September 29, 2013 0

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The ghost of Felani

Ashwin 14, 1420 Zilkad 22, 1434 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 188

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Sunday, September 29, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com | second edition

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‘Contempt law was not contrary to constitution’

‘Scrap Rampal power project

by October 11’ n Tribune Report

Additional attorney general says appeal after getting full verdict Additional Attorney General MK n Nazmus Sakib Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that The Contempt of Courts Act 2013 that the High Court recently scrapped was the professionals said a good law because it could have effectively defended the freedom of expression and the media.

They, however, said the provision that gave impunity to the bureaucracy was problematic.

On September 26, the High Court bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain annulled the law saying it contradicted the constitution because it curtailed the court’s authority and protected

‘Some media houses tried to make an issue saying their freedom was shattered.

But it is not like that. The media can keep on writing or commenting on a judgment just like the way it did before the law was enacted’ only the journalists and public servants disregarding other citizens.

Dr Kamal Hossain, whose statement the court kept record of, said on September 25 that the law was nothing like Ziaur Rahman’s 5th amendment. It was a good law and therefore it should not have been challenged, he observed.

Legal professional Shahdin Malik said the idea of contempt of court was medieval; blocking the path of criticism was not healthy for democracy.

the government was likely to lodge a plea with the Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division seeking stay order on the ruling.

He added that the government could not file an appeal against the HC verdict because the full text of the ruling was yet to be published.

On June 9, 2005, the Law Commission, then led by former chief justice Mustafa Kamal, made a draft bill for modernising the contempt law. The Act of 2013 by and large accommodated most of the recommendations set out by the commission.

One of the recommendations that the 2013 law accommodated, said publishing fair and accurate report on the proceedings of a court and fair comment on a judgement would not amount to contempt.

However, the provision on the impunity of bureaucracy was not a part of what the commission said.

The revoked Act was promulgated on February 22 this year replacing the 1926 version in the wake of strong demand from media and public servants.

In March this year, lawyers Asaduzzaman and Ayeasha Khatoon lodged a public interest writ petition with the High Court questioning certain sections of the 2013 law, which the court scrapped hearing the petition.

Deputy Attorney General Biswojit Roy told the Dhaka Tribune that the

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Long march activists hold a rally at Digraj of Rampal after the end of the campaign to save the Sundarbans yesterday

Dhaka Tribune

Hasina talks polls, LBA with Manmohan n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Premier Manmohan Singh held talks yesterday and discussed about the upcoming elections on the sidelines of the 68th UN General Assembly.

They also had a one-to-one meeting for about 25 minutes.

Hasina was scheduled to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon early today.

“Our prime minister informed the Indian premier that the election process has begun and the opposition parties are taking preparation,” Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the

UN AK Abdul Momen told the Dhaka Tribune over telephone.

“She [Hasina] told him [Manmohan] that Khaleda [Zia] only does not want me [as the interim government head] while the rest of the things are okay with them,” Momen said.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and daughter of the prime minister Saima Wazed Putul were also present during the meeting.

About the one-to-one meeting held shortly after that, Momen said both the leaders had been seen talking in a cheerful manner.

The Indian side informed Hasina that in the next Rajya Shaba session, the

constitution amendment bill would be placed to pave way for the long-pending land boundary agreement.

“The Indian government did their groundwork with the opposition and they believe that it will be passed during the next session [in winter],” he said.

About the 1,320MW coal-based Rampal power plant, the prime minister emphasised on completing the project as soon as possible. “The Indian side also agreed with Hasina and assured that it will be done at the soonest,” Momen said.

Meanwhile, the meeting with the UN chief is considered to be “very important” in the backdrop of the secretary

BGMEA pledges to implement wage board suggestions, pay Eid bonus

After a year, Ramu still in a fractured communal amity

n Tribune Report

amran Reza Chowdhury, back n Kfrom Ramu, Cox’s Bazar

Leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and National Garments Workers Federation would act hand in hand, to lessen the ongoing unrest in the readymade garment sector.

The decision came at a joint meeting held yesterday chaired by Atiqul Islam, president of BGMEA, and participated by representatives from 40 unions.

Atiqul said: “We will implement the new wage structure once the wage board formed to set minimum wage is declared. We urge it to be declared soon.”

He told the reporters that both the

factory owners and union leaders have to act from respective positions to save the sector as a vested quarter was spreading rumors and creating anarchy.

On Wednesday, several thousands of garment workers staged violent demonstrations in different parts of the country vandalising factories and vehicles, blocking roads and clashing with law enforcers.

The management of about 200 readymade garment factories were forced to suspend production in their units as the workers continued their movement for the fifth day to press for a minimum monthly wage of Tk8,000.

The incident had resulted into a loss of over Tk3bn, hindering the produc-

The National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Power and Ports yesterday demanded cancellation of the October 22 foundation stone laying ceremony of the proposed Rampal power plant project near the Sundarbans mangrove forest.

The 400km Dhaka-to-Sundarbans long march, organised by the platform, reached Digraj of Rampal yesterday evening when the leaders read out the Long March Declaration. They said if the government did not cancel the foundation laying ceremony by October 11, they would announce programmes the next day protesting the move.

The announcement came on the fifth and concluding day of the long march that started on Tuesday.

“There will be no benefit announcing the inauguration date. People will root out the foundation stone. The

 Page 2 column 1

tion grossly.

“We have to come to a consensus to protect the RMG sector,” said Atiqul Islam, president of the apex apparel body at a joint briefing with the union leaders.

“RMG is the only sector, which contributes 79% to the total export and we have to work together to save this sector for the sake of country’s sustainable economic growth.”

He urged the factory owners to pay workers’ wages and bonus before Eidul-Azha as per the labour law.

There was an exchange of hot words among the union leaders regarding the recent move of the shipping minister.  Page 2 column 1

Uttar Mithachhara, a small semi-hilly village in Cox’s Bazar’s Ramu area that was once known for its groundbreaking Buddhist-Muslim relations, is now a divided locality.

The village houses the Vimukti Bibeshan Bhabna Kendra temple, featuring a 100 foot statue of Lord Buddha, which locals and tourists of all faiths used to bow to with respect.

The harmony withered away as hundreds of people attacked the shrine on September 29-30 last year after it was alleged that a photo of the holy Qur’an being burnt was posted on the Face-

book profile of a Buddhist boy named Uttam Barua.

On the left of the narrow bitumen road leading to the temple from Chabagan Bazar along the Ramu-Chittagong road live some 150 Buddhist families, a locality known as Baruapara.

The majority Muslims live in the other hilly side where the Vimukti Bibeshan Bhabna Kendra temple lies, demonstrating strong Buddhist-Muslim ties. The temple is adjacent to the houses and plots owned by the Muslims.

Now no Buddhist is interested in talking to the Muslims with a smile or visits their houses to attend social

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general’s initiative to resolve the deadlock on election period government in Bangladesh.

Ban called both Hasina and Khaleda last month to discuss the country’s existing political situation and the next parliamentary elections.

BNP claimed that they were invited by the UN to take part in a dialogue in the US, but it was not materialised because of the noncooperation from the Awami League.

Momen, however, denied the claim saying that the UN had not invited any BNP leaders.

It is expected that in the meeting

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Ruling MP lambasts finance ministry n Muktasree Chakma Sathi Senior ruling party lawmaker Fazle Rabbi Miah yesterday titled the finance ministry as “the worst possible ministry” and remarked that Finance Minister AMA Muhith always created complications whenever any issue was sent to him.

Fazle Rabbi made the observation while he was speaking at a national conference titled “Role of Human Rights Defenders: Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Bangladesh” at Hotel Ruposhi Bangla.

While discussing the works of the public administration ministry and the finance ministry, Rabbi said, “Finance ministry is the worst possible ministry  Page 2 column 4

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, September 29, 2013

79 Bangladeshis detained in Iraqi jail without trial

BNP’s ‘contradiction’ to report on draft election manifesto Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party issued what it said a statement ”contradicting” to a report published by the Dhaka Tribune on September 28 under the headline of “BNP drafts election manifesto.”

The party, which leads the 18-party alliance, claimed that the report was “false, fabricated and motivated.”

Labour wing has been asked to assist them

n Rabiul Islam At least 79 Bangladeshis have been held captive without trial for months in Sulaimani of Iraqi Kurdistan for allegedly trespassing into the country, according to reports in an Iraqi online news agency on Friday.

Rudaw, a Kurd newspaper, also reports, the detainees, who have been kept in a large prison cell in Sulaimani could be deported to Iran instead of sent back home.

Hiwa Sheikh Ali, head of the detention and deportation centre in Sulaimani, said: “We are waiting for the court order to deport them all back to their country.”

Atik, one of the detainees, said he had been told he would be deported in three months, but eight months have passed and he is still held without trial.

“I do not mind being deported but to Bangladesh and not Iran,” he said.

Another detainee, Abdullah Al Mamun Shahin from Noakhali, went to Dubai back in 2010 where he worked for 32 months, Shahin’s father Abdul Halim told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Abdul Halim over phone claimed his son along with some other migrants were allured by a section of middlemen, who promised Shahin of a lucrative job in Greece with Tk100,000 monthly salary.

“I paid Tk200,000 to the local agent for the job and my son was first taken to

BGMEA pledges  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

Some leaders blamed Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan for the recent turmoil in the garment sector.

Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan gathered garment workers at a rally at the city’s Suhrawardy Udyan from the industrial belts around the capital on September 21.

He arranged hundreds of transports for the workers to carry them to the city centre and declared that he had strong support behind them.

One participant in the meeting said workers went berserk by the call of the minister.

The scattered incidents of violence are

Iran where he was taken hostage for a few days,” said Halim.

“But the local agent was demanding more money by saying that otherwise the middlemen would kill my son,” he said.

To save his son’s life Halim paid another Tk60,000 to the local agent, in return the middlemen helped Shahin to cross Iran border to enter Iraq.

Halim said: “Four months back my son informed me over phone that he was detained. He said they were supposed to be produced before a court, but were not.”

Like Atik and Shahin, Sulaimani police have detained 180 Bangladeshi workers so far, and most were either deported or were hired by different companies to stay and work.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune over phone, Expatiates’ Welfare Ministry Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan said: “We are aware of the fact and we have instructed the labour wing in Iraq to provide assistance.”

The Bangladeshis were detained under the legal procedures, the secretary said. A new ambassador is likely to join there and he would look after the matter, he said.

Earlier, authorities in Egypt had detained 17 illegal Bangladeshi workers, 12 of who are still languishing in jail there while five have returned home recently. l

occurring due to lack of trade unions in the factories, opined Sirajul Islam Rony, president of the Bangladesh National Garment Workers Employees League.

He also urged the BGMEA to re-propose minimum wage for the workers within the shortest period possible before holding the next meeting of the board on October 21.

This would help soothe worker’s agitation, he said.

Najma Akter, president of Garment-Worker Federation, said: “We would sit with all union leaders and workers and advise them to be patient till the declaration of pay scale by the board.” l

Our reply

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh before a meeting at UN headquarters in New York yesterday

AL celebrates Hasina’s birthday

Civic reception planned for PM for “South-South Award” General Secretary and LGRD Minister CR Dutta, Dhaka University Vice-Chann Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters that cellor AAMS Arefin Siddiqui, former Ruling Awami League yesterday celebrated the 67th birthday of the party President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly, across the country.

The party observed the day with elaborate programmes including distribution of cooked food and clothes among orphans, milad mahfil and special prayers.

On this day in 1947, Hasina, the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Fazilatunnessa Mujib, was born at Tungipara in Gopalganj.

Another milad mahfil marking the day was also held at the prime minister’s official residence Ganabhaban after Asr prayers, attended by relatives, well-wishers, party leaders and officials of the Prime Minister’s Office and Ganabhaban.

Senior leaders of the party and its associate bodies joined a programme at the party chief’s Dhanmondi office on the occasion.

After cutting a cake there, party’s

Hasina talks polls, LBA with Manmohan  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

with the UN secretary-general, the premier would assure him of cancelling the election results “if any question is raised about the procedure at home or abroad.”

She was also likely to reassure the UN chief of holding the next general elections in a free, fair and credible manner under the present constitutional arrangement.

Hasina left the country on September 22 on an eight-day official visit to attend the UNGA session that started on September 17 in New York.

The prime minister delivered her

speech at the UNGA on Friday and scheduled to return home tomorrow.

Hasina signed the “Arms trade treaty and protocol on explosive remnants of war of convention on certain chemical weapons” at the UN headquarters the next day.

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 Abul Kalam Azad are among the prime minister’s entourage.

Earlier, Momen said political issues

were likely to be discussed in Hasina’s meeting with Ban. “The UN always supports free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, and the secretary-general will ask the prime minister if the global body can provide any help in holding such polls,” he said.

Asked whether the UN would play the role of a mediator between the Awami League and the BNP, Momen told the Dhaka Tribune: “The UN will only do that when it will be asked by the government.”

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

‘Scrap Rampal power project by October 11’  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

government will not be benefited by issuing false press note, rather it will unmask government’s tricks, forgery and anti-liberation war stands,” reads a press release issued by the National Committee last night.

The declaration says the government has to formulate policies to let the Sundarbans flourish in its own way and the policies should be implemented immediately.

“We have frequently said there are alternatives for producing electricity, but there are no alternatives to the Sundarbans. Defying this truth, the

Sundarbans is being damaged due to the government’s wrong policies, corruption and aggression. Rampal power plant is going to be the most powerful threat to the Sundarbans,” it says.

“We cannot let the Sundarbans be damaged for the greater interest of a Indian company and local grabbers,” the declaration adds.

Socio-cultural and political organisations that took part in the programme included Udichi, Samagit, Charon, Sangskritik Mancha, Bibartan. Environmental organisations Green Voice, Poribesh Andolon Bangladesh (Bapa), political

organisations Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), BSD (Mahbub), Workers Party of Bangladesh, Biplobi Workers’ Party and Ganosanghati Bangladesh.

Around 1,500 people joined the long march on Tuesday at the capital’s Jatiya Press Club demanding cancellation of the project.

The long march went through Shahbagh, Savar, Dhamrai, Manikganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Magura, Jhenaidah, Kaliganj, Jessore, Daulatpur, Khalishpur, Khulna, Bagerhat’s Katakhali, Chulkathi to Digraj (Sundarbans). l

‘Contempt law was not contrary to constitution’  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

public interest petition was not justifiable because the petitioners were not adversely affected by the law.

Manzill Murshid, lawyer of the petitioners, told the Dhaka Tribune that the petition mainly objected to the immunity that the law had given the public servants. “Some media houses tried to make an issue saying their freedom was shattered. But it is not like that. The media can keep on writing or commenting on a judgment just like the way it did before the law was enacted.”

After the judgement, Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque said: “The press is now a big power. We, in no way, want to limit the press. Every day we take help from the press, even in court. But it has to stay within a certain limit.”

Prof Shah Alam, member of the Law Commission, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The Act is in no way contrary to the constitution. I do not find anything wrong about the provision on press and freedom of expression. But at the same time giving immunity to bureaucracy creates a hurdle in establishing justice.”

He said he believed that the Appellate Division would not uphold the High court verdict. Rather, he expected that it would give some meaningful directions for amending the law.

The British-era Contempt of Courts Act 1926 was enacted for serving colonial interests, which did not clarify what would amount to contempt, Prof Shah Alam said.

Absolute power cannot be trusted on the Supreme Court regarding contempt,

he added.

Additional Attorney General MK Rahman said the 2013 law did not curtail the Supreme Court’s authority because the constitution allowed the Supreme Court to practice its power to try contempt charges under the law promulgated by parliament. He also said there was now no law in the country for trying contempt of court charges.

Shahdin Malik said a vacuum has been created by the annulment of the contempt law.

Manzill Murshid said: “[With the annulment of the 2013 law] now the act of 1926 is revived. It will deal with the contempt of lower courts, and the Supreme Court will try contempt of itself according to the constitution and its judgements.” l

he believed the upcoming parliamentary polls would be held with the participation of all political parties.

In his first public appearance in months, he hoped that free and fair elections would be timely held in line with the constitutional provisions.

Syed Ashraf, who skipped major party programmes in recent months, returned to his previous role as the party’s spokesman.

He alleged that the BNP had denied several offers of talks extended by the government.

Later, he held a meeting with party leaders, which decided to engage eminent personalities in a grand civic reception to the premier for the SouthSouth Award for her government’s achievement in alleviating poverty.

Sources said the meeting decided on arranging a programme tomorrow at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to receive the prime minister on her return from the US. Economist Rehman Sobhan, educationist Prof Anisuzzaman, Liberation War sector commander Maj Gen (retd)

DU VC AK Azad Chowdhury and cultural personality Ramendu Mazumder would be among the civic personalities expected at the programme.

Earlier at another programme, Joint General Secretary Mahabub-Ul-Alam Hanif said the ruling party was prepared for talks with the opposition to resolve the ongoing political crisis.

Addressing a discussion by Awami Swechchhasebak League at Dhanmondi Road 32, marking Hasina’s birth anniversary, Hanif also urged the BNP to place its proposal in parliament.

At a separate discussion organised

by Awami Juba League at Mohanagar Natyamancha to mark the anniversary, party’s Presidium member Mohammad Nasim said the Awami League was seeking votes from the people after taking lessons from the past mistakes.

“We do not say that we did not commit any mistake over the past four years. We have taken lessons from our past mistakes and so, we are approaching people for their votes for the party,” he said. l

Ruling MP lambasts  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

in our country. He (the finance minister) creates complications every time, whenever any issue is sent to him. Sometimes we even feel embarrassed for his remarks and speech. Maybe he talks the way he does because of his old age.”

The auditorium burst into laughter at Fazle Rabbi’s remarks.

Criticising the budget and talking over the interrelation between budget and human rights defenders, he also said, “Except Tajuddin, all other finance ministers appointed in the country were either bureaucrats or army officials.

They made their decisions in their

air conditioned rooms. They had no relations with the grassroots. How would you expect their decisions to be pro-people and to protect human rights?”

“It is difficult to live in a country where ghee costs less than oil,” Rabbi added which led the audience to laugh out loud again.

Fazle Rabbi, the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on ministry of law, justice and parliamentary affairs, came down heavily on the law ministry as well in his speech.

“Despite being the chairman of the parliamentary committee for this

The report was written based on an initial draft prepared by a think-tank comprising several pro-nationalist intellectuals and former bureaucrats. They presented the draft to party Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday night at her Gulshan office.

Acting secretary general of the party Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was also present during the presentation.

The think tank initially proposed the title “Rupakalpa 2030,” roughly translated as “Vision 2030” in English. Mahfuz Ullah, a senior journalist, gave the presentation to the party chief.

Contacted, Mahfuz Ullah, also secretary general of Centre for Sustainable Development, denied his involvement with preparing and presenting the draft.

However, Khaleda has reportedly disagreed with the title apparently because it was too similar to “Vision 2021” which the ruling Awami League had coined before the last national elections.

The BNP chief reportedly gave a number of corrections to the draft manifesto and had asked the think tank to send a copy to her son Tarique Rahman, the senior vice-chairman of the BNP, now living in London.

Standing Committee member RA Gani, Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Adviser to the BNP Chairperson Sabihuddin Ahmed and several bureaucrats were present in the programme.

This correspondent could not contact Mirza Fakhrul and RA Gani despite repeated attempts.

However, Prof Pias Karim, a teacher of Brac University, who was present at the meeting, told this correspondent on Friday night that the BNP chairperson had listened to the presentation with a great passion and that she agreed with almost all the points.

He suggested that the “Vision 2030” was very much achievable “if the country gets a perfect leadership.”

The Dhaka Tribune has accessed a hard copy of the presentation. It was held for nearly 40 minutes as the programme started at 10pm. One of the senior party leaders provided the copy. So there is no question about the report. l

ministry, I must say, this ministry is not dynamic at all…there are so many black laws still in effect in Bangladesh, including the Special Powers Act. The country is still being regulated by criminal procedure code and penal code which were enacted in the British period.

These laws need to be amended and updated,” Rabbi said, remarking on the inaction of the ministry and the Law Commission.

Law Commission Member Shah Alam and National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman was present at the programme. l

After a year, Ramu still in a fractured communal amity  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

occasions. Again, not a handful of Muslim customers buy anything from the Buddhist shopkeepers.

“We thank the government for helping us with rebuilding the temple; now we want a wall to protect it from others [Muslims],” Ratan Barua, 29, a drug store owner, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“Unlike before, only a few Muslim customers come,” he said, adding that Buddhists in the area were “totally devastated” by the attacks by their neighbours and outsiders.

“I am not sure whether the wound September 29 caused will heal.”

Hundreds of people attacked the temples of the Buddhists in at least 23 locations in Ramu, Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar and Potia in Chittagong protesting the alleged insult to the holy Qur’an.

At least 10 temples were totally destroyed in the attacks.

Anwar Hossain, 55, a betel nut trader, said the conscious Muslims were also shocked and embarrassed by the attack on their Buddhist brothers and sisters.

“We never considered the Baruas as the Buddhists- the Muslims attended all the social functions of the Baruas and vice versa. That harmony no longer exists. It needs repair,” he said.

With the sincerest efforts of the government, the Buddhists have built

more durable and attractive temples than before, but the gesture has failed to bring back the harmony fractured by the communal attacks.

Both Muslim and Buddhist leaders strongly support the restoration of the confidence and respect the two faiths had nurtured for centuries.

Rejecting the common notion that outsiders had carried out the attacks on the Baruas, the Buddhists say the majority of the attackers were local people who had a plan beforehand and that they brought in their connections from outside.

“The attackers vandalised the houses of the Buddhists, sparing the adjacent houses of the Muslims. Is it possible for the hundreds of outsiders to identify the houses of the Muslims?”

Tarun Barua, the general secretary of Ramu Kendriya Shima Bihar, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said a section of politicians from the leading parties had been involved in the “orchestrated” attacks.

Nitish Barua, another Buddhist leader, told the Dhaka Tribune that the people were headed in the direction of communalism, something never seen before in Ramu.

Local Buddhists have organised a large-scale commemoration function on the grounds in front of Lal Ching temple, which was burnt into ashes, in Srikul village, Fotekharkul union.

They have invited only 12 local

Muslims to the ceremony, Alak Barua, joint secretary of Ramu’s Central Shima Bihar, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Monk Satyapriyo Mohathero, principal of the Shima Bihar in Madhya Meronloya, alleged that the attacks could be linked with the attacks on Muslim Rohingyas by the Buddhists in Myanmar.

“We heard from our seniors that some people tried to provoke an attack on the Buddhists in Ramu in 1978 when the Rohingyas were attacked in Myanmar. But the attempt was not successful as the people were communal,” Mong Lha Pro Pinto, a local school teacher, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Tarun Barua, vice-president of Maitree Bihar management committee, told the Dhaka Tribune that the local leaders of the Awami League, which they voted for decades, had not stood against the attack “fearing reprisal” in the upcoming votes.

Shamim Ahsan Bhulu, a top leader of the National Awami Party in Ramu, and some local Muslims had been trying to hold meetings to restore communal harmony.

“But this is unfortunate that the response is lukewarm from both the sides,” Bhulu told the Dhaka Tribune.

“I am not sure how long it may take to bring the dented harmony back, but we have to do it,” he said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, September 29, 2013

3

Power and gas crisis deepens n Aminur Rahman Rasel Electricity and gas crisis in capital as well as across the country has deepened.

The consumers are likely to experience about 1,200 megawatt (MW) load shedding, owing to a shortage of 650 to 700 mmcfd supply of gas. The gas supply is at an average of 1,750 mmcfd against the demand of 2,400 to 2,450.

The country has been experiencing frequent power and gas outages for a couple of months as the demand is outpacing the generation of power and gas.

Power Development Board (PDB) sources said electricity load-shedding is shooting up every day triggered by a demand hike against a declining gasfired power generation.

Due to gas supply shortfall, the plants under the PDB network cannot generate 900MW power, sources said.

“But this situation could have been better if only we could ensure adequate gas supply to the power plants,” said a PDB official.

Sources at PDB said electricity generation in the country was about 5,800MW against a projected demand of 7,000MW. The state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) has failed to increase the gas supply to cope with the soaring demand.

The production lags behind the target are due to the delay in drilling exploration and development of wells.

There have been no major gas reserves found in this period.

The power demand saw a sudden

rise due to the withdrawal of a threeyear ban on household connections in May and expansion of the grid to some regions including Rajshahi and Bhola.

The supply crunch, coupled with a surge in demand for households, has led to an acute gas crisis in all segment of consumers — industries, commercial, households and CNG stations in the capital and elsewhere in the country — for the last few months.

Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Monsur told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that due to repair works at Koilashtila gas field, 60 mmcfd gas production is currently suspended.

“We hope the production will resume after the repair work is completed within October 2,” he said adding gas shortage will be reduced by a bit then.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Ijaz Hossain, a professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) said, “The government has failed to meet electricity and gas demands during this tenure.”

“If the electricity from India was imported earlier, this would have reduced the crisis somewhat,” he said.

One of the reasons for gas crisis was that large gas fields had not been discovered recently,” he said.

“Due to the gas shortage, production of electricity has fallen. We had the capacity to meet the demand, but there is a scarcity of primary energy,” PDB Chairman Md Abdul Wahab Khan told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“New connections have increased significantly, which has intensified the crisis,” he added. l

Mobile court jails traders for selling fake medicines n Kailash Sarkar Over 100 medicine traders and employees were convicted by a mobile court yesterday for manufacturing, marketing and hoarding of fake, illegal and unauthorised medicines in 13 markets near Babubazar area and Mitford Hospital in the capital.

Amid protests by the traders and clashes with Rapid Action Battalion members, executive magistrate Sharif Md Farhad Hossain, who is attached with Rab 10, led the day-long mobile court with support from the personnel of the Drug Administrations, Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI) and Rab. Of the convicts, 20 traders were jailed and 83 others were fined different amount of money by the mobile court that started its operation around 10am and continued till 7pm. Some 28 shops and storehouses were sealed off during the drive.

The magistrate said Tk12.55m was fined and a total of 80 cases were filed against the businessmen for possessing and hoarding of various fake, illegal and unauthorized and traders while a huge quantity of such medicines worth Tk50m were seized during the drive.

Meanwhile, several hundred traders and their employees staged demonstrations, protesting the drive by the mobile court and locked into clashes with the Rab during the drive, witnesses said.

Members of a mobile court arrest employees of medicine stores in the capital’s Babubazar yesterday Several people, including a Rab man, were injured in the clash, which erupted around 1pm when the mobile court started its conviction processes.

Witnesses said several hundred traders and employees of different medicine shops got organised and launched the agitation, adding that the clash ensued as the Rab tried to

Several factories suspend production Garment workers and police yesterday clashed yet again at the capital’s outskirt Ashulia and neighbouring district Gazipur, leaving 40 injured and forcing authorities of several factories in the areas to suspend production.

Clashes at Kathgorah in Ashulia left at least 20 people injured while movement of vehicles on the roads in the area remained suspended as the workers put blockades and staged demonstrations.

Garment factory workers have been over the last week, demanding Tk8000 as their minimum wage Witnesses said workers at Complete Composite Ltd were angered after finding their factory locked from the outside around 8am in the morning. At first they agitated in front of the factory and later took to streets.

In the wake of agitations, authorities of nearby Radient, Southern, Azmat Group and some other factories closed down production, fuelling further agitations.

Businessman shot dead in his drawing room in Mirpur n Mohammad Jamil Khan

RMG workers-police clash in Ashulia and Gazipur, leaves 40 injured n Tribune Report

Relatives of real estate businessman, Jafrul Haque, burst into tears in front of the DMCH yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Later, as police attempted to remove the barricades on the Bishmile-Zirabo Road, chases, counter chases and clashes took place. Police lobbed teargas canisters and charged batons while the workers pelted stones and brick chips.

However, Mostafizur Rahman, a director of Industrial Police, said the situation was under control.

Similarly in Gazipur, workers put barricades on the roads at Itahata and clashed with police, forcing several factories shut.

The workers of SQ Celsius Ltd first started agitations around 9am inside the factory and later put blockades on Dhaka-Tangail Highway.

They swooped on the nearby factory of Coast to Coast Group, asking the workers to join in. Police rushed to the spot and took action which lead to a clash.

The hour-long confrontation, left at least 20 people injured as police fired rubber bullets, and teargas canisters.

Garment factory workers have been over the last week, demanding Tk8000 as their minimum wage. l

disperse the agitators.

However, the situation came under control after the leaders of the associations of the medicine markets intervened.

Soon after the drives were launched, hundreds of shops, mainly medicine shops, were closed, sources said.

Assistant Superintendent Fazle

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Rabbi of Rab 10 said they had to face difficulties in the operation as the traders kept their shops closed during the drive.

Meanwhile, Major Mamun, commander of the Lalbagh Company of Rab 10, said the drives against the manufacturing, marketing and hoarding of illegal medicines would be continued. l

A businessman was shot in his own drawing room yesterday in the capital’s Mirpur area.

The deceased was identified as Jafrul Haque Moktar, 55, son of the late Jahirul Haque, hailing from Karupchar village in Madaripur’s Shibchar upazila.

Jafrul, the chairperson of Home Text Developer Limited, resided in a twostorey building at Block T, Section 6, under the Rupnagar police station in Mirpur.

According to family members and police, Jafrul was reading a newspaper in his drawing room after having breakfast at around noon, when two people on a motorbike stopped at his house.

One of them – wearing a Panjabi – entered the house after ringing the bell.

According to local accounts to police, within half a minute of entering, the assailant fired two shots at Jafrul, hitting him in the chest and left arm. He then fled the scene with his accomplice who was waiting on the motorbike.

Jafrul’s wife Sahida Jafor was asleep when the shooting occurred, as she was feeling ill, while one of his sons, Rajib Ahmed, was having lunch upstairs.

Jafrul was firstly admitted to Square Hospital, but was later moved to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after his condition deterio-

rated. Doctors declared him dead at around 2pm after his arrival at DMCH. Rajib Ahmed, the victim’s son, told the Dhaka Tribune that he saw one Saidul Sikder outside the building right before the incident, while his father also shouted Saidul’s name before being shot.

Mohammad Faisal, the younger brother of the deceased, told the Dhaka Tribune that Jafrul had land disputes with former Shibchar union parishad Chairman Abdur Rab Sikder, and that Abdur Rab Sikder and his brothers Harun Sikder, Babul Sikder and Habib Sikder, attempted to kill Jafrul two years ago.

A case was filed with the Shibchar police station at the time, but the accused secured bail and started threatening Jafrul to withdraw the case, the brother of the deceased claimed.

“It is my suspicion that they killed my brother with hired goons over the dispute, as they are the main enemies of my brother,” Faisal added.

Nuruzzaman, second officer at Rupnagar police station, said the body of Jafrul was sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy and an investigation into the incident was being carried out.

He also said police suspected that Jafrul had been killed over business matters and a land dispute. l

Khaleda to address COAL-BASED POWER PLANTS IN PRIVATE SECTOR rally in Khulna today Orion given 15 more days to arrange fund n Tribune Desk As per the contracts, the governuled to go into production between n Aminur Rahman Rasel ment will pay Tk4.79 for a unit of elecMarch 2015 and December 2016.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia left for Jessore yesterday afternoon and will address a public rally in Khulna on Sunday, aiming to mobilise public support in favour of the opposition’s demand for arranging the next polls under a non-party administration.

The BNP chairperson started her journey for Jessore from her Gulshan residence around 4:40pm.

She was scheduled to stay overnight at Jessore Circuit House yesterday and start for Khulna this noon.

As part of its movement strategy, the BNP-led 18-party alliance is going to arrange the rally at Khulna Circuit House ground this afternoon.

This will be the fourth out of eight 18-party rallies the main opposition party planned in eight regions of the country to increase people’s involvement in their ongoing anti-government campaign to force the government to restore caretaker government system to oversee the next polls. l

The Orion Group has sought 15 more days to complete financial deals for the construction of three private coalbased power plants with a total capacity of 1,087MW. Power Division Additional Secretary Mofazzel Hossain said according to agreements, the company was supposed to complete financial closings

by March 25. Earlier the government extended the time by six months until this month for the company to arrange fund for the projects, but it failed to do so, he added.

“Orion Group has sought more 15 days to complete financial closings and they will submit an action plan on the progress of the construction,” Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The Power Division yesterday had a meeting with the business conglomerate at the Bidyut Bhaban on the progress of the projects, which were sched-

Government supporting ‘atheist’ groups: IAB n Manik Miazee Islami Andolon Bangladesh (IAB) yesterday blamed the government for supporting the “anti-Islamist atheist groups” in the country.

Party Chairman Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim (Charmonai Pir) said the government was supporting the anti-Islamic atheist groups, and on the other hand, working to restrain supporters of Islam.

At a press conference at the IAB office in the capital, the Charmonai Pir also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of six leaders and activists of Islami Shasontantra Chhatra Andolon, the student body of the IAB. The six were arrested for campaigning on Facebook. The IAB chief said: “By campaigning on Facebook, they have fulfilled their party responsibilities.”

He also urged the government to restore the caretaker government system, since “the country is now facing a severe crisis on the issue.”

The IAB chairman also threatened that a mass movement would take place if any forgery took place during the Barguna 2 by-polls. “The ruling party’s dream to be elected again will turn into nightmare,” he said. l

On June 27, 2012, the government signed agreements with Orion Group to install the plants – one at Mawa in Munshiganj with a capacity of 522MW and two others with a combined capacity of 565MW in the Khulna region.

‘Orion Group has sought more 15 days to complete financial closings and they will submit an action plan on the progress of the construction’ During the signing, Orion Group Chairman Obaidul Karim had said they would import coal from Australia and Indonesia. He had also promised that the plants would go into operation three months before schedule.

The Mawa power plant was supposed to start commercial production in 45 months and the Khulna plants in 36 months from the date of contract signing.

tricity produced at the Mawa plant and Tk4.45 for other two plants.

Orion Group is the first private sector company to enter into coal-based power generation. The country’s sole coal-based power plant is owned by the government at Barapukuria in Dinajpur, producing 250MW. On January 29, 2012, the government struck a deal with India for installing a coal-based power plant with a capacity of 1,320MW at Rampal in Bagherhat near the Sundarbans.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the construction work of the joint venture project on October 5 amid protests from conservationists who foresee dangers from the plant on the biodiversity of the world’s largest mangrove forest. She is expected to be joined by her Indian counterpart Monomohan Singh through a video conference. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Pledges to LDCs still unfulfilled n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque has come down heavily on international development partners for their failure to deliver on the commitments they made to the least development countries (LDCs).

He said the LDCs should underline the widening gaps in the realisation of development partners’ commitments, particularly in terms of Official Development Assistance, foreign direct investment and trade liberalisation.

“Clearly, as we underlined in the G77 Ministerial Meeting yesterday [Thursday], there is a failure of our partners and the international community to live up to their expectations on MDG 8, or the partnership front,” the foreign secretary told the Annual Ministerial Meeting of the LDCs in New York on Friday.

“It will be important for the global community to acknowledge that the LDCs strived to attain the MDGs in spite of the absence or miniscule support or partnership of the international community.”

The secretary lamented that the development partners also failed to deliver their

commitments on transfer of technology.

For decades, a lack of production capacity has been underlined as a key challenge for the LDCs, especially in respect to the “graduation” of an LDC, he said.

“Yet, against the commitments and assurances made at various global processes – be it in Agenda 21 or the WTO – there is just little progress on the transfer of technology,” he added.

The LDCs must categorically refer to the binding nature of Article 66 of the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, which stipulates that developed countries assist the LDCs, he said.

“The LDC membership must raise this firmly and in a concerted way at all forums, stressing that development and transfer of technologies are critical to make financial and technical support effective and useful for the LDCs, even in the long term.”

The secretary said the Turkish proposal to set up a “technology bank” was an interesting and innovative idea.

“We would like to see the bank take off at the earliest.” l

Polytechnic teachers, students threaten to boycott exams

n Tribune Report

A participant team rowing towards the finish line in the 37th National Boat Race organised by mobile operator Banglalink at the Buriganga yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Human rights defenders ‘Responsibility lies with the majority’ not enemies of the state: Conference

JU teachers resume RESTORING BUDDHISTS’ CONFIDENCE boycott of classes n Mahadi Al Hasnat of Ramu, and their failure to unearth n Abu Bakar Siddique the causes behind. “I believe their inacA section of teachers of Jahangirnagar University (JU) began an indefinite work abstention from yesterday, for the third time in six months as part of their ongoing movement demanding removal of the vice-chancellor.

The boycott of classes and examinations by the protesting teachers, under the banner of General Teachers’ Forum, comes at a time when most JU departments and institutions are busy preparing for year-end and semester finals.

Source said the forum, which consists of teachers from both pro-Awami League and pro-BNP groups, launched its latest protest as a probe committee did not publish an investigation report against VC Anwar Hossain on time.

Following the confinement of the VC at his office for three days from August 22-24, the education minister convinced the agitating teachers to suspend their protest for 15 working days by forming a two-member investigation team to probe allegations against Anwar Hossain of working against the university’s interest.

The probe report was supposed to be submitted by September 24. But the team extended the probe time until today for the sake of proper investigation, and the report is expected to be published tomorrow.

Hanif Ali, convener of teachers’ forum, told the Dhaka Tribune that they started the latest strike as the probe body did not publish the investigation report on Tuesday as originally scheduled. l

WEATHER

Legal practitioner Jyotirmoy Barua, a Buddhist from Ramu, Cox’s Bazar, has filed a writ petition challenging the police inaction during the attacks on their temples on September 29 and 30 last year. He later sought a judicial inquiry into the communal attack.

He told the Dhaka Tribune on September 26 that it was hard for the Buddhists to live in Bangladesh without fear from “their Muslim neighbours, who have considered them as brothers for centuries.”

Jyotirmoy said the prime responsibility to ensure Muslim-Buddhist harmony “lies with the majority.”

He said: “One year has already passed but the trauma of the Buddhist community is yet to be diminished as the situation they faced was completely sudden and unwanted. The attack was aimed at creating a permanent division between the Muslims and the Buddhists. The wound is apparently ‘incurable.’”

On the petition, he said it was yet to be heard because of the long list of petitions pending for hearing. “However, it has been in the cause list since May this year. But I hope the hearing on the writ will be start soon.”

He filed the petition on October 3 last year challenging the inaction of the police, especially of Selim Jahangir, the then superintendent of police, and AK Nojibul Islam, the then officer-in-charge

tiveness caused spill of the attacks.”

Asked why he had sought a judicial inquiry when the home ministry formed a probe body, just days after the incident, Jyotirmoy said: “The home ministry’s ‘rubbish’ report tried to hide the controversial role of the ruling party men, the police and the failure of the upazila administration. It took written statements forcing the people not to disclose the real causes of the incident. This led to the release of some of the culprits.”

Rejecting the home ministry report, in December last year he had again raised the demand for a judicial inquiry committee. The High Court then directed the government to declare a timeline and form the committee. It also asked the authorities concerned to include the report in the petition he had filed earlier.

“If the home ministry’s report is rubbish, then the judicial inquiry report is ‘more than rubbish’ in terms of quality and truthfulness. I am frustrated over the report which has been prepared by some inexperienced officials. This report also tries to save the ruling party.”

Asked whether both the reports were same, the lawyer said: “Both are same. In both cases, they have tried to hide the role of the ruling party and inaction of the police, differing on the number of perpetrators. The home ministry said it was 205 with Uttam

Barua as the main accused while the judicial report mentions of 298 people dropping Uttam.”

Besides these, the inspector general of police prepared a report, which Jyotirmoy said was “totally bogus” as it attempted to hide the police’s faults. It only partially blamed the OC, said the lawyer.

Hundreds of people attacked the Buddhist temples and houses in at least 23 spots in Ramu, Ukhiya and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar and Potia of Chittagong protesting the alleged insult of the holy Qur’an by Uttam. At least 10 temples were destroyed during the attacks.

Jyotirmoy observed that it was impossible for the Buddhists to live in harmony like the past days because of the attack of such a massive magnitude.

Asked about the motive of the attacks, he said: “I cannot make any concrete remark on the issue as anything could be the reason. To find out the exact reason, I applied to High Court to form a judicial inquiry team. Though, it finally made me frustrated.”

Enquired whether the situation may deteriorate if the additional law enforcers were pulled out, Jyotirmoy said: “I think the troops should be withdrawn as early as possible normalise the situation.”

But to break the impasse of mistrust and restore the broken faith of the Buddhists, “the majority Muslims must come forward first,” he suggested. l

n Muktasree Chakma Sathi The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman, a member of the law commission, rights activists and academics yesterday said the state should not treat human rights defenders as its enemy.

They also expressed concern over the use of several laws in abuses of human rights defenders. The speakers mentioned that several laws- including the Special Powers Act 1974, Penal Code 1860, the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006 and the Official Secrets Act 1923- had been used against human rights defenders across the country.

The observations came at a national conference- titled “Role of Human Rights Defenders: Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Bangladesh”- jointly organised by the NHRC and Relief International at Hotel Ruposhi Bangla in the capital.

Speaking at the event, NHRC Chairman Mizanur Rahman said the state needed to learn how to respect different views. “Just because one holds an opinion different than that of the state does not necessarily mean he is an en-

Empowerment of the poor requires multidimensional approach: Speakers

City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

30.5 29.2 34.0 33.0 29.0 29.5 32.8 32.0

26.0 25.8 25.8 25.6 25.8 24.5 26.7 25.6

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:35am 5:49am 11:49pm 4:08pm 5:48pm 7:03pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Poverty needs to be addressed from multiple directions so that those who are poor in the society can be empowered to take their rightful place, speakers at a programme said yesterday.

Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) launched a new project named “Creating Opportunity for Poor and Excluded (COPE)” to improve the conditions of around 1.1m people who are “excluded” from society.

Addressing the launching of the project, Gawher Rizvi, international affairs adviser to the prime minister, said: “The tragedy is the people who are at the bottom of the social and economical hierarchy, their voices remain unheard.”

He also said the poor were in poor health, had poor education, poor access to jobs and poor access to political participation, adding that the only way to eliminate poverty was to target the poverty from multiple directions.

The 24m pound, three-year project is aims to give support to 215,000 poor families through social safety net programmes, provide legal aid and health support to 95,000 oppressed women and distribute 23,550 acres of government land among the landless.

The COPE project will also provide support to 100,000 workers, train 10,800 people who want to go abroad, and rehabilitate 20,000 children aged 14-17 who are engaged in risky jobs.

The programme, funded by the UK

Gawher Rizvi speaks in the launching ceremony of COPE at the Bangla Academy yesterday government’s DFID and Australia’s AusAID, will be executed through 120 organisations all over the country.

Speaking as the chief guest, DFID Country Representative Sarah Cooke said: “We can never end poverty until we begin to challenge inequality and discrimination.

“Men and women, girls and boys must have the same opportunity to flourish. For all the progress Bangla-

desh has made, too many people have been left behind.”

Priya Powell, Counsellor, Head of Development Cooperation at AusAID, said the programme would accelerate growth and reduce poverty.

The foundation will provide financial and technical assistance to its 120 associate organisations, which are working in fields of human rights and governance under the COPE pro-

emy of the state. We [Human Rights defenders and the state] need to learn how to work for betterment of the country despite the disagreements.”

Law Commission member Shah Alam said: “A secured environment for human rights defenders and ensuring their freedom to work are the main conditions for the protection and promotion of human rights in general.”

Ruling party lawmaker Fazle Rabbi Miah called upon to human rights defenders unite.

“It is you [human rights defenders] who need to be united. No government, neither the so called developed ones nor Bangladesh will think to protect human rights defenders. If you are united, the government has no other option except ensuring human rights,” he added.

The speakers also stressed the fact that human rights defenders must work in a neutral and impartial manner and that they should not be politically biased in any case.

Dhaka University law faculty teacher Rokeya Chowdhury, Country Director of Relief International Nazrul Islam, and full-time member of the NHRC Kazi Reazul Haque also spoke at the conference. l

Government failed to save rivers, wetlands: speakers n Tribune Report

No possible change Manusher Jonno Foundation launches programme for 1.1 million ultra poor in temperature n UNB n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions until 6pm today.

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

Day and night temperature may fall slightly over the country.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:48pm today and rises at 5:50am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 34.5 degree Celsius was recorded yesterday at Bogra and lowest 24.0 degrees at Hatiya.

Highest and lowest temperature recorded in some major cities yesterday were:

Students and teachers of polytechnic institutes across the country yesterday threatened to boycott examinations, demanding immediate change in the 2008 gazette that identifies diploma professionals as supervisors, not engineers.

The declaration came from the leaders of Bangladesh Karigari Chhatra Parishad (Bakchap) and Bangladesh Polytechnic Teachers Association (BPTA), according to UNB. The students and teachers of all polytechnic institutions across the country also formed human chains yesterday to press for their demand.

The two organisations vowed to continue their protests until the authorities fulfil their demand through the implementation of the prime minister’s direction and recommendations at the inter-ministerial committee formed by the present government on the issue.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Diploma Engineering Peshajibi-Chhatra-Shikkak Sangram Parishad issued a statement in support of the exam boycott.

The parishad also condemned the attacks yesterday by outsiders on their human chains in Bogra, Magura, Brahmanbaria and Sherpur districts. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

gramme, said MJF Executive Director Shahin Anam.

The COPE project is being launched at a time when statistics say one in five of Bangladesh’s 160m people are ultra poor and of those, 11m have very bleak prospects for development.

About 36% of children are under weight, while 61% of children under five years’ physical growth is not up to par. l

The government has failed to take the proper action to save the country’s rivers and wetlands from illegal encroachment and pollution, experts and activists said yesterday.

They also remarked that without the government’s goodwill to save the water bodies, all the civil society discussions and calls would be useless.

They were speaking at a seminar on “Saving Rivers and water Bodies in and around Dhaka City” held at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) auditorium.

Firstly the political parties should be aware about the importance of saving rivers and water bodies, said Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convener of Nagorik Oikkyo.

“Both Awami League and BNP party men are often involved with making money by grabbing water bodies,” he added.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, executive director of Bangladesh Environmentalist Lawyer’s Association (Bela) said everything could be achieved in the country if the government had good intentions.

She also blamed the government for giving advantage to the river grabbers through a faulty river demarcation process.

Prof Nazrul Islam, former chairman of the University Grants Commission, suggested that the government give more priority to save the water bodies as they were declining very quickly.

“The ratio of water body and land was 1:1 in 1900, then it was 1:2 in 1980 and at present it is 1:20,” he added. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Sunday, September 29, 2013

5

The ghost of Felani

DHAKA TRIBUNE

T

n Shayan S Khan

We never know whether or not somewhere in the afterlife, we will be confronted by a little girl clad in a red kameez to go with her purple salwar, who just wants to know what all we managed to achieve; what came in the end of the almighty row we kicked up by brandishing the image of her death

he name of Felani Khatun can now be added to history’s roll call of tragics.

She must figure somewhere near the top as well, for hers is an especially sad tale. Aged 15 or so (one never knows, with the rural population of Bangladesh), she was shot dead by one of the trigger-happy, loser-got-lucky, gung ho baddies that patrol the more than 4,000-km porous border we share with India, a member of India’s Border Security Force.

What followed made it all worse, as the gruesome image of her death became a symbol of the routine brutality the BSF engages in along the border, making it the bloodiest in the world, and a mockery of the idea that our two countries are “friendly neighbours.”

I remember the picture coming in on one of the wire services, and being revolted by the thought of publishing it. It was still of questionable authenticity, and seemed so distasteful, but quickly went viral of course.

She hung like some doll, head-first towards the ground near the top of the almost 3m fence, its barbed wire meshed into her feet most likely, for sure in the lower half of her body, as she remained suspended in the air above ground that was still Indian.

In case you’re wondering, no, it isn’t common for countries to resort to such a severe demarcation of where one ends and the other begins. For all their troubles, there is no such separation along India’s border with Pakistan, where it could prevent the infiltration by militant elements that Delhi often complains about. Nor with Nepal or Bhutan.

But India has always found the handling of refugees or immigrants from Bangladesh an odious task, dating back to our War of Liberation, when an alleged 10 million fled there.

possible climate catastrophe in the future in Bangladesh’s low-lying areas.

That would create the prospect of millions of “climate refugees,” those who survive the danger posed by the rising sea-level, although research shows such environmental migrants usually relocate within Bangladesh.

Nevertheless, this inhuman fence is what the Indians felt was needed, and although some form of fencing has long-existed along parts of the border, now they are very close to having it in full.

There is however nothing in Indian law that sanctions the killing of wouldbe migrants trying to cross the border, even through breach of the fence.

That is why the sense of inevitability that Mr Ekram Kabir lends to such an outcome (“Larger than life,” Dhaka Tribune, September 20) is somewhat misplaced.

According to Mr Kabir, when a BSF soldier spots the fence being severed by smugglers, “he has no other option (but) to shoot at the person.” Almost sympathetically, he goes on to characterise the act of shooting at someone crossing the fence as one of desperation by the BSF man to “save his job.”

This simply isn’t correct.

For one thing, it ignores the reality of the situation all along the border, where smuggling is rife right under the BSF’s noses, indeed with their connivance, upon payment of a fee.

The image of the BSF soldier trying to make his higher-ups “understand” that he was “alert” by shooting presupposes that he was hauled up for questioning over some individual’s crossing the border and getting caught in the first place, but such instances are extremely rare.

Above all, Indian law forbids BSF jawans from resorting to shooting at those trying to cross the border, except in self-defence. This is something that was reiterated by senior Congress

I remember the picture coming in on one of the wire services, and being revolted by the thought of publishing it

Border killings by BSF continue despite the ‘friendliness’ between the two neighbours and unkept promises AFP

The barbed-wire fence they decided to put up all along the full length of the border, in the dying days of the last Hindu Nationalist BJP-led government (the current Congress-led government in its first term decided to go ahead with it following a review, possibly in response to the heckling they are often subjected to for counting on illegal immigrants from Bangladesh as part of their vote bank), is aimed at stopping not only the flow of illegal immigrants, weapons, counterfeit currency, and smuggled goods that are some of its features, but also the fallout from a

leader P Chidambaram two years ago when he was home minister. The appropriate measure is for them to be hauled up and detained, before being deported at a later date.

Each time a BSF soldier kills and is questioned over it, he manages to escape punishment by filing a plea of self-defence. As this usually takes place in an internal court run by the BSF, with no other testimony other than that of the offending soldier, however implausible it may sound, the plea is almost never contested.

This is where the photographic

evidence of Felani’s death comes in.

By now, we all must have seen it. And those of us who have, will admit that it must be difficult to be able to pose any threat whatsoever to an armed member of a security force from that position. This is why the recent acquittal of Amiya Ghosh, the BSF jawan accused of having fired the shot that killed the young girl, is such a travesty of justice; because actual evidence exists to indicate he could not have been acting in self-defence.

This is also the most probable reason for which a retrial has been ordered by the BSF’s own compe-

all must cry in the end. While we, who should hang our heads in shame, move on, comfortably ensconced in the next instalment of the game.

You see we never know, none of us is sure, whether or not somewhere in the afterlife, we will be confronted by a little girl clad in a red kameez to go with her purple salwar, who just wants to know what all we managed to achieve; what came in the end of the almighty row we kicked up by brandishing the image of her death.

Shayan S Khan is executive editor of the Dhaka Courier, and senior editor at UNB.

In an act of puerile subservience, the Bangladesh deputy high commission in Kolkata refused visas to both Kirity Roy and Maloy Sengupta two weeks back to enter Bangladesh

tent authority – although this was announced during a flurry of activity aimed at pleasing Bangladesh, and is just as likely to fizzle out again in the coming weeks and months.

The existence of the photograph is also the main reason why Indian human rights activists like Kirity Roy, secretary of Kolkata-based MASUM, and Maloy Sengupta, a retired judge, consider it “a duty” as Mr Roy put it to me in an email over the weekend, to pursue the matter in the Indian Supreme Court and seek compensation for Felani’s family.

Such acts of wanton bloodshed by the BSF sully the image of India, and is unbecoming of the position of influence they seek in the region. Who would have thought though, that our own government would act to pour cold water over any such efforts?

In an act of puerile subservience, the Bangladesh deputy high commission in Kolkata refused visas to both individuals two weeks back to enter Bangladesh, where they intended to carry out a fact-finding mission in preparation for the case.

Their inability to visit Bangladesh certainly hampers any such effort, but Mr Roy remains adamant about pressing on, even in the face of such a cruel reminder of how the ways of politics can circumvent the path to justice.

As for Felani, she who gave up longevity in life for longevity in death – a most cruel fate, not only for her but for her family, who had their right to grieve in private taken away. In return for all this, her death could have been one that meant something to the human race, by lending its shadow to our common quest. Yet it seems with the connivance of her own government, hers, along with so many others like her, will have been in vain.

They all die in vain of course, they

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Chittagong to get 17-kilometre elevated expressway n UNB Looking for an alternative route amid increasing port activities, Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) and Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) have jointly planned to take up a 17-kilometer elevated expressway project to connect Karnaphuli Bridge and Patenga beach with at least five landing stations.

CDA Chairman Abdus Salam put forward a proposal to the prime minister for constructing the elevated expressway to create alternative routes in the commercially important port city.

The route – Karanaphuli Bridge to Airport through CDA AvenueSheikh Mujib Road – is the key road in the port city of Chittagong as airport-bound passengers face immense sufferings due to absence of alternative routes.

“We do not have any alternative

route to CDA Avenue-Sheikh Mujib Road. Considering the future rush of mechanised transport movement following increased port activities, I put forward the proposal and the prime minister gave me a patient hearing,” the CDA chairman said.

He also said the port authority used around 80% of the roads, while the remaining 20% was used by general purposes. “But the CPA has not spent a single taka for the road communication development in the city,” he alleged.

Regarding the plan, he observed that delaying the plan would bring various difficulties to the country’s key sea port and the city.

The port users, however, said there should be a proper planning to take forward the proposal with alternative provisions, ensuring maximum benefit from the project.

“In fact, the elevated expressway is a very effective plan. But there should

be a provision so that a suspension railway (elevated railway with hanging train cars) could be introduced below the expressway,” SM Nurul Hoque, vice- president of Bangladesh-Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.

He also said the port authority needed to elicit opinions from city planners, experts and common people through online for better planning.

“Port growth increases gradually.

We need to have a planning right now to ensure maximum benefit for the port users and keep roads free from traffic jams,” he added.

Another port user and former director of FBCCI M Amirul Haque said he did not have faith in the CPA, as it could not appoint an operator for the New Moorning Container Terminal in the last five years.

“I do not think the CPA has the proper planning,” he added.

Feature of Elevated Expressway

The planned expressway will have five landing stations and the route will go through Karnaphuli Bridge-Firingibazar-Sadarghat-Barikbuilding-EPZ intersection-Cement Crossing-Kathghor-Patenga seashore.

The CDA chairman said there would be landing stations at Firingibazar-Sadarghat-Bandar Bhaban-BarikbuildingEPZ intersection so that people could communicate through New Market, Alkaran and Kotwali areas.

Asked about the initial project cost, Abdus Salam said it would cost over Tk20bn. He also expressed hopes that the prime minister would make a formal announcement of the proposed project within the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, sources at the political circle said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was expected to visit Chittagong on October 12 and she would make the announcement at a public rally there. l

Protesters demand suspension of Vested Property Act n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong People from Hindu, Buddhist and Christian communities held a day-long mass hunger strike in Andarkilla of Chittagong city yesterday demanding suspension of Chapter “B” of Vested Property Return Act. The speakers at the hunger strike also demanded cancellation of the proposed Debottor (endowment) Management Act. The programme continued from 8am to 5pm.

The programme was jointly organised by Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad and Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad.

The hunger strike was the part of a central programme declared earlier.

Several hundred people of the communities from the port city and the

IIUC students stage demo in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Students of International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC) in the district’s Sitakunda upazila yesterday staged demonstrations on the university’s Kumira campus to press home its 13-point demand.

The demands include reduction in additional dormitory and transport fees.

They also boycotted classes and held a protest rally on the campus around 10am.

Students complained that the university authorities imposed different kinds of fees but they were not provided with enough facilities.

The fees are so exorbitant that many students cannot afford to pay, they said.

The university failed to provide uninterrupted water supply and transport service but the authorities increased dormitory and transport fees.

Refuting the allegation of increasing fees Md Shafi Uddin, proctor of the university, said the students had staged the demonstrations to press home their other demands.

He said the demonstrations were over and the students went to their classrooms as soon as the university authorities gave them assurance of meeting their logical demands. l

Jute mill workers strike in Ghorashal n Our Correspondent, Narsingdi Several thousand workers of Bangladesh Jute Mills Ltd in Ghorashal, Polash upazila observed an eight-hour work abstention yesterday and held a protest rally demanding better pay.

Around 9am, about 5,000 workers and staff from the mill stopped work and gathered at the factory gates for a protest meeting led by their union leaders.

The workers’ leaders, including union chief Md Yusuf Mia, demanded the immediate implementation of the third scheme pay scale, the implementation of which the government has delayed for two years.

The protesting workers urged the prime minister and the jute and labour ministers to meet their demand by October 5, threatening to go on an indefinite strike the following day if their demand is not met. l

16 pirates held n UNB, Chittagong

The prize -giving ceremony of Bidyaloy Natyo Dal’s fourth National Performance Evaluation Award takes place at the Liberation War Museum yesterday

RAJIB DHAR

Rampal plant to doom Sundarbans: Study State organs should be n Tribune Desk

The proposed Rampal power plant project will bring more harm than good for the country destroying the world heritage Sundarbans, according to an independent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The EIA of physical, biological, social and economic environment indicates that most of the impacts of the coal-fired power plant are negative and irreversible, which can’t be mitigated in any way.

So the climate, topography, land use pattern, air and water (surface and ground both) quality, wetlands, floral and faunal diversity, capture fisheries and tourism in the Sundarbans will be affected permanently due to the proposed coal-fired power plant.

Dr Abdullah Harun Chowdhury, a professor of Environmental Science Discipline at Khulna University, conducted the EIA titled “Environmental Impact of Coal based Power Plant of Rampal on the Sundarbans (World Largest Mangrove Forest) and Surrounding Areas.”

The EIA is an assessment of the possible positive or negative impacts that a proposed project may have on the environment, consisting of the environmental, social and economic aspects.

The environmental impact of the Rampal power plant on the Sundarbans and surrounding areas was studied from August 2011 to July 2012 in Rampal, Mongla and the Sundarbans.

The physico-chemical conditions of air, water and soil, and biological conditions of the proposed coal-fired area (Rampal), Mongla and Sundarbans were studied.

Increased water-logging, river erosion, noise pollution and health hazards; decreasing of ground water table; loss of culture fisheries, social forestry and health hazards, and major destruction of agriculture will take place due

adjoining upazilas participated in the hunger strike to press home their demands.

The protesters demanded the prime minister’s interference in this regard.

There are two categories of vested property in Bangladesh – “A” category comprised those under the government’s possession while the “B” category property not in the government possession.

The mass hunger strike programme was also attended by Indunandan Dutta, central presidium member of Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad; Parimal Kanti Chowdhury, president of Chittagong city unit of the organisation; Ranjit Bishwas, president of Chittagong district (north) unit; and Shyamol Kumar Palit, joint general secretary of Divisional Puja Udjapon Parishad. l

to the Rampal Power Plant, the assessment says.

These problems may be reversible after long mitigation process except agriculture. Mitigation of agricultural loss will be very difficult and many people will turn landless.

The EIA indicates the study area is not suitable for industrialisation and urbanisation. By establishing the coalfired power plant, only electrification in the rural area, and a very few job and localised business facilities will be increased. But, the benefits of power plant is very poor than that of negative irreversible impact.

“So, the selected area is not suitable to establish any type of coal-based power plant in the contexts of economic, social, physical and environment,” the EIA report says.

Dr Abdullah Harun Chowdhury told UNB that flora and fauna are indicating that some plants and animals are already on the verge extinct due to natural climatic hazards.

“Due to pollution of the coal-fired power plant, the rest of the flora and fauna will be destroyed changing the air, water and soil quality of the study areas.”

He said the wind flow indicates that the total study areas -- Rampal, Mongla and the Sundarbans -- will be affected by the toxic gases and ashes of the coalbased power plant in different seasons.

Dr Harun said about 0.75 to 1 kg of coal is needed to fire to generate one kilobyte of power and about 4.7m tonnes of coal should be burned annually to keep the plant operational.

“The power plant will generate 0.7m tonnes of sky ash and 0.2m tonnes of bottom ash per year. As the ashes contain sulphur, carbon dioxide, arsenic, mercury, lead, chromium, and cadmium, it will bring harm to the environment,” he said.

The environmental scientist said the Sundarbans reserve forest is already

facing threats from natural calamity, deforestation, rise in salinity and extinction of many species mainly due to human carelessness, ignorance and lack of implementation of laws, poaching and illegal wildlife trade and the power plant will welcome new kind of havoc for the forest.

The Rampal Power Plant will burn around 4.75m tonnes of coal annually when more or less 0.3 million tonnes ashes and around 0.5 million tonnes sludge and liquid waste may be produced. It would also emit a good amount of carbon dioxide, the key factor for global warming; some other toxic gases and airborne particles, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a USA-based group.

Prof Dr MA Sattar in his study (2011) showed that the groundwater of the Pashur would be polluted by the huge amount of waste produced due to burning of the coal and the toxic substances can contaminate drinking water supplies and damage vital organs and the nervous system of people living around the place and the natural resources of the Sundarbans.

The proposed 1,320-megawatt thermal power plant will be a joint venture of Bangladesh Power Development Board and NTPC Ltd, India, under the name of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company.

Accordingly, Bangladesh and India in 2009 signed a deal to set up two power plants in Shapmari and Katakhali, 14-kilometer away from the Sundarbans.

On August this year, the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Environment and Forests approved its environment clearance following the findings of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared by the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) to set up the coal-fired Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans. l

autonomous

Members of Coast Guard on Friday arrested 16 alleged pirates along with firearms and sharp weapons from the coastal Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong.

All the arrestees were cohorts of pirate Abdul Hakim alias Baissha Dakat and accused in the 31 fishermen murder case lodged with Banshkahli police station, said a press release.

Acting on a tip-off, a special operation team of Coast Guard conducted a drive in Kadubkhali of the upazila from 9am to 4pm and arrested the 16.

The Coast Guard also seized two light guns and nine machetes from their possessions.The arrestees were handed over to the local police station. l

Speakers say at a pre-election campaign Fire at SBMCH students’ hall They want to see these changes in n Our Correspondent, Barisal real, not only written in the constitun Our Correspondent, Barisal Leaders of different political parties tion or manifestos, they added. stressed on non-politicisation of state organs at “Janatar Ishtehar (people’s manifesto),” a countrywide pre-election campaign.

State organs like law enforcing agencies, judiciary, election commission, anti-corruption commission etc should be non-politicised and run independently, they stated at the session held at the Abdul Khalek Auditorium in Barisal city yesterday.

The leaders from prominent political parties along with representatives of local government and development organisations participated in the dialogue.

They opined that activeness of parliament does not depend solely on the presence rate of parliament members.

They called for revising the article-70 of the constitution which says “A person elected as a member of Parliament at an election at which he was nominated as a candidate by a political party shall vacate his seat if he resigns from that party or votes in Parliament against the party,” for the sake of democracy.

CARE Bangladesh, Action Aid and Daily Jugantor organised the programme.

The campaign aims to capture the voices of people from grassroots and influence the political parties for incorporating citizens’ demand into their election manifesto, said the organisers.

The participants told people wanted to see the local government bodies turning autonomous, and democracy being practiced inside the political parties.

The speakers hoped that the dialogue would contribute in developing their manifesto ahead of the national election which is to be held in a few months.

The campaign aims to capture the voices of people from grassroots and influence the political parties for incorporating citizens’ demand into their election manifesto The speakers said there was an inextricable relation among the unbalanced regional development, the cycle of poverty in the country and democracy.

They said it was a continuous process where citizens’ participation plays the key role.

They stressed on allotting sufficient budget in accord with the demand of the grass root population for a balanced development in the rural regions.

Area, population, and regional characteristics should be kept in consideration while allotting fund for regional development, they said.

They shed light on taking preventive measures to cope with climate change to shrink loss of lives and properties, especially in the disaster-prone southern region of the country.

Advocate Mojibor Rahman Sarwar, city BNP president and lawmaker, Advocate Talukdar Md Yunus, district AL secretary, Advocate Shawkat Hossain Hiron, city AL president and former BCC (Barisal City Corporation) Mayor, were present among others. l

A fire accident happened at Zamilur Rahman Hall of Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College yesterday. After the incident, agitated students confined officials of public works department in a hostel room for more than an hour.

Dr M Sharfuzzaman Rubel, superintendent of the hall, said Zubayer Hossain, Fahad, Sumon and Shamim, students of the 41st batch of the college were residing at room 210 of the hall.

They returned to their room around 1pm after attending class and found fire burning their books and other staffs inside the room. The students became panicked and called the Fire Service to extinguish the flame immediately.

Jalilur Rahman, duty officer of Barisal Fire Service Station, said the fire broke out from electric short circuit and damaged properties worth Tk500,000.

After the incident, Engineer Shafikul Islam Patwari and Field Work Assistant Mintu Khan of Public Works Department, the department responsible for the construction and supervision of the hall building, rushed to the spot to investigate the matter and assess the costs of repairing.

Agitated students then nabbed the PWD officials and confined them at room 206 of the hall alleging substandard works of electrification during the construction.

The hall superintendent, with the help of other teachers, rescued and released the PWD officials.

A probe team would be formed to find out the cause and future prevention of fire accident in the hall and the affected students would be given compensations, the hall super assured. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

7

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Women turning to earthworms for self-reliance n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah Women entrepreneurs in several villages of Jhenaidah are increasingly turning to commercial earthworm-raising and vermicomposting as an alternative means of livelihood.

Most of these women are from poor financial backgrounds and focused on supplementing their family earnings through small-scale enterprises. Earthworm production, which requires minimal set-up costs, maintenance and labour, proved to be an ideal choice for them.

The business promises to be cost-effective which means they can construct worm beds and hatcheries right in their backyards, without needing to lease any land for that or hire employees.

Because of these reasons, a growing number of housewives in the remote villages of Parbatipur, Sondah and Kabirpur of the district’s Shailkupa upazila are showing interest in the business.

However, what inspires them most is the fact that they can, unlike in some other rural enterprises, expect to have quick profits by producing earthworms and vermicomposts – used as fishing baits, animal feeds, organic fertilisers, etc.

Sources said, vermicomposting vermis from Latin meaning worms – is a process of composting worm castings (manures) producing fertilisers rich in nutrient, which can be an effective alternative to usually harmful chemical fertilisers that farmers use.

Shahnaz Begum, wife of farmer Siamat Ali in Parbatipur, is one such woman who divides her time between her roles as a vermicomposting entrepreneur and a homemaker.

She started by buying 1000 earthworms for Tk5000 from a Meherpur bazar back in April 2009 with the help of

her husband. As worms can hatch out within an incubation period of threefive weeks, Shahnaz soon started having the desired output.

She has four worm beds built inside their cowshed where manures are also composted. Now, every month, she produces about 1050 kilograms of compost to be sold at Tk15, 000, as well as earning another Tk1, 000 from earthworm sales.

Moushumi Nahar, who pioneered earthworm farming in Parbatipur and neighbouring villages, started her business in early 2009 with a view to support her family, purchasing one kilogram of worms at Tk5, 000.

Within one and a half month, the worms started hatching. Currently, Moushumi has four mini-farms where worms are grown and manures composted.

“I generally produce about 1,000 kilograms of worm castings and sell them at Tk15, 000 each month. Around Tk1, 200 comes from the sale of worms,” she said.

She keeps a portion of the castings for her own use and sells the rest to wholesalers who then sell them at different markets of the district and other districts of Khulna.

Like Moushumi, about 150 women in the village also have their own small earthworm enterprises. Moushumi believes with a bit of training and government support, they can further their profits in future.

Rizia Parvin and Sahara Khatun of Sondah village and Kazi Eliza of Kabirpur village are also of the same opinion and described to this correspondent how they rose from being full-time housewives to being breadwinners.

Eliza thinks the business of composting manures can be promoted for

A woman entrepreneur in Jhenaidah flashes a smile with a handful of earthworms she raises at her home the single reason that they help crops grow faster and have no side-effects.

“These organic fertilisers are excellent and can prevent pest attacks effectively. By spreading them on your fields, you can rest assured that no harm would be done to your crops,” she said.

Farmers Jalal Uddin, Kabir Biswas and Abdus Salam of Parbatipur also hailed the use of fertilisers produced

using natural elements as an alternative to those produced artificially.

Their perception of soil fertility changed after noted agriculture scientist Dr Gul Hossain gave them a demonstration about the positive effects of using organic fertilisers.

“We had better yields after using these fertilisers. The paddy fields looked greener and fresher than before. I have stopped using chemical fer-

tilisers since that demonstration,” said Kabir Biswas.

Contacted for comments, Bijoy Krishna Halder, agriculture officer of Shailkupa, said field-level staff members of the Department of Agriculture Extension were instructed to help women entrepreneurs and farmers involved with the production and use of earthworms and vermicomposts.

He further said that within five years

DHAKA TRIBUNE

the condition of soil would improve significantly if farmers continued to use natural elements instead of chemical ones.

In this regard, deputy director of the department in Jhenaidah Joynul Abedin said he was hopeful of improved soil conditions and resultant boost to crop yields in the district with the increasing abandonment of chemical fertilisers. l

Three jailed for taking drugs in public place n UNB, Manikganj

Cox’s Bazar to see 12 new cyclone centres

Section 144 to avert clash n Our Correspondent, Noakhali

Hospital sans ambulance, x-ray machine

n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

n Our Correspondent, Bandarban

A mobile court in Saturia upazila on Friday sentenced three young men to 20 days’ imprisonment each for taking drugs in a public place.

The convicts were identified as Mitun Sarkar, 25, son of Chandal Sarkar of Koitta Kazipara area of the upazila, Tuhin Hossain, 23, son of Abdul Majid, and Saiful Islam, 24, son of late Ekhlas Uddin.

Officer-in-Charge M Shafiqul Islam of Saturia police station said a section of drug addicts had turned Noyapara into their den for taking drugs regularly and almost openly in recent times.

On Thursday, police arrested the three around 8pm red handed at the time of taking drugs at the point.

Khaleda Nasrin, Saturia upazila assistant commissioner (land) and also executive magistrate, handed down the verdict to the youths, when they were produced before the mobile court the following day, added the OC. l

At least 12 new cyclone centres will be built in Cox’s Bazar at the cost of more than Tk22bn to ensure adequate safe shelters for locals during cyclone.

Officials of the district relief and rehabilitation office said at least 15,000 people could take shelter during cyclones after the project was finished.

The local administration imposed section 144 in Hatiya upazila of Noakhali district apprehending disturbance of law and order in the area due to clash between two factions of Awami League.

The Upazila Nirbahi Officer Waliur Hassan said on Thursday the district unit of AL arranged a workers meeting while upazila Chairman Professor Waliullah called for a meeting today.

According to sources, Prof Waliullah called the meeting to ask for candidacy for General Secretary of the district unit of AL Ekramul Karim Chowdhury in the upcoming general election.

However, Mohammad Ali, former MP who was expelled from the unit opposed this proposal, said sources.

Supporters of Mohammad Ali yesterday blocked the road from Chairman Ghat to Maizdee at different spots.

They cut down trees and placed them after every three kilometers on the road.

As a result, the chairperson, general secretary of the AL unit and police super had to return from the spot without being able to attend the meeting, said sources. l

There are a total of 534 cyclone centres in the district although thousands of people could not take shelter during cyclones They said the total project cost for building 12 new cyclone centres stood at approximately Tk221, 339,081.

Construction of two cyclone centres in Pokkhali union and Islampur union under Cox’s Bazar sadar upazila started in May this year. Construction of another seven cyclone centres have al-

ready started in Khutakhali area under Chakaria upazila, Teknaf sadar union, Rajapalong union of Ukiah upazila, Dakshin Dhurung union in Kutubdia upazila, Matarbari union in Moheshkhali and BM Char union of Chakaria upazila of the district.

Furthermore, the construction of two storm centres in Boro Ghop in Kutubdia upazila and Dholghata in Moheshkhali will start soon.

There are a total of 534 cyclone centres in the district although thousands of people could not take shelter during cyclones. Of the total centres, 18 were declared abandoned as it was risky to use those centres.

Abu Morshed Chowdhury, president of Cox’s Bazar Banchao Andolan Committee, said: “Previously we have submitted a proposal to high officials for constructing 277 cyclone centres for coastal people of the district.”

“At least 12 new centres will be built as a part of the proposal and more centres may be constructed in near future,” he added. l

Summer tomatoes for the first time n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Successful summer tomato cultivation for the first time has brought smiles to the faces of growers in Sadullapur upazila in Gaibandha, who have sold their produce at a high price.

The harvest of the variety is going on in full swing. Many farmers said they were planning to grow the variety in larger scale in coming seasons.

Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) introduced its Second Crop Diversification Project in 52 upazilas including Sadullapur across the country in 2011 to produce various high-value crops.

Under this project, a total of 26 farmers of different villages including Zamudanga, Hamindapur, Dhaperhat, Tarafbazi, Baradaudpur of the upazila planted seedlings of the summer tomato Bari Hybrid 4 in June.

Following DAE instructions the farmers also made tunnels with polythene and bamboo sticks to protect the plants from heavy rainfall and severe heat.

The vegetables were ready to harvest in one-and-half months’ time.

The upazila agriculture office provided the farmers with the seedlings, needs-based training and other technological supports to make the cultivation a success.

Farmer Dilip Kumar Sarker of Hamindapur village said he planted about 900 seedlings on nine decimals of land under seven tunnels in June 25 under the guidance of upazila agriculture officer (UAO) M. Obaidur Rahman Mondal.

He said he had already sold over 45 maunds of tomatoes in the upazila town market at Tk120 a kg.

He added that everyday many interested farmers were coming from across the district and sharing with them how they had profited from the summer tomato cultivation in the off-season, and

how they were all surprised by its yield.

UAO M Obaidur Rahman Mondal said the cordial efforts of his staff and the farmers were to be thanked for the success of the harvest.

Deputy Director of DAE Mir Abdur Razzak said all credits should go to the growers and the agriculture officials concerned as they had successfully produced the summer tomatoes during off-season.

“This has created a positive impact on the other farmers, who will now be willing to grow more summer tomatoes,” he observed. l

More than 150,000 people are being deprived of medical service because of acute shortage of doctors, medicines and medical instruments at Lama Upazila Health Complex in Bandarban.

Lama Upazila Health Complex has now become a place where people only can get primary treatment as the hospital has no other facilities to provide better service to its patients.

The only x-ray machine of the hospital has been out of order for more than two years. Patients complained that they have to go to Cox’s Bazar, the neighbouring district town of Lama, to get an X-ray service.

The health complex in the hilly area is supposed to have nine doctors while it has only three doctors to serve people. And the irony is, most of the time they remain absent.

Out of 53 posts 12 have remained vacant for a long time.

The 50-bed hospital has two ambulances, but both of the vehicles have

been out of order for the last two years.

Hospital sources said ambulances had not yet been repaired as authorities were facing financial crisis.

Jaoynal Abedin, a patient and a local of the area, said sometimes patients die as they could not be shifted on time to sadar hospital due to ambulance crisis.

Many patients complained that in most cases they have to purchase medicines from dispensaries as the hospital has no adequate supply of medicine.

On top of that, jealousy between two doctors – Dr Md Shafiur Rahman and Dr Nazrul Isalm –added to people’s misery.

Sources at the hospital said the two doctors cannot stand one another and sometimes patients suffer due to their personal jealousy and no-cooperation.

Sometimes getting treatment depends at the doctors’ will, one of the patients said.

While contacted Dr Nazrul Isalm denied the allegation that they had any rivalry. He said they were performing their duties according to their job responsibility. l

NEWS IN BRIEF Two ‘terrorists’ held with arms in Sylhet

Housewife beaten to death in Jhenaidah

Police arrested two alleged terrorists on the Sylhet-Tamabil Road in Arambagh area of the city on Friday.

The arrestees were identified as Shafin,20, and Zabed, 19. Police said Shafin and Zabed were locked in a chase and counterchase with each other along with lethal weapons on the Sylhet-Tamabil Road at Arambagh in the afternoon, which created panic among the locals who escaped the road in a hurry.

Later, traffic police arrested the duo and handed them over to Shahporan police station. A case was filed in this connection. – UNB

A housewife was beaten to death allegedly by her brother-in-law at Bhiksar village in the district’s sadar upazila on Friday. The deceased was identified as Karuna Khatun, wife of Shukur Ali of the village. Jallal Uddin Ahmed, office-in-charge of Jhenaidah sadar police station, said Karuna and her brotherin-law Mukul were locked in a quarrel over family feud in the evening. At one stage, Mukul beat her with a stick, leaving her critically injured. Locals whisked Karuna away to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital where attending doctors declared her dead. Mukul went into hiding after the killing. – UNB

Clash over land kills one in Satkhira A man was killed in a clash between two groups of villagers over a land at Akhrakhola village in Sadar upazila yesterday. The deceased was identified as Rajab Ali Dhali, 65.

Police said there was a longstanding enmity between Enayet Dhali and Rajab Ali Dhali over a piece of land. A clash broke out between the supporters of Enayet and Rajab this noon that left Rajab dead on the spot.

The body was sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy. – UNB

The arrestee was later handed over to the police. Process was underway to lodge a case while filing this report. – UNB

Youth falls off train, dies in Sunamganj A young man died after falling off a running train at Bahadurpur in Chhatak upazila of the district on Friday. The deceased was identified as Yusuf Miah, 18, hailing from Jurapani village of the upazila. Officer-in-Charge of Chhatak police station said Yusuf fell off the Chhatak-bound local train in the area in the morning while he was returning home from the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal, leaving him dead on the spot. – UNB

Mugger held with arms in Feni

Wildlife smuggler nabbed in Netrokona

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in a drive arrested an alleged mugger on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in Rampura Rastar Matha area of the town on Friday night. The arrestee was identified as Pavel,35. Police sources said a team of Rab, led by Additional Superintendent of Police Jasim Uddin arrested Pavel when a gang of 10 individuals were trying to snatch belongings from a man in the area around 5:30pm. The team also recovered a foreign made pistol and four rounds of bullet from his possession, added the police sources.

Netrokona police yesterday foiled a man’s attempt to hand over two geckos- nocturnal tropical lizards locally known as tokkhok- to wildlife smugglers. A team from the Kamalakanda police station arrested the man and recovered the geckos in the Sidli bazar area of Kalmakanda upazila around 8pm, police said. The arrestee was identified as Jewel Mia. Quoting locals, police said Jewel had been involved in wildlife smuggling for a long time. A case has been filed with Kalmakanda police station in connection with the arrest. – Our Correspondent

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Kenyan official: Troops caused mall collapse n AP, Nairobi, Kenya Kenya’s military caused the collapse of three floors of the Westgate Mall in the deadly terrorist siege, a top-ranking official disclosed Friday. Seven days after 67 people were killed in the attack on the upscale shopping center, there is still no clear word on the fate of dozens who have been reported missing and no details on the terrorists who carried it out.

The account of the roof collapse raises the possibility that the military may have caused the death of hostages in its rescue attempt. An undisclosed number of people are feared to be buried in the rubble.

The official said autopsies will be conducted on any bodies found to de-

termine the cause of death — from the militants or the structural collapse.

The high-ranking government official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge sensitive information.

The official also confirmed that Kenyan troops fired rocket-propelled grenades inside the mall, but would not say what caused the floors to collapse, if the action was intentional, or if it was an accident.

The account at least partially backs up information given to AP on Wednesday by another official who said RPGs fired by soldiers created a gaping hole in the mall’s roof and caused the floors to collapse. l

Greek police arrest Golden Dawn leader n Reuters, Athens Greek police arrested the leader and more than a dozen senior members and lawmakers from the far-right Golden Dawn party on Saturday after the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a party supporter triggered outrage and protests across the country.

The party’s leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, spokesman Ilias Kassidiaris, two other lawmakers and 10 members were arrested on charges of founding a criminal organization. They are due to appear in court this weekend to be charged formally.

Police confiscated two guns and a hunting rifle from the home of Mihaloliakos, saying he did not have a license for them.

Golden Dawn, ranked Greece’s third most popular party, is under investigation for the murder of Pavlos Fissas, who bled to death after being stabbed twice by a party sympathizer.

“Shame on them, the people will lift Golden Dawn higher,” Ilias Panagiotaros, a Golden Dawn lawmaker told reporters before his arrest.

Several hundred party supporters gathered outside police headquarters chanting slogans and waving Greek flags.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s government has so far resisted calls to ban the party, fearing it could make it even more popular at a time of growing anger at repeated rounds of austerity measures and instead, it has tried to undermine the party by ordering probes that could deprive it of state funding. l

Philippines: Deadly rebel hostage standoff finally declared over n AP, Manila, Philippines A deadly three-week standoff between government troops and Muslim rebels who held nearly 200 people hostage in the southern Philippines has ended with all of the remaining captives safe, officials said Saturday.

Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said only a handful of Moro National Liberation Front rebels remained in hiding and were being hunted by troops in the coastal outskirts of Zamboanga city. He said authorities were trying to determine whether rebel commander Habier Malik, who led the September 9 siege, was dead. Gunshots briefly rang out and a fire erupted in a small area Saturday.

More than 200 people were killed in the clashes, including 183 rebels, 23 soldiers and police, and 12 civilians. It was in one of the bloodiest and longest-running attacks by a Muslim group in the southern Philippines, the scene of a decades-long Muslim rebellion for self-rule in the largely Roman Catholic country.

“I can say that the crisis is over.

We have accomplished the mission,” Gazmin said by telephone from Zamboanga, where he helped oversee a government offensive and hostage rescue mission by about 4,500 government troops and police backed by tanks, navy gunboats and rocket-firing helicopters.

Gazmin said 195 hostages had either been rescued, managed to escape or were freed. It was unclear whether any of the 12 civilians killed in the standoff were hostages.

The gunbattles, including exchanges of grenade and mortar fire, forced about 130,000 residents — more than 10% of the population of the bustling port city

An historic Iran-US phonecall n AP, Washington The Iranian president, his car making its way to the airport through New York’s dense traffic, gets in touch with the White House Situation Room. President Barack Obama, at his desk in the Oval Office, gets on the phone. Fifteen minutes later, the two say goodbye in each other’s language.

And with that, a generation-long rift between the US and Iran is that much closer to being bridged.

Iranians awoke Saturday to learn that their president, Hassan Rouhani, had spoken directly to President Barack Obama, breaking through a barrier that had left American and Iranian presidents divorced from such contact for 34 years. The two presidents pledged to resolve concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which have isolated Iranians from the global community and led to crippling economic sanctions.

The appetite for serious talks having been tested at a presidential level, the focus turns to negotiations among foreign ministers and other officials from the five permanent members of the UN Securi-

ty Council plus Germany, who together will chart a path forward, a senior Obama administration official said. The group wants Iran to present a more detailed proposal before or at the next round of negotiations, scheduled in Geneva on October 15-16, another US official said.

Rouhani’s aides initially reached out to arrange the call, said officials, who weren’t authorized to comment by name and demanded anonymity.

However it was Obama who signalled days earlier he was willing to meet with his Iranian counterpart. By the end of the call, Obama was suggesting that a breakthrough on the nuclear issue could portend even deeper ties between the US and Iran — a notion that would have seemed unfathomable in recent years, when Rouhani’s predecessor was describing America in satanic terms.

The telephone call capped a week of seismic shifts in the relationship while Rouhani was in the US for an annual UN meeting. Obama had left open the possibility of an exchange with Rouhani, but the Iranian later said the timing wasn’t right.

But hours before the phone call, at

a news conference in New York, Rouhani linked the US and Iran as “great nations.” And the night before, US and European diplomats were hailing a “very significant shift” in Iran’s attitude and tone in the first talks on the nuclear standoff since April.

“While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward, and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution,” Obama told reporters Friday at the White House.

The stunning shift in tone aside, there was immediate scepticism that Iran was cynically seeking to procure relief from blistering economic sanctions but would not take concrete action to assuage global concerns that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.

The US and Western allies imposed the sanctions after years of stonewalling inspections and secrecy about its activities fuelled fears about its intentions — especially as they relate to Israel, a staunch US ally and the target of much of Iran’s most fiery rhetoric. Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes. l

Suspected Muslim rebels whom the military said were either captured or surrendered, arrive at a police station for processing in Zamboanga city AP — to flee their homes to emergency shelters, including Zamboanga’s main sports complex. About 10,000 houses were burned by the rebels or destroyed in the fighting, which raged in a 0.3 square kilometres area encompassing six coastal communities, according to Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Cornered and outnumbered, the rebels sought help from their comrades

from nearby provinces, but guerrilla reinforcements were repulsed, Gazmin said.

Police and troops still have to clear areas of the dangerous leftovers from the fighting, including unexploded bombs, guns, grenades and possible booby traps, Roxas said, adding that it may be up to two weeks before residents are allowed to return home.

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author in dispute with museum n Reuters, Birmingham, Alabama The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee, is locked in a dispute with a museum in her Alabama hometown over the use of the novel’s title.

The 87-year-old author has filed an application seeking a trademark for the book’s title when it is displayed on clothing and other merchandise.

The move is being challenged by the Monroe County Heritage Museum, which says it sells T-shirts and souvenirs with the words “To Kill a Mockingbird” to help fund its operations.

The museum, located in Monroeville, Alabama, is dedicated to the novel, widely considered a classic. The museum draws thousands of fans each year and includes an old courthouse that served as a model for the courtroom in the movie version of the novel that starred Gregory Peck.

The museum “would be happy to talk with Ms Lee about this matter,”

according to Matthew Goforth, a lawyer for the museum. “To our knowledge, Ms Lee has never engaged in any use of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ as a trademark in connection with the sale of any item, and the museum is doing what is necessary to protect its trademark rights in the merchandise it has been selling for many years,” Goforth said.

Robert Clarida, an attorney for Lee, said he believed his client should receive a portion of the proceeds. “Who is going to buy those T-shirts if they don’t say ‘To Kill a Mockingbird?’” he asked.

The book, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and has sold more than 30 million copies, tells the story of two children of an attorney growing up in a small Southern town.

Their father, who is white, is selected to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman, and the man is convicted despite his innocence.

It is the only novel that Lee ever published. l

Gazmin, Roxas and military chief of staff Gen Emmanuel Bautista briefly toured the scene of the most intense gunbattles Saturday in Zamboanga’s Santa Catalina community, which was turned into a wasteland after nearly 100 rebels died in clashes there. Army soldiers retrieving dead guerrillas wore gas masks because of the stench from the bodies. l

George Washington finally gets library

n AFP, Alexandria

George Washington, the first president of the United States, was finally honoured with a library Friday, more than 200 years after the end of his tenure.

The Fred W Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington was inaugurated in a ceremony at his Mount Vernon estate some 25 kilometres from the US capital.

The library and research centre houses 103 of some 1,200 titles that belonged to Washington, in addition to 2,000 publications from the era, 6,000 historical manuscripts and some 12,000 other works, newspapers, and films pertaining to the former president.

It’s an expansive body of literature that would likely have impressed Washington, who received no formal education beyond about the age 15 and relied heavily on books to guide him in his academic pursuits thereafter. The three-story building, spread across 4000m, sports neo-classical architecture in light-coloured stone and sits in the middle of a park just steps from the historic Mount Vernon mansion where George Washington lived and died. l

WORLD WATCH

SYRIA: ROAD TO UN RESOLUTION

Age no obstacle in Bogota prison pageant

In Bogota’s Buen Pastor prison, age is not an obstacle to a beauty queen crown.

Maria Cristina Villareal, 56, was among six women competing Friday in this year’s pageant for the title of “Reina Madre” or “Queen Mother.” There is a separate category for unmarried women. The 2,222-inmate women’s prison in Colombia’s capital has hosted pageants for 18 years, with TV and musical celebrities serving as judges. Most of the inmates have been convicted of drug trafficking or are awaiting trial. Villareal, a mother of three with nine grandchildren, is serving time for drug trafficking. She wouldn’t disclose the length of her sentence. The pageant is held every year on the feast of the Virgin of Mercy, patron saint of prisoners. This year’s contest included two runway walks, one in fokloric garb, the other in elegant gowns.

2011 March 15: First peaceful protests after social media calls for a “Day of Dignity” March 23: 100 people reportedly killed in a crackdown in Daraa August 18: US President Barack Obama calls on Assad to quit.

2012 June 16: UN truce observers suspend operations after collapse of a ceasefire deal November 11: Opposition groups sign a unity deal in Doha and form Syrian National Coalition.

2013 July 26: After a series of battles which see rebels and government forces seizing towns from each other, the UN says the conflict death toll has gone above 100,000.

Man impersonates police officer in front of police

August 21: A sarin gas attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta sparks international outrage.

September 27: Following the adoption of a Russia-US disarmament plan, the UN Security Council passes its first resolution on the Syria crisis, backing the destruction of Syria’s chemical arms.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

The family of a Free Syrian Army fighter pose for a photograph in front of their home in Habit village, the Syrian central province of Hama, Wednesday, Sep. 25 AP

Roland Herrera, 63, entered a mobile phone store under the alias “Rich Little” and approached an off-duty detective, who was speaking with a sales clerk. He then reportedly asked the detective why he was carrying so many phones, and proceeded to accuse him of being a drug dealer. When Herrera demanded the detective hand over all his drugs, the real police officer surprised him by flashing his own badge and placing the impostor under arrest.

Shrimp showdown broken up by frog

A pair of Indian whisker shrimp living in a tank in Michigan reportedly decided to engage in butting heads against one another. The battle was cut short, however, when an African dwarf frog intervened by jumping in-between the combatants with its palms extended, putting itself up as a wall between both parties. Reportedly, after a few days, the shrimp had learned to stop fighting and keep their distance from each other.

Chinese doctor builds new nose on man’s forehead

A surgeon in China says he has constructed an extra nose out of a man’s rib cartilage and implanted it under the skin of his forehead to prepare for a transplant in probably the first operation of its kind. Surgeon Guo Zhihui at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital in China’s southeastern province of Fujian spent nine months cultivating the graft for a 22-year-old man whose nose was damaged. The striking images of the implant — with the nostril section facing diagonally upward on the left side of the man’s forehead — drew widespread publicity after they began to circulate in Chinese media this week. Guo plans to cut the nose from the forehead while leaving a section of skin still connected, and then rotate and graft it into position in a later operation.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

9

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Indo-Pak peace summit in New York n AP, UN

Rescue workers carry a girl out from the rubble of a building that collapsed in Mumbai

Death toll climbs to 42 in India building collapse n AP, Mumbai Frantic relatives kept up a vigil Saturday at the site of a collapsed apartment building that killed at least 42 people in India’s financial capital of Mumbai, as the search for survivors grew bleak.

Rescuers found just one person alive during the day.

The cause of Friday’s cave-in was not known, but neighborhood residents complained of builders using substandard materials — with some expressing fear that their own buildings might also fall down.

Between 83 and 89 people were in the building when it collapsed early Friday morning, residents said. Rescuers have pulled 33 people out of the rubble alive since the cave-in, but the searchers have not detected any signs of life recently, Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force, said Saturday. Still, he vowed that the operation would

continue to search for the dozen or so people who were missing.

It was the third deadly building collapse in six months in Mumbai, which like much of India has lax building inspections and corruption that can form a deadly combination.

Rudiben Parmar sat with several weeping relatives near the rubble on Saturday, waiting for news of the last of five family members who were in the building. Three — a nephew and two of his children — had already been found dead. The nephew’s wife was rescued, but the couple’s young daughter was still unaccounted for Saturday morning.

Parmer said she didn’t know who was to blame for the disaster, but didn’t care about anything but learning of all her relatives’ fate.

“We will be OK once all members of our family are recovered,” she said.

The five-story building in southeast Mumbai, which housed workers for the

AP

city’s government, caved in early Friday morning, trapping dozens of people and launching an intense search mission.

Emergency workers labored for six hours Saturday to free a 50-year-old man who was trapped for more than 30 hours beneath the wreckage with his leg crushed by part of a wall. Rescuers reached him and lifted up the slab of cement using a specialised compressed air-pressure bag, and the man was rushed to a hospital in the afternoon.

“We were able to save him, but he may lose his leg,” Awasthi said.

The death toll had climbed to 42 by Saturday evening, he said.

“We are not finding any more signs of life right now, but we will continue to search until all are accounted for,” Awasthi said.

The building that collapsed was constructed in 1980, Awasthi said, adding that what caused it to fall down would be determined by an investigation. l

A meeting of the Pakistani and Indian prime ministers in New York this weekend is a fresh chance for one leader to push for peace on the subcontinent — and likely the last chance for the other.

Three-time Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif and India’s Manmohan Singh are due to meet Sunday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

It is their first face-to-face since Sharif’s election victory in May. Singh will step down next year.

Sharif calls the meeting a chance for a “new beginning,” but Singh has tamped down expectations for the talks which take place amid an upsurge in militant attacks in disputed Kashmir.

Speaking Friday after a White House meeting with President Barack Obama, Singh said, “the epicenter of terror still remains focused in Pakistan.”

The need for peace between the South Asian nuclear rivals has rarely been greater. They have been at loggerheads since Britain granted independence and carved up the subcontinent in 1947, but the impending US military withdrawal from Afghanistan adds new uncertainty to a region increasing-

ly threatened by Islamic militancy.

“It’s timely for them to meet,” said Karl Inderfurth, a former top US diplomat for South Asia and now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

“It’s Nawaz Sharif’s first chance as the new prime minister to reach across to his Indian counterpart and it’s maybe Manmohan Singh’s last chance to do what he has repeatedly said he wants to do, which is open up a new relationship with Pakistan.”

Both men are familiar with the pitfalls of seeking to improve ties between India and Pakistan — a relationship scarred by three wars and deep mutual suspicion.

Sharif was in power when Pakistan first tested a nuclear bomb in 1998. But he also presided over one of the more upbeat episodes in recent relations with India.

He hosted then-Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee for a summit in Lahore in February 1999, where they signed a landmark declaration on avoiding nuclear conflict and opened a cross-border bus service.

Three months later the impetus for peace was crushed when a Paki-

Indian police investigate shooting in Kashmir n AP, Srinagar, India Police were investigating a shooting near a military convoy in the main city of India-held Kashmir on Saturday, two days after twin attacks by suspected militants left 13 people dead and put the region on high alert.

No casualties were reported in Saturday’s incident, which came a day before highly anticipated talks between the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers. Kashmiris expressed mixed feelings about their expectations for the meeting between the leaders of the rival nations, which each control a portion of the disputed Himalayan territory.

It was not immediately clear whether the shots fired Saturday in Srinagar came from two men riding a motorcycle past the military convoy, or if patrolling street soldiers had opened fire

first on the motorcycle, suspecting the men were militants.

Police Director General Ashok Prasad said authorities had cordoned off the area and were investigating.

Anti-India rebels in Kashmir have been fighting since 1989 for independence or a merger with neighbouring Pakistan, though most resistance is now shown through street protests.

Security forces, however, have been on high alert since Thursday, when suspected militants stormed an Indian police station and an army camp in Kashmir’s Jammu region, sparking a fierce gunbattle that left eight troops, two civilians and three alleged attackers dead.

India and Pakistan, which have fought two wars over Kashmir, both claim the territory in its entirety while governing parts of it. Relations have been particularly tense since the 2008

China police rescue 92 kidnapped children

New 6.8 quake hits Pakistan’s southwest : 12 killed

n Reuters, Beijing

Officials fear death toll may rise considerably

Chinese police have rescued 92 children and two women kidnapped by a gang for sale and arrested 301 suspects, state media said on Saturday, in one of the biggest busts of its kind in years.

Police simultaneously swooped on locations in 11 provinces on Sept. 11 after a six-month investigation, China Central Television and state news agency Xinhua said, quoting the Ministry of Public Security.

No reason was given for the delay in reporting the operation.

State media did not give a breakdown of how many boys and how many girls were kidnapped.

A traditional preference for boys,

especially in rural areas, and a strict one-child policy have contributed to a rise in the trafficking of children and women in recent years.

Kidnapped women are sold to men in remote areas who are unable to find brides due to a sex imbalance resulting from the draconian one-child policy, which has also encouraged sex-selective abortions.

The government would impose harsher punishment on people who buy kidnapped children, state television said. Xinhua said the government would also punish parents who sell their children. China has trumpeted the success of an intensified crackdown on the kidnapping and sale of children and women recently. l

n AFP, Pakistan A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit southwest Pakistan today, killing at least 12 people in a region already devastated by a tremor which left more than 300 people dead this week, local officials said.

“At least 12 people have died and seven others wounded,” Abdul Latif Kakar, head of the provincial disaster management agency told AFP. Officials fear the death toll in Saturday’s quake in Awaran, the poorest district in the southwest province of Baluchistan, could rise.

The new quake struck the remote

stani military quietly infiltrated into an area of Indian-held Kashmir called Kargil, sparking fighting that left hundreds dead on both sides and could have sparked nuclear war. Sharif, who said the army acted without his knowledge, was ousted in a coup five months later.

“Pakistan and India can prosper together, and the entire region would benefit from our cooperation,” Sharif told the General Assembly Friday.

But Singh has said relations can only improve once Pakistan cracks down on militants accused on staging attacks in India — a perennial concern that has only intensified since the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 164 people in India’s commercial hub. On Friday, Singh said, “the epicenter of terror still remains focused in Pakistan.”

A renewed spate of violence along the disputed Kashmir frontier this year has threatened a decade-long ceasefire. On Thursday, suspected separatist rebels killed 10 Indian security forces in the Indian-held portion of the Himalayan region — an attack that the top elected official there said was aimed at derailing the meeting of Sharif and Singh in New York. l

district at a depth of 14 kilometres at 12:34 pm (1304 IST) according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Although USGS said it was an aftershock of the Tuesday 7.7-magnitude quake, an official at the National Seismic Centre of Pakistan classified it as a new earthquake.

“It was not an aftershock, it was an independent earthquake,” Zahid Rafi, director of the National Seismic Centre of Pakistan, told Geo TV. Awaran, a district in the southwest province of Baluchistan, was shattered by the 7.7-magnitude quake on Tuesday which left 359 dead and more than

100,000 people homeless.

“This new earthquake destroyed all that remains of the first quake, two villages destroyed completely,” said Abdul Malik, provincial chief minister of Baluchistan. Officials said villagers were digging through newly created debris and that seven wounded people have been taken to a make-shift hospital in Mashkey area, Awaran.

Relief efforts there have been further thwarted by insurgent attacks on rescue convoys, with local officials admitting that teams have been unable to reach thousands of survivors in the worst-hit areas.l

Mumbai attacks blamed on Pakistan-based militants killed 164 people in India’s commercial hub.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, plan to meet Sunday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Sharif has called the meeting a chance for a “new beginning,” while Singh has downplayed expectations and demanded that Pakistan crack down on militants staging attacks in India.

The top elected official of Indian Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, expressed hope that the talks would prove fruitful.

“Our eyes are presently on the summit room in New York,” Abdullah said Saturday. “Let India and Pakistan be good friends besides neighbours.” l

German village evacuated after gas explosion n AP, Berlin Police are evacuating an entire village in central Germany after a fire at a gas company led to an explosion that injured 16 firefighters.

Police spokesman Markus Sicius said an explosion of two gas tanks early Saturday in Harthausen near Ludwigshafen led to the evacuation of some 3,000 residents after the firefighters were injured.

The fire on the grounds of a gas company was first reported at 4:20 a.m., and while firefighters were trying to douse the flames, the fire spread to two trucks with gas tanks which exploded.

Sicius said one of the injured was in a critical, but not life-threatening, condition. l

Malala honoured at Harvard Tunisia’s ruling Islamists accept plan to step down n AP, Massachusetts, US

A Pakistani girl who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban has been honoured as Harvard University’s humanitarian of the year.

Malala Yousafzai, an outspoken proponent for girls’ education, was at Harvard on Friday to accept the 2013 Peter J Gomes Humanitarian Award.

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust said she was pleased to welcome Malala because of their shared interest in education.

Malala was shot in the head last October. Militants said she was attacked because she was critical of the Taliban,

not because of her views on education.

The 16-year-old Malala said she hopes to become a politician because politicians can have influence on a broad scale.

She spoke nostalgically about her home region, the Swat Valley, and said she hopes to return someday. She called it a “paradise” but described a dangerous area where militants blew up dozens of schools and sought to discourage girls from going to school by snatching pens from their hands.

Students, she said, reacted by hiding their books under their shawls so people wouldn’t know they were going to school. l

n Reuters, Tunis

Tunisia’s Islamist-led government on Saturday agreed to resign after negotiations that could start next week with secular opponents to form a caretaker administration and prepare for new elections.

The talks aim to end weeks of crisis involving the Islamist-led coalition government and secular opposition parties that threatened to derail the transition to democracy in the North African country where the Arab Spring uprisings began in 2011.

Tunisia’s powerful UGTT labor union, mediating between the two sides, proposed the ruling Islamist Ennahda party agree to three weeks of negotiations, after which it would step down and make way for an independent transitional administration and set a date for parliamentary and presidential elections.

“The dialogue will start on Monday or Tuesday,” Lotfi Zitoun, an Ennahda party official, said. “Ennahda has accepted the plan without conditions to get the country out of the political crisis.”

The UGTT confirmed the agreement and called on both sides to set a time to begin talks next week.

Since autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in 2011 after street protests against his rule, Tunisia has struggled with divisions over the political

Protesters hold up and a picture of slain opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi during an anti-government demonstration role of Islam. The opposition accuses Ennahda of imposing an Islamist agenda on one of the Muslim world’s most secular nations.

Tunisia’s path to transition, howev-

er, has been mostly peaceful compared to Egypt, where the army toppled an elected Islamist president, and Libya, where the central government is struggling to curb rival militia influence.

REUTERS

The political crisis erupted in July after the killing of an opposition leader by suspected Islamist militants, bringing the opposition on to the streets to demand Ennahda step down. l

10 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Renewable energy is the right way

Creative questions on mathematics

W

hile there is no denying the desperate need to increase electricity production in our country, longterm thinking is needed to ensure this is done in a environmentally responsible and sustainable manner.

The world is continually shifting towards clean, green and renewable sources of energy, and more and more existing fossil fuel based and nuclear power plants are being shut down.

On the other hand, our power division is increasing reliance on fossil fuels by paving the way for 5 new coal-based power plants. And there are major environmental objections to the proposed coal based power project in Rampal and the nuclear project in Rooppur.

The government Coal-based and thermonuclear has shown initiative power generation may be the in promoting solar cheapest available options, but power in the domestic in the long term, keeping the sector. All it may environment and longevity of need is a change of the project in mind, renewable approach and better energy is the preferable way for implementation Bangladesh to go forward.

As well as supporting energy efficiency initiatives and encouraging cross-border hydro-generation with Bhutan and Nepal, Bangladesh should invest more in electricity from renewable sources. There is enough sunshine and coastline to make power generation from wind, water, and sunlight perfectly viable.

The government has shown initiative in promoting solar power in the domestic sector. While this may not have borne all the desired fruits, the idea itself was perfectly valid. All it may need is a change of approach and better implementation.

The private sector should be encouraged to invest in renewable energy through tax rate cuts and reduced interest rates as incentives.

The world is showing that renewable energy is viable from a business point of view. Bangladesh’s energy strategy should do more to encourage renewable energy.

Ensure ethical practices in medicine

U

nethical practices are rampant in the medical establishments of our country. Doctors, thought of as professionals of the highest level, too often treat patients with little regard for their obligations while seeking to maximise their income.

Because of the specialised knowledge and skill required to practice medicine, doctors wield a unique power over their patients not seen in other fields.

Patients, lacking medical training, are normally in no position to question the expertise of healthcare professionals.

It is because of this unique asymmetry of power that the Hippocratic Oath was formulatWithout stringent ed, requiring doctors to swear to regulation of the uphold the ethical standards of entire industry, little their job. The doctor-patient rewould be achieved lationship therefore must be one with a simple set of of trust, not just like any other guidelines transaction where the customer has access to better information.

It is shameful that over 40,000 doctors in our country, on public payroll, spend more time on private practices to make money.

These doctors often prescribe unnecessary drugs and surgeries because of a corrupt nexus between doctors, hospitals, and drug companies. They have even been known to take bribes for giving pass marks to incompetent medical students who go on to become incompetent doctors.

The Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council is in the process of formulating a “medical ethics guideline” to address this problem. However, without stringent regulation of the entire industry, little would be achieved with a simple set of guidelines.

Healthcare professionals are handed a level of trust by the public unequalled in any other kind of service. An abuse of that trust should carry the toughest penalty.

September 26 We are really very anxious that creative questions on mathematics cannot be successfully introduced from 2014 in the JSC exams, as we could not see anything regarding this in the NCTB and educational boards’ website.

We also could not see anything in the daily newspapers and working with the teachers.

Almost every newspaper publishes educational pages daily but we could not see anything in this regard.

Moreover, creative questions have been introduced in grade VI, VII and IX from this year but almost all the teachers and students are still in the dark and have no idea about creative question and have no written guidelines or sample questions in the educational websites, but the government claims that they have done significant progress regarding digital Bangladesh.

Not very long ago, creative questions on Mathematics was introduced and later on it had to stop. Undoubtedly, creative question in Mathematics is a good initiative by the government.

In the mean time, vested quarters have started efforts to stop this good initiative and we saw some reports in this regard in the dailies.

We urge the government to familiarise creative questions among the teachers, students and guardians through television channels, print media, websites, mobile and others.

MM Khaleed Ahsan Narayangonj

Saint by day, a little Satan by night September 22

dilruba That is what people with new money do. Throw it away, thinking they are having an exotic time.

Who knows what else goes on in the dark of the night! I am surprised that in a Muslim majority country, the writer obviously of the same faith has no qualms in admitting that he is a wine drinker.

Things have changed, and morality is not what it used to be. Becoming intoxicated at some hotel bar is not most people’s idea of having a good time.

LittleMissMorality dilruba: So is Egypt, Syria, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia so and so forth, where alcohol is legal and people can openly drink. Lady, perhaps it’s time you realise this isn’t Saudi Arabia and drinking openly in a bar isn’t a matter of morality, more a personal choice. In fact, the very definition of morality has nothing to do with drinking. Why would the writer have qualms about admitting something so normal everywhere else in the world? Also, as an interjection, may I point out as a Muslim you are to let others be without judgment.

That my friend is morality.

KMAK “Come another day? Well if the dark side is so fun, and can co-exist with a daytime conservative layer,

y2kdisease Questions of morality and opinionated judgments are symptomatic of typical middle class prudishness. The reality is that this scene exists, and those mentioned that are indulging in it are likely to have a larger role in controlling our destinies in the future (politically and economically).

To those surprised by this article, get with the times and out of your bubble!

Farid Wakeel Relax, guys. Don’t get on your high horse. So, some guys with money are having cheap fun.

What’s new about that? The writer should not be so moralistic and uptight. He should remember that when he is pointing a finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back. The problem is not how they are spending the money - the social problem is how they are making the money.

September 23

Malcolm Arnold How can women be so brainwashed that they do this? How have these Muslim men destroyed the women’s self respect so much? How? How? Ershad Khandker Islam is such a great religion that repeatedly tells the world to be kind and respectful. History itself shows how Muslims treated enemy women and children – with dignity. There is no witch burning or ghastly colonisation like the Europeans or others in recent history. Perception? What a wonderful, respectful way the women work wearing hijab! In Bangladesh!

Humans cause harm. Through words and deeds and interpretations. Islam is the greatest religion and no other religion espouses violence.

Each and every religion talks about peace and respect for everyone and education. Unfortunately, some just see things in a way that only spread hate.

Subarna Ahsan The world sees Islam by the followers. It is not a person’s duty to understand and judge Islam by its philosophy when practical deeds take place in Tunisia; by those in the Muslim community seeking fatwa in favour for polygamy or transient contract marriage. Islam or any religion will be judged by the activists. Could you please show me a single example where the Muslim nation has been practicing something non-evil so that the world can recognise Islam as the religion of peace?

Tunazzina Iqbal Sahaly Are the women being trafficked or are they brainwashed to comply?

Be Heard

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CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Pursues (6) 5 Obscure (3) 7 Waterway (5) 8 More than one (6) 10 Network (3) 12 Final (4) 13 First woman (3) 14 Biblical quotation (4) 16 Festivity (4) 17 Wrongdoing (3) 18 Copies (4) 20 Tree (3) 23 Crudely showy (6) 24 Keen to do (5) 25 Nourished (3) 26 Spiritualists’ meeting (6)

why miss the fun? Saint by day, a little Satan by night!”

And people wonder why extremism exists? The more immorality a society accommodates, the more ferocious will the fundamentalists become.

For the sake of a better Bangladesh, we need to kick out these insecure, immoral people who identify more with Western decadence than they do with their Bangladeshi Muslim heritage.

Tunisian women waging ‘sex jihad’ in Syria: Minister

DOWN 1 Deal with successfully (4) 2 Talisman (6) 3 Efface (5) 4 Fine sediment (4) 5 Early freshness (3) 6 Anger (3) 9 Utter wildly (4) 11 Sporting item (3) 14 Stratum (4) 15 Flag (6) 16 Enemy (3) 17 Be merciful to (5) 18 Matures (4) 19 Footwear (4) 21 Sheltered side (3) 22 Insane (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

Op-Ed

11

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Return to the fold n FS Aijazuddin

O

Two members of Afghanistan Taliban on the way to surrendering their arms as a part pf a government initiative. Taliban was supposedly a US strategy gone wrong

REUTERS

A tale of two dates

T

n Ikhtisad Ahmed he 11th of September is a date seared into the minds of every single person alive since 2001. It reshaped the geopolitical climate, made “fundamentalism” and “terrorism” everyday words that everyone had an opinion about, and dictated the lives of all those alive and all those born thereafter.

Forgotten, however, is the very fact that the day already bore significance.

Going back 28 years in history provides context for what came to pass.

In 1973, on that same date, a new world order was established when the US decided its foreign policy would reign supreme. A Henry Kissinger instigated coup d’état replaced the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, and installed General Pinochet as the dictator of Chile.

Kissinger, turning a blind eye to the large-scale slaughter, went on to congratulate Pinochet for doing “a great service to the west.” The hypocrisy that he was a proponent of, in the name of realpolitik, is the same one that dictates the US to now champion democracy after doing everything it could in the 1970s and 1980s to destroy it in fledgling nations brimming with potential.

The US gained independence in 1776, and although the tentacles of the East India Company had warmly embraced the Indian subcontinent by then, the British Raj would not

be established for another 82 years.

This meant that while the Americans were brushing up on imperialism and the building of empires, Bangladesh, like the rest of the subcontinent, was becoming well-versed in subjugation and serfdom.

That is probably why US foreign policy has been as much about what is good for the United States as about world domination. The former is the right of any independent nation. The latter is when it ceases to be an exercisable right, and begins to delve in the bowels of injustice, illegality and despotism that globalisation cannot justify sufficiently.

When the two towers came crashing down on every television set in every corner of the planet, the US had to defeat a problem of its own creation in 2001. However, oblivious to the lessons inherent to it’s own past cultivation of fundamentalism, it continues to nurture this delectable enemy by taking a similar approach in Syria, covertly arming al-Qaeda affiliated militia via Turkey and other Gulf states.

This is the Kissinger brand of realpolitik. It does not take into account the side-effects of its targeted actions. It does not, for instance, care whether fundamentalism spills over to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh does not have enough usefulness to warrant it not be deemed expendable by the US in the future should it be gripped by extremism. It is precisely the sort of thinking that oversaw Kissinger’s posturing in 1971 Spurred on by the ratio of people’s usefulness to expendability, it is what saw the rise of the Taliban. Not to be confused with al-Qaeda and the other terrorist offshoots, the Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement. Armed and encouraged by the US – at times openly, at other times clandestinely – to fight the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan, it became a major political force that ruled the nation from 1996, and spread its Islamist message to other Muslim-majority countries.

With a population comprised of 89.5% Muslims in a part of the world where there are global superpowers who are not, and a desperately low literacy rate, Bangladesh is ripe for the taking for Islamist forces bearing gifts and the promise of heaven.

Bangladesh does not have enough usefulness to warrant it not be deemed expendable by the US in the future should it be gripped by extremism.

It is precisely the sort of thinking that oversaw Kissinger’s posturing in 1971. It is why the derogatory

title of “civil war” in a narrative that makes Bangladesh out to be the villain, survives in many quarters internationally.

Forgotten amidst the worldwide “War on Terror” and dissemination of democracy is how Pinochet, a man indicted for countless human rights violations and criminal offences, lay the groundwork for breeding fundamentalism. It was quietly brushed under the carpet. Forgotten is how fundamentalism operates on macro-cosmic and micro-cosmic levels.

People have the right to have severe views. That does not make them the criminals. People who support the severe views, nourish them, grow them into militant organisations, and allow them to act on those views, are.

Fundamentalism cannot exist in a vacuum. It needs money and political will to fan the flames and allow it to be potent. Both come from external forces. Thus, whenever fundamentalism rears its ugly head, questions need to be asked about where it is coming from, who is egging it on, and who is benefiting from it, rather than debating its merits fiercely.

If history has taught the world anything, it is that fundamentalism may begin as a tool for politicking, but cannot be shackled forever. Asking the right questions can stop it from seizing the day. l Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and a lawyer.

bviously everyone has an ancestry; it is only a matter of rummaging deep enough into the past to discover who one’s forebears were.

The British aristocracy has made a fetish of it. Lineage matters to them, but occasionally even they can see through the affectation.

In 1963, for example, the plebeian Labour leader Harold Wilson referred contemptuously to his Conservativetitled counterpart Sir Alec DouglasHome as “the Fourteenth Lord Home,” to which Sir Alec retorted with patrician commonsense: “I suppose Mr Wilson, when you come to think of it, is the 14th Mr Wilson.”

Since 1869, when DNA was discovered, scientists have made phenomenal strides in expanding their research into the composition of DNA and its applications, especially as a tool of evolutionary biology. What scientists have not been able to do so far, is to convince fellow human beings of their commonality, of the universality of Man. Mankind remains driven by differences, dissension and discord.

Through these fissures, noxious policies have begun to seep to the surface, and nowhere more so than on sectarian issues.

Ordinarily, the selection of a leader by an Indian political party that is out of power, should be of no more than passing interest to non-Indians. Nonetheless, the election of Narendra Modi (the 14th chief minister of Gujarat) as the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is too important an event to be ignored by Muslims within India and in the countries adjoining it.

Modi has stepped into the paduka or wooden sandals of his mentors L K Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee, but without their blessings. Vajpayee still regrets not removing Modi as CM of Gujarat following the Godhra massacres in 2002, and Advani puffed and pouted but could not prevent Modi from being voted in as his successor.

Vajpayee and Advani are both octogenarians; their future is behind them.

Narendra Modi is 63 years old. His future is being the spearhead of the BJP, and by association its ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Modi began his career helping his brother run a tea stall in Gujarat, servicing attendees at the RSS political rallies. Within 40 years, he has risen, through his own assiduous efforts, to head the BJP. The next general elections in India therefore will be a contest between Congress led by a 4th generation Nehru-Gandhi and the BJP by a 4th generation Modi – a tournament between doggedness and dynasty, and (more sinisterly for India’s Muslims and its Muslim neighbours) a clash between secularism and sectarianism.

Rahul Gandhi personifies secularism. He has Hindu, Sikh, Parsee and Catholic blood flowing through his veins. Modi is as saffron-blooded as they come.

Modi’s followers maintain that he

will follow Vajpayee’s policy of politico-religious “apartheid” or separate development: India at its own pace, neighbours at their own. As foreign minister and then prime minister, Vajpayee deliberately disabused the notion of an Akhand Bharat or Unified India and, despite pressure from the ultra-rightists, underplayed the demand for Hindutva.

Advani had no such reservations.

He led the destructive yatra to Ayodhya in 1992. There have been many Babri Masjids since then. Today, 21 years later, the communalist genie Advani released has reached maturity.

It has devoured him as its latest meal.

With the emergence of Modi on the national scene, the espousal of Hindutva has received fresh wind. There has never been any doubt amongst RSS die-hards of their intention to see India become a state with Hinduism as its state religion – the Hindu-stan Nehru wanted to avoid.

Modi began his career helping his brother run a tea stall in Gujarat, servicing attendees at the RSS political rallies. Within 40 years, he has risen, through his own assiduous efforts, to head the BJP

In his memoirs “My Country, My Life (2008),” Advani acknowledged “the seminal influence” Swami Ranganathananda, the president of the Ramakrishna mission, had on his political thinking. He included an essay the Swami wrote in August 1947, coinciding with Jinnah’s speech and Nehru’s broadcast.

Ranganathananda proselytised that “the people [the Hindus and Muslims] are one whether under one sovereign state or two. And, as such, there will always be a large India looming behind the states of India and Pakistan. That India is bound to impinge itself on the social constitutions and on the political states of the two parts of divided India.”

Whether a “large India” will continue to loom large over the political states of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, only time and geopolitics will tell.

This month, for the first time in 2,500 years, the two opposing sects of the Jaina community in India – the Digambaras and the Svetambaras – reunited at Jaipur to undertake Paryushan or a period of atonement.

For 18 days, the two sects performed penances for their sins and forgave each other’s transgressions.

Perhaps there is a lesson in this for Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists - to meet, to forgive and to atone. Unlike the pacifist Jainas, these militants may not have 2,500 years to achieve such a reconciliation. l

FS Aijazuddin, OBE, is the author of more than a dozen books. This article was first published by Dawn.

Blowing in the wind n Mohammad Mizanur Rahman

W

ind power is clean, safe, without carbon emissions, and is the most attractive renewable solution for improving supply trends.

The viability of wind power lies at the plentifulness of wind, cost effectiveness, long-term usage, ease of deployment and for the significant role it plays in reducing Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

Improving infrastructure and extending cost effective technology oriented towards wind turbine components and better utilization of grid connections and distributions should be a way to the future

Wind turbines generate power without causing air pollution, and it has no radioactive waste. Wind turbines require a lot of land, but only about 5% of that land is used for the turbine foundations like roads, electrical sub-stations, windmills and accessories. The remaining 95% of the land is available for other uses like farming and livestock grazing.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) report urges world leaders to take actions on the pressing energy and climate issues before 2017. If nothing is

done, it will be too late to prevent the global temperature level from increasing more than 2 degree Celsius. Another report by the World Bank Group said that Asian countries have posted a sevenfold increase in economic growth over the past 25 years while energy consumption has tripled. Even then, there is no access to electricity for about 1.5billion people.

Global Wind Energy Council reported that China’s wind power capacity, at 62,122 MW by the end of 2011, has more than doubled in the last 10 years.

India has increased it’s capacity to 15,084MW in the same period as well.

Also participated by Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea among others, Asia is gradually becoming the largest market for wind power generation.

In Denmark, there are close to 5200 wind turbines with a capacity of almost 3100 MW. On a day with wind speeds of up to 10 meters per second, they can meet the electricity requirements of all Danish households during peak periods. Today, this country supplies 20% of its electricity from wind power sources.

The Bangladesh government should also seek to promote renewable energy including wind power access for sustainable economic development, as well as supporting work for achieving the second phase of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Wind can generate power if it blows at more that 2 metres per second. The average speed of wind in Bangladesh is

2-6 metres per second. What the sector needs now is funding from the private and the public sector.

According to the renewable energy policy of Bangladesh, enacted in 2008, 5% of total domestic power should come from renewable sources by 2015 and the proportion should rise to 10% by 2020.

In the context of renewable energy, the portion of wind-power is very low.

Until now, the total amount of the wind power is only 2MW, through turbines installed in Feni and Kutubdia.

According to the sixth five-year plan (2011-2015) on renewable energy, the government has taken initiative to establish a wind-turbine-run power plant of 100MW (off-shore) at Anowara, Chittagong.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government has formulated Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) and passed a bill on Sreda in the parliament on November 28, 2012.

To further facilitate wind power generation, the private sector needs to be offered generous incentives to stimulate interest in renewable energy productions.

Further collaborations with China, India and other Asian countries are advisable.

Compared to the expensive quick rental solutions, this wind based power generation is a much better idea that can turn us into net energy exporters.

Setting up and strengthening a

A villager walks near a windmill generator along the waterfront of the East China Sea on the outskirts of Shanghai AFP research and development team for wind power generation, which will involve predicting and re-evaluating wind speeds in Bangladesh should also follow.

Improving infrastructure and extending cost effective technology oriented towards wind turbine components and better utilisation of grid connections and distributions should be a way to the future.

Launched immediately, energy auditing systems should include

renewable energy units under the supervision of the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources of Bangladesh.

In more than 75 countries worldwide, wind farms are in operation.

Bangladesh too should celebrate the global wind day, on June 15, starting from next year, and build awareness toward clean energy. l Mohammad Mizanur Rahman is botanist, researcher and columnist.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Channel 9 airs new drama series Chondraboti n Entertainment Desk

A scene from Prachyanat's street theatre production Target

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Theatre activists participate in a seminar hosted by Theatre Art Unit

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

Solaiman Mela 2013 ends with enthusiasm n Punny Kabir Marking the 60th birth anniversary of theatre icon late SM Solaiman, a daylong colorful programme titled “Rongomaton Solaiman Mela 2013” was held on the premises of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on September 27. It was a rendezvous of theatre activists of all generations and also the theatre lovers did not miss the event that included staging of nine productions.

Theatre troupes Aranyak, Subachan, Prangonemor, Swapnadal, Prachyanat, Oikik, Bot Tola and Tirandaj participated in the event organised by Theatre Art Unit.

Theatre personality Ataur Rahman inaugurated the event with the presence of Faiz Zahir, Ananta Hira, Rokeya Rafiq Baby, Mohammad Bari, Zahid Repon and many other renowned names of the theatre arena.

On the open ground of BSA, the troupes staged different parts of plays directed by SM Solaiman. Moreover, they have raised their voices against ongoing political and social turmoil through staging of small productions.

The host troupe presented music and dance and later they staged a special show of its much-acclaimed production titled “Janam Dukhi Maa” on the occasion.

Theatre troupe Swapnadal also staged a special show of its mime production “Swadhinata Sangram” at the National Theatre Hall of the academy in the evening.

Focusing on Bangladesh’s rich cultural elements like boat race, kite race, jatra, puppet shows and more, the production portrays a touching story on the backdrop of the Liberation War of 1971.

Prachyanat staged its latest street theatre production “Target” which is based on the border killing issue between Bangladesh and India, and especially focuses on the murder of innocent Bangladeshi girl Felani.

Theatre Art Unit honoured a Moul-

vibazaar based theatre troupe Monipuri Theatre with this year’s SM Solaiman scholarship. Led by general secretary Jyoti Sinha, the troupe received the honour among warm greetings of the audience present at the National Theatre Hall.

Besides, the commemorative fair witnessed two separate discussions on life and works of Solaiman and the role of theatre activists on the backdrop of current religious extremism.

Renowned dramatists Tariq Anam Khan and Mannan Heera and cultural personality Mafidul Haque delivered speeches on the occasion, among others. l

New Drama series “Chondraboti” begins on Channel 9. Written and directed

by Anjan Aich, it will be aired every Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 8:25pm.

Popular TV actors Jayanto Chattopadhyay, Hasan Imam, Suborna Mustafa, Bonnya Mirza, Saberi Alam, Shahed Sharif Khan, Maznun Mizan and many more stars can be seen in the drama.

The series is about the frauds commonly done by the “pirs,” influential people who are believed to have supernatural power to solve different kind of physical and psychological problems of human kind.

Set on the backdrop of a village, the story of the drama series revolves around pir Fazlu who is very popular

to the villagers. Moreover many people from distant places also come to him for treatments. Fazlu has two assistants, Rinku and Sushil and they work very hard to spread his popularity.

Fazlu has a daughter named Chondraboti who is also very clever and smart, and the youngsters of the village have special interest in her.

One day, a girl from a different village comes to seek help from Fazlu and eventually someone rapes her. Police comes to investigate the case and Fazlu and his assistants fall in deep trouble.

On the other hand, a young doctor named Kamal comes to the village and the fate of Fazlu becomes more challenged. The story moves on with different snags on the life of Fazlu and his family. l

A scene from Chondraboti

Irrfan Khan: Bollywood is unimaginative n Entertainment Desk

A scene from German movie Drei

Goethe Institut screens Drei today n Entertainment Desk Tom Tykwer’s “Drei” will be screened today at 6:30pm as part of Goethe Institut Bangladesh’s regular venture “Sunday German/Bangla Movie Night,” that features a Bangladeshi short film and a German feature film on every last Sunday of the month.

It is a 2010 Berlin-set drama centered on a 40-something couple who, separately, fall in love with the same man. Hanna and Simon are a 40-ish couple, together 20 years and both with successful careers on the cultural cutting edge. She hosts a highbrow talk show — the kind not seen on American

television in decades — and he’s an “art engineer,” translating sculptors’ visions into large-scale installations.

Just as they take the plunge and marry, Simon and Hanna each become involved with the rather pointedly named Adam, an affable blond scientist who in turn finds himself wanting more than his usual one-night stand.The love triangle gets an evolutionary update in Tom Tykwer’s romance “Drei,” whose strong casting makes it involving.

A 6-minute short film “Awakening”

by Anwar Patwari will be screened at 6:20pm. This film is based on a poem and it talks about the violation of human rights with a few burning examples. l

Tom Hanks taken by pirates in Captain Philips n Entertainment Desk In Paul Greengrass’ docudrama “Captain Phillips,” which premiered on Friday as the opening night film of the New York Film Festival, he plays Richard Phillips, the captain of a cargo ship famously taken by Somali pirates in 2009.

Earlier this year, Hanks made his Broadway debut playing New York journalist Mike McAlary in Nora Ephron’s “Lucky Guy.” And later this year, he stars as Walt Disney in “Saving Mr Banks,” about the making of “Mary Poppins.”

“I got to get out of this racket,” Hanks said sheepishly ahead of the Friday night premiere. “It’s killing me.”

“Captain Phillips,” which is expected to be a major contender in Hollywood’s awards Tom Hanks season, debuted at the NYFF to enthusiastic reviews and particular acclaim for Hanks’ performance. But playing real-life people comes with various pressures of authenticity. Verisimilitude is a primary aim for Greengrass, who made the true-life tales “United 93” and “Bloody Sunday” with similar documentary-like realism.

Hanks met several times with Phillips at his Vermont home to help prepare for the role. “You don’t want to be an idiot,” said Hanks. “You don’t want to ask, ‘What were you feeling? What was it like? Are you a hero?’ - you know, ask questions like most journalists do when the time comes.” “Captain Phillips” opens in theaters October 11. The 51st New York Film Festival, which will also feature the premieres of Spike Jonze’s “Her” and Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” runs through October 13. l

Slumdog Millionaire actor Irrfan Khan has criticised Bollywood for a lack of creativity, which he says is stifling the industry.

“I think the songs are being used unimaginatively,” he told in an interview with BBC’s Asian Network.

“Earlier, in the 50s and 60s, we had our own unique language and the songs were used in a very imaginative way; songs were the strength of the film”.

“Now we have become complacent, the songs have become a burden.”

“That’s why universal audiences from the West cannot connect,” he added. “There’s no credibility” Khan has credits in more than 100 films, including Bollywood hits “Haasil” and “Paan Singh Tomar.” His English language films include “Life of Pi” and “The Amazing Spider-Man.” The 46-year-old, who has starred in a Hindi adaptation of “Macbeth,” said he had tried throughout his career to avoid lightweight films.

“There are films which are like a one

night stand: You indulge and you forget. I don’t enjoy those kinds of films very much”.

“I try to do films which leave a longer impact, which speak to you and which keep coming back to you after you’ve seen them, I prefer movies which have a longer relationship.”

Khan’s latest film, “The Lunchbox,” is the only Indian film to be selected for competition at the London Film Festival next month and is making waves in

the international film circuit.

Already the winner of a viewers’ choice award at the Cannes Film Festival, it is a delicate love story that centres around the Indian system of “dabbawallahs” - a community of couriers who pick up hot meals cooked by housewives and deliver them to their husbands’ office desks.

Khan plays a lonely accountant, who mistakenly receives a lunchbox intended for a colleague - and starts a clandestine correspondence with his wife.

“The film has already connected to a universal audience,” said Khan.

“Even in India, the audience is growing every week for these kinds of films, so you can say [they] are newer commercial Indian cinema.”

He added that Bollywood had grown “complacent” about reaching international audiences, but said new talent was “forcing” the industry to confront the problem.

“There is a whole new generation of directors who are dying to connect to the universal audience. They are just looking for the right opportunity.” l

ON TV MOVIE 7:20pm WB

Bloody Money

7:37pm HBO

Puss in Boots (2011)

DRAMA 8:30pm Star World Touch

11:00pm Zee Tv Punar Vivah

COMEDY 1:30pm Star World New Girl

9:00pm Comedy Central Key & Peele

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

Aangina Group painting exhibition Time: 3pm-8pm Dhaka Art Center Dhanmondi

Theatre

Dhaboman Dhaka Theatre Time: 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, Bashundhara City

MISC 5:30pm National Geographic Mega Factories

8:30pm Fox Traveller Food Safari

Did you know?

On September 20, 1973 female tennis star Billy Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome in a much publicised “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. King accepted Riggs’ challenge and won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3

Sport

Sunday, September 29, 2013

14 Monty Panesar in spotlight after ban

14 Kvitova tames Kerber to win Pan Pacific Open

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Honours even in AVB, Mourinho reunion

BHF taking time for final decision n Shishir Hoque

Players and official of Prime Doleshwar carry their skipper Forhad Reza and celebrate their close win against Gazi Tank in the Dhaka Premier League at SBNS yesterday

Brief Scores Doleshwar v Gazi Tank

Prime Doleshwar 211/9 in 50 over Roshane Shiwanka Silva 65, Mehedi Maruf 60 Rubel Hossain 53/4, Arafat Sunny 29/2 Gazi Tank 142/9 in 36 over Scott Styris 40, Mahmudullah 31 Forhad Reza 18/3, Shohag Gazi 16/2, Hasantha Fernando 26/2 Prime Doleshwar won by 3 runs (D/L) Mohammedan v Prime Bank

Mohammedan 173/10 in 50 over Muktar Ali 30, Tillakaratne Dilshan 28 Ziaur Rahman 24/3, Enamul Haque Jr. 32/2 Prime Bank CC 174/8 in 47.4 over Rezaul Karim 41, Rezaul Karim 38 Saqlain Sajib 24/3, Muktar Ali 21/2, Ajantha Mendis 33/2 Prime Bank won by two wickets Victoria v CCS

CCS 217/8 in 50 over Salman 52, Farveez Maharoof 42, Rumesh Buddika 36 Monir Hossain 34/3, Md. Sarif 36/2 Victoria 219/7 in 48.4 over Nasir Hossain 77, Jubayer Ahmed 40* Asif Ahmed 36/3, Kamrul Islam 49/2 Victoria won by three wickets

MUMIT M

Fortune favours Doleshwar, MSC and CCS lose again n Mazhar Uddin

High flying Prime Doleshwar’s dream run continued as they moved to the top of the Dhaka Premier League table after beating Gazi Tank Cricketers by three runs in Duckworth Lewis method at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

In a low scoring affair Prime Bank CC beat Mohammedan SC by two wickets at BKSP-3 to pick their third win of the season while at Fatullah a captain’s knock from Nasir Hossain helped Victoria SC hand Cricket Coaching School their fifth defeat by three wickets.

Prime Doleshwar v Gazi Tank

With 212 runs to win, Gazi were the

favourites in the game when they went on to bat in the second half, but Doleshwar, the team that have been in superb spirit, did not give up.

Gazi were reduced to 68-3 before New Zealander Scott Styris and skipper Mahmudullah rescued the side with a 53-run partnership. Rain poured in when Gazi Tank were 115-3 in 31 overs and halted the game for almost two hours.

When the game resumed, Gazi’s revised target was set to 146 to win from 36 overs, meaning they had to get 31 runs from 30 balls.

However, Doleshwar bowlers had other ideas as they struck six times to restrict their opponents to 142-9. After the break, Mominul Haque and Forhad Reza returned the two set batsmen before off-spinner Sohag Gazi cleaned

up the last recognised batting pair, Rakibul Hasan and Hamidul Islam, in the same over to bring the win closer.

Man of the match Forhad claimed three wickets while Sohag Gazi and Hasantha Fernando picked up two wickets for Doleshwar.

Earlier, Gazi’s in form paceman Rubel Hossain claimed four crucial wickets to restrict Prime to 211-9.

Mehedi Maruf (60) and Roshane Shiwanka Silva (65) were the main men behind their modest total while Mominul also contributed 34 runs.

Mohammedan v Prime Bank

The return of Sri Lankan star Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mashrafe bin Mortaza could not bring the Black and Whites a win as they were bundled out for 173 runs with number nine batsman

Muktar Ali scoring the highest 30 runs.

Medium pacer Ziaur Rahman claimed three vital wickets while pacer Tapash Baisya and left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr picked up two wickets each for Prime Bank.

However, Prime Bank were in similar troubles when they were reduced to 76-5 with all three of their foreign batsmen – Bhanuka Rajapaksha, Lahiru Thirimanne and Brendan Taylor – back in the hut. It was Taibur Parvez (38) and Rezaul Karim (40) who stabled the ship with a 71-run sixth wicket stand.

Prime Bank eventually reached 1748 with Tapash and Enamul unbeaten on eight and one respectively. Saqlain Sajib took three wickets for Mohammedan while Sri Lankan Ajantha Mendis and Muktar Ali claimed two each.

Zahid, Yamali at centre of blame for Saaf failure n Shishir Hoque The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Fact Finding Committee yesterday recommended stern punishment for national winger Zahid Hossain, terminating fitness coach Mohammet Yamali’s contract and cautioning the national head coach Lodewijk de Kruif.

After 10 days of investigation, the committee submitted their final report including findings and recommendations to the BFF president Kazi Salahuddin at the BFF House yesterday. The fact finding committee was formed on September 17 to investigate the reasons behind the debacle at the SAFF football championship in Nepal last month.

The committee recommended stern punishment against winger Zahid Hossain, who had been grossly negligent in his commitment to the team during the tournament and irresponsible on and off the pitch. Interestingly Zahid didn’t appear before the fact-finding committee for an interview.

“His involvement was mysterious.

We warned him in the past. But he didn’t rectify himself and continued his negligence and irresponsibility and

Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) is yet to reveal their report about the actual cause of the failure in the Asia Cup and the federation president Air Marshal Enamul Bari hinted yesterday the final decision might be taken during the governing committee meeting on October 10 or 11.

The BHF president said they will reinvestigate the three reports, if necessary, submitted by coach, manager and the facts finding committee.

“We are trying to find the actual reason why we failed to perform (in Asia Cup). I’m working with three different reports issued by coach, manager and facts finding committee.

I believe that after assessing all reports we will take the necessary decision in our next meeting,” said Enamul Bari after the governing body meeting yesterday.

“Whatever we do we will do for the betterment of hockey, but we don’t have any intention to blame anyone on purpose,” he added.

Meanwhile, the manager Abdur Rashi Sikder and the three-member facts finding committee submitted their reports to the president during the governing body meeting yesterday. l

remained undisciplined on and off the pitch. We don’t want see such players in the team,” said the convenor of the three-member committee Badal Roy who read out the findings and recommendations.

The committee also sought to caution skipper Mamunul Islam, Shakhawat Hossain Rony and Sohel for fitness issues. It was said that Rony hid his injury before the tournament.

The committee also recommended relieving Dutch trainer Mohammet Yamali of his duties for failing to perform his duties properly. Yamali was appointed in July for a four-month contract.

The committee also thinks the Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif should also be more careful in future.

“The coach was indifferent. We want to give him time but he should be more aware of this in future,” said Badal Roy. The committee also recommended appointing the foreign coaches for long term and providing them with local two qualified people to assist them with information. The coaches should be acknowledged properly about the team’s target, limitations, environment and players qualities.

The committee believes that the

players should be more motivated and committed to their job and country.

The committee thought the goalkeeper was irresponsible and made mistakes in last two matches of the tournament. “The goalkeeping coach cannot avoid his responsibility. But since his appointment is a short term one, he is only cautioned and should be more careful in future.”

The other recommendations were that clubs training regimes should be made in conjunction with the national team’s camp, improving premier league training facilities and making the league more competitive. They also recommended reducing the foreign players’ quota to 2 in the league.

The committee also suggested that a pool of 20-25 players could be brought under a monthly salary and insurance scheme. They also asked BFF to encourage the players from the grassroots level.

Since it was formed the fact finding committee interviewed 35 peoples and finished their work in a week and prepared their recommendations accordingly. The committee admitted most of the people they interviewed blamed the coaching staff and fitness of the players. l

Victoria v CCS

CCS, who are yet to register a win in the DPL this season, registered a modest total of 217-8 in their allotted overs. Young middle-order batsman Salman Hossain (52) struck his secong consecutive fifty while three Sri Lankans Rumesh Buddika (36), Gihan Rupasinghe (27) and Farveez Maharoof (41) also contributed to the CCS innings.

Left-arm spinner Monir Hossain took three wickets while pacer Mohammad Sharif picked up two wickets for Victoria.

Nasir top scored for Victoria with 77 runs off 78 balls while Jubayer Ahmed remained not out on 40 to ensure the third win for Victoria as they reached 217-7 with three wickets and almost two over to spare. l

Pran-BSJA Media Cup final today n Shishir Hoque

Former Bangladesh cricket captain and chief selector Akram Khan (C) presents a man of the match award at BSJA Media Cup at hockey stadium yesterday MUMIT M

BKSP continue to dominate n Shishir Hoque Four new national records were set on the second day of the Bashundhara 29th National Age Level Swimming Competition at the Syed Nazrul Islam National Swimming Complex in Mirpur yesterday.

BKSP’s Zahidul Islam set a new record in the 100m butterfly (Boys’ 13-14 years) event and clocked 1:04:07 minutes to bag the gold medal.

Nayan Ali (Boys U-12) of Lalon Shah Academy, who set the first national record of the meet on Friday, won the 200m freestyle event in record time of

2:22:39 minutes.

Rasheda Khatun (Girls U-10) of Meherpur Swimming Club clinched the gold in the 50m freestyle setting new record with finishing in 36:59 seconds while Marium Khatun (Girls 15-17) of Sagarkhali Swimming Club won the gold in the 200m butterfly event in record time 3:03:17mins.

BKSP continued their domination and stayed at the top of the table with 41 gold, 29 silver and 23 bronze while Bangladesh Ansar won nine gold, 13 silver and nine bronze medals to stay in second place. l

Kaler Kantho, Channel 9, Samakal and RisingBD cruised into the semi-finals of the Pran-Frooto BSJA Media Cup Cricket with comfortable victories at the Moulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday. Kaler Kantho handed Gazi TV a crushing five-wicket defeat in the day’s first quarterfinal. Rising BD (71/3) defeated Maasranga (70/1) by three wickets, Channel 9 (41/2) beat Daily Star (40/5) by three wickets while Samakal (81/3) beat Radio Today (80/2) by two wickets. Kaler Kantho will take on RisingBD and Samakal will face Channel 9 in the semi-finals today.

The final will also be played today. l

BJMC, Rangamati reach women’s handball final n Shishir Hoque BJMC and Rangamati district reached the final of the Walton Invitational National Women’s Handball Tournament beating their respective semi-final opponents at the National Handball Stadium yesterday. Sahida scored six as BJMC thrashed Dinajpur 21-1 in the day’s first semi-final while Rangamati defeated Dhaka 25-18 in the second semi. Shilpi and Babli netted nine and seven goals for Rangamati. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Panesar in spotlight after ban n AFP, London Fresh questions over Monty Panesar’s character were raised Friday when the England spinner accepted he’d acted in a “potentially threatening and intimidating” manner towards an opponent.

Just a few days after being named in England’s squad for the forthcoming Ashes tour of Australia, Panesar was given a suspended one-match ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board’s disciplinary commission after pleading guilty to a breach of directive 3.2 in the County Championship match between Essex and Worcestershire earlier this month.

The ECB did not specify exactly what had caused Panesar to be charged, their statement referring only to “two incidents” one of which was likely a heated exchange with Worcestershire batsman Ross Whiteley.

Experienced umpire Peter Willey, the former Test batsman, intervened while Essex captain James Foster also summoned by the match officials.

Panesar’s ban will be suspended until the end of next season, pending any

further violations of the ECB code.

Friday’s ECB statement said Panesar had “apologised for his behaviour during the match”.

But it was something both Panesar and the England selectors ciould have done without following the controversy surrounding his Test recall.

Last month the 31-year-old leftarmer, who has taken 164 wickets at 33.78 in 48 Tests, found himself making the wrong sort of headlines after he was fined for urinating on night-club bouncers in Brighton on England’s south coast.

It was all too much for his then employers Sussex, who promptly released Panesar, now completing the season on loan at rival county Essex.

But the fact that Panesar remains England’s second best spinner behind off-break bowler Graeme Swann was emphasised by the wretched Test debut of Lancashire left-armer Simon Kerrigan, whose eight wicketless overs in the drawn Ashes finale at The Oval last month cost 53 runs.

England national selector Geoff Miller, himself a former Test spinner, said when announcing the Ashes squad on Monday: “Monty had his problems, which we’ve worked hard to rectify in the last six weeks -- and he has too.

“He’s a proven international bowler, who has shown what he’s capable of doing on many occasions for us.”

Miller added: “He’s very prepared to let his bowling do the talking for him, so I’m prepared to accept that. He’s an experienced international player and it’s up to him to actually produce the goods for us.” l

Kvitova tames Kerber to win Pan Pacific Open n AFP, Tokyo

Petra Kvitova (C) of the Czech Republic and Angelique Kerber (R) of Germany hold their trophies as they look at a woman dressed in a kimono during an award ceremony after their singles final match at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo yesterday REUTERS

Argentina summon stars despite World Cup qualification Squad Goalkeepers

Sergio Romero, Mariano Andujar Defenders

Hugo Campagnaro, Federico Fernandez, Pablo Zabaleta, Fabricio Coloccini, Marcos Rojo, Ezequiel Garay, Cristian Ansaldi, Jose Basanta Midfielders

Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria, Ever Banega, Augusto Fernandez, Ricardo Alvarez, Lucas Biglia, Jose Sosa, Erik Lamela.

Attackers

Lionel Messi, Rodrigo Palacio, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi

n AFP, Buenos Aires Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella on Friday called up Europe-based stars Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero for next month’s World Cup qualifiers despite having already secured a place at the 2014 finals.

Barcelona superstar Messi, Manchester City striker Aguero as well as Gonzalo Higuain, the Napoli frontman, were all called to the squad for the games against Peru on October 11 in Buenos Aires and Uruguay in Montevideo four days later.

Barcelona midfielder Javier Masch-

erano was named in the squad although he remains a doubt with a thigh injury.

However, Juventus striker Carlos Tevez and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore were overlooked

by Sabella.

Argentina made sure of their place in the World Cup by beating Paraguay 5-2 last month.

They have 29 points in the South American qualifying zone ahead of Colombia (26 pts), Chile (24), Ecuador and Uruguay (22).

The top four qualify for the Brazil showpiece with the fifth-placed nation facing a play-off. l

Ukraine handed stadium ban for racism n AFP, Paris Ukraine will have to play their next home World Cup qualifier behind closed doors after fans were accused of making monkey chants and performing Nazi salutes.

Fifa’s disciplinary committee also banned the Lviv stadium from hosting all qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup after the incidents in the match against San Marino on September 6.

“Fifa was informed by FARE (Football Against Racism Europe) that several racist and discriminatory incidents were apparently perpetrated by local supporters during the match, in particular by displaying neo-Nazi banners and by making “monkey noises and gestures” as well as Nazi salutes,” said a Fifa statement.

“The committee agreed that the offensive, denigratory and discriminatory actions of a group of Ukrainian supporters were shameful and a clear breach of the Fifa Disciplinary Code (FDC).

In addition, the pyrotechnical devices (which were thrown onto the pitch), which can pose considerable threats to personal safety, are not to be tolerated.”

Ukraine’s next World Cup qualifier at home to Poland on October 11 will be played behind closed doors. Ukraine and Montenegro are a point behind leaders England in qualifying Group H for next year’s finals in Brazil. The Ukraine football federation were also fined 45,000 Swiss francs (36,737 euros).l

Cara Black (R) of Zimbabwe holding her son Lachlan and Sania Mirza (L) of India holding their victory trophy, which is a traditional Japanese battledore, pose for photographs after defeating Chan Hao-ching and Liezel Huber during their women's doubles final match at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo yesterday REUTERS

Sousa downs top seed Ferrer in Malaysia n AFP, Kuala Lumpur Unseeded Portuguese player Joao Sousa clinched his first ever victory over a top five player when he defeated top seed David Ferrer in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open on Friday.

Sousa, given special exemption from the organisers to skip the qualifying rounds after reaching the semi-finals in St. Petersburg last weekend, justified their faith in him by beating Ferrer 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in 98 minutes.

The 24-year-old was denied a match point opportunity when he served for victory at 5-4 in the second set, before rallying from a 4-6 deficit in the tie-break. Ferrer, who was making his fourth appearance in this tournament, has never gone beyond the semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur.

He was knocked out in the first round in 2009 and reached the semis in 2010.

He was also a quarter-finalist last year.

The result leaves Swiss world number 10 Stanislas Wawrinka as the favourite to lift the title after he edged out Dmitry Tursunov in a hard-fought 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win.

The 124-minute contest between Wawrinka and the sixth-seeded Russian was the longest in the tournament so far.

Fourth and fifth seeds Jurgen Melzer and Julien Benneteau advanced easily into the semi-finals.

Austrian Melzer came away with a routine 6-3, 6-2 victory over Argentine Federico Delbonis while Benneteau outplayed 25-year-old French compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3.l

Czech Petra Kvitova recovered from a second-set meltdown to beat fellow left-hander Angelique Kerber 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 and capture the Pan Pacific Open on Saturday for her second title of the year.

Seventh seed Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, burst from the blocks in the Tokyo final, storming through the first set, but inexplicably suffered the dreaded 0-6 ‘bagel’ in the second.

She quickly rediscovered her poise in the decider, screaming in delight and pumping her fist as she put away a sharp volley to take a 4-0 lead.

The 23-year-old put fifth seed Kerber out of her misery on her fourth match point, a blistering crosscourt forehand ending the German’s resistance after an hour and 39 minutes and giving Kvitova an 11th career singles title.

“I really want to qualify for the end of season championships but I want to enjoy this feeling first,” said Kvitova, projected to rise from 11th to seventh in the new world rankings and closing in on sixth place in the race for next month’s WTA Championships in Istanbul.

“I felt a bit tired,” added Kvitova after her tour-high 32nd three-set match of 2013. “Angie came back at me but I tried to stay focused and it’s amazing to win such a big tournament.”

It was Kvitova’s first title since Dubai in February and winning the premier five event earned her $426,000. Kerber, who had been seeking a third title and first of the year, took home $213,000.

“It’s tough to answer why I play so many three-set matches,” Kvitova told AFP after levelling her head-to-head record with Kerber to 2-2. “I’ve still not figured out why. I played two and a half hours yesterday (in beating Venus Williams) but that’s not the reason. My game is still up and down but I keep fighting until the last point.”

Kvitova voiced confidence she could push on and win another grand slam title in 2014.l

Strike duo excite Liverpool boss Rodgers n AFP, Liverpool Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is expecting Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez to form a thrilling forward partnership.

Suarez, 26, ended his 10-game suspension by returning in midweek as Liverpool were knocked out of the League Cup by bitter rivals Manchester United with neither the Uruguayan nor the 24-yearold Sturridge on the scoresheet in a 1-0 defeat. Rodgers is ready to pair them up again for the Premier League visit to bottom-of-the-table Sunderland on Sunday.

And the Reds boss has no concerns that, despite Sturridge failing to add to his six goals this season at Old Trafford, the former Chelsea and Manchester City forward will be stifled by the return of Liverpool talisman Suarez.

“I think Luis’s return will only improve Daniel,” Rodgers said. “Good players want to play with other good players.

They can be a real threat.

“It’s not something that Daniel will be worried about. Their focus is on the team doing well and it’s my job to manage the dynamics of the team. I’ve got no worries about it.”

Rodgers insisted he would not be using Suarez’s return as a chance to rest Sturridge, with Liverpool one of a clutch of clubs who headed into the weekend on 10 points, two behind leaders Arsenal.

“There is no taking Daniel out,” Rodgers added. “Even when he’s not 100 percent fit he’s still an amazing player. His pace and power is getting up to speed.

He is a very important player.”

Rodgers confirmed Daniel Agger was back in contention having missed the defeat by United with a rib injury.

However, Reds midfielder Joe Allen is still out with a hamstring problem for the visit to Sunderland, who will face their first Premier League game since the north-east club sacked Paolo di Canio as their manager. Rodgers had some sympathy for the dismissed Italian but is expecting to face an upbeat Black Cats side after their win over Peterborough in the League Cup on Tuesday.

“There is always an upturn when a manager comes in,” said Rodgers. “It is unfortunate that Paolo lost his job but they did get a good win in midweek.”

Meanwhile Sunderland’s Ondrej Celustka has accused the north-east club of acting too hastily in their decision to sack di Canio, only in charge at the Stadium of Light for some six months.

The Czech defender, one of 14 preseason signings made by di Canio, was the first member of the squad to speak in public about a decision to sack di Canio reported to have been sparked by a dressing-room revolt.

“In my opinion the decision was a little bit hasty. He was building the team and in the summer 14 new players, including me, arrived. It needs time to settle down,” Celustka said.

Di Canio paid the price for poor results – Sunderland are bottom with just one point from their opening five games – and a dictatorial management style that saw him come out second best in a power struggle with the club’s senior professionals in a turbulent few days on Wearside.l

Berdych, Raonic to play for Bangkok title n AFP, Bangkok

Top seed Tomas Berdych and number three Milos Raonic both battled through for three-set wins to set up a Sunday final at the Thailand Open.

Berdych struggled for nearly three hours before finally defeating Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 7-5.

Raonic put out defending champion Richard Gasquet in the second loss of the day for France, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

The Canadian winner hammered 23 aces in a fightback lasting for just under two hours.

Czech Berdych had his troubles with the game of the 14th-ranked Simon, 2012 losing finalist.

Berdych is looking for his first title

since Stockholm last October – he is currently the lone member of the ATP top 10 without a trophy this season. Raonic owns four career trophies - three of them won indoors in the now defunct San Jose event.

Berdych beat Raonic in their only previous meeting.

Berdych lost the opening set after 74 minutes against Simon, known for long matches and extended passages of play.

After being treated on court for back pain on Friday, Simon did not use his courtside chair during changeovers in the Berdych match.

“It was a very tough match and very tight at the end,” said Simon, the 2009 champion. “I played well in the begin-

ning and then Thomas was very strong coming back in the second set and ultimately was too good in the end.”

Berdych squared the match at a set each but had to keep up the pressure in the third before finally getting past the Frenchman who beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga late week for the Metz title.

Berdych ended with 18 aces and six breaks of serve, saving 11 of the 14 break points he faced and coming from 0-40 down as he served for victory.

“I was a bit unlucky in the first set,” said Berdych, winner of his third match from eight played against Simon. “I stuck to my tactics, which had been successful. “I just tried to keep going in the same way, used the same strategy it was a good option in the end. l

People look at the Fifa World Cup trophy after its arrival at Juan Santamria airport in Alajuela on Friday REUTERS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

15

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Agrani Bank becomes youth hockey sponsor

Quick Bytes

Zia in lead Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman of Dhaka Mohammedan took a solo lead with six points after the 7th round games of the Berger Paints 39th National ‘A’ Chess Championship yesterday at the Media Centre of Bangladesh Olympic Association. GM Abdullah Al-Rakib of Duronto Rajshahi and IM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar are jointly in 2nd position with 5.5 points each. In the 7th round game yesterday, Zia beat FM KhAminul Islam of Bangladesh Ansar, GM Abdullah Al-Rakib of Duronto Rajshahi beat Sagar, GM Enamul Hossain Razib of Duronto Rajshahi beat FM Debaraj Chatterjee of Access Group. FM Mehdi HasanParag beat Shafiq Ahmed of Golden Chess Club, Mohammed Hafizul Islam Chapal of Dhaka City drew with IM Abu Sufian Shakil of Access Group, Md Jamal Uddin drew with FM Mohammad Javed of Access Group, GM Niaz Murshed played with FM Sk Nasir Ahmed of Titas Club.

-FRM

n Shishir Hoque

Siddikur on 33rd Siddikur Rahman passed a bad day in the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open as the Bangladeshi golfer carded a three-overpar 74 to make a three-day total of 216 to share the 33rd spot at the Ibaraki Country Club yesterday. After carding two straight 71s in opening two rounds, the 29-year-old got four bogeys and a double bogey along with three birdies in the third round yesterday at the Asian Tour event.

Siddikur, who recently qualified for the ISPS HANDA World Cup, will start the last round of the $1.48m showpiece event with Japanese Yusaku Miyazato and Korean BaekSeuk-hyunat at 8:05 local time today. Meanwhile, Park Sung-joon of Korea continued his formidable form after shooting a third round three-under-par 68 to charge into a two-shot lead, overcoming the tough playing conditions with four birdies against one bogey for a sevenunder-par. Asian Tour honorary member and Asia’s first male Major champion YE Yang of Korea sank a 15 footer eagle putt on the last for a 69 to share second place with Japan’s Tetsuji Hiratsuka (71), Masahiro Kawamura (71) and Akio Sadakata (68). Overnight leader Pariya Junhasavasdikul of Thailand slipped back to tied sixth after posting a disappointing 74 to trail Park by three shots.

-FRM

Kroenke wants Wenger to stay at Arsenal Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has made it clear he wants manager Arsene Wenger to stay at the club and end the Gunners’ trophy drought. French boss Wenger has already been at the north London side for 17 years, but Arsenal have now entered their ninth season without silverware, their last major trophy being the 2005 FA Cup. Wenger’s contract is due to expire after the end of the current campaign and there has been speculation regarding the 63-year-old’s long-term future.

-AFP

Strauss goes public over Pietersen row Former England captain Andrew Strauss has lifted the lid on his stand-off with Kevin Pietersen that overshadowed his final days as an international cricketer, saying he felt “let down” by the star batsman. And his comments, in Saturday’s Daily Mail serialisation of his autobiography, ‘My Driving Ambition’ placed a question mark over his expressed interest in succeeding Hugh Morris as England’s new managing director of cricket – a position that would effectively mean he was Pietersen’s boss. Strauss retired in August last year following England’s Test series loss to South Africa during which the generally good relations he enjoyed with Pietersen, the man he succeeded as captain, hit rock bottom.

The low points came following reports Pietersen, South Africa born and raised, had sent derogatory text messages to his friends in the Proteas’ dressing room regarding Strauss, including advice on how to dismiss the left-hander.

– AFP

Chelsea's English defender John Terry (2L) heads the ball to score during their English Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in London yesterday

Misery for Manchester

Ronaldinho’s World Club hopes in balance

Honours even in Villas-Boas, Mourinho reunion n AFP, London West Bromwich Albion deepened the gloom around new Manchester United manager David Moyes with a sensational 2-1 win at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday.

A week on from their 4-1 derby humiliation at Manchester City, United were looking to return to winning ways in the league but instead slumped to a defeat that left the champions in 12th place in the table.

On-loan Marseille winger Morgan Amalfitano put West Brom ahead with an exquisite individual goal in the 54th minute, picking the ball up on halfway and nutmegging Rio Ferdinand before insouciantly dinking the ball over goalkeeper David de Gea. Wayne Rooney equalised three minutes later, with a free-kick from wide on the left that eluded everyone, only for 20-year-old midfielder Saido Berahino to restore West Brom’s lead with a fierce left-foot drive.

Steve Clarke’s side held on for victory, to leave Moyes with a dismal return of three defeats, one draw and only two victories from his first six league matches since succeeding the legendary Alex Ferguson at the United helm.

Giggs keeping 40th birthday under wraps n AFP, London Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs says he is trying to keep quiet about his impending 40th birthday, for fear of becoming the butt of changing-room jokes.

Giggs reaches the milestone in November and is set to become only the fourth outfield player aged over 40 to appear in the Premier League after Gordon Strachan, Kevin Phillips and former team-mate Teddy Sheringham. l

United’s fans could nonetheless take a small crumb of consolation from the fact that their conquerors from last weekend fell to a 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa.

Yaya Toure gave City the lead on the stroke of half-time, with Edin Dzeko restoring the visitors’ advantage in the 56th minute after Karim El Ahmadi had equalised for Villa early in the second period. However, a fine free-kick from Leonardo Bacuna saw Villa equalise in the 73rd minute before Andreas Weimann ran clear and beat Joe Hart two

minutes later to give Paul Lambert’s side a stunning win.

City had been on course to take over at the top of the table from Tottenham Hotspur, who drew 1-1 at home to Chelsea in the first managerial meeting between former colleagues Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas-Boas.

Spurs manager saw his side take a first-half lead through Gylfi Sigurdsson, but in a frenetic and keenly contested second half, Chelsea equalised through John Terry before having Torres sent off.

Manchester United's English forward Wayne Rooney (L) reacts as he leaves the pitch after a 2-1 defeat against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford in Manchester yesterday AFP

n AFP, Rio De Janeiro

Torres was shown a second yellow card for leading with his arm in an aerial challenge with Jan Vertonghen, but Mourinho felt referee Mike Dean’s decision to dismiss him was unjust.

Record signing Dani Osvaldo scored his first Southampton goal in a 2-0 win at home to Crystal Palace.

An injury-time thunderbolt from Jordan Mutch gave Cardiff City a dramatic 2-1 win at Fulham, while Hull City beat West Ham United 1-0 via a 12th-minute penalty by Robbie Brady.l

Results Aston Villa El Ahmadi 51, Bacuna 73, Weimann 75 Fulham Ruiz 45

3-2

Man City Toure 45, Dzeko 56

1-2

Hull Brady 12-pen Man United Rooney 57

1-0

Cardiff Caulker 12, Mutch 90 West Ham

Southampton Osvaldo 47, Lambert 49 Tottenham Sigurdsson 19

2-0

1-2

1-1

West Brom Amalfitano 54, Berahino 67 Crystal Palace

Chelsea Terry 65

Mourinho irked by Torres red n AFP, London Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho criticised the dismissal of striker Fernando Torres in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur and argued that his side deserved more from the game.

A 65th-minute header by captain John Terry earned Chelsea a draw in the Premier League tussle at White Hart Lane, after Gylfi Sigurdsson had given the home side a first-half lead.

However, Torres was shown a second yellow card for leading with his arm in an aerial challenge on Jan Vertonghen in the closing stages and Spurs

came close to snatching victory before the final whistle sounded.

Chelsea had dominated the second half prior to the Spaniard’s dismissal, and although Mourinho felt Mike Dean’s decision to brandish a red card robbed his side of momentum at a crucial juncture, he reserved his strongest criticism for Vertonghen.

Asked if he felt a draw was a fair result, he told Sky Sports: “I don’t think it was, because I think they were better than us in the first half -- they were better, but they didn’t create so many chances – but in the second half, there was only one team.

“The team was very, very strong, until the moment the referee made a mistake; a big mistake, but a mistake that has a big influence in the result.

“I think in these situations that the ref is not guilty. I think the player is guilty, because if nobody touches me and in this moment I fall, it’s not your fault, it’s my fault because I fall.”

He added: “When he (Vertonghen) pretends that Fernando had a big contact on him, the referee is at a distance and he makes the second yellow card. And at that moment, we were much better. They were in big trouble.l

Veteran Brazilian Ronaldinho’s hopes of playing in December’s Club World Cup are in the balance after he picked up a thigh injury in training, his club Atletico Mineiro said Friday.

Club doctor Rodrigo Lasmar told reporters the 2002 world champion had suffered the injury on Thursday and an IRM showed a torn muscle.

However, he expessed hope that the 33-year-old would return in time for the December event in Morocco.

“We must be careful in talking about time frames when it comes to a muscle injury – it depends much on the player,” Globo Sports quoted Lasmar as saying.

“It is a serious injury and the recovery time is not short. He could be back in three months, three and a half, two and a half.

“I think it is possible he will play the World championship.”

The former Barcelona star is unlikely to make next June’s Brazil World Cup squad under Luiz Felipe Scolari who led the 2002 vintage which included Ronaldinho to glory in Japan.

But the veteran is keen to add a major club honour having in July already helped Atletico to their first Libertadores title at the expense of Paraygauan three-times champions Olimpia. l

Reina casts doubt on Liverpool future n AFP, London On-loan Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina has admitted he finds it hard to envisage returning to parent club Liverpool, in an interview with a British newspaper published on Saturday.

The Spain international, 31, joined Napoli on loan during the close season, after Liverpool signed Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet from Sunderland.

Now working under his former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, Reina says he does not expect to return to Anfield when his loan spell finishes. l

Dortmund crush 10-man Freiburg

Day’s Watch Ten Sports 2:45pm Moto GP 2013 LIVE Main Race Star Sports 2013 CLT 20 LIVE 4:20pm Highveld Lions v Otago Volts 8:20pm Rajasthan Royals v Perth Scorchers ESPN 4:00pm Sultan of Johor Cup 2013 LIVE 8:50pm Barclays Premier League LIVE Sunderland v Liverpool 11:00pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2013 LIVE

AFP

Agrani Bank Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) as they became the sponsors National Youth Championship for three seasons from 2013 to 2015.

The MoU signing ceremony was held at the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) auditorium yesterday.

As sponsor, Agrani Bank will provide Tk3.6m for holding the competition over three years and the first installment of Tk1.1m was handed over yesterday. The second and third installments will be Tk1.2m and Tk1.3m for next two years.

“As a state-owned bank, we have the responsibility towards the society.

If you go with a specific plan for the 2022 World Cup, Agrani Bank will be with you as a partner,” said Syed Abdul Hamid, MD and CEO of Agrani Bank Limited.

BHF president Air Marshal Enamul Bari said, “We are not looking for one or two sporadic wins, rather we are looking for long-term development of the game, which is why we are signing long-term agreements with sponsors.”

The BHF chief informed that the first edition of National Youth Championship will begin at the end of October and run up till mid-November. l

n AFP, Berlin

Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski (C), defender Neven Subotic and midfielder Jonas Hofmann celebrate after scoring against SC Freiburg during their German Bundesliga match in Dortmund , Germany yesterday AFP

Borussia Dortmund consolidated their place at the top of the Bundesliga with a 5-0 rout of 10-man Freiburg on Saturday.

Bayern Munich’s 1-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg at the Allianz Arena means Pep Guardiola’s second-placed side remain level on 19 points with Dortmund after seven league games, but Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund have a superior goal difference.

Dortmund ran riot at Signal Iduna Park with Germany winger Marco Reus and Poland striker Robert Lewandows-

ki scoring twice before Polish midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski added the fifth 10 minutes from time.

Dortmund broke the deadlock on 35 minutes when Lewandowski’s shot was blocked by Freiburg goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, but Reus was on hand to tap home the loose ball.

Freiburg’s fortunes took a sharp downturn when Senegalese centreback Fallou Diagne was sent off after hauling down Lewandowski and Reus drilled home the resulting spot-kick in the 47th minute.

Lewandowski then netted his fourth goal of the season when he held off two defenders to chip the ball over Baumann with half an hour left. l

Results Borussia Dortmund 5-0 Reus 35, 47-pen, Lewandowski 58, 70, Blaszczykowski 79 Bayern Munich 1-0 Mueller 63 Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Rolfes 23, Sam 37 Hoffenheim 3-3 Modeste 16, Firmino 48-pen, Abraham 61 Hertha Berlin 3-1 Allagui 48, 73, Ben-Hatira 74

Freiburg

Wolfsburg Hanover Schalke Boateng 3, Matip 13, Hoeger 40 Mainz 05 Mueller 7

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Sunday, September 29, 2013

DOWRY RELATED VIOLENCE

Victims opting for out of court solutions n Udisa Islam Despite a number of laws and ordinances criminalising dowry and related violence against women, victims are increasingly seeking solutions outside the court as legal battles cost too much and take too long for them to bear.

Many victims believe if they take their cases to court they do not always stand the chance of winning, especially in the absence of physical evidence and witnesses to corroborate for them, or they think that by reporting incidents they invite further harassment. As a result families and victims are discouraged from pursuing legal action.

Anti-dowry activists say most incidents of dowry-related violence in Bangladesh go unreported and in cases where there are deaths – with victims murdered or driven to suicide – the families would rather come to a “compromise” than go to court.

“Contrary to our expectations, domestic violence against women especially because of dowry has increased,

largely thanks to lack of implementation of the existing laws and slack monitoring of law enforcement officials,” said Advocate Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA).

In total, 255 women suffered dowry-related violence in the first six months of this year, according to a recent report by rights organisation Odhikar. Of them, 163 women were harassed and tortured, 86 were murdered for failing to meet demands for dowry and six women committed suicide.

An ICDDRB research paper on incidents of “dowry and spousal physical violence against women” concluded that women married without demands for dowry were less frequently abused than those who were expected to pay dowry.

It said that nearly 88% of married women in rural areas were expected to give dowries and a large number of them faced various kinds of torture if they failed to do so.

Sources said, as rates of dowry deaths rise, so do people’s tendencies

to come to mutually-beneficial out of court compromises, with relatives of victims paid various amounts in compensation.

18-year-old Halima from Dinajpur was married at 16. Her husband and in-laws started demanding dowry from the third day into her marriage and she was often tortured, even during her pregnancy and after the birth of a daughter a year later.

Two years into the marriage, one morning Halima’s body was found hanging from a ceiling fan. Her father, tired of the endless demands made by his son-in-law and his family, wanted to file a case against them but a neighbour convinced him not to. Instead the two families came to an “understanding” that Halima’s family would not take legal action and the husband’s family would pay them Tk65,000 as compensation for Halima’s death.

Advocate Ali said victims’ relatives agree to a compromise out of fears for security, or because they think a court battle might just be too costly or too

lengthy. She said there are also concerns that they might not get any justice at all.

She said: “The government would do well by arranging speedy trials for all cases related to dowry-violence, which would ensure quick justice and remove doubts and unease from the minds of victims’ families.”

Lawyer Elina Khan also emphasised on the need for speedy trials in such cases. She said: “Some women do not want to pursue legal battles against their husbands fearing the consequences, but they are mostly from poor backgrounds and do not want to lose the shelter provided by husbands.

These reasons primarily lead to out of court compromises reached by many families.”

State Minister for Women and Child Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki said: “We are trying our best to reduce the rate of violence against women. But if they do not come forward themselves and file cases, how would we know they are being tortured?” l

Scuffles mark DU senate polls n DU Correspondent The Dhaka University senate elections held yesterday amid stray incidents of clashes between Bangladesh Chhatra League and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal – students’ bodies of the two main political parties.

The clashes left at least five registered graduates injured including the DU International Hall Provost and Senate Member Prof Lutfar Rahman. He received injuries to his arm when he had gone to pacify the warring parties.

Among the injured were Anabil Roy of peace and conflict department, Sharif of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall and Hasan of AF Rahman Hall.

Witnesses said the clash broke out when the Chhatra Dal activists had begun to chant provocative slogans.

The voting for the second parliament election of the university by its registered graduates started from 9am and continued until 5pm at the TSC, Senate

building and central playground of the university.

The number of voters was around 20,000 in the three centres at DU while around 14,000 earlier cast their votes in 43 centres across the country.

The clash broke out at the university central playground around 11:15am when Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir went there to cast his vote The DU senate committee comprises 105 members, of which 25 are chosen by the registered graduate students of the university. The results would be published tomorrow.

Awami League-backed Chhatra League and BNP-backed Chhatra Dal were in a tense standoff on the campus since morning. Chhatra League supported Ganatantrik Oikya Parishad while the other favoured Jatiyatabadi Parishad.

Witnesses said scuffles broke out

between the two groups at the university central playground around 11:15am when BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir went there to cast his vote.

Around 12:15pm, the two groups also clashed with one another on the senate building premises.

Chhatra League activists beat up Azizul Haque Zeon, a Dhanmondi unit Chhatra Dal activist. They also beat up Chhatra Dal activist Muhibullah, also a graduate student of sociology department, in the afternoon.

DU acting proctor Amzad Ali termed the on-campus clash an “isolated” incident which occurred from a “simple misunderstanding.”

“The university authorities and law enforcers were trying to maintain a peaceful voting atmosphere,” he said.

However, DU Chhatra League President Mehedi Hasan termed the senate election free and fair.

He also denied the allegation of at-

tack on Chhatra Dal members by the Chhatra League activists.

Chhatra League central committee’s acting secretary Shamsul Kabir Rahat blamed the Chhatra Dal for the clashes.

He claimed that the Chhatra League activists had followed democratic system during the Senate polls.

Rahat said they had supported Ganatantrik Oikya Parishad as it held fast to pro-liberation ideals.

A tense situation was prevailing on the campus in the wake of clashes that occurred intermittently throughout the day.

Jatiyatabadi Parishad, the BNPbacked panel, alleged that many voters who cast their votes yesterday had also exercised their franchise in the 43 voting centres outside Dhaka.

At a press conference held at the National Press Club last evening, they claimed that the Awami League-baked panel had launched the attack on some of their men and harassed many of them including a woman. l

Aduri, still traumatised, gives a blank look at a fruit basket at DMCH

RAJIB DHAR

Medical board formed as Aduri still critical n Mohammad Jamil Khan The authority of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) formed a seven-member medical board yesterday to ensure proper treatment of 11-year-old girl Aduri, who was recovered in a critical condition by a police official from a dustbin of the capital.

The medical board, led by Prof Dr Nazmul Ahasan, head of medicine department of DMCH, also includes Prof Dr Ehsan Mahmud, Associate Prof Dr Motiur Rahman, Dr Maksudul Haque, Associate Prof Dr Julfiqar, Associate Prof Dr Nojes Khan and Dr Bilkis Akter.

When contacted, Dr Bilkis Akter, the coordinator of One-Stop Crisis Centre of DMCH, told the Dhaka Tribune that the condition of Aduri was quite well but there were burn and injury marks on her body that needed specialised treatment. The girl also could not open her eyes smoothly for injuries on the eye, she said.

Dr Akter further expressed hopes that Aduri would be completely cured after treatment, but added it might take some time as her injuries were severe.

Meanwhile, Benazir Ahmed, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), visited the DMCH yesterday to enquire about Aduri.

During his visit, he thanked DMCH doctors for forming the medical board for Aduri and ordered the woman support and investigation department of DMP to take all necessary steps for Aduri and her family.

Benazir Ahmed told reporters that police had already arrested the main suspect of the case and if needed, the case would be handed over to the speedy trial court

after taking permission from the ministry, so that the culprit gets punished.

The DMP commissioner further said he would try his best to provide exemplary punishment to the torturer and take steps so such incidents never happen in the future.

Earlier last Monday, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Cantonment police station Abdul Mannan rescued Aduri from a dustbin of DOHS Baridhara area, and took her to the DMCH neurosurgery department. Later, woman support and investigation department of DMP arrested Nadi, the employer of Aduri, who is now on a three-day police remand for interrogation. Three other accused people went into hiding after a case was filed with Pallabi police station.

Shamima Begum, deputy commissioner of woman support and investigation department of DMP, told the Dhaka Tribune that they were interrogating Nadi and the investigation of the case was going on. She expressed hopes that the other suspects would be arrested soon after further investigation.

On the other hand, Aduri’s mother Safia Begum claimed that Chunnu Mira, who got Aduri the job as a housemaid, called on her brother Nazrul’s mobile phone and said: “You and your sister did not do a good job by contacting the police. Do not forget that you have to come back to the village and live there.”

She said the family was afraid of Chunnu, who was an influential person in Patuakhali. Safia expressed her concerns about what the family would do if any harm was to come to them after returning home. She said: “I just want to go back home and lead my life with my children happily.” l

Miss Philippines wins Miss World 2013 title n AP, Indonesia

Megan Young expresses her joy after being announced Miss World

AFP

Miss Philippines, Megan Young, was crowned Miss World on Saturday amid tight security on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, where the contest’s final round was moved following protests

by Muslim hardliner groups.

“I promise to be the best Miss World ever,” Young, 23, said after winning the 63rd annual event, as a large number of Filipino fans who travelled with her celebrated by jumping and waving the country’s flag.

Despite threats from the Islamic Defenders Front to disrupt the con-

test, police said no rallies were staged Saturday. The group has demonstrated for weeks, calling for the government to cancel the pageant because members say it shows too much skin and goes against Islamic teachings.

The 127 contestants vying for the crown were introduced Saturday wearing evening gowns shimmering in sequins, many of them with plunging necklines and slits up the leg. Four candidates dropped out earlier, mainly due to illnesses, said Syafril Nasution, one of the local organisers.

Young, who took the crown from Wenxia Yu of China, the 2012 winner,

was born in the United States. When she was 10 she moved to the Philippines, where she has appeared in films and as a television host. Miss France, Marine Lorphelin, 20, took second place, while Miss Ghana, Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter, 22, came in third.

Miss World organisers had earlier agreed to cut bikinis from the swimsuit competition, replacing them with more conservative sarongs. But pressure continued to mount, and more mainstream groups joined in and called for the show to be banned.

Indonesia’s government announced three weeks ago that the final would be

moved from the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta, and instead held on the Hindu-dominated resort island of Bali, where earlier rounds were taking place.

The British, Australian and US embassies issued warnings to citizens planning trips to Bali during the competition, saying there could be largescale protests or even attacks.

Miss World is the latest controversy in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, where most follow a moderate form of the religion. Last year, the Islamic Defenders Front forced Lady Gaga to cancel a sold-out show after branding her a “devil worshipper.” l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed at Romask Limited, 184, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1215. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

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Business

B2 Simplify the proposed seed act

B3 Biman seeks $50m cash injection

www.dhakatribune.com/business

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Robi’s 3.5G goes to Dhaka and Chittagong Grameenphone is set to launch the service today n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The mobile phone operator Robi has launched the third generation service for soft operation simultaneously in Dhaka and Chittagong cities yesterday.

But Robi could not yet launch the service commercially as the regulator didn’t approve it.

Post and Telecommunication Minister Sahara Khatun inaugurated the service at a function held at the Robi’s corporate office in Dhaka.

Robi has become the first private operator in Bangladesh to introduce 3G after the auction held on early this month.

Robi bought 5 MHz airwave in an open auction on September 8 is planning to go into commercial operation in October.

The leading operator Grameenphone is set to bring the 3G service to the customers today at a function in its headquarters GP House in Dhaka.

Sources said Robi and Grameenphone may commercially launch the service in 10 days, however depending on the regulator’s package approvals.

“Although Robi’s 3.5G service is not commercially available to its subscribers until October, the customers may visit the Robi walk-in centres (WIC) in city’s Gulshan and Muradpur in Chittagong to experience the firsthand of the 3.5G network over pre-configured 3G-enabled handsets and tablets,” said Michael Kuehner, Chief Executive Of-

Minister Sahara Khatun launches Robi’s 3.5G by cutting a cake in Dhaka yesterday ficer (CEO) of Robi on the occasion.

Post and Telecommunication secretary Abubakar Siddique, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) acting chairman Giashuddin Ahmed, commissioner Md Abdus Samad and Robi high officials, among others, were present at the Robi’s launching of 3G. Shahara Khatun said the government is

providing all kinds of necessary assistants to the mobile phone operators so they could provide services to the people across the country.

She also said: “3G can create the financial revolution with communication and interment as well if operators offer the 3G service to the people at affordable cost.”

The 3G services of private operators would

BB to strictly monitor CSR funds of banks, FIs n Tribune Business Report Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman yesterday said the central bank has intensified its monitoring to ensure reaching of CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds of banks and financial institutions (FIs) to real beneficiaries.

The BB will also announce an amended policy soon to ensure more effective use of the CSR funds, he said while addressing a stipend distribution ceremony organised by Prime Bank Foun-

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

dation in Dhaka, reports BSS. Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prime Bank Md Nader Khan presided over the function.

Atiur said the direct expenditure of banks and financial institutions for CSR has been increased to Tk3.05bn from Tk550m over the last four years. The central bank also intensified the financial inclusion initiatives to ensure credit flow for the SMEs and agriculture sectors, he added. The governor handed over stipends to a total of 394 poor but meritorious students at the function. Each student will get Tk2,400 monthly as stipend. l

help the government to make the digital Bangladesh campaign successful, she added.

Robi CEO said: “3G services mark the beginning of the next phase of Bangladesh’s telecom growth story and will elevate the telecom sector as par with most advanced telecom markets in the world.”

Robi’s priority is to ensure the customers experience the 3G service rather than having just a speedy execution, Michael Kuehner added.

Robi’s roll-out plan is much shorter than the regulatory roll-out obligations timeframe specified in the 3G license terms.

The company expects to cover at least 40% of its customer base and 60% of its data users by the end of 2013. The coverage is set to grow more than 60% of customer base within the first quarter of 2014.

Giashuddin Ahmed said: “To get the real benefit, the operators need to ensure the quality of the service.”

Robi Chief Technology Officer, AKM Morshed said the 3.5G network will be in limited areas just after the launch to test the network efficacy before the commercial operation.

After the test the expansion will be carried out fast in phases, he said adding that Robi’s priority is “to ensure that the customers’ experience with 3.5G services is in no way compromised.”

At the launching function, some 3G features like video calls, mobile television and video steaming were displayed. l

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Simplify the proposed seed act Stakeholders make the call at a function yesterday n Tribune Report Seeds traders and breeders have urged the government to make the proposed Seed Act 2013 simple to ensure rational participation of both the public and private sectors to increase production through using quality seeds.

The act would cover a range of reforms, such as simplifying registration of seed varieties and seed dealers, upgrading regulations for seed quality and strengthening the seed inspection process.

A draft of the law has already been prepared and would now go through a technical committee for necessary correction.

Stakeholders made the appeal at a workshop titled “Seed sector in Bangladesh: Growth through Regulatory Reform” held in Dhaka yesterday, organised by the seed wing of agriculture ministry in association with Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF).

Seed trades transformed into business

Oil drops on easing tensions over Syria, Iran n AFP, London Global oil prices sank this week on receding tensions over Iran and Syria, while coffee struck another three-year low on the back of plentiful supplies, dealers said.

Sentiment was also hit by the US budget impasse, with lawmakers unable to reach agreement over a budget just days before a deadline kicks in that could see parts of the federal government shut down.

New York crude futures slid as the United States and Russia agreed a draft UN Security Council resolution on destroying Syria’s chemical arms, easing Middle East supply worries. Washington and Moscow agreed a draft UN Security Council resolution Thursday on destroying Syria’s chemical weapons.

The development breaks a prolonged deadlock over the country’s bitter conflict, which has rocked the oil market in recent weeks. Prices were also pushed lower by a thaw in relations between the West and Iran.

A meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart on Thursday has raised hopes of an easing of Western sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme. Such a move would allow the major OPEC producer to export oil more freely.

“Crude oil prices have continued to remain under pressure with the prospect we could well see a third successive negative week for prices as geopolitical concerns continue to diminish,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“The prospect of a UN resolution that is agreed by all, on the subject of Syrian chemical weapons, has calmed fears about a supply pinch.” Oil had surged late last month in anticipation of Western military strikes on Syria, with New York crude striking the highest level since May 2011. l

and to maintain the growth, latest technologies should be introduced while concentrating on innovation, Agriculture Secretary SM Nazmul Islam told the meeting.

He said the main challenge is reducing trend of cropland while the population is increasing fast. “We have to go on vertical expansion through newly developed seeds.”

Anwar Faruque, director of the seed wing, chaired the workshop. He said the new seed act will emphasise on modification of Seed Ordinance-1977.

Opinion and suggestions from the public sector, private sector, experts, students, and researchers will be taken into consideration before enactment of the act, he said.

FH Ansary, executive director of ACI, presented a paper and said the private sector share in rice seed business is now 16% while the hybrid seed is being dominated by the private sector with nearly 90% stake.

The paper appreciated the move of the government to enact the seed act, but sought

more relaxation for the private sector which could contribute to the growth of the sector.

At the open discussion, chief scientific officer of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Dr Md Anser Ali pointed out that if the seed act imposes rule and regulation over small nurseries at household levels, which contributes a lot to the supply chain of seed and plant during natural calamity, it would affect the farmers.

“When seed beds and seedlings are affected by flood, thousands of small scale farmers supply seedlings to other farmers and help keep the production sound. If they have to face registration hassle, it could affect seed supply in the crisis period,” he said.

Kamal Uddin, director general of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI), Rafiqul Islam Mondal, director general of BRRI, BSA President M Anis Ud Doula, BSA Secretary Syed AKM Asadul Amin Dadon and BICF Programme Manager M Masrur Reaz, among others, took part in the discussion. l

Rajshahi high tech park in the offing n Tribune Business Desk Necessary process for setting up of a High tech park in the city is progressing fast that creates high hopes among all quarters concerned particularly the business icons and ICT experts.

A 50-acre site has been selected at Bulanpur area under Rajpara Police Station, where an IT village and agriculture biotechnology park namely “Varendra Silicon City” is going to be established, reports BSS. Mejbah Uddin Chowdhury, Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi, says site selection works has been completed and works of land acquisition are being progressed successfully.

“We will go more one-step forward in this regard when the park authority will get the possession of a 19-acre land from Water Development Board and Department of Public Works within next 15 days,” he added.

People of the city and its adjacent areas will get privileges of using modern technology in different productive fields including agriculture upon successful completion of the initiation works on the vast tract of land.

Besides, new more avenues of employment especially for the ICT people will be created in this venture.

As per the government decision, the park has provision for attracting foreign companies to set up operations in the country alongside developing indigenous techno-

logical capability for the development of the local industries. In true sense, the park intends to create conducive atmosphere for establishing ICT, engineering, electronics, telecommunication, biotechnology and other related knowledge based industry.

Besides, providing necessary administrative support service to the potential entrepreneurs interested in investing at the HiTech park that will ensure electricity, water, sewerage, gas, telephone, internet and other utility services.

The DC added that the hi-tech park will be established with a view to achieving a set of specific mission and vision of establishing a world class business environment for targeted high growth industrial sector and new business.

In addition to develop indigenous technological capability for the development of the local industries the park will help entering into foreign markets by exporting state of the art technology products. The developed infrastructure will facilitate hassle-free industrial operation with necessary support.

Abu Bakker Ali, President of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “We want to see immediate implementation of the proposed hi-tech park”.

He says there is no alternative to promotion of modern technologies in the industrial and agricultural sectors for making those more valued added. l

SIBL holds 296th board meeting

n Tribune Business Desk

Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) held 296th board meeting at its corporate office in Dhaka yesterday.

The bank’s chairman of board of directors Major (Retd) Dr Md Rezaul Haque presided over the meeting, said a press release.

Among others, the directors, managing director and senior executives were also present. l

Dhaka Regency takes part in PATA 2013

n Tribune Business Desk

Dhaka Regency participated in the Pacific Asia Travel Association Travel Mart 2013 (PATA) for the 4th time in Chengdu, China.

PATA Travel Mart was held on September 15-17, said a press release.

More than 1,000 sellers and buyers from nearly 60 countries and regions around the world participated in this year’s travel mart.

During the fair, the representatives of Dhaka Regency met with the CEO of PATA Martin Craig and different chairs of PATA chapters.

The representatives of Dhaka Regency included vice chairman Kabir Reza, executive director and chairman of PATA Bangladesh chapter Shahid Hamid FIH and head of sales and marketing Anwar Hossain MIH. l

Western Union, Bank Asia sign money transfer deal

n Tribune Business Desk

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) and Bank Asia Ltd (BAL) of Bangladesh recently signed an agreement to launch a new direct-to-bank service.

The service will enable the Bangladeshis working and residing overseas to direct a Western Union® Money TransferSM transaction into all personal bank accounts in Bangladesh, said a press release Under the agreement, the service to be launched will be available through the Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer Network (BEFTN) maintained by the Bangladesh Bank.

Money will be credited to the designated bank account within 48 banking hours. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Biman seeks $50m cash injection n Asif Showkat Kallol Biman Bangladesh Airlines needs an urgent cash injection of $50m to meet an immediate financial crisis.

In an official letter, the Biman’s managing director Kevin J Steele sought this financial support from the finance division of the government, said official sources.

Finance Secretary Fazle Kabir received the letter on Monday.

According to the letter, the state-owned airline had a debt of $175m as of August 15.

It said the debt will rise to $220m by 2014-15.

Biman is planning to purchase one GE engine for B777-300ER at $36m by this time.

The Biman authorities said if the immediate cash injection is not made, the outgoing flight costs will need to be significantly cut by $100m.

Besides, the bills to the Padma Oil and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) could also not be paid in October and the payment for B777-300ER engine would not be possible to be made, the authorities said.

“We need to reduce outgoings. Retiring the fuel-hungry DC 10 in favour of much more fuel efficient B777-300ERs will help but more needs to be done. The next highest cost after fuel is aircraft financing,” Kevin J Steele said in the letter.

Biman needs $53.5m for pre-delivery payment which is due in December this year for the purchase of two new aircrafts of B737-

An aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport DHAKA TRIBUNE 800. If the payment is not made in time, a fine of $7m will be enforced.

At a press conference last month, the MD and CEO of Bangladesh Biman Kevin J Steele informed that the airlines had reduced its losses by $50m in last fiscal year.

“Biman lost around $75m in 2011-12 whilst the results for 2012-13 show this has improved considerably to around $25m.”

He however to told the press conference that both the figures were provisional,

un-audited and not approved by the Biman board and the government.

Kevin expressed hope that in the current fiscal they will be able to bring down the losses to $10m and will start making profit by the next fiscal year.

He said despite the fact that Biman’s passenger carrying capacity has been reduced by around 30% this year than that of last year causing fall of revenue, its costs have also come down. l

Alpha Hunters competition ends

Stocks flat for 3 weeks in a row

n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

The Gala Round of Alpha Hunters case competition concluded yesterday with a focus on promoting knowledge among university students about the capital market.

LankaBangla Securities Ltd, a broker, took the initiative for the first time in the country. The competition was held at the Faculty of Business Studies Auditorium of Dhaka University. A total of 15 universities took part in the competition involving students who presented investment decisions based on company valuation.

Fariba Fowzia and Farhana Hoque from the Department of Finance, University of Dhaka, stood first in the competition. TM Nafio Nabi and Kazi Raquib-Ul Huq from North South University became first runner up, and Md Fuhad Hasan and Mufti Mejbaur Rahman from United International University became second runner up.

The panel of judges was comprised of renowned academician Vice Chairperson of BD Venture Ltd Mahmood Osman Imam, economist Mamun Rashid and chief executive of VIPB Asset Management Shahidul Islam.

Chief Executive Officer of LankaBangla Securities Limited Wali Ul Islam and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mohammad Khairul Anam Chowdhury were present at the function.

A 3-member panel selected the winners.

The panel comprised Professor Dr Mahmood Osman Imam, former CEO of Citibank NA, Mamun Rashid, market analyst and Shahidul Islam, VIPB Asset Management Ltd CEO. l

Stocks remained flat for three weeks in a row, hit by the renewed political uncertainty.

During the week that ended Thursday, the benchmark DSEX dropped 84 points or 2% to 4,013. The DS30 Index comprising blue chips lost 48 points or 3% to 1,464.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Category Index fell 144 points or 2% to close at 7,838.

Trading activities continued to decline with the daily average turnover value coming down to Tk4bn, a fall of more than 29% over the previous week and lowest in three weeks.

“The market opened in negative zone in most of the trading sessions, following weeklong sell-off amid the dispute airing around the coming election among the political parties,” said the Lanka Bangla Securities in its weekly market commentary.

Some buying pressure had been initiated that spurred a short-term rally in small and mid-cap stocks, but its full flavour could not sustain till the end of the week on shaky market confidence and regulatory interruptions in trading of few stocks, it said.

Large cap stocks were not in the hot list of investors in the week and got corrected with the broad index, it said. But low-cap companies rallied unusually, brining those stocks under fire of the securities regulator.

Potential political unrest and uncertainty in banking and RMG sectors worked as negative catalysts in market sentiment, according

to Lanka Bangla.

Turnover of this week reached the seven-week low, indicating this short-term downtrend may run out of stream soon.

IDLC Investments in its weekly market analysis said political uncertainty, unrest in RMG sector and investors’ mentality mostly contributed to generating quick return ahead of Eid-ul-Azha in this week’s market sentiment.

Investors’ pursuance of meticulous polity over dimmed capital market scenario put market situation in an indecisive mood, it said.

Additionally, the investors sector-wise as well as scrip-wise focus intended market scenario to remain volatile throughout the week.

Losers took a marginal lead over the gainers as out of 298 issues traded during the week, 170 declined, 115 advanced and 13 remained unchanged on the DSE. All the major sectors ended in red in the week. Financial institutions were the biggest loser as it was down 6%, followed by telecommunications nearly 4%, fuel and power, and pharmaceuticals more than 3% each. All three posted hefty losses during the week.

Banks continued to remain under pressure with losing 0.7%.

CMC Kamal was the week’s top turnover leader with shares worth Tk714m changing hands, followed by Bangladesh Submarine Cable and Company Ltd, Tallu Spinning, Generation Next Fashion and United Airways. l

3

Dollar slumps as US budget deadline looms

n AFP, New York

The dollar weakened against other major currencies Friday amid rising concerns that the US budget impasse could shut down the federal government in four days.

The euro bought $1.3519 around 2100 GMT, up from $1.3485 late Thursday.

The dollar fell to 98.24 yen from 99.00 yen, while the euro also dropped against the Japanese currency, to 132.88 yen from 133.51 yen.

Forex, equities and oil markets retreated in the face of a possible US government shutdown if Congress fails to pass a budget bill for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins Tuesday.

Republicans oppose backing an operating plan for the government unless President Barack Obama agrees to delay or defund his signature health-care reform law, a step the president has flatly refused to take.

“As this deadline approaches investors are stepping up their sale of dollars on the growing concern that a government shutdown will undermine the quality of US assets and lead to a retrenchment in US growth,” said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

“We are still hoping for an 11th hour deal but the prospects are growing dimmer by the hour as Congress holds the US economy and the US dollar hostage,” she said.

David Rodriguez of DailyFX said that low forex market volatility and relative indecision suggested that traders would wait until next Friday’s US September jobs report to force the next big dollar move.

“The euro gained on generally firm economic data, while the pound was boosted by comments from the Bank of England governor, who said he did not see a case for further quantitative easing,” said Nick Bennenbroek of Wells Fargo Securities. l

Haiti allocates land for Yunus Social Business projects

n Tribune Business Desk

The Haitian government has allocated about 10,000 hectares of land in that county for Yunus Social Business for its reforesting projects.

An agreement in this regard between Nobel Laureate Prof Mohamad Yunus and Haitian Agriculture Minister was signed on the sidelines of the 9th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meet at New York, which ended on September 26 (NY time), said a Yunus Centre media release yesterday.

Through his Global Initiatives arm Yunus Social Business, Prof Yunus has launched eight social business projects in Haiti, reports UNB. Ten more are in the pipeline waiting to complete the final preparations for launching.

Besides, Haiti Social Business Fund, of which Yunus is a founder, signed an agreement with Deutsche Bank to receive a loan of one million dollar.

Earlier, Dr Yunus addressed a special session on Haiti at the CGI. Prof Yunus was also honoured by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to poverty alleviation in Albania and Kosovo. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Boost your self-motivation n Rushdina Khan We often hear ourselves say: “My friend’s salary is almost twice as much as mine.” Did we ever think what this line of thought is doing to our commitment to our job? It CAREER will inevitably puncture the ASCENT enthusiasm required to perform daily duties in the job, damage the drive towards taking initiatives, and worst of all, replace our creativity with the continuous complex of being paid less than our friend working for another company.

No matter what the job or the company is, every individual must have an objective to take it up. When we plan our career, this particular job holds a significant position in the plan; while it’s a good way to get handson knowledge and exposure and add to our résumé, for other people, it may be the ultimate job. Despite having our goal in mind and the benefits that the job is adding we often get carried away by our surroundings.

Our interests, directions and obsessions change by what we see other people doing and getting.

Getting distracted from our goal is human nature. Aligning our career decisions to our life’s objectives should therefore be an on-going process and part of our regular action. Let us see how we can keep our motivation up to achieve our professional goals as planned: Make a clear plan: Make a clear plan incorporating your goals stating “why” and “when”. Every long-term goal must be broken into short-term goals and smaller tasks stating why you need to achieve them and by when.

Ignore negativity: People who keep on reminding you of jobs better than yours will always be around. Such people may exist among your friends and family or in your office itself.

The best way to handle such people is to realise that they do not understand your interests, priorities, goals or choices in life. This realisation will help you ignore their remarks. The same realisation will help you ignore negativity coming from other media such as, newspapers, television programmes etc.

Find a yardstick for success: Compare your efforts and achievements with someone currently more successful than you that you can look up to. This will help you set a higher target and work harder to achieve it.

Think positive: It could be a short and positive thought to align your mind and action towards your life’s goal. Think about it again and again. Such positive thinking results in

good outcomes in your life. Remember, such thoughts have to be positive in all respect.

For example, you should be thinking: “I am going to succeed in this project.” The thought must never be, “I’m not going to fail.” Thinking of a negative word such as “fail” may bring such outcomes in your life.

Visualise what you want: If you can see what you want in life using your mind’s eyes, you have a direct stimulation towards achieving it. Always visualise what end result you want.

Live a healthy life: Eating a healthy diet, working out regularly and sleeping well removes harmful toxins from your body and helps you focus on your goals.

It is you, and only you, who can bring your motivation up. External motivations set by your employers can only stimulate you so that you can initiate them. Goals will go in vain when there is no personal drive. l

Multitasking is not the same as juggling! n Ahsan Sajid Multitasking is not right for everyone, and it is not right for every task. It is counterproductive for certain people as it actually slows them down further while the qualYOUR CUP ity of each separate task is OF TEA lowered as well. There are certain tasks which require one’s full attention; there are tasks which do not complement one another simultaneously; there are tasks to be prioritised based on importance, time sensitivity, consequences of failure etc.

In today’s world we are all more or less used to juggling a number of things: work, classes, freelance work, family, meetings all the way in the other side of town. But juggling is not the same as multitasking. Following is a list of suggestions to help you multitask at work effectively.

Set goals: Before starting out on a busy day, set yourself specific and measurable goals. Know what you need to finish by day’s end, instead of going in gung ho with a plan to get as much as possible done and no clearly defined schedule.

Alternate projects: Alternate between projects instead of spreading yourself thin over a number of tasks simultaneously; figure out if you can fix yourself a routine, working 20 minutes on one task, 20 minutes on another before coming back to it. This way, two separate tasks will progress steadily.

signing or stamping documents, sealing envelopes etc.

Pair with interruptible tasks: Writing an email, getting on top of all your banking/ VISA/driving license paperwork, organising your desk, cleaning up your documents are all interruptible tasks. Always pair with a task such as this that can be easily paused and resumed.

Trim the fat: The point of multitasking is to make the best use of your time. Before starting out on a list of insurmountable tasks, make sure they all belong there and you haven’t piled on things that don’t need to be addressed right away. The amount you are getting done is not an indication of how efficient you are being.

Choose complementary tasks: Listening to a colleague and reading an email require similar kind of focus; for both tasks your brain is using verbal processing, which means you won’t be paying enough attention to either.

Pair listening or reading with something physical like cleaning your workstation,

Schedule full-focus time-brackets: Preparing for a big client pitch, or a presentation in front of the entire office, or making a monthly status report for your supervisor are tasks that require attention. Make sure you make time in your schedule for tasks you will give your full attention to, and do not multitask at this time. l

International business travel: Pack your manners In the highly globalised world that we live in, the need to embrace international standards of conduct is essential for everyone.

Travelling CORPORATE abroad is a part of routine HANDBOOK work for most professionals today and so is the need to interact with people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds.

Each country has its distinct culture and different ways of doing things. The same gesture in one culture might mean something totally different in another. For instance, if you nod your head up and down in Bulgaria, it means “No” whereas it implies just the opposite in most cultures around the world.

Imagine the consequences you’d be facing for relying exclusively on sign language in such a country.

To communicate effectively in a foreign land, there are no smart alternatives to researching about the cultural background of the country you are visiting and adapting to their norms of behaviour.

It does not, however, mean that you have to camouflage yourself into one of them by forgetting your own cultural values; the idea is to appear respectful and aware about their business culture and practices so as to make them feel that you are well-prepared for them. This gives a stellar first impression of you to the foreign parties you are doing business with.

Before going abroad for a business meeting you might want to do some research focusing on:

Language barrier

Knowing the language of the relevant country is an excellent way to impress the people you are doing business with. But trying to fake your fluency while you barely know the language will act against your image. Equip yourself with a dictionary that will help you deal with strangers speaking an unknown language.

Time zones

Be aware of the differing time zones, working days and holidays across the globe. Also schedule your meetings, phone calls, deadlines suiting the appropriate time of the country you are visiting. You do not want your phone call to wake someone up at an awkward time of the day or set a deadline on a national holiday.

One very important thing is to be aware of the way people from different cultures perceive time. Unlike most western countries, Asians adopt a polychronic approach to schedule meetings which means we are much less precise about punctuality than the monochronic Westerners. While being late in meetings is part of our culture, it is strictly not the case for America.

Meal

Meals are crucial in making positive mannerisms. Reading about the dining etiquettes and common mistakes in dining of the country beforehand will definitely help you relax and make your experience more enjoyable. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

Unilever BizMaestros: End of Round 1 n Tasnuva Amin Nova The fourth season of “Unilever BizMaestros,” the marketing-based competition, organised by Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) started on September 17.

The competition is open for final year business and technical students and over the years has become increasingly prestigious and competitive amongst university students.

This year Unilever visited 10 campuses for BizMaestros to identify the brightest young marketers.

Round 1, the intra-university part of the competition ended on September 26. In the first round, teams competed with other teams from their respective universities. Unilever interacted with more than 1,000 students through the on-campus activation of the first phase of BizMaestros.

Each university was given a different case study.

Students had to apply their skills to come up with a marketing solution most suited to the given case

within a specified time period. In the final rounds in the upcoming weeks, the winning team from each university will compete against other universities for the prestigious title. The second round of ‘BizMaestros’ will commence from October 2.

During the campus visits, Unilever gave students a flavour of the organisation and alumni from the respective universities currently working in Unilever shared insights about career development opportunities in Unilever.

Interaction with the audience was stimulated through interesting quiz sessions. Students were also encouraged to apply for the management trainee programme titled “Unilever Future Leaders Programme”. Students interested in the programme can apply through www.unilever.com.bd/careers. l To know more and stay updated about ‘BizMaestros’ and UBL’s campus activities, please visit www.facebook.com/unileverbangladeshinyourcampus

SuddenThinker: I have been seeing two types of incentive packages given by my company: one, a promotion and small salary increment and the other, no promotion but a big salary increment. Is this a standard HR practice or just a ASK MENTOR trick to keep employees hooked up in the company? Does this happen only in Bangladesh?

Mentor: Each company has their own HR policies. I cannot say these are universal practices. This is a very tricky situation. You have to find out if this happens to everyone. How small is small?

Usually companies balance it out, promotions and a substantial increment is usually acceptable, however if you still earn less than your junior, then you have serious problems. Call HR now!

Stuck: What are the sign that my current job is making my career development stagnant? At the moment, I have been in my present company for two years with one promotion with a minor increment.

Mentor: Well you got a promotion, but has that increased your portfolio in the work place? Usually promotions come with wider responsibilities hence enhancing your portfolio. If that hasn’t happened, maybe things are stagnant for you.

Email us at career@dhakatribune.com for your opinions, feedback and career-related queries.

My First Job Capitalising on your first job Tell us a little about your education background?

I have passed my Bachelor of Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. I majored in Finance with a minor in Economics.

Prior to that, I completed both my A-levels and O-levels from Maple Leaf International School.

What was your first job after graduation?

Right after graduation, I joined Standard Chartered Bank, in the Origination and Client Coverage (OCC) department. I took the position of an Assistant Relationship Manager, looking after the local corporate portfolio. My responsibility was to build and maintain new and existing relationship with local companies, analyse their financial structure and credit worthiness and propose applicable loan products for them.

How did you get the job?

I had proactively dropped my CV in the HR department of the bank prior to my fourth year final exams.

A month later I received a call from the HR department asking me to appear for an interview. After the initial screening interview, I was asked to appear several times to face interviews with people from different departments.

In the mean time, I had to take an online aptitude test. One day I received a call from HR, congratulating me on my first job. I remember my finals ended in December and I spent January through interview sessions and I started the month of February working from my new desk at SCB.

Students during campus activation of Round 1, BizMaestros

Follow this career expert on Twitter to stay on the edge of your career Steven Rothberg @StevenRothberg Steven Rothberg started his first small business in 1988 as a college senior, sold it to friends when he went to graduate school, and then started his second business in 1991. That second business later morphed into CollegeRecruiter.com, the highest traffic job board targeted to college students who are searching for internships and recent graduates who are searching for entry-level jobs and other career opportunities. Clients of CollegeRecruiter.com are primarily recruiters, hiring managers, and other human resource professionals who pay to advertise their organisation’s job openings through the posting of job advertisements, targeted email campaigns, cell phone text messaging campaigns, banner ads, and other such tools. Steven has been widely quoted by local, regional, national and international media.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

What was your biggest accomplishment in that position?

During my one-year stay in SCB, apart from my regular responsibilities, what I remember most is when I had signed “Bay Developments Ltd” as a client for my team. The total process of client search, establishing the first link, persuading how the bank can benefit the company were all new and interesting activities. At a very early stage of my career, I had successfully attained a client for the bank. This was one learning experience on which I could further capitalise and bring to the table at my next workplace.

Looking back, what is the most valuable lesson you picked up from your first job?

It taught me the discipline of hard work, the ability of multitasking smoothly and the ability to cope with stress. I can remain calm in stressful situations and analyse different circumstances. I would advice first jobbers to gain the skill of

Nafia Hussain, a Business Consultant in one of Swisscontact’s development projects talks to Dhaka Tribune this week about her first job keeping a cool head. This is a very important skill to have for career growth.

Did your first job change your mind about what you want to do with the rest of your career?

When I was spending a good portion of my day analysing financial statements and then preparing loan proposals, the analytical tools and techniques aroused a deeper interest in me. I realised I did not want to bound my arena of analysis to financial statements only; I wanted to take it to a broader level. Currently I am working as a Business Consultant in a development project of Swisscontact. Here, I have used my interest in analysis to understand various agricultural process flows, business incentive of private sector, behavioural aspects of people and much more. The analysis part of my first job made me realise I should dig deeper into analysis and in a wider scale.

Who inspired you the most in your first job?

My work in SCB involved work with multiple teams within SCB, and everyone had something to offer for a newcomer. However, I want to particularly mention Syed Shahed Imam and Shibu Prasad Samadder. These revered ex-colleagues of mine taught me the tools of the trade and mentored me during my tenure at SCB. Their dedication to their work, their perseverance, and their successful journey in their careers inspire me even today. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

DSE Broad Index: 4013.38 ⇓ 2.06%, Turnover: 20321.07 M.Tk ⇓ 29.47%, PE: 12.61 Turnover: 22,064.01 MTk. ⇓ 29.39% September 26, 2013 MarketCap. 1,954.72 BTk. ⇓ 2.40% CSE All Share Index: 12412 ⇓ 1.79%, Turnover: 1743.78 M Tk. ⇓ 28.49%, PE: 12.35 Combined Turnover Leader CMC Kamal Tex. -A

23755162 2622180

663.34

13548138

610.45

UNITED AIR-A

BANK ABBANK | 2.95 | 32.60 | Vol. 1168611 D: 23.00 ⇓ 1.29% | 23.12 | 25.00 / 20.70 C: 23.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 23.03 | 24.20 / 21.00 CITYBANK | 1.15 | 25.97 | Vol. 2250284 D: 15.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 15.61 | 16.20 / 13.90 C: 15.80 ⇑ 1.28% | 15.75 | 15.90 / 15.00 IFIC | 1.10 | 18.34 | Vol. 1075755 D: 19.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 20.07 | 20.40 / 17.70 C: 19.40 ⇓ 2.51% | 19.63 | 20.20 / 19.20 ISLAMIBANK | 3.78 | 27.16 | Vol. 2707594 D: 35.70 ⇓ 1.38% | 35.81 | 37.00 / 32.60 C: 35.90 ⇓ 0.28% | 35.81 | 36.80 / 35.00 NBL | 1.05 | 15.76 | Vol. 6613197 D: 10.60 ⇓ 2.75% | 10.69 | 11.60 / 9.50 C: 10.70 ⇓ 1.83% | 10.75 | 11.00 / 10.50 PUBALIBANK | 1.92 | 21.18 | Vol. 1241479 D: 30.90 ⇓ 1.59% | 31.10 | 32.00 / 27.90 C: 31.30 ⇑ 2.29% | 31.21 | 31.50 / 29.60 RUPALIBANK | 6.70 | 64.27 | Vol. 42523 D: 59.90 ⇑ 2.04% | 59.85 | 61.00 / 55.00 C: 59.90 ⇓ 3.23% | 59.92 | 60.00 / 57.20 UCBL | 1.90 | 21.72 | Vol. 4587544 D: 17.10 ⇓ 2.29% | 17.26 | 18.10 / 15.30 C: 17.10 ⇓ 1.16% | 17.20 | 17.50 / 15.50 UTTARABANK | 3.42 | 26.97 | Vol. 1044374 D: 25.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 25.38 | 26.40 / 22.50 C: 25.10 ⇓ 1.18% | 25.14 | 25.60 / 24.00 ICBIBANK | -1.60 | -13.03 | Vol. 503200 D: 5.80 ⇓ 1.69% | 5.82 | 6.00 / 5.40 EBL | 3.91 | 28.22 | Vol. 628708 D: 26.80 ⇑ 3.08% | 26.82 | 27.00 / 23.50 C: 26.30 ⇑ 2.33% | 26.43 | 27.00 / 24.50 ALARABANK | 2.03 | 14.91 | Vol. 951389 D: 14.00 ⇑ 0.72% | 13.99 | 15.10 / 12.50 C: 14.00 ⇓ 0.71% | 13.98 | 14.20 / 13.00 PRIMEBANK | 2.89 | 22.40 | Vol. 1932524 D: 17.20 ⇓ 1.71% | 17.40 | 18.80 / 15.50 C: 17.70 ⇑ 1.72% | 17.50 | 18.00 / 15.50 SOUTHEASTB | 1.89 | 22.66 | Vol. 3136469 D: 14.90 ⇓ 1.32% | 14.88 | 16.00 / 13.50 C: 14.90 ⇓ 0.67% | 14.91 | 15.50 / 14.60 DHAKABANK | 1.46 | 18.08 | Vol. 1306223 D: 17.40 ⇓ 1.14% | 17.68 | 18.30 / 15.90 C: 17.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 17.07 | 17.90 / 16.00 NCCBANK | 1.90 | 15.88 | Vol. 1781178 D: 11.10 ⇓ 2.63% | 11.10 | 12.00 / 9.90 C: 11.10 ⇓ 3.48% | 11.10 | 11.50 / 10.00 SIBL | 2.05 | 14.47 | Vol. 1844985 D: 11.40 ⇑ 1.79% | 11.43 | 12.00 / 10.00 C: 11.40 ⇑ 1.79% | 11.35 | 12.00 / 10.00 DUTCHBANGL | 11.57 | 54.27 | Vol. 123810 D: 91.40 ⇓ 1.40% | 90.93 | 94.50 / 85.00 C: 87.10 ⇑ 0.11% | 87.10 | 88.10 / 87.10 MTBL | 1.17 | 17.27 | Vol. 226032 D: 14.30 ⇓ 2.72% | 14.38 | 14.70 / 12.90 C: 14.50 ⇓ 3.33% | 14.34 | 14.60 / 14.30 STANDBANKL | 2.33 | 14.41 | Vol. 1876627 D: 12.80 ⇑ 0.79% | 12.99 | 13.60 / 11.30 C: 12.80 ⇑ 0.79% | 12.84 | 13.00 / 12.30 ONEBANKLTD | 2.35 | 15.34 | Vol. 2847816 D: 14.40 ⇑ 1.41% | 14.52 | 15.30 / 12.80 C: 14.40 ⇑ 1.41% | 14.45 | 14.70 / 13.50 BANKASIA | 1.35 | 20.80 | Vol. 706503 D: 19.40 ⇑ 0.52% | 19.45 | 19.60 / 17.20 C: 18.50 ⇓ 2.63% | 18.48 | 19.00 / 17.80 MERCANBANK | 2.07 | 16.59 | Vol. 1323541 D: 11.30 ⇓ 2.59% | 11.34 | 12.00 / 10.00 C: 11.20 ⇓ 3.45% | 11.16 | 11.60 / 10.10 EXIMBANK | 1.80 | 14.31 | Vol. 3416854 D: 10.70 ⇓ 1.83% | 10.76 | 11.70 / 9.70 C: 10.80 ⇓ 1.82% | 10.85 | 11.50 / 9.90 JAMUNABANK | 2.47 | 18.56 | Vol. 450760 D: 13.60 ⇑ 1.49% | 13.53 | 14.50 / 12.00 C: 13.30 ⇑ 1.53% | 13.36 | 13.50 / 12.50 BRACBANK | 1.51 | 24.87 | Vol. 1211667 D: 28.30 ⇑ 1.80% | 28.74 | 29.20 / 25.00 C: 28.30 ⇑ 3.28% | 28.38 | 28.90 / 24.20 SHAHJABANK | 2.61 | 14.47 | Vol. 1045639 D: 13.90 ⇑ 1.46% | 13.91 | 15.00 / 12.40 C: 14.00 ⇑ 2.94% | 13.92 | 14.10 / 13.40 PREMIERBAN | 1.18 | 13.95 | Vol. 1455739 D: 9.20 ⇓ 3.16% | 9.26 | 10.00 / 8.20 C: 9.30 ⇓ 2.11% | 9.36 | 9.80 / 8.50

TO M. Tk.

BD Submarine Cable-A Tallu Spinning -A Generation Next Fashions-A

CompanyCode | EPS | BV | Volume Traded (Share) DSE/CSE: ClosePrice ⇓/⇑ Chn % | Avg.Price | Hi / Lo

Vol.

22576200 26813552

825.60

537.79 496.92

% of TTL 3.74 3.01

Avg. P 34.75 252.97

2.77

45.06

2.44

23.82

2.25

TRUSTBANK | 0.50 | 18.00 | Vol. 346925 D: 16.80 ⇑ 1.20% | 16.84 | 17.30 / 14.80 C: 16.50 ⇓ 3.51% | 16.46 | 16.60 / 16.10 FIRSTSBANK | 1.85 | 13.89 | Vol. 834410 D: 11.20 ⇓ 0.88% | 11.22 | 12.00 / 10.00 C: 11.30 ⇑ 0.89% | 11.23 | 11.40 / 11.00 NON BANKING F I IDLC | 4.43 | 29.18 | Vol. 539674 D: 57.70 ⇓ 5.10% | 57.98 | 61.00 / 54.00 C: 58.00 ⇓ 5.07% | 58.21 | 60.90 / 58.00 ULC | 1.80 | 14.90 | Vol. 511130 D: 26.30 ⇓ 3.66% | 26.39 | 28.00 / 24.00 UTTARAFIN | 7.16 | 41.54 | Vol. 314790 D: 74.60 ⇓ 2.74% | 74.30 | 82.00 / 66.60 C: 74.40 ⇓ 3.38% | 74.37 | 78.00 / 68.00 MIDASFIN | 0.16 | 10.21 | Vol. 81623 D: 30.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 29.73 | 32.80 / 28.00 FLEASEINT | 2.34 | 13.93 | Vol. 1539590 D: 24.70 ⇓ 3.14% | 24.77 | 28.00 / 22.00 C: 24.40 ⇓ 4.69% | 24.35 | 25.80 / 23.00 PLFSL | 1.37 | 17.48 | Vol. 2372863 D: 22.70 ⇓ 4.22% | 22.78 | 24.00 / 20.30 C: 22.60 ⇓ 4.64% | 22.64 | 24.20 / 21.00 PRIMEFIN | 0.87 | 17.88 | Vol. 950492 D: 23.70 ⇓ 3.27% | 23.84 | 25.00 / 21.60 C: 23.70 ⇓ 4.44% | 23.92 | 24.70 / 23.70 PREMIERLEA | 0.10 | 11.37 | Vol. 1178230 D: 10.30 ⇓ 6.36% | 10.37 | 11.00 / 9.50 C: 10.20 ⇓ 8.11% | 10.30 | 11.00 / 10.20 ISLAMICFIN | 1.03 | 15.48 | Vol. 2673694 D: 16.30 ⇑ 1.24% | 16.29 | 17.00 / 14.20 C: 16.00 ⇓ 1.84% | 16.04 | 17.20 / 15.40 LANKABAFIN | 1.61 | 31.07 | Vol. 3198793 D: 57.50 ⇓ 6.20% | 57.76 | 61.00 / 51.70 C: 58.00 ⇓ 6.45% | 57.62 | 61.00 / 55.40 BIFC | 0.15 | 18.58 | Vol. 974788 D: 16.30 ⇓ 2.98% | 16.30 | 18.30 / 14.70 C: 16.20 ⇓ 5.81% | 16.08 | 18.90 / 16.00 IPDC | 1.23 | 19.43 | Vol. 1558298 D: 19.40 ⇑ 3.19% | 19.44 | 21.00 / 18.10 C: 19.20 ⇑ 3.23% | 19.20 | 20.70 / 18.40 UNIONCAP | 0.54 | 17.85 | Vol. 335444 D: 29.20 ⇑ 2.46% | 29.26 | 29.50 / 25.70 C: 28.60 ⇑ 2.88% | 28.60 | 28.70 / 27.80 BDFINANCE | 0.57 | 14.77 | Vol. 915646 D: 19.20 ⇓ 3.52% | 19.25 | 20.90 / 17.50 C: 19.00 ⇓ 3.55% | 19.02 | 20.60 / 18.00 ILFSL | 0.35 | 12.19 | Vol. 3490376 D: 14.60 ⇓ 2.01% | 14.69 | 16.00 / 13.50 C: 14.60 ⇓ 2.67% | 14.62 | 16.00 / 14.20 PHOENIXFIN | 2.46 | 19.39 | Vol. 832256 D: 29.30 ⇓ 2.66% | 29.42 | 30.60 / 27.00 C: 29.70 ⇓ 1.33% | 29.78 | 30.00 / 28.00 FASFIN | 0.19 | 13.56 | Vol. 24575125 D: 14.70 ⇓ 2.65% | 14.91 | 15.90 / 14.00 C: 14.80 ⇓ 1.33% | 14.84 | 16.00 / 14.30 DBH | 4.47 | 21.27 | Vol. 533714 D: 61.30 ⇑ 0.33% | 61.44 | 64.50 / 57.00 C: 60.80 ⇓ 3.03% | 61.31 | 63.90 / 60.60 NHFIL | 0.57 | 12.70 | Vol. 1991182 D: 30.50 ⇑ 0.99% | 31.11 | 32.00 / 27.00 C: 30.20 ⇓ 1.31% | 30.72 | 31.80 / 28.50 BAYLEASING | 0.72 | 25.55 | Vol. 552266 D: 27.30 ⇓ 2.50% | 27.23 | 28.40 / 24.50 C: 27.30 ⇓ 2.85% | 27.31 | 29.90 / 27.00 ICB | 109.65 | 769.98 | Vol. 24530 D: 1900 ⇓ 8.37% | 1910 | 2115 / 1890 C: 1881 ⇓ 10.11% | 1881 | 2125 / 1875 GSPFINANCE | 1.63 | 22.23 | Vol. 505374 D: 25.00 ⇓ 2.72% | 24.98 | 26.30 / 22.50 C: 25.00 ⇓ 4.58% | 24.86 | 25.90 / 22.50 FAREASTFIN | 0.68 | 13.64 | Vol. 8353000 D: 16.10 ⇓ 14.36% | 16.04 | 19.20 / 15.70 C: 16.10 ⇓ 15.26% | 16.07 | 19.20 / 15.90 INVESTMENT 1STICB | 75.63 | 942.30 | Vol. 350 D: 860.0 ⇑ 4.75% | 860.00 | 865.0 / 821.0 2NDICB | 44.10 | 253.11 | Vol. 1200 D: 259.8 ⇓ 2.33% | 260.00 | 273.0 / 257.0 3RDICB | 26.16 | 235.16 | Vol. 1950 D: 188.0 ⇑ 6.88% | 188.89 | 189.0 / 168.2 4THICB | 29.24 | 229.24 | Vol. 8100 D: 171.8 ⇑ 1.18% | 171.82 | 172.0 / 165.0 5THICB | 23.45 | 188.92 | Vol. 2100 D: 155.5 ⇓ 7.82% | 155.00 | 170.0 / 155.0 6THICB | 10.99 | 60.14 | Vol. 60300 D: 47.00 ⇑ 1.95% | 47.19 | 47.90 / 45.50

18.53

DSE Loser

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C%

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CP

Northern Jute-Z

59.49

59.49

31.10

Rahima Food -A

50.16

36.05

46.70

Hakkani P& Paper-B

26.71

27.64

40.80

Peoples Insur-A

23.79

23.66

33.30

In Tech Online-A

23.56

15.10

21.50

7THICB | 13.53 | 98.60 | Vol. 2000 D: 71.70 ⇓ 9.24% | 72.00 | 75.00 / 68.50 8THICB | 12.47 | 70.07 | Vol. 82500 D: 51.00 ⇑ 1.80% | 50.78 | 54.00 / 49.70 1STBSRS | 14.43 | 161.88 | Vol. 401500 D: 94.50 ⇑ 2.72% | 94.06 | 109.6 / 90.70 C: 95.00 ⇑ 0.11% | 95.00 | 99.50 / 86.60 AIMS1STMF | 3.02 | 15.70 | Vol. 1653575 D: 38.80 ⇓ 3.96% | 38.87 | 41.60 / 38.30 C: 38.90 ⇓ 3.23% | 38.60 | 40.50 / 38.00 ICBAMCL1ST | 7.14 | 48.54 | Vol. 1755500 D: 24.60 ⇓ 26.35% | 24.54 | 35.50 / 24.10 C: 26.80 ⇓ 18.29% | 26.80 | 33.50 / 26.80 ICBISLAMIC | 2.21 | 26.81 | Vol. 205500 D: 17.20 ⇓ 1.71% | 17.24 | 17.90 / 16.70 GRAMEEN1 | 6.26 | 33.23 | Vol. 1557250 D: 45.10 ⇓ 2.38% | 44.69 | 49.90 / 43.70 C: 45.70 ⇑ 0.44% | 44.60 | 45.90 / 43.50 ICB1STNRB | 4.06 | 35.31 | Vol. 70000 D: 23.00 ⇓ 2.13% | 23.07 | 25.00 / 23.00 C: 26.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 26.00 | 26.00 / 26.00 ICB2NDNRB | 2.49 | 16.24 | Vol. 837500 D: 9.30 ⇓ 2.11% | 9.27 | 9.60 / 9.00 C: 9.40 ⇑ 1.08% | 9.40 | 9.50 / 9.00 GRAMEENS2 | 2.17 | 16.41 | Vol. 3069700 D: 16.00 ⇓ 1.84% | 16.01 | 16.80 / 15.00 C: 16.10 ⇓ 2.42% | 16.03 | 17.00 / 15.80 1STPRIMFMF | 0.64 | 11.63 | Vol. 4653000 D: 21.10 ⇑ 4.46% | 20.81 | 22.10 / 19.70 C: 21.30 ⇑ 5.97% | 20.81 | 23.50 / 19.50 EBL1STMF | 0.55 | 12.62 | Vol. 3507173 D: 6.90 ⇑ 4.55% | 6.85 | 7.00 / 5.80 C: 7.00 ⇑ 4.48% | 6.79 | 7.00 / 6.00 ICBAMCL2ND | 0.60 | 12.12 | Vol. 224000 D: 5.50 ⇑ 1.85% | 5.47 | 5.60 / 5.20 C: 5.40 ⇓ 1.82% | 5.40 | 5.40 / 5.20 ICBEPMF1S1 | 0.52 | 11.32 | Vol. 1121000 D: 5.80 ⇑ 3.57% | 5.85 | 6.00 / 5.60 C: 5.70 ⇓ 1.72% | 5.70 | 5.90 / 5.50 TRUSTB1MF | 0.75 | 11.65 | Vol. 4045412 D: 7.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 7.20 | 7.60 / 6.20 C: 7.30 ⇑ 1.39% | 7.28 | 7.50 / 6.80 PRIME1ICBA | 0.42 | 11.18 | Vol. 682500 D: 5.30 ⇑ 1.92% | 5.22 | 5.40 / 5.00 C: 5.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.11 | 5.30 / 5.00 DBH1STMF | -1.12 | 10.15 | Vol. 1078500 D: 5.40 ⇓ 1.82% | 5.42 | 5.50 / 5.20 C: 5.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.36 | 5.40 / 5.30 IFIC1STMF | 0.83 | 11.88 | Vol. 3751798 D: 6.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.33 | 6.50 / 5.50 C: 6.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.32 | 6.40 / 5.90 PF1STMF | 0.51 | 11.11 | Vol. 1556000 D: 5.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.21 | 5.30 / 5.10 C: 5.50 ⇑ 5.77% | 5.34 | 5.50 / 5.10 ICB3RDNRB | 0.00 | 10.60 | Vol. 981500 D: 5.00 ⇓ 1.96% | 5.04 | 5.20 / 4.90 C: 5.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.10 | 5.10 / 4.90 1JANATAMF | 0.78 | 10.68 | Vol. 968500 D: 5.60 ⇓ 1.75% | 5.67 | 5.80 / 5.50 C: 5.60 ⇓ 1.75% | 5.61 | 5.80 / 5.50 GREENDELMF | -0.82 | 9.72 | Vol. 837500 D: 5.10 ⇓ 1.92% | 5.10 | 5.30 / 4.90 C: 5.10 ⇓ 1.92% | 5.10 | 5.10 / 5.00 POPULAR1MF | 0.77 | 11.38 | Vol. 2320779 D: 5.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.81 | 6.00 / 5.10 C: 5.80 ⇓ 1.69% | 5.79 | 5.90 / 5.30 IFILISLMF1 | 0.00 | 10.45 | Vol. 3023500 D: 5.30 ⇑ 3.92% | 5.32 | 5.40 / 5.10 C: 5.30 ⇑ 1.92% | 5.20 | 5.30 / 5.00 PHPMF1 | 0.63 | 10.92 | Vol. 2979500 D: 5.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.35 | 5.50 / 5.20 C: 5.40 ⇓ 1.82% | 5.33 | 5.50 / 5.20 AIBL1STIMF | -0.07 | 9.25 | Vol. 132000 D: 6.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.38 | 6.40 / 6.00 C: 6.00 ⇓ 6.25% | 6.03 | 6.30 / 6.00 MBL1STMF | -0.16 | 9.08 | Vol. 784000 D: 6.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.11 | 6.30 / 5.90 C: 6.50 ⇑ 10.17% | 6.50 | 6.50 / 6.00 SEBL1STMF | 0.94 | 11.85 | Vol. 3157900 D: 7.90 ⇑ 1.28% | 7.89 | 8.10 / 7.00 C: 8.00 ⇑ 3.90% | 7.88 | 8.00 / 7.50 EBLNRBMF | 1.07 | 10.88 | Vol. 121000 D: 8.00 ⇑ 11.11% | 8.07 | 8.20 / 7.00 RELIANCE1 | 0.95 | 10.33 | Vol. 2877850 D: 8.00 ⇑ 1.27% | 8.02 | 8.50 / 7.40 C: 8.10 ⇑ 2.53% | 8.11 | 8.20 / 7.70 LRGLOBMF1 | 0.50 | 10.82 | Vol. 152000 D: 7.00 ⇑ 2.94% | 7.06 | 7.30 / 6.40

Modern Dyeing-B ICB AMCL 1st M F-A Kohinoor Chem-A Savar Refractories-Z Fareast Finance-N

C%

A%

CP

-26.81

-28.67

111.10

-26.35

-25.41

24.60

-20.32

-20.39

410.20

-17.81

-20.55

78.00

-14.36

-11.67

16.10

ABB1STMF | 0.92 | 10.63 | Vol. 295020 D: 6.80 ⇓ 1.45% | 6.84 | 7.00 / 6.70 C: 6.80 ⇓ 32.67% | 6.80 | 6.80 / 6.80 NLI1STMF | 1.17 | 12.22 | Vol. 3113700 D: 8.40 ⇑ 3.70% | 8.31 | 8.60 / 7.30 C: 8.40 ⇑ 1.20% | 8.19 | 8.50 / 7.60 FBFIF | 1.30 | 10.27 | Vol. 25500 D: 8.60 ⇑ 1.18% | 9.00 | 9.00 / 8.20 C: 7.90 ⇓ 1.25% | 7.90 | 7.90 / 7.90 NCCBLMF1 | 1.16 | 10.48 | Vol. 64000 D: 8.60 ⇑ 7.50% | 8.69 | 8.70 / 7.90 ICBSONALI1 | 0.00 | 10.39 | Vol. 1796500 D: 6.10 ⇓ 3.17% | 6.07 | 6.50 / 6.00 C: 6.10 ⇓ 4.69% | 6.13 | 6.40 / 6.00 EXIM1STMF | 0.00 | 10.91 | Vol. 51500 D: 7.00 ⇑ 1.45% | 7.06 | 7.10 / 6.80 C: 6.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.50 | 6.50 / 6.20 ENGINEERING AFTABAUTO | 4.29 | 52.65 | Vol. 2094585 D: 108.4 ⇓ 6.31% | 108.63 | 121.0 / 98.20 C: 108.6 ⇓ 6.30% | 108.86 | 117.5 / 108.0 AZIZPIPES | 0.39 | -42.04 | Vol. 36700 D: 16.90 ⇓ 6.63% | 17.03 | 18.50 / 16.80 C: 18.00 ⇓ 5.26% | 18.00 | 18.00 / 18.00 OLYMPIC | 5.94 | 14.91 | Vol. 848358 D: 216.4 ⇓ 5.67% | 217.32 | 231.9 / 200.0 C: 215.0 ⇓ 6.28% | 214.13 | 227.0 / 213.2 BDLAMPS | -5.31 | 37.07 | Vol. 275167 D: 159.3 ⇓ 5.01% | 159.41 | 178.0 / 156.3 C: 163.6 ⇓ 1.74% | 159.75 | 177.0 / 157.0 ECABLES | 2.04 | 18.87 | Vol. 58340 D: 72.10 ⇓ 11.75% | 72.10 | 86.00 / 72.10 C: 72.10 ⇓ 10.99% | 72.09 | 80.00 / 71.00 MONNOSTAF | 5.31 | 44.78 | Vol. 34250 D: 453.2 ⇑ 8.63% | 414.91 | 525.9 / 389.0 SINGERBD | 9.99 | 45.74 | Vol. 793384 D: 207.5 ⇓ 6.57% | 207.98 | 226.0 / 200.0 C: 207.4 ⇓ 5.86% | 207.36 | 221.0 / 205.6 ATLASBANG | 11.98 | 207.70 | Vol. 70159 D: 179.3 ⇓ 5.58% | 180.19 | 190.0 / 165.0 BDAUTOCA | 0.25 | 6.23 | Vol. 524204 D: 52.50 ⇑ 13.15% | 48.07 | 60.00 / 43.00 QSMDRYCELL | 1.17 | 57.54 | Vol. 1610149 D: 35.30 ⇓ 7.59% | 35.29 | 39.00 / 32.00 C: 35.30 ⇓ 7.35% | 35.33 | 38.00 / 34.10 RENWICKJA | 5.62 | -90.00 | Vol. 91100 D: 172.9 ⇓ 4.00% | 173.51 | 195.0 / 167.0 NTLTUBES | -2.52 | 312.10 | Vol. 414448 D: 77.70 ⇓ 4.19% | 77.54 | 86.50 / 70.00 BDTHAI | 0.43 | 39.35 | Vol. 5332122 D: 32.60 ⇑ 7.24% | 31.83 | 35.00 / 28.00 C: 32.90 ⇑ 7.52% | 32.04 | 35.40 / 30.00 ANWARGALV | 0.51 | 8.08 | Vol. 1723500 D: 31.10 ⇑ 11.07% | 29.62 | 33.70 / 25.70 C: 31.60 ⇑ 7.12% | 29.21 | 37.50 / 26.10 KAY&QUE | -3.89 | 6.03 | Vol. 106130 D: 16.70 ⇓ 13.92% | 16.75 | 19.00 / 15.60 C: 16.70 ⇓ 12.11% | 16.73 | 17.60 / 16.60 RANFOUNDRY | 2.84 | 18.62 | Vol. 542000 D: 104.6 ⇓ 6.36% | 105.43 | 118.1 / 101.0 C: 103.1 ⇓ 10.03% | 102.26 | 117.2 / 100.0 SALAMCRST | 3.31 | 20.00 | Vol. 879240 D: 40.80 ⇓ 3.77% | 41.12 | 42.80 / 37.50 C: 40.80 ⇓ 4.00% | 41.00 | 42.50 / 40.50 GOLDENSON | 3.70 | 28.70 | Vol. 1812619 D: 42.90 ⇓ 1.83% | 42.90 | 43.90 / 38.00 C: 42.60 ⇓ 2.52% | 42.67 | 43.60 / 42.00 BSRMSTEEL | 3.06 | 19.53 | Vol. 1033002 D: 68.10 ⇓ 5.15% | 68.10 | 71.80 / 63.00 C: 68.10 ⇓ 4.89% | 67.65 | 71.10 / 67.50 NAVANACNG | 4.09 | 27.04 | Vol. 528626 D: 66.80 ⇓ 5.25% | 66.72 | 71.30 / 60.00 C: 67.40 ⇓ 4.67% | 67.11 | 73.00 / 66.00 DESHBANDHU | 1.16 | 12.02 | Vol. 3632780 D: 23.00 ⇓ 6.12% | 23.02 | 25.90 / 20.70 C: 23.00 ⇓ 6.50% | 23.02 | 25.90 / 22.70 GPHISPAT | 2.11 | 15.27 | Vol. 633500 D: 42.80 ⇓ 1.38% | 43.13 | 45.40 / 38.00 C: 43.30 ⇓ 1.37% | 44.13 | 45.40 / 42.00 BENGALWTL | 2.42 | 20.72 | Vol. 962000 D: 43.80 ⇓ 4.16% | 44.02 | 46.20 / 43.60 C: 43.50 ⇓ 3.97% | 43.52 | 45.50 / 43.00 NPOLYMAR | 2.01 | 324.37 | Vol. 827578 D: 64.40 ⇓ 3.01% | 63.52 | 69.90 / 60.00 C: 64.00 ⇓ 3.47% | 63.96 | 68.00 / 60.00

FOOD & ALLIED APEXFOODS | 2.54 | 90.81 | Vol. 338100 D: 101.3 ⇓ 5.42% | 99.74 | 112.0 / 95.50 C: 98.30 ⇓ 8.73% | 101.17 | 112.8 / 98.00 BANGAS | 7.20 | 50.27 | Vol. 698887 D: 521.5 ⇑ 9.88% | 499.20 | 582.8 / 440.0 C: 520.1 ⇑ 10.99% | 505.35 | 567.0 / 483.0 BATBC | 65.69 | 117.22 | Vol. 36400 D: 1525 ⇑ 4.52% | 1527 | 1540 / 1400 C: 1477 ⇓ 1.55% | 1477 | 1500 / 1425 GEMINISEA | 10.88 | 9.69 | Vol. 21150 D: 227.5 ⇓ 7.26% | 217.45 | 255.4 / 198.0 NTC | 29.88 | 110.05 | Vol. 9300 D: 804.2 ⇓ 2.79% | 803.87 | 836.0 / 800.0 C: 821.0 ⇓ 14.54% | 821.00 | 821.0 / 816.0 ZEALBANGLA | -23.01 | -193.09 | Vol. 11550 D: 8.90 ⇑ 5.95% | 9.06 | 9.30 / 8.00 CVOPRL | 2.66 | 13.28 | Vol. 129460 D: 876.6 ⇑ 9.52% | 872.00 | 877.7 / 790.0 C: 860.7 ⇑ 7.25% | 860.65 | 861.3 / 800.0 AMCL(PRAN) | 6.53 | 53.37 | Vol. 727420 D: 287.9 ⇓ 2.51% | 283.52 | 318.0 / 270.1 C: 290.0 ⇓ 2.68% | 284.08 | 319.5 / 268.5 SHYAMPSUG | -36.87 | -355.85 | Vol. 2400 D: 7.90 ⇓ 2.47% | 7.89 | 8.80 / 7.90 RAHIMAFOOD | 0.62 | 4.46 | Vol. 4575500 D: 46.70 ⇑ 50.16% | 41.55 | 47.00 / 32.00 C: 44.20 ⇑ 43.51% | 39.52 | 44.60 / 31.90 FUWANGFOOD | 1.26 | 12.37 | Vol. 2542622 D: 25.60 ⇓ 5.19% | 25.55 | 28.00 / 24.00 C: 25.80 ⇓ 4.80% | 25.73 | 27.70 / 25.40 MEGHNAPET | -0.58 | -1.02 | Vol. 109500 D: 7.10 ⇑ 5.97% | 7.25 | 7.40 / 6.00 MEGCONMILK | -6.68 | -16.22 | Vol. 166000 D: 8.10 ⇓ 7.95% | 8.17 | 8.80 / 7.80 BEACHHATCH | 1.01 | 12.48 | Vol. 3996974 D: 23.10 ⇓ 4.94% | 22.79 | 25.60 / 20.20 C: 23.30 ⇓ 3.72% | 22.82 | 25.80 / 21.50 FINEFOODS | -0.11 | 10.58 | Vol. 1944925 D: 25.70 ⇑ 4.90% | 25.31 | 29.00 / 23.00 C: 25.90 ⇑ 6.15% | 25.82 | 29.00 / 24.30 RDFOOD | 0.91 | 16.84 | Vol. 4711962 D: 22.80 ⇓ 5.39% | 22.84 | 25.00 / 20.50 C: 22.90 ⇓ 4.98% | 22.92 | 25.00 / 22.60 GHAIL | 1.01 | 22.08 | Vol. 2104500 D: 43.10 ⇓ 4.43% | 42.98 | 45.40 / 38.50 C: 43.00 ⇓ 4.87% | 42.80 | 45.00 / 40.70 FUEL & POWER LINDEBD | 31.71 | 144.00 | Vol. 76118 D: 700.1 ⇓ 3.79% | 702.09 | 726.0 / 680.1 PADMAOIL | 16.38 | 43.67 | Vol. 924665 D: 334.9 ⇓ 5.69% | 337.09 | 355.0 / 325.0 C: 335.2 ⇓ 5.23% | 336.66 | 354.1 / 334.0 EASTRNLUB | 6.32 | 68.68 | Vol. 12450 D: 380.1 ⇓ 5.94% | 380.00 | 417.0 / 376.0 BDWELDING | 0.33 | 16.82 | Vol. 4642985 D: 24.30 ⇓ 3.95% | 24.01 | 27.40 / 21.30 C: 24.10 ⇓ 3.60% | 24.02 | 27.00 / 23.10 SUMITPOWER | 3.17 | 19.26 | Vol. 1607950 D: 32.30 ⇓ 4.44% | 32.41 | 34.90 / 29.10 C: 32.50 ⇓ 4.69% | 32.59 | 34.40 / 31.70 DESCO | 2.80 | 35.25 | Vol. 417034 D: 76.00 ⇓ 2.56% | 76.12 | 83.70 / 70.00 C: 75.70 ⇓ 2.32% | 75.65 | 78.00 / 74.00 POWERGRID | 2.56 | 48.08 | Vol. 209733 D: 56.00 ⇓ 0.36% | 56.03 | 57.50 / 52.00 C: 57.20 ⇑ 2.88% | 57.13 | 57.60 / 53.50 JAMUNAOIL | 22.78 | 50.24 | Vol. 1310945 D: 228.4 ⇓ 4.23% | 229.38 | 239.9 / 210.0 C: 229.1 ⇓ 3.09% | 229.75 | 238.0 / 228.5 MPETROLEUM | 16.98 | 40.41 | Vol. 1192607 D: 269.4 ⇓ 2.46% | 269.03 | 300.0 / 243.0 C: 268.4 ⇓ 2.19% | 267.61 | 279.5 / 265.0 TITASGAS | 9.01 | 36.56 | Vol. 2685825 D: 80.90 ⇓ 3.35% | 81.01 | 84.80 / 73.10 C: 81.00 ⇓ 2.99% | 80.81 | 84.00 / 75.00 KPCL | 4.73 | 15.86 | Vol. 1183431 D: 47.20 ⇓ 4.65% | 46.20 | 52.00 / 42.00 C: 47.20 ⇓ 4.45% | 47.16 | 49.60 / 46.00 BEDL | 1.48 | 19.43 | Vol. 4746438 D: 31.90 ⇓ 5.62% | 31.99 | 34.10 / 26.00 C: 32.00 ⇓ 5.60% | 31.96 | 34.00 / 31.00 MJLBD | 2.73 | 30.24 | Vol. 482595 D: 70.10 ⇓ 2.77% | 70.17 | 76.00 / 64.00 C: 69.90 ⇓ 2.65% | 69.24 | 73.90 / 64.00 GBBPOWER | 1.86 | 22.63 | Vol. 2565183 D: 26.20 ⇓ 5.76% | 26.24 | 29.00 / 23.70 C: 26.40 ⇓ 4.35% | 26.16 | 28.00 / 25.00

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

7

SEP 22 - 26, 2013 Sectotal Index: BANK: 31,762.96 ⇑ 0.33% NBFI: 20,052.26 ⇓ 1.23% INVS: 4,649.28 ⇓ 0.03% ENGG: 6,071.23 ⇓ 2.40% FOOD: 10,153.05 ⇑ 2.71% F&P: 10,402.48 ⇓ 1.55% TEXT: 3,227.77 ⇓ 0.69% PHAR: 17,285.46 ⇓ 0.49% PAPR: 1,248.53 ⇑ 4.28% SERV: 3,053.21 ⇓ 0.44% LEAT: 5,456.88 ⇓ 1.47% CERA: 523.70 ⇓ 3.29% CMNT: 4,500.51 ⇓ 1.89% INFO: 8,328.37 ⇑ 1.84% GINS: 9,872.81 ⇑ 5.69% LINS: 112,258.64 ⇑ 1.49% TELC: 1,340.87 ⇓ 2.48% MISC: 6,296.76 ⇓ 2.19% SPPCL | 3.81 | 23.34 | Vol. 2373230 D: 53.40 ⇓ 7.13% | 53.86 | 60.50 / 48.40 C: 53.90 ⇓ 5.77% | 54.11 | 57.00 / 53.50 JUTE JUTESPINN | 2.06 | 17.42 | Vol. 90350 D: 124.3 ⇓ 12.53% | 123.54 | 149.5 / 117.0 NORTHERN | -13.80 | -6.19 | Vol. 12600 D: 31.10 ⇑ 59.49% | 31.10 | 31.10 / 21.40 SONALIANSH | 5.54 | 218.80 | Vol. 127830 D: 160.7 ⇓ 0.80% | 160.44 | 174.9 / 150.0 TEXTILE AL-HAJTEX | 1.35 | 15.64 | Vol. 1484092 D: 107.1 ⇓ 3.08% | 108.08 | 121.0 / 97.00 STYLECRAFT | 20.00 | 287.30 | Vol. 3100 D: 1131 ⇑ 2.09% | 1130 | 1150 / 1040 RAHIMTEXT | 0.51 | 73.88 | Vol. 19620 D: 294.7 ⇓ 1.73% | 294.29 | 337.0 / 281.2 SAIHAMTEX | 2.75 | 29.50 | Vol. 9000200 D: 34.40 ⇑ 6.50% | 34.03 | 36.90 / 32.20 C: 34.40 ⇑ 6.17% | 33.76 | 36.30 / 32.30 MODERNDYE | 0.91 | 10.37 | Vol. 34300 D: 111.1 ⇓ 26.81% | 109.62 | 166.8 / 109.4 DSHGARME | 0.72 | 12.00 | Vol. 456300 D: 93.20 ⇑ 10.95% | 82.85 | 108.0 / 77.40 DULAMIACOT | -8.46 | -27.78 | Vol. 195100 D: 9.40 ⇑ 1.08% | 9.33 | 11.20 / 8.80 TALLUSPIN | 2.56 | 12.06 | Vol. 13548138 D: 43.40 ⇑ 0.23% | 43.45 | 46.70 / 40.00 C: 43.30 ⇑ 1.64% | 43.36 | 46.50 / 42.40 APEXSPINN | 2.01 | 49.32 | Vol. 91400 D: 82.20 ⇓ 7.64% | 82.03 | 95.00 / 80.30 C: 90.00 ⇓ 4.05% | 90.00 | 90.00 / 90.00 MITHUNKNIT | 4.54 | 30.39 | Vol. 1436971 D: 110.9 ⇓ 2.55% | 110.88 | 124.5 / 104.0 C: 109.5 ⇓ 3.18% | 109.91 | 124.0 / 108.1 DELTASPINN | 3.06 | 18.12 | Vol. 3069500 D: 34.90 ⇓ 4.12% | 35.02 | 38.40 / 31.90 C: 34.70 ⇓ 5.19% | 34.90 | 38.00 / 34.30 SONARGAON | 0.27 | 34.50 | Vol. 3155630 D: 22.60 ⇑ 3.20% | 21.37 | 25.80 / 19.00 C: 22.40 ⇑ 5.66% | 21.83 | 25.60 / 18.50 PRIMETEX | 1.01 | 63.54 | Vol. 5858750 D: 31.50 ⇑ 16.24% | 30.36 | 34.20 / 27.80 C: 31.50 ⇑ 15.38% | 30.15 | 34.50 / 26.20 ALLTEX | -0.11 | 23.81 | Vol. 830500 D: 9.10 ⇑ 4.60% | 9.12 | 9.50 / 8.20 C: 9.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 9.06 | 9.50 / 8.50 ANLIMAYARN | 1.19 | 11.01 | Vol. 2105000 D: 38.20 ⇑ 0.53% | 37.99 | 41.60 / 36.10 C: 38.00 ⇑ 2.70% | 36.28 | 39.70 / 35.10 HRTEX | 2.08 | 14.92 | Vol. 3366863 D: 46.60 ⇑ 21.35% | 45.40 | 49.00 / 38.00 C: 46.40 ⇑ 22.11% | 45.14 | 48.20 / 38.50 CMCKAMAL | 1.37 | 19.31 | Vol. 23755162 D: 36.00 ⇑ 4.96% | 34.99 | 39.00 / 30.00 SAFKOSPINN | 0.95 | 21.78 | Vol. 3983974 D: 29.80 ⇑ 11.19% | 28.91 | 32.30 / 25.00 C: 29.80 ⇑ 8.76% | 29.17 | 32.20 / 26.50 SQUARETEXT | 4.32 | 31.82 | Vol. 676999 D: 90.90 ⇓ 2.47% | 90.98 | 94.00 / 84.00 C: 92.40 ⇓ 0.54% | 90.67 | 93.50 / 90.00 METROSPIN | -1.00 | 19.59 | Vol. 4033592 D: 19.00 ⇓ 4.04% | 18.79 | 21.40 / 17.20 C: 18.90 ⇓ 4.06% | 18.90 | 20.90 / 18.10 MAKSONSPIN | 0.16 | 20.55 | Vol. 13991960 D: 16.60 ⇓ 7.78% | 16.55 | 18.70 / 15.00 C: 16.70 ⇓ 7.73% | 16.58 | 18.70 / 16.10 DACCADYE | 1.21 | 31.13 | Vol. 4943260 D: 29.20 ⇑ 0.34% | 29.17 | 32.80 / 26.50 C: 29.00 ⇓ 2.03% | 28.94 | 32.00 / 28.50 RNSPIN | 2.80 | 16.58 | Vol. 14048558 D: 30.50 ⇓ 2.87% | 30.55 | 32.90 / 28.00 C: 30.50 ⇓ 2.87% | 30.54 | 32.80 / 30.00 BXSYNTH | 0.93 | 25.42 | Vol. 2889779 D: 16.50 ⇓ 8.33% | 16.52 | 18.80 / 15.00 C: 16.50 ⇓ 9.34% | 16.53 | 18.80 / 16.30 MALEKSPIN | -1.44 | 46.87 | Vol. 8186570 D: 26.80 ⇓ 2.55% | 26.89 | 29.70 / 25.00 C: 26.80 ⇓ 1.83% | 26.79 | 29.30 / 26.10 ZAHINTEX | 1.91 | 35.25 | Vol. 4682100 D: 33.80 ⇑ 11.18% | 33.63 | 37.40 / 28.30 C: 34.10 ⇑ 10.00% | 33.97 | 37.90 / 29.60 SAIHAMCOT | 1.92 | 23.62 | Vol. 7952750 D: 26.30 ⇓ 10.54% | 26.27 | 29.40 / 25.60 C: 26.30 ⇓ 10.54% | 26.24 | 29.40 / 25.80 GENNEXT | 1.68 | 15.15 | Vol. 22576200 D: 23.90 ⇑ 6.22% | 23.95 | 25.80 / 20.00 C: 24.00 ⇑ 6.67% | 23.93 | 25.30 / 22.00

ENVOYTEX | 3.26 | 39.26 | Vol. 3077520 D: 53.60 ⇑ 0.75% | 53.30 | 54.60 / 47.90 C: 53.30 ⇑ 0.38% | 52.99 | 54.10 / 52.20 ARGONDENIM | 1.89 | 38.86 | Vol. 5503700 D: 40.30 ⇑ 8.04% | 40.02 | 40.90 / 33.10 C: 40.30 ⇑ 8.63% | 39.89 | 40.50 / 36.50 FAMILYTEX | 3.72 | 14.68 | Vol. 1318500 D: 35.80 ⇓ 1.92% | 35.77 | 37.90 / 35.20 C: 35.50 ⇓ 2.20% | 35.30 | 37.30 / 34.00 PHARMACEUTICAL & CHEMICAL AMBEEPHA | 3.94 | 26.15 | Vol. 68247 D: 297.3 ⇑ 1.09% | 294.05 | 331.9 / 278.0 C: 294.9 ⇑ 0.48% | 288.39 | 318.3 / 270.0 BXPHARMA | 3.77 | 52.55 | Vol. 706303 D: 46.40 ⇓ 3.13% | 46.49 | 50.00 / 42.10 C: 46.70 ⇓ 2.51% | 46.60 | 50.00 / 45.00 GLAXOSMITH | 20.25 | 123.32 | Vol. 8300 D: 1002 ⇓ 4.15% | 1002 | 1055 / 991.3 ACI | -5.82 | 126.42 | Vol. 101459 D: 168.2 ⇓ 4.97% | 168.85 | 180.0 / 154.0 C: 168.0 ⇓ 4.55% | 167.24 | 182.8 / 166.5 RENATA | 33.57 | 138.83 | Vol. 61068 D: 752.7 ⇓ 6.53% | 756.38 | 815.0 / 746.0 RECKITTBEN | 27.16 | 78.89 | Vol. 1350 D: 785.6 ⇓ 12.58% | 786.67 | 890.0 / 783.0 C: 850.0 ⇓ 6.85% | 850.00 | 850.0 / 850.0 PHARMAID | 5.06 | 26.30 | Vol. 277000 D: 203.1 ⇓ 6.79% | 201.14 | 220.0 / 195.0 KOHINOOR | 9.52 | 10.49 | Vol. 8050 D: 410.2 ⇓ 20.32% | 410.13 | 476.2 / 402.0 IBNSINA | 3.44 | 34.02 | Vol. 841974 D: 115.1 ⇓ 12.40% | 115.97 | 135.0 / 107.0 C: 115.2 ⇓ 13.38% | 114.68 | 134.9 / 111.0 LIBRAINFU | 4.64 | 1565.37 | Vol. 25800 D: 587.0 ⇑ 1.00% | 586.67 | 599.0 / 510.0 ORIONINFU | 8.72 | 1.73 | Vol. 1098000 D: 46.10 ⇓ 6.11% | 46.35 | 51.30 / 45.90 C: 46.20 ⇓ 5.91% | 46.24 | 50.40 / 46.10 SQURPHARMA | 6.93 | 37.18 | Vol. 1604902 D: 172.9 ⇓ 0.75% | 172.87 | 189.4 / 157.0 C: 173.0 ⇓ 0.57% | 172.36 | 174.0 / 171.0 IMAMBUTTON | -1.68 | 5.67 | Vol. 373500 D: 9.30 ⇑ 8.14% | 9.44 | 9.60 / 7.20 C: 10.00 ⇑ 1.01% | 10.61 | 11.00 / 8.50 KEYACOSMET | 1.55 | 21.54 | Vol. 4334847 D: 24.20 ⇓ 11.36% | 24.35 | 25.90 / 22.40 C: 24.30 ⇓ 11.31% | 24.34 | 25.90 / 24.00 BERGERPBL | 32.46 | 100.20 | Vol. 11005 D: 821.2 ⇓ 2.66% | 821.54 | 859.0 / 805.0 C: 762.0 ⇓ 6.10% | 762.00 | 762.0 / 762.0 ACIFORMULA | 3.33 | 38.08 | Vol. 316564 D: 80.20 ⇓ 3.84% | 80.37 | 86.00 / 78.00 C: 78.90 ⇓ 4.48% | 79.00 | 84.00 / 77.00 MARICO | 27.53 | 62.47 | Vol. 76100 D: 832.2 ⇓ 3.03% | 828.38 | 880.0 / 796.0 C: 836.0 ⇓ 2.68% | 822.13 | 847.0 / 777.0 BEACONPHAR | 0.33 | 11.97 | Vol. 1231950 D: 14.30 ⇓ 3.38% | 14.40 | 15.00 / 13.00 C: 14.60 ⇓ 2.01% | 14.53 | 15.00 / 14.50 ACTIVEFINE | 3.23 | 13.89 | Vol. 3472414 D: 94.00 ⇓ 0.84% | 93.99 | 100.0 / 83.80 C: 94.00 ⇓ 1.05% | 95.38 | 97.80 / 88.00 SALVOCHEM | 0.68 | 10.57 | Vol. 3854787 D: 22.60 ⇓ 5.83% | 22.76 | 25.00 / 20.80 C: 22.90 ⇓ 5.37% | 22.83 | 24.60 / 21.00 GHCL | 2.14 | 57.31 | Vol. 688250 D: 46.60 ⇓ 1.48% | 46.65 | 49.10 / 46.40 C: 49.10 ⇑ 4.47% | 48.03 | 50.60 / 45.80 ORIONPHARM | 5.02 | 68.68 | Vol. 2967620 D: 62.10 ⇓ 4.17% | 62.16 | 65.40 / 56.30 C: 62.50 ⇓ 3.70% | 62.33 | 65.20 / 62.00 JMISMDL | 1.12 | 12.83 | Vol. 1486500 D: 291.7 ⇑ 7.09% | 262.23 | 330.0 / 244.9 C: 272.7 ⇑ 2.02% | 252.80 | 339.0 / 238.9

CENTRALPHL | 0.61 | 10.99 | Vol. 3757500 D: 34.70 ⇓ 5.19% | 34.31 | 39.00 / 33.60 C: 34.90 ⇓ 4.90% | 34.55 | 38.90 / 33.60 PAPER & PACKAGING HAKKANIPUL | 0.64 | 11.02 | Vol. 721500 D: 40.80 ⇑ 26.71% | 37.17 | 42.60 / 32.00 C: 40.40 ⇑ 24.31% | 36.89 | 43.10 / 33.40 SERVICE SAMORITA | 2.31 | 17.25 | Vol. 283447 D: 114.1 ⇓ 2.06% | 113.35 | 130.1 / 105.0 C: 118.9 ⇓ 0.92% | 118.90 | 121.1 / 110.0 SAPORTL | 1.23 | 38.39 | Vol. 1450612 D: 26.40 ⇓ 6.05% | 26.47 | 29.00 / 23.90 C: 26.40 ⇓ 6.71% | 26.42 | 28.00 / 26.10 EHL | 2.87 | 18.48 | Vol. 2502431 D: 57.40 ⇓ 9.18% | 57.58 | 64.70 / 50.80 C: 58.60 ⇓ 6.09% | 57.89 | 64.30 / 55.20 LEATHER APEXTANRY | 6.57 | 69.38 | Vol. 1164950 D: 126.3 ⇓ 12.29% | 127.77 | 145.0 / 125.0 C: 127.1 ⇓ 11.06% | 129.37 | 143.9 / 127.0 BATASHOE | 49.12 | 135.53 | Vol. 30016 D: 744.9 ⇓ 3.51% | 741.39 | 781.9 / 700.0 C: 769.5 ⇑ 2.31% | 769.50 | 779.0 / 732.2 APEXADELFT | 23.01 | 203.26 | Vol. 316550 D: 384.4 ⇓ 4.47% | 385.78 | 422.0 / 360.0 C: 379.8 ⇓ 5.29% | 396.60 | 418.9 / 379.0 SAMATALETH | -0.07 | 12.08 | Vol. 6500 D: 13.80 ⇓ 6.12% | 14.00 | 15.10 / 13.80 C: 14.30 ⇓ 1.38% | 14.35 | 14.40 / 14.30 LEGACYFOOT | 0.63 | 17.19 | Vol. 3652148 D: 47.20 ⇑ 22.60% | 42.16 | 51.10 / 34.70 C: 48.40 ⇑ 18.92% | 43.25 | 53.90 / 40.30 CERAMIC MONNOCERA | 0.71 | 96.33 | Vol. 717398 D: 38.50 ⇓ 0.52% | 37.80 | 43.80 / 35.30 C: 38.50 ⇓ 1.53% | 38.48 | 43.90 / 35.50 STANCERAM | 1.07 | 15.97 | Vol. 244670 D: 41.00 ⇑ 8.18% | 41.05 | 44.60 / 37.90 C: 41.70 ⇓ 3.70% | 41.71 | 43.00 / 39.00 SPCERAMICS | 0.62 | 30.92 | Vol. 3587417 D: 17.20 ⇓ 8.02% | 17.24 | 19.20 / 15.50 C: 17.30 ⇓ 7.98% | 17.25 | 19.40 / 15.40 RAKCERAMIC | 1.98 | 16.76 | Vol. 892200 D: 53.00 ⇓ 4.16% | 53.17 | 56.00 / 48.00 C: 53.40 ⇓ 3.09% | 53.40 | 55.20 / 52.90 CEMENT HEIDELBCEM | 22.85 | 111.50 | Vol. 695090 D: 400.1 ⇓ 7.17% | 400.16 | 433.8 / 397.0 C: 399.0 ⇓ 6.91% | 400.10 | 424.0 / 398.0 CONFIDCEM | 6.23 | 90.76 | Vol. 967049 D: 123.2 ⇓ 6.03% | 122.83 | 134.0 / 114.1 C: 123.6 ⇓ 5.72% | 122.84 | 131.9 / 122.1 MEGHNACEM | 6.28 | 33.81 | Vol. 746670 D: 144.1 ⇓ 9.48% | 145.06 | 160.8 / 140.0 C: 142.6 ⇓ 9.52% | 142.64 | 157.0 / 140.0 ARAMITCEM | 3.03 | 14.65 | Vol. 540286 D: 79.50 ⇓ 6.25% | 79.06 | 85.90 / 72.00 C: 80.00 ⇓ 5.21% | 80.00 | 85.00 / 77.10 LAFSURCEML | 1.60 | 7.22 | Vol. 3410560 D: 33.30 ⇓ 2.92% | 33.43 | 36.70 / 33.20 C: 33.50 ⇓ 2.62% | 33.52 | 35.80 / 33.30 PREMIERCEM | 3.59 | 22.92 | Vol. 731400 D: 107.4 ⇓ 6.04% | 107.55 | 115.0 / 105.2 C: 106.1 ⇓ 8.06% | 106.21 | 117.0 / 105.2 IT IINDUSTRIES ISNLTD | 0.28 | 17.31 | Vol. 2467509 D: 26.30 ⇑ 19.55% | 23.87 | 29.20 / 21.00 C: 25.70 ⇑ 14.22% | 23.58 | 29.20 / 22.40

BDCOM | 1.00 | 14.91 | Vol. 7048921 D: 29.10 ⇑ 9.40% | 29.07 | 30.30 / 24.00 C: 29.40 ⇑ 10.11% | 29.31 | 30.90 / 26.50 INTECH | 0.94 | 10.08 | Vol. 5712424 D: 21.50 ⇑ 23.56% | 19.97 | 23.10 / 15.80 C: 21.30 ⇑ 21.71% | 19.85 | 23.20 / 18.60 AGNISYSL | 1.07 | 25.52 | Vol. 3403196 D: 25.30 ⇓ 0.39% | 25.11 | 28.00 / 23.00 C: 25.50 ⇑ 0.39% | 25.32 | 27.60 / 24.80 DAFODILCOM | 1.12 | 11.14 | Vol. 5304375 D: 20.20 ⇑ 1.51% | 20.01 | 23.00 / 18.00 C: 20.40 ⇑ 2.51% | 20.08 | 22.70 / 19.20 AAMRATECH | 1.17 | 20.44 | Vol. 4211750 D: 36.40 ⇓ 9.68% | 36.36 | 40.40 / 32.70 C: 36.60 ⇓ 9.41% | 36.43 | 39.80 / 35.00 GENERAL INSURANCE BGIC | 1.65 | 20.33 | Vol. 517146 D: 30.00 ⇑ 2.74% | 30.02 | 31.60 / 27.00 C: 29.50 ⇑ 1.37% | 29.49 | 31.90 / 28.00 GREENDELT | 4.05 | 64.44 | Vol. 272743 D: 103.0 ⇓ 2.28% | 104.06 | 112.0 / 93.00 C: 102.1 ⇓ 2.76% | 102.10 | 106.0 / 102.0 UNITEDINS | 2.47 | 21.04 | Vol. 109773 D: 46.90 ⇑ 1.96% | 47.03 | 49.70 / 42.10 PEOPLESINS | 2.05 | 20.72 | Vol. 2660062 D: 33.30 ⇑ 23.79% | 33.34 | 34.20 / 24.50 C: 33.30 ⇑ 27.59% | 33.39 | 34.00 / 27.00 EASTERNINS | 2.22 | 35.88 | Vol. 221130 D: 40.30 ⇑ 2.54% | 40.77 | 43.50 / 38.10 C: 41.10 ⇓ 1.44% | 41.03 | 44.00 / 37.70 JANATAINS | 7.84 | 170.69 | Vol. 276066 D: 292.0 ⇑ 12.74% | 292.82 | 319.0 / 242.5 C: 289.5 ⇑ 8.10% | 291.62 | 317.0 / 260.0 PHENIXINS | 2.70 | 20.96 | Vol. 358682 D: 41.70 ⇑ 2.96% | 41.84 | 45.00 / 38.00 C: 41.10 ⇑ 6.75% | 40.35 | 42.90 / 39.00 EASTLAND | 4.06 | 23.29 | Vol. 1594142 D: 51.50 ⇑ 7.29% | 51.60 | 55.00 / 43.20 C: 51.90 ⇑ 9.03% | 51.92 | 54.50 / 46.20 PRAGATIINS | 2.01 | 50.30 | Vol. 163404 D: 58.30 ⇓ 2.02% | 58.23 | 63.80 / 55.00 C: 67.40 ⇑ 4.50% | 67.45 | 68.20 / 62.00 PRIMEINSUR | 2.14 | 14.14 | Vol. 632634 D: 33.10 ⇑ 2.48% | 33.21 | 36.80 / 29.50 C: 35.00 ⇑ 2.94% | 34.54 | 35.00 / 31.20 PIONEERINS | 3.11 | 23.84 | Vol. 535763 D: 70.20 ⇓ 2.50% | 70.21 | 74.00 / 67.00 NITOLINS | 2.59 | 15.41 | Vol. 297169 D: 36.80 ⇑ 6.05% | 36.06 | 40.70 / 31.00 C: 37.40 ⇑ 1.36% | 37.40 | 37.40 / 34.00 ASIAPACINS | 1.84 | 13.76 | Vol. 332600 D: 30.30 ⇑ 4.84% | 30.18 | 31.50 / 27.00 C: 29.30 ⇑ 2.45% | 29.30 | 31.60 / 27.50 SONARBAINS | 1.68 | 13.38 | Vol. 1591131 D: 26.70 ⇑ 10.33% | 26.59 | 28.40 / 21.90 C: 26.10 ⇑ 8.75% | 26.10 | 28.80 / 25.00 PARAMOUNT | 1.26 | 13.19 | Vol. 1004342 D: 24.90 ⇑ 2.89% | 25.00 | 27.70 / 22.60 C: 24.80 ⇑ 2.90% | 24.80 | 26.50 / 23.30 CITYGENINS | 1.65 | 14.26 | Vol. 1369681 D: 28.90 ⇑ 9.47% | 28.62 | 30.00 / 25.00 C: 28.40 ⇑ 7.58% | 28.22 | 30.00 / 25.10 CONTININS | 1.41 | 15.68 | Vol. 1450922 D: 37.50 ⇑ 11.28% | 37.32 | 38.90 / 30.80 C: 36.00 ⇑ 9.09% | 35.68 | 37.00 / 30.20 TAKAFULINS | 2.19 | 15.17 | Vol. 945514 D: 43.60 ⇑ 12.08% | 43.61 | 45.90 / 35.00 C: 42.70 ⇑ 10.62% | 42.67 | 43.60 / 37.20 STANDARINS | 2.58 | 13.99 | Vol. 321177 D: 41.50 ⇑ 4.27% | 41.46 | 43.90 / 36.00 C: 40.00 ⇑ 2.30% | 40.00 | 40.00 / 39.00 NORTHRNINS | 1.77 | 11.15 | Vol. 692841 D: 44.50 ⇑ 1.37% | 44.65 | 47.50 / 39.60 C: 45.90 ⇑ 4.08% | 45.92 | 47.90 / 42.00 REPUBLIC | 2.14 | 12.42 | Vol. 627614 D: 50.90 ⇓ 0.78% | 51.22 | 53.90 / 47.00 C: 51.90 ⇑ 0.97% | 53.20 | 55.00 / 49.00 ASIAINS | 1.56 | 17.34 | Vol. 755036 D: 28.60 ⇑ 4.38% | 28.52 | 31.00 / 24.50 C: 28.10 ⇑ 1.81% | 28.06 | 30.40 / 26.00 ISLAMIINS | 1.29 | 11.96 | Vol. 909015 D: 33.50 ⇑ 6.69% | 33.53 | 36.50 / 28.00 C: 32.20 ⇑ 9.52% | 32.16 | 36.00 / 28.80 PROVATIINS | 1.90 | 14.30 | Vol. 694500 D: 29.90 ⇑ 7.94% | 29.89 | 31.50 / 25.00 C: 30.50 ⇑ 7.77% | 29.49 | 31.10 / 25.50

DHAKAINS | 2.84 | 18.02 | Vol. 1041060 D: 42.70 ⇑ 6.22% | 42.62 | 46.00 / 35.00 C: 42.90 ⇑ 5.41% | 42.90 | 45.40 / 38.00 LIFE INSURANCE NATLIFEINS | 12.34 | 80.99 | Vol. 52080 D: 248.5 ⇓ 1.58% | 248.80 | 257.0 / 240.0 C: 237.3 ⇑ 1.80% | 237.33 | 258.0 / 235.0 DELTALIFE | 38.53 | 189.40 | Vol. 39130 D: 5803 ⇓ 3.86% | 5851 | 6260 / 5750 C: 6200 ⇑ 3.25% | 6200 | 6200 / 5999 SANDHANINS | 2.39 | 28.22 | Vol. 156176 D: 70.80 ⇓ 0.56% | 71.09 | 74.00 / 65.00 C: 72.20 ⇑ 2.70% | 72.20 | 75.00 / 68.60 POPULARLIF | 3.70 | 715.41 | Vol. 114704 D: 179.7 ⇑ 7.80% | 178.43 | 180.0 / 155.0 FAREASTLIF | 9.21 | 60.79 | Vol. 252053 D: 94.90 ⇓ 1.86% | 94.73 | 105.0 / 85.00 C: 93.40 ⇓ 5.66% | 93.47 | 96.90 / 91.00 MEGHNALIFE | 10.82 | 48.87 | Vol. 168276 D: 102.2 ⇓ 2.11% | 102.82 | 107.7 / 93.00 C: 100.9 ⇓ 2.51% | 100.92 | 105.0 / 100.0 PROGRESLIF | 2.30 | 31.45 | Vol. 46849 D: 95.30 ⇓ 1.85% | 94.73 | 100.9 / 88.00 C: 95.10 ⇓ 17.30% | 95.10 | 95.10 / 95.10 PRAGATILIF | 0.60 | 30.15 | Vol. 225522 D: 118.5 ⇓ 3.66% | 119.57 | 127.0 / 110.0 PRIMELIFE | 5.51 | 27.10 | Vol. 159028 D: 96.20 ⇑ 2.12% | 94.71 | 103.5 / 85.50 C: 103.0 ⇑ 10.16% | 103.00 | 103.0 / 95.00 RUPALILIFE | 3.75 | 31.25 | Vol. 185743 D: 99.30 ⇑ 0.81% | 100.90 | 105.0 / 94.00 C: 103.0 ⇑ 4.04% | 102.97 | 103.0 / 102.9 PADMALIFE | 1.63 | 25.76 | Vol. 424500 D: 63.30 ⇑ 6.03% | 64.18 | 65.50 / 60.00 C: 62.40 ⇑ 4.35% | 62.53 | 65.00 / 58.10 SUNLIFEINS | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 1027275 D: 54.10 ⇓ 1.10% | 54.58 | 57.00 / 49.30 C: 53.70 ⇓ 2.36% | 53.76 | 56.90 / 51.70 TELECOM GP | 12.96 | 26.26 | Vol. 1996722 D: 187.4 ⇓ 3.95% | 188.04 | 196.5 / 175.0 C: 186.6 ⇓ 4.16% | 187.29 | 197.9 / 185.3 BSCCL | 6.69 | 30.34 | Vol. 2622180 D: 251.4 ⇓ 3.38% | 251.41 | 265.0 / 230.0 C: 250.9 ⇓ 2.94% | 250.88 | 267.0 / 243.0 TRAVEL & LEISURE UNITEDAIR | 1.10 | 12.87 | Vol. 26813552 D: 18.80 ⇓ 3.09% | 18.37 | 20.50 / 16.90 C: 18.70 ⇓ 3.61% | 18.42 | 19.70 / 17.90 UNIQUEHRL | 4.02 | 86.29 | Vol. 3369405 D: 89.70 ⇑ 1.36% | 89.41 | 90.50 / 76.60 C: 89.30 ⇑ 1.25% | 88.86 | 90.90 / 84.00 MISCELLANEOUS ARAMIT | 16.07 | 99.93 | Vol. 344925 D: 370.8 ⇑ 15.33% | 367.09 | 377.0 / 315.0 C: 376.2 ⇑ 14.56% | 371.32 | 379.0 / 301.1 BSC | 1.77 | 565.82 | Vol. 514750 D: 566.8 ⇓ 6.32% | 568.13 | 610.0 / 563.0 C: 566.5 ⇓ 5.98% | 567.70 | 603.8 / 560.0 GQBALLPEN | 6.55 | 250.45 | Vol. 538638 D: 155.8 ⇓ 5.17% | 155.29 | 167.0 / 143.0 C: 153.3 ⇓ 6.24% | 152.62 | 169.0 / 152.0 USMANIAGL | 0.50 | 26.03 | Vol. 543198 D: 156.1 ⇓ 9.35% | 156.04 | 173.1 / 152.5 C: 155.6 ⇓ 10.11% | 155.01 | 173.0 / 150.2 SAVAREFR | 0.23 | 12.32 | Vol. 1750 D: 78.00 ⇓ 17.81% | 78.00 | 87.00 / 78.00 BEXIMCO | 3.24 | 86.74 | Vol. 5714645 D: 31.20 ⇓ 4.29% | 31.20 | 35.00 / 28.10 C: 31.20 ⇓ 4.29% | 31.25 | 33.90 / 30.00 SINOBANGLA | 1.75 | 21.01 | Vol. 2182500 D: 24.40 ⇑ 2.95% | 24.36 | 25.70 / 23.20 C: 24.90 ⇑ 4.62% | 24.72 | 26.40 / 22.30 MIRACLEIND | 0.14 | 14.90 | Vol. 2051536 D: 18.80 ⇓ 0.53% | 18.25 | 21.10 / 16.80 C: 18.70 ⇓ 1.06% | 18.27 | 21.40 / 16.90 BOND IBBLPBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 585 D: 955.8 ⇑ 0.08% | 953.33 | 960.0 / 950.0 C: 947.5 ⇓ 0.68% | 947.25 | 947.5 / 943.0 ACIZCBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 422 D: 870.0 ⇑ 0.00% | 870.00 | 879.0 / 870.0 C: 828.0 ⇓ 3.44% | 828.00 | 856.0 / 802.0 BRACSCBOND | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 65 D: 1100 ⇑ 0.00% | 1100 | 1100 / 1080

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

China unveils rules on first free trade zone in Shanghai n

AFP, Shanghai

China has officially unveiled a plan for its first free trade zone in Shanghai, shedding light Friday on the reform path of the new leadership as it aims to transform the world’s second-largest economy.

The government will allow free yuan convertibility under the capital account on a trial basis, and test market-set interest rates and cross-border use of yuan in the zone, according to the plan issued by the State Council, China’s cabinet.

Restrictions on foreign investment will also be eased, as regulations on operations of foreign firms and Sino-foreign joint ventures will be “temporarily adjusted” in the zone for three years from October 1, said the plan, which is largely in line with a draft reported

by AFP earlier.

“It (the zone) should be made an experimental field to push forward reforms, improve the open economy, as well as accumu-

late experience that can be duplicated and promoted,” the cabinet said in a statement while announcing the plan.

However, it made no mention of a reported plan to liberalise the country’s tightly-controlled Internet sector in the zone.

A proposed rule to allow foreign and Sino-foreign joint venture auction firms to sell cultural relics in the area was scrapped in the overall plan, however Earlier this week, unnamed government sources said the zone will allow access to Facebook, Twitter and other websites banned nationwide, the South China Morning Post had reported.

The official People’s Daily later rebuffed the report, saying in a Friday commentary that “China will not set up a ‘political concession’ on the Internet”.

According to the plan, China will also ease restrictions on trade as well as 18 service sectors ranging from finance and shipping to culture services.

Foreign financial institutions will be allowed to set up solely-owned banks and privately-funded Sino-foreign joint ventures, while domestic lenders will able to conduct offshore business in the zone.

A proposed rule to allow foreign and Sino-foreign joint venture auction firms to sell cultural relics in the area was scrapped in the overall plan, however.

The free trade zone, which received official approval last month, will amalgamate four existing bonded trade zones in Shanghai and span 29 square kilometres (11 square miles).

Premier Li Keqiang, who took office in March, hopes the project will be one of the crowning achievements of his administration, analysts and government officials have said. l

Women stand in front of a poster during the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear in Jakarta

REUTERS

Samsung moves to appease EU on Apple patent fight n AFP, Brussels South Korea’s Samsung has answered accusations by Brussels that the company abused its dominant market position by taking out unfair injunctions against rival Apple, the European Commission said on Friday.

In the drawn-out fight between the giants over the smartphone and tablet market, the Commission believes legal manoeuvres launched by Samsung would unfairly prevent Apple from access to crucial shared patents.

But Samsung has sought to remedy the problem, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a speech in New York, without providing further details.

“I can announce that following a long

discussion, Samsung has just formally submitted a set of commitments to address our concerns. We will soon launch a market test on these proposals,” Almunia said.

In December, the Commission informed Samsung that its injunctions over Apple’s access to Standard-Essential Patents (SEPS) were in violation of EU anti-trust rules.

The warning came after Brussels opened a probe early in 2012 following Samsung injunctions to ban the sale of products made by its competitors in several European countries, alleging that they were illegally using its patents.

But last year Samsung dropped a request to ban Apple products in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands though

it proceeded with lawsuits. It was this latter aspect that had to be examined. Apple and Samsung have filed lawsuits against each other in around a dozen countries for alleged patent violations over competing products, in particular the iPhone and Galaxy S smartphones, as well as tablet computers.

In the United States last week, a judge ordered a new trial to review damages tossed out in a landmark patent case involving Apple and Samsung.

The retrial became necessary after the judge cut some $450m from a damage award of more than $1bn to be paid by Samsung in a case in which the US firm accused its South Korean rival of copying technology from the iPhone and iPad. l

France threatens Google over data protection breaches

n AFP, Paris

France’s data protection watchdog said Friday it would take action against US giant Google for failing to comply with national privacy guidelines.

The issue of data protection has gathered steam worldwide following revelations by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency, that the US had a vast, secret programme called PRISM to monitor Internet users.

France’s CNIL said Google had failed to comply with data protection guidelines within a three-month deadline and said it would begin a formal sanction procedure, under which the US giant could be fined up to 150,000 euros ($205,000).

CNIL had asked Google to inform web users in France on how it processes their personal data and to define exactly how long they can store the information.

It had also requested that the US giant obtain users’ permission before storing cookies on their computers, referring to files that track netizens and allow companies to target them with tailored commercials.

“On the last day of this (three-month) period, Google responded to the CNIL. Google contests the reasoning of the CNIL and has not complied with the requests laid down in the enforcement notice,” the watchdog said in a statement.

“In this context, the Chair of the CNIL will now designate a rapporteur for the purpose of initiating a formal procedure for imposing sanctions.”

In its response, Google made no mention of any challenge to CNIL’s reasoning and maintained it respects European law.

France’s move follows Google’s introduction last year of a new privacy policy which enables it to track user activity across its search engine, Gmail, the Google+ social networking platform and other services it owns, which include YouTube.

The changes make it easier for Google to collect and process data that could be used by advertisers to target individuals with offers tailored to their specific interest, thereby increasing the company’s revenue potential.

Google has defended the changes it made last year on the ground that they simplify and standardise its approach across its various services.

But critics argue that the policy, which offers no ability to opt out aside from refraining from signing into Google services, gives the operator of the world’s largest search engine unprecedented ability to monitor its users.

While always on the agenda, the issue of data protection took on an extra dimension when Snowden’s revelations were published in June.

Under PRISM, the National Security Agency can issue directives to Internet firms demanding access to emails, online chats, pictures, files, videos and more.

Since then, keen to dispel any suspicion over their role in the programme, Yahoo, Google, Facebook and others have pushed for permission to disclose more details to users about demands for data made on them in the name of fighting terrorism or other threats. l