CEC: Municipal pollslargely peacefuln Tribune Report

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibud-din Ahmad yesterday said the elections in 234 municipalities had largely been peaceful, except in Madhabdi where voting was sus-pended.

He said the total number of polling sta-tions across the country was 3,554, and vot-ing was postponed at 50.

The CEC was addressing a press brie� ngto present the overall picture of thepolls at the Election Commission in the after-noon.

Thanking reporters, Rakibuddin said ac-tions were taken immediately wherever ir-regularities were reported.

He said the commission would take action after scrutinising all the complaints lodged so far.

Refuting BNP’s claim that the polls had been rigged, the CEC said the commission’s

overall management of the polls across the country was proper.

“But violence has become a culture in our political arena and it will take time to get out of the trend,” he added. l

Awami League sweep electionsn Tribune Report

The ruling Awami League came out on top in the � rst ever partisan municipality polls held yesterday in 234 areas of the country with a sweeping victory over arch rival BNP.

According to uno� cial results, mayoral candidates running with the Awami League’s “country boat” symbol won in 178 municipal-ities, seven of them elected uncontested. On the other hand, those contesting with BNP’s “sheaf of paddy” won in just 23. Main opposi-tion parliament Jatiya Party bagged just one.

Independent candidates, most of whom are renegades from the Awami League and the BNP, have bagged 25 seats.

Results of polls in Barguna and Betagi mu-nicipalities – both in the southern district of Barguna – were hanging as the Election Com-mission (EC) did not make any decisions on the fate of the two polling centres in these areas where voting had been suspended due to violence.

Outcomes of polling in Thakurgaon, Noakhali’s Choumuhani, Kurigram’s Ulipur and Nilphamari’s Syedpur were held back until last night.

The EC yesterday cancelled voting in entirety in the Madhabdi municipality of Narshingdi district as all the 12 polling cen-tres in this area were besieged by violence.

People from 233 municipalities yesterday

also voted to elect general ward councillors and female councillors in reserved seats. But these polls were being held in non-partisan lines as usual.

Just like the two recent local government elections – the upazila elections in 2014 and

the city corporation elections in Dhaka and Chittagong in April this year – reports of vi-olence came in from at least one-� fth of the voting areas.

In one such violence in Satkania of PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

SECOND EDITION

40 MAYOR ASPIRANTS PULL OUT OF RACE PAGE 4

ENVOY TO PAKISTAN RECALLED PAGE 32

POLLS VIOLENCE KILLS 1, INJURES MANY PAGE 3

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015 | Poush 17, 1422, Rabiul Awal 18, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 254 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

AL: Electionsfree and fairn Tribune Report

The Awami League has thanked the BNP for staying in the race until the end of the mu-nicipal polls, which the ruling party said has been peaceful, free, fair and neutral.

“This election was peaceful unlike many past local elections where there were inci-dents of violence. People were doubtful about whether the BNP would stay in the election until the end. I thank the BNP for participating in the polls and staying until the end,” Mah-bub-ul-Alam Hanif, joint secretary general of the party, told journalists yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference in the par-ty chief’s Dhanmondi o� ce, he also thanked other political parties and the Election Com-mission for a free and fair election.

Regarding the BNP’s allegations that vote rigging took place in 157 polling centres, Hanif said they raised such claims as they did not have any chance of winning in those mu-nicipalities.

“As far as I know, the BNP raised questions PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

BNP alleges fraud, demands re-pollingn Tribune Report

The BNP yesterday accused the government of rigging votes and demanded re-elections in municipalities where polling centres had been occupied by ruling party men.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting sec-retary general of the party, said in a press brie� ng after voting ended in the afternoon: “Our apprehension about a farcical election just came true.”

Fakhrul said fair elections were not possi-ble as long as this government is in o� ce.

“Since morning, there has been no spon-taneity among voters. Rather, violence and occupation of polling centres turned the polls into a tragedy ... BNP agents were eject-ed from 157 polling stations. In many places, voters were also thrown out and most cen-tres were occupied,” he alleged.

Demanding re-polling in places besieged with violence, he said: “This municipal elections have once again proved that the Election Commission is unable to hold a fair election.”

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Mixed reviews from monitorsn Tribune Report

Election observers said on Wednesday that municipal elections appeared to be free de-spite some irregularities at polling centres, but added that they had not yet received re-ports from all 234 municipalities where elec-tions are being held.

“ So far so good,” said Najmul Ahsan Kalimullah, chairman of Janipop. He said some election violence is not uncommon around the world and Bangladesh is no ex-ception.

Kalimullah said a new dimension to elec-tions was apparent this time around.

“We saw Awami League men complain-ing about presiding o� cers and law enforc-ers in some places. They even said the Elec-tion Commission behaved with them like a step-mother. This is a good sign because it has increased the credibility of the EC.

“The BNP, which boycotted the parlia-mentary elections and has long resisted elec-tions held under the current government, participated in the polls, turning a 180 degree somersault. This is also a good sign.”

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Police charge truncheons to disperse the supporters of rival candidates who try to take control of a polling centre in Mirkadim municipality of Munshiganj yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

News2DTTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

Mixed reviews from monitorsSharmeen Murshid, chief executive of Brotee, said voters had mixed feelings about the polls.

“We saw that the atmosphere changed after 11am. In some places voter turnout de-creased drastically. In many places BNP poll-ing agents were absent. In some places ruling party supporters roamed inside the polling stations with their symbols hung around their necks – a serious irregularity.

“On the other hand, we also saw that in some places law enforcers and presiding of-

� cers take prompt action against o� enders.”Sharmeen said: “It is too early to make any

concrete comment on the polls. By noon we found 40% of the votes cast in some places, in others we found 75% of votes had been cast.”

During a visit to Savar and Dhamrai mu-nicipalities on Wednesday, polls observer Ta-leya Rahman found that a festive mood was absent at polling stations.

“I cannot say if it was a fair election but in some places it was free,” she said.

But the executive director of Democracy Watch found irregularities carried out by a ruling party at at least one polling centre.

“In Dhamrai, I saw the Awami League can-didate enter the polling centre with a large number of followers which is a severe viola-tion of the electoral code of conduct. Police tried to bar the followers but could not. Near-by BGB personnel sat idle,” she said.

“But in Savar, the situation was quiet but there was a slow voter turnout.” l

Awami League sweep electionsChittagong between the supporters of two ward councillor candidates, a man named Nurul Islam, 40, got killed. Until last updates, this is the only place where political workers made use of � rearms.

Supporters of rival candidates blasted crude bombs near at least seven polling cen-tres in Jessore district in which at least � ve people got injured including children.

At least 40 mayoral candidates yesterday withdrew from the election race bringing al-legations of rigging in their constituencies.

Interestingly, alongside BNP candidates, rebel Awami League candidates, rebel BNP candidates from across the country, an Awa-mi League nominated candidate also pulled out of the race in a municipality in the south-ern Borguna district.

The EC suspended voting in 50 polling cen-tres in total due to allegations of rigging and vi-olence. Of these, the highest 10 were in Chou-muhoni. Second highest � ve came in Syedpur.

In Puthia of Rajshahi, BGB members held three journalists of private satellite broad-

caster ATN News for breaking polls code as they entered a polling centre without per-mission. Later they were released upon pay-ment of Tk5,000 � ne each.

In Rangunia of Chittagong, a mobile court jailed a councillor candidate for two years for trying to snatch ballot boxes from a polling centre minutes before the end of voting.

The EC sent � ve policemen on suspension for being negligent while on duty in two poll-ing centres in Kalkini of Madaripur and three polling centres in Chandnaish of Chittagong. An EC o� cial said the commission had with-drawn all law enforcers from those centres.

In Jessore, several election o� cials were suspended for starting vote count before time.

Ulipur results held back Although vote counting of all the available polling centres was � nished by yesterday evening, the local returning o� cer could not announce the results in Ulipur municipality in Kurigram district because the commission had earlier suspended voting in two centres

due to violence.In this municipality, BNP candidate Tariq

Abul Ala, with 7,767 votes, was ahead of his nearest contestant Sajjadur Rahman Saju, an in-dependent candidate who secured 5,588 votes.

Since the di� erence between their votes was 2,179 and the number of voters in those two polling centres was 3,898, the local elec-tion o� ce could not announce the results.

Complaining spree Yesterday, for the � rst time in history, Awami League, BNP and the Jatiya Party went to the EC on a day of an election to o� cially com-plain against each other.

Soon after voting began yesterday, the three parties sent their own delegations to the commission.

The Awami League told the commission that the BNP-Jamaat clan had been trying to in� uence voting in many areas, particularly in their strongholds.

The BNP on the other hand alleged that ruling party men had occupied more than

50% of the polling centres across the country.Main opposition in parliament Jatiya Par-

ty said they had noticed irregularities in at least 176 polling centres and said “this was not a fair election.”

However, none of the delegations got to meet the chief election commissioner. They held meetings with the other commissioners.

EC nonchalant In the o� cial press brie� ng in the evening, when asked whether they were satis� ed, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibud-din Ahmad said: “We did everything we could. There is nothing to be satis� ed or dis-satis� ed about. We will keep on doing our work. People will evaluate us. Examinees cannot give marks to their own scripts; the others do it.”

However, referring to the sporadic inci-dents of violence in some places, the CEC said violence had become a culture in the country’s politics and recovering from that will take time. l

BNP alleges fraud, demands re-pollingLate last night, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia held a meeting with her senior party col-leagues at her Gulshan o� ce.

The meeting adopted a resolution for rejecting yesterday’s polls, demanding the Election Commission’s resignation for failing to carry out constitutional duty and broad-casting that no elections can be fair under this government, sources said.

The meeting also discussed holding a rally at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan on Janu-ary 5 to mark the second anniversary of the 2014 elections, which the party dubs as the “Democracy Killing Day.”

The party would hold a press conference at 11am today at the Gulshan o� ce to make the these resolutions public. Earlier in the day, Osman Farruk, adviser to the BNP chairper-son, claimed that municipal elections across the country had been massively rigged.

He told reporters at the Election Commis-sion that voting in the municipal polls resem-bled that in the 10th parliamentary elections held in 2014.

“The ruling party used a set of techniques to manipulate the elections. We did not ex-pect this type of election.

“The government is claiming that the

election is being held in a peaceful manner but we see no peace,” Farruk said.

He said the people were aware of what was going on during the polls and they would judge whether or not it was a fair election.

Meanwhile, addressing another press brie� ng, BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that ruling party men had taken control of 157 polling stations in di� er-ent parts of the country.

“In some municipalities, all the polling stations were occupied. The nation will re-member the bloodshed and violence during the polls.” l

AL: Electionsabout 60 out of 3,500 centres. If these allega-tions are true, it is very small – less than 3%. If we exclude some stray incidents, then the election was free and fair.”

Hanif also said BNP’s allegations were “im-aginary” and were meant to make the election “questionable and controversial.”

“There has been a blueprint to make the polls and the Election Commission contro-versial... Foiling all conspiracies, the people of Bangladesh, voters and candidates togeth-er tried to make the polls peaceful, and it has been peaceful,” the Awami League leader said.

Commenting on the death of a person in Chit-tagong’s Satkania, Hanif said the incident was not election-related as it had happened far from the polling centres following a social con� ict.

Meanwhile, in the afternoon, Awami League’s election conducting committee Chairman HT Imam said BNP-Jamaat had been trying to estab-lish its domination over a festive election.

“The government has adopted the policy of zero-tolerance against any foul practice in the peaceful election. Disorders have taken place in a few areas because of some mem-bers of the law enforcement agencies and administration. We came here to inform the Election Commission about this matter so that the commission can take urgent meas-ures,” he told reporters at the EC. l

Polling day attacks on median Tribune Report

In separate incidents, at least six journalists were attacked yesterday while covering news during the municipal elections.

Four journalists from di� erent media houses were beaten up in Moulvibazar by local thugs. The attack happened as the jour-nalists were covering news at Mazar Govern-ment Primary School centre in Moulvibazar Sadar municipality.

The injured are: SA TV journalist Panna Datta, Somoy TV’s Oliur Rahman, daily Kaler Kantha Moulvibazar correspondent Abdul Hamid Mahbub, and banglanews24.com dis-trict correspondent Mahbubur Rahman Sohel.

Meanwhile in Sunamganj, two journalists – Channel 24’s local correspondent Mayeedul Rasel and Doinik Sangbad correspondent Latifur Rahman Raju – were assaulted alleg-edly by supporters of the ruling party.

Rasel said supporters of Awami League candidate Ayub Bakht Jaglul attacked him and broke his camera as he was covering news at the Sunamganj Government Wom-en’s College centre.

Meanwhile, BGB detained three journalists of private TV channel ATN News, including its Rajshahi bureau Chief Sourab Habib, because they allegedly entered the BGB’s election mon-itoring camp at PN School centre in Rajshahi’s Puthia municipality without permission. l

Voting suspended at 50 centresn Tribune Report

Yesterday’s maiden partisan municipal polls saw voting suspended in 50 polling centres across the country, Chief Election Commis-sioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed told journal-ists at a press conference last night.

In Narshingdi’s Madhabdi municipality, the election was cancelled entirely after all twelve of the area’s polling centres were be-sieged by violent clashes.

The Election Commission has not yet an-nounced when the Madhabdi election will be held.

Where balloting was postponed, the main cause was the eruption of violence between

political rivals, returning o� cers con� rmed to the Dhaka Tribune.

Severe clashes between ruling party candi-dates, renegades and opposition contenders left one man dead and around 120 injured. Several polling centres were rocked by bomb blasts.

Voting was suspended at 10 polling cen-tres in Noakhali’s Choumuhani; four in Nilphamari’s Syedpur, three in Thakurgaon, three in Jamalpur, three in Chittagong’s Chandanaish, two in Madaripur’s Kalkini, two in Kurigram’s Ulipur and two in Barguna among other places.

Polling centres opened their doors to vot-ers at 8am and closed at 4pm yesterday in 234 municipalities across the country. l

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Election violence claims one life, leaves scores injuredn Tribune Report

Bangladesh’s � rst partisan municipal elec-tions ended yesterday amid reports of violent clashes that left one dead and scores injured.

In Chittagong’s Satkania upazila, Nurul Alam, 48, was killed during an exchange of gun� re between the supporters of rival Awa-mi League council candidates.

The slain blanket shop owner based in Ma-heshkhali upazila in Cox’s Bazar district had returned home to Satkania to vote.

“Nurul was killed when supporters of council candidates Monirul Islam and Moz-zamel Hoque traded � re in front of Satka-nia Government College polling centre on Wednesday morning,” Chittagong police Su-perintendent Ha� z Akhter con� rmed to the Dhaka Tribune.

Most incidents of violence were report-ed to take place after ruling party activists attempted to take over polling centres and drive away opposition supporters, the Dhaka Tribune’s correspondents report.

Polling centres in some areas were rocked by bomb blasts.

Allegations of vote rigging were reported in many municipalities. A number of polling centres cancelled the vote while others tem-porarily suspended voting because of clashes and allegations of ballot rigging.

Violent clashes left more than a hundred people – 120 in the most recent tally – injured in at least 16 districts, correspondents report-ed.

Chittagong candidate attackedBNP-nominated mayoral candidate in Si-takunda municipality Syed Abul Mansur yesterday alleged that ruling party men launched an assault on him in Panthichhila.

His supporters took him to Sitakunda upazila Health Complex where he received treatment.

“A group of youths armed with sharp

weapons swooped on me at around 8:20 am when I went to see observe the polls in the Panthichhila area under Sitakunda munic-ipality in Chittagong. The miscreants also vandalised my vehicle. On-duty law enforc-ers came to my rescue when I was attacked,” Abul Mansur said.

Returning O� cer and Sitakunda Upazi-la Nirbahi O� cer Nazmul Islam Bhuiyan con� rmed that the candidate had lodged a complaint of assault. “We are looking into the complaint. The law enforcers were dis-patched to the spot to bring the situation un-der control.”

Awami League-backed mayoral candidate in Sitakunda municipality Badiul Alam said: “The allegation levelled by my rival candi-date is totally baseless. Voters are casting their votes in a festive atmosphere.”

Attacks on mayoral candidates also took place elsewhere during the municipal elec-tions yesterday.

In Tangail, Bhuapur rebel candidate Tari-qul Islam Chanchal and his agent Aminul Islam Babul sustained injuries when Awami League-backed Masudul Haq Masud’s sup-porters attacked them at Ghatandi polling centre around 9:30am.

After being assaulted allegedly by ruling party activists in Feni yesterday, BNP may-oral candidate Kazi Saifur Rahman of Da-ganbhuiyan municipality later boycotted the election.

Countrywide confrontationsIn Dhamrai municipality, a clash between Awami League and BNP-backed council can-didates at the Islampur Government Primary School polling centre left four people injured. Four others, including BNP-backed council candidate Shishir Ferdous, were detained.

The Awami League mayoral candidate Golam Kabir Molla’s son, Mohsin Hasan, was arrested around noon by a mobile court as he attempted to cast fake votes at the Dhamrai

Government University College polling cen-tre.

At least 15 people sustained injuries when miscreants vandalised Gagan Memorial High School polling centre in Barguna district around 9:15 am yesterday. Fifteen bystanders were injured during an altercation between activists and law enforcers.

Clashes took place between the support-ers of Awami League and BNP candidates at six polling centres in Jamalpur municipality, leaving at least 25 people injured.

In Panjupara polling centre in Kuakata, clash-es left seven people injured when ruling par-ty activists voting for their mayoral candi-date got into a scu� e with BNP supporters.

In Moulvibaar Sadar municipality, at least 15 people sustained injuries during a clash between Awami League and BNP supporters.

Tangail district’s Bhuapur upazila parish-ad Vice Chairman Shahinul Islam was injured during a clash between rival groups of Awami League supporters at Bhuapur Model School polling centre. Later, the supporters of Awa-mi League-backed Masudul Haq Masud swooped down on supporters of BNP candi-date Abdul Khalek Mondol, injuring seven.

At least seven people were injured in two separate clashes between AL and BNP men at two polling centres in Matlab municipality, Chandpur district.

In Manikganj, � ve people were injured in tripartite clashes among the supporters of Awami League-backed mayoral candidate Ramjan Ali, AL rebel mayoral candidate Gazi

Kamrul Huda Selim and BNP-backed aspirant Jadu Mia at Shaheed Titumir Academy poll-ing centre around 8:30am.

In Gaibandha’s Gobindaganj municipality, at least � ve people were injured in clashes between supporters of rival council candi-dates.

Three BNP poll agents were beaten up by supporters of the ruling Awami League in Swarupkathi municipality in Pirojpur, when several non-residents reportedly forced their ways into the centre to forcibly cast votes.

In Pabna, at least � ve people sustained injuries in separate clashes between AL can-didates and rebel candidates at three polling centres in Sujapur municipality.

Meanwhile, at least � ve people were in-jured during a chase between supporters of the BNP and the Awami League in Phulbaria municipality, Mymensingh.

Seven BNP supporters sustained injuries after reportedly being beaten up by Awami League supporters at three separate polling centres in Natore.

At least 10 people were injured in a clash between two council candidates outside the Baragaon Government Primary School polling centre in Daudkandi municipality in Comilla.

Incidents of hand-made bomb blast took place at least eight polling centres in Bogra. Taposhi Rabeya High School presiding of-� cer Azahar Ali said at least 40 to 50 cock-tails blasted in his centre and miscreants put stamps at least 300 ballot papers.

Bomb went o� in at least seven polling centres, including two in Chougacha munic-ipality and � ve in Jessore Sadar municipality in Jessore district.

At least twelve people received minor in-jures when several hand-made bombs were allegedly exploded by ruling party support-ers near seven polling centres when agents of opposition and rebel candidates tried to enter the centres. l

Attacks on mayoral candidates took place during the municipal elections yesterday

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M U N I C I P A L I T Y P O L L S 2 0 1 5 40 mayor aspirants pull out of race n Tribune Report

At least 40 mayoral aspirants in 22 districts have boycotted the elections raising allega-tion of massive vote rigging.

One of them is from Awami League, eight are its rebels, 22 from BNP, one is its rebel, three are from Jatiya Party, three independ-ent candidates, and one each from Islami An-dolan Bangladesh and Islami Shahontontro Andolon.

Awami League candidate is Kamrul Ahsan Maharaj from Barguna Sadar Municipality.

Kamrul made the announcement of his withdrawal around 11:30am saying that the local administrations was bias.

In Narsingdi Sadar Municipality, Awami League rebel candidate SM Kaiyum boycott-ed election on vote rigging allegation.

In a press conference around 3pm yester-day, he said: “Election was going on peace-fully till 10am. But the supporters of Awami League-backed candidate stamped ballots and drove out my agents forcefully.”

He also demanded cancellation of the votes and holding fresh polling.

BNP-backed candidate in the same mu-nicipality Saiful Islam Sohel also boycotted the polls on the same ground.

Later, BNP-supported candidates Mahmudul Haque in Monohordi Municipali-ty and Hajji Md Ilyas in Madhabdi municipali-ty in the same district also boycotted the poll.

In Raipur Municipality of Luxmipur BNP-backed mayor candidate ABM Jilani boy-cotted the polls and he alleged that Awami League leaders and activists took control over the polling centres and forced out his polling agents.

BNP candidates Shahed Ali Potu in Ramgo-ti Municipality and Roman Hossain Patwary in Ramganj Municipality pulled themselves out of the race.

In Narail, within an hour of the voting, BNP-blessed mayor candidate Wahiduzzman Milu of Kaliakoir Municipality announced the withdrawal of his candidature raising the allegation of vote rigging.

“Widespread rigging is taking place. BNP agents are being barred from entering polling centres. As the administration did not pay any heed to our complaints a fair election is not possible and I am boycotting the polls,” Milu announced.

Awami League rebel candidate Sohrab Hossain Biswash also boycotted the poll in Narail Sadar Municipality alleging massive ballot stu� ng.

In Rangunia, Swandip, and Rauzan Mu-nicipalities of Chittagong BNP candidates Helaluddin Khan, Ajmatullah Bahadur, and Kazi Abdullah Al Hasan also pulled them-selves out of the race on the same ground.

They alleged that BNP agents were not al-lowed to enter the polling centres while the ruling party candidates had already stu� ed the ballot boxes.

They demanded re-election in those mu-nicipalities.

In Patuakhali, Jatiya Party candidate An-war Hossain Hawlader in Kuakata Municipal-ity and Apart from them BNP candidate Kazi Humayun Shikder in Kolapara Municipality boycotted the polls citing the same allegation.

In Madhupur municipality of Tangail, BNP mayor candidate Sahidul Islam Shahid an-nounced the polls boycott as well.

In Gopalpur Municipality of Tangail, Awa-mi League rebel candidate Belayet Hossain boycotted the polls alleging that his agents were thrown out the polling centres and the ruling party candidate threatened the voters.

In Jamalpur Sadar Municipality, Jatiya Party-backed candidate Khandakar Ha� zur Rahman Badshah boycotted the polls around 9:30am alleging massive vote rigging. Bad-shah said: “Even I cannot cast my vote.”

Nurunnobi Apu, AL rebel candidate from Dewanganj Municipality of the same district also boycotted the election.

In Akhaura Municipality of Brahmanbaria

district, BNP-backed mayor candidate and three independent candidates boycotted the polls. BNP candidate Mantaj Mia and inde-pendent candidates Mashiur Rahman Babul, Sohel Bhuiyan and Salauddin Al Hossain Chowdhury boycotted the polls alleging that they were compelled to boycott the polls as the ruling party leaders grabbed almost all the polling stations. They also demanded re-election.

In Pangsha Municipality of Rajbari, BNP candidate Chand Ali Khan boycotted the polls alleging his agents were ousted from inside the polling stations.

In Muladi Municipality of Barisal, Islami Andolon candidate Monjur Hossain boycott-ed the polls alleging vote robbery.

In Kalai of Joypurhat, BNP-backed and BNP rebel candidates Sajjadur Rahman Ta-lukdar and Anisur Rahman Talukdar pulled them out of the race alleging vote rigging by the Awami League candidate.

JaPa candidate from the same municipali-ty Aminul Islam also boycotted the poll.

In Bhola Sadar Municipality, Islami Sha-hontontro Andolon candidate Ataur Rahman Mamtaji quit the polls around 1:30pm com-plaining that his agents were ousted from the polling centres and illegal stu� ng of ballot papers.

In Bhairab Municipality of Kishorganj, BNP mayoral candidate Mohammad Sahin boycotted the polls about 1.30pm alleging various irregularities and illegal stu� ng. AL rebel candidate Shawkat Akbar from Bazit-pur Municipality also boycotted election.

In Shahjadpur municipality of Sirajganj, Awami League rebel candidate Abdur Ra-him declared the election boycott at about 10:30am. Rahim alleged AL-backed candi-date Halimul Huq Miru’s supporters have al-ready occupied almost all polling centres and stu� ng the ballot boxes. l

Law enforcers arrest � ve men accused of rigging votes at Shaheed Sikandar Memorial Adarsha High School polling centre under Rajshahi’s Bhabaniganj municipality yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

Massive vote rigging in Jessore n Mohammad Jamil Khan and Tauhid

Zaman from Jessore

Vote rigging was rampant in Jessore Sadar municipality yesterday, with ruling party supporters found to be occupying the major-ity of polling centres since the early hours of the day.

The Dhaka Tribune also found that law enforcers played a silent role when agents of opposition and rebel candidates were forced out of the centres in front of them.

Although there was no violence in the morning, several hand bombs were explod-ed, allegedly by ruling party supporters, near

seven polling centres in the afternoon when agents of opposition and rebel candidates tried to enter the centres. At least twelve peo-ple received minor injures in the explosions.

The staging of the election was also plagued by indiscriminate stamping of bal-lot by unidenti� ed people, with many voters claiming that they found the ballot boxes full when they arrived during the � rst hour of voting.

“I was the third voter at the [Sheba Shang-ha] centre, but when I entered I saw that the ballot boxes were � lled,” said a voter named Abdur Rouf, who went to cast his ballot just 30 minutes after voting began at 8am.

The centre’s presiding of-� cer, Kamaruzzaman Jahang-ir, could not be seen until 10:15am. When the Dhaka Tribune � nally found him arriving, he claimed that the boxes were full because the people had cast their ballots.

The mysterious � lling up of ballot boxes at the Sheba Shangha centre, however, was not a solitary incident.

Talking to local voters, the Dhaka Tribune learnt that boxes were also found � lled

in the � rst hour of voting at di� erent centres including Government MM College, Seba Shangha Girls High School, Alia Madrasa and Barandipara Madrasa.

Voters also alleged that they were being barred from entering the polling centres by ruling party cadres.

Shabaz Ahmed, a local voter, said ruling party men did not allow him to enter the cen-tre even after he told them that it was the AL candidate he would be voting for.

Mokammel Hoque Shubho, the Jessore cor-respondent for an English-language national daily, also told the Dhaka Tribune that he was barred from entering the Sheba Shangha centre around 8:30am.

The polling centres found to be under the control of ruling party men included Jessore Zilla School, Government MM College, Raipa-ra Government Primary School, Rail Station Government Primary School, Barandipara Government Primary School, Institute Gov-ernment Primary School, Abdus Samad Me-morial School, Seba Shangha High School, Police Lines High School and Khayertola High School.

Another discrepancy was found at the MM College centre, where counting of votes be-gan at 2:30pm, an hour and a half before the 4pm scheduled time.

When asked, the centre’s Presiding O� cer Mosta� zur Rahman said they started count-ing as 100% votes have been cast before time.

Opposition and rebel candidates also blamed the police for allowing the gross vote rigging.

BNP-backed mayoral candidate Maruf Is-lam said: “Police were taken out from most polling centres last night. Later, the [Awami League] agents and supporters entered the centres and stamped ballot papers.

“Out of 2,700 votes, Awami League men put seals on 2,000 ballot papers at the Sheba Shongho centre,” Maruf said, adding that his own agents were evicted from polling centres in Wards 2, 6, and 4.

Awami League’s rebel candidate Kamru-zzaman Chunno said almost all the polling centre had been occupied by ruling party men in the early hours of yesterday, especial-ly all polling centres in Ward 4 and 5.

Awami League’s mayoral candidate Rentu Chakladar, however, dismissed all the alle-gations. The rival candidates were trying to spread false information as the result was not in their favour, he claimed.

Jessore Kotwali police station OC Sarker Akkas Ali said they had not received valid claims of irregularities, with the exception of some hand bomb explosions. l

PRAYERTIMES

Cox’s Bazar 25 17Dhaka 27 16 Chittagong 25 15 Rajshahi 26 15 Rangpur 26 14 Khulna 26 12 Barisal 26 14 Sylhet 27 12T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:21PM SUN RISES 6:41AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW27ºC 8.5ºC

Khepupara RajarhatTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 5:18am | Zohr: 12:01am Asr: 3:45pm | Magrib: 5:21pmEsha: 6:51pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015Spotlight 5

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1. Police detain four individuals suspected of having connections to a clash between rival electoral camps at Islampur Government Primary School polling centre in Dhamrai municipality yesterday, which resulted in polling booths getting vandalised and ballot papers getting destroyed

2. Despite ill health, two elderly voters arrive at Sonargaon Central School in Narayanganj with the help of family members to cast their votes

3. Voters tend to a fellow voter who fell ill while waiting in queue outside a polling booth at Hardinge High School polling centre in Dhamrai

4. Torn ballot papers lie scattered on the � oor of a polling booth in Dhamrai’s Islampur Government Primary School, the result of a violent clash between the followers of two opposing candidates that left four injured

5. Police o� cials patrol the compound of Islampur Government Primary School after the clash

6. Polling agents prepare to start counting the votes at Kisholoy Kindergarten polling centre in Munshiganj PHOTOS: DHAKA TRIBUNE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015Advertisement6DT

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015News 7

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Festive polls atmosphere in Badarganjn Nure Alam Durjoy from Badarganj,

Rangpur

Putting aside fear of violence in the election day, voters in Badarganj municipality, Rangpur yesterday cast their votes amid festivity as no toward incident took place in the municipality area.

AL candidate wins in mayoral race Awami League’s mayoral candidate Uttam Kumar Saha won the election in the municipality defeating his nearest rival independent candidate Ajijul Haque.

Uttam’s ‘boat’ symbol bagged 6,992 votes, while Ajijul ‘coconut’ got 5,995 votes.

Returning O� cer GM Sahadat Uddin declared Uttam Kumar Saha elected uno� cially in the evening. BNP candidate Paritosh Chandra Chakrawarty got only 554 votes.

The enthusiastic voters of the municipality began going to polling centres before 8am and they cast their votes till 4pm. There are nine polling centres in Badarganj municipality with 17,481 voters.

During visit to di� erent polling centres, this correspondent found that voters were waiting in the long queue at the beginning of the day. The number of voters started decreasing with the progress of the day as most of voters cast their votes at the begging of the day.

“Everything was quite � ne here. I did not

face any kind of di� culty while casting my vote,” said Shyamoly, a voter.

Sabiha Begum who went to cast her vote at Bodarganj Mohila Degree Collage polling centre said election was peaceful there. She also expressed hope that mayoral aspirant for whom she cast vote would win in the race. Mayoral aspirants from di� erent parties said voting was peaceful in the municipality. Six candidates fought for mayoral post. Mayoral aspirants were also seen at di� erent polling stations throughout the day.

“The whole scenario of the election is peaceful here. With this election, I have been running for the mayoral post three times, but this is the best and remarkable

election I observed today [yesterday],” said Awami League candidate Uttam Kumar Saha. Independent candidate Ajijul Haque said: “Environment of the election is good.”

Acknowledging the better environment of voting yesterday, BNP candidate Paritosh Chandra Chakrawarty said there was a festival of distributing money among voters in the last three nights. But he did not mention who or which party was distributing the money. Jatiyo Party candidate Latiful Khabir mentioned the peaceful election too.

O� cer-in-Charge of Badarganj police station Jinnah told the Dhaka Tribune that voters had applied their voting rights in festive mood. l

Voters brave dense fog to cast votes n Kamrul Hasan from Rajshahi

It was 7:30am, although a polling centre in Keshorhat municipal-ity was wrapped with dense fog, then about 30 people came to the centre to exercise their right of casting vote.

Amena Khatun, 45, came with her daughter to Keshorhat High School to cast her vote.

She said: “After many days, I get chance to cast my vote, I am not sure whether I would get chance in future to cast my vote or not, because we cannot predict our political situation. I came here in the early morning because I wanted to cast my vote of my own.”

A new voter, who came to Hazi Ektar Ali Primary School at Mundomala municipality to cast his vote around 10am, uttered the same words.

Tahur Khan, a student of Barendra University, said he did not want to miss the opportunity to cast his � rst vote.

Sharmin Akhter, a resident of Machhkata Dighi, came with her grandmother Momena Begum to cast their votes at Katakhali polling centre.

Sharmin Akhter said: “Beginning of one generation is the end of their previous generation. It seems that one is replacing an-other with the system.”

Executive Magistrate of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Jahidul Islam who was assigned in four centres said no illegal activities were found throughout the entire day.

Masud Rana, a mayoral aspirant, told the Dhaka Tribune that no untoward incident took till 4m.

Asaduzzaman Asad, an Awami League councilor aspirant, who was standing outside a polling centre around 2pm told the Dhaka Tribune that over 100 activists of him would cast their votes.

In Charghat municipality, Polling o� cer of Mokterpur High School Centre told the Dhaka Tribune that the situation of cast-ing vote was very good. He said about 55% voters cast their vote till then. l

Good turnout in Rajshahi municipalitiesn Kamrul Hasan from Rajshahi

The turnout of voters was around 60% in Naogaon, 65% in Rajshahi, 80% in Chapainawabganj, 65% in Sirajganj, 70% in Pabna, 65% in Bogra and 60% in Joypurhat.

However, there were also a few incidents of violence, and six BNP members were reportedly beaten by Awami League men during yesterday’s polls in Rajshahi division.

Of them, � ve were assaulted in Natore and the other in Bogra.

Sirajganj and Pabna also saw polls-time violence. An inter-party clash between members of the Awami League and the BNP in Pabna left two injured.

Five people, who were said to be Awami League supporters, were

arrested for forcibly entering the polling station at Shahi Sekandar Memorial Ideal High School in Bhaniganj municipality area in the afternoon.

They were arrested when Returning O� cer Tariqul Islam arrived at the polling station.

A Sramik League leader in Bijoynagar of Gopalpur municipality area ejected BNP supporters from a centre. Returning O� cer Nazrul Islam called in police and voting was suspended for an hour.

Some 500 voters said they could not cast their votes in four centres of Natore as they were told by election o� cials that the centres had run out of ballot papers.

Returning O� cer Sharmin Akhter Jahan told the Dhaka Tribune she

was informed of the matter after voting ended and could not allow voters to vote.

But police said 99% of votes were cast.

Meanwhile, Border Guard Bangladesh members detained three journalists of ATN News for violating the electoral code in Puthia.

Sourav Habib, Rajshahi bureau chief of the channel, and cameramen Khokon and Raju entered the BGB election monitoring camp at the polling station in Puthia PN School without permission around 2:30am on Wednesday, said Ha� zur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge of Puthia police station.

The three were later released after the Puthia magistrate � ned them Tk5,000 each. l

Women voters are seen standing in long queue to cast their votes at Mirkadim polling centre, Munshiganj yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

News8DTTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

MUNICIPALIT Y POLLS 2015

MUNICIPALIT YPOLLS 2015

M U N I C I P A L I T Y P O L L S 2 0 1 5

M U N I C I P A L I T Y P O L L S 2 0 1 5Mayhem in Mirkadimn Ibrahim Hossain Ovi back from

Munshiganj

What had started to be a peaceful day of vot-ing slowly turned into a day of intimidation and fear as followers of Awami League-backed mayoral candidate in Mirkadim municipality, Munshiganj requested, threatened and barred voters from going to polling centres yesterday.

Shortly after the voting started at 8am, Awami League candidate Shahidul Islam Shahin entered to polling centres – Rekabi Bazar High School and Rekabi Bazar Girls’ High School – with his supporters and started chanting loudly in support of the boat symbol.

Their sudden appearance spread panic among the voters, especially women, who hur-riedly left the centre without casting their votes.

An executive magistrate, police and spe-cial striking force, who were present at Rek-abi Bazar High School, tried to bring the situ-ation under control. As they failed to do so, a back-up force was summoned; about 50 ad-

ditional RAB, police and striking force mem-bers led by Assistant Superintendent of Po-lice Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman reached the spot and dispersed the ruling party men from the spot.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, locals said that Rekabi Bazar High School polling cen-tre is important for the candidates as about 7,000 voters were scheduled to cast their votes there; these voters typically favour the BNP-backed candidate.

Later, Shahin’s supporters stationed themselves outside the polling centres and kept requesting and threatening voters not to cast their votes.

Seeking anonymity, a supporter BNP-backed candidate Shamsur Rahman, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I was warned not to leave home today; they said they would take action against me if I did not listen. We are even unable to protest the vote rigging that is going on.”

Mizanur Rahman, a BNP activist, told the

Dhaka Tribune that they had been barred from entering the poll centres and campain. “We are not allowed to enter the voting cen-tres. We complained about the vote rigging to the law enforcement o� cers, but they did not pay heed to us.”

Mizan complained that the law enforcers even helped Shahin’s supporters to cast fake votes.

However, Md Khalilur Rahman, presiding o� cer of the polling centre, refuted the alle-gations and said while it was true that Shahin had come to the centre, he did not stay as long as the locals claim. When contacted, Shahin refused to comment about the allegations.

Visiting other polling centres, this corre-spondent found that the number of followers of the BNP-backed candidates was poor com-pared to the supporters of the Awami League candidates.

Not a single candidate backed by the BNP was seen at the poll centres, and the support-ers were seen sitting idle far from the centres. l

Shenanigans in Sreepur polling centren Shohel Mamun, and Raihanul Islam

Akand from Gazipur

A police o� cial and two Ansar members were seen stamping ballot papers at Booth 4 of Mawna Bohumukhi High School polling centre in Gazipur’s Sreepur municipality yes-terday afternoon.

Around 3:15pm, the three law enforce-ment members were seen stamping ballot papers and casting the votes with the door of the booth wide open.

When the Dhaka Tribune tried to get a pho-to of the vote rigging on a mobile phone, the police member, Sub-Inspector Khorshed Alam, according to his name tag, stopped the report-ers and asked them to leave the centre quickly.

Then they closed the door and resumed vote rigging.

Visiting Booth 3, which was designated for female voters, these correspondents found a male polling agent of Awami League candi-date Anisur Rahman stamping ballot papers.

Asked what he was doing, he silently got up and closed the door of the polling booth.

The rampant stamping of ballot paper took place after voters ran away from the polling centre when news broke out that in-dependent candidate Nazrul Islam had been attacked by local activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Jubo League.

Sources said Nazrul Islam had gotten wind of Awami League’s plan of vote-rigging and went to the polling centre. When he went their to protest, his followers and Anisur’s followers clashed, and Anisur’s followers beat up Nazrul.

While police attempted to control the situa-tion, voters hurriedly left the centre. Later, po-lice and Ansar members took charge of casting the votes. A number of voters who went to cast votes afterwards complained that they had been turned away from the centre and told that their votes had already been cast.

When contacted in this regard, the polling centre’s Presiding O� cer Abdul Jalil claimed the vote-casting was conducted peacefully and no one had illegally stamped ballot pa-pers. l

85% votes cast despite low voter turnout in Chalnan Mohammad Jamil Khan,

and Hedait Hossain from Khulna

When the gates of KC Pilot School polling centre in Chalna municipality, Khulna opened at 8am yesterday, there were no voters waiting outside.

A few minutes later, � ve individuals hesitantly ap-proached the centre, entering it after much consideration.

In the � rst 15 minutes of the municipal elections yesterday, only eight voters came to cast their votes at KC Pilot School centre in Chalna.

At 8:45am, there were only eight female voters waiting in queue at one of the booths; All other booths were empty.

Yet, around 9:15am, when the Dhaka Tribune asked Presiding O� cer Mosaddeq Ali about voter turnout, he said 144 out of 1,433 listed voters had already cast their votes.

Asked how 144 votes were cast with such a thin presence of voters, Mosaddeq snapped at these reporters: “Go talk to the polling agents if you have any confusion.”

Later, the Dhaka Tribune visited the centre a number of times throughtout the day. Each time, voters were scarce in the polling booths.

But after the voting ended at 4pm, Mosaddeq announced that nearly 86.39% votes had been cast in the centre.

The Dhaka Tribune visited several other polling centres, none of which had a signi� cant voter turnout, which the locals claimed as well.

Yet, surprisingly, after the

vote-casting ended, presiding o� cers of nine polling centres, including Chalna Pre-Cadet School and Nakul Chandra Basu Government High School, announced that their centres had received nearly 85% votes on average.

Nur Ali Shaikh, who cast his vote at KC Pilot School, told the Dhaka Tribune that he was the 151st voter at the centre. “I was quite surprised, because the centre was nearly empty. My house is right in front of the centre, and I did not see any crowd of voters. No in-cidence of violence occurred either.”

Khadiza Begum, an elder voter at Chalna Pre-Cadet School, said she had come to cast vote despite being ill because she had heard about the low turnout at the centre.

The Dhaka Tribune also talked to two polling agents at KC Pilot School, Anisur Rahman Babu, agent of the BNP candidate, and Hemayet Mandal, agent of an independent candidate, who said they were not aware of any disturbances outside the polling centre, but could not say what was happening inside.

There was no reports of vi-olence or unusual incidents outside the polling centres in Chalna, and voters who came to vote expressed satisfaction over the atmosphere.

Nesar Ali Gazi, 65, said: “I am happy about the overall election atmosphere in the area. I did not see any vio-lence, and the vote-casting went quite peacefully.” l

A polling booth in Narshingdi’s Baniachal Government Primary School polling centre lay empty after miscreants vandalise the centre during the municipal elections yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

9D

T

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015Biz Info

Best Holdings Limited and Starwood Asia Paci� c Hotels & Resorts Pte Ltd recently signed an agreement to open another hotel in Bangladesh. 62km from Dhaka city, this new project of Best Holdings to be managed by Starwood Asia Paci� c, Le Méridien Resort & Spa Bhaluka, is the second hotel of the globally acclaimed brand Le Méridien to be initiated in Bangladesh. Hasan Ahmad, president of Best Holdings Limited and Dilip Puri, managing director India and regional vice president South Asia of Starwood Hotels & Resorts India Pte Ltd exchanged documents to this e� ect during a private ceremony at Le Méridien Dhaka. Amin Ahmad, chairman of Best Holdings Limited and Ashwani Nayar, general manager of Le Méridien Dhaka were present as well.

“Domestic tourism has increased exponentially over recent years, leading to the mushrooming of various urban resorts. It is a natural progression of the busy lives we all lead, especially in the city, where a quick getaway a� ords us reprieve over weekends or short holidays. The location for Le Méridien Resort & Spa Bhaluka is less than one and half-hours’ journey from Dhaka,” explains Hasan Ahmad, president of Best Holdings Limited. “It will be the � rst international luxury brand resort of its kind in such close proximity to the capital with over 200 guestrooms, including suites and villas, and a great many dining and recreational facilities. We hold high hopes that it will become a place for not only family vacations but also corporate retreats and

destination weddings.”Apart from the usual resort recreation

facilities such as all day dining and specialty restaurants, meeting and banqueting, � tness centre and swimming pool, Le Méridien Resort & Spa Bhaluka will also include retail strips for shopping, Cineplex for movies,

tennis courts, golf practicing courses and even equestrian range and tracks as well as an arti� cial sand beach by a lake where there will be water light and sound shows in the evenings. The spa and wellness centre planned for the resort is planned to be in a class of its own in a serene lakeside spot and

will receive additional focus of the design team and both the owning and managing organisations believe will drive a large percentage of the footfall when the hotel comes into operation.

Le Méridien Resort & Spa Bhaluka is expected to be opened by January 2019. l

Myriad exhibition of robotics by Team Bangladesh

Le Méridien Resort & Spa Bhaluka scheduled to open in January 2019

Asia’s prestigious Sci-tech festival Techfest ‘15 was held in IIT Bombay, India. The fest began on Saturday, December 26 and continued till December 28, 2015. This year a team of young tech enthusiasts from

BRAC University’s Robotics Club showcased their innovations in the IRC (International Robotics Challenge) exhibition. Countries including the Netherlands, Hungary, South Korea and many others gathered together to

exhibit their innovative creations.The fest was aimed at encouraging

students to be more inclined towards the study of science, critical thinking and innovation. The event was graced by leading

names from Spreadsheets, BitTorrent, Cisco, Oracle, Vodafone, etc.

Some of the major highlights of their exhibition this year were Chondrobot, an automated robot, capable of mining in lunar atmosphere, Marine Black Box, designed to monitor the position of a sunken vehicle, Dynamic Tra� c Light Control, a maching that can identify vehicles with image processing, Relief Robot, capable of supplying relief in case of emergency and comes with Wi� video transmission, as well as an All Terrain Rescue Robot and an Electronic Biometric Voting Machine among others.

Interestingly, they also designed a prototype of ‘’Wall - e’’ - a robot made for fun, based on the � lm Wall - e.

During the carnival, one of the young tech fellows from Brac University, Imtiaz Kalam Abir, said ‘’This is a great international platform for showcasing our projects. Our exhibition was warmly received, not only from India, but also from many other countries. We received positive response and the packed audience for our exhibition over the last three days encouraged us to work harder for future projects. ’’

The Bangladesh team are consisted of Dr Md Khalilur Rahman, associate professor and lecturer (computer science and engineering) from Brac University, Md Monir Hasan, technician, Mizanur Rahman, Imtiaz Kalam Abir, Mohammad Tahmid Rashid, Mohammad Zahirul Islam, Ali Hasan, Mohammad Shadman Sakib Chowdhury and Syed Mahmud Hasan. l

n Moumita Ahmed

It’s New Years and with all the curfews going on, you think it would be better for you to stay home rather than wondering through the streets and being charged at every other checkpoint. Don’t be so disappointed! Spending New Year’s eve at home with family and friends for a change can’t be that bad, especially when you can come up with new things to do just staying indoors.

Feature10DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

BIGSTOCKSpending New Year’s eve at home?

Going old school

Host an adult sleepover party and relive your childhood. Provide snacks, movies, and fun games; additionally get some wine to make the evening apt for grown-ups. You can do this with a group of your close friends or cousins you haven’t seen for a while. Happy New Years everybody. l

A marathon of your favourite TV shows/movies

You can do this with your signi� cant other or with a group of friends. Theme the food and drinks to go with the show or movie you’ll be watching. Go with staples like pizza if you’re going for a marathon of your favourite show – Friends, or fancy drinks if you’re watching a classic movie.

A barbecue party

Nothing beats celebrating the New Year’s eve with a barbecue on the porch or the roof top with your closed ones. Call all your friends and family over to your place and ask everyone to join in and help with decorating the place, arrange a dance � oor, and help you with the barbecue. You can take turns when doing all these so that everyone can enjoy. Turn on some music, put on your fancy clothes, and dance till you drop!

Game night

Whether it’s a big house party or a small get-together with just a few friends, make a game out of your resolutions. Games are the best way to make a party more festive! If you have got youngsters on your team, go with the classic game of Musical Chairs, and for the adults, there’s always Spin the Bottle. Order in some food, make some fancy drinks, and get yourself ready for the countdown. You can also go for a Casino-themed party.

5 ways to throw the best house party

Dinner date

This would be for those love birds out there. Invite your signi� cant other for dinner, and cook their favourite meal, even if you don’t know how to cook and it takes all day for you to go through the tutorials, a little e� ort never hurt anybody. Surprise your other half and make them feel special for a day (other than his/her birthday of course).

INSIDE

It was unfortunate to see yesterday’s municipality elections marred by polling irregularities and violent clashes. 

The Election Commission must act swiftly to fully investigate all reported violations of the electoral code and work with law enforcement

authorities to hold all perpetrators of irregularities and violence to account.Once again, voting had to be suspended at several polling stations due to

clashes between supporters of rival candidates following clear instances of illegal occupation and ballot stu� ng. 

Despite extensive preparations and security it is concerning that some cadres felt able to act with impunity by entering and occupying voting centres for the purposes of vote rigging. We hope that the EC will deal summarily with such violaters to reassure the public of the integrity of the polls.

The throwing of molotov cocktails at  Madhabdi and the killing of a man in Satkania, Chittagong during a gunshot exchange between supporters of two commissioner candidates are especially shocking and cannot be excused. 

The EC must take all necessary measures to ensure no candidates bene� t from intimidation and electoral malpractices.

It must still be hoped that these elections, held with the full participation of the BNP, can help put the democratic process back on track.

The government and all political parties must co-operate with authorities to ensure there is  zero tolerance for violations of election codes and procedures.

It is vital for democracy that the EC is able to fully uphold its rules.

Take all necessary measures to ensure no candidates bene� t from intimidation and electoral malpractices

The Rooppur question

The year that revealed true allegiancesFrom Washington to Pakistan to Amnesty International, many have kicked and screamed and made appeals against the verdict, but to no avail. The PM made sure that the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis were respected

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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What banking meant in 2015Governance in the banking sector has been taking a faltering route for the past several years. While we keep on cursing state-owned banks for this, private commercial banks were not that better in reality

If we try to take decisions in a hurry, without proper evaluation or understanding, we are likely to make serious mistakes. It must be made clear that the consequences of such mistakes often become very costly, if not catastrophic

Zero tolerance for poll violations

11D

TEditorialTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

BIGSTOCK

n Abdul Matin

It is also not clear how the base price of $12.65 billion was � xed. This price, however, does not include $550 million, which we already spent for a feasibility

study and another $1.5bn (at 4% rate of interest for six years) will be required to spend as interest during construction. The total cost will come to $14.7bn if these costs are added.

So long, the responsible quarters of the government have been quoting a price of $3bn to $4bn for a 2000MW nuclear plant at Rooppur.

If we apply the price escalation of 2.5% per year, as stipulated in the contract, for six years, the price of $4bn should increase to $4.64bn. If we adjust for increase in the size of the plant from 2,000MW to 24,000MW, it should further increase by to $5.57bn.

This is less than half of the negotiated price of $12.65bn. How can the government explain the astronomic increase in the cost of the plant and be so happy about it? Why did they consistently keep quoting the price of $3bn to $4bn since 2009? Was it their ignorance or a deliberate attempt to hide the facts? It is di� cult to say which one is worse.

This is not all what we would pay to the Russians. It was further reported that, besides the general agreement, Bangladesh and Russia will sign four more agreements for nuclear fuel purchase, transporting spent fuel from Bangladesh to Russia, maintenance and service of the power plant, and manpower development. It does not mention for how long the above services will be provided but these agreements will

involve a cost of a further $8bn. When shall we pay the $8bn and who will

� nance this part of the cost? The period of services to be provided is very important as the amount of $8bn sounds like another astronomical � gure. It may be noted that nuclear fuel is already included in the additional cost of $1bn as stated previously. Does it mean that we are paying twice for the same service?

The $8bn includes the cost of transporting the spent fuel to Russia. Will the Russians charge us additionally for reprocessing the fuel and storage of the nuclear waste? Are we getting any credit for the substantial amount of unspent enriched uranium-235 and plutonium-239 in the spent fuel which can be recycled in the reactor after reprocessing?

Have these issues been negotiated while � xing the price? Moreover, $550m we paid includes the cost of the plant design. Normally, this should be a part of the plant cost. Are we not paying twice again for the same services?

Is the payment of $8bn re� ected in the calculation of the cost of generation of Tk4.5 per kWh? Will the BAEC show us how the cost of generation has been calculated? Does it include the costs of decommissioning and interim replacements?

It is not clear why we are signing so many contracts. We signed three deals for $550m for a feasibility study and one deal for $12.65bn for construction of the plant. Four more deals for $8bn are being contemplated for di� erent services. From the newspaper reports, it is di� cult to understand the scope of the services for each contract.

It is also not clear what other deals will be necessary in addition to those under $12.65bn and $8bn contracts to bring the plant to operation. If the additional cost of $1bn includes fuel for one additional year, where is the cost of the � rst fuel load? Is it included in the main contract of $12.65bn or shall we sign another contract for it?

Coming to regulatory issues, it is reported that substantial preparatory works were carried out at the site during the feasibility

study. No such activity is permitted before issue of the site permit by the regulatory authority.

Did Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission take the site permit before start of site preparation? Since the contract has been signed, we may soon receive the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) which needs to be evaluated by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA).

According to an IAEA Guidebook, BAERA will need a work force of 55 professionals (44 engineers with MS in nuclear engineering and 11 scientists with MS/PhDs) to evaluate the PSAR and it will take about 18 months to do this job.

Do we have this kind of manpower? If the answer is negative, it will obviously take more time for issue of the construction permit.

This means the concrete pouring at the site cannot start before July 2017. If the construction of the plant takes about 6 years (India took 11 years to build the � rst unit, supplied by Russia, at Kudankulam), how can the � rst unit be operative before July 2023?

To me, it appears that we are in a hurry to build the � rst nuclear plant in Bangladesh. This is not a project to make decisions in a hurry. When the Russians showed interest in the Rooppur project in 2009, I advised the BAEC to go for a large-scale recruitment and training of engineers.

They did practically nothing between 2009 and 2013. Though they accepted most of my other suggestions, like building VVER-1200 reactors, setting up a separate regulatory body, and a separate organisation for construction and operation of nuclear power plants, they failed to build a competent team of quali� ed and experienced engineers.

As a result, there is a serious shortage of manpower both in BAEC and BAERA. They are naturally hard pressed to take important decisions on evaluation of the feasibility report, evaluation of the project proposal, issue of site and construction permits etc.

These are serious issues with regards to the safety, reliability, and economy of the plant. If we try to take decisions in a hurry, without proper evaluation or understanding, we are likely to make serious mistakes. It must be made clear that the consequences of such mistakes often become very costly, if not catastrophic, when it involves the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Nobody should misunderstand me. I am not against the nuclear power but I am not in favour of building a nuclear power plant in a hurry without � rst building our own manpower, who are capable of taking wise policy decisions, or without compromising on issues like safety, reliability, and economy. l

Abdul Matin is a former chief engineer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and author of Rooppur and the Power Crisis.

The Rooppur question

If we try to take decisions in a hurry, without proper evaluation or understanding, we are likely to make serious mistakes. It must be made clear that the consequences of such mistakes often become very costly, if not catastrophic

In a nuclear power plant project, we can’t a� ord to take decisions in a hurry. This is the concluding part of yesterday’s long form

Long Form12DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

In Rooppur, we cannot compromise on issues of safety, reliability, and economy BIGSTOCK

Opinion 13D

T

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

n Nadeem Qadir

During my years in AFP, I found myself engaging in one ritual: Doing a year-end piece on Bangladesh. This year, I thought,

nearly 11 years after leaving that news agency, why not try doing one sitting outside my country and looking at it from a di� erent perspective?

Two things emerged quite clearly: The

“uphill” leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and further indications of the BNP being an anti-liberation and pro-Pakistani organisation.

“Your prime minister is a no-nonsense leader. She is tough,” some Westerners told me.

The Guardian, one of the most in� uential publications in Britain, echoed similar sentiments towards our premier.

I found a right-wing organisation bigwig who admitted, with much anger, that his threats to our PM had been ignored. “She just does what she decides ... she does not even listen to us.”

That is the sort of leadership that Bangladesh needs now to reach its goals as a developed country by 2041.

The World Bank was snubbed right and proper as our PM started work of the multi-billion dollar Padma Bridge mega-project this month, projected to be completed by 2019.

Coming to the execution of notorious war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Mujahid -- from Washington to Pakistan to Amnesty International, many have kicked and screamed and made appeals against the

verdict, but to no avail.The PM made sure that the wishes of the

overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis were respected, and advised the president to not sign their mercy petitions, making them admit the crimes they had committed during our Liberation War.

Our PM deserves many salutes for being able to stand pressure and deliver on the promise she had made to her people.

Also, whether it was a coincidence or not, the sudden return home of Begum Khaleda Zia exactly on day two that the war criminals were to be executed, is a question mark that will remain in our minds.

She and the BNP had consistently maintained a � rm friendship with Jamaat-e-Islami, a criminal organisation, and had shown sympathy for the war criminals by calling out the verdicts as being “� awed” and the lack of “proper justice” that the verdicts symoblise.

One can never forget the sorry history of the late Ziaur Rahman, who systematically poisoned Bangladesh’s politics by rehabilitating war criminals and using the Islam card to remain in power.

That continued with his wife Begum Zia, who made Mujahid and Nizami actual cabinet ministers during her reign.

BNP and Begum Zia have all but con� rmed that they are serving the interests of Pakistan, that they are indeed a proxy party for Islamabad.

The PM’s adviser Sajeeeb Wajed Joy, in a Facebook status, rightly said: “I am outraged that during this victory month, Khaled Zia and the BNP are campaigning against our War of Liberation.

Khaleda has taken the Pakistani line minimising the slaughter of our innocent civilians by the brutal Pak Army and their murderous collaborators Jamaat-e-Islami.

She has claimed only a few hundred thousand killed. Today, the BNP even called for an opinion poll on the number of deaths! Facts are facts. They cannot be determined by an opinion poll.”

In London, the weekly Surma newspaper, which claims to be neutral but is widely known for its allegiance to BNP and Jamaat, in its Victory Day editorial, distorted history rather shamelessly, just like the ones it serves.

It said that the Pakistani army struck on March 26, 1971, but how can you forget the March 25 brutality that occurred across Dhaka and the Dhaka University campus, and about the call for independence by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman?

The weekly calls Sheikh Hasina’s government “unelected,” and in a veiled appeal to unseat her, it said: “People will get the taste of true victory when they get rid of this unelected government.”

Happy New Year! l

Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism. He is the Press Minister of Bangladesh High Commission in London.

The year that revealed true allegiances

From Washington to Pakistan to Amnesty International, many have kicked and screamed and made appeals against the verdict, but to no avail. The PM made sure that the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis were respected

The year 2015 showed the PM to be a tough leader, and revealed the true face of the BNP as Islamabad’s proxy party

The PM showed steadfastness in the executions of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Mujahid DHAKA TRIBUNE

Opinion14DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

n Mamun Rashid

The foreign exchange reserve crossed the $27 billion mark, mobile � nancial services maintained a robust growth, inward remittance

also grew moderately, Bangladesh Bank continued its focus on expanding commercial banking to rural regions, Tk10 account opening, � nancing to women entrepreneurs, school banking, green � nancing, and, of course, � nancial inclusion -- this is how I would sum up the state of banking in 2015.

In order to strengthen e-governance, the World Bank came forward to help state-owned commercial banks to formulate an integrated IT strategy.

The EU also registered interest to streamline Bangladesh � nancial sector. Also noteworthy is the central database for larger credits above Tk50 crore, which has been created to collect, store, and share credit data among concerned banks and FIs. It’s all good.

Several commercial bank CEOs had expressed views that recovering classi� ed loans was their biggest challenge in the outgoing year. Additionally, they were unable to increase security and collateral, most noticeably “hard collateral,” to improve security arrangements against most

large loans. But the clients kept on making lame excuses.

The crisis during the � rst quarter of the year and the global economic slowdown at-large also a� ected domestic market sales. Only a few large loans in excess of Tk500cr were restructured.

There were many requests for classi� ed loan rescheduling with longer repayment periods and lower interest rates. Only a handful were done, but most were left undone due to reluctance on the part of lending banks.

E� orts have been made to turn around the poorly managed state-owned commercial banks in order to convert them to limited companies and appoint new management.

The progress has been very slow, unsurprisingly. The government continued to recapitalise the state-owned commercial banks in order to cover for the large bad debts they have accrued and their low pro� tability.

Most devastating was the CEO and MD of Sonali Bank saying to the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Finance that they no longer expect to get any money back from Hall-Mark.

On the other hand, the Anti Corruption Commission didn’t � nd any wrongdoings on the part of the Basic Bank chairman, who had fabricated so may “reported” stories in the vein of “sarkar ka mal dariyame dhal.”

Bangladesh Bank appointed observers in 14 banks and FIs to make sure the situation did not worsen any more.

Banks are su� ering with excess liquidity in � gures that is, in all honesty, quite hard to even write in words. Classi� ed loans, though reported to be below 10%, could exceed 20% if only a little quality control was to be applied, according to analysts.

Stress tests conducted by Bangladesh Bank revealed that an increase of non-performing loan (NPL) by 3%, 9%, and 15% would result in the failures of seven, 21, and 29 banks respectively.

The same report also showed that if the three largest borrowers of each bank default, 26 banks would be on their way to becoming non-compliant of the minimum required capital to risk-weighted asset ratio.

Rumours also surfaced that if one large borrower who seems to be sni� ng around to buy any bank or � nancial institution fails, the entire banking sector may collapse. Many senior bankers lament the fact that they seem to be leashed to the bigwigs.

Capital adequacy ratio improved to 10.53% in September, from 10.27% in June, though the � gure was 11.40% in December 2014. Asset quality (NPL-to-total loans) deteriorated slightly to 9.89% in September from that of 9.67 % in June.

The number was 9.69% in December 2014. Liquid assets reduced to 28.6% in Sep-tember from that of 30.7% in June. Excess liquidity also reduced to 18.7% in September from 20.1% in June. However, mid-Decem-ber, the banking sector reportedly had an obscene � gure in excess liquidity.

The appetite for credit was low through-out the year. Some improvements in electricity supply and new industrial gas connections helped increase in the disburse-ment of term loans and working capital � nance during the third and fourth quarter.

However, due to a slide in real estate sales, car sales, capital market dullness, a fall in capital goods, and the price of industrial raw material and commodities in the international market, the credit demand as a whole has been low.

The larger borrowers also referred to “silent political impasse,”“crony capitalism,”“slow government decision making process,”“non-availability of

industrial plots,” and, of course, inadequate and irregular supply of power and gas. High interest rates on loans seems to be bothering them still.

State-owned commercial banks still faced dictat from various government higher-ups and were forced to favour particular business houses. Bank interest rates fell but deposit rates fell much faster than lending rates. Bank seniors kept on blaming classi� ed loans as the root cause of higher loan rates.

Governance in the banking sector has been taking a faltering route for the past several years. While we keep on cursing state-owned banks for this, private commer-cial banks were not that better in reality.

Even when the authority has shown much success in the disbursement of agriculture loans and expansion of mobile � nancial services, governance in the banking sector still remains a serious issue.

Ironically, these incidences occurred in collaboration with o� cials and even directors through various dubious practices like setting up fake companies, forging bank documents, documenting fake board meetings or board decisions, and in� uencing the monitoring o� cials. One can easily question how one single group can be a “bene� ciary owner” of more than four commercial banks and two non-bank � nancial institutions.

Bangladesh may not be seen to be doing much in this space, unless we can stop such unpleasant surprises from popping up so frequently. l

Mamun Rashid is a business professor and � nancial sector entrepreneur.

What banking meant in 2015

Governance in the banking sector has been taking a faltering route for the past several years. While we keep on cursing state-owned banks for this, private commercial banks were not that better in reality

The state of banking this past year has been nothing if not surprising

Bangladesh’s banking faced a lot of drama this year, and not all of it had to do with money BIGSTOCK

15D

TBusinessTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

IMF’s Lagarde: Global growth will be disappointing in 2016Global economic growth will be “disappointing” next year, the head of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published yesterday. PAGE 17

Asian market rally � zzles on oil price retreatAsia-Paci� c stock markets had a see-saw trading day with sentiment hit as oil prices retreated, but Tokyo ended on a high note as one of the best performers of 2015. PAGE 18

DITF 2016 begins tomorrowThe 21st Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2016 begins tomorrow. The fair organisers and exhibitors are antici-pating a huge turnout of visitors from home and abroad this year due to the existing stable political situation. PAGE 16

Capital market snapshot: WednesdayDSE

Broad Index 4,604.9 0.2% ▲

Index 1,104.6 0.2% ▲

30 Index 1,741.6 -0.0% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 3,673.2 -5.9% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 89.8 -0.8% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 14,031.5 0.0% ▲

30 Index 12,432.1 0.0% ▲

Selected Index 8,535.6 0.0% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 205.9 -5.7% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 6.6 -2.9% ▼

INSIDE

Sonali Bank last resort to pay government employees n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government is going to draw money from its deposit in the country’s largest state-owned Sonali Bank instead of taking loan from banking system to pay salaries of civil servants under 8th pay scale, o� cial sources said.

According to a Finance Division o� cial, pay � xation is yet to be done and so it is not possible right now to � gure out the actual amount of money necessary to meet up the new pay scale.

This is why the government is not going for immediate loan from the banking sys-tem, said the source.

Primarily, the money will be taken from Sonali bank while the rest of the amount

from Bangladesh Bank instead of banking system because of low revenue collection from the National Board of Revenue, the of-� cial also said.

A Bangladesh Bank o� cial said it will be just an electronic transfer of new pay scale salaries of civil servants from Sonali Bank to other banks having the government accounts.

According to an earlier estimate of the central bank, Tk3,976cr will be needed for payment of total salaries for December and increased amount for July and August while Tk5,301cr for January 2016 and September, October and November for 2015.

The government average monthly earn-ing is Tk10,983cr against expenditure of Tk10,878cr while its surplus stood at Tk10,000cr in October.

The National Pay and services Commis-sion report revealed that the government will need additional Tk15,904.24cr for im-plementation of new pay scale.

Earlier, BB planned to take loan of Tk3,500cr from banking system against short- and long-term government bonds.

The gazette for the new pay scale was published on December 15 on the website of the Finance Division.

On September 6, the 8th pay scale for public servants got the cabinet consent with a proposal for replacing time scale and selection grade with annual increment of 3.75% to 5%.

The new pay scale for 2.1 million civil servants will be made e� ective retrospec-tively from July 1, 2015. l

Teletalk to be modelled on high-performance business n Ishtiaq Husain

The government is likely to introduce a high-performance business model to Tele-talk to turn it into a pro� table organisation.

Since its inception in 2005, the state-run mobile operator failed to make any pro� t as yet. In a recent conversation with the Dha-ka Tribune, Tarana Halim, state minister for Posts and Telecommunications, said: “To emerge as a leading market player in the country’s mobile industry, we are looking forward to introducing an appropriate mod-el to Teletalk.”

“As part of its rebranding plan, we will provide a business model for Teletalk so that it operates perfectly.”

The government would take various ini-tiatives within the next six months for mak-ing Teletalk vibrant, she added.

An o� cial of telecom division said Tara-na Halim is scheduled to visit Singapore and Malaysia next month to observe the two countries’ state-run telecom business.

She would hold talks with their telecom-munications ministers and seek advices from them, added the o� cial.

As a state-owned mobile operator Tele-kom Malaysia is one of the leading mobile operator in that country.

“We can seek advices from Malaysian mobile operator which would be fruitful for our Teletalk,” Tarana said.

To pull Teletalk out of a traditional work plan, a positive and vibrant approach needs to be applied, she added.

Recently, the state minister expressed her dissatisfaction in the Parliament over the operator’s TK3.99 billion loss.

Tarana also vowed to build a strong and skilled manpower that can contribute to the company. A source said to curb losses and to fetch pro� t for Teletalk, Tarana mulls over high-performance business model of the developing countries. l

Tk1,200cr injected to boost BASIC health n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government again disbursed Tk1,200 crore yesterday for immediate recapitalisa-tion of the state-run BASIC Bank amid op-position from the Finance Division.

O� cial sources said the government is facing a huge � nancial pressure for imple-mentation of the 8th pay scale.

According to a source in the Finance Di-vision, pressure was mounting on the au-thorities concerned to make the disburse-ment immediately.

“The conditions of recapitalisation are now only in paper. I do not think that BASIC authority will be able to implement those targets to make the state-run bank � nancially sound,” an o� cial of the Finance Division said yesterday, asking not to be named.

According to the source, the Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) re-cently demanded Tk5,000 crore earmarked as recapitalisation fund for the state-run banks in the current budget.

Of the amount, BFID sought at least Tk2,000 crore for BASIC Bank, which is facing a capital shortfall of Tk3,050 crore because of massive shady loans disbursed by the bank’s board of directors led by its former chairman and former Jatiya Party lawmaker Abdul Hye Bach-hu to little known � ctitious borrowers.

BFID wanted the Min-istry of Finance distribute the rest of Tk3,000 crore among Sonali, Janata, Ru-pali, Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank.

M Aslam Alam, BFID secretary, told the Dhaka Tribune “At long last, the Finance Ministry disbursed Tk1,200 crore for Basic Bank while the � ve state-run commercial and specialised banks have not come under this recapitalisation scheme due to shortage of funds.”

He, however, said the � ve is likely to be recapitalised in March when the revision of current � scal year budget would take place.

The Finance Division has already given Tk1,790cr to BASIC over the last two years from the public exchequer despite opposi-tion from banking experts.

Its o� cials estimated that Tk8,900cr would be spent as non-development ex-penditure in the � rst week of new year on execution of 8th pay scale and more than Tk2,500 subsidies for quick rental power plants and fertiliser factories.

The government is facing crisis in fund management due to lower-than-expected revenue generation, o� cial also said.

NBR had Tk8307.91cr revenue shortfall during July-October that witnessed the worst revenue collection situation under the tenure of Finance Minister AMA Muhith since 2009. l

Business16DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

DITF 2016 begins tomorrown Tribune Report

The 21st Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2016 begins tomorrow.

The fair organisers and exhibitors are an-ticipating a huge turnout of visitors from home and abroad this year due to the exist-ing stable political situation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the fair at 3:30pm tomorrow. Participants are hoping a good turnout that will help them to get a boost in their sales.

Traders from national and multinational companies along with some foreign com-panies are spontaneously attending the fair with great enthusiasm, said the organisers.

Last year, the DITF participants were hit hard due to the then nonstop political tur-moil situation, resulting in poor turnout and poor sales.

The Export Promotion Bureau and the Min-istry of Commerce are jointly organising the month-long trade show to display new products to attract global buyers as well as local consum-ers. The expo will continue till January 31, 2016.

Both the organisers and the exhibitors

hoped that this years DITF would bring joy to them with huge turnout and sales would out-perform the previous years as the prevailing political situation is in favour of the businesses.

“We’ve completed 95% of the tasks for building our show-room and will complete it by today (Wednesday) by giving it � nal shape to help display our products to local and foreign customers,” Mamunuzzaman, a site engineer of Partex Furniture told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Commenting on overall progress of the trade show, Mamun expected that almost all the pavilion and stalls, excepting some small-er ones, would be completed by tomorrow.

“We’re expecting more turnout in this year’s DITF comparing to the previous ones as the political situation is now quite stable, AKM Iqbal Hossain, manager of marketing (events) of PRAN told the Dhaka Tribune.

Last year, the company has bagged a good amount of sales, but that could be increased further, if there were no more political unrest this time, said Hossain.

“If the entire situation remains same, we are hopping a robust business as we have

2,500 plus plastic items branded as RFL while 350 plus other products under the brand of PRAN,” he added.

Meanwhile, organisers have also echoed the same view with the exhibitors.

“Local and global participants will take part spontaneously in the fair as there is no political unrest in the country this year. We’ve taken up necessary initiatives to ensure secu-rity to visitors as well as the exhibitors,” Shub-hashis Bose, vice-president of Export Promo-tion Bureau (EPB) told the Dhaka Tribune.

Local manufacturers will display new prod-ucts to attract global as well as the local con-sumers, which will help them to come close with the consumers at the show, Bose added.

The show is aimed to promote local prod-ucts and the EPB has made all the necessary arrangements to make it a total success, he added. According to EPB data, a total of 68 foreign companies from 21 countries has applied for allocation of pavilions. Among them, 54 pavilions were allocated for them.

As a whole, a total of 535 pavilion and stalls were allocated for exhibitors, out of 548 � nalised during layout process. l

Preparation goes on to host the Dhaka International Trade Fair 2016 at Shre-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Telecom Division hunting for new Managing Director n Tribune Report

Posts and Telecommunications Division is searching for a new managing director for the state-owned mobile operator – Teletalk – from bona � de citizens of Bangladesh.

To get a suitable candidate for the post of managing director, the telecom division � oated a circular yesterday.

According to the circular, the candidate must have at least a Bachelor of Science in

Engineering and MBA or its equivalent de-gree.

At present, Gias Uddin Ahmed is the man-aging director of Teletalk.

He has been serving the company as the managing director of over the past one year, but failed to fetch any pro� t through his per-formance.

Earlier, he served Teletalk as its 3G project director.

The eligible candidate is expected to have

at least a 20-year work experience in the tel-ecom sector with at least 5 years in 3rd layer of management or above in any organisation.

The service is contractual while the initial contract period will be two years and subject to renewal for further period based on per-formance as per the company rules.

Only the short listed candidates will be called for an interview.

Interested candidates may apply along with a complete CV, two recent passport size

photographs, attested photocopies of all ed-ucational and experience certi� cates and copy of National Identity/passport.

Application should be addressed to the secretary of Post and Telecommunications Division and reached on or before January 26, 2016.

The managing director is responsible to lead a team comprised of 750 sta� members including a large number of quali� ed profes-sionals. l

Another � at session hits stocks n Tribune Report

Stocks continued to close � at in poor volume of trade amid severe volatility yesterday as investors were cautious ahead of year-end.

The market swung between red and green several times throughout the session as both bear and bull were active.

The benchmark index DSEX edged 8 points or 0.2% higher to 4,604.

The Shariah index DSES inched 2 points up to 1,104. The blue chip comprising index DS30 closed at 1,741, witnessing fractional losses of 0.7 points.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selec-tive Category Index CSCX rose marginally 2 points to 8,535.

Trading activities continued to decline as the DSE turnover value plunged by around 6% to Tk367 crore over the previous session.

Most sectors including bank, cement, food and allied, fuel and power, textile and non-banking � nancial institutions moved up marginally.

Large sectors like pharmaceuticals and telecommunications closed in red.

Lanka Bangla Securities said selling pres-sure overwhelmed the buying interest in early session, while some large-cap stocks supported the market to close above 4600, although lighter volume associated with year closing trade is not lending credence to any move in market.

IDLC Investments said, “In spite of stand-ing on the verge of December closing, market passed another � at session amid lackluster trading, as investors were observing ‘wait and see’ strategy to get a clear direction to settle their investment mindset.”

It said continuing the recent pattern, vola-tility kept � owing in the market with � uctua-tions among di� erent cap classes.

Activities decreased in the DSE where turnover, trade and volume went down by 5.87%, 9.32% and 0.85% respectively.

Singer Bangladesh Limited was the most traded share with a turnover worth over Tk13 crore, followed by Qusem Drycells, Beximco Pharmaceutical, Beximco BSRM Steel, BSRM Limited, ACI, Square Pharmaceutical and United Power Generation and Distribution Company. l

Market swung between red and green several times throughout session as both bear and bull were active

Business 17D

TTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

IMF’s Lagarde: Global growth will be disappointing in 2016n Reuters, Berlin

Global economic growth will be “disappoint-ing” next year, the head of the Internation-al Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published yesterday.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and an economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability world-wide.

In addition, growth in global trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is posing problems for econ-omies based on these, while the � nancial sector in many countries still has weakness-es and � nancial risks are rising in emerging markets, Lagarde added

“All of that means global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016,” Lagarde said, adding that low productivity, ageing populations and the e� ects of the global � -nancial crisis were putting the brakes on growth.

She said the start of normalisation of US monetary policy and China’s shift towards consumption-led growth were “necessary and healthy” changes but needed to be carried out as e� ciently and smoothly as possible.

The US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the � rst time in nearly a decade earlier this month and made clear that was a tentative beginning to a “gradual” tightening cycle.

There are “potential spillover e� ects”, with the prospect of increasing interest rates

there already having contributed to higher � nancing costs for some borrowers, includ-ing in emerging and developing markets, Lagarde said.

She added that while countries other than highly developed economies were generally better prepared for higher interest rates than they had been in the past, she was concerned about their ability to absorb shocks.

“Nevertheless, I’m worried about their ability to absorb shocks” that could be trig-gered by tighter monetary policy, Lagarde cautioned.

“A lot of countries have taken on more debt, much of which is denominated in US dollars,” she argued.

“Rising interest rates and a stronger dollar could push companies into insolvency and banks and governments could become in-fected,” she warned.

“Most highly developed economies except the USA and possibly Britain will continue to need loose monetary policy but all countries in this category should comprehensively fac-tor spillover e� ects into their decision-mak-ing,” Lagarde said. l

Global mergers and acquisitions volume hits record in 2015n AFP, London

The volume of mergers and acquisitions worldwide set a new record in 2015 at more than $5tn, with tie-ups in the healthcare sector leading the way, consultants Dealogic said yesterday.

The $5.03tn annual total represents a mas-sive rise of 37% from 2014, Dealogic said, and the three months to December scored the highest � gure for any single quarter on record.

P� zer’s proposed $160bn merger with Al-lergan to create the world’s biggest pharma-ceutical group, announced last month, is the second-biggest tie-up ever, and the largest ever in healthcare.

The two companies estimated their merger will deliver more than $2bn in operational syn-ergies over the � rst three years after closing.

Thanks to that operation, the health-care sector chalked up the largest share of 2015 merger and acquisitions volume with $724bn, followed by technology, $713bn, and real estate, $458bn, Dealogic said.

The year’s second-largest deal was the $117.4bn bid by top global brewer Anheus-er-Busch InBev for its closest rival SABMiller, also announced in November.

The blockbuster transaction will bring to-gether InBev’s top lagers like Beck’s, Budwei-ser and Stella Artois with SABMiller brands Foster’s, Grolsch and Peroni.

Belgian-Brazilian behemoth InBev is eager to tap into booming developing mar-kets in Africa and China, where SABMiller’s joint venture produces Snow - the world’s best-selling beer by volume.

Dealogic said the year’s top two opera-tions are among only eight mergers in history topping $100bn. l

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde speaks at a press conference at the Treasury in London REUTERS

Philippines to join China-backed Asian infrastructure bankn AFP, Manila

The Philippines said yesterday it will join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Invest-ment Bank, despite being en-gaged in a dispute with Beijing over its claims in the South China Sea.

Viewed by some as a rival to the World Bank and the Philippines-based Asian De-velopment Bank, the AIIB is expected to begin operation early next year with an open-ing ceremony scheduled for January 16-18.

The United States and Japan, respectively the world’s largest and third-largest economies and the principal shareholders in the ADB, have both declined to join the AIIB, part of an initiative by China to expand its � nancial clout in Asia.

The move by the Philip-pines, a key US ally in Asia, comes after it took Beijing to a United Nations tribunal in a

bid to challenge its extensive claims in the South China Sea.

“The two (AIIB member-ship and the maritime dis-pute) are totally unrelated,” Philippine foreign department spokesman Charles Jose told AFP yesterday.

“The decision of the Phil-ippines to be one of the founding members of the China-led AIIB is based on the country’s economic development imperatives,” President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Herminio Coloma told AFP.

“There is no linkage be-tween this decision and the is-sues raised by the Philippines with regard to maritime enti-tlement claims” in the South China Sea, Coloma added.

In a statement, Philippines Finance Secretary Cesar Puri-sima said his country’s in-frastructure � nancing needs would top $127.12bn between 2010 and 2020, quoting the ADB. l

Business18DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

National Bank Limited has recently opened its 191st branch at Bhawlagonj, Panchagarh. The bank’s deputy managing director, Wasif Ali Khan inaugurated the branch

Bank Asia has recently signed an agreement with Nathan Associates London Limited on implementing a Challenge  Fund  titled  “Business Finance for the Poor in Bangladesh (BFP-B)”  under project titled “DIGANTA”. The bank’s managing director, Md Mehmood Husain and team leader of BFP-B, Chris August signed the agreement

Standard Bank Ltd has recently held its 247th board meeting. The bank’s chairperson, Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed presided over the meeting

Asian market rally � zzles on oil price retreatn AFP, Tokyo

Asia-Paci� c stock markets had a see-saw trading day with sentiment hit as oil prices retreated, but Tokyo ended on a high note as one of the best performers of 2015.

A brief rally in the morning gave way to selling in light-volume deals as crude re-sumed its decline ahead of closely watched US oil stockpiles and production data.

The decline kept alive concerns about de-mand and the strength of the global economy.

“Risk sentiment is very much subject to crude oil prices,” Hiroyuki Yamamuro, an an-alyst at Ueda Harlow, told Bloomberg News.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index � nished 0.53% lower, while Shanghai squeaked out a 0.26% gain after dipping in and out of nega-tive territory in earlier trading.

Seoul lost 0.25% by the close, Singapore was down 0.18% and Taiwan fell 0.17%.

But Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 ticked up 0.27% on Japan’s last trading day of the year. l

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader inaugurates SCANIA Vehicles at a function at the Carnival Hall of Bangabandhu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Dhaka Sunday night. Aslamul Haque, lawmaker from Dhaka14, Johan Frisell, Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh, Md Faruk Talukdar Sohel, Managing Director of Innovative Motors & Shohagh Group, Directors of Shohag Group, and Mikhail Kiander, Sales Director of Scania Commercial Vehicle were present

Biz Info 19D

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

All of Sonali bank’s 502 branches covered by core banking will give clients the opportunity to use their SMS banking service. The news was revealed in a ceremony arranged at the head o� ce of Sonali bank in the presence of top executives of both Sonali bank and SSL

The welcome speech was given by Md Nurul Haque, deputy managing director of the bank’s ICT division whereas Md Abdur Rob, deputy managing director of Sonali bank talked about the bene� ts of SMS banking.

Pradip Kumar Datt, Sonali bank’s

managing director and CEO also spoke at the event.

Saiful Islam, managing director, SSL and Ashish Chakraborty, general manager also gave a speech on behalf SSL.

Sonali bank’s 32 thousand users are now enjoying SMS Banking Service covered by CBS through SMS banking. Pradip Kumar Datt believes that the number would increase gradually.

Users covered by SMS Banking can avail the service 24/7 if they have registered their mobile number. Also, they can check their current balance through SMS. l

North South University wins ICT Debate Bengal Meat launches Meat Carnival

On December 23, 2015 National ICT Debate Festival’s Dhaka Metropolitan (North) region’s closing and award giving ceremony was hold at the ICT Division auditorium in Agargaon.

In this regional competition, North South University became champion and Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University became runner-up.

Honorable minister of information Hasanul Haque Inu was present at the ceremony and distributed prizes among the champion and runner-up teams. He remarked, “Now everyone has mobile phones in their hands, laptops on their desks. ICT will be the tool to reduce the distance between urban and rural, to empower women and to deal with the challenges of globalisation.”

Inu also said, “Facebook and Twitter will remain functioning in the country, but terrorism will not. We are heading towards digital Bangladesh. To � ourish the spirit of liberation war, we need to build more liberation war related apps and software.”

State minister of ICT Division, Zunaid Ahmed Palak was special guest at the event. He said, “We need to present the right message of liberation war to all. Information technology will play an important role in this regard. Youth will take the leading role here.”

The competition had teams from American International University of

Bangladesh (AIUB), North South University, Da� odil International University, Bangladesh Textile University, Asian University, East West University, Islamic University of Bangladesh, Bangladesh University of Business and Technology, Green University and Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University.

The ceremony was presided over by honorable secretary of ICT Division, Shyam Shundar Shikdar. Among the distinguished guests, managing director of Bangladesh high tech park authority Hosne Ara Begum, head of Policy, Practice and Program Development of Practical Action Bangladesh Faruque-Ul Islam and Liberation War researcher Bulbul Hasan also commented on the event.

Deputy secretary of ICT Division Mujibul Haque, editor of Campus2Career (C2C) Firoz Choudhury, president of Bangladesh Debate Federation (BDF) Sanjib Saha, executive editor of C2C Anjali Sarker, general secretary of BDF Abdullah Mohammad Shukrana, deputy secretary of BDF Plaban Ganguly and Hasanul Banna presided over the event.

With the slogan of “Information-Logic-Technology,” the debate festival was organised by the ICT Division of ministry of Post, Telecommunication and Technology, Bangladesh Debate Federation and Campus2C areer (www.campus2career24.com). Center for Research Initiative (CRI) provided overall support in organising this festival. l

Sonali bank partners with SSL wireless to provide SMS banking

Bengal Meat, the premium meat processor and retailer in Bangladesh, has launched a meat carnival at Gulshan to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and the New Year. The event kicked o� on December 27, 2015 and is scheduled to go on till January 9, 2016. The carnival includes sales discounts, free food tasting, free cooking facilities, ra� e draw, puzzle games, cooking class and other exciting arrangements for partakers. The carnival is simultaneously being held at six locations including Bengal Meat’s Gourmet Butcher Shop, Dhali Super Shop, Unimart Super Shop, Agora, Lavender and Paramount in Gulshan.

In the carnival, customers are enjoying various facilities and o� erings,

including up to 10% discounts on marinated and meat snack items. Bengal Meat chefs are cooking marinated products for free to willing customers. Free cooking classes, puzzle games for children as well as gift items are up for giveaway. Customers are enjoying free food sampling. Purchasing products worth Tk4000, customers will get a privilege card from Bengal Meat’s Gourmet Butcher Shop that will allow them to bene� t from unique privileges.

At the end of the carnival, a ra� e draw will be held where top two winners at the draw will be awarded with a family trip to Bengal Meat farm and Rabindranath’s Kuthi Bari. 20 other winners will receive exciting cookeries items. l

Dhaka’s very own Radisson Blu Water Garden hotel is set to celebrate this New Year in style. The management has prepared a special set dinner at two of their restaurants, Sublime and Spice & Rice. A special bu� et dinner will also be served at the Water Garden Brasserie.

For table reservations, contact +88029834555, ext: 6029/8831/8811.

New years’ at Radisson Blu

Huawei to launch hot box o� erHuawei, one of the top three largest smartphone makers in the world, is going to launch its Hot Box O� er for customers in Bangladesh. The unique o� er will be in e� ect from January 1, 2016 to January 31, 2016.

Customers purchasing a Huawei G7 Plus, Huawei P8, or Huawei P8 Lite between the � rst and last day of January 2016 will receive a gift box containing any two items from an assortment of accessories like USB Flash Drive, Stainless Steel Mug, Car Phone Holder, LED Light, Bluetooth Speaker, and Sel� e Stick.

‘Customer satisfaction is our fundamental priority. We work tirelessly to ensure that the most useful features a smartphone can o� er reach the palms of our customers. Our continuous pursuit of excellence has been rewarded with signi� cant growth over the years. Bangladesh is an important market for us, and to compliment the support of our Bangladeshi customers towards us, we try to launch o� ers that will add a little extra happiness in their lives,’ said Ingmar Wang, Director of Device Business at Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Ltd.

The global technology giant has recently touched the coveted milestone of shipping 100 million smartphones worldwide in 2015. Ranked among the top 50 most innovative companies in the world by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the company spent 14.2% of its annual revenues ($ 6.3 bn) on Research and Development last year.

Huawei o� ers a diverse range of smartphones in Bangladesh which

have been steadily rising in popularity. Customers can avail this latest o� er at any one of the Huawei Experience Stores in Jamuna Future Park and Bashundhara City, or other brand shops across the nation. l

Downtime20DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

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

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 22 represents D so � ll D every time the � gure 22 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Gloomily sullen (4)4 Custom (5)8 American state (6) 9 To let stand! (4)11 Dance (5)12 Baking chamber (4) 14 Compass point (init) (3)15 Come forth (6)19 Light (6)21 Everyone (3)22 Back of the neck (4)24 Enrich with a gift (5)27 Vast sum (4)29 Cricket team (6)30 Time in grammar (5)31 That following (4)

DOWN 1 Fuel (3)2 Not level (6)3 Limiting mark (4)4 Headwear (3)5 Old saying (5)6 Prohibit (3)7 Plastering tool (6)10 Chinese criminal society (4)13 Meshed fabric (3)14 Most agreeable (6)16 Adults (3)17 Plunder (6)18 Small secluded valley (4)20 Worshipped images (5)23 Prayer ending (4)25 Lair (3)26 Tiny (3)28 Make lace (3)

SUDOKU

INSIDE

21D

TWorldTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

Modi mulls cabinet reshu� e, but lacks right replacementsAfter a drubbing in the Bihar state poll in November, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to overhaul his cabinet to weed out underperformers and improve his gov-ernment’s image. Problem is, several sources said, he can’t � nd the right replacements. PAGE 23

Cecil Rhodes statue row stirs ghosts of British colonialismThe toxic legacy of colonialism in Africa has stirred up a heated debate in Britain involv-ing a prestigious Oxford University college, some high-powered alumni and a student campaign boosted by social media.

PAGE 24

Twitter clari� es rules on banned content, abusive behaviourPopular micro-blogging site Twitter has clar-i� ed its de� nition of abusive behavior that will prompt it to delete accounts, banning “hateful conduct” that promotes violence against speci� c groups. PAGE 24

2015: A year marked by terrorism, refugees, elections and deaths

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 201522D

T Advertisement

WorldSOUTH ASIAKabul to host peace talks meeting next weekAfghanistan will host a meeting with o� cials from Pakistan, the US and China next week to prepare the way for possible peace talks with the Taliban, an o� cial at the Afghan presi-dent’s o� ce said on Tuesday. The preliminary meeting follows moves to try to revive the stalled peace process, which broke down in July after the news was announced of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar. -REUTERS

INDIAIndia test-� res long range surface-to-air missile developed with IsraelIndia successfully test-� red on Wednesday a new long range surface-to-air missile capable of countering aerial threats at extended rang-es. The test-� ring of the missile system, joint-ly developed by India and Israel, was carried out by warship INS Kolkata, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. India, which shares borders with nuclear-armed China and Pakistan, is likely to spend $250bn over the next decade to upgrade its military. -TOI

CHINAChina, Taiwan inaugurate upgraded hotline Cabinet o� cials from China and Taiwan have spoken for the � rst time using a newly inaugurated hotline, the latest e� ort to build trust between the longtime rivals. The link that went into service Wednesday represents an upgrade in contact between the sides by connecting the heads of the two Cabinet-level agencies responsible for their relations. -AP

ASIA PACIFICVietnam warns of ‘toxic’ web use ahead of party shakeupVietnam sought to discourage its inter-net-savvy public on Wednesday from reading web postings that disparaged its Commu-nist Party, warning of an increase in “toxic” activity just weeks away from its scheduled leadership shakeup. Using its new Face-book page, the government vowed to tackle social media criticism of the party without interrupting the internet ahead its � ve-yearly congress in January. “These pages are most distorting and talking bad about our party’s leaders, government and policies,” a minister wrote in the Facebook posting. -REUTERS

MIDDLE EASTUS accuses Iran of conducting rocket test near warshipsIranian naval vessels conducted rocket tests last week near US aircraft-carrier Harry S Truman and other warships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, US Navy Commander Kyle Raines, spokesman for the US Central Command said Wednesday, causing new tension between the two nations after a landmark nuclear deal. The vital strait, a nar-row waterway between Iran and Oman that is the route for nearly a third of all oil traded by sea, is crucial for ships taking part in the war against the IS in Iraq and Syria. - AP

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 201523

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Belgium, Netherlands to exchange territory, without a � ght n Tribune Desk

Throughout history, borders have caused unfathomable bloodshed, ageless feuds and decades-old legal disputes, which makes plans for a friendly exchange of land be-tween the Netherlands and Belgium all the more remarkable.

While Belgium will be losing a splendid piece of nature that juts into the Meuse River dividing the two nations, it will also unburden itself of a jurisdictional night-mare that developed over time as the river meandered to turn the portion of land be-longing to Belgium — about 15 soccer � elds worth — into a peninsula linked only to the Netherlands.

Over time, the area was rumored to be increasingly lawless, a haven for drug deal-ers and illicit sexual escapades. Then, some three years ago, passersby stumbled onto a headless body. “They alerted Dutch au-thorities, who told them it was Belgian ter-ritory,” said Jean-Francois Duchesne, police Commissaire of the Lower Meuse region.

In short, the Dutch could not go there be-cause it was Belgian territory, and Belgian police and judicial authorities found it ex-tremely tough to get there. They are not al-lowed to cross into the Netherlands without special permission and the peninsula had no proper landing zone for boats or equip-ment coming in by water.

But soon there will be no more wading in water, and a peaceful swap should be reality.

Preparatory work has been done and the two nations’ parliaments should be able to complete a deal sometime in 2016, sources con� rmed, almost two centuries after the 1843 border posts were set. And all with a smile on everyone’s face, even though Bel-gium will get only a tiny part around a lock that has been built to promote tra� c be-tween the two nations.

Border swaps can happen but mostly af-ter bitter quarrels.

On the Indian-Bangladeshi border this

summer, a dispute that raged since In-dia’s independence from British coloni-alists in 1947 was settled when the coun-tries swapped more than 150 exclaves of land.

Earlier this month, it took the United Nations’ highest court to settle a dispute between two Central American nations. The court ruled that Nicaragua violated Costa Rica’s territorial integrity in a longstanding � ght over a small chunk of land near the shores of the Caribbean Sea. l

Modi mulls cabinet reshu� e, but lacks right replacementsn Reuters, New Delhi

After a drubbing in the Bihar state poll in November, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to overhaul his cabinet to weed out underperformers and improve his gov-ernment’s image. Problem is, several sourc-es said, he can’t � nd the right replacements.

As New Delhi buzzes with speculation about changes in several ministries, senior members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Par-ty (BJP) and a close aide to Modi said some changes could come early next year but the talent pool was too shallow to engineer a major revamp.

Pressure is mounting on Modi to revive his party’s fortunes. Nearly two years after he swept to power on a promise of jobs and growth, the shine is coming o� - reforms to revive investment have withered and the economy is stuttering. Rural distress has grown after two successive droughts.

“The challenge is to identify the right candidates who can deliver fast-paced re-forms and policies in their work sphere,” the prime minister’s aide said.

Articulate and suave, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been considered for the defence portfolio, another high-pro� le role that is crucial to Modi’s geopolitical ambi-

tions and plans to boost Indian industry. But there was no one to take Jaitley’s place in � nance, the sources said.

Some ministers are also looking for a change. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked to be moved to a portfolio with a more domestic focus, the sources said.

Speculation is junior ministers Giriraj Singh and Niranjan Jyoti could be removed after they made public remarks construed as anti-minority, the sources said. Singh’s and Jyoti’s o� ces said they have no infor-mation about Modi’s reshu� e plans.

Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari was o� ered additional charge of the agri-culture ministry, but he declined saying he already had too big a job, the sources said.

Modi tends to keep such decisions close to his chest, and the sources said the � nal decision lay with the prime minister. They added that he has yet to make up his mind on the changes, and that nothing has been con� rmed.

Dearth of talentThe problem with the government’s search for talent is that Modi’s Hindu nationalist administration is loath to tap people who are associated with other ideologies, such as liberals or the left.

At the same time, the right-wing intelli-gentsia has not developed after decades of rule by the centrist Congress party, under which liberal institutions � ourished.

“Compared to the Congress, we have a smaller talent pool and less exposure, but it’s only a matter of time that we expand our base,” BJP vice president Vinay Sahas-rabuddhe said.

BJP’s defeat in Bihar state polls earlier this year led to calls from within the party and the Hindu group that is its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to remove ministers and party o� -cials who failed to deliver.

Although a general election is not due until 2019, the government’s fortunes will depend on upcoming provincial polls, in-cluding an election in bellwether Uttar Pradesh state in 2017.

Top RSS and BJP leaders are expected to meet in New Delhi in the second week of January, where these issues are likely to be discussed.

Modi is looking to the RSS and may go further a� eld in southern and northeastern states to � nd new, lesser-known faces to bring to his government, his aide said. That would also give his cabinet a more pan-In-dia feel, the aide said. l

In this � le photo, people walk past Dutch and Belgian � ags on the waterfront in Eijsden, Netherlands AP

WorldUSANSA snooping included Israeli calls with US lawmakers The US National Security Agency’s foreign eavesdropping included phone conversations between top Israeli o� cials and US lawmakers and American-Jewish groups, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. White House o� cials believed the intercepted information could be valuable to counter Israel Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign against the nuclear deal with Iran. -REUTERS

THE AMERICASPre-historic animal shell found in Argentina A passer-by on Christmas Day found a me-ter-long shell on a riverbank in Argentina which may be from a glyptodont, a prehistoric kind of giant armadillo, experts said Tuesday. “There is no doubt that it looks like a glyptodont,” said paleontologist Alejandro Kramarz of the Berna-dino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum. -AFP

UKUK policy chief apologises for 30-year-old race commentsBritish Prime Minister David Cameron’s policy chief apologised on Wednesday after a newly released memo from 30 years ago revealed he had blamed poor morals in the black community for riots and said any investment would be wasted on discos and drugs. Oliver Letwin, a senior minister in Cameron’s government, made the com-ments in a con� dential memo to the prime minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, fol-lowing riots in north London which revealed the deep strains between Britain’s poor black community and the police. -REUTERS

EUROPEMerkel, Hollande, Putin, Poroshenko renew support for cease� re in UkraineThe leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine renewed their support for a cease� re in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday following phone discussions, the French presidency said in a statement. “Angela Merkel, Fran-cois Hollande, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko rea� rmed their commitment to a cease� re in eastern Ukraine,” and the “con-certed withdrawal without delay of heavy weapons,” the Elysee Palace said. The leaders spoke for two hours in their � rst discussions since meeting in Paris on October 2. -AFP

AFRICANigerian builds biggest statue of Jesus in Africa A Nigerian businessman is set to unveil what he says is Africa’s largest statue of Jesus, describing it as a symbol of peace in a country wracked by religious insurgency. Obinna Onuoha commissioned the 28 foot tall “Jesus de Greatest” statue in 2013, hiring a Chinese company to carve it out of white marble. Around 1,000 people are expected to attend the statue’s unveiling on New Year’s Day. Reactions to the statue among Nigerians are mixed. -AFP

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 201524D

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INSIGHT

Cecil Rhodes statue row stirs ghosts of British colonialismn AFP, London

The toxic legacy of colonialism in Africa has stirred up a heated debate in Britain involv-ing a prestigious Oxford University college, some high-powered alumni and a student campaign boosted by social media.

The focus of the debate is an unremarkable limestone statue looking down on Oxford’s High Street of Cecil Rhodes, the Victorian-era tycoon who founded the De Beers diamond company and what is now Zimbabwe.

“To put someone so literally on a pedestal is to tacitly condone their legacy,” said Daisy Chandley, a student and organising member of the Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford campaign.

Smudged by passing tra� c on a busy thoroughfare and soiled by pigeons, the Rho-des statue is still in a stunning location sur-rounded by Oxford’s dreaming spires in the heart of the university’s college community.

An inscription underneath pays homage to Rhodes -- a white supremacist like many builders of the British empire -- for his do-nation to Oriel College.

Inspired by the popular movement that forced the removal of a statue of the famous colonialist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, campaigners have been asking the British college to do the same.

‘Wider racism’The campaigns are distinct but supporters in Oxford use the same hashtag #RhodesMust-Fall as the Cape Town campaign and their ac-tions have fuelled a political debate in South Africa as well as soul-searching in Britain ranging well beyond the statue itself.

“There have always been those who have questioned the statue as well as the wider rac-ism within the university but the movement in South Africa brought debate over similar problems in Oxford to the forefront and trig-

gered collective action,” Chandley said.The university rejects accusations of rac-

ism but Oriel College promised to be “more diverse and inclusive of people from all backgrounds” in a response to the campaign earlier this month.

It said it would take down a Rhodes plaque on the wall of another college build-ing and agreed to a six-month “listening exercise” on whether to remove the statue.

The college said Rhodes’s values “stand in absolute contrast to the ethos of the scholarship programme today and to the values of a modern University.”

It said it would put up a sign in an an-tique window below the statue saying that “the college does not in any way condone or

glorify his views or actions.”But it also talked up the positive contri-

bution of the Rhodes Scholarships, which have allowed 8,000 students from around the world to study at Oxford, including for-mer US president Bill Clinton and former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott.

One of the organisers of the campaign, South African Ntokozo Qwabe, was himself named a Rhodes Scholar last year and has defended himself against charges of hypoc-risy by saying that he is taking back some of the money that Rhodes took from Africa.

“I’m no bene� ciary of Rhodes. I’m a ben-e� ciary of the resources and labour of my people which Rhodes pillaged and slaved,” he wrote on Facebook.

‘A man of his times’Academics, politicians and famous Oxford alumni have waded into the row, heatedly debating the rights and wrongs of honour-ing a man who was a major driver of British territorial expansion in southern Africa and a key player in the Boer Wars that left thou-sands dead.

In a letter to The Times newspaper, South Africa’s last white president FW de Klerk, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, dis-missed the campaign as “folly.”

“If the political correctness of today were applied consistently, very few of Oxford’s great � gures would pass scrutiny,” wrote de Klerk, who was key in ending racial segre-gation in South Africa.

But in an open letter to Britain’s Inde-pendent daily, Abbott said Rhodes was “a man of his times.”

“The university should remember that its mission is not to re� ect fashion but to seek truth and that means striving to under-stand before rushing to judge.” l

Twitter clari� es rules on banned content, abusive behaviourn Reuters, Boston/Washington, DC

Popular micro-blogging site Twitter has clari� ed its de� nition of abusive behavior that will prompt it to delete accounts, ban-ning “hateful conduct” that promotes vio-lence against speci� c groups.

The social media company disclosed the changes on Tuesday in a blog post, follow-ing rising criticism it was not doing enough to thwart Islamic State’s use of the site for propaganda and recruitment.

“As always, we embrace and encourage diverse opinions and beliefs, but we will continue to take action on accounts that cross the line into abuse,” Megan Cristina, director of Trust and Safety, said in the blog.

The new rules do not mention Islamic State or any other group by name.

“You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other peo-

ple on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious a� liation, age, disability or disease,” according to the revised rules.

The company previously used a more generic warning that banned users from threatening or promoting “violence against others.”

JM Berger, co-author of a March 2015 Brookings Institute “census” of ISIS Twitter use, which found that the militant group had operated at least 46,000 accounts from September to December of last year, said the change would lead to more aggressive re-porting of abuse by users who � ag accounts that break the rules.

“The new de� nition is much clearer and takes some of the guesswork out of determin-ing if a Tweet violates the rules,” Berger said.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who heads the Digital Terrorism and Hate Project at the Si-

mon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said that “terrorists and hate groups will leave” if Twitter enforces the revised rules.

He said that would require blocking re-peat o� enders from setting up new accounts with altered handles and remove thousands of existing counts that violate the policy.

Tuesday’s announcement did not dis-close changes to Twitter’s enforcement strategy. A company spokesman declined to say if any were in the works.

The new rules also said that Twitter might respond to reports that somebody is consid-ering “self-harm” by contacting the person to express concern and provide contact infor-mation to mental health practitioners.

Lawmakers in Congress proposed legis-lation earlier this month that would require social media operators, including Twitter and Facebook Inc, to notify federal authori-ties of any detected “terrorist activity.” l

The statue of Cecil Rhodes is seen on the facade of Oriel College in Oxford REUTERS

25D

TSportINSIDE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

Of Bangladesh football, hopes and despairThe year 2015 could have ended on a positive note for Bangladesh football if the national team had not crashed out of the Sa� Suzuki Cup in the group stages. This is the third time in succession that the Bengal Tigers have failed to reach the knockout round in the regional tournament. PAGE 26

Head coach Maruful has a change of heartMaruful Haque is all set to continue as the head coach of the Bangladesh football team. His next assignment will be the upcoming fourth edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, scheduled to begin January 8. Maruful earlier announced that he will not continue his temporary role. PAGE 27

Kompany blow as City frustrated by LeicesterManchester City could be without captain Vincent Kompany for up to four weeks with the calf injury that kept him out of Tuesday’s goalless draw at Leicester. Manager Manuel Pellegrini revealed that the Belgian centre-back faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines. PAGE 28

Moeen Ali spins England to crushing winMoeen Ali spun England to a crushing 241-run win over South Africa on the � fth and � nal day of the � rst Test at Kingsmead yesterday. O� -spinner Ali took three early wickets as South Africa lost their last six wickets for 38 runs. South Africa lost batting kingpin AB de Villiers leg before wicket to the third ball of the day. PAGE 29

SQUADTamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Imrul Kayes, Musta� -zur Rahman, Jahurul Islam, Abu Haider Rony, Liton Kumar Das, Al Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Sha� ul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammed Shahid, Mohammed Mithun, Abul Hasan Raju, Mush� qur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Shakib al Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rab-bi, Mahmudullah, Arafat Sunny, Nasir Hos-sain, Saqlain Sajib, Quazi Nurul Hasan, Sohag Gazi, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury. l

Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal (C) is all smiles while holding a ballot of Dhaka Tribune during the draw ceremony of the Pran Frooto BSJA Media Cup Cricket 2015 at the Bangladesh Olympic Association auditorium yesterday. Tribune is grouped together with SA TV and Sokaler Khobor. The 24-team tournament will get underway tomorrow at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium DHAKA TRIBUNE

It’s time to give back to cricket, says TamimAge-level tournaments all set for mid-Feb startn Minhaz Uddin Khan

A couple of months ago, Bangladesh open-ing batsman Tamim Iqbal had expressed his desire of returning something back to the game that has given him so much.

And yesterday, the southpaw followed up on his promise as he declared his inten-tion of organising age-level tournaments for the young Chittagong cricketers. Tamim, who hails from the port-city, while attend-ing the BSJA (Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association) Media Cup Cricket draw at the Bangladesh Olympic Association audito-rium yesterday informed that he will hold three age-level tournaments in Chittagong in memory of his late father Iqbal Khan.

The Iqbal Memorial Cricket, with ‘No to Drugs, Yes to Cricket’ as its motto, will stage Under-13, U-15 and U-18 competitions. Tamim stated that the U-13 tournament will feature 30-over matches, U-15 40-over games while U-18 two-dayers in order to acquaint the youngsters with the longer version.

If everything falls into place, the tour-nament, featuring the leading cricket acad-emies in Chittagong, will launch o� cially on January 25, 2016 while the competition proper will begin mid-February.

“There is only one reason for hosting the tournament which is to improve cricket in Chittagong. The tournament will try to � nd out the talented cricketers of the region. But

I want the tournament to have value. For instance, let’s say I play in big tournaments like the BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) which has a certain value. So I want Iqbal Memorial Cricket to have that value. All the cricketers participating in this tournament should have the motive to perform and highlight their talent,” Tamim explained to the media personnel.

The dashing opener said international cricket rules and regulations will be in place in the tournament in order to add more impor-tance. “The tournament committee, compris-ing the leading organisers, coaches and skilled professionals of Chittagong, will provide all the necessary support to the participating teams. They will prepare the teams in the best manner possible so that it has a positive e� ect on the tournament itself,” said Tamim.

Tamim further added that the tourna-ment is a non-pro� t event. The national cricketer informed that he, alongside his family and friends, will bear the major costs of the tournament with minimal support from the sponsors.

“I am overwhelmed by the sponsors’ response. There are many companies who want to fund the whole tournament but I don’t want that to happen. I am literally turning down several o� ers,” he said before adding, “Whatever I am today is because of cricket so it is my duty to respect that and give something back to the game.” l

Rony rewarded for BPL heroics, named in prelim squadn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Cricket Board is still unsure over whether the remainder of the bilateral home series against Zimbabwe will go ahead next January. The BCB is currently in talks with Zimbabwe Cricket and it was learned that a � nal decision on the series will be announced within the next few days.

Even then, the BCB is not sitting idle as it named the Tigers’ 27-member preliminary squad for the probable Zimbabwe series.

Young left-arm paceman Abu Haider Rony is at the centre of all the attention after taking 21 wickets in 12 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 matches recently. It was therefore, no surprise when he was named in the pre-liminary squad.

Proli� c young batsman Mosaddek Hos-sain and wicketkeeper-batsman Quazi Nurul Hasan also received their � rst ever call-ups to the national side.

26DT Sport

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

F O O T A L LB 2015

Of Bangladesh football, hopes and despairn Shishir Hoque

The year 2015 could have ended on a positive note for Bangladesh football if the national team had not crashed out of the Sa� Suzuki Cup in the group stages. This is the third time in succession that the Bengal Tigers have failed to reach the knockout round in the tour-nament that is considered to be as important as the World Cup for the south Asian nations.

Apart from the failure in the Sa� Cham-pionship, Bangladesh football experienced a host of international matches in and around Asia and Australia. The changing of coaches was also a common theme throughout the year and as a result, it was the country’s foot-ball that su� ered.

The year also saw Bangladesh host new tournaments, featuring international teams and clubs. And just like the previous year, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi once again rep-resented the red and green � ag abroad this year, tasting unprecedented success.

National striker Sabina Khatun mean-while became the � rst Bangladeshi female footballer to play in a foreign league.

RECORD NUMBER OF INT’L MATCHES

The Bengal Tigers played 18 international matches this year; highest ever in a calender year. In 2015, the national football-ers were more busy playing for club and country than the last two or three years combined. The win-against-defeat ratio however, makes for poor reading. Bangladesh managed only three victories – two of those coming in the third edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup - against 11 losses. As far as the World Cup quali� ers are concerned, the Bengal Tigers con-tested seven matches with the only positive result coming against Kyrgyzstan at home – a draw. l

BIG OPPONENTS, BIG EXPERIENCE

Pitting their wits against teams like Asian champions Australia at home and away and sharing the same pitch with veteran Socceroos striker Tim Cahill and other world-class players are some memories the Bangladesh footballers will cherish for a long time. Following the 5-0 defeat in Perth, Bangladesh entertained Australia at Bangabandhu National Stadium and even though the outcome was a foregone conclusion, the enthusiasm of the capacity crowd caught the attention of all and sundry. Playing against Jordan, who almost quali� ed for the Brazil World Cup, at home was also a memorable occasion for Bangladesh. l

CHANGE OF GUARD ALL TOO OFTEN

After getting the sack at the end of 2014, Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif returned as the Bangladesh tactician for the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. The Dutchman guided his charg-es to the � nal and convinced the Bangladesh Football Federa-tion to extend his stay till September only to be sacked again in favour of the unproven and untested Italian Fabio Lopez. Under his guidance, Bangladesh displayed poor performanc-es in Kyrgyzstan and China. After showing Lopez the way out, the BFF appointed local coach Maruful Haque, albeit tempo-rarily, for the Sa� Championship.

And it looks like the Bengal Tigers will get another new ga� er ahead of the fourth edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, scheduled to begin January 8. l

GLORY FOR SHEIKH JAMAL

Bangladesh Premier League champions Sheikh Jamal con-tinued their domination, both at home and abroad. Having already won the Federation Cup and the premier league title, Sheikh Jamal also turned out to be group champions in the AFC Cup Quali� ers in Kyrgyzstan. l

NEW TOURNAMENTS

Kazi Salahuddin-led BFF kept its promise of holding the much-awaited Bangabandhu Gold Cup in January and the fourth edition of the tournament is all set to kick o� next month. Bangladesh produced some promising performances to reach the � nal before being denied by Malaysia in a thrill-er. The Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Chittagong, featuring eight clubs from south Asia, was also introduced this year. Under the supervision of head coach Sha� qul Islam Manik, Chittagong Abahani emerged as the champions ahead of established sides from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Af-ghanistan. The BFF also agreed in principle to host the fran-chise-based Bangladesh Super League in 2017. l

SAFF DEBACLE AND WHAT WE LEARNED

The failure in the Sa� Championship rightly shook up the BFF. Consequently, football’s governing body in the country formed a committee to investigate the poor performance and it goes without saying that the aftermath will not be pretty. Talismanic mid� elder Mamunul Islam has already announced that he will step down as captain and the footballers are brac-ing themselves for more changes in the squad, including that of the manager. With so many changes on the cards, the BFF should start planning immediately for the future. l

3

4

3712

11

INTERNATIONAL MATCH PLAYED 18

CONCEDED SCORED

WIN LOSS DRAW

GOALS

Bangladesh goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel (L) gathers the ball during their 2018 Fifa World Cup second round quali� er against Australia at Bangabandhu National Stadium on November 17. Veteran Socceroos striker Tim Cahill (2R), meanwhile, looks on from the background

PHOTOS:MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

Former champion Elzbieta Krzesinska diesFormer Olympic long jump champion Elzbieta Krzesinska, winner of gold at the 1956 Mel-bourne Games, has died at the age of 81 years, the Polish Athletics Federation announced on Tuesday. Born in Warsaw, Krzesinska set a world record in Budapest in 1956 with a jump of 6.35m. She took the Olympic gold in Melbourne that year with the same mark. Four years later at the Rome Olympics she took silver behind Soviet athlete Vera Krepkina with a jump of 6.27 m. She also won two European Championships medals.

–AFP

Qatari-owned PSG yet to win over the localsParis Saint-Germain may be Qatari-owned, runaway Ligue 1 leaders, unbeaten all season and an outside bet for this season’s Champions League but they are still battling to win over Qatari fans. The French champions are cur-rently on their winter tour in Doha, a four-day visit combining training sessions, PR work and, ultimately, yesterday’s friendly against Italian league leaders Inter Milan in front of a sell-out crowd. The club have been Qatari-owned since 2011, when Qatar Sports Investments became the majority shareholder, in a deal thought to be worth around 50 million euros.

–AFP

Radford quits Glamorgan head coach roleToby Radford has left his position as head coach of Glamorgan a year before his three-year contract was due to � nish, the Welsh county announced yesterday. Radford, 44, linked up with Glamorgan in October 2013, having previously served as batting coach with the West Indies. Glamorgan ended eighth in County Championship Division Two in Radford’s � rst year in charge in 2014 and last season � nished fourth - their second highest championship position in the last decade.

–AFP

South Africa add two to squadThe South African selectors yesterday added wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock and fast bowler Chris Morris to their squad for the second Test against England starting in Cape Town on Saturday. The additions were announced after South Africa su� ered a 241-run defeat in the � rst Test at Kingsmead.

–AFP

Injured McCullum may miss third Sri Lanka ODINew Zealand could get an earlier than expected taste of life without Brendon McCullum today with the swashbuckling captain likely to sit out the third one-day international against Sri Lanka. McCullum, who will retire from international cricket in February, hurt his back in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. “He’s still pretty sore,” coach Mike Hesson said after McCullum skipped training yesterday.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES Maruful has a change of heartn Tribune Report

Maruful Haque is all set to continue as the head coach of the Bangladesh football team. His next assignment will be the upcoming fourth edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, scheduled to begin January 8.

Maruful, the only Uefa A licenced coach in south Asia, earlier announced that he will not continue his temporary role after the national team’s failure in the ongoing Sa� Suzuki Cup where they crashed out in the group stages.

Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin sat in a meeting with Maru-ful yesterday at the BFF House where the lat-ter agreed to carry on his responsibility.

“He (Salahuddin) wanted to know the reasons behind the bad results in Sa� . I ex-plained everything to him. He asked me if I want to continue. I replied if the federation has faith in me then I will continue. He then told me to stay in the job for the Bangaband-hu Gold Cup,” said Maruful yesterday. l

England have taken big strides: Cookn AFP, Durban

England captain Alastair Cook hailed the performance and potential of his team after they completed a crushing 241-run win over South Africa on the � fth day of the � rst Test at Kingsmead yesterday.

It took England only 80 minutes to take South Africa’s remaining six wickets for the addition of 38 runs, with man-of-the-match Moeen Ali setting the tone by dismissing bat-ting kingpin AB de Villiers with the third ball of the day. He followed up with two more wick-ets and had match � gures of seven for 116.

Cook said a key factor had been batting solidly in bowler-friendly overhead condi-tions on the � rst day after being sent in.

“It was an interesting toss, the overheads were suggesting you want to bowl � rst but the pitch was quite dry,” said Cook.

“We would also have bowled � rst. It was a matter of getting through that � rst day. The way Nick (Compton) played really set up the � rst innings. From that moment on, the guys bowled particularly well to take 20 wickets and we scored enough runs in the second innings.”

Cook said a convincing win against a strong South Africa A team in the build-up to the Test had given the players a lot of con� -dence. “It was particularly pleasing to back up our form under pressure in a Boxing Day Test match.”

With only a two-day turnaround before the second Test starts in Cape Town on Sat-urday, Cook said it was important to recover well and to avoid complacency. “It can turn very quickly. They have world-class players so we can’t get too carried away. But it would be nice to get our noses ahead again and to continue to put pressure on South Africa.”

Despite his � fth-ranked side defeating the current Test number ones, Cook said it was too early to predict a period of ascendancy for England. But he said: “The guys have taken big strides forward as a team over the last eight months or so. It’s a good side to

captain, there’s a good balance, the guys are happy and they seem really hungry.

“Potentially this team can do some really good things. There’s so much talent in this side. But it will take relentless hard work and good results over a long period of time.”

South African captain Hashim Amla, meanwhile, admitted that his team’s batting had been “most disappointing”, es-pecially following a poor performance on a similarly good batting pitch in the � nal Test in Delhi earlier this month during a losing se-ries in India.

Amla said his team’s lack of batting form was “a con� dence thing” and acknowledged that his own lack of runs was a concern.

“As captain you want to lead from the front not being in the runs is most disap-pointing from me. It’s a developing team but certainly from my perspective getting runs

on the board is most important.”Amla admitted that regaining form and

con� dence could only come from scoring runs. “If you get the runs you get the con� -dence. You can be doing everything well in the nets and working behind the scenes but it’s got to materialise with some sort of runs on the board, especially in the big games.”

Amla said he still enjoyed being captain but ducked questions about possible chang-es in the team. “I try and leave those things to the selectors. I can only give my opinion.”

He hinted, however, that Quinton de Kock could come into the side for the second Test as a wicketkeeper-batsman, enabling AB de Villiers to play as a batsman only. “AB’s workload has been great than we expected,” he said. South African coach Russell Domingo admitted: “We didn’t play half as well as we can.” l

England captain Alastair Cook (R) claps hands as he acknowledges supporters while leaving the � eld after winning the � rst Test match against South Africa at Kingsmead, Durban yesterday AP

28DT Sport

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS

Team GP W D L GD PTS

1 Arsenal 19 12 3 4 15 39

2 Leicester City 19 11 6 2 12 39

3 Man City 19 11 3 5 17 36

4 Tottenham 19 9 8 2 18 35

5 Crystal Palace 19 9 4 6 7 31

6 Man United 19 8 6 5 6 30

7 West Ham 19 7 8 4 5 29

8 Watford 19 8 5 6 4 29

9 Stoke City 19 8 5 6 1 29

10 Liverpool 18 7 6 5 -1 27

11 Everton 19 6 8 5 7 26

12 Southampton 19 6 6 7 3 24

13 West Brom 19 6 5 8 -6 23

14 Chelsea 19 5 5 9 -6 20

15 Norwich City 19 5 5 9 -10 20

16 Bournemouth 19 5 5 9 -12 20

17 Swansea City 19 4 7 8 -8 19

18 Newcastle 19 4 5 10 -15 17

19 Sunderland 18 3 3 12 -18 12

20 Aston Villa 19 1 5 13 -19 8 Leicester City’s English striker Jamie Vardy (C) has a shot at goal � anked by Manchester City’s French defender Eliaquim Mangala (L) and English goalkeeper Joe Hart during their English Premier League match at the King Power stadium in Leicester, England on Tuesday AP

Arsenal will be busy in transfer window: Wengern Reuters, London

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he will be busy in the January transfer window as he seeks reinforcements to keep the Gunners on top of the Premier League.

The Frenchman would not be drawn on names, however, despite British media reports that Basel’s Egyptian international mid� elder Mohamed Elneny was set to be-come his � rst signing of 2016.

“You know more than I do. Unfortunate-ly we cannot announce anything at the mo-

ment about this player because nothing has been concluded,” Wenger told a news confer-ence ahead of Saturday’s home game against struggling Newcastle United.

“I will be busy, yes. I am already. I said al-

ready one month ago we are a bit short at the moment to deal with all the competitions we face, especially in mid� eld,” he added. “We will be busy.”

Wenger needs cover in central mid� eld with Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere all sidelined with injuries.

Arsenal, who went top on Monday after beating Bournemouth 2-0, are also without England striker Danny Welbeck. Elneny has impressed at Basel and reports have suggest-ed Arsenal have already agreed a fee with the Swiss side.

Southampton mid� elder Victor Wanyama could be another target although the Saints are likely to resist. Wenger indicated France international defender Mathieu Debuchy could be on his way out this season. l

Kompany blow as City frustrated by Leicestern AFP, Leicester

Manchester City could be without captain Vincent Kompany for up to four weeks with the calf injury that kept him out of Tuesday’s goalless draw at Leicester.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini revealed that the Belgian centre-back faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines after limping o� during the 4-1 Boxing Day win against Sunderland.

Kompany had made his comeback as a substitute against the Black Cats after six weeks out with another calf injury and he watched the draw with the Foxes from the stands at the King Power Stadium.

“Vincent has an injury, a second degree of his calf,” Pellegrini said. 

“It’s not the same injury, the same calf but in a di� erent part. I am not a doctor but nor-mally a muscle injury of less than three or four weeks is very di� cult, especially in the calf.

“We hope that he can recover as soon as he can but it’s very important until we solve this to defend the way we did in this game.”

Pellegrini’s side moved to within three points of leaders Arsenal with a point at Leicester while the home side went level on points with the Gunners at the season’s half-way point.

But Manchester City are now without a win in six away games in the Premier League - a record that has prevented them building fully on their � ying start to the season.

They dominated long spells of the � rst half against Leicester but were unable to � nd

a goal and found themselves forced back by the home side after the break.

Pellegrini said: “I don’t divide games that we play into home and away.

“We have a season and it’s important to have the amount of points you need to win the title. We need to win but we are the best team at home. In the second half of the sea-son we will keep improving and if you ask me if I’m happy, I say yes because we are near the top of the table.

“We had more possession and attempts than Leicester and did more to win the game, but if you can’t win it’s important not to lose.

“We were very solid and defended well against a di� cult team. I’m not happy but I’m not disappointed either because we played well but didn’t score.”

Leicester will end 2015 with a share of the Premier League lead after entering the year at the bottom of the table.

They are just one point away from manag-er Claudio Ranieri’s initial target of 40 points with their supporters beginning to dream of a genuine title challenge.

The Italian said: “What we are doing is unbelievable. The � rst half of the season is magni� cent and I don’t have words to say how happy I am.

“The Premier League this season is strange. The bigger teams should be able to stay away from us but we are there and we would love to stay there. I know it’s not our position but we will � ght for it. We’re the basement and the other teams are a villa with a swimming pool. It’s not easy for us.” l

Villa looking to sign Chelsea’s Remyn Reuters

Aston Villa will aim to sign Chelsea’s out-of-favour striker Loic Remy when the January transfer window opens, manager Remi Garde said yesterday, as he bids to secure the West Midlands club’s Premier League status for next season.

Villa, who are last on the table with just eight points from 19 games and 11 points be-hind safety, will hope Remy can solve their problems in attack, having netted just 15 goals so far in the league.

“Loic is a guy I know well, he would be an interesting player for the team. I can’t tell you (our chances of signing him),” Garde told reporters yesterday when asked if he is inter-ested in the 28-year-old. “He is part of some players I am trying to attract to Aston Villa, for sure. Loic is quite a special one, he knows the country, the league.” l

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

DAY’S WATCHSony Six6:00PM Mubadala Tennis Championships: Day 1 Sony Kix9:00PM Spanish La LigaVillarreal v Valencia Star Sports 12:10PM KFC T20 Big Bash League Adelaide Strikers v Sydney Sixers Star Sports 4SAFF Championship 2015 4:00PM Semi-� nals: India v Maldives7:00PM Semi-� nals: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka

England, � rst innings, 303South Africa, � rst innings, 214England, second innings, 326SOUTH AFRICA, SECOND INNINGS R B(overnight 136-4)D Elgar c Root b Finn 40 71S van Zyl b Stokes 33 36H Amla c Bairstow b Finn 12 23A de Villiers lbw b Ali 37 86F du Plessis c Cook b Finn 9 66D Steyn b Finn 2 21T Bavuma st Bairstow b Ali 0 6J Duminy not out 26 69K Abbott lbw b Ali 2 11D Piedt c Taylor b Woakes 0 27M Morkel lbw b Broad 8 20Extras (b2, lb3) 5Total (71 overs) 174

Fall of wickets1-53 (Van Zyl), 2-85 (Amla), 3-88 (Elgar), 4-136 (Du Plessis), 5-136 (De Villiers), 6-136 (Bavuma), 7-138 (Steyn), 8-143 (Abbott), 9-155 (Piedt)BowlingBroad 13-5-29-1, Woakes 10-5-25-1, Finn 15-6-42-4, Stokes 7-1-26-1, Ali 26-9-47-3Result: England won by 241 runs, lead series 1-0

SA v ENG, DAY 5

England spinner Moeen Ali (L) celebrates with teammate James Taylor (R) after taking a wicket on the � fth day of their � rst Test match against South Africa at Kingsmead, Durban yesterday AP

Ali spins England to crushing winn AFP, Durban

Moeen Ali spun England to a crushing 241-run win over South Africa on the � fth and � nal day of the � rst Test at Kingsmead yes-terday.

O� -spinner Ali took three early wickets as South Africa lost their last six wickets for 38 runs.

Starting the day on 136 for four, South Af-rica lost batting kingpin AB de Villiers leg be-fore wicket to the third ball of the day when he went back on his stumps to a ball from Ali which skidded through and hit him low on his pads.

With the third ball of his next over, Ali struck again when Temba Bavuma skipped down the wicket to a ball which drifted past his bat to provide Jonny Bairstow with an easy stumping.

Including the wicket of Faf du Plessis, who fell to Steven Finn with what proved to be the last wicket of the fourth day, three wickets had fallen for no runs.

Only two more runs were scored before Finn bowled nightwatchman Dale Steyn.

Ali claimed his third wicket of the morning when Kyle Abbott, like De Villiers, went back on his stumps and was leg before wicket.

JP Duminy, one of the batsmen whose form has been a concern for South Afri-ca, made 26 not out before Stuart Broad wrapped up the win by having Morne Morkel leg before wicket.

It was a decisive win for England, who went into the series in � fth place on the Test rankings, while top-ranked South Africa suf-fered a continuation of the batting woes they su� ered while being beaten 3-0 in a recent four-Test series in India. 

England batted better than South Africa, with most of their batsmen making useful contributions, while Broad, Finn and Ali spearheaded their bowling.

Broad created early havoc in South Afri-ca’s � rst innings, while Finn’s three wickets on the fourth day were decisive blows.

Ali’s consistency while bowling long spells enabled England captain Alastair Cook to ro-tate his fast bowlers and Ali � nished with match � gures of seven for 116.

Finn took six wickets in the match and Broad � ve.

With only two days before the second Test starts at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, South Africa have minimal time in which to � nd solutions to their batting prob-lems, while their bowling seems certain to be weakened by the absence of star bowler Dale Steyn because of a shoulder injury. l

Afghanistan hold on to beat Zimbabwe in second ODIn AFP, Sharjah

Afghanistan survived a middle-order batting collapse to claim a four-wicket win over Zim-babwe in Sharjah on Tuesday and take a 2-0 lead in the � ve-match one-day international series.

Wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad held his nerve as wickets tumbled around him, scoring an unbeaten 131 - the highest ODI

score by an Afghan batsman - to help the non-Test playing nation chase down a target of 254 with 14 balls to spare.

Afghanistan were cruising at 169-1, but the run out of Mohammad Nabi triggered an alarming collapse that saw them lose � ve wickets for just 29 runs.

However, an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 56 between Shahzad and Mirwais Ashraf (26 not out) saw them over the line as Afghanistan bid to follow up a 3-2 win in the ODI series in Zimbabwe in October.

“The ball didn’t come onto the bat, so the plan was to bat till the end. Two consecutive wins against a Test team is a proud moment for us,” Shahzad, who carried his bat in his record-breaking innings, told cricinfo.com.

Zimbabwe, who were skittled out for just 82 in the � rst ODI on Friday, posted a far more competitive total this time although it still fell short.l

BRIEF SCOREZimbabwe

253-7 in 50 overs (Craig Ervine 73, Peter Moor 50; Dawlat Zadran 3-57)

Afghanistan254-6 in 47.4 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 131 not out;

Elton Chigumbura 3-32)Afghanistan won by 4 wickets

Showtime30DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

n Promiti Prova Chowdhury

“Hands up! You are under arrest!”That is the most widely used dialogue

of commercial Bangladeshi cinemas where at the end, the policemen strong in, guns blazing and arrests the villain after the hero has done the heavy lifting.. The trend is however, going to change now with Dipankar Sengupta Dipan’s upcoming production Dhaka Attack, a story that revolves around the daily life of a policeman in Bangladesh.

The genre of cop dramas and police action thrillers isn’t as commonplace here as it is elsewhere in the world.

“In our country, although we have little or insu� cient capital and other arrangements, we have tried to portray how the police carries out thrilling operations, di� uses bombs and participates in day to day activities to maintain law and order, most of the time sacri� cing their personal and family lives,” says the director of Dhaka

Attack. Dipan was careful from the beginning

about one particular thing - he wanted to make the movie an entertainingly commercial one and not a documentary.

“We want to represent how the police works and satisfy audience from all walks of the society, be it a professor or a man with no academic education. So there will be dance, songs and all other elements necessary to make it an entertaining � lm, but it will also showcase the skills and strategies that police use while conducting a drive,” Dipan said at the o� cial launch of shoot of Dhaka Attack at the Hotel Pan Paci� c Sonargaon on Tuesday.

Starring Are� n Shuvo, Mahia Mahi and Shatabdi Wadud, the shooting of the movie is expected to be wrapped up by April and hit the theatres the following month.

For a while now, Dipan had been a close associate of India’s prominent � lm-maker Anurag Kashyap and is working on the ninth graft of the script originally written

by additional deputy commissioner of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Sunny Sanwar. Sanwar wrote the story with the title “Thrill Point” two years ago. Anurag Kashyap wished best of luck to the crew of Dhaka Attack in one of his recent Facebook posts.

“Out of love for the profession of the police I wrote the story. The daily life of a policeman is way more eventful and dramatic than what we see in movies. But there is no realistic or artistic representation of that in the media,” said Sanwar at the event.

“This movie will help eliminate negative impression of police from people’s minds. It will help boost up a positive image of police and strengthen the connection between the police and general people,” said joint commissioner of DB, DMP and convener of Dhaka Police Paribar Kalyan Samity (Dhaka Police Welfare Trust), Md Monirul Islam BPM (Bar) PPM.

Dhaka Police Paribar Kalyan Samity,

Splash Multimedia and Three Wheeler’s Ltd are jointly supporting the production.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan chaired the ceremony as the chief guest. He said the police was doing a good job and it should be highlighted.

“In our neighbouring country India, we watch crime patrol and get a positive impression of the police there. Something similar should be done in our country. We need to earn the trust of general people. They must consider policemen as their friends,” he said.

Actor Are� n Shuvo who plays the central male role in the cinema said: “When I wore the costume of police and the helmet which weighs around � ve kilos, I could not even stand properly. So imagine how the police work everyday. They do not take a leave during Christmas, Eid or Puja. They are constantly dedicating all their time to serve us. So we must not consider them as our enemies.” l

First look: Dhaka Attack

WHAT TO WATCH

TitanicStar Movies 9:30pm84 years later a 100-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukator tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell, and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards

the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her � ancé, Caledon Cal Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its � rst and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning.Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane

Mutant ChroniclesStar Movies Action 2:00pmThe � lm is set in the year 2707 when Earth is on the verge of falling apart. War rages between four giant corporations.

That?s when a long-buried stone seal is uncovered. This reveals a race of mutant aliens that threaten to take over Earth. The corporations � ee from the scene. Its up to Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman) to gather a ragtag group of soldiers and launch an attempt at saving the planet and mankind.Cast: Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, Devon Aoki

Final Destination 5WB 11:22pmIn “Final Destination 5,” Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But this group of unsuspecting souls was never supposed

to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death’s sinister agenda.Cast: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Arlen Escarpeta

HerculesSony PIX 9:00PMThe ensemble action � lm revolves around Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) who has become a mercenary due to the sins from his p ast. Along with � ve faithful companions, he travels ancient Greece selling his services for gold and using his legendary reputation to intimidate enemies. Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell

Showtime 31D

TTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

n Showtime Desk

Legendary singer Subir Sen known for his renditions in many Bengali and Hindi � lms breathed his last on Tuesday in a private hospital in Kolkata.

He was 81-years-old and was battling lung cancer. He left behind a wife and a daughter.

From the 50s till the 80s, Sen had sung a number of hit songs. He had also sung duets with Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar.

In the 1950s, Sen added a unique romantic touch to hit Bengali songs such as Monalisa tumi ki bolona, Pagla hawa, Oi ujjal din, and Saradin tomay bhebe.

Some of his well-known Hindi songs

include Aa ja re nain dware from the Dev Anand-Waheeda Rehman starred Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1961) and Main rangeela pyar ka raahi in Chhoti Bahan.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condoled Sen’s death.

“Saddened at the passing away of legendary singer Subir Sen. He is our Banga Bibhushan. He will always be in our hearts,” Banerjee tweeted.

He was not keeping well for a long time and was admitted to a private hospital. He passed away at 8.05am in the hospital. His body was taken to his house at Panditiya Place and from there to Banichakra and � nally to the Keoratalla Crematorium. l

Subir Sen passes away at 81

n Showtime Desk

Carrie Fisher has had enough - she has been putting up with too many negative comments thrown at her criticising her look in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The actress, who plays her iconic role of now Gen Leia Organa in the pic, on Tuesday responded to those who have criticised her appearance, saying that the negative comments have taken somewhat of a toll on her.

Fisher tweeted, “Please stop debating about whether OR not (eye emoji) aged well. Unfortunately it hurts all3 of my feelings. MY BODY hasn’t aged as well as I have. Blow us.”

The actress previously said that she lost weight through diet and exercise for the sequel, an expectation before returning to the role of Leia.

“Nothing changes, it’s an appearance-driven thing,” Fisher told Britain’s Good Housekeeping magazine in early December. “I’m in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up. They might as well say get younger, because that’s how easy it is.”

Force Awakens has been breaking box-office records since its release in mid December and is on its way to becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. l

Carrie Fisher responds to criticism about her Star Wars look

n Showtime Desk

A recent news about Leonardo DiCaprio turning down an o� er to play role of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels is making headlines worldwide.

The 41-year-old clari� es that he turned down the o� er to play a young Anakin Skywalker in the � rst and the second Star Wars prequels.

“I did have a meeting George Lucas about that, yes. Just didn’t feel ready

to take that dive. At that point,” says DiCaprio.

Hayden Christensen was chosen instead and in a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, Christensen says, “I felt like I had this great thing in Star Wars that provided all these opportunities and gave me a career, but it all kind of felt a little too handed to me,” the actor said of joining the blockbuster � lm franchise 13 years ago. “I didn’t want to go through life feeling like I was just riding a wave.” l

DiCaprio says no to Star Wars

Back Page32DT

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015

FIRST LOOK: DHAKA ATTACK PAGE 30

SONALI BANK LAST RESORT TO PAY GOVT EMPLOYEES PAGE 15

IT’S TIME TO GIVE BACK TO CRICKET, SAYS TAMIM PAGE 25

2015: Remarkable for judiciary

n Ashif Islam Shaon and Sanaul Islam Tipu

Execution of three top war criminals, quick verdicts in a number of much-talked criminal cases and some orders of the apex court on public interest issues made 2015 a memora-ble year for the judiciary.

After the appeals were rejected by the apex court, the government executed the three notorious war criminals – Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mu-jahid and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

On December 8, the Appellate Division completed hearing in the appeal case of death-row convict Jamaat-e-Islami chief Mo-tiur Rahman Nizami for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War and set January 6 for pronouncing the verdict.

This year the International Crimes Tri-bunal pronounced verdicts in six cases � led against collaborators responsible for com-

mitting crimes against humanity during the war. On the other hand, the number of tribu-nals was reduced from two to one.

The Supreme Court also started hearing of death references and appeals in the 2009 BDR mutiny cases. A special court in 2013 sentenced 152 to death, 161 to life in prison and 256 others to di� erent jail terms.

Verdicts were given at the shortest possi-ble time over the brutal murder of two minor boys – Sheikh Samiul Alam Rajon in Sylhet and Rakib Hawlader in Khulna.

O Level student Oishee Rahman was sen-tenced to death for killing her parents – po-lice o� cer Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman, whereas Parimal Joydhar, a former teacher of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, got life in prison in a rape case.

The legal battle of Disaster Management Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and the top court’s imposing a ban on broad-cast and publication of comments made by BNP Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman were also discussed all over the country.

On February 8, a Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka sentenced � ve activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Jahangirnagar University

unit to death and six others to life-term im-prisonment for killing Zubair Ahmed, a stu-dent of English department, in 2012.

The same court on December 18, 2013 hand-ed down death penalty for eight Chhatra League activists of Jagannath University unit and life-term jail for 13 others for killing Bishwajit Das, an Old Dhaka tailor, near the Judge’s Court on December 9, 2012. The appeals � led by the con-victs were not heard in the outgoing year.

Year 2015 also saw a number of murders and attacks on secular writers and publishers. But charges were pressed only in two cases, � led over the murders of Oyasiqur Rahman Babu and Prof AKM Sha� ur Rahman.

In July, detectives pressed murder charges against Awami League lawmaker Pinu Khan’s son Bakhtiar Alam Rony in a case � led over the murder of two people in Eskaton. Rony was under the in� uence of alcohol at that time.

In October, ruling party lawmaker Man-jurul Islam Liton was arrested in a case � led for shooting a child under the in� uence of al-cohol at Sundarganj of Gaibandha.

Former Awami League leader Abdur Latif Siddique moved to the High Court to save his parliament membership but his appeal was

turned down. He also lost his cabinet post and party membership following his remarks on Hajj, Ijtema and the prime minister’s son.

In another move, the High Court ruled that no one can be “forced” to consume the Brazilian wheat imported by the govern-ment. Bangladesh Police refused to receive the wheat claiming that it was substandard for humans to consume.

In May, the High Court directed the gov-ernment to stop the spread of pornography contents by mobile phone content providers and in social media immediately.

The use of section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act was another matter of debate this year. The top court rejected all the writ petitions � led challenging the provision terming it contra-dictory with the constitution. However, in the face of severe criticisms, the government announced that they would revise the law.

The High Court in another order opined that the investigating authorities of the Narayanganj seven-murder case could launch a further probe after one of the victims’ fam-ily members moved to the court challenging the charge sheet � led by detectives. l

Visiting British Parliamentarian Tulip Siddiq speaks at a special event Let’s Talk, organised by CRI, at a city hotel yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Bangladesh envoy to Pakistan recalledn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The Foreign Ministry has instructed the Bangladesh High Commissioner to Pakistan, Suhrab Hosain, to report back to Dhaka as soon as possible.

“We sent him an o� cial letter asking him to come back to Bangladesh as soon as pos-sible,” a senior o� cial of the ministry said yesterday seeking anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.

Suhrab, a freedom � ghter, is under contrac-tual appointment and his tenure expires in April. The o� cial said Suhrab had telephoned the ministry asking if he could complete his tenure but his request was turned down.

Sources said the government was uncom-fortable with his certain activities. Suhrab had come to Dhaka just after the execution of war criminals Salahuddin Quader Chowd-hury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid on November 20. After Islamabad issued a state-ment condemning the executions, Bangla-desh summoned its high commissioner and handed over a protest letter. In retaliation, Pakistan summoned the Bangladesh acting high commissioner and protested the letter.

“In this whole crisis period, Suhrab was sitting in Dhaka while a junior diplomat, who served as the acting high commissioner, had to face all the di� culties,” the o� cial said. Suhrab went back to Islamabad on December 9 when all the major di� culties were over.

Suhrab was appointed as the high com-missioner for two years in 2010 and got ex-tension twice for four years. l

Experts bat for solar pipe lightsn Aminur Rahman Rasel

Energy experts at a workshop yesterday termed the solar pipe light an e� cient and fea-sible solution for lighting industrial buildings.

The workshop titled “Solar Pipe Light Pro-ject: An e� cient way of using of day light in industries” was jointly organised by Sustain-able and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) and German organisation GIZ at a city hotel.

GIZ’s Sustainable Energy for Development (SED) initiated a pilot project with CHANGE, a youth organisation working in the � eld of renewable energy, water and sanitation and social business development, to conduct a study to develop a simple, customised inno-vative solution of using natural daylight in industries.

Innovator of the solar pipeline solution Sa-jid Iqbal, also founder of CHANGE, said that it was one of the simplest and innovative ideas of channelling the daylight through a re� ec-tive hallow pipe into the industries to ensure proper illumination without any electricity.

He said that a year-long project had � nally piloted prototypes in two settings – one in a small cottage factory and another in an ice-cream factory. The pilot project is helping the host industry to use free natural lighting dur-ing daytime for 10-12 hours covering around 750-800 square-feet.

“The solar pipe lights illuminate the same area the CFL bulbs do. But it saves more monthly energy expenditure with zero-car-bon emission,” he added. l

4 accused in Rana Plaza case surrendern Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday sent to jail four ac-cused in Rana Plaza murder case after they surrendered before it.

Dhaka’s Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Al-Amin passed the order rejecting their bail pe-titions. The accused are Mozammel Haque, Ataur Rahman, Abdus Salam and Aminul Islam – all associates of building owner Sohel Rana.

Assistant public prosecutor Anwarul Kabir

Babul said that the four accused forced the workers to join their work even after cracks had been found in the building a day before the collapse.

At least 1,135 people were killed and sev-eral thousand injured when the eight-storey building collapsed on April 24, 2013.

The two charge sheets pressed against 59 people on June 1 were accepted by the court. The cases were � led under the Building Con-struction Act and the Penal Code. l

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