August 18, 2013

Long Form

5

Monsoon flourish

Bhadra 3, 1420 Shawwal 10, 1434 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 146

International

8

Entertainment

12

Iraq seeks help from United States amid growing violence

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com

A tribute to Natyacharya Selim Al-Deen

16 pages with 8-page business tabloid | Price: Tk10

Approved bill sits idle for a year

Banglaphone thrives on a permit alone

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

MPS’UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR

The ruling Awami League is yet to decide on formation of an all-party ethics committee, which would discuss and censure misuse of authority by legislators and prevent them from getting involved in conflict of interest scenarios, as proposed by a ruling party MP. As a private member, AL MP Saber Hossain Chowdhury on January 14, 2010 tabled “The Code of Conduct of the MPs Bill-2010” containing a provision for the ethics committee. The proposed law went to the parliamentary

standing committee on private members’ bills and resolutions the same day for further scrutiny.

It has been almost a year since the watchdog recommended the House to pass the bill charting out seven guidelines for MPs in discharging their duties.

However, for unknown reasons, the bill has not yet been placed in parliament for adoption.

“We have already placed our report suggesting its passage, now it is up to the treasury bench and the speaker,” Committee Chairman Abdul Matin

Khasru told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Khasru, a former law minister, said he favoured the bill, which he thought would protect the image of the lawmakers.

Chief Whip Abdus Shahid told the Dhaka Tribune: “We need to know the opinion of the lawmakers before passage of the proposed law. The honourable member (Saber) can raise the issue at the next meeting of the (Awami League) parliamentary party which most of the MPs and the Prime Minister will attend.”

According to parliamentary procedure, any MP, irrespective of their party, other than the ministers, can take initiatives on their own to prepare laws on any matter and place them in the House for passage. Such legislative proposals are called private members’ bills. The MPs get their chance to table the bills on Thursday, which is considered private members’ day, when the House is in session. The draft law then goes to the standing committee on private members’ bills and resolutions for detailed scrutiny. The bill is placed  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

DARK TRAIL OF NEGLIGENCE

Industrial waste dumped in a canal known as Rampura Khal, a stream of Balu River, leaves the canal polluted threatening the surrounding environment. The photo was taken from Aftabnagar recently MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

INSIDE News

4 BGMEA has sought information from AMTOB on load bearing of mobile towers. According to the BGMEA data, there are 150 mobile towers on the rooftops of garments factories. The decision of deadline for removing the towers will be taken after reviewing AMTOB data and discussing with BTRC.

Nation

6 Around 333 out of 407 brick kilns in six districts under Barisal division are operating illegally and polluting the environment, taking chances of a work force shortage in the divisional department of environment (DoE). The illegal brickfield owners ignored several notices by the environment department.

Metro

7 Four decades into its establishment, the Dhaka Zoo is yet to be coming along let alone modernising its outward appearance. No genuine attempts had been taken over the period of time to develop the zoological park.

International

9 Somalia is suffering an “explosive” outbreak of polio and now has more cases than the rest of the world combined. Vaccine-wielding health workers face a daunting challenge: accessing areas of Somalia controlled by al-Qaeda-linked militants, where 7 of 10 children aren’t fully immunised.

Op-Ed

11 Travelling abroad, it was found that random conversations with taxi drivers become the most informative and revealing accounts of politics, society and culture. In our country, the same can be said of conversations with CNG drivers and ricksha-walas.

Government wants BB to regulate GB n Asif showkat Kallol

The government wants to run the Nobel Peace Prize-winning microcredit lender Grameen Bank (GB) under the supervision of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) as the microcredit regulatory authority is weak on regulatory matters, official sources said.

Neither the central bank nor the microcredit regulatory authority presently controls the Grameen Bank and so an authority is needed to regulate it, Banking Secretary M Aslam Alam said on Thursday.

“The regulation of the microcredit regulatory authority is weak compared to the Bangladesh Bank and we have also waited for the GB Commission’s final report before we take a decision,” he said.

Sources in the banking division said the three-member Grameen Bank Commission planned to submit its final report on the bank and its 48 associated organisations to the government this week.

Chairman of the Grameen Bank Commission Mamun-ur-Rashid last month said the government would decide who would regulate the microcredit lender.

“Our advice to the government is that it can split the bank in 19 which will be controlled by the Grameen Bank headquarters and women shareholders will be directors of the specialised bank,” he said.

As for the authorities of the bank, the government can create a new body or Bangladesh Bank or the microcredit  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is violating the telecom act itself by letting at least one private land phone operator run business on the basis of a permit – without proper licensing.

The post and telecommunication ministry has forbidden the regulator several times not to give anyone permission to do business without prior approval of the government.

On August 7, the government last asked the BTRC to take legal action against Banglaphone, which has been operating land phone services for a few years without a proper licence.

In a letter to the BTRC, the telecommunication ministry said it was unlawful to extend the permit of Banglaphone, requesting the regulator to take necessary legal action about the permit. The ministry has so far asked the BTRC several times to report on the matter.

A source with the regulator said they had received the letter but had not yet taken any initiative to take action about Banglaphone.

As per section 40 of the telecom act, it is the government’s responsibility to approve any permit for establishing telecommunication network.

BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose declined to talk to the Dhaka Tribune on the Banglaphone issue despite repeated attempts. Questions were emailed to him and the commission’s public relations officer weeks ago but they did not reply.

When contacted, Amjad Khan, managing director and CEO of Banglaphone, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are creating a network and the government should give us the permission to work in this area. People in many areas would not have got internet at a minimum rate if not for us.”

He said Banglaphone had sought NTTN (nationwide telecommunication transmission network) licence, an open licence, and although it had got the BTRC recommendation, the ministry had not yet given the approval.

According to the BTRC records, Banglaphone is a zonal PSTN (public

MURDER OF SB INSPECTOR, WIFE

DB claims daughter’s ‘partial’ involvement Jamil Khan n Mohammad and Ashif Islam Shaon The Detective Branch of police yesterday claimed to have found “partial” involvement of the only daughter of the slain Special Branch inspector and his wife in the brutal murder.

The detectives said they had come to this decision after interrogating the two security guards and the manager of the building where the SB inspector’s family lived, three friends of Oishee, her younger brother and uncles, and the driver of the CNG-run auto-rickshaw Oishee had hired for a whole day on Thursday.

Oishee’s father Mahfuzur Rahman,

Egypt government is considering disbanding the Muslim Brotherhood group, a report by The Associated Press has stated.

No further detail was available on this information as of 10pm BDT when this report was filed.

In other developments, Egyptian security forces cleared remaining pro-Morsi protesters from a Cairo mosque on Saturday, after a stand-off and an exchange of fire, a security source told AFP. Supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi were dragged from the mosque by police after Egyptian police exchanged gunfire the for-

mer president’s supporters who were holed up inside the mosque since early Saturday, an AFP correspondent reported.

The interior ministry said it had arrested 1,004 Muslim Brotherhood “elements,” and on Saturday security sources said the brother of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri had been detained for being a ‘Morsi supporter.’

The Egyptian cabinet issued a defiant statement on Friday night saying it was confronting a “terrorist plot.”

The clashes came on the fourth day of bloodshed between the two sides, with the government saying 173 had died in the past 24 hours alone.

That brought the country’s toll to  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

GP activates internet without subscribers’ knowledge

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

48, and his wife Swapna Rahman, 40, were found dead at their Chamelibagh flat on Friday afternoon. Oishee, an O level student and the domestic help had been missing since the incident.

Police suspected the killing took place early Thursday.

They said the couple who had been stabbed to death might have been sedated on Wednesday night.

Oishee, 16, surrendered to Paltan police around 2:30pm yesterday and then was taken to the DB office on Minto Road.

The DB detained domestic help Sumi Begum, 10, and a male friend of Oishee. They also picked up three

Millions of people subscribing to Grameenphone mobile services received an SMS in the past two days saying they had been registered for different internet packages although users claimed they had not requested any such registration.

“Thank you for registration. To opt out SMS ‘STOP’ to 8525 (Free),” read the SMS. Many users alleged that the mobile phone operators were doing whatever they wanted as there was no active consumer protection regulation.

“After waking up in the morning I saw this SMS from Grameenphone and after a few hours I received another.

This second SMS claimed Grameenphone has received a request from me

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Egypt mulls Brotherhood ban, arrests al-Qaeda chief’s brother n AFP, Cairo

switched telephone network) operator covering 16 districts, which got permission to operate in the northeast zone on June 22, 2004. The company’s website, however, claims that it is a transmission network service provider.

“I have PSTN licence as well as ISP [internet service provider] and international internet gateway [IIG] licences.

So, Banglaphone can install fibre optic network and we can lease it to others as well,” Amjad said.

Banglaphone claims that mobile and land line operators, ISPs, financial institutions and television channels use its nationwide transmission network.

Recently, it went into a partnership with the Bangladesh Post Office to develop technology platforms and implement the Post e-Pay and Post e-Shop services across the country.

Officials in different NTTN companies pose a question as to how Banglaphone could do business with the government despite not having a valid licence.

An NTTN operator has to deposit Tk30m as licence fee and another Tk2.5m yearly fee. It also has to submit Tk100m bank performance guarantee along with other charges and share revenue with the government.

But if an operator can run the business only on the basis of a permit, it can save a large amount of money.

The NTTN sources alleged that such companies did not even have to face the rollout obligations.

“Banglaphone has been enjoying these facilities from the BTRC for the past few years without any payment, but the regulator always ignores it,” a high official at the telecommunication ministry told the Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.

The ministry also asked the BTRC if there was any mobile operator running the transmission business and if any action was taken against any such operator.

Sources confirmed that Citycell, the country’s oldest mobile phone operator, had leased its transmission network to the state-owned operator Teletalk last year and the lease was still active. l

JS last session starts September 12

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Anti-Morsi protesters and riot police officers gather outside al-Fath mosque at Ramses Square in Cairo yesterday REUTERS

The last session of the Awami Leagueled ninth parliament starts on September 12 leaving the opposition’s demand for restoration of the caretaker government to the constitution unsettled.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP’s acting secretary general, yesterday warned of street confrontations in case the government did not arrive at a compromise with the opposition’s demand.

Amendment to the constitution by an elected parliament is a must for reintroduction of the non-party caretaker government in the charter.

There will be no scope of changes to  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

PM receives DU crests prepared for Bangabandhu n Tribune Desk The historic citation and crests, which were supposed to be presented to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during his scheduled visit to Dhaka University on August 15, 1975, were handed over to his daughter and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.

The citation wrapped with a casket and the two silver-made crests along with a DU monogram were supposed to be presented to then President Bangabandhu and Chancellor of the university at its convocation on August 15, 1975, reports UNB. But before the day peeps, the Father of the Nation and most of his family members were gunned down by a military cabal.

The wooden framed citation was found in a pile of files inside an almirah in a room of the administrative building of the university on December 2, 2009, and the crests and casket were found in a safe at the Registrar’s office.

Amir Hossain, a retired deputy registrar, found the citation at the registrar’s building while he was searching for his personal documents and handed it over to the Vice Chancellor on December 4, 2009.

DU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique handed over the citation along with some gifts to the Prime Minister at a simple ceremony at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi.

After handing over the gifts and citation, Professor Arefin Siddiue read out the ‘citation’ before the audience, which was supposed to be read out

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Elections, transfer of power to be held constitutionally: PM n Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday vowed to hold the next parliamentary polls in accordance with the constitution, brushing aside the main opposition BNP’s demand for restoration of the election-time caretaker government system.

Hasina also claimed that the constitution was amended so that no military-backed government, or others, could usurp state power unconstitutionally. The 15th amendment in 2011 scrapped the caretaker provision.

DU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique hands over the citation along with some gifts to the Prime Minister at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi PMO at the August 15, 1975 convocation by then DU Vice Chancellor late Professor Abdul Matin Chowdhury.

Accepting the ‘citation’ and ‘gifts’, the Prime Minister in an emotion-chocked voice and thanked the Dhaka University administration for preserving these for a long time even in the adverse situation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu and most of his family members in August15, 1975, the country’s history had been distorted intentionally with state patronage.

“It proved that the real history can’t be erased with the sweet will of any ruler or vested quarters,” she mentioned.

Sheikh Hasina said she as a stu-

dent of Dhaka University had wanted to attend the convocation, which was scheduled to be organised in honour of Bangabandhu.

She informed then Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Professor Abdul Matin Chowdhury that she could not attend it as her husband Dr Wazed Mia had been insisting her to go to Germany accompanying him.

PM’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi, University Grants Commission Chairman Professor AK Azad Chowdhury, DU Pro-Vice Chancellor (admin) Dr Shahid Akhtar Hossain, Treasurer Professor Kamaluddin and PM’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad were also present at the function conducted by acting DU Registrar Syed Rezaur Rahman. l

‘In our country, there are some people who dream of usurping state power, but dare not contest elections, as they do not have people’s support.

Those who want to capture power forcefully, have no love for the people’ Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, clarified her position in an introductory speech at a meeting of the party’s advisory council yesterday at Gana Bhaban, the prime minister’s official residence.

“The elections will be held under the constitutional provisions, and power transfer will also take place constitutionally,” Hasina said. “We have to start the trend of holding elections under the constitutional provisions.”

GP activates DB claims daughter’s ‘partial’ involvement internet without subscribers’ knowledge  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

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about internet volume,” Salahuddin Mahmud, an aggrieved subscriber, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said: “I know that many of my colleagues received the same SMS…but no one had sought registration for any services! Grameenphone registered us on its own and thus generated revenues!”

The second SMS from the leading mobile operator read: “After volume expiration, you will be charged as Tk0.01/10KB.” People uploaded status posts about this of Facebook and other social media sites and discussed the matter on and offline.

When contacted, Grameenphone’s Head of Corporate Communication Tahmeed Azizul Huq told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday evening: “Maybe there is some problems in our system.

But so far as I know, there has been no deduction [of balance] following the SMSs. “We are working to detect the glitch,” he said, adding that if found, all deductions would be refunded.

He said Grameenphone would send an SMS to its subscribers soon expressing its apology.

Many alleged that other operators also cheated them often in different ways.

Dhaka University student Jasim Mandal yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that he had learned about a proposed consumer protection guideline of the telecom regulator but he was frustrated it was yet to be implemented.

The draft guideline of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) aims at protecting the privacy of mobile phone users, streamlining telemarketing services through SMS and ensuring efficient complaint handling.

The guideline will also empower subscribers to cancel any SMS-based promotional or commercial offer, which the BTRC terms a hazard for users.

It says operators will have to inform the subscribers by calls, SMS or advertisements in daily newspapers before they go for any overhaul or suspension of any service.

The BTRC will also open a complaint centre at its office within 90 days of the enforcement of the guideline so subscriber.

“We have prepared a set of guidelines containing 14 points to establish consumers’ rights. Despite the operators’ protest we have established lots of our thinking…A dialogue is going on and we may come to a decision soon,” a high official at the BTRC told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. l

friends of her for interrogation.

Briefing journalists at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police media centre last night, DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said after Oishee surrendered, she was taken to the office of the deputy commissioner of Motijheel division and then to the DB office.

He said the girl had told them different stories at different times, so they could not depend on her.

The DB picked up several people upon her information by raiding different areas in the capital between 4pm and 6pm.

Oishee got out of their flat with her eight-year-old brother Ohidur Rahman and domestic help Sumi and left the house by a three-wheeler on Thurs-

day morning. The dead bodies were found in Oishee’s bathroom on Friday afternoon and they bore several stab wounds.

Constable Emdadul Haque of the Paltan police station said Oishee had appeared in front of the police station’s gate around 2pm.

“She came alone and said she had something to tell. She asked me who she should contact,” he said.

When the policeman inquired about her identity, she said she was Oishee and she was coming from Badda.

“I heard about the killing. So, I recognised her and took her to the duty officer. Later, high officials of Motijheel division were informed,” he said.

Operation officer of the police station Nasir Uddin said Oishee had

Government wants BB to regulate GB  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

regulatory authority can run it, he pointed out.

Mahfuzur Rahman, executive director and spokesperson of the Bangladesh Bank, said the central bank will comply with the decision if the government gives it the responsibility to regulate the Grameen Bank.

Executive Vice-chairman of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority Khan-

dakar Muzharul Haque yesterday said the issue of regulating the Grameen Bank will be incorporated into the proposed Grameen Bank law 2013 after decision from the government high-ups.

“Capacity of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority will be enhanced to regulate the Grameen Bank if the government wants to regulate the bank by the microcredit regulatory authority,” he added. l

JS last session starts September 12  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

the constitution after October 25 when the president is set to dissolve parliament.

To start the 19th session of the parliament on September 12, the parliament secretariat has already sent file to President Abdul Hamid who convenes the Jatiya Sangsad according to the suggestion of the leader of the house in line with the constitution.

The upcoming session is likely to go for five to six working days and restart in the third week of October after a long adjournment in the middle and continue up to October 23 or 24, Chief Whip Abdus Shahid told the Dhaka Tribune.

The constitution stipulates that the parliament will exist for five years since its first sitting. Although the 9th parliament had its first sitting on January 25, 2009 but the charter instructs to dissolve the parliament 90 days ahead so that the Election Commission can hold the 10th general elections within the 90 days to maintain constitutionality.

A new elected government must take office by January 25 next year.

According to the announcement of Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina, the current parliament will be dissolved on October 25, 90 days ahead of the mandated five years.

“We have proposed starting the 19th session on September 19. It will hold six to seven sittings unless serious issues come to the fore,” Abdus Shahid told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

But he said the premier and the business advisory committee would take the final decision on the tenure of the next session.

Shahid said the ruling party had no plan to table a bill for restoration of the caretaker government to the constitution.

“Let them come to the House and place their demand,” he added.

Zainul Abdin Farroque on Friday made it clear that his party had no plan to place the caretaker demand in the parliament. The opposition leaders say the BNP is set to join the upcoming session to “unmask” the government ahead of the national elections.

“I will convey the message to the party high-ups in the parliament’s next session,” Farroque told the Dhaka Tribune.

The BNP has poor presence in the parliament as the main opposition preferred longer boycotts of the House alleging “bad atmosphere” in the assembly.

Of the total 394 working days in the last 18 sessions, the highest presence of the BNP lawmakers was 75.

Leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia attended only 10 sittings mainly to save her membership as the constitution forced a lawmaker not to boycott session for consecutive 90 working days.

The Awami League has 273 seats while the BNP maintains 36 in the 350-strong unicameral legislature.

The ruling party allies Jatiya Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and the Workers Party have 29, three and two seats respectively. The opposition has three allies – Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (two seats), Bangladesh Jatiya Party (one seat) and Liberal Democratic Party (one seat).

Former BNP lawmaker Fazlul Azim and Awami League leader Amanur Rahman Khan are two independent lawmakers. l

looked tired and they had not asked her anything. After around 10 minutes she was sent to the DB office.

“We are almost sure that she [Oishee] was partially involved with the murder. But it is not yet clear how many people were with her. We think we will come to know this after interrogating the detainees,” DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said.

The DB recovered two bags and some ornaments of Swapna from the two bags Oishee had been carrying.

“We have come to know that she hired a CNG-run auto-rickshaw for the whole day, saying they needed to search for a flat to rent. Later, Oishee managed the auto-rickshaw driver to keep the domestic help at his house for Friday night for some extra money,”

Egypt mulls  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

more than 750 people since Wednesday, when 578 people were killed in nationwide clashes that erupted after police cleared two camps of Morsi loyalists in the capital.

The standoff at Cairo’s Al-Fath mosque in central Ramses Square began on Friday, with security forces surrounding the building where Islamists were sheltering and trying to convince them to leave.

The protesters had lined up the bodies of dozens of protesters killed in “Friday of anger” demonstrations inside the mosque-turned-morgue.

One of the protesters told AFP by telephone that they were demanding they not be arrested, or attacked by hostile civilians outside.

By Saturday afternoon, the situation turned violent, with an AFP reporter on the scene saying gunmen inside the mosque were trading fire with police outside.

The correspondent said police stormed the Fath mosque and security forces firing tear gas.

In the process, they managed to drag outside seven or eight men and were then confronted by angry neighbourhood residents who attacked them with sticks and iron bars.

Police fired in the air in a bid to disperse the mob.

An AFP reporter saw one man dressed in civilian clothes was wounded by police gunfire.

The violence has left Egypt divided as never before in recent history, splintering the army-installed interim government and inviting international censure.

Both outside the mosque and in several other parts of Cairo, residents targeted those suspected of being Islamists, often for no more than wearing a beard or a veil.

On Friday, Morsi supporters had announced “Friday of anger” demonstrations, which quickly turned violent, with gunshots ringing out in several parts of Cairo.

The government said those clashes killed least 173 people across the country, including 95 in Cairo and 25 in Alexandria. l

First annual meeting of BSCI held n Tribune Report

Addressing members of the party’s think-tank, Hasina criticised certain civil society members, who, she claimed, were out to capture power forcefully.

"In our country, there are some people who dream of usurping state power, but dare not contest elections, as they do not have people’s support.

Those who want to capture power forcefully, have no love for the people,” she said.

Regarding the short-lived, one-party BKSAL (Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League) system of 1975, introduced by then president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina said: “Questions should not arise of one party, rather Bangabandhu created opportunities for other parties to have a taste of power. Through the BKSAL, Bangabandhu made a clarion call for national unity."

The AL chief also posed a question to the critics of BKSAL, saying, “Were the military dictators better? The nation got 19 coups after the brutal carnage in 1975.”

She also came down heavily against the critics of the government, saying despite her heartiest attempts, she would not stand by to see those blind critics negate the development activities carried out by her government.

The AL president also urged the people to remain alert against such critics who, she said, are trying to mislead them. l

The first annual general meeting and conference of the Bangladesh Society of Cardiovascular Intervention (BSCI) was held in the capital yesterday.

The speakers at the programme said the BSCI is working relentlessly to develop in the area of interventional cardiology and is advocating for the doctors concerned to keep pace with the rest of the world.

Interventional cardiology has developed a great deal in the 21st century. Technological advancements have made the highly complex cardiac interventions possible in Bangladesh.

Speakers said that, as a developing country, Bangladesh has achieved notable advancements in cardiovascular intervention.

National professor Brigadier (rtd) Abdul Malik was present as the chief guest, while the programme was presided over by Dr NAM Momenuzzaman. General Secretary of the BSCI Prof Afzalur Rahman delivered the welcome speech.

Cardiologist Dr Vencat S Ram also spoke at the programme.

Various kinds of cardiology at different stages were discussed, as were notable cardiac interventions.

A number of specialist cardiologists put forward their opinions at the conference.

BSCI presented a crest to Dr Omor Ishraq, CEO and chairman of Medtronic, USA, the world’s largest medical technology company. l

Monir said.

Police also interrogated security guards of the house Mohammad Motaleb and Mohammad Shaheen, Oishee’s uncles Iftekharul Alam and Rabiul Alam, manager of the Chamelibagh building Jahangir Alam and the auto-rickshaw driver.

Meanwhile, a post mortem examination report showed that SB Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman were murdered by non-professional killers.

Sohel Mahmud, assistant professor of the Forensic Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital who had conducted the autopsy, said the report had showed that several people were involved in the killing and it was a planned murder.

The report also showed that two injury marks were found on Mahfuz’s body while 11 on his wife Swapna’s body.

“The knife used in the murder damaged the livers and kidneys of Mahfuz and Swapna. They died as their respiratory tracts were severed because of multiple stabbing,” said Sohel. Law enforcers had collected samples of different parts of the victims’ bodies for forensic test.

The bodies were taken to Mahfuz’s village home in Haluaghat of Mymensingh for burial after namaj-e-janaza in front of the Rajarbagh Police Lines.

Mahfuz’s brother Moshiur Rahman filed a murder case with Paltan police station yesterday, accusing unmanned people. l

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benefits for their family members and relatives.

The fifth proposal is to stop MPs from getting financially involved with organisations that can influence their legislative duties. The sixth is that MPs must not make recommendations for recruitment, award giving and contracts and must prioritise merit. The last suggestion says that MPs must promote the ethical standard set in the proposed law.

Explaining the conflicts of interest, Saber Chowdhury said: “If I am a shipping businessman, I must declare in the House that I have interest in the matter, but I am forced to raise the matter for the greater sake of the people. Thus, transparency of the lawmakers comes.”

Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, an opposition MP, said the decision had to be made in consultation with the ruling and opposition parties and the speaker.

“How much of the bill could be accepted is also a matter of discussion among the three,” he said.

Approved bill sits idle for a year for adoption in the House only after the watchdog recommends it. The bills are passed only if the ruling party agrees with the contents.

Parliament secretariat figures show only six private members’ laws have been passed in Bangladesh’s history. The current ninth parliament has passed only one bill, Saber Hossain Chowdhury’s Lepers (repeal) Act. Saber told the Dhaka Tribune: “I have prepared the bill to protect the honour and dignity of the lawmakers.

I think the MPs will agree on this issue.”

The ruling party lawmaker said he placed the bill with the spirit of self-regulation of the MPs who make laws for the regulation of others.

“The all-party ethics committee will discuss any reported behaviours of the MPs, either published in media or on receiving complaint from people, perceived to be misconducts, and recommend to the House whether these are against the rule of law or unethical,” he said.

The former minister said the ethics committee’s report would influence public opinion before elections that come every five years.

“MPs facing censure from the ethics committee and the House will definitely face public criticism when they seek re-election,” said Saber Chowdhury, who sent a notice to the speaker for the passage of the law.

“Time is in favour of passage of the law as many of the MPs are vocal to uphold the image of the legislators and parliament. I hope the bill would be passed,” he said.

The proposed law contains seven guidelines for MPs. First, MPs must disclose in which sectors they have conflicts of interest.

Second, they must maintain transparency in their activities, keeping people’s interests in mind.

Thirdly, they must be accountable to the people, and also remain ready for any review of their decisions. The fourth suggestion restricts them from making recommendations which would result in economic and other

Conflict of interests at the watchdogs

The current parliament has many MPs who are members of the parliamentary standing committees on ministries in which they have interests, in violation of the Rules of Procedure.

For instance, shipping trader NoorE-Alam Chowdhury, also a nephew of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry.

Awami League businessman MP Abul Kashem, whose brother is a leading businessman in Chittagong, is the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce ministry.

Another businessman, Sk Afil Uddin, is also a member.

AHM Mustafa Kamal, who has interests in the capital market and other financial institutions, is the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry. Tajul Islam, a director of Jamuna Bank, is also a member of the same committee. He has been heading a parliamentary sub-committee on the performance of the state-owned banks. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, August 18, 2013

3

PADMA BRIDGE CORRUPTION CONSPIRACY

Muhith terms WB report incompetent n Tribune Report Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the report of the World Bank’s external panel of experts on the Padma bridge corruption conspiracy was flawed and incompetent as it did not mention the name of the prime minister’s Economic Adviser Mashiur Rahman.

“The World Bank gave the government a vital condition of excluding Mashiur Rahman from the project for the disbursement of the Padma bridge loan, but it failed to mention his name in its report,” Muhith said at a workshop on the role of media in national development.

“Mashiur Rahman was even sent on leave following the World Bank condition,” he said.

He said no big name except those of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury was mentioned in the World Bank report.

Muhith claimed that the global lender would not be able to complete the investigation of the Padma bridge’s possible corruption conspiracy by 2015.

He further said the tender of the

Padma bridge would be finalised in September and the government would construct the bridge with its own fund because the government wanted to prove that it was capable of doing such big projects.

“We received proposals from China and Russia regarding financing of the Padma bridge,” he said. “But we have already refused to accept their proposals as the issues of corruption and transparency would have surfaced again.”

On July 17, the World Bank’s external panel of experts submitted its final report to the finance minister without making any final assessment of the probe, saying it would have to wait until the Anti-Corruption Commission completed its investigation to say whether it was “full and fair.”

“A final assessment of the adequacy of the ACC’s investigative activities should be done at the end of the ACC investigation,” the panel said in its report. “The panel cannot conclude that the activity of the ACC constitutes a full and fair investigation.”

The workshop was organised by the Economic Relations Division and the Infrastructure Development Company Limited at the NEC conference room. l

Rickshaw pullers have to get down to pull vehicle even harder on the dilapidated Gulistan Road. The photo was taken on Friday

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

BNP avoids tough programmes for now Cars sans identity stickers

not allowed in secretariat 150 central leaders to go for campaign as the party plans month-long action pelled to do so, but demonstrations ing with the team leaders on Monday tary general and organising secretarMinistry Mainuddin Khandokar said. n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla n Mohosinul Karim and give them necessary directions, likely on some specific issues.” ies will head the committees, a senior He said no vehicles without identity BNP Chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia will visit divisional headquarters and some districts to garner her party’s support in favour of its demand for election under a non-partisan interim government.

Apart from the party chief, more than 150 central leaders will go to the grass roots to build up the organisational strength, to survey the popularity of the possible candidates for elections and to remove the intraparty feud, party insiders said.

Some 75 committees were formed for 75 organisational districts headed by 53 team leaders.

Standing committee members, vice-chairmen, advisers, joint secre-

leader said seeking anonymity.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday held a meeting with the party’s organising secretaries and joint secretary generals at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters.

The BNP leader asked them to prepare for campaign prior to Khaleda Zia’s tour of the organisational districts and divisional headquarters.

Before the chairperson’s tour is scheduled to start from mid-September, mass campaign programme should be finished, said a senior leader.

An organising secretary of the party, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune, “There will be no tough movement next month if we are not com-

Age of darkness to revisit with BNP’s return to power: Matia

FELANI KILLING CASE

n Tribune Desk Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury yesterday said the age of darkness will return to the country if BNP comes to power again.

“It’s possible for Khaleda Zia and her government only to bring about August 17-like serial blast. If BNP comes to power again, the age of Aiame Jaheliat -- the age of darkness-- will come back,” she said.

Matia, also a presidium member of the ruling Awami League, said this while addressing a discussion meeting organised by Awami Juba League at its Bangabandhu Avenue office in the city marking the serial bomb blasts in 63 districts on August 17, 2005.

Matia was also critical of Hefajat-e-Islam as it had carried out mayhem at Shapla Chhatar in the capital on May 5.

She said Hefajat also gave a wrong impression to people through a smearing campaign saying the government had killed many Hefajat men during their programme, says a UNB report.

Matia called upon the Juba League leaders and activists to remain vigilant across the country against the false propaganda being carried out by Hefajat against the government.

The Awami League leader also criticised foreign diplomats for their reactions to the arrest of Odhikar secretary advocate Adilur Rahman Khan.

“A group of people took to the streets for the rights of telling lies.

Another group took to the streets in the name of establishing human rights crying for the release of the Odhikar secretary. Their behaviour amounts to devoid of norms and etiquette,” she said.

Presided over by Jubo League chairman Omar Faruque Chowdhury, the function was addressed, among others, by Juba League general secretary Harun-or-Rashid. l

He also said Fakhrul wanted to know their opinions about the next course of action if the government does not pay heed to their demand.

Abdullah Al Noman, vice-chairman of the party, said the campaign will start and end within this month.

“I am entrusted with looking after Dhaka, Narsingdi and Noakhali districts,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

BNP’s founding anniversary is on September 1 and the party will observe a week-long programme to mark the ocassion.

The party will also observe September 3 when Khaleda Zia was detained and September 11 as her release day.

The former premier will hold a meet-

Abdullah Al Noman, vice-chairman of the party, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said the attended leaders gave their opinion on not waging any tough programme at present.

They opted to keep open the path of negotiation with the government and most of the party leaders still believe that both parties can reach a consensus, he added.

All leaders tasked with organisational duties will hold meeting in their respective areas to resolve the intraparty feud and to mobilise mass support.

Besides, they will also survey the popularity of the potential candidates, he said. l

Father goes to India today to testify n Tribune Desk Two Bangladeshi witnesses, a lawyer and a Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) representative will go to India today to make their depositions before a special court constituted by Border Security Force in Cooch Behar at the trial of the killing of Bangladesh girl Felani.

The witnesses are Felani’s father M Nurul Islam and maternal uncle M Abdul Hanif while the BGB representative is commanding officer of BGB Battalion-45 Lt Col Ziaul Haque Khaled.

Kurigram public prosecutor Abraham Lincoln is there as the lawyer, says a UNB report from Kurigram.

Nurul and Hanif left their houses yesterday morning and they are scheduled to stay at the BGB Battalion-45 headquarters tonight.

Before their departure, they offered fateha at the grave of Felani and sought blessings of all so that they can get justice.

Over two and half years into the incident, the trial of the murder of Bangladeshi girl Felani began on Tuesday at the BSF special court in Cooch Behar.

Felani, a 15-year-old girl, was shot dead by the BSF men while she was entering Bangladesh over the barbedwire fences along Anantapur border point in the district on January 7, 2011.

Amid the BGB’s consistent efforts,

BNP warns of confrontation if no understanding is reached n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Asking the government to hold a dialogue and reach an understanding over polls-time interim government, the main opposition BNP yesterday warned that a confrontation would be inevitable if a consensus could not be reached.

“We do not see any ray of hope for a dialogue and an understanding in the statements of the prime minister and her colleagues. If an understanding cannot be achieved, a confrontation is inevitable,” BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said.

Urging the government to understand people’s pulse, Fakhrul reiterated his party’s demand for the introduction of a non-partisan interim government to oversee the next general polls.

Fakhrul was speaking to journalists after a meeting with the joint secretary generals and organising secretaries of the party at its Nayapaltan headquarters in the capital.

Countering the ruling party leaders’ statements that parliament would be dissolved on October 25, the BNP spokesperson said constitutional ex-

perts asserted that there was no scope to dissolve parliament before the expiration of the government’s tenure.

“Nobody knows what the situation will be in the country after October 25. If the existing crisis is not resolved, a constitutional crisis will emerge,” he said.

Fakhrul said people would not accept any election held under a partisan government.

Lambasting the incumbent Election Commission, he alleged that it was loyal to the present ruling party and was working as per the government’s directives.

Asked for his opinion on Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam’s statement that his party would not have a dialogue with “those who feast on August 15,” Fakhrul said: “He often speaks irrelevant things under pressure. Earlier, he had said problems would be resolved through dialogues. We want to trust him.

“I hope the government will take initiatives [to hold the dialogue].”

Fakhrul said his party’s next course of action would be announced after a meeting of the party’s Standing Committee, which was slated for last night, and another with the alliance partners this evening. l

the BSF headquarters formed the General Security Force Court to punish those responsible for the incident after an investigation. After the investigation, the BSF submitted the charge sheet against its constable Amiya Ghosh who shot the Bangladeshi innocent girl.

Felani who used to work as a domestic help in New Delhi along with her father was returning home from India on January 7, 2011 to tie her knot.

Although her father crossed into Bangladesh by scaling the barbed-wire fence, she failed to do so as her clothes got entangled with the barbed wires.

Later, she was shot dead by a BSF team. l

Barisal protests attack on female student

n Our Correspondent, Barisal Students, teachers and guardians yesterday formed a human chain in front of Barisal Ashwini Kumar Hall, demanding the arrest of the miscreants who hacked a female student of Sagordi Union Secondary School with a weapon.

The programme was addressed

by Humaun Kabir, the headmaster of the school, Abdul Kader, a teacher, Jahangir Hossain, a guardian, and the students of the school, among others.

The speakers said Rumman, a student of Barisal Government BM College had teased Mariam Aktar Swarna, a class ten student, for long time.

When Swarna denied Rumman’s proposal of a love affair,she was severely hacked with a weapon by a group led

by Rumman on August 7.

A case was lodged with Kotwali police station by Shahidul Islam, the father of the victim, against five accused.

But the prime accused Rumman was not arrested.

Runa Begum, Rumman’s mother , was arrested after the incident and police were trying to nab the other accused, said Sub Inspector Sumon Haldar, investigation officer of the case. l

The home ministry has decided to impose restrictions on unauthorised vehicles’ entry to the secretariat to ensure tight security at one of the government’s key point installations.

The decision will come into effect from today.

A circular was issued to this end by the ministry on August 1 asking all those concerned to collect identity stickers for their vehicles by August 14 as it was the last office day before the deadline.

The ministry has taken the decision as part of its move to ensure tight security at all of the most important installations of the government given the ongoing political turmoil in the country, Additional Secretary of the Home

stickers would be allowed in the secretariat after the deadline.

The ministry officials said the government is worried over security measures at the most important and sensitive installations as a huge number of unidentified vehicles enter the secretariat regularly in violation of the home ministry order.

The home ministry earlier issued the same order in 2010. It also began issuing identity stickers for the vehicles but it was back to square one within a few days.

The additional secretary said entry of unidentified vehicles to the secretariat is a security threat. It’s also hampering the regular work of the ministries housed inside the secretariat. l

VESTED PROPERTY

Rights groups for cancellation of modified lists n Tribune Desk Speakers at a programme here have demanded cancellation of modified lists of the vested property as those cause miseries to the minority community.

They said all the property enlisted as vested ones after March 23, 1974 are ‘illegal’ and demanded cancellation of such inclusion as it goes against the verdict of the Supreme Court and The Enemy Property (Continuance of Emergency Provisions) (Repeal) Act 1974.

They demanded cancellation of the lists under ‘Kha’ category enjoyed by individuals as a whole while modified lists under ‘Ka’ category occupied by the government, reports UNB. Nine organisations, including Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP) arranged the views-exchange programme, titled ‘Amendment to the Vested Property Return Act: Hindrance in Implementation and Responsibilities’, at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) yesterday.

The eight other co-organisers are Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), Arpita Sampatti Ain Protirod Andolan, Ain-O-Salish Kendra, Nijera Kori, Sammilita Shamajik Andolan, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and Human Development and Research Centre (HDRC).

Presided over by veteran journalist Kamal Lohani, the function was addressed,

among others, by Moiunuddin Khan Badal MP, Professor Nimchandra Bhaumik and Advocate Rana Dasgupta, Khushi Kabir, journalist Abu Sayeed Khan, Tabarak Hossain and Kajol Debnath.

Advocate Subrata Chowdhury presented the keynote paper. The speakers said 70-80 percent of property under the ‘Ka’ category and all the property under the ‘Kha’ category were illegally included as vested property.

Many lands owned by minorities and even some lands owned by Muslims were included in the lists under the ‘Kha’ category through gazette notifications, they alleged.

They further alleged that the applicants are being subjected to harassment by employees of the land offices when they go to collect necessary documents and certificates of lands and urged the government to stop the harassment.

In his keynote paper, Subrata Chowdhury said district-level tribunals and committees were formed to dispose of the disputes over vested property.

More than 4.5 lakh applications were placed before thetribunals and committees, reclaiming the property. The number of the applications will surpass 10 lakh within a few days, he added.

According to primary counts of the land ministry, some 1,97,214 acres of lands were included under the ‘Ka’ category, while 445922 acres of lands were under the ‘Kha’ category, said the keynote paper. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, August 18, 2013

BGMEA to act on mobile towers on rooftops Removal deadline to be set after reviewing AMTOB data and discussion with BTRC

n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has sought information from the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) on load bearing of mobile towers.

According to the BGMEA data, there are 150 mobile towers on the rooftops of garments factories.

“We will take a decision about the mobile towers, set up on the rooftops of the garment factories after receiving information from AMTOB,” said BGMEA Vice-President Shaidullah Azim.

After reviewing the data, the BGMEA will set a deadline to remove the risky towers, he added.

The decision would be taken after discussion with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The move for the removal of the towers is a fall-out from the tragedy of the collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar on April 24 that claimed more than 1,130 lives.

Physically challenged youth beaten up by BCL men dies in Savar n UNB A physically-challenged youth, who was reportedly beaten up by activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of ruling Awami League, succumbed to his injuries yesterday.

The victim was Shamim, 25, of Foardnagar area, Damrai, Savar.

Officer-in-Charge of Savar police station Aminur Rahman said Savar unit BCL Convener Foysal, Savar municipality unit BCL Joint Convener Jony and an activist named Muhan beat up Shamim on August 14.

They beat him with a hammer in a shop at Bazaar road in front of Bilas Cinema Hall over cell phone credit recharging. Shamim’s hands and legs were broken due to the beating.

He was admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital in critical condition where he died at 8:30am Saturday.

The victim’s father Faroque Hossain filed a case with Savar police station against Foysal and Jony.

The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for a post mortem examination. l

WEATHER

No change in temperature likely

n UNB

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at most places over Khulna, Dhaka, Barisal and Chittagong divisions and at many places over Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet divisions until 6pm today.

Moderately heavy to very heavy falls are also likely at places over Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions, Met Office said.

Day and night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country. The sun sets in the capital at 6:29pm today and rises at 5:36am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 34.8 degree Celsius was recorded today at Chuadanga and lowest 24.0 degrees at Kutubdia. Highest and lowest temperature recorded in some major cities yesterday were: City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

31.3 33.0 33.2 33.2 33.2 30.8 34.0 26.5

25.5 25.8 26.0 26.0 26.5 26.0 25.4 24.8

Following the incident, the BGMEA on May 6 warned their members to remove any telecom infrastructure from the rooftops within a month. It also published a general notice on May 13 requesting its members “to remove telephone towers or any unauthorised installations built on factory rooftops.”

“The AMTOB will test the towers by a Buet team, and if it is found risky, we will take proper measures,” said an official of Grameenphone preferring anonymity. He said a tower weighed around 1-1.5 tonnes “is not risky.”

Riaz Bin Mahmood, another BGMEA vice-president, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The AMTOB leaders wanted to meet us but we informed them there is no need.”

Meanwhile, sources in the mobile operators said it would be very tough to remove the towers at a time and it would incur huge losses. It would also disrupt the network creating problems for the users.

The officials argue that they had rented the roofs from the building owners, not the garment owners. l

Two women on a boat in a low lying waterbody pick water lily, which features in their meals daily. The photo was taken on Friday at Abdullahpur near the Dhaka-Mawa road

‘Bangladesh, India must consider CCC councillor found self-interest to improve bilateral ties’ linked to bomb making n Syed Shoeb The people of Bangladesh and India should consider “self-interest” as a key driving force to improve bilateral relations, said participants at a dialogue in a city hotel yesterday.

The dialogue on “Role of Media in Strengthening Relations between Bangladesh and India” was jointly organised by the Dhaka chapter of “Friends of Bangladesh”, an Indian-based organisation of Bangladeshi and Indian civil

society members, and “Atondro Ekattor”, a pro-liberation war cultural body.

The lingual and cultural links between Bangladesh and bordering Indian states may appeal to the emotion of their citizens, but that would not strike the same chord with people in other parts of India, which makes the selfinterest approach essential, they said.

Pointing to the Teesta water-sharing dispute, Agartala-based newspaper Desher Kotha editor Goutam Das said it was wrong of upstream countries to

4:16am 5:34am 12:02pm 4:37pm 6:30pm 7:49pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

deny their downstream neighbours a fair share of water from common rivers.

Addressing the programme, The Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam said Indian people should understand that it would be in their self-interest for Bangladesh to attain economic prosperity.

The Times of India associate editor Shankar Raghuraman said most Indians would think of “infiltration” if the word “Bangladesh” comes up in their daily conversation.

“In the same vein, I guess most Bangladeshis regard Indians as bullies or big brothers. We need to improve our knowledge about each other to debunk and move beyond these stereotypes,” Raghuraman said.

Although both countries adhere to certain principles, like secularism, there seems to be a paucity of news coverage on Bangladesh in the Indian media, journalist Syed Badrul Ahsan observed in his paper.

Golam Sarwar, editor of Bangla daily Samakal, echoed the same view, saying the utter disregard of the Indian media towards Bangladesh issues, along with some other Indian moves, helped to spread anti-Indian sentiments among Bangladeshi people. l

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Councillor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) ward no 13, Mahfuzul Alam Chowdhury, was accused of being involved in manufacturing crude bombs, that are used during subversive Jamaat-Shibir activities in the port city.

A well-trained group of JamaatShibir alliance has been manufacturing bombs for a long time, with support from Mahfuzul Alam Chowdhury and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, said Manik, a bomb manufacturer.

Manik was held on Friday night after being injured in an explosion while producing bombs at his residence in the Railway Ex-in Colony in the city.

During a police raid at his residence, Manik fled and was admitted to a private clinic. Later police arrested him from the clinic and took his statement.

Manik confessed that he used to make crude bombs as per instruction from Mahfuzul, for which the councillor used to provide equipment, said Mainul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Khulshi Police Station.

Quoting Manik, he said the crude bombs were supplied by the councillor to Jamaat-Shibir men dispersed

across different areas of the city. Those bombs were used in subversive activities carried by Jamaat-Shibir men during different movements like hartals, protests, precessions etc.

Police seized an intact cocktail bomb along with bomb manufacturing equipment like gunpowder and sprinters from his residence. The flat had been used for bomb manufacturing for a long time, said OC Mainul.

After being held, he was shifted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH). Shah Md Abdur Rouf, assistant commissioner of Panchlaish zone of CMP said as Manik was recovering from his injuries in CMCH, police would further interrogate him after he recovers.

Banaj Kumar Mazumder, additional commissioner (crime and operation) of CMP said police had information that a number of bomb manufacturers’ dens are located across the city and that they were trying to detect those.

Shah Alam, sub-inspector of Khulshi police station, lodged a case on Friday night accusing Manik and Mahfuzul.

Mahfuzul has been fugitive since the incident and police were trying to locate and arrest him, said Shah Md Abdur Rouf. l

Victim’s family demands railway safety reform, punishment to brick-hurlers n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Family members of Prity Das, who died by a fatal mischance as unknown miscreants hurled bricks at the train carrying her recently called for a reform of the existing railway safety practices to avert such avoidable incidents.

At a press conference yesterday, Mintu Kumar Das, Prity’s husband, placed an 11-point demand in this regard, including one to give “exemplary punishment” to those responsible for her death.

Other family members of the victim were also present at the press conference held at around 11am in the Chittagong Press Club.

Prity, an engineer by profession, died from a head injury that she received when an unidentified group of

people hurled bricks at a Dhaka-bound train in Chittagong on August 10.

Her husband and two other relatives were also on board when the incident occurred. She died at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Mintu Kumar Das, describing the event, placed their demands which include increasing police patrols at “risky” areas besides railway tracks, creating compensation funds for people affected by railway mishaps, putting medical teams in long-distance trains and a medical kit in each compartment.

Other demands include deploying additional security guards inside trains, keeping railway police on guard in rail stations especially when a train moves through it, and allowing them to open fire at potential security threats.

He also urged railway authorities to spread awareness about train commuting and safety issues through advertisements on billboards and other such media.

“Prity’s incident was not an accident, it was a murder. We demand an immediate arrest of, and strict punishment to, those involved in the incident,” said Mintu.

“We also urge the government to punish those because of whom innocent lives were lost in the past, in the railway sector,” he said. Dilip Das, Prity’s father, also made a similar demands as he faced the journalists.

Earlier in the day, at around 10:30am, Prity’s family members, relatives and friends formed a human chain in front of the press club to press home their demands. l

Suspected mugger beaten to death

n Tribune Report

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

RAJIB DHAR

In celebration of The World Photography Day on August 19, Pathshala, the education wing of Drik Gallery is going to arrange the first Photo book show in Bangladesh. Photography books are comparatively rare, expensive, and difficult to buy locally. The books on show are brought from personal collection of photographers and photo enthusiasts, to share and celebrate photography. 50 International Photo books will be exhibited. It’s about holding the books, turn the pages and even smell it, to appreciate photography through the medium of books. l

A young man, suspected to be a mugger, was lynched to death by locals in the capital’s Mirpur area early Saturday.

Police also rescued two other severely injured suspected muggers from the mob.

The deceased was identified as Sohel, 28, who was declared dead after being taken to DMCH. Of the two injured mugging suspects, one yet to be identified, is being treated at DMCH for critical injuries.

Yousuf, another mugging suspect, is now in custody at Mirpur police station.

SI Abu Zafar said the trio was caught by locals and beaten when they were trying to flee after mugging a woman just outside her house in Monipur area at around 3am. l

Ceiling plaster falls in JU n JU Correspondent A chunk of plaster, including ceiling fan, detached from the ceiling of a classroom of the Old Arts Faculty building at Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday.

No one was injured in the incident as the classroom was closed.

Panic spread among the students who demanded an emergency reconstruction of the building to avoid any further accidents.

JU Vice-Chancellor Prof Anwar Hossain ordered the authorities concerned to take necessary steps immediately.

An official of the Old Arts Faculty yesterday found the chunk of plaster which fell from the ceiling of classroom 201 on the first floor. A damaged fan was also found under the rubble. He later informed the JU authorities of the incident.

The room was allotted for students of the Department of International Relations.

Terrified students left the building immediately after hearing the news.

They alleged that JU authorities did not pay any heed to their demand for reconstruction of the building.

VC Prof Anwar Hossain, pro-ViceChancellors Prof Afsar Ahmed and Prof MA Matin, registrar Abu Bakr Siddique and Proctor Prof Md Muzibur Rahman visited the classroom.

At that time, Prof Anwar Hossain ordered the officers of the university’s engineering section to begin repairs on the damaged part of the building yesterday.

Arts and Humanities Faculty Dean Prof Syed Kamrul Ahsan told the Dhaka Tribune they had earlier informed the engineering office but they did not solve the problem permanently.

According to Akhtar Hossain, JU acting executive engineer, the plaster fell because the building is very old.

Necessary steps had already been taken to fix the problem, he added. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

5

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Monsoon flourish The season attracted a rich diversity of travellers and merchants from across the known world, boosting trade and exchange of ideas in ancient Asia

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

T

n Tim Steel he seasonal arrival of the southwest Monsoon rains frequently brings misery to the denizens of the great cities of Chittagong and

Dhaka.

Even the beaches of Cox Bazar offer little respite providing not the prospect of pleasure, but a deserted aspect for room trapped visitors, and empty pockets for local traders. Traffic may clog the roads, but developers have clogged the drainage systems and so water rules the streets, as it has for millennia.

The rains were ever thus, as for thousands of years, the season has brought drenching downpours to the lands of Bangladesh, around the delta of three of Asia’s greatest rivers, the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna.

Over the years, great trade and wealth has come with these rivers attracting a rich diversity of travellers and merchants from across the known world, such that the tourism industry of Bangladesh today can only dream of their variety. It is not hard to imagine how the arrival of their ships, driven

by the winds of monsoon, gladdened ancient hearts.

The melt waters of the Himalayas may bring to today’s citizens of these deltaic lands their own form of misery by eroding river banks but the annual flooding is largely a blessing to a thriving agricultural industry, with the annual deposit of fresh and rich soils, despite the regular wrecking of village life.

And those waters also bore the travellers and merchants of the Ganges basin, from the mountain kingdoms of Assam, Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet, not to mention the empire of the “middle Kingdom,” now returning to its heyday of social, cultural and economic ascendancy, China.

These travellers from the hinterland brought with them gemstones, gold, silver, muslins, fine fabrics and silks, musk and other fragrances, and even ideas, philosophies and learning accompanied the arrival of their “monsoon fleets.”

Such travellers and the peoples of this deltaic land themselves, in cities such as that being slowly unearthed on the ancient banks of the Old Brahmaputra, at Wari Bateshwar, awaited

eagerly the arrival of other travellers from the west, from Egypt, Arabia, and from at least the 1st millennium BCE, the Mediterranean civilisations of Greece and Rome, bringing with them their own burgeoning wealth of commerce and thought.

A mid 1st century CE/AD “merchant’s guide” to trade in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Seas, “The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,” describes for its readers the approach to the Ganges Delta: “Sailing with the ocean to the right and the shore remaining beyond to the left, the Ganges comes into view, and near it the very last land towards the east, Chryse. There is a river near it called the Ganges, and it rises and falls in the same way as the Nile (with seasonal floods). On its banks is a market town which has the same name as the river, Ganges. Through this place are brought malabathrum and Gangetic spices and pearls, and muslin of the finest sorts, which are called Gangetic.

It is said there are gold mines near these places.”

Writing about a hundred years later, the great Greek cartographer, Ptolemy, names the main channels of the delta as Kambyson, Mega, Kamberikhon, Pseudostomon and the Antibole.

It is Ptolemy’s famous map of the Ganges delta that alerts us to the fact that, whilst, “the last lands towards the east, Chryse,” may be interpreted as lands unknown, a place of “here be dragons,” in fact, routes of trade, even in his day, moved east of what may well be the first Silk Road.

If we accept the ancient nostrum that waters were the highway of the ancient world, this route may well have been via the Brahmaputra to northern Assam, traversing the famous Ledo

As the rains of ancient times lashed great cities such as Wari Bateshwar, Munshiganj, Egarosindur the people welcomed with growing anticipation the arrival of weather stained sails of Greco Roman merchant ships and Arab dhows, their sails billowing in the driving wind, soaked by the driving rains

Despite the power of the melt waters to speed the southbound journeys of central Asian traders, and the southwest monsoon to speed the voyages of the western merchants, there is no seasonal reverse of flow on such rivers as the Brahmaputra and Ganges, so it may well be that land routes also formed a part of return journeys on such routes. That western travellers seldom ventured inland further, which seems likely, at least until the early centuries CE. Another of the intriguing aspects of Ptolemy’s map is his clear marking of the divergence of Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, with the course of the latter marked as passing through the Himalayan mountain range and turning west to origins in Tibet.

How could Ptolemy, based in ancient Greece and relying for his unusually accurate mapping on Phoenician sailors from today’s Lebanon, possibly have known all that in about 150 CE if his informants had not travelled the routes?

One hundred and fifty years earlier than Ptolemy, his equally famous

So familiar were the Romans with the silks traded from the region that it became the fabric of choice of Roman society. The imports reached such an extent that the Emperor Augustus passed one of the first ‘Sumptuary’ laws in recorded history, forbidding the wearing of silks

Ptolemy’s famous map showing in details the Gulf of the Ganges

WIKIMEDIA

Road across Myanmar, into Yunnan Province, and thence down the Yangtze River to the great cities of China.

Ptolemy’s map marks clearly, and in the correct location, the market town of Ramu. If, in fact, Ramu was an access point for these western merchants to trade with the Chinese and Burmese hinterlands, it surely took their cargoes north to the fabled city of Mandalay, and thence to Yunnan, as an alternative to the Brahmaputra route, perhaps to avoid the heavy tolls no doubt extracted by the greater cities of the delta.

predecessor, Strabo who was arguably the original geographer and a close associate of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus, also wrote of trade with the Ganges: “Regarding these merchants who now sail from Egypt ... as far as the Ganges, they are only private citizens and they are of no use regarding the history of the places they have seen.”

Leaving aside the academic snobbery and lofty ignorance in this history, it confirms an early familiarity of such trade in the higher echelons of Greco Roman society.

Indeed, so familiar were the Romans with the silks traded from the region that it became the fabric of choice of Roman society. The imports reached such an extent that the Emperor Augustus passed one of the first “Sumptuary” laws in recorded history, forbidding the wearing of silks in order to reduce the passing of gold and silver to the markets of the Ganges delta. Not unlike the impact on contemporary western economies caused by imports from China today!

The wealth accumulated in these deltaic lands was probably vast, and financed an army large enough to deter that of Alexander the Great, and strong enough to become a mercenary army for Rome.

Little wonder then that, as the rains of ancient times lashed such great cities as those at Wari Bateshwar, Munshiganj, Egarosindur, perhaps Mahasthangarh, and certainly, by the middle of the first millennium CE/AD, Bhitagarh, as well as, quite possibly, others, including Barisal and Chittagong, the people welcomed with growing anticipation the arrival of weather stained sails of Greco Roman merchant ships and Arab dhows, their sails billowing in the driving wind, soaked by the driving rains.

They came bearing the wealth of growing western civilisations to exchange for the manufactured goods of the east, the gems and minerals of Southeast Asia, and the spices of the East Indies which monsoon winds also brought to these lands of Bangladesh, one of the world’s earliest, and greatest, ancient centres of international trade, commerce, and philosophical exchange.

Viewed from the lengthy sands of the overgrown shambles that is Cox’s Bazar today, these tiny, ancient vessels would have brought much pleasure to local watchers, as they slowly made their way towards the mouth of the river upon whose banks stands ancient Ramu. The visitors would have helped the ancient denizens of the old, long forgotten, cities of the delta overcome by the miseries of downpours of the annual southwest Monsoon. l Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Sunday, August 18, 2013

80% brick kilns in Barisal operating illegally Divisional department of environment helpless due to manpower shortage and chemicals are n Anisur Rahman Swapan, Barisal equipment, scarce.

Around 333 out of 407 brick kilns in six districts under Barisal division are operating illegally and polluting the environment, taking chances of a work force shortage in the divisional department of environment (DoE), said officials.

The illegal brickfield owners ignored several notices by the environment department, asking them to take noobjection and clearance certificates by installing modernised systems, the DoE Barisal divisional office sources claimed.

Sukumar Biswas, director at Barisal divisional DoE office, said, 71 brick Kilns in Barisal, 26 in Jhalakathi, 16 in Bhola, 24 in Patuakhali, 20 in Pirojpur and 11 in Barguna of Barisal division are operating illegally, as they do not use a zigzag chimney.

While 105 brick kilns in Barisal, 14 in Jhalakathi, 8 in Pirojpur, 11 in Patuakhali, 12 in Barguna and 15 in Bhola have completely overlooked the rules by not only ignoring zigzag chimney’s but instead using illegal drum chimneys, he said.

The owners of these illegal brick kilns are operating their businesses in sheer violation of the directives mentioned in the 2001 Brick Kiln Amendment Rule, said the DoE official.

Biswas said: “Barisal divisional DoE office has 32 sanctioned posts including 11 officers, 21 other staffs and employees. However, only four officers and eight staffs and employees are now performing their duties, hardly looking after all types of environmental issues in a total of 40 upazilas under the six districts of Barisal division.”

Though the office has means of road transportations, it lacks water transport, much more necessary for visiting the remote river in areas while testing

30 injured as bus falls in canal n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah At least 30 passengers were injured when a Moheshpur-bound bus fell in a canal at Pathra area under Moheshpur upazila of Jhenaidah district yesterday morning.

Local people and some of the injured passengers informed that leaving from the Jaluli Bazar frontier, the bus was heading towards the upazila headquarters with about 50 passengers.

When it arrived near Pathra around 9:30am, the driver lost control and the bus off the road and fell into the roadside irrigation canal.

Locals later rescued the injured and admitted them to the Upazila Health Complex.

Among the injured, 17 were taken to the upazila health complex and the remaining to the Bhairaba Health Sub Centre of the upazila, confirmed Moheshpur Police Station Officer-inCharge Akram Hossain.

When contacted, the on-duty doctor of the health complex informed that six of the injured were in a critical state and needed to be taken to better medical facilities immediately.

Upazila executive officer Nasima Khatun said the local people had helped proactively in rescuing the injured passengers. The upazila administration had been directed to take special care of the injured.

The bus was lying at the spot till noon yesterday, she said. l

also

Despite these limitations, the divisional DoE office, only in the 2012-13 fiscal, realised almost Tk18m on fines during different environment protection drives. The amount was Tk28.1m in the previous four years, officials claimed.

However, locals said that after the departure of DoE officials the fined brick kiln resumed their production.

The DoE divisional director, admitting the shortcomings, said: “We work under different types of limitations, like administrative and judicial jurisdictions as well as a lack of coordination between different government and non-government offices, manpower, transport, laboratory and equipment shortages.”

Besides these, political leaders and vested quarters often put pressure on the department’s drives, leaving it helpless or forcing it into long legal battles, especially in cases of filling water bodies, cutting down trees, constructing establishments in violation of environment laws and safety rules.

Maniruzzaman Rubel, one of the of brick kiln owners’ of Barisal, said, after paying the required government taxes and duties he sought trade licenses and clearance from the DoE. However, the administration and DoE showing the plea of some legal constraints are ignoring the practical scenario of the rising demands of bricks.

Lincon Gayen, district coordinator of the Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association, said the DoE divisional office has an insufficient workforce to look after environmental issues like illegal brick kilns, dumping of toxic chemicals, industrial and medical wastes. It also fails to operate regular office management and research works. l

Youth found dead in Thakurgaon n Tribune Report

The homestead of late Abdur Rahman in Srimangal of Moulvibazar has come to be known as the ‘Pakkhi Bari’ (house of birds). Hundreds birds of different kinds gather and chirp in the trees planted on the premises every afternoon before sunset FOCUS BANGLA

3 dilapidated inter-district routes bring sufferings to commuters

Smugglers prefer trains for transporting drugs n Our Correspondent, Khagrachari n Our Correspondent, Jessore Drug peddlers have been using trains rather than buses to carry drugs from India to Bangladesh. They have been able to cross the border at Benapole since the Railway Police (RP) are allegedly involved with the illegal business.

Sources said drugs such as heroin, fencidil, and cannabis have been smuggled using the Kobadak Express and Benapole bound trains for quite some time.

Lieutenant Colonel Matiur Rahman, commanding officer of Boarder Guard Bangladesh (BGB) 26, said they seized around 10 kilograms of heroin after raiding a Khulna bound Kobadak Express in several drives carried out at Jessore Railway Station in the past few days.

BGB and the Rapid Action Battalion, with the help of the RP, carried out several drives in order to catch the drug peddlers but they did not succeed in nabbing any of the peddlers due to a lack of cooperation from the RP. A source at Jessore Railway Station, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed the alleged involvement of the RP with the peddlers.

He added that the rail police and rail security forces always help the smugglers as they receive money from the peddlers.

The Kobadak Express became infamous for carrying heroin from the northern frontiers while Benapole bound trains are well known for transporting fencidil.

Sources said drug peddlers smuggle heroin under the guise of passengers almost every day on the Kobadak Express.

BGB said in the latest operation, they seized about one kilogram of heroin after raiding the Express last Friday.

Commuters on the Kobadak Express said they can often identify drug peddlers who travel disguised as passengers, but they never mention the peddlers’ names out of fear of retribution.

Locals in the Nawapara industrial area said known drug dealer Noor Islam had constructed three multi-story buildings in Nawapara using profits gained by selling illegal drugs.

Police have arrested him several times, but they could not stop his activities, locals said. l

The three dilapidated inter-district routes in Khagrachari are highly hindering road communication and causing heavy suffering to commuters.

Locals fear that the damaged roads may lead to major accidents and loss of lives.

Thousands of potholes have emerged along the routes connecting Matiranga and Tanakkapara, Jaliyapara and Mohalchhari along with, Khagrachari and Panchhari.

Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officials said the 48km Matiranga-Tanakkapara route, the 20km Jaliyapara–Mohalchhari rouute and 24km Khagrachhari-Panchhari route have been deteriorating for the past decade.

The route from Matiranga to the Tanakkapara border is the only route for the people of at least 125 villages, while the routes from Jaliyapara to Mohalchhari and Khagrachhari to Panchhari are the only routes for people of 28 and 35 villages respectively.

Around 15,000-20,000 commuters use the routes to travel to other upazilas and districts of the country.

The condition of the road has deteriorated due to movement of heavy traffic. Lack of repair and hill slides during the recent rainy season also contribut-

ed to its current condition.

Chiton Das, a high school teacher from the remote Tabalchhari area, said: “We are suffering due to the poor condition of the road created by the thousands of potholes.”

Muhammad Safar Ali, a villager under the upazila said, “It takes us almost three hours to travel to Matiranga from the border area, whereas it used to take only an hour and half,” adding that government needs to repair the roads without a delay.

“The Jaliyapara-Mohalchhari road has been the only way to travel to Khagrachari since 1987, but over the last decade the road has become unfit due to heavy traffic and lack of supervision from RHD,” said Mohammad Shahjahan Patwary, a retired headmaster of Mohalchhari Pilot High School.

“The journey on KhagrachhariPanchhari route becomes excruciating as drivers cannot drive in due speed because of the potholes, as a result we reach our destinations in much delay,” said Mohammad Bahar Mia, President of Panchhari Upazila Awami League unit.

Last year in August, Rail and Communication Minister Obaidul Kader visited the three roads. After observing the roads, he directed concerned Secretary and Chief Engineer of RHD to terminate its then Executive Engineer Abdur

Rashid and issue a show-cause notice to its Superintendent Engineer Md Shah Noaz for their negligence in duty.

Later in a press briefing, the minister said he was surprised after observing the sorry state of the roads and some bridges that were under construction.

In May this year, Dipankar Talukdar, MP, Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, in a view exchange meeting, at Panchhari, assured people that the RHD will start repair work as soon as possible.

When contacted, Executive Engineer of Khagrachhari RHD Mohammad Ismail Hossain said government had already taken a Tk240m project to reconstruct the three roads.

“We had assigned the contractors in the first week of May in 2011 for reconstructing the Matiranga-Tanakkapara route and Khagrachhari-Panchhari route with Tk85m and Tk80m respectively.”

“But after completing some five km of both the roads, the construction work had to stop due to rainy season and price hike of essentials. One of the contractors said that they would incur huge losses if the project is run with the assigned amounts,” he said.

Mohammad Ismail Hossain also said that the Corps of Engineers of Bangladesh Army took the Jaliyapara-Mohalchhari road under their authority in 1997 and had not reconstructed it yet. l

CUFL workers continue demonstration n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Workers of the Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL) yesterday continued their demonstration for the second day, demanding the immediate resumption of the factory’s production.

Earlier, on Friday, they kept their managing director (MD) locked in his office to press home their demands.

Abdur Rahim, president of CUFL Shramik Karmachari Union, said four fertiliser factories in the country were being supplied with gas at the instruction of the prime minister, but gas supply to CUFL remains closed.

“Though Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company (KAFCO) is located beside CUFL, it is getting gas,” said the president adding that a group wanted to close the factory permanently but they would

Man electrocuted in Moulvibazar A man was electrocuted at Madhabpur village in the Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar on Friday. The deceased was identified as Motahir Ali Tipu, 38, owner of an electrical goods store. Locals said Motahir came in contact with a live electric wire while working at his house and died on the spot around 8am. – UNB

A teenage boy went missing after a boat, carrying 13 passengers, sank in Bhola Khal in Bhola sadar upazila on Friday. The missing boy was identified as Swapan, a class VII student, and son of Aiub Ali, a resident of Mirpur sector 11 in the capital.

Witnesses said the boat sank when its passengers were trying to board a Dhakabound launch at the Kheyaghat terminal.

All passengers but Swapan swam ashore, they said. Lieutenant Rahat, a member of the Coast Guard South zone, said they were trying to recover the missing boy. – UNB

Ex-BCL leader found dead in Brahmanbaria

Police recovered the body of a former leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League DHAKA TRIBUNE

continue their movement till their demand is fulfilled.

Mohammad Mohiuddin, officer-incharge of Karnaphuli police station, said workers were continuing their demonstration in the factory and police were also there to avoid any unpleasant situation occurring.

Deeming the workers’ demand logical, Abu Jamal Sarkar, MD of CUFL, said he had already informed the higher authorities about the issue so the problem can be solved.

“I hope the problem will be solved as early as possible,” he said.

Gas supply resumed in four fertiliser factories in the country from last Wednesday while production was halted CUFL since gas was not being supplied. The factory was in production for only 77 days in the last fiscal year. l

NEWS IN BRIEF

Teenager goes missing as boat sinks in Bhola

Locals volunteer to pull a van out of a muddy ditch on an inter-district road in Khagrachhari

Police recovered the body of a young man from a pond at Tajpur village in Pirganj upazila under Thakurgaon district on Friday.

The identity of the deceased could not be ascertained immediately.

AKM Mehedi Hasan, officer-incharge of Pirganj Police Station, said locals informed the police after they had spotted the body floating in the pond around 11am.

Later, police recovered the body and sent it to Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy. l

from the Kasba railway station of Brahmanbaria early Saturday. The deceased, Alamgir Hossain, 35, was a former general secretary of Kasba upazila unit of BCL. The officer-in-charge of Kasba police station Badrul Alam Talukder said locals spotted the body lying on the station floor around 3am, and called police in.

Police said Alamgir might have died of cardiac arrest and ruled out the possibility of a homicide, since there was no injury mark on his body. The body was kept in police custody until filing of this report.

– UNB

1kg cocaine seized from train in Jessore

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized one kilogram of cocaine from a passenger train in the Sadar upazila of Jessore early Saturday. Major Raihan, deputy commander of BGB 23 Battalion, said a patrol team of the border force conducted a drive on the Khulna-bound Kopotakkho Express train early in the morning, when it reached the Noapara area. One kilogram of cocaine, hidden inside the ceiling of a toilet, was recovered but no one arrested. A case was filed with the Government Railway Police in this connection. The market value of the seized narcotic powder could be about Tk5m, the major said. – UNB

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Metro

7

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Zoo modernisation still a far cry The incumbent government undertook a development project, but the plan got stuck in red tape

Second Karnaphuli water supply project launched

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

n BSS

Four decades into its establishment, the Dhaka Zoo is yet to be coming along let alone modernising its outward appearance.

No genuine attempts had been taken over the period of time to develop the zoological park.

The incumbent government earlier undertook a five-year project between the year of 2013 and 2017 involving around Tk3.48bn to endow the two zoos in Dhaka and Rangpur with modern facilities. But the plan which was supposed to take effect this year is now stuck in bureaucratic tangle.

Prior to undertaking the project, the Department of Livestock conducted a digital survey with the help of Buet specialists and finally prepared a report based on its findings, according to a source.

A number of factors including the area of the facilities, the number of animals, shades, streets, lakes, shops and trees inside the zoological garden were considered while preparing the report.

The report was finally submitted to the livestock department last year.

The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology team of specialists sought 2% of the total project fund in return for preparation of the structural design and master plan of the project. But they were refused, and the job was handed over to the government’s architecture department as it offered to do the work free of cost.

However, the government architects are yet to kick off the project work though seven months have since elapsed.

Dhaka Zoo, set up on an extensive land of 186 acres is ranked fourth among all the zoological parks across the world, in terms of the area it covers.

But unlike other zoos, Dhaka’s one does not have much to offer, other than showcasing the encaged animals there.

Each day, thousands of crowds from all walks of life throng the zoo and walk miles after miles on foot to enjoy the tricks of monkeys and other animals.

The visitors have to buy food at an exorbitant price as the food stalls inside the facility sell foods at higher rate than their usual prices. To make mat-

The government has launched the second phase of the Karnaphuli Water Supply Project to provide safe water to the inhabitants of Chittagong, officials said.

“Chittagong WASA has undertaken the project to ensure uninterrupted supply of purified water from the Karnaphuli River,” Planning Division Secretary Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam told BSS. The project involves the set up of a water treatment plant in the port city with a 143 million litre per day (MLD) capacity, as well as the installation of a supply and distribution pipeline.

Chittagong WASA is entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the project in the city and Rangunia areas

by January 2022. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has already approved the project which will cost Tk44.91bn.

Of the total project cost, the government will assign 8.44bn from the National Exchequer, Chittagong WASA will provide Tk230m from its own sources and the Japan International

A baby rhesus monkey grabs hold of the cage in which he might have to live all his life, encaged ters worse, the number of toilets in the vicinity is much less than required.

A beautiful lake is also there amidst the panoramic surroundings, but it hardly absorbs the animal lovers because of the lacking of paddle boats.

According to some zoo officials, the zoo earns over Tk100m each year even under the current circumstances.

Of the amount, the entrance fee adds up to Tk50m while the rest is aggregated with parking fee, lease on public toilets and rent for restaurants.

A zoo official said the government can turn the Dhaka Zoo into a centre of attraction and increase revenues by many degrees if it puts in minimum effort for modernisation.

But no successive government paid heed to it so far, regretted the official.

An investigation revealed that the government is yet to enact any law to manage and maintain the zoos in the country properly.

However, a draft law is learnt to have been prepared 10 years back, but it has yet to see the light of day as the two ministries – the Ministry of Forest and the Ministry of Livestock – are locked in a tug of war over the draft law.

Four decades have passed since its inception, but the Dhaka zoo is far from becoming a member of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

As a result, the zoo is being deprived of opportunities including exchange of animals with other countries, purchase of animals through international tender, training related to wildlife management among overseas nations, etc.

The report prepared by Buet specialists suggested a number of measures for an overhaul of the zoo.

The measures include installation of a digital main entrance, construction of an underpass, car park, semi-natural shades for faunas and a tall tower, plying of soundless vehicles to wander around

A private car, losing control at high speed, hit the road dividers at the capital’s Hatirjheel yesterday

Man found dead in Sylhet n Tribune Report

Police recovered a man’s body from the Shaplabagh area in Sylhet on Friday.

The deceased, identified as Milon Chowdhury, 42, son of Nayeb Chowdhury who hailed from Gulshi village in Netrakona, was a mason by profession.

Nazma Begum, second wife of the deceased, said she found Milon’s body inside a room when she went to ask him if he would attend the Jumma prayers at around 12:30pm.

Police said Milon had married Nazma without his first wife’s (Asma Begum) permission.

After recovering police sent the body to Osmani Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy, suspecting that he was strangled to death. l

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

BCL activists assault official in CU n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong Some activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) yesterday assaulted an official on Chittagong University (CU) campus for his alleged involvement in irregularities in appointing university staff.

The official was Nasir Uddin, a deputy registrar and also the chief of fourth class employee’s cell of the university’s administrative section.

Witnesses said a group of Chhatra League activists, led by Mamun, athletics affair secretary of CU unit Chhatra League, obstructed the rickshaw carrying the deputy registrar in front of the campus’s Shaheed Minar. Mamun asked Nasir to return the bribe which was given to him for appointing a fourth class staff member. It prompted an altercation between them which eventually led to activists beating him up and leaving him injured.

Mamun said the official had taken bribes from job seekers including some Chhatra League members. They asked the official to return the money,

at which point the official started being rude to them, added Mamun.

The deputy registrar’s mobile phone remained switched off, when contacted.

CU acting proctor Anwar Hossain said they had heard about the attack.

After receiving a written complaint, they would investigate the matter and take legal measures against the miscreants.

Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of CU police outpost, said the attackers had left the place before the police arrived. The incident might have taken place due to previous enmity, said the OC. Campus sources said Nasir had been assaulted by Chhatra League activists on campus previously for the same allegation. The official allegedly controlled all the appointment of the university under his section with the help of CU vice-chancellor professor Anwarul Azim Arif. The deputy official recently appointed a few Jamaat-shibir men in different posts in exchange for bribes, said sources. l

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

the zoo, setting up of a children’s park and employment of zoo guides.

The zoo has no shade for over 300 wild animals living in small enclosures which bar them from roaming around.

The animal populaltion even seem to have forgotten their wild behaviour and hardly howl or growl.

Deputy Curator Maksud Hossain Haoladar of Dhaka Zoo said wild beasts like tigers and lions need to get an opportunity to wander around freely in open space.

But since the Dhaka Zoo has no such zone, all wild animals are kept here in confinement years after years, he said.

Zoo officials said about 10,00015,000 people visit the vicinity on normal days while the visitors’ number rises to 20,000 during holidays.

The zoo usually turns into a sea of crowds, with about 70,000-100,000 people visiting the place during Eid vacation. l

Cooperation Agency (Jica) will provide Tk36.23bn of project assistance.

Officials said the government has taken up the project in line with the Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP), as the development document has planned to ensure safer water supply for people and reduce diarrhoeal and other waterborne diseases by 2015.

The main activities of the project consist of setting up a water treatment plant, constructing one water intake plant, installing 38 kilometres of transmission pipeline and 505 kilometres of distribution pipeline.

At present, Chittagong WASA is implementing the first phase of Karnaphuli Water Supply Project, which will provide 143 MLD of safe water after its completion out of the city’s total demand of 409 MLD. Chittagong WASA is presently able to supply 219 MLD of safe water.

The demand for safe water in Chittagong, the second largest city in the country, is increasing gradually due to the expansion of industrialisation and commercial activities. l

‘Tannery Industrial Estate to start functioning next year’ n BSS The long-awaited shifting of Hazaribagh’s leather industries to Savar is likely to start next year as the government took a fresh move to keep the Tannery Industrial Estate, Dhaka, ready by 2014.

“We have identified various hurdles regarding the shifting. We will now fix a timeframe to start the shifting process of leather industries and I hope we will be able to keep the estate ready by next year,” Industries Minister Dilip Barua told BSS yesterday.

Barua said currently, the contractor of the project will start the construction of the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and the dumping ground.

He said the cost of the project had already been increased due to change in the value of US dollar and the delay

in setting up the park and other necessary facilities.

He further said the project’s design had recently been revised where new features like electricity production and sewerage system had been included.

Under the “Tannery Industrial Estate, Dhaka (2nd revised) Project”, the government will develop industrial plots with adequate infrastructural facilities for private entrepreneurs, build the CETP and dumping yard for waste management.

According to the latest revision, the project cost standing at Tk10.78bn will ensure the setting up of the CETP and all other facilities by June 2016.

Under the project, 205 plots were developed which have already been distributed among the owners of 155 factories located at Hazaribagh in the city. l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Anna Hazare charged for ‘disrespecting’ national flag n Tribune Desk A court in India’s Uttar Pradesh on Saturday directed the police to register a case against social activist Anna Hazare for allegedly showing disrespect to the national flag during his visit there on July 29, Times of India (TOI) has reported.

Chief judicial magistrate Narendra Bahadur Prasad directed the Line Bazar police to register the case and probe the matter, according to the Indian news website.

The court’s direction came on a petition filed by a local lawyer Himanshu Srivastava.

In his complaint, Srivastava alleged that Hazare had visited the college in the area to address a meeting during his ‘Jantatra Yatra’ on a vehicle, on which a full size India’s tricolour (green, white and orange) was pasted. The meeting went on till 8pm which apparently amounted to “showing disrespect to the flag,” TOI website read.

According to the rules, the national tricolour should be hoisted from sunrise to sunset and not beyond that.

Anna Hazare came to public attention in 2011 when he started an indefinite hunger strike to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nation-wide protests in his support. l

Attacks in east of Baghdad kill 12 security personnel n AFP, Baghdad

Mourners unload the coffin of Ali Abdullah who was killed in a bomb attack in Najaf, Iraq. More than 3,000 people have been killed in violence in the past few months

Iraq seeks help from United States amid growing violence

Floods in northeast n AP, Washington A resurgence of violence and a renewed China kill 25 threat from al-Qaeda have recently revived flagging US interest in Iraq, offin AFP, Beijing cials said Friday as Baghdad asked for Twenty-five people have been killed by floods which hit northeastern China over the past week, state media said Saturday, as other parts of the country continued to experience a heatwave.

The biggest floods recorded in decades in China’s northeast region, which borders Russia, began last week, submerging buildings and forcing people from their homes, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.

Floods caused by heavy rain in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Jilin have led to the relocation of 140,000 people, and economic losses of 7.1bn yuan ($1.2bn), Xinhua said.

Pictures posted online showed brick farmhouses surrounded by water, and a small bridge which had been swept away by swollen river.

Meanwhile, much of the rest of China has continued to experience a heatwave which saw temperatures in China’s commercial hub Shanghai reach their highest levels in at least 140 years earlier this month. l

new help to fight extremists less than two years after it forced American troops to withdraw.

Faced with security crises across the Mideast, North Africa and Asia, the White House largely has turned its attention away from Iraq since US forces left in 2011. But the country has been hit with deadly bombings at a rate reminiscent of Iraq’s darkest days, stoking new fears of a civil war. More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in terror-related attacks in July, the deadliest month since 2008.

The violence has spurred Baghdad to seek new US aid to curb the threat, said Iraqi Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. He said a US assistance package could include a limited number of advisers, intelligence analysis and surveillance assets — including lethal drones.

“There is greater realisation in the Iraq government that we should not shy away from coming and asking for some help and assistance,” Zebari told reporters Friday in Washington.

He described US interest in Iraq after the 2011 troop withdrawal as “indifferent, completely” but said that seemed to shift as the White House realised al-Qaeda’s resurrection there.

The American troops left Iraq in December 2011 as required under a 2008 security agreement. Both countries tried to negotiate plans, but failed, to keep at least several thousand US forces in Iraq beyond the deadline to maintain security. But the proposal fell through after Baghdad refused to give the troops immunity from legal charges, as Washington demanded.

Nearly 4,500 US troops were killed, and American taxpayers spent at least $767bn during the nearly nine years of war in Iraq.

Zebari attributed the insurgency’s comeback to its partnerships with al-Qaeda fighters in neighbouring Syria and outlawed Baath Party extremists in Iraq’s south. Intelligence experts have described the terror group’s footing in Iraq and Syria as a new al-Qaeda hub in the Mideast, one that has sought for years to underscore Baghdad’s inability to protect its people.

Most of the attacks in Iraq target government officials, security forces and Shiite pilgrims and neighborhoods. A se-

nior US administration official this week said the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has more than tripled over the last months, and it’s believed that most of the attackers are coming from Syria.

Distracted by a civil war in Syria, a policy pivot to Asia, growing extremism in North Africa and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the White House put Iraq on the back burner.

In the 20 months since the troop withdrawal, the US has sought to stay out of Iraqi affairs and engage with its government as Washington would with any other nation. A majority of Americans agreed with that approach, and 58 percent of US adults said in a Washington Post-ABC poll taken in March that the Iraq war had not been worth the fight.

Still, US officials say they remain actively involved in Iraq, and have quietly stepped up diplomatic efforts since March, when US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Baghdad for the first time in his new post. They largely have focused on ensuring Sunni Muslims are included in Iraq’s Shia-led government, and have urged Shiite leaders to resist retaliating to the Sunni insurgency’s attacks in what State Department spokesman Mike Lavallee described Friday as “quite intensive” diplomacy.

AP

But the engagement also has centred on making sure Iraq’s government remains independent from the Shia government in Iran and staying out of the civil war in Syria, where Sunni Muslim rebels are seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, an Alawite.

Alawites are an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Washington has repeatedly chastised Baghdad for allowing Iranian planes to fly weapons over Iraqi airspace to Assad’s forces, a violation of UN sanctions. Zebari said Friday that Baghdad has inspected at least 15 flights to Syria since March, and did not find any fighters or weapons. He said most of the inspected flights were from Iran or Syria, but also included planes form North Korea and Armenia.

But Iraq is grappling with its own sectarian tensions that experts say could spawn civil war.

In a report released this week, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group described boiling frustrations among Iraqi Sunnis for being politically sidelined and, in at least one deadly raid in April, targeted by security forces.

“A new wave of violence is engulfing Iraq,” the report concluded. “Citizens and politicians alike express fears of a return to sectarian strife.” l

Search suspended for 171 missing in Philippine ferry disaster, 32 bodies recovered

Gunmen kill female politician in Pakistan

n AFP, Cebu, Philippines

n AFP, Peshawar

Stormy weather forced Philippine rescuers to suspend a search Saturday for 171 people missing after a crowded ferry collided with a cargo ship and quickly sank, with 32 others confirmed dead.

The St Thomas Aquinas ferry was carrying 831 passengers and crew when the vessels smashed into each other late on Friday night in a dangerous choke point near the port of Cebu, the Philippines’ second-biggest city, authorities said.

Coastguard and military vessels, as well as local fishermen in their own small boats, frantically worked through the night and Saturday morning to haul 629 people out of the water alive.

But when bad weather whipped up the ocean mid-afternoon on Saturday, authorities suspended the search with 171 people still unaccounted for.

“It rained hard ... with strong winds and rough seas,” said navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Gregory Fabic.

He also said powerful currents had earlier prevented divers from assessing all of the sunken ferry to determine how many people had died and were trapped inside.

Fabic said rescuers had not given up hope that there were other survivors who were still drifting at sea.

But Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, vice commandant of the coastguard, said the death toll would almost certainly rise from the 32 bodies that had already been retrieved.

The cargo ship, Sulpicio Express 7, which had 36 crew members on board, did not sink. Television footage showed

Gunmen shot dead a secular female politician from Pakistan’s troubled northwest after breaking into her home at night, police said on Saturday.

Najma Hanif, 35, was a senior member of the Awami National Pary (ANP) which is known for its outspoken views against the Taliban and backed military operations against the insurgents while it ruled the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Police said the attackers, who have not yet been identified, used a silenced pistol.

“One or two attackers entered the house and killed her,” Mohammad Faisal, a senior police officer said.

The motive behind the shooting was unclear but Hanif’s husband and son along with their bodyguard were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber in November 2011.

The ANP led the province and was a member of the ruling coalition in the centre from 2008 until elections earlier this year.

The party has been relentlessly targeted by the Taliban, losing hundreds of activists, with attacks stepped up during the run up to the May polls. l

18 dead as al-Qaeda attacks Syria Kurd town n AFP, Beirut

Philippine Navy personnel lift a victim's body during rescue operations on Saturday AFP its steel bow had caved in on impact but it sailed safely to dock. Tuason said it appeared one of the vessels had violat-

ed rules on which lanes they should use when travelling in and out of the port, without specifying which one. l

Al-Qaeda loyalists attacked a mainly Kurdish town in northeastern Syria sparking fighting in which 18 people were killed, two of them ambulance crew, a watchdog said on Saturday.

The assault on the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain, from which the jihadists were expelled by Kurdish militia last month, sparked an exodus of civilians into neighbouring Turkey, an activist said.

The attack on the town was part of a wider offensive by al-Qaeda against several Kurdish majority areas of northern and northeastern Syria that

began on Friday and was continuing on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Four Kurdish militiamen and 11 jihadists made up the rest of the dead, the watchdog said. Syrian Kurd activist Havidar said civilians had fled “in waves into villages in Turkey.”

Government troops pulled out of majority Kurdish areas of Syria last year, leaving Kurdish militia to fend for themselves.

Elsewhere in Syria, rebels attacked a pro-regime militia checkpoint in a majority Christian area of Homs province, killing six civilians and five militiamen, the Observatory said. l

Gunmen killed 12 policemen and soldiers while a truck bomb hit a port in Iraq on Saturday, the latest in a surge in violence that authorities have failed to curb.

Security forces have in recent weeks carried out some of their biggest operations since the 2011 withdrawal of US forces, but analysts and diplomats have said authorities have not addressed the root causes of the violence.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has nevertheless vowed to press on with the campaign in a bid to combat Iraq’s worst violence since 2008, and on Saturday the interior ministry’s spokesman announced the killing of an alleged senior al-Qaeda-linked militant.

In Saturday’s deadliest attack, gunmen opened fire on an army post in the town of Madain, just southeast of Baghdad, in a pre-dawn attack that left five soldiers dead and three others wounded, police and a medical source said.

Among the dead was a lieutenant colonel. The gunmen fled the scene after the attack, and security forces, who cordoned off the scene, launched a manhunt.

North of Baghdad, militants shot dead four police who were buying ice near the city of Tikrit.

Security forces often purchase large blocks of ice to distribute to nearby checkpoints in order to cope with Iraq’s sweltering summer heat.

In another attack north of the capital, gunmen killed three soldiers in the restive Muqdadiyah area of Diyala province.

And in the far south, a truck rigged with explosives blew up in the parking lot of the port of Umm Qasr, wounding three people and damaging a docked ship and several nearby trucks.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda and opposed to the Shia-led government frequently carry out attacks against security forces. l

WORLD WATCH Chinese zoo closed for lying about its lion

A zoo in central China has been closed after visitors were outraged to discover its lion was really a bushy and barking Tibetan mastiff.

The dog was not the only fake at People’s Park Zoo in the city of Luohe, which tried to pass off other common mammals and rodents as a leopard and snakes, Chinese media reported. Photographs showed the mastiff with its muzzle poking through the bars of its dingy enclosure. A grimy sign on the cage read “African Lion” in Chinese characters.

40 pythons rescued from Canadian motel room

Canadian authorities have rescued 40 distressed pythons from a motel room where they were being improperly held in plastic storage bins, police said on Friday. Police found the snakes, ranging from 0.3m to 1.4m in length, in a motel in Brantford, a city about 100km southwest of Toronto. “The snakes were not being suitably cared for and were in distress. The anxious officers called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who attended and took 40 pythons into their care,” local police said in a statement.

Thailand denies Tony Blair $640k speaker fee

Thailand has denied that it will pay former British prime minister Tony Blair $640,000 to speak at an upcoming government-sponsored forum in Bangkok on bridging the kingdom’s festering political divides. A lawmaker from Thailand’s opposition Democrat party last week alleged that $640,000 had been put aside in the budget to pay ex-premier Blair, a claim refuted by the government.

Human rights organisation calls for ban on Italian wine featuring Hitler Huffington Post reports that a Los Angeles-based human rights organisation named the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, has called for a global ban on Italian winemakers Vini Lunardelli for featuring Adolf Hitler and Nazi slogans on the bottles of its“historical line” of wines. The company has made Hitler wine since 1995. However, it wasn’t until last year, when several tourists in Italy took offense, that the controversy emerged.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Sunday, August 18, 2013

NSA defends surveillance programmes as lawful n Reuters, Washington Under increasing pressure to justify electronic surveillance programmes that at times capture communications of American citizens, the US National Security Agency (NSA) went to unusual lengths on Friday to insist its activities are lawful and any mistakes largely unintentional.

In a sign of how much heat it has taken since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden started disclosing details of highly classified US surveillance programmes, the ultra-secretive intelligence agency held a rare conference call with reporters to counter public perceptions that NSA transgressions were willful violations of rules against eavesdropping on Americans.

The Washington Post late Thursday reported that the NSA had broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since 2008, citing an internal agency audit and other top secret documents The NSA’s presentation was an attempt to calm the latest firestorm over documents disclosed by Snowden. The Washington Post late Thursday reported that the NSA had broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since 2008, citing an internal agency audit and other top secret documents.

“These are not willful violations, they are not malicious, these are not people trying to break the law,” John DeLong, NSA director of compliance, told reporters.

NSA employees know their actions are recorded and the agency’s culture is to report any mistakes, he said, repeatedly stressing that “no one at

NSA thinks a mistake is OK.” Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum in Russia this month, gave information about secret NSA programmes that collect phone, email and other communications to several media organizations, which published stories about them starting in June. His disclosures provoked an intense debate over privacy rights versus national security needs in the United States and several other countries, including Great Britain, Germany and Brazil.

The uproar led to a series of rare public comments by normally publicity-shy NSA officials, who have written opinion pieces in the media and repeatedly said transparency was a positive development.

Willful violations ‘extremely rare’

As DeLong explained that the NSA had rigorous internal measures to avoid, suppress and destroy intelligence inadvertently collected on Americans, leaders of both congressional intelligence committees issued statements strongly supporting NSA programmes and the agency’s efforts to comply with the law and regulations.

“The committee has never identified an instance in which the NSA has intentionally abused its authority to conduct surveillance for inappropriate purposes,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, said.

Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, described errors reported in the Post story as “human and technical,” which he said were “unfortunately inevitable in any organisation and especially in a highly technical and complicated system like NSA.” But Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called the re-

As Egypt burns, tourism suffers n Reuters, Frankfort/London Violence sweeping Egypt has hit its tourism - a vital part of the economy - as governments warn holidaymakers to stay away, prompting some foreign travel agents to stop all trips there.

The latest unrest looks likely to kill off a tentative recovery of a sector that accounted for more than a tenth of gross domestic product before the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, starting a period of political uncertainty which worsened with events of this week.

Millions of foreigners visit Egypt each year to laze on its beaches, tour ancient ruins and cruise along the Nile, but Germany has advised its citizens to avoid its Red Sea resorts and Americans have been warned to keep away completely.

“Something like 10% of our bookings have been cancelled,” said Mohammed el-Sharbagy, owner of a diving centre in Hurghada one of several isolated Red Sea towns far from Egypt’s cities that had been holding up relatively well.

The latest travel warnings are a bitter blow to people like Sharbagy who said media coverage of the deadly violence was partly to blame for hurting business.

“Most of the events are 600km away in Cairo and in Alexandria, but people just don’t realise that,” he said.

“Downtown Hurghada is absolutely quiet. All I saw today were some people and police sitting together protecting the church.”

German tour operators Thomas Cook Germany and TUI Germany, part of Europe’s largest tour operator TUI Travel, cancelled all trips to Egypt after the German foreign ministry advised against travelling to the beach resorts, which are popular with European sun-seekers and divers.

They said customers would get the chance to rebook to other destinations free of charge.

Air Berlin, Germany’s second biggest airline which is one-third owned by Gulf carrier Etihad, said it was still operating scheduled flights to Red Sea resorts but would not accept new bookings to Egypt until September 15.

Germany’s foreign ministry advised against going to the resorts, which help attract about 1.2 million Germans to Egypt each year. It stopped short of a full warning that would mean evacuating tourists.

“Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urges German citizens to take this travel advice very seriously,” a spokesman said.

He said some tourists in resorts at

Hurghada had been advised not to leave their hotel grounds after one man was killed in clashes there on Wednesday.

Similar advice from Sweden’s foreign ministry led Swedish tour operators to stop all trips to the resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, 400km from Cairo on the Sinai Peninsula, and Hurghada on the Egyptian mainland.

Belgium followed suit, extending a travel warning to tourist resorts on Friday that led to travel agencies Neckermann and Jetair cancelling all trips to Egypt until August 31.

Egypt experienced more violence on Friday and Saturday as Brotherhood protests descended into a bloodbath, with more than 170 people killed in Cairo alone on a “Day of Anger” called by followers of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, two days after their protest camps were stormed by security forces using lethal force.

The US on Thursday warned Americans against travelling to Egypt and urged US citizens living in Egypt to leave the country.

Russia said its citizens should not travel to Egypt and advised against tour operators promoting Egyptian holidays.

Luxury tour operator Kuoni said it was contacting all clients in Britain who were due to go to Egypt in the next 21 days to offer them alternative holidays or a refund if no acceptable alternative option could be found.

Egypt is in the top 10 destinations for both TUI and Thomas Cook, though is more popular as a winter sun destination.

Travel advice issued by governments affects tourism as vacation health and cancellation insurance will often not apply to locations deemed unsuitable for travel.

Some holidaymakers already in Egypt were advised not to leave their resorts and trips were cancelled to major attractions including Luxor and the Valley of the Kings in the south and Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, the world’s oldest active Christian monastery.

France advised against travel to all of Egypt in early July while Switzerland on Friday also extended its advice to warn holidaymakers away from the beach destinations.

Britain’s foreign office has advised against travelling to Egypt except to Red Sea resorts, although a spokesman said this guidance was under constant review.

Thomas Cook’s British arm said travel was operating normally but it was monitoring the situation closely. An evening curfew imposed at Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday had been lifted. l

ports of privacy violations by the NSA “incredibly troubling” and said he had ordered his staff to conduct a review.

He said, however, “the information we have received so far does not show any intentional abuse or misuse of NSA’s authorities.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, said he planned to hold a hearing to examine reports of unauthorized surveillance by the NSA. “I remain concerned that we are still not getting straightforward answers from the NSA,” he said.

DeLong, who acknowledged that public debate was taking place in a “highly charged” atmosphere, said willful violations were “extremely rare” and that mistakes can lead to the removal of database access for an NSA employee.

DeLong said that NSA analysts make 20 million queries of intelligence databases on average each month, and that the number of mistakes are a tiny portion of legitimate queries.

He gave an example of how one mistake was handled. In a case where NSA allegedly stored 3,000 records, apparently related to Americans and legal immigrants, longer than the rules allowed, the information was not misused and subsequently deleted, he said.

“President Obama has long advocated greater transparency, stronger oversight and other reforms to give Americans confidence that our intelligence programmes strike the right balance between protecting our national security and the privacy of our citizens,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

He said the White House would work with Congress on reforms “to further improve oversight and strengthen public confidence in these operations that are so critical to American national security.” l

4 Kenyan policemen killed in suspected alShabaab raid n Reuters, Garissa Four Kenyan police officers were shot dead in the border county of Garissa when 40 heavily armed men, suspected of belonging to Somali` militant group al-Shabaab, attacked a police post, a senior regional government official said on Saturday.

The east African nation, which sent its troops into Somalia in late 2011 to pursue the al-Qaeda-linked militants, has suffered a string of gun and grenade attacks claimed by al-Shabaab group as retaliation. A local teacher was also injured in the attack at Galmagalla late on Friday, Khattor said.

Last month, al-Shabaab released two Kenyan government officials it had seized in a 2012 cross-border attack l

9 Islamic militants kill 13 in Nigeria n AP, Maiduguri

A Somali baby receives a polio vaccine, at the Medina Maternal Child Health centre in Mogadishu in April AP

Somalia polio outbreak spreads; 105 cases recorded n AP, Nairobi, Kenya Somalia is suffering an “explosive” outbreak of polio and now has more cases than the rest of the world combined, an official said Friday.

Vaccine-wielding health workers face a daunting challenge: accessing areas of Somalia controlled by al-Qaedalinked militants, where 7 of 10 children aren’t fully immunised.

Polio is mostly considered eliminated globally except mainly in three countries where it is considered endemic: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. India marked a major success in February 2012 by being removed from the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s list of countries plagued by the disease.

Somalia now has 105 cases, figures released Friday show, and another 10 cases have been confirmed across the border in a Kenyan refugee camp filled with Somalis. Globally there have been 181 cases of polio this year, including those in Somalia and Kenya.

Vaccination campaigns in Somalia have reached 4 million people since the outbreak began in May, but those health officials have limited access to about 600,000 children who live in areas of Somalia controlled by the armed Islamist group al-Shabab.

“It’s very worrying because it’s an explosive outbreak and of course polio is a disease that is slated for eradication,” said Oliver Rosenbauer, a spokesman for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at WHO in Geneva. “In fact we’re seeing more cases in this area this year than in the three endemic countries worldwide.”

In a bit of good news, Rosenbauer said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that polio numbers are down in the three remaining endemic countries.

Somalia was removed from the list of endemic polio countries in 2001, and this year’s outbreak is the second since then.

It began one month after Bill Gates helped unveil a six-year plan to eradicate polio at the Global Vaccine Summit. That effort will cost $5.5bn, three-quarters of which has already been pledged, including $1.8bn from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The outbreak in Somalia does not

set back the six-year plan, said Rosenbauer, because unpredictable and intermittent outbreaks were programmemed into the timeline.

In al-Shabab controlled south-central Somalia, disease surveillance is functioning, but health officials are likely not able to detect all polio cases.

In a sign of how difficult it is for medical providers to operate in Somalia, the aid group Doctors Without Borders announced this week it was pulling out of the country after 22 years because of attacks on its staff members. MSF, as the group is also known, was not taking part in the polio vaccination campaign.

Vaccination campaigns in Somalia have reached 4 million people since the outbreak began in May, but those health officials have limited access to about 600,000 children Somalia shares one significant trait with the three endemic countries: pockets of severe violence where populations can be hostile to health care workers. In February, gunmen believed to belong to a radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram shot and killed at least nine women taking part in a polio vaccination drive in northern Nigeria.

Polio, for the moment, has been defeated in two areas of Pakistan. But in one region where the disease persists — the dangerous North and South Waziristan region near the Afghanistan border — local authorities have banned immunisation campaigns since mid2012. Vaccination programmes, especially those with international links, have come under suspicion since a Pakistani doctor ran a fake vaccination programme to help the CIA track down Osama bin Laden.

Southern Afghanistan hasn’t recorded any polio cases since November, a story of success after years of failure there.

When the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988, the disease was endemic in 125 countries and paralysed about 1,000 children per day. Since then the incidence of polio has decreased by more than 99%. Five children have been paralysed in Somalia’s recent outbreak. l

A Nigerian legislator said suspected Islamic militants have killed 13 people in an attack on a northeast village near where a massacre occurred at a mosque.

Legislator Ayamu Lawan Gwasha said security forces repelled gunmen who attacked the police station and a military post in Damboa area on Thursday night.

Farmer Mustapha Aji said other militants gunned down villagers and firebombed about 20 homes. He said villagers had feared an attack since extremists gunned down 47 worshippers at a mosque in Konduga village Sunday.

They had asked for more security, but it hadn’t yet arrived.

Northeast Nigeria confronts an uprising by Islamic extremists who want an Islamic state in the secular country divided about equally between Christians and Muslims. l

Up to 100,000 face evacuation in Russia’s flood-hit far east n Reuters, Moscow As many as 100,000 people may be evacuated from their homes near Russia’s border with China if the region’s biggest floods for 120 years get worse, Russian media reported on Saturday.

The floods, caused by a month of unusually heavy rain, are not expected to start receding until early September, the head of Russia’s hydrometeorology monitoring service told news agency Ria Novosti.

The floods, caused by a month of unusually heavy rain, are not expected to start receding until early September Television footage showed residents rowing boats past half-submerged houses and military vehicles dumping gravel to counter the floodwater, which has already led to the evacuation of about 170,000 people from the Amur, Khabarovsk and Jewish Autonomous regions.

“The damage is extensive, but the most significant achievement is there have been no casualties ... we cannot relax, there is still a lot of work to be done,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address.

Water has swamped huge swathes of the countryside with 400,000 hectares of agricultural land submerged.

This has caused potential damage of more than 2bn roubles ($60m), Putin’s envoy to the region Viktor Ishaev was quoted as saying.

In 2012, flash floods killed 171 people and damaged more than 4,000 homes in southern Russia’s mountainous Caucasus region. l

Lahcen, 41, prays at his home during Ramadan in Paris. Lahcen is a Moroccan Muslim who immigrated to France and has been living in Paris for the last 10 years. Staunchly secular France has long struggled to assimilate a Muslim population made up largely of descendants of immigrants from ex-colonies, that has grown to around 5 million people and itself feels shut out of mainstream society and the job market. The previous conservative government banned full-face veils in public and far-right politicians have complained about Muslim prayers spilling out onto streets from overcrowded mosques. Anti-Muslim incidents have risen steadily in recent years in France, home to Europe's largest Islamic minority, according to the Committee against Islamophobia in France. This picture is a part of a photoseries ‘Living as a Muslim in France’ on a Reuters blog REUTERS

10 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Environmental conditions for Rampal need more clarity

R

eports that the Department of Environment (DoE) has approved an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a 1320MW coal power station and terminal at Rampal on the edge of the Sundarbans, if ‘’certain conditions’’ are met, raises new questions for this controversial project.

In 2011, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, to which Bangladesh is a party, expressed concern about the proposal, which includes an anchorage at Akram Point, a shipyard and a coal silo in the forest area.

While the Power Development Board claims that proper measures can mitigate emissions The government of carbon dioxide, fine particles must do more to and fly ash, and properly dispose assure the public of waste, the National Committee that a transparent to Save the Sundarbans believes and effective the EIA has been pushed through system to monitor following a technically one sided the proposed and confusing survey conducted complex can be by the government’s Centre for put into place Environmental and Geographical Information Services.

This demonstrates an ongoing failure by public authorities to build trust with civil society and to convince the public that adequate controls and monitoring can be put in place. The stakes are too high for the DoE not to fully prove its case independently and transparently.

Bangladesh’s growing energy demands makes the building of power stations a national need. The government must do more to assure the public that a transparent and effective system to monitor the proposed complex can be put into place, if it is determined to allow it to go ahead.

Harassment-free public universities

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ecent reports have uncovered that public universities lack adequate psychological support centres for students, despite a High Court order stipulating that they should issue policies against sexual harassment and provide facilities for mental support centres.

Reportedly, the rate of depression on campuses is increasing and at least 5% of students have been dropping out of higher educational institutions because of sexual and mental harassment.

In spite of the fact that every public university had accepted the High Court’s order, few concrete measures have been taken.

Public Even the biggest public universiuniversities have ty in Bangladesh, Dhaka Univera responsibility sity, has no permanent post for to ensure that a counsellor; former students they create a safe in the psychology department and welcoming allegedly run its student guidenvironment for ance and counselling centre. The students situation is much worse in many other public universities around the country.

Prevalence of sexual harassment on campuses predominantly affects female students. This has grave implications for gender equity in Bangladesh where women are already underrepresented in tertiary education.

We have previously editorialised about the fact that public university students face many challenges to their education, including chronic session jams, strikes and other types of disruptions. Compared to many of these issues, putting in place anti-harassment policies and providing support services is a relatively easy problem to solve.

Public universities have a responsibility to ensure that they create a safe and welcoming environment for students. Putting in place anti-harassment policies and providing support facilities for victims of abuse is a crucial part of creating such an environment. They need to act on the High Court’s order without any further delay.

SUDOKU

How to solve Sudoku: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

Safety from lawbreaking motorcyclists!

August 15 A detailed write-up on motorcyclists was published by a local English daily on 12th. August, However, I wonder if any motorcyclist will read it!

In my opinion, may be less than five percent of motorcyclists if any; ever read an English daily! Possibly less than twenty percent of the motorcyclists in Dhaka, have wife and children!

I find that almost all motorcyclists, except when double or triple riding; violate most traffic rules at their whim! Their worst crime is riding motorcycles on footpaths; despite the High Court ruling, that it is only meant for pedestrians! They are least bothered about rules and regulations, routinely violating traffic lights, or traffic policemen hand signals for traffic control.

It will be a good and curative action, if the government deploys the army along with Military Police to force them to follow traffic rules; since they thrive in dangerous riding and total disregard for all safety norms of the passerby; while they merrily drive on footpaths!

Over and above, they have the audacity to blow their horn at pedestrians on the footpath, asking them to move aside, so that they can drive their motorcycles at speed on the footpaths; and spewing dark smoke polluting the air for all nearby pedestrians to breathe in! Why do not the authorities take stern action in containing this lawlessness? Generally we go by the axiom “Might is Right”; or as the popular local saying goes: “Dandar marey thanda.”

This is what they really deserve; hefty fines; or alternatively: jail for the day! Such continuing and irresponsible attitude of motorcyclists in disregarding and violating most traffic rules; needs to be stopped once for all with an ‘‘iron hand.’’ to be really effective! It is “better late, than never;” or are the authorities worried about loosing potential votes; to pamper to such misdeeds? In that case, I would appeal to the literate voters to vote for the opposition; if they promise to eliminate the motorcycle menace, on coming to power!

SA Mansoor Dhaka

LETTER OF THE WEEK

HRW: Ghulam Azam trial ‘deeply flawed’ August 16

Just read the rejoinder from pride of the Nation, Barrister Tureen Afroz: She asked “First of all who is HRW to comment on our internal judicial process and matters? Is it not itself violation of international law? What HRW did when Eichmann Trial or Saddam Hossain Trial were carried out in complete violation of all standards of international law? Did it ever protest to safeguard the so called ‘international standard’ then?”

- The main task of Human rights organisations is to report any human rights violations regardless of where they take place. I do not want to sound too obvious, but the clue is in the name - Human Rights Watch. And the Trial of S Hossain she should have read the report “Judging Dujail” published by HRW on November 20, 2006 And for Eichmann Trial. That was long before HRW was founded. I guess for that reason they could not criticise Eichmann Trial and the conflict between Habil and Kabil (Adam’s children).

Her second question was: “Claiming to be a human rights organisation, has HRW ever stood to protect the rights of the victims of mass atrocities committed in 1971? Why (didn’t it)” - And once again reason being HRW was only founded in 1978. But in numerous occasions they criticised the culprits of 1971 and are in favour of bringing them to justice. Even in this report it says: “Human Rights Watch has long supported the efforts to deliver accountability for the atrocities committed during the 1971 war” May be honourable Tureen Afroz learn to read the full report before commenting. (Just a suggestion) And her final question was: “More importantly, when the very matter of Ghulam Azam appeal is pending before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, can anyone, let alone HRW, at all comment on the matter?”

- Anyone who is not related to an investigation or trial, can express their opinion, place their arguments. Thats free speech 101 (or common sense 101, sorry I can’t remember) Carlos Danger

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Iranian councilor banned for ‘model’ looks August 16

Carrie Read how dare she be gorgeous.

Tahmina Akter Mili Allah approved her to be beautiful. Don’t be jealous.

Masud Hasan Islam is powered by Muslim sexual repression. Muslims are the most sexually repressed people as a whole at this point.

Sexual repression is much of the reason why Muslims are so hateful and violent.

Back when Christianity was nearly as sexually repressive, centuries ago, Christians were pretty violent then, too.

Nahiyan Bin Asadullah It has nothing to do with Islam.

Arch Bishop Keep your head buried in the sand and repeating that line like a parrot ... and add to the “Islam gives the greatest rights to women ...” nonsense.

Zakia Tsunami I find the reported news and the following comments to be equally amusing.

People, nowadays, lack simple comprehension skills. Ali Ahsan “We don’t want catwalk models here,” the council leader proclaimed. Siahkali is portrayed on her campaign material as wearing the statutory hijab, leaving her face visible ...

Rawshan Iajdani “Iranian candidates are only allowed to run for office if they pass a large number of detailed background checks by the judiciary, intelligence ministry, police and National Organisation for Civil Registration.” We need this in Bangladesh.

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PEANUTS

CODE-CRACKER

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YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS Sudoku

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Code-Cracker

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Equity concerns for health policy n Dr Mohammad Rajja

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ealth sector reform initiatives announced recently by South Asian governments include permissions to foreign providers of medical care, leasing spare capacity in public facilities to private practitioners, encouraging private health insurance and offering concessional loans to private practitioners to practice in rural areas.

Among SAARC countries, India has the largest private sector and is an exporter of tertiary corporate health care to others in the region. The growth of the private sector is varied across the four largest countries.

With more than 50%of national population aged under 40, the young have the power to swing the results of any election

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The taxi driver

W n Ifti Rashid

hen travelling abroad, I have always found random conversations with taxi drivers to be the most informative and revealing accounts of politics, society and culture.

In our country, the same can be said of conversations with CNG drivers and ricksha-walas.

In fact, Dhaka’s rickshaw pullers go one step further. I have heard suggestions on how to resolve the political impasse, while a video of a local taxi driver’s proposals for easing traffic congestion has gone viral on social media.

It is not surprising that three-wheeler rickshaw or autorickshaw drivers – taxi drivers – develop a strong understanding of the pulse of the people. They do not only edify, but listen as well.

Few other professions involve the same level of mandatory and frequent interaction with a cross-section of people on a daily basis. Taxi drivers gain a nuanced perspective from passengers with diverse backgrounds and experiences. After all, they do not have the luxury of discriminating on the basis of politics, power and wealth.

Politicians can benefit from unfettered insights into the minds of voters Taxi drivers are in earshot of various shades of opinions – in particular the marginalised “common man” (the everyday Joe – the aam janata or common public, as some would say). They get a sense of the hearts and minds of

the people by eavesdropping or participating in conversations.

Given the anonymous nature of the relationship, passengers and drivers develop a comfort zone allowing them to vent their feelings and concerns in a candid manner. Taxis serve the purpose of virtual talk-back radio shows, while taxi drivers become repositories of information in the society.

The intelligence gathered by taxi drivers can be valuable information for better understanding society and could be used by market researchers, sociologists and last but not least, politicians.

Politicians can benefit from unfettered insights into the minds of voters by simply interacting with taxi drivers on a regular basis. They can tailor their election campaigns and strategies based on an accurate understanding of prevailing voter sentiments. Or better still, they can be taxi drivers for a day.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has done exactly that. He went undercover as a taxi driver for a day to hear the concerns of voters ahead of the September general election.

According to him, “It’s important for me to hear what people really think.” He points out, “If there’s one place where people say what they think, it’s in the taxi.” The leader, facing an upcoming election, was trying to connect with voters in response to criticism that his party was out of touch with reality.

Our leaders have a lot to learn from the Norwegian PM who has gone to such lengths to understand the sentiments of voters. No, I do not necessarily expect (or desire) to see our high and mighty leaders turn into three-wheeler drivers overnight in their endeavour to understand the pulse of voters.

This is neither realistic nor practical

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in our context. That being said, Norway Prime Minister Stoltenberg has set an example for leaders to not to take voters for granted.

There is no alternative but to respond to the pulse of the voters to win an election. Sadly, our political leadership has become increasingly isolated, detached and unaware of public opinion despite two decades of democracy.

It is evident in the actions, speeches and statements that there is a definite lack of sensitivity to public perception. This holds true for both the government and the opposition.

There is a serious communication failure between leaders and the masses that does not augur well for democracy.

The growing youth bulge will result in a larger group of potential swing voters The leadership on both sides of the political divide appear to be out of touch with reality because they are surrounded by sycophants who tell them what they want to hear as opposed to what they need to hear.

Instead of constructive criticism, counter-productive flattery becomes music to the ears of our leaders. The self-serving “yes men” say everything is perfect, while labelling critics as traitors notwithstanding their sincerity and integrity.

Our leaders fall for this illusion time and again, reminding me of the classic tale: The Emperor’s New Clothes.

The sycophants make themselves invincible by creating an artificial barrier between the leaders and the public.

Leaders suffer eventually since injudicious policies, strategies and messages

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erode public support further. Adulation takes precedence over sincerity.

It seems our leaders have not learnt from history that the beneficiaries are often the first ones to volteface when the going gets tough.

I remember a prominent leader, who was influential in the party and had the ears of the leadership while in opposition, once half-jokingly warned me he will be overshadowed by the “chatukar-bahini” (brown-nosers) after they come to power.

I was hoping against hope, but his prediction unfortunately came true when his party won the election a few years later. This is the same story on both sides, thus making voters sceptical of pledges by political parties before elections.

Our leadership, in both the government and opposition, must connect with voters to better serve our nation.

Instead of relying on fringe groups, our political parties are overlooking the largest king-maker of them all – the undecided floating voters who will vote for the party that will serve them better.

I believe the growing youth bulge will result in a larger group of potential swing voters rather than the fixed vote banks which have previously prevailed. This group will make informed choices but will want to be heard by their leaders.

Our leaders need to pull away from the influence of sycophants to understand the pulse of the people.

Let the Norwegian PM be an example in principle, if not literally. After all, voters are the primary raison d’être for leaders in a democracy, at least in theory. Can our politicians step up to the taxi driver challenge ahead of the general elections? l Ifti Rashid is a political and security analyst.

Arab leaders tacitly back crackdown on Brotherhood n Sammy Ketz

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ost Arab leaders tacitly support Egypt’s deadly crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, fearing the group’s growing regional influence since the Arab Spring threatens their own power, analysts say.

Egypt’s army, directly or indirectly in power since 1952, ousted the Brotherhood’s democratically elected Mohamed Morsi as president in a July 3 coup and installed an interim civilian government in its place.

Morsi’s supporters set up protest camps in Cairo and promised to stay put until the former leader, now in custody, was reinstated. The government ordered them to disperse and, after a number of delays, police backed by troops stormed the camps on Wednesday.

The death toll from ensuing clashes, in the capital and across Egypt, has reached nearly 600 people.

But only Qatar, a Brotherhood patron, and Tunisia, whose ruling Ennahda party is affiliated with the move ment, strongly condemned the assault.

“All the Gulf monarchies, except for Qatar, and Jordan fear that the Muslim Brotherhood revolution will be exported to them,” said Khattar

Abou Diab, a professor at University of Paris-Sud. “For that reason, they are hoping for a return to the classic situation of a strong power in Egypt, a pivotal country in the Arab world.”

These countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, “have noted with disapproval the growing weight of Turkey and Iran ... and their support for the Egyptian regime demonstrates their desire to return to a purely Arab regional system based on more classical lines.”

After 9/11 Riyadh accused the Brotherhood of being at the root of jihadist ideology

Turkey, whose Islamist government is ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, has widened its influence in the Arab world since the outbreak of the Arab Spring.

And Iran has reinforced its links with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and established relations with the Brotherhood in Egypt.

Hami Shadi, a Middle East expert at

the Brookings Doha Centre, said what happened in Egypt “is a product of a big regional issue, which is this kind of “Arab Cold War,” and it is clear what side ... is winning.”

For Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, the coup delivered a “blow to their major regional opponent, the Muslim Brotherhood, so it would not make much sense for them to turn around now and say “well, we don’t like what you are doing anymore.”

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE are now the primary patrons of this new military government and they are very supportive. It is unlikely they would offer much criticism.”

For 30 years, Saudi Arabia and the Brotherhood maintained good relations, but these deteriorated after the Brotherhood criticised Riyadh for accepting US military personnel in the country during the 1991 Gulf War. Things got worse after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

At the time, Riyadh accused the Brotherhood of being at the root of jihadist ideology, and the interior minister declared in 2002 that “all extremist groups are derived from the Muslim Brotherhood.”

But the worst of all for Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, was the rapprochement between the Brotherhood and

In rural areas the use of private doctors is slightly more than that of private hospitals

While Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have a small presence of institutions at secondary and tertiary levels, India has a fairly large private sector at these levels, marked by regional variations.

Urban middle classes use private facilities more than government facilities, while the urban poor utilise the facilities of government hospitals where accessible.

In rural areas the use of private doctors is slightly more than that of private hospitals. For minor illnesses, simple herbal preparations and analgesics are much used. For chronic ailments, there is greater resort to traditional healers and ayurvedic practitioners.

The consequences of rapid privatisation during the 1980s and 1990s have been highly significant in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

The private sector has drawn middle and upper income groups away from public services.

Medical officers and professionals within the state health sector often practice privately.

As far as training of doctors and paramedical personnel was concerned, the state started encouraging the establishment of private medical colleges.

Those trained in private colleges have been more interested in finding jobs in the private sector, reflecting trends seen in other countries.

Recent trends continue to show a shift in the appointment and training of medical personnel. Several states within India have tried to overcome the shortage of personnel in rural areas by appointing doctors on a contract basis.

There remains however a shortage of paramedical workers due to lack of growth in training and recruitment.

One solution to this impasse is to introduce cross-training of existing workers or to encourage community health workers on a voluntary basis with a small honorarium.

Health sector reform in South Asia not only presents certain common trends but also variations in the four largest SAARC countries.

Soon after independence the governments of these states had committed themselves to investing and building a welfare state governed by principles of equity and social justice.

With the exception of Sri Lanka which managed to build a universal and free welfare service, the others did not make the required investments in the welfare sector, especially health.

The global recession during the late seventies had an adverse impact on public spending and this resulted either in cutbacks or stagnation in investments in healthcare, particularly in the public sector.

The shift of policy in favour of privatisation within already highly iniquitous societies like ours in South Asia, is bound to marginalise access for poorer sections of society, which constitute around 30%-60% of the population.

The principles of universality have been gradually undermined with upper and middle income groups moving away from public provisioning, leaving the poor who use public services often ignored.

The shift of policy in favour of privatisation within already highly iniquitous societies like ours in South Asia, is bound to marginalise access for poorer sections of society

In Bangladesh and Pakistan the private sector has been largely unregulated compared to Sri Lanka and has grown in a haphazard and uncontrolled manner. No effort has been made to regulate government doctors practicing privately. In Bangladesh, there was a steady growth of public institutions and manpower until the late seventies.

While there has been some expansion of facilities since then, many hospitals have been built, declines in investment have resulted in an overall shortage of facilities, personnel and supplies.

Indirect costs for even publicly provided services are increasing and there is evidence that a significant section of the population may not be able to afford even these services.

Equity concerns are very important at this juncture for health policy.

Concern for public health should derive not only from concern about the impact of growth in market-based for-profit health care, but also from the national need to reduce differentials in the provision of health services. l Dr Mohammad Rajja is a medical doctor at Gonoshasthaya Hospital.

Shiite Iran across the Gulf, Riyadh’s main rival in the Middle East.

Stephane Lacroix, a professor at the Institute of Political Science in Paris and an expert on the group, said the “Muslim Brotherhood has never been opposed to relations with Shiite Iran while, for the Saudis, that is a red line not only in terms of Sunni orthodoxy but also because or regional politics.”

Saudi Arabia ‘have noted with disapproval’ the growing regional weight of Turkey and Iran

Lacroix added: “For the Emiratis and Saudis, the Muslim Brotherhood has regional ambitions that could be a danger to the monarchies of the Gulf.

“These monarchies consider it to be in their interest to have rather more dictatorships than democratic regimes, which are unstable and unpredictable in their eyes.”l This article was first published by AFP.

Elderly man receiving free Diabetic tests. Is the quality of our public healthcare adequate?

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Sunday, August 18, 2013

A tribute to Natyacharya Selim Al-Deen n Entertainment Desk Selim Al-Deen was the founder chairperson of the Department of Drama and Dramatics at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.

In his illustrious career, he immensely contributed to uphold the rich heritage of rural culture of Bangladesh through theatre.

He is also considered as one of the pioneers of street theatre in Bangladesh.

He was attracted to reading literary works at a very young age. As he turned on to admit into Dhaka University in 1966, he decided to become a writer.

It was his teacher playwright Munier Chowdhury who encouraged him to focus attention on drama.

He wrote his first radio drama “Biporit Tomosay” in 1968 while he was a university-student. His first play for the theatre was “Shorpo Bishoyok Golpo” which was

staged in 1972.

His close study of European culture is reflected in his initial plays. But soon he realized that the tales of rural farmers is no less heroic than the Herculean feats of Achilles or Prometheus.

Selim Al-Deen carried out extensive research for his doctoral dissertation in which he proved that the history of Bengali drama is older than that of European drama.

During 1977 to 1979, Selim Al-Deen studied Bengali Jatra which prompted him to write his first unique drama Kittonkhola.

Success of Kittonkhola led to create his subsequent works, namely, “Bashon,” “Atotai,” “Saifulmulk Badiuzzaman,” “Keramat Mangal,” “Hat Hodai,” “Chaka” and more.

He died on January 14, 2008 in Dhaka after a cardiac failure. In the post-Tagore era, his contribution to Bengali drama is considered to be unique. l

ON TV MOVIES 1:30pm Zee Studio Tron: Legacy

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The Three Musketeers (2011)

COMEDY 9:30am Z Cafe

Commemorative programme on Tareque-Mishuk today n Entertainment Desk A daylong programme observing the second death anniversary of filmmaker Tareque Masud and cinematographer

shuk, the blazing duo of Bangladeshi independent film arena were killed in a dreadful road accident.

They were returning from Manikganj’s Ghior after selecting shoot-

Screening of film Runway is one of the major feature of the event Mishuk Munier will be held today at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium of the Central Public Library.

On August 13, 2011, Tareque and Mi-

ing spots for Tareque’s latest film “Kagojer Phul.”

The nation remembered the great two personalities of our times by light-

ing candles on the premises of the National Museum on last Tuesday. Today, Tareque-Mishuk Smriti Parshad is holding an elaborated programme which will start at 3pm with the screening of “Narasundar,” a 15-minute documentary directed by Tareque and his wife Caherine Masud, and cinematographed by Mishuk.

A documentary on Tareque, titled “Phera” and is directed by Proshoon Rahman, will be shown next.

Today’s programme not only features screening of their landmark film but also protests against the unsafe condition of the highways and urges to the government to take measures.

Highlighting on such issues two documentaries—“Abirer Ghar” by Sandeep Biswas and “Mrityuphand”—will be screened at the programme.

A memorial discussion will be held at 5pm. Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu, Khushi Kabir, Morshedul Islam, Shamim Akhtar, Kamar Ahmed Simon, Proshoon Rahman and Catherine Masud will discuss on the works and contribution of the duo.

The programme will be wrapped up with the screening of Tareque-Mishuk’s last feature film “Runway.” l

Just For Laughs

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Saba and Dinar pair up for silver screen

10:30pm Colors

n Afrose Jahan Chaity

12:45pm Zee Classic

Popular actors Sohana Saba and Intekhab Dinar are, for the first time, pairing up for Murad Parvez’s upcoming movie “Brihonnola.” The shooting of the film will start from September 5 in Rajbari.

The audiences are waiting to watch the chemistry of the new on screen couple Soahana Saba and Dinar.

“Dinar is an excellent actor and I really looking forward to having a very constructive shooting experience with him,” Sohana Saba said to Dhaka Tribune. She added: “I am very happy to make my

comeback with such a film with a wonderful story. In the mean time, I was asked with many proposals of films. But I preferred to do something remarkable for my fans. Finally, the storyline, which is quite unusual, touched me and I am all set to embark on silver screen.”

Regarding the film, she said: “It’s all about village politics set against the backdrop of our social structure. I am playing a character of a village girl and also a politician and a social worker.

My character plays a vital role in the village politics and on the other hand it’s a love story. It is a touchy story and I really think the audience will like it.” l

Comedy Nights With Kapil

DRAMA 12:30 Zee Cinema Yamlok

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Makhmalbaf to shoot first English language feature n Entertainment Desk

Sonam Kapoor interested in interior designing

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Entertainment Desk

Sonam Kapoor, who has been busy with her upcoming projects, has taken up another hobby. Apparently, the fashion-conscious actor is now turning into an interior designer. We’ve been informed that she has already begun the process of redecorating her room in her house. A source close to the actor reveals, “Sonam is taking personal interest in redecorating her room. After the huge success that she has recently seen with Raanjhanaa and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, the style icon has decided to treat herself. She is now giving a new look to her personal space.”

The source says that after the success of her recent films, the actor got busy with shooting for her next project opposite Ayushmann Khurrana. “Now that the renovation of her room has begun, Sonam is making sure that she takes out some time to personally select every single item for her room. She has always been applauded for her sense of fashion and she is now adding style to the way her personal space looks as well,” the source adds.

Apparently, this project has taken a recreational turn for Sonam. The source adds, “Whenever she returns home from her shoots, she immediately heads over to her part of the house, which is her room and the study. She has been keeping close tabs on the design developments. Sonam is taking keen interest and she’s really enjoying her new role as an interior designer right now,” says the source. l

‘Shabda Natyacharcha Kendra Projojona-19’ staged ‘Tritiyo Akjon’ on Friday at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) will produce Award-winning Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s first English-language feature.

“The President” will shoot in Georgia in early 2014, marking Makhmalbaf’s first fiction feature since “The Man Who Came with the Snow” in 2009.

The story is set in a fictional Caucasus country and is about a dictator whose regime is brought down by a coup d’etat. He and his young grandson have to travel across the country disguised as street musicians, and he gets to know the ordinary people he ruled in a new light.

“After the Arab Spring, a number of dictators fell: Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gadhaffi,” said writer/director Makhmalbaf, “but statistics show that there are over 40 dictators of this kind still in power.

“In the course of the Arab Spring and in the search for democracy, we have witnessed a lot of violence wither by the attack of foreign countries (as in the case of Libya where tens of thousands of people were killed) or as the result of internal conflicts where one hundred thousand people have been killed and millions injured and become refugees.

“As the result of all this violence, the road to democracy appears more and more difficult for these countries.”

“The President” will shoot in Georgia as a UK-Georgia-Germany co-production. Mike Downey and Sam Taylor’s F&ME is reteaming with Vladimer Katcharava’s 20 Steps, after the companies worked together earlier this year on Ben Hopkins’ “Epic.” The German partner on “The President” is Rudolph Herzog’s Bruemmer and Herzog Filmproduktion.

“The movie ‘The President’ is an attempt in film terms to propose a solution to avoid violence in future revolutions which are truly seeking freedom and democracy,” stated Downy. l

9:30pm Star World Touch

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Did you know?

Iago Aspas was involved in a higher proportion (51%) of his team’s (Celta Vigo) goals than any other player in La Liga last season (Messi 50%)

Sport

Sunday, August 18, 2013

14 Sturridge strikes as Liverpool thrive without Suarez

Forum takes strong stance against Nazmul

14 Martino bringing back Barca intensity: Xavi

Bangladesh national football players warm-up prior to their ‘closed door’ practice match against BFF XI at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday

n Raihan Mahmood The District and Divisional Sports Organisers Forum categorically declared their stance against Nazmul Hasan, the president of the ad-hoc committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, saying they would not support him in the upcoming election.

In a press conference held at the National Sports Council yesterday, the Forum leaders accused that the current president has transformed the Bangladesh Cricket Board to Bangladesh ‘Clubs’ Board and they warned the any anomaly and attempt to influence the normal procedure will be provided with due answer.

Yusuf Jamil Babu, the president of the Forum, said Nazmul is not an efficient cricket organiser.

“He is not a seasoned cricket organiser, but now he is holding the post of BCB president. Now the BCB does not represent the whole country rather it’s an organisation of the clubs,” said Babu.

Babu said the BCB president has been

avoiding the grass root level organisers intentionally.

“The BCB president and we sat in five meetings, if he felt that he will not reach any conclusions then why did he sit

in corruption. However, there are allegations that the construction works of the Cox’s Bazar stadium have been split among the members of a number of the ad-hoc committee and it’s distributed

Yusuf Jamil Babu speaks at a press conference at NSC house yesterday with us? As a lawmaker his steps should be more organized,” he said.

Talking about the alleged corruption Babu said the Forum are not involved with any corruption rather the ad-hoc committee members are engulfed in corruption. “We will resign from our posts if they can prove that we are involved

without any tender,” he added.

Babu strongly condemned that the ad-hoc committee are trying to buy out the councilors. “They have been provided with the contracts of different projects. AJM Nasiruddin has got the Cox’s Bazar stadium, Shafilul Alam Nazel has been provided with the work of Sylhet

SBNS satisfies ICC troop, next stop Sylhet n Mazhar Uddin The four-member venue inspection team from International Cricket Council (ICC) visited the Sher-eBangla National Stadium (SBNS) in Mirpur and two grounds at BKSP yesterday ahead of next year’s World T20 championships to be hosted

by Bangladesh. The inspection team will be visiting the venue in Sylhet today.

Headed by the event director Chris Tetley, stadium consultant Eugene Van Vuuren, event manager Dhiraj Malhotra and chief curator Andy Atkinson, the ICC team visited SBNS yesterday morning where they observed the facilities and some pending works.

The fate of hosting the mega event lies at the hands of the inspection team as their report will decide whether

Bangladesh are capable of holding the big stage.

The inspection team was, however, satisfied with the condition of SBNS, informed Bangladesh Cricket Board’s acting chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury.

“They have seen all the facilities which are necessary for the T20 World Championship and apart from some small works to be done in the dressing room they are satisfied about SBNS,” he said.

However, Tetley informed that the final report will be made after inspecting all the venues. “We have seen SBNS today (yesterday) and we are going to visit all the venues one by one and after observing the progress of the venues we are going to say something,” said Chris Tetley.

The visitors travelled to Savar later yesterday to inspect the two under

construction grounds situated at BKSP. The ICC delegates are expected to visit Sylhet today and the Cox’s Bazar stadium on August 20.

The men’s and women’s World T20 Championships are scheduled to be held from March 16 to April 9 next year in Bangladesh with the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and Sylhet Divisional Stadium being touted to host the men’s event.

The BCB has earmarked Cox’s Bazar stadium for all the matches of the women’s event.

Earlier, the ICC at its last annual general meeting expressed concern over the Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar stadiums, which will host part of the men’s and women’s games. BCB came up with a backup plan in preparing Fatullah Stadium and BKSP as alternative venues. l

stadium, Alamgir Khan Alo has obtained the work of Sylhet BKSP. There were offers to us also, but we did not bow our heads,” revealed Babu.

The Fourm leaders said Abdul Malek, one of the secretaries of the Prime Minister’s secretariat has called the DC’s of different districts and tried to influence the councilor naming process. “We have tried to attract the PM’s attention over the issue and we have the message that the PM said she wants transparency. If anyone tries to influence the normal process then it would be restricted with an all out effort,” declared Babu.

Ashkiur Rahman Miku, the secretary general of Forum, said their apprehension has come true. “If the ad-hoc committee holds their chair and run in the election then it would be a biased process. The 71 district and divisional sports organisers will select their 10 directors and the DC’s know who committed organisers are. They will not select the councilors bowing to any external instructions,” said Miku. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Djokovic, Murray, Federer crash out

MUMIT M

Red and Greens win ‘closed door’ warm-up n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh national team registered a 1-0 victory over the BFF XI that comprised six foreign players in a practice match that was called as a “close door match” at the Bangabandhu National stadium yesterday.

The press people were surprised to learn that the Dutch head coach of the national football team asked the press to leave the Big Bowl as he did not want the media inside the venue.

Not only the press people, but former footballers and a number of local coaches were also evicted from the venue.

However, the concept of “close door” was not successful as Bangabandhu National Stadium has a lot of alternatives to watch the match as it is surrounded by the many sports federations and the press people easily occupied those spots to see the match.

Bangladesh national team, however, put out a good performance dominating the scenario with greater possession.

The speed was also notable as Emily and Mobarak missed sitters in the first

half. Goalkeeper Mamun Khan also saved his team with two good saves on the half hour mark including a one-onone situation.

Mithun Chowdhury, the substitute forward sealed the fate of the match with a 72-minute strike.

Later it was learnt that Lodewijk de Kruif has termed Bangladesh’s Malaysia tour out as he thought it will hamper the team’s last minute preparation.

“The coach thought travelling to Malaysia will deprive the players of two days practice, so he thought it would be more convenient to focus on the practice rather than travelling to Malaysia.

Bangladesh will fly to Nepal on August 25,” informed Abu NaeemShohag, the general secretary of BFF. Bangladesh was scheduled to fly for Malaysia on August 20.

With the cancelation of the Malaysia tour Bangladesh team’s match practice remained limited to two – one against a Thai club while the other was against Thailand U-19 team. Bangladesh was scheduled to play their last practice match against Malaysia U-23 on August 22 at Kuala Lumpur. l

Noor spins U-23 to easy victory n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Leg spinner Noor Hossain’s four-wicket haul gave Bangladesh U-23 a winning start to their ACC Emerging Teams Cup campaign after they beat hosts Singapore by eight wickets at Kallang ground yesterday.

The hosts were bundled out for a paltry 121 runs after opting to bat first.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam pinned de Lange in front of the stumps to get the first break through in the 7th over after which they never looked back.

Noor joined the party and wrecked through the opposition batting as the leggy ended up claiming four wickets for just 25 runs.

Bangladesh lost Rony Talukdar (6) early, but Soumya Sarkar and Mithun Ali maintained their dominance with a superb second wicket partnership of 95 runs.

Mithun was out on 43, but Soumya held his nerve to remain not out on 65 and carry Bangladesh to 122-2 in 26.4 overs. l

BCB president Nazmul Hasan (L) handing over the player of the match trophy to Bangladesh Under 23 leg-spinner Noor Hossain after the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup 2013 match against hosts Singapore at the Kallang ground yesterday COURTESY

14 Bale saga casts shadow over Spurs ahead of season opener

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON

n AFP, London Gareth Bale’s on-going transfer saga continues to cast a dark shadow over Tottenham as they prepare to kick off their Premier League campaign at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas has become restless at answering questions over the Welsh winger’s mooted world-record move to Real Madrid as he looks to get the north London side off to a winning start against newly-promoted Palace.

A foot injury is set to rule Bale out of this week’s fixture, but even in his absence the transfer rumblings threaten to prove a significant distraction until the transfer window shuts.

Despite the difficult circumstances, Spurs skipper Michael Dawson is determined to concentrate on making a solid start to the season and securing his club’s first opening-day victory in four years.

“We didn’t get off to a flyer last season like we wanted to,” Dawson said.

“We showed strength, commitment and spirit to fight back, but if we had started better then who knows where it would have taken us?

“Hopefully this year we can get off to a flyer and it will be the start of a great year that has more ups than downs.”

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy might have spent most of the closeseason speaking to Real officials about Bale, but he has also found time to bring in Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Etienne Capoue at a cost of close to £60 million ($94 million, 70 million euros).

Spanish striker Soldado, who has netted 20 times in each of his last three seasons at Valencia, has already impressed Dawson with his quality.

“He can send you here, there and everywhere with his touches and movement. I’ve seen it in training,” Dawson said.

“He is a top signing and he is someone that I am sure the fans will come to adore. l

Lyon warmed up for their Champions League play-off with a 3-1 win at Sochaux on Friday to stay top of the French first division.

Lyon have a perfect six points from two games after their opening 4-0 win over Nice last weekend.

They will go into Tuesday’s Champions League play-off first-leg tie against Spain’s Real Sociedad buoyed by Friday’s performance which saw them come back from a goal down after just four minutes.

“We have won at Sochaux where it is never easy to dominate,” said Lyon coach Remi Garde.

“We have bad times here in the last two seasons and Sochaux caused us lots of problems, especially in the air.

“But we recovered well and deserved our victory. We have scored seven goals in two games, so attackingwise all is going well.”

Ryad Boudebouz scored from the

n AFP, Liverpool

Liverpool's English forward Daniel Sturridge (L) celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during their season's opening English Premier League match against Stoke City at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool yesterday AFP

Suarez returns to training n AFP, London

penalty spot for hosts Sochaux in the fourth minute after Milan Bisevac was punished for a foul on Cedric Bakambu.

But Lyon were 2-1 up at the break after Yassine Benzia levelled in the 35th minute and Alexandre Lacazette hit the target two minutes from the interval.

Steed Malbranque started the move for Benzia’s goal with Clement Grenier finding the decisive pass.

Result Sochaux

Boudebouz 4-pen

1-3

Lyon

Benzia 35, Lacazette 43, Gourcuff 48

Lacazette, who scored twice against Nice, was on target thanks to good work again from Benzia and the impressive Grenier.

Yoann Gourcuff hit the third goal three minutes into the second half.

Gourcuff had been nursing a knee injury early in the week but he looked sharp when he finished off a fine Benzia pass.

It was Gourcoff ’s second goal of the campaign after he too had been on the scoresheet against Nice. l

Controversial Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has returned to first-team training, British media reported Friday.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had said the only way the Uruguay forward would be back training alongside his team-mates was if he first apologised for suggesting the Reds boss had gone back on a deal allowing him to leave for a Champions League club.

However there has, as yet, been no public confirmation from Liverpool as to whether Suarez has apologised.

Last week Suarez was told to train by himself after Rodgers said his attitude had been well below the standard expected by the Merseyside club.

Premier League rivals Arsenal have had two bids, including a reported offer of £40 million (46.9 million euros, $62.5 million) for Suarez, rejected by Liverpool.

Rodgers, speaking after last week’s friendly defeat by Celtic, said Suarez would have to say ‘sorry’ before being welcomed back into the Anfield fold.

“Initially there will be a recognition that (there needs to be) an apology to his team-mates and the club,” he said.

“When he is back from his international trip we will assess it from there. l

Mourinho ready for EPL return n AFP, London Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes the Premier League title race will be more open than ever ahead of his long-awaited return in Sunday’s season opener against Hull.

Mourinho will be back in the Stamford Bridge dug-out for the visit of Steve Bruce’s newly-promoted team, six years after he left the club following a glorious three-year reign.

The Portuguese guided the Blues to successive league titles and his return has seen Chelsea installed by many as favourites to take the crown away from reigning champions Manchester United.

Yet while Mourinho, who quit Real Madrid at the end of last season, claims

Sturridge strikes as Liverpool thrive without Suarez Mignolet saves Reds in Premier League opener

Lyon battle back to stay top n AFP, Paris

Sunday, August 18, 2013

the contest will be more open than in recent years, he believes quality at the head of the table is not what it was.

“I believe the Premier League is stronger because there is a bigger number of teams who can fight for the title,” he said.

Fixtures Crystal Palace v Tottenham Chelsea v Hull City “Probably stronger because there’s more balance. But I think, a few years ago, the better teams were better.”

“Maybe by December or January you will find somebody wasn’t strong enough to be there fighting for the title.

But at the beginning, I think six teams are there competing.”

Mourinho admits he expects an

emotional reunion with Chelsea’s supporters and is planning to visit the stadium with his players 24 hours before kick-off.

A gruelling pre-season tour has taken Chelsea around the globe but the new signings, including Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel, have yet to play on home turf.

“I will go so I try to feel something.

I want to share. It’s not just me, it’s also the new boys who don’t even know where the dressing rooms are,” Mourinho said.

“We will train there on Saturday so the boys can work out where the dressing rooms are, where the tunnel is, about the pitch. They’ve never been there.

“To be back there will be a different feeling. I had it when I came back here with Inter, but now I go to my dug-out, my stadium, my people.” l

Daniel Sturridge showed Liverpool can flourish without Luis Suarez as the striker’s superb finish clinched a 1-0 victory over Stoke on the opening day of the new Premier League season.

Sturridge’s first half winner at Anfield was the highlight of an enterprising display from Brendan Rodgers’s team, who showed no signs of being affected by the absence of controversial striker Suarez.

Liverpool needed a last-minute penalty save from debutant Simon Mignolet, who kept out Jon Walters’s spot-kick, to seal the points, but a draw would have been extremely harsh on the hosts after a dominant performance.

It was exactly the kind of uplifting afternoon Liverpool required after a summer spent dealing with Suarez’s attempts to engineer a move to Arsenal.

Suarez, watching from the stands as he serves a suspension for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic last season, was briefly banished to train on his own after claiming Rodgers had gone back on an agreement to sell him when the Reds failed to qualify for this season’s Champions League.

He was welcomed back to the fold on Friday after reportedly apologising to Rodgers for his behaviour.

But England forward Sturridge had enjoyed a superb finish to last season and he picked up where he left off to show Liverpool can still progress, even if Suarez eventually gets his wish to leave.

Stoke’s new boss Mark Hughes

wasn’t even born when his club last won at Anfield in 1959, but City should have been ahead in the opening minutes when Mignolet, the Belgian goalkeeper signed from Sunderland to

Result Liverpool

Sturridge 37

1-0

Stoke

Assistant Referee Lee Probert holds a watch linked to the Hawkeye system before the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Stoke City at Anfield yesterday REUTERS replace Pepe Reina, made a hash of punching clear and Stoke defender Robert Huth volleyed against the bar from 12 yards.

That sparked Liverpool into life and Sturridge, back from an ankle injury, headed home from Steven Gerrard’s free-kick, only to see the goal correctly ruled out for a tight offside decision.

Rodgers’s men threatened again through debutant Kolo Toure when the

former Manchester City defender powered a header against the bar.

Another quick-fire exchange of passes between Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson gave Jose Enrique a clear sight of goal, but the left-back’s shot was well saved by Asmir Begovic.

Begovic came to Stoke’s rescue again when he denied Henderson and then Sturridge in quick succession.

But Liverpool’s incessant pressure paid off in the 37th minute when Iago Aspas fed Sturridge on the edge of the area and the former Chelsea striker drove a low strike through Huth’s legs and beyond Begovic into the far corner for the first goal of the new Premier League season.

After a shaky start, Mignolet at last showed why Rodgers paid £9 million ($13.9 million, 10.6 million euros) for him with an acrobatic save to keep out a Walters effort, but the Liverpool keeper needed help from a goalline clearance by Lucas when Ryan Shawcross’s header deflected past him on the stroke of half-time.

The Reds almost doubled their lead early in the second half when Henderson’s shot forced a full-stretch stop from Begovic. And the Liverpool midfielder was frustrated again by Begovic midway through the half when the Bosnian pushed another goalbound strike onto a post.

Stoke were given a dramatic chance to snatch an undeserved point in the 89th minute when Liverpool defender Daniel Agger handled as he tried to clear a Charlie Adam free-kick.

But Mignolet came to the rescue as he plunged to his right to keep out Walters’s spot-kick and then denied Kenwyne Jones from the rebound. l

Martino bringing back Barca intensity: Xavi n AFP, Madrid

Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez believes his side will rekindle their intensity and pressing under the tutelage of new manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino.

The Argentine was appointed less than four weeks before Barca kick off the defence of their league title against Levante on Sunday, after Tito Vilanova had to resign due to on-going health problems.

However, Xavi believes the squad are adjusting well to Martino’s methods and has backed the new coach to be a success despite his lack of managerial experience in Europe.

“He is a leader, capable, prepared and has experience,” the 33-year-old told Barcelona sports daily Sport.

“He is transmitting a lot to us. We are recovering a little of the intensity and rhythm that perhaps we lost for various reasons towards the end of last season.

We are pressing very well and working well physically.

“He is adding things that he is influ-

encing a lot. For example, on set-pieces we are working differently. We are adjusting and he is a guy that is very clear about what he wants.”

Martino’s insistence on pressing high up the field was very evident in his only game at the Camp Nou so far as Barca destroyed Santos 8-0 in a friendly that formed part of the deal to bring Neymar to the Spanish champions.

Fixtures Barcelona Real Madrid Osasuna Sevilla

v v v v

Levante Real Betis Granada Atletico Madrid

The Brazilian international will also make his competitive Barcelona debut against Levante, but World Player of the Year Lionel Messi is a doubt as he continues to recover from the quadriceps injury that forced him to miss Argentina’s friendly with Italy on Wednesday.

Captain Carles Puyol will definitely be absent for the Catalans after he underwent knee surgery to remove a cyst last month, but Cesc Fabregas and Pedro Rodriguez should be fit to play despite missing Spain’s friendly with Ecuador in

midweek due to minor injuries.

Real Madrid also get their league campaign underway on Sunday with a new man in charge as Carlo Ancelotti makes his bow at the Santiago Bernabeu where Real Betis are the visitors.

Los Blancos have enjoyed a superb pre-season that encompassed victories over Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Inter Milan and Ancelotti will have a wealth of midfield options to choose from following the capture of Isco and Asier Illarramendi from Malaga and Real Sociedad respectively.

Arguably the most enticing fixture of the opening weekend though comes at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan where a new-look Sevilla side host Atletico Madrid.

Atletico enjoyed a fantastic campaign last season as they finished third and won the Copa del Rey. As a result they will face Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup next week and have Champions League football to look forward to.

However, coach Diego Simeone has insisted it is important that his team maintain the consistency they showed in the league last season, starting on Sunday. l

Barcelona players take part in the training session at the FC Barcelona Sports Center Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi, near Barcelona, yesterday AFP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

15

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Quick Bytes

National women’s chess deferred The preliminary phase of the 34th National Women’s Chess Championship has been deferred for two days and is rescheduled to begin on Tuesday at the Chess Federation hall room. It’s an open event, which will be played in seven-round Swiss-league system and top seven players will qualify in the final phase of the meet.

– SH

Ballance ton frustrates Australia Australia suffered a frustrating time in the field as England Lions batsman Gary Ballance hit a century on a rainaffected first day of the tour match at Northampton on Friday. Ballance, who plays his county cricket for Yorkshire, smashed 104 from 154 balls, including 16 fours and one six as the Lions closed on 269-7, with spinner Nathan Lyon the pick of the Australia bowlers with three for 80. Worcestershire all-rounder Moeen Ali also contributed 61 off 101 deliveries for Lions, but with bad weather forecast for Saturday the tourists’ hopes for batting practice ahead of next week’s final Test at the Oval could be frustrated. Australia are 3-0 down in the best of five Test series and have already failed in their bid to regain the Ashes. England Lions won the toss and chose to bat when play finally got underway after lunch, but they lost Luke Wells for 10 in the sixth over when he edged James Faulkner to Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.

– AFP

Pakistan tour survives as Zim stand-off ends

Zimbabwe’s cricketers have returned to training after a brief stand-off with Zimbabwe Cricket over unpaid wages and the value of future contracts, ensuring that Pakistan’s tour of the country will go ahead as planned.

Zimbabwe are due to host Pakistan for two Tests, three one-day internationals and two Twenty20s starting on August 23, but their preparations have been hampered by their second player strike this year. While the players have not been paid their salaries and match fees for July by cash-strapped ZC, their decision to suspend training from Tuesday was also related to negotiations over the value of future contracts.

– AFP

Pistorius to go on trial in March Star South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius will go on trial in March next year on murder charges for shooting his girlfriend, his lawyer said Saturday.

“The trial will be in March next year. It will be from the first week of March until end of March,” attorney Kenny Oldwage told AFP. On Monday, the 26-year-old double-amputee sprinter is to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, where he is expected to be served with an indictment for murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day. He claims he shot Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door of his upscale home because he mistook her for an intruder. The state is arguing that the murder was premeditated, a charge which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. Oldwage refused to comment on local media reports that Pistorius may face two new charges related to firing a gun in public when he appears in court next week. According to eNCA television news, one of the charges is linked to an event in January when Pistorius accidentally fired a gun in an upmarket Johannesburg restaurant.

– AFP

DISAPPOINTED

(L-R) Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer react during their respective quarterfinals match of the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday AFP

Djokovic, Murray, Federer crash out n AFP, Cincinnati The world’s top two tennis players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, both suffered shock defeats Friday, while Rafael Nadal stormed back to beat longtime rival Roger Federer at the Cincinnati Masters.

Number three Nadal booked a spot in the semi-finals by rallying past Federer, with the Swiss player saving four match points in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 loss.

The pair have met a total of 31 times, with Nadal winning 21 of those.

“My movement got better, with more intensity,” said Nadal, undefeated on hardcourts in 2013. “I put in more balls on the return, and controlled the baseline, something that didn’t happen the first set and a half.

“The match was very close. I played some good points in important moments.”

Federer suffered only his second loss

in the last five editions in Cincinnati.

“Credit to him for hanging in and getting back some tough shots,” said five-time champion Federer, who will fall to seventh in the world as a result of his defeat.

“I have some disappointment, I could have played better late in the second and early in the third.

“But my tactics were working most of the time. I served well for most of the match, but when I didn’t he was able to step it up.”

World number one Djokovic fell 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-5 to unseeded John Isner as the Serb’s attempt to set another tennis record ended in defeat.

Had Djokovic beaten the American he would have kept alive a bid to become the first man to win all nine Masters 1000 titles in his career.

Two-time champion Murray was eliminated 6-3, 6-4 by Tomas Berdych, leaving the Scot to head for New York

and his US Open title defense, beginning August 26, with plenty to work on.

The second seed fired 10 aces but was betrayed as he missed on all four

Quarter-finals Men Isner bt Djokovic Del Potro bt Tursunov Berdych bt Murray Nadal bt Federer

7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-5 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 6-3, 6-4 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Women Li Na bt Radwanska Jankovic bt Vinci Serena bt Halep Azarenka bt Wozniacki

walkover 6-0, 6-4 6-0, 6-4 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)

of his break points. Berdych has now beaten Murray twice this season after beating him in Madrid on clay.

“The court was lively today. It was bouncing pretty high and it was quite

n AFP, Lahore

Day’s Watch

8:20pm 2013 Indian Badminton League LIVE Ten Sports 9:30pm MotoGP World Championships LIVE Main Race: Red Bull Indianapolis GP 6:30pm IAAF World Championships Moscow 2013, Day 9 LIVE ESPN HD 12:55am Liga BBVA 2013/14 LIVE Real Madrid v Real Betis

Russian Tursunov, with the Argentine hammering 15 aces and breaking three times. Del Potro reached the semifinals in 2012 where he lost to Djokovic.

The women’s quarter-final matches were dominated by world number one Serena Williams, who raced through a 16-minute opening set en route to an easy 6-0, 6-4 win against Romanian Simona Halep.

Williams next plays holder Li Na, after the Chinese fifth seed advanced a day earlier when Agnieszka Radwanska withdrew to attend the funeral of her grandfather in Poland.

Former world number one Jelena Jankovic beat Italy’s Roberta Vinci 6-0, 6-4 to reach a fifth semi-final this season.

She will next play second seed Victoria Azarenka, who eliminated Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in a night match.

The win was only the third in nine meetings for Azarenka against Wozniacki. l

Whatmore warns Pakistan against complacency

Ten Action 5:55pm French Ligue 1 2013/14 LIVE AS Monaco v Montpellier Star Sports Barclays Premier League LIVE 6:20pm Crystal Palace v Tottenham 9.55pm Chelsea v Hull City ESPN

tough to control the ball. I made too many errors,” said Murray. “The first couple of rounds, I was able to hit the ball quite flat and wasn’t kind of flying on me; today it was happening a little bit. “I need to make sure I’m not making too many mistakes going into the US Open.”

Isner set up a Saturday semi with 2009 US Open winner Juan Martin del Potro, who beat qualifier Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Del Potro said he won despite dealing with pain in his left wrist. The Argentine missed much of the 2010 season with a wrist problems and remains cautious.

“Yes, it bothers me a little bit, but not too much,” said the 2009 US Open champion. “I’m trying to play slices and different shots before the US Open to see how different I can play against the top guys.”

Del Potro needed one and threequarter hours to get past veteran

(L-R) Nickel Ashmeade of Jamaica, Adam Gemili of Britain, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, Curtis Mitchell of the US and Jaysuma Saidy Ndure of Norway compete in the men's 200 metres final during the IAAF World Athletics at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow yesterday REUTERS

Pakistan’s cricket coach Dav Whatmore Friday warned his team against being complacent when they face up to lowly Zimbabwe next week in a tour considered important for blooding new players.

The 59-year-old former Australian batsman said the team was training hard for the two Twenty20, three oneday and two Test matches and would not take their opposition lightly.

“We may be playing Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe but they are still very important for Pakistan,” he said.

“The danger that I see anyway is complacency. We don’t want to be complacent in any of our make-up with

this cricket.”

Pakistan is due to depart on Monday to play the first of two Twenty20 on August 23, with the last Test scheduled to start September 10.

They are well ahead of their African rivals in the rankings: fifth in Tests, sixth in one-day and second in Twenty20.

In contrast, Zimbabwe are without a ranking in Tests as they have not played the required number of matches, are 10th in one-dayers and as low as 12th in Twenty20s -- ahead of just The Netherlands and Kenya.

Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to World Cup victory in 1996, backed Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez who has struggled for form lately. l

Bolt thunders to 2nd gold at worlds Farah, Fraser-Pryce seal n AFP, Moscow Usain Bolt underlined his amazing sprinting prowess on Saturday by powering to a third successive world 200m title at the World Athletics Championships for his seventh world gold medal.

The 26-year-old Jamaican destroyed the field to finish in 19.66 seconds, teammate Warren Weir claiming silver in a personal best of 19.79sec and American Curtis Mitchell taking bronze in 20.04.

It was Bolt’s seventh world gold medal after winning the 100 and 200m at the Berlin worlds in 2009, the 200m in Daegu in 2011, the 100m in Moscow on Sunday and golds as part of the winning Jamaican 4x100m relay squads in both 2009 and 2011. He also has two silvers

(200m, 4x100m relay) from the 2007 worlds in Osaka.

His burgeoning medal haul also in-

Men’s 200m Final 1. Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 2. Warren Weir (Jamaica) 3. Curtis Mitchell (U.S.)

19.66s 19.79 20.04

4. Nickel Ashmeade (Jamaica)

20.05

5. Adam Gemili (Britain)

20.08

6. Anaso Jobodwana (South Africa) 20.14 7. Churandy Martina (Netherlands) 20.35 8. Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (Norway) 20.37 cludes unprecedented treble golds from both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Bolt now has the opportunity to draw

level with the present mark of eight world gold medals won by retired American duo Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson when he races the 4x100m relay on Sunday.

Bolt, who had been nursing a sore foot after regaining his 100m title on Sunday, had the slowest reaction time of the eight-man field, but exploded into the corner and was up on Briton Adam Gemili on his outside in lane five within 10 paces. As he rounded the bend, Bolt had a clear lead on the rest of the field, Weir in lane eight coming through late on.

Pre-race excitement had grown at the packed Luzhniki Stadium when television cameras picked out Bolt in lane four, dressed in black and green shorts and the yellow and black singlet of the Jamaican team. l

world track doubles n AFP, Moscow

Mo Farah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce secured dramatic doubles at the World Athletics Championships on Friday as Usain Bolt safely advanced to the final of the 200m in his bid for a third successive title.

Action on the track and in the field had earlier been overshadowed by Russian athletics icon Yelena Isinbayeva’s controversial comments over her apparent support of Russia’s anti-gay law.

But Farah was on hand to dispel any lingering fall-out at the Luzhniki Stadium, outfoxing the fast-paced Kenyan team tactics to become the second

man to achieve the double of world and Olympics 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles.

The Somalia-born Farah, who won an emotional double gold at the Olympics last year in his adopted home city of London, clocked 13min 26.98sec to emulate Kenenisa Bekele’s doubledouble at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2009 Berlin worlds.

“It’s something I have worked very hard for. I was thinking about the kids and being away from them for so long,” said Farah, who trains under Alberto Salazar in Portland, Oregon, and admitted to having a stitch early on in the race. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Railway to go tough on stone-throwers n Tribune Desk

Back Page

Sunday, August 18, 2013

R E S I L I E N C E D E F I E S F AT E

Amid the growing incidents of stone throwing at running trains causing fatalities, Bangladesh Railway authorities have planned to launch an awareness-raising drive to check stone-hit accidents in trains.

The move came after Priti Das, a resident of Chittagong city and an engineering student of Southern University, was killed in an incident of stone throwing in Chittagong on August 11 last.

An emergency meeting was held with railway divisional officers on Wednesday following the tragic incident.

Railway Director General Abu Taher said they will launch the awareness-raising drive by campaigning through loudspeakers at all railway stations asking people to stop throwing stones at trains.

As part of the campaign, he said, advertisements will also be run in print and electric media to raise awareness among passengers. “All will be asked to catch and hand over the stone-throwers to the railway security personnel,” he said.

About punitive measures for the offence, the Railway DG said a stone-thrower will face 10 years’ imprisonment for injuring a passenger and be sentenced to death for causing death to any passenger.

Asked how many passengers died

in such callous acts till now, DG Abu Taher said he has received just one incident of death. “But, the incidents of throwing stones at running trains has increased. Most children pick up stones and throw them at trains without knowing the consequences of their actions,” he said.

Railways Minister Mujibul Haque told UNB that security personnel and attendants discharging duties in trains have been asked to remain alert to put an end to stone throwing at running trains.

Talking to UNB over phone, he said, “Directives have been given to the security forces and the attendants discharging duties on each compartment in trains to be more aware of and cautious about (stone throwing at trains).”

The minister said they have directed the authorities concerned, including the Government Railway Police (GRP), to beef up security measures in the area surrounding railway stations to keep stone-throwers at bay.

Priti was travelling to capital Dhaka with her husband in ‘Turna Nishita Express’ when a piece of stone hurled from outside hit Priti in her head leaving her unconscious.

She was rushed to the nearby Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex. She was then transferred to Chittagong Medical College Hosptial where doctors declared her dead. l

No pre-election campaign on the social media: EC n Mohammad Zakaria

Disciplinary action mulled for corporal punishment in schools

Candidates for the upcoming general election will not be allowed to campaign through social media, as Election Commission (EC) fears that campaigning through social media like facebook, twitter, youtube and blogs, may affect the polls negatively.

According to the latest draft proposal of electoral code of conduct, the candidates can run campaigns through electronic and print media but they cannot make any indecent and derogatory remarks against the opponents.

The concern was raised after the city corporation polls of five cities were held recently, where the authority noticed a smear campaign being carried on the social media by instigating people’s religious sentiments.

The EC is apprehensive that huge discrimination might be created among the candidates regarding publicity and promotion centering the upcoming polls, if the social media is not controlled.

Many of the candidates might try to run propagandas by using the social media during their pre-election campaign, the EC officials said.

To thwart such propagandas, the EC is preparing an electoral code of conduct. The proposal includes controlling of SMS through cell phones as well, as a tool used for campaigning ahead of polls.

Election Commissioner Md Shah Newaz said the EC took the move as some dishonest people were trying to provoke people on the social media by providing false information.

The EC has directed its concerned section to look for ways to control all kinds of propaganda run on social media during the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Deputy Secretary of the concerned section, preferring to be anonymous, said the tendency of negative campaigning and attacking each other through social media has increased to a great extent among the candidates.

Taking these into consideration, the EC is thinking of amending the electoral code of conduct which will be completed soon. l

n Mushfique Wadud School teachers may face three month’s imprisonment or Tk10,000 as fine or both for practicing corporal punishment at schools if the ministry of education’s new legislation is passed.

The provision on corporal punishment is part of a new law – Education Law 2013 – that the ministry has recently drafted to ensure rights related to education and protect students.

Education Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune that the draft was posted on the ministry’s website for public scrutiny and it would remain there till August

Jamila, now 32, with a disabled left leg due to typhoid when she was three and half years old. A resilient spirit, she wouldn’t bow to the harsh fate that came her way.

She is struggling to get out of begging and run her business selling used clothes selling at footpath in Mirpur whenever she can manage. All this enabled her to send Kamala to school, and she is in class nine now. Jamil, her son got his left leg disabled due to polio and clings to his mother most of the time. Locals, from where she lives in a small shop in Mirpur 14, bought her a pedalled cart Mahmud Hossain Opu

28. After that, he said, they would proceed to make the law effective.

“We are concerned about corporal punishments taking place in schools and these (punitive) measures would help curb such incidents in the future,” he said.

Earlier, the ministry had adopted a policy to give guidelines to teachers in schools and madrasahs to refrain from punishing students.

The government was under pressure to come up with a stricter measure after school punishment came under renewed spotlight in recent times following several incidents.

It was reported that many teachers,

especially in rural schools and madrasahs, were still in non-compliance of the High Court ruling that prohibited corporal punishment.

On April 9, the media reported a shocking incident in which the headmaster of a local school in Patuakhali, Nurainpur Primary School, beat several class V students and made them clean blackboard using their tongues.

On July 10, Lob Chandra Das, a teacher of Kalidaha High School at the Kalidaha union of Feni, ruthlessly caned 13-year-old Mirazul Alam for a “scuffle” with a girl student in his class.

Mirazul could not speak for the next 11 days since the incident.

According to doctors, the boy was so traumatised by this experience that he burst into a hysterical cry at the mere mention of his teacher.

The High Court on January 13, 2011 declared all kinds of corporal punishment illegal such as caning, beating, chaining, forced-haircut and confinement, in primary and secondary schools and madrasahs.

The bench of Justice Md Imman Ali and Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif of the High Court had asked the authorities concerned to take actions against teachers for giving corporal punishment, as such punishments are “extrajudicial.” l

Poet Shamsur Rahman remembered silently n Tribune Desk

Cultural and literary personalities, friends and fans paid rich tribute to poet Shamsur Rahman on the seventh anniversary of his death yesterday.

Different socio-cultural organisations observed the day with elaborate

programmes.

Jatiya Kabita Parishad and Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote placed wreaths at the grave of the poet at Banani in the morning. A milad mahfil was held at the poet’s Shyamoli residence in the afternoon, reports UNB. Poet Shamsur Rahman emerged in

the latter half of the 20th century who wrote more than 60 books of poetry and is considered a key figure in Bengali literature. He was noted as an urban poet, columnist and journalist.

Major themes in his poetry and writings include liberal humanism, human relations, romanticism, democracy, re-

Members of Bangabandhu Sangiskritik Jote lay floral wreaths at the grave of late poet Shamsur Rahman at Banani

NASHIRUL ISLAM

ligious fundamentalism and more.

Rahman was born on October 23, 1929 at his grandfather’s residence in Dhaka. He was the fourth of 13 children.

He studied at Pogose High School, Dhaka College and Dhaka University.

Among his famed works are ‘Roudro Korotite’, ‘Biddhasta Nilima’, ‘Niraloke Dibyaroth’ and ‘Adiganta Nagna Padaddhani’. Besides poetry, he also contributed to the realms of essays, stories, novels, translations and columns. Rabindra Bharati University and Jadavpur University of India conferred honorary D.Lit. degrees upon him.

His poems were translated into many languages. Shamsur Rahman was honoured with many national and international awards like Admajee Award, Bangla Academy Award for literature, Jibananandadas Purosker-1973, Ekushey Padak- 1977, Kabitalap Purosker-1979, Abul Munsur Gold Medal-1981, Bhasani Purosker-1982, and Mitsubishi (Japan) Award for Journalism-1982.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid deep homage to the memory of eminent poet Shamsur Rahman.

In a message, the Prime Minister said, “Shamsur Rahman was one of the major poets in modern Bangla literature.” l

Climate change affects disease spread worldwide n Tribune Desk Some like it hot: more protozoans can infect the monarch butterfly as climates become milder; nematode parasites get two chances to infect caribou and reindeer as a result of Arctic warming; and coral pathogens become more active with warmer seas.

Humans can and should learn from all these interactions, write Sonia Altizer, of the University of Georgia in the US, and her colleagues. She argues in Science that climate change is affecting the spread of disease worldwide, ac-

cording to Climate News Network.

Human risk of disease from carriers that might respond to higher temperatures is complicated by other factors: the wealth of a nation, its health system and its ability to respond. So it becomes harder to see the role of climate in many outcomes. But the natural world offers some clearer lessons.

“In many cases, we are seeing an increase in disease and parasitism. But the impact of climate change on these disease relationships depends on the physiology of the organisms involved, the location on the globe and the structure

of ecological communities”, she says.

Climate change can alter the physiology of both host and parasite. In the Arctic, where temperatures are rising rapidly, parasites are getting a better start. A lungworm can now be transmitted over a longer period in the summer, which is bad news for the musk ox which it parasitizes.

In tropical waters, as pathogens and infectious fungi multiply, they threaten not just the corals but the whole ecosystem of which corals are the base.

Some infectious systems such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus could

become an increased threat to humans because of losses in biodiversity associated with a warming climate. Some, such as dengue, malaria and cholera, are directly associated with warmer temperatures.

The vibrio bacterium - cholera is one of the vibrio family - that infects shellfish is associated with zooplankton blooms and as sea surface temperatures increase, the pathogen’s range spreads. Cases of vibrio infection in the Baltic double with each 1°C rise in water temperatures, according to climate modellers.

The biggest predictor of risk to human health is still poverty, but climate

change presents health challenges for communities everywhere. “Because disease represents the product of multiple interacting species, including hosts, pathogens and other members of the food web, forecasting responses to climate shifts is a tremendous challenge,” says Pieter Johnson of the University of Colorado Boulder, one of the authors.

“Given the rising importance of infectious diseases not only for human health but for wildlife conservation, it’s also a challenge for which we are in sore need of a solution.” l

Ilias disappearance: daylong hartal in Sylhet on Aug 29 n UNB Ilias Mukti Sangram Parishad will enforce a daylong general strike in Sylhet on August 29 demanding the tracking down of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali. The shutdown was announced at a rally held at the Central Shaheed Minar yesterday at noon following a procession.

Activists of Ilias Mukti Sangram Parishad and associate bodies of BNP, including Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal, Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal, Tanti Dal and Ulema Dal, brought out the procession from Dhopadihirpar in the city, marking 16 months since the disappearance of Ilias. The procession ended at the Shaheed Minar.

District BNP General Secretary Abdul Gaffar and Ilias Mukti Sangram Parishad joint convener and Swechchhasebak Dal Vice-President Shamsuzzaman Zaman, among others, addressed the rally with Parishad Convener Sheikh Mokan Miah in the chair.

Speakers said they announced the hartal as part of their continued programmes demanding the tracing of Ilias, BNP Organising Secretary and its district unit president.

Ilias Ali, also a former MP, went missing along with his driver at midnight on April 17 last year. l

Border guards bar devotees from celebrating Manasha Puja together

n Our Correspondent, Jessore Thousands of Hindu devotees from Bangladesh were forced to observe Manasha Puja in the no-man’s land between Bangladesh and India yesterday after border guards reportedly barred them from crossing over into India for the annual celebrations dedicated to the snake goddess.

As several thousand worshippers from Benapole headed towards Petrapole in India for the puja in the morning, they were intercepted by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel, a witness said.

“So, they took position along the frontier and held the puja there,” Mohshin Milon, a clearing and forwarding agent at Benapole land port, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Moreover, Indian worshippers who tried to join them were stopped by members of their Border Security Force (BSF), Milon said.

Devotees of both countries have been celebrating Manasha Puja together at Petrapole for a long time. But they could not do so this time as they were barred by both the BGB and BSF, he added.

However, there was no immediate statement from the border forces explaining the tighter security this year. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed at Romask Limited, 184, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1215. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

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Business

B2 Grameen Telecom

joins hand with SKS Foundation to promote social business B3 IDCOL to support 4m solar home systems by 2015 sunday, August 18, 2013

Business www.dhakatribune.com/business

Special economic zones sought for NRBs We need to give them strategic support to faster development: Atiur

n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday urged the government to develop special economic zones for non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to stimulate foreign direct investment in the country.

“I call upon the government to build up couple of special economic zones for the NRBs,” he told a NRB conference in Dhaka.

“They’ve money… they’re creative. We need to give them strategic support to faster the economic development of the country.”

Centre for Non Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) organised the conference titled “Recognition of NRBs and Supportive Organizations in Bangladesh” presided over by its chairperson M S Shekil Chowdhury.

A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is designed to export goods and provide employment.

SEZs are often exempted from tax laws, quotas, labour laws and other restrictive laws to make the goods manufactured in the SEZ at a globally competitive price.

Eight export processing zones, or EPZs, have so far been established across Bangladesh since the 1980s, and the government has a plan to establish SEZs across the country.

Highlighting initiatives already taken by the central bank and the government to facilitate investment by NRBs, the governor said virtually all industrial sectors in Bangladesh are open for investment by NRBs. “The government is encouraging public-private partnership as well as offering tax holiday and exemption on investment by NRBs. They can surely contribute to developing our upcoming SEZs,” he said.

Appreciating contribution of NRBs to the economy, he said remittance in Bangladesh now stands at around 10% of GDP, rising from 5% in the beginning of 2000s.

Remittance is the second biggest foreign exchange earner for Bangladesh after the apparel industry.

“It’s good to set up special economic zones for NRBs… it’ll attract more foreign exchange in Bangladesh,” said Dr Reza Khan, an NRB living in UAE. But he expressed concern over the slow bureaucratic process. “Nobody knows how long it will take to develop such zones,” he said.

Recalling some unpleasant incidents faced by some NRBs, another NRB said expatiates are playing important role to develop the economy but, unfortunately, they are

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman delivers speech at NRB conference in Dhaka yesterday Rajib Dhar

‘The government is encouraging public-private partnership as well as offering tax holiday and exemption on investment by NRBs. They can surely contribute to developing our upcoming SEZs’ being treated badly here. “We want recognition, safe environment to invest and travel home.”

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena came up with his frequently uttered remarks about Bangladesh that the country has huge potentialities to become the Asia’s next economic power.

“But,” he said, “the major challenges like corruption, poor rule of law, lack of infrastructure and specter of political instability should be resolved first.”

He said expatriates are playing key role for economic growth of Bangladesh, which now needs to have accesses to information technology and learn how to use resources in best way to build ‘Sonar Bangla.”

The US envoy said he is trying hard to engage Bangladeshi American community as partners in development in unleashing potentials.

Mozena said he is trying hard to engage Bangladeshi American community as partners in development in unleashing the potentials.

“I want to engage them as partners. I’ve travelled to Washington to New York then Los Angeles. And I’m headed next to Michigan, after that Texas. Because, I want to engage them as partners,” he said.

The US envoy said Bangladesh and the USA last week initialed an Open Skies Air Transport Agreement formalising the liberalisation of bilateral aviation relationship.

“This is another important step towards direct link between New York and Dhaka.”

President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President M Sabur Khan and managing directors of the private and state-owned banks attended the meeting. l

Surplus forex reserve for rainy days: Atiur

n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday defended the huge accumulation of foreign exchange reserve and said the surplus will be used during “rainy days.”

“Having a good forex reserve is not a matter of concern or disappointment,” he told a conference on NRBs in Dhaka, apparently in response to criticisms over the foreign exchange reserve that crossed US$16bn as Bangladesh Bank reported Tuesday last.

The reserve is considered to be enough for meeting the import payments for about five and half months, almost double the period than what economists think the period should be.

The economists criticised that the huge reserve is “not a good sign for the economy” as the money is not being invested to generate employment.

Bangladesh Bank executives said the forex reserve increased substantially due to slowed down imports, particularly of capital machinery, industrial raw materials and food grains, robust remittance and exports.

Exports grew 24% to $3bn in July due to higher demand for garment items at competitive prices, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. Central bank records show in the first 11 months of the last fiscal, overall import bill payments posted a negative growth of more than 9% to $29.48bn from $32.42bn a year earlier.

“I’m sure investment will pick up soon and the surplus reserve will be used properly,” the governor told the meeting.

He, however, stressed the need for accumulating more reserve as compared to that of India and said “there is no room for complacency.” The volume increase pushed Bangladesh into becoming the second highest foreign currency reserve holder in South Asia, after India.

Atiur said Bangladesh being a trade deficit country enjoyed a positive balance in current account during the last five years, particularly due to continuation of impressive growth in remittances.

“Aided by robust growth in exports and remittances, and moderate growth in imports, foreign exchange reserve in Bangladesh is now more than US$16bn,” he said.

“This demonstrates our strength. In a decade, literally, it has become double.”

The governor said the inflow of remittance maintained a healthy growth despite adverse impact from global economic recession and political turmoil across the Middle East.

“Financial and external sector of Bangladesh remained resilient in the face of recent global financial crisis and economic slowdown mainly for these inflows.”

On NRB’s role, he said the contribution of NRBs has been at the heart of policy framework in Bangladesh’s mission of becoming a middle-income country within the next few years. l

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

sunday, August 18, 2013

Grameen Telecom joins hand with SKS Foundation to promote social business n Syed Samiul Basher Anik Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT) has signed a joint venture agreement with SKS Foundation, aiming to create income and wealth for ultra poor people in Gaibandha district under a social business project.

Managing Director of GTT Parveen Mahmud and chief executive officer of SKS Foundation Rasel Ahmed Liton signed the agreement on the project titled “SKS Social Business Project” to work on generating contract farming of sheep rearing by the ultra poor people.

After concluding the 7th Yunus Centre Social Business Design Lab in the capital’s Yunus Centre, the signing ceremony was held with participation by high officials of both of the organisation.

GTT will work as the lead investor while SKS Foundation will serve as its partner. Under the project, 150 ultra poor households will be given 750 sheep over the next four years. They will generate about 3,500 sheep with this project.

Each family will generate about 23 sheep, of which 12-13 will remain with them and the rest will be returned to the project for generating revenue. It is expected that the income and wealth of these ultra poor people will rise by Tk20,000 in the next four years.

The programme also announced com-

Oil rises past $107 on Middle East turmoil

n AP, New York

The price of oil has been inflated by turmoil and increasing violence in the Middle East, but ample global oil supplies are helping to keep the rise in check.

The price of US benchmark oil rose 48 cents to $107.33 per barrel in afternoon trading Thursday. Brent crude, a benchmark used to price imported crude purchased by many US refineries, rose 91 cents to $111.11 per barrel.

The trouble spots right now are Egypt, which is under a state of emergency; Libya, where strikes at oil facilities have curtailed production; and Iraq, where a bomb attack halted oil flowing through an export pipeline. Analysts estimate that concerns about those countries have added $6 or more to the price of oil.

The higher crude prices are not expected to significantly boost U.S. gasoline prices because gasoline supplies are plentiful. The average retail price of a gallon of gasoline stayed at $3.54 Thursday. Wholesale gasoline futures, which signal the price drivers will pay at the pump, did not rise along with oil. The average retail price has fallen 9 cents so far this month and is 17 cents lower than at this time last year.

The simmering turmoil in Egypt erupted Wednesday, as clashes between police and supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi killed 525 people and injured 3,700. Egypt is not a major oil exporter, but

Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus addresses a social business programme at Yunus Centre in Dhaka yesterday Nashirul Islam mencement of JMI telemedicine project – another social business project.

The 7th Yunus Centre Social Business Design Lab, the core programme of the day, was participated by stakeholders, business personnels and social business entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.

The Yunus Centre Social Business Design Lab is a meeting place for different type of people who came here with diverse backgrounds having the goal of developing social business for the betterment of the society.

The programme presented six social business plans – proposed Coco-pith Plastic Com-

Bangladesh prepares for 9th WTO ministerial in Bali n Tribune Business Desk Bangladesh will highlight issues like duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) facilities, Trade Facilitation Agreement, full implementation of the Hong Kong declaration and agricultural negotiation in the ninth ministerial conference to be held in Bali, Indonesia on December 3- 6.

The Commerce Ministry has already held a meeting with related stakeholders to chalk out the priority issues to be highlighted at the ministerial meeting.

“There’s an LDC group. The agenda is yet to be finalised. Usually, the agenda is finalised by September. But we’ve conveyed our areas of highlight. And we’ll focus on dutyand quota-free facility issue,” Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed told UNB on Friday.

He said they will also focus on implementation of the decision on services waiv-

er. “We’ve already held a meeting with the stakeholders a couple of days back to identify the issues to be highlighted at the meeting,” said the Commerce Secretary.

As per the Hong Kong Declaration 2005, all forms of export subsidies for cotton will be eliminated by developed countries in 2006.

On market access, developed countries will give duty- and quota-free access for cotton exports from least developed countries (LDCs) from the commencement of the implementation period.

Building upon the commitment in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, developed country members, and developing country members, declaring themselves in a position to do so, agreed to implement duty- and quota-free market access for products originating from LDCs as provided for in Annex F to this document. l

pound (CPPS) industry at Bagerhat, potential advancement network and hub (PANAH), social business for vulnerable women in Rakibnagar under Tangail district, and three Nobin Uddogta projects namely – Saiyada Krishi Farm, Fahim Fish Farming, and Adarsha Livestock Farm.

Participants presented their social business plans at the programme and held group discussions where important recommendations were discussed and the participants came up with time-bound action programme.

Nobel laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus chaired the session. He said that social business has been adopted in many parts of the world to address the emerging economic problems.

“Today’s programme is important because we have three young entrepreneurs (Nobin Uddokta), and there are thousands of such people. If you have an idea and potentiality, there are many people to sponsor your idea,” he said.

Dr Yunus thanked the participants for their innovative projects and encouraged them saying: “We will support the projects whichever way possible.”

The first Design Lab was held in January 2013. Since then, the Yunus Centre has been organising the Lab once a month. The next session will be held on September 13. l

Dollar edges higher n AFP, New York

The dollar pulled higher Friday against the euro helped by a steep rise in US Treasury yields that reflected rising expectations of an early end to Federal Reserve stimulus.

Treasury yields jumped to their highest in two years, the 10-year bond rising to 2.83%, compared to 2.76% Thursday and 2.59 a week ago, as traders latched onto an apparent slowdown in layoffs and firming of the consumer price index in July as pointers to tighter monetary policy.

But traders remained hesitant on the dollar, given other signs of sluggish US growth - including a slightly disappointing report on July housing construction - and the eurozone’s return to expansion after a recession spanning six quarters.

At 2100 GMT the euro was at $1.3326, compared to $1.3346 late Thursday.

The dollar pulled up to 97.53 yen from 97.36, while the euro rose to 1.3326 yen, from 1.3346 yen. Christopher Vecchio, currency strategist at DailyFx, said the dollar was held back in part by fresh data on the housing sector showing weaker than expected new home construction.

“It was quite clear that the surge in US Treasury yields since early-May has had a negative reverberation throughout the broader economy,” he said.

“The pressure US homebuyers faced in June continued in July, with a second consecutive month of disappointing housing data hurting the US dollar.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

sunday, August 18, 2013

3

IDCOL to support 4m solar home systems by 2015 n Tribune Report

Sonali Bank turns worst in banking: Muhith

n Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said Sonali Bank has now become the worst bank in the country due to the big credit scam of Hall-mark.

“Because of big Hall-mark scam the bank’s capital based eroded, provision shortfall widened and capital adequacy weakened,” he told a workshop in Dhaka yesterday.

The Planning Commission and IDCOL jointly organised the workshop titled “Role of Media in National Development” at the NEC Auditorium.

The Hall-mark group embezzled an amount of around Tk35bn from the largest state-owned commercial bank, putting it into the sorry state.

The minister, however, said the loan amount is only 1% of the total loan of Tk4tn provided to its clients, showing the impact of the scam very little on the country’s economy.

Meanwhile, Muhith is scheduled to hold a meeting with the state-owned commercial banks today to review the present status of the big credit scams took place recently.

Sources in the banking division said roughly around Tk87bn embezzled through credit forgeries related to Hall-mark, Bismillah Group and Basic Bank.

Bangladesh Bank has sought around Tk100bn from the government to recapitalise the state-owned commercial banks to become competitive with the private banks. l

Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) has set a target of installing 4m Solar Home Systems (SHSs) by 2015 with an investment of US$430m, as a part of its new development initiatives towards renewable energy and energy savings.

Mahmood Malik, executive director and chief executive officer of IDCOL presented the development initiatives taken to improve country’s renewable energy sector at a programme titled “Role of Media in National Development” organised by ‘Economic Reporters Forum’ at National Economic Council yesterday.

IDCOL is a Public Limited Company and a Non-Bank Financial Institution fully owned by the government. IDCOL is the leader in Energy and Infrastructure Financing in Bangladesh.

The IDCOL has achieved the highest growth amongst the world companies through financing renewable energy, said Mahmood Malik, executive director and chief executive officer of IDCOL. If 4m SHSs are set up, it would generate about 105 MW power, 11m people will come under the light of renewable energy, which is 7% of the population, he said.

The IDCOL has already set up 2.4m SHSs

by July 1013 and going to improve renewable energy sector through setting up biogas plant, improved cook stoves, solar irrigation pumps, solar mini grid, biogas-based electricity projects and green brick programme, he added.

IDCOL planned to finance 1,500 solar irrigation pumps by 2016, in the financing they will provide 50% loan and 40% grant.

According to IDCOL, Bangladesh has more than 1.4m irrigation pumps using about 800,000 tonnes of diesel, requiring US$120m subsidy annually.

It also set target to establish 50 mini-grid projects by 2016 to provide electricity to the rural area having no access to electricity. According to them 40% population does not

A shop in Dhaka uses solar panel to charge mobile phones and lights have access to electricity.

The IDCOL has plans to install 1m im-

Syed Latif Hossain

proved cook stoves in the rural houses by 2016, reducing indoor air pollution. l

Stocks start fresh week today amid positive economic news n Tribune Report Stocks start fresh week of trading today after rebounding amid poor turnover in the past week, ending four consecutive weeks of losses.

The stock exchanges had to shorten trading sessions to three from usual five on account of Eid-ul-Fitr and National Mourning Day in the past week ended Thursday.

During the week, the DSE Broad Index (DSEX) rose 72 points or 1.9% to close at 3,983.

The blue-chip DS30 index ended at 1,515, rising 38 points or 1.2%.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Category Index, CSCX, gained more than 176 points or 2% to 7,845.

The total turnover value of DSE stood at Tk8.4bn, which was almost double the value of Tk4.2bn in the previous week that witnessed

only two trading sessions due to Eid vacation.

The daily average turnover value improved to Tk2.8bn, a 33% increase from previous week’s average of Tk2bn.

“All the three trading sessions after Eidul-Fitr have seen green. Every green day had a better volume than the previous day,” commented Lanka Bangla Securities, a stock broker, in its weekly market analysis.

“Investors are trying to gauge the market sentiment before pushing the market to a definite direction,” it said.

On the economic front, investors are seeing hope, as they see foreign currency reserve hitting $16bn and export growing at 24% in July compared to same period of the previous year.

“Strong export performance in the recent months with swelling foreign exchange re-

serve is adding to the tailwind for the market to grow in the coming months. Political calamity is the only headwind for the sector,” the brokerage firm said.

IDLC Investments said: “The investors’ watchful tendency over future directions and political dimensions amid sluggish participation fostered trading activities throughout the week.”

From the very beginning, the investors were positioning fundamentally lucrative scrips and market continued to maintain its green zone throughout the week, it said.

Factually, the week observed the impact of investors’ response over different issues regarding capital market, political warmup and macroeconomic phenomenon like RMG’s export growing by 26%, it said.

Gainers took a modest lead over the los-

ers as out of 291 issues traded during the past week at DSE, 187 advanced, 95 declined and nine remained unchanged.

All the major sectors ended in green.

NBFIs were the top gainers, with 7.5% growth, followed by fuel and power which soared 3.6%.

Pharmaceuticals, banks and telecommunications sectors were also up by 1.2%, 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.

During the week, 21 mutual funds made their corporate declarations and most of the funds declared zero dividends and featured in the week’s top losers’ chart.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company became the week’s top turnover with shares worth Tk604m changing hands, followed by Padma Oil, Meghna Petroleum, Olympic Industries and United Airways. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Kickstart your career with professional advice Over the past few weeks, BridgeWee, a pioneering education institution assisting English medium students to access public universities in Bangladesh organised a series of career development workshops for high school graduates and university freshers. The sessions were a thrilling experience for most participants and effectively assisted them to find a navigation point towards the career they want to pursue. In order to pull off this initiative, BridgeWee worked in partnership with EMK Center, working to nurture arts and public service in Bangladesh. The gist of the series of workshops is documented below to enrich and inspire the youth

YOU are a brand!

The workshop on “Personal Branding and Communication Skills” was conducted by Saif Kamal, the Head of Marketing and Partnership of Dhaka Tribune. The workshop started with a heavy booster and a motto to find what’s unique about “you.”

Saif focused on personal branding as a necessity for success. To be successful today our most important job is to be lead marketer for the brand called “you.” It is important to create, maintain and develop your personal brand. If you are not branding yourself, be assured that others are.

Every person you meet makes a judgment about you in the first three seconds. 90% of communication is non-verbal, and the importance of posture and gesture is unfathomable.

Saif discussed communication skills, starting with the basics of conversation paradigms. Several points were tackled like undivided attention, sharing anecdotes to keeping an open mind to culture, sexuality, religion etc. There was a small discussion on table manners and etiquettes.

A slideshow of the most empowering personalities was at the fore of the discussion on presentation: Dr Yunus with his signature Khadi coat, Barack Obama with his usual blue

tie and Indra Nooyi , the CEO of Pepsi with her remarkable red scarf.

Participants learnt that personal branding is a journey and only consistent practice helps one thrive in their goal. This workshop helped shed light on the valuable things that often go unnoticed but deserve utmost priority. It was the kind of knowledge one isn’t always fortunate to gain, let alone from a workshop. l

How to live in your top 1% Quazi M Ahmed started his workshop with an enthusiastic slideshow of stock photos depicting Bangladeshi children involved in different activities; he said, “This isn’t me, obviously, but we did these things!” His energy is infectious.

A brief overview of his academic history, consisting of IBA, IUJ and NYU was supplied, followed by the stops in his career – teaching positions at IBA and NSU, a stint at Jetro in Japan – leading to his current position as the Lead Consultant and CEO of FutureLeaders.

His passion was apparent. “I love what I do” seemed to be the general aura. This pervasive aura is what made him an appropriate and well-qualified speaker above all else.

He did not quite tackle the common “Bengali” issue of having our parents choose our careers, but a tangent of it – how people end up in careers that they are not suited for. He briefly explored a few of the reasons this happens – lack of knowledge; how we assume that we must go into something because we are good at it in school; parents and teachers; peer pressure; the “mob mentality” etc.

It’s a shame, he said, that we spend so many perfectly good years of our short lives doing things that we not only may be unsuited to, but that we may also dislike. We should all do things we are passionate about and likely to be good at.

The workshop required us to take The Myers Briggs Type Indicator Quiz and find out

our personality type. Based on 4 different variables, the quiz divided us into 16 different personality types. We then went “shopping” for careers suitable to our personalities.

Most of us agreed – the charts seemed to show a remarkable understanding of our attributes and problems. Some of us agreed with the career choices, but some of us were horrified. “A teacher?” some exclaimed. “A Computer Analyst?” Others were not only satisfied but ardently so. “It matched perfectly,” said Afnan, a participant and an associate at BridgeWee. After giving us a chance to voice our opinions on the matter, Quazi

Active engagement for a successful career The workshop conductor Ivdad Ahmed, an MBA candidate at Duke University and Managing Director at LightCastle Partners and Ex-Director of Youth Leadership at BYLC, commenced his session with a deep question, “What matters to you most and why?”

The participants shared their career ambitions following which Ivdad delivered an insightful discussion on career development.

He said that chasing academic excellence should not be the only priority and we must concentrate on opportunities around us.

Ivdad shared his inspiring experiences at BYLC. He discussed the five dysfunctions of a team: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, inattention to results.

The section moved to an awareness test.

Ivdad showed us a video in which two teams were passing a basketball among their respective team-mates. Ivdad asked us to count the number of passes “Team White” made. After the video ended, he asked us the number. There were common responses before he asked, “Did you see something weird in the video?”

When nobody answered he played the video again and this time we were dumbfounded to notice a big, fat bear walking by the players in the middle of the video.

Ivdad immediately carried forward the analogous lesson to us: always keep your eyes open.

We only see what we are looking for. Focusing on only one thing makes us miss opportunities around us. l

A fresher’s perspective on career Getting into university is overwhelming; we feel free, independent and as if the destination has been reached. This is where we have the idea wrong. It is a process which leads to success, not an achievement.

Instead of just attending classes it is wise to grab all available opportunities, experiment with skills and figure out and work on our flaws.

These were the points Salman Hossain, the Head of Marketing & Sales at G&R Technologies, began his workshop “Secrets of Being a Successful Graduate” with.

Most of us usually wait for fate to make things happen for us. Instead we should have

a game plan. It is okay to try and fail. Longterm goals keep us from frustration.

The workshop discussed competitiveness. We live in a “survival of the fittest” world. Hard work and perseverance is all we need to topple competition. We need to adapt to new ways of thinking and new methods of getting things done.

Networking is another factor which contributes to finding success in life. Meeting right people is vital. It helps us connect and get things done more effectively. Another highlight of networking is information sharing. Networking can start from our existing circle of friends, and expand eventually. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

4 reasons why now is the right time to start your business n Tasnuva Amin Nova Every day while walking through my spacious and pleasantly airy garage, I dreamt of opening a restaurant there. The smell of food cooking underneath STARTUP my floor would be a treat to 101 my olfactory senses. Furthermore, I would utilise the unused garage space more efficiently. This gem of a location would reduce my operating costs significantly which I could put into the restaurant.

The business was doing tremendously in my mind (I might have made millions) until someone actually started a kitchen in a garage. As I blatantly munch into one of their delicious burgers, it is my entrepreneurial dream dying a thousand deaths.

Do you know how it feels to see your dream fulfilled by someone else, especially when it involves making money?

Life is a lesson and this chapter taught me why now is the best time to pursue my passion for entrepreneurship.

Fortune favors the fastest

What would happen if Mark Zuckerberg did not establish Facebook? Someone else would, with a different name maybe. When it comes to entrepreneurship you have to be superfast about implementing your ideas because there is always someone else waiting to realise your dream. Do not waste time second-guessing your ideas. Take chances before anyone else does.

College dropout billionaires are totally in vogue

If you are an undergraduate student torn between chasing your entrepreneurial dreams and continuing with studies, welcome to my world. Take a moment to look around the world. Most of the world’s top billionaires today are college dropouts. If you are really

passionate about doing business, go for it.

But if you do not make it big the first time around, I am not answerable.

What keeps you awake is what keeps you alive

How do you know if you are really passionate about something? When the excitement for it does not let you sleep. Passion is the most important quality of a successful entrepreneur and it is rare to find. Without passion the drive to succeed dies out. If your passion for a business idea is keeping you awake these nights, you better start working on your startup before you start sleeping on it.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now”

Although we cannot save the world anymore from global warming by planting trees, you can still save your dreams of starting a business if you start now. The present is considered a gift so make the most of it.

You want to tell your grandchildren of the things you did, not things you wish you

ductor opened the floor to the participants by discussing the sort of crossroads they are at in their lives.

Monirul noted the options most people felt they have and explained how every individual finds themselves at a crossroad where they have to go one way or the other. This decision ultimately defines a person.

He discussed the importance of sincere and necessary exploration in choosing a career. Monirul explained how being open-minded comes to assistance in developing stages of an individual.

He emphasised on being receptive to new and innovative ideas, and how this has been the major reason of success of the greatest organisations in the world – Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc.

Just a few years back, nobody could

Know Your Job Company: Online service provider Post: Online marketing consultant Level: Entry-Mid level Responsibilities: Online Campaign Management 1. Search Engine Optimisation: Create visibility on the web searches.

2. Online advertising: Manage advertisement on different websites.

3. Paid search.

4. Online Reputation Management: Track the perception of the company on the online target market and manage negative feedback.

5. Social Media Optimisation: Develop and manage social media platforms like facebook, twitter, flickr, google+ etc.

6. Create new campaigns and measurement upon client required KPIs (key point indicators like site traffic trends, returns on online ads, social media campaign effectiveness etc).

Requirement: Not specific, but marketing majors are preferred. A good hand over online and social media especially on campaign development and advertising is ideal.

Know Your Organisation

bigstock.com

had done.

Bonus point: Utilise the Internet while you still can

Have you noticed how new business sites keep popping up every day on the Internet? One of my friends was telling me how she did all her Eid shopping from a popular social networking site. Clothes, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, food, even flowers; everything is sold through these webpages they call e-businesses. Imagine the cost advantages the owners of these enterprises avail. Free marketing of your business is also done at the expense of “check-ins” made by customers which increases the outreach of your business. Whether you open a brick and mortar business or an e-business, this is the best time to capitalise on the internet for business gains. l

Navigating the crossroads The final workshop, bringing an end to the series was conducted by Kazi Monirul Kabir, Country Consultant of Google in Bangladesh. The con-

5

Sunday, August 18, 2013

imagine conducting business over the internet. Today it’s happening for real.

He mentioned it is only a matter of time when information and communications technology will start to play a significant role in every Bangladeshis’ life. The penetration of internet and new technologies is driving people to unprecedented and exciting directions.

It is crucially important to remain up-to-date and be adaptive to latest developments in the world. The adaptability of an individual can become a determining factor of success.

With an urge to explore and discover more during their journey, the speaker brought an end to the stimulating session. l The writers are all associates at BridgeWee (find more write-ups at bridgewee. com/blog)

Company: A. K. Khan & Co Ltd. Type: Privately held Conglomerate Website: www.akkhan.com Company size: 5000-10,000 employees Founded: 1945 A. K. Khan & Co Ltd is one of the oldest business conglomerates in Bangladesh, operating since 1945. The group engages in business through joint venture with Multinational Companies (MNCs) like Coats Viyella Group (UK) & Pen Fabrics (Malaysia) in Textiles, Telecom Malaysia as AKTEL(erstwhile) presently Robi Axiata Ltd, community based water project with Water Health Inc. USA, Maruha Nichiro Corporation of Japan in deep sea fishing and export and AK-Panbo Agro Ltd with Panbo Systems BV (Netherlands) in Agro Business. The group has its own businesses in Distributions, Telecom (with Robi Axiata Ltd), IT (AKNET), ICT (Internal Container Terminal), Securities, C&F and others.

Career opportunities: Bachelors and masters in textile engineering, business administration, computer science, agribusiness , fisheries, forestry, finance, hospitality (might not be Dhaka based).

TooFast: I tend to finish my work really fast, faster than expected, and then I get fidgety ASK MENTOR and I walk around the office. My work does not suffer but my colleagues act like I’m slacking off all the time, even if we’re doing the same amount of work. What should I do, take my time on purpose so I appear as busy as everybody else?

Mentor: Well I met my match here.

Finally! I have the same issue and when I Facebook, people think I am not doing anything. However don’t choose something I did. Take on too much work. Read articles online.

Solve riddles. If you can’t do it fast, that shall keep you busy.

StuckInTheMiddle: My boss and one of my colleagues used to have a relationship outside of work, but since they’ve broken up, I constantly find myself in tense situations during meetings because the two haven’t worked their issues out. I can’t talk to either of them, because one is my boss and the other is my friend and I’m supposed to be supportive. I just don’t want to be stuck in the middle during awkward situations. What should I do?

Mentor: Ignore, and during awkward situations, sit through it. As polite as we all are, we would like to walk out.

However if this lingers, sit through these cat fights until they realise it’s awkward. Trust me, soon your friend will bring up the matter and you can give your thoughts there and then.

Send us your opinions, feedback and career-related queries at career@dhakatribune.com

6

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

friDAY, august 18, 2013

DSEBroadIndex:3983.47⇑2.35%Turnover:8367.56M.Tk⇑99.70%,PE:12.38 Turnover 3,752.59 MTk.⇑0.67% August 14, 2013 MarketCap.1,930.92 BTk.⇑2.38% CSEAllShareIndex:12378⇑2.40%Turnover:746.59MTk.⇑128.79%,PE:12.23 Combined Turnover Leader BD Submarine Cable-A

2097122

Padma Oil Co. -A

1577257

BANK ABBANK | 2.95 | 32.60 | Vol. 458798 D: 24.70 ⇑ 0.41% | 24.86 | 27.00 / 22.50 C: 25.00 ⇑ 2.04% | 24.90 | 25.50 / 23.00 CITYBANK | 1.15 | 25.97 | Vol. 1402540 D: 17.80 ⇑ 6.59% | 17.95 | 18.50 / 15.90 C: 17.90 ⇑ 5.92% | 17.81 | 18.00 / 16.70 IFIC | 1.10 | 18.34 | Vol. 1600982 D: 21.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 21.80 | 23.00 / 19.80 C: 21.70 ⇓ 0.91% | 21.80 | 22.50 / 20.00 ISLAMIBANK | 3.78 | 27.16 | Vol. 512869 D: 36.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 36.18 | 37.00 / 33.00 C: 36.00 ⇓ 0.83% | 36.00 | 37.00 / 35.00 NBL | 1.05 | 15.76 | Vol. 3195178 D: 11.90 ⇑ 0.85% | 11.94 | 12.60 / 10.90 C: 12.00 ⇑ 0.84% | 11.96 | 12.10 / 11.70 PUBALIBANK | 1.92 | 21.18 | Vol. 479353 D: 29.60 ⇓ 3.27% | 29.76 | 32.00 / 27.20 C: 30.00 ⇓ 3.54% | 30.10 | 31.00 / 29.00 RUPALIBANK | 6.70 | 64.27 | Vol. 53052 D: 62.40 ⇑ 4.87% | 61.91 | 63.00 / 58.00 C: 61.80 ⇑ 2.66% | 61.00 | 61.90 / 57.20 UCBL | 1.90 | 21.72 | Vol. 4565427 D: 18.80 ⇑ 2.73% | 18.75 | 20.00 / 16.50 C: 18.60 ⇑ 2.20% | 18.61 | 19.20 / 18.10 UTTARABANK | 3.42 | 26.97 | Vol. 524537 D: 25.50 ⇑ 1.59% | 25.65 | 26.10 / 23.20 C: 25.40 ⇑ 0.79% | 25.63 | 26.00 / 24.50 ICBIBANK | -1.60 | -13.03 | Vol. 196500 D: 5.90 ⇓ 1.67% | 5.93 | 6.20 / 5.90 EBL | 3.91 | 28.22 | Vol. 1486381 D: 25.90 ⇓ 1.89% | 25.99 | 27.00 / 24.00 C: 26.00 ⇓ 1.89% | 26.01 | 28.60 / 25.60 ALARABANK | 2.03 | 14.91 | Vol. 990960 D: 14.90 ⇑ 0.68% | 14.96 | 15.50 / 13.40 C: 14.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 14.98 | 15.00 / 14.50 PRIMEBANK | 2.89 | 22.40 | Vol. 2974288 D: 21.50 ⇑ 2.38% | 21.48 | 22.70 / 19.00 C: 21.00 ⇑ 2.94% | 21.00 | 21.20 / 19.00 SOUTHEASTB | 1.89 | 22.66 | Vol. 1028981 D: 16.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.29 | 17.60 / 14.80 C: 16.20 ⇓ 0.61% | 16.17 | 17.00 / 15.50 DHAKABANK | 1.46 | 18.08 | Vol. 380102 D: 20.80 ⇑ 2.46% | 21.00 | 21.20 / 18.50 C: 20.90 ⇑ 5.03% | 20.67 | 20.90 / 19.20 NCCBANK | 1.90 | 15.88 | Vol. 1288768 D: 12.20 ⇑ 1.67% | 12.32 | 13.00 / 11.00 C: 12.30 ⇑ 0.82% | 12.33 | 12.60 / 12.00 SIBL | 2.05 | 14.47 | Vol. 1181479 D: 12.30 ⇓ 1.60% | 12.33 | 13.00 / 11.30 C: 12.40 ⇓ 2.36% | 12.48 | 12.70 / 11.50 DUTCHBANGL | 11.57 | 54.27 | Vol. 53910 D: 99.90 ⇑ 1.63% | 99.79 | 101.8 / 92.00 C: 100.0 ⇓ 3.47% | 99.37 | 105.0 / 99.00 MTBL | 1.17 | 17.27 | Vol. 120767 D: 14.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 14.52 | 14.90 / 13.10 C: 14.90 ⇓ 0.67% | 14.90 | 15.00 / 14.70 STANDBANKL | 2.33 | 14.41 | Vol. 723143 D: 13.40 ⇓ 0.74% | 13.49 | 14.00 / 12.30 C: 13.60 ⇓ 1.45% | 13.61 | 14.00 / 12.80 ONEBANKLTD | 2.35 | 15.34 | Vol. 2632440 D: 15.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 15.20 | 16.00 / 13.60 C: 15.20 ⇑ 1.33% | 15.25 | 16.00 / 14.00 BANKASIA | 1.35 | 20.80 | Vol. 2988589 D: 18.40 ⇑ 1.66% | 18.63 | 19.00 / 17.00 C: 18.20 ⇑ 1.11% | 18.80 | 18.20 / 18.10 MERCANBANK | 2.07 | 16.59 | Vol. 975644 D: 12.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 11.97 | 12.50 / 10.80 C: 12.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 11.98 | 12.10 / 11.00 EXIMBANK | 1.80 | 14.31 | Vol. 1261044 D: 12.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 12.09 | 13.10 / 11.00 C: 12.20 ⇑ 0.83% | 12.15 | 12.30 / 11.90 JAMUNABANK | 2.47 | 18.56 | Vol. 406242 D: 14.40 ⇑ 2.86% | 14.31 | 14.50 / 12.70 C: 14.30 ⇑ 1.42% | 14.22 | 14.40 / 13.80 BRACBANK | 1.51 | 24.87 | Vol. 372468 D: 29.10 ⇓ 1.02% | 28.99 | 29.50 / 26.00 C: 28.70 ⇓ 4.01% | 28.70 | 29.50 / 28.60 SHAHJABANK | 2.61 | 14.47 | Vol. 820286 D: 14.50 ⇓ 1.36% | 14.54 | 15.20 / 13.30 C: 14.80 ⇑ 0.68% | 14.75 | 15.00 / 14.00

TO M. Tk.

% of TTL

643.94

7.07

566.48

6.22

Avg. P 307.06 359.15

DSE Loser

DSE Gainer

C%

A%

CP

Renwick Jajneswar-A

25.95

24.80

178.60

17.06

107.70

Midas Financing-Z

18.31

15.28

34.90

Apex Tannery-A

20.34

Meghna Petroleum -A

1793447

496.70

5.45

276.95

Olympic Ind. -A

2071463

487.79

5.35

235.48

ICB AMCL 1st M F-A

18.22

19.28

63.60

20.81

Aramit-A

16.65

13.64

247.30

UNITED AIR-A

CompanyCode | EPS | BV | Volume Traded (Share) DSE/CSE: ClosePrice ⇓/⇑ Chn % | Avg.Price | Hi / Lo

Vol.

20013889

416.42

4.57

PREMIERBAN | 1.18 | 13.95 | Vol. 1394754 D: 10.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 10.14 | 11.00 / 9.20 C: 10.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 10.24 | 10.50 / 10.00 TRUSTBANK | 0.50 | 18.00 | Vol. 139609 D: 18.10 ⇑ 1.69% | 18.08 | 19.00 / 15.90 C: 17.70 ⇑ 1.72% | 17.66 | 17.70 / 17.00 FIRSTSBANK | 1.85 | 13.89 | Vol. 541309 D: 12.10 ⇓ 1.63% | 12.24 | 13.00 / 11.20 C: 12.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 12.46 | 13.00 / 11.40 NON BANKING F I IDLC | 4.43 | 29.18 | Vol. 762684 D: 60.80 ⇑ 9.35% | 60.11 | 61.90 / 52.00 C: 60.60 ⇑ 10.38% | 60.06 | 61.20 / 57.00 ULC | 1.80 | 14.90 | Vol. 133961 D: 28.00 ⇑ 4.48% | 27.63 | 28.30 / 24.60 UTTARAFIN | 7.16 | 41.54 | Vol. 136312 D: 75.10 ⇑ 0.27% | 74.93 | 79.00 / 67.40 C: 76.50 ⇑ 3.66% | 74.74 | 76.90 / 71.50 MIDASFIN | -1.99 | 10.05 | Vol. 16554 D: 34.90 ⇑ 18.31% | 34.40 | 34.90 / 28.00 FLEASEINT | 2.34 | 13.93 | Vol. 493262 D: 25.40 ⇑ 4.96% | 25.17 | 25.60 / 23.90 C: 25.50 ⇓ 1.92% | 25.38 | 25.60 / 24.10 PLFSL | 1.37 | 17.48 | Vol. 910939 D: 23.70 ⇑ 3.49% | 23.56 | 25.10 / 20.80 C: 23.90 ⇑ 2.58% | 23.66 | 24.20 / 22.90 PRIMEFIN | 0.87 | 17.88 | Vol. 490477 D: 26.50 ⇑ 6.85% | 26.21 | 26.90 / 22.50 C: 26.60 ⇑ 6.40% | 26.35 | 26.80 / 24.60 PREMIERLEA | 0.10 | 11.37 | Vol. 336225 D: 10.70 ⇑ 1.90% | 10.81 | 11.10 / 9.50 C: 10.70 ⇓ 1.83% | 10.90 | 11.50 / 10.20 ISLAMICFIN | 1.03 | 15.48 | Vol. 1284073 D: 15.50 ⇑ 1.97% | 15.47 | 15.80 / 13.50 C: 15.40 ⇑ 3.36% | 15.34 | 15.80 / 15.00 LANKABAFIN | 1.61 | 31.07 | Vol. 1625331 D: 54.00 ⇑ 15.38% | 51.53 | 54.50 / 43.00 C: 53.70 ⇑ 14.26% | 51.17 | 54.00 / 47.00 BIFC | 0.15 | 18.58 | Vol. 86984 D: 13.40 ⇑ 5.51% | 13.38 | 14.00 / 12.00 C: 13.50 ⇑ 4.65% | 13.50 | 13.50 / 13.50 IPDC | 1.23 | 19.43 | Vol. 50640 D: 16.40 ⇑ 1.23% | 16.45 | 16.70 / 15.00 C: 16.60 ⇑ 2.47% | 16.55 | 17.00 / 16.00 UNIONCAP | 0.54 | 17.85 | Vol. 158175 D: 28.30 ⇑ 2.54% | 28.21 | 30.50 / 24.50 C: 29.90 ⇑ 5.28% | 28.00 | 29.90 / 29.90 BDFINANCE | 0.57 | 14.77 | Vol. 181757 D: 18.10 ⇑ 3.43% | 17.93 | 18.50 / 16.00 C: 18.20 ⇑ 3.41% | 17.89 | 18.50 / 16.00 ILFSL | 0.35 | 12.19 | Vol. 489245 D: 12.70 ⇑ 5.83% | 12.54 | 12.90 / 11.50 C: 12.60 ⇑ 2.44% | 12.49 | 12.70 / 12.30 PHOENIXFIN | 2.46 | 19.39 | Vol. 443717 D: 32.40 ⇑ 7.28% | 31.81 | 32.90 / 27.50 C: 32.30 ⇑ 4.19% | 31.23 | 32.50 / 30.70 FASFIN | 0.19 | 13.56 | Vol. 688263 D: 13.60 ⇑ 2.26% | 13.60 | 13.90 / 12.00 C: 13.90 ⇑ 2.96% | 13.84 | 14.00 / 12.50 DBH | 3.40 | 16.80 | Vol. 88575 D: 64.10 ⇑ 3.55% | 63.98 | 65.00 / 56.00 C: 65.00 ⇑ 6.56% | 65.00 | 65.00 / 60.00 NHFIL | 0.57 | 12.70 | Vol. 547530 D: 28.90 ⇑ 3.96% | 28.94 | 30.40 / 27.00 C: 28.80 ⇑ 3.23% | 28.87 | 30.00 / 28.80 BAYLEASING | 0.72 | 25.55 | Vol. 325448 D: 30.10 ⇑ 6.36% | 30.04 | 31.00 / 25.70 C: 30.10 ⇑ 7.50% | 30.06 | 30.70 / 28.40 ICB | 109.65 | 595.98 | Vol. 25221 D: 1963 ⇑ 8.20% | 1925 | 1963 / 1790 C: 1925 ⇑ 8.40% | 1924 | 1948 / 1849 GSPFINANCE | 1.63 | 22.23 | Vol. 143542 D: 24.50 ⇑ 2.94% | 24.34 | 25.90 / 22.00 C: 23.30 ⇓ 0.85% | 23.26 | 25.00 / 23.00 INVESTMENT 1STICB | 64.70 | 137.05 | Vol. 400 D: 893.2 ⇑ 0.37% | 890.00 | 900.0 / 885.0 2NDICB | 33.02 | 76.34 | Vol. 2000 D: 323.8 ⇓ 5.35% | 324.00 | 325.0 / 320.0 3RDICB | 24.83 | 58.91 | Vol. 1250 D: 217.5 ⇓ 1.14% | 217.60 | 225.0 / 212.5

4THICB | 23.40 | 58.63 | Vol. 1100 D: 214.9 ⇑ 8.26% | 214.55 | 216.0 / 214.8 5THICB | 18.93 | 41.95 | Vol. 1100 D: 183.8 ⇑ 7.49% | 183.64 | 184.0 / 183.0 6THICB | 10.58 | 26.73 | Vol. 83800 D: 74.00 ⇓ 0.40% | 73.83 | 74.80 / 72.80 7THICB | 13.47 | 32.05 | Vol. 3890 D: 103.6 ⇑ 3.60% | 104.34 | 110.0 / 99.00 8THICB | 12.33 | 29.54 | Vol. 76500 D: 75.70 ⇓ 1.43% | 75.88 | 76.80 / 75.00 1STBSRS | 14.43 | 161.88 | Vol. 49500 D: 102.0 ⇑ 4.29% | 102.04 | 106.0 / 99.00 AIMS1STMF | 2.27 | 15.70 | Vol. 1030250 D: 44.30 ⇓ 5.14% | 45.08 | 46.90 / 44.10 C: 44.90 ⇓ 5.47% | 45.33 | 47.80 / 44.70 ICBAMCL1ST | 7.14 | 48.54 | Vol. 898500 D: 63.60 ⇑ 18.22% | 63.11 | 64.00 / 55.00 C: 51.70 ⇑ 10.00% | 51.70 | 51.70 / 51.70 ICBISLAMIC | 2.21 | 26.81 | Vol. 395000 D: 23.60 ⇑ 9.26% | 23.35 | 23.90 / 18.80 GRAMEEN1 | 6.26 | 33.23 | Vol. 501000 D: 46.90 ⇓ 6.20% | 47.54 | 50.50 / 46.50 C: 47.60 ⇓ 4.61% | 48.34 | 50.00 / 47.50 ICB1STNRB | 4.06 | 35.31 | Vol. 122500 D: 27.60 ⇓ 9.51% | 27.85 | 28.50 / 27.20 C: 28.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 28.00 | 28.00 / 28.00 ICB2NDNRB | 2.49 | 16.24 | Vol. 2291500 D: 11.60 ⇓ 15.33% | 11.84 | 12.30 / 11.60 C: 11.90 ⇓ 12.50% | 11.95 | 12.70 / 11.90 GRAMEENS2 | 2.17 | 16.41 | Vol. 1221650 D: 17.60 ⇓ 2.76% | 17.66 | 18.30 / 17.00 C: 17.70 ⇓ 1.67% | 17.73 | 19.10 / 17.60 1STPRIMFMF | 0.64 | 11.63 | Vol. 565000 D: 16.90 ⇓ 2.31% | 17.01 | 18.10 / 16.50 C: 16.70 ⇓ 3.47% | 16.68 | 17.20 / 16.00 EBL1STMF | 0.60 | 12.62 | Vol. 1546500 D: 8.10 ⇓ 3.57% | 8.47 | 9.20 / 8.00 C: 8.20 ⇓ 1.20% | 8.55 | 9.20 / 8.20 ICBAMCL2ND | 0.60 | 12.12 | Vol. 213000 D: 5.40 ⇓ 14.29% | 5.47 | 5.80 / 5.40 C: 5.50 ⇓ 19.12% | 5.50 | 5.70 / 5.50 ICBEPMF1S1 | 0.52 | 11.32 | Vol. 1089000 D: 5.60 ⇓ 11.11% | 5.69 | 5.90 / 5.40 C: 5.70 ⇓ 14.93% | 5.70 | 5.80 / 5.50 TRUSTB1MF | 0.82 | 11.65 | Vol. 2693500 D: 8.40 ⇓ 3.45% | 8.64 | 9.30 / 8.30 C: 8.60 ⇓ 2.27% | 8.75 | 9.30 / 8.30 PRIME1ICBA | 0.42 | 11.18 | Vol. 1258000 D: 5.20 ⇓ 14.75% | 5.07 | 5.90 / 4.90 C: 5.10 ⇓ 17.74% | 5.15 | 5.60 / 5.10 DBH1STMF | -1.12 | 10.15 | Vol. 821000 D: 5.60 ⇓ 3.45% | 5.66 | 5.90 / 5.60 C: 5.60 ⇓ 3.45% | 5.60 | 6.10 / 5.50 IFIC1STMF | 0.90 | 11.88 | Vol. 1676000 D: 7.90 ⇑ 2.60% | 8.09 | 8.50 / 7.50 C: 8.00 ⇑ 1.27% | 8.04 | 8.40 / 7.60 PF1STMF | 0.51 | 11.11 | Vol. 835500 D: 5.40 ⇓ 6.90% | 5.38 | 5.60 / 5.20 C: 5.10 ⇓ 10.53% | 5.11 | 5.70 / 5.10 ICB3RDNRB | 0.00 | 10.60 | Vol. 1300500 D: 5.10 ⇓ 10.53% | 5.19 | 5.50 / 5.10 C: 5.00 ⇓ 16.67% | 5.13 | 5.80 / 5.00 1JANATAMF | 0.78 | 10.68 | Vol. 974500 D: 5.70 ⇓ 8.06% | 5.75 | 6.10 / 5.50 C: 5.70 ⇓ 8.06% | 5.69 | 6.20 / 5.50 GREENDELMF | -0.82 | 9.72 | Vol. 805000 D: 5.30 ⇓ 3.64% | 5.27 | 5.50 / 5.10 C: 5.30 ⇓ 5.36% | 5.30 | 5.60 / 5.20 POPULAR1MF | 0.79 | 11.38 | Vol. 3023000 D: 6.20 ⇓ 4.62% | 6.18 | 6.60 / 6.10 C: 6.20 ⇓ 6.06% | 6.25 | 6.80 / 6.10 IFILISLMF1 | 0.00 | 10.45 | Vol. 1235000 D: 4.90 ⇓ 5.77% | 4.94 | 5.00 / 4.80 C: 5.00 ⇓ 5.66% | 4.96 | 5.10 / 4.90 PHPMF1 | 0.63 | 10.92 | Vol. 2409500 D: 5.60 ⇓ 6.67% | 5.61 | 6.00 / 5.50 C: 5.60 ⇓ 6.67% | 5.58 | 6.00 / 5.40 AIBL1STIMF | -0.07 | 9.25 | Vol. 158000 D: 6.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.75 | 7.10 / 6.50 C: 6.10 ⇓ 6.15% | 6.09 | 6.50 / 6.00 MBL1STMF | -0.16 | 9.08 | Vol. 365000 D: 6.10 ⇓ 6.15% | 6.17 | 6.30 / 6.00 C: 6.00 ⇓ 7.69% | 6.03 | 6.10 / 6.00

ICB AMCL 2nd NRB-A Prime Bank 1st MF-A AMCL 2nd MF-A ICB Emp. PMF-A ICB AMCL3rd NRB MF-A

C%

A%

CP

-15.33

-12.62

11.60

-14.75

-17.43

5.20

-14.29

-13.99

5.40

-11.11

-11.65

5.60

-10.53

-9.90

5.10

SEBL1STMF | 1.03 | 11.85 | Vol. 3466000 D: 9.50 ⇓ 6.86% | 9.77 | 10.80 / 9.40 C: 9.50 ⇓ 5.94% | 9.77 | 10.70 / 10.00 EBLNRBMF | 1.16 | 10.88 | Vol. 32000 D: 9.00 ⇑ 15.38% | 9.00 | 9.10 / 8.40 RELIANCE1 | 0.35 | 11.36 | Vol. 1687000 D: 10.10 ⇓ 7.34% | 10.38 | 11.00 / 10.00 C: 10.20 ⇓ 9.73% | 10.46 | 11.30 / 10.20 LRGLOBMF1 | 0.50 | 10.82 | Vol. 7000 D: 7.00 ⇓ 2.78% | 7.00 | 7.40 / 7.00 ABB1STMF | 1.00 | 10.63 | Vol. 624000 D: 8.00 ⇓ 5.88% | 8.35 | 9.80 / 8.00 NLI1STMF | 1.29 | 12.22 | Vol. 2176000 D: 10.40 ⇓ 10.34% | 10.65 | 11.70 / 10.30 C: 10.50 ⇓ 7.89% | 10.65 | 12.00 / 10.50 FBFIF | 1.43 | 10.27 | Vol. 14000 D: 10.00 ⇑ 2.04% | 10.00 | 10.00 / 10.00 NCCBLMF1 | 0.00 | 10.48 | Vol. 33500 D: 9.40 ⇑ 2.17% | 9.42 | 9.90 / 8.80 ICBSONALI1 | 0.00 | 10.39 | Vol. 1349500 D: 7.10 ⇓ 7.79% | 7.28 | 7.70 / 7.00 C: 7.20 ⇓ 7.69% | 7.35 | 7.80 / 7.20 EXIM1STMF | 0.00 | 10.91 | Vol. 22500 D: 7.60 ⇓ 3.80% | 7.68 | 8.60 / 7.60 ENGINEERING AFTABAUTO | 4.29 | 52.65 | Vol. 1375914 D: 115.9 ⇑ 9.24% | 115.57 | 120.0 / 96.00 C: 115.6 ⇑ 8.75% | 115.07 | 117.5 / 105.0 AZIZPIPES | 0.39 | -42.04 | Vol. 5400 D: 15.80 ⇑ 3.27% | 15.29 | 16.00 / 15.00 OLYMPIC | 5.94 | 14.91 | Vol. 2071463 D: 240.1 ⇑ 5.45% | 236.96 | 241.9 / 218.0 C: 240.0 ⇑ 5.36% | 235.81 | 243.5 / 225.0 BDLAMPS | -5.31 | 37.07 | Vol. 37620 D: 140.3 ⇑ 11.44% | 140.31 | 142.0 / 120.0 C: 141.2 ⇑ 17.08% | 140.65 | 142.0 / 128.0 ECABLES | 2.04 | 18.87 | Vol. 10050 D: 57.30 ⇓ 2.22% | 57.33 | 59.20 / 54.00 C: 58.00 ⇑ 4.69% | 58.00 | 58.00 / 55.00 MONNOSTAF | 5.31 | 44.78 | Vol. 350 D: 184.1 ⇑ 3.84% | 183.33 | 185.0 / 183.9 SINGERBD | 9.99 | 45.74 | Vol. 305549 D: 195.1 ⇑ 5.18% | 194.57 | 197.4 / 184.0 C: 195.1 ⇑ 5.23% | 194.09 | 197.0 / 186.0 ATLASBANG | 11.98 | 207.70 | Vol. 24250 D: 183.6 ⇑ 3.61% | 181.86 | 186.0 / 161.0 BDAUTOCA | 0.25 | 6.23 | Vol. 24930 D: 22.80 ⇑ 7.04% | 23.00 | 23.40 / 21.50 QSMDRYCELL | 1.65 | 58.49 | Vol. 213000 D: 35.20 ⇑ 3.83% | 35.09 | 35.60 / 31.00 C: 36.00 ⇑ 7.78% | 35.49 | 36.20 / 34.10 RENWICKJA | 5.62 | -90.00 | Vol. 64750 D: 178.6 ⇑ 25.95% | 173.88 | 180.9 / 147.0 NTLTUBES | -2.52 | 312.10 | Vol. 110908 D: 66.00 ⇑ 9.45% | 66.32 | 68.00 / 59.50 BDTHAI | 0.43 | 39.35 | Vol. 307689 D: 19.90 ⇑ 1.53% | 19.97 | 21.00 / 17.90 C: 20.30 ⇑ 1.50% | 20.26 | 20.60 / 18.00 ANWARGALV | 0.51 | 8.08 | Vol. 32500 D: 14.20 ⇑ 2.16% | 14.19 | 14.60 / 14.10 C: 14.60 ⇑ 4.29% | 14.70 | 14.80 / 14.60 KAY&QUE | -3.89 | 6.03 | Vol. 24625 D: 13.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 13.07 | 14.00 / 12.50 RANFOUNDRY | 2.84 | 18.62 | Vol. 65500 D: 63.20 ⇑ 0.48% | 63.20 | 64.00 / 61.70 SALAMCRST | 3.31 | 20.00 | Vol. 451250 D: 40.30 ⇑ 6.61% | 39.77 | 40.80 / 35.00 C: 40.10 ⇑ 4.70% | 39.92 | 40.30 / 36.70 GOLDENSON | 3.70 | 28.70 | Vol. 422366 D: 39.70 ⇑ 2.85% | 39.47 | 40.80 / 35.00 C: 39.60 ⇑ 2.33% | 39.45 | 40.00 / 35.00 BSRMSTEEL | 3.06 | 19.53 | Vol. 308906 D: 71.20 ⇑ 2.15% | 70.99 | 72.00 / 64.00 C: 70.90 ⇑ 1.87% | 70.76 | 72.00 / 66.50 NAVANACNG | 4.09 | 27.04 | Vol. 608534 D: 74.00 ⇑ 5.87% | 74.06 | 77.00 / 65.00 C: 74.40 ⇑ 6.29% | 74.58 | 77.50 / 69.10 DESHBANDHU | 1.16 | 12.02 | Vol. 488697 D: 19.70 ⇑ 1.03% | 19.83 | 20.30 / 18.00 C: 20.10 ⇑ 2.03% | 19.99 | 21.00 / 19.00 GPHISPAT | 2.94 | 14.51 | Vol. 184900 D: 48.00 ⇓ 0.41% | 48.71 | 49.80 / 46.00 C: 48.30 ⇓ 3.01% | 48.15 | 53.00 / 46.30

BENGALWTL | 2.42 | 20.72 | Vol. 255200 D: 43.50 ⇑ 2.84% | 43.61 | 44.40 / 41.70 C: 43.60 ⇑ 4.81% | 43.67 | 44.00 / 41.50 NPOLYMAR | 2.01 | 324.37 | Vol. 95478 D: 42.70 ⇑ 6.48% | 42.11 | 43.10 / 39.00 C: 43.00 ⇑ 6.44% | 43.00 | 43.00 / 40.60 FOOD & ALLIED APEXFOODS | 2.54 | 90.81 | Vol. 71500 D: 81.00 ⇑ 14.89% | 77.95 | 81.30 / 67.60 C: 81.90 ⇑ 18.70% | 79.05 | 81.90 / 75.00 BANGAS | 7.20 | 50.27 | Vol. 100066 D: 531.4 ⇑ 0.89% | 525.96 | 537.0 / 510.0 C: 540.1 ⇑ 2.23% | 529.28 | 541.0 / 511.0 BATBC | 65.69 | 117.22 | Vol. 17000 D: 1379 ⇑ 0.04% | 1382 | 1420 / 1350 GEMINISEA | 10.88 | 9.69 | Vol. 1150 D: 137.1 ⇑ 5.06% | 137.10 | 140.0 / 132.0 NTC | 29.88 | 110.05 | Vol. 3800 D: 830.9 ⇓ 0.22% | 831.43 | 849.5 / 825.0 ZEALBANGLA | -23.01 | -193.09 | Vol. 5900 D: 7.80 ⇑ 1.30% | 7.80 | 8.00 / 7.80 CVOPRL | 2.66 | 13.28 | Vol. 287500 D: 494.3 ⇑ 15.95% | 499.44 | 508.9 / 427.0 C: 491.3 ⇑ 16.98% | 500.14 | 504.9 / 450.0 AMCL(PRAN) | 6.53 | 53.37 | Vol. 438780 D: 196.9 ⇑ 15.89% | 193.29 | 197.0 / 166.5 C: 191.3 ⇑ 12.53% | 191.31 | 196.5 / 175.5 RAHIMAFOOD | 0.62 | 4.46 | Vol. 53000 D: 15.20 ⇑ 2.01% | 15.19 | 15.40 / 15.00 C: 15.10 ⇑ 5.59% | 15.16 | 15.40 / 15.10 FUWANGFOOD | 1.26 | 12.37 | Vol. 648793 D: 25.00 ⇑ 8.23% | 24.55 | 25.40 / 21.00 C: 24.90 ⇑ 7.79% | 24.58 | 25.00 / 23.00 MEGHNAPET | -0.58 | -1.02 | Vol. 11500 D: 5.20 ⇓ 10.34% | 5.20 | 5.50 / 5.20 MEGCONMILK | -6.68 | -16.22 | Vol. 13000 D: 6.80 ⇓ 4.23% | 7.00 | 7.00 / 6.70 BEACHHATCH | 1.01 | 12.48 | Vol. 195653 D: 16.60 ⇑ 1.22% | 16.51 | 18.00 / 14.80 C: 16.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.47 | 16.50 / 16.40 FINEFOODS | -0.11 | 10.58 | Vol. 68000 D: 16.70 ⇑ 3.09% | 16.63 | 17.00 / 16.00 RDFOOD | 0.91 | 16.84 | Vol. 963481 D: 19.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 19.96 | 21.00 / 18.00 C: 20.10 ⇑ 0.50% | 20.00 | 20.50 / 19.60 GHAIL | 1.01 | 22.08 | Vol. 1588480 D: 45.30 ⇑ 8.37% | 45.12 | 45.60 / 38.00 C: 45.00 ⇑ 7.14% | 44.99 | 45.60 / 40.20 FUEL & POWER LINDEBD | 31.71 | 144.00 | Vol. 19600 D: 596.8 ⇑ 0.86% | 598.11 | 610.0 / 590.0 PADMAOIL | 16.38 | 43.67 | Vol. 1577257 D: 366.1 ⇑ 7.05% | 366.47 | 370.7 / 330.0 C: 366.2 ⇑ 7.64% | 366.27 | 370.0 / 330.0 BDWELDING | 0.33 | 16.82 | Vol. 142968 D: 17.50 ⇑ 1.74% | 17.50 | 18.00 / 15.50 C: 17.10 ⇑ 0.59% | 17.10 | 17.90 / 17.00 SUMITPOWER | 3.17 | 19.26 | Vol. 849812 D: 36.70 ⇑ 4.26% | 36.46 | 38.00 / 32.00 C: 36.50 ⇑ 3.99% | 36.23 | 36.90 / 34.00 DESCO | 2.80 | 35.25 | Vol. 370012 D: 80.10 ⇑ 1.01% | 80.04 | 81.20 / 72.00 C: 80.40 ⇑ 1.39% | 80.27 | 80.50 / 78.00 POWERGRID | 2.56 | 48.08 | Vol. 85371 D: 55.80 ⇑ 0.90% | 56.08 | 56.80 / 50.00 C: 54.10 ⇓ 0.37% | 54.08 | 59.60 / 53.10 JAMUNAOIL | 22.78 | 50.24 | Vol. 1180239 D: 238.5 ⇑ 5.07% | 238.88 | 242.4 / 215.0 C: 238.1 ⇑ 4.16% | 237.88 | 242.4 / 223.0 MPETROLEUM | 16.98 | 40.41 | Vol. 1793447 D: 277.7 ⇑ 3.23% | 277.94 | 285.0 / 250.0 C: 277.7 ⇑ 3.58% | 278.09 | 283.0 / 262.1 TITASGAS | 9.01 | 36.56 | Vol. 2584610 D: 86.70 ⇑ 4.33% | 86.19 | 92.00 / 75.00 C: 86.40 ⇑ 3.72% | 85.50 | 87.00 / 82.60 KPCL | 4.73 | 15.86 | Vol. 557038 D: 51.70 ⇑ 0.78% | 51.71 | 52.60 / 47.00 C: 51.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 51.97 | 53.50 / 51.00 BEDL | 1.57 | 17.89 | Vol. 1517231 D: 35.30 ⇑ 6.65% | 34.88 | 35.50 / 30.00 C: 35.30 ⇑ 5.69% | 34.80 | 35.60 / 32.90

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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friDAY, august 18, 2013

7

AUG 12 - 14, 2013 Sectotal Index: BANK: 33,619.52 ⇑ 1.50% NBFI: 20,344.27 ⇑ 7.13% INVS: 5,004.81 ⇓ 3.08% ENGG: 6,097.77 ⇑ 7.34% FOOD: 7,502.05 ⇑ 4.32% F&P: 10,950.71 ⇑ 5.34% TEXT: 2,929.21 ⇑ 5.13% PHAR: 16,673.56 ⇑ 3.71% PAPR: 775.14 ⇑ 1.64% SERV: 3,254.29 ⇑ 9.44% LEAT: 4,543.11 ⇑ 2.46% CERA: 481.38 ⇑ 4.63% CMNT: 4,169.81 ⇑ 3.42% INFO: 6,958.91 ⇑ 6.04% GINS: 9,146.10 ⇑ 0.70% LINS: 102,132.56 ⇑ 7.24% TELC: 1,386.24 ⇑ 1.81% MISC: 6,141.20 ⇑ 3.30% MJLBD | 2.73 | 30.24 | Vol. 165988 D: 72.10 ⇑ 1.98% | 71.96 | 75.00 / 65.00 C: 71.60 ⇑ 0.42% | 71.36 | 72.50 / 65.00 GBBPOWER | 1.86 | 22.63 | Vol. 780636 D: 25.80 ⇑ 1.98% | 25.67 | 27.00 / 22.90 C: 26.00 ⇑ 2.36% | 25.71 | 26.10 / 24.00 SPPCL | 3.81 | 23.34 | Vol. 1697270 D: 58.60 ⇑ 3.53% | 58.60 | 59.10 / 51.00 C: 58.60 ⇑ 3.35% | 58.61 | 59.10 / 53.60

AGNISYSL | 1.07 | 25.52 | Vol. 226917 D: 22.00 ⇑ 2.80% | 21.79 | 22.30 / 19.90 C: 22.20 ⇑ 2.78% | 21.93 | 22.30 / 21.00 DAFODILCOM | 1.12 | 11.14 | Vol. 402939 D: 16.40 ⇑ 2.50% | 16.34 | 16.60 / 15.00 C: 16.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.06 | 16.80 / 15.80 AAMRATECH | 1.17 | 20.44 | Vol. 1636400 D: 39.40 ⇑ 7.95% | 38.64 | 39.70 / 32.90 C: 39.40 ⇑ 7.95% | 38.51 | 39.80 / 36.00

JUTE JUTESPINN | 2.06 | 17.42 | Vol. 4000 D: 75.60 ⇑ 6.78% | 75.00 | 77.90 / 69.00 SONALIANSH | 5.54 | 218.80 | Vol. 44650 D: 134.4 ⇑ 9.54% | 130.74 | 136.0 / 120.0

GENERAL INSURANCE BGIC | 1.65 | 20.33 | Vol. 96263 D: 29.70 ⇑ 2.41% | 29.73 | 30.00 / 26.80 C: 29.40 ⇑ 0.34% | 29.15 | 29.80 / 28.50 GREENDELT | 4.05 | 64.44 | Vol. 113582 D: 104.1 ⇑ 1.76% | 103.00 | 110.0 / 93.00 C: 108.9 ⇑ 8.90% | 108.90 | 108.9 / 108.9 UNITEDINS | 2.47 | 21.04 | Vol. 93405 D: 48.30 ⇓ 5.11% | 48.95 | 51.20 / 48.00 PEOPLESINS | 2.05 | 20.72 | Vol. 79669 D: 26.60 ⇓ 1.48% | 26.71 | 27.30 / 24.50 C: 26.60 ⇑ 0.38% | 26.69 | 26.90 / 26.60 EASTERNINS | 2.22 | 35.88 | Vol. 31062 D: 37.00 ⇑ 0.27% | 36.90 | 38.20 / 34.00 C: 40.80 ⇑ 7.37% | 40.80 | 40.80 / 40.80 JANATAINS | 7.84 | 170.69 | Vol. 9750 D: 222.5 ⇑ 3.01% | 223.48 | 228.0 / 203.0 C: 223.8 ⇓ 1.97% | 223.49 | 228.0 / 221.0 PHENIXINS | 2.70 | 20.96 | Vol. 59631 D: 40.00 ⇑ 0.25% | 39.97 | 40.80 / 35.80 EASTLAND | 4.06 | 23.29 | Vol. 138437 D: 45.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 45.37 | 49.00 / 41.40 C: 45.00 ⇑ 2.27% | 45.07 | 45.10 / 44.50 CENTRALINS | 1.54 | 19.04 | Vol. 9872 D: 28.90 ⇑ 2.12% | 29.06 | 29.30 / 26.90 KARNAPHULI | 1.56 | 19.42 | Vol. 74660 D: 22.60 ⇑ 4.15% | 22.69 | 23.00 / 20.00 PURABIGEN | 1.05 | 18.71 | Vol. 258780 D: 20.50 ⇓ 1.44% | 20.56 | 22.70 / 20.00 PRAGATIINS | 2.01 | 50.30 | Vol. 25767 D: 56.50 ⇑ 0.71% | 56.50 | 58.70 / 52.00 PRIMEINSUR | 2.14 | 14.14 | Vol. 100273 D: 26.10 ⇑ 0.77% | 26.34 | 27.00 / 25.00 PIONEERINS | 3.11 | 23.84 | Vol. 97643 D: 73.00 ⇑ 2.38% | 72.65 | 76.90 / 67.00 MERCINS | 1.53 | 14.50 | Vol. 226498 D: 25.20 ⇓ 4.18% | 25.31 | 26.50 / 23.60 C: 26.00 ⇓ 0.38% | 26.00 | 26.00 / 26.00 AGRANINS | 1.73 | 14.39 | Vol. 72867 D: 22.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 22.89 | 23.30 / 20.70 GLOBALINS | 1.09 | 11.78 | Vol. 42039 D: 29.50 ⇑ 3.87% | 29.28 | 30.00 / 27.60 NITOLINS | 2.59 | 15.41 | Vol. 11510 D: 34.20 ⇑ 3.95% | 32.94 | 34.40 / 30.00 ASIAPACINS | 1.84 | 13.76 | Vol. 106160 D: 26.20 ⇑ 0.38% | 26.21 | 26.80 / 26.00 SONARBAINS | 1.68 | 13.38 | Vol. 70097 D: 22.80 ⇑ 0.88% | 22.99 | 23.80 / 21.50 C: 21.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 21.74 | 21.60 / 21.60 PARAMOUNT | 1.26 | 13.19 | Vol. 34551 D: 21.30 ⇑ 3.40% | 21.35 | 21.90 / 19.40 C: 21.80 ⇑ 7.92% | 21.48 | 22.20 / 20.20 CITYGENINS | 1.65 | 14.26 | Vol. 266665 D: 24.90 ⇑ 1.63% | 24.89 | 25.20 / 23.00 C: 25.00 ⇑ 0.81% | 24.99 | 25.00 / 24.50 CONTININS | 1.41 | 15.68 | Vol. 54755 D: 28.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 28.32 | 29.00 / 26.00 TAKAFULINS | 2.19 | 15.17 | Vol. 27542 D: 29.20 ⇑ 1.04% | 29.10 | 30.90 / 27.00 C: 30.00 ⇑ 1.01% | 30.00 | 30.00 / 27.20 STANDARINS | 2.58 | 13.99 | Vol. 41912 D: 37.90 ⇑ 0.80% | 37.76 | 38.20 / 33.60 NORTHRNINS | 1.77 | 11.15 | Vol. 252624 D: 45.30 ⇓ 2.16% | 45.39 | 47.00 / 42.00 C: 45.60 ⇓ 1.08% | 45.60 | 45.60 / 42.00 REPUBLIC | 2.14 | 12.42 | Vol. 134001 D: 53.70 ⇑ 1.90% | 53.16 | 55.00 / 48.00 ASIAINS | 1.56 | 17.34 | Vol. 106822 D: 25.60 ⇓ 1.92% | 25.66 | 26.20 / 23.00 C: 26.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 26.33 | 26.50 / 25.30 ISLAMIINS | 1.29 | 11.96 | Vol. 10243 D: 25.70 ⇓ 1.91% | 25.68 | 26.10 / 25.00 PROVATIINS | 1.90 | 14.30 | Vol. 35509 D: 25.50 ⇓ 0.78% | 25.43 | 26.00 / 22.90 C: 25.50 ⇑ 6.25% | 25.50 | 25.50 / 24.60

TEXTILE AL-HAJTEX | 1.35 | 15.64 | Vol. 97166 D: 60.20 ⇑ 10.66% | 59.38 | 60.70 / 50.00 RAHIMTEXT | 0.51 | 73.88 | Vol. 1375 D: 197.5 ⇑ 2.70% | 197.65 | 202.0 / 185.0 SAIHAMTEX | 2.75 | 29.50 | Vol. 853400 D: 31.10 ⇑ 3.67% | 30.89 | 31.70 / 29.70 C: 31.40 ⇑ 4.32% | 30.77 | 31.90 / 30.00 MODERNDYE | 1.09 | 12.93 | Vol. 250 D: 65.60 ⇑ 0.92% | 64.00 | 66.00 / 64.50 DSHGARME | 0.72 | 12.00 | Vol. 10800 D: 27.60 ⇑ 4.15% | 27.50 | 27.80 / 26.50 DULAMIACOT | -8.46 | -27.78 | Vol. 7700 D: 8.10 ⇑ 1.25% | 8.00 | 8.30 / 8.00 TALLUSPIN | 2.56 | 12.06 | Vol. 1848326 D: 35.40 ⇑ 6.31% | 34.94 | 35.90 / 31.00 C: 35.30 ⇑ 5.69% | 34.88 | 35.50 / 32.00 APEXSPINN | 2.01 | 49.32 | Vol. 7800 D: 61.70 ⇑ 10.97% | 61.50 | 62.80 / 55.60 MITHUNKNIT | 4.54 | 30.39 | Vol. 543444 D: 93.10 ⇑ 13.40% | 89.65 | 93.30 / 78.00 C: 91.00 ⇑ 9.90% | 90.33 | 91.00 / 82.20 DELTASPINN | 3.06 | 18.12 | Vol. 682600 D: 33.60 ⇑ 6.67% | 32.99 | 33.90 / 30.20 C: 33.80 ⇑ 7.64% | 32.73 | 34.30 / 31.50 SONARGAON | 0.27 | 34.50 | Vol. 77642 D: 13.20 ⇑ 1.54% | 13.32 | 13.50 / 12.00 C: 13.20 ⇓ 2.22% | 13.20 | 13.20 / 13.20 PRIMETEX | 1.01 | 63.54 | Vol. 1467500 D: 25.60 ⇑ 15.32% | 25.16 | 25.80 / 22.70 C: 25.40 ⇑ 15.45% | 25.04 | 25.70 / 21.70 ALLTEX | -0.11 | 23.81 | Vol. 108500 D: 7.50 ⇑ 2.74% | 7.55 | 7.70 / 7.20 C: 7.60 ⇓ 2.56% | 7.56 | 7.70 / 7.40 ANLIMAYARN | 1.19 | 11.01 | Vol. 777300 D: 32.20 ⇑ 11.42% | 31.40 | 32.90 / 28.60 C: 31.90 ⇑ 17.28% | 31.23 | 32.40 / 29.00 HRTEX | 2.08 | 14.92 | Vol. 308632 D: 27.40 ⇑ 8.73% | 26.92 | 27.80 / 25.00 C: 27.30 ⇑ 12.81% | 27.30 | 27.30 / 26.50 CMCKAMAL | 1.37 | 19.31 | Vol. 1163216 D: 25.40 ⇑ 2.01% | 25.28 | 26.00 / 22.50 SAFKOSPINN | 0.95 | 21.78 | Vol. 169017 D: 17.70 ⇑ 5.36% | 17.61 | 18.00 / 15.30 C: 17.90 ⇑ 5.29% | 17.86 | 18.00 / 16.50 SQUARETEXT | 4.32 | 31.82 | Vol. 168474 D: 86.70 ⇓ 0.34% | 86.89 | 90.90 / 82.10 C: 86.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 86.40 | 86.70 / 86.30 METROSPIN | -1.00 | 19.59 | Vol. 189611 D: 14.80 ⇑ 4.23% | 14.58 | 14.90 / 13.80 C: 14.40 ⇑ 1.41% | 14.44 | 14.70 / 14.00 MAKSONSPIN | 0.16 | 20.55 | Vol. 1373249 D: 13.40 ⇑ 1.52% | 13.35 | 14.50 / 12.00 C: 13.40 ⇑ 0.75% | 13.31 | 13.60 / 13.00 DACCADYE | 1.21 | 31.13 | Vol. 551565 D: 28.20 ⇑ 8.88% | 27.74 | 28.50 / 23.40 C: 28.30 ⇑ 9.27% | 27.69 | 28.40 / 26.80 RNSPIN | 2.80 | 16.58 | Vol. 4821078 D: 26.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 26.43 | 26.90 / 24.00 C: 26.60 ⇑ 0.38% | 26.52 | 26.80 / 26.00 BXSYNTH | 0.93 | 25.42 | Vol. 539552 D: 14.40 ⇓ 1.37% | 14.47 | 15.00 / 13.20 C: 14.60 ⇓ 0.68% | 14.56 | 14.80 / 14.00 MALEKSPIN | -1.44 | 46.87 | Vol. 3018615 D: 27.60 ⇑ 4.55% | 27.32 | 27.80 / 23.90 C: 27.90 ⇑ 6.08% | 27.32 | 27.90 / 26.00 ZAHINTEX | 1.91 | 35.25 | Vol. 3148900 D: 32.30 ⇑ 6.95% | 31.32 | 34.80 / 29.00 C: 33.20 ⇑ 9.57% | 33.37 | 34.10 / 30.20

Pharmaceutical & Chemical AMBEEPHA | 3.94 | 26.15 | Vol. 8509 D: 243.4 ⇓ 2.25% | 244.56 | 259.0 / 241.0 C: 243.5 ⇓ 1.02% | 243.25 | 249.0 / 240.0 BXPHARMA | 3.77 | 52.55 | Vol. 234995 D: 46.00 ⇑ 0.88% | 45.72 | 48.00 / 41.10 C: 46.20 ⇑ 1.76% | 46.12 | 46.50 / 45.00 GLAXOSMITH | 20.25 | 123.32 | Vol. 16550 D: 856.0 ⇑ 1.92% | 858.67 | 909.0 / 802.0 ACI | -5.82 | 126.42 | Vol. 15987 D: 146.3 ⇑ 0.97% | 146.08 | 150.0 / 129.0 C: 145.1 ⇑ 0.07% | 145.07 | 148.0 / 143.6 RENATA | 33.57 | 138.83 | Vol. 16787 D: 656.2 ⇓ 2.37% | 657.90 | 681.0 / 650.0 RECKITTBEN | 27.16 | 78.89 | Vol. 2850 D: 760.5 ⇑ 9.20% | 760.00 | 794.5 / 700.0 C: 709.0 ⇑ 7.42% | 709.00 | 709.0 / 709.0 PHARMAID | 5.06 | 26.30 | Vol. 107050 D: 185.9 ⇑ 9.81% | 184.39 | 187.5 / 167.0 KOHINOOR | 9.52 | 10.49 | Vol. 7265 D: 345.0 ⇓ 6.25% | 345.56 | 364.0 / 340.0 IBNSINA | 3.44 | 34.02 | Vol. 16845 D: 82.60 ⇓ 0.72% | 82.56 | 83.50 / 78.00 C: 81.10 ⇓ 1.70% | 81.10 | 81.10 / 81.10 LIBRAINFU | 4.64 | 1565.37 | Vol. 400 D: 233.4 ⇑ 2.82% | 232.50 | 233.9 / 233.0 ORIONINFU | 8.72 | 1.73 | Vol. 78800 D: 41.70 ⇑ 6.65% | 41.83 | 42.30 / 39.10 C: 42.00 ⇑ 2.44% | 42.00 | 42.90 / 42.00 SQURPHARMA | 9.01 | 50.83 | Vol. 1443070 D: 222.4 ⇑ 1.46% | 221.62 | 225.0 / 200.0 C: 222.9 ⇑ 2.06% | 221.94 | 223.9 / 215.0 IMAMBUTTON | -1.68 | 5.67 | Vol. 5000 D: 6.80 ⇓ 2.86% | 6.80 | 7.00 / 6.80 KEYACOSMET | 3.19 | 19.99 | Vol. 1338830 D: 29.10 ⇑ 4.30% | 28.88 | 29.30 / 25.20 C: 29.10 ⇑ 4.30% | 28.76 | 29.20 / 27.90 BERGERPBL | 32.46 | 100.20 | Vol. 8800 D: 798.0 ⇓ 0.15% | 795.50 | 840.0 / 780.5 ACIFORMULA | 3.33 | 38.08 | Vol. 33625 D: 69.90 ⇑ 1.75% | 69.90 | 70.50 / 68.00 C: 69.30 ⇑ 1.17% | 69.30 | 69.30 / 68.50 MARICO | 27.53 | 62.47 | Vol. 52400 D: 614.1 ⇑ 0.46% | 619.19 | 647.0 / 595.0 C: 605.3 ⇑ 0.25% | 605.25 | 648.0 / 600.0 BEACONPHAR | 0.33 | 11.97 | Vol. 443950 D: 14.20 ⇓ 0.70% | 14.18 | 14.60 / 12.90 C: 14.40 ⇓ 0.69% | 14.32 | 15.20 / 13.10 ACTIVEFINE | 3.23 | 13.89 | Vol. 1317995 D: 85.70 ⇑ 3.38% | 85.46 | 88.00 / 77.00 C: 85.70 ⇑ 3.25% | 85.57 | 86.90 / 82.00 SALVOCHEM | 0.68 | 10.57 | Vol. 535585 D: 17.80 ⇓ 1.11% | 17.99 | 19.00 / 16.20 C: 17.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 17.98 | 18.70 / 16.60 GHCL | 2.14 | 57.31 | Vol. 158500 D: 43.40 ⇑ 3.33% | 43.45 | 43.90 / 41.80 C: 43.20 ⇑ 1.65% | 43.07 | 43.50 / 42.50 ORIONPHARM | 5.02 | 68.68 | Vol. 1365380 D: 65.80 ⇑ 3.46% | 65.36 | 70.00 / 57.30 C: 65.70 ⇑ 3.30% | 65.20 | 66.00 / 59.00 JMISMDL | 1.12 | 12.83 | Vol. 316000 D: 88.30 ⇑ 6.00% | 88.87 | 92.00 / 84.00 C: 87.20 ⇑ 4.56% | 87.44 | 91.00 / 84.00 CENTRALPHL | 0.61 | 10.99 | Vol. 4066000 D: 38.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 41.22 | 50.00 / 38.00 C: 38.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 40.94 | 49.50 / 38.10 PAPER & PACKAGING HAKKANIPUL | 0.64 | 11.02 | Vol. 5000 D: 16.60 ⇑ 3.75% | 16.50 | 17.00 / 15.60 C: 17.10 ⇓ 9.52% | 17.10 | 17.10 / 17.10

SERVICE SAPORTL | 1.23 | 38.39 | Vol. 203866 D: 25.40 ⇑ 2.42% | 25.20 | 26.60 / 22.90 C: 25.60 ⇑ 3.23% | 25.41 | 25.90 / 23.80 EHL | 2.87 | 18.48 | Vol. 712173 D: 51.50 ⇑ 12.94% | 51.58 | 52.80 / 44.00 C: 51.30 ⇑ 12.01% | 51.44 | 52.50 / 45.00 LEATHER APEXTANRY | 6.57 | 69.38 | Vol. 434700 D: 107.7 ⇑ 20.34% | 104.59 | 107.8 / 90.40 C: 107.4 ⇑ 21.08% | 105.03 | 107.4 / 93.70 BATASHOE | 49.12 | 135.53 | Vol. 18180 D: 610.8 ⇓ 0.15% | 611.11 | 623.1 / 595.0 APEXADELFT | 23.01 | 203.26 | Vol. 84800 D: 314.2 ⇑ 8.05% | 308.65 | 326.3 / 287.0 C: 321.0 ⇓ 0.62% | 321.00 | 321.0 / 296.0 SAMATALETH | -0.07 | 12.08 | Vol. 1500 D: 10.80 ⇓ 4.42% | 10.80 | 10.90 / 10.70 LEGACYFOOT | 0.63 | 17.19 | Vol. 34638 D: 13.50 ⇑ 3.05% | 13.50 | 13.80 / 12.50 C: 13.00 ⇑ 0.78% | 13.00 | 13.00 / 13.00 CERAMIC MONNOCERA | 0.71 | 96.33 | Vol. 18930 D: 27.00 ⇑ 4.65% | 26.76 | 27.60 / 25.20 FUWANGCER | 1.43 | 13.25 | Vol. 292704 D: 18.10 ⇑ 3.43% | 18.11 | 18.60 / 16.50 C: 18.30 ⇑ 5.78% | 18.30 | 18.50 / 17.50 SPCERAMICS | 0.62 | 30.92 | Vol. 369532 D: 15.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 15.36 | 16.30 / 13.90 C: 15.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 15.49 | 16.10 / 15.10 RAKCERAMIC | 1.98 | 16.76 | Vol. 120695 D: 51.20 ⇑ 2.81% | 51.20 | 54.50 / 45.00 C: 51.20 ⇑ 1.59% | 50.34 | 51.20 / 45.00 CEMENT HEIDELBCEM | 22.85 | 111.50 | Vol. 40510 D: 321.5 ⇑ 4.69% | 325.83 | 332.0 / 305.0 C: 315.0 ⇑ 4.97% | 315.00 | 329.0 / 307.0 CONFIDCEM | 6.23 | 90.76 | Vol. 679495 D: 127.5 ⇑ 2.33% | 128.07 | 132.0 / 120.0 C: 127.2 ⇑ 2.17% | 127.54 | 131.7 / 122.2 MEGHNACEM | 6.28 | 33.81 | Vol. 114500 D: 120.1 ⇑ 2.13% | 119.75 | 122.9 / 112.0 C: 116.5 ⇓ 0.09% | 116.50 | 121.5 / 115.0 ARAMITCEM | 3.03 | 14.65 | Vol. 91450 D: 67.80 ⇑ 0.89% | 67.89 | 70.80 / 64.00 C: 66.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 66.40 | 66.40 / 66.40 LAFSURCEML | 1.60 | 7.22 | Vol. 861500 D: 31.60 ⇓ 0.94% | 31.57 | 32.00 / 31.40 C: 32.00 ⇓ 0.62% | 31.50 | 32.20 / 31.30 MICEMENT | 4.14 | 40.00 | Vol. 315996 D: 91.90 ⇑ 4.43% | 91.39 | 93.00 / 81.00 C: 91.40 ⇑ 3.86% | 90.94 | 92.60 / 87.00 PREMIERCEM | 3.59 | 22.92 | Vol. 1064600 D: 126.6 ⇑ 8.86% | 126.95 | 130.7 / 116.0 C: 126.5 ⇑ 9.43% | 127.93 | 134.8 / 120.0 IT IINDUSTRIES ISNLTD | 0.28 | 17.31 | Vol. 14340 D: 13.10 ⇑ 0.77% | 13.13 | 13.60 / 12.90 C: 13.40 ⇑ 8.94% | 13.35 | 13.40 / 13.30 BDCOM | 1.00 | 14.91 | Vol. 159046 D: 20.90 ⇑ 5.03% | 20.76 | 21.40 / 18.00 C: 20.50 ⇑ 0.49% | 20.48 | 20.90 / 18.70 INTECH | 0.94 | 10.08 | Vol. 135197 D: 13.00 ⇑ 0.78% | 13.04 | 13.30 / 12.00 C: 13.10 ⇑ 0.77% | 13.16 | 13.50 / 13.00

DHAKAINS | 2.84 | 18.02 | Vol. 41625 D: 39.00 ⇓ 3.70% | 38.97 | 40.90 / 37.00 C: 40.00 ⇑ 6.67% | 40.00 | 40.80 / 40.00 LIFE INSURANCE NATLIFEINS | 12.34 | 80.99 | Vol. 23948 D: 243.9 ⇓ 0.20% | 243.38 | 250.0 / 230.0 C: 250.0 ⇑ 9.08% | 249.95 | 250.0 / 230.0 DELTALIFE | 38.53 | 189.40 | Vol. 18750 D: 4928 ⇑ 12.40% | 4924 | 4928 / 4210 C: 4933 ⇓ 3.61% | 4933 | 4933 / 4740 SANDHANINS | 2.39 | 28.22 | Vol. 55306 D: 67.50 ⇓ 0.15% | 67.99 | 73.00 / 61.00 C: 68.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 68.00 | 68.00 / 66.90 POPULARLIF | 3.70 | 715.41 | Vol. 21500 D: 143.8 ⇓ 0.69% | 143.94 | 146.0 / 139.3 FAREASTLIF | 9.21 | 60.79 | Vol. 41032 D: 108.3 ⇑ 1.03% | 107.84 | 109.1 / 98.00 C: 109.8 ⇑ 6.09% | 109.78 | 109.8 / 107.9 MEGHNALIFE | 10.82 | 48.87 | Vol. 57700 D: 89.20 ⇓ 1.65% | 89.41 | 91.40 / 88.80 C: 90.90 ⇑ 1.00% | 90.90 | 91.80 / 89.10 PROGRESLIF | 2.30 | 31.45 | Vol. 3160 D: 97.00 ⇓ 1.02% | 96.75 | 97.20 / 92.00 PRAGATILIF | 0.60 | 30.15 | Vol. 49500 D: 93.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 93.00 | 94.00 / 92.10 PRIMELIFE | 5.51 | 27.10 | Vol. 4282 D: 92.30 ⇓ 1.81% | 92.50 | 93.90 / 90.80 C: 83.60 ⇓ 9.13% | 83.60 | 83.60 / 83.60 RUPALILIFE | 3.75 | 31.25 | Vol. 22070 D: 85.00 ⇓ 5.35% | 85.26 | 88.10 / 84.70 PADMALIFE | 1.63 | 25.76 | Vol. 178500 D: 56.00 ⇓ 0.71% | 56.11 | 56.50 / 55.00 C: 55.60 ⇓ 2.46% | 55.46 | 55.90 / 55.00 SUNLIFEINS | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 143000 D: 45.60 ⇓ 0.44% | 45.79 | 46.90 / 45.10 C: 46.00 ⇑ 0.66% | 45.88 | 47.10 / 45.40 TELECOM GP | 12.96 | 26.26 | Vol. 1211104 D: 178.2 ⇓ 0.39% | 178.16 | 182.9 / 165.0 C: 178.4 ⇓ 0.39% | 178.05 | 183.5 / 176.8 BSCCL | 7.14 | 23.70 | Vol. 2097122 D: 309.7 ⇑ 5.59% | 309.61 | 314.2 / 268.0 C: 309.5 ⇑ 5.74% | 309.27 | 314.9 / 280.0 Travel & Leisure UNITEDAIR | 1.60 | 15.12 | Vol. 20013889 D: 21.30 ⇑ 7.58% | 21.09 | 21.50 / 18.00 C: 21.30 ⇑ 7.04% | 21.04 | 21.40 / 18.00 UNIQUEHRL | 4.02 | 86.29 | Vol. 1861358 D: 95.50 ⇑ 7.55% | 95.15 | 96.90 / 80.00 C: 95.20 ⇑ 7.94% | 94.65 | 95.80 / 86.00 MISCELLANEOUS ARAMIT | 16.07 | 99.93 | Vol. 18000 D: 247.3 ⇑ 16.65% | 241.11 | 248.1 / 216.0 C: 205.0 ⇑ 0.00% | 205.00 | 205.0 / 205.0 BSC | 1.77 | 565.82 | Vol. 361030 D: 542.0 ⇑ 6.64% | 543.09 | 560.0 / 502.0 C: 542.3 ⇑ 6.38% | 542.97 | 550.5 / 505.0 GQBALLPEN | 6.55 | 250.45 | Vol. 152856 D: 140.7 ⇑ 2.10% | 140.94 | 145.0 / 125.0 C: 141.9 ⇑ 2.01% | 141.60 | 143.8 / 137.0 USMANIAGL | 0.50 | 26.03 | Vol. 81904 D: 121.0 ⇑ 7.75% | 119.69 | 123.6 / 105.0 C: 118.7 ⇑ 8.50% | 118.47 | 121.0 / 110.0 SAVAREFR | 0.23 | 12.32 | Vol. 15650 D: 58.90 ⇓ 5.15% | 58.92 | 62.30 / 56.40 BEXIMCO | 3.24 | 86.74 | Vol. 2249848 D: 33.60 ⇓ 1.47% | 33.70 | 37.00 / 30.50 C: 33.80 ⇓ 0.29% | 33.79 | 36.00 / 32.00 SINOBANGLA | 1.75 | 21.01 | Vol. 76000 D: 18.50 ⇓ 2.12% | 18.59 | 19.00 / 18.40 C: 18.50 ⇓ 2.12% | 18.50 | 18.50 / 18.50 BOND IBBLPBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 200 D: 945.0 ⇑ 0.21% | 945.00 | 960.0 / 940.0 ACIZCBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 70 D: 840.0 ⇑ 0.00% | 833.33 | 842.0 / 830.0 C: 817.0 ⇑ 7.50% | 817.00 | 817.0 / 817.0 BRACSCBOND | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 75 D: 1061 ⇓ 0.84% | 1067 | 1070 / 1050

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

sunday, August 18, 2013

India PM rules out chance of return to 1991 crisis n Reuters, Mumbai

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivers a speech at a hotel in Tokyo

EU wants one definition of bad loans for bank tests

n Reuters, London

Banks across the European Union will be asked to use a single definition for bad loans in the upcoming review of their loan books, a senior EU regulatory source told Reuters, making it harder for banks to conceal the state of their businesses behind local conventions.

The European Central Bank (ECB) hopes to begin work on an asset quality review of major banks in the seventeen euro zone countries later this year.

The review will take a detailed look at whether they’ve set aside enough cash to deal with debts unlikely to be repaid, so the ECB can stand over the state of the banks’ before it becomes their official supervisor in late 2014.

National supervisors elsewhere in the EU will conduct a similar review for the non-euro zone countries. Both reviews, which will be co-ordinated by pan-EU regulator the European Banking Authority, will focus on ‘problem categories’ of loans in individual countries, looking at areas like shipping, commercial real estate and mortgages in some markets.

A senior EBA source told Reuters a key feature of the asset quality review will be harmonizing the way banks categorize loans. EU supervisors use a host of different ways to classify troubled or non performing loans, making it difficult to compare across jurisdictions. l

REUTERS

There is “no question” of India going back to an economic crisis experienced in 1991, as its rupee currency is now linked to the market and foreign exchange reserves are adequate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday.

Asia’s third largest economy is growing at its slowest pace in a decade, while the rupee, the region’s worst performer this year, is at an all-time low, and the central bank has enough cash to pay for seven months of imports.

“There is no question of going back to 1991,” Singh said in a Press Trust of India report published by the Economic Times newspaper on its website, making reference to a balance of payments crisis the country suffered that year.

“At that time foreign exchange in India was a fixed rate. Now it is linked to market.

We only correct the volatility of the rupee.”

In 1991, with just enough reserves to cover three weeks of imports, India was forced to pledge its gold in order to pay its bills and had to push through reforms to start opening up the economy.

Singh was finance minister at the time and

is widely regarded as the man who saved the economy. The news agency report said Singh acknowledged India’s ballooning current account deficit, which he blamed on large imports of gold as a contributing factor.

“We seem to be investing a lot in unproductive assets,” Singh said.

India is trying to curb its citizens’ apparently insatiable demand for gold, through measures such as hiking import duties, banning the import of coins and medallions and making domestic buyers pay cash.

The government wants to hold bullion imports this year to “well below” last year’s figure of 845 metric tons.

Imports by the world’s biggest bullion buyer hit a record 162 metric tons in May as global prices fell, prompting a duty increase to 8%. Though they then fell to about 31 metric tons in June, imports revived to 47.6 metric tons in July.

India’s current account deficit stands at a record high of 4.8% of gross domestic product, while economic growth has slowed to 5%.

Concerns that policymakers were losing control over the currency spread this week to the stock market. NSEI, which dropped 4% on Friday for its biggest one-day decline in nearly two years. l

China moves further towards milk powder sector consolidation n Reuters, Shanghai The Chinese government is set to issue a formal proposal to prompt consolidation among domestic infant formula firms, a state-run newspaper said on Friday, naming Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group as one of the likely beneficiaries.

The proposal is part of the government’s drive to slash the number of domestic infant formula manufacturers over the next five years to 50 from about 200 now, the China Securities Journal said, citing an unnamed source.

By 2018, China expects the top 10 local companies to account for 80% of the domestic market, with the largest three-to-five firms targeting annual sales of over five billion yuan ($818m), the report said.

The newspaper said Feihe International and Wondersun Dairy were also likely to gain from the consolidation plan, but gave no further details. Analysts said the consolidation drive is part of a broader plan to boost consumption of local product and allay fears about food safety following a 2008 scandal, when formula tainted with melamine killed at least six infants and made thousands ill.

Last week, the country’s price regulator also handed down record fines to foreign milk powder makers, including Mead Johnson, Danone and New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, for anti-trust behavior.

“The government sees a lot of room for

An Abbott Laboratories sales staff carries a carton of powder milk tins out of a shop during a production recall outside Hanoi REUTERS consolidation and the real motive here is to improve the overall standards of infant milk formula products,” said Sandy Chen, a Shanghai-based senior analyst for food and agribusiness at Rabobank. Consumers in China are highly sensitive to food safety after persistent problems such as chemical-laced pork.

China’s infant formula market is worth around $12.4bn in 2012, and is set to double

in size by 2017, according to data from Euromonitor.

In 2012, the ten biggest Chinese infant formula firms by market share were Zhejiang Beingmate, Yili, Biostime International Holdings, Yashili, Daqing Dairy, Feihe International, Wissun Group, Wondersun Dairy, Synutra International and Ausnutria Dairy, the data showed. l