September 23, 2013

Business

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Revenue crosses Tk11bn target

Ashwin 8, 1420 Zilkad 16, 1434 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 182

Long Form

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Making Dhaka livable

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

PM to assure Ban Ki-moon of ‘fair’ polls

Sport

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TREE HOUSE

She will also assure of cancelling election results if the polls are questioned Pratim Bhattacharjee and Bangladesh’s permanent representan Partha tive to the UN, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will assure UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon of cancelling the election results if any question is raised about the election procedure at home and abroad.

She will also give the UN chief the assurance of holding the next general elections in Bangladesh in a free, fair and credible manner under the present constitutional arrangement when she meets him at the ongoing UN General Assembly, leaders of the ruling Awami League told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Hasina left the country last night on an eight-day official visit to attend the 68th session of the assembly which had started on September 17 in New York, USA. She is scheduled to deliver her speech at the UNGA on September 27.

The PM will meet Ban Ki-moon on September 28, AK Abdul Momen,

The Prime Minister’s Office had earlier decided on the meeting with the UN chief in response to his phone call to Hasina on August 23 to discuss Bangladesh’s existing political situation and the next parliamentary elections.

The UN chief at that time also phoned Leader of the Opposition and BNP chief Khaleda Zia. Momen said political issues were likely to be discussed in Hasina’s meeting with Ban Ki-moon.

“The UN always supports free, fair, credible and inclusive election and the secretary-general will ask the prime minister if the global body can provide any help in holding such polls,” he said.

Asked if the UN would play the role of a mediator between the Awami League and BNP, he told the Dhaka Tribune: “The UN will only do that when it will be asked by the government.”  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Mosharraf, 50, from Faridpur, who works at Karwan Bazar wholesale fish market, has been living in a tree-house in front of the BGMEA building for the past six months. The photo was taken on Saturday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

WAR CRIMES TRIAL

KAMARUZZAMAN APPEAL CASE

Abdul Alim’s verdict any day n Muktasree Chakma Sathi On completion of placing closing arguments both by the prosecution and the defence sides, the war crimes tribunal yesterday kept the case against former BNP minister from Joypurhat Abdul Alim pending for verdict.

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 also cancelled Alim’s bail that was granted by the tribunal 1. It also asked the prison authorities to consider the octogenarian’s health conditions.

Following the order, Alim was sent to jail around 3pm.

With this, two cases – against Alim and BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury – are awaiting verdict.

So far, the two tribunals have handed down verdicts in six cases. Two war crimes accused and Abdul Alim is waiting for facing their verdict, now.

Alim was indicted on June 11 last year on 17 counts of crimes against humanity. The tribunal framed the charges on three counts of genocide and 14 counts of crimes against humanity. The

INSIDE News

6 The construction work of the longawaited Dhaka Elevated Expressway is unlikely to commence during the tenure of the present government as much of the groundwork of the project has not yet been done.

Nation

7 Students and teachers of polytechnic institutes in Chittagong and Kishoreganj under the banner of Bangladesh Diploma Engineering Peshajibi ChhatraShikkhak Sangram Parishad staged demonstrations to press home their two point demand as a part of their countrywide programme yesterday.

International

9 A twin suicide bombing killed more than 70 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan on Sunday in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the country.

Op-Ed

11 Towheed Feroze: The lobby of the hotel wears a totally different look after eight at night. People, who possibly won’t be able to spell the word “concierge,” smartly walk past liveried men who salute in earnest.

prosecution, however, had pressed 28 counts charges against him.

The prosecution says Alim was a leader of razakar, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army, and also chairman of Peace Committee in Joypurhat. According to the defence,

he was elected Joypurhat municipality chairman in 1975 and 1977. Alim was elected as the Member of Parliament from Panchbibi constituency in 1979, 1996 and 2001.

Later, Alim first became the textile minister and later communications minister during the regime of military strongman and BNP founder General Ziaur Rahman in 1978.

According to the charges, Alim had been involved in the killing of 370 Hindus in Koroi Kadipur in Joypurhat on April 26, 1971. He was also involved in killing 10 Hindus at Uttarhat Shahor in Harunjahat under Khetlal police station in May and killing 26 young men at an open field near Joypurhat Railway Station in end-June.

Alim was granted bail on March 31, 2011 on humanitarian and medical grounds considering his age and oldage complications. Since then, Alim who is above 80 had been enjoying the bail until yesterday. He was the first war crimes accused who was granted bail.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Concise statement sought by Sept 29 n Nazmus Sakib

The Appellate Division yesterday gave the counsels of death-row convict Muhammad Kamaruzzaman seven more days to file concise statement of the appeal.

The five-member apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain passed the order following the defence’s application that sought two weeks time for lodging the summary documents that include facts and the arguments relied upon.

According to the Appellate Division Rules, 1988, the appellant party cannot start their appeal hearing until they file the concise statement.

Shishir Manir, one of the defence counsels, said they could not prepare the document since the Supreme Court went to a long 45-day vacation.

Prosecutor Tureen Afroz, one of the key government-side counsels, alleged that the defence wanted to delay the case through many mechanisms.

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 on May 9 gave the death sentence to  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

IDENTITIES OF RANA PLAZA VICTIMS

EC to ask political parties for updated information n Mohammad Zakaria The Election Commission has decided to send letters to 38 registered political parties excepting Jamaat-e-Islami asking them to provide it with updated information ahead of the parliamentary elections.

The EC will send the letters today.

The parties have to reply to the letters by 15 days, officials confirmed.

They also said the commission decided not to send letters to Jamaat-e-Islami as the High Court on August 1 in response to a petition declared its registration with the EC illegal.

The commission would ask the political parties to inform it about their latest elected central committee, organisation structure, office and regular councils as none of them submitted the updated information.

Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz said: “I did not know about sending letters to the political parties. The EC secretary is looking into the matter.”

When asked about Jamaat, the commissioner said the court declared a verdict on the matter. “It would be better not to talk about it.”

The commission earlier said it would act upon getting the full verdict of the High Court regarding Jamaat’s regis-

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CEC MAY MEET PARTIES

tration. It has already barred Jamaat, a component of the 18-party alliance, from contesting in Barguna by-polls.

The commission in the letters asked a number of parties about how they run organisational activities without holding councils, said an official.

The EC made registration mandatory for political parties to participate in general election from ninth parliamentary elections.

Out of 117 political parties in the country 38 obtained registration in 2008. The EC has given registration to Bangladesh Muslim League as per the High Court order. l

BUS RAPID TRANSIT

DNA test results expected in 3 weeks Korean firm gets job of n engineering design Moniruzzaman Uzzal

The relatives of those who went missing after the Savar Rana Plaza tragedy have been waiting for nearly six months to know what has actually happened to their loved ones.

Out of the 1,115 bodies pulled from under the rubble of the collapse, 234 that could not be immediately unidentified mainly because they had decomposed beyond recognition, were buried to the Jurain Graveyard in the capital.

The authorities, before burying the bodies, kept DNA samples from each of the bodies so that they could be later identified; but did not have the necessary apparatus to do the tests.

Apart from these 234, the rescuers could not find any trace of 87 other people who were reportedly inside the building when it collapsed.

Finally, the ill-fated relatives can now see a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel as the National DNA Laboratory of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital sets up the software needed for doing the DNA tests.

Experts from the Federal Bureau

of Investigation (FBI) of the USA on Sunday finished setting up a software called the Combined DNA Index System (Codis) in the DMCH DNA Laboratory.

The Codis will be used to match the DNA profiles of those who had been buried at the Jurain Graveyard with the

Experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the USA on Sunday finished setting up a software called the Combined DNA Index System (Codis) in the DMCH DNA Laboratory samples collected from the relatives of those when have been missing.

The FBI has supplied the advanced computer programme completely free of cost, which would have otherwise cost Bangladesh government more than Tk10m.

The team of FBI experts finished installing the software yesterday morning and subsequently started a fourday technical training programme for the 12 scientific officers who work at the DNA laboratory.

The laboratory is expected to start the process of matching a total of 321 DNA profiles on Thursday following a visit by US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena.

“Hopefully, we will be able to know the results of the DNA profile matching in two to three weeks,” said Dr Sharif Akteruzzaman, chief of the DMCH laboratory.

Some 550 people, who said their relatives had been missing since the tragedy, have so far provided DNA samples.

At present only 68 laboratories in 34 countries use the advanced Codis software. After Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, Bangladesh is the fourth country to whom the FBI has given the software free of cost.

Generally, preparing a DNA profile from blood samples takes about seven to eight days. The process takes a little bit longer if the profile is to be made from bone samples.

The nine-storied Rana Plaza, that housed five garment factories, came down on April 24 with thousands trapped inside. l

n Asif Showkat Kallol The government appointed a Korean consultancy firm to prepare a detail engineering design for the third Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme to speed up traffic movement on the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Jhilmil Residential Area route.

Official sources said the BRT scheme was a part of the World Bank funded Clean Air and Sustainable Environment project.

The environment and forests ministry yesterday proposed to appoint a consultant for detail engineering design for the third BRT scheme at a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who chaired the meeting, told reporters yesterday.

Earlier, Environment and Forests Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud told the Dhaka Tribune that after completion of the project local and special buses would run into the selected route. As a

result the communication of common people would be easier, he added.

He also said a foreign consultant had already been selected to prepare a detail engineering design of the BRT scheme.

As per the proposal, the selection committee has selected the Korean firm to prepare the detail engineering design of the route under the Uttara-Mohakhali-Raman-Sadarghat Corridor in Dhaka of the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project.

Official sources said the cost of the appointment of consultant would be Tk186.5m, adding that Korean consultant firm SUNJIN Engineering & Architecture Company Limited was selected from six consultant firms of different countries.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council in 2009 approved the CASE project for Dhaka along with three other major projects worth Tk7.88bn. Dhaka City Corporation and Dhaka Transport Coordination Board will jointly implement the project. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, September 23, 2013

PADMA BRIDGE APPROACH ROADS

Government appoints army and Buet to supervise construction n Asif ShowkatKallol

The government has appointed the army and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) for supervising the construction and security of the Janjira and Mawa approach roads of the proposed Padma bridge.

“We have approved the Bangladesh Bridge Authority’s proposal for appointing the army and Buetto supervise the construction and security of the approach roads of the proposed Padma bridge at the cabinet committee on public purchase,”Finance Minister AMA Muhith told journalists yesterday after a meeting of the committee.

He said the government wouldalso appoint three foreign consultants for the construction of thebridge, whichwould start in January next year.

As per the Bridge Authority’s proposal, the Bureau of Research, Testing and Consultancy of Buet will supervise, alongside the army, the construction of the Janjira and Mawa approach

roads to the Padma bridge.

Bridges Division Secretary KhandokerAnwarul Islamearlier said they had decided to involve the Buet wing in the supervision work as the army did not have the full capacity of carrying out different supervision work, including checking the design of the approach roads.

Officials concerned said there had also been a directive from the prime minister on giving the “priority” project to Bangladesh Army and Buet jointly.

The cost of the approach road work has been estimated at Tk728.3m while the total cost of the project, including appointment of the army and Buet, will stand at Tk1.335bn, according to the proposal.

The communication ministry floated international tender for the construction of the main Padma bridge on June 26 and the last date for its submission expired one week ago. Three firms have so far submitted proposals.

However, the deadline for submitting tender proposals has been extended by eight weeks ending November 3. l

Polytechnic students block Sat Rasta intersection in the capital yesterday protesting a government notice that changed the definition of ‘engineer.’ Story on page 16

No Bangladeshi hurt in Govt to buy onion from Myanmar Nairobi attack n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

n Tribune Report No Bangladeshi national in Nairobi was hurt in the Saturday’s terrorist attack on an upscale shopping mall in Kenya’s capital.

Shameem Ahsan, director general of the foreign ministry, by sending a text message on a phone said: “Our high commission in Nairobi informs that no Bangladeshi national has been affected by the recent terrorist attack at the

Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi.”

About 150 Bangladeshis are now living in Kenya, he added.

Kenya government suspecting that Al Qaeda-linked Somali al-Shabab movement’s activists made the deadly attack.

International media reports, at least 59 died, including children and several foreigners, while 175 people have been injured in the attack. Some civilians are still trapped, either as hostages or in hiding in the building of the mall. l

The government has decided to import 5,000 tonnes of onion from Myanmar to prepare for the growing country-wide demand ahead of the Eid-ul Azha.

The decision was made in a meeting between a delegation of the commerce ministry and importers in Teknaf, on Sunday.

Preparations are on to hold the eighth joint business meeting with Myanmar next month regarding the

import, after which an agreement will be reached.

The purchase will be made through Trading Corporation of Bangladesh to

The decision was made in a meeting to keep onion prices ‘stable’ ahead of Eid-ul Azha keep price of onions “stable.”

Meanwhile, businessmen said 500 metric tonnes of onion was already en route to Teknaf port.

Cox’s Bazar Additional Deputy

Commissioner Syed Nurul Bashir said Bangladesh was amidst efforts to improve border trade with Myanmar.

Among those present in the meeting were: Additional Commerce Secretary Amitava Chakraborty, TCB Chairman Brig Gen Sarwar Jahan and the Cox’s Bazar ADC. The price of onions was Tk40 per kg two months ago.

The price shot up during Eid-ul Fitr during the holidays and now floats in the range of TK78-80 per kg in the local market. l

No bribe, no VAT paper in Tejgaon divisional office

SC seeks extra security for justices n Tazlina Zamila Khan disposing war The VAT payers are facing harassment at the hands of lower divisional assiscrimes appeals tants in the office of VAT, Customs and Excise at Tejgaon in the capital while n Kailash Sarkar applying for Value-Added Tax registraThe Supreme Court authorities have asked for intensified security for the chief justice and four other justices of the Appellate Division as they have started dealing with the appeals of war criminals.

SC Registrar ATM Shamsul Islam in a letter to the home ministry on September 16 asked the home secretary for taking immediate measures in this regard.

The next day, the Appellate Division in its first verdict sentenced Abdul Quader Molla, assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, to death after both the government and the accused had appealed against the verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal.

Usually security forces escort all justices with gunmen on their ways to offices and homes while the residence of the chief justice is also guarded by forces.

“The existing security measures and security forces were adequate for any normal time. But additional security for the justices concerned have been sought, considering the existing situation – as the Appellate Division has started the process of appeal disposal of war criminals,” said the SC registrar.

In reply to a question, he told the Dhaka Tribune last night: “Not only uniformed forces, we have also sought deployment of plainclothes and wellequipped security personnel.”

He, however, said he did not yet know about any follow-up on his letter.

Headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain, a five-member bench is dealing with the war criminals’ appeals.l

‘Raise reserved seats in JS’ n Md Atiqur Rahman Women activists yesterday urged the government to increase the number of women’s reserved parliamentary seats to 33% to involve more female candidates in the upcoming national election.

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad at a press conference at Jatiya Press Club said the Awami League government in its election manifesto promised that they would increase the seats.

Ayesha Khanam, president of the rights body, said the demand had been unheard because of lack of will of the political leaders. l

tion.

Allegations had it that the low-level staff members were forcing the VAT applicants to part with moneyto getthe VAT registration papers from the head office in the city’s Kakrail area.

Seeking anonymity, a VAT payer said he went to the Tejgaon office for registration, but the lower divisional assistant (LDA) brazenly asked him to spare some money to get the paper early.

The LDA also made an excuse that it would cost him some money to send papers to the head office, and ultimately demanded Tk1,500 from him, added the victim.

“I had no way but to succumb to him

and part with the amount of money demanded,” said the businessman.

Following the exchange, the lower-staff member asked the VAT applicant to approach the office three days later to get the registration paper.

Requesting anonymity, a businessman hopeful narrated that he was also victim of harassment at the hands of the blue collar guys.

“I was hoping to start a business on my own, and so, brought all necessary papers including Tax Identification Number, National ID Card and Trade Licence to Tejgaon office, but still they were asking me to give them some money,” he said.

Asked why they were forcing the VAT payers to give them bribe, the LDAs answered in a threatening tone that if youdid not spare some money your file would not be processed, said the businessman.

Disappointed, the victim had to accede to their demand, but to no avail.

“Igave themmoney to getmy registration paper after a week, but am yet to receive that,” he said.

The victim told the Dhaka Tribune that hewent here twice and wasfed up with the corruption endemic in the office.

Even after giving bribe to the office staff, good services could not be expected, he added.

“We are helpless. We do not belong to any political party, and so,hardly get any privilege. We have to give the corrupt officials bribe to get the VAT registration paper,” the man said with utter frustration. Another victim Shakib (not real name) said LDAs did not want to talk without bribe.

Most people fear that if they made any complaint against the corruption they won’t get their VAT registration paper and so, they remained silent about the matter.

The VAT payers demanded the registration be made digitised as soon as

possible like TIN registration, a system that would stop the widespread corruption like the forced realisation of money from the citizens.

Asked about it, an LDA Mohammad AbdurRakib refused the allegation.

He said: “We usually deliver papers within 24 hours, but if the authorities find any problem with the documents submitted by the VAT payers it takes two working days.”

Moreover, Divisional Officer ShamimaZesmin said: “I took the office only one and a half months ago. I strictly told everyone that no graft will be tolerated here.”

She added that she would resort to strict actions if the allegations were proved.

Anyone charged with taking bribe would be suspended, added the officer.

Humayun Kabir, assistant regulatory officer, also denied the allegations against them.

He told the Dhaka Tribune “No bribery is used here.” l

Destiny’s Shirin gets bail n Tribune Report The High Court yesterday granted bail to Shirin Akter, an executive member of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society, in an ACC case.

The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Akram Hossain Chowdhury gave her two months’ ad-interim bail in a graft case. ACC Counsel Khurshid Alam Khan said they would challenge the bail order at the Chamber Judge Court of the Appellate Division. l

MoPA changes offices of three secretaries n Mohosinul Karim

The public administration ministry yesterday shuffled the offices of three secretaries and top civil bureaucrats.

Of them, Nurul Haq, a secretary who was serving as the chairman for the Board of Land Reform, has been made officer on special duty (OSD) of the public administration ministry.

Mahfuzur Rahman, secretary of Parliament Secretariat, will replace Nurul Haq. Ashraful Maqbul, senior secretary of jute and textile ministry, has been transferred as the senior secretary of Parliament Secretariat.

Meanwhile, offices of eight joint secretaries were changed with three made OSD and the five other OSD joint secretaries got new offices. l

HC to hear on political dialogue from Sep 26

Concise statement sought Abdul Alim’s verdict any day

n

The case has been kept in CAV (Curia Advisari Vult, a Latin term used in law to indicate that a court has decided to consider a case privately before giving judgment).

Yesterday, the tribunal of Justice Obaidul Hasan, Justice Mojibur Rahman Miah and Justice Shahinur Islam kept the case in CAV just after prosecutor Tureen Afroz and Rana Dashgupta ended placing their arguments on legal points.

Tureen said the defence’s arguments claiming that Alim had been a public representative and had not married after his wife died “does not necessarily mean he cannot be involved with crimes against humanity in 1971.”

On defence’s points that Alim had been hiding during the 1971 Liberation War, the prosecutor questioned how did people used to visit him, meet him.

Pointing out the killings that took place in Koroi Kadipur and the killing of Sattar Pagla in Panchbibi Haat, Tureen said: “Killing someone particularly who definitely cannot be considered ‘as a threat,’ is a severe offence among the crimes against humanity.”

Prosecutor Rana said the tribunal was trying “youth Alim who was involved in crimes against humanity,” not the octogenarian Alim.

“We believe we have proved all the allegations brought against him beyond reasonable doubt. We plead for his death penalty,” he added. l

Nazmus Sakib

The High Court yesterday set September 26 for the hearing on a rule that was issued on holding talks between the heads of the country’s two main political parties: ruling Awami League and main opposition BNP. The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed fixed the date following a plea of Eunus Ali Akond, the writ petitioner.

On March 27, Justice Nizamul Huq led bench issued the rule after hearing the writ. The rule asked why AL President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia should not be instructed to hold a political dialogue for conducting

free and fair general polls.

It also asked why the home secretary would not be instructed to cease atrocities like damaging of vehicles, arson and bomb explosions in disguise of exercising democratic rights and political activity.

Asked, Supreme Court lawyer Akond told the Dhaka Tribune that though the writ encompassed a political issue, the HC could pass any direction on it as the writ was filed to enforce fundamental rights of the people.

The petition sought the HC’s interference so that the premier and the opposition chief held dialogue to find out a wayout of the political conflict and ensure a fair and peaceful national election. l

Train rams bus at Mohakhali, two critically injured n Kailash Sarkar

A train rammed a bus last night at Mohakhali level crossing in the capital, leaving the bus driver and his helper critically injured.

The injured were admitted to Ayesha Memorial Hospital in critical conditions.

The driver is Liakat Ali while identity of the helper was unknown till filing of this report at 1:30am.

The accident occurred around 11:45pm. Police and witnesses said the bus became stationery on the rail tracks

after its engine stopped working.

“When a Dhaka-bound train from Sylhet was seen, all the passengers got down and went to a safer place. But the driver and his helper were injured as they were trying to start the engine,” said Nasim Uddin, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Banani police station.

He said the train sped away toward the Kamalapur Railway Station, leaving the Bengal Paribahan bus – which was headed to the Dhaka Zoo from Gazipur – badly damaged. The accident triggered traffic jam in the area. l

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

the Jamaat-e-Islami senior assistant secretary general. On June 6, the convict appealed against the verdict.

The tribunal said five out of the seven charges pressed against Kamaruzzaman were proven beyond doubt. He received death penalties in two cases

– filed for killing 164 unarmed civilians and freedom fighter Golam Mostafa Talukder in Sherpur. Leader of Jamaat’s then student body Islami Chhatra Sangha in 1971, Kamaruzzaman had formed al-Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army, in Mymensingh and Sherpur with the Chhatra Sangha men. l

PM to assure Ban Ki-moon  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

He, however, said the UN would not impose any decision on Bangladesh.

About holding a meeting with the opposition leaders, he said: “I have prepared the schedule of the prime minister and so far I know there is no such scope…The dialogue should be held in Dhaka.”

The prime minister will also attend a number of high-level events and bilateral talks on the sidelines of the UNGA. She is expected to have meetings with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on September 28.

UNB adds: On September 24, the prime minister will attend a welcome reception hosted by Ban Ki-moon andlater a high-level event on “Tackling the unfinished business: Accelerating MDG progress.”

Foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and China will also call on the prime minister at the UN headquarters.

On September 25, the prime minister will attend a special event of the president of the assembly to follow up on efforts made towards achieving the MDGs.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Hasina will sign the “Arms trade treatyand protocol on explosive remnants of war of convention on certain chemical weapons” at the UN headquarters the next day. She will also attend a high-level plenary session on nuclear disarmament.

On September 27, Hasina will deliver her statement andlater hold a press conference at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission in New York.

On September 28, the PM will hold a meeting with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. In the afternoon, she will have a meeting with Ban Ki-moon.

Sheikh Hasina will celebrate her 66th birthday at a programme with the Bangladeshi community in New York.

Hasina was born on September 28, 1947.

On September 29, she will leave New York for home and is expected to reach Dhaka at 5:40pm on September 30.

Awami League Advisory Council members Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon, Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin and PM’s Press Secretary AbulKalam Azad are among the prime minister’s entourage. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, September 23, 2013

3

EC to launch campaign for postal ballots n Mohammad Zakaria The Election Commission is going to launch a campaign for casting votes through postal ballots for Bangladeshi expatriates, prisoners, on-duty election officials, members of law-enforcing agencies and media personnel in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

About 2.2 million voters in the country, as well as around 3 million Bangladeshi expatriate voters, could not vote in the last general elections as most of them did not know about the provision of casting votes using postal ballots, as per Article 27 of the Representation of the People Order, EC officials told the Dhaka Tribune.

Election Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz said Bangladeshi expatriates who are registered voters in the country, personnel of law-enforcing agencies, on-duty election officials and prisoners could cast their votes using postal ballot papers.

Abu Hafiz said the commission had no immediate plans to introduce other methods of casting votes, such as online “e-voting”.

Hafiz also said eligible voters who were yet to get their names on the voters’ list, could still enlist at district election offices before the poll schedule is announced.

Meanwhile, many election officials and members of law-enforcing agencies have already submitted letters to the Election Commission with queries about casting votes during the elections, EC sources said.

EC officials said around 3 million Bangladeshi expatriate voters, 1 million members of law enforcing agencies, 800,000 election officials, 200,000 prisoners and 20,000 media personnel could not exercise their voting rights in the December 2008 polls. And many were also apprehensive about disclosing their voting choices through the post.

Thus, the commission has decided to make citizens aware about voting through postal ballots when it starts training of election officials, and during election campaigning, they added.

However, voters wishing to use postal ballots would have to apply to the returning officers in their own constituencies 15 days before the polls. l

A severe traffic gridlock slows vehicles down at the capital’s Banglamotor area yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Closing arguments in Mueen-Ashraf Grameen to come case begins today under central bank n Muktasree Chakma Sathi

The war crimes tribunal yesterday asked the prosecution to start placing their closing arguments today in the case against alleged al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan.

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 set the date after state appointed defence counsel Salma Hye Tuni and Abdus Shukur Khan submitted that they had not found any witnesses in favour of their clients who are fugitive till date.

So far, the prosecution placed 25 witnesses against the duo. The tribunal appointed the defence lawyers on May 27.

The tribunal of Justice Obaidul Hasan, Justice Mojibur Rahman Miah and Justice Shahinur Islam also asked the defence to be prepared on September 26 for placing closing arguments.

Earlier, defence counsel Salma cross examined Ataur Rahman, the 25th prosecution witness and also investigation officer in the case against Mueen.

According to the prosecution, Mueen and Ashraf had been active leaders of the al-Badr, formed in 1971 with the activists of Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing if Jamaat-e-Islami.

The militia force assisted the Pakistani occupation army in killing the leading intellectuals of the country.

Now residing in London and New York, Mueen and Ashraf were indicted jointly on 11 counts of crimes against humanity that includes killings of 18 intellectuals including Shahidullah Kaiser and Selina Parvin between December 11 and December 15, 1971.

On May 11, the tribunal ordered a public announcement in the newspapers, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Act, asking the war

crimes suspects to appear before the tribunal within 10 days of the publication. Following the order, notices were published in the national dailies on May 12, asking the duo to appear in the court.

The rules of procedure of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 provides for trial in absentia, if the accused fail to appear before the tribunal within the designated time frame.

On April 25, the prosecution submitted formal charges against them. The prosecution brought 16 charges against the two under section 3(2) of the Act, which deals with crimes against humanity and peace, genocide, killing members of the group and rape.

Meanwhile, at the tribunal 1, defence counsel Mizanul Islam cross examined 23rd prosecution witness Syed Salma Mahmud alias Salma Huq in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami. l

n Tribune Report Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the Grameen Bank would come under the jurisdiction of the central bank.

“The Grameen Bank will be brought under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh Bank for the first time since its formation in 1983.

“The distribution of shares will remain the same: the government will hold 25% of its shares and three posts of director while other shareholders will own the rest 75%,” Muhith told reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on public procurement.

Muhith once again blasted Muhammad Yunus, claiming that the Nobel laureate had kept the appointment of Grameen Bank’s managing director blocked for the past one year

Another victim of Jamaat’s ‘atrocities’ dies n Ashif Islam Shaon

Shamsur Rahman Samsu, one of the victims who were burnt during Jamaat-e-Islami’s 48-hour countrywide general strike, succumbed to his burn injuries at the intensive care unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday.

DMCH Burn Unit Director Samantalal Sen said Samsu died around 3pm.

Truck driver Samsu, 55, was going to Panchagarh from Shirajganj with a truck loaded with fertiliser. When he stopped for a break near the Bogra-Shahjahanpur road on Wednesday night, a group of hartal (general strike) activists at-

12 Shibir men put on remand n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday placed 12 Islami Chhatra Shibir activists on a six-day remand, in a case filed under the explosives act in the capital on September 21.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Tarique Mainul Islam Bhuyan passed the order after Sub-Inspector Md Didarul Islam of Shajahanpur police station produced the twelve accused before the court, seeking 10-day remands for each suspect.

The magistrate also rejected a bail petition filed by the defense lawyer.

In the remand prayer, the investigation officer said quizzing the accused was necessary to seek out the other accused in the case and for identifying the source of the explosive materials.

Among the remanded, Nizamul Haque and Md Munim Khan, were former secretaries of Islami Chattara Shibir.

On September 21, law enforcers held 12 Shibir activists with 10 cocktails from a house in the capital’s Mouchak area. Shajahanpur police station filed a case against the accused on the same day. l

tacked the truck and set it ablaze.

His helper, Shahin, managed to get away from the burning truck. However, Samsu, who tried to douse the flames, was overcome by the flames.

Samsu was one of the three severely-injured drivers who were admitted to the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of DMCH on Thursday, the last day of 48hour hartal enforced by Jamaat-e-Islami to protest the death penalty of its leader Quader Mollah for war crimes.

He had 95% of his body burnt.

His two wives, Golap Banu and Sabina Begum, were waiting outside the ICU door, worried about how they and their seven children would manage to

survive if anything happened to Samsu.

Iqbal Ahmed, a doctor at the burn unit, said they were trying their best to treat the injured patients, who are all in critical conditions.

Another two drivers who were set to fire by the pickets at Gazipur bypass and Chouddogram in Comilla during the hartal, were also in critical condition, fighting for their lives at the burn unit till yesterday, said Doctors at the state-run hospital.

Among them, Mohammad Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan, 35, was driving a passenger bus on the Azimpur-Gazipur route when a group of hartal supporters sud-

denly stopped the bus at the Gazipur bypass and set fire to it with a petrol bomb.

He suffered burns to 65% of his body.

About Nazrul’s condition, Iqbal said: “We call it critical when someone suffers 25% of burn on his body whereas 65% of his [Nazrul] body had been burnt. He might sink anytime.”

Another victim, truck driver Sekendar Bepari, 42, was on his way to Chittagong from Dhaka on Wednesday night to deliver three power generators.

Pro-hartal activists attacked his truck and set it on fire at Chouddogram in Comilla, leaving Bepari badly burnt. l

Kaiser faces 16 charges of war crimes n Udisa Islam

The investigation agency of the war crimes tribunal has brought 16 charges of crimes against humanity Syed Mohammed Kaiser had committed during the 1971 Liberation War. The probe body charged Kaiser for committing genocide, murder, rape, abduction, confinement, torture, loot,

Md Abdul Hannan Khan, chief coordinator of the investigation agency, claimed that they had found indisputable evidence to prove the 16 charges committed by Kaiser at Shayestaganj, Chunarughat and Madhabpur of Habiganj and Brahmanbaria. The agency named 81 witnesses.

Investigator Monwara Begum began the probe on March 28 last year.

Charges

Quantity

Areas

Abduction, torture, murder

8

Nasirnagar, Chunarughat, Shayestaganj

Loot and arson

5

Masirnagar Madhabpur Bijoynagar, Habiganj sadar

Rape

2

Madhabpur, Chunarughat

Abduction for ransom

1

Nasirnagar

arson attack and extortion.

The findings were unveiled at a press briefing at Dhanmondi safe home in the capital yesterday morning. The agency will submit its report to the prosecution likely today.

On May 16, Kaiser was arrested just a day after the tribunal ordered his arrest. He was admitted to a private hospital in the capital. The tribunal later granted him bail considering his age.

According to probe report, Kaiser had been a Convention Muslim League leader and during the liberation war he was a local Peace Committee leader and razakar commander. He also formed “Kaiser Bahini” to collaborate with the Pakistani occupation army and committed crimes against humanity.

Kaiser had fled to London after the independence and came back after 1975. In 1979, he individually took part

in the national elections and elected as a lawmaker. Then Kaiser joined the BNP. During the regime of military dictator HM Ershad, Kaiser joined Jatiya Party and became state minister for agriculture.

In charges six, Kaiser has been charged for raping an indigenous woman on May 11 or 12th of 1971. Kaiser along with the Pakistani army personnel had gone to Chunarughat area and raped the Santal woman.

Charges one and five state that Kaiser during April 27-30 along with the army men went to Bijoynagar, Madhabpur, Shayestaganj and Habiganj sadar where abduction, confinement, torture and murder took place upon the order of Kaiser.

Charges six, seven and eight mention about the offences took place in May 1971. At that time, at least 17 people had been murdered and seriously tortured

by Kaiser along with Pakistani army.

According to charges 12-16, he had captured freedom fighters from Chunarughat, Madhabpur and Nasirnagar.

In these criminal incidents, Kaiser used his personal force “Kaiser Bahini” to assist the Pakistani army. l

by filing a “false” writ petition against it.

The minister said one of Grameen Bank directors had also filed a writ petition against the bank’s committee for selecting the MD. The appointment was later stayed by the High Court.

Muhith said the appointment would be made once the government gets the HC’s stay order vacated.

“The Grameen Bank Commission is expected to submit its report on September 30,” said minister.

The Bangladesh Bank removed Grameen Bank’s founding managing director Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in 2011 on the ground that he had crossed the permissible age for the post of the bank’s chief.

The position has since remained vacant. l

EC to sit with political parties if required: CEC n Mohammad Zakaria Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday said the Election Commission would take decision whether to sit with political parties considering the overall situation.

He said to prepare the electoral code of conduct the EC would follow other democratic countries where elections were held without dissolving parliament.

“We will prepare the electoral code of conduct before announcing the polls schedule, ensuring level playing field for all parties and candidates,” the CEC told reporters after a meeting on Barguna 2 by-election at the EC Secretariat.

The commission would deploy 22 law enforcers at each general centre of Barguna 2 and 27 at each risky centre for the by-polls, the CEC said. The EC would also deploy members of Coast Guard, he said, hoping that the election would be free and fair. l

BCL-Shibir gun fight leaves 3 wounded at RU n RU Correspondent At least three people – two Islami Chhatra Shibir activists and a general student – received bullet injuries yesterday, as the police and Bangladesh Chhatra League activists chased some Shibir activists on the Rajshahi University campus.

The injured were identified as Abu Sufian and Imran Hossain, second year students of statistics department and presidents of Shibir Motihar Hall unit and Science Faculty unit respectively, while the other injured were Firoz Hossain, fourth year student of language department of the university.

Abu Sufian was admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and Imran was admitted to Rajshahi Islami Bank Medical College Hospital, while Firoz took treatment at the University Medical Centre, RU Proctor Tariqul Hasan said.

Witnesses said the incident ensued around 12pm when some Shibir activists tried to flee after some BCL activists wanted to know the identity of their group as they were passing them near the BCL party tent on the campus.

Eventually, the BCL activists ran after them and fired about 5-7 gun shots and the police also fired around five gun shots, they added.

Later, the BCL activists led by its unit

President Mizanur Rahman Rana and a group of police led by Officer-in-Charge Afzal Hossain rushed to the Shahidullah Arts building, suspecting that the Shibir activists hid there.

The police and BCL men fired about 15-20 gun shots at the building randomly, leaving the three students injured, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, BCL Organising Secretary of the university Faisal Ahmed Runu was seen shooting at the students in front of the law enforcers, creating a mixed reaction among the general students and teachers of the campus.

The university BCL president told reporters that they chased the Shibir activists as they made offensive remarks and trying to make the situation unstable.

When contacted, Shibir RU unit General Secretary Saifuddin Eyahia told the Dhaka Tribune that the BCL activists in association with the police attacked their activists while they were moving on the campus peacefully.

RU Proctor Prof Tarikul Hasan said the campus situation was under control.

Motihar police station OC Abdus Sobhan told the Dhaka Tribune that additional police were deployed on the campus to avert untoward situation, adding that few shots were fired to take the situation under control. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, September 23, 2013

84 Malaysia-bound migrants to fly today n Rabiul Islam A total of 84 workers are scheduled to fly to Malaysia today for joining work in the country’s plantation sector, said Md Ziaul Huq, a director of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).

The workers, who each needed a migration cost of around Tk30,000, will work in Malaysia under a governmentto-government arrangement. They are set to leave the country on a Malaysian Airlines flight tomorrow at 12:40pm.

Officials at the BMET said a total of 88 visas were granted for the workers, but four workers refused to go.

An official, wishing to remain anonymous, said the concerned deputy commissioners tried to convince the workers who refused, but the workers said they were engaged in other jobs.

“It is embarrassing for us if the selected workers refused to go as the employers in Malaysia feel annoyed,” the official said.

Earlier, a total of 360 workers migrated to Malaysia to work under the government-to-government arrangement. l

Diploma engineers facing discrimination in government jobs n Mushfique Wadud Diploma engineers of the country are facing discrimination in government jobs in terms of salary and job status.

Alongside lower pay, they are considered inferior to the BSc engineers, according to a government circular.

“We are facing discrimination in every sector in terms of salary and job status. If this continues, students will lose interest in vocational education,” said Shamsur Rahman, secretary general of the Institute of Diploma Engineers.

He said the Housing and Public Works Department had issued a circular in 2008 terming diploma engineers supervisors, not engineers. The housing and public works ministry also mentioned diploma engineers as supervisors while preparing the building code.

“It takes four years for a student to become a diploma engineer. To call us supervisor even after such intensive course is injustice,” Shamsur said.

The entry level salary of a government diploma engineer is Tk8,000 whereas that of a BSc engineer is Tk11,000.

“Moreover, BSc engineers are promoted twice within four years and enjoy a salary of Tk15,000 while our salary remains at Tk8,000,” said Fazlur Rahman Mallik, convener of Bangladesh Diploma Engineers Professional students-teachers council.

On September 25, students of polytechnic institutes will submit a memorandum to the prime minister and the speaker of parliament. l

WEATHER

Temperature unlikely to change n UNB Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at a few places over Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions until 6pm today.

Moderately heavy falls were also likely at places over the country, Met Office said.

Day and night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country. The sun sets in the capital at 5:54pm today and rises at 5:48am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 36.8 degree Celsius was recorded at Rajshahi and lowest 24.0 degrees at Comilla yesterday.

Highest and lowest temperatures recorded in some major cities yesterday were: City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

34.3 33.0 36.8 35.3 35.5 33.5 36.0 32.5

27.9 27.0 26.2 26.8 26.5 26.6 26.6 26.2

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:32am 5:46am 11:52pm 4:14pm 5:56pm 7:11pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

ACC files cases against 8 people for Tk280m embezzlement n Tribune Report

People hide under the umbrella while crossing the Burigonga River during a spell of rain yesterday

FOCUS BANGLA

ROOPPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Planning Commission seeks to widen funding space The ceiling of MTBF needs to be raised in order for the government to keep its commitment of Tk2.463bn as Russia releases its Tk10bn

n Asif Showkat Kallol The Planning Commission has requested the Finance Division to raise the ceiling of the Medium-Term Budgetary Framework of the science and technology ministry for financing the proposed Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

The commission is likely to arrange the additional Tk2.463bn, needed to raise the MTBF ceiling, from its Tk12bn-fund for “assisting special development necessities,” a finance ministry official has said.

The government is supposed spend the Tk2.463bn during the ongoing fiscal year for inaugurating the construction of the proposed power plant in Pabna district. But reportedly, the MTBF does not have enough money to facilitate that amount.

Rosatom, the state atomic energy corporation of Russia, is supposed to contribute Tk10bn for carrying the construction expenditures of the plant during this fiscal.

During the previous fiscal year (2012-

13), the government spent Tk424m for the project on consultancy purposes.

The MTBF empowers a ministry or a division with extended authority and responsibility so that it can prepare budget estimates based on the government’s policy and objectives, implement the budget efficiently and monitor the performance against targets.

The PC fund for assisting special development necessities features in the the government’s Annual Development Programme.

The finance ministry official also said the Ministry of Science and Technology would not be able to avail the allocation for the second year unless the ceiling of the MTBF was raised.

On September 20, the Planning Commission sent a letter to Finance Secretary Fazle Kabir seeking consent about raising the ceiling.

Sources said the authorities were having to hurry because the construction of the power plant was supposed to be inaugurated on October 2; but the government was yet to disburse the

amount (Tk2.463) that it was supposed to.

Sources also said annoyed by the Bangladesh government’s delay in disbursing the fund, Rosatom had lost interest in giving technical assistance to the project.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was programmed to attend the inauguration of the Rooppur Power Plant, has cancelled his schedule reportedly because the Bangladesh government had failed to release the funds, although Russia had kept its commitment for Tk10bn.

M Rafiqul Islam, secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, told the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday that Russia had released the Tk10bn fund in April for financing the construction of the power plant under a government-to-government agreement.

The money was currently lying with the Bangladesh Bank and the government would be able to use it any time, Rafiqul said.

“Finance Minister AMA Muhith has already assured us that the government allocation for this fiscal was [also] ready for disbursement. We can avail it any day, even if it is a holiday,” the secretary said.

Regarding the Russian president’s cancellation of visit, the secretary said the foreign ministry had already explored the matter and had learnt that the cancellation was a consequence of the Syria tension.

Rafiqul claimed that the construction of the infrastructure for the nuclear reactor at the plant site was already complete and that the consultants were now gathering safety data.

He also claimed that Sergey Kiriyenko, director of Rosatom, had assured the Bangladesh government that they would provide the necessary technical support in due time.

The government plans to take five years – from 2012 to 2017 – to complete the Tk50.87bn Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, which will produce 2,000MW of electricity. l

JCD chief charged for attack on Inu’s house

IO testifies in Bishwajit murder case

n Court Correspondent

n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday pressed charges against five, including chief of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of the main opposition BNP, with hurling bombs at the residence of Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on June 9.

The accused are Md Abdul Kader, president of central committee of JCD, Md Akil Mahmud, central committee member of JCD, Mahbubul Alam, Md Shorif Uddin, Dhaka city (north) senior vice-president and Md Firoz Miah, senior vice-president of Mirpur thana unit of JCD. DB Inspector Nibaran Chandra Barua, pressed the charge sheet.

Of them Mahbubul Alam, 28, and Akil Mahmud, 32, are in custody while rest of them are absconding.

Earlier on June 30, in their confessional statements before a Dhaka court, the two detainees said they had carried out the attacks at the direction of the Dhaka Uttar JCD president.

The duo told the magistrate that they had been assured of being provid-

ed with higher positions in the organisation in exchange for carrying out the attacks on the minister.

Earlier on June 25, plainclothes police arrested two JCD activists from the capital for their alleged involvement in hurling bombs at the information minister’s residence.

Four cocktails were thrown at the residence of Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu in the capital’s Darus-Salam area on June 9.

The minister was not at home at the time and no one else was injured. Inu’s son Ashfaqul Haque filed the case with Darus Salam police station under explosive act on the same day.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Media), said Mahbub and Akil, two students of Titumir College were arrested on June 24 night along with the motorbike that was used in the bomb attack.

On May 28, three crude bombs were hurled at the official residence of Foreign Minister Dipu Moni in the capital’s Eskaton area. l

The first investigation officer in Bishwajit Das killing case yesterday told the Speedy Trial Tribunal that he had identified 16 accused, who had chopped the victim in broad daylight, and arrested five of the eight accused who are now in jail.

Md Mahbubul Alam, then subinspector of Sutrapur police station, also mentioned that he had recovered Bishwajit’s slipper, black half pant and a part of the victim’s pants.

The witness said he could recognise specifically 16 accused who had chopped and beaten Bishwajit through print media reports and video footage in electronic media.

The eight accused were produced before the court yesterday.

The witness said the seizure list had been prepared in presence of the victim’s relatives. He handed over the case docket and necessary documents to the current Investigation Officer, Inspector (Detective Branch) Md Tajul

Islam, on December 15 last year.

Acting judge of the tribunal Md Nuruzzaman yesterday recorded the deposition when the defence cross examined the witness. The tribunal set today for rest of the cross-examination.

The tribunal has so far recorded depositions of 31 of the 60 prosecution witnesses in the case.

Bishwajit Das, a 24-year-old tailor at Shakhari Bazar in Old Dhaka, was hacked to death by ruing Awami League’s students’ wing Bangladesh Chhatra League activists of Jagannath University unit during the opposition’s countrywide road-blockade programme on December 9 last year.

The charges were pressed against 21 Chhatra League leaders and activists on March 5 by DB Inspector Tajul Islam.

Of the 21, eight accused – Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, AHM Kibria, Quiyum Miah Tipu, GM Rasheduzzaman Shaon, Saiful Islam, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam alias Shakil, Emdadul Haque Emdad and Golam Mostafa – are now in jail. l

Court defers hearing against Tarique, Mamun n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday deferred the witness submission and crossexamination date in the money laundering case against BNP ViceChairman Tarique Rahman and his business partner Gias Uddin Al-Mamun, and fixed September 30 for the next hearing and the submission of a high court order in connection with the case.

Judge Md Motaher Hosain of Dhaka Special Judge Court - 3 fixed the date, after Mamun’s lawyers Fakrul Islam and Sanaullah Miah filed

a time petition before the court, mentioning that a separate no confidence petition – seeking to transfer

The fund was allegedly taken

by Mamun as bribes from Khadiza Islam, the director of Nirman Construction Ltd, for helping it secure the contract of installing an 80MW power plant at Tongi the case to a different court – was under the process of hearing at the high court.

Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, the lawyer

for the Anti-Corruption Commission, placed arguments against the time plea, before the judge deferred the hearing of the case.

Mamun, was present before the court during the hearing.

So far, the court had examined 12 prosecution witnesses in the case.

According to the case details, the ACC filed the case against Tarique and Mamun with Dhaka Cantonment police station on October 2009, accusing the duo of siphoning off Tk204.1m to Singapore between 2003 and 2007.

The fund was allegedly taken by

Mamun as bribes from Khadiza Islam, the director of Nirman Construction Ltd, for helping it secure the contract of installing an 80MW power plant at Tongi.

Mamun later allegedly deposited the money in the Capital Street branch of Singapore’s City Bank.

On July 2010, ACC submitted the charge sheet of the case to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka after investigation.

On August 8 last year, the court indicted Tarique and Mamun under the Money Laundering Act 2002 and issued an arrest warrant against Tarique. l

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed two cases against eight individuals, including six bankers of Bangladesh Commerce Bank, on charges of their alleged involvement with the embezzlement of over Tk280m.

ACC Assistant Director M Mashiur Rahman filed the cases with the capital’s Motijheel police station, an ACC official said.

The accused are – SB Group Managing Director, and also Chairman, M Shahjahan Bablu, Director M Abul Kashem, and Bangladesh Commerce Bank Senior Vice President SM Wali Ullah, Assistant Vice President M Abu Sayeed, former Executive Officer Kamrul Islam, Senior Executive Officer Sudhir Chandra Sarker, Executive Officer AZM Tarikuzzaman, and owner of Rafid Inspection SM Hasnat Chowdhury.

According to the case statement, SB Group MD Shahjahan Bablu had taken Tk250m as loan from the Bangladesh Commerce Bank through forgery, by submitting fake land documents to the bank.

According to the other case statement, two companies under the SB Group swindled over Tk30m from the Dilkusha branch of the bank through pre-shipment credit. l

Narayanganj civic body plans strike for gas, water n Our Correspondent, Narayanganj Amra Narayanganjbashi, a civic platform yesterday warned that they would go for strike programme if their problems were not solved within October 7. Leaders of the organisation placed their demand at a press conference in the press club.

The participants claimed that there were many civic problems including insufficient supply of domestic gas, contaminated water supply of WASA, train shortage inside and outskirts of the town.

The written statement was read out by the organisation chief Md Nuruddin and among others Nasiruddin Montu, Mahbubur Rahman Masum, Mahbubur Rahman Islmail, Dilara Masud Moina, Oliuddin Bhuiyan, Anjuman Aksir, were present. l

Government orders World Vision to leave Bandarban n Tribune Report The government has ordered World Vision Bangladesh (WVB), a Christian humanitarian organisation, to cancel its programmes in Bandarban in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and leave the district.

The order was communicated through a letter sent by Mohammad Jahirul Islam, the assignment officer of the NGO Affairs Bureau under the Prime Minister’s Office.

Since 1995, the WVB has been conducting activities in the fields of education, health and economy in Bandarban The letter says the WVB cannot implement any programmes after September 30.

After receiving the latter, the officials have begun taking preparation to wrap up their activities in the district.

Senior Area Development Programme Manager Timpi Uzzal Kanti Sarker said: “Previously we directly carried out our programs. But now the government has ordered us to work with a local organisation. So we are leaving Bandarban.”

Since 1995, the WVB has been conducting activities in the fields of education, health and economy in Bandarban municipality, sadar area and three unions of the district.

The activities carried out through four projects.

Following the government order, many locals fear that it would affect the district adversely. At least seven officials and 80 local volunteers were involved in different projects of the organisation.

Saimun Saima Kumud, an officer of the WVB, said: “We have become unemployed. Now, we have to pass hard days with family.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

5

Monday, September 23, 2013

Making Dhaka livable

S LATIF HOSSAIN

D

n Humayun Kabir haka has been once again deemed by the Economist as the second least livable city in the world. Damascus came in last only because of the civil war that is tearing the city apart. If the civil war were to stop today, Damascus would become imminently more livable than Dhaka tomorrow.

Regardless of our opinion of the Economist or its survey, I don’t think any of us would disagree that living conditions in Dhaka are horrid and are in dire need of improvement. In this article I will try to suggest a few ways to improve Dhaka’s livability. However, before doing so, let me say a few words in defence of Dhaka and about the dangers of drawing up schemes for improvement.

The things that make Dhaka one of the least livable cities in the world also give Dhaka its life, character, and, may I say, its charm. Dhaka, like many other Third World cities, has shown remarkable resistance to what James Scott called the “high modernist” schemes of designing and governing space.

Improvements or any kind of change requires political will. By political will I do not simply mean the will of a political leader or the vision of some bureaucrat – I mean the will of the people

Dhaka is characterised above all by its organic growth. I dare to use the adjective organic in describing a concrete jungle of 15 (or is it 20) million inhabitants only because urban planning has been marginally influential in determining its character. Dhaka gained its current shape as millions sought to convert the space to meet their need to find dwelling and livelihood. In the process they defied all the grids and designs proposed by the urban planners.

The beauty of Dhaka is that it functions at all. Every time I go back to Dhaka I am awed by the simple process of crossing the street. Having been habituated in following orders from signals and lights, I think that no one is going to make it to the other side without the signals and lights. But people manage and I also learn very quickly.

The kind of organic and personal communication and coordination involved in crossing the streets of Dhaka irks the high modernists but probably would have highly impressed the Situationists, who sought to destroy the disciplinary grids of modern capitalist cities and redesign cities on a more humane scale.

The situationists also would have been impressed by the way the private and public spaces blur in Dhaka – streets invade homes and homes spill out on the streets; addas and social life occur in the middle of those messy spaces. All these are to say that we must be careful about what we wish for.

The so-called livable cities may not be all that livable. The regulated, orderly, disciplined, sanitised, compartmentalised, and impersonal cities of the West may turn out to be oppressive or downright inhuman. But of course, the grass is always greener on the other side and Dhaka can surely use a little order and a little more amenities of modern life.

Dhaka must be made more livable.

But for whom? Are we to make Dhaka livable for the middle class waiting in long queues for over-crowded buses?

Or, are we to make Dhaka livable for the elite stuck in their air-conditioned cars in the snarling yet slow traffic?

Will there be dwellings for millions of garments workers in the improved Dhaka?

Or, will Dhaka be a city of high-rise apartment buildings housing the new middle class? Will the footpaths be reserved for the pedestrians? Or, will the footpaths continue to provide the space where millions of “informal sector workers” eke out meagre livings? Will Dhaka streets be reserved for motorised vehicles? Or, will the thousands of displaced villagers be allowed to pull rickshaws under the unforgiving hot sun?

Each proposal for making Dhaka must navigate through these difficult dilemmas involving contesting class interest. The biggest obstacle for making Dhaka a more livable city has been the fact that the policymakers and the designers have not been interested in making Dhaka a livable city for all classes.

Rather, they have sought to improve the city only for the upper and middle classes. But the working classes will not just disappear from the city, for at least two reasons. First, the upper and middle classes will need the working classes to do the work – to do their cooking, cleaning, driving etc – and will need them to be around.

Second, the working classes are being increasingly deprived of sources of

The things that make Dhaka one of the least livable cities in the world also give Dhaka its life, character, and, may I say, its charm

livelihood and sustenance outside of the cities and are being forced to come to the cities in search of work and means for survival. So, plans for making Dhaka more livable should stop focusing only on people of Gulshan and also take into account the people of Gandaria.

The first step in making Dhaka livable would be to make the rest of Bangladesh more livable. We need comprehensive policies for decentralising administration, education, commerce, and industry so that other towns and cities around the country can offer livelihood and a decent quality of life to people. Such policies will make other cities and towns more attractive and reduce the influx of people coming to Dhaka.

More importantly, however, we need to make the villages of Bangladesh livable. Thirty years ago more than 80% of Bangladeshis lived in villages and lived off agriculture. The percentage is now well below 50. All these people, who are being displaced from the villages, are now coming to the cities, mostly to Dhaka.

We need to save Bangladeshi villages by saving Bangladeshi agriculture.

Perhaps, it is now time to revise the Green Revolution. Perhaps, it is now time to finally have a land reform programme and prevent the aggressive swallowing up of small peasant landholdings by agro businesses.

The second step in making Dhaka livable would be to provide safe places to work and live for the millions coming in from various corners of Bangladesh. The government needs to construct thousands of low-rent housing projects to substitute for the shantytowns constructed on occupied public lands and infrastructures. More hawkers’ markets and designated spots where street vendors can do their business would go a long way in providing safe and stable spaces to make a living.

Third, we will have to provide better security for the residents of Dhaka. The rise of the private security

industry is indicative of the dire security crisis in Dhaka. However, only the wealthy can afford private security and the rest are condemned to live in constant fear. We need to invest heavily in providing more public security against burglary, mugging, and harassment.

Perhaps, auxiliary security force like the Ansars can provide neighbourhood watch services to supplement the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Fourth, the transportation system of Dhaka has to be overhauled. Currently the focus is on building flyovers and making car travel easier and faster.

It is a completely wrong-headed policy given that only a small percentage of the population has access to cars and the global oil crisis is most likely to make cars obsolete in the next 20 to 50 years.

We need long-term strategic planning that focuses on energy-efficient mass transit system based on a network of boats, trains, and buses. To

for both genders. There are very few places for adda in Dhaka to begin with, and if you are a woman the situation is even more dire.

While talking about public spaces, we need to make the steps of the parliament building available to people again. And since we are dreaming, a massive urban development and conservation project should be undertaken to create a promenade on the Buriganga and turn the adjacent Old Dhaka into a walking city housing artisan shops, craft workshops, galleries, restaurants, cafes, etc.

Okay, I can go dreaming up ways to make Dhaka more livable. But I will stop here. Dhaka is a wonderful city; it is my first love and I think it is full of life, love, and character. But no doubt it needs improvements. And, improvements or any kind of change requires political will.

By political will I do not simply mean the will of a political leader or the vision of some bureaucrat. By political will I mean the will of the people. The changes outlined or wished for above may be achieved, if people demand it and work for it.

As intellectuals and commentators, all we can do is to provide the platform where people can come together to forge the vision of the beautiful city they want to live in. Dhaka will not be made livable by a charismatic leader or an enlightened urban planner. If Dhaka is to become a livable city, the people of Dhaka will have to make it so. l This article was first published on alalodulal.org.

Dhaka is a wonderful city; it is my first love and I think it is full of life, love, and character. But no doubt it needs improvements

supplement long-distance mass transit system, we need to enable local/short distance travel by foot, bicycles, and rickshaws. That means creating and keeping clear footpaths, walkways, and bicycle and rickshaw lanes.

Fifth, we need clean, safe, and accessible public spaces in the forms of parks, playgrounds, and public squares. We need to clean up the existing ones and create new ones. Here we need to pay special attention to ensure equal access to these public spaces

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, September 23, 2013

Dhaka Elevated Expressway a distant dream n Abu Hayat Mahmud The construction work of the longawaited Dhaka Elevated Expressway is unlikely to commence during the tenure of the present government as much of the groundwork of the project has not yet been done.

Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) high officials failed to say anything about the construction work of the expressway.

Kabir Ahmed, BBA chief engineer and project director in-charge, said: “We cannot give you any deadline; it depends upon the government decision.”

“Every big project like Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) always needs some extra time to kick off. We are working on it,” he said.

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on different occasions said field level work for the construction would start in August this year.

The minister in June this year said the construction of the expressway would end in three phases.

In the first phase 8-km route from Shahjalal International Airport to

Tejgaon would be constructed. Another 8-km from Tejgaon to Kamalapur and a 7-km route from Kamalapur to Kutubkhali near Dhaka-Chittagong highway would be completed in second and third phases respectively.

Frequent changes in design of the expressway has contributed to changes in its length times and again until the final decision to build a 23km expressway excluding ramps was taken, according to the information of the communication minister.

The DEE will be built under a PublicPrivate-Partnership (PPP) project at a cost of Tk87.03bn. Of the cost, the government will provide Tk22.58bn and the rest will come from private contractor company.

According to the BBA, the route of the DEE will start from Shahjalal International Airport and run alongside the New Airport Road via Mohakhali, Tejgaon and Moghbazar to Kamalapur Railway Station before it passes through Golapbag to get connected to the Dhaka-Chittagong highway near Kutubkhali.

The DEE is a component of the 20year Strategic Transport Plan and also

one of the largest transport projects.

The expressway is aimed to reduce traffic congestion and ease movement of commuters and vehicles from different corridors of the capital city.

On January 19, 2011 the government signed a deal with the Bangkokbased Ital-Thai Development Public Company to construct the four-lane Dhaka Elevated Expressway.

Frequent changes in design of the expressway has contributed to changes in its length times and again until the final decision to build a 23-km expressway excluding ramps was taken, according to the information of the communication minister The groundwork of the project started on April 3, 2011 and the construction was scheduled to kick off in July of the same year and end in 42 months. Later the it was rescheduled for March, 2012.

Awami League lawmaker and former communications minister

AL leader Dhanu passes away n Tribune Report

Section 144 imposed in Hizla, JCD calls half-day hartal today

Valiant freedom fighter and General Secretary of Awami League Chittagong city unit Kazi Enamul Haque Danu died at Apollo Hospital in the capital yesterday morning at the age of 65.

He is survived by his wife, three sons host of relatives, political colleagues and well-wishers to mourn his death.

Hailed from Chandina upazila of Comilla he was residing with his family in the port city’s Joynagar area.

His body was sent to the port city by a helicopter yesterday afternoon and the namaz-e-janaza of the veteran politician would be held in front of Jamiatul Falah mosque in the port city’s Wasa area today after Zohr prayers.

Later, he would be laid to eternal rest at his family graveyard in the city’s Joynagar area, said family members. l

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Four injured in BNP factional clash n Tribune Report At least four people, including a child, were injured in a factional clash between two pro-BNP factions over the distribution of extortion money in Chittagong city’s Chanmari Road area yesterday.

The injured are Baker, 42, Nijam, 27, Suman, 27, and Saiful, 10, who were admitted to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital, the police said.

Quoting locals, Sub-Inspector Md Solaiman of Khulshi police station, said local BNP activists Jahangir, Baker and Badal formed an organisation named “Lalkhan Bazar Bhumihin Co-operative Society” at Lalkhan Bazar area, adding that they had been conducting extortion and anti-social activities under the banner of the organisation for a long time.

Recently, Baker and Badal had an argument over the distribution of the extorted money, the SI said, and added that Badal, along with his cohorts, attacked Baker around 5pm and vandalised the organisation’s office.

Consequently, Baker, along with his followers, counter attacked Badal in the area around 6pm and set two houses on fire, said the police official.

On information, the police rushed to the spot and took the situation under control within half an hour. l

An overwrought situation is prevailing in Hizla upazila town of Barisal as district administration has imposed section 144 for indefinite period from yesterday morning and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal called hartal six-hour hartal today, protesting attack on its activists by Bangladesh Chhatra League men.

The section 144 was imposed in the area as Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of opposition BNP and Bangladesh Chhatra League, student wing of the ruling Awami League, called counter programmes at the same venue and time yesterday.

The JCD called hartal for today protesting impose of section 144 that started yesterday 6am and attack on its activists by BCL men.

Deputy Commissioner AKM Ehsan Ullah acknowledging the facts said special police team has been sent to the area to avoid any untoward incident.

Mustafizur Rahman, acting upazila nirbahi officer of Hizla, said section 144 imposed as JCD called upazila and Hizla college unit’s JCD workers conference and BCL called anti-fundamentalist rally at Iddo Society ground in Khunna area of the upazila town yesterday.

Mahmud Hasan Mamun, Barisal district JCD convener, alleged that

AL-BCL activists led by Hizla upazila AL secretary attacked BNP-JCD activists at about 9pm on Saturday and ransacked stage that left eight people injured.

Of the injured – Advocate Nurul Alam Razu, upazila BNP organising secretary, Dewan Monir, upazila JCD president, Sajal Khan, Jubo Dal activist, received first aid.

District JCD leaders held a protest rally in Muladi yesterday morning protesting impose of the section 144.

Shawkat Anwar, officer-in-charge of Hizla police station, said additional police have been deployed in the town to keep the situation under control.

Moreover, five JCD activists injured in attack allegedly by BCL activists at Muladi upazila yesterday noon.

Sources said when Omar Faruk Safin, vice-president of JCD central committee, along with leaders and activists were returning to Muladi upazila town after holding workers meeting at Kazir Char, a group of BCL men swooped on them at about 1:30pm.

Advocate Talukdar Md Yunus, lawmaker and district AL secretary and Abdur Razzak, district BCL secretary, said attack was happened due to factional disputes of BNP-JCD. AL and BCL have no relation with the attack, they claimed. l

Syed Abul Hossain in June, 2010 said the government aimed to complete the first phase of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway project within its tenure.

Moreover, as per the deal, the construction should be completed by June 2014 which in present context is not feasible.

An official of the BBA seeking anonymity said it was not possible to start the construction of the elevated expressway within the tenure of the present government.

The construction of DEE faced delay for the lengthy process of land acquisition, design change and lack of sufficient fund.

When asked about the progress in the construction work Chief Engineer Kabir Ahmed said the Bangladesh Bridge Authority Executive Engineer AHMS Aktar knows everything about it.

When contacted Aktar said: “Though the construction has not started, the project work is going on.

We will inform you more about the DEE including the starting time of the construction the next week.” l

RMG workers vandalise over 60 factories, owners urge for security n Tribune Report Over 60 factories were vandalised by RMG workers in Gazipur yesterday during a protest demanding the fixing of their minimum wage at Tk8,000, leading to a forced suspension of production of around 160 units.

The agitated workers in Konabari area had set fire to Jamuna Denims Limited and Jamuna Knitting Garments, sister concerns of Jamuna Group. The fabrics warehouse of the factory was set on fire but the factory authorities managed to douse the fire with the help of locals.

According to police and witnesses, thousands of garment workers of different RMG factories of Gazipur including Safipur, Kaliakoir, Mouchak, Konabari and Tongi took to the Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the morning and vandalised over 20 vehicles including buses and pick-up vans.

In the violent protest, at least 100 people including 20 police personal sustained injuries during a chase and counter chase between police and agitated workers.

Police fired several rubber bullets to disperse the protesters from the spot.

Normalcy returned to the area in the evening and highway communications was re-established after the law enforcers managed to take control of the street.

Officer-in-Charge Omar Faruk of Kaliakoir police station said they had to charge

batons and fire several rounds of teargas canisters in a bid to calm the situation and bring it under control.

Md Nasiruddin, a BGMEA director, said: “The workers of Gazipur area in the morning suddenly went on rampage and vandalised around 60 factories.” He said: “The workers claimed that the government has declared new wage but the owners were not implementing it which is why they went on such a rampage.”

“Areas such as Safipur, Kaliakoir, Mouchak, Konabari were free from violence but after yesterday’s [Saturday’s] grand rally held at Dhaka, workers went wild,” he added. BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune that the unexpected violence centring wage hike was totally irrational as the government has formed wage board and the committee would recommend wage hike and factory owners would follow it Moniruzzaman, sub-inspector of Tongi police station, said: “We found presence of outsiders during the protest who night have instigated the incident and provoked the garment workers.” He also said there was no presence of local workers’ leaders.

Meanwhile, in a meeting yesterday evening, Gazipur based RMG factory owners demanded security to run their factories. They said if the government failed to ensure the security it would bring more difficulties to the garment sector. l

Police have been deployed in Konabari area of Gazipur after garment workers vandalised at least 60 factories yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Outlaw killed in Kushtia ‘shootout’

45 computer monitors seized n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Two sea robbers held in Chittagong

n Tribune Online Report

Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh seized a truck carrying 45 computer monitors in the port city’s Bayezid area yesterday.

BGB members seized the monitors as they found no legal documents.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Region Reserve Battalion of the BGB 28 Battalion conducted the drive in front of BSRM Steel Mill at 12 noon and took the truck into their custody parked near the factory.

Major Sabbir Ahmed, operation officer of the BGB 28 Battalion, said they handed over the monitors to Chittagong Customs House as those were brought from Chittagong Port.

The truck driver and his accomplice have managed to flee the scene. l

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Contempt rule against Chandpur DC

Druggists observe strike in Bogra

A leader of Gonomukti Fouja, an outlawed party, was killed in a ‘shootout’ with police near Uthuli Bridge in Khoksa upazila early Sunday.

The deceased, Fazlur Rahman Fazlu, was also the ringleader of ‘Fazlu Bahini’.

Police Super Mafiz Uddin Ahmed said on secret information that a group of extremists was holding a clandestine meeting in the area at about 4am, a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police launched a drive in the area.

Sensing the presence of the police, Fazlu and his cohorts opened fire on the law enforcers forcing them to fire back that triggered a gunfight, reports UNB. Fazlu was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot while others managed to flee the scene.

Police also recovered one 9MM pistol, one revolver, one pipe gun, two LG guns, two sharp weapons and 20 rounds of bullets from the spot.

Fazlu was wanted in several cases including of a murder case, police said. l

n Nazmsus Sakib

Village police form a human chain on the premise of Central Shaheed Minan, demanding steps to meet their several demands

DHAKA TRIBUNE

The High Court yesterday issued a rule against Chandpur Deputy Commissioner Ismail Hossain, asking why the defiance of its order to suspend filling up of a government pond should not be regarded as contempt of court. Earlier on July 23, the HC ordered to suspend filling up of the pond in front of Mohamaya mosque of Chandpur sadar. Alfu Gazi, a local of the area, filed a petition in this regard. An HC bench of justices Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and ABM Altaf Hossain passed the order. DC Ismail Hossain and six others will have to respond to the rule within seven days. l

Police arrested two notorious sea robbers from near Chittagong city’s Bayezid and Bandar areas in separate drives early yesterday.

Acting on a tip-off, Sub-Inspector MA Gafur of Bandar Police Station along with a team nabbed Md Shahidullah alias “Shahid Daku” at a residence of Mailer Matha area in the city around 12:30am, said Jahedul Islam, officer-in-charge of the police station.

Shahidullah was influential at the bay near Banskhali upazila of the district while he was an accused in 18 cases lodged with the Banskhali Police Station, said the OC adding that Shahid was also involved in fishermen killings and robbery in the bay.

n Hasibur Rahman, Bogra

Bogra branch of Bangladesh Druggist and Chemist Association on Sunday observed a three-hour strike in the district demanding the withdrawal of a case filed against the association men for assaulting the district drug super.

The Drug Super Sukarna Ahmed was assaulted at Baluahat of Sonatala upazila as he recovered two sacks of date-expired medicines.

On Saturday, they brought out procession with the same demand.

Meanwhile, Bayezid police nabbed another sea robber Md Emran alias “Commander Emran” at the port city’s Chandranagar area around 5am following secret information. The police conducted the drive at a hill of the area and arrested him where he made his den recently, said OC Sairul Islam of Bayezid Police Station.

Shah Md Abdur Rouf, assistant commissioner of Panchlaish circle of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said Emran was influential in Hatiya coastal area and at least 20 cases, including robbery and theft, were filed against him with different police stations in Noakhali.

Both the arrestees are inter-district robbery gang leaders, said police adding that the police were conducting drives to nab other members of their gang. l

According to the drug super, a case was filed with the judicial magistrate court regarding the recovery of two sacks date-expired drugs on September 16.

Some leaders of the druggists’ association attacked on the drug super and ransacked his office following the case.

Since another case was filed with sadar police station on the incident, the druggists had been observing different programs demanding withdrawal of the cases filed against them. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

7

Monday, September 23, 2013

Polytechnic students stage demonstration Demand inequality in engineering sector tagong Metropolitan Police said another n Tribune Report section of the protesters had attempted Students and teachers of polytechnic institutes in Chittagong and Kishoreganj under the banner of Bangladesh Diploma Engineering Peshajibi Chhatra-Shikkhak Sangram Parishad staged demonstrations to press home their two point demand as a part of their country-wide programme yesterday.

The two-point demands were removal of professional disparity within BSc engineers and implementation of two inter-ministry committees’ recommendations for removing their existing problems.

In Chittagong, members of the parishad staged demonstrations in the city’s Sholoshahar and Boropul area to press home their demands. A portion of the protesters blocked the Agrabad Access Road around 11:30pm which continued for an hour. Police sources said vehicular movement in the area were at halt during the blockade causing distress among the commuters.

Assistant Commissioner Shah Md Abdur Rouf of Panchlaish circle of Chit-

to block a road near the Sholoshahar Gate 2 area at the same time but the police dispersed them from the road. Later, the teachers and students held a rally at the roadside and completed their demonstration within an hour, he added.

Chittagong district unit Bangladesh Diploma Engineering Peshajibi Chhatra-Shikkhak Sangram Parishad convener Mohammed Jalal Uddin Mollah and Member Secretary Md Rahim Ullah addressed the programmes, among others.

Meanwhile in Kishoreganj, a section of teachers and students of Kishoreganj Polytechnic Institute staged a rally followed by a procession to drum up support for the same two-point demand on the campus premises yesterday morning.

The rally organised by district unit Bangladesh Diploma Engineering Peshajibi Chhatra-Shikkhak Sangram Parishad was led by the organisation’s convener Md Waliullah and Member Secretary Shanto Islam around 11am on the campus. Earlier, a procession was brought out that paraded through campus roads. l

Thakurgaon Polytechnic Institute students blockaded road yesterday with a demand to meet their two-point demand

FOCUS BANGLA

Degree students waiting for results for two years

RMCH students block road n UNB

Thousands suffer as Bailey bridge collapses

MP’s brother sent to jail n Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Students and interns of Rangpur Medical College and Hospital blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway in the city on Saturday protesting the death of a physician of the hospital in a road accident on Thursday.

Witnesses said hundreds of agitating students and interns staged demonstration and held rally blocking the highway for one hour from 11am, causing a long tailback on both sides of the highway.

They threatened to start a tougher movement if the driver is not arrested within 24 hours. Associate Professor of medicine department Dr Istehaque was injured as a truck hit him at Paglapir in sadar upazila on September 15.

Critically injured Istehaque was sent to Dhaka where he died at a hospital on September 19. Following the death Dr Istehaque, the RMCH students went on a rampage in the city and vandalised a number of vehicles on the night. l

n Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari

Police arrested three people for possessing illegal fire arms at Charsindur Bazar under Polash upazila in Narsingdi district on Saturday.

The three arrestees are Monoarul Ashraf Khan Chhotan, younger brother of local ruling party MP Anowarul Ashraf Khan Dilip, Abul Hossain of Sultanpur village and Mobarak of Charsindur village.

Witnesses said on information police raided Charsindur Bazar area and arrested Monoarul Ashraf khan Chhotan and his two associates. Police recovered two revolver with 14 rounds of bullets from their possession.

Police said Chhotan was accused in more than 12 cases including rape, arms, extortion, hijacking, land grabbing and sand lifting. A case was filed with Polash Police Station in this connection.

Police sent the arrestees to two senior judicial magistrate. After the hearing senior judicial magistrate sent them to jail. l

As many as 48 students of Sundarganj DW Degree College in Gaibandha are passing days in uncertainty and despair as their results for degree pass and certificate course examinations held in 2011 have not been published yet.

Moreover, they were not allowed to fill up their forms for the upcoming exams, alleged the students.

Yesterday, a clash took place between students and teachers of the college as the agitated students tried to lock the principal up in his office.

However, police brought the situation under control by dispersing the agitated students.

General students of the college said the degree exams were held in 2011 under the National University (NU) and the results were published in June in 2012.

But for some unknown reason the results of the 48 students of the college

were not published, they said.

Condemning the anomaly, the students held a demonstration the same month on the college premises protesting the anomaly in the result.

As part of the demonstration, they locked the principal’s office and pursued other teachers to abstain from holding classes demanding that their results be published immediately.

The students withdrew their demonstration following an assurance from the principal but the matter was unresolved even after two months, complained the aggrieved students.

When asked why results of the 48 students were not published yet, Acting Principal of the college Abdus Samad said it was not possible to allow the students to fill up forms for the upcoming exams without consent from the NU. The students and their guardians urged the authorities to look into the matter and take necessary steps. l

Easybike drivers, owners block roads

Housewife strangled by husband in Kishoreganj n Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat easybike drivers and ownn Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj Battery-run ers yesterday put up barricades on A housewife was allegedly killed by her husband Saturday night for refusing him permission for second marriage and giving birth to a daughter in Kishoreganj sadar upazila of the district.

The deceased was identified as Rekha Akter, 22, wife of Abul Hossain of Mahinanda Bhaskorkhila village under the upazila.

Quoting locals, police said Abul Hossain used to pressurise his wife Rekha to give permission for his second marriage.

On Saturday night, Abul Hossain strangled his wife after drugging her at night and left home immediately after the incident But the wife declined to accede to her husband’s desire.

Abul allegedly tortured Rekha for her refusal which always led to an altercation between the two.

On Saturday night, Abul Hossain strangled his wife after drugging her at night and left home immediately after the incident.

The victim’s father Abdur Rashid said Rekha was married to Abul Hossain, 32, son of Chan Mia, about four years ago.

Abul kept torturing Rekha as her complexion was black, but recently, Abul and his family began to torture her indiscriminately as she gave birth to a daughter.

Md Abdul Malek, officer-in-Charge (OC) of Sadar police station, said the body was sent to Kishoreganj Sadar Hospital morgue.

A case was filed with the police station in this connection, he added. l

different roads in several upazilas of Lalmonirhat for two hours demanding withdrawal of the ban on easybike movement on highway.

The Easybike Drivers and Owners Association led the road blockade programme.

They blockaded Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway at Aditmari upazila and Kaliganj upazila.

They also put up barricades on Lalmonirhat- Rangpur and the Lalmonirhat- Kurigram roads under Lalmonirhat sadar upazila, police said.

Easybike drivers withdrew the barricade at 2pm as police assured them that they would not obstruct the movement of easybikes on the highway, said the leaders of district Easybike Malik Chalok Kalyan Samity.

However, the Assistant Police Super in Lalmonirhat Mahfuzul Islam said

battery-run easybike owners and drivers should have held a dialogue with the district administration and motor owner’s association to solve the problem.

Mazmul Haque, president of District Easy-bike Malik Chalok Kalyan Samity, said they would barricade roads if any easybike is seized on the highway.

“We are ready to hold dialogue to solve the problem if the administration calls us,” he said adding that easybike introduced an easy communication for short distance travellers and provided job to thousands of educated unemployed people in the district.

The district administration imposed a ban on the movement of easybike on the highway in the interest of district Motor Owners Association on September 16. Since then easybike movement on the highway had remained off the streets.

The easybikes resumed plying the streets after the assurance of the administration. l

Thousands of people in Chittagong Hill Tracts have been suffering after the collapse of the Bailey bridge last Friday.

Roads and Highways Department is yet to take steps for its repair.

Communications remain suspended between the areas across the hill upazilas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

Merung union parishad Chairman Mohammad Mosharaf Hossain said the bridge was adjacent to Merung Bazaar under Dighinala upazila in Khagrachhari district.

“The bridge is on the road connecting neighbouring Longudu upazila of Rangamati district,” Mosharaf added.

He alleged that the RHD authorities’ inaction on quick repair to the bridge lengthened immense sufferings to over 2, 00000 inhabitants in the areas.

The bridge collapsed when a cement-laden truck was crossing it last

Boat race held in Kishoreganj n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj A traditional boat race was held in the Suaijani River in Kishoreganj’s Nikli upazila on Saturday afternoon. Thousands of local villagers, including women and children, thronged to the riverbanks to enjoy the race.

Eleven teams from Kishoreganj and neighbouring districts, including Netrokona, Sunamganj and Habiganj, took part in the race arranged by the managing committee of Nikli Natun bazar.

Md Habibur Rahman, upazila nirbahi officer of Nikli and chief guest at the event, said the race would be arranged regularly with the assistance of the government and local institutions.

The winning teams were Fazlu Mia’s team from Nikli Moharkona village, Karar Burhan Uddin’s team from the Sadar upazila, Litan Mia’s team from Gobindapur village and Nurul Islam’s team from Aliapara village.

All the winning teams were awarded color televisions for their accomplishment. l

Friday afternoon.

Constructed in 1990 on a temporary basis, the Bailey bridge had not gone through any major repair over the last 23 years, he added.

Dighinala zone Army Commander Lieutenant Colonel Lokman Ali said he deployed the army to construct an alternative road to ease people’s sufferings in the hills.

“Besides, the army were performing their regular duties in CHT for development in the hill area,” he added.

Contacted, RHD Executive Engineer Mohammad Ismail Hossain said he was aware of the collapse of Bailey bridge that snapped communications between two upazilas in CHT but were yet to do repairs due to fund crunch.

“I already informed higher authorities of the matter, and would go for the repair after getting the go-ahead from them,” he added. l

NEWS IN BRIEF UP member stabbed in Satkhira A Union Parishad member and a local Swechchasebok League leader were stabbed by unidentified criminals at the Dhopadanga intersection in Debhata upazila on Saturday night. Nazimuddin Gazi, a member of Shakhipur UP in Debhata upazila, and Akimuddin, a local leader of Swechchasebok League, are both receiving treatment at a local health complex.

Describing the event, Keramot Ali, officer in charge of Debhata police station, said a gang of criminals swooped on the two around 10pm when they were returning home from Bhatshala Bazar, and stabbed them. Later locals rescued them and sent them to hospital. – UNB

Twenty injured in Laxmipur clash At least 20 people were injured in a clash between two groups of villagers in Laxmipur sadar upazila on Saturday. Police, quoting witnesses, said a clash took place between Ramganj Govt College unit Chattra League president Shawakat Hossain group and Nandanpur poura ward Chhatra League leader Saiful Islam group over a mobile phone snatching at noon. At one stage, some residents of Satar Para Nandanpur and Sonapur got involved in the clash, leaving 20 people injured. Eight shops were vandalized and looted at Sonapur bazar during the melee. – UNB

Jubo Dal leader hacked to death in Dinajpur

Residents of Gabtali and Isdail bring out broom procession in Narayanganj town yesterday, demanding smooth gas supply in the localities FOCUS BANGLA

A local Jubo Dal leader was hacked to death allegedly by Chhatra League activists following previous enmity over occupying a house at Parbatipur upazila in Dinajpur on Saturday night. The deceased was Rabiul Islam, 30, president of ward no 6 of Parbatipur upazila headquarters unit of Jubo Dal. Shawkat Ali, officer-in-charge of Parbatipur police station, said a group of Chhatra League men, led

by Sohel, attacked Rabiul and chopped

him with sharp weapons at Kalibari Puratan bazar area at about 9pm, leaving him injured. Critically injured Raibul was rushed to Haldibari Health Complex, but later, he died on way to Rangpur Medical College Hospital. Hearing the death news of Rabiul, some local BNP men swooped on the house of Chhatra League leader Sohel and vandalised some furniture of the house. Sohel’s parents were also injured in the attack. – UNB

Bombs recovered in Rajshahi Members of laws enforcement agencies seized a slew of handmade bombs and gunpowder weapons during two separate drives in the city on Saturday night.

Around 6pm, a patrol team of Border Guard Bangladesh stopped a Rajshahi-bound bus, coming from Naogaon, in front of the BGB-Rajshahi headquarters and searched it. About 1428 pieces of chocolate bombs, 40kg cumin seed, 2772 pieces of electric crackers and some other contraband goods were found and seized, said a commanding officer of BGB-37, Col. Nazrul Islam. However, no arrests were made as BGB said the smugglers had fled sensing the presence of its officials. – UNB

Fruit-bearing tree fair begins in Gaibandha A three-day fruit-bearing tree fair started on the upazila parishad premises in Gaibandha yesterday. Saghata agriculture office has organised the fair with a view to encouraging people to plant more fruit-bearing trees. Fazley Rabbi Miah, chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, inaugurate the programme while AHM Golam Shahid Ranju, chairman of upazila parishad, and Abdul Latif Khan, upazila nirbahi officer, were present. The speakers at the inaugural programme stressed the need for planting more fruit-bearing trees at courtyard and open spaces to meet nutrition demand.

– Our Correspondent

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Monday, September 23, 2013

Israeli forces join Kenya battle to end bloody mall siege Death toll rises to 59, the Red Cross puts the number of injured at around 200 n AFP, Nairobi Kenyan troops backed by Israeli forces battled Sunday to end a siege in an upmarket shopping mall and free hostages held by Somali militants in an attack that has so far killed 59 people.

Sporadic gunfire could be heard as Kenyan security officials said they were attempting to kill or capture the remaining attackers and end the 26-hour-long bloodbath at the Westgate mall.

“The Israelis have just entered and they are rescuing the hostages and the injured,” a Kenyan security source told AFP. The Israeli foreign ministry refused to confirm or deny its forces were involved.

Somalia’s al-Qaeda-inspired Shabab rebels said the carnage at the part Israeli-owned complex was in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia, where African Union troops are battling the Islamists.

Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said 59 people were confirmed dead, while the Red Cross has estimated the number of injured at around 200.

Lenku said there were still between 10 to 15 gunmen in the shopping centre. “We believe there are some innocent people in the building, that is why the operation is delicate.”

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta had said in a televised address to the nation late Saturday that he had lost family members in the attack.

Playing dead One teenage survivor recounted to AFP how he played dead to avoid being killed.

“I heard screams and gunshots all over the place. I got scared. I tried to run down the stairs and saw someone running towards the top, I ran back and hid behind one of the cars,” 18-year-old Umar Ahmed said.

In the hours after the attack began, shocked people of all ages and races could be seen running from the mall, some clutching babies, while others crawled along walls to avoid stray bullets.

“They spoke something that seemed like Arabic or Somali,” said a man who escaped the mall and gave his name only as Jay. “I saw people being executed after being asked to say something.”

Kenyan police, troops and special forces then moved in and went shopto-shop. Foreign security officials – from Israel as well as the United States and Britain – were also seen at the com-

AL-SHABAB TIMELINE 2011-2013 2011 January - Pirate attacks on ships worldwide hit seven-year high in 2010, with Somali pirates accounting for 49 of 52 ships seized. Al-Shabab starts to receive funding from Somali pirates.

Baidoa and Afgoye to Kenyan, African Union and Somali government forces.

February - Kenya closes the border to Somalia after nearby fighting between Al-Shabab rebels and government-backed forces.

October - AU and government forces recapture Kismayo, the last major city held

by Al-Shabab.

July - Al-Shabab partially lifts ban it had imposed on foreign aid agencies in the south after UN declares famine in three Somali regions.

2013 January - Gunmen attack a restaurant in Garissa, killing at least four people, including a senior police officer, Al-Shabab claims it has killed French intelligence agent Denis Allex.

October - Kenyan troops enter Somalia to launch a military offensive against alShabab militants in Somalia who had been crossing the border into Kenya to kidnap foreign tourists and aid workers.

2012 January - Moallim Jinwa, the Al-Shabab leader, is removed from power.

February-May - Al-Shabab merges with al-Qaeda. Al-Shabab loses key towns of

A girl stands by the body of a man outside Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi REUTERS plex throughout the drama.

An AFPTV reporter said she saw at least 20 people rescued from a toy shop, some of them children taken away on stretchers.

Kenneth Kerich, who was shopping when the attack happened, described scenes of utter panic.

“I suddenly heard gunshots and saw everyone running around so we lied down. I saw two people who were lying down and bleeding, I think they were hit by bullets,” he said.

“The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. I saw at least 50 people shot,” mall employee Sudjar Singh told AFP. Among the dead was renowned Ghanaian poet and former UN envoy Kofi Awoonor, 78, Ghanaian officials said, while his son was injured.

Shabab claim responsibility

A spokesman for Shabab said the attack

was retaliation for Kenya’s nearly twoyear-old military presence in war-torn Somalia in support of the internationally backed Mogadishu government.

“We have warned Kenya of that attack but it ignored (us), still forcefully holding our lands... while killing our innocent civilians,” Shabab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said in a statement.

“If you want Kenya in peace, it will not happen as long as your boys are in our lands.”

The group also issued a string of statements via Twitter, one of them claiming that Muslims in the centre had been “escorted out by the Mujahideen before beginning the attack.”

Israeli interests in Kenya have come under attack before. In November 2002 there were two simultaneous attacks in the Mombasa area. A missile targeted an Israeli charter flight as it took off from the port

city’s airport, but missed.

At the same time a car packed with explosives smashed into the Paradise hotel, the only Israeli-owned hotel in the Mombasa area, as Israeli tourists were checking in. Ten Kenyans and three Israelis died.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was “appalled by the brutal attack against innocent citizens” in Nairobi.

Paris confirmed two French citizens were among those killed in what it condemned as a “cowardly” attack. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper said two Canadians, one of them a diplomat, were among the dead, while official Chinese news agency Xinhua said one Chinese woman was killed and her child wounded.

Two Indians and a South Korean were also among the dead.

The United States said its citizens were reportedly among those injured by the “despicable” act while British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there were “undoubtedly” British nationals caught up in the siege.

The UN Security Council condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms.”l

August - Pro-government forces capture the port of Merca south of Mogadishu from al-Shabab.

February - Suspected al-Shabab affiliates shoot and kill a police officer in Garissa.

Somali government troops and AU forces seized the formerly Islamist-held town of Burhakaba.

March - At least 10 people killed in a suicide car bomb in the Somali capital claimed by al-Shabab.

April - About 30 killed as gunmen storm Mogadishu’s main court complex. AlShabab claims responsibility. Ethiopian Forces withdraw from Xudur, and alShabab quickly take control of the town.

May - Around 11 people killed in Mogadishu after an al-Shabab suicide attacker rammed a car laden with explosives into a convoy carrying officials from Qatar.

June - 15 people killed in an attack on a UNDP compound in Mogadishu launched by militants from al-Shabaab.

July - At least five people killed in a suicide attack targeting African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, A car bomb explodes outside a building housing Turkish embassy staff in Mogadishu killing at least two people, August – Kenyan hostages freed by al-Shabab more than a year after their abduction.

September – Al Shabab attack Nairobi mall, killing 59. l

Who are al-Shabab?

Al-Shabab means “the youth” in Arabic and emerged out of the now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts in 2006, to fight the Ethiopian forces that had entered Somalia backing the weak interim government.

It has imposed a strict version of Sharia law in areas under its control mostly rural and not the towns and cities after it was forced out of the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011 and left the vital port of Kismayo in September 2012.

The group is under pressure on several fronts following Kenya’s incursion into Somalia in 2011 under the AU banner, and have been in the forefront of the push against al-Shabab.

Analysts believe al-Shabab is increasingly focusing on guerrilla warfare to counter the firepower of African Union (AU) forces.

Al Shabab’s leader is Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubair. There have been reports that his leadership is being increasingly challenged by southerners, who form the bulk of the group’s fighters, estimated to number between 7,000 and

9,000. His predecessor, Moalim Aden Hashi Ayro, was killed in a US airstrike in 2008.

Al-Shabab formally joined al-Qaeda in February 2012. In a joint video Godane said he “pledged obedience” to al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri.

US officials believe that with al-Qaeda on the retreat in Afghanistan and Pakistan following the killing of Osama bin Laden, its fighters will increasingly take refuge in Somalia.

Ethiopia sent troops to Somalia in 2006 to defeat the Islamists. The Ethiopian forces withdrew in 2009 after suffering heavy casualties.

Al-Shabab was responsible for a double suicide bombing in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, in 2010, which killed 76 people, in reprisal for the fact that Uganda - along with Burundi - provided the bulk of the AU troops in Somalia before Kenya took over.

Al-Shabab advocates the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis. Al-Shabab has destroyed a large number of Sufi shrines. l

Saudi women for defiance against driving ban n AFP, Riyadh Saudi women activists have called for a new day of defiance next month of the longstanding ban on women driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

An online petition entitled “Oct 26th, driving for women” had gathered more than 5,800 signatories on Sunday, as activists try again to push authorities to end the unique ban.

“I will drive on October 26,” activist Nasima al-Sada told AFP on Sunday, saying that some 20 women are going

to take part in the campaign in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

“Many women are enthusiastic about learning to drive, or to teach other women how to drive,” she said, as many Saudi women have obtained abroad the driving licences they are denied in their homeland.

“There is not a single text in the Sharia Islamic law that prevents us (from driving). Any pretexts used to do that are based on inherited customs,” said the online petition.

“Just as revered women (at the time

WORLD WATCH Venezuela orders takeover of toilet paper factory

A Venezuelan state agency on Friday ordered the temporary takeover of a factory that produces toilet paper in what it called an effort to ensure consistent supplies after embarrassing shortages earlier this year.

Critics of President Nicolas Maduro say the nagging shortages of products ranging from bathroom tissue to milk are a sign his socialist government’s rigid price and currency controls are failing. They have also used the situation to poke fun at his administration on social media networks.

Sciences’ trial cargo ship from reaching the International Space Station until Tuesday, officials said on Sunday. The company’s Cygnus capsule, which blasted off Wednesday from Virginia for a test flight, had been scheduled to reach the station on Sunday. However, about six hours before the capsule was due to dock, a computer software problem caused Cygnus to reject navigation data radioed from the station. The glitch temporarily halted Cygnus’ approach to the station, a $100bn research complex that flies about 400km above Earth.

Florida man selling ‘extra terrestrial vehicle’ on eBay

Spain’s King to undergo hip surgery Tuesday

While not exactly an unidentified flying object, one car put up for sale on eBay looks literally out-of-this-world. Owner Mike Vetter has built the peculiar vehicle from scratch using fibreglass and carbon, and describes it as a combination of parts which include fold-up doors much like a DeLorean, masked wheel rims and a colour-changing LED lighting system.

He boasts it as being “smooth, solid and reliable.” He also notes that due to its irregular shape, going faster actually makes it quieter inside. The vehicle is currently on sale on eBay at a starting bid of $100,000.

Software problem delays ship arrival at space station A software glitch will delay Orbital

The royal palace says Spain’s king is to undergo a hip operation this week on a suspected infection that is hampering his ability to walk. Miguel Cabanela, a specialist surgeon who flew in from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, will lead the operation on Tuesday at Madrid’s Quiron hospital, a palace statement said. Cabanela said surgery on the left hip is needed to clear up a problem that is causing the monarch considerable discomfort. It will be the 75-year-old’s third hip operation in less than two years. The king broke his right hip while on an elephant hunting safari in southern Africa in April 2012. He then had joint reconstruction surgery on his left hip in November.

of the prophet) rode horses and camels, it is our right to drive cars – the mode of our modern age, unless you want us to go back to mules and horses,” the petition said.

The last day of defiance against the ban was on June, 17 2011, when few women answered a call to drive, with some stopped by police and forced to sign a pledge not to take to the wheel again.

“I can’t drive because of the pledge I signed,” said Najla al-Hariri, who took part in the protest in 2011, expressing strong support for the new campaign. l

5-yr-old trying to make the world better

n Tribune Desk

Five-year-old Toby Little of Sheffield, England, has taken the initiative to handwrite letters to every country in the world in the hopes of making the world a better place.

His idea for the campaign was sparked when he brought home a book titled “A Letter to New Zealand,” which describes the journey taken by a letter, from school.

Upon having read it, he asked his mother whether he might be able to write a letter to New Zealand. He then followed up by inquiring whether he could write a letter to the whole world.

Toby hopes to contact at least one person from each of the UN’s 193 nations and get a response. He has already written 239 letters and his enthusiasm continues to go strong.

He now has a website “Writing to the World,” where he and his mother currently keep track of his progress. He has, so far, written to 187 countries and heard back from 66 of his contacts.

Toby’s resolve did not end there, however. While they had initially started with easily accessible first-world countries, upon having received an address for Somalia and researching on the country, a saddened Toby asked his mother how they might be able to help.

Together, they chose a charity named ShelterBox to donate to. l

Sri Lankan Tamils lined up at polling stations for more autonomy

AP

Sri Lanka’s war-hit Tamils vote for wider autonomy n AP, Jaffna, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s main ethnic Tamil party earned a convincing victory in the country’s northern provincial elections, according to results released Sunday, in what is seen as a resounding call for wider regional autonomy in areas ravaged by a quarter century of civil war.

The Tamil National Alliance will form the first functioning provincial government in the northern Tamil heartland after securing 30 out of 38 seats in Saturday’s polls, Sri Lanka’s elections commission said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s coalition won the rest of the seats.

The win provides a platform for the TNA to campaign for an autonomous federal state, although the provincial council is largely a toothless body.

The Tamils have fought unsuccessfully for self-rule for six decades, at

first through a peaceful struggle and then the bloody civil war.

The elections were seen by the international community as a test of reconciliation between the Tamils and the majority ethnic Sinhalese, who control Sri Lanka’s government and military.

“We asked the people (for votes), and the people have given. Now it’s our turn to reciprocate,” said the chief minister-elect of Northern Province, retired Supreme Court Justice CV Wigneswaran.

“The government has to learn from our victory,” he said. “The people have spoken democratically ... the people have shown in no uncertain terms what their aspirations are. So I am sure the government will take stock of the matter and help us to make democracy work in the Northern Provincial Council.”

The campaigning period and election day were marked by sporadic attacks and threats against TNA sup-

porters, including some allegedly by uniformed army soldiers.

The US Embassy said in a statement that the involvement of uniformed individuals in election violence was “particularly alarming,” adding that a process free of violence and intimidation is needed to further post-war reconciliation.

Rajapaksa called the elections after much international criticism that he delayed fulfilling wartime promises to share power with the minority Tamils.

The largely successful conduct of the election could deflect some pressure off the government ahead of a Commonwealth country leaders’ meeting in November in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital.

The government has rejected international calls that it has not thoroughly investigated alleged war crimes committed by its troops at the end of the war, when, according to a UN report, they may have killed 40,000 Tamil civilians. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Suicide bombers kill at least 75 at Pakistan church n AFP, Peshawar A twin suicide bombing killed at least 75 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan on Sunday in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the country.

The two attackers struck at the end of a service at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which has borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency in recent years.

Doctor Arshad Javed of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital told AFP that 75 people had been killed and more than 120 wounded.

Provincial health minister Shaukat Ali Yousufzai confirmed the death toll and told AFP the provincial government had announced a three-day period of mourning in the state.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the “cruel” attack, saying it violated the tenets of Islam.

Sahibzada Anees, one of Peshawar’s most senior officials, told reporters the bombers struck when the service had just ended.

“Most of the wounded are in critical condition,” Anees said.

“We are in an area which is a target of terrorism and within that area there was a special security arrangement for the church. We are in a rescue phase and once it is over we will investigate what went wrong.”

Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest ever targeting Christians in Pakistan.

The small and largely impoverished Christian community suffers discrimination in the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority nation but bombings against them are extremely rare.

Schoolteacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service had just ended and at least 400 worshippers were greeting each other when there was a huge explosion.

“A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as I regained my senses, a second blast took place and I saw wounded people everywhere,” Khan told AFP.

Spy chief: German Islamists go to Syria

n AP, Berlin Germany’s domestic spy chief says at least 170 Islamic extremists have traveled to Syria from Germany. Hans-Georg Maassen told Deutschlandfunk radio in an interview broadcast Sunday that about 50 extremists have gone from Germany to Syria in recent months alone.

The head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution says he is concerned that some of these extremists may return to Germany with plans for terror attacks. German security agencies claim to have foiled a number of planned attacks by Islamic extremists in recent years. l

INSET: Pakistan’s Christian conundrum

n Tribune Desk

A Christian woman mourns next to the coffin of her brother, who was killed in a suicide attack on a church, in Peshawar An AFP reporter saw shreds of human flesh and bloodstains on the walls and floor of the church, whose windows had been ripped apart by the blast.

Pages of a Bible were scattered near the altar and rice meals mingled with dust on the floor amid shattered benches. Walls were gouged with ball bearings used in the explosives, he said.

Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk Road highway with bodies of the victims to protest against the killings, an AFP reporter said.

Christians in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and other cities also staged protest rallies to condemn the killings and demand state protection for their lives and properties, AFP reporters said.

In the southern port city of Karachi angry protesters clashed with police when they tried to clear a road in Isa Nagri, a low-income Christian neighbourhood.

Pakistan’s Ulema Council, an association of leading Muslim scholars, strongly condemned the church attack and said killing innocent people breaches the tenets of Islam.

“It is an extremely shameful attack which has shamed all Pakistanis and Muslims,” Allama Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chief of the council, told AFP. “There is no room for such terrorist acts in Islam.”

‘Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan will fear for their lives,’ he warned Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan. Sunday’s attack will fuel fears the already beleaguered Christian community could be increasingly targeted.

Islamist militants have carried out hundreds of bombings targeting secu-

It was only last year that Christians in Pakistan demanded a separate state due to their constant discrimination in the Muslim majority country, according to a Telegraph report.

The demand came after a Rimsha Masih, a 11-year-old Christian girl was arrested for accusations of burning the Quran. Masih, who was eventually acquitted, was facing possible death sentence under Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy laws.

Such a demand from the Christian population is only justified, then, given a stark record of attack on the minority community that makes up on 3% of Pakistan’s population.

According to a report revealed by Global Post, 11 Christians were killed and 36 injured, between January 2012 and June 2013. The authors however speculate that the real numbers are likely to be much higher. l REUTERS

rity forces and minority Muslim groups they regard as heretical, but attacks on Christians have previously largely been confined to grenade attacks and occasional riots.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a deeply conservative province bordering the tribal districts along the Afghan frontier which are home to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Provincial lawmaker Ghauri said there were about 200,000 Christians in the province, of whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar.

“Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan will fear for their lives,” he warned.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the bombings.

“Terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions,” he said in a statement.

Sharif said such “cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane

Russia says opposes any resolution threatening force against Syria n Reuters, Moscow Russia on Sunday criticised what it said were Western attempts to use a Syrian chemical arms disarmament deal to seek a UN resolution threatening force against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Syria has handed over information about its chemical arsenal to a UNbacked weapons watchdog, meeting the first deadline of the ambitious US-Russia deal that averted the threat of Western air strikes.

The UN Security Council is due to give its endorsement of the deal, but Moscow and Washington are divided over how to ensure compliance with the accord. US President Barack Obama has warned that he is still prepared to attack Syria, even without a UN mandate, if Assad reneges on the deal.

“They see in the US-Russian deal not a chance to save the planet from significant quantities of chemical weapons in Syria, but as a chance to do what Russia and China will not allow,

namely to push through a resolution involving (the threat of) force against the regime and shielding the opposition,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state television posted on his ministry’s website.

Lavrov also said Russia, which has used its veto to block Western efforts to use the UN Security Council’s clout to pressure Assad’s government, was ready to send troops to Syria to ensure the safety of UN chemical weapons inspectors. l

UN warns against escalation after Iraq blasts kill 73

mindset of the terrorists.”

Only around 2% of Pakistan’s population of 180m are Christian. The community complains of growing discrimination.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned that the risk to Pakistan’s minorities has reached crisis levels.

Christians have a precarious existence in Pakistan, often living in slumlike “colonies” cheek-by-jowl with Muslims and fearful of allegations of blasphemy, a sensitive subject that can provoke outbursts of public violence.

In the town of Gojra in Punjab province in 2009, a mob burned 77 houses and killed seven people after rumours that a copy of the Islamic holy book the Koran had been desecrated during a Christian marriage ceremony.

Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl who was arrested for alleged blasphemy last year, fled to Canada with her family in June after the charges were dropped. l

and Sunni minority.

On Sunday, the bare metal frames of the funeral tents stood at the site of the deadly Sadr City explosions.

Mangled cars sat nearby, and debris including broken dishes and scattered bottles of water distributed to mourners lay on the ground.

Eighteen more people died in other violence on Saturday, including 11 se-

curity forces members, and four people shot dead at a Baghdad alcohol shop.

It was the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, which “calls for a complete global cessation of hostilities for one day.”

Saturday was the second-deadliest day for Iraq this year, and the worst since April 23, when 95 people died in violence.

The year’s most powerful typhoon was grinding closer to Hong Kong on Sunday, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and shutting down shipping after pummelling island communities in the Philippines and Taiwan with heavy rains and fierce winds.

Typhoon Usagi was expected to make landfall just north of Hong Kong late Sunday or early Monday, with forecasters warning that it posed a “severe threat” to the southern Chinese city.

Usagi — Japanese for rabbit — was classified as a severe typhoon, packing sustained winds of 175km/h, with gusts of up to 213 km/h.

The storm was downgraded from a super typhoon on Saturday — when its sustained winds fell below 241km/h — as it passed through the Luzon Strait separating the Philippines and Taiwan, likely sparing residents in both places from the most destructive winds near its eye.

In the Philippines, Usagi left at least two people dead and two others missing, while in Taiwan nine people were hurt by falling trees on Kinmen island off China’s coast.

By late Sunday afternoon, the typhoon was about 210km east of Hong Kong, moving west at 20 kph, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

It was expected to skirt Hong Kong about 100km to the north between Sunday night and Monday morning.

The observatory said that by 7pm local time it would raise the No 8 storm warning signal, the third highest on a five-point scale, up from the current No 3 standby signal.

The typhoon wreaked havoc on flight schedules at airports in Hong Kong, nearby Macau and mainland China, upsetting travel plans for many passengers who were returning home at the end of the three-day mid-autumn festival long weekend.

Two of Hong Kong’s biggest airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair, said flights to and from the city’s airport would be cancelled from 6pm Sunday and resume Monday if conditions permit. l

Russia ready to send observers to Syria n Moscow, AP Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to send military observers to Syria to ensure security for efforts to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons.

However, he says Russia is not considering sending a full military contingent.

Under a US-Russian plan, Syria is to give up its chemical weapons.

Security is one of the plan’s major challenges, including how to prevent

n AFP, Kabul

A woman reacts at the site a day after a triple bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City killed 65 people

Hong Kong braces for year’s most powerful typhoon n AP, Hong Kong

theft of the weapons.

Lavrov says Russia has proposed that there be an international presence on the perimeter of all areas where chemical weapons experts will work in Syria.

In comments reported by Russian news agencies on Sunday, Lavrov said “We are ready to share our servicemen and military police to participate in these forces” but “it seems to me that military observers will be sufficient.” l

Afghan Twitter users meet face-to-face as web booms

n AFP, Baghdad The UN warned on Sunday against retaliatory attacks in Iraq after two blasts killed 73 people in a Shia area of Baghdad, a day after a Sunni mosque bombing.

Saturday’s bombings struck near funeral tents for a deceased tribal sheikh in the Sadr City area of north Baghdad and also wounded more than 200 people.

It was just the latest attack in a surge in violence that authorities have so far failed to stem – the worst to hit Iraq since 2008, when the country was emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.

“Retaliation can only bring more violence and it is the responsibility of all leaders to take strong action not to let violence escalate further,” Gyorgy Busztin, the UN secretary general’s deputy special representative for Iraq, said in a statement.

“Violence in all forms must be condemned, but I am particularly appalled by the increasing number of vicious attacks against those already bereaved,” he said.

The Sadr City blasts were not the first targeting mourners in recent months.

The blasts came just a day after two bombs exploded at a Sunni mosque near Samarra, north of Baghdad, killing 18 people.

Iraq was ravaged by a bloody Sunni-Shia conflict that peaked in 20062007 and killed thousands of people.

There are persistent fears, bolstered by various sectarian attacks this year, that Iraq may return to all-out conflict between the country’s Shia majority

9

Monday, September 23, 2013

REUTERS

The unrest continued on Sunday, with two police killed and seven people, among them six police, wounded in attacks in Nineveh province in Iraq’s north.

With the latest violence, more than 570 people have been killed this month and over 4,400 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources. l

More than 200 of Afghanistan’s most active users of Twitter and Facebook gathered Sunday for the country’s first-ever social media summit to explore how the internet is transforming traditional society.

Two days of panel discussions and workshops are being live-streamed, blogged and tweeted on subjects ranging from the impact of technology on next year’s elections to how women can avoid being harassed by mobile phone.

“We have brought together social media users from all around Afghanistan, so that they share their experiences and expand social media use,” said Ahmad Shuja, one of the organisers of the Paiwand (“connection”) meeting in Kabul.

“Social media is picking up pace as elections get closer. Some of the possible candidates have surfaced on social media and want to be in touch with their supporters through that.

“Social media users who are young and educated can bring a major change in Afghanistan.” Technology activists, internet entrepreneurs, government officials, authors and NGO staff are among the delegates at the gathering at the American University in Kabul, capital of the war-torn country of 30 million people.

“There are around 3-4 million internet users and 19 million people who have access to telephones in Afghanistan,” said Aimal Marjan, the head of the government’s information and communication technology department.

“Around 10 years ago, there was no TV, radio or other media, but today we talk about the issues that people in Washington talk about.”

While much of Afghanistan remains deeply rural, cites such as Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif are at the centre of busy and vocal Twitter and Facebook communities.

Celebrity gossip and the latest sports news compete with daily updates from the Islamists’ guerrilla conflict and grisly video footage of war casualties, torture, hostage victims and destruction.

“Any news that reporters get, they tweet it first, it is very good to get informed of events and find good sources,” said Ali Rezaee, a contributor to the Baztab Facebook page that feeds election updates to more than 16,000 followers.

“They even can bring government officials and criminals to justice through social media. It is very important for transparency in elections. Social media users can report about fraud on the ground.”

Potential candidates in the April election to succeed President Hamid Karzai remain wary of Twitter, though former finance minister Ashraf Ghani has built up nearly 4,000 followers.

Many other officials are highly active on the micro-blogging service, including interior minister Omer Daudzai, women’s activist Wazhma Frogh and an array of provincial government spokesmen and NATO military departments.

The Taliban, who previously rejected all modern technology, have used Twitter and internet sites for several years. l

10 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Monday, September 23, 2013

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Let’s keep up the MDG momentum

A

ccording to experts, Bangladesh is among the top two best performers in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) among the 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs). This is a proud moment for Bangladesh and it should serve to motivate and unite all sectors of our country to work towards the goal of reaching middleincome status in the near future.

As a group, the Asian LDCs have outperformed their African counterparts and island LDCs. Experts predict that Asian LDCs are likely to achieve two out of eight MDGs, and could come very close to achieving six other indicators, which include maternal This is a great survival ratio, HIV prevalence, accomplishment for survival of infants, improved Bangladesh, which drinking water, improved has seen more than sanitation and net enrolment its share of natural ratio in primary education. disasters and has The fact that Bangladesh is experienced little one of the two best performers political stability even in a good group is worth since independence celebrating. This is a great accomplishment for a fairly young country, which has seen more than its share of natural disasters and has experienced little political stability since independence. The MDG achievements are proof of the extraordinary resilience of the Bangladeshi people.

However, in spite of much progress, some daunting challenges remain. Inequality has actually gotten worse in recent years and the quality of basic services remains poor. Going forward, policy measures must address these barriers so that the country can grow sustainably and equitably.

The good news of our progress towards the MDG goals should serve as a clarion call for all stakeholders, but in particular, our political leadership. The onus is on them now to ensure that they support our development momentum and not derail it for shortsighted political goals.

Sheikh Hasina and thoughts on development September 18 The article “Hasina seeks vote to finish development tasks” has drawn my attention. Can I ask her a simple question? What has the incumbent government done so far for development in Bangladesh?

On September 16, I had to spend two and a half hours to get from Ashkona Haji camp to Mohakhali, Dhaka. This is not the case only on that particular day. Except for Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet members, we all have to spend a huge amount of our valuable time on the way to our workplaces in all areas of Dhaka.

Not very long ago, we used to come to Dhaka from Rajshahi in 4 hours in the morning to get to work, but now it takes 6 to 7 hours and then some more time.

Almost every day, we see related news in all the newspapers and also in electronic media. And there is no alternative of decentralisation, since the incumbent government has not done anything for decentralisation.

For quality education, recruiting quality teachers and maintaining standard class sizes are two key issues. But the incumbent government seems indifferent towards establishing PSC for teacher recruitment, and it hasn’t issued a circular mentioning that class sizes will not exceed 40 students and classes will have no fewer than 20 students; else, students and teachers will be combined and sent to nearby schools.

One of my friends who has only one child in Class One, and is a government official, cannot survive on a salary of Tk18,000. His son has been studying in an ordinary government secondary school, but has to go to a private tutor. After class, his son, along with his classmates, has to attend a coaching centre.

His son has said, now the class hour has been extended but teachers have not changed during the classes. Moreover, for more than two days in a month teachers only collect tuition from the students. Why are classes not held on those days? Not only that, there are some other reasons not to held classes for the students. And bear in mind, the Sagor-Runi and Biswajit murder cases have no verdicts yet. On top of that, the costs of all necessary goods are exorbitant.

Thereby, the concerned authorities are requested to work only on behalf of the public, not their own interests.

Sheuly Haque Sirajgonj

Jamaat calls 48-hr hartal from Wednesday September 17

How would a 48 hours hartal help Abdul Quader Molla avoid or evade the gallows?

Instead, a public meeting explaining his “innocence” to the general public would hold him in good stead. Besides, the option of Presidential pardon is still there.

WaliulHaqueKhondker

Asia Cup 2014 confirmed

Let the ACC do its job

September 16 Great chance for Bangladesh to win the Asia cup. Best wishes.

Muro

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t is baffling that the Anti-Corruption Commission, which was established to investigate allegations of corruption in our nation and bring those responsible to justice, continues to face obstructions that leave it impotent.

In the latest incident, the ACC’s inquiry into the 20102011 stock market scam, where over Tk4bn was swindled off the share market, has come to a The ones behind standstill. the stock scam have This is because a provision been identified, but in the Anti-Money Laundering the ACC has been Act 2013 disallows scams that unable to bring legal took place before the act from action against them being investigated. because of this This is beyond absurd loophole because the Anti-Money Laundering Act was enacted for exactly this purpose, to investigate allegations of money laundering and bring to justice the perpetrators behind this offence.

The inquiry into the stock scam began nearly a year ago.

The ones behind the scam have been identified, but the ACC has been unable to bring legal action against them because of this loophole.

The ACC says that an amendment is needed for it to proceed. If this is the case, then the current act needs to be revised immediately, and in a way that would do away with any and all inexplicable loopholes that keep its hands tied.

The ACC must be allowed to proceed with its investigation and sentence the persons responsible. It must be allowed to do its job.

September 18

Let him contest the election and see if he can win the hearts of the people.

Shaquib Quoreshi

Be Heard Write to us at: Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email us at: letters@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion@dhakatribune.com Visit our website: www.dhakatribune.com Come join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

September 17

How can such dirty water appear so beautiful in a photograph? Truly, there is a blessing in finding the good in bad. Thanks and also congrats for discovering it Syed Zakir Hossain. It’s wonderful work.

Msu Robin Like diamonds sparkling!

Sheikh Jinat Mahmid I saw your photo made the August issue of Reader’s Digest ... great picture.

Faisal Mahmud Never thought the Buriganga would be so beautiful like it is in this picture Mahmid Abdullah Divine beauty!!

Tahmina Mili

Vice for the poor, valour for the rich September 16

“Much hypocrisy surrounds this crusade to cleanse society, which targets poorer women in low cost establishments.”

Why does this crusade happen before almost every election?

Mahfuz Hassan

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Floor coverings (4) 4 Month (5) 8 Sucking fish (6) 9 Prescribed meals (4) 11 Scottish musician (5) 12 Members of a play (4) 14 Allow (3) 15 Steal cattle (6) 19 Compositions (6) 21 Colour (3) 22 Fencing sword (4) 24 Register (5) 27 Body of water (4) 29 Combined (6) 30 Was weak-minded (5) 31 Continent (4)

Nation cannot run at anyone’s whims: Yunus

Autumn sunset sparkles on waves of the Buriganga

DOWN 1 Insane (3) 2 Pays for another’s expenses (6) 3 Arranges (4) 4 Cleaning aid (3) 5 Zodiac sign (5) 6 Sharp blow (3) 7 Injured (6) 10 Frozen treats (4) 13 Attempt (3) 14 Traditional story (6) 16 Employ (3) 17 Walks (6) 18 Welsh national emblem (4) 20 Make up for (5) 23 Pretext (4) 25 Groove (3) 26 Cover (3) 28 Greek letter (3)

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS Crossword

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.

Code-Cracker

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Monday, September 23, 2013

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What’s on the table?

Saint by day, a little Satan by night Off-shore drilling tender fails to attract IOCs n Hasan Kamrul

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Unravelling Dhaka after dark

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n Towheed Feroze he lobby of the hotel wears a totally different look after eight at night. People, who possibly won’t be able to spell the word “concierge,” smartly walk past liveried men who salute in earnest.

As long as they can spend the money, respect and veneration are ensured. No questions asked, of course, about the provenance of their disposable cash. For those who frequent the countless seminars and workshops held in this five star establishment, this sight after dark may come as a shock.

Maybe “trust” is not the right word here. How about, relation of convenience? Dhaka city’s political history has ample examples of trusted friends who lose favour, some are even gunned down, when they begin to eat into the profit margin. Just go back to the Ramadan shooting in front of a Gulshan shopping mall a few months ago.

Top leaders come to this top hotel to relax, would-be ones (pathi-leaders) sit open–jawed as dancers take the stage with unveiled seduction in their eyes. As the small fries feel ennobled to be sitting with their masters, the so-called conservative society seems like a far cry.

Voluptuary is the rule here and vulgarity is the norm.

As long as they can spend the money, respect and veneration are ensured. No questions asked, of course, about the provenance of their disposable cash

Swarthy people in jeans and multi-coloured shirts are seen walking in.

“Political honchos” says the commissionaire. This writer believes him.

Nowadays, there are many such people aspiring to be either the general secretary of some city unit of a political party, or a zonal leader. With their positions, and ready money, they increasingly achieve the trust of the top political whales.

In the dimly lit bar, whisky and tequila reign. The waiter is aghast when white wine is requested by the writer. Noya maal (newcomer) he possibly thinks while taking the order. He is even more taken aback when the writer’s companion orders orange juice. The disappointment on his face is too visible.

Did I forget the entry fee? It’s Tk3,000 per head. Free, if you are a hotel guest.

As the night gets older, the singer on stage bids goodbye. More heady items await as in come some enticing dancers. Navels exposed, they gyrate to Hindi numbers. More drinks are served as the night progresses.

Someone in a white shirt and a pot belly staggers up, and with vigorous moves, takes out a bundle of notes from his pocket.

Swiftly, the rubber band is torn off and cash flies around the dancer.

In the dark it’s hard to ascertain the denomination. Whether 500 or 100, at least twenty notes pour on the girl.

She is animated. The moves become even more provocative.

The white shirted guy brings out another bundle. The same exercise follows. He sits and takes a sip from his glass. His companions are entranced by their drink and the power of the flying money.

But in a place like this where many arrivistes gather, it is hard for one white shirted guy to claim all the glory.

Another one stands up. Well-connected contractor who loves to forget blues from his all-boys school days, I am told.

Walking up, he stands in front of the new dancer, who, while moving to the music, adopts a demure look as money is rained on her. She has the quintessential Bengali movie ai dushtu ki korcho tumi (naughty boy, what are you doing) look on her face.

Second glass of wine and the atmosphere is beginning to appear rather nice, even to the writer.

Meanwhile, other heavily made up women move about, trying to make eye contact with the men who appear to be in need of some cosy

company. Nearing midnight, a young group walks in. The guy in the lead takes out his wallet and throws a wad of cash in the air. Some extra-alert cohorts of the dancer promptly pick them up.

A competition of cash showering soon takes place between a guy in a white shirt and another in a T-shirt.

Both men eye each other as the notes fill the air.

One is intrigued as to how they walk in with so much money. In a duffel bag maybe!

Does the security ever ask what the money is for?

This writer often wonders what the probable answer is to that question.

To shower it on the girls seems a likely explanation.

Back on stage, the girls keep on dancing. More cash is in the air, and escorts desperately look for a catch. The waiter becomes unwilling to serve wine!

As Shakespeare said, hell is empty because all the devils are here.

In among all this, some foreigners maintain a bemused look. Any Dollars to spare! Hello no, austerity bites in the west, every penny matters. Just sip the drink and fantasise ...

The writer decides to take his leave. No, he does not take a moral high ground. In fact, he feels a sort of excitement.

Come another day? Well if the dark side is so fun and can co-exist with a daytime conservative layer, why miss the fun? Saint by day, a little Satan by night!

n the ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in June 2012, Bangladesh won its case relating to the demarcation of boundaries for disputed maritime-territory with Mynmmar.

Maps have duly been revised, and calls made on hydrocarbon companies to bid for new exploration blocks in these deep sea areas.

The bidding offered nine shallow blocks and three deep-sea blocks, each having exploration areas of 4,5007,700 square kilometres; the deep seablocks (DS-12, DS-16 and DS-21,) each contain between 3,200-3,500 square kilometres and a depth between 200 to 2000 metres.

Geologically deep-sea areas can offer good prospects for hydrocarbon potential.

To explore oil and gas in these blocks, Petrobangla, at first, invited tenders in December last year. Until April this year, a total of 14 companies purchased bid documents; they were US-based Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil; Anglo-Dutch Shell Oil, Australian Santos and Carnarvon; Statoil of Norway; Kris energy of Singapore, ONGC of India; ENI of Spain; Premier of the UK; Bapco of Bahrain; Cairn India and CNoac.

Two international oil companies ConocoPhillips and ONGC-Videsh, submitted bids separately for three off-shore shallow blocks. ConocoPhillips bid for block no SS-07 and Indian ONGC for blocks no SS-04 and SS-09.

These blocks are located in the Bay of Bengal where there is no clash with neighbouring India or Myanmar.

However, in a call for re-tender from April to July, this year, Bangladesh received a poor response; only Santos-Kris energy, an Australian-Singapore based joint-venture, submitted a bid for a single shallow water block on the closing day of submission.

A total of six shallow water blocks placed for bidding in this re-tender similarly received poor response.

Bangladesh’s bidding process was weakened by the combination of more attractive prices elsewhere and because of the risks and high investments associated with the Bay of Bengal

Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Petrobangla and energy sources said the main reason for the poor response was the low gas price offered by the government; in the same period, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka had also called for international bidding and they had increased their gas price to be $5.5 more, per thousand cubic foot, than Bangladesh.

Bidding for the blocks of neighbouring countries was therefore more attractive to international oil companies.

High officials of Pertrobangla say the government has learnt many things from this bidding process. They are confident despite the very poor response this year, that a potential company, will emerge and have taken some steps

Bangladesh’s bidding process was weakened by the combination of more attractive prices elsewhere and because of the risks and high investments associated with the Bay of Bengal.

Experts consider the lack of adequate geological, geophysical data and information, banning of export options and absence of tax incentives all acted as limits against the interest of international companies when submitting bids.

The companies had expressed such concerns with high officials of the Government of Bangladesh during pre-tender meetings. In a pre-bidding meeting, IOCs had asked for 2D seismic data on deep-sea areas but Petrobangla did not respond citing reasons of secrecy.

Chevron, the country’s leading international company, also a bidding participant, demanded flexibility in the deep sea off-shore hydrocarbon bidding to allow for sale of the operator’s share of gas to third parties at market prices, but Petrobangla rejected their proposal.

There has proven to be some weakness with the model PSC (Production-Sharing Contract).

High officials of Pertrobangla say the government has learnt many things from this bidding process. They are confident despite the very poor response this year, that a potential company, will emerge and have taken some steps.

In particular they have already updated the model PSC and discarded some provisions to make it more attractive for IOCs. Hopefully this will secure new bids and the highest benefits. l Hasan Kamrul is a geologist.

Iran’s offer is genuine and fleeting n David Rohde

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resident Barack Obama’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday is not expected to generate much excitement. Battered by his uneven handling of Syria, no bold foreign policy initiatives are likely.

Instead, the undisputed diplomatic rock star of the gathering will be Iran’s new president Hassan Rouhani. In his first six weeks in office, the cleric has carried out one of the most aggressive charm offensives in the 34-year history of the Islamic Republic. And the Obama administration responded Thursday, saying the president would be open to having a meeting in New York.

For Obama, a bold move on Iran would be out of character.

After his lurching response to the August 21 sarin gas attack in Syria, critics are declaring Obama’s second term listless If Obama and Rouhani, who will both address the assembly on Tuesday, simply shake hands in public, it will be the seminal event of the gathering’s first day.

“More than any words he might say, Rouhani’s greatest gesture would be shaking hands with President Oba-

ma,” Karim Sadjadpour, an expert on Iran at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in an email Thursday. “It would be one of the most significant geopolitical handshakes in years.”

For both Obama and Rouhani, the stakes are high. The war in Syria is metastasising into a regional Sunni-Shiaite conflict. A Middle East conflagration could derail a tepid American economic recovery. And sweeping Western sanctions have devastated Iran’s economy. Each leader also faces bitter opposition from domestic conservatives – ready to pounce if either president blinks in the three-decade cold war between the two nations.

Despite the risks, now is the time for Obama and Rouhani to launch the first direct bilateral negotiations since the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. From Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons to the conflict in Syria, the American-Iranian rivalry is helping fuel instability in the region.

For Obama, a bold move on Iran would be out of character. After his lurching response to the August 21 sarin gas attack in Syria, critics are declaring Obama’s second term listless. A cautious president who focuses largely on domestic issues would have to take a major foreign policy risk on talks with Iran, a nation whose leaders have vexed American presidents for decades.

To be fair to Obama, the onus for

talks to begin lies with Rouhani. For years, Tehran has rejected signals from the George W Bush and the Obama administrations that they wanted direct talks. And despite all the promising rhetoric from the new Iranian leader, it is still unclear what concessions, exactly, Tehran is willing to offer regarding its nuclear programme.

Given Iranian hardliners’ track record of using lethal force to crush uprisings, there is little chance of Khamenei and his Revolutionary Guard backers being toppled Obama should keep in place the economic sanctions until a comprehensive agreement is reached that ends Iran’s enrichment of uranium.

He should begin talks but remain firm.

In the long-term, negotiations will aid Obama, even if they fail. As he has argued in Syria, exhausting diplomatic alternatives would make it easier to gain American public support to use force if needed.

George Perkovich, a proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment, said that the US and Iran should begin bilateral talks focused on a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. Talks through the P5 plus 1 – the United States, Britain, France,

Russia, China and Germany – will, he says, become bogged down.

“We should push for a big comprehensive deal as soon as possible,” Perkovich said, “rather than the incremental step-by-step approach. Obama doesn’t have the political capital to reduce the sanctions step by step, and Rouhani inevitably will lose political capital.”

Perkovich argued that Rouhani and his new foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, are moderates who have won support for talks from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – for now. Perkovich, who has met both of the new leaders, says they have concluded it is not in Iran’s strategic interest to develop nuclear weapons.”They see that it would totally mobilise the Saudis and everyone else against them,” he explained, “and ultimately doesn’t benefit them.”

Sceptics argue that Rouhani, in fact, represents no change in the regime.

They say his call for renewed talks in letter exchanges with Obama, an NBC News interview and an op-ed in the Washington Post are ploys. They also dismiss the foreign minister’s tweeting a Jewish New Year’s greeting. Mark P Lagon and Mark D Walllace, two former Bush administration officials, believe the new tone is a ruse to give Iran more time to develop a nuclear weapon. “It is imperative that the international community not fall for this trick,” they wrote in Foreign Policy

As the two leaders go head to head, the onus is on Obama now last month. “No real change will occur under this theocracy. Cosmetic change is not a reason to give the regime economic relief, and the time it needs to finish its nuclear programme.”

Scepticism is understandable. But given Iranian hardliners’ track record of using lethal force to crush uprisings, there is little chance of Khamenei and his Revolutionary Guard backers being toppled. And the debate over striking Syria showed that another American military intervention in the Middle East would be enormously unpopular in the United States.

Obama should gamble that Rouhani is what he says – a moderate trying to outflank his country’s conservatives.

AFP

Not rewarding the bold public steps Rouhani has taken will undermine his fleeting authority in Iran.

If there is one lesson from Afghanistan and Iraq, it is that American military interventions allow nationalists to blame the US for the plight of their country. Iranian conservatives will use Washington as a foil to bolster their own standing and discredit moderates.

Over time, it is far wiser to have Iranian moderates, not Americans, challenge Iran’s hard-liners. In the end, it will be Iranians who discredit their nation’s theocracy, not foreigners. l This article has been syndicated from Reuters.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Monday, September 23, 2013

Jyotika Jyoti to find her forte Lived Stories Everyday Lives on display the audience can clearly differentiate between them.

Tell us about your memorable or significant works so far.

So far, there are quite a few projects that I look back at, with fond memories. To start with, I would recall “Akti Jhorakranto Shefali Gachh,” a beautiful play directed by Animesh Aich. Then there was Fazlur Rahman’s “Shopnochura,” which received audience acclaim and my fans also praised my role in the television series.

Tell us about your new ventures.

I’m involved in different dimensional dramas for the upcoming Eid festival and is almost done with all my recent ventures.

I am also working on several ongoing serials, which include “Agnipoth,” “Chupichupi,” “Kotha Kaje Mil Nai,” “Third Generation” and “Tobuo Jibon.”

at the Liberation War Museum n Entertainment Desk A unique and captivating exhibition organised by the Hri Institute for Southasian Research and Exchange, Kathmandu (Nepal) is being held at the Liberation War Museum till September 26.

The exhibit has on display, digital images, that are reproductions of photographs, prints and artifacts from various institutions and archival collections, from individual collections of common people, amateur and professional photography from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet. The display is showcasing the history of the Southasian region.

The show aims to highlight the art of archiving and represent the daily life in the particular region.

“Lived Stories Everyday Lives” is referring to preserve the past for a sustainable future. The exhibition has emerged out of the attempt to showcase the art and craft of archiving and its value to the daily life. Each item on show has a story to tell.

From the Liberation war Museum, “Rehana’s vest,” is displayed. Rehana is the daughter of a freedom fighter, her vest represents the horrors faced by the common people during Liberation War. Another display from Bangladesh

entails the photos of liberation war by Haroon Habib. The photo shows a freedom fighter standing at the bank of a river, he is unsure of the destiny that awaits his beloved country.

The collection also includes the Vedda of Sri Lanka from the “Three Blind Men Collection,” and John Claude White’s famous photographs of the Tibetan captured at the turn of the century and many more.

Hri addresses social dislocation issues to revive and energise discussions of regionalism on the platform of mainstream politics, public information and research, with a dynamic of South Asian sensibility. l

Can you give the audience a review of your Eid projects?

n Afrose jahan Chaity Jyotika Jyoti is on her way to find her niche in the vast media industry of the county. She emerged as an actor by appearing on the silver screen in “Ayna” directed by Kabari Sarwar but came into the limelight with “Nondito Noroke,” directed by Belal Ahmed which was her second film.

Tanvir Mokammel cast her in “Rabeya,” which is a deconstruction of Sophocles’ play “Antigone” placed on the backdrop of the war between Bangladesh and Pakistan in 1971.

Her most recent appearance is in Tanvir Mokammel’s “Jibondhuli.” The shooting for the film has been wrapped up, while dubbing is on and will release in cinemas very soon.

Recently Dhaka Tribune caught up with Jyotika Jyoti to talk about her upcoming release.

Tell us about your role in Jibondhuli:

I am playing the role of a poor drummer called Jibonkrishna Das, who is a lower-caste hindu, eking out a living with his family and two children. The plot of the story is on the liberation war in 1971.

When Pakistan army occupies Jibon’s village, he, along with others, tries to escape. On the way, members of his family are killed. Jibon survives, and is forced to play drums to keep alive.

What elements do you consider while choosing a role?

The director and the character are the two prime aspects of my focus while considering a work. I try to explore new characters in each of my plays, and not pick similar roles.

Even if the character is close to a role I have already portrayed, I attempt to add some dimensions to it, so that

This Eid, a dozen of my plays will be aired. Ishtiaq Mahmud’s “Jolkonnya,” Saleh Ahmed Mona’s “Kata Tarer Bera,” Shatabdi Zahid’s “Shopno Bunon,” Russel Azam’s “Muktahin Jhinuk,” Shahdat Hossain’s “Porider Golpo” and “Je Chithir Kono Thikana Nei,” Ferdous’s “Pathor Bagan,” “Monolobha,” “Chokroboloy” and much more single episode drama’s are on the list.

Which one is your favourite?

Many of my works were enjoyable and each character has its own specialty.

“Je Chithir Kono Thikana Nei” and “Porider Golpo” directed by Shahdat Hossain are on my favourite list of Eid ventures. In “Je Chithir Kono Thikana Nei,” I am looking for my husband who was kidnapped four years ago on our honeymoon at Cox’s Bazar. Every year, I go there to look for him. After four years, my family decides to marry me off to someone else.

The story is different and I really enjoyed playing the role. l

Images from the exhibition ‘Lived Stories Everyday Lives’ at the Liberation War Museum

New drama series Buno Chaltar Gaye begins on ATN Bangla n Entertainment Desk Popular actor-director Mahfuz Ahmed’s drama new series “Buno Chaltar Gaye” will be airing on ATN Bangla from today 8pm. Written by Proshun Rahman, the drama is set against a village. Tarin, Monalisa, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Mir Sabbir, Mirana Zaman, Rani Sarkar, Sayeed Babu and Maznun Mizan are included in the cast of the series.

The story is about an educated man Ayon who comes to the village from a city to see his grandmother. All of a sudden, an incident makes Ayon to help a college going girl who wears a niqab (is a cloth which covers the face) and belongs to an influential religious family. At that point Ayon sees her face and some people witness the event.

After the incident, the local people create rumours about the girl, since the girl was not supposed to show her face to any stranger according to the religious belief. Moreover, the occurrence obstructs her way to marry a religious preacher which was arranged by her

family.

Ayon becomes very sorry for the girl and decides to speak for her. He makes an attempt to remove superstitions from the village. By the support of his grandmother, Ayon helps the girl and influence her to be progres-

sive. But his entire attempt goes in vain for the rigidness of the society. At one point, Ayon’s grandmother also starts discouraging him. Finally, the demoralised Ayon leaves the village. The drama will be aired every Sunday to Tuesday at 8pm. l

ON TV MOVIE 9:30pmHBO

Wrath Of The Titans

9:30pm Star Movies Bad Teacher

COMEDY 1:00pm Comedy Central Guys With Kids

9:00pm Z Cafe

The Big Bang Theory

DRAMA 8:30pm Colors Balika Vadhu

9:00pm Sony

Amita Ka Amit

MIX 5:30pm Star World

Masterchef Australia

9:30pm Z Cafe

65th Primetime Emmy Awards Live

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

China dedicates theme park to Jackie Chan n Entertainment Desk A theme park dedicated to Jackie Chan is being built in his honor in china.

The construction of the theme park has begun in Yizhuang, Beijing. The Chinese star says proposed attraction in Beijing will exhibit “all my stuff,” including famed collection of sandalwood houses.

The actor was recently criticised on Chinese social media for donating three examples to a university in Singapore; the remaining seven will now be assured a future in China.

Chan was otherwise unclear on exactly what else visitors to JC World might expect to find inside his proposed park, almost a square mile in size, in Beijing’s Yizhuang district. He did reveal it would be split into five sections, each offering a different “cultural experience”. Entrance to the park will be free, though certain attractions will carry a charge that Chan intends to use to maintain the sandalwood houses.

“I want to exhibit all my stuff. They

may not all be worth a lot of money, but they may have a story behind them,” Chan told reporters.

“I was very poor when I was a child, so when I had money later on, I bought all sorts of things and went around the world collecting them.” The actor is also believed to have amassed impressive collections of jewellery and furniture over the course of his career, which began at the height of kung fu’s 1970s popularity.

Theme parks are becoming increasingly common in China. Disney will open an enormous resort in Shanghai in 2015 which has been 15 years in the planning, while the world’s first Angry Birds Park recently opened in Zhejiang province in the country’s Far East. Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks plans a resort titled the “Dream Centre,” featuring cinemas, shops, restaurants and hotels, for 2016, also in Shanghai.

The JC World will contain five major themed areas and various cultural exhibition centers filled with items Chan collected over the years. l

Game of Thrones spurs sales for HBO n Entertainment Desk

“Game of Thrones,” HBO’s blood-splattered fantasy series featuring dragons, castles and warring families, is turning into a franchise for the premium cable channel that may rival its biggest hit, the mobster drama “The Sopranos.”

Like “The Sopranos,” “Game of Thrones” has become a revenue magnet for the Time Warner-owned cable channel, attracting licenses for T-shirts, games, even its own line of beer.

The series, a contender in multiple categories at

Sunday’s Emmy awards, set an HBO record last year when it sold 350,000 season one DVDs during its first week of release, a faster pace than “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “True Blood” and other popular series, according to HBO. “It is a much more crowded landscape today than it was for many of our past series, so for ‘Game of Thrones’ to break out the way it has is pretty amazing,” said Michael Lombardo, president of HBO programming.

“When a show is parodied on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ portrayed in the opening of ‘The Simpsons’ and

talked about in social media on the scale of ‘Game of Thrones,’ you can safely say it has broken through into the zeitgeist.”

The series, which garnered 16 Emmy nominations for this year’s third season, including a best drama nod, is based on author George RR Martin’s best-selling series of fantasy novels about wars waged between noble houses in a fictional medieval universe.

The show’s gory battles and disrobed women appeal to men under 35, videogame players and those who engage in “role playing” games such as “Dungeons & Dragons,” said Marty Brochstein, senior vice president for industry relations and information at the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association.

While “Game of Thrones” has its share of viewers who fit those profiles, ratings indicate that it has a wider audience. In the spring, it averaged almost 14.4 million viewers for each episode, HBO says, including repeat showings, video on demand and mobile streaming. That’s less than 50,000 viewers behind the highest-rated season of “The Sopranos.”

The show, with its elaborate sets and lush landscapes, is expensive to produce, with industry estimates of $6 million per episode. HBO won’t discuss budgets for its shows but said it receives more than $2.5 million per episode by selling it to outlets in 207 markets outside the United States.

HBO doesn’t provide information on merchandise and other sales for its shows. But HBO’s online store offers 436 “Game of Thrones” items, including flasks, dragon logo rings and soundtracks.

Book sales jump at the start of each new season, said Random House spokesman David Moench. l

Sommilito Sangskritik Jote organised an event commemorating war heroine Bahatan on September 21 on the premises of the Central Shaheed Minar. The valiant women, who suffered repression of the Pakistan occupation forces during the Liberation War, was remembered through discussion and lighting candles

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

Unseen Splendour by legendary artist SM Sultan artworks 12pm-8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhanmondi

Theater

Kadambini Prangon (India), 7pm

National Theatre Hall Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Film

Despicable Me 2 3D Oz The Great and Powerful Nishwartha Bhalobasa Jurassic Park in 3D Star Cineplex Basundhara City

Did you know?

Nigerian international John Obi Mikel scored his first goal in 261 Chelsea appearances against Fulham on Saturday

Sport

14 Pedro treble powers Barcelona past Rayo

n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Kalabagan Cricket Academy won their first match of the Dhaka Premier League by defeating Khelaghor Samaj Kallyan Samity by three wickets while a disastrous batting failure saw Sheikh Jamal go down to Prime Doleshwar Sports Club yesterday.

Left arm spinner Tijul Islam was the star for Doleshwar after they won the toss and elected to field at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium. Despite the openers making a reasonable start Junaid Siddique making 26 and Jahurul Islam 25 – the batting side collapsed afterwards to be bowled out for 93 in 29 overs, with Tijul taking 6-19.

Doleshwar chased down the target in 22 overs for the loss of three wickets. A shaky start was made up for by the middle order and Mominul Hauqe (37*) and Roshane Shiwanka Silva (17*) saw their side home.

Brief Score Abahani v Mohammedan Abahani Ltd 282/10, 49.5 over Mosaddek Hossain 76, Tharanga Paranavitana 61, Talina Kandambi 49 Mashrafe 40/2, Muktar 46/3, Nabi 40/2 Mohammedan 283/7, 50 over Shamsur Rahman 105*, Tillakaratne Dilshan 51, Md. Nabi 47 Nabil Samad 54/3, Al-Amin 51/2 MSC won by three wickets

Kalabagan CA v Khelaghor SKS

Sheikh Jamal v Prime Doleshwar SC Sk Jamal: 93/10 in 29 overs Junaid 26, Taijul 6/19 Prime: 94/3 in 22.3 overs Mominul 37*, Razzak 2/39 Prime won by seven wickets

Mohammedan Shamsur Rahman raises his bat after completing the century during their DPL match against rivals Abahani Limited at the SBNCS yesterday MUMIT M

Zahid missing The Bangladesh Football Federation has been unable to contact national winger Zahid Hossain to stand before the Fact Finding Committee.

Badal Roy, the chairman of the Fact Finding Committee, said the federation has tried repeatedly to contact Zahid without success. “His cell phone has been switched off and the letter sent to his home at Tangail, I think, has not

reached the destination yet. BFF officials have tried other numbers also but all have been in vain. We will wait for him till Monday,” Badal said yesterday.

Though Zahid performed ably in the Saff Championship in Nepal, he was asked to appear before the committee along with forward Shakhawat Hossian Rony. Rony informed the federation that he is suffering from high fever and will try to come on the following day but Zahid’s status remains a mystery.l

Shafiq leads table n Shishir Hoque Reigning champion Grandmaster Niaz Murshed and Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman registered victories in the 2nd round of the Berger Paints 39th National ‘A’ Chess Championship at the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) media centre yesterday.

At the end of the day, Shafiq Ahmed of Golden Chess Club led the table after defeating Mohammed Hafizul Islam to gain a full two points after the round.

Niaz of Mohammedan, playing with the black pieces in a Bogo Indian game

15 Untouchable Vettel storms to Singapore treble

topped Fide Master Mehdi Hasan Porag of Access Group in 38 moves. Meanwhile, Zia beat Fide Master Mohammed Javed of Access Group with the white pieces in a Trompowsky attack game in 32 moves.

In the match between Grandmasters, Abdullah Al Rakib and Enamul Hosain Razib drew their game. International Master Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar beat Fide Master Sk Nasir Ahmed, FM Kh. Aminul Islam drew with IM Abu Sufian Shakil and Md Jamal Ahmed drew with FM Debaraj Chatterjee in the day’s other games. l

from the BPL Governing Council (GC) and that’s why I have written to them,” More than eight months after the said Tamim.

Duronto Rajshahi chairman Mushend of the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) many fiqur Rahman Mohan told the media cricketers have yet to be paid for their earlier this month that Tamim left the services. Duronto Rajshahi’s opening Rajshahi team without management’s batsman Tamim Iqbal and all-rounder permission and thus the franchise will Ziaur Rahman have requested the Ban- not pay him in full.

However, during the tournament gladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to assist them as they seek full payment for the same person told a Bengali national newspaper that Tamim was allowed to their participation in the tournament.

Tamim submitted a letter yesterday leave because he was injured and upon to the chairman of the BPL governing the BCB’s request the team managecouncil Afzalur Rahman Sinha. In the ment has allowed him to leave.

“I didn’t want to talk badly about him letter he stated that after playing 10 out of 13 games he sustained an injury and at that time because he is a national asset. eventually left the camp after taking I was silent on the matter then but now I permission from the team management. am being forced to tell the truth. He left He complained that the franchise is the team without informing any of us,” using this as a reason to deny paying said Mohan to the media yesterday.

Ziaur Rahman, another cricketer of him the rest of the money owed to him.

“I have asked for help on the issue Rajshahi from the second season of

Kalabagan CA v Khelaghor SKS Khelaghor: 162/10 in 48.3 overs Mosaddek 34*, Masakadza 2/22, Raza 2/22 Kalabagan: 164/7 in 47.4 overs Marshal 63*, Faisal 5/23 Kalabagan won by three wickets

Shamsur Rahman’s unbeaten Century and Mashrafe Mortaza’s four wicket helped Mohammedan Sporting Club to a nail biting last ball win over rivals Abahani Limited by three wickets in the Walton Dhaka Premier League at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

Mohammedan needed five runs from the last over with centurion Shamsur Rahman at the non-strikers end. All-rounder Muktar Ali missed the first two balls from paceman Alauddin Babu and his smashing drive of the third ball was dropped by substitute Al-Amin at point and went for a boundary.

The drama continued as Muktar missed the next two balls but managed to hit the winning run from the last ball of the innings.

Chasing the target of 283 Mohammedan, lose the wickets of Jupiter Ghosh (5) and Sri Lankan Upul Tharanga (11) early courtesy of pace bowler pacer Al-Amin.

Shamsur however, continued to bat with great maturity in accordance with his team’s needs.

The stylish right hander anchored the innings while adding 49 with Rajin Saleh – who was dismissed for 21 by off-spinner Rezaul Isam

De Kruif ready to move ahead after Saff n Raihan Mahmood

National head coach Lodewijk de Kruif thought a little touch of good luck would have changed Bangladesh’s fate in the recently concluded Saff Championship.

Talking to the press after appearing before the Bangladesh Football Federation’s Saff Football Fact Finding Committee at the BFF House yesterday, the Dutch was hiding his long sigh. “In Nepal, we were unlucky in certain moments. We worked very hard and we were well prepared and we were very unlucky that our key players like Mamunul, Sohel Rana were injured. Goalkeeper Sohel Rana was also injured.

We could not register Raju, who was I though a very important player. Took a goal against India in last moment and against Pakistan, two good chances in early minutes and otherwise, we have scored those goals and earned six points, nobody I think would have been complaining. It is also football and things go like that, it is a very sim-

BPL’s money troubles continue n Minhaz Uddin Khan

14 Mikel breaks duck to help Chelsea to summit

n Mazhar Uddin

Sheikh Jamal v Prime Doleshwar SC

n Raihan Mahmood

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Mohammedan beat Abahani in last-ball thriller

Kalabagan CA, Doleshwar win

Electing to bat first, Khelaghor stumbled to a total of 162 all out in 48.3 overs at the BKSP-3 ground. Cut down to 40/4 after 10 overs, skipper Faisal Hossain’s 34 and another 34 not out from Mosaddek Iftekhar took the side to their final score, while Apu, Raza and Masakadza picked up two wickets each for Kalabagan.

Kalabagan’s chase was rattled by the fall of opener Sibanda for a duck and Masakdza for seven. The middle order however stood firm with skipper Marshal Ayub’s 63 leading the way, and Zimbabwean Sikandar Raza’s 27 proving a useful contribution. Kalabagan reached their target for the loss of seven wickets in 47.4 overs to claim their first win in the tournament. For Khelaghor, captain and left arm spinner Faisal Hossain claimed five wickets. l

13

Monday, September 23, 2013

BPL has also not been fully paid.

It was learnt that Duronto Rajshahi e-mailed the BPL GC to revise Ziaur’s payment because he failed to play the last three games for the team and that his performance wasn’t up to what was expected by the team management.

“I am absolutely fine if I am not paid for the three games that I was injured in but the point is they still owe me money even after that,” said Ziaur to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“They bought me for $137000 at the auction. I have received 50 percent of it and now they are asking me to compromise,” informed Ziaur.

“They have told me to compromise $37000 because I couldn’t perform. Yes I am sorry for that but this is not professional at all. I was a contracted cricketer of that team and my performance should have no effect on the remuneration, even the contract doesn’t say so,” said Zia. l

ple explanation. At the end, it was very disappointing and unlucky.”

De Kruif looked angry when he first came out to meet the press, but soon adjusted and was most gracious in sharing his thoughts with the media men about what had gone wrong in Nepal. He complimented the press about the diligence in looking into every area of what the team had been up to. “It was fantastic because everybody can learn from their mistakes,” he said.

“I think the details we are keeping inside can be shared in a big press conference, with the facilities of powerpoint presentation. What I and Rene also offered a big conference where all details can be sorted out and we don’t have anything to hide and everybody can talk and ask question in press conference. So it would be very important to everybody how we train, how we did prepare them, what was the task of every coach and there is nothing to hide.

We are making it like a crime investigation and it is absolutely not that,” added the head coach.

The Dutchman was still looking ahead to the future and what could be done to make in the future. “Now there are some U-19 players, who are now following out vision. It is very disappointing that we have canceled the U-16 tour for certain reasons.

Now the U-19 tournament is an exciting one and there are some players who can fight, fine lads, we are preparing them for good challenge in Iraq, so they can perform very well in Iraq. We want to put every effort into U-19 squad because for us, they are the future.”

Asked about if any of the BFF recommendation goes against his plans, de Kruif said, “What can we do is take a decision together. What they can do from their position, they can advise us and we can always discuss with them. We are technical people and we are in charge of technical things. What I can say is that some people of the federation are very intelligent and they want the game to develop properly,” concluded de Kruif. l

- and in company with Afghan Md. Nabi – who made 47 from 45 balls (three fours, two sixes) before being claimed by Nabil Samad – to move Mohammedan towards their target.

Shamsur eventually remained not out on 105 from 115 balls, with eight fours and two sixes, as Mohammedan clinched the win.

With the home series against New Zealand just around the corner, Shamsur’s performance will give the national selectors food for thought. The right hander also scored a fifty in a T20 match during Bangladesh’s last international series in Zimbabwe in April this year.

Speaking of his chances for making it back into the national side, Shamsur said, “I have never thought about these things. Whenever I get my chance, I want to perform my best. Obviously it feels great to score a match winning century for my side and to score a century against Abahani playing for Mohammedan is always something special.”

Earlier Mohammedan skipper Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and sent Abahani in to bat. After the fall of the first four wickets, Sri Lankan Tharanga Paranavitana (61) and youngster Mosaddek Hossain (76) repaired the innings, and with Sri Lankan Talina Kandambi quickfire 49 from 22 balls at the end, led Abahani to a fighting total of 282. l

Small and passionate n Mazhar Uddin

Cricket or football, a game between Mohammedan and Abahani is usually accompanied by a packed house, but yesterday’s Walton Dhaka Premier League match between the two sides at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium took place in front of empty stands.

At the start of the match, the gallery of the stadium was all but empty as a handful of Abahani fans made their way to shout their team on. As the day went by, a few more supporters entered but most of the stadium remained empty till the end – despite a thrilling finish.

Despite the small numbers, the fans were as vocal and partisan as has become traditional when the two sides have clashed. Abahani’s fans cheered their side with vigour and were no less vocal in hooting their heroes when Mohammedan took charge.

In a thrilling finish, Abahani’s substitute Al-Amin missed a difficult catch in the last over and Mohammedan reached the shores of victory off the last ball of the match. There was no shortage of passion in the Abahani’s supporters disappointed and aggressive heckling of the player for the mistake that they felt cost their side the match. l

An empty stand of Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium during the high-voltage match between Abahani and Mohammedan in the Dhaka Premier League yesterday MUMIT M

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Monday, September 23, 2013

Barca’s possession domination streak ended n AFP, Madrid

Pedro treble powers Barcelona past Rayo Barcelona's Pedro Rodriguez celebrates his goal during the Spanish first division football match against Rayo Vallecano at Vallecas stadium in Madrid on Saturday

n AFP, Madrid Pedro Rodriguez scored a hat-trick as Barcelona maintained their 100 percent start to the La Liga season with a comfortable 4-0 win over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

The Spanish international rewarded the visitors’ bright start when he slotted from after some brilliant play by Lionel Messi on the half hour mark.

However, just as in recent weeks, Barca were thankful to goalkeeper Victor Valdes for keeping them in front as he saved his second penalty in as many games when he palmed away Roberto Trashorras’ effort 10 minutes before half-time.

That was to be the turning point as Pedro added a second barely two minutes into the second-half before sealing his hat-trick 13 minutes from time.

Cesc Fabregas rounded off a fine evening for Gerardo Martino’s men

with a thumping finish two minutes later.

“We know that Vallecas is a difficult place to come. They have a competitive team, but we managed to find the spaces and score the goals,” Pedro told Gol TV afterwards.

“I am happy with the overall work of the team. In the personal aspect, obviously I am happy too, but I need to give my thanks to my teammates,” he added after receiving a trio of fine assists from Messi, Neymar and Fabregas.

Rayo had conceded 14 goals in their last three games and 12 in their previous two meetings at home to Barca, but they had the first clear chance of the game on three minutes as Johan Mojica’s cross was met by the unmarked Alberto Perea and Valdes was forced into a fine save.

Seconds later Barca ought to have taken the lead as a sensational touch

by Lionel Messi took him beyond two Rayo defenders on the edge of the area, but he overran the ball as he rounded

goalkeeper Ruben Martinez and Anaitz Arbilla cleared.

Neymar then had two great chances to score his first league goal for Barca, but he was denied by a goal-line clearance from Tito and then fired wide following a great turn and pass by Messi.

The visitors did eventually take the

Results Rayo Vallecano

0-4

Valladolid

0-2

Barcelona

Pedro 33, 47, 72, Fabregas 79

Atletico Madrid

Raul Garcia 56, Diego Costa 72

lead on 33 minutes thanks to another brilliant piece of play by Messi as he again sucked the Rayo defence in before laying the ball off to Pedro who finished into the far corner.

Rayo were handed a lifeline two minutes later though when Adriano was very harshly punished for a foul on Trashorras, but Valdes continued his

Marseille held at Bastia, Rennes down Ajaccio

Lambert upbeat on Benteke injury

n AFP, Paris

Results

Marseille’s disappointing week ended in a 0-0 draw at Bastia on Saturday, leaving them two points behind leaders Monaco who travel to Paris SaintGermain on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Rennes continued their fine form with just one defeat from six matches as Foued Kadir’s double inspired them to a 2-0 home win over Fabrizio Ravanelli’s winless Ajaccio and moved the Brittany side level with Marseille and PSG on 11 points.

Second-placed Saint-Etienne’s 2-1 home defeat against Toulouse on Friday kept them on 12 points while Marseille stay in fourth, behind PSG on goal difference.

Bastia retain their place in the upper half of Ligue 1 on eight points, five

Bastia

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert played down the gravity of an injury that forced key striker Christian Benteke off during his side’s 1-0 win at Norwich City on Saturday.

Benteke hobbled off in the 28th minute after appearing to injure his hip, with new Czech signing Libor Kozak scoring the game’s only goal within two minutes of coming on to take the Belgian’s place.

Villa’s top scorer last season with 19 league goals, Benteke collapsed as he attempted to come back onto the pitch after the initial injury, but he was smiling when he re-appeared in the dugout during the second half.

“I think he’s not too bad,” Lambert told BT Sport after the game. “I think he’s actually slipped. I think that was the initial injury, but we’ll see how he is.l

Evian/Thonon Wass 74, Sougou 77

0-0 2-2

Reims

1-1

Rennes

2-0

Sochaux

0-2

Deroussel de Preville 58 Kadir 13, 16

Marseille Montpellier

Montano 37, Cabella 52

Guingamp

Weber 5-og

Ajaccio Lille

Roux 35, 37

behind Claudio Ranieri’s Cote d’Azur outfit.

Elsewhere, Montpellier threw away a 2-0 advantage as they were held to a 2-2 draw at French Cup finalists Evian that leaves both clubs camped in the lower half. l

Inter Milan's Argentinian forward Diego Alberto Milito (R) celabrates with teammate Fredy Alejandro Guarin after scoring against Sassuolo yesterday during their Serie A match at the Mapei Arena stadium in Reggio Emilia AFP

AS Roma ended a five-match winless run against arch-rivals Lazio with a 2-0 win on Sunday which maintained their 100 percent record after four games in Serie A. Federico Balzaretti and Adem Ljajic, from a penalty, scored for Roma while Lazio, last beaten by their neighbours in March 2011, had substitute Andre Dias sent off only three minutes after coming onto the pitch.

Spaniard Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Juventus to give the titleholders a 2-1 win over Verona. Fabrizio Cacciatore put Verona ahead before Carlos Tevez equalised and then saw another effort hit one post, roll along the touchline and hit the other post.

Giuseppe Rossi continued his scoring run with the second goal in Fiorentina’s 2-0 win at Atalanta which left them on 10 points, level with Juventus and Inter

Bayern blitz Schalke to go joint top with Dortmund n Reuters, Berlin Treble winners Bayern Munich demolished Schalke 04 4-0 with a stellar performance on Saturday to join Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table after they drew 1-1 at Nuremberg.

Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, back in the starting lineup after an ankle injury, drilled in a well-timed header in the 21st minute and Mario Mandzukic did exactly the same a minute later to silence the 61,000 Schalke crowd.

Franck Ribery sealed the win with a clever flick off a David Alaba cutback in the 75th minute before substitute Claudio Pizarro completed yet another dominant Bayern performance in the 84th, following their 3-0 midweek mauling of CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.

Bayern, who extended a club record unbeaten run to 31 games, are second, equal on 16 points with Dortmund, who hung on to top spot due to a better attack despite Nuremberg ending their five-game winning streak.

Milan who won 7-0 at Sassuolo Diego Milito came on as a secondhalf substitute for his first appearance following a seven-month injury layoff and scored twice to help unbeaten Inter Milan rout hapless Sassuolo 7-0 away in Serie A on Sunday.

Inter were already leading the Serie A newcomers 4-0 when Milito, 34, came on for his first game since suffering a knee ligament damage in a Europa League match against Cluj in February.

Milito needed only nine minutes to make his mark as he turned in a cross from fellow Argentine Ricky Alvarez in the 63rd minute.

His second goal 20 minutes later was equally straightforward as he tapped in Fredy Guarin’s cross from close range after Sassuolo, who have lost all four opening games in an unhappy top flight debut, were again caught on the counter-attack. l

Despite several changes to the team that lost 2-1 at Napoli in the Champions League in midweek, Dortmund were initially the better side.

Results Hanover

2-1

Wolfsburg

2-1

Nuremberg

1-1

Mainz 05

1-4

Hamburg

0-2

Schalke 04

0-4

Sobiech 60, Huszti 89-pen Olic 44, 48 Nilsson 50 Malli 82

Augsburg

Verhaegh 51-pen

Hoffenheim

Modeste 15

Dortmund

Schmelzer 37

Leverkusen

Kruse 19, 45+1, Kiessling 59, Bender 38

Werder Bremen

Petersen 32, 90+4

Bayern Munich

Schweinsteiger 21, Mandzukic 22, Ribery 75, Pizarro 84

Bayer Leverkusen are still third with 15 points, shrugging off their own Champions League defeat to Manchester United by crushing Mainz 05 4-1 with two goals from Australian Robbie Kruse. l

Mourinho urges out of favour Mata to prove him wrong n Reuters, London

n AFP, Norwich

Roma end Lazio jinx, Inter rout Sassulo n Reuters

sensational form as he parried the midfielder’s weak spot-kick to safety.

The hosts were left to rue that missed opportunity when Pedro slid home from Fabregas’ cross to put the game to bed within two minutes of the second-half.

Messi twice came close to a third and Neymar struck the post as Barca cut through the Rayo defence at will in the second period and it came as no surprise when the third goal did arrive as Neymar unselfishly teed-up Pedro to seal his hat-trick.

Fabregas sealed the rout 11 minutes from time when Barca’s pressing caught Rayo in possession deep inside their own half and Xavi squared for his Spanish international colleague to fire home.

Atletico Madrid also maintained their 100 percent record so far this season as second-half goals from Raul Garcia and Diego Costa handed them a well-deserved 2-0 win away to Valladolid. l

REUTERS

Spanish champions Barcelona had less possession than their opponents for the first time in over five years on Saturday during their 4-0 win over Rayo Vallecano.

Despite their significant advantage in the scoreline, the Catalans enjoyed just 45 percent of the ball ending an incredible 316 match streak dating back to their 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in May 2008.

The statistic is further evidence of how new Barca boss Gerardo Martino is looking for his side to play with more variation than they have in the past five years under Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova.

Defender Dani Alves claimed after the 4-0 win over Ajax in midweek that Barca are in a “transitionary period” as they adjust to Martino’s ideas.

And Gerard Pique also conceded in a recent interview with Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that they had become obsessed with their short-passing style in recent years.

However, Pedro Rodriguez, who scored three of Barca’s four goals at Vallecas on Saturday, believes the most important thing is that Barca keep winning.l

Chelsea's John Obi Mikel (top) celebrates with team mates after scoring against Fulham during their EPL match at Stamford Bridge in London on Saturday REUTERS

Mikel breaks duck to help Chelsea to summit n AFP, London John Mikel Obi’s first Premier League goal helped end Chelsea’s run of four winless games as they beat west London rivals Fulham 2-0 on Saturday.

Mikel struck six minutes from fulltime against Fulham with a close-range half-volley after Oscar had opened the scoring early in the second half at Stamford Bridge.

The three points took Jose Mourinho’s team to the top of the table, after a testing period in which they

lost to Bayern Munich in the European Super Cup final and were beaten by Everton and Basel.

Mourinho made a big statement with his team selection, with Juan Mata and David Luiz left out of the match-day squad altogether.

It meant Chelsea had more than £40 million ($64 million, 47 million euros) of talent sitting behind the bench and not involved in the game.

Mikel’s rare strike also came from a corner, with John Terry heading the ball down for the Nigeria international to hook home his first Premier League goal in his 185th appearance.l

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has challenged Juan Mata to prove him wrong on the pitch for overlooking the Spaniard’s claims and preferring Brazilian Oscar as his number one playmaker.

Mourinho was quoted in Saturday’s British newspapers saying Mata, Chelsea’s player of the year for the last two seasons, had to adapt to the way the Portuguese wanted the team to play.

The former Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto manager also made it clear Oscar was his first-choice midfield orchestrator.

“I hope he (Mata) tells me on the pitch, ‘You are wrong, I am the best and I have to play every game’,” Mourinho told reporters after Chelsea beat West London neighbours Fulham 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to return to the top of the Premier League.

“I would love that. That is to be professional. My idea is that he is a top kid and a very good professional and I’m waiting for a professional reaction.

“History doesn’t play. The past is the past and you have to be judged on what you do now. I gave Juan the chance to play from the beginning against Aston Villa and against Everton and I also gave him 35 minutes (as a substitute) against Basel - it’s not the same as say Michael Essien.

“I have not played Essien for one single minute and I left him off our Champions League squad list. The point is that I have my options but the thing I most love in football is when my players prove me wrong.

“If Juan proves that I am wrong then I will be the happy one,” Mourinho added with a smile, “because I want him to be fantastic.” Earlier, the Chelsea manager gave a heavy hint that the skilful Mata would have to improve his defensive work in order to win a regular place in the team. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Untouchable Vettel storms to Singapore treble

Quick Bytes

Table Tennis results Hridoy and Antu swept into the men’s singles final of the Walton Mobile Open Table Tennis Tournament 2013 at the Tajuddin Ahmed Wooden Floor Gymnasium yesterday. In the semi-finals, Hridoy defeated Tasin 4-0 while Antu beat Samir 4-2, to set up the final clash. In the women’s singles, Abahani’s Shoma and Akhi defeated Shima and Sinthi 4-0 and 4-2 respectively to reach the semi-final.

In the Cadet singles, Sabbir and Sakib confirmed their berth in the final by beating Khaled and Imon respectively.

- SH

n AFP, Singaporkee

Narinda, Sunnydale claim school handball titles

Defending champions Narinda Govt High School clinched their third consecutive title in the boys Polar Ice Cream 21st School Handball Tournament, while Sunnydale clinched the girls’ title yesterday. Narinda earned a comfortable 26-16 victory over St Gregory’s in the boys’ final to take their seventh school handball title. Zakir scored 11 and Monir eight goals for Narinda while Sujon and Akash netted six and five respectively for Gregory’s. Monir was named player of the tournament. In the girls’ event, Sunnydale humbled reigning champions Scholastica 14-2 to lift the cup. Yasmin and Ramisa scored five each for Sunnydale while Bushra netted both goals for Scholastica. Yasmin was adjudged the player of the tournament. Meanwhile in the third-place deciding match, Play Pen outplayed Sunnydale in the boys’ event while Viqarunnisa School crushed Banani Bidyaniketon 16-4 in the girls’ section.

– SH

Simon trumps Tsonga in Metz Open Second-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon won the 11th title of his career when he outplayed top seed and compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the ATP Metz Open. Simon, whose summer has been plagued by whooping cough and its after-effects, only entered the tournament on a wildcard. In beating Tsonga, the world number eight who was playing his first tournament for almost three months after a knee injury, Simon became the fourth player this season to win a tournament on a wildcard invite after Argentina’s Juan Monaco in Duesseldorf, France’s Nicolas Mahut in Newport (USA) and Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro in Washington. Simon’s 11th title draws him level with Guy Forget for career wins by Frenchmen, still far off the 23 won by Yannick Noah.

– AFP

Gulbis wins Saint Petersburg ATP event Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis battled back from a set down to win the fourth title of his career in beating Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the Saint Petersburg ATP final on Sunday. The 25-year-old Gulbis, who was seeded sixth, won 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 to record his second win over Garcia-Lopez in their third meeting.

Spanish veteran Garcia-Lopez, 30, got the better of a raft of breaks in the first set and broke early in the second before racing into a 4-1 lead. But he failed to win another game as world number 36 Gulbis found another gear and reeled off 11 straight games to storm to victory as Garcia-Lopez ran out of steam.

– AFP

Stenson keeps four-shot lead at Tour Championship

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson fired a oneunder par 69 on Saturday to keep a four-stroke lead after the third round of the season-ending $8 million US PGA Tour Championship. If Stenson can keep his lead over the final 18 holes at East Lake on Sunday, he will claim the $10 million bonus for winning the tour’s playoff title, the FedEx Cup, as well as the tournament’s $1.44 million top prize.

With a chance to stretch his lead over the rest of the 30-man field on a rainy day, Stenson stumbled at the finish, making bogeys on three of the final five holes, including a four-foot par putt miss at the 18th, that left him on 11-under 199 after 54 holes.

– AFP

Day’s Watch ESPN 2:00pm Sultan of Johor Cup 2013 LIVE England v Pakistan 4:00pm Sultan of Johor Cup 2013 LIVE Argentina v India Star Sports 8:20pm 2013 C L T 20 LIVE Mumbai Indians v Otago Volts

15

Monday, September 23, 2013

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany celebrates his victory on the podium after winning the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix yesterday AFP

Sebastian Vettel took a huge step towards his fourth straight world title Sunday with a superlative victory in Singapore that left his rivals fighting for scraps.

The German, starting from pole, fought off Nico Rosberg in the first corner and despite a safety car intervention, he was untouchable as he scored his third win in a row and a hat-trick of wins in Singapore.

Ferrari’s Alonso finished second to keep up the title pressure on Vettel, who now leads the championship by 60 points from the Spaniard with six races remaining.

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen braved back pain to finish third but there was disaster for Red Bull’s Mark Webber, whose late charge ended in a blown engine and a ride back to the pits on the wing of Alonso’s Ferrari.

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton claimed fourth and fifth, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was sixth and McLaren pair Jenson Button and Sergio Perez occupied eighth and ninth.

But yet again the race belonged to Vettel, who was literally streets ahead of his rivals on the spot-lit Marina Bay circuit through the highways of downtown Singapore.

“The start was quite hairy, Nico had a better start and I didn’t get going,” said Vettel. “But unfortunately he went a little too deep and I could get it back.

“With the safety car it was difficult but as soon as the safety car came off we had very strong pace with the car. It was just a pleasure to drive around this crazy race.”

The peerless 26-year-old has now won four of the last five grands prix and is a racing certainty to become the sport’s youngest four-time world champion, joining Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as only the third man to win four in a row.

England ponder Bresnan fitness as Rankin eyes Ashes n AFP, London England know the bulk of a squad due to be announced Monday for a tour of Australia that will see them try to win a fourth straight Ashes series for the first time since the 19th Century.

The fact England, who beat archrivals Australia 3-0 in a Test series on home soil to retain the urn, rested regular captain Alastair Cook, batsman Ian Bell and bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann from the subsequent 2-1 one-day series loss was testament to the importance they place on the Ashes.

But while the first-choice XI, with star batsman Kevin Pietersen set to play his 100th Test in November’s opener in Brisbane, largely picks itself, the choice of back-up squad members is likely to have led to some prolonged discussions for a selection panel led by ex-England off-spinner Geoff Miller.

One question regards the fitness of bowling all-rounder Tim Bresnan, who missed the fifth Test at The Oval, as well as the one-dayers, with a stress fracture of his back.

Twice an Ashes-winner, Bresnan when fit fills the tricky position of third seamer in a four-man attack and the Yorkshireman played a key role during England’s 2010/11 3-1 series win in Australia.

Someone else who starred in that series, after replacing Steven Finn in Perth, is Surrey fast bowler Chris Tremlett, whose career has been blighted by several injuries.

Both Tremlett and Finn fit the mould of tall fast bowlers favoured by England’s Australian bowling coach David Saker.

But so too does former Ireland international Boyd Rankin who impressed for his adopted country during the oneday series as did all-rounder Ben Stokes,

also uncapped at Test level.

“They certainly won’t have done them any harm,” said England limited overs coach and Test selector Ashley Giles of Rankin and Stokes’s Ashes prospects.

“Boyd is 6ft 10in or something, a huge man, and he bowls at a good rate of knots. We tend to like our tall fast bowlers. Going to Australia, playing on those wickets, those attributes are important.

“Ben is someone who has been on the radar for a couple of years. I think he’s a really exciting cricketer,” former left-arm spinner Giles, an Ashes-winner as a player in 2005, added.

England face awkward decisions with regards to both a second spinner and a reserve wicketkeeper.

Monty Panesar had provided slow bowling back-up to Swann on recent England tours but the left-armer’s erratic behaviour -- he was effectively sacked

by Sussex this season after urinating on

a nightclub bouncer -- has caused alarm among coach Andy Flower’s staff.

In Panesar’s favour is the hapless Test debut of Lancashire left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan at The Oval but England could opt for off-spinner James Tredwell, deployed in one-dayers when Swann is unavailable.

If England want a left-arm spinner who isn’t Panesar then international exile Samit Patel reminded them of his ability by taking three wickets for 21 runs in Nottinghamshire’s 40-over final win against Glamorgan at Lord’s on Saturday.

What happens to the England Test wicketkeeper’s position should the reliable Matt Prior be injured remains a thorny issue.

Neither Jos Buttler, England’s oneday gloveman, nor middle-order batsman and occasional Yorkshire keeper Jonny Bairstow have much first-class experience behind the stumps. l

From the start, Rosberg arrowed past pole-sitter Vettel going into the first turn but his speed carried him wide at the second corner and the Red Bull man was able to nip back in front.

Behind them, Alonso pulled off a masterful move as he used the outside of the track to leap from seventh on the grid to third in the opening seconds.

Hamilton passed Massa illegally and had to give back the spot after a sharp warning from his team over the radio.

But as the cars started to string out, it was all about Vettel as he hared off

Results 1. Vettel (GER/Red Bull) 1:59:13.132s 2. Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) at 32.627s 3. Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus) 43.920 4. Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 51.155 5. Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 53.159 6. Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1:03.877 7. Button (GBR/McLaren) 1:23.354 8. Perez (MEX/McLaren) 1:23.820 9. Hulkenberg (GER/Sauber) 1:24.261 10. Sutil (GER/Force India) 1:24.668 11. Maldonado (VEN/Williams) 1:28.479 12. Gutierrez (MEX/Sauber) 1:37.894 13. Bottas (FIN/Williams) 1:45.161 14. Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso) 1:53.512 15. Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 1 lap 16. Van der Garde (NED/Cat) 1 lap 17. Chilton (GBR/Marussia) 1 lap 18. Bianchi (FRA/Marussia) 1 lap 19. Charles Pic (FRA/Caterham) 1 lap 20. Di Resta (GBR/Force India) 7 laps in front in his customary fashion, establishing a seven-second lead by lap seven.

As the cars behind him garaged for medium tyres, Vettel strung out his lead to 36 seconds and he was able to pit on lap 17 and still maintain an eightsecond lead over Rosberg.

Force India’s Paul Di Resta nipped in behind Rosberg for third place during the pits shake-up, frustrating Alonso who was unable to pass and challenge for second.l

Finland apologises for revoking win by Jewish athlete in the 1930s n AFP, Helsinki The Finnish Amateur Athletic Association (SUL) has apologised for revoking an obvious 100 meter victory from a Jewish athlete in Helsinki in June 1938.

“Any manipulation of the results is shocking and goes against our fundamental values in sports ... On behalf of the SUL, I present my sincerest apologies to those who have suffered injustices and to their families,” SUL chairman Vesa Harmaakorpi said in a statement published late Wednesday.

A photo reprinted in the Finnish press recently showed Abraham Tokazier of Finland crossing the finish line first in a competition held to inaugurate Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium.

But another Finn, Aare Savolainen, was named the winner of the race, and will go down in history books as such.

Tokazier, initially declared the winner, was relegated to fourth position by the judges with no explanation.l

Radwanska storms back to win Korea Open n AFP, Seoul Polish top seed Agnieszka Radwanska rallied from a set down to win the Korea Open at her first attempt on Sunday, edging out Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4.

An epic first set accounted for half of the two and three-quarter hours the players spent on court, with Pavlyuchenkova fighting back from 3-0 down and saving four set points before triumphing in the tie break.

But Radwanska showed why she is ranked number four in the world, roaring back in the second set to take the first three games and then tie up the match 6-3.

The deciding set went with serve for the first nine games, before Radwanska sneaked a final break to close out the match and take the title.

“Especially after a great match, almost three hours of great tennis at a

really high level, of course I’m very happy,” Radwanska said.

“It was a very close match -- tight sets, all of them -- but I was just a little bit better in the important moments today,” she added.

The Russian third seed, who had little time to recover from her gruelling semi-final with Italy’s Francesca Schiavone on Saturday, still managed to push Radwanska all the way.

“It’s tough losing this match after fighting so long and coming so close,” Pavlyuchenkova said.

“It’s difficult and frustrating, but in tennis you can be up, then down and you lose some and you win some.

“I’m actually proud of myself. I had a great week. I showed some good tennis and it was a great final,” she added.

It was Radwanska’s third WTA title of the year and the 13th of her career, improving her head-to-head record against Pavlyuchenkova to 3-1. l

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland kisses the trophy after winning the women's singles final at the 2013 WTA Korea Open tennis tournament in Seoul yesterday. Polish top seed Agnieszka Radwanska rallied from a set down to win the Korea Open at her first attempt, edging out Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4 AFP

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, September 23, 2013

BDR CARNAGE CASE

GSP FACILITIES IN US MARKET

Govt to increase punishment for violation of labour law n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has decided to increase the punishment and fines for the violation of the labour law and the fire and building safety code, in a bid to regain GSP facilities of local export in the US market.

A senior commerce ministry official, seeking anonymity, said: “Commerce minister GM Quader formed a 13-member committee yesterday, which will advise to amend existing laws and rules.”

He also said the newly-formed committee, headed by commerce ministry Joint Secretary Atiqur Rahman, will submit its recommendations within 15 days.

The committee also includes representatives from the labour ministry, housing and public works ministry, National Board of Revenue, Export Promotion Bureau, factory inspection department and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha.

The government is now working on executing the 16-point action plan laid out by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), through inspections of the standards of labour, fire and building safety at the RMG factories, export processing zones and shrimp sectors.

An international working group will be formed to introduce the labour law in the export processing zones under the action plan, while the government also plans to lift restrictions on the registration of two NGOs – which work on implementing the labour standards.

Besides, the registration of trade unions will begin soon, according to commerce ministry sources.

The US government suspended the GSP facilities to Bangladeshi exporters on June 27, for the failure to maintain international labour standards. l

PKB MD asked to explain corruption allegations n Rabiul Islam The board of directors at the Probashi Kallyan Bank (PKB), has asked the bank’s Managing Director CM Koyes Sami to explain allegations of corruption, irregularities and nepotism at the bank.

Following a media report on the bank’s irregularities and corruption, the board members made the decision in a meeting at a city hotel yesterday.

“We have asked the managing director to explain the irregularities of the bank and if necessary we will investigate,” PKB Chairman Zafar Ahmed Khan told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. l

Tawhid, Selim Reza plead ‘not guilty’ n Ashif Islam Shaon

The private car ran into the central reservation in front of the Prime Minister’s Office last night. Security personnel there said the stretch of the road had low visibility as the street lights were kept turned off on the east side of the road while the central reservation also did not have reflective road markers SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

Government pre-empts ‘adivasi’ bill It has reportedly requested the speaker not to allow any such legal proposal

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury The government has pre-empted an attempt to initiate a legislative proposal of a parliamentary caucus through a private member’s bill styled Adivasi Rights Bill 2013 in the current session.

Workers Party chief Rashed Khan Menon is likely to place the bill in parliament for recognition of the country’s ethnic minorities as “adivasi” and protection of their rights.

However, before Menon could submit the bill to Parliament Secretariat for initiation in the house, the government has reportedly requested Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury not to allow any such legal proposal in the House.

The National Coalition for Indigenous Peoples has been providing secretarial support for the Parliamentary Caucus on Adivasi comprising 24 MPs of the ruling coalition. The caucus had 10 meetings with different stakeholders to get “adivasi” recognition to the ethnic minorities living the Chittagong Hill Tracts and other parts of the country.

The foreign ministry, which has been dealing with the issue of ethnic minorities at the UN and other forums, fears the initiation of the bill will strengthen the demand of the “tribal” people for their state recognition as adivasis.

It further says the recognition – inline with the International Labour Organisation convention on indigenous people’s rights –will encourage the ethnic minorities to claim rights on the resources on some specific territories.

The ministry warns that such demands may put Bangladesh’s sovereignty to question.

On July 28, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Islam chaired an inter-ministry meeting that decided to “guarantee” that such bill was not tabled in parliament and to communicate the matter to the speaker who was authorised to decide tabling of any bill in the House.

“The movers will make it [the recognition of the ethnic minorities as adivasis] a political issue if the bill is tabled as a private member’s bill,” said a foreign ministry working paper.

In parliamentary practices, all MPs, other than the ministers, are considered as private members, and they can prepare bills on any issue and place it in parliament with the speaker’s permission.

Any such bill goes to the parliamentary standing committee on private members’ bills and resolutions for scrutiny. If the committee recommends, the assembly discusses the bill to decide whether to go through it.

In parliamentary practices, the movers of such bills either withdraw their proposal or the House rejects the same by voice vote in case of the initiators’ reluctance.

The current parliament passed one such bill – the leper (repeal) act – moved

by Awami League MP Saber Hossain Chowdhury.

Discussion on these bills in the assembly is considered as a pressure on the government.

Governments in developing countries discourage private members’ bills.

On September 18, the foreign min-

Indian electricity expected from next month n Aminur Rahman Rasel

India’s state-owned NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam looks set to start test transmission of electricity to Bangladesh on September 27, sending 50 megawatt to the grid on the first day and raising it gradually to 175MW on September 30.

The commercial transmission is expected from the middle of October.

“The NVVN will start test transmission with limited capacity on September 27. Both sides have already completed construction of transmission lines and substations,” acting managing director of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Chowdhury Alamgir Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said that the test transmission will continue till September 30.

For the transmission, PDB signed a supplementary agreement with Indian NVVN on September 18 on payment of Tk35.9m in advance for trial transmission, which will be adjusted to the project cost later on.

The cost of per kilowatt electricity is expected to be Tk4 plus Tk0.80 wheeling charge.

The PGCB will charge Bangladesh Power Development Board Tk0.23 per unit.

Dhaka and New Delhi signed a memorandum of understanding to import 500 megawatt of electricity in January 2010 during Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina’s visit to India.

NVVN and Power Trading Corporation India Limited (PTC) will supply 250 megawatt each.

Bangladesh was supposed to get 250MW of electricity from India in July 2013, but the deadline was missed because of the delay in setting up transmission line on the Indian side.

Kazi Ishtiak Hasan, project director of Grid Interconnection between Bangladesh and India, said: “The construction of 27km 400KV transmission line and the High Voltage Direct Current substations has been completed in Bangladesh side while India has constructed 71 km line.”

A total of 400KV DC electricity

would be supplied to Bheramara of Bangladesh from Baharampur of India through substations at Ishwardi and Khulna, he added.

On July 28, the cabinet committee on public purchase has approved the import of 250MW electricity from India’s open market.

PTC will supply electricity for three years from the power plants in West Bengal and the eastern region at a tariff rate of Tk6.34 with Tk0.31 wheeling charge.

Sources at the Power Development Board said electricity generation in the country yesterday was about 6,200MW against a projected demand for 7,000MW. l

istry requested the members of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry to request the speaker to block Menon’s bill, saying it was “not consistent” with the country’s constitution.

Foreign Secretary Shahidul Islam confirmed the communication.

Article 23 (a) of the constitution recognises tribal people as “small ethnic groups,” not as adivasis.

“I do not see any justification of forming the caucus on this issue as there is no adivasi in Bangladesh according to the definition of the ILO convention,” Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shafique Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

According to the ILO definition, there must be conquer or colonisation of such people for getting recognition as adivasis, he said. “Such things never happened in Bangladesh.”

Menon told the Dhaka Tribune that he did not agree with what the government was doing regarding the status of the ethnic minority groups. l

Two prime accused in the BDR carnage case – former deputy assistant director Syed Tawhidul Alam and soldier Selim Reza – yesterday pleaded before a special court “not guilty” and defended their role during the 2009 mutiny.

The Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court 3, set up in the capital’s Bakshibazar, finished reading out the allegations brought by the witnesses against the last 86 accused out of 847. The two prime accused and another defended themselves.

So far, all but one of the 847 accused pleaded “not guilty.” Among them, 14 accused told the court that they would bring witnesses in their favour. The court fixed tomorrow for producing the witnesses.

On September 2, the court ended recording the deposition of 654 prosecution witnesses.

The two-day mutiny broke out at the Pilkhana headquarters in the capital on February 25, 2009, killing at 75 people including 57 army officers deputed to the border force.

A total of 46 prosecution witnesses made allegations against prime accused Tawhid. One of the allegations say he was the person who had led a rebel BDR delegation in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her then official residence Jamuna for negotiation.

Tawhid sought time to speak up and told the court that LGRD State Minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Awami League lawmaker Mirza Azam had ordered him to go to Jamuna. He also claimed that the rebels would have killed his family members if he had not gone with the team. After reaching Jamuna, former army chief Moeen U Ahmed called him to a separate room.

“He wanted to know who were inside Pilkhana and what they were doing. I told him that I had no idea about that.”

Tawhid said: “When I returned to Pilkhana, the soldiers did not trust me.

Even the government delegation started negotiation with another group of BDR members.”

He alleged that Jatiya Party lawmaker M Golam Reza, who had entered Pilkhana to rescue the hostage families, asked the rebels not to release anyone without his consent. Tawhid was frustrated as the MP was not made a witness in the case. Asked, the accused pleaded “not guilty.”

The court also read out the allegations raised by 29 prosecution against soldier Selim Reza, who however, claimed that he had been tortured for 50 days by Rab in custody. He also pleaded “not guilty.” l

Thai orthopaedics start artificial limb implants

Confessions of a heroin addict – he steals to feed his habit n Moniruzzaman Uzzal Eleven o’clock in the morning at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on a workday last week and a crowd could be seen at the car park in front of the administrative building.

A closer look revealed they had gathered around a man in his late twenties.

A cardboard sign hung from his neck.

The placard read: “I am a thief. I steal shoes. Keep me in mind.”

The young man’s hair looked like it had been haphazardly cut recently.

His face was swollen and battered, and bruises and cuts were visible on various parts of his body.

A member of the internal defence force, the Ansar Bahini, said that the man was caught stealing shoes at the hospital when people went to say the morning prayers. He was also dressed in a loose tunic and pajamas, as if he was going to say his prayers, said the

Ansar member. He added that because so early in the morning security is laid back, the man chose that time to steal the shoes left outside the prayer room.

The Ansar member said he was about to slip away with several shoes hidden in the folds of his tunic.

His movements aroused a security guard’s suspicions, who found the shoes when he stopped and searched the man.

The usual mob justice followed and the young man was severely beaten by the angry men who’d come to pray.

The “thief” said he lived nearby, in Old Dhaka, and that his name was Mobarak. He said he was the eldest of three brothers and four sisters. When he was in class nine, he dropped out of school.

Mobarak then told the Dhaka Tribune how he became addicted to heroin.

Four years ago, Mobarak took heroin for the first time when his friends gave him cigarettes laced with heroin. Soon

he was craving the drug, and he began to take things from the house that he sold to buy heroin. Before long he was stealing from relatives and shoplifting in local stores.

His father only came to know about his addiction a few days back, and kicked Mobarak out of the house.

Mobarak said to buy heroin he need-

ed around Tk50-60 every couple of days. He and his friends scored from Old Dhaka’s Ganaktuli area and went to a spot in Chankharpul, close to the DMCH, to smoke it.

The night before he was caught and beaten, when he started to crave his next hit he did not have the money to buy, so he snuck into the hospital and tried to steal the shoes.

His former neighbours said he worked at a local hardware store, where man who’d worked with him said Mobarak was fired when the owner of the store learned he was an addict.

Another resident from the locality said there are hundreds of young men like Mobarak in the area, who are victims of heroin addiction.

Dr Mushfiqur Rahman, deputy director of DMCH, said they did not take any action against Mobarak, who was allowed to go after he swore he would not enter the hospital again. l

n Moniruzzman Uzzal A 60-member team of orthopaedics specialists from Thailand is now in Dhaka to carry out leg transplants for 100 patients, including those whose legs were amputated after the Rana Plaza tragedy.

The team started operating at the National Institute of Trauma of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation (NITOR) on Sunday and a total of 46 patients got transplanted legs on the very first day.

The government of Thailand is providing the service free of cost as a gesture of friendship to Bangladesh.

Health Secretary MM Niazuddin inaugurated the seven-day programme earlier in the day.

The Thai team arrived in Bangladesh

in two groups, the first team on September 19 and the second on September 22. The pre-surgery examination of the patients was done on Saturday.

“The visiting team are experts in their job and they have brought all necessary instruments with them for the transplant procedure,” said Professor Dr Abdul Awal Rizvi, director of NITOR. “They can create artificial legs within a very short time.”

During their stay, the team would transplant 70 below-knee and 30 above-knee patients, five of whom lost their legs in the Rana Plaza incident.

The operations would end with a closing ceremony on September 28 and the visitors are scheduled to fly back on the next day. 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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Continue to the Business section...

Business

B2 Rana Plaza victims

proposed Tk2.2m each

B3 National handicraft

policy likely by October

Monday, september 23, 2013

Business www.dhakatribune.com/business

Revenue crosses Tk11bn target Income Tax Fair concludes amid overwhelming response n Tribune Report National Board of Revenue has bagged revenue just over the target it set for the Income Tax Fair 2013 that concluded yesterday amid overwhelming response by the taxpayers.

During the weeklong event across the country, it collected Tk11.17bn in income tax as against the target of Tk11bn, officials said.

The figure was Tk8.39bn in the last fair.

They said a total of 510,145 people obtained services from the fair while 12,337 people registered themselves with E-TIN and 74,356 people re-registered. Some 132,017 tax returns were submitted.

As the official income tax submission deadline for fiscal year 2012-2013 will end on September 30, thousands of taxpayers gathered at all the fair venues across the country, NBR officials said.

Addressing the concluding function, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry AHM Mostafa Kamal (Lotus Kamal) requested the revenue authorities to extend the deadline for submission of the tax returns for the last fiscal year by at least one month from September 30.

“We received a huge number of requests from the people for extending the deadline,” he said.

NBR member Syed Aminul Karim said the revenue authorities would introduce online submission of returns from next year.

On the last day of the fair yesterday, hundreds of taxpayers were seen in the long queues at the Officer’s Club premises.

The board served 100,787 taxpayers on the last day while 2,256 registered them-

Visitors are seen asking for information at Income Tax Fair in Dhaka yesterday. The fair concluded yesterday drawing huge number of crowd Rajib Dhar selves for E-TIN and 16,810 re-registered. It collected around Tk3.18bn on the day from 29,310 returns filed by the taxpayers.

To provide income tax related services and to make people conscious about tax payment, the revenue body had organised the fair, which was launched on Monday last at seven divisional headquarters while 54 district headquarters observed the fair for two days.

To facilitate tax related transactions and to help the visitors, E-TIN registration booths, re-registration booths, correction booths, certificate printing and delivery booths, E-payment booths, return filing booths, help desks, emergency health booths were set up at the fair premises in Dhaka.

The visitors were offered to get the electronic TIN registration instantly. l

Imports continue to fall as investment remains dull n Jebun Nesa Alo Bangladesh’s import dropped 28% in August compared to the previous month as the procurement of capital machinery and raw materials continues to be slow with the poor state of investment.

The country’s investment situation has been dull since last fiscal year, pushing a negative growth of import.

In August, the overall import figure fell to US$2.3bn from $3.23bn in July, showed the Bangladesh Bank data.

According to the data, the import figure also dropped 6% in August compared with the same month last year. The import one year ago was $2.48bn.

Experts say although the decline of import leads to the swelling of foreign exchange reserves, such situation is the result

of less import of capital machinery and raw materials, which indicates slow-down of investment and thus is not good for the economy.

According to the central bank data, the forex reserves reached $16bn in August, an amount enough to meet import payments for around five and half months.

Bangladesh Bank said the import of capital machinery fell to $102.54m in August (calculated on the basis of letter of credit ettlements) from $238.85m in the previous month.

“The entrepreneurs would not like to risk facing any political turmoil. As the general elections coming closer, they are going for any fresh investment fearing such situation,” observed a high official of Bangladesh Bank.

He pointed out that the big loan scams in the country’s banking sector and the lost im-

age of garment sector after deadly factory incidents have also discouraged the investors to come up with new investment.

In the fiscal year 2012-2013, the imports fell by 4.36% from the previous fiscal.

The central bank showed the total import in last fiscal stood at nearly $34bn compared to $35.5bn in the previous fiscal.

Exports however continue to increase and in the months of July and August the figure went up more than 14% from the same period of last year.

In these two months, the exports totalled $5bn compared to $4.4bn a year ago.

For last couple of months, the local currency taka has remained strong exchanging at around 77.75 with the greenback.

However, the remittance inflow slowed down to $1bn in August, which was 14.46% less than one year earlier. l

Onion importers may get loan at 10% n Asif Showkat Kallol The government has asked the Bangladesh Bank to initiate steps to cut interest rate for the import of onion and set it at 10%.

Official sources said the direction is intended to ease the skyrocketing onion prices on the local market as Eid-ulAzha and DurgaPujanear.

The government also asked the central bank to ask the banks to provide onion importers with loans at minimum margin.

Indian onion is now selling at over Tk80 per kilogram while the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has started open market sale of onion at Tk55 per kg from yesterday.

Fearing the situation will continue through the Eid and Durga festivals unless any special initiative is taken to bring down the spiraling onion prices, the government has decided to slash interest rate for the onion import, said a high commerce ministry official.

“If the decision is implemented, the prices of onion will drop before Eid,” he hoped. The two biggest festivals of Muslim and Hindu communities will be celebrated in mid-October across the country.

The letter signed by deputy secretary KM Abdul Wadud at commerce ministry was addressed to the central bank governor DrAtiur Rahman.

The letter said as the banks are charging 18-20% interest at present, the government suggested the central bank direct the commercial banks to lower the rate for onion import.

The import of Indian onion has become almost halted after the price rose to $900 per tonne last week, which led to deteriorate further the already unstable market of the vegetable in Bangladesh, cited the letter.

Official sources said the sudden increase in local demand in some of the Indian states had prompted the Indian government to raise the export price.

After that, the Indian exporters raised the price of onion to $650 per tonnein Augustfrom $350.

Bangladesh produces about 1.4m tonnes of onion annually against a demand of 2m and the country needs to meet 20% of its demand through import from neighbouring India.

In the last fiscal, India produced nearly 14m tonnes of onionand exported 2m tonnes, said official sources. l

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Monday, september 23, 2013

Rana Plaza tragedy

Committee proposes Tk2.2m for each victim

n Tribune Report

n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The sub-committee on compensation for the Rana Plaza victims has proposed at least Tk2.2m against each of the victims of Rana Plaza tragedy – be they killed or missing.

It also proposed job facility for at least one member from each of the families.

The committee, formed to prepare compensation limit, submitted a set of proposals, including Tk1m as compensation for a worker who lost one limb in the building collapse and Tk2m for a person who lost two limbs.

It proposed more than Tk500,000 as compensation for the loss of each additional limb more than two.

MM Akash, who teaches economics at Dhaka University and the head of the committee, on Friday submitted its report to a high-powered committee, headed by the ninth infantry division general officer commanding Major General Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy.

Earlier on April 30, the High Court ordered to form a committee to fix adequate compensation for the victims of Rana Plaza collapse that killed over 1,100 workers and injured over 2,500.

The committee proposed that the average age of deceased workers should be 20 years and the average retirement year should be 50 years.

For 30 years, the basic wage of the workers will be considered Tk5,000 a month plus an

amount based on annual inflation of 6.72%.

The adjustment of the inflation with the present value will have a discount of about 2.5%.

In keeping with the calculation, the total compensation for work years reaches about Tk1.8m. The compensation for burial cost will be Tk25,000.

The total cost for education up to the higher secondary level for children of each of the victims will be 10% of the earnings of the lost work years, which is around Tk180,000 or the value of the original facility of educa-

tion. The compensation for gratuity will be about Tk180,000.

For injured workers, the committee proposed compensation proportionate to the compensation for the workers who died or went missing.

MM Akash said that they had prepared a set of proposals for the compensation but refused to make any comment on amount of compensation. He said the main committee would decide the amount of the compensation. l

India to resume gold imports but rules mean no rush n Reuters, New Delhi

Airtel inks deal with STBL

n Tribune Business Desk Airtel Bangladesh Ltd has signed an agreement with Signature Technology Bangladesh Ltd (STBL).

Under the deal, the mobile operator Airtel will provide voice and data connections, SMS and other solutions to Signature Technology, said a press release.

Signature Technology is a sister concern of ALMATA Group.

STBL chairman Md Abdul Mannan, managing director Md Sherazam Munir and Airtel chief operating officer Rajnish Kaul, head of corporate sales Adil Hossain, head of SME Raihan Faiz Osmani and other officials of both of the companies were present at the agreement signing at the Airtel’s Guslhan office in Dhaka yesterday. l

Banks asked to use own BIN in commercial papers

India will start buying gold again after a twomonth gap as the government and banks have agreed how new rules on imports should work, easing prices in the world’s biggest bullion buyer and helping supplies just as seasonal demand kicks in.

But monthly shipments by the world’s top importer are unlikely to be even a quarter of May’s record 162 tonnes to start with and annual imports will be sharply down, helping to cut a bulging current account deficit and support the rupee.

India’s gold shipments came to a virtual halt after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told importers on July 22 that a fifth of their purchases would have to be turned around for export and that 80% would be available for domestic use.

“The confusion was mainly about the

80:20 norm. Many people misread this. This means at least 20% of imported gold must be exported,” a trade ministry source told reporters, clarifying the rule, that had been interpreted as limiting supplies for exports to just a fifth of total shipments.

“The issue stands resolved now and as a result imports will start immediately,” said the source, who did not want to be named.

Banks and other importers had halted purchases as there was no clarity despite attempts by the RBI and customs authorities to ease confusion. The resulting impasse crimped supply and pushed up domestic prices.

While the government has taken urgent steps to curb imports, hiking duty three times since January 1 to a record 10%, it wants to boost exports, which had fallen 70% in July to $441m, as the flip side of efforts to rein in a current account deficit which hit a record in 2012/13. l

The Authorised Dealer (AD) banks will require to mention their own 11-digit business identification number (BIN) along with the central one in the letters of credit, bills of lading and other shipping documents.

Bangladesh Bank gave the direction at a circular issued on Thursday after having received an advice from the NBR to be followed by the AD banks in this regard.

While opening LC for the importers, the AD banks earlier were asked to include the central Vat registration number or BIN with name and address of importer in those documents.

Now, the banks will also have to include their new 11-digit BIN along with the central one.

There is a BIN centrally used by the banks.

NBR asked the AD banks who do not have their own BIN to immediately collect it from the nearby Vat offices. l

$2.3bn remittance received in July-August

n Tribune Report

Bangladesh received US$2.3bn remittance in first two months of the current fiscal year.

Expatriate Bangladeshis working in Saudi Arabia sent the highest amount of nearly $485m in remittance in July-August period.

Of the total, the Bangladeshis in UAE sent home the second highest amount of $430.5m, followed by $368.5m from USA, $182m from Kuwait, $155m from Malaysia, $154m from UK and $104m from Oman, according to Bangladesh Bank data released yesterday. The central bank figures show the remittance stood at $1.23bn in July, hitting five-month high ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.

The figure was down nearly 19% from the month of August when expatriates remitted $1bn.

Remittance flow helped swell foreign exchange reserve that stood at $15.97bn yesterday, said a central bank official. The foreign exchange reserve crossed $16bn for the first time last month. l

Bank Alfalah opens two branches in Dhaka

n Tribune Business Desk Bank Alfalah (BA) has inaugurated two new branches at Uttara and Mirpur in the city recently.

The bank’s director Ikram Ul Majeed Sehgal, country head SAA Masrur, respective branch managers, other high officials and distinguished customers were present on the occasion, said a press release. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Monday, september 23, 2013

National handicraft policy likely by October n Kayes Sohel

Looming political chaos pulls stocks down n Tribune Report Stocks declined broadly yesterday amid growing investor concern about the looming political uncertainty in the run up to the general election.

The benchmark DSEX index shed 61 points or 1.5% to 4,036, its lowest in four weeks and leading it to slide for the fourth consecutive session.

The blue chip index DS30 was down 28 points or 1.9% to 1,484. The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, plunged 106 points to 7,876.

“Market turned in surprisingly down, breaking a consolidation band downwards. After consolidating for last two weeks, this sort of breakout in downside may instill bearish sentiment among investors,” said Lanka Bangla Securities in its daily market analysis.

This led to a shaky opening of current week dampened by investors’ concern over the imminent political uncertainty, it said.

The government would finalise the national handicraft policy by next month with an objective to make the sector economically viable and get a larger share in the national and international markets.

The proposed policy aimed to provide financial support, increase production, upgrade market strategy, reorient human resources development strategy and engage more rural women.

“The national handicraft policy will take final shape in October,” said Industries Minister Dilip Barua at a meeting at his office in Dhaka yesterday.

The main goal to formulate this policy is to increase capability of import-substitute products like handicrafts using the creativity of rural women, he said.

To faster implementation of the draft national policy, a committee, led by additional secretary of industries ministry GM Zainul Abedin was formed and asked to submit final national handicraft policy taking opinions from the stakeholders.

Earlier, a five-member committee headed by deputy general manager of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) Shamsul Hoque had prepared the draft policy and submitted to the industries ministry recently.

‘Market turned in surprisingly down, breaking a consolidation band downwards. After consolidating for last two weeks, this sort of breakout in downside may instill bearish sentiment among investors’

Bangladesh exports handicraft products worth $1bn annually, which is not a big chunk in comparison with its international market The committee has identified definition as the handicrafts products which are artisanal but chiefly produced by artisans, either completely by hand with the help of hand tools or mechanical means.

Direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the substantial component of the finished products manifesting the country’s great history of tradition and heritage, according to the draft policy.

The draft policy includes the strategies for the development of the sector and export of handicrafts. The committee has proposed cash incentives for export and engagement of more women in the industry.

A National Emporium in the draft policy, where all the handicraft products of the country will be showcased round the year for the prospective buyers, the draft policy noted.

It also recommended developing present National Design Centre which has been disseminating the services to the general people, unemployed artisans, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, particularly to women and clusters of cottage level people working by heredity since 1960.

The draft policy suggests strengthening Bangladesh Handicrafts Manufacturers & Exporters Association which is popularly known as Banglacraft with all the resources including library, information center and training.

3

A woman seen working at a handicraft manufacturing factory in Dhaka Bangladesh exports handicraft products worth $1bn annually, which is not a big chunk in comparison with its international market.

European countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, England, USA, Japan and Australia are main importers of Bangladesh’s handicraft products.

Saarc handicrafts fair begins

Meanwhile, a Saarc handicraft exhibition is being held in Dhaka starting yesterday to bolster mutual harmony in the region through promoting traditional products and developing cultural institutions.

India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are taking part at the fair apart from host Bangladesh.

The Sri Lanka-based Saarc Cultural Cen-

Syed Zakir Hossain

tre in collaboration with Bangladesh culture affairs ministry organised the six-day show at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy premises.

Around 18 craftsmen from Bangladesh, eight from India, 10 from Pakistan, six from Sri Lanka and four from Bhutan are taking part.

This year’s exhibition is being held under four sections – Saarc exhibition on handicrafts, design workshop, buyer-seller meet on the fifth day and review meeting on Saarc map of cultural industries.

Craftsmen from all the Saarc member countries displayed their best products while a special design workshop is scheduled to be conducted by trained professionals, who would focus on increasing the marketability of products within and outside the region. l

It said market appears to be hitting a wall as political disturbance is working as a negative catalyst fading the most recent positive economic indicators those have propelled a rally in index three weeks back.

Participation continued to fall as the total turnover value at DSE stood at Tk4.1bn, which was 14.5% lower than that of the previous session and the lowest in the last 10 trading sessions. IDLC Investment said heavy shed-offs fueled by steep decline in most of the small cap and large cap stocks took a toll of stocks.

Fear of potential political turmoil accelerated this kind of straight downbeat and alongside, profit-booking tendency ahead of Eid-Ul-Azha changed market sentiment slightly and put the bourse in red zone, it said.

Out of 18 sectors, all the major sectors saw drastic fall in market capitalisation except mutual fund which gained 0.21% in market capitalisation.

Tallu Spinning became the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk201.7m changing hands despite regulator is investigating into its recent unusual price hike. Its share prices rose more than 4%.

After Tallu, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd, CMC Kamal, RN Spinning, United Airways, Grameenphone and Meghna Petroleum were the other turnover leaders. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Monday, september 23, 2013

Third time lucky? Singapore Airlines sets sights on India n Reuters, Singapore Almost 13 years after pulling the plug on its last attempt to enter the Indian market, Singapore Airlines Ltd is taking another stab at the country by again teaming up with the Tata Group as part of a broader strategic shift.

Last week, the two companies applied to set up a new New Delhi-based full-service carrier, pledging a combined $100m to get it going. This follows an unsuccessful attempt to do the same in the mid-1990s and a failed attempt to buy state-owned Air India in 2000.

The new carrier, if approved, will initially serve the 1.2bn Indian market. Barring no political or regulatory obstacles, it could be airborne in about a year.

SIA, which will have a 49% stake in the carrier, will be banking on its success.

Intense competition on its mainline medium and long-haul markets from Gulf carriers like Emirates Airline and neighbors such as Garuda Indonesia and Malaysian Airline, and weak demand on services to Europe, means that SIA, Asia’s second-biggest airline with a market value of $10bn, has changed course in recent years.

Sources familiar with the airline’s strategy say that the management, led by low-profile chief executive Goh Choon Phong, is pushing ahead with a “portfolio” strategy that revolves around increasing the company’s

Prudential Financial designated ‘too big to fail’

n AFP, Washington

US regulators named insurer Prudential Financial to its list of “too-big-to-fail” institutions, the third non-bank placed under a tighter regulatory regime to reduce risks to the financial system.

US regulators named insurer Prudential Financial to its list of “too-big-to-fail” institutions, the third non-bank placed under a tighter regulatory regime to reduce risks to the financial system. AFP - US regulators on Friday named insurer Prudential Financial to its list of “too-big-to-fail” institutions, the third nonbank placed under a tighter regulatory regime to reduce risks to the financial system.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council’s move subjects Prudential to tougher oversight and capital standards also applied to the country’s largest banks. FSOC “determined that material financial distress at this company - if it were to occur - could pose a threat to US financial stability,” the agency said, stressing that there were no signs at the moment that Prudential had any trouble. Designating financial institutions as large enough to pose systemic threats - so-called “too-big-to-fail” companies - “is an important tool to mitigate risks posed by those companies, fill gaps in their overall supervision, and provide enhanced standards under which they must operate,” FSOC said. l

The first A380 delivered to Singapore Airlines arrives at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse Blagnac, southern France REUTERS exposure to the fast-growing Asia Pacific and the low-cost markets.

By diversifying its revenue streams and creating new ones, like the Indian joint venture, Goh and his team plans to reduce SIA’s dependence on the flagship carrier over the medium term, say investors and analysts.

“They just have to address why their brand should still be at a premium. They still

have a lot to do to actually get investors to be a bit more confident of their prospects,” said Kristy Fong, an investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, which holds a stake of about 4 percent in SIA. Despite the near term pressure on profits, SIA’s cash pile of $4.5bn the biggest among Asian airlines - means that it has the ability to invest in existing and new airlines, the Cen-

tre for Aviation (CAPA) said in a report.

It started Scoot, a long-haul low-cost airline, last year to tap the low-fare leisure markets that SIA left behind as it focused on the premium business. Its one-third stake in short-haul LCC Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd could also potentially go up to 46.5%.

SIA bought a stake in Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd in late 2012 and increased this to 19.9%, ensuring access to the important Australian market.

Silkair, SIA’s fully-owned regional subsidiary, will retire its fleet of Airbus A320s and induct new Boeing 737s over the next few years as it grows its network of Asia-Pacific services. SIA itself has ordered dozens of new Airbus A350s, and Boeing’s 777-300ERs and 787-10s.

The Indian venture has its challenges. SIA must successfully chart a course around India’s political and bureaucratic minefield for regulatory approval.

Under existing regulations, it must serve the domestic market for five years before it can operate international flights. Taxes and airport fees are high, and profitability rare for the country’s airlines.

SIA’s competitors in the full-service segment are beleaguered Air India, which survives only because of the hundreds of millions of dollars New Delhi has pumped into it, and Jet Airways, in which Etihad Airways is buying a minority stake. l

ECB’s Asmussen says Ireland should stick to austerity target n Reuters, Dublin Ireland should not ease up on austerity in its annual budget next month but stick to a target of 3.1bn euros ($4.2bn) worth of spending cuts and tax hikes, European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said on Saturday.

Ireland has beaten several targets under its bailout, leading to calls by government ministers for a more modest fiscal adjustment for next year than agreed with lenders the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

“I would really suggest to stick to the budget plan for the next year and to stick to the figure of 3.1 billion” euros, Asmussen said in an interview with Irish state broadcaster RTE. “It is crucial the authorities stick to the program’s objectives as they have done to ensure the country remains on a sustainable path,” he said.

Asmussen’s comments echo those by the International Monetary Fund in July when it called on the government to stick to the target. Credit Ratings agency Moody’s on Friday said the country risked a ratings downgrade if its fiscal consolidation faltered.

Members of parliament have suggested cutting the fiscal adjustment to between 2.5

European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Joerg Asmussen gestures as he speaks the debate ‘’European Economic Integration: Challenges and Opportunities’’ in Vilnius July REUTERS and 2.8bn euros, but the government says no decision has been made.

Asmussen was upbeat about Ireland’s growth prospects, saying recent data sup-

ported expectations of a gradual recovery in economic activity in the second half that would help ensure the country exits its bailout on target by the end of the year. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Monday, september 23, 2013

China milk makers including Yili, Mengniu to get state support: report n Reuters, Shanghai Chinese milk powder makers, including Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd and China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, are set to get 30bn yuan ($4.90bn) in official funds to support sector consolidation, media said.

As well as Yili and Mengniu, the first group of firms to benefit would include Feihe International Inc, Heilongjiang Wondersun Dairy Co Ltd and Treasure of Plateau, the official China Business Journal said in its Saturday edition, citing an unidentified source.

Authorities have said they want to consolidate the domestic milk powder sector to increase the ability of companies to compete with international rivals who dominate the lucrative premium end of China’s $12.4bn infant formula market.

Officials at Yili, Mengniu and Feihe were not immediately available for comment.

Chinese milk powder firms would gain the support in the form of government subsidies, funds from China Development Bank and favorable tax policies, the China Business Journal said. The total amount would be about 30bn yuan, it said.

Milk powder is a sensitive topic in China after a 2008 scandal involving milk tainted with melamine led to the deaths of at least six infants and made many thousands ill.

That hit the reputation of domestic dairy firms and boosted the market share of imported brands such as Danone SA, Nestle SA, Mead Johnson Nutrition Co and Abbott Laboratories.

But international milk powder has recently come under the spotlight, with China temporarily banning some dairy products from New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group

Boxes of Mengniu’s milk products are seen at a supermarket in Beijing Ltd FCGHA.NZ, after a scare.

Last month, the country’s price regulator handed down record fines to mostly foreign milk powder makers.

Last week, official Chinese television said French food group Danone SA had bribed doctors and nurses to recommend its Dumex milk powder brand at a hospital in northern China, and said the practice was widespread in the sector.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Informa-

REUTERS

tion Technology has previously released a plan to slash the number of domestic infant formula firms in the highly fragmented market over the next five years to 50 from about 200 now as it looks to create stronger sector leaders.

According to data from market research firm Euromonitor, Yili and Wondersun were the two leading Chinese milk powder producers by retail value in 2012. Feihe and Mengniu were in the top ten. l

US companies await reforms from China’s new leadership n AFP, Washington US companies in China are taking a cautious view of the new Chinese leadership, hoping a key November Communist Party meeting will clear up the outlook for economic reform.

Representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham Shanghai), visiting Washington last week, said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated plans to further open up the economy.

But it was unclear whether he had all the control levers at his command less than a year after taking power, they said.

Xi, who became head of the Communist Party last November, has shown he will take “a more pro-market approach than his predecessor (Hu Jintao),” Kenneth Jarrett, president of AmCham Shanghai, told reporters.

But businesses were waiting to see what comes out of a key meeting of the Chinese Communist Party leadership in November.

The meeting - known as the third plenum - traditionally is used to unveil political and economic reforms.

The plenum could be an “opening salvo” on Chinese reforms, Jarrett said.

The AmCham Shanghai delegation was in the US capital for their annual “doorknock” talks with top Obama administration officials, lawmakers, and members of leading think tanks, pushing for a stronger US-China economic and trade relationship.

Jarrett said that China has only provided “sketchy” details on the planned free-trade zone in Shanghai announced in early September.

The FTZ could be a “pilot project” for financial and economic reforms, he said.

Timothy Stratford, a member of the delegation, said the Shanghai FTZ could be used to test a lowering of barriers to US investment in China.

The relaunch of US-China negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty in July was an encouraging sign, the executives said.

The Chamber estimates that a successful conclusion of the BIT could open more than 100 Chinese industries to US investment.

And the benefit would be shared, fostering badly needed US job growth as the economy recovers from the Great Recession.

China already is the fastest-growing source of foreign direct investment into the United States, up at an annual average rate

of 71% from 2008-2012, according to the US government. China warming to Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The BIT could even pave the way for China to join the US-led initiative to create an Asia-Pacific free-trade area, the business leaders said.

China’s new leadership appeared to have made a remarkable u-turn on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Stratford, a managing partner of law firm Covington and Burling and a former assistant US Trade Representative. Just four months ago, he said, Chinese officials called the US-led TPP initiative “insidious containment.”

“Now we’re hearing far more positive words,” he said.

Robert Theleen, chairman of AmCham Shanghai, said that China’s income surge of more than 20% a year was more important than the country’s gross domestic product growth, which has slowed modestly from a blistering pace a few years ago.

The robust Chinese income growth “is tied more and more to urbanization,” said Theleen, chairman and chief executive of ChinaVest, a Shanghai-based merchant bank he founded in 1982. l

5

Japan’s gaming market: a world apart

n AFP, Chiba

The latest version of blockbuster videogame Grand Theft Auto may have stoked a worldwide buying frenzy, but the ultra-violent offering is likely to be a minnow in Japan’s vast gaming market.

Shoot-em-up offerings from abroad often struggle to gain traction in the multi-billon-dollar Japanese videogame sector where fantasy-style games reign supreme and sell in the millions - though many in the West have not heard of them.

They include the hugely popular Monster Hunter franchise, which has sold 23 million copies and counting since its debut a decade ago.

“But most of them were sold in Japan even though we did make an English version,” said a spokeswoman for game creator Capcom.

Language translation problems and cultural differences were among the reasons cited for the struggles of foreign game operators in Japan, a rift that was apparent as gamers flocked to the Tokyo Game Show this week.

Over 600 games titles were on offer at the four-day extravaganza that wraps up Sunday.

Though Japan once dominated the worldwide market with the likes of Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, the country appears to be looking increasingly inward.

“The main trends of the videogame market in Japan are divided into two categories: major worldwide successes like Pokemon, Final Fantasy or Biohazard, and games that are specifically designed for core Japanese gamers,” said the Asia Trend Map institute, pointing to the “overwhelming dominance of games made in Japan”.

A blockbuster offering based on the popular comic book “Shonen Jump” reflects a common theme in which many Japanese games are centred around a character well known in multiple media platforms, from so-called manga cartoons and movies to music and television series.

Namco Bandai’s AKB 1/149 Renai Sosenkyo, a popular dating simulation game, is the kind of title known to most at home but with little name familiarity abroad - AKB48 is the name of a well-known girl band.

“The title isn’t suited to foreign markets,” said Namco Bandai spokesman Toshiaki Honda.

Even Japanese giant Sony is releasing its PlayStation 4 abroad before its hits store shelves in Japan - a first - with executives saying that titles expected to be hits at home won’t be ready in time.

Eiji Araki, senior official of mobile social game maker Gree, added: “We’ve learned that characters and visuals favoured in the United States are different from those in Japan.”

For some, the unique character of Japan’s gaming market encapsulates the country’s so-called Galapagos Syndrome in which firms concentrate almost solely on the domestic market. The take up in Japan on Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones trailed huge sales abroad as many mobile carriers focused on homegrown flip-phone offerings.

While iPhone is now selling well in Japan, a ride on the Tokyo subway underscores another unique aspect of the nation’s gaming market a love of handheld gaming devices. l

6

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Monday, september 23, 2013

DSE Broad Index: 4036.79 ⇓ 1.49%, Turnover: 4149.40 M.Tk ⇓ 14.48%, PE: 12.76 Turnover 4,514.50 MTk . ⇓ 13.60% September 19, 2013 MarketCap. 1,969.72 BTk. ⇓ 1.65% CSE All Share Index: 12484 ⇓ 1.22%, Turnover: 365.10 M Tk. ⇓ 2.23%, PE: 12.59 Combined Turnover Leader

BANK ABBANK | 2.95 | 32.60 | Vol. 201077 D: 23.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 23.46 | 25.00 / 21.00 C: 23.10 ⇑ 0.43% | 23.35 | 24.20 / 23.10 CITYBANK | 1.15 | 25.97 | Vol. 343669 D: 15.50 ⇓ 0.64% | 15.63 | 16.20 / 14.20 C: 15.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 15.61 | 15.90 / 15.50 IFIC | 1.10 | 18.34 | Vol. 120398 D: 19.60 ⇓ 1.01% | 19.81 | 20.40 / 18.80 C: 19.70 ⇓ 1.01% | 19.83 | 20.00 / 19.60 ISLAMIBANK | 3.78 | 27.16 | Vol. 280951 D: 36.30 ⇑ 0.28% | 36.14 | 37.00 / 33.00 C: 35.90 ⇓ 0.28% | 35.87 | 36.00 / 35.70 NBL | 1.05 | 15.76 | Vol. 1258913 D: 10.70 ⇓ 1.83% | 10.84 | 11.00 / 10.00 C: 10.80 ⇓ 0.92% | 10.86 | 11.00 / 10.70 PUBALIBANK | 1.92 | 21.18 | Vol. 148799 D: 31.20 ⇓ 0.64% | 30.90 | 32.00 / 29.00 C: 30.50 ⇓ 0.33% | 30.32 | 30.50 / 30.10 RUPALIBANK | 6.70 | 64.27 | Vol. 9835 D: 58.50 ⇓ 0.34% | 58.77 | 60.30 / 57.50 UCBL | 1.90 | 21.72 | Vol. 949207 D: 17.10 ⇓ 2.29% | 17.25 | 17.80 / 16.00 C: 17.00 ⇓ 1.73% | 17.23 | 17.50 / 17.00 UTTARABANK | 3.42 | 26.97 | Vol. 197948 D: 25.20 ⇓ 0.40% | 25.35 | 25.70 / 24.00 C: 25.10 ⇓ 1.18% | 25.12 | 25.50 / 24.00 ICBIBANK | -1.60 | -13.03 | Vol. 111500 D: 5.80 ⇓ 1.69% | 5.85 | 6.00 / 5.80 EBL | 3.91 | 28.22 | Vol. 40800 D: 26.10 ⇑ 0.38% | 26.14 | 26.20 / 25.60 C: 25.90 ⇑ 0.78% | 25.90 | 25.90 / 25.90 ALARABANK | 2.03 | 14.91 | Vol. 235496 D: 13.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 13.93 | 14.10 / 13.00 C: 13.80 ⇓ 2.13% | 13.82 | 14.20 / 13.70 PRIMEBANK | 2.89 | 22.40 | Vol. 195184 D: 17.60 ⇑ 0.57% | 17.69 | 17.90 / 15.80 C: 17.90 ⇑ 2.87% | 17.87 | 18.00 / 17.80 SOUTHEASTB | 1.89 | 22.66 | Vol. 321270 D: 14.90 ⇓ 1.32% | 15.01 | 15.30 / 13.90 C: 14.80 ⇓ 1.33% | 14.92 | 15.50 / 14.80 DHAKABANK | 1.46 | 18.08 | Vol. 30093 D: 17.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 17.61 | 18.10 / 16.00 C: 17.90 ⇑ 1.70% | 17.82 | 17.90 / 16.90 NCCBANK | 1.90 | 15.88 | Vol. 293241 D: 11.20 ⇓ 1.75% | 11.28 | 12.00 / 10.50 C: 11.20 ⇓ 2.61% | 11.26 | 11.50 / 11.20 SIBL | 2.05 | 14.47 | Vol. 335728 D: 11.10 ⇓ 0.89% | 11.18 | 11.50 / 10.10 C: 11.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 11.20 | 11.30 / 11.00 DUTCHBANGL | 11.57 | 54.27 | Vol. 23540 D: 92.10 ⇓ 0.65% | 92.12 | 94.00 / 90.00 MTBL | 1.17 | 17.27 | Vol. 42540 D: 14.20 ⇓ 3.40% | 14.28 | 14.50 / 14.00 STANDBANKL | 2.33 | 14.41 | Vol. 410691 D: 12.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 12.88 | 13.00 / 11.50 C: 12.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 12.75 | 13.00 / 12.60 ONEBANKLTD | 2.35 | 15.34 | Vol. 280386 D: 14.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 14.18 | 15.00 / 12.80 C: 14.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 14.25 | 14.70 / 14.10 BANKASIA | 1.35 | 20.80 | Vol. 324906 D: 19.40 ⇑ 0.52% | 19.45 | 19.50 / 17.50 C: 19.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 19.00 | 19.00 / 19.00 MERCANBANK | 2.07 | 16.59 | Vol. 432694 D: 11.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 11.62 | 12.00 / 10.60 C: 11.50 ⇓ 0.86% | 11.49 | 11.60 / 11.00 EXIMBANK | 1.80 | 14.31 | Vol. 703399 D: 10.80 ⇓ 0.92% | 10.85 | 11.10 / 9.90 C: 10.90 ⇓ 0.91% | 10.93 | 11.50 / 9.90 JAMUNABANK | 2.47 | 18.56 | Vol. 71055 D: 13.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 13.35 | 13.50 / 12.20 C: 13.30 ⇑ 1.53% | 13.11 | 13.30 / 13.00 BRACBANK | 1.51 | 24.87 | Vol. 175027 D: 27.30 ⇓ 1.80% | 27.46 | 27.90 / 26.00 C: 26.80 ⇓ 2.19% | 26.92 | 27.20 / 26.80 SHAHJABANK | 2.61 | 14.47 | Vol. 168417 D: 13.60 ⇓ 0.73% | 13.56 | 13.90 / 12.90 C: 13.50 ⇓ 0.74% | 13.51 | 13.60 / 13.50 PREMIERBAN | 1.18 | 13.95 | Vol. 316869 D: 9.40 ⇓ 1.05% | 9.46 | 10.00 / 8.80 C: 9.60 ⇑ 1.05% | 9.64 | 9.80 / 9.50

TO M. Tk.

% of TTL

Avg. P

Tallu Spinning -A

4631020

208.97

4.63

BD Submarine Cable-A

714220

185.76

4.11

CMC Kamal Tex. -A

4450542

161.38

3.57

36.26

R. N. Spinning-A

3525228

2.50

32.08

UNITED AIR-A

CompanyCode | EPS | BV | Volume Traded (Share) DSE/CSE: ClosePrice ⇓/⇑ Chn % | Avg.Price | Hi / Lo

Vol.

5583083

113.08 107.50

2.38

TRUSTBANK | 0.50 | 18.00 | Vol. 24135 D: 16.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.66 | 17.00 / 15.00 FIRSTSBANK | 1.85 | 13.89 | Vol. 233277 D: 11.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 11.29 | 11.50 / 10.50 C: 11.30 ⇑ 0.89% | 11.29 | 11.40 / 11.10 NON BANKING F I IDLC | 4.43 | 29.18 | Vol. 147415 D: 59.60 ⇓ 1.97% | 60.10 | 61.00 / 58.00 C: 59.80 ⇓ 2.13% | 60.11 | 60.90 / 59.50 ULC | 1.80 | 14.90 | Vol. 91945 D: 26.90 ⇓ 1.47% | 27.14 | 28.00 / 25.00 UTTARAFIN | 7.16 | 41.54 | Vol. 90686 D: 76.30 ⇓ 0.52% | 77.20 | 80.00 / 70.00 C: 76.60 ⇓ 0.52% | 76.95 | 78.00 / 76.60 MIDASFIN | 0.16 | 10.21 | Vol. 12500 D: 28.90 ⇓ 3.67% | 28.96 | 30.00 / 28.00 FLEASEINT | 2.34 | 13.93 | Vol. 403334 D: 24.30 ⇓ 4.71% | 24.79 | 28.00 / 24.00 C: 24.40 ⇓ 4.69% | 24.66 | 25.20 / 24.40 PLFSL | 1.37 | 17.48 | Vol. 502192 D: 22.90 ⇓ 3.38% | 23.26 | 24.00 / 21.50 C: 23.10 ⇓ 2.53% | 23.32 | 24.20 / 22.90 PRIMEFIN | 0.87 | 17.88 | Vol. 208760 D: 24.00 ⇓ 2.04% | 24.31 | 24.90 / 23.90 C: 24.10 ⇓ 2.82% | 24.27 | 24.60 / 24.00 PREMIERLEA | 0.10 | 11.37 | Vol. 270400 D: 10.50 ⇓ 4.55% | 10.71 | 10.90 / 10.50 C: 10.60 ⇓ 4.50% | 10.87 | 11.00 / 10.50 ISLAMICFIN | 1.03 | 15.48 | Vol. 546034 D: 15.70 ⇓ 2.48% | 16.01 | 16.60 / 14.80 C: 15.70 ⇓ 3.68% | 16.04 | 17.20 / 15.60 LANKABAFIN | 1.61 | 31.07 | Vol. 1651365 D: 57.40 ⇓ 6.36% | 58.21 | 61.00 / 55.20 C: 57.00 ⇓ 8.06% | 60.31 | 61.00 / 56.70 BIFC | 0.15 | 18.58 | Vol. 391700 D: 17.50 ⇑ 4.17% | 17.84 | 18.30 / 15.50 C: 17.50 ⇑ 1.74% | 18.12 | 18.90 / 17.40 IPDC | 1.23 | 19.43 | Vol. 325522 D: 18.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 19.05 | 19.90 / 18.10 C: 19.00 ⇑ 2.15% | 18.91 | 19.50 / 18.40 DBH | 4.47 | 21.27 | Vol. 102344 D: 61.40 ⇑ 0.49% | 61.68 | 62.70 / 60.00 C: 61.30 ⇓ 2.23% | 61.32 | 61.50 / 61.20 NHFIL | 0.57 | 12.70 | Vol. 276000 D: 29.00 ⇓ 3.97% | 29.66 | 30.60 / 28.80 C: 29.00 ⇓ 5.23% | 29.24 | 29.80 / 28.80 BAYLEASING | 0.72 | 25.55 | Vol. 73134 D: 27.70 ⇓ 1.07% | 27.75 | 28.10 / 25.50 C: 27.80 ⇓ 1.07% | 27.86 | 28.00 / 27.70 ICB | 109.65 | 769.98 | Vol. 3800 D: 1994 ⇓ 3.82% | 2021 | 2115 / 1989 C: 2125 ⇑ 1.58% | 2125 | 2125 / 2125 GSPFINANCE | 1.63 | 22.23 | Vol. 98835 D: 25.20 ⇓ 1.95% | 25.60 | 26.30 / 23.20 C: 25.90 ⇓ 1.15% | 25.65 | 25.90 / 25.40 FAREASTFIN | 0.68 | 13.64 | Vol. 2685000 D: 17.80 ⇓ 5.32% | 18.22 | 19.20 / 17.70 C: 17.90 ⇓ 5.79% | 18.22 | 19.20 / 17.80 INVESTMENT 2NDICB | 44.10 | 253.11 | Vol. 100 D: 264.9 ⇓ 0.41% | 260.00 | 265.0 / 264.9 3RDICB | 26.16 | 235.16 | Vol. 900 D: 174.0 ⇓ 1.08% | 174.44 | 176.0 / 170.2 4THICB | 29.24 | 229.24 | Vol. 1900 D: 168.4 ⇓ 0.82% | 168.42 | 170.0 / 165.0 6THICB | 10.99 | 60.14 | Vol. 4200 D: 46.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 45.95 | 46.70 / 45.50 8THICB | 12.47 | 70.07 | Vol. 22000 D: 51.30 ⇑ 2.40% | 51.00 | 52.40 / 49.70 1STBSRS | 14.43 | 161.88 | Vol. 127000 D: 100.9 ⇑ 9.67% | 98.11 | 101.2 / 93.60 C: 104.3 ⇑ 9.91% | 101.30 | 99.50 / 104.0 AIMS1STMF | 3.02 | 15.70 | Vol. 333750 D: 39.70 ⇓ 1.73% | 40.35 | 41.60 / 39.50 C: 40.00 ⇓ 0.50% | 40.15 | 40.50 / 39.60 ICBAMCL1ST | 7.14 | 48.54 | Vol. 80000 D: 33.10 ⇓ 0.90% | 34.23 | 35.50 / 32.90 C: 33.50 ⇑ 2.13% | 33.50 | 33.50 / 33.50 ICBISLAMIC | 2.21 | 26.81 | Vol. 33000 D: 17.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 17.55 | 17.90 / 17.40

45.12 260.09

19.25

DSE Gainer

DSE Loser

C%

A%

CP

Desh Garments-B

10.00

18.27

92.40

ISN Ltd.-A

10.00

11.42

24.20

Rahima Food -A

9.97

11.49

34.20

Prime Textile-A

9.96

10.04

29.80

BD. Autocars -B

9.91

6.82

51.00

GRAMEEN1 | 6.26 | 33.23 | Vol. 473000 D: 45.00 ⇓ 2.60% | 46.15 | 49.90 / 44.70 C: 45.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 45.60 | 45.80 / 45.40 ICB1STNRB | 4.06 | 35.31 | Vol. 7500 D: 24.20 ⇑ 2.98% | 24.27 | 25.00 / 23.80 ICB2NDNRB | 2.49 | 16.24 | Vol. 158500 D: 9.40 ⇓ 1.05% | 9.42 | 9.60 / 9.30 C: 9.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 9.33 | 9.50 / 9.30 GRAMEENS2 | 2.17 | 16.41 | Vol. 667800 D: 16.20 ⇓ 0.61% | 16.47 | 16.80 / 15.50 C: 16.20 ⇓ 1.82% | 16.48 | 16.80 / 16.20 1STPRIMFMF | 0.64 | 11.63 | Vol. 1051000 D: 20.90 ⇑ 3.47% | 21.60 | 22.10 / 20.40 C: 20.90 ⇑ 3.98% | 21.67 | 22.10 / 19.50 EBL1STMF | 0.55 | 12.62 | Vol. 254644 D: 6.50 ⇓ 1.52% | 6.59 | 6.80 / 6.00 C: 6.50 ⇓ 2.99% | 6.68 | 6.80 / 6.50 ICBAMCL2ND | 0.60 | 12.12 | Vol. 43000 D: 5.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.45 | 5.60 / 5.40 C: 5.30 ⇓ 3.64% | 5.30 | 5.30 / 5.30 ICBEPMF1S1 | 0.52 | 11.32 | Vol. 79500 D: 5.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.69 | 5.80 / 5.60 C: 5.70 ⇓ 1.72% | 5.65 | 5.70 / 5.60 TRUSTB1MF | 0.75 | 11.65 | Vol. 861021 D: 7.10 ⇓ 1.39% | 7.28 | 7.60 / 6.50 C: 7.10 ⇓ 1.39% | 7.29 | 7.50 / 7.00 PRIME1ICBA | 0.42 | 11.18 | Vol. 129500 D: 5.10 ⇓ 1.92% | 5.17 | 5.30 / 5.10 C: 5.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.21 | 5.30 / 5.10 DBH1STMF | -1.12 | 10.15 | Vol. 339500 D: 5.40 ⇓ 1.82% | 5.48 | 5.50 / 5.40 C: 5.30 ⇓ 1.85% | 5.32 | 5.40 / 5.30 IFIC1STMF | 0.83 | 11.88 | Vol. 392716 D: 6.30 ⇓ 1.56% | 6.36 | 6.50 / 6.20 C: 6.30 ⇓ 1.56% | 6.31 | 6.40 / 6.30 PF1STMF | 0.51 | 11.11 | Vol. 280500 D: 5.10 ⇓ 1.92% | 5.15 | 5.30 / 5.10 C: 5.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.17 | 5.20 / 5.10 ICB3RDNRB | 0.00 | 10.60 | Vol. 326500 D: 5.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.14 | 5.20 / 5.10 C: 5.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.03 | 5.10 / 5.00 1JANATAMF | 0.78 | 10.68 | Vol. 189500 D: 5.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.72 | 5.80 / 5.70 C: 5.80 ⇑ 1.75% | 5.72 | 5.80 / 5.70 GREENDELMF | -0.82 | 9.72 | Vol. 150000 D: 5.10 ⇓ 1.92% | 5.14 | 5.30 / 5.10 C: 5.00 ⇓ 3.85% | 5.07 | 5.10 / 5.00 POPULAR1MF | 0.77 | 11.38 | Vol. 332571 D: 5.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.85 | 6.00 / 5.50 C: 5.80 ⇓ 1.69% | 5.83 | 5.90 / 5.80 IFILISLMF1 | 0.00 | 10.45 | Vol. 366000 D: 5.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.19 | 5.20 / 5.10 C: 5.10 ⇓ 1.92% | 5.10 | 5.20 / 5.10 PHPMF1 | 0.63 | 10.92 | Vol. 537000 D: 5.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.42 | 5.50 / 5.40 C: 5.40 ⇓ 1.82% | 5.43 | 5.50 / 5.40 AIBL1STIMF | -0.07 | 9.25 | Vol. 16000 D: 6.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.50 | 6.40 / 6.30 C: 6.10 ⇓ 4.69% | 6.15 | 6.30 / 6.10 MBL1STMF | -0.16 | 9.08 | Vol. 243000 D: 6.20 ⇑ 1.64% | 6.22 | 6.30 / 6.00 C: 6.10 ⇑ 3.39% | 6.08 | 6.10 / 6.00 SEBL1STMF | 0.94 | 11.85 | Vol. 698150 D: 7.70 ⇓ 1.28% | 7.87 | 8.10 / 7.50 C: 7.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 7.80 | 8.00 / 7.70 EBLNRBMF | 1.07 | 10.88 | Vol. 8000 D: 7.40 ⇑ 2.78% | 7.50 | 7.60 / 7.00 RELIANCE1 | 0.95 | 10.33 | Vol. 445400 D: 8.00 ⇑ 1.27% | 8.11 | 8.30 / 8.00 C: 8.00 ⇑ 1.27% | 8.00 | 8.00 / 8.00 LRGLOBMF1 | 0.50 | 10.82 | Vol. 24000 D: 6.60 ⇓ 2.94% | 6.63 | 6.80 / 6.50 ABB1STMF | 0.92 | 10.63 | Vol. 33500 D: 6.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.91 | 7.00 / 6.90 C: 6.80 ⇓ 32.67% | 6.80 | 6.80 / 6.80 NLI1STMF | 1.17 | 12.22 | Vol. 752750 D: 8.00 ⇓ 1.23% | 8.20 | 8.50 / 7.30 C: 8.20 ⇓ 1.20% | 8.13 | 8.30 / 8.10 FBFIF | 1.30 | 10.27 | Vol. 6000 D: 8.80 ⇑ 3.53% | 8.91 | 8.90 / 8.70 C: 7.90 ⇓ 1.25% | 7.90 | 7.90 / 7.90 NCCBLMF1 | 1.16 | 10.48 | Vol. 3500 D: 8.40 ⇑ 5.00% | 8.29 | 8.50 / 8.00

Kay & Que (BD) -Z Savar Refractories-Z Quasem Drycells-A Imam Button -Z Meghna Con. Milk-B

C%

A%

CP

-9.79

-9.69

17.50

-8.96

-11.92

86.40

-8.38

-5.78

35.00

-8.14

-7.50

7.90

-7.95

-7.10

8.10

ICBSONALI1 | 0.00 | 10.39 | Vol. 271500 D: 6.40 ⇑ 1.59% | 6.40 | 6.50 / 6.30 C: 6.30 ⇓ 1.56% | 6.30 | 6.40 / 6.20 EXIM1STMF | 0.00 | 10.91 | Vol. 5000 D: 6.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 7.00 | 7.00 / 6.80 ENGINEERING AFTABAUTO | 4.29 | 52.65 | Vol. 645334 D: 112.5 ⇓ 2.77% | 113.50 | 121.0 / 108.0 C: 112.8 ⇓ 2.67% | 113.98 | 117.5 / 112.1 AZIZPIPES | 0.39 | -42.04 | Vol. 900 D: 17.60 ⇓ 2.76% | 17.78 | 18.50 / 17.10 OLYMPIC | 5.94 | 14.91 | Vol. 183055 D: 223.0 ⇓ 2.79% | 224.70 | 231.9 / 217.0 C: 221.7 ⇓ 3.36% | 224.79 | 227.0 / 221.2 BDLAMPS | -5.31 | 37.07 | Vol. 34050 D: 158.9 ⇓ 5.25% | 160.45 | 170.0 / 157.0 C: 159.0 ⇓ 4.50% | 159.73 | 164.0 / 157.1 ECABLES | 2.04 | 18.87 | Vol. 11700 D: 79.70 ⇓ 2.45% | 79.91 | 86.00 / 79.10 C: 80.00 ⇓ 1.23% | 80.00 | 80.00 / 80.00 MONNOSTAF | 5.31 | 44.78 | Vol. 11700 D: 451.0 ⇑ 8.10% | 450.00 | 453.7 / 434.3 SINGERBD | 9.99 | 45.74 | Vol. 202909 D: 213.5 ⇓ 3.87% | 216.61 | 226.0 / 210.0 C: 214.0 ⇓ 2.86% | 215.33 | 221.0 / 213.0 ATLASBANG | 11.98 | 207.70 | Vol. 15578 D: 184.5 ⇓ 2.84% | 186.16 | 189.0 / 184.1 BDAUTOCA | 0.25 | 6.23 | Vol. 127064 D: 51.00 ⇑ 9.91% | 49.80 | 51.00 / 43.00 QSMDRYCELL | 1.65 | 58.49 | Vol. 474115 D: 35.00 ⇓ 8.38% | 36.05 | 38.10 / 34.40 C: 35.40 ⇓ 7.09% | 36.23 | 37.10 / 35.00 RENWICKJA | 5.62 | -90.00 | Vol. 14100 D: 178.8 ⇓ 0.72% | 179.15 | 186.6 / 178.0 NTLTUBES | -2.52 | 312.10 | Vol. 53560 D: 81.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 82.17 | 84.20 / 77.00 BDTHAI | 0.43 | 39.35 | Vol. 1038384 D: 31.40 ⇑ 3.29% | 31.38 | 32.50 / 28.00 C: 31.40 ⇑ 2.61% | 31.25 | 32.10 / 30.50 SALAMCRST | 3.31 | 20.00 | Vol. 214020 D: 41.70 ⇓ 1.65% | 42.00 | 42.80 / 38.30 C: 41.40 ⇓ 2.59% | 41.67 | 42.50 / 41.30 GOLDENSON | 3.70 | 28.70 | Vol. 242901 D: 42.50 ⇓ 2.75% | 42.97 | 43.80 / 40.00 C: 42.40 ⇓ 2.97% | 42.80 | 43.20 / 42.20 BSRMSTEEL | 3.06 | 19.53 | Vol. 178994 D: 70.30 ⇓ 2.09% | 70.77 | 71.80 / 68.00 C: 70.50 ⇓ 1.54% | 70.51 | 71.10 / 70.20 NAVANACNG | 4.09 | 27.04 | Vol. 148962 D: 68.30 ⇓ 3.12% | 68.99 | 71.30 / 64.00 C: 68.40 ⇓ 3.25% | 68.88 | 69.80 / 68.10 DESHBANDHU | 1.16 | 12.02 | Vol. 821504 D: 24.00 ⇓ 2.04% | 24.78 | 25.90 / 22.10 C: 24.10 ⇓ 2.03% | 24.71 | 25.90 / 23.80 GPHISPAT | 2.11 | 15.27 | Vol. 205000 D: 42.60 ⇓ 1.84% | 42.94 | 43.30 / 42.50 C: 43.00 ⇓ 2.05% | 42.40 | 43.00 / 42.10 BENGALWTL | 2.42 | 20.72 | Vol. 203200 D: 44.10 ⇓ 3.50% | 44.83 | 46.00 / 44.00 C: 44.00 ⇓ 2.87% | 44.42 | 45.50 / 43.40 NPOLYMAR | 2.01 | 324.37 | Vol. 213052 D: 63.00 ⇓ 5.12% | 64.27 | 67.80 / 62.30 C: 63.40 ⇓ 4.37% | 64.60 | 68.00 / 63.00 FOOD & ALLIED APEXFOODS | 2.54 | 90.81 | Vol. 63500 D: 103.2 ⇓ 3.64% | 106.02 | 110.0 / 101.3 C: 102.6 ⇓ 4.74% | 107.53 | 110.0 / 101.0 BANGAS | 7.20 | 50.27 | Vol. 158188 D: 504.4 ⇑ 6.28% | 497.48 | 510.0 / 440.0 C: 504.3 ⇑ 7.62% | 496.13 | 506.0 / 485.0 BATBC | 65.69 | 117.22 | Vol. 2550 D: 1443 ⇓ 1.05% | 1446 | 1456 / 1435 C: 1500 ⇑ 0.00% | 1500 | 1500 / 1500 GEMINISEA | 10.88 | 9.69 | Vol. 2000 D: 235.3 ⇓ 4.08% | 234.50 | 240.0 / 232.7 NTC | 29.88 | 110.05 | Vol. 1300 D: 812.6 ⇓ 1.78% | 813.08 | 818.0 / 805.1 ZEALBANGLA | -23.01 | -193.09 | Vol. 2000 D: 8.60 ⇑ 2.38% | 8.50 | 8.90 / 8.50 CVOPRL | 2.66 | 13.28 | Vol. 55680 D: 816.5 ⇑ 2.01% | 806.36 | 823.9 / 790.0 C: 801.3 ⇓ 0.15% | 799.29 | 805.0 / 800.0

AMCL(PRAN) | 6.53 | 53.37 | Vol. 139805 D: 279.8 ⇓ 5.25% | 285.14 | 300.0 / 275.6 C: 281.0 ⇓ 5.70% | 285.24 | 295.0 / 275.0 RAHIMAFOOD | 0.62 | 4.46 | Vol. 678000 D: 34.20 ⇑ 9.97% | 34.05 | 34.20 / 32.00 C: 33.80 ⇑ 9.74% | 33.71 | 33.80 / 31.90 FUWANGFOOD | 1.26 | 12.37 | Vol. 602074 D: 26.80 ⇓ 0.74% | 27.18 | 28.00 / 26.00 C: 26.70 ⇓ 1.48% | 27.01 | 27.70 / 26.60 MEGHNAPET | -0.58 | -1.02 | Vol. 8500 D: 6.20 ⇓ 7.46% | 6.24 | 6.50 / 6.10 MEGCONMILK | -6.68 | -16.22 | Vol. 45500 D: 8.10 ⇓ 7.95% | 8.24 | 8.80 / 8.00 BEACHHATCH | 1.01 | 12.48 | Vol. 907829 D: 24.20 ⇓ 0.41% | 24.93 | 25.60 / 21.90 C: 24.40 ⇑ 0.83% | 24.80 | 25.80 / 24.00 FINEFOODS | -0.11 | 10.58 | Vol. 308580 D: 25.10 ⇑ 2.45% | 25.57 | 26.60 / 23.00 C: 25.50 ⇑ 4.51% | 25.97 | 26.70 / 25.00 RDFOOD | 0.91 | 16.84 | Vol. 934799 D: 23.80 ⇓ 1.24% | 24.08 | 24.90 / 22.00 C: 23.80 ⇓ 1.24% | 24.13 | 24.70 / 23.60 GHAIL | 1.01 | 22.08 | Vol. 275040 D: 44.40 ⇓ 1.55% | 44.56 | 45.40 / 40.60 C: 44.70 ⇓ 1.11% | 44.63 | 44.90 / 40.70 FUEL & POWER LINDEBD | 31.71 | 144.00 | Vol. 12450 D: 715.4 ⇓ 1.69% | 716.71 | 726.0 / 710.7 PADMAOIL | 16.38 | 43.67 | Vol. 207795 D: 344.6 ⇓ 2.96% | 347.88 | 355.0 / 340.0 C: 343.1 ⇓ 3.00% | 345.55 | 354.1 / 342.0 EASTRNLUB | 6.32 | 68.68 | Vol. 850 D: 403.5 ⇓ 0.15% | 403.53 | 417.0 / 387.2 BDWELDING | 0.33 | 16.82 | Vol. 821469 D: 25.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 25.63 | 27.00 / 22.80 C: 25.20 ⇑ 0.80% | 25.88 | 26.60 / 24.60 SUMITPOWER | 3.17 | 19.26 | Vol. 404417 D: 33.00 ⇓ 2.37% | 33.27 | 34.00 / 30.50 C: 33.30 ⇓ 2.35% | 33.52 | 34.40 / 33.10 DESCO | 2.80 | 35.25 | Vol. 101038 D: 76.70 ⇓ 1.67% | 77.31 | 81.00 / 72.00 C: 76.80 ⇓ 0.90% | 76.91 | 77.00 / 76.20 POWERGRID | 2.56 | 48.08 | Vol. 33050 D: 54.90 ⇓ 2.31% | 55.15 | 56.00 / 54.70 JAMUNAOIL | 22.78 | 50.24 | Vol. 296540 D: 232.6 ⇓ 2.47% | 235.01 | 239.9 / 222.0 C: 232.1 ⇓ 1.82% | 234.20 | 238.0 / 231.2 MPETROLEUM | 16.98 | 40.41 | Vol. 318252 D: 269.1 ⇓ 2.57% | 271.47 | 300.0 / 253.0 C: 270.0 ⇓ 1.60% | 271.31 | 279.5 / 267.3 TITASGAS | 9.01 | 36.56 | Vol. 481812 D: 82.60 ⇓ 1.31% | 82.80 | 84.80 / 75.40 C: 82.70 ⇓ 0.96% | 82.59 | 82.70 / 77.00 KPCL | 4.73 | 15.86 | Vol. 136678 D: 48.50 ⇓ 2.02% | 48.86 | 50.00 / 44.60 C: 48.70 ⇓ 1.42% | 48.76 | 49.60 / 48.50 BEDL | 1.48 | 19.43 | Vol. 1700794 D: 32.60 ⇓ 3.55% | 31.84 | 33.00 / 26.00 C: 32.20 ⇓ 5.01% | 31.87 | 33.50 / 31.00 MJLBD | 2.73 | 30.24 | Vol. 69499 D: 71.70 ⇓ 0.55% | 71.74 | 72.40 / 65.00 C: 70.40 ⇓ 1.95% | 70.60 | 71.30 / 69.10 GBBPOWER | 1.86 | 22.63 | Vol. 355064 D: 27.00 ⇓ 2.88% | 27.37 | 28.30 / 25.10 C: 27.00 ⇓ 2.17% | 27.05 | 28.00 / 25.00 SPPCL | 3.81 | 23.34 | Vol. 555260 D: 55.90 ⇓ 2.78% | 56.41 | 60.00 / 52.00 C: 56.00 ⇓ 2.10% | 56.38 | 57.00 / 56.00 JUTE JUTESPINN | 2.06 | 17.42 | Vol. 10200 D: 135.3 ⇓ 4.79% | 137.35 | 149.5 / 131.0 NORTHERN | -13.80 | -6.19 | Vol. 200 D: 21.40 ⇑ 9.74% | 21.40 | 21.40 / 21.40 SONALIANSH | 5.54 | 218.80 | Vol. 26550 D: 163.3 ⇑ 0.80% | 160.64 | 166.9 / 155.5 TEXTILE AL-HAJTEX | 1.35 | 15.64 | Vol. 482929 D: 110.0 ⇓ 0.45% | 108.71 | 112.0 / 100.0 STYLECRAFT | 20.00 | 287.30 | Vol. 400 D: 1045 ⇓ 5.64% | 1045 | 1060 / 1040

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Monday, september 23, 2013

7

September 22, 2013 Sectotal Index: BANK: 31,657.11 ⇓ 0.33% NBFI: 20,302.80 ⇓ 3.04% INVS: 4,650.63 ⇓ 0.69% ENGG: 6,220.83 ⇓ 2.62% FOOD: 9,885.06 ⇓ 2.70% F&P: 10,566.33 ⇓ 1.66% TEXT: 3,250.06 ⇓ 0.09% PHAR: 17,369.73 ⇓ 1.62% PAPR: 1,197.24 ⇑ 3.37% SERV: 3,066.72 ⇓ 2.30% LEAT: 5,538.22 ⇓ 0.62% CERA: 541.49 ⇓ 1.64% CMNT: 4,587.16 ⇓ 2.43% INFO: 8,178.14 ⇑ 0.19% GINS: 9,341.65 ⇓ 1.60% LINS: 110,612.27 ⇓ 0.55% TELC: 1,374.93 ⇓ 1.38% MISC: 6,437.59 ⇓ 0.97% RAHIMTEXT | 0.51 | 73.88 | Vol. 8450 D: 285.4 ⇓ 4.83% | 285.33 | 300.0 / 281.2 SAIHAMTEX | 2.75 | 29.50 | Vol. 1521400 D: 33.00 ⇑ 2.17% | 33.01 | 33.60 / 32.20 C: 33.00 ⇑ 1.85% | 33.03 | 33.40 / 32.40 MODERNDYE | 0.91 | 10.37 | Vol. 11300 D: 160.9 ⇑ 5.99% | 160.53 | 166.8 / 137.8 DSHGARME | 0.72 | 12.00 | Vol. 50500 D: 92.40 ⇑ 10.00% | 91.78 | 92.40 / 89.00 DULAMIACOT | -8.46 | -27.78 | Vol. 6700 D: 9.20 ⇓ 1.08% | 9.25 | 10.00 / 9.00 TALLUSPIN | 2.56 | 12.06 | Vol. 4631020 D: 45.30 ⇑ 4.62% | 45.12 | 46.00 / 40.00 C: 45.40 ⇑ 6.57% | 45.19 | 46.10 / 43.80 APEXSPINN | 2.01 | 49.32 | Vol. 18600 D: 88.60 ⇓ 0.45% | 88.17 | 90.00 / 87.00 MITHUNKNIT | 4.54 | 30.39 | Vol. 298272 D: 117.3 ⇑ 3.08% | 117.27 | 119.5 / 104.0 C: 116.8 ⇑ 3.27% | 116.84 | 119.8 / 115.0 DELTASPINN | 3.06 | 18.12 | Vol. 744200 D: 36.70 ⇑ 0.82% | 37.12 | 37.80 / 35.00 C: 36.90 ⇑ 0.82% | 36.99 | 38.00 / 35.20 SONARGAON | 0.27 | 34.50 | Vol. 675526 D: 24.00 ⇑ 9.59% | 23.85 | 24.00 / 20.00 C: 23.30 ⇑ 9.91% | 23.27 | 23.30 / 21.50 PRIMETEX | 1.01 | 63.54 | Vol. 2210500 D: 29.80 ⇑ 9.96% | 29.58 | 29.80 / 27.80 C: 30.00 ⇑ 9.89% | 29.89 | 30.00 / 28.90 ALLTEX | -0.11 | 23.81 | Vol. 86500 D: 8.60 ⇓ 1.15% | 8.67 | 8.90 / 8.60 C: 8.80 ⇓ 2.22% | 8.88 | 9.00 / 8.70 ANLIMAYARN | 1.19 | 11.01 | Vol. 176000 D: 37.30 ⇓ 1.84% | 37.68 | 38.90 / 36.60 C: 36.90 ⇓ 0.27% | 36.70 | 36.90 / 36.50 HRTEX | 2.08 | 14.92 | Vol. 739100 D: 40.80 ⇑ 6.25% | 40.29 | 41.50 / 38.00 C: 40.30 ⇑ 6.05% | 39.75 | 41.00 / 38.50 CMCKAMAL | 1.37 | 19.31 | Vol. 4450542 D: 36.80 ⇑ 7.29% | 36.26 | 37.70 / 31.20 SAFKOSPINN | 0.95 | 21.78 | Vol. 1410978 D: 29.40 ⇑ 9.70% | 28.75 | 29.40 / 25.40 C: 29.50 ⇑ 7.66% | 28.75 | 29.50 / 28.20 SQUARETEXT | 4.32 | 31.82 | Vol. 99308 D: 92.30 ⇓ 0.97% | 92.62 | 94.00 / 88.00 C: 91.70 ⇓ 1.29% | 92.25 | 93.20 / 91.10 METROSPIN | -1.00 | 19.59 | Vol. 777350 D: 19.10 ⇓ 3.54% | 19.74 | 20.50 / 18.50 C: 19.20 ⇓ 2.54% | 19.75 | 20.40 / 19.00 MAKSONSPIN | 0.16 | 20.55 | Vol. 3714255 D: 17.60 ⇓ 2.22% | 18.08 | 18.70 / 16.40 C: 17.80 ⇓ 1.66% | 18.02 | 18.70 / 17.50 DACCADYE | 1.21 | 31.13 | Vol. 592940 D: 28.90 ⇓ 0.69% | 29.21 | 29.60 / 26.50 C: 28.80 ⇓ 2.70% | 28.99 | 29.50 / 28.50 RNSPIN | 2.80 | 16.58 | Vol. 3525228 D: 32.00 ⇑ 1.91% | 32.08 | 32.90 / 29.00 C: 32.00 ⇑ 1.91% | 32.04 | 32.70 / 31.40 BXSYNTH | 0.93 | 25.42 | Vol. 847850 D: 17.60 ⇓ 2.22% | 18.08 | 18.80 / 16.50 C: 17.60 ⇓ 3.30% | 18.06 | 18.80 / 17.40 MALEKSPIN | -1.44 | 46.87 | Vol. 1554755 D: 27.00 ⇓ 1.82% | 27.54 | 28.20 / 25.00 C: 27.10 ⇓ 0.73% | 27.49 | 28.20 / 26.80 ZAHINTEX | 1.91 | 35.25 | Vol. 700700 D: 31.40 ⇑ 3.29% | 31.59 | 32.00 / 30.50 C: 31.50 ⇑ 1.61% | 31.72 | 32.10 / 29.60 SAIHAMCOT | 1.92 | 23.62 | Vol. 2635750 D: 27.20 ⇓ 7.48% | 28.07 | 29.40 / 26.90 C: 27.20 ⇓ 7.48% | 28.07 | 29.10 / 27.00 GENNEXT | 1.68 | 15.15 | Vol. 2007860 D: 22.20 ⇓ 1.33% | 22.40 | 22.80 / 20.30 C: 22.20 ⇓ 1.33% | 22.29 | 22.80 / 22.00 ENVOYTEX | 3.26 | 39.26 | Vol. 545720 D: 53.00 ⇓ 0.38% | 53.45 | 54.60 / 47.90 C: 53.00 ⇓ 0.19% | 53.18 | 53.90 / 52.60 ARGONDENIM | 1.89 | 38.86 | Vol. 418260 D: 36.70 ⇓ 1.61% | 36.84 | 37.70 / 33.60 C: 36.60 ⇓ 1.35% | 36.92 | 37.30 / 36.50 FAMILYTEX | 3.72 | 14.68 | Vol. 455500 D: 35.90 ⇓ 1.64% | 36.40 | 37.90 / 35.90 C: 35.70 ⇓ 1.65% | 36.03 | 37.30 / 34.00 Pharmaceutical & Chemical AMBEEPHA | 3.94 | 26.15 | Vol. 13300 D: 283.3 ⇓ 3.67% | 289.27 | 301.0 / 280.2 C: 292.7 ⇓ 0.27% | 289.92 | 296.0 / 287.0

DAFODILCOM | 1.12 | 11.14 | Vol. 865665 D: 20.10 ⇑ 1.01% | 20.49 | 21.20 / 18.00 C: 20.30 ⇑ 2.01% | 20.44 | 21.00 / 19.20 AAMRATECH | 1.17 | 20.44 | Vol. 1359700 D: 38.20 ⇓ 5.21% | 38.66 | 40.40 / 36.30 C: 38.10 ⇓ 5.69% | 38.77 | 39.80 / 38.00

BXPHARMA | 3.77 | 52.55 | Vol. 146958 D: 47.40 ⇓ 1.04% | 47.70 | 50.00 / 43.20 C: 47.60 ⇓ 0.63% | 47.61 | 48.90 / 47.00 GLAXOSMITH | 20.25 | 123.32 | Vol. 1450 D: 1010 ⇓ 3.43% | 1010 | 1022 / 1002 ACI | -5.82 | 126.42 | Vol. 22676 D: 171.7 ⇓ 2.99% | 173.46 | 180.0 / 160.0 C: 170.8 ⇓ 2.95% | 173.89 | 182.8 / 170.0 RENATA | 33.57 | 138.83 | Vol. 12802 D: 778.0 ⇓ 3.39% | 790.78 | 808.9 / 770.0 RECKITTBEN | 27.16 | 78.89 | Vol. 500 D: 878.4 ⇓ 2.26% | 878.00 | 890.0 / 860.0 PHARMAID | 5.06 | 26.30 | Vol. 53150 D: 212.2 ⇓ 2.62% | 214.94 | 220.0 / 208.0 IBNSINA | 3.44 | 34.02 | Vol. 223650 D: 124.3 ⇓ 5.40% | 126.27 | 135.0 / 123.5 C: 124.7 ⇓ 6.24% | 126.88 | 132.2 / 123.1 LIBRAINFU | 4.64 | 1565.37 | Vol. 8000 D: 542.2 ⇓ 6.71% | 553.38 | 590.0 / 538.0 ORIONINFU | 8.72 | 1.73 | Vol. 249200 D: 47.70 ⇓ 2.85% | 48.38 | 50.00 / 47.40 C: 47.60 ⇓ 3.05% | 48.37 | 48.90 / 47.60 SQURPHARMA | 6.93 | 37.18 | Vol. 283644 D: 172.0 ⇓ 1.26% | 172.63 | 175.0 / 171.9 C: 172.1 ⇓ 1.09% | 172.39 | 174.0 / 172.0 IMAMBUTTON | -1.68 | 5.67 | Vol. 45500 D: 7.90 ⇓ 8.14% | 8.02 | 8.70 / 7.80 C: 9.20 ⇓ 7.07% | 9.15 | 9.20 / 9.10 BERGERPBL | 32.46 | 100.20 | Vol. 2050 D: 824.3 ⇓ 2.29% | 830.24 | 842.0 / 816.0 ACIFORMULA | 3.33 | 38.08 | Vol. 68494 D: 81.50 ⇓ 2.28% | 82.61 | 85.00 / 80.00 C: 81.50 ⇓ 1.33% | 81.79 | 84.00 / 80.10 MARICO | 27.53 | 62.47 | Vol. 21500 D: 841.3 ⇓ 1.97% | 854.07 | 880.0 / 837.0 C: 847.0 ⇓ 1.40% | 847.00 | 847.0 / 847.0 BEACONPHAR | 0.33 | 11.97 | Vol. 177800 D: 14.70 ⇓ 0.68% | 14.72 | 14.90 / 13.50 C: 14.60 ⇓ 2.01% | 14.74 | 14.90 / 14.60 ACTIVEFINE | 3.23 | 13.89 | Vol. 606572 D: 93.50 ⇓ 1.37% | 94.15 | 97.00 / 86.00 C: 93.00 ⇓ 2.11% | 93.16 | 95.00 / 92.60 SALVOCHEM | 0.68 | 10.57 | Vol. 820549 D: 23.20 ⇓ 3.33% | 23.56 | 24.60 / 21.90 C: 23.70 ⇓ 2.07% | 23.73 | 24.10 / 23.20 GHCL | 2.14 | 57.31 | Vol. 90500 D: 46.90 ⇓ 0.85% | 47.27 | 48.40 / 46.70 C: 46.30 ⇓ 1.49% | 46.93 | 48.00 / 46.10 ORIONPHARM | 5.02 | 68.68 | Vol. 637560 D: 63.80 ⇓ 1.54% | 64.12 | 65.40 / 58.40 C: 63.90 ⇓ 1.54% | 64.26 | 65.20 / 63.80 JMISMDL | 1.12 | 12.83 | Vol. 192500 D: 296.2 ⇑ 8.74% | 292.99 | 296.2 / 275.0 C: 289.0 ⇑ 8.12% | 289.03 | 290.6 / 284.0 CENTRALPHL | 0.61 | 10.99 | Vol. 1668000 D: 37.20 ⇑ 1.64% | 37.88 | 39.00 / 37.00 C: 36.90 ⇑ 0.54% | 37.57 | 38.90 / 36.40 PAPER & PACKAGING HAKKANIPUL | 0.64 | 11.02 | Vol. 189000 D: 35.30 ⇑ 9.63% | 34.94 | 35.40 / 32.00 C: 35.70 ⇑ 9.85% | 34.85 | 35.70 / 33.40 SERVICE SAMORITA | 2.31 | 17.25 | Vol. 51800 D: 107.6 ⇓ 7.64% | 111.22 | 117.0 / 106.2 C: 110.0 ⇓ 8.33% | 110.00 | 110.0 / 110.0 SAPORTL | 1.23 | 38.39 | Vol. 334633 D: 27.10 ⇓ 3.56% | 27.33 | 29.00 / 27.00 C: 27.10 ⇓ 4.24% | 27.47 | 28.00 / 27.10

EHL | 2.87 | 18.48 | Vol. 773884 D: 59.60 ⇓ 5.70% | 61.25 | 64.70 / 58.00 C: 59.40 ⇓ 4.81% | 61.20 | 64.30 / 59.00 LEATHER APEXTANRY | 6.57 | 69.38 | Vol. 230900 D: 136.6 ⇓ 5.14% | 139.01 | 145.0 / 135.6 C: 136.2 ⇓ 4.69% | 138.46 | 141.1 / 135.0 BATASHOE | 49.12 | 135.53 | Vol. 13244 D: 769.4 ⇓ 0.34% | 769.38 | 781.9 / 730.0 C: 769.0 ⇑ 2.25% | 769.00 | 779.0 / 764.0 APEXADELFT | 23.01 | 203.26 | Vol. 87200 D: 392.1 ⇓ 2.56% | 394.31 | 408.0 / 390.0 C: 388.3 ⇓ 3.17% | 387.50 | 388.5 / 386.0 LEGACYFOOT | 0.63 | 17.19 | Vol. 310544 D: 42.30 ⇑ 9.87% | 41.95 | 42.30 / 34.70 C: 44.70 ⇑ 9.83% | 44.66 | 44.70 / 44.10 CERAMIC MONNOCERA | 0.71 | 96.33 | Vol. 175228 D: 42.40 ⇑ 9.56% | 41.89 | 42.50 / 39.00 C: 41.80 ⇑ 6.91% | 41.84 | 43.00 / 40.10 STANCERAM | 1.07 | 15.97 | Vol. 32070 D: 41.10 ⇑ 8.44% | 40.82 | 41.60 / 37.90 C: 39.10 ⇓ 9.70% | 39.13 | 39.20 / 39.00 FUWANGCER | 1.43 | 13.25 | Vol. 889486 D: 22.10 ⇓ 1.78% | 22.66 | 23.40 / 20.30 C: 22.10 ⇓ 1.78% | 22.52 | 23.20 / 22.00 SPCERAMICS | 0.62 | 30.92 | Vol. 338928 D: 18.10 ⇓ 3.21% | 18.41 | 19.20 / 17.00 C: 18.20 ⇓ 3.19% | 18.42 | 19.40 / 17.00 RAKCERAMIC | 1.98 | 16.76 | Vol. 158604 D: 54.60 ⇓ 1.27% | 54.97 | 56.00 / 49.80 C: 54.30 ⇓ 1.45% | 54.57 | 55.20 / 53.50 CEMENT HEIDELBCEM | 22.85 | 111.50 | Vol. 187180 D: 410.9 ⇓ 4.66% | 417.06 | 433.8 / 409.0 C: 411.8 ⇓ 3.92% | 417.73 | 424.0 / 408.0 CONFIDCEM | 6.23 | 90.76 | Vol. 260895 D: 126.7 ⇓ 3.36% | 128.02 | 134.0 / 123.5 C: 127.0 ⇓ 3.13% | 128.37 | 131.9 / 126.1 MEGHNACEM | 6.28 | 33.81 | Vol. 79200 D: 154.9 ⇓ 2.70% | 155.63 | 160.8 / 153.2 C: 154.5 ⇓ 1.97% | 154.66 | 157.0 / 153.5 ARAMITCEM | 3.03 | 14.65 | Vol. 143015 D: 80.70 ⇓ 4.83% | 82.60 | 85.80 / 80.00 C: 81.50 ⇓ 3.44% | 81.53 | 81.60 / 81.50 LAFSURCEML | 1.60 | 7.22 | Vol. 920000 D: 33.70 ⇓ 1.75% | 33.92 | 34.40 / 33.70 C: 33.80 ⇓ 1.74% | 34.00 | 34.40 / 33.80 MICEMENT | 4.14 | 40.00 | Vol. 265190 D: 93.10 ⇓ 0.11% | 92.89 | 102.0 / 85.00 C: 92.60 ⇑ 0.33% | 92.31 | 93.00 / 91.60 PREMIERCEM | 3.59 | 22.92 | Vol. 156800 D: 110.5 ⇓ 3.32% | 111.65 | 115.0 / 110.0 C: 110.5 ⇓ 4.25% | 112.08 | 117.0 / 108.6 IT IINDUSTRIES ISNLTD | 0.28 | 17.31 | Vol. 459012 D: 24.20 ⇑ 10.00% | 24.10 | 24.20 / 21.00 C: 24.70 ⇑ 9.78% | 24.68 | 24.70 / 23.00 BDCOM | 1.00 | 14.91 | Vol. 1131863 D: 27.10 ⇑ 1.88% | 27.44 | 28.30 / 24.00 C: 27.00 ⇑ 1.12% | 27.19 | 28.30 / 26.50 INTECH | 0.94 | 10.08 | Vol. 820810 D: 19.10 ⇑ 9.77% | 18.99 | 19.10 / 15.80 C: 19.20 ⇑ 9.71% | 19.12 | 19.20 / 18.60 AGNISYSL | 1.07 | 25.52 | Vol. 590032 D: 25.30 ⇓ 0.39% | 26.09 | 26.80 / 23.80 C: 25.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 25.61 | 26.00 / 25.20

GENERAL INSURANCE BGIC | 1.65 | 20.33 | Vol. 40638 D: 29.00 ⇓ 0.68% | 29.18 | 30.20 / 27.70 C: 28.90 ⇓ 0.69% | 29.05 | 29.50 / 28.90 GREENDELT | 4.05 | 64.44 | Vol. 45146 D: 102.2 ⇓ 3.04% | 104.00 | 107.4 / 95.00 UNITEDINS | 2.47 | 21.04 | Vol. 17627 D: 48.30 ⇑ 5.00% | 47.82 | 48.50 / 45.00 PEOPLESINS | 2.05 | 20.72 | Vol. 26850 D: 26.50 ⇓ 1.49% | 26.63 | 27.10 / 24.50 EASTERNINS | 2.22 | 35.88 | Vol. 14400 D: 38.60 ⇓ 1.78% | 38.71 | 39.00 / 38.50 C: 37.70 ⇓ 9.59% | 37.70 | 37.70 / 37.70 JANATAINS | 7.84 | 170.69 | Vol. 19643 D: 265.5 ⇑ 2.51% | 264.08 | 272.0 / 250.0 C: 268.8 ⇑ 0.37% | 262.88 | 269.0 / 260.0 PHENIXINS | 2.70 | 20.96 | Vol. 24462 D: 39.90 ⇓ 1.48% | 40.28 | 42.70 / 39.80 C: 39.00 ⇑ 1.30% | 39.00 | 39.00 / 39.00 EASTLAND | 4.06 | 23.29 | Vol. 103677 D: 47.30 ⇓ 1.46% | 47.61 | 48.50 / 43.20 C: 46.30 ⇓ 2.73% | 46.23 | 46.30 / 46.20 CENTRALINS | 1.54 | 19.04 | Vol. 17290 D: 27.70 ⇓ 1.77% | 27.91 | 28.20 / 27.00 C: 27.70 ⇓ 2.81% | 27.70 | 27.70 / 27.70 KARNAPHULI | 1.56 | 19.42 | Vol. 61180 D: 22.60 ⇓ 3.00% | 22.88 | 23.30 / 22.50 RUPALIINS | 2.76 | 23.38 | Vol. 91500 D: 32.50 ⇓ 2.11% | 32.60 | 33.50 / 31.00 C: 32.40 ⇓ 4.14% | 32.37 | 32.50 / 32.00 RELIANCINS | 3.93 | 61.52 | Vol. 8027 D: 73.80 ⇓ 0.27% | 73.86 | 74.00 / 70.00 PURABIGEN | 1.05 | 18.71 | Vol. 153200 D: 21.30 ⇓ 0.93% | 21.59 | 23.10 / 21.20 PRAGATIINS | 2.01 | 50.30 | Vol. 16600 D: 58.70 ⇓ 1.34% | 58.98 | 60.10 / 58.20 PRIMEINSUR | 2.14 | 14.14 | Vol. 43819 D: 30.90 ⇓ 4.33% | 31.32 | 32.20 / 30.70 C: 34.50 ⇑ 1.47% | 34.50 | 34.50 / 34.50 PIONEERINS | 3.11 | 23.84 | Vol. 113700 D: 69.60 ⇓ 3.33% | 70.28 | 74.00 / 67.00 NITOLINS | 2.59 | 15.41 | Vol. 11648 D: 33.70 ⇓ 2.88% | 33.82 | 34.10 / 33.00 ASIAPACINS | 1.84 | 13.76 | Vol. 20500 D: 28.30 ⇓ 2.08% | 28.31 | 28.80 / 28.00 C: 27.60 ⇓ 3.50% | 27.60 | 27.70 / 27.50 SONARBAINS | 1.68 | 13.38 | Vol. 59381 D: 23.90 ⇓ 1.24% | 24.00 | 24.60 / 21.90 PARAMOUNT | 1.26 | 13.19 | Vol. 130000 D: 23.90 ⇓ 1.24% | 23.79 | 24.40 / 23.40 C: 23.30 ⇓ 3.32% | 23.53 | 24.00 / 23.30 CITYGENINS | 1.65 | 14.26 | Vol. 80840 D: 26.00 ⇓ 1.52% | 26.24 | 26.80 / 25.30 C: 26.10 ⇓ 1.14% | 26.05 | 26.30 / 26.00 CONTININS | 1.41 | 15.68 | Vol. 41477 D: 32.40 ⇓ 3.86% | 32.94 | 36.40 / 31.00 C: 32.10 ⇓ 2.73% | 31.97 | 32.10 / 32.00 TAKAFULINS | 2.19 | 15.17 | Vol. 59565 D: 37.70 ⇓ 3.08% | 39.13 | 42.00 / 37.00 C: 37.40 ⇓ 3.11% | 39.45 | 41.50 / 37.20 STANDARINS | 2.58 | 13.99 | Vol. 13645 D: 38.00 ⇓ 4.52% | 38.03 | 39.30 / 37.00 NORTHRNINS | 1.77 | 11.15 | Vol. 116829 D: 42.80 ⇓ 2.51% | 42.78 | 44.00 / 39.60 C: 42.50 ⇓ 3.63% | 42.50 | 43.00 / 42.00 REPUBLIC | 2.14 | 12.42 | Vol. 97561 D: 50.50 ⇓ 1.56% | 50.93 | 52.00 / 50.30 C: 50.00 ⇓ 2.72% | 49.97 | 50.00 / 49.00 ASIAINS | 1.56 | 17.34 | Vol. 124369 D: 26.80 ⇓ 2.19% | 26.93 | 28.00 / 25.50 C: 26.80 ⇓ 2.90% | 26.90 | 27.10 / 26.80 ISLAMIINS | 1.29 | 11.96 | Vol. 5478 D: 30.20 ⇓ 3.82% | 30.12 | 31.00 / 28.30 PROVATIINS | 1.90 | 14.30 | Vol. 50443 D: 26.70 ⇓ 3.61% | 26.95 | 30.30 / 25.00 C: 28.00 ⇓ 1.06% | 27.58 | 28.00 / 25.50 DHAKAINS | 2.84 | 18.02 | Vol. 61425 D: 38.40 ⇓ 4.48% | 38.74 | 40.00 / 36.20 C: 38.20 ⇓ 6.14% | 38.15 | 38.50 / 38.00

LIFE INSURANCE NATLIFEINS | 12.34 | 80.99 | Vol. 10000 D: 247.6 ⇓ 1.94% | 250.16 | 252.5 / 245.0 C: 238.0 ⇑ 2.10% | 239.91 | 246.0 / 238.0 DELTALIFE | 38.53 | 189.40 | Vol. 6935 D: 6063 ⇑ 0.45% | 6096 | 6260 / 6012 C: 6110 ⇑ 1.75% | 6110 | 6110 / 6110 SANDHANINS | 2.39 | 28.22 | Vol. 27895 D: 70.30 ⇓ 1.26% | 70.51 | 72.30 / 70.10 C: 70.10 ⇓ 0.28% | 69.46 | 70.10 / 69.20 POPULARLIF | 3.70 | 715.41 | Vol. 14329 D: 166.5 ⇓ 0.12% | 166.35 | 168.0 / 160.0 FAREASTLIF | 9.21 | 60.79 | Vol. 80205 D: 95.30 ⇓ 1.45% | 95.88 | 105.0 / 95.00 C: 91.50 ⇓ 7.58% | 93.10 | 96.10 / 91.00 MEGHNALIFE | 10.82 | 48.87 | Vol. 43650 D: 101.2 ⇓ 3.07% | 102.20 | 104.2 / 100.1 C: 100.1 ⇓ 3.29% | 100.02 | 100.1 / 100.0 PROGRESLIF | 2.30 | 31.45 | Vol. 8000 D: 94.90 ⇓ 2.27% | 94.88 | 95.20 / 94.40 PRAGATILIF | 0.60 | 30.15 | Vol. 62500 D: 116.7 ⇓ 5.12% | 121.55 | 125.8 / 114.3 PRIMELIFE | 5.51 | 27.10 | Vol. 50360 D: 96.80 ⇑ 2.76% | 96.51 | 97.80 / 92.00 RUPALILIFE | 3.75 | 31.25 | Vol. 15000 D: 97.80 ⇓ 0.71% | 98.20 | 98.90 / 97.20 PADMALIFE | 1.63 | 25.76 | Vol. 59000 D: 60.90 ⇑ 2.01% | 60.69 | 61.40 / 60.00 C: 61.40 ⇑ 2.68% | 61.18 | 61.50 / 60.00 SUNLIFEINS | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 245550 D: 53.00 ⇓ 3.11% | 53.92 | 57.00 / 49.30 C: 53.90 ⇓ 2.00% | 53.92 | 54.10 / 53.50 TELECOM GP | 12.96 | 26.26 | Vol. 452400 D: 190.5 ⇓ 2.36% | 192.10 | 196.5 / 190.0 C: 191.1 ⇓ 1.85% | 192.07 | 197.9 / 190.5 BSCCL | 6.69 | 30.34 | Vol. 714220 D: 258.2 ⇓ 0.77% | 260.13 | 265.0 / 245.0 C: 258.1 ⇓ 0.15% | 259.73 | 267.0 / 256.5 Travel & Leisure UNITEDAIR | 1.10 | 12.87 | Vol. 5583083 D: 19.10 ⇓ 1.55% | 19.25 | 19.70 / 17.90 C: 19.10 ⇓ 1.55% | 19.27 | 19.70 / 19.00 UNIQUEHRL | 4.02 | 86.29 | Vol. 415790 D: 86.80 ⇓ 1.92% | 87.45 | 89.80 / 79.70 C: 86.70 ⇓ 1.70% | 87.16 | 89.00 / 86.10 MISCELLANEOUS ARAMIT | 16.07 | 99.93 | Vol. 14550 D: 317.6 ⇓ 1.21% | 320.69 | 344.0 / 315.0 C: 301.1 ⇓ 8.31% | 301.10 | 301.1 / 301.1 BSC | 1.77 | 565.82 | Vol. 127120 D: 579.8 ⇓ 4.17% | 589.30 | 610.0 / 577.0 C: 579.8 ⇓ 3.77% | 587.78 | 603.8 / 577.0 GQBALLPEN | 6.55 | 250.45 | Vol. 164710 D: 158.8 ⇓ 3.35% | 159.64 | 167.0 / 154.9 C: 158.9 ⇓ 2.81% | 160.05 | 169.0 / 157.1 USMANIAGL | 0.50 | 26.03 | Vol. 150290 D: 163.2 ⇓ 5.23% | 165.74 | 173.1 / 160.0 C: 162.4 ⇓ 6.18% | 167.19 | 173.0 / 161.2 SAVAREFR | 0.23 | 12.32 | Vol. 1700 D: 86.40 ⇓ 8.96% | 86.47 | 87.00 / 85.50 BEXIMCO | 3.24 | 86.74 | Vol. 1161422 D: 32.20 ⇓ 1.23% | 32.39 | 33.50 / 29.40 C: 32.30 ⇓ 0.92% | 32.41 | 33.00 / 32.20 SINOBANGLA | 1.75 | 21.01 | Vol. 239500 D: 23.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 24.17 | 25.50 / 23.50 C: 23.60 ⇓ 0.84% | 23.69 | 24.50 / 22.30 MIRACLEIND | 0.14 | 14.90 | Vol. 286300 D: 19.30 ⇑ 2.12% | 19.55 | 20.30 / 17.50 C: 19.80 ⇑ 4.76% | 19.76 | 20.30 / 19.20 BOND IBBLPBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 100 D: 954.5 ⇓ 0.05% | 950.00 | 960.0 / 950.3 ACIZCBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 62 D: 870.5 ⇑ 0.06% | 862.07 | 879.0 / 870.0 C: 856.0 ⇓ 0.17% | 856.00 | 856.0 / 856.0 BRACSCBOND | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 50 D: 1100 ⇑ 0.00% | 1100 | 1100 / 1100

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Monday, september 23, 2013

‘I envision a totally digital Bangladesh’ Sonia Bashir Kabir, persistent in instigating change through adaptation of technology and women empowerment, shares her aspirations and success in a rendezvous with Mehrab Al Islam Please tell us about your career?

I started my career in Silicon Valley after completing my MBA. I worked in the Valley for a few Fortune 100 hi-tech companies – Sun Micro-systems, Oracle and other startups. Work experience in the Valley helped me meet some of the greatest minds associated with the .com boom. It also opened my eyes to the endless possibilities technology can provide to anyone, anywhere at anytime. I moved to Bangladesh 6 years ago and continued working for hi-tech companies like Microsoft, Dell and a local IT company – Aamra Technologies.

My career has witnessed a reversal of technology adoption – i.e. from high to low but that has been good in a way. I can envision a “Digital Bangladesh” since there is much to do here.

What is Dell’s vision in Bangladesh?

Our vision is to become a trusted solution provider to all our clients (existing and prospective). We are investing in Dell Authorised Service Partners for both our client and enterprise product lines.

We are aligning internally to embrace the new wave of technology that cloud computing will bring and preparing our offerings for the local market.

How is Dell incorporating its effort with the Government sector?

Dell aims to partner with the Government of Bangladesh besides being a top hardware solution provider. With this aim, we have taken a number of initiatives that we are proud of. “Dell She Power” is an example that I am proud to share; Dell has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of ICT to connect 100,000 grassroot women entrepreneurs to the cloud, empowering these women with access to technology.

How did you come to form BWIT? I co-founded Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT) to create a movement, bringing more women to the technology sector. We reach out to young women and encourage them to study science.

Designation: Country Manager, Dell Bangladesh

Career background: IT

How was your experience of participating in Young Leaders?

It was an honour to have been invited by the British High Commission and the Dhaka Tribune to participate as a Young Leader. It was a rewarding experience - sharing views with upcoming leaders for a vision for 2025, and being able to discuss my thoughts on changing norms has been amazing.

I wanted to express my passion for using technology in every aspect of our vision with experts from other fields.

Interests: Technology, Sports

What are your interests?

I am very keen to promote technology, and see how it can become an integral part of our lives. My interest lies in bringing technology (as an enabler) to women specifically.

‘Immerse yourself in optimism. Positive thoughts bring positive energy, have a can-do attitude, never say never, be persistent and resilient, give up on giving up, and work smart. While an old man of 50 can’t dance, a young man of 70 can. Be happy with your outcome as it takes only 14 muscles to smile but 72 to frown!’

You recently became a Board Member of Bangladesh Cricket Board, Women’s Wing, what’s your inspiration behind it?

I have always been into sports. I don’t remember being second in any sprint or race in my life from 1st grade to 12th grade. When I was in the 6th grade, I played volleyball and cricket for Abahani and then for the Bangladesh National team. Being part of BCB is definitely a result of my passion for sports. It also

enables me to inspire young players; encouraging them helps me to re-live my childhood.

How actively do you participate in sports despite your busy schedule?

I love sports. Sports are like therapy for me.

I have golf clubs, a Basketball hoop, a dartboard and a cricket bat in my office. When we are stressed out, we take a break. The team and I bond through these sports-filled breaks.

Any quote for our readers?

“The past cannot be changed but the future can always be moulded:” Sonia B. Kabir What’s next from Dell?

Expanding the “Dell” brand as an end-to-end solution provider, form personal computers and laptops to server storages, switches, batteries UPS and more.

How does Dell plan to achieve these goals?

Our tag line is “The Power to Do More” and our team is one of the brightest and the best in the industry.

We believe in synergy, while being conscious about ethics. We try to win with value and service, and deliver with passion. l

Merkel: pastor’s daughter who became world’s most powerful woman n AFP, Berlin German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an unflappable pastor’s daughter, is closing in on a third term in Sunday’s general election, cementing her title as the world’s most powerful woman.

So strong is Merkel’s position that she has often seemed to transcend politics during what may be the last of her juggernaut campaigns, simply ignoring her opponent along the way.

This month a giant billboard went up at Berlin’s main train station featuring only a picture of the chancellor’s hands folded in her trademark diamond-shape gesture.

Quite simply, the mighty Merkel is the message.

After eight years at the helm of the top European economy, and three as the go-to leader in the eurozone crisis, Merkel looks set to sail to another term at the helm for steering the country

unscathed through the turmoil.

But abroad, angry protesters have marched through the streets of Athens, Lisbon and Madrid blaming her for national budget cuts they say are choking off desperately needed economic growth, some even brandishing caricatures of Merkel in Nazi garb.

“I am determined to see Europe emerge stronger from the crisis,” she intones regularly. “Germany can only be strong with a strong Europe.”

During a widely criticised campaign virtually devoid of real substance, observers complain that Merkel has lulled the prosperous country into a false sense of security 23 years after its joyful reunification.

“Merkel perfectly embodies the sensibilities of the Germans in the early 21st century,” the publisher of the influential weekly Die Zeit, Josef Joffe, wrote last month.

“You don’t have to expect any threatening new

tacks from her, no tough decisions for or against.

She is perfectly predictable in her flexibility and the risk-averse electorate loves it. Merkel is us, and we are Merkel.”

Her late biographer Gerd Langguth found a “sphinx-like quality” in her, allowing Merkel to quietly triumph in the most unlikely circumstances.

Merkel dispensed with rivals in her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) despite being a misfit in a party of mainly Roman Catholic family men from the wealthy southwest.

Forbes magazine has named her the world’s most powerful woman for seven out of the last eight years, and she insists despite the friction that hers is the “most successful government since reunification” in 1990.

Critics say her own science background leads her to scrutinise the minutiae and at times dither, which in the euro crisis has left ailing European partners to twist in the wind. Rivals

also find her chameleon-like qualities exasperating.

Merkel was a staunch defender of nuclear power until Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011, prompting a dizzying about-face that has seen her pledge to phase out all of Germany’s nuclear power reactors by 2022.

A lover of German opera, French red wine and walking holidays in the Italian mountains, Merkel has repeatedly pointed to the iconic Swabian housewife - a paragon of thrift and self-control as her model.

Indeed she shuns the trappings of power, wearing boxy trouser suits, spending precious free weekends in her spartan dacha north of Berlin, and doing her own shopping at a discount supermarket.

Her husband since 1998, chemistry professor Joachim Sauer, is so publicity-shy he opted not to attend Merkel’s inauguration in 2005. l