arrested extremists were placed under remand
in the case, but the CID was unable to
solve the case.

So far, 14 investigation officers have

been put in charge of the case since the
churchs priest Father Mimmo Pietanzo
filed two cases in this regard.
Anna Haldar, mother of bomb victim Sumon Haldar, said they were uncertain whether justice would ever be
served, as it has been 13 years and the
trial for the attack has yet to begin. She
also urged authorities concerned to
repatriate the two suspects from India
with the help of Interpol.
Akhtaruzzaman, the officer-in-charge
of Gopalganj CID and also the investigation officer, said Mufti Hannan and other
arrested have not confessed during their
remand. Muktakin and Mursalin still
have one year left in their ten year jail
sentences in India, Akhtar said, adding
that filing the charge sheet will be possible if the two men confess to the crime
after being brought back to the country.
Meanwhile, Baniarchar residents
observed the 13th anniversary of the
attack yesterday by holding memorial
programmes, placing wreaths at the
victims graves and distributing food
among the poor. l

n Our Correspondent, Feni

Teachers and employees of 41 educational institutions in Fulgazi and

Pshuram upazilas in Feni formed a human chain yesterday, protesting the
murder of slain Fulgazi upazila parishad chairman Ekramul Haque.
The human chain was formed under
the banner Upazila Shikkhok Kormochari Kolyan Samiti in Fulgazi bazar.
All 41 of the institutions remained
closed for the programme.
Speakers at the programme, presided over by the Samitis President
Rafikul Bari, demanded the arrest of
the killers and masterminds behind the
killing immediately.
They also demanded that Feni Police Super Poritosh Ghosh and Officerin-Charge of Feni model police station
Mahbub Morshed be withdrawn from
their posts. l

The photo taken yesterday shows 10 cemeteries of those who was killed in a bomb attack at Baniachar in Gopalganj. The photo was taken
on Monday
Focus Bangla

Guimaras elevation to upazila celebrated

n Our Correspondent,
Khagrachhari
People from all walks of life in Guimara
of Khagrachhari cheered the cabinets
decision to promote Guimaras status
from thana to upazila yesterday.
Jubilant people distributed sweetmeats amongst each other and held a
rally in celebration.
The decision was given approval
in principle at the 109th meeting of
the National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reorganisation (NICAR) held at the Secretariat on
Monday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Additional Secretary of the cabinet
NM Ziaul Alam said there would be
three unions under the upazila with
an area of 115 square kilometres and a

population of 44,202.
Residents and politicians, including
Khagrachhari district Awami League
president Kujendra Lal Tripura and
Vice-President Kangjari Chowdhury,
welcomed the decision.
Kangjari said promoting Guimara
thana to upazila was a key demand of
its residents and the decision was part
of the governments development plan.
The decision was taken in the interests of the general people, he said.
Guimara thana Awami League President Jahangir Alam said everyone was
happy as the demand of the local people had been met. He thanked the government for the decision and said the
ruling party would continue standing
by the people in the future.
After the signing of the Chittagong
Hill Tracts Peace Accord, an influential

Awami Minister, while on a visit to Guimara, announced that Guimara union

would first be made a thana before becoming an upazila.
On November 11 last year, thousands
of local people gathered at Khagrachhari
Stadium in anticipation of hearing the
long-desired announcement from Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina who paid a visit
there. They, however, returned home in
frustration and were discontented as the
announcement was not made.
Mondays decision brought them
much delight.
In 2010, then Khagrachhari Deputy
Commissioner and incumbent Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Md
Abdullah tabled a proposal to elevate
Guimara thana to upazila but the process had been nipped in the bud when
NICAR had turned down the proposal. l

THAKURGAON DIABETIC HOSPITAL

Patients deprived of
healthcare as staff
are on strike
n Our Correspondent, Thakurgoan

Thousands of diabetics who live in

Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts
have been suffering a lot since the employees of Thakurgaon Swasthoseba
Hospital have decided to continue
their agitation programmes because
their demands have yet to be met.
Hospital sources said being unable
to make the hospital authority pay up
their arrears, the doctors, nurses and
other employees of the hospital have
observed three days of work abstention
from Saturday to Monday.
Later, on Monday, the workers declared that they would go on strike for
an indefinite period as their demands
still had not been met.
Yesterday, the workers brought out a
procession in the district and marched
toward the office of the deputy commissioner. They then observed a sit-in
in front of the DC office and chanted
slogans of their demands.

The agitating workers also met with

the deputy commissioner to resolve
the crisis. But the meeting ended without any solution.
As the district administration did not
pay heed to our demands, we will continue our movement, said Dr Nur Alam
on behalf of the protesting workers.
Hospital sources said there is a total
of 126 staff members at the hospital,
and they have been unpaid for last nine
months.
When contacted, the agitating staff
blamed the authorities concerned for
the deadlock, saying they were forced
to call the strike as the situation had finally become unbearable.
Ekramul Hoque Swapan, executive
director of the hospital, said he was
trying his best to solve the crisis by
contacting the higher authorities.
Mukes Biswas, Thakurgaon Deputy
Commissioner, said the ongoing impasse was an internal hospital matter
that the authorities would solve. l

Mayors wife and

one other killed
in road crash
n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj
Two people, including the wife of Akkelpur municipality mayor, were killed
and three others were injured when a
truck hit a bus on the Dhaka-Sirajganj
Highway in Raiganj upazila yesterday.
The deceased were Samina Chowdhury Ripa, 39, the wife of the municipality mayor Alamgir Chowdhury
Badsha and their domestic help Rajani
Begum, 12.
Police said while Badsha and his
family members were heading to the
capital, a speeding truck hit the Dhakabound Hanif Paribahan bus from behind
at Sholashahar in the upazila around
3am, leaving Ripa and Rajani dead on
the spot and three others injured.
The police recovered the bodies and
handed them over to the family members after a postmortem. l

Outlaw member
hacked to death

n Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

A member of an outlaw party was
hacked to death by miscreants in Kaliabakri village of Damurhuda on Monday
night.
The deceased Mukul, 32, was the
one of the accused out of four in a murder case including a BGB member, and
was the son of Nurul Islam of the village. l

Dawn-to-dusk blockade in Khagrachhari

n Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari

Farmers plant paddy saplings at a field at Barindra area in Rajshahi yesterday

Four get life term in murder case

n Our Correspondent, Netrakona
A court here sentenced four people to life
term imprisonment on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in a murder case.
The convicts are Babul, 30, the son of late
Sayed Ali of Churulia village in Kolmakanda
upazila, Shafiqul, 26, Abdul Malek, 52, the
son of Nabi Hossain and Chanfar Ali, 45.
Additional Sessions Judges court Judge
Abdul Hamid passed the order. The court also
fined them Tk50,000 each, default of which

would gain them five more years in jail.

Court sources said on May 13, 2001, the
convicts had chopped at Abdur Rashid with
a sharp weapon in Churulia village because
of a previous enmity, leaving him critically
injured. He was rushed to Kolmakanda Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared
him dead. Kamrunnahar, Abdur Rashids
wife, filed a murder case with Kolmakanda
police station in November 2001.
After an investigation, police submitted a
charge sheet before the court on April 7, 2002. l

3 drug peddlers arrested in Savar

n Our Correspondent, Savar
Law enforcers arrested three alleged drugs
peddlers, including two women, in separate
drives, along with 170 pieces of the contraband Yaba pill from Barodeshi area in Aminbazar of Savar yesterday.
The arrested are Anwara Begum, 45, the
wife of Ismail Hossain, Liton, 36, the son

of Alal Hossain, and Parbati, 45, the wife of

Elias Sarker. All of them are residents of the
area.
Savar police station OC Mostafa Kamal
said, on a tip-off, a team of police conducted a
drive in the area before dawn and arrested Anwara and Liton red handed with 120 pieces of
Yaba. At the same time, members of RAB 4 arrested Parbati along with 50 pieces of Yaba. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

A dawn-to-dusk blockade was staged by

the Khagrachhari unit of BNP yesterday
in protest of the falsified cases filed
against 25 activists of the party, including
former member of the parliament and
District BNP President Wadud Bhuiyan.
Md Faruk Ahmed and Md Nurul Islam, Awami League activists in Ramgarh upazila, filed two cases on May 16
against the BNP activists, also including Ramgarh Upazila Chairman Shahidul Islam Farhad, accusing them of
the burglary and abduction that took
place in October 2001.
The protesting BNP followers also
staged an hour-long human chain at
Khagrachhari Press Club at 11am yesterday. The demonstration was peaceful and there was no report of violence
in the district.

Prabin Chandra Chakma, senior

vice-president of Khagrachhari BNP,
along with General Secretary Abu Yusuf Chowdhury and Organising Secretary Mostafizur Rahman, addressed the
demonstrating activists at the human
chain event, demanding the immediate
withdrawal of the cases.
The speakers claimed that the Awami League government filed a number
of false cases against the BNP activists
in the district after being sworn in to
power in 2009.
Moreover, they killed 10 BNP leaders and followers, injured hundreds of
them, and also vandalised businesses
owned by them, the speakers added.
They claimed these cases were the result
of Awami Leagues political vengeance.
Claiming that the ruling party was
conspiring against BNP, Wadud Bhuiyan said: The Awami League leaders

and activists have been torturing me

and my party members for years. They
have been filing false cases against us,
and they are not letting me enter my
constituency.
He threatened to launch a tough
movement if the ruling party did not
stop conspiring against the BNP.
Police Super of Khagrachhari Mizanur
Rahman said police had requested the
protesters to withdraw the blockade programme, and additional police members
had been deployed in the districts sensitive areas to prevent violent activities.
Kujendra Lal Tripura MP, president
of Awami Leagues Khagrachhari unit,
said staging blockades and causing the
suffering of common people has become
BNPs habit.
No one is above the law, and those
who commit crimes will be punished,
he said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

One stitch at a time

The story of CUP and Basha bringing dignity, joy, and hope to discarded lives

The work Basha and CUP are doing, is epitomised by how people in Basha create jewellery from raw pellets

n Farzana Nawaz
hree years ago Shilpi was
living in Dhakas Mirpur
Mazar. At 14, she had
just given birth to a child
when her husband left her.
Apparently, he also stole from local
thugs in the area, and they exacted
their revenge on Shilpi by beating,
torturing, and raping her. After that
horrific episode was over, Shilpi had
to feed herself and her child by begging and prostitution in the area.
The story of Shilpis misery however starts much earlier than that. At the
age of eight she ran away from home
to escape the severe beatings of her
stepfather who didnt want the burden
of an extra mouth to feed. She was
lured to Dhaka by a neighbour with
the promise of regular meals. But, like
thousands of rootless children in the
capital, she ended up at the Mirpur
Mazar, one of the biggest hubs of trafficking and prostitution in the country.
Forced into prostitution as a child,
Shilpi fell in with a gang of other child
prostitutes who took drugs to help
them cope. A few years later, she
caught the eye of a young man who
wanted to marry her, and promised
her a new life, away from the streets.

The usual response from authorities towards

vulnerable women and children, is to treat them
like criminals and lock them up in jail, vagrant
homes or correction centres

However, those promises soon turned

out to be heartbreakingly empty. A
few months after leaving her to fend
for herself and their newborn child,
he came back. He swore that he had
changed, and they tried for a fresh
start as a family by renting a room in
a slum. But her husband disappeared
again a few months later with all her
savings, and left her in debt to their
slum landlord.
After that Shilpi had little option
but to go back to a life of prostitution.
A little while later, Shilpi caught a
break when she met a young woman
at the slum who told her about a local
NGO called CUP (Childrens Uplift
Programme), which helps women
like Shilpi get off the streets and earn
a better livelihood. Now at the age
of 20, Shilpi earns close to Tk7,000
per month sewing kanthas (quilts) at
Basha, a social business affiliated with
CUP. Her toddler plays nearby with a
group of similarly aged children in a

clean, brightly lit room filled with the

noise of childrens laughter and the
bustle of women cutting, sewing, and
transforming old saris into exquisite
quilts and bedspreads sold at international markets.
Shilpi is one of the lucky ones.

The gaping holes in the social safety

net for vulnerable women
Estimates of the number of women
engaged in sex work in Bangladesh
range between 100,000400,000 (the
latter estimate is produced by the
NGO, Sex Workers Network of Bangladesh). Around 10,000-30,000 children are forced into the trade every
year. Countless more women and
children, who are not primarily engaged in sex trade, live on the streets
and make a living through begging.
There is little available to help protect
them from exploitation by pimps and
criminal gangs, or to enable them to
find a way off the streets.
The usual response from authorities towards vulnerable women and
children, is to treat them like criminals and lock them up in jail, vagrant
homes or correction centres. Research
shows that the fate of many of these
women and children under government run facilities are just as bad if
not worse, as when they were on the
streets. For example, the police are
accused of physically assaulting and
sexually abusing sex workers since
they regard them as desecrated women who are always sexually available.
Research by human rights groups,
such as Human Rights Watch has
found that things are no better in
vagrant homes. There is evidence
of male officials in state run vagrant
homes sexually abusing the women
in their care, and former sex workers
are particularly vulnerable because
of their perceived fallen nature.
Moreover, there are also reports of
physical and sexual abuse of inmates
by other inmates.
The story of Mayna, another employee of Basha, who got separated
from her parents when three years
old and grew up in several of these
vagrant homes, corroborates the
research findings. She was routinely
picked on and verbally and physically
abused by older inmates at the homes
and correction centres.
By the time she was a teenager and
allowed to leave, she had no tangible
skills that would allow her to make a
decent living in the city.
In this context, the work of
organisations like CUP is especially
impressive.

The herculean task of getting women

off the streets
Located right next door to the trafficking hub, Mirpur Mazar, the CUP office
is housed in a simple, unassuming

red brick building. Director Hosneara

Khatun, a mild-mannered, lovely
woman, who has a long background
in social work, showed me around
the modest premises that is currently
running the rehabilitation programme
for around 33 women.
CUPs rehabilitation programme
is targeted towards victims of sex
trafficking, sex workers, and other
street women such as beggars. The
programme is comprehensive and it
includes psychological counseling,
morality training, physical exercise,
a nine month long adult literacy programme, and vocational training, such
as tailoring, handicrafts, sewing, etc.
Women are allowed to stay in the
rehabilitation programme for up to
two years, although a third year can be
added for those who really need it.
During their training period, the
women receive a stipend, which allows them to leave the streets and rent
a home. CUP also provides support for
the children of these women through
daycare facilities, school preparation
classes for children under five and
support for older children to enroll in
local schools.
There is also support available for
women who are not enrolled in CUPs
programme through a drop-in centre.
Pregnant homeless mothers and children can receive preliminary medical
care and free meals. CUP also runs an
emergency night shelter for women in
crisis and sponsors residential homes
outside of Dhaka for at-risk young girls.
However, facilities alone are not
enough to get women off the streets.
Ms Khatun points to emotional trauma as one of the biggest challenges to
CUPs work. Like Shilpi, many of these
women have lived on the streets for
years, sometimes from a very young
age, and its difficult to break old habits or to instill trust that a new way of
life is possible.
To enable the transition, CUP
requires the women to make a clean
break with their former lives. In
addition to providing food and the
stipend, CUP also monitors the women closely until it is certain that they
have successfully moved on to a new
livelihood.

Employment is the key to making

rehabilitation stick
Finding a new source of income is a
crucial component for the success
of the rehabilitation programme.
Because of the social stigma attached
to sex work, there are hardly any employment options available to these
women which would allow them to
enter a normal life. This is where
Basha, a partner of CUP comes in.
Basha Enterprises is a social business that opened its doors in May 2011
with 14 graduates from CUP. Located
in the same building just upstairs from
CUP, Basha produces traditional kan-

COURTESY

thas or quilts from recycled saris and

jewellery that is sold in international
markets. All the raw materials are
sourced locally, and the production
and marketing process is environmentally friendly and run according to fair
trade principles.
Robin Seyfert, the founder and
managing director of Basha, stresses the business principle that the
products should be competitive in
international markets based on their
quality alone. The fact that Basha also
has enormous social benefits is an
added bonus for customers.

processes so that they can feel more

ownership of the business.

Transforming the narrative of

battered women
The women I spoke to at Basha were
proud of their work and the fact
that the kanthas they sew and the
jewellery they make are sold around
the world. Most of these women are
mothers, and they dream that their
daughters and sons will grow up to get
a good education. Some of the women
even expressed the wish that their

In addition to providing food and the stipend,

CUP also monitors the women closely until it is
certain that they have successfully moved on
to a new livelihood

Building a business that provides

international quality products while
employing women who are still struggling with past trauma and the transition to a normal life, can certainly be
a challenge. Basha has succeeded in
doing this by building an environment
of trust, and by providing ongoing
counseling support, training and
child-care services for the women.
The women earn a good salary,
which is a powerful incentive for them
to stay off the streets. The workers are
paid a base daily rate, and then they
earn per piece they produce. For many
of these women this translates to a better-paid job with far more benefits than
working in the garment sector. They
also have the flexibility to take work
home after business hours. When the
company makes a profit it is distributed back to the production staff.
Most importantly, at Basha the
women are treated with sensitivity.
There is acknowledgement that even
after transition to working life some
of these women might continue
to struggle with past trauma, and
they are treated with due care and
consideration. This has been a key
component to the sustainability of
Basha and the business has grown to
employ more than triple the original
number of women at three production
centres in Bangladesh.
Basha is committed to further
growth so that more employment opportunities can be created for vulnerable women. Ms Seyfert also expressed
the desire to include the women more
and more in the decision-making

daughters would dedicate their lives

to public service and help organisations such as CUP and Basha.
The struggle however is not over
for all of them. Some of the womens home lives are still plagued by
cruelty from husbands who continue
to physically and emotionally abuse
them. The fact that they feel unable to
leave their abusive partners even after
turning their lives around, shows how
entrenched misogyny is in our society
that puts women in such a vulnerable
position in the first place.
However, CUP and Basha are built
and run by extraordinary women who
keep challenging the status quo and
they are providing refuge and support
to the courageous women who are
slowly but surely making their way to
a respectable, productive life.
Bilkis, a woman who has been with
Basha for two years, and is now serving as a mentor to the other women at
the Dhaka production centre, is reluctant to talk about her past. For her, the
only part of her story that matters is
that CUP and Basha have allowed her
to make a fresh start towards a better
life with dignity.
One can only hope that similar
opportunities to start over will someday be available for the thousands
of women and children who are still
living and working on the streets of
Bangladesh. l
Farzana Nawaz is governance expert
currently working in media. You can write to
her at farzana.nawaz@gmail.com or follow
her on Twitter @farzana_n

DHAKA TRIBUNE

END OF
MONARCHY?

World

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Kings abdication sparks

anti-royalist fervour in Spain
n AFP, Madrid
Spanish King Juan Carlos abdication
revived anti-royalist fervour in the
young democracy, sending thousands
into the streets clamouring for a referendum on the monarchy itself.
Rather than hand over the 76-yearold monarchs throne to his more popular son, the future King Felipe VI, leftist
political parties and anti-monarchist
protesters demanded a vote on the survival of the institution.
Republican
sentiment
remains
widespread in Spain, which only restored the monarchy in 1975 after the
death of General Francisco Franco,
who had ruled for four decades.
I think the monarchy has the support of the great majority in Spain,
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said
when asked about calls for a referendum on the future of the monarchy.

Spains 1978 constitution, which established a parliamentary democracy

with the king as a mostly ceremonial
head of state, was supported by a great
majority in a referendum at the time,
the prime minister said.

A bit archaic

Yet late into the night after the kings

abdication announcement Monday,
thousands of people filled Madrids
central Puerta del Sol square as rallies
were called in major cities around the
country. Protesters filled the square
and police closed access to the royal
palace just a short walk away from the
demonstration.
Tomorrow, Spain will be a republic!, chanted crowds of demonstrators brandishing placards reading:
No more kings, a referendum; A
royal transition... without a king; and
Bourbons up for election.

Spain: Monarchy vote

flouts constitution
n AFP, Madrid

A man waves a republican flag during a demonstration against the Spanish monarchy and
in favour of a republic, following the abdication of Spanish king
AFP

Spains Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy

warned yesterday that a referendum on
the future of the monarchy, demanded
by anti-royalists after King Juan Carlos
announced his abdication, would require a change to the constitution.
Hours after 76-year-old Juan Carlos
said Monday he was handing over the
crown to his more popular son Crown
Prince Felipe, thousands of protesters
filled Madrids central Puerta del Sol
square calling for a vote on the monarchy itself.
Republican
sentiment
remains
widespread in Spain, which only restored the monarchy in 1975 after the
death of General Francisco Franco,
who had ruled for four decades.

I think the monarchy has the support of the great majority in Spain,
Rajoy said when asked about calls for
a referendum on the monarchy during
a conference in Madrid.
Propose a constitutional reform
if you dont like this constitution. You
have the perfect right to do so. But
what you cannot do in a democracy is
bypass the law, Rajoy said.
Spains 1978 constitution which established the monarchy was supported
by a great majority of Spaniards in a referendum at the time, the PM said.
Juan Carlos was widely respected
for smoothing Spains transition to
democracy after the death of General
Francisco Franco in 1975, most famously facing down an attempted military
coup in February 1981. l

I think now would be a good time

to proclaim a republic, said Paola Torija, a 24-year-old therapist for the
disabled.
He had his moment of glory but today it is a bit archaic, a bit useless, an
extra cost especially in the crisis we are
living in, she said.
Juan Carlos won wide respect for
smoothing Spains transition to democracy after the death of Franco, most
famously appearing on national television to defuse an attempted military
coup in February 1981.
But he lost support in the twilight of
his reign.
Many Spaniards were outraged
when they discovered the king took
a luxury elephant-hunting trip to Botswana in 2012 as they struggled to find
jobs in a recession.
Resentment over the monarchy
grew when the kings younger daughter

Washingtons support for a new Palestinian government backed by Israels

Islamist foe Hamas, has left the Jewish
state feeling betrayed, triggering a new
crisis with its closest ally.
Several Israeli ministers expressed
public anger yesterday after the US State
Department said it was willing to work
with the new Palestinian unity government put together by the West Bank
leadership and Gazas Hamas rulers.
Technocratic in nature, the new
government was sworn in on Monday
in front of president Mahmud Abbas,
with Washington offering its backing
several hours later.
Israel admitted it was deeply disappointed. I have to say I do not
understand this American announcement, said Intelligence Minister Yuval
Steinitz, accusing Washington of saying one thing behind closed doors and
another in public.
You cannot present it as a Hamas
government internally, then present it
publically as a government of technocrats, he told army radio.

If these (ministers) are people who

identify with Hamas, Hamas identifies
with them and appointed them, then
they are representatives of Hamas. This
is a Hamas government, and Hamas is a
terror organisation, he said.
Speaking to reporters on Monday,
State Department spokeswoman Jen
Psaki said the new cabinet would be
judged by its actions.
At this point, it appears that president Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas,
she said.
The US endorsement was viewed as
a major blow for Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, who had on Sunday urged the international community not to rush into recognising the new
government, which he said would only
strengthen terror.
Unfortunately, American naivety
has broken all records, said Communications Minister Gilad Erdan, a cabinet
hardliner who is close to Netanyahu.
Collaborating with Hamas, which is
defined as a terror organisation in the
United States, is simply unthinkable. l

n AP, Damascus
Waving photos of their leader and
dancing with flags, tens of thousands
of Syrians pledged renewed allegiance to President Bashar Assad as
they voted yesterday across government-controlled parts of the country
in a presidential election decried by the
opposition as a charade.
Some stamped their ballots with
blood after pricking their fingers with
pins supplied by the government in a
symbolic act of allegiance and patriotism. Others chose to vote in full sight
of other voters and television cameras
rather than go behind a partition curtain for privacy.
Men and women wore lapel pins
with Assads picture and said re-electing him would give the Syrian leader
more legitimacy to find a solution to
the devastating three-year conflict
that activists say has killed more than
160,000 people, about a third of whom
were civilians.
Even as crowds of Assads supporters flocked to the polls in Damascus,
the sounds of war were inescapable.

The dull sounds of explosions reverberated in the distance as pro-government forces and rebels battled in
nearby rural towns and ashy plumes of
grey smoke marked the skyline. Several mortar hits were reported in the
capital, though the voting was largely
peaceful.

The balloting took place

only in governmentcontrolled areas and
Assads win all but a
foregone conclusion
would give him a third
term in office
The balloting only took place in government-controlled areas and Assads win
all but a foregone conclusion would
give him a third seven-year term in office, tighten his hold on power and likely
further strengthen his determination to

Turkeys embattled prime minister

lashed out at international media yesterday, accusing news outlets of stirring
unrest during the one-year anniversary
of mass anti-government protests.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan singled out
CNN International, whose reporter was
arrested live on air last Saturday while
covering street clashes, accusing the
network of spying.
International media organisations
who came to Istanbul for provocative
and exaggerated broadcasts were left
empty-handed, Erdogan told members of his ruling AKP party in an apparent reference to the incident.
On Saturday, police violently dispersed demonstrators in Istanbul and
Ankara as they marked a year since the
start of nationwide protests denouncing Erdogans authoritarian rule.
Riot police fired tear gas and water
cannon at protesters on Istanbuls side
streets to prevent them reaching the

citys iconic Taksim Square, the epicentre of last years uprising.

News outlets were also targeted,
with Turkish police briefly detaining a
CNN team in the middle of a live broadcast from the square.
Turkish police released CNN team
after half an hour. Officer apologised
for another officer who kneed me while
I was being detained, CNNs Ivan Watson said on Twitter.
On Tuesday, Erdogan called Watson a lackey who had been caught
red-handed trying to bring chaos to
Turkey.
[CNN] doesnt care about a free,
impartial and independent press. They
are assigned to work like spies, Erdogan said.
Last years wave of protests was
sparked by government plans to uproot
trees at Istanbuls central Gezi Park and
erect a shopping mall on the site.
At least eight people were killed
and thousands were left injured during
three weeks of unrest that followed. l

In a study by pollster Sigma Dos published in January 2014, support for

the king fell to 41% while those wanting him to abdicate in favour of Felipe
surged to 62%.
Most worryingly for royalists, the
same survey found only 49% approved
of the monarchy itself.
Three small leftist parties Podemos, United Left and the Equo green
party which together won 20% of the
vote in May 25 elections for seats in the
European Parliament called for a referendum on the monarchy.
The 46-year-old future King Felipe
VI is likely to face public disquiet over
the state of the economy and the royal
familys scandals. l

May 14

Studies
law,
international
politics
and economics
Receives a formal
education in each
branch of the
Spanish armed
forces

November 22
Proclaimed
king of Spain
following the death
of General
Francisco Franco
Marries Princess Sofia of
Greece in Athens.
Three children:
Princess Elena (1963)
Princess Cristina (1965)
and Prince Felipe (1968)

December 28
Oversees the creation of a new system
of parliamentary monarchy in Spain with
a new constitution
February 23
Credited with helping to foil an attempted
coup by soldiers who stormed
the Spanish parliament, opening fire

January 5
Born
Rome, Italy

From

Nine separate operations

for various ailments

Juan Carlos
will hand over
to his son Felipe

Source: Casa Real

crush the insurgency against his rule.

The oppositions Western and regional allies, including the US, Britain,
France, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have
called the vote a sham. The so-called
internal Syrian opposition groups seen
as more lenient are also boycotting the
vote, while many activists around the
country are referring to it as blood
elections.
The vote is also Syrias first
multi-candidate presidential election
in more than 40 years and is being touted by the government as a referendum
measuring Syrians support for Assad.
He faced two government-approved
challengers in the race, Maher Hajjar
and Hassan al-Nouri, both of whom
were little known in Syria before declaring their candidacy for the countrys top post in April.
There was no balloting in much
of northern and eastern Syria, where
swaths of territory are in rebel hands.
Tens of thousands of Syrians abroad
voted last week, although many of the
more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees
across the region either abstained or
were excluded by voting laws. l

Turkey PM accuses global

media of spying
n AFP, Ankara

Support slips

King Juan Carlos: 39 years on the throne

Israel decries US knife in

Amid war and shelling, Syrians
back over Palestinian govt vote for president
n AFP, Jerusalem

Cristina was named a suspect in relation to her husband Inaki Urdangarins

allegedly corrupt business practices.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (C) and his wife Asma al-Assad (R) cast their votes at a polling station, in the countrys presidential
elections on June 3, which are expected to give Assad a sweeping win over two little-known challengers
AFP

April 14
Draws nationwide criticism
for going on a luxury safari
to hunt elephants in Africa
while his country grappled
with a severe recession
June 2
Abdicates, so that
the monarchy can
be renewed

Syrian vote:
What changes
will it bring?
n Agencies
Tuesdays election was intended to give
a fresh boost of legitimacy to President
Bashar al-Assad. It signals to Syrians
and the rest of the world that he is not
a dictator fighting for his life and that
of his regime against a popular opposition, but the elected leader of a country
battling foreign-backed terrorists.
The vote is another nail in the coffin of a negotiated end to Syrias civil
war. Two rounds of talks earlier this
year completely failed. Lakhdar Brahimi, the former United Nations envoy
for Syria, resigned in exasperation last
month, and there is no serious effort to
revive negotiations at this stage. Assad
feels he is winning the war against the
armed opposition.
Bolstered by another seven-year
term, he will see no need to engage in
talks with the opposition.

What does this mean going forward?

It means that the conflict is likely to

endure for many more years. Assad
will feel vindicated by his reelection
and will likely reject any proposed
meaningful negotiations with the
opposition.
On the battlefield, Assads forces
will continue to systematically seize
territory from the fragmented, poorly equipped armed opposition. The
regime has regained control over the
critical corridor linking Damascus to
the Mediterranean coast via Homs and
has either pushed rebel forces away
from the suburbs of Damascus or surrounded and bombed them in a brutal
but effective strategy of surrender
or starve.
The military is attempting to reverse
recent rebel gains in the Golan Heights
and Deraa province in the south and
continues to chip away at rebel quarters of Aleppo.
Nevertheless, Assads military forces the army, Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi
Shiite paramilitaries and the National
Defense Force militia are badly overextended. When they concentrate their
forces on a specific target, such as the
recent offensive in the Qalamoun region
north of Damascus, they can usually triumph, but it is by no means certain that
the regime can hold the ground after it
redeploys to a new objective.
As for regaining the country as a
whole, that is not a realistic scenario
for now. Neither side is strong enough
to decisively defeat the other. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Hunger Games
salute: Symbol of
Thai resistance
n AFP, Bangkok
Opponents of Thailands military
coup are risking arrest by flashing the
three-finger salute from the Hunger
Games movies to defy a junta that has
banned all public protests.
Showing three fingers has become a
symbol to call for basic political rights in
a country ruled by one person as if with
the most sovereign power, who is General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Sombat Boonngamanong, a prominent activist wanted by the junta, wrote on Facebook.
Critics of the May 22 coup, including
the youngest daughter of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, have
posted photographs of themselves
flashing three fingers on Facebook and
other social media sites.
Dear #HungerGames. Weve taken
your sign as our own. Our struggle is
non-fiction, wrote one Twitter user.
In the Hunger Games movies, the
residents of a dystopian future North
America who are forced to compete in
a televised death match initially use
the gesture to mean thanks, admiration
and good-bye to someone they love.
View galleryAn anti-coup demonstrator flashes a "freedom
sign" …
An anti-coup demonstrator flashes a
freedom sign next to a line of policemen as a protes
It later becomes a more general symbol of their uprising against a wealthy,
totalitarian regime.
In Thailand some protesters say the
salute is also a nod to the French revolutionary motto liberty, equality and
fraternity.
The military which has imposed
martial law, controls on the media and
a night-time curfew has warned that
people flashing three fingers could face
arrest under its ban on public protests.
If they gather as more than five
people and show the symbol of three
fingers then its against the law, army
spokesman Winthai Suvaree told
reporters.
But he suggested that people posting

photos on the Internet were unlikely to be

detained, saying coup makers were not
paying any attention to the three-finger
salute by Thaksins daughter.

Protest crackdown

The junta mounted a show of military

strength over the weekend to deter
small but defiant anti-coup flashmob
rallies that popped up outside shopping malls and near train stations in the
capital Bangkok.
Some people have taken to the
streets reading George Orwells dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Six people were arrested, included
a woman shoved into a taxi by undercover police apparently disguised as
journalists.
Security forces, many carrying riot
shields, were deployed, backed briefly
by an armoured humvee with a soldier
manning a mounted machine gun.
The army has warned protesters that
they and even their families face
punishment under strict martial law,
which has imposed sweeping curbs on
freedoms.
The harsh response reveals a totalitarian mindset that discounts respect
for human rights as a hindrance to exercise of power, said Brad Adams, Asia
director of New York-based Human
Rights Watch.
The Bangkok street protesters
three-fingered Hunger Games salute
is a symbolic act of peaceful defiance
by those who recognise like those
in the rebellious districts in the movie that they face overwhelming odds
but decide to bravely raise their voices
nonetheless.
The coup makers said they were
forced to seize power after nearly seven months of anti-government protests
which saw 28 people killed and hundreds of others wounded.
Prayut, the army chief, has said elections are not expected to be held for at
least a year to allow a new constitution
to be drawn up in an effort to end a political crisis stretching back almost a
decade. l

A protester flashes
three fingers,
representing liberty,
brotherhood and
equality, during
an anti-coup
demonstration at
a shopping mall in
Bangkok
AP

Thai curfew lifted in three tourist hotspots

n AFP, Bangkok

Thailands junta said yesterday that it

was scrapping a curfew in three major
beach resorts to woo back tourists in
the wake of last months military coup.
The measure will be lifted for Pattaya, Koh Samui and Phuket to create a
favourable climate for tourism, the military said in a televised announcement.
The rest of the country remains under curfew, it added.
The measure was initially introduced after the May 22 coup for the
whole country for 10:00 pm until 5:00
am, to the dismay of the owners of bars
and other late-night businesses.
The junta shortened it to midnight
until 4:00 am late last month.
Months of bloody political unrest

have dealt a heavy blow to the key tourism industry in the Land of Smiles,
which welcomed a record 26.5 million
foreign visitors in 2013.
The army takeover has prompted a
flurry of warnings from foreign governments about travelling to the Southeast
Asian holiday hotspot.
But for many life in the kingdom
goes on almost as normal and international flights are still in operation, with
those travelling to and from airports
among the few exempt from the night
curfew.
On the day after the coup airlines
saw 5,000 cancellations, compared
with roughly 28,000 inbound bookings
on May 19, according to Paul Pruangkarn, a spokesperson for the Pacific
Asia Travel Association.

The Thai navy chief now in charge

of tourism said last week that foreign
visitor arrivals fell about 20% after the
military seized power, but predicted
they would soon return.
Hotels and airlines also say they do
not expect a lasting impact, noting that
it is now the low season anyway.
After the curfew relaxation the confidence has come back so we have no
worries, said Deepak Ohri, chief executive of Lebua Hotels & Resorts.
He said his company suffered hundreds of cancellations in the immediate
aftermath of the coup because of the
curfew, but bookings have since begun
to recover.
Airlines also say demand for
flights to Thailand has been relatively
resilient.

Emirates said its passenger loads

were healthy and that it recently introduced a sixth daily flight to
Bangkok.
British Airways said its flyer numbers to the Thai capital were normal for
the time of year.
Thailands economy shrank 0.6%
year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014
due to falling consumer confidence and
a slump in tourism.
The fear is it will contract again in
the second quarter, tipping the kingdom into recession.
Tourist arrivals in the first four
months of 2014 were already down
nearly five percent on a year earlier at
8.6 million, with visitor numbers from
other Asian countries particularly affected, according to official figures. l

Questions loom over US-Taliban

prisoner swap
n AP, Washington

Jani and Bob Bergdahl speak to the media during a news conference at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, regarding their son

AP

Pentagon concluded in 2010 that Army

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked away from
his unit, and after an initial flurry of
searching the military curbed any highrisk rescue plans. But the US kept pursuing avenues to negotiate his release,
recently seeking to fracture the Taliban
network by making its leaders fear a
faster deal with underlings could prevent the freedom they sought for five
of their top officials, American officials
told The Associated Press.
The US government kept tabs on
Bergdahls whereabouts with spies,
drones and satellites, even as it pursued off-and-on negotiations to get
him back over the five years of captivity that ended on Saturday.
Bergdahl was in stable condition
Monday at a US military hospital in
Germany, but questions mounted at
home over the way his freedom was secured: Five high-level members of the

India gang rape: An insight

Indian minister killed

in road collision,
n AP, Lucknow
blow for Modi

n Reuters, New Delhi

Indias minister for rural development
died yesterday after a road collision in
New Delhi, depriving Prime Minister
Narendra Modi of a key ally eight days
after coming to office with a mandate
to revitalise a stalled economy.
Indias roads are among the most
dangerous in the world, and the capital, New Delhi, ranks near the top of cities that account for the most fatalities.
Gopinath Munde, 64, was on his
way to the airport for a victory rally in
his home state of Maharashtra, when
his sedan was hit by a car.
Modi had entrusted to Munde the
crucial task of spearheading a battle
on poverty in the countryside, home
to more than half of Indias population
of 1.2bn, but which contributes just
14% of gross domestic product in Asias
third-largest economy.
The minister was sitting in the back
of his Maruti SX4 sedan when it was hit
on the side by a Tata Indica saloon. l

The two teenage girls had walked out

together at night, as they did every
night, into the wild bamboo fields 10
or 15 minutes from their mud-andstraw huts to relieve themselves. Like
millions of families across India, they
had no toilet at home. In the dark, they
were attacked, gang-raped and killed.
Beyond highlighting the rampant sexual violence in India, last weeks horrific
crime is drawing attention to a glaring
problem across the country that threatens womens safety: the lack of toilets.
UN figures show of Indias 1.2bn people, 665 million of them mostly those
in the countryside dont have access
to a private toilet or latrine. Some villages have public bathrooms, but many
women avoid using them because they
are usually in a state of disrepair and
because men often hang around and harass the women.
Around 65% of the rural population in India defecates in the open and
women and girls are expected to go out
at night. This does not only threaten

their dignity, but their safety as well,

Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEFs
Representative to India said in a statement.

More than 60% of

the rapes in the state
occur when the victims
step out to relieve
themselves
Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the
Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform
Movement a group that helps build
low-cost toilets across India estimates the country needs about 120 million more latrines. Since the attack, his
group has decided to construct toilets
in 108 houses in the girls village of Katra Sadatganj in the northern, densely
populated state of Uttar Pradesh.
The 14- and 15-year-old cousins
were Dalits, at the bottom of Hinduisms caste hierarchy making them
even more vulnerable to attacks from

men, particularly of higher castes.

They did not go out alone, but there
were just two of them. Women generally gather in groups to go to the fields
to relieve themselves. To avoid embarrassment they usually go at dawn and
late at night. Male family members
usually dont go with the women since
modesty is a major consideration.
After the girls had left, an uncle
went out to make sure the cows hadnt
trampled his patch of mint, The Indian
Express newspaper reported. He heard
some screams and shone his flashlight
toward four men dragging the girls
away across the fields.
The states top police official made a
clear link between rape and the lack of
toilets. More than 60% of the rapes in
the state occur when the victims step
out to relieve themselves because they
do not have toilets at their homes,
Ashish Gupta told reporters in state
capital Lucknow.
Indias new Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party promised toilets before
temples in their election manifesto. l

Taliban were released from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent
to Qatar. The five, who will have to stay
in Qatar for a year before going back
to Afghanistan, include former ministers in the Taliban government, commanders and one man who had direct
ties to the late al-Qaida chief Osama
bin Laden.
A US defense official familiar with
efforts to free Bergdahl said the US government had been working in recent
months to split the Taliban network.
Different US agencies had floated several offers to the militants, and the Taliban
leadership feared that underlings might
cut a quick deal while they were working to free the five detainees at Guantanamo, said the official and a congressional aide, both of whom spoke only on
condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to speak publicly
about efforts to release Bergdahl.
There was plenty of criticism about
how the deal came about.

Knowing that various lines of effort

were presented and still under consideration, none of which involved a
disproportionate prisoner exchange, I
am concerned by the sudden urgency
behind the prisoner swap, given other lines of effort, said Rep. Duncan
Hunter, R-Calif., who has criticized the
government effort to seek Bergdahls
release as disorganized.
Bergdahls handoff to US special
forces in eastern Afghanistan was never going to lead to an uncomplicated
yellow-ribbon celebration. The exchange stirred debate over a possibly
heightened risk other Americans being snatched as bargaining chips and
whether the released detainees would
find their way back to the battlefield.
Republicans in Congress criticized
the agreement and complained about
not having been consulted, citing a
law that requires Congress to be given
30 days notice before a prisoner is released from Guantanamo. l

Freed Afghan Taliban

want to work for peace
n AFP, Kandahar
One of the five senior Taliban figures
released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a US soldier wants to rejoin
the Afghan militant group but to work
for peace, his relative told AFP yesterday.
Norullah Noori is accused of taking
part in the 1998 massacre of thousands
of Shiites when he was governor of the
northern province of Balkh.
He and the four others were released
on Saturday and flown to the Gulf state
of Qatar in exchange for US Sergeant
Bowe Bergdahl.
After he was released we talked to
him and he is very willing to return to
Afghanistan, Nooris cousin Abdullah
told AFP in a telephone interview.
He says he wants to join the Taliban
again and bring changes to Taliban. He
says Afghanistan needs peace now and
he will work for peace with the Taliban, Abdullah said, denying Nooris

involvement in the 1998 massacre.

Khairullah Khairkhwa, also freed
Saturday, has expressed a similar desire to push for talks to end Afghanistans long conflict but not under the
(governments) so-called peace council
programmes, a close relative said.
The Taliban have publicly refused
to talk peace with the Afghan government, accusing President Hamid Karzai
of being an American puppet. But some
moderate elements are believed to have
broken ranks and engaged in dialogue,
raising hopes for peace as Washington
prepares to pull out the bulk of its troops
from the country by the end of the year.
The allegations around Noori centre
on an August 1998 massacre of up to
8,000 Shiites at the hands of the Taliban, who were avenging the killing of
2,000 of their own men the year before.
Nooris Guantanamo Bay detention
file notes he is wanted by the United
Nations for possible war crimes. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Make Bangladesh a safe

investment destination

o one should be surprised that a lot of capital has left Bangladesh

over the past year.
Analysis of trade data by the Centre for Policy Dialogue points
to an abnormal jump in the value of imports for certain terms. The
inference drawn by CPD is that dramatic increases may be explained by
irregular invoicing used to get around exchange controls.
Whatever the method, there is no doubt about the underlying
reasons for capital flight in the last year.
In the months leading up
to the January 5 election, the
economy was throttled by
blockades and hartals.
We cannot afford any repeat
of those circumstances. The
BNP should realise that the
pre-election violence made
them less popular than they
otherwise might have been.
Both major parties need to
learn to confine themselves to
non-violent protests when they
are in opposition. The politics of
oborodh and hartal must end.
Another factor causing capital flight has been uncertainty about the
future of the RMG sector, where historically most investment has been
concentrated.
With the World Cup providing a boost to garment sales and the work
of stakeholder safety initiatives, there are grounds for optimism that
confidence can return.
The government should take more action to support the development of safe factory buildings in new EPZs, to which factories now
housed in unsafe buildings can relocate.
Safer politics and safer factories are key ways to make Bangladesh an
attractive destination for investment and are the most effective way to
reverse capital flight.

Safer politics and

factories are the
most effective
way to reverse
capital flight

City corporations must

be held accountable

he citizens of Dhaka are painfully aware of the dysfunctional way in

which the city is managed.
Poor management of improvement works means that residents
are now having to endure flooded streets as roads are being dug up
during rainy weather.
It does not help matters that the two city corporations (DSCC and
DNCC) have delayed previously announced repair projects, including
some left over from the T20 World cup. The DSCC and DNCCs dispute
over boundaries around Farmgate and Indira Road has only added to an
already unacceptable state of affairs .
Residents face severe nuisance and health risks as the poorlymanaged corporations allow even the most basic tasks of city
management such as waste
collection to go neglected.
The disgraceful conditions
of city roads can be witnessed
in areas like Uttara, where
potholes fill up with water from
even the smallest amounts of
rain. A large proportion of funds
spent on road maintenance has
been allowed to be wasted or
go astray.
The citys administrative
units have cited many excuses
such as lack of funding for the
general state of disarray. There
is no excuse for local government not to be more accountable to citizens
in ensuring the quality and delivery of local services.
Having made much play of the value of splitting Dhaka City Corporation into two parts, the government must step in to reverse the deterioration in the citys management.
It should schedule mayoral elections so that citizens are in a better
position to hold the corporations to account.

Reverse
deterioration in the
citys management

Be heard
Write to Dhaka Tribune
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Khaleda: AL is not a secular party

May 29

Osmania
Kettle pot conversation. Both AL and BNP have
allied with Jamaat. And both will hide behind fears
of violent fundamentalists to resist or defame any
genuine liberal, democratic views. Until one of you
is prepared to decriminalise sex, drugs, and rock
and roll, I wont believe either of you is secular. So
there.
Ronnie
Osmania: LOL!!
I was starting to post a pretty serious, pointed
reply here (mostly seconding Begum Zias
contention and busting ALs charade), but you
threw me off with that truth be told funny, yet
pretty true statement.
Osmania
Ronnie: Thank you. I like your comments too.
On a serious note, I genuinely believe it would
help Bangladesh get out of the South Asian straitjacket and gain a genuine hope of emulating Western economic benefits, if we emulated so-called
Western freedoms.
Nobody is forced to indulge in anything they object to as many genuinely religious people living in,
say, London, prove. The secular vs religious debate
is a red herring. Liberty helps everyone.
We should move on from Sheikh Mujibs
vision of a Switzerland of Asia to a Netherlands.
(Dont believe the cannabis tourist stereotype
in my experience, Dutch people are far more
hard-working, sober, and level-headed than their
European counterparts.)
Ronnie
Osmania: Oh, you can say that again, mate! :)

I have never doubted that true liberty is incontestably indispensable for individual and collective
happiness. But the Western economic benefits
that you refer to as a worthy goal for ourselves require, first, a genuine commitment to individual
liberty, personal initiative, the complete guarantee
of political and property rights, an unflinching allegiance to reason, justice, and the rule of law. Economic benefits flow from the existence of those
preconditions in any given society. Youre right;
theres no question that when true liberty prevails,
its a clear win-win for both secularists and the religion-first crowds. When they are always at each others throats, though, the undeserving beneficiary is
a hypocritical government double-dealing with both
camps.
Im bemused by how too many people in South
Asia always appear to strangely either equate secularism with merely the benign treatment of religious minorities, or think it means the outright
quashing of religion in society. In reality, it is neither
of them. Secularism strictly means the separation
of the affairs of the state from religion. It certainly
does not (or should not) mean cynically pandering
to religious minorities, nor ostracising and marginalising the religiously observant, and depriving them
of their freedoms of expression. In any event, neither AL nor BNP is a secular party, because a) they
continue to cavort with Islamist parties, thereby infusing Bangladeshi politics with religion, and b) they
also constantly invoke and use religious minorities
for political gamesmanship. The crucial difference,
though, is that BNP has never resorted to hypocrisy
on this issue, whereas the AL has forever peddled
this ludicrous fantasy of their secularist credentials.
And oh, in Europe, I reckon I like the Germans best,
(ie relatively speaking). :)

May 28

$140 billion lost in sports betting

May 26

Garrott Robinson
There is nothing bad in sports betting per se, as long
as it is done properly with the support of professional
sports-keepers. But people misuse sports betting by
doing it illegally and making money out of it.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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.

CROSSWORD

Facing up to Modi
Mohammad
The writer is partially right. It is assumed that a single
election or leader can change the whole ethos of a
nation. Narendra Modi may be appropriately seen
as the CEO of India Inc. A company which, from its
inception, has believed in aggressively seeking a monopoly on every asset and trade route in the South
Asian region. It doesnt believe in negotiating deals
but in hostile takeovers using every illicit method
in the book, from insider trading, intimidation, sabotage, and assassination, to achieve its objectives.
Would it be possible to change the outlook of such
a company when the other shareholders (bureaucrats, military, intelligence, Hindu religious and
business elites) want to stay the course and increase
their profits to the cost of the environment and the
well-being of other companies and investors?

How to solve: Each number in our

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a
different letter of the alphabet. For
example, today 7 represents R so fill R
every time the figure 7 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.

BHL in Dhaka

May 28
Osmania
How very French. In a good way.

BNP: Khaleda can hold rally

anytime, anywhere she wishes

ACROSS
1 Halt (4)
3 Fortune-telling card (5)
8 Sport (4)
9 Thailands former
name (4)
11 Loses colour (5)
12 Fondness (4)
14 Insect (3)
15 Frighten from (5)
18 Replenish (5)
19 Friend (Fr) (3)
21 Consumer (4)
24 Facial features (5)
26 Prevalent (4)
27 Small secluded valley (4)
28 Transmits (5)
29 Avoid (4)

DOWN
1 Waistband (4)
2 Spoken (4)
4 Turkish commander (3)
5 Tracking system (5)
6 Augury (4)
7 Irritable (5)
10 Fashion (4)
11 Festive occasions (5)
13 Planet (5)
16 Water pitcher (4)
17 Explosions (5)
18 Got up (5)
20 Burrowing animal (4)
22 Wealthy (4)
23 Decorative plant (4)
25 Conclude (3)

May 28

Ronnie
I believe Begum Zia must hold a strong and
convincing rally in Dhaka as soon as she feels shes
ready. And I hope it will be the soonest possible.
The chairpersons countless supporters in Dhaka
deserve to see and hear her in the flesh again. Besides, she has plenty to say to them, and to many
others who must hear and heed her message.

We rot along with our politics

CALVIN AND HOBBES

May 28

SD
Exactly. We now want to put Khaleda in power,
replacing Hasina, put Fakhrul in place of Ashraf,
Mahfuzzallah in place of Iqbal, Kohinoor Mia in
place of the present PC etc. Just imagine a fair
and inclusive election held under a neutral CTG.
The above changes are certain to come. Then
what will happen? Just keep imagining until
your imagination catches fire.
Azhar mahmood
The poignant tone of the article says it all. Maybe
the truth is there, but the higher truth is we are not
in the path of rectification! Are we? The writer says:
Where is the saviour? A very pertinent question.

PEANUTS

Mari Gomes
Azhar mahmood: When we are tired of reading
Modi and Hasina-related articles, the above
write-up appears to be a little different from
others. At least the gentleman tries to raise
awareness among the readers who may be
interested to rise up and do something about
the rot! Good luck, and a good article!
There has to be an end to this sorry state of
affairs. It has to end! By what means, only Allah
knows! But it will change. Either there will be new
leadership or there will be a huge natural calamity to
wipe out the sinners. In all ages, there has been destruction of civilisations and sins; so will be ours! Do
you see the way we have been rotting? The author
is quite right. How can we survive for long? How can
we lead a good life? So there is a need for change.

YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

11

Leading the fight

against poverty
n Shazia Omar

ast week, I met our Minister

of Planning Mustafa Kamal to
discuss the rapid eradication of
extreme poverty from Bangladesh.
I was happy to find him knowledgeable about the challenges facing the
poorest and to be supportive of a
pro-poor, inclusive growth model
which will provide the extreme poor
with education and opportunities to
help them stand on their own feet. I
shared with the minister the Manifesto
for the Extreme Poor and asked him a
few questions. His responses were as
follows:

I work with Shiree, a livelihoods

project that works with 1 million
extremely poor people.

The killing needs to stop

BANGLAR CHOKH

Bad news at the border

n Mohammad Ali Sattar

ituations that can be seen

from all quarters suggest that
we have lost our guts and
morale in standing against
the ills of the world.
With time, we have come down to
our knees. Our vitality and strength
to fight was drained by imperceptible
forces. We stand as a weak nation by
all counts.
Our politics and social fabric are in
tatters. Instead of fighting the scourge,
we continue slinging mud at each
other in the same way we did some
40 years ago. We dont feel a pinch of
shame.
As a weak and jumbled nation,
our neighbours take advantage of us,
doing whatever they like. It is only
natural. All these years it was Indias
border guarding force BSF taking the
lives of our people, and now we have
the BGP from Myanmar trying to repeat the acts. We now have two fronts
to tackle.
Tales of abductions and killings by
the BSF was nothing new. Rather, it
has become a regular feature in our
bilateral exchanges. Our border forces
(BGB) and the government have tacitly
accepted the beating and humiliation.
For years, BSF has been killing our
people in the name of self-defense,
encounters, and so on. In the end,
those killed were hapless cattle-traders or small cross-border vendors. We
did not forget the bullet-ridden Felani
hanging against the barbed wire along
our border with India.
Along with BSF, we now have the
BGP that started the wanton killing

mission against our frontier guards.

Bangladesh shouldnt be bullied
around like this. The disconcerted
situation created at the borders by separatists or insurgents of various shades
from other sides should not be allowed
to disturb our peace.
We are at a loss to think through as to
why, in the first place, the BGP men (formerly Nasaka) would open fire and kill
our man, when there were no reports of
provocation or threat from our side?
Our BGB member was on duty and
understandably in uniform. He was
killed by BGP firing without any provocation. This has been admitted by the
Myanmar authorities.

py adventure?
Lets peep into the state of things inside Myanmar. The state has a long and
tedious history of big-headed military
generals. The wind of democracy did not
blow across the country for years. People
have been groomed under such conditions that defy all logic and definition.
There has been no economic development. The touch of modernity is still
a far cry. The archetypal community
system has been nurtured only to keep
things under cover. Its still a blocked
society. The entire state apparatus has
been brought under such steam-roller rule that it doesnt fall under any
bracket of characterisation.

Turning to our borders with Myanmar, we observe

a hostile and offensive stance taken by Yangon

The subsequent statement by Myanmar is funny at best. They twisted the

previous account and declared that
BGP members mistook the BGB man to
be a member of the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO). They also added
that the BGB member was not wearing
the proper BGB badge.
The obnoxiousness did not stop
there. BGP forces again opened fire
when the BGB men approached the
border to collect the body of their
colleague. Not a single shot was fired
from our end. So why this trigger-hap-

We were surprised when Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, supposedly the champion
of peace, did not have anything to
say on the persecution of Muslims
in that country. She turned away by
commenting: I cannot favour any particular group.
Nothing much is expected from
todays leadership. This was explicitly
said to me when I met a few Burmese
nationals recently. Policies of atrocity
and repression by the Myanmar authorities gave birth to rebellion. Bangladesh has nothing to do with this. The

Rohingyas have genuine reasons to

be frustrated. If minority persecution
does not stop, the Myanmar authorities cannot expect the insurgency to
go away.
So the long and rusted mindset will
have to be revolutionised. Turning
to our borders with Myanmar, we
observe a hostile and offensive stance
taken by Yangon. Myanmar authorities have fenced off almost the entire
stretch of the land boundary on their
side.
A more mindless act has been
the planting of land mines along the
border. This easily flouts the normal
boundary agreement and doesnt
conform to international laws. Now
the pertinent question is: How could
our border guards enter Myanmar
braving the mines and wires?
Myanmar authorities will have no
answers for this.
The maritime boundary cases have
been resolved through international
hearing. The Rohingya issue needs to
be settled though mutual understanding, and now the border crisis has to be
handled with due importance. Fencing
and mining issues need to be taken up
by Bangladesh with utmost urgency,
including the killing of our countryman.
Meetings at all levels should be
convened. Our foreign ministry ought
to rise. We must show the world,
especially the Myanmar government,
that we are not a weak nation and that
our border guards are able to protect
us effectively. l

I salute people working for NGOs and

development agencies. You are good
people. What you are trying to do is
very noble. You are trying to reach out
to people who are poor, hungry, and
vulnerable. You want to do something for them. You are trying to bring
changes to extremely poor peoples
lives through education, motivation
and skills.

What do you know of the challenges

faced by the extreme poor?

To be born poor is no crime. I was once

a poor man. When I was a student, at
least on three occasions my name was
struck from the registrar because I
could not pay my tuition fees. At that
time, some of my community people,
noble people, helped out and paid my
fees. I know how grave it is to be poor.
I know the gravity of extreme poverty.
Everybody, all of us, should try our
best so we can get rid of this particular
territory (extreme poverty).

What will you do in your current

capacity to help the extreme poor?

I am working now as the planning minister of Bangladesh. My plan is, I want

to see this country out of extreme
poverty as fast as possible. Otherwise,
any development becomes ineffectual.
If we are rich and side by side there are
poor people, then we need to concentrate on the poor. In order to enjoy
the benefits of growth, the last five
years we have had over 6% growth,
but to make this growth healthy and

sustainable we have to reduce our

poverty level and ensure that there
are no people left who are hungry and
extremely poor. But growth has to be
for everybody or it is meaningless.
We want inclusive growth. Sustained,
inclusive growth.

To be born poor is no
crime - Mustafa Kamal

What is the planning ministry going

to do?

From our ministry, we want to promote projects which promote sustained, inclusive growth. We would
like to support projects that target the
poor regions and customise solutions
as such. We will integrate with those
project, for example, by providing
education, helping them mitigate
their sufferings. Education can help
them stand on their own feet. Through
education, they will obtain opportunities. That is the way we must help the
extreme poor. Only reducing poverty
with handouts of foodstuff is meaningless. There has to be a comprehensive
delivery of services.

Can you talk a bit about the seventh

five-year plan?

The Manifesto for the Extreme Poor

has a set goal: To eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger. This is also the
goal of our honorable prime minister. It
will be one of the main agendas in the
seventh five-year plan. We will implement and exercise in such a way so as
to fulfill our objectives. To achieve our
vision, to make it a reality, we shall try
to be compliant, taking help from our
development partners, external agencies, NGOs, and support from the private sector, and of course government
support, certainly we will make this a
success. It will be our target to become
the first country in the sub-continent
to eradicate extreme poverty. l
Shazia Omar is Head of Advocacy at Shiree.

Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist and a DT

columnist.

Its only rock and roll

n Mubashar Hasan

ven though Bangladesh is the

worlds fourth largest Muslim
majority country, its society has
been largely liberal for Bangladeshi
standards. However, in recent years,
the pattern of Bangladeshi society has
been changing rapidly. It is becoming
illiberal day by day, a worrisome trend
of the radicalisation of Bangladesh was
recorded by Gallup and the Washington-based Pew Research from a
series of research studies conducted
between 2006-2013. These research
organisations found that the influence
of hardcore Wahabi and Salafi culture
radicalised a large section of Bangladeshi youths through diverse mediums of globalisation.
So-called secularists, by contrast,
lost the plot for their vision of a secular Bangladesh a long time ago due to
their closed-up and peculiar intellectual activism that does not appeal
to most cosmopolitan Bangladeshi
youths. Tagore fundamentalists, on
the other hand, instead of promoting
the free spirit of Tagore, constructed a
puritan saint image of Tagore, which
in reality alienated many youths from
exploring his humanist philosophy.
Against this backdrop, rock and roll
in Bangladesh has been able to sustain
its appeal to millions of youths. Since

the 80s, various rock bands were followed by millions of young listeners.
Hundreds of powerful political songs
were produced featuring the corruption of the society, religious militancy,
the pseudo nature of our democracy.
Some songs rejoiced in the greatness
of our national heroes whereas some
very popular songs openly talked
about various aspects of the relationships between men and women. In
short, they promoted openness and
liberalism, in Bangladeshi style.

Rock and roll changed

America in the 60s.
It sure could change
Bangladesh

Most importantly, some of the big

bands were able to shape the lifestyles
of their followers. Lifestyle or the way
of living is a manifestation of a societys worldview. Most avid rock and roll
followers are liberal in the sense that
they do not accept fanaticism of any
kind. This is the most important point

that Bangladeshi policymakers, academicians, and politicians seem to miss.

My study of the philosophy of the
socio-cultural development of the
Bangladesh government reveals that
the state has ignored sponsoring the
growth of this genre of music.All governments, irrespective of AL or BNP,
perhaps rightfully prioritised investing
in promotion of both religious and
Bengali culture. This pattern of investment only confirms that the state of
Bangladesh wants to define a moderate society celebrating both religious
and ethnic culture of Bengalis. The
discursive cultural penetrations from
the Middle East and India, through
agencies of globalisation, however,
have unsettled this moderate societal
nature.
Liberal Bangladeshs only hope
now is the rock and roll that still
connects with millions. Regrettably
though, due to the lack of support in
relation to the protection of intellectual rights of the artists, foul play by
some music producing companies who
sell mp3s in the black market, and the
states total disregard to the promise of
this genre of music are slowly pushing
this musical terrain into a corner.
Lack of creativity within the
Bangladeshi research community too
is a reason to blame for the lack of
understanding of the promise of rock

and roll in shaping Bangladeshs liberal

identity. In relation to the latter, a noteworthy anecdotal example is that when
I was an undergrad student at the Department of Mass Communication and
Journalism in Dhaka University, our
teachers, who rightfully encouraged
us to listen to Tagore songs and who
taught us American pop culture, never
encouraged us to explore Bangladeshi
pop culture as a research terrain. One
of those respected teachers recently
said to me that they dont understand
Bangladeshi rock and roll even though
they have seen the euphoric passion
among youths.
This problem of not understanding
Bangladeshi rock and roll is not only
endemic among our intellectuals but
also persists among our cultural policymakers, some of whom even play
the role of cultural policemen. Their
most hypocritical approach to this
music is that they are not ready to legitimise rock and roll as part of Bengali
culture even thoughMelai Jai Re, the
iconic song to mark the firstday of the
Bengali new year, became the brand of
Bengali new year celebrations among
people.
As a whole, after 42 years of independence, rock and roll does not exist
in our country in the sense that there
is no mention about it in school textbooks (ironically one of the former vo-

cals of the band Black is the son-in-law

of the education minister). There is no
recognition about it through Bangla
academy research, music departments
of state universities do not teach rock
and roll, rock musicians were not seen
to play in any major state event even
though the former president of India,
Pranab Mukharjee, invited LRB to play
at the presidents house.

The power of this culture is

enormous because it is supported by
youths who presently constitute over
60% of Bangladeshs total population.
It is the youth that change the social
landscape. Rock and roll changed
America in the 60s. It sure could
change Bangladesh, but to make it
happen the state should embark in
formulating a creative cultural policy

Liberal Bangladeshs only hope now is the rock and

roll that still connects with millions

A generational conflict is a core reason

behind such an outrageous approach
of ignoring this powerful and popular
culture of Bangladesh. The state, the
civil society, and our unimaginative
research community collectively made
rock and roll a bastard child of Bengali
culture. Rock and roll exists in reality
but does not exist in record. The ultimate loss however is for Bangladesh
and to those traditional cultural policemen who are slowly losing ground
to a radical Bangladesh.

in collaboration with the Ministry

of Culture, the Planning Commission, and the Ministry of Education.
Bangladeshs new generation of young
bureaucrats may play a constructive
role in this regard. l
Mubashar Hasan is the Founder and CEO
ofalochonaa.com, a non-religious, nonpartisan online platform to foster dialogue
among civilisations. He is a PhD candidate
at the School of Government and IR, Griffith
University, Australia.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Big screen is the place to be

n Afrose Jahan Chaity

Justin Biebers
apology
n

Entertainment Desk

Justin Bieber has apologised for a racist joke that was revealed
in a recently posted online video.
The Sun on Sunday published the clip which was recorded
five years ago, showing a young Beebs telling a joke that uses
the N-word.
Justin took to Twitter to apologise saying: As a kid, I didnt
understand the power of certain words and how they can
hurt. I thought it was ok to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but
didnt realise at the time that it wasnt funny and that in fact
my actions were continuing the ignorance. Thanks to friends
and family I learned from my mistakes and grew up and apologised for those wrongs. Now that these mistakes from the
past have become public I need to apologise again to all those I
have offended. Im very sorry. I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologise for offending
or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake.
The Sun on Sunday claims representatives of Bieber have
attempted to keep the video hidden for a huge sum of money and have known about it for some time.
This is yet another incident to add to JBs bumpy year so
far - in February, he was charged with assaulting a limousine
driver in Toronto and was accused of attempted robbery last
month.
The Canadian singer is also due to stand trial in Miami on
charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and using an expired license. l

SADIA MARIUM

Nusrat Faria is living the dream. Dhaka Tribune

caught up with the actor to learn about the perfect life as she has claimed on various occasions
about how everything is falling into place in her
meticulous life.
A promising star, Faria stepped into the media
industry as an anchor. According to Faria, she has
found the perfect balancing act for all her duties.
The actor who will debut on the silver screen
soon is juggling work, studies and family with
equal enthusiasm.
From her childhood, she was always progressive and was involved in various extracurricular
activities in the cultural arena. She used to dream
of becoming a star one day and after coming
home from school, the actor would pose in front
of the mirror and think of herself as a star. Once,
she had dreamed of becoming an army officer but
dropped the notion when she discovered her passion for the glamorous media industry.
According to Faria, she was approached several times with the offer of working on the small
screen, but she always held back as she wanted
to work on the silver screen. Faria said: I have
always dreamed of becoming a film actor. The
big screen is the place to be if you want to make
a lasting impression in the media. I have been approached time and again by renowned directors
of the small screen to star in TV plays and telefilms, but I always turned them down. I am sure
about what I want from life and I have learned to
say no to things that will deter me from reaching

my goals.
Faria will debut on the silver screen in
Redoan Ronys Morichika, in the role of a
photographer and Tahsan will be seen as her
counterpart in the film.
Talking about her grooming for the silver screen, she said: I am working on my
role. I am trying my level best to be myself
as the director expects me to be natural. At
the same time, I am studying the characteristics of the role and how it should appear in
real-life.
This film will also decide whether I will
continue to work on the big screen or not.
Other than this, you will see me as an anchor
for sure, added Faria.
Faria has mapped out her priorities and
education is number one in her list. She said:
I cannot miss my classes because of shooting. Apart from excelling in her studies, she
was a debater in her school days. Faria wants
to go abroad for her higher studies and aims
to be a successful corporate worker. She enjoys talking non-stop, exploring new things
in life and travelling. A shopaholic, her go
to place is Kolkata because the city offers
her the opportunity to shop non-stop. Faria
loves to spend her leisure with her family
and wants to get married as early as possible. Ten years down the line, she wants to
see herself happily married with kids and
working in a high powered corporate job.
Recently, Faria became the brand ambassador of Banglalink. l

Ananta and Barsha

cheer FIFA World Cup
n Entertainment Desk
Much-talked about celebrity couple Ananta Jalil and
Barsha will appear in Nitol Tata Ultimate World Cup
at 8:30pm today on Channel 24. The talk-show features
celebrities who are enthusiastic about football and in this
episode, fans of Ananta and Barsha will see the couple
cheering for the phenomenally popular sport.
A buzz of excitement is in the air as the 2014 FIFA
World Cup draws near and like any other football fan,
Ananta has braced himself to support the game. With
many tags in his career, the actor, director, producer
and business tycoon is producing World Cup jerseys for
the FIFA fans. The AJI Group is making jerseys of seven
countries which will be available for the spectators of the
World Cup in both home and abroad. l

Contemporary urban art

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak
Urban culture and aesthetics
are evolving rapidly in this age
of globalisation and to walk
us through the changing stages of Dhaka, Studio 48, an art
collective
consisting
mostly of young artists arranged a
group exhibition titled Lost in
The Urban World at the Dhaka
Art Center, Dhanmondi from
May 31.
Fahmida Enam Kakoli, Monjur Rashed, S M Ehsan, Kuntal Barai, Jahid Hasan and S M
Muzahid Monir take the spectators on an insightful journey
about the arts and culture of the
booming city and its historical
predecessors.
The evolution of the city is portrayed
through varying colours, bold strokes,
texts and installations. The artists demonstrated their niche using photo realistic
art in a post-modern form. According to
the them, the concrete urban world is
developed by destroying the beauty and
artistry of nature and has replaced the
purity of authentic art with mock art and
culture.

Jiah Khans memorial

service in London

TODAY IN DHAKA
Theatre

Bhelki
By Nabanat
Time: 7pm 9pm
National Theatre Hall
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
Shegun Bagicha

Exhibition

Of Man and Earth II

Time: 12pm 8pm
Bengal Art Lounge,
Gulshan Avenue,
Rd-131, Circle -1,
Lost in the Urban World
Group art exhibition
Dhaka Art Center, Dhanmondi 7/A
Searching Myself by Monjur Rashid
The rapidly spreading consumerist society and urbanisation is removing people from their roots and the installations
in the exhibition are reminiscence of the
missing roots.
Fahmida Enam Kakolis piece titled
Selfie, is a critique of the inherent narcissism of contemporary society.
A wooden piece shaped in the form of
a rickshaw hood with a collage of various

Lifestyle 3 by Kuntal Barai

objects and illustrations is titled Lifestyle, the artwork has many elements that
will definitely hold the attention of the
spectators. Artist Rafiqun Nabi, Abul Barq
Alvi, dean of the Fine Arts Institute of the
University of Dhaka and Mustafa
Zaman, art critique and editor of Depart
magazine were present at the inauguration ceremony. The exhibition will continue until June 5. l

Maleficent
reigns with
$70m opening

Can You Handle the Truth?

Time: 9:30am 8:00pm
EMK Center, Road-16, Dhanmondi

Film

300 Rise of an Empire

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Children of War
Pompeii (3D)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D)
Level 8, Bashundhara City
13/3 Ka, Panthapath

Ranbir and Katrina

to tie the knot?

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk
A year after Bollywood actor Jiah Khan was
found dead and hanging at her Mumbai residence, a memorial service was held yesterday, with her mother, family and friends in
attendance.
The New York-born Jiah - who acted in
the blockbuster Ghajini - was 25 when she
was found hanging in her Juhu flat on June 3,
2013. Her sudden death continues to remain a
mystery, and her mother has vowed to keep
the battle going on.
I shall keep the battle going all the way
until I get to the root of the truth. Although
its been a year, to me, it seems like yesterday, said Rabiya.
Jiahs alleged suicide was initially attributed to a lack of assignments, but it was alleged
that she was going through a troubled phase
in her relationship with actor Aditya Pancholis son Suraj.
Her mother accused Suraj of abetting Jiahs supposed suicide after the family recovered a letter written by the Nishabd actor.
Suraj was also taken into custody, and was
interrogated in the case, but was eventually
released on bail.
But Rabiya has still not given up hope of

getting justice for her daughter.

They are delaying to sabotage and compromise the crucial evidence. Jiahs mothers
long fight for justice will not stop until truth
is revealed, Rabiya said.
In her latest attempt, she has sought the
help of the British police to investigate her
daughters death. She has written to Foreign
Secretary William Hague to help bring about
justice for her daughter, reports dailymail.
co.uk.
She has urged British police to launch a
probe into the case, which is currently at the
centre of a Bombay High Court hearing.
Rabiya had earlier also approached US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell to ask for the
Federal Bureau of Investigations assistance
in the investigation.
Jiah was born Nafisa Rizvi Khan in New
York and moved with her mother to London
when she was two-years-old.
When she was 17, she was offered a place
in a drama course at the Lee Strasberg Film
Institute in New York.
While on holiday as an 18-year-old, she
was approached by Indian filmmaker Ram
Gopal Varma, who cast her as a teenager in
love with her best friends father in his 2007
film Nishabd. l

Disneys gothic fantasy, a PG-rated re-imagining of the classic

Sleeping Beauty villain starring Angelina Jolie in the titular
role, netted an estimated $70m from 3,948 locations $6.7m
of which was from the 347 IMAX screens. The $180m flick also
brought in $100.6m
internationally from 47
territories (40 percent ahead of Oz: The
Great and Powerful),
bringing its global cume
to
a
mighty
$170.6m.
Were feeling great, Dave
Hollis,
Disneys distribution
head told EW.
We came into
the
weekend
thinking that we
were going to do
somewhere around
$60m and to end
up with $70m is a really encouraging
start. l

n Entertainment Desk
Everything is moving slowly under the carpet but there has been a
buzz in the industry that Bollywoods most adorable couple, Ranbir
Kapoor and Katrina Kaif might get hitched soon. The duo is busy with
their work but it is rumoured that their respective families are chalking out wedding dates. It is believed that Ranbir and Katrina might
get married this year end and before that, there will be a formal engagement.
Ranbir Kapoors new pad is the initiation of the process. Ranbir
has purchased a new residence at Bandra and his ladylove is busy
decorating their new love nest. It is heard that the diva will be moving in with Ranbir after the engagement. The couple will also throw a
housewarming party and this will be a formal announcement of their
togetherness.
It is heard that Neetu who is very fond of Katrina are discussing
their marriage with Kats mom. Recently, Ranbir and Katrina were
spotted moving around the streets of Cape Town hand in hand. The
duo will be next seen together in Anurag Basus Jagga Jasoos and
Katrina will be seen opposite Hrithik Roshan in Siddharth Malhotras
Bang Bang.
That Kat would be Kapoor Khandaans future bahu was hinted
by Kareena Kapoor in Karan Johars chat show, Koffee With Karan
and it confirmed the report that Katrina, Ranbir are couple. l

Did you know?

Geoff Hurst and
Gerd Muller are the
only players to score
perfect hat-tricks in
a World Cup match

Sport

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

DAYS TO
GO

14 Falcao ruled out

from World Cup

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Lampard to leave
Chelsea

Koster hopeful
over solution

Ambassadors and counsels of different foreign embassies in Bangladesh share a light moment during the 10-day countdown kickoff of the Fifa World Cup 2014 at the residence of the Brazil ambassador in Dhaka yesterday MUMIT M

Ambassadors revel
in World Cup joy
Flags of Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands being flown atop the roof of
countless houses in Bangladesh elated the respective ambassadors of the
country and they duly appreciated the
passion towards the beautiful game
that exists in the football-mad country.
Wanja Campos da Nobrega, the Brazilian ambassador, Gerben de Jong, the
Netherlands ambassador and Luis Tejada, the Spanish ambassador in Bangladesh jointly inaugurated the 10-day
countdown of the Fifa World Cup 2014
Brazil at the residence of the Brazilian
ambassador yesterday.
The house was illuminated with
green and yellow lights resembling
the flag of Brazil and a festive mood
prevailed at the residence as US ambassador Dan Mozena, deputy high

commissioner of the British High Commission Nick Low and other diplomats
also enjoyed the countdown celebration with the greatest show on earth
scheduled to kick-off on June 12 in Sao
Paulo. Deputy minister of the youth
and sports ministry Arif Khan Joy, Bangladesh Football Federation senior vice
president Abdus Salam Murshedy, vice
president Tabith Awal and general secretary Abu Naeem Shohag were also
present on the occasion.
Wanja Campos upheld the Brazilian spirit of the World Cup. Brazil is
a beautiful country and the World Cup
will be more beautiful as it is hosted
by Brazil. Brazil will demonstrate its
rich culture, passion towards football
and the rich history to the world with
the World Cup. Bangladesh has a great
support for the Brazilian team and I feel
excited with it, said Wanja Campos.

Luis Tejada, the Spanish ambassador said he feels happy to see the Spanish flags in the capital. I love the passion. Spain is far away from Bangladesh
but football has created a fantastic connection between the two countries.
It is the global appeal of football and
Bangladesh is not out of it. Bangladesh
loves football, said Tejada.
Gerben de Jong also echoed the
same theme. Football unites all. The
World Cup will connect the world in
one rhythm and that is why we are
here. The Netherlands also has a good
support base in Bangladesh and the
two national coaches are from the
Netherlands. I hope Bangladesh continues to develop the game and reach
the top level, said de Jong.
The hosts will take on Croatia in the
World Cup opener on June 12 in Sao
Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. l

Rio is not London,

mayor says
Tourists who come to
Rio de Janeiro thinking it
is like London will be in
for a surprise, the mayor
of the World Cup venue
and 2016 Olympics host

said Monday.
People who arrive in Brazil imagining
theyre in England or who arrive in Rio
imagining theyre in London will have a
frustrating experience in terms of development, Mayor Eduardo Paes said at the
launch of the TV broadcast center for the
World Cup, which opens in 10 days.
I dont doubt Brazil is better than
England and Rio de Janeiro better than
London, he quickly added.
Some of Rios less flattering traits
greet visitors soon after arrival, including
highly visible shantytowns, long traffic
jams and patchy mobile communications. Like the other 11 World Cup host
cities, it has struggled to finish the infrastructure promised for the tournament,
and many projects have been shelved. l

National football teams assistant coach

Rene Koster expressed his hope that
the Bangladesh Football Federation
will settle the unresolved issues surrounding his and head coach Lodewijk
de Kruifs position and bury all confusions regarding their jobs in the meeting scheduled to be held on Friday.
The Dutchman arrived in Dhaka yesterday evening and headed straight to
the residence of the Brazilian ambassador where the 10-day countdown of
the Fifa World Cup 2014 Brazil commenced. De Kruif is still in the Netherlands and his return date is yet to be
finalised.
The Dutch coaches one-year contracts with footballs governing body
is due to expire on June 30 this year
but there is an option of extending
the length of the contract by another
year. The BFF is expecting to enforce
it as soon as the coaches arrive in Dhaka and keep them at the helm till the
South Asian Football Federation Championship in 2015. However, the BFF
has failed to provide the salaries of the
Dutch coaches for the last four months.
The limit of tolerance has been
reached. I have families and I am not
doing a charity job here. I need the
money to meet both ends meet. I hope
the BFF will understand the reality
and will provide us a respectable offer
so that we can agree to renew the contract, said Koster.l

Protesters inflate giant

footballs in Brasilia
Activists angry over Brazils spending on the World Cup inflated 12 giant
footballs in front of Congress Tuesday,
the latest protest in the build-up to the
June 12 kick-off match.
The balls, one for each of the 12 cities
hosting the tournament, measured two
meters (six feet six inches) in diameter.
One, painted with the Brazilian flag,
was slowly deflating -- a symbol of the
deflating performance of Brazils government, said protest organizer Antonio Carlos Costa.
We want the Brazilian government
to ask the nations forgiveness because
it promised something it never delivered. It invested a fortune of public
money in things that werent necessary, Costa, founder of activist group
Rio de Paz (River of Peace), told AFP.
Brazil has been hit by a wave of
protests and strikes ahead of the World
Cup and a presidential election in

October.
President Dilma Rousseff, who is
seeking reelection, has faced criticism
over the more than $11 billion spent
on the tournament in a country with
urgent needs in education, health care
and transport. l

Heath Streak clear about his mission and priorities

Bangladesh cricket team has always
been dependent on spinners. However, Heath Streak, the new fast bowling
coach for the Tigers thinks one of his
missions in his new role as the Tigers
bowling coach will be to find a bunch
of young fast bowlers who can become
the mainstay of Tigers bowling attack
alongside spinners. In his first official
press conference as the Tigers bowling coach at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday, Streak also revealed that his efforts would not only
be restricted to finding fast bowlers. He
rather thinks his efforts should ensure
those very fast bowlers culminate in reducing the Tigers reliance on spinners
for a sustained period of time.
I think it is dangerous to set specific
targets as you might get it done quickly and become happy. I would like to
identify a group of eight or ten quick
bowlers. We know spin bowling has
been strong for Bangladesh. We cant
relax and expect for that to continue,
said Streak.
The 40-year-old also added that he
had analysed few fast bowlers of Bangladesh and will try to work on the
mental aspect of the cricketers. I have
to learn a lot about the bowlers and I
have analysed these players as an opponent both as a player and a coach.

But now I have to understand them

as individuals and personalities. The
mental side of the things is what I want
to work on with the guys, he said.
The former captain of Zimbabwe
knows the level of expectations from
him and asked for patience at least
till the 2015 World Cup to notice improvements in the current crop of fast
bowlers. I know there are huge expectations. The India series is coming
up soon but it doesnt matter who you
are, these things take time. Experience
doesnt happen overnight. You cannot
go to a shopping mall and buy experience. We will see some consistency
among the bowlers hopefully by the
World Cup, he added.
Bangladeshs fast bowling attack has
long been spearheaded by Mashrafe
bin Mortaza who has suffered multiple knee injuries throughout his career while new young pacers including
Taskin Ahmed, who recovered from an
injury and made his debut in the World
T20, Al Amin and Robiul Islam have
shown promises to succeed at the highest level.
Although Bangladesh has Rubel
Hossain who can bowl fast and boasts
off an impressive record in the ODIs,
a huge lack of skill and expertise prevails prominently in our fast bowlers
arsenal when it comes to doing well in
Test matches, a format where the tigers

have failed miserably to shine.

Streak, who is very familiar with the
Bangladeshi culture and food habits,
was looking forward to introduce professionalism among the cricketers by

knowing their lifestyles. He also spoke

of looking for more young talents in the
pipeline to give them more exposures.
Firstly, I believe there are a couple
of young guys coming through. So I am

really keen to look at them. Obviously

getting them to become professionals,
how they eat, train is a long term
thing. So we need to start now to
develop these guys and see whether

Bangladesh national cricket selectors Faruk Ahmed (L) and Habibul Bashar (C) greet the new Tigers bowling coach, former Zimbabwe
captain and fast bowler, Heath Streak at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday
COURTESY

they are physically good enough to

cope with the international level. You
see many youngsters whose bodies
are not strong enough to cope with the
international schedule. So thats a key
thing that we are going to work with,
said Streak.
The new fast bowling guru for the
Tigers will be paired with new coach
Chandika Hathurusingha and Streak
believes its important to work together
as they both have the same aim, which
is to improve the quality of Bangladesh
cricket.
I have to make it work. I am under
him. I have got to make sure my coaching philosophies and his (Hathurusingha) are going to merge together. It
is to our benefits at the end of the day.
If teams dont perform, its us coaches
who get judged.
When he reaches here in a few days
time, I will certainly be spending time
with him. Hopefully he and I will have
a good understanding. Its not just the
players that need to be a good team.
The coaching staffs need to be unified.
We have to give the same message to
the players. Its important for them to
get one consistent message, he said.
The cricket crazy fans of the Tigers
would dearly hope the Hathurusingha-Streak coaching combination will
synchronize to bring glory to Bangladesh cricket. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Japan beat Costa Rica in warm-up

Manchester United striker Shinji Kagawa scored the go-ahead goal in the
80th minute Monday as Japan defeated Costa Rica 3-1 in a World Cup
warm-up friendly for both teams. Kagawa stumbled as the ball came to him
in the heart of the penalty area but kept his balance and swept a right-footed shot past Costa Rica goalkeeper Keilor Navas to give Japan a 2-1 edge.
Yoichiro Kakitani, who came off the bench in the 76th minute, added an
insurance goal in stoppage time for the Blue Samurai.
AFP

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Nigerias Mba misses World Cup cut

Suarez resumes WC preparations

Luis Suarez rejoined Uruguays World Cup preparations on Monday, 11 days
after knee cartilage surgery threatened to dash the strikers hopes of playing at the Brazil finals. Suarez, injured in Liverpools last match of his and
their brilliant season in the Premier League, had keyhole surgery on damage
to the outer meniscus in his left knee but was included in Uruguays tournament squad at the weekend. Hes doing muscle work and treadmill,
hes walking without pain, team doctor.
Reuters

Nigeria have left out Sunday Mba who won the country a third Africa Cup of
Nations last year from their final squad for the World Cup. Mba was late in
joining the Super Eagles training squad in London last week because of a visa
hitch. But Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said the midfielder has since not shown
enough desire to be part of the 23-man squad going to Brazil. His lateness to
camp contributed (to his missing out) but outside that he did not show the
hunger, the fight, we expected for him, explained Keshi.
AFP

Scolari tells Brazil

to sharpen up
Brazil coach Luiz Felipe
Scolari on Monday urged
his troops to sharpen up
a day before their World
Cup warm-up with Panama.
Scolari blasted his side after a Sunday training session which he said he
didnt like at all owing to poor marking and perceived sloppiness.
And with only ten days to go to their
opening World Cup match against Croatia in Sao Paulo, the man who led the
Selecao to glory in 2002 insisted it was
time to crack the whip
Sunday, the marking was sloppy,
we left spaces in the middle of the park
and took up questionable positions,
Scolari observed.
We cannot let our attitude slip
a week before the Cup. We cannot
lose the identity which we forged at
the Confederations Cup, the dress
rehearsal his side won almost 12
months ago.
Tuesdays test at the Serra Dourada
stadium in Goiania, some 200 km (130
mi) from the capital Brasilia, is the penultimate chance for Scolari to look at

Ribery included
in France squad
Franck Ribery, fighting to shrug off
a back injury, on Monday figured in
coach Didier Deschamps 23-player
World Cup squad. Also included in
the final Brazil-bound list submitted
to FIFA was Stephane Ruffier, who
stepped in last month for injured goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

FRANCE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham/
ENG), Stephane Ruffier (Saint-Etienne)
Mickael Landreau (Bastia)
Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United/ENG), Lucas Digne (PSG),
Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG),
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG), Eliaquim Mangala (FC Porto/POR), Bacary
Sagna (Arsenal/ENG), Mamadou Sakho
(Liverpool/ENG), Raphael Varane (Real
Madrid/ESP)
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (PSG), Clement Grenier (Lyon), Blaise Matuidi (PSG),
Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus/ITA), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle/
ENG), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal/
ENG), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad/ESP), Loic Remy (Newcastle/ENG),
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/GER) l

options in reserve.
Friday against Serbia in Sao Paulo is
his sides final friendly outing before
the real thing starts with the Croatians
in a Group A also comprising Mexico
and Cameroon.
Scolari, calling for more inventive
subtlety and tactical nous from his
charges, said the players know full well
what he demands and expects.
I urged them what I always do -- to
be serious and play each match as if it
were the last.
Scolari can make up to six substitutions in the game against the Panamanians and said he would use the chance
to run the rule over the options at his
disposal.
Even so, against Croatia he will essentally keep faith with the players
who saw off Spain in the Confederations final.
Scolari, who said he would have
liked a few more days to prepare for the
June 12 opener at Sao Paulos Corinthians Arena, said Panama were not to be
underestimated.
They are a good side - we have been
following their work. We have to take
the game seriously and see how we are
coming along. l

Banega, Sosa
left out from
Argentina squad
Argentinas 23-player World Cup squad
announced by coach Alejandro Sabella
with the list headed by Barcelonas Lionel Messi but missing midfielder Ever
Banega, Nicols Otamendi and Jose Sosa.
Banega was left out after Sabella elected to side with Celta Vigos Augusto Fernandez, who has recovered from injury.

ARGENTINA SQUAD

Brazilian forward Neymar (L) takes the ball observed by defenders Marcelo (C) and David Luiz during a national team training session in
Serra Dourada Stadium in Goiania, Goias, on Monday
AFP

Van Gaal happy with

Holland as Spain loom
Louis van Gaal insists
his Holland sides preparations for their opening World Cup clash
with Spain are firmly on
course.
The Dutch boss, who will become
the new Manchester United boss following the finals in Brazil, saw his men
beat Ghana 1-0 in their latest warm-up
game last weekend.
And van Gaal expressed his satisfaction that Holland were one of the
few European countries who claimed
a victory in the latest round of friendly
fixtures as they face their last pre-finals
showdown against Wales in Amsterdam on Wednesday night.
Van Gaal said: We were one of the
few World Cup participants who won
this weekend.
Germany is playing 2-2 against
Cameroon and Italy also plays with 2-2
against Denmark. Spain wins 2-0 to Bolivia. They get a penalty and make time
just before the second goal. Well, great
to hear from Spain.
The final comment was tongue-incheek at the Netherlands first game

against the Spanish in Salvador on June

13. Van Gaal changed his formation in
the win over Ghana to 5-3-2, but the
62-year-old claims that is a definite indicator over how he will line up when
Group B kicks off with a re-match of the
2010 final.
He added: Im practising for the
first match against Spain. I always look
at the opponent we currently take. But
we have to make it difficult for Spain.
Thats what I saw and is why I think we
need to play like that.
Despite the fact the media have
written about this system, the public is
still coming to the stadium unsure.
When the opponent is playing with
two strikers, I will usually play in that
system (5-3-2 ). When they retire, it
may be that Im going to play 4-4-2.
Van Gaal, who would not comment
on his new job with United next season, will give midfielder Jonathan de
Guzman every chance to prove his fitness for the World Cup.
The on-loan Swansea player will
miss the friendly against Chris Colemans side after he pulled up at the end
of the Netherlands training session in
Alkmaar on Monday with a hamstring
injury. l

GREAT WORLD CUP SHOCKS

South Korea players celebrate their victory after the quarterfinals against
Spain in Gwangju, South Korea on June 22, 2002

Injured Falcao ruled out from WC

SQUAD
Colombia striker Radamel Falcao has
failed to recover from knee surgery and
was left out of their World Cup squad
on Monday, coach Jose Pekerman announced.
The 28-year-old ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee
while playing for Monaco in a French
Cup match in January.
Falcao, nicknamed Tiger, was a
key element of the Colombia squad
that finished second to Argentina in
the South American qualifying group,
scoring nine goals in 13 matches.
Experienced defender Luis Amaranto Perea, who has been recovering from
injury, and forward Luis Muriel also
missed the cut from Pekermans provisional squad.
I had lots of hopes but, well, weve
got to press on and support the team
from the outside and wish all my team
mates the best for a good World Cup,
Falcao, sitting next to Pekerman at Colombias training base outside Buenos
Aires, said at a media conference.
Today, Im in very good shape but
conscious that I still need a bit (more
time) to play again and I didnt want to
deny a place to a team mate who was
100 percent fit, nor do something imprudent to damage my health. l

Episode

Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas watches the winning

penalty go past him

South Korea 0 Spain 0 (2002)

South Korea won 5-3 on penalties
South Korea, who co-hosted the finals with Japan, had already beaten Italy in the Last 16, in controversial fashion, and
faced a Spanish side packed with talent, but who had needed penalties to beat Irish Republic to reach the last eight.
This too went to penalties as the Koreans followed Dutch coach Guus Hiddinks instructions to the letter, harrying the
skilful Spaniards all over the pitch. The European sides tempers frayed as two seemingly good goals were ruled out by
the Egyptian referee. The Koreans kept their nerve in the penalty shootout and prevailed 5-3 to become the first Asian
side to reach the semi-finals. Their current coach Hong Myung-Bo scored the winner. South Korea lost to Germany in
the semi-final.
AFP

Goalkeepers: Mariano Andjar (Catania/ITA), Agustn Orin (Boca), Sergio

Romero (Monaco/FRA)
Defenders: Jos Basanta (Monterrey/
MEX), Martin Demichelis (Man City/
ENG), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica/POR),
Marcos Rojo (Lisbon/POR), Pablo Zabaleta (Man City/ENG), Lisandro Lopez (Getafe/ESP), Hugo Campagnaro (Inter/ITA)
Midfielders: Ricardo Alvarez (Inter/ITA),
Lucas Biglia (Lazio/ITA), Angel Di Maria
(Real/ESP), Augusto Fernndez (Celta
Vigo/ESP), Fernando Gago (Boca), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona/ESP), Enzo
Prez (Benfica/POR), Maximiliano Rodrguez (Newlls Old Boys)
Forwards: Sergio Agero (Man City/
ENG), Gonzalo Higuan (Napoli/ITA),
Ezequiel Lavezzi (PSG/FRA), Lionel
Messi (Barcelona/ESP), Rodrigo Palacio
(Inter/ITA) l

Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho restrains his players

from arguing with referee Gamal Ghandour after the
match against South Korea

Goalkeepers
David Ospina (Nice), Faryd Mondragon
(Deportivo Cali), Camilo Vargas (Independiente Santa Fe)
Defenders
Mario Yepes (Atalanta), Cristian Zapata (AC
Milan), Pablo Armero (West Ham United),
Camilo Zuniga (Napoli), Santiago Arias
(PSV Eindhoven), Eder Alvarez Balanta
(River Plate), Carlos Valdes (San Lorenzo)

Midfielders
Fredy Guarin (Inter Milan), Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina), Victor Ibarbo (Cagliari),
James Rodriguez (Monaco), Abel Aguilar
(Toulouse), Juan Quintero (Porto), Carlos
Sanchez (Elche), Aldo Leao Ramirez (Morelia), Alexander Mejia (Atletico Nacional)
Forwards
Jackson Martinez (Porto), Carlos Bacca
(Sevilla), Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate),
Adrian Ramos (Hertha Berlin)

Colombias coach Jose Pekerman, next to player Radamel Falcao (R), announces the
23-man squad for the World Cup finals, in Buenos Aires on Monday
REUTERS

Ten days before World Cup,

a rush to finish stadiums
With 10 days until the
World Cup begins, Brazil was rushing Monday
to finish installing seats
in stadiums and to deal
with threats ranging
from violent protests to dengue fever.
The count-down to kick off has
been marred by protests -- from striking drivers who abandoned their buses mid-route to indigenous leaders in
bright-feathered headdresses shooting
arrows at police.
Anger over the more than $11 billion
being spent on the event has raised
fears of a return to the violence seen
last year during the Confederations
Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal.
Then, clashes erupted as one million
people flooded the streets calling for
more money for social programs and
less for stadiums.
But recent protests have been smaller, with journalists and street vendors
sometimes outnumbering the crowds of
anti-government demonstrators chanting: There wont be a World Cup!
An Ibope Inteligencia opinion poll
published Monday showed public
support for the event had slid from

58 percent in February to 51 percent

in May, with 42 percent saying they
oppose the Cup.
But 71 percent hoped the competition would be a success compared with
11 percent who prefer to see it fail.
In a country that takes pride in its
five World Cup titles, the tournament
is starting to unleash growing excitement, with media providing exhaustive coverage of the Brazilian teams
training camp.
President Dilma Rousseff joined
FIFA president Sepp Blatter Monday
for a ceremony to present the World
Cup trophy.
But it was overshadowed by new allegations that FIFA officials took bribes
to name Qatar the 2022 World Cup
hosts.
Blatter and FIFA secretary general
Jerome Valcke both dodged questions
on the controversy.
Asked if he was in favor of holding
a new bidding process for 2022, Blatter
said: I am speaking about the World
Cup in Brazil and it will be a wonderful Cup in Brazil. Lets live up the emotions.
Rousseff for her part vowed Brazil
had all the necessary infrastructure
and security in place. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Amla new
South African
Test captain

QUICK BYTES

Amigos through
to UCL semis
The fourth edition of the Underground
Champions League (UCL) five-a-side
futsal tournament rolled into the
quarterfinals at the Abahani outer
basketball court yesterday. In the
double legged quarters, Deadly Alliance
drew goalless against FCP All Star in
both their encounters before the latter
team moved to the semis winning the
penalty shootout. Meanwhile Amigos
outplayed Little Friends 3-0 in their first
leg before securing their last four spot
with a 1-0 win in the return leg. Club
11 Classic will face off with Club 11 Super
in their quarterfinal today before Veterans take on Impulse FC to complete
the round.
Tribune Desk

Sachin savours Lara

partnership in Lords
Retired Indian cricketing legend Sachin
Tendulkar said Tuesday he is savouring
the opportunity to pair up with West
Indies great Brian Lara at Lords for an
exhibition match marking its 200th
anniversary. Tendulkar said he and Lara
played together in 1994 in Toronto in
the Sky Dome. We played for the same
team and we had a wonderful partnership. So Im hoping for another one this
time, he told reporters at the Singapore
Cricket Club. Its always been a joy to
play against him. I loved watching Brian
scoring runs against other nations, not
India, Tendulkar said. I dont see any
reason why not... whenever we played
here in Singapore, the response was
really good, said Tendulkar,
AFP

Beckham hints at
retirement U-turn

Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo waves on arrival at the airport in Lisbon on Monday prior to the departure of the Portugal national team to the US in preparation for the
Brazil World Cup 2014
AFP

Fifa probe into Qatar 2022

to report within weeks
committee for world soccers governing body FIFA, was in the Middle East,
where he was expected to meet Qatar
soccer officials as part of the probe.
Speaking to Reuters in Muscat, capital
of nearby Oman, he declined further
comment on the inquiry, noting that he
was restrained by ethics.
Qatar has strongly denied reports in
Britains Sunday Times newspaper that
bribes were paid to officials to bring the
sporting worlds biggest global event
to the tiny Gulf emirate, where temperatures during the summer when the
tournament is played can soar above 50
degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).
The allegations of corruption at
the heart of soccers governing body
threaten to overshadow the run-up to
the four-yearly World Cup, which begins in 10 days in Brazil.

Former England captain David Beckham has hinted that he could come out
of retirement and resume his football
career. Now I go to watch a basketball
game and, when you are watching athletes play at the top of their game, for
me it gives me that itch again, he said
in a documentary to be broadcast by
the BBC on Monday. I want to be back
in the game then and I start thinking to
myself, Could I play again? Could I go
back? Could I come out of retirement
and start playing again? Beckham,
39, called time on his playing career
last year after a brief spell with French
giants Paris Saint-Germain. The former
midfielder is currently working to
launch a Major League Soccer team in
Miami and he suggested that he might
consider turning out for the team.
AFP

The fate of the 2022 soccer World Cup

could be decided within weeks after
the man leading the internal investigation into how Qatar won the right
to host it announced on Monday he
would complete his probe next week
and report back in July.
Former U.S. prosecutor Michael
Garcia appears to hold the future of
Qatars multi-billion dollar World Cup
bid in his hands after new allegations
of bribery brought loud calls for the
tournament to be moved if corruption
is proved.
In a statement, he set out a timetable that would see him file a report just
after this years World Cup ends in Brazil.
Garcia, who heads an investigative

Dortmund sign Italy

WC striker Immobile

Residential Model, Lalbag,

Ideal and BN College progress

Italy striker Ciro Immobile, top scorer in

Serie A this season, signed a five-year
contract with Borussia Dortmund on
Monday as the Bundesliga runners-up
stepped up their bid to replace Robert
Lewandowski. Immobile, who has been
included in his countrys squad for the
World Cup in Brazil this month, joined
Juventus in 2009 before being loaned
out to several clubs. He scored 22 goals
in 33 league games for Torino this term
under a co-ownership deal with Juve.
In Ciro Immobile we have a flexible and
dynamic forward who has been impressive in one of Europes top leagues,
Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc
said in a statement.
Reuters

Rosell suspected
in Neymar case
A Spanish judge on Tuesday cited exBarcelona president Sandro Rosell as a
tax crime suspect over the 86-millioneuro ($117 million) signing of Brazilian
international forward Neymar. The
Madrid investigating judge, Pablo
Ruz, issued a written summons for
Rosell and the football club, through
its legal representatives, to appear in
his court as suspects on June 13. The
Spanish taxman lost out on up to 11.8
million euros in total, the summons
showed. A tax office report cited by
the judge listed lost revenues of 2.4
million euros in 2011, 6.8 million euros
in 2013 and as much as 2.6 million
euros in 2014. The judge summoned
Barcelonas auditors, Deloitte, to testify
as a witness on the same day. Rosell
resigned from Barcelona in January
as he faced legal action accusing him
of misappropriation of funds for not
disclosing the destination of all the
money spent on bringing Neymar to
the club last summer.
AFP

DAYS WATCH
Neo Sports
6:00PM
French Open: Quarter Final
Womens & Mens Singles

15

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

ISPI INTER SCHOOL FOOTBALL

ISPI Soft Drinks Powder Inter

School Football featuring juvenile
footballers of 16 renowned schools
got underway at the handball stadium
yesterday.
12 matches of the first two groups
were held on the opening day via the
six-a-side format as Residential School
and College and Lalbag School and
College went through to the second
round as champions while Ideal School
and College and BN College progressed
as the runners-up sides from Group A
and B respectively.
In Group A, Residential Model
School and College won all of their
three games against Dhanmondi Govt.

Boys (1-0), Ideal School and College

(1-0) and Rahmatullah Model High
School (5-1) while Ideal School and
College defeated Rahmatullah Model
High School (3-1) and Dhanmondi Govt
School (2-1).
In Group B, Lalbag Model School
and College beat Mohd. Boys High
School (3-1) and Bir Sreshtha Nur
Mohammad School and College (2-0)
but lost to BN College in a tiebreaker
after a goalless draw while BN
College fell to a 2-1 defeat against Bir
Sreshtha Nur Mohammad School and
College before winning 4-0 against
Mohd. Boys High School in the last
match of the day.
The four-day tournament will conclude on June 6. l

After months of interviewing witnesses and gathering materials, we intend to complete that phase of our investigation by June 9, 2014, and to submit a
report to the Adjudicatory Chamber approximately six weeks thereafter, Garcia said in a statement released by FIFA
and referring to a FIFA panel.
The report will consider all evidence potentially related to the bidding
process, including evidence collected
from prior investigations.
Six weeks from June 9 is July 21, a
week after this years tournament ends
with a final in Rio de Janeiro.
As a former U.S. attorney, Garcia
tried some of the highest profile anti-terrorism cases in the United States.
He also investigated the prostitution
case that brought down a governor of
New York. l

FACT BOX
Comes through the youth ranks at West
Ham United and after a loan spell at
Swansea City, establishes himself as
a mainstay of the Hammers midfield
from 1996 to 2001 under his uncle and
manager Harry Redknapp. His father
Frank Senior is Redknapps assistant.
Makes his England debut on Oct 10,
1999 and goes on to make 103 appearances, featuring in two World Cups,
Euro 2004 and being selected a vice
captain for the 2014 World Cup.
Leaves West Ham acrimoniously for
Chelsea in an 11 million pound ($18.4
million) move in 2001 and after a slow
first two seasons, he becomes one of the
best goalscoring midfielders in the world.
Wins the 2005 and 2006 Premier
League titles with Chelsea under Jose
Mourinho and the 2010 trophy under
Carlo Ancelotti. Also helps the Blues lift
the 2012 Champions League and 2013
Europa League as well as four FA Cups
and two League Cups.
Becomes Chelseas all-time leading
goalscorer and goes on to net 211 goals
in all competitions for the club.

South African star batsman Hashim

Amla was named the countrys Test
cricket captain on Tuesday, replacing
retiring Graeme Smith who led the side
for a decade.
A glad and humbled Amla said he
would give all his heart to the role, as
the Proteas try to rebuild after the departure of opener Smith and legendary
all-rounder Jacques Kallis.
Throughout the years I have concentrated mainly on my batting, trying to
become the best batsman possible and
hopefully I can still get there, Amla said.
But now I do feel it is time to act,
to contribute in a team environment.
Amla, 31, who made his test debut
against India in Kolkata 10 years ago,
praised the work done by his predecessor, whose legacy looms large.
I have to pay tribute to Graeme and
his leadership over the 10 years that I
have been involved, there was certainly a lot of value that he added.
Smith had captained South Africa in a
world-record 109 Tests before announcing his retirement during the third and
final Test against Australia last March. l

Sharapova grinds into

last four in Paris
Maria
Sharapova
again showed her resilience when she recovered from a poor
start to down upand-coming Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 1-6 7-5 6-1 on Tuesday and reach
the French Open semi-finals.
The 2012 champion and last years
runner-up, who will meet Eugenie
Bouchard of Canada in the last four,
lost the first four games as she conceded the first set before regaining
her composure against a player who
knocked holder Serena Williams out in
the second round.
An early break in the second set was
all the seventh-seeded Russian needed
to gain momentum. The match turned
Sharapovas way when she held for 3-1 in

the third set after saving five break points

in a game that lasted over 10 minutes.
That was one of the most important
games in the third set after that game I
gained more confidence. That was the
turning point, she told reporters.
Once a self-proclaimed cow on
ice on clay, Sharapova will be playing
her fourth consecutive Roland Garros
semi-final, a feat she also achieved at
the Australian Open from 2005-08.
When youre being a bit more aggressive on the second serves, taking a
bit more chances, all of a sudden, shes
not hitting so freely. I think that changes
a little bit. But its a combination of the
way you feel and also that little pressure
that she begins to feel, Sharapova said.
A double fault allowed the Venezuela-born Muguruza to break back for 3-3,
but in the 11th game the world number
35 sent a backhand wide which gave
Sharapova a decisive break. l

Lampard cuts Chelsea ties

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard on
Monday brought down the curtain on
his glittering career at Stamford Bridge
as he announced he will leave the west
London club when his contract expires
at the end of June.
Lampard had reportedly been offered a new deal on reduced terms by
Chelsea, but he has opted to bring an
end to his 13-year spell with the Premier League team.
Several reports earlier on Monday
claimed Lampards representative has
held talks with New York City over a
prospective move to Major League Soccers new franchise next March.
At least 10 other clubs, including
newly-promoted QPR, are believed to
have registered their interest in signing
the star.
Lampard scored 211 goals in 649 appearances for the Blues, making him

the clubs all-time record goal-scorer.

He admitted it was a wrench to leave
Chelsea after so many happy memories
and he paid tribute to former chairman
Ken Bates, who was in charge when
he was signed from West Ham in 2001,
and current owner Roman Abramovich,
whose huge cash injection transformed
the team into a European superpower. l

WOMENS CRICKET LEAGUE

MSC, Abahani post wins

Walton additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn speaks in a presser during the
unveiling of the 1st Division Handball League at the BNS conference room yesterday

Walton Vball starts tomorrow

The Walton Air Conditioner 1st Division
Volleyball League comprising seven
teams begins at the volleyball stadium
tomorrow.
The teams taking part are Bangladesh
Jail, Uttara Sporting Club, Bhai Bhai
Sangha, Nabo Jagoroni Sangha, Swabalambi Society, Madartek Mitali Sangha
and East End Boys. The champions will
be promoted to the senior division. The
league will conclude on June 14.
Jahid Ahsan Russell, the chairman of

the parliamentary standing committee

for the youth and sports ministry, will
inaugurate the meet as the chief guest.
In
a
presser
held
at
the
Bangabandhu
National
Stadium
conference room yesterday, Advocate
Fazle Rabbi Babul, the acting general
secretary of the Bangladesh Volleyball
Federation, presented the meet to the
press. SM Zahid Hasan, the executive
director of Walton, FM Iqbal bin Anwar
Dawn, the additional director and
other officials were also present on the
occasion. l

Mohammedan Sporting Club and Abahani Limited registered comfortable

victories over Khelaghar Samaj Kalyan
Samity and Dipali Jubo Sangha respectively at BKSP yesterday.
Mohammedan defeated Khelaghar
by 77 runs while Abahani coasted to a
convincing 10-wicket victory.
At BKSP 2, Dipali JS were dismissed
for a paltry 23 in 24.2 overs as none of

the batters were able to reach double

figures. Lata Mondol led the Sky Blues
bowling attack by claiming four wickets for just five runs while Jahanara
Alam bagged three wickets conceding
just six runs as Dipalis run rate never
crossed the one-run-per-over mark.
In pursuit of Khelaghars miserly total, Abahani gathered 24 runs in just 6.2
overs without losing any wicket.
Meanwhile in the other game at
BKSP-4, Mohammedan batted first and

put up 181 runs on the scorecard before

getting all out in 39 overs. Tazia Akther
top scored for the Black andWhites
with 38. Ritu Moni and Shohaly Akther
caused most of the damage with the
ball by claiming three wickets each for
Khelaghar.
In reply, Khelaghar could only
manage 104 for the loss of nine wickets
in 40 overs. Tahin Tahera scalped three
wickets conceding just 10 runs in six
overs. l

Sagicor off to a good start

Sagicor High Performance Centre made
a commanding start to their second
and final four-day match against
Bangladesh A in Barbados on Monday.
On the opening day the hosts, opting to
bat first, posted a challenging 354 runs
before getting bowled out in their first
innings .

Leon Johnson was the highest

scorer for his side with 74 runs and his
117-ball knock featured half a dozen
boundaries along with a six. He was
ably supported by Jonathan Carter
(54),
Jermaine
Blackwood
(45),
Carlos Brathwaite (42) and Sheldon
Cottrell (42).
All the Bangladesh A bowlers
picked up two wickets each with the

exception of skipper Nasir Hossain.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam though
maintained
the
best
economy
rate conceding 95 runs in 29
overs and scalping two wickets in the
process.
A few days ago Sagicor recorded
a crushing 351-run win over the second-string Bangladesh side in their first
four-dayer in Barbados. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Study: One-fifth Bangladeshis overweight

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal
Almost one-fifth of the Bangladeshi
adult population is overweight, with an
increase of 10 percentage point in the
number of overweight or obese people
over the past three decades, according
to a global study.
Although only 7% Bangladeshis
were overweight or obese in 1980, the
rate climbed to 17% in 2013; however, the rising trend was comparatively
lower among children as there was now
4.5% overweight children compared to
3% in 1980.
The figures were found by a first-ofits-kind analysis of trend data from 188
countries.
The study, titled Global, regional,
and national prevalence of overweight
and obesity in children and adults during 19802013: a systematic analysis
for the Global Burden of Disease Study
2013, was conducted by an international consortium of researchers led
by the Institute for Health Metrics and
Evaluation (IHME) at the University of
Washington, and published in leading
medical journal The Lancet on May 29.

OVERWEIGHT OR OBESITY RATE

In Bangladesh
1980 2013
Overweight adults
Obese adults
Overweight children
Obese children

5% 13%
2% 4%
1.5% 3%
1.5% 1.5%

In South Asia

1980 2013

Overweight/obese
adults
Highest adult
obesity rate
Highest child
obesity rate

16% 21%

Country 2013
Pakistan

21%

Bhutan

6%

SOURCE: THE LANCET

For overweight and obesity to be

rising to the point where nearly one
in five adults is too heavy, we must
look for ways to change behaviour and
change policy, said Dr Aliya Naheed,
associate scientist at the International
Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research

in Bangladesh (ICDDRB) and one of the

papers co-authors.
However, of the 17% of overweight
adults in Bangladesh, just 4% were
obese, while obesity rates in children
and adolescents remain at about 1.5%.
Being overweight is defined as
having a Body Mass Index (BMI) or
weight-to-height ratio between 25 and
30, while obesity is defined as having a
BMI equal to or greater than 30.
Health risks such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and chronic kidney disease increase when a persons BMI exceeds 23.
In 2010, obesity and overweight were
estimated to have caused 3.4 million
deaths globally, most of which were
from cardiovascular causes. Research
indicates that if left unchecked, the rise
in obesity could lead to future declines
in life expectancy.
Being overweight caries significant
health risks, and those risks are greatly increased for obese individuals,
said Alan Lopez, laureate professor
at the University of Melbourne and a
co-founder of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.

Unlike tobacco control, there is

very little evidence that public heath
campaigns or industry regulatory
mechanisms are yet having an impact.
Health authorities across Asia need
to take the population health consequences of weight gain much more seriously, he added.
South Asia has seen a steady increase in overweight and obesity since
1980, with the rate of overweight or
obese adults rising from 16% to 21% in
2013; but the region also has the lowest
child overweight/obesity prevalence of
6% and the lowest child obesity prevalence of 3%.
Within the region, Pakistan has the
highest obesity rate of 14% for adults,
and Bhutan has the highest obesity rate
of 6% for children. South Asia also has
the smallest gender gap in adult obesity among all regions: 4.8% for male and
5.2% for female.
In the last three decades, not one
country has achieved success in reducing obesity rates, and we expect obesity to rise steadily as incomes rise in
low- and middle-income countries in
particular, unless urgent steps are tak-

en to address this public health crisis,

said Dr Christopher Murray, director of
the IHME and a co-founder of the GBD
study.
In developed countries, increases
in obesity that began in the 1980s and
accelerated from 1992 to 2002 have
slowed since 2006. Conversely, in developing countries increases are likely
to continue.
The global study found that among
children and adolescents, obesity has
increased substantially worldwide.
Between 1980 and 2013, the prevalence of overweight/obese children and
adolescents increased by nearly 50%.
In 2013, more than 22% of girls and
nearly 24% of boys living in developed
countries were found to be overweight
or obese.
Rates are also on the rise among
children and adolescents in the developing world, where nearly 13% of boys
and more than 13% of girls are overweight or obese.
The findings were disclosed in a
press release signed by Shahreen Haq,
media manager (communications and
development) of the ICDDRB. l

FY15 budget
to stand at
Tk2,50,506 crore
n Asif Showkat Kallol

The budget size for the next fiscal year

is expected to be Tk2,50,506 crore,
which is scheduled to be placed in the
parliament tomorrow.
The allocation has been increased
by a little eventually on consideration
that the investment needs to be raised
to boost the economic growth, officials
concerned said yesterday.
The budget for 2014-15 expects a
GDP growth of 7.3%, which is higher
than the revised estimate of 6.5% for
the outgoing fiscal year.
Total budget deficit would be of
Tk65,635 crore or 4.9% of the GDP estimated to be of Tk13,39,500 crore in the
next fiscal. The deficit will be financed
by banks borrowing of Tk31,509 crore
and foreign loans of Tk34,130 crore.
To finance the spending, the budget
estimates NBR and non-NBR revenue of
Tk183,535 crore. Non-development expenditure is expected to be Tk169,987
crore and development expenditure be
Tk80,310 crore. l

Criminal shot dead

in Laxmipur
Khan with
n Mohammad Jamil Laxmipur Our
Correspondent in
An alleged leader of a local criminal
gang, known as Didar Bahini, died
of gunshot wounds early yesterday at
a hospital in Lakshmipur district. His
family, however, claimed that the top
criminal was killed after being detained
by police.
The deceased, Ismail Hossain
Khokon, 38, of Titarkandi village, reportedly took charge of the gang after
its leader, Didar, was killed in a gunfight in January with the Rapid Action
Battalion.
Sub-inspector Md Zillur Rahman of
Laxmipur Sadar police station, told the
Dhaka Tribune that he was patrolling
the districts Kathalia area with a team
on Monday night when they heard
gunshots. They searched the area and
found Ismail with bullet wounds in his
legs.
We immediately admitted him
to Laximpur Sadar Hospital, where
Khokon succumbed to his injuries at
1:15am, Zillur said. But the police officer could not say who had shot the
alleged gang leader.
Ismails family members and neighbours, however, claimed that Ismail,
along with an acquaintance, were
picked up by police earlier on Monday.
Faruk Hossain, a local resident,
told our Laxmipur correspondent that
Sub-Inspector (SI) Kamal and Assistant
Sub-Inspector Sarwar of Daserhut police station detained Ismail and Sabuj
Hossain, 18, while they were chatting
with some friends at Buiyahut Bazar
around 8pm on Monday.
Khokon could not be found after
that, Faruk said.

Two people including

Chhatra Union
leader go missing

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A former leader of Bangladesh Chhatra

Union and one of his friends has been
missing in Chittagong city since Sunday.
The victims are Ismail Azad Shakil,
28, former general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra Union of Chittagong
unit, and his friend Linkon Majumder,
28, member of Biborton Pathchakra, an
organisation that works for street children, police said.
Shakil is a resident of the port citys
Ghatfarhadbeg area, while Linkon lives
in Chandgaon area in the city, police
added.
Shakils father Rafiqul Azad and
Linkons father Shibu Majumder filed
two separate general dairies with Kotwali police station in this regard on
Monday night, said AKM Mohiuddin,
officer-in-charge of the station.
Quoting the victims family members, the OC told the Dhaka Tribune that
the victims went out from their respective residences on Sunday afternoon to
meet Sudipta, one of their friends, and
the trio met at Probortok intersection.
Later, Sudipta went back to his residence after having spent some time
with them, leaving the duo in front of
Afmi Plaza, said the OC.
Later, Sudipta found their mobile
phones switched off since Sunday
evening, the police official added.

Ismails brother, Abul Kashem, said

police told them that they were arresting Ismail as a suspect in a murder case.
Later, we heard that he died while
undergoing treatment at the hospital,
said Kashem, who is vice president
of ruling Awami Leagues Laxmipur
unit.
Kashem also claimed that his brother, who was also a Jubo League leader
in Charshahi, was killed over political
rivalry.
It is nothing but a political rivalry.
With his removal, many people would
get the chance to take control on the
area, Kashem claimed.
Meanwhile, Sabuj Hossain was
found in custody at Daserhut police
station on Tuesday.
SI Kamal said Sabuj was arrested as
he was a suspect in a robbery case. He
also claimed that he did not to know
anything about Ismail.
In the presence of police, Sabuj told
our correspondent: We were detained
together. Police took Khokon away in a
microbus, and they brought me to the
police station. I do not know where
they took Khokon.
Shah Mizan Shafiur Rahman, superintendent of police, denied any
involvement of the police in Ismails killing. He said a police patrol found him
injured and took him to the hospital,
where he died later.
Sources in Laxmipur police claimed
that after arresting Ismail, police took
him to the Laxmipur DB office. During
interrogation, Sub-Inspector Bashar
of the Detective Branch allegedly took
him outside and shot him.
However, SI Bashar refuted the allegations, saying he was not aware about
Ismails killing. l

Two handcuffed teen-aged boys detained for alleged thievery were being transferred from the Dhaka Central Jail yesterday. Police, however, did not reply to a query where they
were being taken. Child psychologists and parenting experts oppose such punishment to teenagers instead of putting them in juvenile correction centre. The photo was taken at
Nazimuddin road
RAJIB DHAR

Top criminal Faridya held in Chittagong

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Detective Branch (DB) of Chittagong

Metropolitan Police (CMP) arrested a
wanted criminal from the citys Chawkbazar area on Monday night for allegedly deceiving people by identifying himself as DB personnel.
The arrested, Md Faridul Islam alias
Faridya, 40, is the son of Nurul Islam,
of the citys Bakalia, and is accused in
17 cases including charges of murder,

arms, drug, robbery, mugging and extortion that were lodged with different
police stations in Chittagong from 1996
to 2014, said DB sources.
Babul Akhter, additional deputy
commissioner (ADC) of DB in CMP, said
on a tip-off they had detained the top
terrorist from the area on Monday at
10pm.
Faridul has been leading a 16-member gang including top listed miscreants Faisal, Kalu, Badshah and Jane

70 gold bars, currencies worth

Tk35 lakh recovered, 10 held
n Kailash Sarkar

Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested 10 people on charge of smuggling

gold at the Hajarat Shahjalal International Airport and Paltan in the capital
on early Tuesday.
DB police recovered 70 gold bars
weighing 8 kilograms and currencies of
different countries equivalent to Tk35
lakh from their possessions.
The officials claimed that those 10
detainees were also involved in the
smuggling of 904 pieces of gold bars
weighing 106 kg which were seized at
the Dhaka airport on April 27.
The detained persons were identified as Nazrul Islam Liton, 46, Ikramul Huq Parvej, 51, Mizanur Rahman
Ripon, 32, Abul Hossain Sumon, 33,
Asim Kumer Singha, 37, Abdul Kader,
33, Anisur Rahman, Babul Poddar, 54,
Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, 41, and Zahidur Rahman, 35.
According to the DB officials Nazrul
Islam Liton was the leader of the smuggling ring and the nine others were of
his accomplices.
Of them, Liton was arrested from
his Purana Paltan house following the
arrest of his nine aides at the Boarding Bridge-2 of the Immigration of the
airport area, said Monirul Islam, joint
commissioner of the DMP, while ad-

dressing a press briefing at the DMP

Media Centre on Minto Road.
Those nine persons were arrested
with nine passports, 12 mobile phones
and currencies of different countries,
including Saudi Riyals, Malaysian Ringgit, Singapore Dollars and Bangladeshi
taka equivalent to Tk35 lakh.

Officials claimed that

those 10 detainees were
also involved in the
smuggling of 904 pieces
of gold bars weighing
106 kg which were
seized at the Dhaka
airport on April 27
The DB official also claimed that following the information extracted
from those of his nine associates, the
detectives arrested Liton from his Purana Paltan residence and by searching his house, 70 pieces of gold bars,
Tk3,00,000 in cash and 5000 Saudi
Arabian Riyals were recovered.
The officials of the DB also claimed
that they arrested those 10 persons following information extracted from one
Anis Uddin Bhuiyan, who was arrested

on April 27 with 106kg gold at Dhaka

airport immediately after the gold haul
had been smuggled into Bangladesh on
a flight of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Detained Anisur Rahman Bhuiyan
also disclosed that those 10 persons
had link to the smuggling of the 106 kg
gold, the second largest haul of smuggled gold seized in Bangladesh after
the 126 kg gold seized earlier in June
last year.
Smuggling of gold has turned rampant and the airports in Bangladesh
have become one of the main routes of
gold smuggling since the Indian government imposed some barriers on the
import of gold there.
Besides, around 60 rings are said to
be involved in the smuggling of gold
and various precious metals and stones
while a section of officials and employees working at the airports have been
found to be linked to the smuggling
processes.
Moinul Khan, Director General of the
Customs Intelligence and Investigation
Directorate (CIID) earlier told the Dhaka Tribune that they had identified 18
officials of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines and the Civil Aviation Authorities
of Bangladesh (CAAB) as the suspects
for their links to the smuggling of the
124 kg of gold. l

Alam and police had been attempting

to arrest them and the other members
of the ring, he said.
The arrested had started his criminal activities under the protection of
different political parties since 1996.
Later, he had left the country when
CMP declared him one of the most
wanted criminals.
Six years after his departure, he
came back to Chittagong and started
faking his identity with a forged nation-

al identity card. However, police had

detected his original identity and had
arrested him, the arrested informed the
interrogation team.
Faridul, was let out of jail on bail
by the court, and started deceiving
common people by identifying himself as DB personnel, the arrested
said.
The arrested was handed over to
Chawkbazar police station, the official
added. l

Elephant action plan

on the cards
n Abu Bakar Siddique

The government is formulating an Elephant Action Plan to conserve the giant

herbivore and put a check on the elephant-human conflict in the country.
The Forest Department said they are
working on it. The plan may be finalised by December this year and brought
into force by January next year.
The government is preparing the
policy with an aim to conserve the
Asian elephants. It will be the guideline
for elephant conservation, said Tapan Kumar Dey, conservator of Forest
(Wildlife) of the Forest Department.
Being a flagship or umbrella species,
elephants are considered a symbol of a
healthy ecosystem, but they are critically endangered in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh now accounts for around
200 wild elephants, though in the
mid-twentieth century, it had above 500.
The number of wild elephants has
decreased in Asia in the last two centuries because of fragmentation and
destructionof their habitat, caused by
expansion of agriculture and human
settlement.
Wildlife expert Dr Reza Khan, who
is now working as Dubai Zoo curator,
says elephants are straying into human
habitats and damaging crops due to a
growing pressure on their habitats, re-

sulting in human-elephant conflict.

According to Forest Department statistics, at least 93 people were killed
in elephant attacks across the country
in the last 13 years. Of them, 50 were
killed in Chittagongs southern part Patiya, Khurushia and Banshkhali.

Bangladesh now
accounts for around
200 wild elephants,
though in the midtwentieth century, it
had above 500
Apart from human beings, at least seven
elephants were killed by elephants. Of
them, four died in Sherpur, two in Rangamati and the remainder in Netrokona.
Moreover, at least 823 homes were
destroyed by elephants in Rangtia
range and 19 homes in Balijuri range in
Sherpur in the last one decade.
On top of formulating the elephant action plan, the Forest Department is conducting the wild elephant census and the
report is likely to be published next June.
Earlier, the government formulated
an action plan to save the countrys tiger population in 2008, and the current
tiger conservation programme is running based on that. l

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

B3 Cellbazaar formally
turns to Ekhanei

B4 Marketing to Muslims
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Budget may feature investment stimulus

n Tribune Report
As all set, the next fiscal years budget
announcement scheduled for tomorrow is expected to include a number
of incentive packages to stimulate investments.
With many challenges ahead, Finance Minister AMA Muhith will place
the proposed budget for FY2014-15 in
the parliament.
National Board of Revenue (NBR)
has set an ambitious target of collecting Tk1,49,720 crore revenue in the
next financial year beginning from
July.
Extension of legalising black money facility, enlargement of tax-free
income slabs, continuation of tax holiday offers, tax incentives for factory
relocation outside the capital and lowering of turnover tax rate are likely to
be some of the features of the upcoming budget, official sources said.

Incentives for factory relocation out

of Dhaka

The government is expected to provide tax rebates for the industries to be

shifted from the capital. The new industries, which are not eligible for tax
holiday, would be given 20% tax rebate
for setting up the plants outside Dhaka while the industries, already established in Dhaka, would enjoy 10% tax
rebate for relocation.
The government is taking the move
as the capital Dhaka and the adjoining
areas have become almost unlivable
due to the factories established in the
areas without any proper plan.
The factories need to be relocated to ensure a proper working atmosphere as it has been a core concern for
the foreign buyers and brands after the

Tax-free limit of
stock dividends
likely to be raised
n Tribune Report
The government is expected to offer
tax incentives to the small stock market
investors as it has finalised an increase
in the tax exemption limit on dividend
income from the existing Tk10,000 to
Tk15,000.
The offer is intended to encourage
small investors to invest more in the
countrys capital market which is yet
to bounce back after the 2010 debacle.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith will
announce the proposed budget for
the next financial year in the parliament tomorrow, which is expected to
include the incentives for retail stock
investors.
The budget may also provide Dhaka
Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong
Stock Exchange (CSE) the two bourses of the country - with tax holiday facility for next five years.
The facility is expected to be featured in the upcoming budget as the
two stock markets have earlier requested for it, according to the official sources concerned.
The government will offer five
years tax holiday for both the demutualised entities to entertain their requests, said an official involved with
the budget process.
DSE and CSE were demutualised on
November 21, 2013. l

Rana Plaza and Tazreen Tragedy, said

Exporters Association of Bangladesh
President Abdus Salam Murshedy.
He suggested setting up factories
in the rural areas. But it depends on
three factors. If the government can
give tax holiday benefits, ensure utility
services and refinance small entrepreneurs providing soft loans with small
interests, the owners will surely be relocated.
According to the Income Tax Ordinance 1984, there are 17 sectors each in
industrial undertakings and physical
infrastructures that are eligible for getting tax holiday facility.

Tax holiday to be continued till 2019

To encourage and support new entrepreneurs, tax holiday scheme, which

was scheduled to end at June 2015, is
expected to be extended to June 2019
as an incentive package to improve
revenue collection.
As the NBR finds the limited extension of tax holiday does not attract businesses, the government might extend
the time-frame for supporting businesses for a couple of years to ensure an effective investment atmosphere.

Ceiling for CSR spending to

witness a rise

Corporate tax cut only for non-listed

companies

The rate of corporate income tax would

only be reduced for the non-listed
companies, and the rest would remain
unchanged in the upcoming fiscal year.
The finance minister is expected to
propose reduction of tax rate for the
non-listed companies from the existing 37.5% to 35% and keep the rates for
other companies unchanged.
Former FBCCI President Mir Nasir
Hossain said the gap between the tax
rate for listed and non-listed companies should be minimised.
Cost of doing business is very high
in Bangladesh. For the high corporate
tax rate, the local businesses are facing uneven competition in the international market. The tax gap between
the two, which is now 10%, should be
reduced at least to 5%, he added.

Green tax may be imposed for curbing

environment pollution

The government is likely to impose

green tax at 1%, as surcharge, on prices of products produced by compa-

nies who mostly pollute environment

in different ways while the environment-friendly industries are likely to
receive incentive packages.
EAB President Murshedy said preventing industries from polluting
environment cannot be made with
imposing penalty, rather it needs encouragements such as incentive packages.
Factories have concentrated to certain places, which should be changed.
Factories have to be established in an
environment-friendly manner, he
said.
Not penalty, motivation is needed,
which might include providing soft
loans with 5% interest rate for setting
up effluent treatment plants at the factories, said Murshedy.

Proposed income slabs*

On first Tk2.2 lakh of taxable income

On first Tk2.2 lakh of taxable income

Nil

On first Tk3 lakh of taxable income

On next Tk5 lakh of taxable income

10%

On first Tk4 lakh of taxable income

On next Tk7 lakh of taxable income

20%

On first Tk3 lakh of taxable income

On next Tk25 lakh of taxable income

25%

On the balance of taxable income

On balance over Tk44.2 lakh of taxable

income

30%

TAX-FREE INCOME THRESHOLD FOR INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS

Threshold of taxable income
Existing

Proposed*

Tax exempted income threshold

Tk2.2 lakh

Tk2.2 lakh

Women and aged taxpayers (65 years

or above)

Tk2.5 lakh

Tk2.75 lakh

Tk3 lakh

Tk3.5 lakh

Physically challenged
Freedom fighters

Tk4 lakh
*Likely to be proposed

Restructuring income tax slabs

n Tribune Business Desk
The tax-free income ceiling for individual taxpayers is likely to remain
unchanged at Tk2.20 lakh in the next
fiscal year as Finance Minister AMA
Muhith is set to place the budget proposal tomorrow.
But the ceiling for other categories
like women, elderly of more than 65
years of age, disabled and freedom
fighters would be increased, officials
said.
A new slab would also be intro-

duced with highest 30% tax for income

over Tk44.20 lakh.
The limit for female and senior citizens would be raised from Tk2.50 lakh
to Tk2.75 lakh and for physically challenged from Tk3 lakh to Tk3.50 lakh.
For freedom fighters it would be set at
Tk4 lakh.
Other than the tax-free income
threshold, the income tax slabs would
be like 10% tax on Tk5 lakh income,
15% for next Tk7 lakh, 20% for next Tk5
lakh, 25% for next Tk25 lakh and 30%
for over Tk44.20 lakh. l

Venture capital norms on cards

n Kayes Sohel

Securities regulator has taken a move

to frame norms on venture capital to
bring firms under discipline.
Presently, there are no rules and
regulations for handling such types of
risky and sensitive investment.
Over the past several years, venture
capital companies that are relatively
new in the country have been operating their businesses over the past few
years without any rules.
This has mainly prompted the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) to frame rules, said an
official.
Venture capital companies usually
provide fund at the early stages to private companies with high potential.
The commission has formed a
three-member committee to formulate
rules on venture capital and private
equity, said BSEC in a statement yesterday. The committee was asked to

submit report within a month to the

commission, it said.
Currently, Bangladesh has very few
such firms, including Brummer and
Partners Asset Management (Bangladesh), NDB Capital, BD Ventures and
VIPB Asset Management Company.
Industry people welcomed the
regulator move saying it will help
grow the industry and attract foreign
investment.
They were of the view is that it was
hardly possible to settle any dispute in
the new business due to lack of rules.
Mohammad Al Maruf Khan, vice
chairman of NDB Capital, said it is really tough to operate business in the unregulated market, as there is a chance
of unethical activities.
The move will help develop the
sector as foreign investment was attracted in the disciplined market, he
said. The move should be taken earlier. However it is better late than never.
He said the regulation should fol-

The government is expected to reduce

the minimum tax on any companys
gross receipts from existing 0.50%
to 0.25%. Currently, any company
having gross receipts of more than
Tk50 lakh, irrespective of its profits
or loss, has to pay minimum tax at the
rate of 0.50%.
Former FBCCI President Mir Nasir
Hossain said the tax needs withdrawal
as it goes against the basic principle of
income tax and creates double taxation.
We are paying taxes twice on our
incomes whereas the income should
be implied only to the income once.
Though it should be withdrawn, however, a reduction on the rate can also
support the businesses, he said.

Tax rebate on individual investment to

be reduced

The government is likely to propose

reducing tax rebate on investment in
some specific sectors by individuals to
10% from 15%, apparently to enhance
revenue income.
At present, the rebate is entitled to an
amount of Tk1.5 crore or 30% of an individuals income whichever is lower.
The government had raised the rebate to
15% in the last budget while raising the
allowable limit from Tk1 crore to boost
investment and economic growth.l

FY15 budget may

propose paying it
through banks
n Asif Showkat Kallol and
Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The government would propose in the

budget for next fiscal year introducing
payment of house rent though banking
channel to prevent tax evasion.
The budget for 2014-15 would have
provisions for tenants to pay their house
rents through cheques if it exceeds
Tk25,000 per month, officials said.
With the new system, the banks
would be asked to deduct tax at source
on income from house rent before
making payment to house owners.
Both the house owners and tenants
will be brought under the tax net as the
payments will be made through banking channels and the NBR would be
able to collect from the banks the relevant information about income.
A large number of house owners
evades taxes as they do not give formal
money receipts to the tenants while
collecting rents, through which, they
manage to conceal the actual amounts
they collected and thus evade tax.
According to National Board of
Revenue, a total of 1.62 lakh tax evading house owners were indentified
through a survey in some selected
areas. They concealed income from
house rents while submitting income
tax returns.
The board has brought less than half
of them under tax net by opening their
income tax files and collecting the taxes from them.
NBR officials said house owners do
not declare even half of their income
from property rent in income tax returns. l

Ecnec okays Tk82cr SEZ project

INDIVIDUAL TAX RATES AND INCOME SLABS

Existing income slabs

Turnover tax

The government is going to propose

raising the tax rebate from 10% to 20%
for encouraging corporate companies
to make investments in natural disaster funds, and to organisations related
with health and education sectors.
The tax ceiling for CSR expenditure
would also be raised from Tk8 crore to
Tk12 crore annually.
The areas under CSR spending are
natural disaster victims, old homes,
schools for floating children, residence
of slum dwellers, specialised hospitals
for free treatment of poor etc.

HOUSE RENT

low the desirability in the perspective

of Bangladesh market and avoid copy
other countries.
An official of BD Ventures said rules
will help build trust in the capital venture companies. In absence of venture-capital fund rules, it is not possible to raise funds to finance new and
innovative ventures.
India has more than 200 such types
of companies after promulgation of
rules and regulations in 1996.
A large number of venture capital
companies have been formed in Pakistan after proclaiming rules in 2001.
In India, venture capital financing
started in 1988 with the formation of
Technology Development and Information Company of India Ltd.
Grameen Fund is the pioneer of venture capital in the country.
It launched its operation in mid1990s although the organisation is no
more funding the private companies as
venture capital. l

n Tribune Report

The government has allocated Tk81.95

crore for setting up four special economic zones (SEZs) in the country a
move that the private sector has long
been crying for.
Under the project titled Bangladesh
Economic Zones Development Project
(Phase-1), four SEZs would be set up in
Sherpur of Maulvibazar, Mirershorai
and Anwara of Chittagong and another
in Sirajganj.
Of the total outlay, Tk2.25 crore will
come from the state coffer while the
remaining of Tk79.70 crore as project
assistance.
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will implement the
first phase of the project by June 2016.
With this project, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council
(Ecnec) yesterday approved four development projects involving Tk3,394.40 crore.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
chaired the meeting at the NEC conference room in Dhaka.
After the meeting, Planning Minister
AHM Mostafa Kamal told reporters that of
the total project cost, Tk222.63 crore will
come from the national exchequer and
Tk3,171.77 crore from project assistance.
He said the government would provide land, gas lines, power to the SEZs
while the investing companies would
develop infrastructure on their own.
The project will focus on expansion

of multi-product industries in different zones, construction and development of necessary physical infrastructures for establishing economic zones
in a bid to ensure a balanced development of the country.
Kamal said the government has already decided to allocate one of the
SEZs to Japan.

The country needs the

economic zones for
attracting both foreign
and local investments
Earleir, BEZA carried out a study and
identified that Sherpur, Mirershorai
and Anwara as potential locations for
economic zones to be built at an estimated cost of $1.17bn by investors.
The Sherpur economic zone, which
is proposed to be set up on 353 acres of
land, will be 55 kilometres from MAG
Osmani International Airport, 435km
from the Chittagong port and 208km
from Dhaka, according to the study.
The economic zone will accommodate industrial units for textile, ceramic, pharmaceutical, paint and food
processing, and create jobs for 40,706
workers. The price of land will be $50
per square metre.
The government plans to start the
construction of the Sherpur EZ in 2015
and complete the work by 2018. It will
cost $90m, with only five households

to be relocated to accommodate the

economic zone.
The Mirershorai economic zone will
be set up on 6,615.12 acres of land at a cost
of $847m. It, however, does not have the
water supply network at present.
The proposed zone will be 182km from
Dhaka, 66km from Chittagong, 79km
from the airport and 67 from the sea port.
It will house industries from sectors
such as garment, garment accessories,
textiles, machinery parts, bike and automobile assembling.
The Anwara project will be located
on 1,389 acres of land and will be 45km
from Chittagong port, 28km from the
port city and 46km from the airport. It
will cost $239mn.
The zone will have direct sea access,
enabling it to attract waterfront industries such as shipbuilding, shipbuilding
components, steel, automobile parts,
leather goods and pharmaceuticals.
The price of land is estimated at $60$70 per square metre, with construction
due to start in 2017. It is expected to create jobs for 53,420 workers, while 980
households will have to be relocated.
The government approved the Economic Zones Act in 2010 to attract both
foreign and domestic investors to create 10 million jobs by 2030 and spur
economic development.
The country needs the economic
zones for attracting both foreign and
local investments, and for creating employment generation, business people
earlier said. l

AGENT BANKING

One urban outlet against two rural ones

n Tribune Report
A bank must have at least two rural
agent banking outlet if it wants to open
one urban agent banking outlet, according to a guidance note
Bangladesh Bank issued
yesterday.
The move comes a day
after allowing agent banking
activities in the rural areas,
including municipalities.
Earlier, on March 24 this
year, Bangladesh Bank imposed restriction on agent
banking in rural areas, which
is still applicable in metropolitan or city corporations.
According to the guidance
note, target groups those really need to be served with financial services under agent
banking are the non-privi-

leged and underserved locations.

Banks will give much emphasis on
the rural areas to cover lion share of the
target group, but at the same time, will
not ignore the rest of the target group

by concentrating on the urban area in a

limited scope.
Bank will provide priority to rural
areas for their operation of agent banking, said the note. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stock

Stocks fall on
profit booking
n Tribune Report

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features

June 3, 2014

Number of Contract

It said the Motijheel street

turned a bit volatile partly due
to growing worry over governments strong position on bringing
back the banks' stock market exposure down to the permissible limit
in keeping with the pledges made
to the International Monetary
Fund.
Participation was concentrated
mainly in engineering, textile and
cement sectors, making up almost
37% of the total turnover.
Among the major sectors, telecommunication performed well
with gaining more than 3%. It was
followed by the textile companies
that rallied over 2% with seven of
them featuring in the top ten gainers list.
Other sectors, including pharmaceuticals, power, food, bank and
non-banking financial institutions
closed red on profit booking.
Out of 294 issues traded, 150 declined, 110 advanced and 34 closed
unchanged.
Grameenphone was the most
traded stocks over last several sessions with shares worth Tk41 crore
changing hands followed by Lafarge Surma Cement, Heidelberg
Cement, BSRM Steel, Meghna Petroleum and Square Pharmaceuticals,
DSE is scheduled to meet with
the regulator today to discuss the
present market scenario. l

Stocks ended lower yesterday, as

investors have booked quick profits
on financial, energy and pharmaceutical issues.
After moving up sharply in early trading, the market has lost its
ground amid weak market breadth.
After rising more than 20 points,
the benchmark index DSEX settled
the session at 4,419, shedding 28
points or 0.7%. It finished flat in the
previous session.

DSE is scheduled
to meet with the
regulator today to
discuss the present
market scenario
The comprising blue chips DS30
was down 13 points or 0.8% to 1,625.
The Shariah index DSES was slightly down 3 points or 0.4% to 1,003.
Chittagong Stock Exchange
(CSE) Selective Categories Index,
CSCX, was up 51 points to 8,435.
Participation in trading decreased after three-session rising as
the total turnover at DSE was Tk392
crore, down more than 9% over the
previous session.
Lanka Bangla Securities said profit
taking on financial, fuel and power,
and pharma stocks snapped the winning streaks of the previous session.

Company

Turnover
(Million Taka)

4,324.98

Turnover
(Volume)

79,867,885
86,498

Traded Issues

294

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

101

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

188

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

2,298.06

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

27.86

CSE key features

June 3, 2014
Turnover (Million Taka)

252.85

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights

6,635,826

Number of Contract

9,367

DSE Broad Index :

4418.79221

(-) 0.64%

Traded Issues

219

DSE Shariah Index :

1003.32309

(-) 0.37%

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

68

DSE - 30 Index :

1625.32216

(-) 0.80%

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

148

CSE All Share Index:

13649.39970

(-) 0.42%

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

CSE - 30 Index :

11105.38410

(-) 1.35%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

2,202.68

8435.91790

(-) 0.60%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

26.70

CSE Selected Index :

DSE LOSERS
Company

Closing (%
change)

AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A

Wata Chemicals -A
Delta Life Insu. -A
2nd ICB M F -A
Union Capital -A
ICB Islamic Bank-Z
MBL 1st M. F.-A
Karnaphuli Insur -A

-9.72
-7.70
-5.89
-5.86
-5.83
-5.45
-5.26
-4.24

Average (%
change)
-10.47
24.17
-4.93
-5.64
-6.61
6.39
-5.99
-3.48

Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z

LankaBangla Fin. -A

-4.20
-3.95

-2.41
-3.34

CSE LOSERS

Janata Insur -A
EXIM Bank 1 MF-A
ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A
Republic Insu.-A
Delta Life Insu. -A
AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A
Rangpur Foundry -A
SonarBangla Insu. -A

-9.79
-9.33
-8.59
-7.74
-5.98
-5.63
-5.28
-5.26

Average (%
change)
-9.54
-7.23
-8.59
-0.94
-5.24
-2.39
-5.29
-5.26

MBL 1st M. F.-A

Padma Islami Life*-N

-5.17
-5.08

-6.63
-3.99

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
413.08
103.77
60.31
508.07
181.95
406.91
4.88
490.45
459.10
0.23
45.40
49.65
9.49
472.70
17.55
49.27
105.89
461.16
27.31
55.21
0.42

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

6.50
488.91
198.50
270.00
21.21
5.83
5.49
22.73

6.50
449.60
193.50
270.00
21.00
5.20
5.40
22.60

6.70
524.60
204.80
270.10
22.30
6.00
5.60
23.60

6.50
449.60
190.00
270.00
20.10
5.20
5.40
22.00

2.930
25.516
70.548
0.054
1.819
3.840
6.669
1.226

1.49
9.80
2.92
33.24
2.08
-1.12
1.44
1.40

4.4
49.9
68.0
8.1
10.2
-ve
3.8
16.2

11.73
41.93

11.40
41.30

12.10
45.00

11.20
39.00

4.083
28.581

0.04
1.24

Al-Haj Textile -A
Stylecraft -A
CMC Kamal Tex. -A
Eastern Cables-A
BSRM Steels-A
Maksons Spinning-A
Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A
Generation Next-A
Apex SpinningA
Matin Spinning-N

Closing (%
change)
9.98
6.05
5.94
5.49
5.24
4.20
4.18
4.17
4.10
4.08

CSE GAINERS
Company
Sonargaon Tex -Z
Imam Button -Z
Eastern Cables-A
BSRM Steels-A
Pragati Gen. I -A
Paramount Insur-A
S. Alam CR Steel -A
Generation Next-A
Matin Spinning-N
Apex Tannery -A

Closing (%
change)
9.88
8.75
8.02
5.76
5.38
4.23
4.19
4.14
4.09
3.78

Average (%
change)
10.36
6.19
2.59
2.20
5.33
3.03
(0.45)
1.30
1.31
3.93
Average (%
change)
9.88
8.75
5.13
5.06
5.92
4.23
3.12
2.12
3.76
4.23

Closing
average
148.56
1,200.00
20.96
135.35
81.06
14.94
24.26
14.80
83.40
43.13

Closing
average
8.90
8.70
138.79
81.12
43.10
19.70
35.00
14.90
43.09
154.46

Closing
152.10
1,200.10
21.40
136.50
80.30
14.90
24.90
15.00
83.80
43.40

Closing
8.90
8.70
140.10
80.80
43.10
19.70
34.80
15.10
43.30
153.80

Daily high
152.10
1,202.00
22.20
139.00
83.90
15.50
25.70
15.50
85.50
44.30

Daily high
8.90
8.70
142.60
83.50
43.10
19.70
36.00
15.50
44.00
157.20

Daily low
135.00
1,190.00
18.20
129.50
74.80
12.90
23.10
13.00
79.90
41.40

Daily low
8.90
8.70
133.90
77.70
43.10
19.70
34.00
14.10
41.20
150.60

Turnover
in million
59.707
1.560
15.756
18.936
177.600
20.004
66.998
31.935
2.652
48.955

Turnover
in million
0.009
0.004
1.735
17.200
0.004
0.049
1.094
4.861
3.318
2.301

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

2.00
47.83
1.32
2.03
4.72
1.02
4.64
2.28
1.85
2.99

Latest
EPS

74.3
25.1
15.9
66.7
17.2
14.6
5.2
6.5
45.1
14.4

Latest
PE

-0.92
-1.85
2.03
4.72
2.52
1.64
1.90
2.28
2.99
4.35

-ve
-ve
68.4
17.2
17.1
12.0
18.4
6.5
14.4
35.5

News, analysis and recent disclosers

AL-HAJTEX: With reference to their
earlier price sensitive news which was disseminated in DSE website on 30.01.2014,
the company has further informed that,
as per item number 1 of the said news, a
writ petition (no. 5129) was conducted in
the year 2009 where a verdict was made
on 20.01.2014. According to that verdict,
Agrani Bank limited has deposited Tk.
8,11,25,002 (including both principal and
interest) in the current account of the
company of Ishwardi Branch out of the
company's total claim of Tk. 52,56,09,375.
EXIMBANK: The Company has further
informed that due to unavoidable circumstances the AGM of the Company will now
be held on June 17, 2014 at 11:00 AM at
'RAOWA Convention Hall', Level-2, VIP
Road, Mohakhali, Dhaka-1206 instead of
June 26, 2014.
JANATAINS: The Company has further
informed that the 28th AGM of the
Company will be held on June 22, 2014 at
12:00 Noon at Ball Room of Chittagong
Boat Club, Ghat No. 11, East Patenga, Chittagong. Other information of the AGM will
remain unchanged.

PRIMEBANK: The Company has informed

that Mr. Azam J Chowdhury has been
elected as Chairman of the Company for a
period of 1st June 2014 to 31st May 2016.
IPO Subscription: Far East Knitting &
Dyeing Industries Limited subscription date
15-19 June 2014, NRB upto 28 June 2014.
@ taka 27, face value taka 10 and market lot
200. Shurwid Industries Limited subscription date 08-12 June 2014, NRB upto 21
June 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and
market lot 500. Saif Powertec Limited subscription date 06-10 July 2014, NRB upto 19
July 2014. @ taka 30, face value taka 10 and
market lot 200. Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling
Mills Limited subscription date 13-17 July
2014, NRB upto 26 July 2014. @ taka 40,
face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

Dividend/AGM

WATACHEM: 30% stock, AGM:

27.06.2014, Record Date: 11.06.2014.
AMBEEPHA: 15% cash and 20%
stock, AGM: 16.06.2014, Record Date:
28.05.2014.
MBL1STMF: 3% cash, Record date:
02.06.2014.

AIBL1STIMF: 5.5% cash, Record date:

02.06.2014.
ORIONPHARM: 15% cash, AGM:
22.06.2014, Record Date: 21.05.2014.
PURABIGEN: 15% stock, AGM:
29.06.2014, Record date: 21.05.2014.
SALVOCHEM: 10% stock, AGM:
27.08.2014, Record date: 25.06.2014.
ISNLTD: No dividend, AGM: 17.06.2014,
RD May 20, 2014.
GOLDENSON: 25% stock, EGM and AGM:
21.06.2014, Record Date: 15.05.2014.
MERCINS: 10% cash, dividend for the
Public Shareholders (B-Group) only, AGM:
16.06.2014, Record Date: 15.05.2014.
CMCKAMAL: 12.50% stock, AGM:
30.06.2014. Record Date: 29.05.2014.
RUPALIBANK: 15% stock, AGM:
31.05.2014, Record date: 14.05.2014.
LEGACYFOOT: 5% stock, AGM:
21.06.2014, Record Date: 12.05.2014.
BDTHAI: 5% stock, AGM: 21.06.2014,
Record Date: 25.05.2014.
MEGHNACEM: 15% cash, AGM:
29.05.2014, Record Date: 14.05.2014.
MONNOSTAF: 10% cash, AGM:
26.06.2014, Record Date: 19.05.2014.

293.3
33.8

Closing
average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover
in million

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

17.55
6.80
18.10
31.70
197.46
6.93
100.50
18.00

17.50
6.80
18.10
31.00
193.50
6.70
100.50
18.00

18.80
6.80
18.10
32.40
204.00
7.30
101.00
18.00

17.50
6.80
18.10
31.00
191.50
6.60
100.00
18.00

0.109
0.003
0.018
0.032
6.635
2.244
0.101
0.018

1.40
0.71
2.33
2.45
2.92
1.49
3.08
1.52

12.5
9.6
7.8
12.9
67.6
4.7
32.6
11.8

5.49
63.50

5.50
63.50

5.50
63.50

5.40
63.50

0.382
0.032

1.44
1.10

3.8
57.7

Profit taking on financial, fuel and power, and

pharma stocks snapped the winning streaks of
the previous session

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company
Grameenphone-A
LafargeS Cement-Z
HeidelbergCement -A
BSRM Steels-A
Meghna Petroleum -A
Mercantile Bank -A
Square Pharma -A

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

Sector

Daily high

Turnover
in million

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

% change
10.53
2.65
1.54
12.95
4.64
10.37
0.12
12.50
11.70
0.01
1.16
1.27
0.24
12.05
0.45
1.26
2.70
11.76
0.70
1.41
0.01

Million Taka
23.84
6.08
4.60
42.79
10.38
25.46
42.38
22.04
9.58
1.38
11.30
0.64
31.36
1.07
1.19
7.56
28.21
4.29
7.28
0.02

CSE

% change
8.47
2.16
1.63
15.20
3.69
9.05
0.00
15.06
7.83
3.40
0.49
4.02
0.23
11.14
0.38
0.42
2.68
10.02
1.52
2.59
0.01

Million Taka
436.92
109.85
64.91
550.87
192.33
432.37
4.88
532.84
481.14
9.81
46.78
60.95
10.13
504.06
18.62
50.46
113.44
489.37
31.59
62.49
0.44

Total

% change
10.39
2.61
1.54
13.10
4.57
10.28
0.12
12.67
11.44
0.23
1.11
1.45
0.24
11.99
0.44
1.20
2.70
11.64
0.75
1.49
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

Delta Life Insu. -A

Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A
Olympic Ind. -A

Al-Haj Textile -A
National Tubes -A
UCBL - A
ACI Limited- A
Pharma Aids A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company
Grameenphone-A

LafargeS Cement-Z
BSRM Steels-A
Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A
Meghna Petroleum -A
Square Pharma -A
Appollo Ispat CL -N
BD Submarine Cable-A
HeidelbergCement -A
Delta Life Insu. -A
Hwa Well Textiles-N
Generation Next-A
Aftab Auto.-A
UCBL - A
Padma Oil Co. -A

Volume
shares
1,451,192
2,494,000
387,070
2,191,013
598,003
6,051,675
339,541
355,400
2,761,500
281,548

401,901
354,068
2,155,513
212,067
240,500

Volume
shares

72,800
221,000
212,040
391,500
32,800
33,254
291,000
40,152
13,550
33,600
144,000
326,166
59,138
176,407
13,390

Value in
million
414.90
206.18
203.75
177.60
168.58
113.83
93.61
70.55
67.00
64.81

59.71
58.52
56.41
54.44
52.55

Value in
million

20.80
18.34
17.20
9.54
9.27
9.17
7.92
7.42
7.15
6.63
6.03
4.86
4.78
4.60
4.43

% of total
turnover
10.58
5.26
5.19
4.53
4.30
2.90
2.39
1.80
1.71
1.65

1.52
1.49
1.44
1.39
1.34

% of total
turnover

8.38
7.39
6.93
3.85
3.74
3.70
3.19
2.99
2.88
2.67
2.43
1.96
1.93
1.85
1.79

Daily
closing
290.70
83.10
528.60
80.30
278.50
18.70
274.50
193.50
24.90
228.40

152.10
163.80
26.10
251.60
216.00

Daily
closing

290.00
83.20
80.80
25.00
278.10
274.80
27.00
183.60
526.50
193.50
42.00
15.10
80.00
26.00
328.40

Price
change
3.19
3.49
0.06
5.24
-1.56
-0.53
-1.01
-5.89
4.18
-2.64

Daily
opening
281.70
80.30
528.30
76.30
282.90
18.80
277.30
205.60
23.90
234.60

Price
change

Daily
opening

9.98
0.68
-0.38
-1.18
3.75

3.06
3.48
5.76
3.73
-2.15
-1.33
0.75
-1.34
-0.11
-5.98
3.19
4.14
-1.60
-0.38
-1.35

138.30
162.70
26.20
254.60
208.20

281.40
80.40
76.40
24.10
284.20
278.50
26.80
186.10
527.10
205.80
40.70
14.50
81.30
26.10
332.90

Daily
high
293.70
83.70
537.50
83.90
287.30
19.10
280.00
204.80
25.70
235.50

152.10
168.40
27.00
262.80
226.00

Daily
low
275.00
80.10
519.60
74.80
260.00
17.50
254.00
190.00
23.10
222.00

135.00
150.00
23.60
232.40
208.30

Daily
average
285.91
82.67
526.39
81.06
281.90
18.81
275.70
198.50
24.26
230.18

Daily
high

Daily
low

Daily
average

293.00
83.90
83.50
25.60
287.00
278.70
27.90
187.40
539.00
204.00
43.00
15.50
82.60
26.20
337.40

281.00
80.60
77.70
23.20
276.10
273.60
26.90
183.30
520.00
191.50
40.20
14.10
79.70
23.50
326.20

148.56
165.28
26.17
256.71
218.52

285.70
82.97
81.12
24.38
282.51
275.88
27.23
184.69
527.39
197.46
41.87
14.90
80.84
26.06
331.17

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Cellbazaar formally turns to Ekhanei

n Tahmidur Rahman
The countrys first online free classified
ads website Cellbazaar.com has been
officially retitled as Ekhanei.com yesterday.
The rebranding took place after the
recent takeover of the company by new
stakeholders and joining of Schibsted
to the management along with Telenor
Group.
Formal announcement was made at
a function at a city hotel one week after
the new site went into online.
Schibsted is a Norwegian media
group while Telenor is a telecom company also based in Norway.
We figured out that sales of advertised products depend on the location
of its buyers and sellers, and therefore
we have introduced a new website
template to categorise products based
on locations, said the companys CEO
Arild Klokkerhaug.
Though Cellbazaar was a very wellknown to the customers, we wanted
to adopt a Bangla name, thats why we
hace changed it to Ekhanei. Logo has
also been changed.
Cellbazaar was initially introduced
as a value added service of Grameenphone, the countrys leading mobile
phone operator, to enable its users sell
or buy products through Internet.
In the recent years the service was
turned into a separate entity and its assets
in turn was given to SnT Classifieds on
agreement, according to a press release of
Telenor on September 30 last year.

Oil prices rise on

strong US, China
manufacturing
data
n AFP, Singapore
Oil prices rose in Asian trade yesterday
on strong manufacturing data from
top global energy guzzlers the United
States and China, analysts said.
US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in July gained
15 cents to $102.62 a barrel while Brent
North Sea crude for July was up 11 cents
to $108.94 in afternoon trading.
Analysts said oil prices were tracking gains on Wall Street Monday after
the Institute of Supply Management
said its purchasing managers index of
US manufacturing activity rose in May
to 55.4 from 54.9 in April.
China's official purchasing managers index (PMI) of manufacturing activity reached 50.8 in May, the government said Sunday, a five-month high,
up from 50.4 in March.
PMI data is a closely watched indicator of the health of a country's economy,
and a reading above 50 indicates growth.
"The oil market at the moment is focused on the manufacturing data out of
the US and China," Michael McCarthy,
chief market strategist at CMC Markets
in Sydney, told AFP.
"But we are seeing some of the risk
premium associated with Ukraine coming off as the crisis continues to drag on
with new developments having little
impact," McCarthy said. "That is dampening any upside factor on oil." l

Ekhanei.com CEO Arild Klokkerhaug speaks at the formal launching of the company in Dhaka yesterday
The company SnT C, a new joint
venture established by Telenor and
Schibsted, currently owns Ekhanei in
which Telenor and Schibsted will own
50% each.
However, Grameenphones financial statements of 2013 do not have

any information on this regard while

financial reports of 2012 shows external liabilities to Telenor Start II AS for
Cellbazaar operations.
The item mentioned as other external liabilities amounted to a consolidated figure of Tk4.7 crore in 2012,

B3

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

which was not mentioned in the annual reports of 2013.

Analyst who covers Grameenphone
stock analysis at a leading equity research firm could not explain the figures, as it is insignificant to the size of
the business.

Value of Cellbazaar ownership during the time of being sold, remains in

the dark as the CEO of Ekhanei.com
could not shed light on this topic.
Telenor has bought 33.3% shares of
the online marketplace company, 701
Search Pte and 50% stake of SnT Classifieds by paying 145m euro along with
contributing its Bangladeshi asset Cellbazaar.
While Schibsted contributed its
South American assets, Bomnegocio.
com (Brazil) and Yapo.cl (Chile) into the
joint venture.
The transactions imply an enterprise value of the company, 701 Search
Pte of 180m euro, reports Reuters.
One-third of the enterprise value is
60m euro, for which Telenor Group has
paid a sum of 145m euro, resulting in a
profit of 16.66% of enterprise value or
30m euro for Schibsted, added the report.
701 Search Pteis a media company
that specialises in search services via
online and mobile platforms for the
Asia Pacific region.
The company owned equally by
Telenor, Schibsted and Singapore Press
Holdings operates Mudah.my (Malaysia), Berniaga.com (Indonesia), Ayosdito.ph (The Philippines) and Chotot.
vn (Vietnam).
Ranking of the previous site, Cellbazaar.com was ranked among the countries 40th most visited site by Alexa
site rating company, while the newly
launched domain of ekhanei.com currently stands 219th on the list. l

Wata comes under

regulators lens
n Tribune Report
Wata Chemicals has come under the
lens of the securities regulator for its
unusual share price hike.
The commission has formed a twomember panel to probe into the abnormal
price movement on Monday, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement yesterday.
The panel was asked to submit the investigation report by 10 days to the commission, it said. On Monday, stock prices
of Wata Chemicals jumped more than
700% following its corporate declaration.
It recommended 30% stock dividend for the year ended on December
31, 2013. The company reported a net
profit after tax of Tk3 crore during 2013
and made Tk2 crore in 2012, according
to its financial statements.
On the news of probe body formation,
its stock price tumbled 7.7% to close at
over Tk449 a share, making it the second
worst performer on the day, as the company failed to attract any buyer.
Since its transfer to the main market
from the OTC market in mid last month,
the stock witnessed no sellers. Many
investors alleged that somebody has
tried to fish in the troubled water by
manipulating share prices of the stock.
They also expressed dissatisfaction
for not getting the companys financial
condition both on DSE server and the
company website, which was found
not functioning. The net asset value
per share of the company is equal to
Tk119.82 as of last year, which has been
questioned by several analysts. l

China PMIs fuel hope economy Dollar steady in Asia

after upbeat US
is stabilizing
n Reuters, Beijing
China's factory and services sectors
had their best showings in months
in May as demand rebounded, surveys showed, fuelling optimism that
its economy may be steadying after a
weak start to the year.
"Exports are picking up and the impact of the 'mini stimulus' is gradually
being felt," said Tao Wang, an economist at UBS, referring to recent government measures to revive growth.
"We expect this to last in the second
and third quarters."
The final HSBC/Markit purchasing
managers' index (PMI) rose to 49.4 in
May, a four-month high and compared
to April's 48.1.
Though the final reading was still
under the 50-point level that separates
growth in activity from contraction,
the improvement nonetheless stirred
hopes that the economy is working its
way through its prolonged soft patch.
The buoyancy was mirrored by a
similar acceleration in growth in the
services sector, where a governmentreleased PMI climbed to a six-month
high of 55.5, from April's 54.8.
The survey results augur well for
China's monthly economic data that
will be released from June 8, and gave a
fillip to Asian stock markets.
China's economy has had a bumpy
ride this year as an under whelming run
of data showed an extensive cooldown

in investment, retail sales and factory

output, feeding concerns that growth
could fall further from an 18-month
low seen between January and March.
Worried that a broadening downturn would cause unemployment to
spike and threaten China's social stability, the government is trying to bolster
growth by pump-priming the economy.

'The economy is
stabilizing, but it is
too early to say that
it has bottomed out,
particularly in light of a
weaker property sector'
Authorities have hastened infrastructure investment, accelerated state
spending, and twice lowered the reserve requirements for some banks
- with its most recent reduction made
on Friday.
The measures appear to be working.
"Improving conditions in developed
markets and further targeted loosening
measures announced last week should
continue to support the manufacturing sector," said Julian Evans Pritchard
from Capital Economics.

"This should give policymakers

more leeway to allow a greater cooling
of the property sector."
A breakdown of Tuesday's PMIs
showed domestic and foreign demand
is looking up for China.
The services PMI, a barometer for
the health of the economy, showed
new orders jumped to an eightmonth high of 52.7 in May, compared to
April's 50.8.
Companies also retained their confidence, with business expectations
holding ground at a solid 60.7, compared to April's 61.5.
In the HSBC PMI poll, a turnaround
in an export indicator was even more
dramatic. The new export orders subindex leapt to a four-year high of 53.2
in May from April's 48.9
"The economy is stabilizing, but it
is too early to say that it has bottomed
out, particularly in light of a weaker
property sector," said Qu Hongbin,
chief economist for China at HSBC.
Up against slowing sales and less
generous funding for property developers, China's real estate market has
softened this year after last year's stellar performance, causing price growth
to drop an 11-month low in April.
As the sector accounts for over 15%
of China's annual economic output and
affects production in over 40 industries, many analysts view the property
downturn as one of the biggest risks to
the Chinese growth engine this year. l

manufacturing data
n AFP, Tokyo
The dollar held steady in Asia yesterday after getting a lift from positive US
and Chinese manufacturing data, while
speculation about further easing measures by the European Central Bank
(ECB) held back the euro.
In Tokyo afternoon trading, the
greenback fetched 102.37 yen, little
changed from 102.36 yen in New York
Monday afternoon, having made up
ground from its 102.02 yen level in Tokyo earlier in the day.
The euro ticked up slightly to
$1.3602 and 139.26 yen on Tuesday
against $1.3595 and 139.19 yen in US
trade. The European single currency
has faced selling pressure lately due to
expectations of an interest rate cut by
the European Central Bank.
On Monday, the dollar rose as the
Institute of Supply Management said
its purchasing managers index of US
manufacturing activity rose in May to
55.4 from 54.9 in April. A reading above
50 indicates growth.
Upbeat Chinese manufacturing data
released over the weekend have also
boosted investors' appetite for risk,
spurring more dollar-buying.
Eurozone inflation concerns were
also in focus as consumer prices in
Germany, Europe's biggest economy,

slowed to their lowest rate in four years

in May, at 0.9%, compared with 1.3% in
April.
The sharp fall added to pressure on
the ECB, which holds a monetary policy meeting Thursday, to act to keep the
18-nation bloc from falling into deflation.
ECB watchers predicted a cut in the
central bank's key interest rates and
possibly new measures to pump liquidity into the banking system.
The "ECB remains the central focus
of this week as Germany 'flash' inflation came in much lower than expected
yesterday," Credit Agricole said, adding
that "if anything, (it) reinforces the
view that the central bank cannot afford to remain on the side line".
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko
Kuroda repeated his view Tuesday that
the BoJ would not hesitate to pull the
trigger on more easing if necessary to
boost the economy and achieve a target
of stable 2% inflation by next year.
"I don't think the measures are limited," he told parliament.
Investors are also looking ahead to
eurozone unemployment and US factory orders later in the day, as well as
US non-farm payroll figures at the end
of the week.
The dollar was mixed against other
Asia-Pacific currencies. l

Rupali Bank Limited has recently declared 15% stock dividend to shareholders for the year
at the banks 28th annual general meeting. The banks chair Dr Ahmad al- Kabir made the
declaration at the meeting

National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd recently got approval of 6% cash and 5% stock
dividends for the year 2013 from its shareholders at the banks 29th annual general
meeting that was presided over by the banks chair Md Nurun Newaz Salim

Bank Asia has recently participated in Bangladesh Banks initiative of opening bank
account for street children and working children in order to create social and an economic
safety-net. Dr Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, and Aminul Islam, MD (current
charge) of Bank Asia are seen in the photo

Abu Sadek Md Sohel, MD and CEO of BCBL and Firoz Patel, CEO of Crescent Payments
Private Ltd in India are seen exchanging document after signing a MoU on availing
E-commerce payment gateway service from the company Payza, recently in Dhaka

Sheltech Engineering Ltd. (an associates company of Sheltech Group) Chairman Engr.
Kutubuddin Ahmed, Vice-chairman & CEO Engr. Choudhury Jamal Ashraf and Director
Mr. Tanvir Ahmed cutting a cake to mark the companys anniversary program inDhaka02
June 2014. Chief Executive Officer(s) of Envoy Textiles Ltd., Platinum Chain of Boutique
Hotels, Green Textile Ltd., Aero Speed Intl Ltd., Sheltech Protection Services Ltd.,
Together Communications, Sheltech Brokerage Ltd., and Bengal Meat Processing
Industries Ltd. and huge numbers of Sheltech Engineering Ltd. officials, employees and
renowned socialites, journalists were present on the auspicious occasion

GIZ yesterday inaugurated a three-day workshop to probe export markets with ITC from
the World Trade Organisation in Dhaka. The chief guest William Hannah, European Unions
Ambassador to Bangladesh, launched the workshop

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Marketing to Muslims
n Saifur Rahman
Modern Muslim consumers are considered
by many to being the single biggest market
in the world that has been overlooked by
many brands in the past. The population
currently stands at 1.8 billion and by 2050
the Muslim population is expected to grow
to 2.6 billion, representing nearly 30% of
the global projected population.
Most marketers have missed the mark so
far by addressing only the emotional drivers
in order to build brand personality and image for the global consumers. As for Muslim
consumers, the story is a bit different. One
just cannot play around with the emotional
drivers only, understanding the core value
system on which those emotional drivers
are based on is also equally important in
order to create a ripple through the minds of
Muslim consumers. If a company understands that an Islamic brand is primarily
based on the ethics and values of Islam,
they will have won half the battle.
The purchasing power of this group is immense; growing at a rate of almost US$ 1.4bn
daily (US$ 500 billion annually) which is why
most of the global brands are fighting over
letting this genie out from the bottle and
unfold the treasure that was hidden all this
while. There are 780 million Muslims under
the age of 25, which is 43% of the total Muslim population and 11% of the entire global
population. They are young, confident, and
proud of their identity with freedom and the
ability to purchase whatever they desire.
Fortune 500 companies such as Unilever, Nestle, Citi NA, McDonalds, Tesco, and

Apple allows
'approved' virtual
currencies in Apps
n Reuters
Apple Inc will let software developers
include virtual-currency transactions
in their applications, paving the way
for new forms of money to appear on
iPhones and iPads.
"Apps may facilitate transmission of
approved virtual currencies provided
that they do so in compliance with all
state and federal laws for the territories in
which the app functions," Apple said in an
update to its App Store review guidelines.
Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet
did not immediately respond to an
email seeking more information.
Virtual currencies are not backed by
any government or central bank and are
bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control.
Several US state regulators are looking to toughen rules on the use of the
controversial cryptocurrency and have
over the last few months warned investors to consider the risks associated
with virtual currencies before trading
in them. l

Coke are all taking this market seriously and

have made significant investment in order
to provide Halal (acceptable to Muslims, in
accordance with good practice) products
in specific Muslim countries. The worlds
leading advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather
has understood the potential of this market
and has opened their Islamic branding wing

Islamic values can

champion the cause
of corporate social
responsibility in
both the Muslim and
Western worlds. Values
such as transparency,
discipline, humility, and
purity are universal in
their appeal
Ogilvy Noor, which publishes the Noor
Global Brand Index, to identify and rank
Muslim-friendly brands. They also publish
Brand, Islam and the New Muslim Consumer reports annually to understand the
specific needs of this segment.
On the flipside, there is also a huge
risk of brands isolating Muslim consumers. One can explain this with an excerpt
from Apples poster You can quote them,
disagree with themBut the only thing you
cant do is ignore them. In 1998, Nike had to
recall 38,000 pairs of Nike Air shoes when
the logo was declared by the Council of

American Islamic Relations to be offensive to Muslims as it resembled the word

Allah in Arabic. After Denmark published
the distorted photo of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), their annual export volume
of US$2.6bn to Muslim countries literally
disappeared. Even global tech giant Google
was given a run for their money when their
online video portal YouTube was banned
in many Muslim countries for hosting the
controversial video Fitna which disgraced
Islam and the Prophet.
To avoid such instances, brand owners can
develop a strong brand based on the ethics
and values important to the Muslim consumer
group. The Ogilvy Noor report reveals how
a successful Islamic brand can be created by
circling around the Muslim consumers and
complying with the Islamic values by focusing
on the following eight factors:
1
A brands role in the community:
Including all aspects of a companys
corporate citizenship
2 Product: Including both the range of
offering, ingredients, and manufacturing process
3 The brand story and its PR strategy:
Focusing on the tactics brands can
employ when talking about themselves,
to better appeal to the new Muslim
consumers
4 Corporate business practice: Every
aspect of how the business is run internally
5 Visual identity: The specific needs of
the Muslim consumer when it comes to
visual information and appeal
6 Brand communication: How and what

a brand is communicating to its audience

External endorsement: Who to partner with and who to avoid
8 Customer service and delivery: Why
getting this is so important and how to
do so
Muslim consumers must be targeted
through a core product brand that stands up
across a variety of markets. For this, it is important to develop a comprehensive range
of products that are universally accepted
by all Muslims. Moreover, the Halal market
is not confined to Muslims only. It has also
attracted non-Muslim consumers due to
its perceived quality and health benefits.
Non-Muslims are also inclining towards
the Islamic financial system because of its
core values equitable sharing of risk, and
discouragement of excess leverage.
In conclusion, Islamic values can
champion the cause of corporate social
responsibility in both the Muslim and Western worlds. Values such as transparency,
discipline, humility, and purity are universal
in their appeal. Islamic branded products
offer a better future for all, as they are based
on the values of goodness and justice.
Value propositions should be designed in
a way that will appeal to both Muslims and
non-Muslims alike to move the addressable
market from 1.8 billion Muslims to the full
global population of 7 billion. l
7

Saifur Rahman is the Co-Founder and

Director at LightCastle Partners Ltd. He is a
certified Project Management Professional
(PMP) issued by Project Management
Institute (PMI), USA.

UN labour body denounces global

austerity measures
n AFP, Geneva
The United Nation's labour agency
yesterday denounced "premature" austerity measures brought in by governments around the world during the financial crisis, saying they have hurt the
world's most vulnerable people.
Isabel Ortiz, director of social welfare of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said that in 2014 alone at
least 122 governments have cut public
spending, including in 82 developing
countries.
In the European Union, where many
states brought in swingeing budget
cuts in response to the debt crisis, she
estimated that as many as 123 million
people - or a quarter of the bloc's population - were now classified as poor because of cuts in social protection.
Now, more than 70% of the world's
population is not adequately covered
by social protection, the ILO said.
But China, the world's second-largest economy, has almost succeeded in

rolling out universal pension coverage

and has increased the wages of its lowest-paid workers.
Cuts to "pensions, the health system and social security ... the removal
of subsidies, downsizing among social
workers and health personnel" hit poor
people at a time when they were most
in need of support, she said.
People had to pay the cost "at a time
when jobs are scarce and support is
more necessary than ever," she added.
Between 2008 and 2009, at least
48 developed countries implemented
stimulus packages worth $2.4bn, of
which about one quarter was spent on
measures for social protection.
These "acted as an automatic stabiliser that helped economies to regain
their balance and protect the unemployed and the most vulnerable from
economic disaster," the ILO said.
But from 2010, many governments
changed tack and took what the ILO said
were "premature fiscal consolidation
measures" despite the need to stabilise

consumption and support the poor.

"Most people do not have adequate
social protection when it is most
needed," said deputy director general
Sandra Polaski. Almost four out of 10
people worldwide don't have access
to a healthcare system, while in poor
countries that rises to nine out of 10.
Globally, only 12% of the unemployed receive benefits, ranging from
almost two-thirds in Western Europe
to less than three percent in the Middle
East and Africa.
Meanwhile, the ageing population
in developed countries mean many retirees live below the poverty line. In at
least 14 European countries, pensions
for future retirees are expected to fall.
Faced with this situation, the ILO
called for social spending to be "high
on the development post-2015 agenda".
"The rationale for social protection
is even more undeniable in this period
of economic uncertainty, low growth
and growing inequality," concluded Polaski. l

Apple Senior Vice

President of Software
Engineering Craig
Federighi speaks
during the Apple
Worldwide Developers
Conference at the
Moscone West center
on June 2, 2014 in San
Francisco, California.
Tim Cook kicked off the
annual WWDC which
is typically a showcase
for upcoming updates
to Apple hardware
and software. The
conference runs
through June
AFP

Modi faces battle with states to IEA: $48tn needed by 2035 to

fix power crisis
meet global energy needs
n Reuters, New Delhi

Swathes of India's most populous state

plunged into darkness for 12 hours a
day last week as temperatures in Delhi
hit their highest in 16 years, with the
disruptions underlining the tough
challenge a new government faces in
keeping the lights on.
Two years after one of the world's
biggest blackouts deprived at least 300
million people of power, India still suffers from frequent cuts that undermine
efforts to revive the third-largest economy in Asia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)stormed to
office last month on promises to boost
the economy and improve basic services for the millions of Indians who still
lack running water and electricity.
One of his first steps in tackling the energy crunch has been to unite the portfolios of power, coal and renewable energy
under a single minister, Piyush Goyal.
But the power sector also shows the
limits to what the central government
can do, with key decisions devolved to
the country's 29 states.
While Modi is expected to fast-track
new projects to boost output and press
states to stop politicians from giving
away electricity to voters, the task of
translating extra capacity into reliable
supply falls on state governments.
"We have a situation where there is
enough idle power generation capacity
in the country but states are witnessing
power cuts," said Umesh Agrawal, a power expert at PwC. "The problem today is
not a lack of supply but lack of willingness
from state utilities to procure power."
The BJP has blamed last week's out-

n AFP, London

Men walk past electric pylons in Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat

ages in Uttar Pradesh on the party that
rules the state, saying it is punishing
constituents who voted for other parties in the general election. The local
government rejects the charge and says
it is not getting enough power from the
centre to meet demand.
Temperatures in north India have
surged past 40 degrees Celsius, while
a dust storm in the capital damaged
power lines last Friday, further straining energy infrastructure.
India's power generation has grown
- the peak deficit is down to 5.4% from
16.6% in 2008, government data shows
- but getting the supply to end consumers is far trickier.
Regional politicians tell distributors to prioritise supply to favoured
constituents, while popular pressure
for cheap or free power has kept theft

REUTERS

high and prices artificially low, straining utilities' finances and curbing new
investment.
Those factors will hamper any reform push by Modi, who campaigned
on his record as chief minister of Gujarat, which enjoys a surplus of power.
Reforms in Gujarat a decade ago cut
theft, restructured distributors and
split tariffs between different users.
Goyal has vowed to tour the state to
learn about its reforms. But the power
to make decisions about tariffs, subsidies and collection rests with states,
limiting New Delhi's influence.
Modi must also tackle shortages of
coal and gas that have left new plants
operating below capacity - India's second-largest gas-powered plant, Bawana, is producing a fifth of its capacity,
because it cannot get hold of gas. l

More than $48tn must be invested by

2035 to meet global energy needs as
current technologies go offline and demand rises in emerging nations, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in
a report launched in London yesterday.
The special report warns that the expansion of the global gas market, thanks
largely to the improvements in unconventional extraction methods, will not
reduce prices significantly due to high
transportation and infrastructure costs.
The Paris-based body predicted that
$2tn per year will need to be invested
by 2035, a rise of $400bn from 2013,
while annual spending on energy efficiency will have to increase to $550bn.
"This amounts to a cumulative
global investment bill of more than $48
trillion, consisting of around $40tn in
energy supply," it explained.
Most of the $40tn is needed to offset declining production from existing
oil and gas fields and to replace power

DILBERT

plants and other assets that will reach

the end of their productive life.
The main components of energy
supply investment would be $23tn in
fossil fuel extraction, transport and oil
refining; almost $10tn in power generation, of which low-carbon technologies
account for almost three-quarters, and
a further $7tn in transmission and distribution, it added.
The autonomous agency, responsible for promoting energy security,
warned policymakers that they faced
conflicting needs.
Demands for stronger action on climate change could cause a backlash
against the cost of subsidies to renewables and calls for lower energy prices
could come up against public opposition to cheaper extraction techniques
such as fracking.
"Against this backdrop, there is a
risk that policymakers fail to provide
clear and consistent signals to investors, with particular impacts on lowcarbon technologies that depend, for

the moment, on policy support," said

the report.
The IEA urged for new forms of investment to be exploited, and suggested that institutional investors, such as
pension funds and insurers, could be
vital as a source of long-term funds.
It also predicted that oil investment
would shift towards the Middle East as
non-OPEC supplies run out, and that
gas prices around the world should converge given the boom in investment.
"Investment in liquefied natural gas
(LNG) facilities creates new links between markets and improves the security of gas supply," it explained.
But "high costs of gas transportation
may dampen the hopes of LNG buyers
in Europe and Asia for much cheaper
gas supplies."
Europe was singled out as a particular concern, requiring $2tn in power
sector investment by 2035, while India
will need $1.5tn in power sector investment over the same period to support
its growing economy. l