15 Feb, 2016

SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

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Falgun 3, 1422, Jamadiul Awal 5, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 300

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www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

200 ATM cards at forgery risk

INSIDE Drive against fake currency rackets soon

n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank has identified some 200 ATM cards of 26 banks that are running the risk of forgery.

The central bank on Saturday sent the card numbers to the respective banks, asking them to block the cards immediately.

These debit cards are believed to have been read by “skimming devices” during February 7-9, said a senior executive of the central bank.

“All the cards suspected as risky were identified from the ATM booths located in the capital as they are not protected by anti-skimming devices,” he said.

Banks have also been asked to inform the respective cardholders immediately about their decision to block them until new cards are issued.

The move came after some unauthorised transactions took place on Friday at several ATM booths of the Eastern Bank Limited (EBL).

The bank suspended ATM network services from 12pm to 6pm on Friday after getting complaints from clients about withdrawal from booths beyond their knowledge.

Similarly, some other banks also suspended their ATM services for a while and reduced the ceiling of withdrawal immediately after the card forgery news went viral.

Subhankar Saha, executive director of Bangladesh Bank, said: “Still, we are trying to understand the situation and then necessary measures will be taken.”

He also assured the clients that  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

In a bid to check currency forgery, the law enforcers have planned to launch a crackdown on the identified rackets across the country.  PAGE 3

China or Jica ministry undecided The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry has sought the Finance Division’s advice on whether to build a third terminal at the Dhaka airport with Chinese or Jica financing.  PAGE 5 In recent years, ATM machines have changed the way people withdraw money from their banks. Although efficient and timesaving at times, the recent news of card cloning has put a dent in clients’ confidence FILE PHOTO

Skimming at ATM booths on the rise

Now UCB complains to police that Tk1.26 lakh were withdrawn illegally from its ATMs Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Arifur Rahman Rabbi Organised criminal gangs are cloning debit cards of bank customers using special devices and withdrawing money from ATM booths.

Members of these gangs would first enter booths by showing fake identity cards and set up microchip-enabled devices with the automated teller machines (ATMs).

These devices, mounted with the

ATM, would copy information stored on an ATM card when a customer inserts their card into the machine.

Later, the information copied would be used to make fake debit cards and later used to withdraw money from other booths.

The revelation came to light in the first information report (FIR) that the officials of the United Commercial Bank (UCB) filed with the Banani police station on Saturday.

Mahbub Ul Islam Khan, head of UCB’s Fraud Control and Dispute Management of Cards, Branches Control and Development Division, filed the complaint.

Abdul Ahad, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of police’s Gulshan Division, told the Dhaka Tribune that the UCB authorities are also providing them with footage from the CCTV cameras installed inside its ATM booths.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

ILLEGAL MIGRANTS IN MALAYSIA

Is getting a worker ID good enough?

Sayeed Asiful Islam n Abu and Adil Sakhawat Malaysia has begun to register undocumented labourers today, including those from Bangladesh, with less than a week to go before Bangladesh and Malaysia finalise a new labour deal.

The issue of importing Bangladeshi workers has been a contentious one in Malaysia, where the government and local trades bod-

ies have been mired in a heated exchange over the issue all week.

On February 18, Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot will be in Dhaka to finalise an agreement to import 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers over the next three years.

Bangladeshi labour market observers said the two issues – registering lapsed workers and importing new workers – are separate and should remain so.

Owing to the design of its labour permit system, a majority of the foreign workers in the Southeast Asian country – some 3.2 million out of a total of 6 million foreign workers – are undocumented because their labour permits have lapsed.

Under the registration scheme, only those whose employment permits have lapsed will be registered, not those who migrated illegally.

This means that conditions for the most vulnerable migrants are

not likely to change, rights activists point out.

“Malaysia has created an underclass of workers called migrant workers,” migrant rights group Tenaganita said in a press statement on February 13, adding that it was imperative “not to compromise on the protection of rights, lives and dignity.”

The joint secretary to Bangladesh’s Expatriate Welfare Ministry  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

US Supreme Court vacancy upends presidential race The sudden death of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia opened a new and incendiary front in the already red-hot 2016 presidential race, one that promises to divide Democrats and Republicans and, perhaps, Republicans from themselves.  PAGE 23

Springer-dance time for Windies U19

It was Keemo Paul whose controversial mankad dismissal helped his side reach the quarter-finals and it was the same person yesterday who struck the winning boundary, guiding the West Indies to their first ever Under-19 World Cup title.  PAGE 25

Good turnout on Valentine’s Day

The heavy visitor turnout at Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2016 during the weekend continued yesterday as young couples celebrating Valentine’s Day visited the fair.  PAGE 32

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Mahfuz Anam sued again in 6 dists EC shrugs off BNP’s UP n polls argument UNB

Ten cases, including a sedition case, were filed against the Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam yesterday for carrying “confusing” and “defamatory” reports in the newspaper about Awami League President Sheikh Hasina during the 2007-08 military-backed caretaker regime.

Of the cases, nine were filed against Mahfuz Anam in Sylhet, Khulna, Patuakhali, Rangamati and Shariatpur districts while the sedition case was filed in Netrakona.

In Sylhet, Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Sylhet city unit President Abdul Basit Rumman and former president of the unit Rahat Tarafder filed defamation cases, each of Tk100 crore, with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

Taking cognisance of the cases, the court summoned Mahfuz Anam.

Advocate Humayun Kabir Babul, lawyer of Abdul Basit Rumman, said Mahfuz Anam published reports against Sheikh Hasina based on information provided by DGFI without any scrutiny in 2007 and he confessed to running such

stories in his newspaper in a television talk show recently.

In Khulna, two defamation cases were filed against the editor for the same reason.

Chhatra League’s Khulna district unit Secretary M Taslim Hossain Taj filed a Tk10 crore case against Mahfuz with Khulna Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, while Joint Secretary M Parvez Alam filed another Tk5 crore defamation case with Khulna Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court.

Later, the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mahfuz and fixed March 29 for the next hearing.

Khulna Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Aeysha Akhter Mousumi asked the officer-in-charge of Sadar police station to submit a report after an investigation.

In Shariatpur, three other defamation cases were filed against the editor with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court of the district.

Chhatra League’s district unit’s former president Nurul Amin Kotwal, Awami Muktijoddha Prajanma League’s central

organisation Secretary Hasibul Islam and Chhatra League’s Jajira upazila unit’s General Secretary Hanif Miah filed the cases.

In Patuakhali, district Swechchasebak League General Secretary Advocate Ujjal Bose filed a Tk5 crore defamation case against the editor with Senior Judicial Magistrate Court 5 of the district.

Taking cognisance of the case, the court summoned Mahfuz Anam.

In Rangamati, Kaptai upazila Jubo League President Nasir Uddin filed a defamation case against the editor with Rangamati Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court.

In Netrakona, a sedition case was filed against the editor with Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court.

District Public Prosecutor Golam Mohammad Khan Pathan filed the case under section 120(k), 124(k) and 501 of the Penal Code.

After recording the initial statement of complainant, the court asked the officer-in-charge of Netrakona Model police station to submit a preliminary report before the court by March 6. l

n UNB Turning down BNP’s request not to hold the Union Parishad (UP) polls along party line, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz yesterday said the Commission has nothing to do with it.

“Parliament has enacted a law and decided to hold the UP polls under the party banner… so, we’ve nothing to do in this regard at this stage,” he told reporters at his Election Commission Secretariat office.

He also said the rules and code of conduct regarding the UP polls have also been amended in line with the act passed by Parliament while the schedule for the polls also announced.

About BNP’s fear of violence if the polls are held along party line, Shah Nawaz said they think there is no possibility of escalating violence and hampering social bondage because of arranging the UP polls under party line.

“We’ve held the municipal elections under party line as well. The situation did not deteriorate that much. I think neither there will be any disruption in social harmony nor violence during the UP polls,” he said.

Earlier in the day, a four-member BNP delegation, led by party’s joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, met EC secretary Sirajul Islam and handed over a letter raising the party’s an objection to holding the upcoming UP polls along the party line.

In the letter, the party said it thinks the election along party line in the UP polls may damage social bonds at the grassroots level.

“Political violence and conflict may spread to families, villages and localities following such polls,” it said.

On Thursday last, the Election Commission declared election schedules for the first phase election in 752 Union Parishads fixing March 22 for balloting. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Is getting a worker ID Kazi Abul Kalam, told the Dhaka Tribune that getting lapsed workers back into the system is the first priority.

This will help to determine how many Bangladeshis are illegal migrants as opposed to lapsed ones, he said. Knowing this will give a clearer sense of the magnitude of the problem and will help the government deal with the issue later.

“The labour wing of the Bangladesh High Commission to Malaysia has been asked to keep an eye on the issue and to follow up as cases arise,” he said.

A public debate on whether or not to import the additional 1.5 million Bangladeshi labourers has pitted the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress against the Malaysian government.

Both trades bodies say labour imports should be halted until the registration process is completed.

But the FMM’s opposition to a new labour import deal is complicated by the fact that many of its members are actually in favour of labour imports.

Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, said requests for more foreign workers were made by industry players, including FMM members, The Malaysian Insider reported on February 13. “[FMM] members had applied to the Human Resources Ministry, Immigration Department and Home Ministry on the matter,” Zahid Hamidi, who is also the home

minister, said.

At the heart of the matter, as Malaysia’s deputy prime minister pointed out while speaking at a youth event, is the unwillingness of most Malaysians to do 3-D jobs – jobs that are dirty, dangerous and demanding.

Opposition politicians responded by saying that more locals would do those jobs if the minimum wage were to be raised. But that seems to miss the point – imported labour is willing to do 3-D jobs at existing wage levels.

The key issues for Bangladeshi labourers working abroad are to uphold workers’ rights and ensure safe working conditions, both Bangladeshi and Malaysian rights groups said.

Responding to repeated allegations of exploitation made by Bangladeshi foreign workers, Abul Kalam said the MoU due to be signed will include a clause on health care coverage for Bangladeshi workers.

Expatriate Welfare Ministry officials expressed concern over mistreatment and hazardous working conditions reported by Bangladeshi labourers and said workers must have avenues to express their grievances and have their concerns meaningfully addressed.

Abul Kalam said that while workers did not find jobs upon arrival on previous B2B and G2G labour recruitment schemes, this would not happen again.

“Jobs will be guaranteed,” he said. l

Skimming at ATM booths on the rise However, for the sake of investigation, he did not want to disclose any detail about what they have found by analysing the footage.

The FIR reads that a person, identifying himself to the security guard as a technician from the bank, entered a UCB ATM booth in Banani at 10:42am on February 7 and installed a skimming device on the machine. Later, he collected the copied information, used it to clone cards and withdrew money.

Primarily, the bank has found that Tk1.26 lakh was withdrawn using cloned cards. In an immediate response, the bank has suspended all kinds of debit card transactions and notified the customers about it.

The UCB also said in the complaint that they had not been able to identify the criminal but the security guard would be able to do it if the criminal was brought to him.

Moreover, the forger appeared to have attributes of a foreigner.

The bank requested the law enforcers to collect a still photograph of the suspect from the CCTV footage and circulate it to all the land ports and airports to prevent him fleeing the country.

When contacted, Maruf Hossain Sarder, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said: “Along with regular police, our Detective Branch officials are also conducting a shadow investigation. They are also checking whether the suspect has any similarity with criminals previously arrested for similar cases.”

In July 2013, the DB arrested

four in different parts of Dhaka for credit card forgery. They used similar technologies to clone credit cards and withdraw money from ATMs. Interestingly, the prime accused of the gang, named Selim, was a young inventor and got Tk14 lakh as grant from the Science and Technology Ministry during 198991. Another accused Manzurul was an official at the Information Technology (IT) Department of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited.

Law enforcers said that the banks concerned also have some responsibilities in stopping such crimes.

When contacted, Subhankar Saha, executive director of Bangladesh Bank, told the Dhaka Tribune that some banks do not monitor the CCTV footage from their ATM booths regularly.

He also said banks are supposed to have the necessary protective measures in place such as anti-skimming devices.

“We will see whether the glitches are at the bank’s end and take necessary steps in this regard,” he added.

Meanwhile, following media reports on suspicious transactions at several ATM booths of the Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) in Dhaka, the bank’s head of communication gave a clarification of their stance yesterday.

The official said they were yet to find out exactly what technology was being used to in connection with the suspected ATM forgery at

their booths which they are now trying to find out.

He also said that 21 individual cards were used to withdraw cash from the ATM booths of other banks.

“To safeguard cardholders further, we temporarily stopped EBL card access to other bank ATMs and vice versa.

“All EBL ATMs are fully functional and all EBL cardholders can use any EBL ATM and POS devices 24x7. We are closely monitoring everything and with consultation with Bangladesh Bank we will be able to revert back to inter-bank operation,” the statement reads.

The bank also advised its customers not to panic. l

200 ATM cards at forgery risk

the respective banks would compensate them for their losses.

Meanwhile, the central bank sent an inquiry team to the three banks – UCB, EBL and The City bank – yesterday to examine if there was any negligence on the parts of the banks.

Panic gripped the banks and the clients following the card forgery case. Bangladesh Bank has, however, asked the banks not to suspend their ATM services from mere panic.

To stop people from panicking, the Bangladesh Bank has issued an instruction to the banks asking them to strengthen security at ATM booths. l

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Drive against fake currency rackets soon n Mohammad Jamil Khan In a bid to check currency forgery, the law enforcers have planned to launch a crackdown on the identified rackets across the country.

The initiative is taken by the Home Ministry after it received an intelligence report on 255 criminals involved in the illegal business.

The report submitted last week also suggests that the BGB strengthen its efforts to check cross-border smuggling of fake currency.

Bangladesh has also shared the information with India as the two

countries are set to hold the fourth meeting of the joint task force on currency forgers in Delhi from February 22-25. A delegation of Bangladesh Police will join the meeting to be held in India.

The last meeting was held in November in Dhaka.

Md Moniruzzaman, assistant inspector general (confidential) of the Police Headquarters, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they would sit again this month to share updates on action taken against the currency forgers by the two countries.

Also a member of the task force, Monir said that they were working on case-to-case basis.

“We take action whenever there is an incident of seizure, no matter whether it is in Bangladesh or India.

“In the last couple of months, we conducted several drives while a number of cases were filed in Dhaka and Chittagong,” he said, adding that it would be a continue process.

The intelligence report mentioned that the organised forgers were collecting huge sum of money

from the market by deceiving people, mainly the bank clients and businessmen. They get bail from the courts and again engage in the same offence.

Apart from launching awareness campaigns, the report suggests that the authorities set up fake note detection machines at the business centres and speed up trial of the ongoing cases.

Of the groups engaged in currency forgery, the intelligence officials have found the trace of at least 12 gangs in the capital that include Jakir group, Huma-

yun group, Alauddin-Polash group, Emon-Babu group, Kamal group, Duruzzaman group and Sagir Master group.

Monirul Islam, the joint commissioner of DB police, said that the law enforcers were working against the currency forgers throughout the year.

“We arrested a number of gang leaders during our operations, but many of them come out of jail on bail and engage in the same crime again,” he said, adding that they were trying to locate the criminals now on bail. l

President to UK govt: Reinstate visa processing from BD n UNB President Abdul Hamid yesterday urged the UK government to take steps so that British visa can be processed from Bangladesh.

He made the call when a delegation of Labour Friends of Bangladesh (LFB) in the UK, led by Sir Keir Starmer MP, made a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban.

Mentioning that the UK is the home to the largest number of Bangladeshi nationals living abroad, President Hamid expressed hope that the UK government would review its decision of transferring the visa point at New Delhi, as this has caused difficulties to visa applicants in Bangladesh.

President’s Press Secretary Joynal Abedin briefed reporters after the meeting. l

Performers stage a dance routine at “Friend to Friend: Celebrating Spring and Friendship,” a cultural event organised jointly by the Department of Dance of Dhaka University and the EMK Center, in front of the Faculty of Arts building on the DU campus yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

PM: Help classroom digitalisation Khaleda’s petition rejected n BSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged affluent section of the society, particularly the former students, to help their schools in digitalisation of classrooms.

“The government alone cannot do everything. It’s a huge task to provide digital equipment to every 63,601 schools in the country,” she said urging the former students and affluent section of people to come up with the support to have multimedia, laptop and other computer accessories in their schools.

The prime minister made the call while inaugurating interactive multimedia digital content for primary education at a function at her Tejgaon office yesterday.

She said the government has laid importance to provide students with computer education from pri-

mary level as primary school is the basis of education.

In view of this, the government has given multimedia projectors in 1,500 schools and laptop in 5,000 schools, she said.

Multimedia classroom would make easy for students to know and understand about a thing as well as learning a subject, she said adding it’s not a difficult task at all to make at least one multimedia classroom in a school.

During the programme, State minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak handed over the CD of the digital contents to the PM. Information and Communication Technology division has made digital version of 17 textbooks of primary education with the technical support of non-government de-

velopment organisation BRAC and Save the Children.

Minister for Primary and Mass Education Mostafizur Rahman, State minister for Information and communication technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Chairman of BRAC Sir Fazle Hasan Abed addressed the function.

Secretary of Primary and Mass Education Humayun Khalid, Regional Director of Save the Children Michael McGrath and Secretary of the Minister of Information and Communication Technology Shyamsundar Sikder also spoke on the occasion.

Sheikh Hasina extended her thanks to the developers of the digital contents for primary school as well their collaborators saying, “it has fulfilled one of our long cherished dream to introduce multimedia education in schools.” l

n Ashif Islam Shaon

The Supreme Court yesterday rejected BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia’s petition for cancellation of plaintiff testimonies in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case clearing the way for trial at the lower court.

The five-member Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha turned down her fresh prayer upholding a High Court judgment.

Now the plaintiff will be cross-examined at the special court in Dhaka on March 3, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) counsel Khurshid Alam told media.

The petition was filed challenging the HC verdict that rejected another plea seeking expunge of an investigation officer’s deposition in the case, said her counsel Barrister AKM Ehsanur Rahman.

Khaleda had filed the petition with the HC seeking its directive upon the lower court to expunge deposition of the investigation officer Harun-or-Rashid.

The court rejected it on June 29 saying there was no illegality in recording statement of the IO. On July 3, 2008, the ACC filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case with Ramna police station accusing Khaleda Zia, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, now living in the UK after securing bail, and four others for misappropriating over Tk2.10cr which came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans.

On August 5, 2010, Harunur Rashid submitted a charge-sheet to the court against six people, including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and a special judge’s court in Dhaka began the trial proceedings in March 2014. l

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RPGCL assigned to handle SC upholds Amar Desh editor’s bail order n LNG-related works Tribune Report

n Aminur Rahman Rasel State-owned Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) has been assigned to operate liquefied natural gas (LNG) related activities.

According to Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD), Petrobangla has assigned one of its own company’s – RPGCL – to the task.

On December 29 last year, a letter signed by Petrobangla Director Md Quamruzzaman asked that RPGCL be assigned to operate LNG-related works instead of forming a new company for the job.

The government is expected to sign the final deal with Singapore-based Excelerate Energy Limited Partnership this month for building the country’s first floating LNG terminal on Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal, a Petrobangla official told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Excelerate Energy has already carried out a met-ocean study and found building the terminal viable.

The firm will also carry out a geo-technical study and detailed engineering design before starting the construction.

It will build the terminal within 16 months of signing the final deal. LNG import might start in early 2017.

Petrobangla will pay 0.474 cents per million BTU (mmbtu) – a measure of the energy content in fuel – for the unit on a build-own-operate-transfer basis for 15 years. It will receive the LNG within the range between 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) and 600mmcfd.

The LNG storage capacity of the unit will be 138,000 cubic metres. Petrobangla will pay the port service charges and tax on behalf of Excelerate Energy during the period.

A Petrobangla official said once the terminal is set up, the government would have to import LNG from Qatar or other countries for $16-$18 per unit.

On the other hand, Petrobangla has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from prospective bidders to implement two more land-based LNG terminals at Moheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar and Payra maritime port area. The last date of EoI submission is February 15.

At present, the country’s gas production is about 2,700mmcfd against a demand of 3,300mmcfd. l

DT photojurno’s bike stolen n Tribune Report

Amid tightened security at the Ekushey Boi Mela, a photo journalist’s motorbike was stolen yesterday afternoon.

Dhaka Tribune’s Staff Photographer Rajib Dhar went to the book fair on an assignment.

After coming back from the fair he found his bike missing.

He immediately contacted police. There was a CCTV camera

installed nearby but no footage was found in the police station.

Police said they could not preserve the footage or inform any patrol policemen as the CCTV camera could not record the incident due to power cut from around 1pm to 3pm.

The bike was stolen in between 1pm and 1:30pm.

A case was filed with the police station concerned yesterday evening. l

Anwarul Islam’s 22nd death anniversary today n Tribune Desk Today marks the 22nd death anniversary of late Anwarul Islam Bobby. He passed away in Dubai after a battle with leukaemia on this day 22 years ago.

Bobby was the youngest and first Bangali to hold the post of secretary-general of All Pakistan Newspapers Society while representing the now defunct The Bangladesh Observer before the Liberation War. After independence,

he went on to help late Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni in founding The Bangladesh Times and also Banglar Bani. Later he founded the first regional English daily newspaper in Chittagong titled The Daily Life and a medical weekly called The Pulse. He had also founded the now defunct The Morning Sun in Dhaka. He was known as a newspaper wizard among his peers.

His family requests all friends and well-wishers to pray for his departed soul. l

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a bail order granted by the High Court to the Daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman in a case.

The chief justice-led bench of the Appellate Division gave the order turning down a state’s petition against the bail order yesterday.

Mahmudur’s counsels told the media that Mahmudur Rahman could be released from jail as he had already been secured bails in other cases. He has been in prison since April 2013.

Lawyer Md Salehuddin said the case was filed in 2012 over a report published in the newspaper over an alleged Skype conversation between an International Crimes Tribunal judge and an

expatriate Bangladeshi legal expert.

A Cyber Crime tribunal denied his bail and he was later granted bail by the HC on January 15 this year.

Later the chamber judge of the Supreme Court accepted government plea against his bail order and forwarded it to the regular bench for hearing.

The bench finally rejected the petition after the hearing. l

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THIRD TERMINAL AT DHAKA AIRPORT

China or Jica - ministry undecided n Asif Showkat Kallol The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry has sought the Finance Division’s advice on whether to build a third terminal at the Dhaka airport with Chinese or Jica financing.

According to sources, the Civil Aviation Ministry is in fact now in a dilemma because both the Chinese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) are among the biggest development partners of Bangladesh and both have shown interest in financing the project.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Memon has recently wrote to Finance Minister

plan and basic design of the third terminal at a cost of Tk39 crore. Estimated cost of the project, slated for a start sometime between 2016 and 2018, will be Tk13,465 crore.

The letter reads that the duration of the project will be four years.

Earlier, in June 2014, after the Civil Aviation Ministry got the nod for building the terminal, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) approached Jica for a financing proposal but they did not respond at that time.

Besides China, the government of Malaysia had also shown interest in building the terminal under the G2G (government to government) scheme. l

Recently, after Jica showed interest in financing the project, the Civil Aviation Ministry fell could not decide which party to choose as Bangladesh has good terms with both.

Menon’s letter also says that the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka is now a major international communication route and a total of seven million passengers travel through it every year.

Experts predict that the number will rise to eight million by the end of 2018 and so the third terminal has become absolutely mandatory.

Ministry sources said that three consultancy firms – one each from South Korea, Singapore and Bangladesh – have already conducted feasibility study, laid out a master

AMA Muhith, seeking the latter’s opinion in this regard immediately.

According to the letter that the Dhaka Tribune has seen, the ministry was almost ready to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chinese government under the G2G scheme for the project.

This preparation was made after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told authorities several months ago to implement the project with Chinese assistance.

However, on his return from a visit to China last month, Finance Minister Muhith said Bangladesh should be careful while implementing projects with Chinese expertise and financing.

UK minister concerned over irregular Bangladeshis n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman British Immigration Minister James Brokenshire yesterday discussed about irregular Bangladeshis living in the UK during his meetings with the policymakers in Dhaka.

Brokenshire arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a two-day visit and had technical meeting with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque in the morning. It was followed by backto-back courtesy calls on Foreign Minister Ah Mahmood Ali and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

Diplomatic sources in different meetings said Brokenshire raised the issue of irregular Bangladeshis, whose visa or passports had expired.

According to an official, Brokenshire was told that the government has a clear policy of repatriation from anywhere in the world.

“We have crystal clear policy on repatriation of irregular Bangladeshis. After proper citizenship verification, if someone is found to be a Bangladeshi, we instantly take steps to bring him or her back,” the official said.

Brokenshire was also apprised of the security arrangements at the airports, the official added.

After the meetings at the Foreign Ministry, Brokenshire said he had useful discussions on shared interests of both countries, especially on tackling illegal immigration, organised crime and extremism. l

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard take part in a parade during a programme celebrating the force’s founding anniversary at the Coast Guard’s headquarters in the capital’s Agargaon yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Kamal: Stop drug smuggling, human trafficking n Mohammad Jamil Khan

TEMPERATURE FOREC AST FOR TODAY

FOGGY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15

Dhaka

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Chittagong

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Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 5:53PM

said: “The port judgement authority INB has declared Chittagong port safe only because of the efforts of the coast guards.”

Presently, the forces are providing security to 1,11,631 square kilometre economic area, which is totally in the territory of Bangladesh.

Chief of Bangladesh navy, inspector general of police, director general of RAB, director general of DGFI, director general of NSI, director general of fire service and civil defence and high official of Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard were also present, among others, on the occasion. l

coast guards has increased to 3,329 from 2,225 in the last couple of years.

Kamal said: “Around 94% of the import and export activities are taking place on the sea ports and this is where the coast guards provide security.”

Meanwhile, a total of 31 officials and staff were awarded with Bangladesh Coast Guard Medal and President Coast Guard medal for their efforts and activities last year.

Although it is the 21st founding anniversary the award giving tradition started in 2013.

Coast Guard Director General Rear Admiral M Makbul Hossain

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday urged the Bangladesh Coast Guard to continue their effort to combat drug smuggling and human trafficking.

He made the call in a programme held at the Bangladesh Coast Guard headquarters to mark the 21st founding anniversary of the force.

He said: “The coast guards have to become more efficient and continue their effort to combat trafficking of humans and illegal products, specially drugs.”

The minister said the number of

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Rangpur

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Khulna

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Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:32AM

31.5ºC Teknaf

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12.5ºC Rajarhat

Source: Accuweather/UNB

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PRAYER TIMES

Govt plans to build 12 barracks for police Sohel and n Kayes Arifur Rahman Rabbi The government is mulling over a plan to build 12 police barracks across the country to accommodate thousands of policemen recruited over the last five years.

The Tk219.17cr project tilted Construction of 12 Barracks at Different Units of Police Department is expected to be placed at the executive committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Under the proposed project by the Home Ministry, 12 barracks will be constructed at 12 thanas under 10 districts – Dhaka (Ashulia), Gazipur (Sadar), Narayanganj (Sadar and Fatullah), Chittagong (Double Mooring and Khulshi), Comilla (Kotwali), Rajshahi (Rajpara), Khulna (Sadar ), Barisal (Kotwali ), Sylhet (Kotwali ) and Rangpur (Sadar).

“We are trying to resolve the accommodation problems faced by the police department,” said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal while talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“However, it’s an ongoing process. The prime minister is sincere about the police force.”

The proposed project is expected to be completed by June, 2019 under the supervision of Bangladesh Police and Public Works Department.

About 30,000 policemen have been recruited over the last five years and 50,000 more will be recruited in next few years in line with the growing demand for police service.

“But the accommodation has not been raised in accordance with the rising police members. At present, residential facilities at the police units are inadequate compared to the police force,” it said giving logic for the proposal.

Currently, around 15,000 police members are getting 5,888 residential facilities in the proposed 12 barracks and 6,000 more residential facilities have been proposed to construct at the same barracks, the proposal said.

The project evaluation committee, in its observation, said police members will be able to play their roles with more effectively and efficiently in maintaining the law and order, once the project is completed.

Earlier, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque described the housing problem of police and said now 2% police is getting housing facilities, but the remaining 98% is suffering from residential crisis. l Sylhet

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Cox’s Bazar

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Fajr: 5:13am | Zohr: 12:13am Asr: 4:17pm | Magrib: 5:55pm Esha: 7:23pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

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News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

14-party protest against Khaleda, Pakistan today n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance will form human chains at 14 points of the capital today to protest against the conspiracy of the BNP and Pakistan against the 1971 Liberation War. The human chain will be held for an hour from 4pm at 14 points from Gabtoli to Jatrabari via Technical intersection – Kallyanpur, Shyamo-

li, Asad Gate, Sukrabad, Karwan Bazar intersection, Banglamotor, Shahbagh, National Press Club, Gulistan, Ittefaq intersection and Sayedabad Bus Terminal.

Earlier, central leaders of the alliance, lawmakers, Dhaka mayors and professionals held several meetings to make the programme successful.

Dhaka city unit Awami League also held an extended meeting with its affiliated bodies at its office

PM to lay foundation stone for burn institute in March n Abid Azad Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lay the foundation stone for the proposed Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute in the capital's Chankharpur area in the first week of March.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim said this at a press conference at the ministry conference hall yesterday.

He said: “Over the last few years hundreds of people have been admitted into the Dhaka Medical College Hospital's burn unit. Many of them died as the DMCH could not cope with the growing number of patients.”

This is why the government

took the initiative to establish an international-standard burn and plastic surgery institute in the country.

The Health Ministry proposed the name as Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute. The premier will lay its foundation stone in the first week of March, he added.

The deadline for the completion of the construction of the institute is December 2018, he said.

He also informed that the total project cost will be Tk522cr 49 lakh which includes a donation from the Indian government.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project on November 24, 2015. l

Minister: Fishermen to get govt subsidy n Tribune Report The government is planning to bring the fishermen under subsidy provision as they face ban on catching mother hilsha during its peak breeding season, said Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Sayedul Haque.

“We will give the fishermen rice and cash incentives during the peak breeding season to motivate them not to catch hilsha during the period,” the minister told the parliament yesterday.

Replying to a query, he said: “The government with a view to providing financial support to marginal fisherman has so far registered some 1,428,000 fishermen from 482 upazilas and brought 1,310,000 fishermen under data entry system.

“We have taken photographs of 1,050,000 fishermen and prepared identity (ID) cards for them.”

The minister said the

government distributed 153,784.80 metric tonnes of food grains and around TK193 crore among 384,462 fishermen families as financial support for five months during the 2015-2016 financial year.

Meanwhile, the government is considering providing 30,756.96 metric tonnes of food grains and Tk 384,462,000 among 384,462 fishermen during the one month ban on catching mother hilsha fish in 2016, added the minister.

Replying to another query, the minister said: “Bangladesh is producing 3,548,000 metric tonnes of fish while the demand of the per capita fish of the country is 2,190,000 kilogram yearly whereas the consumption rate is 1,930,000 kilogram.

Replying to another query, the minister said that country will be self-sufficient in fish production by 2021 through producing 4,200,000 metric tonnes of fish. l

yesterday. After the meeting, Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said that BNP chief Khaleda Zia made acrimonious remarks on the number of martyrs of the war as she had lost popularity.

“This not the first time she has expressed her loyalty to Pakistan.

Khaleda Zia inspired the Pakistani soldiers against the Bangalis during the war. She even did not listen to her husband's call to leave the can-

tonment,” he said.

After her remarks, several cases including one for sedition have been filed against the three-time former premier.

From the event, the ruling alliance would also protest against the stance of Pakistan as it repeatedly interferes in Bangladesh's internal affairs and tries to make the trial of war criminals controversial.

Earlier, 14-party spokesperson and

Health Minister Mohammad Nasim alleged that Pakistan was conspiring against Bangladesh with the help of BNP and Jamaat. “Khaleda Zia is their agent and her statements regarding the martyrs is a part of the conspiracy.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wants to maintain good relation with Pakistan as it is a Saarc member. But if it continues conspiring against us, I doubt whether we will maintain the relation in future,” he said. l

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News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

VALENTINE’S DAY

Police offer roses to people Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

Marking the Valentine Day, the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) took an exceptional programme yesterday titled ‘Love Not Hate’ by offering red roses among the people when a number of incidents came to light against police in the country.

The police also offered the symbol of love to legal aid seekers who went at 16 police stations in the city under CMP to sought legal service, said the police sources.

CMP Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandol inaugurated the programme through offering red roses to the commuters and different vehicle drivers in city’s GEC and New Market area in the morning.

During the programme the CMP commissioner also called upon the city dwellers to follow the law to create a “Lovely Bangladesh”. l

Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Abdul Jalil Mondol offers a red rose to a rickshaw puller yesterday marking the Valentine’s Day

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Bandarban main road subsides at many points Correspondent, n Our Bandarban Communication between Bandarban district town and Thanchi upazila may suspend anytime as the main thoroughfare which connects the upazila and district headquarters lies in a sorry state.

The road at 17 spots has subsided making the communication of thousands of people risky.

According to Roads and Highway Department sources, Thanchi upzila is 82 kilometre away from district town. A good portions of the road at Sotero Mail, Purabangla, Gelanga Rastar Matha, Kaprupara, Nilgiri, Jibon Nagar, Balipara,

Kolaipara and Sakhaypara have remained subsided for long, but no step has been taken to mend the road.

Kei Hlia Ching Marma, chairman of Thanchi union parishad, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had informed the matter to deputy commissioner, State Minister for Chittagong Hill Tract Affairs Bir Bahadur, MP and officials of Roads and Highway Department, but the problem was yet to be fixed.

Local people said the road at several points have subsided into 10 to 15 feet depth. Sometimes vehicles plying on the road got stuck on the big potholes not only causing sufferings for commuters, but

also posing life risk to them.

Due to the dilapidated state of the road, local people cannot transport their agri-produces properly and they have to count additional fare.

Md Jasim Uddin, general secretary of Thanchi Bazar Committee, told the Dhaka Tribune that as the road lied in a rundown state they had to count extra money to transport crops.

“That’s why production cost of vegetables have increased and growers are getting less profit,” he said.

Remakri, Nafakum, Boromadak and Amiyokum are the main attraction of tourists. This year, presence

of tourists has declined to a great extend and for this reason people who depend on tourist-sector are passing bad time and incurring huge losses.

Dablu Borua, a tourist guide, told the Dhaka Tribune that he was passing days with hardship as his income had reduced in these days because tourists did not dare to come to the upazila to visit seeing terrible situation of the road.

Former chairman of Balipara union parishad Kasao Marma told the Dhaka Tribune that the road lied in a poor state due to the negligence of Roads and Highway Department. He said: “We are frustrated with the matter.”

Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Thanchi Mohammad Anwar Hossain said the Army had temporarily repaired the road after road communication between district town and Thanchi upazila suspended for a month. But later the road later turned back to its previous state.

Engineering Construction Battalion 16’s Major Humayun Kabir said maintenance of the road had been handed over to Roads and Highway Department. But Executive Engineer of the Roads and Highway Md Yunus told the Dhaka Tribune that firstly they were entrusted with the renovation work of the road, later, Bangladesh Army had taken the charge of the road. l

One held for beating up eighth-grader

GP staff found dead

n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

n Our Correspondent, Bogra

One person has been arrested after an eighth-grader was tied and beaten up – and the video of the assault recorded – in Rajshahi’s Paba upazila on Friday.

Jahid Hasan, a student of the local Bagsara High School, was accused of theft and beaten up by a group of men between 3pm and 10pm on Friday at Choubaria village. He is now receiving medical attention at the Paba Upazila Health Complex.

Jahid’s father Imran Hossain filed a case with the Paba police

station on Saturday night, accusing 13 men for the assault.

‘The accused Palash and Razzak have been issuing threats ever since the case was filed. We are worried about our security’ One of the suspects named Azizul has been arrested, confirmed Paba OC Shariful Islam.

The other accused are Nasir, Palash, Tuhin, Sandi and his son Anik, Razzak, Sagar, Ujjal, Masim, Kamal, Fazlul Bari and his son Rakib.

Plaintiff Imran told the Dhaka Tribune: “The accused Palash and Razzak have been issuing threats ever since the case was filed. We are worried about our security.”

Paba police station Officer-inCharge Shariful, however, assured the victim’s family that they had no reason to worry about their safety.

He added that efforts were on to arrest the other suspects, who have all gone into hiding following the filing of the case. l

A worker at Grameenphone, who went missing on Saturday, was found dead yesterday in a river in the district.

The victim was Mamunur Rashid Manik, son of Ahshanullah Mantu, a freedom fighter, resident of Talora Garibelgharia of Dupchanchia upazila. He was a sales representative at Grameenphone Fast Distribution office in the upazila.

On Saturday morning, Manik went to Dublagari bazar for collection money, said SM Shahnewaz, managing director of the office.

“We have tried to contact with Manik several times in the afternoon, but his mobile had been switched off,” he said.

“The father of Manik went to Shahjahanpur police station to file a general diary after he was missing. But police did not file the diary,” added he.

Locals found the body packed in a bag in the morning near the Kortowa River and informed the police.

The police found the body and sent it to hospital morgue. Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of the police station, Manik might have been killed over previous enmity. l

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News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Station masters Eateries fined Tk1.73 lakh Chittagong protest pay scale in n discrimination Tribune Report

n Tribune Report The station masters threatened to go for tougher programmes, including work abstention, if the ongoing process for recruiting assistant station masters is not scrapped.

The station masters issued the threat at a press conference held at Chittagong Press Club yesterday.

Bangladesh Railway Station Master and Employees Union (BRSMEU) organised the press conference to press home their demands and protesting pay scale discrimination in the recently published recruitment advertisement.

“We deeply frustrated with the scale degradation for assistant station masters. The railway authorities had published an advertisement on October 30 last year for recruiting 270 assistant station masters.

However, the advertisement mentioned Tk4,700 as the pay scale keeping the education qualification same as before.

The assistant station master have been receiving Tk4,900 as salary as per the national pay scale of 2009,” said Mokhlesur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Railway Station Master and Employees Union.

“A revised recruitment advertisement has to be published by February 25. Besides, the existing pay scale of Tk4,700 has also to be revised.

We also demand upgrading the assistant station masters to second class. Otherwise, we will be compelled to go for tougher programmes,” vowed Rahman.

While reading out written statement at the press conference, Rahman said, “Bangladesh Railway is now reeling from acute shortage of station masters. Out of total 340 stations across the country, the rail authorities have shut down as many as 140 stations due to shortage of the station masters.”

A revised recruitment advertisement has to be published by February 25 “A total of 680 assistant station masters are required for operating 340 stations across the country. It is not clear to why the rail authorities sanctioned only 114 posts,” added the president of the BRSMEU. As per ‘Hours of Employment Act’, a station master is supposed to work eight hours a day. A station master is made to work 16 hours and in some cases 24 hours. However, the station masters are deprived of the overtime allowances, said the station masters.

The press conference was attended by the BRSMEU secretary SN Bhattacharya, executive president Md Hossain Majumder, Chittagong chapter president and secretary Showkat Ali Chowdhury and Md Nejam Uddin, convener of Dhaka divisional Moron Chandra Das, member secretary Belayet Hossain, among others. l

5 bullet-hit in AL clash n Tribune Report At least five people were shot in a clash between local Awami League (AL) and Jubo League (JL) in district’s Banshkhali upazila on Saturday night.

Swapan Kumar Majumdar, officer-in-charge of Banskhali police station, said the clash erupted between the supporters of upazila AL’s President Kafil Uddin and Banskhali upazila president Maksudur Rahman at Boiltol union around 11:30pm.

Witnesses and police sources said a rally was arranged

in Boiltol area in the evening where the supporters of Kafil Uddin had locked into an altercation with Maksud group over getting upcoming nomination in UP election.

At one stage, both groups clashed with each other equipped firearms at around 11:30pm leaving five persons injured, said the OC. Police went to the spot and brought the situation under control while the injured were sent hospital, added the OC. The OC said no case was filed in this connection. l

A mobile court conducting separate drives in the port city fined six eateries with Tk1.73 yesterday.

Md Foyez Ullah, assistant director of Department of National Consumer Rights Protection, fined five eateries with Tk73 for making food in unhygienic environment.

“Zilani Hotel was fined with Tk18,000, Ruhul Amin and Restaurant with Tk10,000, ABP Hotel with

Tk25,000, Iran Hotel with Tk5,000 and Monjenis with Tk15,000,” said the assistant director.

Meanwhile, Ruhul Amin, executive magistrate of Chittagong District Administration, led another mobile court at Chawk Bazar area in the city and fined Chawk Malancha with 1 lakh.

“Chawk Malancha was fined for making food in unhygienic condition. Although the eatery was authorised for using two burners, it was using four burners,” added the executive magistrate. l

Fake police official held n Tribune Report Members of law enforcers arrested a fake police official in Chawakbazar area under the city early yesterday.

The arrested, Himadri Biswash, 28, completed his study in BSc Engineering from a private university, said police sources.

According to Detective Branch (DB) of police sources, introducing as an officer of SB, Himadri committed crime holding the common people hostage in different places and realised money. l

Limited learning, unlimited prospects

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DT

Education

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

IELTS

dates and locations

n Rafid Ahnaf Do you ever feel lucky to just be able to read the newspaper? Or hear the doorbell? Call someone and talk? The answer is probably no. We take seeing, hearing and speaking for granted and fail to realise that some people do not have these gifts.

We tend to see these unfortunate friends and spare a sigh at their situation, but that’s it. Have we ever thought of how these special people attain their basic education?

Actually, yes. Education is a fundamental right, for everyone including the visually impaired and the deaf and mute.

People with visual impairments are introduced to many educational techniques among which the following are essential.

Technology and computer proficiency By using computers fitted with assistive technology such as a screen reader, the visually impaired can have the information on monitors read out to them, or printed in Braille output for them to read themselves.

Literacy Reading and writing with braille, optical devices and large fonts are all methods used to improve literacy of those who are visually impaired.

Safe and independent mobility Using specific methods and

Venue: Banani Test date: February 27, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 20, 2016

people with hearing difficulties tend to have a different kind of education system.

maneuver techniques, long canes, or other mobility tools, the visually impaired can still achieve a reasonable level of safe and independent mobility and live regular lives.

The Manual Method Signs, the manual alphabet, and writing are the principal ways of teaching. One handed or two handed alphabets are also used.

Social interaction Social interaction can also be improved by understanding nonverbal behaviour, speech recognition and by using touch.

The Oral Method Speech and speech-reading, together with writing, are made the most important means of instruction, and ease in speech and speech-reading, as well as mental development and written language, is aimed at.

Independent living skills Learning specialised techniques for personal grooming, food preparation, money management, and other tasks can all contribute to making life easily for the visually impaired.

People with speech disabilities can often tend to have hearing troubles as well, and this can affect the quality of education they are getting. As a result,

The Auricular Method This method utilises the hearing of semi-deaf students to the fullest and even develops it. This method also uses accessories to aid in hearing, and can prevent

IELTS

students from completely losing their speech and hearing abilities.

The Combined System The combination of all the methods and practices mentioned above is considered to be the best way to improve education and enhance the mental development of deaf students.

Lastly, even though these people are unfortunate in terms of seeing, hearing and talking, they do learn to develop their other senses. They make good dancers, craftsmen and even authors.

There is a popular belief that people who are at a loss of one of the five senses develop a sixth sense. This is idea is further popularised by Marvel’s Daredevil, a sightless lawyer, fighting crime by night with the help of his powerful hearing. l

Writing Task Practice with us to step up your IELTS game.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

Test date: March 05, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 27, 2016 Venue: Dhanmondi Test date: February 27, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 20, 2016 Test date: March 05, 2016 Module type: IELTS General Training Registration deadline: February 27, 2016 Test date: March 05, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 27, 2016 Venue: Bashundhara, Baridhara Test date: March 05, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 27, 2016 Test date: March 05, 2016 Module type: IELTS General Training Registration deadline: February 27, 2016 Test date: March 19, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: March 12, 201

Write about the following topic.

The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.

Test date: March 05, 2016 Module type: IELTS General Training Registration deadline: February 27, 2016

Here’s a sample of the IELTS General Training Writing.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write at least 250 words.

Venue: Uttara Test date: February 27, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 20, 2016 Test date: March 05, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 27, 2016 l

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Feature

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Mobile money in Bangladesh Will it revolutionise banking for poor women?

I

n Hitoishi Chakma and Maria A May

n a recent Bloomberg interview, Bill Gates shares: “Banking is more fundamental than I realised. There have been attempts (at banking for the poor) by microfinance groups, cooperatives, but the transaction fees were always too high. Until we get those services down with very low fees and in digital mode, banking will only be for those who are better off.” In Bangladesh, where 95% of the population have access to mobile phones but only 20% have a formal bank account, the significance of such an opportunity for a banking revolution is even more pronounced. Indeed, since 2011, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made over $21 million in grants and equity investments in bKash.

Bangladesh has seen one of the world’s fastest growing mobile money ecosystems develop in the past two years. This growth has propelled bKash to become the second largest mobile money provider in the world, only behind Kenya’s mPesa. Ideally, this growth in digital money is also an opportunity for pro-poor financial service providers such as microfinance institutions to significantly expand financial access.

We are only to look at Kenya’s M-Shwari, that gives users instant access to short-term credit and secure savings for inspiration. As of 2015, one in five Kenyan adults are active M-Shwari customers.

With the use of mobile money picking up here in Bangladesh, it is fast turning into an opportunity

to ensure that everyone can enjoy the full benefits of banking products. Mobile money fees in Bangladesh, when comparing small transactions such as Tk400, are among the lowest in the world.

Yet for all the adoption of mobile money we have seen in Bangladesh, there remains one key segment of the population that has yet to embrace it - women, especially poor women living in rural areas. Despite the rich history of women’s participation in microfinance and savings groups, when it comes to mobile money, over 80 percent of the mobile money users turn out to be men.

What explains this lag and what can we do about it? Especially when poor rural women can benefit immensely from access to such services that would enable easier remittances, create new savings mechanisms, and even make purchasing airtime hasslefree.

Since 2014, through the Gates Foundation-funded Innovation Fund for Mobile Money, BRAC has been piloting different projects in providing digital financial services for the poor.

This experiment with mobile money aims to see how existing BRAC services can be transformed into more effective and valuable solutions for the poor. Over the past one-and-a-half years, these experiences ranged from providing digital microfinance in remote communities to offering flexible school fee payments that allows low-income parents to pay in small installments. Overall, the projects have targeted women and girls, focusing on their

Photos: BRAC

These women often report that they are satisfied with the ability to simply receive calls and may lack the basic numeracy skills required to navigate the mobile money menus

needs in products and financial education.

However, as we have found from the pilots, it is not easy for a rural woman to master mobile money. These women often report that they are satisfied with the ability to simply receive calls and may lack the basic numeracy skills required to navigate the mobile money menus. This has prompted us to begin providing financial education, where we provide basic numeracy skills and develop financial management skills. In places like remote Hatiya, where literacy levels are low, it can take three to six months of financial education before a woman feels confident carrying out her own transactions.

While this is a lot of work, it is easy to assume that women are lagging behind in adopting mobile money because of an information gap. Certainly, limited information and literacy create challenges, but in fact, the barriers to adoption go much deeper.

A recent exploration of the problem using human-centered design techniques solidified these

convictions. One of the central comments heard repeatedly from women is that they do not identify themselves with becoming users of mobile money, which is the domain of the businessman.

Additionally, many women lacked confidence in their ability to use the service preferring to use cash instead. This shows that, like most of us, they are presentbiased and seek to avoid the immediate difficulties associated with learning to use the service even though it would bring them greater benefit in the future. By simply relying on agents their basic needs were being met and many commented on carrying out transactions with agents as “fine.”

Fortunately, these issues can all be addressed, but not through traditional financial education.

Instead, this requires more creativity from mobile money providers and NGOs on how they design their services.

What inspires BRAC the most is the increasing number of women from Hatiya to Panchargarh who, despite all of these issues, are now expert mobile money

users, confidently buying airtime, making deposits into their savings accounts, and managing their remittances. Their needs superseded their unfamiliarity and fear of technology. Many received significant support from BRAC’s staff and/or local bKash agents, who they trust and can access as needed. Given the challenges of reading the English menu, many used rote memorisation through mnemonic techniques to make these transactions.

Ultimately, necessity drives innovation. Till date, despite the potential present, womens’ demand for mobile money in Bangladesh has not been activated. Reaching these women is a must, if a banking revolution is to be ignited for the poor through mobile money. l Hitoishi Chakma is a Management Professional for BRAC Microfinance Maria A May is a Senior Programme Manager for BRAC Social Innovation Lab and the Research and Development Unit of BRAC Microfinance

DT

Editorial 11

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

INSIDE

The pearly gates State-of-the-art security system and clean, congestion-free roads are prime reasons behind the burgeoning demand for gated communities across the globe.

Entry privileges for pedestrians, cars, and bicycles are strictly controlled.

Parents can safely allow their children to roam around within the community PAGE 12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

The road to love Today 32% people live in urban areas in Bangladesh, compared to only 7% in 1971. However, the issue of urban disaster had been only taken into consideration in 2012. The progress appears unpromising compared to the improvement in coastal areas PAGE 13

A short shirt charade Do I love this Dhaka? Let’s answer it this way: Our love for the city blossomed when Dhaka was a magical place to live and grow up, in the 70s and 80s. Since those images are still vivid, we just can’t hate it

PAGE 14

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/ DhakaTribune.

The views expressed in Opinion articles are those of the authors alone. They do not purport to be the official view of Dhaka Tribune or its publisher.

SOBs will never prosper on life support

I

t is unacceptable that the Banks and Financial Institutions Division is seeking Tk15,000 crore ($1.9 billion) in extra funding to recapitalise six state-owned banks (Basic, Bangladesh Krishi, Janata, Rupali, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan, Sonali) in the coming three years.

These capital short-falls come on top of the Tk5,000cr the government has already set aside for the current fiscal year, and follows years of tax-payers spending thousands of crores on bailing out SOBs. The government needs to heed the warning made by the former governor of Bangladesh Bank that the latest re-capitalisation plan risks only adding to the government liabilities, while doing nothing to stop future capital short-falls.

Breaches of rules intended to safe-guard capital remain endemic in the state bank sector which has repeatedly fallen victim to scams and defaults by small numbers of large borrowers, despite reform efforts by the central bank.

It is the policy of endless bail-outs that enables state bank boards to continue flouting rules and failing to end the corruption and incompetence that keeps increasing their losses.

While privately-run banks accountable to share-holders in Bangladesh have consistently shown they are better managed and profitable, the knowledge that tax-payer funds will be found to bail out SOBs has made their management incapable of improving and recovering bad debts.

It is time to accept that enough is enough, and the only prudent course is to end the policy of bail-outs.

Valuable public money should not be wasted propping up state banks which have consistently shown their inability to reform.

Tax-payer funds can be better spent on education and health.

The government should stop SOBs taking on further liabilities and begin a managed process to transfer viable state bank assets to private management and begin disposing and close down the rest.

This is the only way to end this costly and harmful drain on the public purse.

It is the policy of bail outs that prevents the reform needed to end corruption and incompetence in state banks

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

The pearly gates As Bangladeshi society becomes more sophisticated, we need more customised solutions to treat its problems

n Jamilur Reza Chowdhury

O

ur population is soaring at a meteoric pace.

Coupled with aggressive unplanned urbanisation, it is over-burdening our beloved Dhaka. Efficient management of a modern metropolis depends on its infrastructure and meticulous development plans, and is pivotal not only for the survival of the area, but also for the well-being of its inhabitants.

The infrastructural expansion of a city or a country is directly proportional to its development.

Increased use of homes, transport, and resulting traffic, production, and land usage becomes inevitable. If these indicators of development cannot be controlled, it gradually becomes a burden and starts hampering stable and healthy growth of the economy. It will also undermine our performance as responsible predecessors to our future generation, who will have no option but to inherit this burden from us. We will have failed them.

There is no way we can deny our responsibility to ensure a liveable world for our future generations. A planned, safe, and lasting haven that we call home is a vital part of it.

To ensure that our future generations inherits from us a healthy, liveable environment with better living facilities, we must start meticulous planning and developing safe havens for them, with adequate greenery and space for them to be able to play and physically engage rather than staying back home attached to their computers and cell-phones.

Especially in the urban regions, the best solution to this need can now be provided by gated communities. Gated communities, which are rising in popularity world wide, are upgraded and more secure versions of conventional residential areas or housing estates.

They remain under continued surveillance and a strict umbrella of security. These communities contain all the elements needed for a healthy environment.

A separate locality outside the hustle and bustle of regular busy cities, gated communities contain clean air, playing grounds for children, physical working out facilities, swimming pools, and abundant greenery.

All these essential components are organised in a planned manner. Children, especially, find an

Gated communities are a great way of dealing with increasing urbanisation

BIGSTOCK

State-of-the-art security system and clean, congestion-free roads are prime reasons behind the burgeoning demand for gated communities across the globe. Entry privileges for pedestrians, cars, and bicycles are strictly controlled. Parents can safely allow their children to roam around within the community

environment integral for healthy growth. They learn to understand the importance of learning about the world by direct engagement with nature along with technology.

State-of-the-art security systems and clean, congestion-free roads are the prime reasons behind the burgeoning demand for gated communities across the globe. Entry privileges for pedestrians, cars, and bicycles are strictly controlled.

Parents can safely allow their children to roam around within the community. A posh and comfortable ambiance at a reasonable cost adds to the value.

For reasons mentioned above, residences in gated communities retain their value despite instabilities in local property prices. Gated communities can develop with either public or private patronisation, further adding to their credibility.

Almost all economically-developed nations in the world have

gated communities. According to research data, the residential system in the US is increasingly becoming gated community-oriented. As early as 1997, there were 20,000 such projects in the US, with more than three million individual units. 40% of houses in California are situated in gated communities.

In the book Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States, authors Edward J Blakely and Mary Gail Snyder mention that: “In this era of dramatic demographic, economic, and social change, there is a growing fear about the future in America.

Many feel vulnerable, unsure of their place, and the stability of their neighbourhoods in the face of rapid change. This is reflected in an increasing fear of crime that is unrelated to actual crime trends or locations, and in the growing number of methods used to control the

physical environment for physical and economic security. The phenomenon of walled cities and gated communities is a dramatic manifestation of a new fortress mentality growing in America.�

As a society grows more sophisticated, it needs more customised solutions. Bangladesh, moving towards urbanisation akin to the US a few decades back, now has the solution that the US adopted to address a similar issue.

The concept of gated communities is anything but new.

The current system, simply, is a polished version of what always was. In the middle ages and the age of Renaissance, royalties used to live in gated communities for extra security. The need is still prevalent, and people have more scope to avail a solution than ever before. Since the 1980s, the concept of gated communities has spread like wildfire across continents.

In neighbouring India and Pakistan, gated communities have already become a dependable residential system. While already established in Pakistan, it is rapidly catching up in India as well. In India’s Maharashtra, Ambi Valley City and Lasava City are prominent examples of highly sophisticated gated communities.

More such projects are developing in Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore; Bahria Town in Pakistan is the largest gated community in Asia.

There are different types of gated communities. For example, in Malaysia, there are four types of gated communities: Elite community, lifestyle community, security zone community, and security zone community and lifestyle.

It is extremely important that we adopt the highest possible measures we can for our security.

Gated communities offer the best solution in that regard. A positive development in Bangladesh is that the concept has already started taking baby steps towards materialisation here.

It not only indicates that Bangladesh is catching up with global trends, but in hindsight, also shows that Bangladesh is well on its way to gradually accomplishing its dream of a developed nation. l Jamilur Reza Chowdhury is the Vice Chancellor of University of Asia Pacific.

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

The road to love Valentine’s Day is too great an opportunity for our tourism industry to ignore observed as a testament of love for couples and those who seek love and romance. Offering greeting cards, flowers, chocolates, and special gifts is common practice on the day.

Though observing Valentine’s Day is still banned in a handful of countries, the underpinning message of the day crosses borders both real and unreal.

Celebrations bring us joy, happiness, and, most importantly, a chance for recreation, and behind this chance for recreation sits opportunity for good business -- with greeting card companies and restaurants always there to cater to love-struck couples.

Love and romance are as old as human beings, if not older. And, even though the form and nature of expressing love has changed, the emotion that fuels it is still more human than human.

It might sound a bit too farfetched, but Valentine’s Day has helped innovate the service industry to the point where it is today.

Love and romance are as old as human beings, if not older.

And, even though the form and nature of expressing love has changed, the emotion that fuels it is still more human than human

Falling in love is magical -- and expensive

BIGSTOCK

n Ziaul Haque Howlader “For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make” [For this was on St Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate]

V

Geoffrey Chaucer

alentine’s Day -- February 14 -- is celebrated in Bangladesh with as much fervour as anywhere else in the world. It is a day that has been celebrated for hundreds of

years, often considered the ideal occasion to show one’s partner or spouse just what they mean to you.

Romance is palpable on this day -- young boys and girls are busy seeking out the perfect gift for each other. Everybody comes out on to the streets and celebrates their feelings of affection towards their partners, and indeed the whole world.

The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration of love appears in the “Charter of the Court of Love” in France. The Charter is believed to have been issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie in 1400,

describing ostentatious festivities attended by members of the royal court.

Amidst such festivities, the attending ladies, apparently, would hear and rule on disputes from lovers.

Early medieval history portrays St Valentine as a priest who refused the decree of Roman Emperor Claudius II which decreed soldiers to remain single. Valentine preached that falling in love was magical, and that the heart was close to the divine. Infuriated, Claudius incarcerated Valentine and ordered his public execution by a single arrow to the heart.

At present, Valentine’s Day is

An entire industry thrived by piggybacking on Valentine’s Day. It would greatly benefit Bangladesh’s tourism industry to try and seize the opportunity that Valentine’s Day gives us, by offering special services such as romantic cruises, special offers at the many beautiful tourist spots which dot our map, sight-seeing tours, and so on.

Such initiatives would make great headway in encouraging more people to travel with their dear and near ones. l Ziaul Haque Howlader is the Deputy Manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

A short shirt charade Love in Dhaka was once a very different thing

With all its problems, why do we still love this city?

n Towheed Feroze

I

t appears that Valentine’s Day has become more localised with this term: “Bhalobasha Dibosh.” Must say, our version sounds a little more romantic.

Of course, this “bhalobasha” (or love) does not have to be romantic love, it can be for relatives, for the nation, and for friends. Someone told me, on this day, a “Love Dhaka” congregation has been organised where rallies carrying banners with slogans professing affection for the city will be brought out, among many other things.

Dhaka is indeed our city and we love it even though the current day relation is somewhat bittersweet: During the work days, caught in traffic, I hardly see a smiling face.

Come to think of it, Dhaka is perhaps at its most pleasant during the Eid holidays when, for about two weeks, the roads are quiet, traffic smooth, and the noise well below blood pressureraising levels. Dhaka’s problem is not with traffic alone, we hardly see the sky; the city suffers from claustrophobic congestion with too many people and high rises.

Do I love this Dhaka? Let’s answer it this way: Our love for the city blossomed when Dhaka was a

Do I love this Dhaka? Let’s answer it this way: Our love for the city blossomed when Dhaka was a magical place to live and grow up in, in the 70s and 80s. Since those images are still vivid, we just can’t hate it

magical place to live and grow up in, in the 70s and 80s. Since those images are still vivid, we just can’t hate it.

“Ar thakum na ai shohore” (will not stay a minute in this blasted city) I have heard from many exasperated people but they soon forget it once they manage to take a rickshaw ride within the Dhaka University campus on a Friday afternoon or after 10 at night, especially during the monsoon.

Right, let’s get into the Valentine mode: There is a palpable sense of “bhalobasha” everywhere on that day.

With so much happening, a Valentine Day role I played about 27 years ago came to mind. One of my friends, a true romantic, had developed a relationship with a girl over the phone. Back then, many such relations happened

via the TNT line. Conversations took place usually at night, using a spare telephone receiver connected surreptitiously to the main household telephone connection.

So for Valentine’s Day, my friend decided to send the girl some gifts and I was to be the bearer cum messenger.

Plans started well ahead of February 14. One could not walk into a store and ask for romantic gifts because there were none.

My pal made a card using art paper on which one of his senior cousins painted a rather surreal image: A blood red bird lost in thought with a centipede not too far away.

“What do you think of the painting,” he asked me, obviously expecting a gushing response.

Umm, well, it was very

metaphysical! The gifts had to be bought from special places, some collected. From my end came a small tissue box from Harrods.

Hand tissues were something of a novelty; scented ones with refreshing cologne almost nonexistent in Dhaka. We began looking for chocolates but failed to get something “exotic” from the Ruma and Popy stores -- the top-end departmental shops of the time. It was frustrating. My friend was adamant in getting large Cadbury bars. Bonalim and Picnic would be too banal.

Things became so bad, he started dreaming of Cadbury in his sleep.

Luckily, we were saved because my friend discovered that in our area lived a Biman Bangladesh steward.

We didn’t know him but went to his place anyway.

Everything’s fair in love and war, my buddy reasoned. The man was a bit puzzled but we pleaded: Something out of the ordinary is a must.In the end, he got us a box of assorted chocolates on the condition that the moment the local video store had a clean copy of Hero Hiralal (a Nasiruddin Shah movie), we would get it from him.

My friend paid with the monthly tuition fees kept for his coaching for the chocolates. A round cardboard box was ordered from the shops selling bridal accoutrements, and after all the items were put inside, we sprayed some Brut and Charlie cologne inside. The moment she opens the box, there must be an explosion of perfume, my pal said. Who would disagree with him!

On February 14, I was on my way in a baby taxi to Mirpur. Still don’t know why, but I wore a shirt which was short. I mean a little too short. This style would finally come after 20 years but back then it seemed really odd. Waiting outside the girl’s house carrying the gift wearing a shirt, which was small, led many to give me a queer look. Finally, as the Maghrib azaan sounded and the girl’s father walked out to the mosque for prayers, I was given a signal.

Hurriedly, I entered the gate and handed the box and walked out. The girl didn’t say anything but looked a little surprised.

I later found that my shirt was the dominant topic for the phone conversation that night. I guess my buddy tried his best to rationalise my choice of clothes. I found much later that he told the girl: “Oh, he is a bit nuts; spent some time in a sanitarium as a child.”

“Tui amar prestige puncture korsos,” (you have dented my prestige), he came to me the next day, half angry, half amused.

“Why did you wear that short shirt?”

This is from Pearson’s, I replied, to which he said: “Gulli maari tor Pearson’s …”

Really, I still wonder, why did I wear it!

Well, look at it this way, if I had been proper, this piece would not be written; to be frank, we were all romantic fools then; perhaps a little stupid but we had some memorable days in a Dhaka which is now a dream.

Valentine’s Day wishes/ bhalobasha to all the readers who have had the patience (or not) to read my column. l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

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Business 15

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

INSIDE Oil bosses upbeat on market rebound Movers and shakers from the oil industry descended on London last week and expressed optimism over a sharp rebound in the beleaguered crude market later this year. PAGE 17

Desperately seeking signs of inflation Now markets have delivered their verdict on inflation - it’s not picking up any time soon - economic data due next week will show whether price pressures are rising meaningfully or falling back in some of the world’s major economies. PAGE 17

‘No reason for yuan to fall further’ China’s central bank chief has blamed foreign speculators in part for volatility in the yuan and said there is no basis for further depreciation, according to an interview in Caixin magazine. PAGE 18

Capital market snapshot: Past Week DSE Broad Index

4,580.6

-0.0% ▲

Index

1,122.3

0.3% ▲

30 Index

1,760.6

0.1% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

4,276.0 -15.4% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

92.3 -22.1% ▼

CSE All Share Index 14,158.1

0.1% ▲

30 Index

12,768.5

0.1% ▲

8,599.1

0.1% ▲

Selected Index Turnover in Mn Tk

263.7 -16.4% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

7.6 -16.5% ▼

60 RMG factories seek Accord recognition n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi A total of 60 RMG factories producing clothing products for Accord signatory brands have sought recognition as they have completed Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) outlined by the retailers platform.

According to the Advisory Board Meeting Report of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety held in Dhaka, it has received information from approximately 60 factories, claiming that they have completed all remediation works.

“The Accord has received an update that approximately 60 factories have completed all remediation works. Of them, two have been verified as having completed all initial remediations and have accordingly received recognition letters from the retailers platform,” said Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector (CSI).

He added that the advisory meeting report was posted on the Accord website on February 8,2016.

These factories will be specially noted on a dedicated section of the Accord website.

The CSI expects that in the coming weeks and months more and more factories will complete their initial remediations, according to the report.

The verification is an ongoing process. Initially, there were

60 factories. They might have all been inspected by now.

Two RMG manufacturers – Concord Fashion Export Ltd and Jeacon – have successfully met all remediation requirements outlined by the Accord.

Accord engineers will verify the factory owners’ claim. If the engineers find that all corrective measures are done, they will get recognition from the Accord

The Accord engineers will verify the factory owners’ claim on completion of CAPs, Rob Wayss, executive director (Bangladesh Operations) of Accord, told the Dhaka Tribune.

If the engineers find that all

corrective measures are done, they will get recognition from the Accord and their names will be published on the website, he said.

“We will prioritise those factories that have complied with Corrective Action Plans, but the Accord has also to concentrate on those, which are most vulnerable.”

The Chief Safety Inspector of Accord said they conduct approximately 400 verifications per month.

“From our initial inspections, we have found that so far two factories have successfully completed all remediations.”

When a factory becomes fully compliant, they are publicly recognised by the Accord website, he said.

The outcries over safety issues began after the Rana Plaza factory disaster that killed over 1,135 workers and injured over 2,500 people on April 24, 2013.

After the factory collapse, the Alliance made a commitment to provide financial and technical support to improve fire and building safety standard of RMG factories from which they source products.

The Accord has completed its assessment of 1,600 factories alongside publishing Corrective Action Plans for 1,358 RMG units and doing a follow-up inspection on 1,304 factories. l

Unani drug producers may face legal actions for VAT n Tribune Report

The National Board of Revenue has asked its field offices to launch legal actions if Unani medicines manufacturers fail to clear outstanding value added tax.

The business stage VAT on the Unani medicines has, however, remained suspended since July, 2014.

But the manufacturers allegedly refused to pay the tax they kept due before exemption.

When asked about the row, NBR sources said the manufacturers continued to refuse to pay the outstanding tax as the field offices asked them to pay.

The manufacturers’ rationale was that as the VAT had been exempted, they won’t pay it.

They, however, refused to understand that the VAT being asked for was due before the exemption came into effect, sources said.

In this situation, the field offices communicated the matter with the headquarters in Dhaka.

On February 10, the VAT implementation wing responded with a clarification that the VAT due before exemption should have to be paid.

The letter reads if the manufacturers fail to pay the due VAT, they should be brought under legal proceedings.

They were also asked to submit a report to NBR headquarters in next seven days with details of actions taken in this regard. l

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Business

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Oil bosses upbeat on market rebound n AFP, London Movers and shakers from the oil industry descended on London last week and expressed optimism over a sharp rebound in the beleaguered crude market later this year.

Bob Dudley, chief executive of British energy major BP, forecast at the International Petroleum Week industry conference on Wednesday that “the daily (oil) supply and demand” will be balanced in the second half.

“Every storage tank and swimming pool will be full of oil,” Dudley told delegates, acknowledging the vast global supply glut that sent prices plunging close to 13year lows under $27 (24 euros) per barrel last week.

“And then... the market starts to pull the plug.

“And I think we will begin to see the fundamentals (of supply and demand) take over,” he said, indicating prices would pull higher in the third or fourth quarter.

Dudley cautioned however that $100 oil would not return any time soon. World oil prices meanwhile rose Friday, with US crude rebounding from a 2003 low to reach almost $30 per barrel, on reports OPEC was willing to organise output cuts that could curb global oversupply.

However, prices have nevertheless slumped by about 70% since mid-2014 with the market awash with crude.

Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of French oil and gas giant Total, agreed that prices would charge higher towards the end of the year.

“I think that the price will be higher at the end of the year 2016 than it is today,” Pouyanne said Thursday at the IP Week conference.

‘It’s quite a crisis’

The recent slump in the cost of oil has slashed the profits of energy

World oil prices swung between sharp gains and losses this week as possible efforts to finally tackle a supply glut were offset by lingering concerns over weak global economic growth AFP companies, prompting them to cut or defer investment and axe thousands of jobs.

Total also revealed it would invest up to $2bn less in 2016 than originally planned, as it grapples with ultra-low prices.

“It’s quite a crisis that this industry is facing,” added Pouyanne.

Dudley meanwhile estimated that about “$400 billion of projects have been deferred or cancelled” by the global energy sector in response

to the market’s recent collapse.

He warned: “That’s going to lead to another reaction” in the oil market.

BP recently posted the group’s biggest annual loss in at least 20 years, ravaged by tumbling oil prices.

Energy companies tended to over-invest in times of high price levels in the commodity cycle, according to Pouyanne.

“When the prices are high we over-invest, when the prices are high we have an impact on the

Stocks open week on back foot n Tribune Report

Stocks closed flat amid extreme volatility yesterday as late profit booking mainly on textile, financial institutions and telco sectors cut early gains.

The market continued to suffer wide fluctuations with indexes moving up and down heavily during the entire trading session.

The benchmark index DSEX inched 0.8 points down to close at 4,580, after rising around 20 points in the last consecutive three sessions.

The Shariah index DSES was marginally up 3 points to 1,122. The blue chip comprising index DS30 witnessed a fractional rise of 0.9 points to 1,760.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX rose 9 points to 8,599.

Textile sector suffered the highest losses with drop of over 1%.

Non-banking financial institutions came second falling 0.6%, followed by telecommunications 0.5%.

Food and allied sector gained highest, rising more than 0.9%, followed by engineering 0.8%, power 0.6%, banks 0.4% and pharmaceuticals 0.09%.

Trading activities declined sharply as the DSE turnover stood at Tk430 crore, down more than 15% over the previous session.

IDLC Investments said the market maintained the similar pace to close the maiden session of the

week in flat zone amid volatility.

While profit booking strategy was on play along different cap classes, some news-driven trading practices were also observed, it said.

Accordingly, Gemini Sea Food was the biggest day’s gainer, climbing 7.5% riding on its impressive quarterly earnings. On the other hand, Envoy Textile tumbled 2.4% after its flat earnings disclosure.

Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited was the most traded share with a turnover worth Tk33.4 crore. It was followed by United Power Generation and Distribution Company Limited, IFAD Autos, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Square Pharmaceuticals and Olympic Industries. l

demand (but) when the prices are low we under-invest and we have a positive (impact) on demand,” he told delegates.

Pouyanne added: “Clearly we are today in a crisis of an excess of supply, an excess of capacity, and also because the demand was lower than expected.”

The Total boss said excess capacity stood at two million barrels per day (bpd), which he added was “not so big” compared to a total

market of 90 million bpd.

However, he estimated that about 25 million bpd of new capacity was required between now and 2020, and cited the impact of declining production from existing oil fields and increasing energy demand.

Pouyanne warned there would be an estimated shortfall of between five and 10 million bpd by 2020, which he added would also push prices higher in the longer term. l

Kamal calls for more investment in livestock n UNB, Dhaka Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal stressed that a lot of investment is needed to develop the country’s livestock sector which could alleviate poverty.

“Huge investment is needed to come in the (livestock) sector under public-private partnership initiative,” he said while addressing a seminar in Dhaka yesterday.

Mustafa Kamal said the government laid emphasis on the livestock sector to boost its production and thus address poverty and increase the country’s GDP growth.

“The government has already taken nine projects on livestock sector,” he said, adding that the government, however, alone cannot address all the problems.

Bonikbarta, a vernacular business daily, and ACI Limited, a local business firm, jointly organised the seminar at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Research Institute Mohammad Giasuddin and ACI Executive Director Dr Ansari, among others, spoke at the seminar.

Speakers said livestock sector can play a strong role as about 26% people still live under the poverty line. l

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

ECB’s Coeure: Market turmoil could hold back euro zone inflation n Reuters, Frankfurt

Foreign currency banknotes are placed on a basket for counting during a photo opportunity at the bank’s headquarters in Seoul REUTERS

Desperately seeking signs of inflation n Reuters

Now markets have delivered their verdict on inflation - it’s not picking up any time soon economic data due next week will show whether price pressures are rising meaningfully or falling back in some of the world’s major economies.

A global rout in stock markets, currencies, commodities and bond yields has so far defined 2016 as investors have seemingly lost faith in central banks’ abilities to boost inflation, with signs the world economy is stalling.

Five-year inflation-linked swaps in the euro zone EUIL5YF5Y=R, for example, suggest annual price growth will be just 1.4% even as far out as 2021.

“Most people don’t understand what has spooked markets. It’s up to economic data now to demonstrate that markets have gone overboard in projecting very low inflation,” said Jeavon Lolay, head of economics at Lloyds Banking Group.

“One reason is probably that markets don’t believe the response from policymakers is adequate.”

The Bank of Japan surprised markets late last month by cutting its deposit rate to negative. But the impact seems limited to some kneejerk weakening in the Japanese yen JPY=.

Sweden’s Riksbank also slashed its repo rate to -0.5% on Thursday, partly as insurance against expectations that the European Central Bank would ease policy in March.

Inflation data from Britain, Canada, China and the United

States next week may set the tone for the global economy.

While Reuters polls suggest at best tepid price rises, market watchers will look at the underlying trends in inflation to gauge whether another round of policy easing and stimulus is warranted.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted this week the path to higher interest rates in the United States may be less steep than previously thought, given the broad market sell-off.

It’s not that the outlook for inflation in developed economies has changed dramatically in the past three months in polls conducted by Reuters.

But a 75% crash in oil prices CLc1 since mid-2014, and weak global demand, led by China’s slowing economy, have dragged down market inflation gauges like swaps and sovereign bond yields, with vast swathes now showing negative yields.

The yield of Germany’s benchmark bunds DE10YT=RR has fallen over 40 basis points since January to its lowest in nearly a year, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index and the S&P 500 in the US have fallen over 20% and 10% respectively.

China reopens

The start of the week will probably set the tone for markets as trade data out of China, due on Monday, are predicted to show exports slumped at a faster rate in January.

“The trade figures out of China will probably be diced by markets for (their) impact on commodity prices and global growth,” said Lolay. l

Europe’s financial market turmoil could delay a rise in inflation even further and banks will need to be fixed with forceful action over time, European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure told a German newspaper yesterday.

The euro area inflation outlook is already weighed down by sharply lower oil prices and slowing global growth, and the market volatility is compounding the problem, Coeure told Rheinische Post.

“If that (volatility) continues for too long, it can also increase the risk of a rise in inflation being delayed,” Coeure said.

Euro zone bank shares are down

nearly 30% since the start of the year on concerns about profitability, potentially increasing the cost of capital for banks and holding back lending. That could reduce the effectiveness of the ECB’s 1.5tn asset buying programme, its key monetary policy tool.

The ECB is buying assets, mostly government bonds, to boost lending and raise inflation back to its target of nearly 2 percent from around zero after three straight years of misses.

Coeure said banks are facing low profitability and some are struggling with a high level of non-performing loans, a legacy of the Europe’s economic crisis. But they are also more resilient than in the past, thanks to years of capital increases.

“None of these challenges are new:

they have been clearly identified, they require forceful action and they will be solved over time,” Coeure said.

Coeure added that it was also up to euro zone governments to enact growth friendly policies, which could then boost output and eventually help boost banking profitability.

“If this does not happen, we will have to keep rates low for a very long time,” he added.

“Our advice to euro area governments is to use the savings gained from the lower cost of debt refinancing in a growth-friendly way to help their citizens,” Coeure added.

He said government should reduce taxes on labour, create more incentives for private investment, or reduce their deficits where required. l

DT

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

‘No reason for yuan to fall further’ n AFP, Shanghai China’s central bank chief has blamed foreign speculators in part for volatility in the yuan and said there is no basis for further depreciation, according to an interview in Caixin magazine.

The Chinese economy grew 6.9% in 2015 - the slowest rate since 1990 - and capital has been flowing out of the country due to worries over flagging growth, causing the currency to weaken.

“International speculative forces have recently focused on shorting China,” People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the bank’s website Saturday.

“They are eager to manufacture public opinion to try to force an outcome as soon as possible,” he said, but did not identify them.

Chinese state media has taken aim at investor George Soros for saying at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that a hard landing for the world’s second largest economy is “practically unavoidable”.

In early January China guided the yuan - also known as the renminbi - down by setting its daily fix lower for eight consecutive sessions, representing a 1.4% fall, before it returned to stability.

The falls raised fears of a creeping devaluation, as it echoed moves in mid-August when China adjusted the yuan down nearly five

Intelligent robots threaten millions of jobs n AFP, Washington

Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the People’s Bank of China speaks at the Volatility as the New Normal event in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos REUTERS percent over a week.

Zhou vowed China would use its massive foreign exchange holdings to defend the yuan.

“China has the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves,” he said. “We will not let speculative forces guide market sentiment.”

The country’s foreign exchange reserves dropped $99.5bn to $3.2tn

in January, according to official figures, as the central bank sold dollars to slow the slide in the yuan.

But Zhou said: “There is no foundation for continued depreciation (of the currency).”

He pledged that currency reforms would continue despite the turmoil although the government

would maintain its management role. China keeps a tight grip on the yuan on worries free capital flows will bring financial risk and reduce its control.

“Sometimes the market will show flaws, by being controlled by speculative forces or short-term sentiment and a herd effect,” Zhou said. l

CORPORATE NEWS

Advances in artificial intelligence will soon lead to robots that are capable of nearly everything humans do, threatening tens of millions of jobs in the coming 30 years, experts warned yesterday.

“We are approaching a time when machines will be able to outperform humans at almost any task,” said Moshe Vardi, director of the Institute for Information Technology at Rice University in Texas.

“I believe that society needs to confront this question before it is upon us: If machines are capable of doing almost any work humans can do, what will humans do?” he asked at a panel discussion on artificial intelligence at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Vardi said there will always be some need for human work in the future, but robot replacements could drastically change the landscape, with no profession safe, and men and women equally affected.

“Can the global economy adapt to greater than 50% unemployment?” he asked.

Transform manufacturing

Automation and robotization have already revolutionized the industrial sector over the last 40 years, raising productivity but cutting down on employment.

Job creation in manufacturing reached its peak in the United States in 1980 and has been on the decline ever since, accompanied by stagnating wages in the middle class, said Vardi. l

HATIL teams up with Nolte n Tribune Report Khulna zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has recently organised a conference on business development at a hotel in Khulna. The bank’s MD and CEO, Mohammad Abdul Mannan was present at the conference as chief guest

Rangs Motors Limited has recently introduced new Mahindra Supro Maxitruck vehicle in Bangladesh. Managing director of Rangs Motors Limited, Sohana Rouf Chowdhury inaugurated the product in presence of Sagar Bhadkamkar, GM at Mahindra India

RAK Paints (BD) Limited has recently arranged an annual award presentation ceremony titled, “JibonerRong” to honour its valued partners. The company’s chairperson, SAK Ekramuzzaman was present on the occasion

NBL has recently held a discussion meeting on treasury operations, procedure and risk. The bank’s managing director (current charge), AFM Shariful Islam presided over the meeting

HATIL, a leading local furniture manufacturer, has joined hands with Nolte, a German kitchen brand, for opening an outlet at Jamuna Future Park in the city.

The new Notle showroom will display the latest trends in kitchen, bedroom and living room solutions made in Germany.

The showroom will also showcase 14 different types of kitchens in terms of material systems and finish combination, making it the largest ever kitchen display in country.

On Saturday last, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed inaugurated the showroom while German Ambassador to Bangladesh Dr Thomas Prinz, HATIL Chairman and MD Selim H Rahman and MD of Nolte FZE Selva Kumar were present at the event, according to a press release. l

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Event

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

‘Environment Awareness Program’ to help minimise pollution Through a kite festival at St Martin’s, an official “Environment Awareness Program” was launched on Friday, February 12.

“Preserve the beauty of the sea-beach,” “Use dustbins for littering,” and “Restrain from tossing bottles into the sea water,” were some of the slogans on the banners, carried by the campaigners of the program. It was jointly organised by Momento Tours & Events, and Memoria Entertainment, facilitated

by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. The Daily Ittefaq was the media partner of the three day-long event that concluded yesterday through a

kite festival and a bicycle race.

During the tourist season, approximately 3,000 tourists visit the St Martin’s Island every day, many of which spend the night at the hotels there. Many of these hotels dispose waste directly into the sea water. A lot of tourists also dispose plastic bags and other waste material that further pollute the water, as well as the neighbouring area.

The Environment Awareness Program aimed to address these issues and help minimise the pollution.

The program was supported

by Dhaka Tribune, Asian Television and Asian Radio. l Photos: Courtesy

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Floor coverings (4) 5 Took flight (4) 10 Old stringed instrument (4) 11 Hail! (3) 12 Fact of being elsewhere (5) 13 Cut grass (3) 14 Of punishment (5) 16 Dry inflammable matter (6) 18 Talk much about little (6) 21 Pokes (5) 23 Fish eggs (3) 24 Oneness (5) 26 Employ (3) 27 Refuse of grain (4) 28 Dissolve (4) 29 Fencing weapon (4)

DOWN 2 Foreign (5) 3 Bath (3) 4 Minister’s salary (7) 6 Tibetan priest (4) 7 Develop gradually (6) 8 Early freshness (3) 9 Agreement (4) 15 Obliteration (7) 17 Set as a burden (6) 19 Strong thread (5) 20 Narrow beams (4) 22 Stagger (4) 23 Spirit (3) 25 Short sleep (3)

Downtime CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 5 represents R so fill R every time the figure 5 appears.

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

A B C DE FG H I J K L MN O P Q RST UVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

INSIDE ANALYSIS

Multiple crises challenge EU ahead of February 18 summit Justice Antonin Scalia: Conservative icon of American law During the three decades he spent on the bench, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia embodied the values conservative America holds most dear, from defending the traditional family, to religion and patriotism.

PAGE 22

UN: Civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit record high in 2015 Civilian casualties of the war in Afghanistan rose to record levels for the seventh year in row in 2015, as violence spread across the country in the wake of the withdrawal of most international troops, the UN reported on Sunday.

PAGE 23

Divisive politics return in India as BJP eyes make-or-break UP vote At a campaign rally in a north Indian city, a visibly drunk election worker from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) climbs unsteadily onto the stage after being called to speak.

PAGE 24

n Tribune Desk Nato warships are steaming toward the Aegean Sea in an escalated bid to impose order on the chaotic arrival of more than 1m migrants, which has not abated despite the wintry weather in southern Europe.

Informal mini-blocs have formed within the European Union, with some countries banding together to challenge, or just ignore, the EU’s announced refugee resettlement programme.

Temporary border controls have been introduced in key countries including Germany and France, threatening the cherished notion of freedom of movement across European borders.

Britain, a nuclear power with a seat at the UN Security Council, is demanding concessions ahead of a referendum on whether Britain should simply abandon the 28-nation EU, a prospect known as Brexit. And a slow-burning, extremely divisive budget crunch threatens the future of the euro single currency that has been a hallmark of European integration.

If the European Union were a patient, its survival would be seen as threatened by multiple organ failure.

That’s the view of many experts as EU chiefs prepare for a Brussels summit that starts Thursday. Analysts believe the combined strain of these challenges may be unbearable for a political union and trading bloc that just 20 years ago seemed to be growing in stature as it proudly offered freedom and democracy — along with lucrative subsidies, military alliances and billions in foreign investment — to newly freed former Soviet satellites.

The summit is one of a series of meetings that have tried, but mostly failed, to find an effective collective response to the chaotic arrival of so many people. Leaders will consider fairly minor changes to Britain’s status aimed at placating restive British voters ahead of a referendum, and assess how well — or poorly — earlier edicts on migration have been implemented.

EU facing multiple crises

The union has a knack for solving difficult situations by building consensus, and papering over cracks with layers of bureaucracy,

Record number of refuge seekers entering European soil and possibility of Britain's secession bring the European Union on the brink of falling apart BIGSTOCK but some warn the migrant situation is a more serious threat to continental unity.

The structures set up when the union was formed by six countries as the European Economic Community in 1958, and diluted with the addition of so many countries with differing perspectives, are simply too weak. So nations either make unilateral decisions or forge small alliances with other countries in the bloc that share their concerns.

Europe needs to have one cogent immigration policy to cope with the influx of people from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere but won’t be able to forge one because countries don’t view the problem the same way.

Officials had expected the flow of desperate people fleeing war and poverty would slow during the winter months, but The International Organization for Migration said this week that 76,000 people — nearly 2,000 per day — have reached Europe by sea since January 1, a nearly tenfold increase over the same period the year before. More than 400 have died, most of them drowning in frigid waters.

In this diffuse environment, it is difficult to see the EU managing to respond effectively to such an unpredictable situation.

It was much easier 20 years ago, before Islamic extremism had showed its face inside Europe.

The opening of the continent’s internal and external borders was seen then as a welcome part of a peace dividend, not an Achilles’ heel that left residents more vulnerable to suicide bombings and marauding gunmen. The relative stability in the Middle East meant the flow of migrants was manageable, not seen as a threat.

At the time, French President Francois Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl articulated forceful arguments in favor of more integration, and they were used to imposing their vision on the rest of the bloc, which was smaller and easier to manage.

The Schengen dilemma

When the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 it heralded a new era of passport-free travel in much of Europe, speeding trade, facilitating the easy movement of workers and students, and giving concrete, facts-on-the-ground reality to the idea of a continent turning its back on the wars of the past in favor of a more hopeful vision.

This inclusive approach guided the expansion of the European Union — as the bloc was renamed in 1993 — when Eastern European

countries lined up to join.

Stefan Lehne, visiting scholar with Carnegie Europe in Brussels, said the unsolved refugee calamity may put the EU integration process into reverse by rendering the Schengen agreement unworkable — pointing out that border controls have already been temporarily reintroduced in some countries, as allowed by Schengen rules — and threatening other integration goals.

He said the rule of law, and the EU’s authority, has already been undermined by the bloc’s failure to implement an agreed upon quota system calling for the resettlement of refugees in a number of countries. Stark divisions have been exposed, he said, by the way the Visegrad countries in Eastern Europe reap the economic benefits of EU membership but while refusing to help the refugees.

All these factors, he said, have put the brakes on integration — and may shortly lead to its opposite.

“This is really the first time we might lose a very real achievement of the integration project, Schengen, with important economic costs,” he said. “It’s also very symbolically important. My sense is that unless we get a grip on refugees, the integration process will be reversed.” l

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World

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

PORTRAYAL

Justice Antonin Scalia: Conservative icon of American law n AFP, Washington, DC During the three decades he spent on the bench, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia embodied the values conservative America holds most dear, from defending the traditional family, to religion and patriotism.

The longest-serving justice on the current court, and its first ever Italian-American, Scalia was eulogised after his passing Saturday, aged 79, as a towering figure of intellectual rigour -- with powerful personal convictions to match.

President Barack Obama led the tributes pouring in for “one of the towering legal figures of our time,” “a brilliant legal mind with an energetic style, incisive wit and

colourful opinions.”

Nominated by president Ronald Reagan in 1986, Scalia was a champion of originalism, a strict theory that views the Constitution’s meaning as fixed at the time it was ratified. According to this view, there is no doubt as to the validity of the death penalty and individuals’ right to bear arms.

A Catholic traditionalist, Scalia was outspoken in his defence of both gun rights and the death penalty, and at times highly provocative in opposing abortion, affirmative action for minorities or the “so-called homosexual agenda.”

His biting, precisely-worded opinions in the nine-seat court made him a hero of conservatives and caused the ire of his liberal foes.

Scalia’s passing now has profound political ramifications, creating a vacancy on the bench that could potentially tip the balance of the highest court in the land from a 5-4 conservative majority to a liberal one.

Yet much as he alienated some critics, Scalia’s approach earned him admiration well beyond judicial circles.

Accessible to a broader audience than those of most of his fellow justices, his vividly-written opinions were read by legal professionals and laymen alike.

‘Lion of American law’

Scalia’s affable personality, simple demeanor and portly physique contrasted with his sometimes

radical ideas.

He was often the only justice on the otherwise stern bench to trigger a laugh in highly technical debates.

Even in hearings, he was partial to sharp-tongued comments. And outside the court, he was outspoken, including in media interviews, another trait that made him stand out from his peers.

He triggered controversy more than once, most recently in December when he suggested that affirmative action might harm black students by placing them in schools for which they are unprepared academically.

Scalia played a key role in the court’s decision to stop the recount of Florida votes in the 2000 election, ultimately paving George W

Antonin Scalia

AFP

Bush’s way to the White House.

When asked about the Florida recount at public events, Scalia would simply respond: “Get over it.” Scalia overturned its historic Roe v Wade ruling that in 1973 recognised women’s right to abortion. l

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

UN: Civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit record high in 2015 n Reuters, Kabul Civilian casualties of the war in Afghanistan rose to record levels for the seventh year in row in 2015, as violence spread across the country in the wake of the withdrawal of most international troops, the UN reported on Sunday.

At least 3,545 noncombatants died and another 7,457 were injured by fighting last year in a 4% increase over 2014, the UN’s annual report on civilian casualties.

Increasingly desperate fighting between Western-backed government forces and insurgent groups meant more noncombatants are being caught in the crossfire, investigators wrote, pointing to two developments in particular which pushed casualties up.

Heavy fighting in the northern city of Kunduz, which briefly fell to the Taliban in late September, and a wave of suicide bombs which killed and wounded hundreds of people in the capital Kabul last year were the main factors behind the rise.

Ground engagements were the leading cause of civilian casualties at 37%, followed by roadside bombs

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan 8,000

In 2015

7,457

Since 2009

Breakdown of the casualities Killed Injured

7

3,545 Total

6

733

children 2,096

333

women

Injured

5

4

3,556

3,545 Killed

3

Antigovt.

2

2009

2010

2011

Source: UNAMA

2012

2013

2014

2015

*During clashes between pro-, anti-govt forces

at 21% and suicide attacks at 17%.

Women and children were especially hard hit, as casualties among women spiked 37% while deaths and injuries increased 14% among children.

Casualties attributed to pro-government security forces jumped 28% compared to 2014.

A 9% rise in civilian casualties caused by international military

forces was attributed largely to a US air strike in October on a Doctors Without Borders hospital that killed 42 staff, patients, family members and injured another 43.

Overall 103 civilians were killed and 67 wounded by foreign forces last year, the report found.

As in past years, insurgent groups like the Taliban were

7,547

913

17 17

The sudden death of US S u p r e m e Court Justice Antonin Scalia opened a new and incendiary front in the already red-hot 2016 presidential race, one that promises to divide Democrats and Republicans and, perhaps, Republicans from themselves.

The vacancy on the court, which is now evenly split 4-4 between its conservative and liberal wings, had Republicans calling on President Barack Obama to refrain from choosing a successor to the right-leaning Scalia while Democrats urged Obama to do as the US Constitution requires and put forward a candidate to face confirmation in an albeit hostile Senate.

The prospect of such a battle drew swift and furious comment from candidates vying to be elected president in November.

Facing off in a debate only hours after the 79-year-old Scalia’s death was announced, some Republican presidential candidates seized the moment to caution voters that their party’s

front-runner, billionaire businessman Donald Trump, could not be trusted to nominate a stalwart conservative at the Saturday night’s TV debate.

However, Trump, who also has taken several positions at odds with Republican orthodoxy, joined other candidates at the debate in insisting that Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican majority leader in the Senate, stand by his promise to block any Obama high court choice.

Under the US system, the president nominates justices for the nine-member court and the Senate confirms them. The last justice to be approved by the Senate of the opposite party during an election year was Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1988.

Obama has already indicated that he intends to send a choice to the Senate in coming weeks, meaning that the nominee will be heavily scrutinised by presidential candidates in both parties - and more than likely be opposed by the majority of Republicans.

Social issues on docket

Criticism of the court, which in recent years has upheld Obama’s sweeping healthcare plan and legalised same-sex marriage, has

Afghanistan summoned Pakistan ambassador over governor’s kidnapping Afghanistan on Sunday summoned Pakistan’s ambassador to the foreign ministry in Kabul to express serious concerns over the kidnapping of a former Afghan governor in Islamabad, the ministry said in a statement. Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, a former governor of Herat province, was snatched by unidentified men in an upscale district of the Pakistani capital on Friday.

-AFP

INDIA

Pro-govt.

Unattributed*

4 Other blamed for the majority of civilian deaths and injuries, at 62%.

Investigators accused insurgents of increasingly using tactics that “deliberately or indiscriminately” caused harm to civilians.

Since the United Nations began systematically recording civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2009, it has documented nearly 59,000 deaths and injuries. l

US Supreme Court vacancy upends presidential race n Reuters, Washington, DC

SOUTH ASIA

Disappointed by sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan

Who carries responsibility:

62%

2,412

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World

India said it is disappointed with the US decision to sell eight nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan and does not believe such an arms transfer would help combat terrorism. The US ambassador to India, Richard Verma, was summoned Saturday to the External Affairs Ministry where Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar conveyed India’s displeasure about the deal announced in Washington.

-AP

CHINA

Beijing pins Hong Kong riot on radical separatists A senior Beijing official on Sunday blamed “radical separatists” for a riot that erupted in Hong Kong last week, the worst clashes the city has seen since mass pro-democracy protests. Zhang Xiaoming, Beijing’s top representative in the semi-autonomous city, told the violence that left dozens of police officers hurt also showed elements of terror.

-AFP

ASIA PACIFIC

North Korea used money from joint factories for weapons North Korea channelled about 70% of the $560m it received for workers at the now-shuttered Kaesong industrial park into its weapons programmes and to buy luxury goods for the impoverished nation’s tiny elite, South Korea alleged Sunday. Seoul closed the park last week in retaliation for North Korea’s recent rocket launch.

-AP

MIDDLE EAST

The US Supreme Court premises already been a thread running through several Republican candidates’ campaigns.

The conservative majority on the court had appeared poised to invalidate Obama’s immigration and climate-change policies. The loss of Scalia, considered to be a lodestar of conservative legal thought, and the potential swing of the court to the left, ensures that whatever drama plays out in the Senate this year will be mir-

AFP

rored on the campaign trail.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose Republicans control the Senate, issued a statement saying the vacancy should not be filled until Obama’s successor takes office next January so that voters can have a say in the selection.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton seemed inclined to make McConnell’s threat a campaign issue. l

Iran warns against Saudi intervention in Syria A senior Iranian commander warned Saudi Arabia on Sunday against sending troops to Syria after the gulf kingdom deployed combat aircraft to Turkey, Iran’s state media reported. Deputy chief of staff Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri told that they definitely would not let the situation in Syria to go forward the way rebel countries want and Iran would take necessary actions in due time.

-REUTERS

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

USA

Indian-American Srinivasan among Obama’s options to replace Scalia Barack Obama has a number of likely options as he looks for a nominee to the US Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday.

Among those the administration could turn to is Sri Srinivasan, 48, who has served on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since May 2013. He would be the first Indian-American on the court and has impeccable bipartisan credentials.

-REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

Cuba returns wrongfullyshipped missile to US Cuba has returned an inert Hellfire air-to-ground missile that had mistakenly ended up in Cuba, US and Cuban officials said on Saturday.

The laser-guided AGM 114 Hellfire mistakenly arrived in Cuba in June 2014 and was retrieved on Saturday by US officials and representatives of Lockheed Martin Corp, the missile’s owner, the Cuban foreign ministry said.

-REUTERS

UK

Britain: EU reform talks will go to the wire Britain’s push to win backing from its European partners for its wish list of EU reforms will go right to the wire at a summit this week, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday. British and EU negotiators have already broadly agreed much of a reform package, but tricky political issues, notably on migration, are still outstanding.

-REUTERS

EUROPE

Top Spanish ruling party official resigns after corruption investigation The head of the Madrid branch of Spain’s ruling People’s Party said on Sunday she had resigned after police investigated members of her office for irregular payments to a building company, the latest in a string of graft scandals involving PP. -REUTERS

AFRICA

30 dead in two Nigeria village raids At least 30 people have been killed in fresh Boko Haram raids on two villages in northeast Nigeria, vigilantes told Saturday, again calling into question President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that Nigeria had largely defeated the jihadist group. Gun and knife-toting assailants on bikes and in vans stormed the remote villages of Yakshari and Kachifa on Friday and Saturday.

-AFP

INSIGHT

Divisive politics return in India as BJP eyes make-or-break UP vote n Reuters, Muzaffarnagar At a campaign rally in a north Indian city, a visibly drunk election worker from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) climbs unsteadily onto the stage after being called to speak.

Swaying, he unzips his leather jacket, drops a saffron party flag and declares: “I want to teach Muslims a lesson; a lesson that will prove Hindu unity and protect our religion from Islam.”

A year before Uttar Pradesh holds a state election that could make or break Modi’s chances of a second term, political opponents, analysts and commentators say his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is re-testing a divisive formula at a by-election on Saturday in a troubled corner of India’s most populous state.

It was here in Muzaffarnagar, in 2013, that at least 65 people were killed in communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

Around 12,000 people were driven from their homes in the surrounding villages where farmers grow sugarcane.

The following year, the BJP won 71 of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in a general election, handing Modi

India’s biggest parliamentary majority in three decades.

Despite two major state poll defeats since, the BJP recently re-appointed Amit Shah as its campaign manager, counting on him to win again in the 2017 regional vote. Shah, who holds the rank of party president, was banned by the Election Commission of India from campaigning in 2014 for statements promoting “hatred and ill will” between religions.

A senior aide to Shah said the Muzaffarnagar campaign raised legitimate issues to expose the flaws of the state government, led by the left-wing Samajwadi Party that is widely supported by Muslim voters. “It’s not illegal to voice the concerns of Hindus,” said the aide, who did not want to be named.

“To assume that we will only win elections by polarisation is ridiculous. Our work will prove a point and Modi’s image will work the best for us.”

Biggest prize

Modi must win in Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest electoral prize, to sustain his hope of one day gaining full control of parliament, where he lacks a majority in the

Supporters of India’s ruling BJP cheer at a by-election campaign rally in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh last week REUTERS Rajya Sabha that represents the federal states.

A victory there would help the 65-year-old leader advance his development agenda by passing land, tax and labour reforms that have been thwarted by the opposition. Defeat could turn his government into a lame duck ahead of the 2019 general election.

With Modi’s promise of growth and jobs yet to materialise, the

temptation to shore up his political base is growing, say political analysts.

Party leaders say the BJP is determined to keep its base intact with a message of Hindutva, or the idea that India is a Hindu nation. Uttar Pradesh, home to one in six of the population, is predominantly Hindu. But, in the west of the state, Muslims are in a slight majority. l

Three key moments of Saturday’s GOP debate The 9th Republican debate on Saturday night delivered its fair share of explosive moments. Below are the most memorable of the night--

Trump blames 9/11 on George W Bush

Donald Trump blamed the September 11 attacks on George W Bush’s national security failures.

“The World Trade Centre came down during your brother’s reign.

Remember that,” Trump shouted at Jeb Bush. The comment elicited loud boos from the audience members and caused Marco Rubio, once friend and now rival of Bush’s, to defend the former president’s record, saying blame for the attacks falls on Bill Clinton.

Trump unleashed: “The World Trade Centre came down during the reign of George Bush. He kept us safe? That is not safe. That is not safe, Marco. That is not safe.”

He continued: “The World Trade Centre came down because Bill Clinton [didn’t] kill Osama bin

Laden when he had the chance to kill him. And George Bush-- by the way, George Bush had the chance, also, and he didn’t listen to the advice of his CIA.”

No habla español

Marco Rubio responded to Ted Cruz’s criticism of his immigration position by calling Ted Cruz the worst kind of liar – the kind that can only speak English. “He went on Univision in Spanish and sailed he would not rescind president Obama’s illegal exclusive amnesty on his first day in office,” Cruz said of Rubio. “I have promised to rescind every single illegal executive action.” “First of all, I don’t know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesn’t speak Spanish,” Rubio said. Cruz chimed in with a sentence in Spanish to prove his proficiency.

“Look, this is a disturbing pattern now,” Rubio continued. “For a number of weeks Ted Cruz has just been telling lies. He lied about Ben Carson in Iowa. He lies about planned parenthood and marriage. And he makes things up.”

The remaining Republican US presidential candidates from left Governor John Kasich, former Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Ted Cruz, businessman Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio and Dr Ben Carson at the Republican presidential candidates debate sponsored in South Carolina REUTERS

Candidates mourn Justice Scalia

On whether President Barack Obama should nominate a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Antonin Scalia, the answers were nuanced. Ted Cruz argued that the GOP-controlled Congress should refuse to confirm any nominee put forth by President Obama.

“We have 80 years of precedent of not confirming Supreme Court justices in an election year,” Cruz said, after acknowledging that the president maintains the constitutional authority to nominate a justice to the court until the end of his term. Donald Trump brushed past the question of whether Oba-

ma should submit an appointee to the Senate, also putting the onus on the Senate to stop any Obama appointees to the Court. “If I were president now, I would certainly want to try to nominate a justice,” Trump said. “I think he’s going to do it whether I’m okay with it or not. I think it’s up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it. It’s called delay, delay, delay.” John Kasich, not a partisan fighter in the mold of Cruz but presenting himself as a unifier, urged the president to wait or seek a consensus candidate. l

Source: POLITICO

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

INSIDE

Mehedi aims to be world’s best all-rounder Bangladesh Under-19 captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz bagged the player of the tournament award in the U-19 World Cup which concluded at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. Hosts Bangladesh were considered one of the title favourites this year but the junior Tigers finished third. PAGE 26

Dejected Dravid counts positives India Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid, who has been more than a father figure to the young cricketers, expressed his disappointment following his charges’ five-wicket loss to the West Indies in the grand finale of the World Cup at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. PAGE 27

The West Indies Under-19 side are unable to control their elation after getting their hands on the U-19 World Cup trophy at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Springer-dance time for Windies U19 n Mazhar Uddin

Welbeck scores to boost Arsenal title hopes Danny Welbeck, making his first appearance of the season as a late substitute, headed a stoppage-time winner as Arsenal boosted their hopes of winning the Premier League title with a 2-1 home win over Leicester City. Welbeck came on after 83 minutes. PAGE 28

PSG’s 16-match winning streak ended Paris St Germain’s 16-match winning streak in all competitions was snapped on Saturday when a partly reserve side were held to a goalless draw by Lille in Ligue 1, three days before a Champions League showdown with Chelsea. PSG produced a lacklustre performance against a determined Lille side. PAGE 29

It was Keemo Paul whose controversial mankad dismissal helped his side reach the quarter-finals and it was the same person yesterday who struck the winning boundary, guiding the West Indies to their first ever Under-19 World Cup title.

India might have entered the grand finale as the undisputed favourites but it was the West Indies instead who clinched the crown at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, courtesy a five-wicket win.

Fielding first, the Windies fast bowlers once again set the platform for their batsmen, bundling out a strong Indian batting line-up for a paltry 145 in 45.1 overs.

Right-arm paceman Alzarri Joseph (3/39) wrecked the Indian top-order, dismissing the in-form Rishabh Pant (one), skipper Ishan Kishan (four) and Anmolpreet Singh (three) in quick succession.

Three-time champions India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were it not for Sarfaraz Khan’s 89-ball 51, they could have been skittled out for well below 100.

Ryan John provided Joseph valuable support, scalping three wickets while Paul notched two wickets to go with his unbeaten 40 later in their innings.

In pursuit of a below-par 146, the Windies youngsters were in all sorts of trouble and the Indians were successful in taking the game right till the final over.

But 145 proved to be inadequate at the

end as the Caribbeans reached their destination with three balls to spare.

Alongside Paul, Keacy Carty remained undefeated at the end with a painstaking 125-ball 52 and the unbroken sixth-wicket pair’s 69-run partnership was more than enough to take the Windies to their target.

Indian left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar bowled brilliantly, taking 3/25 from his 10 overs but he lacked support from the other end, thus giving the Windies their maiden U-19 World Cup title.

Windies skipper Hetmyer wants to see change After the game, Windies captain Shimron Hetmyer said, “It is a big one. From now to probably the next World Cup, I would like to see a big change in West Indies cricket.

Some of the younger guys are coming up. I think they (West Indies selectors) will look at some of the games we have played and some of the guys that played and get them into the team and help the West Indies to get on top.”

He added, “Most of the guys have already played first-class cricket. Soon, some of us, if not everyone, will fall back in our zones back home, including myself. I think the first-class season has already started.

We have already heard that some of us will fall back in the CPL (Caribbean Premier League) teams.” l

SCORECARD INDIA R Pant st Imlach b Joseph I Kishan lbw b Joseph A Singh c Imlach b Joseph W Sundar c Joseph b John S Khan lbw b John A Jaffer c Paul b Springer M Lomror c Imlach b Holder M Dagar c Carty b John R Batham c Imlach b Paul A Khan c John b Paul K Ahmed not out Extras (b2 lb5 w16)

R 1 4 3 7 51 5 19 8 21 1 2 23

Total (all out, 45.1 overs)

145

B 3 10 8 41 89 7 43 20 31 7 12

Fall of wickets 1-3, 2-8, 3-27, 4-41, 5-50, 6-87, 7-116, 8-120, 9-123, 10-145

Bowling Joseph 10-0-39-3, Holder 10-2-20-1, John 10-038-3, Springer 9-1-24-1, Paul 6.1-0-17-2

WEST INDIES G Pope c Ahmed b Khan Imlach c Lomror b Ahmed Hetmyer c Jaffer b Dagar K Carty not out S Springer c Jaffer b Dagar J Goolie c&b Dagar K Paul not out Extras (lb1 w6)

R 3 15 23 52 3 3 40 7

Total (five wickets; 49.3 overs)

146

B 13 20 53 125 9 9 68

Fall of wickets 1-5, 2-28, 3-67, 4-71, 5-77

Bowling Khan 10-1-29-1, Ahmed 9.3-2-32-1 (w3), Sundar 9-1-18-0, Batham 3-0-12-0(w1), Lomror 8-0-290(w2), Dagar 10-1-25-3 Result: West Indies won by five wickets Player of the match: KU Carty (WI) Player of the series: Mehedi Hasan Miraz (Ban)

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

ROLL OF HONOUR

Year 2016 2014 2012 2010 2008 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 1988

The West Indies Under-19 cricketers’ joy knows no bounds following their U-19 World Cup final win over India at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday

Winner West Indies South Africa India Australia India Pakistan Pakistan Australia India England Australia

Joseph ready for WI senior side, says Bishop n Tribune Report Former Caribbean paceman turned commentator Ian Bishop cited the West Indies’ Under-19 World Cup win as one of the best moments of his commentating career. The 48year old witnessed the West Indies’ title wins in the 2004 Champions Trophy and the 2012 World Twenty20 but he said the U-19 side’s maiden World Cup victory features at top of the list. Below are the excerpts of his conversation with the media personnel yesterday.

As a former West Indian cricketer, it must be really pleasing for you to see the performance of the Caribbean youngsters?

They exceeded my expectations to be honest.

The build-up to the tournament from the last World Cup was not as good as it should have been. They played three games against Bangla-

desh before the World Cup and lost all of them.

They learnt from game to game and showed versatility. [Shamar] Springer, Keemo Paul, Keacy Carty came good. They showed a sense of awareness in different game situations.

What is your take on the whole Mankad issue?

I think it was kind of disgraceful some of the comments I read in the media and heard from these people. That seemed to galvanise the team. I don’t think it’s a coincidence because they just lifted their game after that.

The passage of cricket was untidy. I didn’t see the Fiji game but they showed potential against England even if they lost.

West Indies U-19 suffered a 3-0 defeat against their Bangladesh counterparts right before the World Cup. To add to that, the Windies then lost to England in the opening

match. What changed?

There could be many things. The way I see it from outside, they took time to get acclimatised to the conditions. They have been here for a while. Chemar Holder joined the team. Unfortunate to have an injury to Obed [McCoy] but good for another quick to come in and join [Alzarri] Joseph. Then, I think they galvanised themselves after the game against Zimbabwe.

Runner-up India Pakistan Australia Pakistan South Africa India West Indies South Africa Sri Lanka New Zealand Pakistan

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

think why they started playing this game: for the joy of it. I won’t advocate them to go and play for free, as its their job. We all love our job, and hope to get paid for it. But marry that with the unbridled love for the game we have. I think West Indies have a super T20 squad and they will do a good job. l

West Indies’ World T20 team is currently in disarray. Do you think it is too early to draft some of the kids into the senior side?

Too early I will say but Alzarri Joseph is ready I think. I don’t know how many else are ready right now. The senior team have to look after themselves. That they are going to the World T20 is a good sign. They should put out all the squabbles out of their minds and

Mehedi aims to be world’s best all-rounder n Minhaz Uddin Khan

BATTING

BOWLING

Match Inns NO Runs HS Ave SR 100/50 Inns Overs Mdns Wkt BBI Ave Econ SR 6 5 1 242 60 60.50 83.16 0/4 6 56.3 9 12 3/28 17.66 3.75 28.2

Bangladesh Under-19 captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz bagged the player of the tournament award in the U-19 World Cup which concluded at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. Hosts Bangladesh were considered one of the title favourites this year but the junior Tigers finished third. The sadness of not making it to the final however, was lightened slightly when Mehedi was awarded the trophy yesterday.

The right-arm all-rounder picked up 12 wickets and scored 242 runs in the 11th edition, including four half-centuries in six matches. The Bangladesh skipper bagged three player of the match awards and it is largely thanks to his all-round efforts that the

home side registered their best ever finish in the history of the age-level tournament.

“I am delighted and happy. I had a big target - to become the best all-rounder in the tournament. Sixteen teams played in the tournament but I got the award so this is really big for me,” an ecstatic Mehedi told the media yesterday.

“The achievement is not only mine but the whole nation’s. It is really a big matter to play well in a tournament like the World Cup. The whole world saw Bangladesh play some good cricket throughout the tournament and that we have improved in the game,” he added.

With the U-19 World Cup coming to a close, Mehedi now aims to graduate to the senior side, and if possible, become the topranked all-rounder in world cricket. l

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Dejected Dravid counts positives n Minhaz Uddin Khan India Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid, who has been more than a father figure to the young cricketers, expressed his disappointment following his charges’ five-wicket loss to the West Indies in the grand finale of the World Cup at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

Dravid however, believes this is just the start of a journey for the young cricketers and wishes to see them flourish in mainstream cricket.

“I am disappointed for them. It’s tough for a lot of these young kids but it’s hopefully a start of the journey for them. Every experience is a learning curve. We’ve tasted

a lot of success as a team, it’s only the first match we’ve lost (in the tournament) and unfortunately for us it was the biggest game.

But, there’s a learning process in everything,” Dravid told the media after the game.

“I think in their long journeys as cricketers they are going to face a lot of ups and downs, see a lot of success, hopefully face disappointments as well. This is a learning step. Hopefully we can learn from it. If we can learn some lessons from it and if they can go on to become better cricketers and better people, that’s really the purpose of the tournament,” he added.

The former India cricketer credited the West Indies bowlers for restricting the India

batsmen from putting up a big total. India were sent in to bat first after losing the toss and a post top-order debacle saw the side post only 145 runs on the board before being dismissed.

“I’d like to give credit to the West Indian bowlers. They bowled really well. They bowled really good line and lengths. They maintained the pressure right through the game. At no stage, it really felt like they were giving us easy balls to hit,” he said before adding, “When we look back at the game, we probably could have batted much better in the beginning. There were a few soft dismissals, there was carelessness. But really proud of the way the boys came back and fought.” l

Tamim out, Kayes in for Asia Cup T20 n Tribune Report Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup Twenty20, scheduled to be hosted by Bangladesh from February 24 onward.

Dashing opening batsman Tamim Iqbal, who earlier asked for a leave to be beside his expecting wife, made way for Imrul Kayes in the 15-man squad. The same squad will also take part in the forthcoming World T20.

Kayes was rewarded for his form in the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League T20 where he finished as the second highest run-scorer of the tournament with 312 runs in 12 matches.

Meanwhile, young fast bowler Abu Haider Rony and wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan retained their places from the previous squad. l

SQUAD

A disappointed India Under-19 team walk towards the presentation ceremony following the grand finale of the U-19 World Cup at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sheikh Jamal DC to leave for Singapore Saturday n Tribune Report Bangladesh Premier League champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi will leave here for Singapore this Saturday to take part in the final round of the AFC Cup. The top-flight champions will face Singapore League runners-up side Tampines Rovers in their opening match on February 23 at Jalan Besar Stadium. Sheikh Jamal will lock horns with Philippines on March 8 before rounding off their campaign against Malaysian outfit Selangor.

The Dhanmondi-based giants have been working hard under the guidance of newly-appointed head coach Shafiqul Islam Manik and they will have foreign attacking trio Wedson Anselme, Emeka Darlington and Landing Darboe at their disposal.

National footballers Jamal Bhuiyan, Yeasin Khan and Sohel Rana, who are now in India for the ongoing 12th SA Games, will join their club following the Games. l

12TH SOUTH ASIAN GAMES

Bangladesh women’s handball team in final n Tribune Report Bangladesh women’s handball team swept into the final of the ongoing 12th South Asian Games after beating Nepal 33-28 in Guwahati yesterday.

Bangladesh had to play without regular goalkeeper Shila Das and it was Sushila Roy who started in goal despite a hand injury. Shila however, will fly back to Guwahati to join the squad today morning ahead of the grand finale.

Bangladesh men’s handball side, on the other hand, conceded a 19-34 defeat against Pakistan in the semi-final and will now have to play the third-place deciding match against Nepal today.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh women’s kabaddi team also reached the final after a hard-fought 18-16 win over Sri Lanka yesterday. They will face reigning champions in the India today.

Bangladesh shooting team, in the meantime, earned bronze in the men’s 50m three-position prone side. Elsewhere, Bangladesh men’s football team will face Maldives today in the bronze-medal deciding match. l

Mashrafe bin Mortaza (C), Shakib al Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Abu Haider, Nurul Hasan

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Welbeck scores to boost Arsenal title hopes n Reuters, London Danny Welbeck, making his first appearance of the season as a late substitute, headed a stoppage-time winner as Arsenal boosted their hopes of winning the Premier League title with a 2-1 home win over Leicester City.

Welbeck, who had not played since last April after a series of injuries, came on after 83 minutes and scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time when he glanced home a Mesut Ozil free kick to secure the victory.

The win lifted Arsenal to 51 points, two behind Leicester, who played most of the second half with 10 men after defender Danny Simpson was sent off in the 54th minute.

Tottenham Hotspur who started the day in second place and Manchester City in fourth met later yesterday.

“It was a pivotal moment today because the mathematics meant it could be eight points or it could be two points. That is a great change,” Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports.

“There’s a long way to go, we play a lot of big teams. But we had a bad spell where we couldn’t win for four games and have now won two on the bounce. We have come out of that bad spell and still have a good chance.”

Leicester, seeking a first ever top-flight title, had not beaten Arsenal in their last 18 league matches but after surviving some early pressure, took the lead in the 45th minute when Jamie Vardy scored with a penalty after referee Martin Atkinson ruled that he had been fouled. l

Proteas complete brilliant comeback n Agencies South Africa captain Abraham Benjamin de Villiers struck a fine unbeaten 97-ball 101 to guide his side to a five-wicket win over England in the fifth and final one-day international at Newlands, Cape Town yesterday.

In the process, the Proteas came back from a 2-0 deficit on their way to a 3-2 series win.

Opening batsman Hashim Amla provided the impetus early on, scoring a 93-ball 59, while David Wiese remained unbeaten on 41 as South Africa coasted to their target of 237 with six overs to spare.

Earlier, England spluttered to 236 all out in 45 overs despite a second ODI century of his career for opener Alex Hales. Hales had scored half-centuries in each of the four previous matches in the series but finally converted to three figures, to his obvious relief.

His 112 came from 128 balls and included 14 fours as he showed admirable patience on a wicket that was not coming onto the bat as he might have liked. The next highest score in the England innings was a brisk 29 from Ben Stokes as a mixture of poor shot selection and accurate home bowling ensured the touring side lost wickets at regular intervals. l

Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck scores the winning goal during their Premier League match against Leicester City at Emirates Stadium yesterday

Australia tighten grip n

Reuters, Wellington

Brendon McCullum’s dismissal in the final over of the day put Australia firmly in control of the first Test in Wellington yesterday as New Zealand were reduced to 178-4, still 201 runs behind the tourists’ mammoth first innings of 562.

Trapped lbw by Mitchell Marsh for 10, the captain’s wicket all but ended New Zealand’s hopes of saving the Test at the end of the third day’s play.

Debutant Henry Nicholls was on 31 and will be joined by Corey Anderson when play resumes.

McCullum scored 302 and batted for almost 13 hours to save his team against India on the same ground two years ago, but was unable to mount any sort of a rescue against the Australians.

The 34-year-old appeared anxious and was almost caught behind the wicket twice before all-rounder Marsh removed him with three balls left before stumps.l

SCORECARD, DAY 3 NEW ZEALAND 1ST INNINGS 183 (M. Craig 41 n.o.; Hazlewood 4-42, Lyon 3-32, Siddle 3-37) AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS R B (overnight 463-6) A. Voges c@b Craig 239 364 P. Siddle c Anderson b Bracewell 49 81 J. Hazlewood c Southee b Bracewell 8 10 N. Lyon c&b Anderson 3 24 J. Bird not out 3 15 Extras (b4, lb3, w2, nb3) 12 Total (10 wickets, 154.2 overs)

562

Fall of wickets 1-0 (Burns), 2-5 (Warner), 3-131 (Smith), 4-299 (Khawaja), 5-299 (Marsh), 6-395 (Nevill), 7-494 (Siddle), 8-508 (Hazlewood), 9-532 (Lyon), 10-562 (Voges)

Bowling Southee 31-5-87-2 (w1), Boult 33-6-101-2, Bracewell 33-4-127-2 (nb2), Anderson 18-0-79-2 (w1, nb1), Craig 35.2-2-153-2, Williamson 4-0-8-0

NEW ZEALAND 2ND INNINGS T. Latham c Khawaja b Lyon M. Guptill c Marsh b Lyon K. Williamson c Nevill b Hazlewood H. Nicholls not out B. McCullum lbw Marsh Extras: (b1, lb4, nb2)

R 63 45 22 31 10 7

Total (for 4 wickets, 62.3 overs)

178

B 164 55 44 83 31

Fall of wickets

SA v ENG, 5TH ODI South Africa 237/5 in 44 overs (De Villiers 101*, Amla 59, Wiese 41, Topley 3/41) beat England 236 in 45 overs (Hales 112, Rabada 3/34, Wiese 3/50, Tahir 3/53) by five wickets to win series 3-2

REUTERS

1-81 (Guptill), 2-121 (Williamson), 3-157 (Latham), 4-178 (McCullum)

Bowling Mitchell Marsh of Australia appeals for a LBW call on New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum during day three of their first Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington yesterday AFP

Hazlewood 17-3-42-1, Bird 11-2-26-0 (nb1), Siddle 8-0-30-0, Marsh 9.3-1-40-1, Lyon 17-6-35-2

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QUICK BYTES Mkhitaryan sinks Hanover as Dortmund keep up the chase Borussia Dortmund needed a moment of inspiration from Henrikh Mkhitaryan to overcame bottom side Hanover 96 by a single goal and keep up the chase on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday.

At the other end of the table, Julian Nagelsmann, at 28 the Bundesliga’s youngest-ever coach, made his debut on the Hoffenheim bench and watched his side draw 1-1 at Werder Bremen in a crunch relegation battle.

–REUTERS

PSG’s 16-match winning streak ended Paris St Germain’s 16-match winning streak in all competitions was snapped on Saturday when a partly reserve side were held to a goalless draw by Lille in Ligue 1, three days before a Champions League showdown with Chelsea. PSG, who are hurtling towards a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title, produced a lacklustre performance against a determined Lille side. Laurent Blanc’s team, who hold a 25-point advantage over second-placed Monaco, have 70 points from 26 games. Monaco will be hoping to narrow that gap when they play St Etienne yesterday.

–REUTERS

Watson injury further clouds Australia’s World T20 plans Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has suffered a suspected abdominal strain while bowling for Islamabad in the Pakistan Super League in the United Arab Emirates, throwing his participation in the World T20 in doubt. “I’ve unfortunately made this video because I injured myself last night bowling, so disappointingly I’m going to have to head home back to Australia to get assessed with the medical people at Cricket Australia to try and get right for the Twenty20 World Cup,” Watson said in a video posted on his team’s Twitter account.

–REUTERS

Hapless Badstuber out for three months with ankle injury Hapless Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber, who has already lost two years of his career to a knee injury, was ruled out for another three months on Saturday when he fractured his ankle in training.

“Unbelievable bad luck for Holger Badstuber and Bayern. The defender suffered a broken ankle during training without any contact from anyone else,” said the Bundesliga leaders in a statement.

–REUTERS

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL TEN ACTION 1:45AM Sky Bet Championship 2015/16 Leeds United v Middlesbrough

SONY SIX 1:45AM Scottish Premiership 2015/16 Inverness v Aberdeen

STAR SPORTS 2 10:00AM Ranji Trophy 2015/16 SF Day 3: Saurashtra v Assam

TENNIS SONY SIX 1:00AM ATP: Rio Open Day 1

HOCKEY STAR SPORTS 2 6:00PM Hockey India League 2016 Jaypee Punjab Warriors v Kalinga Lancers

BANGAMATA BEGUM FAZILATUNNESA MUJIB, BANGABANDHU GOLD CUP PRIMARY SCHOOL TOURNAMENT

Boys, girls finals tomorrow n Tribune Report Kolsindur Govt Primary School of Mymensingh and Khardokour Govt Primary School of Rajshahi reached the final of the fifth Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Gold Cup Primary School Tournament yesterday.

Meanwhile in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, Rajakhali (Cox’s Bazar) and Moricha Govt Primary School of Dina-

jpur made it to the final after winning their respective semi-finals on the same day.

The biggest margin of victory came in the Kolsindur School-Doharo Govt Primary School tie where the former thrashed the latter 6-0 at the Dhaka University field while Khardokour School defeated Kaukhali Ghagra Govt Primary School 4-2 to set up a final date with the indomitable Kolsindur girls.

On the other hand, Rajakhali School, situated in Pekua upazila, earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Dhulaipar Govt Primary School of Demra to progress to the final. Moricha School beat Maizbari Govt School of Sunamganj 3-1 in the other semi-final.

The final matches will be held tomorrow at Bangabandhu National Stadium and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be present as the chief guest. l

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Showtime

James and Sanam rock Dhaka

Photos: AJ STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY

n Rashna Munawar The stage, set with red hearts in starlit background, looked perfect for Valentine’s Celebration with James and Sanam on February 11 at the Noboratri Hall of International Convention City, Bashundhara.

The musical event began at 8:15pm with a performance by children of the IQRA School rendering the national anthem and Tagore’s song Amra shobai raja.

The applause for the young performers was followed by another performance by the

legendary singer, James of Nogor Baul. James performed a series of popular numbers including Kobita, Lace fita lace, Jhakanaka Jhakanaka and Chal chale apne ghar. Audiences in parts of the hall had their hands waving in sync with Tarae tarae rotiye debo. The enthusiastic audience sang the chorus for the song Pagla hawa, which concluded with a comment “Lootpaat kore dile guru” from the audience.

Bheegi bheegi si hai, the last song of the night by James at the concert, concluded with a standing ovation from the audience.

The concert continued with a performance by the young and sensational band Sanam. The fabulous four, Sanam Puri, Samar Puri, Venky S and Keshav, performed a series of songs including Yeh raate yeh mausam, Teri deewani, Main tanu samjhawa ki, Lag ja gale, Mere mehboob qayamat hogi and Roop tera mastana. The audience sang along with Sanam in many other songs but were most audible during Jee le zara.

Surprisingly, Sanam also sang in Bangla for the audience of Dhaka.

The excitement also heightened when Sanam Puri replied “I love you too” to the audience that mostly consisted of girls. Near the end of the concert, Dipita, a student of Advanced Levels, said that she came to see Sanam and expressed her heart’s content on attending the event.

Adding to the eventful night, band Sanam showed their new music video Pehla nasha, which was prepared to premiere on February 12. The concert concluded with Sanam’s performance of the song Pal pal dil ke paas.

The concert was organized

by Entourage Entertainment in association with The Agency Solution as a charity event to raise funds for the IQRA School that educates children from Korail slum. l

Robin Ghosh passes at 77

Things celebs did for their Valentines

n Showtime Desk n Showtime Desk Love comes in everyone’s life, however, some are privileged enough to cherish it by presenting their special ones with ostentatious gifts. Have a look at how celebrity couples across the globe chalked out this year’s Valentine’s Day by giving precious gifts to their partners.

Sarah Larson and George Clooney: George presented his former girlfriend, Sarah, a romantic getaway to a $40,000 hotel suite for Valentine’s day.

David Beckham and Victoria Beckham: David gave his wife, Victoria, an $8 million Bulgari necklace, for Valentine’s day.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Angelina Jolie gifted her husband, Brad, a 200-year old Olivetree for their French Chateau that was worth $18,500.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif: Salman gifted his formergirlfriend, Katrina, a four BHK apartment in Bandra, decorated

by Suzanne Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan: Shah Rukh Khan gifted his wife, Gauri, a stylish Mercedes for Valentine’s day.

Jay-Z and Beyonce: Beyonce was presented a platinum covered mobile phone, worth $24,000 by her husband Jay-Z on Valentine’s day. l Source: Times of India

Legendary music composer Robin Ghosh has passed away in Dhaka on Saturday, February 13, at the age of 77 after fighting a protracted illness. He last breathed around 8:00am at Cure Care Hospital in Gulshan, Dhaka.

Gosh was married to a renowned Bengali and Urdu film actress Shabnam, and the duo was among the most successful couples of the Pakistani film industry. He left behind his wife and only son Ronnie Ghosh.

Ghosh contributed greatly in the Pakistani film industry. Of the many achievements, he composed for the film Aaina, one of the greatest films ever made in the film Industry.

Ghosh reached fame in the mid 1960s when Ahmed Rushdie

sang his compositions in films like Chakori, Jahan Tum Wahan Hum and Paisa. In his lifetime, he had also composed some Bangla popular romantic songs like Tomare legeche eto je bhalo, Ami roop nogorer rajkonna and Ke shoronero prantorey.

Ghosh was born in Iraq’s capital Baghdad in 1939 and got his early education in a convent school. In 1945, the six-year-old Ghosh, along with his family, moved to Dhaka.

He showed great interest in music, collecting gramophone records and playing the harmonium, graduating with a music major from Dhaka.

Six Nigaar awards were conferred on him for being the best composer for his works in the films Talaash (1963), Chakori (1967), Chahat (1974), Aiana (1977), Amber (1978) and Dooriyan (1984). l

Humayun Ahmed’s ‘Krishnopokkho’ in theatres now

n Showtime Desk To honour and reminise Humayun Ahmed’s works, Impress Telefilms Ltd, has hand picked one of his many legendary works, Krishnopokkho, which is to be in theatres from February 26.

Krishnopokkho is about the love between two siblings, Aro and Muhib. Muhib has to face the strict rules of his brother-in-law when he stays with his only sister Zeba.

Struggling through all the dos and don’ts, the two siblings continue to live by the grace of love that they have for each other. At one point, Oru arrives in Muhib’s life as his love interest. He starts to dream of rebuilding a life with Oru.

The movie, directed by Meher Afroz Shaon, is based on the late author’s novel “Krishnopokkho.” Riaz, Mahia Mahi, Ferdous Ahmed, Azad Abul Kalam, Tania Ahmed, Jayanto Chattopadhyay, Tarik Swapan, Arfan Ahmed, Masud Akhond, Jhuna Chowdhury, and Joyita Moholanobish have starred in the movie among others.

Upon release from the Censor Board, Impress Telefilm arranged an inaugural ceremony for the theatrical release of the film at Balaka Cineworld on Saturday, February 13. The managing directors of Impress Telefilm, Faridur Reza Sagar, Meher Afroz Shaon, Riaz, Jayanto

Chattopadhyay, Tania Ahmed, and singer SI Tutul were all present at the ceremony.

The movie will be released in different cinema halls across the country on February 26.

At the ceremony, Faridur Reza Sagar said: “We have been producing seasoned littérateur Humayun Ahmed’s films for a while now. This film is a continuation of our initiative. Humayun Ahmed’s work is so vast that the bulk of his work can never be depleted.”

Meher Afroz Shaon said: “Humayun Ahmed is not among us today. If he was here he would have been happy. Audience would love the film. If they like it, my hard work would pay off.” l

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

WHAT TO WATCH Rush Hour HBO 7:32pm A Chinese Consul’s 11-year-old daughter is kidnapped in Los Angeles. The consul requests Detective Inspector Lee to handle the case as he is known to him. But the FBI wants their man to take part in the investigation and to keep an eye on Lee. They assign Carter for the same job. To begin with, Carter and Lee are unable to get along. But soon, they bury their differences and fight crime together Science of Stupid National Geographic Channel 9:30pm On the Science of Stupid, some self-selecting, amateur scientists go head-to-head for the crowned title of most illinformed as they test scientific principles like torque, gravity, and Newton’s laws. As our amateur scientists have learned the hard way: try and break the laws of science, and the laws will break you. It’s the science of stupid.

Life of Pi Star Movies 7:00pm A Canadian writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and the

origin of his nickname. One day, his father, a zoo owner, explains that the municipality is no longer supporting the zoo and he has hence decided to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm. After the tragic sinking of a ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the Pacific ocean, with Pi Patel, a hyena, a zebra, a female orangutan and a Bengal tiger, the only survivors of the wreck.

Pyaar Ko Ho Jaane Do Sony Entertainment TV 10:00pm It is the story of Ishan and Preet. They are part of the prosperous Hooda family.

The show follows their lives’ journey. Hooda family is an extremely prosperous business family in Delhi. They have many businesses across industries. But, the cornerstone of their business is their arms business with the Indian government. Mr Hooda and Mrs Hooda have three childrenTrisha, Niti and Sid. Ishan is the nephew of Mr Hooda and is married to Preet. Ishan and Preet are the perfect couple.

They keep the entire family together. l

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Back Page

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

60 RMG FACTORIES SEEK ACCORD RECOGNITION PAGE 15

AMAR EKUSHEY

MEHEDI AIMS TO BE BEST ALL-ROUNDER PAGE 26

ROBIN GHOSH DIES AT 77 PAGE 30

BOOK FAIR 2016

Good turnout on Valentine’s Day n Nure Alam Durjoy The heavy visitor turnout at Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2016 during the weekend continued yesterday as young couples celebrating Valentine’s Day visited the fair.

Thousands of visitors, donning beautiful red attires and crowns made of red roses on their heads, swarmed the fairgrounds as soon as the doors opened at 3pm.

Visitors attending “Love for a Dhaka,” a concert held at Shahbagh area yesterday, also stopped by the book fair, adding to the already big crowd.

The massive turnout made the publishers and book stall and pavilion owners quite happy as they reported a fairly impressive sales yesterday, although not as good as the weekend sales.

Romance was in the air at the fairgrounds just as the rest of the city; young couples in love were seen roaming around, exchanging with each other the gifts of flowers and books they bought at the fair.

One couple, requesting to remain unnamed, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had spent the day roaming around the fairgrounds.

The woman, a DU student, said she had bought Helal Hafiz’s “Je Joley Agun Jwoley” for her boyfriend, while he had bought her a poetry collection of Abul Hasan.

“We both love books. Oh, and roses, too!” said the boyfriend, also a student of Dhaka University.

Attendants at several stalls told the Dhaka Tribune that poetry books had been the popular choice among visitors yesterday.

Among the most demanded books were the poetry collections of Nir-

malendu Goon, Jibanananda Das, Mahadev Saha, Syed Shamsul Haque and Shamsur Rahman.

Expressing satisfaction over yesterday’s sales, Tamralipi publisher AKM Tarikul Islam Rony said: “Since today is Valentine’s Day, a lot more visitors turned out at the fair than we usually expect on a weekday, thus boosting the sales.”

The fair saw the release of 93 new books yesterday. With them, the total number of new arrivals this year stands at 1,621.

Two book stalls shut down

Amid all the festivity, the book fair committee’s copyright task force shut down two book stalls named Rangin Phul and Neel Pori at Bangla Academy for selling pirated books and books published by other publishers without authorisation.

“We shut them down because they breached the rules.

We seized over 100 books from them,” said task force chief Manzurur Rahman, adding that they had earlier shut down the stall of Oikya Prakashani on February 9 for the same reason. l

Book Names Tini, Ekjonee Premer Kobita Nishango Jiri Amar John Lennon Rachanabali (1-10) BNP: Somoy-Asomoy Bhashantarsamagra Kobita Samogra Shitarto Poush Abhimukhe Uriya Uriya Jai Itihas o Shahitya

Two young readers take a look at a poetry book at Amar Ekhushey Boi Mela yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Author Rashid Haider Shihab Sarkar Mostaque Ahmed

Genre Short Story Poetry Science Fiction

Publishers Agamee Prakashani Maola Brothers Nalonda

Written by Cynthia Lennon, Translated by Rudra Arif Abul Maal Abdul Muhit Mohiuddin Ahmad Shahaduz Zaman Zia Haider Khalid Maruf Syed Iqbal Mahbubul Haque

Autobiography Essay Essay Translation Poetry Short Story Short Story Essay

Bhashachitra Utso Prokashan Prothoma Prokashan Pathak Shamabesh Joyotee Behula Bangla The Royal Publishers Bangla Prakash

Banglalink offices shut amid protest n Tribune Report Banglalink has shut down its headquarters and regional offices across the country in the face of demonstration over the termination of an engineer.

Ankit Sureka, assistant manager of Banglalink (PR), told the Dhaka Tribune that the management of the mobile phone operator has shut all regional offices along with its head office in the capital’s Gulshan area around 2pm yesterday.

He said:”The authorities have closed the offices only for today [Sunday].”

However, the customer care centres will remain open, he added.

“Hope, the crisis would be solved soon,” said Sureka.

The row between the management and the employees began on February 11 when the mobile phone authorities sacked an engineer, Shariful Islam, for his involvement in organising the trade union.

Earlier, on Thursday night, the employees confined Chief Technical Office (CTO) Perihane Elhamy to the headquarters over the row.

She was released nine hours after her confinement when police and the management assured the employees to look into the matter.

Ujjal Paul, president of Banglalink Employees’ Union, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We will continue the demonstration until Shariful Islam is reinstated.

“One of our employees is being treated in hospital after the human resources department has harassed him,” he added.

On January 29, a total 719 employees formed the Banglalink Employees’ Union. Later on February 7, the employees’ union declared its new committee. l

Fully functioning EPZ trade unions on the cards Showkat Kallol and n Asif Shohel Mamum

The draft of Bangladesh EPZ Labour Act 2016, which aims to allow trade unions to fully function under each factory’s respective workers welfare associations, is set to be placed before the cabinet today.

According to provisions of the new draft act, factory owners would not be able to fire any work-

ers or file any case against them without prior approval from EPZ authority.

State Minister of Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu confirmed about the development of the draft, which has provisions for full implementation of labour union in Export Processing Zones.

“Workers will negotiate with factory owners under the new law as

per the demand of trade union activists and foreign buyers,” he said.

However, the state minister said the issue of trade unions at local EPZs was not one of the 13 conditions set by the US trade representative for retaining the US Generalised System of Preference (GSP) for local exportable items.

Workers of EPZ factories would practice labour rights activities within the factories under their respec-

tive workers welfare associations.

Sources said foreign buyers of local garment items have long been demanding full-fledged labour unions in EPZ factories.

Under the existing EPZ labour Act 2015, workers of export processing zones receive higher salaries compared to private sector, earn leave encashment, two bonuses, food allowance, and free medication from factory owners.

The existing act also means a workers welfare association cannot be formed unless 30% of a factory’s workers apply for it.

Workers welfare associations in EPZs were first introduced by the government during the late 80s, following pressure from the trade representative of the US – where a major portion of the country’s readymade garment products are exported. l

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