Satkhira JCD leader killed in ‘gun� ght’n Tribune Report

The vice-president of Tala upazila Ja-tiyatabadi Chhatra Dal in Satkhira dis-trict was killed and three policemen sustained injuries in a ‘gun� ght’ with the joint forces yesterday.

The incident took place in Magura Khowaghat area of the upazila around 4am. Joint forces men have recovered one pipe gun, two rounds of bullets and � ve handmade bombs from the spot, police claimed.

The deceased was Azharul Islam, 28, son of late Shiraj Uddin Sarder of Gho-na village. The injured police men were Sub-Inspector Shakhawat and consta-bles Tajbur and Shahabuddin.

O� cer-in-Charge of Tala police station Matiar Rahman said Azharul Islam was detained from a shrimp

enclosure in Ghona village on Sunday morning.

Later, a joint forces team took him to Magura Khowaghat area to recov-er arms where a group of miscreants opened � re and hurled bombs on them to snatch him away.

The law enforcers opened � re to save their lives, police said.

OC Rahman said the gun� ght continued for 20 minutes and at one stage three policemen and Azharul received bullet wounds. The injured were taken to Satkhira Sadar Hospital, while the duty doctors declared Azharul as dead.

Duty doctor of the hospital Porimal PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Gaibandha ‘attackers’ turn ‘victims,’ get aid from prime minister n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

At least 11 activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP including two fake a� ect-ed persons of Gaibandha sadar upazila reportedly received � nancial assis-tance of TK2.20 lakh from Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Hasina on Saturday.

The incident came into light after a local Awami League leader sent a let-ter to the premier, through the depu-ty commissioner, informing her about the “inclusion of attackers on the list of victims” of Jamaat-BNP attacks cen-tring January 5 election.

M Khairul Islam, president of AL’s ward three unit of Lakshmipur union,

in the letter sent on Sunday pleaded for cancelling the cheques of Tk20,000 given to each of them.

Hasina at a function at the Circuit House on Saturday afternoon distrib-uted cheques ranging from Tk20,000-10,000,00 among 72 family members of those killed or injured in the attacks on January 5.

Of them, family members of the 11 Jamaat-BNP activists – of who two were fake victims – received TK 20,000 each.

The 11 alleged BNP-Jamaat men are Razu Miah, Feresha, Mozammel Haque and Maidul of Jamaat; Abdul Jalil, Rea-zul, Chand Miah, Abdul Jalil and Ma-habub of the BNP; and Abdur Rashid

Master and Wahed Master – who were not a� ected at all.

Khairul, who � led a case againstthe local Jamaat-BNP men for the at-tacks, claimed that the criminals had beaten up the Awami League men and also torched their business establish-ments in Khamar Gobindapur area of the union.

Khairul said he and a number of Awami League activists had been in-jured seriously and were admittedto Gaibandha Sadar Hospital fortreatment.

But to cover up the misdeeds and save the accused from legal action,

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

NO CHILD’S PLAY

Baby-food cos � out law to market productsn Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Several baby-food product companies have allegedly been � outing existing laws to carry out aggressive market-ing campaigns targeting the parents of children during the ongoing mea-sles-rubella vaccination campaign.

Many companies have reportedly recruited a large number of marketing representatives to promote milk prod-ucts during the vaccination campaign, as the vaccination period has o� ered the companies the chance to reach thousands of parents at a go.

Nilufar Begum, a mother of two, went to an urban health centre adjacent to Azimpur new graveyard on Sunday to have her children vaccinated against measles, rubella and polio diseases.

After waiting in a queue for over half an hour, Nilufar and her children

reached the top of the line when they were approached by a representative from a milk company.

Nilufar said the representative, a “smart young lady,” asked her which powder milk she preferred for her chil-dren, and o� ered her a free chart of the company’s products. The representa-tive said the chart would help Nilufar to select the best milk product for her children and provide proper feeding in-structions to make the children strong-er, intelligent and healthy.

Nilufar said she had heard about aggressive marketing promotions by baby-food product companies, before becoming targeted herself.

The promotional campaigns were carried out openly and unobstructed in

front of the doctors and sta� s, with the on-duty doctor claiming that they were busy vaccinating hundreds of children and did not notice the marketers.

The promotional activities by sever-al companies have allegedly been in vi-olation of the Breast-Milk Substitutes, Baby Foods, Commercially Manufac-tured Supplementary Baby Foods and Its Equipment (Regulation of Market-ing) Act 2013, which aims to protect children up to � ve years of age.

The act – which is yet to be fully enforced – calls for a complete restric-tion on the advertisement of breast milk substitutes, baby foods, children’s food supplements and its equipment. A maximum of three years of jail, or Tk5 lakh, or both, have been recommended as penalty for the violation of the ban.

Seeking anonymity, senior o� cials of the health ministry told the Dhaka Tribune that they were now preparing the necessary regulations to ensure the proper implementation of the law, the gazette for which was published on September 22, 2013.

Dr SK Roy, chairperson of Bangla-desh Breastfeeding Foundation, said such type of campaigns were in clear violation of the act. Any company found guilty of such campaigns would be punished for criminal o� ence or be � ned, he added.

Prof Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of Communicable Disease Control, told the Dhaka Tribune he did not receive any report regarding such promotional activity, but admitted that such cam-paigns were not uncommon.

Authorities had previously found health sector employees to be also in-volved with similar illegal activities by the companies, he said.

The health ministry’s largest ever measles-rubella vaccination campaign, which hopes to vaccinate more than � ve crore children between the ages of nine months and 15 years, began on January 25 and will continue until February 13. l

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News4 Two children died yesterday allegedly after being administered with a dose of the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine

Nation6 Rice farmers in Lalmonirhat have expressed discontent with the spiralling fertiliser demand and ensuing price increase, blaming it on the tobacco growers use of fertilisers on their farmland.

INSIDE

8 | KIEV MULLS STATE OF EMERGENCY 13 | SRI LANKA DOMINATES FIRST DAY

New act calls for complete restriction on advertising milk substitutes and baby food, but yet to be enacted

Drug rackets rising despite measuresn Mohammad Jamil Khan

It was around 9:30pm on last Wednes-day; the spot was just a few meters away from Amar Ekushey Hall of Dha-ka University. Some elderly men, aged between 30 and 35, were sitting on sacks close to a dustbin on the street and found taking injections on their bodies themselves. Most of them were woozy, and indi� erent about the bad odour spreading from the garbage.

This is not a unique picture of drug abuse but a common one across the country. Because of lax monitoring and ine� ective raids against drug cartels, the number of abusers is on the rise mainly in the capital.

Out of around 17 drugs, the most available products are cannabis, Yaba, brown sugar (heroin), Phensidyle and pethidine injections – found in around 400 spots of the capital.

Illegal drug business has never been stopped but the extent of sales drops

during March to July because of strin-gent steps by the authorities. The de-mand and also the supply of drugs rise especially during festivals like Eid and New Year.

Now anyone can easily register the odour of cannabis while travel-

ling or crossing Suhrawardy Udyan, Chankharpool, Bangshal, Tejgaon and Karwanbazar rail tracks just after sun-set. The odour becomes strong during midnight and it continues until sunrise.

Almost all the drugs are easily avail-ability at these places.

The Dhaka Tribune reporter entered the Suhrawardy Udyan on a motor cy-cle recently. Near the Kali Temple, a

12-year boy came to him with a little bag on his hand and asked whether the reporter wanted some cannabis. At that time, a youth passing the spot noticed the boy and gave him Tk100. As soon as `the boy gave him three packets, the youth left the scene.

Asked about the product, the boy said it was cannabis. He suddenly ran away towards another crowd near the temple saying that he would be availa-ble in the area.

Such drugs including cannabis are being sold openly under the nose of the law enforcers, but no big shot has ever been arrested. Only the small traders are caught sometimes and later they manage to walk free on bail.

The Narcotics Control Department updates the list of drug dealers and salespersons in the beginning of a new year but the names remain in the notes only, as no e� ective action against them is taken.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Workers make a wedding party pavilion on the road divider, though it is illegal to use public area for private purpose. The photo was taken in Gulshan yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Activists: Broadcast Commission needs to be non-partisann Muktasree Chakma Sathi

The government needs to ensure the proposed Broadcast Commission will work independently and impartial-ly rather than being an instrument to suppress the freedom of expression, prominent rights activists and media personalities said.

They raised concerns saying in the present political context, institutions formed by the government have rarely been seen to function independently and in a pro-people manner.

According to the article 6.1.5 of the draft National Broadcast Policy, the chairman and other members of the

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Authorities conduct raids only for eyewash; no top leader of drug syndicate ever arrested

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

KISHOREGANJ BANK HEIST

12 employees quizzed, probe committee formedn Tribune Report

Police questioned 17 people including 12 o� cials of the Sonali Bank branch in Kishoreganj in the Sadar police station yesterday in connection with a Tk16.4 crore looting incident.

Police held the 12 bank o� cials in-cluding branch Manager Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan and � ve others earlier in the day, according to our correspon-dent in the district.

Deputy General Manager Sheikh Amanuallah � led a case against some unidenti� ed people in this connection with Sadar police station yesterday afternoon, O� cer-in-Charge Abdul Malek said.

Meanwhile, the authorities of Ban-gladesh Bank and Sonali Bank formed separate investigation committees to look into the incident. Unknown mis-creants looted Tk16.4 crore from a vault of a Sonali Bank branch in Kishoreganj in the early hours of Sunday.

Kishoreganj Police Super Anwar Hossain Khan said, “Details regarding the investigation committees cannot be disclosed now.”

Eight policemen were suspended following the incident. These police-men were deployed in the barrack lo-cated in the basement of the branch to maintain the security of the vault.

The burglary came to light on Sun-day afternoon when bank employees went to the vault room for money.

Police and other law enforcement agencies have kept the bank cordoned o� since the incident. l

ALPP meets today to elect speakern Kamran Reza Chowdhury

The newly elected MPs of Awami League meet this evening at the parlia-ment, mainly to approve the selection of the next speaker and deputy speaker who will be elected on the inaugural session tomorrow.

Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister and leader of the house, is expect-ed to give directives to the party MPs about their role in parliament formed through a poll boycotted by the main opposition BNP and Jamaat.

The parliamentary party meeting will start at 6pm at the ninth � oor of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, the newly elected Chief Whip ASM Feroz told re-porters.

Tomorrow the House will start its business at 6pm. According to parlia-mentary rule, the House will � rst elect a new speaker and a deputy speaker.

The current speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, who has been contesting in the Rangpur 6 by-poll, is a leading contender for reelection if the Election Commission declares her winner.

Shirin Sharmin is the only candidate in the by-poll and the Election Commis-sion will scrutinise her application today.

“We have eight to 10 competent per-sons for the posts of speaker and depu-ty speaker. We will discuss the speak-

er’s post if opportunity comes [at the parliamentary party meeting],” ASM Feroz, the newly elected chief whip, told reporters at a brie� ng.

“We will accept unanimously if Sheikh Hasina proposes any name,” he said.

He said the Jatiya Party would get � ve frontline seats in the opposition bench.

The parliament secretariat has already taken all preparations for holding the in-augural session. They � nalised the day’s business of the House on January 29.

After the election of the speaker and the deputy speaker, the House will go for a recess of around 20 minutes. The president will administer oath to the newly elected speaker and the deputy speaker.

The new speaker will preside over the meeting as the House resumes. The House will go for another recess of 20 minutes after the adoption of a con-dolence motion on Awami League MP Shawkat Momem Shahjahan, who died on January 20.

President Abdul Hamid, according to the constitution, will address the MPs highlighting the performance of the government. The House will then be adjourned for a few days.

The newly elected MPs would then discuss on the president’s speech and � nally thank the head of state for the speech. l A worker cleans up the statue of seven Bir Sreshtha on Bangla Academy premises yesterday ahead of Amar Ekushey book fair NASHIRUL ISLAM

Gaibandha ‘attackers’ turn ‘victims,’ get aid PAGE 1 COLUMN 5the BNP-Jamaat supporters had re-moved goods from their shops and then set those on � re.

Later, the names of the 11 activists were included by the panel chairman of the union parishad, Abdul Jalil Sarder, who is also a BNP activist, Khairul said.

He said many of the 11 were accused

in a case he had � led. He alleged that Panel Chairman Jalil had enlisted their names intentionally in a bid to save them from facing legal measures over the attacks.

When contacted, Jalil claimed that he had not included names of any Ja-maat activists. “Names of several BNP men might have been enlisted as their

business establishments were vandal-ised after the election.”

Local lawmaker Mahabub Ara Be-gum Gini said she had received a com-plaint from Khairul and that it was be-ing investigated.

When asked, DC Ehsan-E-Elahi said he had not received the letter as of last night. l

Activists: Broadcast Commission needs PAGE 1 COLUMN 6commission will be elected by a search committee formed by the information ministry. The chairman and members will be appointed by the president.

Managing Director and CEO of So-moy TV Ahmed Zubair observed that in the institutions previously formed by the government such as the National Human Rights Commission, the chair and members were elected by the pres-ident.

“This time, a search committee is there which has the sole duty to recom-mend the chairman and member to the president. I am hoping it will ultimate-ly bring a good result, since the search committee will recommend names based on a majority approval,” he said.

According to the draft, the search committee will ensure representation of every stakeholder such as experts on freedom of expression and media, lawyers, government representatives,

women’s rights experts, media person-alities, journalists, academics and civil society members.

Media personality Shykh Seraj, also the director and head of news of Channel i, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I consider the broadcast commission a good initiative since people can � le their allegations if they have any sort of grievances. But at the same time, the question arises whether the broadcast commission will be formed neutrally or in a partisan manner.”

He also added that he along with few others had reservations about the article that says the government could cancel any television and radio license if the government thought it was nec-essary.

“I am yet to see the draft version of the policy which was approved by the information ministry recently. But I hope they have considered our views and incorporated it,” Shykh Seraj added.

The draft was � nalised on Sunday in a meeting of the information ministry. Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told the Dhaka Tribune: “The policy will be placed before the cabinet for � nal approval within 15 days. After the cabinet approval, the policy will come into e� ect.”

Rights activist Sultana Kamal said: “A semi-third party such as a commis-sion is always a good initiative as long as they are working independently rather than being controlled by the state.”

“Such a commission should have the liberty to work impartially rath-er than act in a partisan manner. The commission should take up issues objectively. If this commission can act independently, it is indeed a good initiative by the government. But if it becomes an instrument of the govern-ment to suppress freedom of expres-sion, that is worrisome,” Kamal said. l

Satkhira JCD leader killed in ‘gun� ght’ PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Biswas told the Dhaka Tribune that Azharul had been dead when he was brought there.

Assistant Police Superintendent Kazi Monirruzzaman said, “Azharul is accused in two cases under Tala police station including murder of Islamkati Union Parishad member Rouf. Seven cases were � led under Patkelghata po-lice station.”

The upazila Chhatra Dal unit has called a dawn-to-dusk hartal today pro-testing the death.

Meanwhile, police in separate drives nabbed three Jamaat-Shibir men from Fa-tikchhari, Sitakunda and Lohagara upazi-las in Chittagong early yesterday for their involvement with sabotage in the areas before, during and after the election.

Law enforcement seized a gun and four rounds of cartridges from a Shibir man, Saleh Jongi, 30, accused of four murder cases lodged with Fatikchhari police station, the station’s OC Shahja-han Bhuiyan said.

Police arrested eleven activists of Shahjalal University of Science and

Technology (Sust) yesterday for their suspected involvement in unrest in the campus on Sunday.

Earlier two cases were � led in this connection. The university unit Shibir president and secretary are among the 300 accused.

In Bogra, the father of Shibir lead-er Abdullah Al-Baki of Bogra Azizul Haque College � led a case accusing 23 Chhatra League and Jubo League activ-ists and leaders of murdering his son yesterday. Police is yet to arrest anyone six days into the incident. l

Drug rackets rising despite measures PAGE 1 COLUMN 4Asked about it, Pronob Kumar Neugi, director (operation) of the DNC, admit-ted the weakness of the organisation. He said they had a list but had failed to arrest any godfather of drug syndicates.

“However, raids against the drug dealers are on and some sellers have been arrested recently.”

Sources said the DNC made a list of 192 drug dealers and 50 salespersons in early this year, most of who are gangsters. The authorities also identi� ed a number of spots where the drug dealers operate.

Although di� erent intelligence agencies have reported there are around 400 drug spots in the capital, the DNC only mention about some of

the spots on its list. Sources said the drug dealers were

operating their business after manag-ing the o� cials of the law enforcement agencies and the DNC so that the raids were conducted only for eyewash.

The names of Shahid and Parvin, two drug sellers in Karwanbazar area, have been listed with the DNC. They were even arrested by the o� cials several times, but later came out on bail or sometimes on the mid way by managing the o� cials.

Some of the important drug spots, from where drugs are found round the clock, are in Tejgaon area, Dilu Road, Maghbazar rail crossing, Malibagh rail crossing, Dhaka Medical College Hos-pital area, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Rasul-

bagh Park in Mirpur, Babubazar Bridge, Postagola, Armanitola school � eld and Azimpur maternity hospital areas.

When contacted, Mujibur Rahman Patowari, deputy director (intelligence wing) of DNC’s Dhaka division, claimed that they had been conducting their duties properly, and arresting both the dealers and the sellers from di� erent areas of the capital every day.

He said the DNC o� cials had been trying their best to take control of the illegal drugs business.

Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the DB police, said several teams of the intelligence agency had been work-ing closely with the DNC against the drug cartels. l

Two Rana Plaza factory owners get bailn Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday granted six months interim bail to the chairman and the managing director of New Wave Bottom Limited, one of the gar-ments company that was housed at the Rana Plaza at Savar.

The High Court bench of Justice Nai-ma Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed granted the bail after hearing of two separate pleas in connection with the two cases � led on the Rana Plaza col-lapse.

The owners who secured bail are New Wave Bottom Limited Chairman Bazlus Samad and Managing Director Mahmudur Rahman.

Deputy Attorney General Khand-ker Diliruzzaman argued on behalf of the state while lawyer Yusuf Hossain Humayun and SM Rezaul Karim repre-sented the accused.

Khandker Diliruzzaman said they would appeal to the chamber judge of

the Appellate Division soon, seeking a stay order on the judgement.

Defence lawyer Rezaul Karim said the main accused of the case Abdul Khalek (also the father of building own-er Sohel Rana) had secured bail in both the cases. Since the charges in both the cases were bailable o� enses and the bails had already been posted, there would be no bar on getting them out of prison.

The nine-storey Rana Plaza col-lapsed on April 24 last year, claiming at least 1,135 lives and injuring nearly 2,500 people, most of them garment factory workers.

On charge of violating the Building Construction Code, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha on the day � led a case against the building owner Sohel Rana with Savar police station.

The Savar police also � led another case on the following day against six people on charge of causing deaths due to negligence. l

Cabinet approves rati� cation of 2 maritime conventionsn Mohosinul Karim

The cabinet has given the nod to the rati� cation of two proposals of the International Labour Organisation, aimed at improving facilities for Ban-gladeshi marine o� cials and seamen.

Rati� cation of the “Maritime Labour Convention 2006,” and the “Seafarers Identity Document Convention (re-vised) 2003,” were approved at yester-day's meeting.

Under the ILO proposals, around 12,000 marine o� cials and seamen will get biometric identity cards. These will facilitate their travel between coun-tries. They will also bene� t from better working conditions.

After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Musharraf Hossain Bhui-yan told reporters that the government was set to sign the proposals. “The sea-farers of Bangladesh have been facing discrimination when entering some countries, changing ships and returning home. Some foreign companies are re-

luctant to appoint Bangladeshi workers. They [seamen] would get relief from the discrimination if the government signs the conventions,” Bhuiyan said adding that the country had around 68 sea-go-ing ships at present.

A total of 12,000 Bangladeshi marine o� cials and seafarers are working for local and foreign companies, earning foreign currencies around TK500 crore annually, he added.

If Bangladesh signs the Maritime La-bour Convention 2006, the seamen will enjoy better working conditions, work-hours, medical facilities, entertainment, housing and social security bene� ts.

Some 56 ILO member countries, in-cluding Bangladesh, have already rati-� ed the proposal that came into e� ect last year.

Under the Seafarers Identity Doc-ument Convention, Bangladeshi sea-farers will be issued machine–readable biometric identity cards that include personal information, biometric details, � ngerprints, barcodes and photo. l

No bar to deliver verdict in 10-truck arms haul casen Tribune Report

The High Court has scrapped petitions seeking change of the trial court and re-in-terrogation of the investigation o� cer in the sensational 10-truck arms haul case.

The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed scrapped the pe-titions yesterday clearing the path of de-livering verdict in the case on January 30.

Former National Security Intelligence (NSI) o� cials Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Ra-him, Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain, and Ak-bar Hossain – all accused in the cases – � led the petitions on January 12. l

HC: Why Biranganas not given state recognitionn Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday issued a rule asking the government to explain why the female victims of torture and abuse during the Liberation War of 1971, com-monly called Biranganas, would not be recognised by the state for their role during the war.

The High Court issued two rules seeking explanation on why a gazette

noti� cation would not be published by March 26 and why the state’s failure in providing privileges to the victims for the last 42 years should not be declared illegal.

The High Court bench comprising of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Habibul Gani issued the rule after the preliminary hearing of a peti-tion. Salma Ali, the chairman of Ban-gladesh National Female Lawyers’ As-

sociation and Saleha Ishaq Girl’s High School Ex-Students Forum president Mitali Hossain � led the petition in the High Court last week.

The court asked secretaries of law, � nance and Liberation War a� airs min-istries, parliament secretariat and the chairman of the Law Commission to come up with their explanation within four weeks.

During the 1971 Liberation War, hun-

dreds of thousands of women faced torture and abuse in the hands of the Pakistani occupational army and their collaborators such as the Razakar and peace committee members. The num-ber of such victims is estimated vari-ously from 200,000 to 400,000.

Faozia Karim Firoz was the petition-er’s lawyer while Deputy Attorney Gen-eral Md Mokhlesur Rahman argued on behalf of the state. l

ASK protests extrajudicial killingsn Tribune Report

Extrajudicial killings cannot be ac-ceptable under any context, observed country’s leading human rights organ-isation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).

In a press release issued by Execu-tive Director Sultana Kamal, ASK said 15 people had been killed in gun� ghts with law enforcement agencies be-tween January 1 and January 26.

The rights body urged the govern-ment to bring the accused to book and award sentence to the convicts.

It also said perpetrators and those involved in killing, looting, arson at-tacks and particularly communal attacks must be punished through speedy tribunals. l

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

TARIQUE’S ACQUITTAL

ACC questions judge’s gunman, driver n Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The Anti-Corruption Commission yes-terday took statements from the gun-man and the driver of recently retired special judge Motaher Hossain who acquitted BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman from a money laun-dering case and is now staying in Ma-laysia.

ACC Deputy Director Har-un-Ur-Rashid took statements from the judge’s gunman Badal Dewan and driver Shohrab Hossain in connection with the inquiry into the alleged “ille-gal” wealth of the retired judge.

After completion of the inquiry, driver Shohrab Hossain told reporters that the ACC o� cial had questioned him in regard to the wealth of the for-mer judge.

“The o� cer questioned us about the wealth of the judge and who had connections with him. I told them that I had worked with the judge for 18 months and did not have any ideas about his wealth,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, the commission also served notices to the bench clerk of Speedy Trial Tribunal 4 Abul Kalam Azad and of Special Judge’s Court 3 Ar-iful Islam.

It asked them to appear before the commission on January 29, and lawyer Pabitra Sarkar, also assistant general manager of Bashundhara Group, to give statements on January 28.

On Thursday, the Anti-Corruption Commission took statements from the

two stenographers of the same courts - M Abu Hasan of Speedy Trial Tribunal 4 and M Nurul Islam of Special Judge’s Court 3.

The anti-graft body launched a probe against Motaher Hossain on Jan-uary 20 following a “speci� c allega-tion”.

It served letters to Additional IGP (Special Branch) and immigration au-thorities to see that the former judge did not leave the country.

The judge, who is suspected to have amassed illegal wealth, left the country on January 8, 53 days after delivering the judgement on the money launder-ing case.

Motaher Hossain is now staying in Malaysia, Harun-Ur-Rashid said last week after scrutinising the judge’s travel documents.

The allegations were brought against the judge concerning the amassing of illegal wealth, abusing judicial power, earning a sizeable wealth inconsistent with his known sources of income and amassing movable and immovable property in his and others’ names.

Judge Motaher Hossain, on November 17 acquitted Tarique Rahman and sentenced his friend Giasuddin Al Mamun to seven years’ imprisonment and � ned him Tk40 crore in a money laundering case involving Tk20.41 crore.

The judgement said Tarique was ac-quitted from all charges because he had declared the transaction in his wealth statement submitted to the ACC. l

Awami League leader burnt to death at Abhaynagarn Our Correspondent, Jessore

A group of unidenti� ed people burnt an Awami League leader to death at Abhaynagar in Jessore on Sunday fol-lowing a dispute over establishing dominance in a high school committee.

The deceased was Chaitanya Kumar Mandol, 46, a physician by profession, who was also the secretary of Youth and Sports A� airs of Prembagh union unit Awami League.

Witnesses said a group of people made a sudden attack on Chaitanya, dragged him into his medicine shop, and set � re to it at Prembagh Bazar around 8:30pm.

They burnt Chaitanya alive while he was still inside the shop.

Later, � remen recovered the body under the rubble around 9pm.

Locals said there was a dispute be-tween two rival groups of high school committee members and the dead Chaitanya’s brother belonged to the one of the discordant groups, while an-other group was led by the followers of Awami League leader and former whip Sheikh Abdul Wahab.

Locals suspects that Chaitanya might have killed following the dispute over establishing the supremacy in the committee.

However, Khabir Uddin, o� cer in-charge of Abhaynagar police station, said the incident happened following a previous feud, but failed to provide any details. l

BNP: Fears over extra-judicial killing have come truen Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Accusing the government of being behind extra-judicial killings in the country, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yester-day claimed that the party’s fears of a so-called “cross� re” killing of Chhatra Dal’s Satkhira leader Azharul Islam had come true.

“We feared that Azharul Islam might be killed, and our fear came true: His body was found early this morning [yesterday],” Fakhrul alleged at a press brie� ng at the party’s Nayapaltan head-quarters in the capital.

Earlier at a press brie� ng on Sun-day, BNP’s International A� airs Sec-retary Asaduzzaman Ripon expressed concerns over the rise in extrajudicial killings, and raised concerns over the

arrest of Azharul on Saturday.On Sunday Ripon said, “He [Azha-

rul] is yet to be produced in front of the court. We fear a “cross-� re” incident might be staged to kill him tonight.”

At yesterday’s press brie� ng, the party alleged that the “planned dra-mas” of extra-judicial killings were a threat to the country’s democracy.

“No citizen is safe in the country if these extra-judicial killings are allowed to carry on,” Fakhrul said; citing Mon-day’s “gun� ght” in Satkhira between Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists and joint forces members which left Azha-rul dead.

The spokesperson of the party urged journalists to highlight such stories in the media; for the sake of the people’s safety and the country’s democracy.

The BNP leader also said the gov-

ernment should take steps to create a democratic atmosphere in the country; through dialogue after the dissolution of the “illegal” parliament.

Fakhrul claimed that extrajudicial killings have been taking place across the country under the guise of joint forces drives. “A raft of criminal activ-ities have taken place across the coun-try. More than a hundred leaders and activists have been killed across the country in this way,” he said.

Urging the government to stop the extrajudicial killings, Fakhrul said: “We cannot sit silent. If anyone tells the truth and opposes the government, they are picked up and then killed.”

Before the brie� ng, a joint meeting of the party’s front organisations took place to arrange the January 29 black � ag procession programme. l

Arrest warrant issued against Mohiuddin n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterday issued arrest warrant against Chittagong city unit President of Awami League ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury in a case for discrepancies found in the wealth statement that he submitted to the An-ti-Corruption Commission in 2007.

In the wealth statement he did not mention his income of Tk28.30lakh and possession of asset worth Tk1.23lakh which was later found, said Mahmudul Haq Mahmud, Chittagong ACC counsel.

On December 2 in 2007, ACC lodged a case against Mohiuddin for possess-ing the illegal wealth and not mention-ing it in his wealth statement. Mozam-mel Hossain Khan, deputy director of ACC, submitted charge sheet against the former Chittagong City Corporation

mayor in November in 2008 and court indicted him on February 5 in 2009, he said.

The High Court stayed the case after nine prosecution witnesses testi� ed before the trial court.

On November 27, last year, the HC withdrew the stay order and directed the lower court to resume the trial and ordered Mohiuddin to surrender before the trial court.

Four witnesses gave depositions in the Chittagong court until yesterday.

Judge Md Ataur Rahman of Divi-sional Special Judge Court issued the warrant as the former Chittagong City Corporation Mayor did not appear be-fore the court during the depositions, said the ACC counsel.

The court was adjourned until Feb-ruary 16, said Mahmud. l

IO terms Yusuf top razakar leader n Udisa Islam

The prosecution’s last witness in the case against war crimes suspect AKM Yusuf ended his deposition yesterday when he said the accused had crated razakar, an auxiliary force of the Paki-stani occupation army, in Khulna re-gion on May 5, 1971.

After the deposition of Investigation O� cer Md Helal Uddin for around an hour, defence counsel Mizanul Islam began cross examining him. The ques-tioning remained incomplete as the defence pleaded for time. The Inter-national Crimes Tribunal 2, headed by Justice Obaidul Hassan, later adjourned the proceedings until tomorrow.

Helal Uddin said there was enough evidence to prove that Yusuf had been the founding chairman of Peace Com-mittee in Bagerhat, Satkhira and Khul-na districts during the liberation war. The accused was also the top leader of razakar group and as its top leader.

The IO said Yusuf had established Peace Committee branches in every upazila and union with the supporters

of Jamaat, Muslim League and oth-er anti-liberation forces. After giving them training, on May 5 of 1971, Yusuf had formed an armed group and named it razakar, Helal added.

At the end of cross-examination, the defence will start placing its witness-es to prove innocence of the accused. Earlier, 26 prosecution witnesses gave their depositions against Yusuf.

Helal Uddin was also the investi-gation o� cer in the case against con-victed war criminal Delawar Hossain Sayedee, and during that time, he took nine days to complete his testimony.

On the evidence and documents he had submitted to the tribunal, the IO yesterday said he had conducted in-vestigation into the allegations against Yusuf between October 5, 2012 and April 21, 2013. He then visited the plac-es of occurrence and recorded state-ments of the witnesses when some of his activities had been con� dential.

The tribunal indicted Yusuf, the Ja-maat-e-Islami senior nayeb-e-ameer, on August 1, 2012 on 13 charges of crimes against humanity. l

UPAZILA POLLS

PM directs party leaders to ensure single candidatesCabinet meeting discusses broadcast policy, hydroelectric stationsn Mohosinul Karim

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has di-rected her ruling party leaders to select a single candidate in each upazila for the upcoming elections as the BNP-led 19-party alliance is likely to participate in the local polls.

The Awami League chief also asked her cabinet colleagues and senior party leaders to look after their workers and supporters who were a� ected in attacks by opposition activists during and after the January 5 general elections.

Hasina gave the directives at a cab-inet meeting yesterday after � nishing discussion on the regular agenda on the table, a senior cabinet member told the Dhaka Tribune.

The minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hasina asked the ruling party leaders to nominate only

one candidate in each upazila to con-test next month’s elections. She also requested them to work together for the nominee to win.

“It is an image-building election for the new government as it took charge following controversial and unilateral polls. So, the present government is trying to hold the local polls free and fair to make them acceptable to all na-tional and international communities,” the minister said.

Hasina also enquired after the con-dition of a� ected party activities, and asked party leaders to help the injured with their treatment and rehabilitation. The PM assured them that assistance for the victims would be provided from government funds.

Meanwhile, during the cabinet meeting, the PM asked the information minister about the preparation work for

a uni� ed national broadcasting policy. Information Minister Hasanul Haq

Inu informed her that the draft of the policy was � nalised, and would be placed before the cabinet soon for ap-proval. Hasina then directed him to update the policy after taking opinions from the ministers concerned.

The also PM enquired about the progress in the construction of a four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway, re-pair works of road networks across the country and construction of interna-tional link roads.

She directed Communication Minis-ter Obaidul Quader to ensure the works are completed as soon as possible.

“The PM gave emphasis on producing electricity by building more hydroelec-tric stations. Such power stations could be set up in neighbouring countries, if found viable,” another minister said. l

Pedestrians walk down the roads of Hatir Jheel but often cannot � nd a bin to put the garbage in. An empty frame of trash can is seen in the photo as the bin has been stolen. The photo was taken on Sunday RAJIB DHAR

Students of Eden Mohila Collage bring out a procession yesterday, demanding upgrading of the institute as an autonomous public university. The photo was taken from Azimpur area NASHIRUL ISLAM

Two new frigates arrive at Ctg portn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Two frigates, which were purchased from China, arrived in Chittagong port city yesterday as the warships will be replaced as Bangladesh Naval Ship (BNS) Abu Bakar and BNS Ali Haidar in Bangladesh Navy.

Rear Admiral AMMM Aurangzeb Chowdhury, assistant naval chief (op-eration), welcomed the two new ships addressing as chief guest in the arriv-al programme held at BNS Isha Khan in the city in the morning where high o� cials and personnel of Bangladesh Navy were present among others.

Earlier, China handed over the war-ships to Bangladesh Navy on January 9 in 2014 while 29 o� cials and 231 sailors along with the two ships started jour-ney for Bangladesh on the day, said navy sources.

The two frigate ships, BNS Abu Bakar and BNS Ali Haider, were de-commis-sioned on January 22.

The two renowned warships were going to be replaced with newly pro-cured frigate ships from China, said navy sources. BNS Abu Bakar was re-commissioned in Bangaldesh Navy in 1982 while BNS Ali Haider in 1978. l

TRANSGENDER KILLING

Case � led against MP’s brother, four othersn Our Correspondent, Habiganj

A case was lodged yesterday afternoon with Nabiganj police station against � ve persons in connection with the death of a transgender.

The deceased was Adar Kha.Dilu Kha, elder brother of the

deceased, � led the case against the � ve including Belal Chowdhury, brother of JaPa lawmaker Abdul Munim Chowdhury from Habiganj 1 constituency.

It was learnt that all the accused � ed the locality after the case had been lodged.

On Saturday night Adar Kha was beaten to death over allegation of a mobile phone theft from the business establishment of Belal Chowdhury.

The victim later succumbed to her injuries at Nabiganj upazila health complex.

Locals said Belal, brother of law-maker Abdul Munim Chowdhury, beat Adar Kha.

Police, however, refused the allega-tion.

Lawmaker Munim Chowdhury gave the version that local auto-rickshaw drivers beat up Adar Kha.

He denied that his brother was in-volved in the beating.

Nabiganj police station O� cer-in-Charge Jahangir Alam said a case had been lodged with the police station in connection with the death. l

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

City High LowDhaka 23.8 14.0Chittagong 25.0 16.2Rajshahi 21.2 09.2Rangpur 15.0 11.5Khulna 21.4 13.0Barisal 24.8 11.8Sylhet 26.6 13.5Cox’s Bazar 27.2 17.2

PRAYER TIMESFajar 5:23am

Sunrise 6:40amZohr 12:11am

Asr 4:06pmMagrib 5:42pm

Esha 7:00pmSource: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

Temperature unlikely to changen UNB

Weather may remain dry with tempo-rary partly cloudy sky over the country until 6pm today.

Moderate to thick fog may occur over the country during midnight till morning, Met O� ce said.

Mild to moderate cold wave is sweep-ing over the regions of Tangail, Sriman-gal, Rajshahi, Pabna, Jessore and Ch-uadanga and it may continue for the next 24 hours. The sun sets in the capital at 5:41pm today and rises at 6:41am to-morrow.

Country’s highest temperature 27.8 degrees Celsius was recorded yesterday in Sitakunda and lowest 8.0 degrees in Ishwardi. Highest and lowest tempera-ture recorded in some major cities yes-terday were:

ACC questions former Jamuna Bank DMD n Tribune Report

The Anti-Corruption Commission yes-terday questioned Mozammel Hossain, the suspended deputy managing direc-tor of Jamuna Bank Limited, for his al-leged involvement in the Tk990-crore-scam by terry towel producer Bismillah Group between 2010 and 2012.

ACC Senior Assistant Director M Mahbubul Alam questioned Mozam-mel at the anti-graft body’s headquar-ters. The o� cial was working with Prime Bank when the scam took place.

A Dhaka court on January 21 placed Mozammel on a 10-day remand in con-nection with the scam following a plea by the ACC.

With assistance from law enforce-ment agencies, the ACC arrested the bank o� cial in the capital’s Segunbagi-cha area on January 20.

On November 3 last year, the ACC � led 12 cases against 53 o� cials of � ve banks and the Bismillah Group under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 for their alleged involvement in the embezzlement of funded loans worth over Tk990 crore.

The list of accused include 13 people of Bismillah Group, � ve o� cials of Ja-muna Bank, and others from Janata, Prime, Premier and Shahjalal Islami banks.

According to the � rst information report, Bismillah Group in association with the bank o� cials had embezzled the money through loans against trust receipts using names of fake foreign buyers, and laundered the money abroad.

They had secured cash incentives against fake export documents, tak-ing advantage of inland bills purchases and overpricing non-existing export items. l

Fire at Chittagong court building n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A � re broke out in a store room at Chit-tagong court building yesterday, where the evidences of di� erent cases were kept, but no major damage was reported.

The � re broke out at the record room, just three days before the deliv-ery of the verdict in the 10-truck arms haul cases. A Chittagong court has � xed January 30 for delivering verdict.

Police suspecting that a burning cig-arette might have caused the � re.

Witness said the � re gutted some abandoned evidences in front of the store room at the ground � oor of the building in the evening around 7:45pm.

Fire� ghters doused the � re before it engulfed the main record room on the � rst � oor of the building.

Rezul Masud, additional deputy commissioner of Chittagong Metropoli-tan Police, said the � re destroyed some sacks of cement, ropes and some other abandoned evidences. l

Decomposed body of missing boy foundn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The decomposed body of a schoolboy was recovered by Chittagong police early yesterday following a week after his disappearance.

Police located his body around 3:30am in the Patiya upazila after a tip-o� from his kidnappers, said Moham-mad Shamim Hossain, assistant super-intendent of police of Patiya.

He also said � fteen-year-old Ashra-ful Alam Opu was stabbed to death at least four to � ve days ago for motives yet to be known.

Ashraful, son of Md Idris, lived in the upazila’s Habilashdwip union and was a student of Patiya Model High School.

He went missing on January 19 after going out of home to attend a pre-mar-riage ritual along with friends.

His parents, failing to trace him on their own, lodged a general diary with the local police station on January 25, Shamim said.

Prior to that, he added, an uniden-ti� ed person contacted the boy’s par-ents informing them of his abduction and asking for a ransom of Tk1cr in ex-change for his release.

They were told of the place where to hand over the ransom cash but they failed to locate anyone after going there on Sunday.

Police sent the dead body to Chit-tagong Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem and picked up � ve individuals, including two friends of the victim, for questioning.

A case was also lodged in this con-nection with the Patiya police station, con� rmed the station’s o� cer in charge Mo� z Uddin. l

Shibir gets new president and secretary general n Manik Miazee

Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, announced a new president and secretary general for its central com-mittee for the current year yesterday.

Members of the organisation elected former Secretary General Mohammad Abdul Zabbar as president in a ballot, Zabbar than selected Atiqur Rahman as the new secretary general.

The party announced the new lead-ers at a secret meeting held at an audi-torium in the capital.

Former president and current Assis-tant Election Commissioner of Shibir, Nurul Islam Bulbul, administered the oath to the newly elected president.

After taking the oath, Zabbar in-structed leaders and activists of the organisation to strongly resist the joint forces attacks on, and torture of, Shibir men across the country.

Shibir’s Assistant Press Secretary Ja-maluddin told the Dhaka Tribune that they did not disclose the location of the auditorium, and did not invite the media to avoid harassment by law en-forcement agencies.

Most of the central committee mem-bers of Shibir are accused in various murder or vandalism cases. l

Two allegedly die after vaccination Government forms committees to probe into children's death in Gazipur, Jhenaidah n Tribune Report

Two children died yesterday allegedly after being administered with a dose of the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine in Jhenaidah and Gazipur.

The deceased were identi� ed as Af-roza, 12, of Sreepur upazila in Gazipur, and Ariful Islam, 11, of Harinakundu upazila in Jhenaidah.

Following the allegation, the gov-ernment formed four probe bodies, one in Gazipur and three in Jhenaidah, to investigate into the deaths.

Afroza, a sixth grader of Protappur High School and a resident of Mendipur village under Prahladpur union of Sree-pur upazila, lost consciousness hours af-ter being administered with an MR dose. She was rushed to Gazipur Sadar Hospi-tal, where doctor declared her dead.

When asked, Gazipur Civil Surgeon

Dr Shah Alam Sharif said: “There is no risk to one’s life from the measles-rubella vaccine. I have heard the child had respiratory and heart complica-tions. But, the reason behind the death has not yet been con� rmed.”

A probe committee, led by Gazipur Civil Surgeon Dr Shah Alam Sharif, has been formed to investigate the death. The committee also includes Gazipur Medical College professor Dr Subash Chandra, Sreepur Health Complex Family Planning O� cer Dr Hasan Imam and Epidemiology Technician Amzad Hossain as members.

Apart from that, a team with inter-national-expertise on vaccination had been sent to the area from Dhaka fol-lowing the incident, our Gazipur cor-respondent added.

Ariful Islam, a sixth grader of Bhaina Secondary School and a resident of Ka-lisankarpur village under Harinakundu upazila, became seriously ill hours af-ter being administered with a MR dose at his school at round noon. He was rushed to Harinakundu upazila health complex, where he died at around 4pm.

Upazila Health and Family Planning O� cer Dr Rabiul Islam said Ariful was su� ering from asthma for a long time. But, the reason behind the death was yet been con� rmed.

However, family sources claimed Arif was physically � t when the dose was given to him.

Sources in Jhenaidah civil surgeon’s

o� ce have con� rmed that the health ministry, the district civil surgeon’s of-� ce and the upazila health complex au-thority had formed three separate probe committees to investigate the matter.

Two of the probe committees will be led by Upazila Health Complex's resident medical o� cer and pediatric specialist Dr Anwarul Islam, while the other, as per the ministry’s directives, will be led by district civil surgeon Dr Nasrin Sultana, our Jhinaidah correspondent added.

The committees were told to submit report within 3 working days.

When contacted, Dr Nasrin Sulta-na said the reason behind the child’s death is yet to be con� rmed, adding that there is no such record of a death caused by MR vaccines.

“A proper investigation into the inci-dent might help detect the cause of the death,” she added. l

DEATH OF STUDENT IN WALL COLLAPSE

Students abstain from classes, parents blame headmastern Our Correspondent, Sherpur

Students of Char Sreepur Government Primary School are not attending class-es after another student was killed in building collapse on Saturday.

According to school sources, not a single student out of 447 came to school yesterday; even the teachers left, after signing the attendance reg-ister.

Parents complained that school authorities did not have the situation under control, and so refused to send their wards to school.

“We will send my son to the school if the authority ensures security,” said a guardian.

Minal Mia, 12, a student of class V, was killed as the wall of an abandoned school building collapsed on top of him

while he was playing nearby around 1:30pm, leaving him dead on the spot.

Headmaster of the school formed a probe committee soon after the death, while the district education o� ce later suspended the headmaster for his neg-ligence on duty. The headmaster has remained absconding since then.

A three-member inquiry committee headed by Upazila Assistant Commis-sioner Binita Rani was formed to � nd out parties responsible for the acci-dent.

Other members of committee are Upazila Primary Education O� cer Monika Parvin and Upazila Assistant Engineer Md Zahidul Alam.

The committee will have to submit its report within a week.

District Primary Education O� cer Md Enamul Haque said actions would

be taken against the expelled headmas-ter if investigation found him guilty.

Sadar Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Irien Farzana: “A letter has been already sent to district commissioner for � nancial help of the victim’s family”.

The building of the school had been lying in dilapidated condition for long with cracks on the roof.

Although the district administration announced the school abandoned and asked the school authority to vacate it, the school was continuing its academic activities, risking the lives of hundreds of its students.

But the school governing body and the headmaster continued holding classes, without informing district edu-cation o� ce, or taking any kind of pre-cautionary measures. Eventually Minal paid with his life. l

BY-POLLSpeaker to participate as lone candidaten BSS

Speaker of the House Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury remains the lone candidate for by-election in the Rangpur 6 con-stituency scheduled to be held on Feb-ruary 20.

According to sources in district elec-tion o� ce, only one candidate has submitted nomination paper for taking part in the by-election in the constitu-ency. Yesterday was the last date for submitting nomination.

Assistant Returning O� cer and Pir-ganj Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Ziaul Haque said no other candidate had submitted nomination paper until 5pm yesterday except Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.

Earlier, Dr Chaudhury submitted her nomination paper on Sunday to Ziaul Haque in presence of leaders and activists of Awami League and its front organisations. l

Khoka, Moudud denied bail n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday rejected the bail petitions for BNP Vice-Chairman and former mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka of Dhaka City Corporation and the party standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed in separate cases.

The court, however, directed the police to interrogate the duo at jail gate within � ve and three working days re-spectively.

A case was � led against Khoka with Jatrabari police station in connection with vandalism and arson attack on ve-hicles and attempt to murder cops.

On the other hand the Anti-Cor-ruption Commission charged Barrister Moudud with occupying government land worth Tk300crore in Gulshan.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mo-sta� zur Rahman passed the order on Khoka when investigation o� cer of the case Mominul Haque Chowdhury pro-duced the leader before the court, see-

ing a 10-day remand. Defence counsel Md Sanaullah Miah

moved the case for the BNP leader who was arrested from the capital’s Uttara area on December 4 last year.

Moudud’s bail application was re-jected after ACC Deputy Director Md Harunur Rashid submitted a plea to the court of Dhaka second additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.

Defence counsel Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Masud Ahmed Ta-lukder moved the bail plea for Moudud.

Opposing the bail petition, ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal said Moudud’s Gulshan home was shown as abandoned property in the gazette published on October 21, 1972.

He claimed that the house still be-longed to the state.

On December 17, the ACC deputy direc-tor � led the case with Gulshan police sta-tion against Moudud and his brother Man-jur Ahmed for occupying the government land worth Tk300crore in Gulshan. l

Cables of rival satellite operators in Gulshan entangle and may pose a security risk. The photo was taken yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The city’s Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue wears a regular view with a long tailback of vehicles yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Upazila Health and Family Planning O� cer says Ariful was su� ering from asthma

News 5DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

SSC routine revisedn Tribune Report

Two of the papers of the Secondary School Certi� cate and its equivalent ex-aminations were rescheduled yesterday.

The exams that were scheduled for February 18 and on February 20 were rearranged, o� cials of Board of Inter-mediate and Secondary Education said.

According to the revised schedule, the examinations scheduled for February 18 would now be held on March 18, and the examinations scheduled for February 20 are now going to be held on March 20, Dhaka Education Board’s Examination Controller SM Wahiduzzaman said.

Religion studies is now on for Feb-ruary 18 while accounting will be held on February 20, for SSC examinees. O� cials said the changes were made because of the upazila election, given how educational institutes are usually utilised as polling centres.

The SSC exams were scheduled to commence on February 9 and end on March 13, however, according to the re-vised schedule, the exams would now end on March 20. l

83% pass in 1st year honours’ n Tribune Report

Eighty-three percent students of di� er-ent disciplines under National Univer-sity passed in the � rst year honours’ examinations. Among them 49% were female students.

Results of the � rst year honours’ ex-aminations of the academic year 2013-14 of NU were published yesterday, said a press release.

Around 413454 examinees partic-ipated in the exams under 30 depart-ments of 516 colleges under the NU. The results were published including the merit list of 172582.

Around 167279 students out of 170198 students under humanities group passed the exams; the average rate of passing was 92%.

In science group, 50477 students out of 54761 students passed and it was 92%.

In commerce group, 129422 stu-dents have passed out of 188495 stu-dents and the passing rate was 68%.

The examinees can get the result through SMS (NU<space> AT <space> Roll No and send it to 16222) and the result would be available at the website of NU (www.nu.edu.bd/admissions). l

KCC, KDA urged to demolish risky buildings n Our Correspondent, Khulna

Greater Khulna Development Com-mittee (GKCDACC) urged authorities at Khulna City Corporation (KCC) and Khu-lna Development Authority (KDA) to de-molish any high-risk buildings in the city listed by the technical committee.

The technical committee was jointly formed by the KCC and KDA in October 2012 to identify the tilted buildings.

President of the GKDACC Sheikh Ashrafuzzaman expressed concern over the unsafe buildings as people are cur-rently residing in them risking their lives.

The GKCDACC brought the issue to the attention of KDA Chairman Brig-adier General Shamsul Alam Khan on January 15 for taking steps towards the buildings’ demolish.

GKCDACC President Sheikh Ashra-fuzzaman said, “The buildings can collapse any time and claim the lives of the residents.”

He also urged KDA and KCC o� cials concerned not to construct buildings without having plans approved.

Nurun Nahar, 68, a resident of a tilt-

ed house in Baro Bazar said, “We live in danger as the building can collapse any given moment.” When contacted, KCC Mayor Moniruzzaman Moni said, “The KCC needs the KDA’s support in demol-ishing the titled buildings”

“It is a sensitive business to demolish the buildings because many shops and institutions, including mosques, are sit-uated in such buildings,” he added.

The KDA chairman could not be reached over phone for his comment on any possible obstacles hindering the demolition of titled buildings. l

RU students ponder tougher movement to lower feesn RU Correspondent

The students of Rajshahi University will announce further course of action today as their seven-day ultimatum to the authorities of the university ended yesterday.

On January 20, the students gave seven days’ ultimatum, demanding that the authorities cancel the move to increase all kinds of fees.

Recently, the university authorities in a meeting have taken a decision to increase all kind of fees which is two to � ve times more than the earlier rates.

The newly � xed fees have been af-fected from January this year and the authorities have already issued notices to all departments in this regard.

Campus sources said the extra fees were necessary to pay salaries of addi-tional recruited teachers. The Universi-ty Grants Commission has already told RU authorities that it would not pay for the additional teachers.

RU administration sources said 368

teachers had been appointed against 204 posts from February 26, 2009 to February 26, 2013 during the tenure of former vice-chancellor Prof Abdus Sobhan.

According to the university sources, the fees for withdrawal of provisional certi� cate on normal basis have been increased to Tk300 from Tk100 while the fees for emergency basis increased to Tk1,000 from Tk200.

Withdrawal of the main certi� cate fees raised Tk500 from Tk200 and mark sheet fees on emergency basis Tk600 from existing Tk225, duplicate mark sheet Tk1000 from Tk300 and for subsidiary mark sheet fees raised Tk500 from Tk150.

The fees for withdrawal of duplicate admit card was raised Tk200 from Tk50 and correction of name spelling on any certi� cate and mark sheet Tk500 from Tk250.

The authority has increased aca-demic examinations fees for three-hour honours exam (theory) Tk100 from Tk50, for more than three-hour

long exam the fees Tk125 from Tk60 and also for masters’ courses Tk500 from Tk200.

The administration also increased examinations fees for MS, MD, MPhil programme to Tk5,000 from Tk2,000 for each course and Diploma Masters Degree examinations fees Tk5,000 from Tk1,500.

The students have been observing agitations from January 16 on the issue.

The students under the banner of Progressive Students’ Alliance also submitted memorandum to Vice-Chan-cellor Prof Mizanuddin on January 20 and gave seven days to meet their de-mands.

A student said: “As the universi-ty authorities did not pay heed to our demands, we will go on tougher move-ment from Tuesday.”

University’s Kendriya Sangskritik Jote also expressed their solidarity with the student’s demands and movement.

However, VC Mizanuddin could not be reached through mobile phone de-spite several attempts. l

SCC removes 2,000 posters ahead of T20 WCn Our Correspondent, Sylhet

The Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) has started drives to remove all a� xed posters, banners and festoons in the city, ahead of the ICC T-20 World Cup scheduled to be held this year from March.

The drives had started since January 23 and the SCC has already removed about 2,000 posters, banners and fes-toons from the city. The corporation’s Chief Conservancy O� cer Md Hani-

fur Rahman deployed a team of eight members to run the drives.

Since the initiative, the SCC had conducted drives in the city’s Bandarbazar, Surma Market, Jindabazar, Chowhatta, Abmorkhana, Naya Sarak, Jail Road, Naiorpool, Sobhanighat, Satellite City, Shibganj, Mirabazar, Subidbazar, Rikabibazar, Lamabazar, Taltola, Shahi Eidgah and Dhilagar area.

Hanifur Rahman said: “The drives were run to maintain a neat and clean

environment in the city for the upcom-ing T-20 World Cup.”

He said some of the commercial or-ganisations had a� xed their compa-ny’s posters and banners at di� erent places in the city but they have re-moved them. Actions would be taken against the companies if the posters were put up again, he added.

Hanifur said: “The corporation will also start drives against illegal bill-boards in the city after the completion of the current tasks.” l

Convicted police o� cer still performs duty n Our Correspondent, Kurigram

A convicted sub-inspector (SI) of police in Kurigram is performing duty in the o� ce of superintendent of police  (SP) in Dinajpur district.

The police o� cer was sentenced to jail for � ve years and two months.

According to sources, Assistant Ses-sions Judge Ashikul Khabir of Kurigram court sentenced SI Nazrul Islam to � ve years and two months in jail in di� er-ent cases including extortion and land grabbing. Although two months passed after the court had delivered its verdict, the complainant of the case Aslam Hos-sain got the verdict copy of the case on Monday.

On the other hand, the police o� cer was shown absconding in papers.

The court sources said Aslam Hos-sain bought 18 decimals of land from one Makbul Hossain.

Earlier on April 14, 2008 Nazrul and

his associates Deldar Hossain and Fa-zlul Haque asked Aslam to give back the land. On April 19, a group of gang-sters led by Nazrul grabbed the land and beat up Aslam.

They also tortured Aslam’s wife Mukta Begum.

On April 20, Aslam lodged a case with the chief judicial magistrate’s court in the district.

The court ordered additional police super to investigate the matter.

The case was transferred to assistant sessions judge court for trial. After the hearing both groups, the court deliv-ered the verdict on November 18, 2013.

Deldar and Fazlul were sentenced to two months and one month in jail re-spectively and both of them were sent to prison.

But the SI was not present at the court as he was declared absconding.

The court also ordered that Nazrul be sent to jail after immediate arrest. l

Students take part in a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, protesting post-poll attacks on Hindus all over the country NASHIRUL ISLAM

A worker of Sylhet City Corporation removes an illegal billboard in the city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Climate change poses health risks for coastal people80% without fresh watern Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Climate change has been causing an increase in the health risks faced by residents of the several coastal and riv-erside districts of Bangladesh, a recent study has found.

According to its � ndings, 61% peo-ple living in eight districts of Bangla-desh were facing serious health risks because of the severe salinity of water.

Water and food-borne diseases were on the rise as fresh water was unavail-able to at least 80% of the coastal resi-dents, while women and children were most vulnerable to the diseases.

The baseline study titled “Risk Re-duction of Climate Change on Health through Finding out Adaptive Mea-sures in the Context of Bangladesh” and conducted by the climate change and health promotion unit of the health ministry, was published at the city’s Cirdap auditorium yesterday.

Dr Iqbal Kabir, principle investigator and co-coordinator of the ministry’s climate change and health promotion unit, presented the keynote paper and said the study was the health minis-try’s � rst ever survey on the health risks caused by climate change.

The study found that 46% of the sur-veyed population was unaware about

the aspects of climate change. The problem of water salinity could

be solved by setting up water treatment plants in the pond, the study found; while Dr Kabir said they had support to establish 10 water treatment plants at a cost of Tk15 lakh each, which could en-sure fresh water and save thousands of people from water-borne diseases.

The study was carried out in 2012 at eight districts – Sirajganj, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Khluna, Satkhira, Bager-hat, Barguna and Faridpur.

Interviews were collected from 6720 people over the age of 18 from 224 vil-lages in 28 upazilas.

The report found 245 malaria and 34 dengue patients in the districts, al-though most of those districts were not malaria-prone. Moreover, 700 diarrhe-al and 529 pneumonia patients were found at the time of the study in 2012.

The report recommended increas-ing awareness especially among wom-en and children, addressing issues of poverty and level of education, and training community-based health workers and in� uential local leaders on adaptive measures. It also called for the need to repeat the study periodically to assess the trends of climate sensitive diseases, awareness level and adaptive measures. l

Airport o� cer sent to jail in gold smuggling casen Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday sent Ashrafunessa Alo, a senior security o� cer of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, to jail in a gold smuggling case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge

Md Juhurul Haque passed the order after Ashrafunessa surrendered before his court with a bail prayer.

The prayer was rejected and she was sent to jail.

Ashrafunessa is one of 19 individu-als indicted for gold smuggling on July 31 last year. Another accused, Mirza

Foyes Ahmed, surrendered on October 21 and was subsequently jailed.

Of the people indicted, eight are currently in prison while the rest still at large.

The case was � led after 13.5kg gold was seized at a toilet in the airport on September 11, 2012. l

The GKCDACC brought the issue to the attention of KDA Chairman Brigadier General Shamsul Alam Khan on January 15 for taking steps towards the buildings’ demolish

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Lalmonirhat rice farmers decry tobacco farmingn Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat

Rice farmers in Lalmonirhat have ex-pressed discontent with the spiralling fertiliser demand and ensuing price in-crease, blaming it on the tobacco grow-ers who are reportedly administering large quantities of fertilisers on their farmland.

They said they were struggling to keep up with the high market prices and alleged preferential treatment being ex-tended to their competitors while pur-chasing fertilisers.

According to sources, about 1.3 tonnes of fertilisers are usually required to grow tobacco on one hectare of farm-land and the demand for fertilisers in-creased in recent times with the growth in tobacco acreage.

Tobacco is being cultivated on at least 50,000 hectares of land in the dis-trict this year, which is double the area

of land used last year. Fertilisers such as urea, DAP, MOP and Potash are used for this purpose.

“I have already used four maunds of fertilisers on my three-bigha land and will have required another 10-11 maunds by the end of this month,” said Kashem Ali, a tobacco grower of Paschim Baruya village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.

“At least � ve maunds of fertilisers, especially urea, must be used on a one-bigha � eld to get the expected result.”

However, rice grower Hasinul Islam of the same village alleged that farmers like him had to su� er fertiliser short-age while tobacco growers were getting their supply easily. “It is unfortunate and so is the competition that we are facing from them.”

Hasinul has a twelve-bigha land on which he grows rice. “We feel deprived when the fertiliser dealers extend pref-erential treatment to the tobacco culti-

vators, who have a steady source of in-come.” “Some of the dealers have stakes in tobacco farming and so they make fertilisers available for this purpose for their own interests.”

He demanded an end to supply of fertilisers for tobacco farming to ease pressure on the rice growers.

Another rice grower, Jahedur Rah-man of Aditmari upazila, said he had � rst cultivated tobacco on his � ve-bigha land but then turned back to paddy cul-tivation.

“Agriculture o� cials do not seem very enthusiastic about discouraging farmers from tobacco cultivation. This negative growth in tobacco acreage has something to do with the lack of aware-ness among farmers in general,” he added.

However, Ra� qul Islam, a fertiliser dealer in Aditmari, denied the allega-tions of extending undue favours to

tobacco growers, saying dealers sold fertilisers to whoever needed them, re-gardless of what they needed them for.

“Some dealers might have secret links with the tobacco companies. But it is not true that all have similar links.”

Contacted, Deputy Director of the Agriculture Extension Department in Lalmonirhat Abduol Mazid said the amounts of fertilisers to be sent by the agriculture department depended on the market demand.

“But tobacco farming is not counted when the demand is gauged. It is true that excessive use of fertilisers in to-bacco � elds may create a fertiliser short-age, but we are conducting campaigns to dissuade farmers from cultivating tobacco,” he said.

“The problem is, campaigns do not work always. Sometimes farmers are more interested in boosting their pro� ts by cultivating tobacco.” l

Post o� ces in Cox’s Bazar languishing n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

The post o� ces in the district fail to meet the public needs due to shortage of manpower and up-to-date postal services as elsewhere in the country.

The authorities concerned blamed the government for the substandard services provided by the post o� ces across the district.

Seeking anonymity, an o� cial of Cox’s Bazar Post O� ce said the govern-ment earned a premium of Tk1crore every year from only postal life insur-ance, but still the postal sectors in the districts remained uncared for.

He said this sector was one of the sources of earning revenues by the gov-ernment.

There were more than 70 post of-� ces in Cox’s Bazar along with six sub-post o� ces, all witnessing manpower shortages and lack of standard services like mobile money transfer, e-post card

etc, said a source.The number of government and

commercial letters has increased in the post o� ces while personal letters de-creased.

Asked, Postmaster SM Imam Uddin of Cox’s Bazar Post O� ce said among other services, mobile money order was one of the most useful means of sending money from one place to an-other, but people of the district were deprived of it.

The postmaster attributed the dep-rivation to shortage of manpower and lack of technology necessary to pro-vide consumers with such services.

On the other hand, the ramshackle vehicles of postal department carry an-swer scripts of National University and Open University exams, plus books and materials for the visually impaired peo-ple under no escort.

The postal o� cials also su� er from frustration of their promotions. l

Clothes worth Tk6cr seized from Benapolen Our Correspondent, Jessore

Customs o� cials at Benapole yes-terday seized clothing items worth around Tk 6 crore for tax evasion. The clothes were being imported from In-dia through the land port by Hazi Ap-parels from Narayangonj using four manifestos.

Customs sources said the consign-ment, which mainly contained polyes-ter scarves, were being imported on a false declaration.

“The import value of the goods was shown at around Rs3 lakh, but the ac-tual value would be at least Tk6 crore including customs duty,” the customs o� cials said.

Omar Faruk, assistant director for custom’s intelligence wing at Bena-pole, told newsmen that the importer tried to dodge taxes by using false doc-uments. l

Six PBS employees beaten up by locals n Our Correspondent, Rajbari

six employees of Rajbari Palli Bidyut Samity were beaten up by some of the establishment’s clients, in the district’s Baliakandi upazila, on Sunday.

Rajbari PBS Assistant General Manager (Finance) Boniar Rahman said: “Around 1pm, some of our Baliakandi upazila o� cials visited one Jhantu Biswas’s shop in Bohorpur Bazaar to suspend the power supply to his shop as he had bills pending for three months.”

“15-20 people attacked them with lethal weapons and left them injured. Of the six, three are in severely critical condition,” he added.

The injured o� cials are Deepok Dev, Mithu Chandra Roy, Bulbul Fakir, Atikur Rahman, Bipul Baroi and Beja-min Haider.

Chanchal Biswas, a local client said:

“We are su� ering from frequent load shedding which is hampering our busi-nesses, that is why we are not paying the bills regularly.”

“Moreover, the employees demand extra money for reconnecting lines, as a result the employees are facing such attacks from the locals in these areas,” he said.

Sources in the samity said some em-ployees were attacked seven days ago for similar reasons.

District General Manager of Rajbari Palli Biddyut Samity Altaf Hosain said: “There is no load shedding in the area, we are trying our best to supply enough power to all households.”

Baliakandi police station O� cer-in-Charge Abu Shama Mohammad Iqbal Hayat said some previously estab-lished enmity over disconnecting the power lines could be a possible reason behind the attack. A case was � led. l

Rape survivor’s family o� ered bribe to withdraw case n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

The family members of a rape victim were o� ered Tk40,000 by some local in� uential individuals, as a bribe to have their case withdrawn, in Kotalipa-ra upazila, Gopalganj.

According to the case statement, Tarun Ray, 40, allegedly raped a wom-an, a housewife, living next door to him in the district’s village of Chak-pukuria on Saturday.

The victim was taken to a 250-bed general hospital in the district after the incident.

A case was � led on the same day with Kotalipara police station in con-nection to the incident.

Tarun Ray raped the victim after he found her alone in her home, the case statement read.

The victim’s family said Tarun be-longed to a powerful family in the lo-cality and he had o� ered Tk40,000 to the them for withdrawing the case.

O� cer-in-Charge of Kotalipara police station Abdul Latif said: “The case had already been � led. There is no chance of withdrawal anymore.” l

Shivering cold wave paralyses normal lifein northern districtsn Tribune Report

The shivering cold wave sweeping over the northern districts has factually par-alysed normal life adding untold miser-ies to common people yesterday.

The situation deteriorated follow-ing sharp falls in the maximum and minimum temperatures with blowing cooler winds from the western and north-western directions with clouds and fogs.

The severity of the biting cold forced thousands to stay indoors a� ecting business, o� ce and normal activities throughout the day today as the sun remained covered behind dense fogs, mists and clouds amid blowing strong-er cooler winds.

The maximum and minimum tem-peratures marked sharp falls by three to six degrees Celsius.

According to Met O� ce sources, the minimum temperature of 11.5 degrees celsius was recorded at 6 am and maxi-mum of only 15 degrees at 4pm yester-day in Rangpur city.

Besides, the minimum tempera-tures recorded were 10.9 degrees cel-sius at Syedpur, 11 degrees at Bogra, 11.3 degrees at Dinajpur and the coun-try’s lowest of only 8 degrees celsius at Iswardi at 6am yesterday.

The intensity of biting cold became unbearable following reduction of the gap between the minimum and maxi-mum temperatures to only three to six degrees Celsius at most places in the sub- Himalayan region yesterday.

The number of patients with cough, fever, asthma and other climate change related diseases have been increasing again during the past couple of days, hospital sources and physicians said. l

35 submit nomination papers for upazila elections in Gaibandhan Tribune Report

A total of 35 candidates from Shaghata and Gobindaganj upazilas submitted their nomination papers to contest dif-ferent posts in the upcoming upazila elections in Gaibandha.

Of the total, some 13 candidates will contest for two chairmen posts while seven candidates will contest for the posts of two female vice chairmen and 15 candidates for the posts of two vice-chairmen, election o� ce sources said.

From Shaghata upazila, as many as eight candidates submitted their nomi-nation papers for the post of chair-man. They are Ahsan Kabir, Advocate Golam Shahid Ranju, Mohammad Ali, Faruque Alam Sarker, Shah Mokhlesur Rahman, Principal Shahidullah, Shaja-han Ali Sazu and ATM Shakhawat Hos-sain Rubel, reports BSS.

Three candidates who submitted

their nomination papers for the post of female vice chairman are Fazilatun-nahar Parul, Naznin Begum and Jorry Begum and six candidate’s aspirants for the post of vice chairman are Sha-hidul Islam Biplob, Abdul Hadi, Liakat Ali Khandkar, Momitul Haque Nayan, Shajahan Ali and Mahbubur Rahman.

From Gobindaganj upazila, some � ve candidates-Abdul Latif Prodhan, Mohammad Hossain Foku, Faruque Kabir Ahmed, Faruque Ahmed and AFM Majibur Rahman submitted their nomination papers for the post of the upazila chairman.

On the other hand, four female can-didates-Runa Arzu Monowara Eden, Umme Jahan, Kamrun Nahar and Ak-tera Begum submitted their nomina-tion papers for the post of female vice chairman.

Nine candidates who submitted their nomination papers for the post

of vice chairman are Abdur Rahman Khandkar, SM Kabir Rasel, Sadequl Islam, SM Altab Hossain Pata, Imran Chowdhury, Abu Zafar Lelin, Nurun-nabi Prodhan, Ashraful Islam and Ami-nul Islam.

Shaghata UNO Abdul Awal and Gob-indaganj UNO Mamun-ul-Hasan who are the assistant returning o� cers of the elections in the respective upazila con� rmed the submission of nomina-tion papers of the candidates on Satur-day to the correspondent of the Bangla-desh Sangbad Sangstha.

Additional deputy commissioner (General) Abu Bakar Siddique who is the returning o� cer of the election here said as per the schedule, nomina-tion papers would be scrutinized on January 27.

When asked, Abu Bakar Siddique said the elections in other � ve upazilas will be held in the phases. l

Jubo Dal leader killed in Pabna n Our Correspondent, Pabna

A Jubo Dal, youth front of the BNP, leader was stabbed to death by robbers in Bera upazila of Pabna in the early hours of yesterday.

The deceased Md Manik Miah, 45, was son of Nurul Islam of village San-yashibadh of the upazila.

He was the president of Rooppur union Jubo Dal according to the claims of Bera upazila BNP General Secretary Rois Uddin.

O� cer-in-Charge Faruk Ahmed of Aminpur police station said Manik had been attacked when he had tried to intercept a gang of eight to 10 rob-bers, who were running away after committing a robbery in the locality around 2am.

He said the robbers had looted gold ornaments and other valuables from three houses of the viilage.

Police recovered the body and sent it to Pabna Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examination.  

Bera upazila unit BNP and Pabna district unit BNP condemned the kill-ing of the leader.

They demanded exemplary punish-ment for the killers immediately. l Farmers harvest potato at a � eld in Naohata of Rajshahi. Farmers of the district are disappointed with the prices of potato which is below than production cost DHAKA TRIBUNE

People form a human chain in Habinganj town yesterday, demanding speedy trial of the killers of former � nance minister Shah AMS Kibria DHAKA TRIBUNE

Speedy trial of killers of Kibria demanded n Our Correspondent, Habiganj

Residents of Habiganj demanded speedy trial of the killers of former � -nance minister AMS Kibria.

The townspeople came up with the demanding while speaking at a hu-man chain in Boider Bazar area of the district town yesterday, marking the 9th death anniversary of the Awami League leader.

To mark the day, leaders of Shah AMS Kibria Smriti Parishad, administration of Habiganj sadar upazila and leaders of District Sramik League placed wreath at the monument of Kibria.

The speakers said although nine years had passed since the killing of Kibria, accused in the murder case was yet to get punishment.

Shah AMS Kibria, his nephew Shah Manjur and � ve others people were killed in a bomb blast on 27 January of 2005. l

7Long Form Tuesday, January 28, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Nisar Ahmed

Recent political debates in Bangladesh are swirling around two main topics – the January 5 general election, and the proceed-

ings of International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). Though these two topics should be discussed separately, they have been unnecessarily tangled together by some members of the political and the civil society inside Bangladesh and abroad.

Now that they are knotted together, they need to be discussed alongside each other in order to show why the Awami League is the best option to govern the country at this point in time. I would like to put forward my case by taking readers through a set of questions crucial for the future of Bangladesh, and my responses to these questions. First question, is it necessary for Bangladesh to deal with crimes against humanity committed during the liberation war that happened more than 40 years in the past?

Yes, absolutely. For any nation to move forward together, it must resolve issues of the past. Otherwise the divisive debate keeps going on. There are plenty of examples that show us how dealing with the past is necessary to move a nation forward. South Africa dealt with the apartheid era injustices through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The US had to address slavery through a war, and its racial inequalities through enactment of laws protecting civil rights. On the other hand, Turkey is still ignoring its past behaviour towards Armenians, and for that the nation is not able to fully integrate with the European Union.

Bangladesh was born through a bloody war of independence. A small group of people from East Pakistan wanted undivided Pakistan in the form of an Islamic state. These people collaborated with the Pakistan govern-ment and the army, and participated in atrocities against their fellow country-men including women and children. The heinous crimes committed by them were no doubt crimes against humanity.

Though the political position taken by these people during the war can be argued for, no one in their sane mind can either accept their crimes or let those crimes remain unresolved. Be-tween 1975 and 2009, Bangladesh nei-ther had a government that was willing to tackle this issue, nor the political and economic strength to take on the task of war crimes trial.

Now is the most appropriate and opportune time to take care of this be-hemoth of un� nished business because Bangladesh is on a much better footing politically and economically to with-stand any international pressure.

Sheikh Hasina and her government has courageously picked up the op-portunity, and carried on with the task despite immense pressure from inside and outside the country. The Hasina government deserves praise for setting up the International Crimes Tribunal and for trying crimes against humanity. One might ask, could the crimes against humanity be handled di� erently?

Yes, possibly, but sincerely, no. There are a few options that could have been considered including doing nothing, a trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC), and forming a Truth and Reconciliation commission similar to the one in South Africa. Though a few people would love to agree with option 1, it is not an option for the people of Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government tried option 2, which could have been the

best solution from the perspective of international acceptability but, regret-tably, the ICC expressed its inability to take up this task. Instead, they suggest-ed Bangladesh does it on its own.

It is not clear why ICC refused, but a good guess would be that a number of powerful countries would be embar-rassed by the facts that would be un-earthed by the ICC through such a pro-cess. The Bangladesh government had no other choice than to move forward with the ICT option. The formation of a Truth and Reconciliation commission

was suggested by some, as it would have been the most humane option.

A humane way to address the crimes against humanity would have satis� ed all; certainly the people of Bangladesh would have accepted that option only if it was a practical one. Those who committed those crimes in 1971, had 40 years to decide whether or not they want to pledge their allegiance to the sovereign state of Bangladesh, and accept the fundamental principles Bangladesh was founded on.

Wretchedly, they chose the wrong direction in 1971, and continued to pur-sue the same misguided goals till this day – committing similar crimes and atrocities against humanity. If anyone in their right frame of mind believes that perpetrators of 1971 has any inclination to change and conduct politics follow-ing the principles of the Muktijuddho (the liberation war), then they live in a fools’ paradise.

If we simply consider why Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission was cancelled following a Supreme Court order, and their continued violent and terrorist political activities, it will become very clear that those criminals have no desire to denounce their past and come clean. Unless there is any other compelling option on the table, the option chosen by the Bangladesh government is the only practical one and we must � nish the un� nished task of the ICT. Question is can BNP be trusted with the completion of ICT trials and execution of verdicts?

One should hope that the political party in government should not derail the process; unfortunately, that is not the case in Bangladeshi politics. It is an established fact that BNP has created the environment for anti-liberation forces to come back and re-establish themselves socially, � nancially, and politically in Bangladesh.

Ershad has also signi� cantly con-tributed to the conducive and thriving environment for fundamentalist an-ti-liberation forces that BNP had recon-structed. Though the AL government magnanimously announced general amnesty in 1972, it did not do so for the main culprits. Also AL’s brief political pact with Jamaat was deplorable, even if it was a tactical political move.

BNP’s political alliance with Jamaat, on the other hand, is ideological. Present day AL and BNP are not very di� erent except for a few important aspects including the principles of the liberation war. AL wants to uphold the fundamentals of the liberation war by creating a political environment that is secular, free of fundamentalism, and ensures equal rights for all citizens,

including minorities. BNP, on the other hand, does not

give much importance to secular politics, and believes hurting minority communities is a small price to pay in order to keep India on notice. From that standpoint, BNP has no problem allying with Jamaat. In return, BNP enjoys some fruits of its alliance with Jamaat, the most important of which are the Taliban-like cadre Jamaat can unleash as and when necessary, and the power of the purse it can bring to the table. Could, or would BNP give up this

political advantage by severing their ties with Jamaat?

On the question of “could,” BNP would harness long-term bene� ts for themselves as a political party and for the nation if they did. On the question of “would,” one can only wonder how. It is di� cult for BNP to untangle itself from Jamaat, especially when they believe the survival of both BNP and Jamaat are at stake if they cannot come to power soon.

The calculation was, and still is, for BNP and Jamaat to come to power by any means before the ICT verdicts are executed. In power, they will surely undo everything the AL government has achieved through the process. No wonder, Jamaat, with full backing from BNP, is doing everything they can to overthrow the AL government including unleashing unprecedented violence and mayhem along with international pres-sure aided by a vested interest group of civil society in Bangladesh.

Short time before the election, Khaleda’s appeal to Jamaat leaders for continuing the violent activities and the provocative messages from Tarique Rahman clearly demonstrates BNP’s allegiance with Jamaat. BNP, in power, will have no other choice than to throw away the ICT process because people convicted by the ICT will be helping them run the administration.

Above should provide enough evidence as to why Sheikh Hasina led AL government is the only option at this time to resolve the matter of crimes against humanity once now, and for all of Bangladesh’s future. Besides the issue of crimes against humanity, there are other relevant aspects to the ques-tion of which party is the better option for forming government such as: which is a better choice from the perspectives of corruption, development, foreign policy, and other social indicators?

Both AL and BNP are saddled with corrupt politicians, and the corruption in Bangladesh politics is not likely to go away anytime soon. Our big democratic neighbour, India, is not able to uproot corruption from politics and the ad-ministration after having more than 65 years of uninterrupted, democratically elected governments in power.

Though no one should condone corruption, it is a shocking reality of any society including the most advanced nations. In some countries, corruption happens in the disguise of lobbying and other forms of favoritism in the upper echelons of the government, and in countries like Bangladesh it happens at every level. Given that corruption is not going away completely anytime soon, the more important question for Bangladesh is which party would be

less corrupt, and likely to pay bit more attention to it than the other.

AL is the likely answer. How, you ask? In the just concluded AL govern-ment, there were a few veteran politi-cians with no corruption charges inked against them. Can BNP show that many ministers with similar clean records? Then if we tally up the number and size of various corruptions by past two governments, the balance will be tilted downwards on BNP’s side. Also, AL has shown more inclination in dealing with corruption as demonstrated by the removals of ministers such as Abul Hossain and Suranjit Sengupta. Can BNP show similar examples of dealing with corruption allegations?

During its tenure in government, AL has demonstrated remarkable progress in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, agriculture and food safety, educa-tion, terrorism, foreign policy, foreign currency reserves, and many others. We can argue about AL’s relation with India, but the truth is if any government can get the Teesta and Land Boundary Agreements signed with India, that would have to be AL.

If we have to choose between Paki-stan and India as our ally, India has to be our choice for so many reasons. BNP will not be able to build a fruitful rela-tionship with India because of its unsa-voury political ties with the fundamen-talist quarters, and its active and passive support for terrorism as demonstrated by the previous BNP government. Not to forget that the AL government has legally fought and won the water rights issue with Myanmar.

But not everything is positive in the AL foreign policy. The AL government formulated, and then lost the Padma Bridge loan from the World Bank. It has damaged Bangladesh’s relationship with the West due to the mishandling of World Bank loan and Grameen Bank, and due to its dogged pursuit of the January 5 elections with the so called “all party” government in power.

But for the � rst time since 1975, the AL government has shown that Bangla-desh can stand � rm and tall against all powerful external pressures. One can argue that the AL government de� ed world pressure for the wrong reasons, but the truth that is hidden underneath the surface is: the AL government has set an example of how to stand � rm against outside pressure. This will also be a lesson for the civil society in Bang-ladesh. Hopefully in future, they will pursue a desired outcome of any inter-nal political issue domestically without

egotism before lobbying through their foreign friends.

On the question of overall develop-ment of the country, the AL govern-ment has made signi� cant progress in increasing power generation, increasing agriculture output, reforming educa-tion (K – 12), developing infrastructure, increasing foreign currency reserves, and many other sectors. Since AL came to power in 2009, Bangladesh has seen gradual decline in load shedding.

If we can leave aside the debate over the environmental issues surrounding the Rampal coal-� red power plant, the AL government has, for the � rst time, come up with a concrete plan for gen-

erating power in excess of the projected demand in the near future, and they are actively pursuing that plan. For the � rst time in Bangladeshi history, the AL government has consistently delivered textbooks on time to all students, going against all odds. The AL government has, and continues to pursue positive reforms in the education sector.

The list of achievements for the AL government stacks up quite tall. It certainly could have done a much better job in promoting and convincing the fel-low countrymen of its successes. They tried an ill-advised, measly promotion of its achievements by taking over the billboards of Dhaka city. Despite all the mistakes of last � ve years, AL’s achievements rise well above BNP’s pre-vious government. Now on to the most important question - was it right to hold the January 5 election without the other major political party, BNP?

Yes, very much so. The January 5 election seems highly controversial at this moment, but 15 years from now, it will most likely be seen as one of the most important milestones for Bangla-desh’s democracy. When the smoke and dust so deceitfully created by the oppo-nents of the election settles, people will be able to see how this election helped lay a strong foundation for democracy in Bangladesh.

Yes, the election was boycotted by a number of political parties including the main opposition; and yes, most of the seats were uncontested; and no, there wasn’t a good voter turnout; and yes, there was massive violence; and yes, there was enormous pressure from outside; and lastly yes, the election was held under a political government – the most important problem cited by the opponents which led them to vehemently oppose and boycott it. Ironically, holding elections under a political government is where the most important milestone for Bangladesh’s democracy lies.

The caretaker form as a poll time government was necessary when it was created. But it cannot go on forever. If politics of the last 20 years or so is any indication of what to expect in the foreseeable future, as far as reaching any political agreement between two major political parties goes, there is no hope for the AL and the BNP to � nd a way out of the caretaker government in a congenial manner. Does that mean that Bangladesh has to live with the caretaker government forever? There are many countries in the world where democratic institutions, political parties, and dem-

ocratic processes are way too inferior to those of Bangladesh. But those countries do not adopt a caretaker or any special form of poll time government.

Caretaker or any poll time gov-ernment that does not represent the people, is a very weak and dangerous form of government. How can we trust a non-representative government more than a government of elected represent-atives? Is our experience with caretaker government process very clean? The ex-perience with the most recent caretaker government of Fakhruddin-Moinul has arguably left a long-lasting bitter taste in everyone’s mouth. Hasina, Khaleda, and most importantly, the democracy

in Bangladesh su� ered during that government. Hasina remembered the danger posed by the caretaker govern-ment, and took it upon her to make sure that an unelected government can never again come to power.

The Caretaker government format had to go at some point. Some may argue that now was not the right time. Then the questions that naturally come up are “when is the right time?” and “what is the process to get there?” the AL government had the answers to those questions, and they responded. No one else including BNP had come up with any alternative path and timeline. BNP was simply interested in using the caretaker government formula to come to power.

Hence, it is not unexpected that they would � ght the election under the AL adopted process tooth and nail because they thought they had no chance of coming back to power. But the violent form of their � ght was completely unwarranted. AL would have fought it too if the roles were reversed. It is inevitable that somebody had to get rid of the caretaker government at some point. AL simply hastened it, and for that, Bangladesh is that much ahead in solidifying democracy. This was a victory for democracy. We may not realise it today, but we will some day. When we do we will also recognise how courageous Hasina was.

Our democracy may be weak and fragile, but the caretaker government certainly made it weaker. If BNP had the prescience, they would have used this as a political opportunity. Keeping AL under pressure for doing away with the caretaker government, they could have gained extra mileage against the election time government, and could have taken part in the elections. There was genuine possibility of BNP winning this election.

It would have been impossible for AL to rig the election with the BNP as a major shareholder of the govern-ment and under the close watch of the international community. But BNP decided to forego this opportunity of being part of this historic democratic advancement, and having a serious shot at ful� lling their desire of coming back to power. That is BNP’s loss, AL’s gain. Politically AL has achieved exactly what it hoped for.

AL in power is the best option at this time because between the two major parties, it has a much better vision and plan of execution for Bangladesh. AL now has the opportunity to show the nation that it cares. It must now be mindful of taking care of a few impor-tant things, among others, including:

• Strengthening all democratic institutions, especially the Election Commission, so that they can function independently and be-yond doubt.

• Completion of all the high pro� le war crimes cases within the short-est possible time.

• Execution of pending agreements with India.

• Checking corruption within its government and party.

• Completion of a few major devel-opment and power projects.

AL must work under the assumption that it is not likely to get elected again, and the time to deliver starts to run out as soon as they assume power. l

Nisar Ahmed is a freelance contributor.

Is Awami League the answer?

Though no one should condone corruption, it is a shocking reality of any society including the most advanced nations

AL in power is the best option at this time because between the two major parties, it has a much better vision and plan of execution for Bangladesh

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 28, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE InternationalDHAKA TRIBUNE8

In� uential cleric denies plotting against Turkey governmentn AFP, Istanbul

The exiled Muslim cleric at the heart of a bitter feud with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday denied allegations that he was behind a vast graft scandal roiling the government.

In his � rst broadcast interview since he arrived in the United States in 1999, Fethullah Gulen told the BBC that he was not behind the corruption probe that has ensnared Erdogan’s key allies.

“It is not possible for these judges and prosecutors to receive orders from me. I have no relation with them. I don’t know even 0.1% of them,” Gulen said.

Several of Erdogan’s business allies and the sons of ministers in his cabinet were arrested in mid-December on sus-picion of corruption and bribery.

Erdogan has accused loyalists of Gulen of acting as a “state within a state” and in-stigating the probe to destabilise his gov-ernment ahead of March local polls.

In response, the prime minister has embarked on a massive purge of po-lice and prosecutors believed to be in-volved in the probe.

But the 73-year-old cleric, whose Hizmet movement wields considerable in� uence in the judiciary and police, said those sacked or reassigned in the wake of the corruption probe “were not linked to us.” l

Israeli defence computers hit in cyber attackn AFP, Jerusalem

Hackers attacked Israeli computers in-cluding one used by the defence min-istry department dealing with civilians in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli data protection expert said on Monday.

“At the beginning of this month a number of mails were sent to a num-ber of companies in Israel, including security organisations,” Aviv Ra� , chief technology o� cer at Israeli cyber secu-rity � rm Seculert told army radio.

“There was an attachment... and whoever opened it was infected with a virus, a Trojan Horse, which allowed the attackers to control those comput-ers. One of the computers belonged to the Civil Administration,” he said in ref-erence to the defence ministry depart-ment, which is sta� ed by the military.

Asked to comment on the report, the military said in a written statement to AFP: “The reports of the incident are currently being looked into.”

Ra� did not identify the source of the attack but the radio said it was “ap-parently from Gaza” and added that 15 Israeli computers were targeted.

It said that only the Civil Adminis-tration’s public network was a� ected and that no classi� ed communications were compromised.

Ra� said that the virus allowed the attacker “complete control of the in-fected computers. The attackers could carry out any operation within that network.” l

Iran journalists urge Rouhani to reopen press associationn AFP, Tehran

Hundreds of Iranian journalists have signed a petition urging President Has-san Rouhani to speed up the reopening of their press association, the reformist Etemad newspaper reported on Monday.

The Association of Iranian Journal-ists was closed down shortly after the swearing in of former hardline presi-dent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

The closure was ordered by Tehran’s former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi fol-lowing a complaint lodged by the intel-ligence ministry.

“In a letter, some 772 Iranian jour-nalists urged the president to unseal their association,” Etemad reported.

“You promised to do your best to re-open the journalists association ... while in the past few months some e� orts were made by your ministers in this re-gard, the exact time of reopening is not clear for us yet,” the petition reads.

“However, we are still hopeful to see the ful� llment of your promise and ask you to order the reopening process of the association to be accelerated.”

The Association of Iranian Journal-ists is an a� liate of the Internation-al Federation of Journalists, which strongly condemned the closure.

Rouhani, a reputed moderate who defeated conservatives in last year’s election, promised more social free-doms during his election campaign. l

Tunisia approves new constitution, appoints governmentn Reuters, Tunis

Tunisia’s national assembly approved the country’s new constitution on Sun-day in one of the last steps to establish-ing full democracy three years after the uprising that toppled autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Just before the constitution vote, Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa appoint-ed a caretaker cabinet as part of a deal to end a crisis between Tunisia’s Isla-mist party and its secular opposition until new elections this year.

Tunisia’s new constitution and progress contrasts sharply with messy transitions in  Libya, Egypt  and  Ye-men which are still caught up in turmoil after ousting their own long-standing leaders in 2011 revolts and uprisings.

After the historic vote, the red and white Tunisian � ag was unfurled and assembly deputies embraced, danced and sang inside the cham-ber in Tunis to celebrate the charter, which has been widely praised for its inclusiveness.

“This constitution was the dream of Tunisians, this constitution is proof of the revival of the revolution, this constitution creates a democratic civil nation,” Assembly chief Mustapha Ben Jaafar said.

While the new constitution recog-nizes Islam as the country’s religion, it also enshrines freedom of conscience and belief, and equality between the sexes. As one of the most secular na-tions in the Arab world,  Tunisia  has struggled since the revolt, with divi-sions over the role of Islam and the rise of ultra-conservative Sala� sts, who secularists feared would try to roll back liberal rights.

The assassination of two opposition leaders by Islamist militants last year, though, pitched the small North Afri-can country into crisis with the ruling moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, un-der pressure to step down.

Opposition leaders blamed Ennah-da for going easy on hardline Islamists who promoted the idea of Islamic state based on strict sharia law.

After the vote, in what many saw a symbol of compromise, Mongi Rahoui, a deputy from the assassinated leaders’ party, embraced Habib Louz, an En-nahda hardliner. The two men sparred furiously over Islam last week.

“With this,  Tunisia  should be a model for the region,” Ennahda chief Rached Ghannouchi said of the char-ter. “These advances in democracy in Tunisia should have a positive e� ect on the other Arab Spring countries.” l

N’Dour promotes peace in CARn AFP, Dakar

Senegalese music icon Youssou N’Dour has told AFP he is ready to travel to the Central African Republic to spread his message of peace amid inter-religious vi-olence which has torn the country apart.

Speaking late Sunday at the record-ing of a single dedicated to reconcil-iation in Central Africa, N’Dour said artists had a role in talking about world

events such as the CAR crisis and that music “allows us to take shortcuts” to speak to a wider audience. “We can participate in bringing peace to this country which is so dear to us,” he said.

N’Dour, a Muslim, is collaborating with Central African singer Lydie Na-tacha, who goes by the stage name of Idylle Mamba and is a Christian.

He “decided to associate the voice of a Christian from the Central African

Republic with his (to) encourage strong international solidarity to restore a de-� nitive peace” to the country, accord-ing to his spokesman Charles Faye.

N’Dour told AFP that “the people there will listen and we are also willing to talk to them” in their own country, if required. The Grammy-winning mu-sician has over 20 albums to his name and has long been involved in social and humanitarian issues. l

Netanyahu settlement stand draws � re from all sidesn AFP, Jerusalem

Comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Eco-nomic Forum make it clear he is against the establishment of a Palestinian state, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat has said.

“Anyone who says they want the settlers to remain is actually saying they don’t want the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Erakat said in re-marks published Monday in Palestin-ian daily Al-Ayyam.

Erakat was reacting to comments by Netanyahu at last week’s WEF gather-ing in Davos, where the premier insist-ed Israel would not evacuate Jewish

settlements built on occupied land the Palestinians want for their future state.

Netanyahu has publicly supported the two-state solution during US-spon-sored talks which envisage the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a � nal peace agreement.

But at Davos, the premier told Israe-li journalists at a brie� ng, “I have said before and I say again; I do not intend to dismantle any settlement, I don’t in-tend to uproot any Israeli.”

His comments were broadcast on public radio. Israel’s settlements, which are illegal under international law, are a key sticking point that is pre-venting peace talks from making any visible progress. l

Syria talks to tackle power transfern AFP, Geneva

Syrian peace talks in Geneva were set to tackle the explosive issue of a trans-fer of power on Monday, despite Pres-ident Bashar al-Assad’s repeated vows that he will not step down.

After two days of talks focused on humanitarian issues, the UN-spon-sored discussions between Syria’s regime and opposition were to move on to the core issue of a transitional governing body. The UN said in a terse statement that the talks had resumed around 11:00 am (1000 GMT) but pro-vided no further details.

In the � rst tangible promise to emerge from the talks, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said Sunday the re-gime had agreed to allow women and children safe passage from besieged rebel-held areas of the city of Homs.

But opposition spokesman Louay Sa� said the time had come “to start talking about transition from dictator-ship to democracy.”

On Monday, he said, “we start to see if the regime is willing to go to a politi-cal solution or stick to a military one.”

The opposition says Assad must leave power and a transitional govern-ment be formed based on an agreement reached during a � rst peace conference in Geneva in 2012.

The regime says Assad’s role is not up for debate at this conference –

dubbed Geneva II – and denies that the initial Geneva deal requires him to go.

In Damascus, o� cial Syrian media made it clear that Assad’s continued leadership remained a red line that ne-gotiators would not cross.

“Those who are deluding them-selves must understand that the gov-ernment delegation to Geneva II did not go to this conference to hand pow-er to those who have conspired against the people over the last three years,” the Tishreen state newspaper said.

“They are in Geneva to speak in the name of the Syrian people who have been the target of terrorism by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda,” it said.

The regime accuses the opposition and its international backers of promot-ing “terrorism” in the country, pointing to militant Islamist rebel groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Al-Nusra Front.

State media warns of talks ‘collapse’The pro-regime Al-Watan newspa-

per said any optimism about the talks had faded because of the opposition’s “inability to negotiate” and warned: “The collapse of the negotiations is now possible.”

Brought together by the United Na-tions, Russia and the United States, the two sides have been meeting in the big-gest diplomatic push yet to stem Syria’s bloodshed after nearly three years of civil war. l

US carries out air strike in Somalia targeting militant suspectn Reuters, Washington

The US military carried out a missile strike in Somalia on Sunday targeting a suspected militant leader with ties to al Qaeda and al Shabaab, a US military o� cial told Reuters, speaking on con-dition of anonymity.

The strike took place in southern Somalia, the o� cial said, without of-fering further information, including the identity of the suspect or whether the strike was believed to have been successful.

Another US o� cial, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the oper-ation took place in a remote area near Barawe, Somalia.

Barawe, a militant stronghold on So-malia’s southern coast, was the site of a failed raid by American commandos in October targeting a militant known as Ikrima.

The US forces pulled out after a gun battle without capturing Ikrima, described as a planner and operator who has relentlessly plotted attacks on neighbouring Kenya.

Al Shabaab has been weakened by African Union troops over the past two years, ushering in some stability in many parts of the Horn of Africa coun-try after a campaign of cross-border raids and kidnappings of Westerners and security forces. l

Kiev mulls state of emergency as ministry seizedn AFP, Kiev

A Ukrainian government minister on Monday warned protesters that a state of emergency could be imposed to deal with the country’s deadly crisis, after radicals seized the justice ministry in Kiev.

The storming of the justice ministry threatened to derail talks between the opposition and President Viktor Yanu-kovych to � nd a peaceful outcome to a boiling stando� that according to o� -cials has left three activists dead.

The Ukrainian parliament on Tues-day was due to meet to discuss con-cessions proposed by Yanukovych to end the crisis, in a highly anticipated extraordinary session that could be a make-or-break moment to resolve the stando� .

With concern growing in the West that the situation in Ukraine is spiral-ling out of control, the crisis was also set to dominate an EU-Russia summit on Tuesday.

The protests, which began in No-vember as a drive for EU integration af-ter Yanukovych ditched a key deal with the bloc under Russian pressure, have now turned into an all out uprising to unseat him.

Tensions remained high in Kiev as several dozen radical protesters from a group named Spilna Sprava (The Right Deed) seized control of the justice min-istry late Sunday, smashing windows and erecting new barricades outside.

Justice Minister Olena Lukash, who is taking part in the negotiations, said she would ask for the talks to be broken o� if the building was not freed.

“I will be forced to ask the president of Ukraine to stop the talks if the build-

ing is not freed immediately and nego-tiators are not given a chance to � nd a peaceful solution to the con� ict,” Lu-kash told Ukraine’s Inter channel.

If the protesters do not vacate the building, Lukash said she would also

approach Ukraine’s national securi-ty council with “a demand to discuss imposing a state of emergency in this country.”

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency said opposition leader and former box-

ing champion Vitali Klitschko, who is involved in the negotiations with the president, had visited the scene over-night and asked the protesters to leave, but to no avail.

The authorities have been ru-moured to have considered imposing a state of emergency but the prospect of such an extreme step had report-edly unnerved many in Yanukovych’s Regions Party.

Protesters now control much of the city centre of Kiev around the protest hub of Independence Square, with their camp protected by barricades several metres high and guarded by ac-tivists dressed in balaclavas and armed with baseball bats.

But the rebellion has now spread well beyond Kiev, with protesters oc-cupying regional administrations in all but one region in the west of the country which has traditionally been anti-Yanukovych.

But most worryingly for the presi-dent, protests have swept to the coun-try’s east and centre, usually consid-ered more the president’s heartland.

Protesters have now blockaded or attempted to blockade 14 of the 25 re-gional administrations across Ukraine.

However the security forces appear to have been � ghting back in the east, using force to disperse protests in the regional centres of Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Sumy, local media re-ports said. l

Senegalese music icon Youssou N’Dour works in the studio in Dakar, as he records a song dedicated to peace in Central African Republic. N’Dour, a Muslim, collaborated with Central African singer Lydie Natacha Cerbonney AFP

Anti-government protesters gather around a � re to get warm at a road block in Kiev AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos AFP

Cambodian police break up rally pressing for TV station

n Reuters, Phnom Penh

Cambodian military police used smoke grenades and batons on Monday to quell a protest by demonstrators de-manding that a new television channel be allowed to broadcast, wounding at least eight people, witnesses said.

The demonstration was in breach of a ban on public gatherings imposed by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen,

who is enduring one of the biggest chal-lenges to his 28-year rule and mounting criticism of bloody crackdowns on dis-sent. Military police and guards working for Phnom Penh city authorities chased down opposition-aligned protesters near the Information Ministry, with po-lice wielding batons and electric prods. Journalists were among the wounded, according to Reuters witnesses.

The protest was against the minis-

try’s refusal to grant a broadcast license to a new television channel run by a staunch government critic in a country where the broadcast media is accused of lacking political independence.

The violence was the latest episode in a months-long political crisis in Cambodia, which was for years racked by con� ict but which recently saw more than a decade of unprecedented growth and stability. l

9Tuesday, January 28, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE International

Overcrowded Indian boat may have hit rock; 21 deadn AP, New Delhi

Police say a tourist boat that capsized o�  India’s remote Andaman and Nico-bar islands was overcrowded and may have hit a rock before it went down. At least 21 people were killed.

Mohammed Ra� que, the duty of-� cer in Port Blair, said Monday that the boat capsized about 300 feet (100 yards) from shore Sunday afternoon. He said the investigation so far sug-gests the boat hit a rock. Forty-seven people were on board, all of them In-dian tourists. The passengers exceeded the boat’s capacity, Ra� que said. He had no further details. India’s  presi-dent released a statement expressing “shock and grief” over the accident. l

Thai election body urges vote delay, army stays neutraln Reuters, Bangkok

Thailand’s Election Commission urged a delay in next week’s planned national vote, warning on Monday of more blood-shed after violent clashes at the weekend.

That would drag out a festering cri-sis that risks splitting the country. The military, which has often stepped in to take control in the past, is resolutely staying out of the fray this time, despite appeals from anti-government protest-ers. “As election o� cials, it is our job to make sure elections are successful, but we also need to make sure the country is peaceful enough to hold the election,” Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, an Election Commission member, told Reuters.

“We don’t want it to be bloody.”The commission will meet embat-

tled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawa-

tra on Tuesday to discuss the vote date.With protests aimed at toppling Yin-

gluck now in their third month, there has been repeated speculation that the armed forces might try a repeat of the 18 actual and attempted coups they have mounted in 80 years of on-o� democracy in Southeast Asia’s second biggest economy.

But in comments to reporters, armed forces supreme commander, Thanasak Patimapakorn, refused to be drawn on whether elections should be postponed.

“The Election Commission and the government will meet to discuss this tomorrow. Soldiers will not be able to say much more than this,” he said.

However, the military in recent weeks has also refused to rule out in-tervention.

The Election Commission says the months of protests render the coun-try too unstable to go to the polls on February 2. That argument was bol-stered by the shooting on Sunday in Bangkok of a protest leader, taking to 10 the death toll since the protests started in November.

The protests, centred on the capital, have broad support among Bangkok’s middle class and the traditional elite.

They are pitted against the mostly rural, and much larger, voting block in the country’s north made up of so-called “red shirt” supporters of Yingluck and her ex-premier brother Thaksin Shinawatra, forced out of of-� ce by a military coup in 2006.

Thaksin lives in self-imposed ex-ile to escape a 2008 jail sentence for corruption. l

China ships in disputed waters o� Tokyon AFP, Tokyo

Chinese ships sailed through disputed waters o� Tokyo-controlled islands on Monday, days after Japan’s Prime Minis-ter Shinzo Abe caused an international stir by comparing Sino-Japanese rela-tions with the run-up to World War One.

Three Chinese coastguard vessels spent around two hours in the 12-nauti-cal-mile territorial waters o� one of the Senkakus, which China claims and calls the Diaoyus, Japan’s coastguard said.

It came as Abe was in New Del-hi, where he and Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh a� rmed plans to strengthen defence cooperation, in-cluding conducting joint maritime exercises on a “regular basis with in-creased frequency.”

His three-day visit to India is being keenly watched by China, analysts say. Beijing is sometimes uneasy about

what it sees as an attempt by the US-backed Japan to encircle it. Beijing also has an often-fractious relationship with Delhi, partly because of a border dispute that erupted into a brief war in 1962. India is keen to burnish friend-ships in the region to o� set its neigh-bour’s growing might.

Abe was in Delhi days after he drew a comparison between Japan and Chi-na’s relations and those of Britain and Germany as they stumbled towards World War One. For its part, Beijing has sought to conjure the spectre of Na-zism by comparing Abe with Hitler and urging him to emulate Germany’s post-war contrition.

Chinese state-owned ships and air-craft have approached the Senkakus on and o� to demonstrate Beijing’s territorial claims, especially after Ja-pan nationalised some of the islands in September 2012. l

Four more China activists on trialn AFP, Beijing

Four members of a Chinese rights movement went on trial Monday, a day after its founder was jailed in what has been seen as an escalating govern-ment crackdown on anti-corruption activists.

The proceedings bring the total number of New Citizens Movement members tried on charges of disrupting public order to 10, seven of them since last Wednesday in Beijing.

The criminal charges are based on small-scale street protests where the activists held banners calling for o� -cials to disclose their assets as a check against corruption.

China’s new leadership under Presi-

dent Xi Jinping says it is tackling graft, but fears any organised movement might undermine the control of the ruling Communist Party.

At least 20 members of the group, which is estimated to involve a few hundred people, have been detained over the past year.

At Monday’s trials three of the ac-tivists, Ding Jiaxi, Li Wei, and Zhang Baocheng dismissed their lawyers, the attorneys told AFP, in a move previous activists have used to delay proceed-ings for 15 days.

One of Zhang’s lawyers, Chen Ji-angang, said that the case of a fourth defendant, Yuan Dong, was still be-ing heard late Monday. Yuan’s lawyer could not be reached. l

‘Goodnight, humans’: China’s Jade Rabbit moon rover postingn AFP, Beijing

Chinese Internet users � ooded the country’s social media networks on Monday with condolences for the trou-bled Jade Rabbit moon rover, which experienced a “mechanical control ab-normality” over the weekend.

State-run media reported on Satur-day that the country’s � rst moon rover had run into trouble due to “the com-plicated lunar surface environment.” By Monday afternoon, “Jade Rabbit lunar rover” had shot to the top of the most-searched terms list on Sina Wei-bo, a Chinese version of Twitter.

“Little bunny, we’re praying for you!” one Web user wrote. “In space explo-ration, there’s great beauty, but there’s also great di� culty,” another user wrote. “I hope one day you will be resurrected.”

The Jade Rabbit, or Yutu in Chinese, was deployed on the moon’s surface on December 15, several hours after the Chang’e-3 probe landed. The landing -- the third such soft-landing in history, and the � rst of its kind since the Soviet Union’s mission nearly four decades ago -- has been a huge source of pride in China, where millions across the country have been charting the rover’s accomplish-ments. The o� cial Xinhua news agency, which broke the news of the Jade Rab-bit’s troubles, published a “� rst-person account” from the rover that appeared geared towards softening the blow.

The account appears to have been based on a posting by weibo user “Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover,” an unveri� ed ac-count which Xinhua said is “believed to belong to space enthusiasts who have been following Yutu’s journey to the moon.” “The bad news is, I was supposed to go to sleep this morning, but before I went to sleep, my masters found some mechanical control abnor-malities,” the � rst-person posting reads. “Some parts of my body won’t listen to their commands. Now my masters are hard at work thinking of ways to � x me... Even so, I know that it’s possible I won’t be able to endure this night.” l

France’s ex-� rst lady focuses on hunger in Indian AP, Mumbai

In her � rst public appearance since the French president broke up with her, Valerie Trierweiler turned her atten-tion to the less fortunate Monday, cud-dling and kissing children in a pediatric ward in India.

Trierweiler arrived in Mumbai over-night, smiling but looking tired after a business-class � ight from Paris, on which cabin crew limited reporters’ access to her. Trierweiler has been a subject of intense media interest after being hospitalized earlier this month with what aides described as shock and the blues following a tabloid’s publica-tion of photos it said proved Hollande

was having an a� air with an actress.On Saturday, the French president

announced their seven-year relation-ship was over.

On Monday, Trierweiler visited the children in the pediatric ward of a pub-lic hospital in Mumbai and spoke with mothers about nutrition.

“I cannot stand that these children have less chances than others,” said Trierweiler, a career journalist who has three children from a previous mar-riage. “We should give same chances to all. We have (here) children who suf-fer from malnutrition, that is why I am here today.” The statement marked Tri-erweiler’s � rst public comments since the scandal erupted. l

Malaysia church hit with bombs amid ‘Allah’ rown AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Two petrol bombs were thrown at a Malaysian church Monday, a church o� cial said, igniting fears of more vio-lence as a religious dispute over the use of the word “Allah” rages.

An unidenti� ed assailant hurled the petrol bombs at a shrine fronting the Church of the Assumption in the north-ern state of Penang, said the church’s priest Dominic Santhiyagu.

Only one ignited, causing just minor damage, he said.

But the incident stirred memories of a wave of such attacks on places of wor-ship -- mostly churches -- four years ago during an earlier bout of divisions over the dispute in the Muslim-major-ity country.

“We are shocked by the incident. We must remain calm and pray,” Santhiya-gu told AFP.

Santhiyagu said police were investi-

gating the attack. Police could not im-mediately be reached for comment.

Conservative Muslims have raised pressure in recent weeks for Ma-lay-speaking Christians to stop using the word “Allah.”

They say the word -- which also is used by Malay Muslims to refer to the Islamic creator -- is exclusive to their religion and must not be used by non-Muslims in multi-racial Malaysia.

Muslim ethnic Malays make up more than 60% of the country’s 28 million people, which also includes sizeable Chinese, Indian and other minorities.

About 2.6 million people in Malaysia are Christians.

Earlier on Sunday, o� cials at the Penang church had found a banner hung on its fence saying “Jesus is the son of Allah.” Another such banner also was reportedly found at a nearby church.

Christian o� cials speculated the banners and petrol bombs could be the work of provocateurs seeking to fur-ther in� ame the “Allah” dispute.

Some government critics have al-leged right-wing elements allied to the Malay-dominated ruling coalition were stirring up the issue to increase Muslim support for the government.

“We look to the relevant authorities to take the necessary action to haul in extremists who thrive on causing unrest,” said Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia. l

One in 4 Japan tsunami children needs psychiatric caren AFP, Tokyo

One in four nursery school children caught up in Japan’s 2011 tsunami disaster has psy-chiatric problems caused by the horrors of loss and destruction, with experts warning of a dire shortage of psychiatrists.

Researchers say that for some children, the e� ects may be felt throughout their lifetimes unless they get the help they so urgently need.

A study found 25.9% of children aged between three and � ve su� er from symptoms including vertigo, nausea and headaches, with some exhibiting worrying behaviour such as violence or withdrawal.

Youngsters were scarred by losing friends, seeing their homes destroyed, by separation from parents or by the sight of the huge wall of water that crashed ashore, the study team said. The group, led by professor Shigeo Kure of Tohoku University School of Medicine, said young children who do not receive the necessary care could develop much worse problems in later life.

These could include developmental disorders and learning disabilities, which would a� ect academic achievement and employment prospects, “as they may have trouble in communicating with other people due to the in� uence of experiences related to the disaster,” Kure told AFP.

More than 18,000 people died when a 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake sent a towering tsunami into Japan’s northeast coast in March 2011. The country’s worst post-World War II disaster was compound-ed by reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which sent tens of thousands of people � eeing from radiation.

Researchers looked at 178 children whose parents or guardians agreed to cooperate in the three areas worst-hit by the catastrophe -- Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. They used an internationally recognised child behaviour checklist and met children between September 2012 and June last year. l

Philippines launches o� ensive against rebelsn Agencies

The Philippine military has launched a major o� ensive against a splinter reb-el group, two days after  negotiations with the country’s main Muslim rebel group to end a decades-long insurgen-cy that has  killed tens of thousands successfully ended.

Soldiers, backed by artillery, at-tacked guerrillas of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in a remote village on the southern island of Mindanao on Monday, triggering � ghting that sent hundreds of civilians � eeing, the military said.

Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan, re-porting from the capital, Manila,  said that the � ghting apparently erupt-ed after the military tried to serve warrants of arrest against the BIFF, which is � ghting  for an independent Islamic state.

In 2008, the BIFF broke away from the main rebel group Moro Islamic Lib-eration Front (MILF) that is now on the brink of signing a � nal peace deal with the Philippine government.

Since breaking away from the MILF, the BIFF has been accused of carrying out armed robberies and bombings in several cities in Mindanao.

On Sunday, the government and MILF negotiators sealed the � nal phase of talks in Malaysia that would pave the way for the laying down of arms by reb-els in exchange for greater autonomy.

The BIFF, however, said that the deal is not inclusive and does not rep-resent the needs of their people. l

A monk stands between protesters and riot policemen in Phnom Penh REUTERS

‘We look to the relevant authorities to take the necessary action to haul in extremists who thrive on causing unrest’

An anti-government protester holds a placard during a rally in Bangkok REUTERS

Against the attacks on minoritiesJanuary 21

Ruhela Sharmin ChoudhuryAs usual, things are coming along nicely for the AL.

Shougata GhoshWell written article. Given the trend, however, waiting for true democracy to be established to stop violence against minorities is a losing battle. By the time true democracy is achieved, there won’t be much of the minority population left in the country.

Even after the latest episodes, how many poli-ticians of the di� erent parties visited the areas? I’d have expected the top leaders of AL, BNP, JP, etc to physically visit and urge their cadres and the general people to stand up against such vio-lence. But that didn’t happen. Only Gonojagoron Moncho brought about a long march, which probably caused more people to not show their support lest it means siding with this movement.

While this top-down approach is required, a parallel bottom-up approach is the call of the hour. Regular people need to be aware of this violence and need to stand up against it. A few protests after the violence has taken place are noble but doesn’t achieve much in the long run. The common person’s perception about this topic during times of non-violence is the most important.

Sadly, to a large number of people who matter, the minority population is still viewed as “unreliable to the national cause, sel� sh, one foot in the neighbouring country, etc.” There needs to be continuous awareness programs so that general people stand up and guard against such violence. A person’s right to live in her/his country is a fundamental right, much more fundamental, in my opinion, than freedom of speech, freedom to vote and other talked about democratic rights.

Until that is achieved, the minority population will continue to dwindle and invariably reach the levels of that in Afghanistan.

Khaleda: Let go of Inquilab journalistsJanuary 19

BinodbangaliKhaleda knows well that these journalists would divulge to detectives that they acted on the directives of anti-government elements and probably were assured of safety. That could be why Mirza Fakhrul too wanted these journos released immediately.

Ronnie Binodbangali: This is the perpetuation of the present government’s paranoia and propaganda. This government has taken coercion and bullying to new, shameful heights. If the government is so patriotic and holy, what has it to fear of a few journos allegedly jeopardising “national security”? Let the men go, fine the paper if proved guilty, but let them have their day in court, without intimidation.

Binodbangali Ronnie: Agree fully on the legal rights of the newsmen.

Ronnie Binodbangali: I’m the � rst to acknowledge that with those legal rights of journalists come professional responsibilities and journalistic standards to uphold.

The Daily Inquilab has reportedly apologised, admitting their reckless recycling of a rumour without due fact-checking. My gripe is with the way the government often comes down like a ton of bricks at the slightest transgression by random media it considers inimical to its interests. Invoking the threat to “national security” etc is clearly a convenient cover to ride roughshod, with near-total impunity, over anything that runs counter to the government’s, not necessarily “national” interests. This cannot ever be a good thing. The bullying stunt, of slamming shut the Inquilab o� ces, is both unconscionable and unacceptable.

Also, while political opponents of this government may be, rightly or wrongly, accused of making full use of anything that casts aspersions on the government’s motives and actions, I’d say it’s a big stretch to accuse the BNP of deliberately engineering this � asco. Khaleda Zia’s remarks, in reference to this story in her speech at the Uddyan this week, should be regarded as a perfectly fair political point that puts the onus squarely on the government to prove the rumours unfounded, and explain other recent violent crises elsewhere in the country.

Protect minorities and guard against divisions

The proposed formation of a special tribunal to speed up prosecution of those involved in attacks on minority com-munities is a necessary move.

Crimes based on communal hate have no place in our society and should not be tolerated. We hope this proposal can help pro-vide timely justice for the victims and deter future attacks.

The Sector Commanders Forum and the National Human Rights Commission have been discussing other proposals with the same aim. Many of their recommendations such as a judicial probe committee to help identify perpetrators and ensure compensation for victims warrant action and implementation.

We are concerned however by remarks made in press conferences that there may be a need for separate polling stations for minorities. That type of distinction would be wrong in principle as it under-mines the concept of equal citizenship.

Such suggestions should be dismissed as counterproductive. The problem that needs to be solved is ensuring that all citizens are protected from violence and allowed to cast their votes safely. Separate polling stations are no solution as they could just as easily become targets.

The most pressing priority must always be to ensure that perpetrators of violence and hate are swiftly apprehended and brought before the law.

Distinguishing between voters based on religion only risks solidifying divisions that can be used to fan the � ames of com-munal hatred.

In protecting every citizen of the land, care must always be taken to avoid divisive policies.

Recycling sector must improve standards

Over 5000 children are estimated to be working in Dhaka’s 1,200 battery recharging shops.

Many are engaged in the most directly hazardous jobs, without any protective clothing or equipment and poverty is continuing to increase the number of children employed in such conditions.

Battery recycling has been cited by the UN as one of the � ve most “highly risky” sectors in the country which have a preva-lence of child labour. Exposure to lead acid and toxic materials is directly harmful to health and can cause severe burns to the skin.

Under the National Child Labour Elimination Policy 2010, the government is supporting programs to target the 50,000 chil-dren engaged in the most hazardous jobs across the country. This includes providing non-formal edu-cation and developing their skills, so that they do not need to go back to the most risky jobs.

The “Jhukipurno Kaje Niyojito Shishu” project which is backed by ILO technical support has been funded by the government with around Tk65crore until the middle of this year. It is vital that funding continues to pro-vide this type of support.

While it is right to give priority to helping those in the most vulnerable and risky positions, more action is needed to move towards the broader goals of guaranteeing education and elimi-nating child labour.

Environmental standards also need to be enforced more strin-gently. As the economy grows, demand for recycling and process-ing electrical and electronic equipment will increase further so it is vital to reduce risks. All stakeholders in the recycling sector must act to improve its impact and to raise standards for workers.

Editorial10

www.dhakatribune.com

DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

LETTER OF THE DAY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

Letters to the Editor

Bangladeshi women gang-raped in IndiaJanuary 21

Sheikh Jinat Mahmid Felani was killed, but did not get justice. Will justice be done with these two women?

Ashfaq Islam Your answer lies in your question

Sheikh Jinat Mahmid I wish the answer was not present in my question. But as a representative of the masses, I know my wish may just as likely remain a wish.

It is right to give priority to helping those in the most vulnerable positions. All stakeholders must act to further raise standards

The most pressing priority must be to ensure that perpetrators of violence are swiftly brought before the law

Heinous power politics!January 24Whenever Awami League comes to power, � ascos take place, no proper investigation is carried out, and according to investigation reports, no one is punished and the same fate holds for others.

Several times, the homes of Hindus and other minorities were attacked and torched during the AL regime, no proper investigations were carried out, and according to reports no one was punished. I can’t think of a single such incident during the whole of the BNP regime. What does that tell you?

MM Khaleed Ahasan

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

CROSSWORD YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS1 Hindu Mendicant (5)4 Finest quality (4)7 Incentive (6)8 Small � sh (5)10 Cult (4)11 Adult insect (5)12 Self (3)14 Secluded corner (4)17 Rodents (4)19 Land measure (3)20 Zodiac sign (5)23 Young horse (4)25 Glossy fabric (5)26 Kingdoms (6)27 Blood vessel (4)28 Play for time (5)

DOWN1 Promote (6)2 Muslim leader (4)3 Roster (4)4 Bu� alo (American) (5)5 First woman (3)6 Length of army front (6)9 Uprising (4)13 In abundance (6)15 Kiln for drying hops (4)16 Doghouse (6)18 Devil (5)21 Doctrines (4)22 Direction (4)24 Hawaiian garland (3)

Crossword

Code-Cracker

SUDOKU

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The lost divinity n Mohammad Ali Sattar

In simple terms, by politics we mean the acts and deeds of politicians to try and help uplift the people.

It means pro-people policies and projects. It also means to work for the people’s wellbeing along with ensuring good governance for the country.

When politics crosses the fringes of one’s own dominion, it involves the globe. Then we have foreign policies at work. Contacts and deals with the comity of nations play a dominant role in international politics. All these acts are carried out with the sole objec-tive of keeping one’s own interests unharmed.

From olden times, politics has taken various shades. Scores of de� nitions and observations have been put forward by thinkers and scholars of di� erent times and places.

We remember with reverence those great minds that spoke and advocated only for the welfare of the people.

Politics was once so pure that it was looked upon as something divine. Divinity touched the souls and psyche of those who forgot to exist for themselves, only to spend their lives for others.

They were unperturbed by worldly needs. Times have changed, and so has politics. Its de� nition, application, and preferences have undergone a sea of change. It has transformed into something abstract.

With the rise of greed, the divinity in politics has vanished.

Diplomacy in the open is politics, and politics in secret is diplomacy. Whatever we make of this observation, both our politics and diplomacy have been victims of twisted minds who labour relentlessly to fashion their own domain of regulations. Winston Churchill said if you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law.

Theories, opinions, laws, and doctrines have been given ugly connotations. The distortion has gone to such an extent, that we barely � nd synonyms for those words. We are lost in the boondocks.

We don’t enjoy the luxury to chat about others, mainly because we have been tasked by our leaders with the precipitous mission of decoding our own theories, systems, and doctrines.

We go crazy trying to comprehend them. We look for the inventive or underlying meaning of disjointed expressions, or try to gauge the wits of the in� uentials, all without success. 

Let’s be speci� c. Since the last national polls, the political atmosphere has cooled down. There has been an uneasy calm all around, although the unrest that spread across

the country did not die. Just prior to the elections, amidst

an uproarious situation, the Awami League and its allies had clearly said the January 5 polls were held mainly to meet the constitutional obligation and that there might be another election soon after this, or the government would consider dialogue with the opposition to resolve the crisis.

The mood is entirely di� erent now. The ruling alliance has said there is no chance of any election talks now. This government will be at the helms for the next � ve years – the message couldn’t be clearer.

In a democracy, there is no problem with an election. Neither is there any concern with political functioning. The cardinal issue that concerns the whole nation is the “politics of hatred” that has become rooted deep in our faculties.

The ruling party, following its victory, could have pursued a changed policy of tolerance and amicability. Since there is no real threat to its power and strength, it could have shown more propriety towards the opposition and other critics.

Note the remarks of the senior ministers and party leaders, not to mention of the juniors, who have become infamous because of their trademark invectives against the opposition.

One sent out a 24-hour ultimatum to Begum Zia following her public meeting speech, another remarked that the BNP realised its mistake and now decided to participate in the upazila polls under the AL, yet another said the opposition missed the train and now they were repenting. There was also a suggestion that the opposition could be in politics with their heads down.

There is nothing wrong with passing remarks or giving statements, but the delivery matters. Blistering attacks on anything come without much thought from the government and party stalwarts. The treatment meted out to the opposition leaders could have been digni� ed.

By now, people have started believing religiously that the AL-led alliance will go on pestering and dishing out insults to the opposition, so that they do not show any interest in constructive engagement with the government on any issue. This is a ploy that most feel is not a good omen for the nation.

Politics is severely bashed up. Democracy hangs from a twig, ready to fall anytime. l

Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist, political analyst, and DT columnist.

No foreigners needed

11Op-Ed Tuesday, January 28, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Ikhtisad Ahmed

David Cameron reached out to the Tory base by pledging to reduce net migration to Britain to the “tens of thousands,”

disregarding the fact that what is needed is a smarter immigration policy, not one that focuses on numbers. Then again, it would be wrong to expect more from a government whose employment and � scal policies are detached from reality as well, with numbers that are easy to sell being of prime importance.

The immigration issue has thrown up an unsavoury problem. The UK, undoubtedly a� ected by the premier’s promise, is yet to take in any Syrian refugees. That a government that was determined to intervene forcefully to save the Syrian people is now reluctant to help them is sickening.

This is the nature of politics. Syrians do not vote for UK politicians, Con-servative supporters do. The voters cannot be trusted to tell the di� erence between a villainous asylum seeker with a spurious case and a displaced Syrian at the end of his tether. Real hu-manitarian aid in the form of human-itarian admission, and human rights, thus, take a back seat to ill-thought, illogical policies, and promises.

A team from the University of Kent’s Law School have swum against the tide. They have successfully argued atheism as grounds for protection. Much to Theresa May’s chagrin, an Afghan was granted

asylum for religious reasons as a result, in a landmark case that could prove to set a timely and signi� cant precedent.

The West, led from the front by the US and the UK, have carefully nur-tured a foreign policy with an empha-sis on intolerance, particularly of the religious variety. If they are going to actively cultivate hatred, they should take responsibility of those a� ected by the fallout from that. The US has des-perately, sinfully, failed to do so, and this exception, while commendable, does not completely absolve the UK.

Britain has at least rightly gone where Bangladesh dares not. There are those amongst the educated and elite classes who accept and advocate the proposition that atheists are not human beings.

They can die, indeed, they can actively be put to death, and it would matter naught. An extension of this, alarmingly, seems to be the treatment of Hindus. It has correctly been denounced in the sternest terms, but active measures taken against

perpetrators of the heinous crimes are conspicuous in their absence.

Despite the murderers of Biswajit Das being card carrying members of the ruling party, the implication is that attacks on minorities are carried out by the BNP-Jamaat axis of evil. This national narrative, believable and likely to be true, has become an incontrovertible truth.

The picture being painted, however, is a cosmetic one, its super� ciality aiding and abetting the deplorable actions. There is a lot being said, but nothing that is being done. The

omissions serve a purpose, as do the hollow words.

There is a correlation between the loud noises being made about the epidemic of the unspeakable violence and the national narrative. The lack of investigations and calls for them, of holding the authorities and the government accountable for failing in their sworn duty to protect the citizens and bringing those responsible to justice add to it.

The silence of actions speaks louder

than the words, condoning these crimes. The law of any land and the personal beliefs of any individual con� rm one undeniable principle: The termination, torture, or humiliation of any person is wrong. There are no caveats as to the class or creed of the victim. Failing to act in the face of this is a denial of this sacred tenet of human existence.

There is a clear political bene� t to be had of the trials and tribulations of religious minorities, but none from putting an end to it all. Deriving this political pro� t, from the continued su� erings of innocent Bangladeshis, is a grave sin.

The complicity of the rest of the supposedly sympathetic citizens, the media, and the authorities in allowing this charade to continue is distasteful, unconscionable. There will be no accountability, though. The tired clichés will keep rolling for as long as there is mileage in them.

The irrefutable national narrative will be further solidi� ed. Once there are no more Hindus to murder, assault, and rape, no more stories about these to print, no more compassion and outrage to be feigned, another group will be sacri� ced to � ght the enemy, then another. Cameron and May will consider themselves fortunate: They will not be in power by the time the Bangladeshi atheists start banging on their doors. l

Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and an erstwhile lawyer. He can be contacted on Twitter via @Ikhtisad.

Minorities beware

The law of any land con� rms one undeniable principle: The termination, torture, or humiliation of any person is wrong

The ruling party, could have pursued a changed policy of tolerance and amicability

Let’s be speci� c. Since the last national polls, the political atmosphere has cooled down

n Shahin Islam

The BNP has made a mistake! The BNP has missed the election train! Khaleda Zia must repent

now! I keep hearing versions of this argument from various quarters, including individuals in whom I have a great deal of faith and whose judgment I usually regard as sound.

What would have happened had BNP participated, and hypothetically, won the election? Would Sheikh Hasi-na have handed over power to Khaleda Zia and meekly left Ganabhaban?

“I can tell you that Sheikh Hasina will not hand over power. It can only happen over our dead bodies” – was Mr Wazed speaking only in the context of coups, or was it a general statement, encompassing all foreseeable future possibilities? 

Bangladesh is a country of double standards where the horri� c and mur-derous attacks on our Hindu com-munities happened while the Awami League was in power, following an AL “victory,” with Sheikh Hasina herself handling the Home Ministry. This is still somehow all evidence of BNP-Ja-maat’s diabolical nature.

If the hypothetical victory had actu-

ally happened, we would immediately have seen an outcry, and a plausible excuse not to hand over power to the BNP.

In the double standards version of Bangladesh’s history, the 2001 atrocities happened, and then this year’s post-election attacks happened. Nothing happened in the middle: No Ramu, no Satkhira, no Hathajari.

Just like Bangladesh was enjoying a blissful, golden period of electoral democracy when a group of majors suddenly went mad and killed Sheikh Mujib, and then bad things, like mar-tial law, started to happen.

If the BNP had agreed to participate in this election without any changes to the government, the Election Commission, the rules of business, and so forth, let alone what the result of the elections were, a new chapter would have been added to this strange history of Bangladesh in which elections cannot be held under the BNP, but can be held under the AL. Where 1996 exists, but 1973 is forgotten.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda … all that is in the past. What happens now?

Well, there is some discussion about stability and why growth is more

important than democracy – Mamun Rashid explicated the phenomenon extremely well here.

The problem with this line of wish-ful thinking, of course, is that this isn’t 2009 when the AL can start over again. This is 2014, and the AL and Sheikh Hasina have been working with great vigour to dismantle as many bits of the broad coalition that brought her to power in 2008 as possible.

She could survive the BDR mas-sacre in 2009, but she can’t handle an event of comparable magnitude in 2014. In short, she is no Narendra Modi, to be able to o� er development if Bangladeshis give up on democracy. And this fact will only become clearer when the actual Narendra Modi, or a proxy, takes over in India in a couple of months.

In lieu of a governing mandate, Sheikh Hasina will attempt to govern in her usual fashion – by lumbering from crisis to crisis. The � rst one of her new regime is already here.

When I read the allegation (� rst in a blog, subsequently published in Inqilab), that Indian armed forces members were alleged to have helped murder and otherwise put down opposition activists in di� er-

ent places such as Satkhira, I did not believe it.

In fact, I believe that with news reports like these, the people who believe it will believe far worse, and people who don’t believe it (hopefully the vast majority) will just shrug and move on.

However, if the blog had gone further and said that after a curt conversation in a � ashing red phone, Manmohan Singh picked up an AK-47, parachuted into Bangladesh, and like Yoda in “Revenge of the Sith,” sin-gle-handedly fought the evil-doers, they should still be within their right as the citizens of a “democracy.”

Or are the quotation marks beginning to overwhelm the word between them?

As far as I know, three people have so far been arrested for publishing this article, which is three more people than the number arrested for the attacks in Jessore. Are these heinous attacks really less important than a single newspaper story? 

And to those in the non-AL camp who believe this for a second, grow up! I realise that this preserves a useful � ction regarding the infallible nature of the armed forces, but delusions can only take you so far.

Bangladeshis are very much capable of behaving with complete callousness and lack of morals towards fellow Bangladeshis.

Just like there was no need for the board of directors for BCCI to para-chute down to Dhaka and overpower our BCB directors so that they would not be able to contemptuously reject the horrible plan now being champi-oned by India. 

No foreigners needed. Whether this government lasts for

� ve days, or months, or years, it will be because of Bangladeshis, not anyone else. l

This article was � rst published in rumiahmed.wordpress.com.

What would have happened had BNP participated, and hypothetically, won the election? Would Sheikh Hasina have handed over power?

Politically pro� ting from this su� ering is unconscionable SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

EntertainmentDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 201412

Film The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugThor: The Dark WorldPaci� c Rim in 3DTime: 10am – 10pmStar Cineplex, Bashundhara City

ExhibitionWays of Seeing Time: 12pm – 8pm, Bengal Art Lounge, 60 Gulshan Avenue Gulshan 1

Gravity-Free WorldBy Artist A RahmanTime: 12pm – 8pmBengal Gallery of Fine Arts, House 42, Road 16 (New) / 27 (old), Dhanmondi

Life and Struggle of Padma By Sumon Yusuf Time: 3pm – 9pmLa Galerie, Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Dhanmond

TODAY IN DHAKA

MOVIE

7 :00pmStar MoviesJurassic Park9:30pmHBOKill Bill: Vol. 2

DRAMA

8:30pm Star PlusMeri Bhabi9:30pm SonyNandini

MISC

11:30am Vh1Birthday Bumps9:00pm FTVFashion Week

COMEDY

11:30am Z CafeThe Big Bang Theory10:30pm Star WorldHow I Met Your Mother

ON TV

Speaking � uent Urdu was very challenging: Rawnakn Shadma Malik

Promising actor Rawnak Hasan will soon pair up with Tisha for drama series titled Bhasha Andoloner Prothom Shonglaap, where the talented actor will only speak in Urdu. The drama will air on RTV on February 21 as it is inspired by the language movement. It is an adaptation of Shotten Sen’s story and is dramatised and directed by Sumon Anowar. The Dhaka Tribune caught up with aspiring actor:

Tell us about the drama Bhasha Andoloner Prothom Shonglaap. I am playing a quite contradictory role. I am married to a Bengali girl who insists on speaking in Bangla, whereas I speak in Urdu only, as my ancestors are societal elites and Urdu is considered as the language of elites. I try to impose my family tradition on Tisha and she revolts by speaking in her own mother language. It is a challenging role for me. My role is not of a villain’s in this story, but of a man bound by stereotypes. In the end, our language Bangla earns the victory.

How challenging was your experience of speaking in Urdu? Well, I would say I had a tough time, as my grip of the language is not pro� cient enough. Speaking � uent Urdu was very challenging. As I harbour the belief that nothing is impossible, I tried my best to deliver and also hired a tutor to brush up on the language.

Will the audience understand this language?The drama series will have Bangla subtitles.

Speaking about his career, Rawnak said: World of showbiz was not nice to me in the beginning. I had to take the heat and prove myself worthy enough as an actor. My role in Gorsawarer Shopno and Kacher Manush was a platform to come to the limelight. After seeing my acting, many directors called me for their dramas and tele� lms. At that time, I was fully involved in writing scripts for TV dramas.

How do you write stories? The characters � ow in my mind and I write. I read lots of Bangla literature and novels. Hence, I prefer to write stories about recent times.

How do you choose your scripts? Initially, I measure the kind of contribution my character has in the story. If it has substantial importance, I usually go for the script. However, at times my prediction is wrong but I still work on those scripts as I have to earn a living. I like challenging characters. My role as a transsexual in the tele� lm Eider Natok was thrilling. l

Rawnak Hasan and Tisha in Bhasha Andoloner Prothom Shonglaap

Pragoitihashik: A struggle against nemesisn Hasan Mansoor Chatak

With prehistoric � avour and epic charm, Nagorik Natyagan’s play Pragoitihashik was staged on Sunday evening at the Studio The-atre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Acad-emy in the capital.

Based on Manik Bandopadhyaya’s story on ancient ethnicity of Bengal, Pragoitihasik is an adaption on stage by theatre activist Mahmudul Islam Selim while theatre perso-na Lucky Enam has directed the play.

Lucky Enam said: “Directing the play is challenging for me as few people dared to stage the work from Manik’s story. I purpose-fully chose the play to put up as theatrical experiment.’’

The widely acclaimed story is not just a tale of some characters locked under some strange situations, but they present a kind of ancient ethnicity with such vital anthro-pological implications that it acquires the

mighty quality of grand narrative. The sto-ry, on the surface, deals with the extraor-dinary bohemian life of a Bhikhu, a person who takes on the centre stage. Bhikhu lives on killing and looting. Devoid of any scru-ples, he is passionately committed to the act of living in his world with an egotistic will. Without any sense of remorse whatever he does from slaughtering a village-marchant to an attempt to rape a woman, the wife of the person who has risked his own state of life to save Bhikhu’s. He advises Panchi, a woman with a wounded leg who lives her life by beg-ging, to follow Bhikhu.

Subsequently Bhikhu murders Bashir who stood in his way to have an a� air with Pan-chi. Then the notorious bandit begins a jour-ney with the lady which confronts the social taboos. The play becomes more lively to the audience as Punya Baul renders some touch-ing Baul songs during the play.

Pragoitihasik is not a conventional story of

the underworld. It certainly denotes a sense of positivity in the struggle against adversity.

Saju Khadem designed the stage and the background music was conducted by Kamru-zzaman Rony.

Habib Bahar did a tremendous job as Bhikhu and Hridi Haque’s performance as Panchi, a female beggar and a seeker of love, successfully touches the hearts of the audi-ence.

However, Studio Theatre Hall was not an apt stage to present a play like Pragoitiha-shik that portrays a large canvas. “We could not use many of our props and was unable to design set and light as we used to do for the play on bigger stages,” said Lucky Enam to the reporter.

The � fteenth production of the country’s renowned theatre troupe Nagorik Natyangan, Pragaitihasik has been staged more than seventy � ve times in the country andabroad. l

A scene from Pragoitihashik SADIA MARIUM

Dispelling popular misconceptions about singingn Maqsoodul Haque Mac

I never went to a music school, or a voice teacher to guide me as a singer. Singing came naturally to me and like the birds I do not know who taught me how to sing, but I have been doing a fairly decent job of it for over thirty years! The points below and the tips suggested are what I have learned the hard way, and may prove useful for as-piring new singers and vocalists.

1 Remember - there is no such thing as a “voice.” You only get to repli-cate/duplicate/mimic with your voice what you hear.

2 It means, if you are not hearing right - you are not singing right. It is how good you get to hear the key/notes/frequencies that ultimately sums up how good you will get be as a singer/vocalist. Deaf people for instance, can never sing!

3 Protect your ears from water and keep them clean. Use ear buds (very gently) after a shower - everyday.

4 Shake a match box near both ears - and check the di� erence in your hearing. If in one ear you hear the sound less than 30% than the other

- you have a problem. You need to see an ENT immediately i.e. if you are really serious about singing.

5 Remember your ears combined are stereophonic, but your voice is monophonic. There are therefore limits to what your ear hears and what your voice can replicate/du-plicate/mimic. Make sure you un-derstand the “limits of your limita-tions.”

6 The vocal cord is a muscle - and just like any other muscle they have to

be “worked on” – exercised grad-ually. If your voice sounds sore, splatty, hoarse, harsh or o� key it means you have stressed it more than it can handle. God has blessed you with two ears and one mouth. Please use them in those propor-tions - get the drift? You can’t be-come a “vocal Schwarzenegger” overnight!

7 If your throat hurts, don’t go on a gurgling spree because the pressure of water in your throat combined with the grrr grrr frequency damages your voice more than it helps. Instead, try pain killer - any pain killer. If pain killers can remove a headache - it should have no problem taking o� your “throat ache.” Don’t go for mint or throat lozenges (candy) available in any shop if you have a sore throat. Any candy will lubricate your throat and ease any irritation.

8 Don’t hurt your ears, for they are your most precious possession. Use cell phones, headphones and earphones as sparingly as possible. The frequencies, these devices emit are very dangerous, especially when you hear them in high volume. The damage that is

imminent from overuse of these devices will become apparent in the next � ve years if you don’t stop.

9 Singing should be fun with no stress to the voice or your throat at all. In fact the best singers use their voice with the same ease and comfort - as they would, when they talk. That’s called “speech level singing.” Get yourself a great speech level frequency that you hear well and make sure others can hear it too. The � rst 20 seconds of a song decides whether the audience is going to be with you - or plain ditch you. You will rarely get a second chance unless you are very lucky.

10 Last if not the least - no matter how bad your voice sounds or what-ever state it is in, don’t worry too much about it when it’s time to go to sleep. If you do, remember sub-consciously your voice doesn’t get to sleep and the stress continues. It’s a muscle after all and needs rest too. Give it rest period.

Good luck!

Maqsoodul Haque is the lead vocalist and front man of the jazz-rock fusion band Maqsood O’ Dhaka. l

Shadhona’s experimental production Champaboti, adapted by eminent poet-playwright Syed Shamsul Haq from Jasimuddin’s classic Beder Meye, was staged at the Experimental Theatre of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on January 26. The recital is an entertaining folk dance presentation drawn from our traditional lathi-khela (a established game), jhumur dance, raibeshe, chhau, mayurbhanj, and kalaripayettu. The incorporation of a wide range of dance disciplines made the show a captivating one which was enjoyed by a houseful audience

SADIA MARIUM

Kamal Haasan and Vidya Balan chosen for Padma awardsn Entertainment Desk

Versatile actor Kamal Haasan, Bollywood diva Vidya Balan and actor Paresh Rawal feature in 2014’s list of the Padma awards. While Kamal Haasan will receive the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, Vidya Balan and Paresh Rawal will receive the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award.

Kamal Haasan, star of � lms such as Moond-aram Pirai and Hey Ram, said in a statement: “Proud to be an Indian. India is a country with great talents in various many � elds. While legions await to be honoured, I am honoured that I have been chosen for Padma Bhushan by my govern-ment. I think it is sheer chance and my good for-tune that I have been chosen. I hope that I would live long to do more to deserve this award. I don’t

consider this an honour for work that I have al-ready done. This would be an impetus for me to do more good work, perhaps only then would I deserve it. My heartfelt congratulations for the other Padma Bhushan awardees especially my friend Mr Vairamuthu.”

National award-winning actress Vidya Balan is thrilled at being selected for the Padma Shri, say-ing it is a matter of “great pride” for her.

Dedicating the honour to her family, an emo-tionally overwhelmed she said, “I’m thrilled. I’m overjoyed. I’m overwhelmed. I’m honoured. I’m humbled...! I’m running out of words to express my feelings and gratitude.”

“To be receiving this honour from the govern-ment of my country is a matter of great pride for me and I dedicate this award to my family who make me, me!,” she added. l

On today’s episode of Raat Biraate, recitation artiste and host Mahidul Islam will grace show and entertain the audience with untold stories of his life. He will share his aspirations and visit his favourite places with the host of the show. Hosted by poet Asad Chowdhury, the unique street show will air tonight at 11:25pm on Banglavision

13DHAKA TRIBUNETuesday, January 28, 2014

SportDid you know?

Manchester United are the only team yet to use a player wearing number

seven this season in the Premier League

14 Barca and Atletico back on top after easy wins

15 I deserved Aussie win, says surprise package StanDAYS TO GO

0 4 7

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan ponders what went wrong after his dismissal in the 1st Test against Sri Lanka at the SBNS yesterday MUMIT M

Sri Lanka dominate � rst dayn Minhaz Uddin Khan

Careless batting along with a few questionable deci-sions saw Bangla-

desh bowled out for 232 on the � rst day of the � rst Test against Sri Lanka, while the visiting side � nished the day at 60 without loss – 172 runs behind - at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yes-terday.

Sri Lankan captain unexpectedly chose to bowl � rst on winning the toss, after having said he expected the wick-et to favour the batsmen the previous day, but the decision paid immediate dividends.  

The pacemen were able to obtain moderate movement and good bounce as Bangladesh’s openers – Tamim Iqbal and Shamsur Rahman – were made to struggle. By lunch, Bangladesh had lost four wickets with just 72 runs on the board, with Shaminda Eranga look-ing the most dangerous of the bowlers and taking two of the wickets.

The opening stand was broken at 35 when Tamim fell for six. One down batsman Marshall Ayub followed soon after when he was trapped LBW for one and debutant Shamsur Rahman fell in the next over with the total on 40.

Shamsur, who earned his place in the side following a series of good scores in recent times, played in typical

aggressive fashion in making 33 o� 34 balls but it was his aggression that led to his downfall. Trying to drive a wide delivery, he only managed to edge the ball to gully. Just before lunch, Momi-nul Haque was also dismissed for eight.

It was left to senior players Shakib al Hasan and skipper Mush� qur Rahim to try to repair the damage. They pair put on 86 runs for the � fth wicket which was broken by Shakib’s departure for 55. Nasir Hossain only lasted seven balls for his four runs.

Mush� q was given out LBW six overs after tea in controversial circumstances

as replays suggested that he had edged the ball. The wicket-keeper nonethe-less top scored with 61 and Sohag Gazi added 42 useful runs before the Sri Lankans wrapped up the innings.

For Sri Lanka, Shaminda Eranga re-turned his best-ever � gures of 4/49, Suranga Lakmal took 3/66 while Ranga-na Herath chipped in with two wickets.

The Sri Lankan openers - Dimuth Ka-runaratane and Kaushal Silva – played out 19 overs before bad light brought the day to an end six overs early. They were untroubled by Bangladesh’s trio of pacemen and Mush� q was forced to bring in the spinners just ten overs into the innings. Sri Lanka ended the day 60/0, 172 runs behind Bangladesh. l

‘Big Three’ proposal explainedn Raihan Mahmood

The crucial two day Executive Board meeting of the International Cricket Council, which will decide the compre-hensive structural overhaul of world cricket administration starts at the headquarters of the world cricket rul-ing body at Dubai Sports City today.

The ICC Board consists of the chair-man or president from each of the 10 full members plus three elected asso-ciate member representatives. Bangla-desh will be represented by the board president Nazmul Hasan and Mahbub Anam.

The meeting will go to polls to de-cide on the proposal, drafted by a “working group” of the ICC’s Finance & Commercial A� airs (F&CA) committee - in which the Board of Control of Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and England

&Wales Cricket Board are key members - recommends wide-ranging changes in the ICC’s revenue distribution mod-el, administrative structures and the Future Tours Programme (FTP), ques-tions the relevance of Test rankings and suggests the reinstatement of the Champions Trophy over the World Test Championship. The amendment needs seven votes of the ten to be drafted as the new rules of ICC.

The new proposals e� ectively gives most executive decision-making pow-er to the BCCI, Cricket Australia and the ECB. These boards – who are be-ing called the “Big Three” - is poised to gain more control over world crick-et, both on and o� the � eld, a larger share of revenues, in a ratio that is linked to the ICC’s revenue growth.

The formation of the ICC Business Co

(IBC) - a newly formed business arm which will be set up to replace the ex-isting IDI (ICC Development Interna-tional) will control media rights and sponsorship issues

The proposal recommends creating a four-member group called the Execu-tive Committee (ExCo) between ICC committees and the Executive Board, which consists of the heads of national boards. The ExCo, the proposal recom-mends, will include three permanent representatives from CA, ECB and BCCI, who will share an annual rotat-ing chairmanship. A fourth member of the ExCo will be nominated by the ICC’s Executive Board and come from the seven other full members.

Regarding Test match promotion and relegation, the proposal states that “relegation exceptions” will apply to India, England and Australia. This is

“solely in order to protect ICC income due to the importance of those markets and teams to prospective ICC media rights buyers.

At the administrative level, the  re-cently created post of ICC chairman will, according to the new proposal, be annually rotation between “one of the nominees of the ECB, CA or the BCCI.”

The new distribution model of the ICC’s income as recommended in the proposal includes the creation of a “contribution cost” as recognition for every member’s role in “contributing to generating ICC’s revenues required to sustain the game. The Big Three enjoys greater shares of the ICC’s revenues as they increase. For example, the BCCI’s share would be 4.2%; should the new rights cycle gross revenue cross $3.5 billion, the BCCI’s share will be 21% - a total of $766 million. l

Lankan pacemen show the way n Mazhar Uddin

The � rst Test of the series against Sri Lanka saw a di� er-

ent Bangladesh and it came as a sur-prise for the supporters when the Ban-gladesh think tank opted to play three seamers. In another surprise move, Sri Lanka elected to � eld � rst in a move that was vindicated as Bangladesh lost four wickets in the � rst session.

The Tigers were expected to play two pacemen and two spinners but with the pitch looking favourable for seam bowl-ing in the morning, Al-Amin was select-ed in place of spinner Abdur Razzak.

Sri Lanka put in an impressive bowl-ing performance to bowl Bangladesh out for 232 with the opening attack of Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lak-mal being the chief destroyers. Tamim Iqbal was the � rst to fall when he was caught on the deep square leg bound-ary from a pull shot. The stylish Mar-shal Ayub struggled with his footwork and was trapped in front of the wicket by an o� -cutter from Angelo Matthews for one.

Debutant Shamsur Rahman, how-ever, played in typical belligerent fash-ion and struck seven boundaries in his almost run-a-ball innings of 33 but gift-ed his wicket away by slashing a wide ball to gully. By claiming both openers, Eranga justi� ed his captain’s decision to put Bangladesh in.

Bangladesh’s most recent batting sensation Mominul Haque fell to a short ball from Lakmal, which he tried to pull to leave Bangladesh reeling at 59/4. It was left to the two most expe-rienced cricketers in the Bangladesh side - Shakib al Hasan and skipper Mush� qur Rahim - to hold the ship for the batting side and the pair put on 86. Both men reached half centuries before the partnership was broken by spinner

Rangana Herath, who had Shakib LBW missing a sweep shot.

Nasir Hossain received a nasty de-livery that bounced up unexpectedly and he was given out caught behind. There was however, some doubt as to whether the ball had come o� his body or glove. There was however, no doubt that Mush� q was unlucky to be given out LBW as replays clearly showed he had hit the ball before it went onto his pad. Sohag Gazi was able to add some quick runs but the rest of the tail were found wanting in the face of the ag-gressive Sri Lankan attack as the Tigers were bowled out for 232.

The pacemen accounted for eight of the wickets. While helped along by a couple of rash strokes and question-able decisions, their performance was of a high quality. Both Eranga and Lak-mal were consistent in their line and length and were able to obtain move-ment from the pitch, in addition to using the short ball to great e� ect. By contrast, in the few overs Bangladesh’s paceman bowled at the end of the day, they were erratic of direction and largely ine� ective.

Eranga, whose previous career best � gures were 4/60 against  Pakistan in his previous match, topped that per-formance with 4/49. At the post-day press brie� ng, he said that Bangla-desh’s batsmen had helped.

“Actually the pitches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are both similar to here. But the Pakistani batsmen were harder to dismiss while  Bangladeshi batsmen helped us a lot,” he said.

 The 27-year old added that pepper-ing the batsmen with bouncers was very much planned and succeeded as both Tamim and Shamsur were dis-missed by short balls. “Yes it was a plan to bowl the shorter deliveries. Ob-viously you practice, tactics were used, the short ball,” he con� rmed. l

Batsmen to blame for below par total: Shakibn Minhaz Uddin Khan

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan admitted the team’s batsmen are to blame for the below par score in the � rst innings against Sri Lanka in the � rst Test at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

The former national skipper said the wicket did not trouble the batsman, rather the Lankan attack should be given credit for Bangladesh’s poor showing.

“I felt the wicket was good enough to bat at least as long as I was there. I be-lieve according to our ability, we could have scored 380 plus runs if we could have managed to bat till tomorrow. We failed to do that and we are far behind in the game to be honest. It will be tough to get wickets on this pitch,” said Shakib at SBNS after the day’s play.

“They bowled well and at the same time we also made mistakes. I believe we should have performed better after our recent performances. If you look at the board, we didn’t lose any wicket in the � rst 10 overs and had scored 40 runs so I believe no one will say that the wicket was di� cult. There were not too many balls to miss or that moved. The bowlers will now have to take the responsibility,” the left-arm all-rounder added.

The Bangladesh innings was also plagued with a few questionable deci-sions – of Mush� qur Rahim, Nasir Hos-sain and Marshal Ayub, all seemed un-lucky to have been given out. It might have had frustrated the home side but Shakib stayed clear from making any di-rect comments on the issue.

“Looking into the replays might give one doubts over the decisions but at the end it is the umpires call. Replays can show you many bad decisions but it’s di� cult in real time. I don’t think its right to comment on this,” he said.

With Bangladesh all out with 232 runs in the � rst innings, Shakib believes the bowling department will have to take the responsibility. The three seam-ers in the Bangladesh line up was a rare combination for the side. Shakib be-lieves the decision by the coach, selec-tors and the captain will pay o� . l

A blessing and relief n Minhaz Uddin Khan

The month long series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh that started yes-terday with the � rst Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium comes both as relief and a blessing to the millions of cricket fans of the country.

The withdrawal of the West Indies U-19 team from Bangladesh and pre-election political unrest which lasted for more than two months had raised the possibility that the series might be cancelled. Two other major events - the Asia Cup 2014 in February and the ICC World Twenty20 in March – were also in jeopardy with certain boards like Sri Lanka Cricket and the Pakistan Cricket Board, expressing reservations about sending their teams to Bangladesh.

“We are very much happy that Sri Lanka came into Bangladesh to play. For us cricket is not only entertainment but pride. I am glad that the series has overcome all the speculation and tak-ing place,” said Taiabur Rahman, a col-lege student.

While for the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) the series is a relief and also the dress rehearsal for the Asia Cup and the World Twety20.

“This is not only a bilateral series for us but a way to demonstrate that cricket is above any kind of situation in Bangladesh and it will never be ham-pered,” BCB media committee chair-man Jalal Younus told the Dhaka Tri-bune yesterday.

The BCB’s diplomatic relations with the other Test playing nations has often been strained and bilateral ties have frequently been described as “ine� -cient”, but Jalal believes this is not true.

“If we didn’t have a sound diplo-matic relation, it couldn’t have been possible to convince them (the other boards) to not turn their faces away from the events.

“We ensured that the political par-ties support our motive and that the best possible arrangements are made for all the team. The Sri Lanka tour has just started and hopefully, the other events will also take place accordingly,” said Jalal. l

Feni hold Brothersn Raihan Mahmood

Brothers Union and Soc-cer Club, Feni shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in the

Bangladesh Premier League at the Bang-abandhu National Stadium on Monday.

Sayed Rashed Turza put Feni ahead in the 61st minute. Mid� elder Rony Is-lam neatly passed the ball through the defence to Turza, who placed it past onrushing Brothers goalie Md. Sujon in the far post. Brothers restored the parity through their mid� elder Faisal Mahmud 10 minutes later. Controlling a chip from attacking mid� elder Rubel Mia, Faisal went past his marker and placed a left footed shot into the net. Brothers came close to another strike but their Nige-rian forward Kestor Akon shot missed the post in the dying minutes.

With the draw, Brothers took their tally to 7 points from 6 matches while the Feni out� t moved to 2 points from the same number of games. l

Sri Lanka pacer Shaminda Eranga (C) celebrates the wicket of debutant Bangladeshi opener Shamsur Rahaman (L) during the 1st Test at the SBNS yesterday MUMIT M

SCORECARD: 1ST TEST, DAY 1P15

Huntelaar strikes on Schalke returnn AFP, Berlin

Striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar marked his return after � ve months out with a knee injury with the opening goal in Schalke 04’s impressive

3-0 win at Hamburg on Sunday.Holland’s ‘Hunter’ had been out

since August, but needed just 34 minutes to out-jump the Hamburg defence and head home as the Royal Blues went � fth in the table.

Schalke made sure of the three points with two further goals in just three second-half minutes as Bert van Marwijk’s Hamburg drop back into the bottom three.

Peru winger Je� erson Farfan struck

the second on 53 minutes, before setting up 18-year-old Max Meyer to � re home three minutes later.

Having taken � fth place from VfL Wolfsburg, Schalke - who face Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League next month - now host Wolves this coming Saturday.

Meanwhile, Eintracht Braunschweig remain bottom of the table after playing out a goalless draw at mid-table Werder Bremen earlier on Sunday. l

Barca and Atletico back on top after easy winsn Reuters, Madrid

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid climbed back to the top of La Liga as Barca coasted to a 3-0 victory at home to Malaga and

Atletico won 4-2 at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

Real Madrid had claimed the over-night lead thanks to Saturday’s 2-0 home success against Granada before Barca and Atletico restored their one-point advantage with comfortable wins against outclassed opponents.

The joint leaders have 54 points from 21 matches, with Barca ahead on goal di� erence. Real are lurking omi-nously on 53 and Athletic Bilbao trail on 42 in fourth after they thrashed Osasuna 5-1 on Sunday.

The Spain playmaker turned in a typically impeccable performance con-trolling play in the centre and Malaga were forced to rely on the counter-at-tack to have any hope of troubling the hosts.

Barca’s Chile forward Alexis San-chez clipped the post in the � fth min-ute and Lionel Messi sent a dinked ef-fort narrowly wide in the 22nd before Gerard Pique � red in the opener � ve minutes before halftime.

The Spain centre back, who scored the equaliser in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Levante, controlled the ball in the area from a Xavi corner and drilled it past Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

Spain’s record scorer David Villa, who joined Atletico from Barca in the close season, set his new club on their way in the eighth minute at Rayo’s Vallecas stadium in the Madrid suburbs when he struck a � rst-time shot high into the net from Diego Costa’s neat layo� .

Costa, the second-highest scorer in La Liga this season behind Cristiano Ronaldo, appeared to have netted his 20th of the campaign in the 75th minute but it was ruled an own goal and attrib-uted to Rayo mid� elder Saul Niguez. l

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014 14

Barcelona's defender Gerard Pique celebrates his goal during the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona vs Malaga CF at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on January 26, 2014 AFP

United eye Mata boost on Solskjaer’s returnn AFP, London

Manchester United sup-porters will hope to get a � rst glimpse of record signing Juan Mata on

Tuesday when Cardi� City visit Old Tra� ord in the Premier League.

Mata completed a £37.1 million ($61.2 million, 44.8 million euros) move from Chelsea on Saturday and will go straight into the squad to face Cardi� , managed by former United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Spain mid� elder arrives with United 14 points behind leaders Arsenal after two defeats in three games, while their last home match was a galling penalty shoot-out loss to Sunderland in

the League Cup semi-� nals.United manager David Moyes has ad-mitted that he was surprised by Chel-sea’s willingness to cede Mata in the

middle of the campaign, but he is excit-ed by the prospect of seeing him in the champions’ colours. “I’m a bit surprised because it’s not something that tends to happen, especially between Premier

League teams,” Moyes told MUTV.“I was surprised when it happened,

but we have got a really exciting player, a player I’m looking forward to working with, a player I think everybody in foot-ball looked at and says he did a great job for Chelsea. “I’m looking forward to see-ing him in a red jersey and doing it for us.”

Mata’s arrival will take some of the attention away from Solskjaer’s re-turn to his former stomping ground, although the Norwegian has greater concerns as he bids to lift Cardi� o� the foot of the table.

“I looked at it the day I got the job -- when we were playing Man United,” said Solskjaer, who spent 11 years at United and scored the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League � nal.

“Since then it has been so busy, I haven’t had time to think about it. But now, my focus is of course on that game. It is a dream.”

With closest rivals Manchester City and Chelsea not in action until Wednes-day, Arsenal could open up a four-point lead at the summit if they prevail at Southampton on Tuesday.

Arsene Wenger’s side cruised into the FA Cup � fth round with a 4-0 defeat of third-tier Coventry City on Friday and are looking to extend a run of � ve consecutive league victories.

Defender Carl Jenkinson says that Ar-senal’s players have drawn con� dence from a run of six league games in which they have conceded only two goals since crashing 6-3 at City last month. l

Bale out of Real’s Cup game against Espanyoln Reuters, Madrid

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale will miss Tuesday’s King’s Cup quarter-� nal second leg at home to Espanyol

due to a problem with his left leg, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Monday.

The Welsh international’s season has been disrupted by several minor inju-ries since his world record move from Tottenham Hotspur last year and the latest occurred in Saturday’s 2-0 La Liga win over Granada at the Bernabeu.

Bale took a painful kick to the groin early in the � rst half and played on until half time before being substituted.

Ancelotti said he was unable to train with the rest of his team mates on Mon-day. “He has no problem with his geni-tals, he has recovered well from that,” the Italian joked. “But he’s not comfort-able with his left leg and it’s a� ecting his balance a bit.

“He tried to train but he wasn’t com-fortable and to avoid putting Sunday’s game at risk I’ll rest him,” said Ancelotti referring to the league � xture at fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao.

Bale missed several weeks after bruising his left calf in training at the end of last year and was also sidelined by a thigh strain in October. l

Newcastle reject PSG’s Cabaye bidn AFP, London

Newcastle United have rejected a bid for their France international mid� eld-er Yohan Cabaye from big-spending French champions Paris Saint-Ger-main, according to British media re-ports on Sunday.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc has de-scribed Cabaye as a “target” and Brit-ain’s Press Association claims that Newcastle have turned down a £14 million ($23.1 million, 16.9 million eu-ros) o� er for the 28-year-old from the French giants.

Cabaye joined Newcastle from Lille for £4.3 million in 2011 and has regular-ly been linked with a move away from St James’ Park, with Arsenal reportedly having a £10 million bid for him reject-ed last August.

Speaking on Friday, Blanc con-� rmed PSG’s interest in both Cabaye and Roma mid� elder Miralem Pjanic.

FA Cup draw brings top four togethern Reuters, London

The top four teams in the Premier League will face one another after Man-

chester City were paired on Sunday with Chelsea and Arsenal were drawn to play Liverpool in the FA Cup � fth round.

Holders Wigan Athletic, who scored a major upset when they were relegated and beat Manchester City in last year’s � nal, will travel to Cardi� City, who were promoted to the Premier League at the end of last season.

Everton, whose manager Roberto Martinez left Wigan after taking them to FA Cup glory against City, will face his old club Swansea City in one of four all-Premier League ties.

The other match between top-� ight sides pits Capital One Cup � nalists Sun-derland against Southampton at the Sta-dium of Light. She� eld Wednesday will meet Charlton Athletic in an all-Champi-onship tie and Premier League Hull City travel to Brighton of the Championship.The standout games are those be-

tween City and Chelsea - who met in the semi-� nal at Wembley last season when City won 2-1 - and Arsenal and Liverpool. Chelsea, who have won the Cup four times in the last seven sea-sons, and City, who lifted the trophy in 2011, have met once since the semi-� nal with Chelsea winning 2-1 in the league at Stamford Bridge in October.

League leaders Arsenal, chasing their � rst silverware since winning the FA Cup in 2005, are unbeaten against Liverpool in their last four meetings and notched up a 2-0 home win over the Merseyside club in November. l

AS Monaco's players enter the � eld wearing T-shirts showing Colombian striker Radamel Falcao before their French Ligue 1 match against Olympique Marseille at Louis II stadium in Monaco Jon Sunday Falcao was injured playing in a French Cup tie on Wednesday REUTERS

Monaco strike duo deliver in Falcao absencen AFP, Paris

Monaco put the loss of star striker Radamel Falcao to one side and closed the gap on Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain with a 2-0 win against Marseille on Sunday.

With Falcao set to miss the remainder of the season after su� ering a serious knee injury playing in the French Cup in midweek, Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri paired Valere Germain and Emmanuel Riviere together in the home attack.

And the duo delivered with a goal each as Monaco took advantage of PSG’s disappointing 1-1 draw at Guingamp on Saturday to move to within three points of top spot, just

two weeks before they host the capital club at the Stade Louis II.

For Marseille, meanwhile, the defeat followed a disastrous 5-4 defeat to Nice in the French Cup in midweek and left them down in ninth place in the table.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Lyon continued their superb recent form with a 3-0 win over struggling Evian. l

Baines pens new Everton dealn Reuters

Everton defender Leighton Baines has committed his future to the club after signing a new four-year deal, the Premier League club announced on Monday.

The England international had 17 months left on his contract at Goodison Park and despite reports that he was wanted by former manager David Moy-es at Manchester United, the 29-year-old left back has chosen to remain at Goodison Park.

“It would be an understatement to say we are delighted to secure the best footballing years of Leighton Baines at our club,” manager Roberto Martinez told the club’s o� cial website.

Baines joined Everton from Wigan in 2007 and has developed into one of the club’s most reliable players, mak-ing more than 260 appearances. l

Mourinho sorry he could not make Mata a better playern Reuters

As Juan Mata attempts to help David Moyes revive Manchester United’s stuttering season, his former manager Jose Mourinho is sorry he could not make the Spaniard a better player.

The 25-year-old playmaker moved from west London to Manchester Unit-ed on Saturday for 37.1 million pounds ($61.22 million), and is set to make his debut for the Man United against Cardi� .

“I am sorry that I didn’t make him a stronger player,” the Portuguese man-ager, in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, told Sky Sports.

“Maybe it was something new for him, not to be a � rst choice (player) in a di� cult moment,” he added. Maybe that made him, as a man, as a player, stronger but I gave him nothing to be honest and I feel sorry with that. l

Balotelli booked for provoking Cagliari fansn Reuters

Mario Balotelli could be in hot water again after he was booked for provok-ing Cagliari supporters after scoring against the Sardinian side in AC Milan’s 2-1 win on Sunday.

Balotelli scored the equaliser from a 87th minute free kick at the end of the ground packed by Cagliari fans and the Gazzetta dello Sport showed a photo-graph of the maverick forward making what it described as a “vulgar gesture”.

The forward was booked for his cel-ebration, became involved in an angry altercation with Cagliari players short-ly afterwards and had to be calmed down by team mate Kaka.

“Supermario” has already served a three-match ban this season. l

FIXTURES Man City v Chelsea Sheffield U/Fulham v N Forest/Preston Arsenal v Liverpool Brighton v Hull City Cardi� City v Wigan Athletic She� eld Wed v Charlton Sunderland v Southampton Everton v Swansea City

RESULTSWerder Bremen 0-0 Braunschweig

Hamburg 0-3 Schalke Huntelaar 34, Farfan 53, Meyer 56

RESULTSAlmeria 1-0 GetafeZongo 49

Osasuna 1-5 Athletic Bilbao Armenteros 10 Susaeta 3, Aduriz 16, 62, Ibai Gomez 84, Kike Sola 88

Rayo Vallecano 2-4 Atletico Madrid Viera 39, Larrivey 76 Villa 8, Turan 30,44, Saul 74-og

Barcelona 3-0 MalagaPique 40, Pedro 55,Sanchez 61

FIXTURES Crystal Palace v Hull City Liverpool v Everton Man United v Cardi� Norwich v Newcastle Southampton v Arsenal Swansea v Fulham

RESULTSLyon 3-0 Evian TGGomis 19,Lacazette 43, 76

Bordeaux 2-0 Saint-EtienneTraore 41, Henrique 51

Monaco 2-0 MarseilleGermain 41, Riviere 57

Chelsea complete Salah signingn Reuters, London

Chelsea have completed the signing of Basel’s Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, the Premier League club said on their website on Sunday.

Salah has signed a � ve-and-a-half year contract with Chelsea and will wear the number 15 shirt.

“I’m very happy to sign for Chelsea, such a big club in the world. I hope I can make the Chelsea supporters hap-py and have a good career at the club for many years to come,” Salah said in a statement.

Liverpool were also keen to sign the 21-year-old who came to attention in England during last season’s Europa League and Salah was a key � gure in Basel’s two Champions League group-stage wins over Chelsea in the current campaign.

Salah became Chelsea’s second ma-jor signing of the January transfer win-dow following the arrival of mid� elder Nemanja Matic from Ben� ca. Spain mid� elder Juan Mata has left Stamford Bridge to join Manchester United. l

NSU qualify for Super Eightn North South University (NSU) moved into the Super Eights of the ULAB Fair Play Cup Cricket by beating South East University (SEU) by 32 runs at the ULAB playground, Ramchandrapur, Mohammadpur yesterday.

Winning the toss, SEU chose to � eld � rst and saw NSU post a decent score of 133/5 in the stipulated 20 overs. Rakin of NSU scored 36 runs o� 41 balls. In reply, SEU managed to score 101/8. Rhydoy of NSU bowled 3 overs and took 2/4 and was declared man-of-the-match.

In the � rst match of day, Manrat International University (MIU) beat East West University (EWU) by 8 wickets. Winning the toss, EWU batted

� rst and were bowled out for 113. Naimul of MIU took 3 wickets. In reply, MIU scored 115/2 wickets in 17.2 overs.

Mashmur Rahman of MIU scored 56 runs in 53 balls to earn the man-of-the-match award.l

Mata wants United move to boost World Cup bidn Juan Mata hopes his club record transfer from Chelsea to Manchester United will help cement his place in the Spain World Cup squad in Brazil later this year.

A lack of � rst-team opportunities, and concerns over his international fu-ture, prompted the attacking mid� elder into completing his £37.1 million (44.7m euros) transfer between the Premier League rivals.

Mata, 25, was relaxed and enthusiastic as he was unveiled to the world’s media at United’s training ground on Monday and admitted that the helicopter journey his new employers provided had been one of the highlights of his move.

But it was the more serious prospect of ensuring he added to the 32 caps he has already earned with his national team, that led to the transfer, especially as Mata had been left out of one Spain squad already this season.

“It was really important,” said Mata of the part concerns over an international place played in his move.

“The Spain squad is really di� cult to get into, there are a lot of players � ghting for positions to be in the last 23 going to Brazil.

“I hope this is a great chance for me to keep playing, keep � t and show the manager of the national team I want to be there, I have to be there. l

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014 15

Bangladesh 1st inningsTamim Iqbal c Lakmal b Eranga 6Shamsur Rahman c Vithanage b Eranga 33Marshall Ayub lbw b Mathews 1Mominul Haque c Vithanage b Lakmal 8Shakib Al Hasan lbw b Herath 55Mush� qur Rahim lbw b Lakmal 61Nasir Hossain c Chandimal b Eranga 4Sohag Gazi c Eranga b Lakmal 42Robiul Islam c Perera b Eranga 5Rubel Hossain b Herath 2Al-Amin Hossain not out 6Extras: (lb4 nb5) 9

Total (all out, 63.5 overs) 232Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Tamim), 2-40 (Ayub), 3-40 (Shamsur), 4-59 (Mominul), 5-145 (Shakib), 6-150 (Nasir), 7-203 (Rahim), 8-219 (Gazi), 9-222 (Rubel), 10-232 (Robiul).Bowling: Lakmal 18.1-3-66-3 (4nb), Eranga 17.4-2-49-4 (1nb), Mathews 6-3-18-1, D. Perera 11-2-45-0, Herath 11-1-50-2(Note: Lakmal limped o� after bowling the � rst ball of his 19th over. Eranga completed the over).

Sri Lanka 1st inningsD. Karunaratne not out 28K. Silva not out 30Extras: (w1, nb1) 2

Total (for no loss, 19 overs) 60Bowling: Robiul 4-1-12-0 (w1), Al-Amin 5-1-18-0, Rubel 4-0-20-0 (nb1), Gazi 5-2-8-0, Shakib 1-0-2-0

BD v SL: 1ST TEST, DAY 1

Prasanna Jayawardene returns to Sri LankaSri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Prasanna Jayawardene missed the � rst Test against Bangladesh as he � ew home for family reasons. Jayawardene had been set to play the match before receiving distressing news from home. It appears unlikely he will be available for the second Test, which begins on February 4, though no � rm decision on that has yet been made. Jayawardene had only returned to the Test side after a year-long layo� during the series against Pakistan in the UAE this month. He had been e� ective with the bat and excellent behind the stumps, reassert-ing his value to the team even though it carried two other wicketkeeper-bats-men in the XI, in Kumar Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal.

– Cricinfo

No pay, no play, warn Santander playersRacing Santander players have threat-ened not to play in the club’s Copa del Rey quarter-� nal, second leg against Real Sociedad on Thursday if president Angel Lavin and the rest of the board don’t resign. The stricken Cantabrian club, which has spent the majority of its 101-year history in the top � ight, is currently playing in the third-tier of Spanish football having su� ered two consecutive relegations and falling into administration. Despite an amazing cup run that has included victories of La Liga sides Sevilla and Almeria, the play-ers haven’t been paid since September.Racing trail Sociedad 3-1 after the � rst leg in San Sebastian last week with the victors in the tie almost certainly facing a money spinning two-legged clash against Barcelona in the semi-� nals as the Catalans hold a 4-1 � rst leg advan-tage over Levante. –AFP

Brazil’s Parreira joins Cup criticismWorld Cup-winning former coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has joined criticism of planning for the event in his native Brazil, warning that the country is missing a chance to revamp shoddy infrastructure. “We have lost a chance to show a di� erent Brazil,” Par-reira, winning coach in 1994 and now technical assistant to current national manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, told CBN radio. Brazil was awarded the right to host the event in 2007 and FIFA presi-dent Sepp Blatter chided organizers early this month for making a late start to preparations. FIFA has also had to abandon a deadline of December 31 for the 12 host cities to be ready after fatal accidents at three stadiums.

– AFP

QUICK BYTES

Sony Six7:00AM New Zealand v India4th ODI Ten Action2:00AMCopa del Rey 2013/14Quarter-� nals, 2nd LegReal Madrid v EspanyolStar Sports HD18:30PMHockey India LeagueStar Sports 41:45AMEnglish Premier LeagueMan United v Cardi� City

DAY’S WATCH

'I deserved Australian Open'n Stanislas Wawrinka insisted he is a de-serving winner of the Australian Open after upsetting injury-hit world number one Rafael Nadal to gatecrash the estab-lished order of men’s tennis.

The Swiss eighth seed was on top of Nadal from the o� , eventually winning in four sets, but there will be question marks over the victory after the Spaniard was badly hampered by a back injury.

Wawrinka admitted it was a “big surprise” to win a Grand Slam title af-ter years in the shadow of fellow Swiss Roger Federer, whom he will now pass in the rankings by rising to world number three.

In a generation dominated by the “Big Four” of Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the last outsider to lift a major trophy was Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open.

But Wawrinka, who also knocked out a fully � t Djokovic -- the three-time de-fending champion and the world num-ber two -- en route to his � rst major � nal, had no doubts he was a worthy winner.

“It’s an amazing feeling. I saw Roger winning so many Grand Slams in the past, so now it’s my turn to win one,” the 28-year-old Swiss said.

“If you look the 10 past years, except del Potro, it’s only the top four guys who were winning all the Grand Slams.

“I will need time to realise what I did in these two weeks. Because at the end, even if Rafa was injured, I think I

deserve that Grand Slam because I won against Djokovic, the number two, and I won against Rafa.

“I had an amazing two weeks, and I was playing my best tennis ever.”

Wawrinka’s thunderous ground-strokes and heavy serve had Nadal un-der pressure early on in his 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory but it will never be known how the match would have panned out if the Spaniard had not been hit by in-jury.

Certainly the Swiss had been in irre-sistible form as he � rst ousted Djokovic in � ve thrilling sets, and then faced only one break point against Tomas Berdych in the semi-� nals.

And it was Wawrinka who best stood up to the gruelling Grand Slam programme of seven straight matches, while Nadal’s familiar physical fallibili-ties returned to haunt him.

“It’s Stan’s day, not my day,” said the tearful Spaniard, who struggled to con-trol his emotions after the match. “As I said before, I try my best and it was not possible for me today.

“I’m obviously disappointed and very sad about what happened. But that’s life, that’s sport. I really had a lot of great mo-ments in my career. That’s a tough one. I’ll just accept it and try to keep working hard for what’s coming.”

Wawrinka said he has long drawn in-spiration from the Samuel Beckett quo-tation that is tattooed on his left fore-arm: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” l

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland (L) poses with the 2014 Australian Open winner's trophy on the bank of the Yarra river in Melbourne yesterday following his victory over Rafael Nadal of Spain in the men's singles � nal of the tennis tournament the day before AFP

India con� dent of squaring NZ seriesn India are con� dent they can win their two remaining one-day internationals in New Zealand to salvage a draw from a series they were expected to dominate.

Although a series win is out of reach for India, who trail 2-0, spinner Ravi Ashwin said the dramatic tie in the third match in Auckland showed the tide is turning for the tourists, who have slipped to number two in the rankings.

New Zealand were denied a series-clinching victory on Saturday when a late � ourish by Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja produced a cli� anger � nish, with India scoring 17 o� the last over.

“We were quite disappointed that we didn’t shut the game down. We would have loved to win the series, but we kept it open and we can tie it down now,” Ashwin said Monday on the eve of the fourth game in Hamilton.

Coming into the series, India held the number one ranking and they were strongly favoured to beat the home side.

Instead, they extended a losing streak that began with back-to-back defeats in South Africa, losing their � rst game in New Zealand by 24 runs and the second by 15. In Auckland, India again looked down and out when they were 184-6 chasing New Zealand’s 314.

But Ashwin (65 o� 46 balls) and Jadeja (66 not out o� 45) put on 85 for the seventh wicket in a partnership that revived India’s hopes.

“We’ve just not been at the best of our game. That’s the best point we can take forward, in terms of saying, we’ve not really played our best game yet,” Ashwin said. “We’ve been � ghting hard to the end and while things haven’t gone our way we just hope for the turn-around.”

New Zealand have been plagued in recent years by an inability to close out series when they have had the up-per hand early on, but felt the tide had turned when they beat the West Indies in two Twenty20 matches before India’s arrival.

However, the nagging doubts re-turned in Auckland when captain Bren-don McCullum admitted it was “poten-tially” one that got away. “When they looked as if they were out of the game they � exed their muscle a little bit and got themselves back into it. And just when we thought we had it again, obvi-ously they came back,” McCullum said.

“We had our chances, there is no doubting that. De� nitely had our chances. A few catches and a few run-out opportunities and a few things.”

The � nal match in the series is in Wellington on Friday, to be followed by two Tests. l

Bangladeshi fan hacks BCCI website n The o� cial site of Indian cricket’s gov-erning body was hacked late at night on January 26, as a Bangladeshi cricket fan’s way of getting back at BCCI for pushing for ICC’s restructuring.

Even on the morning of January 27, the site was still under siege and had not been restored to normalcy.

After the attack, the BCCI homepage had a short banner over the main news headline that read, “Hacked by Ashik.” On the About Us page, the reportedly Bangladeshi hacker posted a photo of the Bangladesh national team running with the country’s � ag and a message below it that read, “Don’T MesS UP WitH TiGeRs!” The reason behind this “attack” on BCCI’s website, seems to be the latest draft proposal which is creat-ing rifts in the global cricketing world.

BCCI demands more control and mon-etary pro� t for the “big three” of cricket (i.e. India, Australia and England). l

Sharapova desperate for repeat of Paris glamourn Maria Sharapova swaps sweltering Melbourne for wet and chilly Paris on Monday hoping her love a� air with the French capital will help bury her Austra-lian Open nightmare.

The world number three was a shock fourth-round loser at the season-open-ing Grand Slam, going down to eventual � nalist Dominika Cibulkova, her hopes hamstrung by a hip injury. But Paris only brings back warm recent memories for the Russian star who will start the WTA indoor tournament this week as top seed at the city’s Stade Coubertin, just a short walk from Roland Garros where she clinched the French Open in 2012, com-pleting a career Grand Slam.

Sharapova was also runner-up at Gar-ros last year although her only previous

visit to the January indoor hardcourt tournament in Paris’s plush 16th ar-rondissement ended in a quarter-� nal run. Sharapova’s Melbourne campaign was just her second event since a shoul-der injury ended her 2013 season in Au-gust, a setback which also ruled her out of the US Open.

“I think it’s a success in terms of that I’m back and that I’m healthy,” she said after her Australian Open exit.

“That’s quite important otherwise I wouldn’t give myself a chance to play.

“So on that note, I have to look at the positives and see where I have come from in four or � ve months. I haven’t played a lot of tennis in those six months.”

Sharapova gets a � rst-round bye in Paris before a match-up with Slovak vet-eran Daniela Hantuchova or Marina Era-kovic of New Zealand. l

Wenger hits back at Mourinho in � xture rown Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insist-ed Monday his team were not favoured by the � xture programme following comments from Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho the Gunners had a certain “in� uence” over the schedule.

“It is simple -- look at the � xtures and analyse it. I trust you will give an objective view,” Wenger said.

“You will see Arsenal are behind all the other teams. In the last � ve years all the objective studies that have been made show Arsenal had less rest than any other team in the top four,” the Frenchman added.

“That is fact. It has nothing to do with my opinion. It is an independent company that made (the study) that shows Arsenal had less rest than any other team in the top level.”

Wenger’s comments came after reports Arsenal had commissioned their own internal analysis of their

� xture schedule.The Gunners boss cited a hectic

pre-Christmas programme when they played Manchester City on a Satur-day lunchtime following a middweek Champions League trip to Napoli, both of which saw Arsenal beaten.

Mourinho’s remarks about Arsenal’s � xtures came after Wenger criticised Chelsea’s decision to sell Juan Mata to Manchester United during the January transfer window.

Arsenal are currently top of the Pre-mier League, two points ahead of third-placed Chelsea with Manchester City in between them. But Wenger, speaking ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Southampton on Tuesday, was adamant his dispute with Mourinho was not part of any de-liberate attempt to unsettle the Portu-guese manager.

“It is not mind games. It is opinions,” Wenger said. “But I don’t live with opin-ions, I live with facts. and the facts don’t depend on me or Mourinho. l

WTA star Eugenie Bouchard (R) talks to journalists while Chris Evert (C), o� cial WTA Championships ambassador, and Stacey Allaster (L), chairman and CEO of WTA, look on at a press conference announcing the WTA Championships in Singapore yesterday. The WTA Championships will be held in Singapore on October 17 to 26, 2014 and it marks the � rst time in the history of the championships that a city in Asia-Paci� c will host the prestigious event AFP

The victorious North South University cricket team COURTESY

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Administrator soon to protect Jubok’s Tk3,000cr assetsFinance minister nods to measures so victims get some money back soonn Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has decided to appoint an administrator for the protection of the assets of Jubok Karmasangsthan Society, a cooperatives infamous for its fraudu-lent operations and cheating millions, in line with the recommendations of a gov-ernment-sponsored commission.

An o� cial of the Bank and Finan-cial Institutions Division said the divi-sion had already told the social welfare ministry to appoint an administrator immediately to look after assets, worth nearly Tk3,000 crore, situated in Dhaka and surrounding areas.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith had given the go-ahead to pursue the min-istries to execute a string of measures

recommended by the commission to the � nance ministry, sources said.

Secretary of social welfare ministry Nasima Begum told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are looking into the matter but the process of appointing an administrator for Jubok has not started yet.”

The permanent commission on Jubok, headed by former bureaucrat Ra� qul Islam, gave its report to the � -nance ministry in March last year. The ministry, however, allegedly took no initiatives before the latest instructions last week.

Appointing an administrator for Jubok and bringing amendments to the criminal law, money laundering act and the inquiry act of 1956 are some of the recommendations of

the commission yet to be dealt with by the law, commerce and welfare ministries, according to bank division sources.

Aiming to return the money to fraud victims, the government formed two commissions, one in 2010 and the other in 2011, the former headed by former governor of Bangladesh Bank Mohammad Farashuddin and the lat-ter by former joint secretary Ra� qul Islam.

Nearly Tk3,000 crore assets of Jubok were found in Dhaka and adjoining ar-eas, as per the commission report.

Business licenses of the 17 subsidiar-ies of Jubok should be cancelled by the relevant government authorities, said the commission report.

Jubok’s operations were suspended in 2006 on charges of involvement in il-legal banking. Its subsidiaries included interests in housing, telecommunica-tion, real estate development, tourism, health and agriculture.

More than 3 lakh clients of Jubok have been waiting for years now to get back the money they deposited with the fraudster, mainly because of the government’s indecision.

None of the a� ected ones, who were lured by Jubok into depositing their hard earned money for big returns, are yet to get back their money, totalling about Tk2,588 crore.

The commission suggested that the government should appoint an admin-istrator who would take Jubok’s assets

into his custody, sell them and return the money to the customers.

It also said until an administrator could be appointed the relevant depu-ty commissioners and upazila nirbahi o� cers (UNO) might act as custodians of the assets.

The commission also identi� ed 40 people who embezzled customers’ money, and recommended � ling cases against them.

Meanwhile, RTV, Victoria Universi-ty and Atish Dipankar University vol-untarily o� ered to return Tk25 crore to the commission.

But the commission found that the actual Jubok investment in these organisations was much higher than what they had proposed to pay back. l

Students cannot be forced to queue up on streets, but on school premises, says ministryn Tribune Report

The primary and mass education ministry yesterday issued a circular asking the authorities concerned not to force primary schoolchildren to queue on the roads to welcome publicrepresentatives.

Legal action would be taken against those repeating such practice in fu-ture. “This is in no way acceptable,”said the circular.

The move was made after newspa-pers reported on schoolchildren in dif-ferent parts of the country being forced to queue under the sun to welcome the newly-elected public representatives and ministers. The issue triggered se-vere criticism from the masses.

“Primary school children cannot be forced to queue on the roads to receive public representatives,” the circular said.

“It has come to the ministry’s notice that reception has been given to pub-lic representatives, eminent citizens

and high o� cials when they go to visit di� erent districts, upazilas and places through the queues of primary school-children on the roads after stopping ac-ademic activities in the schools.”

It said academic activities of the school would be hampered if the chil-dren were forced to queue up under the open sky, and it also put pressure on the children’s physical and mental stature.

The circular issued a warning that if such things happened again in future, legal action would be taken against the headmaster and the managing com-mittee members of the school con-cerned.

Education Minister Nurul IslamNahid urged the authorities concerned not to force schoolchildren to queue on the roads to welcome “eminentpersons.”

He, however, said the educational institutions might arrange programmes to greet “honourable guests” on the school premises. l

UNUSUAL WEALTH ACCUMULATION

TIB for bringing all ministers, MPs under scannern Tribune Report

The Transparency International Ban-gladesh yesterday urged the Anti-Cor-ruption Commission to bring all minis-ters, former ministers and lawmakers who had “phenomenal” rise in their wealth inconsistent with their known sources of income under its scanner.

It requested the ACC to take neces-sary legal steps to bring all those, re-ports on whom had been published by the media.

The TIB, however, appreciated the anti-graft body’s move to trace illegal

wealth of seven former ministers and lawmakers who were in power during the last � ve years.

“If the phenomenal rise in wealth of former ministers and lawmakers are inconsistent with their known sources of income, it is completely illegal and unconstitutional as per section 20 (2) of the constitution,” TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said yesterday.

In a statement, he said the ACC’s ini-tiatives must not be limited to just seven persons – the anti-graft body should rath-er bring all those whose wealth had grown unusually, otherwise it should publicly

disclose the reasons for bringing certain people under inquiry and not others.

The TIB urged the ACC to coordi-nate with the National Board of Reve-nue, Bangladesh Bank and the Election Commission to make the e� ort fruitful.

According to an analysis by Shu-shashoner Jonno Nagorik, the wealth statements of the candidates of the last parliamentary election had seen an in-crease of up to 32,985% in their income.

According to the a� davits submit-ted to the EC, the incomes of ministers increased by 243% and their wealth by 247% while the income of state min-

isters increased by 464% and their wealth by 459%.

The TIB demanded cancellation of sections 32 (2) and 32A of the ACC (amended) Act 2013 as the provisions were “discriminatory and unconstitu-tional” and made it mandatory for the ACC to take government’s approval for � ling cases against judges, magistrates and public servants.

The statement said the prime min-ister’s announcement of “zero toler-ance” for corruption in her � rst cabinet meeting was inspiring for the ACC.

“We will expect the government and

politically digni� ed people will honour the decision and will restrain them-selves from taking any step that could hinder the independence and activities of the ACC,” it said.

It also said if the organisation failed to initiate inquiry and bring o� enders under the law, the country could not enjoy the rule and culture of publish-ing a� davits of parliamentary poll candidates.

“Rather such inconsistent works will be established as part of the political culture and it will spread corruption and a culture of lack of justice,” it said. l

Father beaten to death for protesting beating of childn Kailash Sarkar

A father was beaten to death at Dakkh-inkhan in Dhaka yesterday by a group of men as he had protested against the beating of his son by the same people.

Police arrested three people – Rubel, 19, Liton Miah, 40, and Zakirul Islam, 32 – on suspicion of their involve-ment in the killing of the father, Mo-sta� zur Rahman, a rickshaw-pullerby profession.

Police and local people said a group of seven to eight people had beaten Mosta� z’s eight-year-old son Hasan following a trivial matter late Sunday night at Fayedabad of Dakkhinkhan.

Sub-Inspector Azizur Rahman of Dakkhinkhan police station said the group beat Mosta� z mercilessly around 12:30am as he went to protest against his son’s beating. The group left Mo-sta� z in a critical condition.

The injured father was taken to a hospi-tal in the area where he succumbed to his injuries. Mosta� z of Pirganj upazila of Rangpur resided in a rented house at Atipara, Dakkhinkhan.

Inspector Shamimur Rashid Taluk-der, o� cer-in-charge of Dakkhinkhan police station, said Mosta� z’s wife Ha-sina Akhter � led a case against seven to eight men, including the detained three.

He said they had produced the three in the court and sought � ve days’ re-mand. The police were trying to arrest the other accused in the case.

Two more killed in cityTwo more unidenti� ed persons were found dead in the capital’s Uttara yes-terday.

The sliced body of a youth aged around 24 was found on a railway track at Abdullahpur; the body of another aged around 30 was found � oating in the Turag River.

Police suspect criminals had left the bodies after killing them at night. The sliced body was wearing a lungi and a shirt, said SI Nazrul Islam of Gener-al Railway Police. The other body also bore injury marks. l

ACC probes 500 fold wealth growth of Cox’s Bazar MPn Tribune Report

An o� cial from the Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday arrived in Cox’s Bazar to collect documents and infor-mation related to the inquiry against Awami League lawmaker from Cox’s Ba-zar 4 constituency Abdur Rahman Bodi.

Ahsan Ali, an ACC deputy director and probe o� cer of the inquiry, will visit administrative o� ces to collect documents related to the MP’s wealth, as well as information from internal sources, an o� cial of the commission told the Dhaka Tribune.

The ACC on January 22 initiated an inquiry against seven ruling party law-makers, including two former minis-ters, a state minister and four MPs, in a bid to trace the sources of their phe-nomenal rise in wealth.

After the Election Commission pub-lished the wealth statements submit-ted by candidates last month ahead of the 10th parliamentary polls, the media reported large discrepancies between the information they had provided and their previous submissions for the ninth general election in 2008.

Following news reports of huge increases in the fortunes of several prominent Awami League men and their family members over the past � ve years, the ACC started collecting news-paper clippings and analysing the rele-vant documents, ACC o� cials said.

Cox’s Bazar MP Bodi’s earnings rose astronomically, increasing by more than 500 times over the past � ve years. The lawmaker and his wife’s annual in-come was only Tk3.01 lakh in 2008, but rose to Tk15.46 crore in 2013, according to his a� davits placed at the EC.

His annual income from house rent – which was Tk1.76 lakh in 2008 – in-creased 118 times to become Tk2.08 crore in 2013. Although he had no business investments in 2008, the lawmaker now earned Tk53 lakh from businesses. From shares and bank interests, Abdur Rah-man used to earn less than a lakh taka in 2008, but made over Tk8 crore in 2013. l

Dawki River in Ja� ong to be declared ecologically critical n Abu Bakar Siddique

Upon a court order, the government is likely to declare the Ja� ong-Dawki River as a new ecologically critical area (ECA) soon to protect it and its ecology from destruction because of mindless extraction of stones from the river bed and adjacent areas since long.

With this, the country will have the total of 13 places as ECAs: the Sund-arbans, Cox’s Bazar, Saint Martin’s Island and Sonadia Island, Tanguar Haor, Hakaluki Haor, Marjat Baor, Gul-shan-Baridhara Lake and Dhaka’s four rivers – Buriganga, Shitalakkhya, Turag and Balu.

“The process of declaring Ja-� ong-Dawki River ecologically critical area will be � nalised soon,” said Sul-tan Ahmed, director (natural resource management) of the Department of En-vironment (DoE), adding that the deci-sion had been taken following the High Court directives.

Bangladesh Environmentalist Law-yers’ Association (BELA) � led two sep-arate writ petitions with the High Court seeking order to stop extraction of stones illegally from the Dawki, Piyain

and Dhalai rivers using excavators. The petitioner also asked the court to re-move the bridge located on the Dawki River constructed illegally. The peti-tions were � led in 2009 and 2011.

Last year, the High Court directed the government to stop the anomalies and to declare the Ja� ong-Dawki River as an ECA.

Sultan Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that they had already received the re-lated information from the � eld o� ce which was necessary to take the mea-sure.

Terming the government’s initiative “important,” Syeda Rizwana Hasan, ex-

ecutive director of BELA, said the ille-gal stone extraction would be stopped after declaring the river as ECA.

However, the government has ap-parently failed to conserve the exist-ing ECAs. Some protection measures have been seen only in the Saint Mar-tin’s, Hakaluki Haor, Cox’s Bazar and Sonadia Island under a project named Coastal and Wetland Biodiversity Man-agement.

In reply to a question why the gov-ernment was declaring places as ECAs when it failed to take measures in the existing areas, the DoE o� cial said they had plans to take measures in all the 12 existing areas but were facing fund shortage.

Rizwana said the government should pay attention to implement the ECA rules in the declared areas prop-erly; otherwise, the announcements would bring no good results.

The government formulated the ECA rules in 1999 under Bangladesh Environment Protection Act, 1995. Since then, 12 areas have been iden-ti� ed as ECAs with an aim to protect those from environmental and ecologi-cal degradation. l

New compulsory school subjectsn Mushfi que Wadud

Two new subjects will be incorporated into school level education from the next academic year. These subjects will be made compulsory for the students of class VIII and class IX, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board decid-ed yesterday.

Class VIII students will have to study Work and Life Oriented Education; all groups (science, commerce and human-ities) of class IX students will have to take Information and Communication Tech-nology from 2015, NCTB o� cials said.

The decision was made at a meeting held to assess the numbers of textbooks needed for the 2015 academic year. Ed-ucation Minister Nurul Islam Nahid was present as the guest-of-honour.

NCTB Chairman Sha� kur Rahman said: “Kormo O Jibonmukhi Shikkha [Work and Life Oriented Education] is al-ready compulsory for other year-groups; and from next year the subject will be compulsory for class VIII students too.”

Students were also taking Informa-tion and Communication Technology in other year-groups; and from 2015, the subject will be compulsory for all class IX students.

“This is part of modernising the cur-riculum. We have included these sub-jects because students need these in their everyday lives,” he said.

Since 2013, the government has been revising the primary and secondary cur-riculum for the � rst time in 17 years. l

Begal Tigers Cricket Fan Club forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday against India, Australia and England’s proposal about Test cricket RAJIB DHAR

Two more unidenti� ed persons were found dead in the capital’s Uttara yesterday

Acting on petitions, the High Court last year directed the government to stop stone extraction and declare the Ja� ong-Dawki River as an ECA

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

Continue to the Business section...

Business

RMG sees slow but steady growth in 2013 despite unrestn Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Despite the political unrest coupled with global retailers’ threat not to buy Bangladeshi products following the worst-ever Rana Plaza disaster, the country, however, witnessed a slow but steady growth in the apparel sec-tor in 2013.

A good number of apparel man-ufacturers have come up with more investments either to establish or to expand their own readymade garment factories in the just concluded year, according to the statistics Bangladesh Garment manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Export-ers Association (BKMEA). Apart from that, both the BGMEA and BKMEA data showed a remarkable hike in their respective membership categories.

According to statistics, a total of 192

factory owners got the memberships from BGMEA and BKMEA. A total of 139 factory owners took membership from BGMEA, while BKMEA provided

membership to 53 factory owners in the year 2013. Currently, the BGMEA mem-bership number rose to 5674, while the memberships of BKMEA rose to 1931.

“The number of new RMG factories could have been even more in the last year. Most of the entrepreneurs were eventually refrained from investing further as they were really shaken to see the global outcry following the worst-ever Rana Plaza disaster,’’ An-warul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, for-mer president of BGMEA, told the Dha-ka Tribune yesterday.

Besides, the investors also became nervous and frightened to see the streets violence during political pro-grammes, which may also cast negative impact in the coming years, he added.

Compared to the RMG factory growth in 2012, the number of new factories has declined in the year 2013 as the entre-preneurs were reluctant to invest in this sector due to the political unrest and factory disaster, said Shahidullah Azim, vice president of BGMEA.

Industry insiders opined that the in-

vestment in this sector was supposed to be more but factory disasters such as Rana plaza building collapse, which claimed over 1,100 workers and injured more than 2,500 workers, brought a big blow in the investment in RMG sector.

Political deadlock which continued at throughout the year could also be blamed for the slow growth in the RMG sector, they added.

The new factories can lead the coun-try’s RMG sector to a compliant one as they were built as compliant factories with the bulling code. That’s why the government should provide gas and electricity supply to those factories on priority basis to maintain the growth of this sector, said Abdus Salam Murshedy, managing director of Envoy group.

"We are still hoping that Bangladesh would be able to overcome all the ob-stacles to lead the country in the global competitive market." l

BB to sprint from behind to touch � nish lineIt unveils monetary policy for H2 FY14 with a private credit growth target of 16.5% to stimulate domestic investmentn Kayes Sohel

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has undertaken a set of policy measures in its latest monetary policy announced yesterday to stimulate investment that su� ered a setback in late last year due to pro-longed political unrest.

To prop up investment, it kept the private sector credit target unchanged at 16.5% despite poor growth inlending, re� ecting the sluggish invest-ment.

The Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for January-June period of � scal 2013-14 foresees a possible risk in the country’s Balance of Payment (BoP) as it is apprehending slow remittance in-� ow and export earnings in the second half of the current � scal year.

During the July-November period of the current � scal year, the private credit grew by only 11%, much behind the target of 16.5%, showing signs the central bank will have to further accel-erate the lending to the private sector if it wants to stimulate investment from its sorry state.

“We failed to fully utilise the space for private investment providedin the last monetary program be-cause of the political unrest in thelead-up to the national elections (held in January 5),” said GovernorAtiur Rahman, unveiling the MPSat Bangladesh Bank headquarters in Dhaka.

The space for private sector credit in the new MPS kept well in line with output growth targets and is su� cient to accommodate any substantial rise in investment over the next six months, said the Governor.

Bangladesh Bank is expecting in-creased demand for credit in the sec-ond half due to the apparently stable political situation in the country.

“It will be good enough to accel-erate the private investment despite slightly higher economic output pro-jection,” he said.

In order to cushion the impact of the recent domestic disruptions on busi-nesses, BB has already taken a number of policy steps for the � nancial sector, which would continue during the sec-ond half of FY14.

These included o� ering Export De-velopment Fund (EDF) at lower inter-est rate, easy-term loan rescheduling facilities and some facilities for SME entrepreneurs.

“BB is willing to increase the size of the EDF if the current $1bn fundis fully utilised,” said the policy state-ment.

It said banks were instructed to of-fer loan rescheduling facilities to gen-uine borrowers having temporarily af-fected by the recent disruptions.

Against this backdrop, the central bank has slightly revised upward the economic growth.

“Output growth will pick up in H2 FY14 and this will partly make up for the losses faced in H1 FY14. If there are no major disruption in the economy,

output growth could be closer to 6%.” This is a slightly revised forecast

relative to the 5.7% and 6% range pro-jected in December 2013.

“The GDP growth target was slightly revised upward due to recentimproved investment climate, which was absent in the � rst half of this � s-cal,” said Chief Economist Hassan Zaman.

BB in its monetary policy said the slightly higher credit to public sec-tor � gure in percentage terms for June 2014 in the current MPS is due to the fact that the H1 FY14 MPS was

based on an estimated � gure for June 2013 government borrowing which turned out to be higher than the actual � gure.

As a result of the “lower base e� ect,” the public sector borrowing growth of 22.9% for June 2014 in the current MPS is higher than the previous MPS (19.5%) even though the amount in monetary terms (Tk260bn) remains the same.

The central bank sees challenges to keep in� ation under control. Keeping in� ation target unchanged at 7%, the MPS said reducing average in� ation

from its current 7.5% level may prove challenging especially as aggregate demand is likely to pick up in H2 FY14 and the recent rise in Indian in� ation is also a risk for Bangladesh as shown by historical long term trends.

“As such, BB has decided to keep policy rates unchanged.”

The BB also identi� ed recent fall in remittance � ow as risk factor to the balance of payment.

“We apprehend an overall negative growth in remittances for FY14 and a possible slower pace of export growth in H2 FY14.” l

www.dhakatribune.com/business TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2014

B3 UCBL emerges as most traded stock at DSE

B4 Stock refi nance scheme - A steroid perhaps

BB wants big borrowers to go stock marketn Kayes Sohel

Bangladesh Bank has planned to en-courage big industrial conglomerate to raise fund from the stock market to meet their investment needs.

The monetary policy statement an-nounced yesterday said the central bank will continue to encourage big borrow-ers to access the capital market as banks will need to comply with the recently revised regulation on single borrower exposure limits for business groups.

“In order to � ll the gaps in the � nancial landscape, BB intends to facilitate the role of private equity or venture capital sources of � nance.”

Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowd-hury said the central bank will ask the banks to take necessary measures so the big borrowers go to capital market for � nancing their projects.

Analysts appreciated the central bank move, but remained skeptical about im-plementation of the policy measure.

“It is a good move as � nancing to any business from the capital market is rel-atively lower than the banking sector. It will infuse dynamism in the capital mar-ket too,” said � nance adviser to the last caretaker government Mirza Azizul Islam.

Big business people generally feel shy to go to the capital market, as it will ensure accountability and trans-parency of the business, he said. “Most of the big businessmen are the own-ers of the banks. So some pro� ts go through the bench.”

But it will also a� ect in the pro� t-ability of the banks already sitting on huge idle fund, he added.

Recently, the central bank has tight-ened the single borrower exposure limit, saying if the rating of a credit risk grading turns out to be “marginal,” banks must not sanction the large loans.

If the big borrowers fail to provide su� cient collateral against the loans, they will fall into the “marginal” group on a scale of eight categories in credit risk assessment. Previously, the bor-rowers with insu� cient collateral had quali� ed for such loans. l

Banks asked to take measuresfor ensuring vault securityn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank has asked all the scheduled commercial banks to take all the necessary steps for ensuring se-curity of their respective bank’s vaults in the wake of a recent incident where miscreants broke in and looted around Tk16.4 crore from a branch of Sonali Bank Limited in Kishoreganj Sadar.

Expressing grave concern over not following the safety directives already issued by Bangladesh Bank (BB), the central bank yesterday released a cir-cular with a fresh directive to further strengthen the security as well as safe-ty measures of the vaults where the cash is deposited.

Most of the banks do not follow the instruction on safety of money that is deposited at bank’s vault, despite the time to time instruction of the central bank. As a result, money looting inci-dent is taking place simply by destroy-ing the security fence, said BB circular.

According to the circular, all the com-mercial banks have been asked to estab-lish more commanding and updated se-curity measures in ensuring structural, technical and insurance security.

Under the structural security mea-sures, banks are to set up security-test-ed doors with steel wall around the vault space of the banks. The � oors and roofs of around the vaults also have to be certi� ed by an engineer, said the circular.

As part of technical security mea-sure, there must be an alarming sys-tem round the clock along with a closed-circuit television camera at the vaults. There should be an unin-terrupted connectivity between the bank’s central information system and the vault’s security system. Automated � re extinguishers also must be set up into the vaults, read the circular.

As far as insurance coverage is con-cerned, the insurance on the money deposited at the vaults has to be cov-ered completely.

Miscreants broke in and looted around Tk16.4 crore from a branch of Sonali Bank Limited in Kishoreganj Sadar, authorities noticed on Sunday afternoon.

The miscreants dug a passageway into the vault of the bank located on Isha Kha road of the town.

The passageway was found to have

been dug from an adjacent building.However, how the incident took

place was confusing since a police bar-rack was located in the basement of the branch for security reasons.

Some 17 people including 12 o� cials of Sonali Bank in Kishoreganj, were in-terrogated in the Sadar police station on Monday in connection with Tk16.4 crore looting incident.

Police held 12 bank o� cials includ-ing Branch Manager Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan and � ve others people earlier in the day. Deputy General Manager Sheikh Amanuallah � led a case against some unidenti� ed people in this con-nection with Sadar police station on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the authorities of Ban-gladesh Bank and Sonali Bank formed separate investigation committees to investigate into the incident where Tk16.4 crore was looted from a vault of a Sonali Bank Limited branch in Kishoreganj.

Eight policemen were suspended following the incident. These police-men were deployed in the barrack lo-cated in the basement of the branch to maintain the security of the vault. l

NBR to launch fresh bid to net 2 lakh tax evadersn Syed Samiul Basher Anik

National Board of Revenue has achieved only 22% of its target to bring tax evading house and business � rm owners under income tax net through door-to-door surveys and spot assess-ments in a 12-month period ending in November last year.

After an instruction from NBR, the � eld o� ces across the country began the drive in December 2012 targeting 2.57 lakh tax dodgers owing houses and business � rms.

During the period, 57,564 were net-ted and a total of Tk1.78 crore was col-lected. As the programme could not bring “satisfactory” result, the revenue board is now planning fresh surveys beginning from next month to net at least 2 lakh.

In an e� ort to widen tax net, NBR gave the instruction of the surveys.

Although the NBR set a target of bringing 2.57 lakh under the income tax net in December 2012, the � eld of-� ces could identify 1.43 lakh tax dodg-ers of the kind.

Among the identi� ed dodgers, 70% were businessmen, 25% house owners and around 5% shop owners.

Twenty-nine � eld o� ces conducted the survey, particularly in some select-ed areas across the country.

Only two o� ces - Dhaka Tax Zone 1 and Khulna Tax Zone O� ce – were able to achieve their targets. The tax o� c-es were given an annual targets for the year ending in November 2013.

NBR already served notices to its � eld o� ces which had failed to meet the targets seeking explanation behind the failures.

Notices have been served to the tax evaders in the respective areas to com-ply with tax law. If the tax evaders do not pay taxes, legal actions will be taken against them, warned the NBR o� cials.

In their surveys, the NBR o� c-es compiled information from local government o� ces, Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), utility service providers and other related organisations.

According to NBR estimates, at least 60 lakh capable people are out of in-come tax net while 5 lakh business � rms are not paying value added tax (Vat). l

'Most of the big businessmen are the owners of the banks. So some pro� ts go through the bench'

Mirza Azizul IslamFormer Finance Adviser

l GDP may not be achieved, as key components like trade balance, services and investments are not in good shape.

l Private sector credit target is apparently good considering the present situation. But political uncertainty still persists, which may keep entrepreneurs away from investment.

l Public borrowing is just indicative target. It will exceed the target because of drop in revenue and aid disbursement.

B2 Stock Tuesday, January 28, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks end � at amid volatility on pro� t booking n Tribune Report

Stocks ended � at amid volatility on pro� t booking yesterday, breaking four sessions gaining streak.

The benchmark DSEX edged nearly 7 points or 0.2% down to close at 4,751. The Shariah based DSES index declined almost 5 points or 0.5% to 982.

The blue chip comprising in-dex DS30 fell 13 points or 0.8% to1,659.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, dropped 17 points to 9,342.

The turnover on the DSE came down to Tk672 crore, registering a fall of more than 21% over theprevious session’s two-month high.

“Pro� t booking, particularly in large cap stocks, checked DSEX from rising further, putting a halt to 4-session long gaining streak of 200 points,” said IDLC Investments.

“As prices went for a sudden stop amid the rally, participation dropped to Tk6.72bn, as investors were assessing the situation,” it said.

However, positive movement in the largest sector of the market, bank, helped the indices stay a� oat as it gained over 1%.

Textile came to support with a marginal positive movement of 0.2%. Cement on the other hand broke its 6-day rally with 1.79%loss.

“With imminent Monetary Pol-icy Statement and upcoming year-end declaration, expectation stayed strong for banks, making it the dom-inant sector for the second day, in terms of participation, accounted for 21% of total market capitalisa-tion,” said the IDLC.

LankaBangla Securities saidafter rising more than 200 points in last four trading sessions since the index last posted a meager correc-tion in it, market behaved mixed Monday.

Some large cap stocks took cor-rection while rally in other large and mid-cap stocks getting a strong footing, it said. Thus, market was a bit volatile with corrective mood closing the index marginally down, it said.

Bank continued to dominate the market in continuation of previous trading sessions with market capi-talisation up by 1%.

Besides bank, paper and printing rose by 3.5%, while other sectors closed in the red zone.

UCBL dominated the top turn-over chart with shares worth Tk24 crore changing hands followed by Meghna Petroleum, Padma Oil, BEDL and LankaBangla Finance.

National Tubes was also the day’s highest gainer, posting a rise of over 6% while Bengal Windsor Thermo-plastic was the day’s worst losers, slumping by almost 10%. l

News from trade serverOLYMPIC: National Credit Ratings Limited (NCR) has announced the rating of the Company as "AA" in the long term and "ST-1" in the short term based on audited � nancial statements of the Company up to June 30, 2013.BENGALWTL: (H/Y): As per un-audited half yearly accounts as on 31.12.2013 (July'13 to Dec'13), the Company has reported consolidated net pro� t after tax (excluding non-controlling interests) of Tk. 94.87 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.25 as against Tk. 85.34 million and Tk. 1.13 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas consolidated net pro� t after tax (excluding non-controlling interests) was Tk. 9.10 million with EPS of Tk. 0.12 for the period of 3 months, (Oct'13 to Dec'13) ended on 31.12.2013 as against Tk. 54.58 million and Tk. 0.72 respectively for the same period of the previous year.CVOPRL: (H/Y): As per un-audited half yearly accounts as on 31.12.2013 (July'13 to Dec'13), the Company has reported net pro� t/(loss) after tax of Tk. (40.17) m. with EPS of Tk. (2.03) as against Tk. 12.79 m. and Tk. 0.65 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas net pro� t/(loss) after tax was Tk. (5.51) m. with EPS of Tk. (0.28) for the period of 3 months (Oct'13 to Dec'13) ended on 31.12.2013 as against Tk. 8.52 m. and Tk. 0.43 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Accumu-lated pro� t/(loss) of the Company was Tk. (26.11) m. as on 31.12.2013. In the footnote, the Company has reported that there was

no turnover during the period due to clo-sure of the factory (Pilot Plant) since May 2012 for installation of new re� nery plant.DESHBANDHU: (H/Y): As per un-audited half yearly accounts as on 31.12.2013 (July'13 to Dec'13), the Company has reported net pro� t after tax of Tk. 11.43 million with EPS of Tk. 0.23 as against Tk. 26.95 million and Tk. 0.53 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas net pro� t after tax was Tk. 4.87 million with EPS of Tk. 0.10 for the period of 3 months (Oct'13 to Dec'13) ended on 31.12.2013 as against Tk. 12.33 mil-lion and Tk. 0.24 respectively for the same period of the previous year.RENWICKJA: (H/Y): As per un-audited half yearly accounts as on 31.12.2013 (July'13 to Dec'13), the Company has reported net prof-it after tax of Tk. 4.89 million with EPS of Tk. 2.44 as against Tk. 4.12 million and Tk. 2.06 respectively for the same period of the pre-vious year. Whereas net pro� t after tax was Tk. 2.44 million with EPS of Tk. 1.22 for the period of 3 months (Oct'13 to Dec'13) ended on 31.12.2013 as against Tk. 2.68 million and Tk. 1.34 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Accumulated pro� t/(loss) of the Company was Tk. (77.63) million as on 31.12.2013 resulting total shareholders' equity stands at Tk. (57.37) million.APEXADELFT: The Board of Directors of DSE has approved the name change of Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited as "Apex Footwear Limited". DSE trading code for Apex Footwear Limited will be "APEX-FOOT" instead of former "APEXADELFT"

with e� ect from January 28, 2014. Other things (except name and trading code) will remain unchanged.OLYMPIC: The Board of Directors of DSE has approved the sector change of Olympic Industries Ltd. from "Engineering" to "Food and Allied" with e� ect from January 28, 2014. Other things (except sector) will remain unchanged.1STPRIMFMF: As per regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, ICB Asset Management Company Limited has informed that a Trustee meeting of the Fund will be held on January 29, 2014 at 3:00 PM to consider, among oth-ers, audited � nancial statements of the fund for the year ended on December 31, 2013.DESHBANDHU: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on June 30, 2013 to the respective shareholders' BO Accounts on January 19, 2014. The amount from sales proceeds of fractional bonus shares have been credited on January 26, 2014 to the bank accounts of shareholders mentioned in the respective BO accounts through Bangladesh Electronic Fund Trans-fer Network (BEFTN).RIGHT SHARE: ARAMITCEM: Subscrip-tion 23.03.2014 to 17.04.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 09.01.2014. RUPALILIFE- Subscription 06.04.2014 to 05.05.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 16.01.2014. BRACBANK: Subscription 20.04.2014 to 15.05.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 10.02.2014.

CSE LOSERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average Closing Daily high Daily low Turnover

in millionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Bengal Windsor-A -9.92 -9.07 66.33 66.30 67.00 66.30 7.150 2.50 26.5PrimeFin. 1st MF-A -8.24 -6.99 24.08 23.40 24.60 23.20 2.577 1.00 24.1Mercantile Insur -A -5.52 -5.09 27.39 27.40 27.40 26.50 0.111 1.49 18.4CVO PetroChem RL-Z -5.33 -4.99 699.75 710.00 710.00 694.00 0.280 -4.06 -veTakaful Islami Insu-A -5.17 -1.42 45.08 44.00 46.90 43.70 1.691 2.64 17.1Rangpur Foundry -A -5.16 -1.41 105.00 101.00 109.00 101.00 0.210 3.03 34.7Dutch Ban. Bnk- A -4.95 -4.99 119.08 119.10 120.80 116.80 0.774 9.21 12.9AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A -4.94 -4.94 7.70 7.70 7.70 7.70 0.035 1.24 6.2PragatiLife Insu. -A -4.91 -3.69 219.07 211.10 225.00 210.30 6.463 2.38 92.0Apex Tannery -A -4.67 -4.74 167.14 165.40 171.60 164.10 1.688 6.28 26.6

DSE LOSERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average Closing Daily high Daily low Turnover

in millionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Bengal Windsor-A -9.96 -8.12 66.05 66.00 68.80 66.00 36.788 2.50 26.4PrimeFin. 1st MF-A -7.51 -6.28 24.17 23.40 25.40 23.00 43.864 1.00 24.2Monno Sta� lers -A -6.80 -6.30 330.30 327.40 353.90 325.20 0.545 5.25 62.9Progressive Life-A -6.00 -5.09 140.59 139.50 146.00 138.70 2.394 2.30 61.1GlaxoSK (BD) -A -5.92 -5.99 1020.00 1020.60 1023.00 1017.00 0.153 46.69 21.8ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A -5.37 -3.06 23.45 22.90 23.90 22.80 6.589 4.16 5.6PragatiLife Insu. -A -5.37 -4.02 217.74 211.40 229.20 208.00 24.838 2.38 91.5Takaful Islami Insu-A -4.97 -0.62 44.60 44.00 47.70 42.00 14.696 2.64 16.92nd ICB M F -A -4.92 -5.00 274.00 274.30 275.00 273.50 0.274 63.48 4.3ICB AMCL3rd NRB MF-A -4.76 -2.88 6.08 6.00 6.20 6.00 5.965 0.60 10.1

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Daily closing

Price change

Daily opening

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

UCBL - A 1,011,040 31.81 4.99 31.60 -0.94 31.90 32.20 30.80 31.46National Bank - B 2,183,247 30.78 4.83 14.40 3.60 13.90 14.60 13.50 14.10Appollo Ispat CL -N 766,000 27.88 4.37 36.20 -0.82 36.50 36.70 36.10 36.39Moza� ar H.Spinning-N 410,500 16.71 2.62 40.20 -2.66 41.30 41.80 39.90 40.71UNITED AIR-A 871,317 15.38 2.41 17.60 0.00 17.60 17.90 17.50 17.65Barakatullah E. D.-A 357,144 13.06 2.05 36.90 3.07 35.80 37.10 35.30 36.58City Bank - A 578,753 12.54 1.97 22.00 3.29 21.30 22.20 20.80 21.66Padma Oil Co. -A 31,200 10.56 1.66 335.80 -1.41 340.60 344.00 333.70 338.38Mercantile Bank -A 559,674 10.42 1.64 18.80 2.73 18.30 19.10 17.90 18.62Grameenphone-A 44,200 9.47 1.49 213.90 -0.65 215.30 216.00 213.60 214.35

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Daily closing

Price change

Daily opening

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

UCBL - A 7,882,174 248.81 3.70 31.50 -0.63 31.70 33.00 29.00 31.57Meghna Petroleum -A 954,732 242.28 3.60 252.20 -1.33 255.60 258.00 250.00 253.77Padma Oil Co. -A 577,049 194.93 2.90 334.70 -1.70 340.50 346.60 330.00 337.81Barakatullah E. D.-A 4,011,767 146.16 2.17 36.80 3.66 35.50 38.00 32.00 36.43LankaBangla Fin. -A 1,758,674 138.95 2.07 78.50 -0.38 78.80 79.50 71.00 79.01Square Pharma -A 535,519 126.25 1.88 235.50 -0.67 237.10 240.00 217.00 235.75Olympic Ind. -A 689,059 123.11 1.83 178.70 -0.39 179.40 188.00 168.00 178.66Delta Life Insu. -A 400,250 105.22 1.57 261.20 -1.69 265.70 265.90 260.20 262.88Southeast Bank-A 4,915,999 103.22 1.54 21.10 3.94 20.30 21.70 18.30 21.00UNITED AIR-A 5,761,134 101.33 1.51 17.60 0.00 17.60 18.40 15.90 17.59Al Arafa Islami B-A 4,720,437 101.25 1.51 21.70 3.33 21.00 22.50 19.00 21.45S Purbanchol Power-N 1,358,120 101.17 1.50 74.20 -1.59 75.40 75.90 69.00 74.49National Bank - B 6,975,103 98.19 1.46 14.30 2.88 13.90 14.50 12.80 14.08Quasem Drycells -A 2,147,343 96.81 1.44 46.20 4.05 44.40 46.90 40.00 45.08Saiham Tex.A 2,800,500 96.10 1.43 34.70 2.36 33.90 34.90 33.60 34.31Brac Bank -A 2,532,024 88.47 1.32 35.10 1.15 34.70 36.00 31.90 34.94

CSE GAINERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average Closing Daily high Daily low Turnover

in millionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Imam Button -Z 10.00 5.24 9.85 9.90 9.90 9.80 0.010 -2.20 -veAziz PipesZ 9.63 8.89 23.65 23.90 23.90 22.90 0.456 0.59 40.1Republic Insu.-A 6.54 6.66 52.08 52.10 53.40 48.80 1.198 3.03 17.2Eastern Bank - A 5.79 3.83 32.29 32.90 33.00 30.00 0.723 2.27 14.2Quasem Drycells -A 5.69 3.33 45.87 46.40 47.00 43.70 4.304 2.04 22.5Nitol Insurance -A 5.35 5.29 37.41 37.40 37.50 37.10 0.224 2.75 13.6Southeast Bank-A 4.90 4.24 21.15 21.40 21.80 20.00 7.670 2.24 9.4Al Arafa Islami B-A 3.81 2.60 21.34 21.80 21.90 20.60 6.011 2.09 10.2National Bank - B 3.60 3.75 14.10 14.40 14.60 13.50 30.777 -3.63 -veAlltex Industries -Z 3.45 2.30 8.91 9.00 9.00 8.50 0.245 -1.56 -ve

DSE GAINERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average Closing Daily high Daily low Turnover

in millionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Aziz PipesZ 9.72 9.79 23.43 23.70 23.70 22.40 0.929 0.59 39.7National Tubes -A 6.40 2.21 107.01 108.10 110.90 93.00 31.963 2.26 47.3Alltex Industries -Z 5.88 3.43 8.75 9.00 9.00 8.10 1.615 -1.56 -veEastern Bank - A 5.81 5.32 32.46 32.80 33.40 27.90 19.079 2.27 14.3Rahim Textile -A 5.47 4.20 248.56 252.60 257.00 238.00 2.933 1.52 163.5GPH Ispat Ltd-A 5.29 4.11 55.18 55.70 56.20 50.00 61.950 2.42 22.8Quasem Drycells -A 4.05 1.71 45.08 46.20 46.90 40.00 96.811 2.04 22.1Southeast Bank-A 3.94 4.01 21.00 21.10 21.70 18.30 103.220 2.24 9.4Barakatullah E. D.-A 3.66 3.00 36.43 36.80 38.00 32.00 146.163 2.08 17.5N C C Bank -A 3.55 2.79 14.37 14.60 15.00 13.00 42.617 0.67 21.4

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

Sector DSE CSE TotalMillion Taka % change Million Taka % change Million Taka % change

Bank 1388.29 20.65 168.88 26.49 1557.17 21.16NBFI 491.49 7.31 43.90 6.88 535.39 7.27Investment 232.51 3.46 13.91 2.18 246.41 3.35Engineering 733.52 10.91 81.01 12.70 814.53 11.07Food & Allied 205.16 3.05 23.32 3.66 228.48 3.10Fuel & Power 1078.67 16.05 66.64 10.45 1145.31 15.56Jute 2.84 0.04 0.00 2.84 0.04Textile 740.96 11.02 84.32 13.22 825.29 11.21Pharma & Chemical 478.52 7.12 35.88 5.63 514.40 6.99Paper & Packaging 1.25 0.02 0.16 0.02 1.41 0.02Service 35.60 0.53 5.00 0.78 40.60 0.55Leather 67.91 1.01 6.83 1.07 74.73 1.02Ceramic 44.39 0.66 3.72 0.58 48.11 0.65Cement 298.75 4.44 20.38 3.20 319.14 4.34Information Technology 65.81 0.98 8.60 1.35 74.40 1.01General Insurance 269.19 4.00 10.45 1.64 279.64 3.80Life Insurance 254.08 3.78 16.29 2.55 270.37 3.67Telecom 102.05 1.52 13.03 2.04 115.09 1.56Travel & Leisure 142.66 2.12 17.49 2.74 160.16 2.18Miscellaneous 88.30 1.31 17.81 2.79 106.12 1.44Debenture 0.28 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.29 0.00

Daily capital market highlights

DSE Broad Index : 4751.61562 (-) 0.14% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1659.61052 (-) 0.79% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 14760.8066 (-) 0.28% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 12349.6087 (-) 0.07% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 9342.8119 (-) 0.18% ▼

DSE key features January 27, 2014Turnover (Million Taka)

6,722.24

Turnover (Volume)

174,295,140

Number of Contract 150,609

Traded Issues 293

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

89

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

201

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,271.18

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.53

CSE key features January 27, 2014Turnover (Million Taka) 637.42

Turnover (Volume) 20,878,600

Number of Contract 24,875

Traded Issues 231

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

74

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

154

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

2

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,177.57

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.39

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

ANALYST

Pro� t booking, particularly in large cap stocks, checked DSEX from rising further, putting a halt to 4-session long gaining streak of 200 points

B3BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Apex recently launched an exclusive retail outlet at Shodid Ra� q Shorok in Manikganj. SAM. Yousuf, executive director of the company unveiled the outlet

Banglalink held several distribution events for donating warm clothing and blankets to under-privileged people between Jan 13 and 15. A number of Banglalink sta� and high o� cials, including PR and communication associate manager, Iftekhar Azam Sha� n were present at the programme

Bata Bangladesh recently organised a road show at its Dhamrai factory at Savar in Dhaka. Head of non-retail sales at Bata Shoe Company Bangladesh, Ruhul Amin Molla led the event

Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited held its annual business conference for the on-going year on Sunday at UTC convention hall in Dhaka. The CEO and managing director Abu Sadek Md Sohel presided over the meeting while Md Yousuf Ali Howlader, chairperson of the bank’s board of directors was also present as chief guest

Karnafuly Ship Builders Limited recently mandated IDLC Finance Limited as lead arranger and agent for arranging a term loan � nance of $105m to set up a dry dock project in Chittagong. Engineer MA Rashid, managing director of Karnafuly Ship Builders Limited and Selim RF Hussain, CEO and managing director of IDLC Finance Limited signed the term on behalf of their respective organisations

Jamuna Bank Limited held its annual business conference for the current year at a hotel in Dhaka. Kanutosh Majumder, chairperson of the bank inaugurated the conference as chief guest

Midland Bank Limited recently organised a training programme on internet banking operation and administration at its head o� ce. The bank’s managing director and CEO AKM Shahidul Haque inaugurated the programme along with deputy managing director Khondoker Nayeemul Kabir

Union Bank Limited held a business development conference on s aturday at Hotel Regency in Dhaka. The bank’s vice chaiperson Md Belal Ahmed inaugrated the conference

UCBL emerges as most traded stock at DSEBank stocks make up one-� fth of traden Tribune Business Desk

United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) was the most traded stock at Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday, mak-ing a trade value close to Tk25 crore or 3.7% of the total turnover at the bourse.

The stock price closed at Tk31.5 each – close to its yearly high of Tk31.7.

The price � uctuated between Tk30.7 and Tk32.4 each during the last trading session. The bank reported an audited pro� t of Tk46.8 crore after tax during the third quarter ended in Sep-tember 2013 against Tk9.47 crore during the same period of 2012. The pro� t rose due to higher interest income of the bank during the period.

The interest income of the bank

has increased by almost Tk40.5 crore during the third quarter of 2013 from the same period of 2012. A bank’s rev-enue is generated by the interest it re-ceives from the loan given out.

The loans and advances of UCBL stood at Tk13,607 crore at the end of December 2012 while it increased to Tk14,730 crore at the end of September 2013. In turn the bank made a higher interest income during the � rst nine months of last year, increasing its nine months pro� t to Tk152.8 crore after tax aga inst Tk72.4 crore during the same period of 2012.

The banking sector yesterday con-tributed a surprising 20.77% of the to-tal turnover at the bourse, pushing the sectorial index by 1.13%. l

India cuts spectrum fee for big telcos to spur bidsn Reuters

Telecommunication companies buy-ing airwaves in an Indian auction next month will pay 5% of their revenue as an annual fee, a ministerial panel de-cided on Monday, a move that means lower payments for bigger carriers Bharti Airtel and the Indian unit of Vodafone.

The move scraps the 3-8% fee range the country currently levies in an e� ort to coax previously reluctant operators into taking part in India’s third attempt at auctioning two frequency bands for billions of dollars.

The new rate is higher than the 3% � at rate suggested by an independent sector regulator, which had proposed abolishing the current levy of � ve dif-ferent rates depending on the quantum of spectrum held by a carrier.

The government may lose some revenue it collects as annual fees due to the new rate, Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal said after the meeting of the ministerial group, but expects it to help companies buy more spectrum in the auction starting Feb-ruary 3.

“No big losers, no big winners,” Sibal said. “A successful auction means greater investment in the sector,” he said, explaining the rationale for the new rate.

After two previous attempts to pull o� the sale were boycotted by major mobile phone operators that com-plained minimum bid prices were too high, India cut sharply the � oor bid price for the February auction, helping

it lure interest from eight carriers in-cluding the market leaders.

That still did not guarantee a suc-cessful sale as carriers including Bharti and Vodafone demanded a cut in the recurring annual fee they pay on the top of the winning bid price for using airwaves. India expects to raise at least $1.8bn this year from the spectrum auction.

“I think it’s a mixed blessing. We are pleased that it’s capped at 5%,” said Rajan Mathews, director general at the Cellular Operators’ Association of India after the ministerial panel’s deci-sion on Monday.

Bharti and Vodafone must buy spec-trum in the February auction to renew their permits in some key cities and are expected to bene� t from the 5% cap because they currently pay around 6% of their revenue in annual fees in those markets.

But smaller carriers that pay less than 5% currently, will tend to move towards the 5% rate gradually if they buy more spectrum from the auction, Mathews said.

The total spectrum fee for carriers’ existing spectrum and new spectrum from the February auction will be cal-culated based on a weighted average of the old and new fee, Sibal said.

Sibal said companies like Reli-ance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS), which bought 4G spectrum in a 2010 auction, will continue to pay 1% of their reve-nue as annual fee for that spectrum. Reliance, which is also bidding in the February auction, had opposed any change in the fee for 4G spectrum. l

Tata Motors MD left ‘suicide note’: Thai policen AFP, Bangkok

A top executive of India’s Tata Mo-tors who plunged from the 22nd � oorof an upscale Bangkok hotel left an ap-parent suicide note, Thai police said yesterday .

Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym, 51, died early Sunday at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok where he was attending a board meeting, the company has con� rmed.

“Initially, we can only assume that he committed suicide”, Police Lieu-tenant Somyot Boonnakaew told AFP.

“The window was small and he had to try hard to get through it.”

The apparent suicide letter found at the scene has been sent for analysis to con� rm it was written by Slym, he said.

Tata Motors shares fell 6.13 percent on Monday on news of Slym’s death, closing at 347.80 rupees on the Bom-bay Stock Exchange.

An analyst in Mumbai said the death of the Stanford University grad-uate could raise fears over the timeline for new projects.

“In addition, the market is down today in general,” said the analyst who did not wish to be named.

Thai police believe Slym’s wife was in the room at the time of his death but said she was too shocked to answer

questions on Monday.“She still cannot accept what has

happened,” said Somyot, adding the executive’s body was with forensic sci-entists.

Slym’s body was found by sta� on a fourth � oor balcony at the � ve-star $200-a-night hotel, which said the “circumstances of the accident are un-der review by authorities”.

On Sunday the carmaker said Slym had died in a fall, while Indian press re-ports said Slym may have lost his bal-ance and plunged to his death.

The Briton had been Tata’s manag-ing director since joining the country’s leading carmaking group in 2012.

In November Tata Motors, part of the giant steel-to-software Tata Group, said its quarterly net pro� t surged by 71% on the back of booming sales of its British luxury marque Jaguar Land Rover.

Slym had led Tata’s operations in India and international markets, ex-cluding the Jaguar and Land Rover businesses.

Slym had previously been executive vice president of SGMW Motors, Chi-na, a General Motors joint venture, and president of General Motors in India.

In a statement late Sunday Tata chairman Cyrus P Mistry paid tribute to a “valued colleague”. l

Yen rises in Asia on emerging market jittersn AFP, Tokyo

Traders � ocked to the yen in Asia yesterday on growing worries about emerging economies, as a report sug-gested Asian central banks were in-tervening in forex markets to protect their currencies.

In Tokyo trade, the dollar slipped to 101.77 yen at one point in the morning before dip-buying pushed it to 102.44 yen. That was slightly higher than 102.30 yen on Friday in New York, but well below the mid-103 yen range seen in Tokyo earlier that day. The euro rose to 140.22 yen, also rallying from its morning lows, and up from 139.92 yen in New York. The single currency inched higher to $1.3683 against $1.3678.

Fears of turmoil in emerging mar-kets were sparked last week after Ar-gentina’s peso slumped 14% in two days, exacerbated by data indicating manufacturing activity in China - a key driver of global growth - had contract-ed in January.

“There is a fear that there is going to be a contagion in emerging-market currencies,” Maybank Kim Eng head of sales trading Kevin Foy said.

The growing pessimism sent inves-tors to seek out safer, lower-return assets, particularly the Japanese yen,

which is considered a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty.

The yen’s strength Monday came despite data showing Japan’s trade de� cit hit a record $112bn last year.

“A number of issues have all come together,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief econo-mist at AMP Capital in Sydney.

Problems “have been bubbling away for a while now, but when they hit the screen at the same time, it appears like there is a problem in emerging markets”. But Credit Suisse research analyst Hiromichi Shirakawa added that markets were not in a panic like in 2008 when the collapse of Lehman Brothers set o� a global � nancial crisis.

“The euro’s (stability) is working as a bu� er and easing pressure on the yen to rise further,” Shirakawa said.

Traders will now focus on this week’s Fed meeting to see if it announces any further cuts to its stimulus programme, which could aggravate fears of a capi-tal � ight away from emerging markets as investors look for safer investments. The US central bank last month said it would reduce its bond-buying by $10bn a month from January to $75bn, citing a pick-up in the economy.

Dow Jones Newswires reported Mon-day that central banks in several Asian

nations including Indonesia and Thai-land appear to have stepped into forex markets to support their currencies, al-though none con� rmed such moves.

The dollar was slightly higher at 12,240 Indonesian rupiah from 12,180 rupiah Friday, while it also rose to 62.72 Indian rupees from 62.16 rupees, to 45.42 Philippine pesos from 45.32 pesos, and to 32.91 Thai baht from 32.86 baht.

The greenback strengthened to 1,083.70 South Korean won from 1,076.70 won and to Tw$30.33 from Tw$30.22. It edged down to Sg$1.2764 from Sg$1.2785.

The Australian dollar eased to 87.24 US cents from 87.59 cents, while the Chinese yuan weakened to 16.94 yen from 17.07 yen.

The Argentinian peso held steady at 8.00 to the dollar yesterday - com-pared with 8.01 - helped by the govern-ment’s removal of some exchange con-trols and central bank intervention.

The Turkish lira dived through the key barrier of 2.3 to the dollar on Fri-day despite massive central bank help a day earlier.

The latest sell-o� s in risky assets are an indication of declining con� dence in the global economy, dealers said, a trend made worse by dismal US jobs � gures this month and data showing a slowdown in emerging economies. l Malaysian ringgit bank notes of di� erent denominations are seen in this picture illustration taken in Kuala Lumpur REUTERS

B4 BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Stock re� nance scheme – A steroid perhapsn Tahmidur Rahman

The stock re� nancing fund of Tk9bn may not be doing much to solve the existing problems in our bourses, as it will only in� uence a higher volume of trade or push up stock prices in turn.

The fund should not change the fair value of the listed companies either. The problems in our capital market are fundamental, and we must look at the market holistically in order to under-stand why such problems arise.

What triggered the refinance scheme?The stock market crash of 2010 left investors bankrupt and unable to pay back loans they had taken from bro-kers. Following this, in May of last year, the government announceda stock re� nancing fund of Tk9bnwith the desire to help out the ruined investors.

Essentially, this is a loan given to Investment Corporation Bangladesh (ICB) at a discounted interest rate of 5% from the Bangladesh Bank’s yearly pro� ts. A portion of this fund, which has only recently been disbursed will be given to brokers at 7% rate for lend-ing it to investors at 9% interest rate, with the hope that it will allow the a� ected investors to take more loans (also known as margins) so that they can reinvest in the stock market and pay back this and the original loans.

Why is the scheme’s failure inevitable? A capital market (stock market or equi-ty market) is one that contains a group of companies that do business in order to handover a pro� t to its investors. The price of small units (stocks) of the companies’ ownership generally goes up if a company performs well, or is presumed to perform well in the fu-ture, given the stock was not already overvalued, supposedly.

Having said that, an increase in the trading of stocks in the capital market will not help the publicly listed compa-nies make more pro� ts or perform any better, especially the manufacturing ones that have almost no exposure to the capital markets. In other words, trading of stocks has nothing to do with production and performance of most companies in the real economy.

Therefore, the compensated margin loan will not help investors make mon-ey in a market that is still considered to be overvalued without creating anoth-er market bubble.

If so, why do we have suchrefinance scheme?“The fund will be disbursed to help bring stability in the stock market,” Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury told a press confer-ence on May 29, 2013.

It is assumed that the fund, bearing only half of the on-going bank lend-ing rate, will be given to market crash (2010) a� ected small-scale investors as margin loans so that they may invest in equity markets once again, and plough back enough pro� ts to pay back inter-ests of the margin along with previous-ly held margins.

Contrary to the assumption above, the scheme, however, will only be assisting the a� ected small-scale in-vestors in executing frequent trades using the margin loans, and also in turn increase the trading volume at the bourses.

So, how does higher volumehelp affected investors?According to capital market experts, high volume of trades in the capital market attracts foreign investors be-cause of the bene� t in exiting the mar-ket at ease for an investor due to higher liquidity.

In simpler words, for me to sell a particular stock, one would need to be there on the trading � oor who is will-ing to buy it from me. Higher volume of trades just makes such situation more likely.

However, this particularly does not help out the a� ected investors. Per-haps the sole purpose of the fund is to lure the a� ected investors back to the market.

Also, we currently have a veryhigh volume of trades despitethe scheme, don’t we?The graph on the right may seem like a lie, but sadly it isn’t. The after-crash market’s annual trade volume is way above what we had experienced in the years before 2008, which makes the re-

� nance scheme all the more pointless.Also, the Tk9bn fund is an insigni� -

cant amount if we compare it with the yearly trade volume.

Bottom lineThe capital market is performing quite well in recent times in terms ofvolume traded and movement of indices, which makes the scheme unnecessary. The fund of Tk9bn is public money (the fund is a portion of Bangladesh Bank’s pro� t that it pays to the government co� ers each year) that could have been put to better use. l

The writer is a trainee � n ancial journalist at Dhaka Tribune.

Emerging sell-off hits European shares, lifts yenEmerging markets led a global sell-o� in risky assets yesterday as European stocks followed sharp falls in Asia and safe-haven assets such as the yen and gold rallied. Con-cerns about China's economic slowdown and its shadow banking sector, coupled with expectations the Federal Reserve would scale back its bond buying further, are piling pressure on emerging markets dependent on external � nancing. – Reuters

Google to buy artificial intelligence company DeepMindGoogle Inc said on Sunday it had agreed to acquire privately held arti� cial intelligence company DeepMind Technologies Ltd. Technology news website Re/code, which reported news of the deal earlier, said the price was $400 million, without disclosing where it got the information. – Reuters

Europe treads softly in challenging big banks' powerEurope will consider how to challenge the dominance of its big banks this week, but

any new rules to isolate risky trading will take years to begin and there will be no attempt to split o� market betting from deposit taking. In a blueprint expected tomorrow, the European Commission will outline how trading by banks can be walled o� from customers' cash, but the debate among countries. – Reuters

Japan logs record tradedeficit in 2013 - MOFJapanese exports rose 15.3% in December but imports outpaced shipments due to a weak yen and subsequent higher fuel import costs, resulting in a record trade de� cit for 2013, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. – Reuters

Asian shares wobble, yen soars on emerging market anxietyThe yen rocketed to a seven-week high against the dollar in early Asian trading yesterday, driven by fears of a continued � ight from emerging markets as tighter credit conditions in China threatened to put the brakes on the world's second-big-gest economy. – Reuters

Emerging market rout hits Asian currenciesn Reuters

Malaysian ringgit bank notes of di� er-ent denominations are seen in this pic-ture illustration taken in Kuala Lumpur

Most emerging Asian currencies tumbled yesterday as a global sell-o� of riskier assets intensi� ed, pulling the Malaysian ringgit and the Philippine peso to their lowest levels in more than three years.

Financial turmoil in Argentina, fears of a sharper slowdown in China and ex-pectations that the US Federal Reserve will continue to trim its bond-buying programme later this week have sparked a broad bout of risk aversion and a � ight to safer assets such as the yen.

The Indonesian rupiah led slides in Asian currencies, shedding 0.4% against the dollar, as it is seen more vulnerable to the Fed tapering than other Asian currencies because of the country's current account de� cit.

The rupiah has eased 0.5% so far this year, outpacing most of its regional peers, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The ringgit fell as much as 0.4% to 3.3455 per dollar, its lowest since May 2010, pressured by selling by o� shore funds, including real money accounts, traders said.

The peso lost up to 0.3% to 45.45, its weakest since August 2010 amid market talk of selling from real money funds, traders said.

South Korea's won slid as much as 0.7% to 1,087.7, its weakest since Sep-tember 13, as o� shore funds such as model accounts unloaded the currency.

Foreign investors dumped a net 514.6bn won worth of stocks in Seoul's main exchange, the largest daily sell-ing since December 12, according to the Korea Exchange data.

The won, however, pared much of its initial losses on demand from ex-porters for settlements and as some o� shore funds covered short positions, traders said. l

India lifts ban on Airbus A380s, foreign carriers interestedn Reuters, New Delhi

India lifted a landing ban on Air-bus A380s on Monday, enabling carriers such as Singapore Airlines  and Emir-ates  to � y their superjumbos into the world’s second-most populous nation.

A380s will be allowed to land at the country’s four main airports - New Del-hi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad - which are equipped to handle the planes, a decision welcomed by for-eign carriers looking to tap India’s fast growing air travel sector.

“The operation of A380s will help airports to generate more revenue, give more comfortable and luxurious travel to passengers, (and will) liberalise the civil aviation milieu in India,” the civil aviation ministry said in a statement.

The ban on A380s was imposed due to concerns that foreign airlines could grab a high share of international traf-� c, hurting state-run Air India .

Air India could not be reached for comment.

The A380 can carry more than 800 passengers in a single-class con� gura-tion and more than 500 passengers in a

three-class set up.The aviation ministry said Singa-

pore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthan-sa  had all expressed an interest in operating A380s in India on various international routes.

“We will be reviewing our existing operations, and look forward to serv-ing Indian travellers with our � agship aircraft in the near future,” an Emir-ates spokesman said, adding a decision would depend on passenger demand.

A Lufthansa spokesman said the carrier would look at the possibility using A380s on � ights to India, but had no plan at the moment. Germany’s largest airline has 10 A380s.

Singapore Airlines, which is setting up a full-service carrier in India in a joint venture with Tata Group, said it would consider � ying A380s into India.

The rule change will also bene� t British Airways  that operates the su-perjumbo and � ies to India, as well as A380 customers like Etihad and Qatar Airways who have yet to take delivery of the aircraft.

Etihad last year bought a 24% stake in India’s Jet Airways and the two car-

riers are expanding � ights.Rising income levels are seeing more

Indians � y in the country of 1.25 billion. India’s overall passenger tra� c is ex-pected to triple to 452 million by 2020.

India has consulted ground han-dling and immigration o� cials be-fore changing the laws on the A380, Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said this month. His ministry said Monday’s de-cision was taken after consulting the aviation regulator, Air India and the state-run airport operator Airports Au-thority of India.

The state-run airport operator man-ages 125 airports in the country. The four airports equipped to handle A380s are managed by private sector companies.

Amber Dubey, head of aerospace and defence at KPMG’s Indian unit, said the A380s would help bring down fares and improve the competitive-ness of Indian tourism sector, adding it would also boost the e� ciency of airports.

None of the Indian carriers have A380s on order. Airbus recently said it cancelled A380s ordered by grounded King� sher Airlines. l

Oil prices mixed ahead of Fed policy meetingn AFP, Singapore

Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade yesterday as dealers focused on the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week in anticipation of further stimu-lus pullback.

New York's main contract, West Tex-as Intermediate (WTI) for March deliv-ery, was up nine cents at $96.73 in after-noon trade while Brent North Sea crude for March eased 32 cents at $107.56.

Tan Chee Tat, investment analyst at Singapore-based Phillip Futures, said investors were sitting on the sidelines amid "heightened anticipation that they (the Fed) will further engage in tapering".

Markets are waiting to see if the US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will cut another $10bn from monthly asset purchas-es when it meets on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In December, the FOMC said it would begin tapering the stimulus by $10bn to $75bn a month in January.

"If they were to taper, in the short term, it is likely to hurt demand for

crude oil," Tan told AFP.The so-called tapering of the Fed's

asset purchases would likely boost the greenback, making dollar-priced oil more expensive for countries using other currencies, dampening demand.

But Tan said in the long-term, the move would signal "better prospects for crude oil" as it indicated the Fed's con� dence in the US economy, which would translate into stronger demand.

He added that investors were also closely monitoring developments following the recent opening of the Southern leg of the controversial Key-stone XL pipeline in the United States.

The $2.3bn pipeline last week start-ed carrying crude 487 miles (785 kilo-metres) from Cushing in Oklahoma to Gulf Coast re� neries in the southern state of Texas.

The pipeline's initial transportation rate of 300,000 barrels per day, about half of its maximum capacity, has so far disappointed investors.

"It is possible that they are transport-ing at lower capacity now due to the pressure exerted by environmental ac-tivists to prevent oil spills," Tan said. l

NEWS IN BRIEF

The peso lost up to 0.3% to 45.45, its weakest since August 2010 amid market talk of selling from real money funds

An A380 Airbus arrives on the tarmac during the Airbus annual press conference in Colomiers, near Toulouse REUTERS

RAJIB DHAR