September 20, 2015

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BD RANKS 16TH IN BROOKINGS FINANCIAL INCLUSION PAGE 17

BUYER, SELLER DIFFER ON HIGH CATTLE PRICE PAGE 5

DHAKA FLAGS FAIR PRICE ISSUE PAGE 5

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015 | Ashwin 5, 1422, Zilhaj 5, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 157 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 64-page Supplement | Price: Tk10

Foreign exchange reserves to be invested in Padma bridge projectn Tribune Report

The country’s foreign exchange reserves will be invested in infrastructure development, including the Padma Bridge Project, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman.

“The central bank took preparation for investing reserves since the government an-nounced to build the Padma Bridge with its own fund,” he told the launching ceremony of the central bank’s � ve-year Strategic Plan for 2015-2019, the second of its kind.

The developers will be provided with � -nancing from the reserves at only 2% rate as apprised the function held at Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA) in the capital yesterday.

Addressing the function, Deputy Governor

SK Sur Chowdhury said a country needs foreign exchange reserves to meet up its import costs for a period of minimum three months.

At present, Bangladesh has US$26bn of re-serves – enough to meet the import costs of seven months. As a result, the central bank plans to invest reserves in the Padma Bridge project.

The central bank has taken the new strate-gic plan consisting of 14 strategic goals – ex-pected to be achieved through a total of 105 objectives, which would essentially be at-tained by 320 action plans in the medium and long run.

Earlier, in May 2010, Bangladesh Bank had announced the � rst � ve-year strategic plan, aiming to add an impetus to uphold its man-

date as a central bank of the country and the Vision 2021 of the government as well.

The second strategic plan focused on six goals – balanced and coordinated monetary policy; supervision and regulation for ensur-ing � nancial stability; optimisation of human capital; promoting more liberalised foreign exchange regime; socially responsible � nanc-ing and inclusive growth; and enterprise re-source management and e� ective communi-cation and image building.

“We have achieved 94% of the � rst stra-tegic plan despite adverse environment,” claimed Atiur.

He said it was challenging for the central bank to formulate monetary policy and coor-dinate � nancial policies amid global recession and the country’s internal unrest. l

Dreams shattered in Tangail � ringProbe committee formed and seven policemen, who allegedly opened � re, closedn Mohammad Afzal Hossain, Tangail

Thirty-� ve-year-old Md Shamim Mia was all set to � y to Saudi Arabia in a few days’ time with hopes of ensuring a better livelihood for his family.

All his papers were ready and the family had started dreaming about the solvency that many Bangladeshi families have achieved over decades by sending one or more mem-bers to the oil-rich Middle East country.

But on Friday, in just a few decisive mo-ments, some rubber bullets from police’s guns turned those lovely dreams into night-mares for Shamim’s family.

A resident of the Kalia village, Shamim did not have any criminal records; neither was he a political activist. He was just a businessmen based in the local Hamidpur market.

He just listened to his conscience and took to the streets in Kalihati of Tangail district, protesting the rape of a woman and the tor-ture on her teenager son from their locality.

The Dhaka Tribune yesterday talked to Shamim’s grief-stricken mother Amina Be-gum at their gloomy homestead.

“What fault did my son have? Why was he killed?” asked the mother who could not stop wailing.

Shamim’s wife Anjumanara Bithi alleged that her husband died because the doctors at the Tangail hospital did not give him proper treatment.

His sister-in-law Siratunnabi Shumi said: PAGE 4 COLUMN 1

One-and-a-half-year-old Sin, left, and nine-year-old Badhan, right, the two sons of Shamim who got killed in police � ring in Tangail on Friday, are still to too young to fully fathom the tragedy that has befallen their family, unlike their grandmother Amina Begum, in saree, whose swollen eyes from non-stop crying since her son died tell the story DHAKA TRIBUNE

Public uni teachers wants separate pay commission by September 22n Tribune Report

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yester-day assured the public university teachers of a quick solution to their demands – mainly a separate pay scale and elimination of salary discrepancies.

“The Prime Minister is very sympathetic to the teachers’ demands,” he told reporters af-ter a meeting with public university teachers at his Mintu Road residence in the capital. “I hope the problem will be resolved soon as a cabinet committee is working over the issue.”

The Federation of Bangladesh Universi-ty Teachers Association (FBUTA) General

PAGE 4 COLUMN 4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015NEWS4DT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Dreams shattered in Tangail � ring“Why did police open � re on those innocent people? They could have used rubber bullets � rst. But instead of doing that, they directly � red gunshots.”

Asked whether they had � led any case, Shu-mi said in anger: “What is the point in � ling cas-es with the same police who killed my brother [in-law]?” She also demanded the prime minis-ter’s intervention in getting them justice.

Shamim is one of the three people who were killed by police’s gunshots on Friday in the same incident.

This reporter yesterday visited the houses of the other two deceased – Faruq, 32, from the Kushtia village, and Shyamol Chandra Das, 15, from Salenka village – and found that these two families have not also come out of the shock at the sudden demise of their loved ones.

Reports of the autopsy tests, conducted on the dead bodies at the Tangail Medical College Hospital, suggest that they died from bullet wounds.

Harun-or-Rashid, former member of the Kalihati union council, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the local people got particular-ly furious after rumour spread that police had taken bribe to release the alleged rapist.

One of the protesters told the Dhaka Trib-une: “The protest was organised by the peo-ple from the Atharo Dana village in Ghatail. They used loudspeakers to gather people on Friday afternoon. We were demonstrating

peacefully but police, without any provoca-tion, interfered.”

It all started on Tuesday morning, when a man named Ra� qul Islam Roma, from the Kalia village, allegedly tortured Alamin, 17, and raped his mother.

Roma was angry with Alamin because his wife had ran away with the teenager twice. On that day, he called Alamin and his mother to his house in Kalia saying he would only have a discussion.

But instead, after Alamin and his mother came, Roma allegedly tortured the boy and took his mother to one of the rooms in his house and raped her.

Later, on information, police went there and rescued the victims and detained Roma.

On the same day, Alamin’s mother � led a lawsuit with the Kalihati police station against Roma, his brother-in-law Ha� z and another man named Kazi under the Women and Chil-dren Repression Prevention Act.

Probe committeeMeanwhile, a media release from the police headquarters in Dhaka yesterday said that a three-member committee had been formed to look into the background of the three deaths and why police opened � re.

A senior o� cial posted at the headquarters said that the policemen who opened � re dur-ing the incident had been closed from duty.

Mohammad Ali, additional deputy inspec-tor general of police’s Dhaka Range, yesterday visited the area, talked to the local people and requested them to be patient.

CondemnationRights body Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) yester-day strongly condemned what they said was “excessive use of force” by police on the pro-testers.

The organisation yesterday issued a press statement, signed by its Executive Director Sultana Kamal.

“In reaction police claimed that they at � rst used tear gas and then charged batons and � red blank rounds to bring in the situa-tion under control. But it is clear to us how so many people could get bullet-hit if they � red blank rounds,” the statement reads.

“We believe that expressing dissent is a democratic right. But violence while protest-ing cannot be supported. On the other hand, the law enforcement agencies will also have to maintain certain standards in maintaining law and order. Their reaction should be balanced, which means that they should keep away from using force as much as possible. They need to be careful about this,” the statement reads.

ASK also called upon police to publish evi-dence on whether police’s reaction during the incident was balanced on not and demanded punishment if anyone is found guilty. l

Public uni teachersSecretary ASM Maksud Kamal, however, urged the minister to constitute a new pay commission by September 22 for proposing a new pay structure for them.

Before awarding separate pay scale for them, he sought an interim arrangement to remove the discrimination over the salaries.

The teachers of the public universities have been demanding a separate pay scale and removing the salary discrepancies since the cabinet’s approval to the 8th national pay scale on September 7, which they consider created the discrepancies. The teachers are observing strikes and work abstentions to press home their demands.

FBUTA President Farid Uddin Ahmed and its general secretary ASM Maksud Kamal, president of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) Teachers Association Prof Dr M Ehsan, and president of Jahangirnagar University Teachers Associ-ation (JUTA) Prof Khabir Uddin were, among others, present at the meeting with the min-ister.

Nahid said the meeting also discussed about education and other issues of the uni-versities, besides their demands.

He said the government has constitut-ed a cabinet committee, headed by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, to remove the salary discriminations as it gives importance to the teachers’ demand. He assured the teachers of placing the demands before the committee. l

Small traders busy in sharpening machete on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha to be held on September 25. The photo was taken at Gabtoli, Dhaka yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

BNP slams govt for reducing transhipment customs feen Tribune Report

The BNP yesterday alleged that the govern-ment, sidetracking the National Board of Rev-enue, has unilaterally reduced customs fee to Tk580 from Tk1,000 for transit or tranship-ment of each tonne of Indian goods through Bangladesh.

Addressing a press brie� ng, BNP spokes-person Asaduzzaman Ripon urged the gov-ernment to reconsider NBR’s proposals on the transit fess of Indian goods, reports UNB.

“The NBR at an inter-ministerial meeting on transit and transhipment on Wednesday pro-posed Tk1,000 as customs fee for transit or tran-shipment of per tonne of Indian goods through Bangladesh. But, ignoring the NBR’s proposal, the fee was brought down to Tk580,” said Ripon.

He also said: “We think, the government has unilaterally lowered the customs fee, and Tk580 is very inadequate amount as fee. This decision is not acceptable as it was not made protecting the country’s interest. It must be reviewed.”

Ripon said most people in Bangladesh want the ties and economic cooperation be-tween Bangladesh and India to be strength-ened. “But we are seeing with regret that the advisers, ministers and o� cials engaged in negotiating the fees with India are failing to perform and exercise their expertise. They are showing a subservient attitude.”

Mentioning that the BNP is not against transit and transhipment, Ripon said their party only wants the country to get justi� ed customs fees for transporting of Indian goods through Bangladesh territory. l

Khaleda sendseid card toSheikh Hasinan Tribune Report

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, now in Lon-don, yesterday greeted Awami League Presi-dent and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha by sending a card.

On behalf of Khaleda, BNP’s Assistant Of-� ce Secretaries Abdul Latif Jony, Asadul Ka-rim Shahin and Shamimur Rahman Shamim handed over the card to Awami League presi-dent’s Dhanmondi o� ce around 11am. Awami League leader Sikandar Ali received the card, reports UNB.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi-na greeted Khaleda by sending a card. On be-half of the PM, a delegation of Awami League went to the BNP’s Nayapaltan o� ce and handed over the card to BNP Spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also greet-ed Leader of the Opposition in parliament Raushan Ershad and PM’s Special Envoy and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad on the oc-casion by sending separate cards to them. l

Non-cadre o� cials demands selection graden Tribune Report

Non-cadre � rst and second class government o� cials yesterday demanded reinstatement of selection grade and time scale in the national pay scale for eliminating discrimination.

Bangladesh Swammilito Shorkari Ko-rmokorta Parishad (BASSKOP) came up with the demand in a press conference at the Jatiya

Press Club in Dhaka, reports UNB. Chaired by BASSKOP President Sha� ul Azam,

among others,Parishad Secretary General Md. Zinnat Ali Biswas were present on the occasion.

Addressing the conference, KASSKOP presi-dent Sha� ul Azam said some 300,000 non-cad-re o� cials are facing discriminations in the newly implemented eighth national pay scale.

He said this was unfortunate and a mani-

festation of the colonial mindsets of cadre of-� cers, who basically proposed the pay scale.

He also said great disappointment gripped non-cadre o� cials and employees as the gov-ernment abolished time scale and selection grade, which were devised in the � rst pace for those who were deprived of promotions.

He also demanded regular promotion for non-cadre o� cers. l

NEWS 5D

TSUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

Buyers, sellers di� er on high cattle prices Prices are unlikely to go down before the Eid day, say tradersn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Cattle markets in the capital o� cially opened yesterday but sales have not yet picked up, with buyers and sellers explaining the reason di� erently.

Traders said animal prices were higher than the previous year because of the rising costs of transport and cattle feed but custom-ers claimed that the unavailability of Indian cattle is the reason why prices had gone up.

According to traders, they set the price of an animal depending on the approxi-mate weight of its meat. They are asking for Tk40,000-45,000 for a tonne of meat while it was Tk30,000-35,000 last year.

Hasibul, a trader who came from Sirajganj to Gabtoli cattle market, told the Dhaka Trib-une the demand for domestic animals rose because of the unavailability of Indian cows.

“Besides, prices of essential commodities, transport costs and cattle feed are increas-ing day by day, which is another reason why cattle prices have gone up. The price of each tonne of meat has seen an increase of around Tk10,000,” he said.

Several other traders said the same, add-ing that there was no possibility of prices fall-ing before the Eid day.

But Mizanur Rahman, after bargaining a number of animals in Gabtoli market, said traders would reduce prices once Indian cows

were brought to the market.“Traders of course are asking for a higher

price compared to the previous year,” he said.

Mizanur also said he would buy his sac-ri� cial animal after two days because there were not enough animal in the market. “The

equation is simple. Prices remain high when cattle markets open but then gradually fall as days pass.”

Saidur Rahman, a resident of Dhaka’s Shukrabad, said he purchased a cow for Tk117,000 that weighs around 2.5 tonnes.

He echoed the words of Mizanur, saying cattle prices are higher this year.

The supply of cattle from India fell in April after Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked his country’s border police to put a stop to cattle smuggling along the Bangladesh-India border.

Even though beef prices soared in Bang-ladesh after India’s Border Security Force stepped up border surveillance, Bangladeshi traders became optimistic, hoping that they would get better prices for Eid cattle this year.

But the in� ow of cattle saw a dramatic in-crease in the past few days as the Indian gov-ernment softened its stance.

Both sellers and customers agreed yester-day that sales were low as markets o� cially opened for the � rst day and also because it rained for a while in the morning.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mu-hammed Sayedul Hoque on Thursday said there would be no shortage of cattle in this Eid as traders were ready to sell four million cows and 6.9 million goats.

He also said veterinary teams would check cattle in 494 markets across the country to ensure safe meat for buyers. l

Cattle traders enter the capital’s Gabtoli cattle market to put cows on sale on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN


Truck snatched, cattle tracelessn Kamrul Hasan

The law enforcers until last night could not trace the truck loaded with 15 cattle which was snatched by some miscreants from Man-ik Mia Avenue of the capital early yesterday.

Instead, they arrested Sujon Mondol, the driver of another truck – both came from Jhe-naidah – for questioning, O� cer-in-Charge of Sher-e-Bangla police GG Biswas said. They were headed for the Merul Badda cattle market.

The arrest was made after one of the a� ect-ed cattle traders, Dhandu Miah, � led a case. “We are conducting operation to rescue the cattle,” the OC said.

Earlier, cattle-laden trucks were snatched

by miscreants in Bogra and Gazipur on Friday. But the latest incident that took place in a sophisticated area of the capital has exposed vulnerability of the cattle traders.

Some traders coming to the capital to sell cattle alleged that they had to pay toll to the extortionists on the highway.

Police and traders said that the truck load-ed with 15 cows was attacked by a group of 10-15 miscreants around 12:30am. The other truck passed the area without hindrance and reached Merul badda.

The miscreants also took the four traders – Dhandu Miah,45, Masum Miah, 24, Suja Ali, 26, and Tanjumul Haque, 24 – in their pick-up van and beat them up severely while roaming

around the city.They left the traders at a place in Ashulia

and � ed the scene as a patrol police van was approaching.

Police rescued the traders and sent them to the Merul Badda cattle market. The market authorities then sent them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. They were discharged in the afternoon after taking primary treatment.

Dhandu Miah said that they had bought the cattle for Tk18 lakh from di� erent areas of Jhenaidah.

He also said that their missing driver could be involved in the incident as he had slowed down the truck when they reached Manik Mia Avenue. l

Three currency counterfeiters arrested in Dhaka n Kamrul Hasan

Detectives yesterday arrested three people in Dhaka for their involvement in circulating counterfeit money and fake revenue stamps.

The arrested are Abdur Razzak, Ramjan Munshi and Sentu Islam alias Taslim.

Such arrests are common as currency counterfeiter gangs become active before the two Eids every year when the country experi-ences a surge in economic activities centring the two biggest religious festivals.

Muntasirul Islam, Dhaka Metropolitan Po-lice (DMP)’s deputy commissioner (DC), said yesterday that the three were arrested in the Tejgaon Industrial Area in Dhaka with coun-terfeit money of face value of more than Tk10 lakh and Tk8 lakh respectively.

According to the DC, the arrestees have said during interrogation that they had

bought the fake money and documents from a person named Manun and had been spread-ing them in the.

They also confessed that they had been in-volved in the illegal business for the last � ve to six years, the DC added.

Meanwhile, in another drive in Dhaka, DMP’s Detective Branch (DB) detained two people in the capital’s Shah Ali area and seized two � rearms and an a stash of ammu-nitions from their possession.

The detainees are Asaduzzaman Ripon alias Somrat Ripon and Hazrat Ali.

DC Muntasirul said police one pistol, one shotgun and 12 rounds of bullets from their possession.

Ripon and Hazrat have a number of mur-der and looting cases against their names with di� erent police stations in the capital city, the DC said. l

JU admission test registration begins today n JU Correspondent

Registration for honours � rst year admission test at Jahangirnagar University (JU) under the academic year 2015-16 will begin today.

Aspirants can start applying using mobile phone from 10am today till midnight of Octo-ber 8, according to a press release sent from the university’s public relations o� ce signed by JU Deputy Registrar Mohammad Ali, also the secretary of university’s central admis-sion test committee.

Applicants can send SMS through Teletalk prepaid numbers, the press release added.

The release also said that admission tests under the Faculty of Arts and Humanities will be held on the basis of departments and the tests of other faculties will be held on the ba-sis of units.

Sources said the admission tests at the uni-versity under 2015-16 academic year will be-gin from October 25 and continue till Novem-ber 5. Details of the admission test is available at the university’s website: www.juniv.edu/admission. l

Illegal drug sellers � ned in Dhakan Tribune Report

A mobile court led by a team of RAB yester-day � ned six people for selling and storing arti� cial sweetener sodium cyclamate, locally known as ghono chini (dense sugar), and ille-gal drugs in their stores.

The mobile court was led by Magistrate Sarower Alam of RAB 10 and the RAB team was led by Maj Jahangir Kabir, company com-mander of CPC 3 of the Battalion.

Raju Barman, owner of Laden Medico, Liton Miah, owner of Panna Kawser Drugs, Sattya Ranjan Datta, owner of Mitu Chemicals, and Mohammad Ali Sentu, owner of Yusuf Medical, Tk2 lakh each. Shiblu Ahmed, owner of Seba Medical Hall, was � ned Tk1 lakh and Shibu Bar-man, owner of Amit Medical, was � led Tk3 lakh.

The drugs seized were fake vaccine, dense sugar, anti-cancer drugs, cow fattening ster-oids B-tex, Tenuous Vaccine, I-pil, sex stimu-lating drugs. l

The capital’s Kamalapur Railway Station becomes crowded with people desperate to go home before Eid yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Tofail urges WTO chief to uphold LDC’s rightsn Tribune Report

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has sought strong support from the chief of the Director General of the World Trade Organisation to realise trade preference for the Least Devel-oped Countries, required for attaining sus-tainable growth.

The minister put forward the request when he met Roberto Azevêdo in Geneva on Friday, according to a press release issued yesterday.

During the meeting, the minister empha-sised the need for meaningful outcome on rules of origin for LDCs, operationalisation of LDC service waiver, duty-free-quota-free (DFQF) market access for LDCs, extension of the Agree-ment on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) during transition peri-od of pharmaceutical products and conclusion of Doha Development Agenda (DDA).

Tofail also thanked Roberto for taking ini-tiative to have a fruitful outcome on the LDC issues at 10th WTO Ministerial Conference at Nairobi, Kenya scheduled for 15 to 18 Decem-ber this year, reports BSS.

The minister apprised the WTO DG about the consultation he had with the LDCs Am-bassadors in Geneva last week, which gave him the opportunity to exchange the views on how to move forward the LDCs issues in the run up to Nairobi.

The DG told the commerce minister that he had been trying to push Doha Work programme as much as possible and mentioned that strate-gic decisions from WTO members are required to move towards conclusion of DDA.

Tofail told the WTO chief that Bangladesh as a coordinator of LDCs is in the process of � -nalising the proposal of LDCs in consultation with other LDC members and would submit the proposal by the end of September.

He emphasised the need for implemen-tation of Hong Kong Ministerial decision on DFQF market access for LDCs. l

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015NEWS 7

DT

Dhaka � ags fair price issue with Washingtonn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Dhaka and Washington had a lengthy meeting yesterday where the Bangladesh side � agged its concern about the declining price of ready-made garment products and enquired as to when the US would talk about fair price.

The meeting took place at the state-guest-house Meghna in the capital which Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque, Commerce Sec-retary Hedayetullah Mamun and Labour Sec-retary Mikail Shippar attended. Assistant US Trade Representative Michael J Delaney, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday, led the US side.

The US o� cials also expressed its tacit in-tention to go beyond the 16-point declaration on GSP restoration and wanted to discuss the all labour issues in the next TICFA meeting to be held in Washington this year.

On the other hand, the Bangladesh side termed “punitive” the US model of labour

practice that they want to impose on Bangla-desh.

“The foreign secretary raised the fair price issue and reminded the US side of their assur-ance that no orders would be diverted from Bangladesh,” said a senior government o� -cial, seeking anonymity.

Shahidul also told them that Bangladesh was getting some wrong signal that the West-ern buyers are resorted to arms-twisting to lower the price.

When contacted, Labour Secretary Shipar said: “We � agged the fair price concern as the nominal value of our readymade garment products dropped by 2.9% last year.”

He said the US side at the meeting asked a number of queries about the number of facto-ries, methodology of inspection, trade union registration and labour activities at the EPZs.

Delaney at the beginning of the meeting said that he was confused about the number

of factories in the country, the secretary said. The US side was informed that according to � eld inspection, the number of factories is about 3,750.

However, Accord and Alliance have di� erent � gures.

Another senior government o� cial wish-ing not to be named said that after two years of declaring the 16-point roadmap to restore GSP facility for Bangladesh, “the US side has come up with di� erent queries which they did not ask us during the period.”

“Now they are confused about the num-ber of factories, methodology of inspection and trade union activities,” he said. “We told them that they are continuously shifting the bar and goalpost and that is the impression here in Bangladesh.”

The Bangladesh side told the US side that they should see the RMG sector through the prism of development, growth and stability, the o� cial said. “This initiative helps Bangla-desh � ght against extreme violence and radi-calisation,” he said.

The US side in response said that they would get back with an updated action plan, but they did not give any time frame.

“Delaney in the meeting also expressed satisfaction over issuing the labour rules few days back and appreciated the positive approach of Bangladesh with regard to im-plementation of the 16-point roadmap,” the o� cial said. l

Three remanded in Banik Barta sta� murdern Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday placed three people on four-day re-mand in a case � led over the murder of Bangla daily Banik Barta employee Jahangir Alam in the capital.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jahangir Hossain passed the order after Sub-Inspector Abdul Jalil, also investigation o� cer of the case, produced them before the court seeking 10-day re-mand.

Opposing the remand plea, defence counsel � led bail peti-tions which were rejected after hearing.

The remanded are Raihan Sarwar, Fahim Khan and Nazmul Islam Rakib.

Meanwhile, admitting involvement in the killing, another ac-cused SM Faisal, who is a cousin of the victim, gave confessional statement before the magistrate yesterday.

Faisal said that he had killed Jahangir following a dispute over business a� airs and kept the body inside the suitcase, court sources said. After recording his statement, the court sent him to jail.

On Friday, police recovered the decomposed body of Jahang-ir, who was assistant manager of Banik Barta’s advertisement section, from a mess in the capital’s Khilkhet area.

His body was kept in a suitcase at a mess, where Jahangir’s cousin Faisal resided. l

Govt asked to hold fresh entrance test for med schoolsn Tribune Report

A Supreme Court lawyer has sent a legal notice to the govern-ment, seeking fresh admission tests for the medical and dental colleges.

Younus Ali Akhand, who is known for � ling a number of pub-lic interest litigations in the past, yesterday sent the notice to the secretaries to the Cabinet Division, law, education ministries in the afternoon by post.

The notice said that the question papers of the admission tests held on Friday matched with leaked questions and there-fore authorities should cancel the test within 24 hours.

The lawyer also demanded proper probe and said he, in de-fault, would � le a petition with the High Court seeking remedy.

On Tuesday, RAB arrested four people – a doctor and a teach-er of a coaching centre – for their alleged involvement in ques-tion leak, and seized Tk 38,000 in cash and bank cheques for Tk1.2 crore from their possession.

More than 87,000 students appeared in the entrance ex-aminations against around 11,000 seats for the MBBS and BDS courses on Friday. l

The US model of labour practice that it wants to impose on Bangladesh was termed punitive

Karam festival celebrated in Thakurgaonn Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon

The two-day “Karam Festival,” a major festival of the Orao (an indigenous com-munity living in the northern districts of Bangladesh) has started in Thakurgaon district.

On Friday night, hundreds of mem-bers of the Orao community engaged into singing and dancing to the beats of tam-tam to mark the festival in Salond-ar Paanchpirdanga of Thakurgaon sadar upazila under the arrangement of Na-tional Adivasi Parishad.

Children and teenagers also joined the programme.

Police Super Forhat Ahmed, Salondar Union Parishad Chairman Fazle Elahi Mu-kut Chowdhury, Thakurgaon Press Club Chairman Abu Torab Manik, Advisor to the Adivasi Parishad Advocate Imran Chowd-hury were present at the programme.

The festival ended yesterday with of-fering branches of the Karam tree to the Tangon river.

The festival is celebrated in Pachpir-danga, Jagannathpur, Gobindanagarh and Chandipur villages of the district

on the last day of Bhadra and ends on the � rst day of Ashwin, according to the Bengali calendar. l

Three killed in boat capsizen Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

A women and her two daughters died in a boat capsize in Moksudpur upazila of Gopal-ganj yesterday.

The dead are Bithi Bala, 32 and her two daughters – Brishti Bala, 8, and Koyel Bala, 5.

Moksudpur police station O� cer-in-Charge Azizur Rahman said Nripen Bala, res-ident of Motbari area under Ujani union of Moksudpur upazila, was on way to meet his in-laws in an adjacent village yesterday.

A storm started while they were crossing the Motbari canal on a boat. Nripen and his son swam to the shore, however, his wife and two daughters drowned with the boat, he said.

Locals recovered the bodies yesterday evening. l

Medicine trader killedn Our Correspondent, Joypurhat

A medicine trader was hacked to death by some miscreants at Sabujnagar in the district town yesterday. The deceased Tariqul Islam, was son of Abdul Kuddus of Khanjanpur area on the outskirts of the district town.

Quoting family members, police said Tari-qul had a medicine shop near a local clinic in Amtoli area in the town. Tariqul did not return home from his shop on Friday night though he had left around 10pm.

In the morning, local people found the body of Tariqul in the area and informed po-lice. Police recovered the body and sent it to Sadar hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Anwar Hossain, o� cer-in-charge of Joypur-hat police station, said miscreants might have at-tacked Tariqul on his way home and hacked him to death. However, the motive behind the killing could not be known immediately, said the OC. l

Four killed in road accidentsn Tribune Report

At least four people were killed in road accidents in Rajshahi and Natore districts yesterday.

Our Rajshahi correspondent reported that three members of a family were killed and an-other injured when a speeding truck knocked down their auto-rickshaw at Kharkhori cross-ing under Matiher police station in the city.

The deceased were Ibrahim Hossain, 45, his wife Babita, 40, and their daughter Raima, 3.

The injured auto-rickshaw driver Siddique Hossain, 40, was admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) with serious injuries.

Quoting locals Humayun Kabir, o� cer-in-charge of Motiher police station, said the family members were heading towards their residence at Kukhundi under the police sta-tion after Eid-shopping.

When they reached the Kharkhori cross-

ing a truck coming from opposite direction dashed their auto-rickshaw around 12.45 pm. Mother and her daughter were killed on the spot while husband Ibrahim Hossain suc-cumbed to his injuries in RMCH. Police recov-ered the bodies and a case was recorded with the police station in this connection.

In Natore, a local Awami League (AL) lead-er was killed in a road accident in Paka Bazaar area under Bagatipara upazila of the district, said our correspondent.

The deceased Saiful Islam, 45, was presi-dent of ward no-4 of Arani Pourasabha unit of AL under Bagha upazila in Rajshahi district.

Police said the accident occurred when his motorcycle fell down on the roadside of the area as he lost control over its. He received serious injuries in the incident. Saiful was rushed to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. l

Orao girls dancing to the beats of drums on the occasion of traditional ‘Karam Festival’ in Paanchpirdanga of Thakurgaon yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Potholes make journey on highways di� cult n Our Correspondent, Faridpur

Around 50 kilometers of the Dhaka-Khulna and Dhaka-Barisal highways in Faridpur pose serious risk for movement of vehicles and pe-destrians due to develop cracks and potholes.

According to sources, although the Roads and Highways Department did repair works at the points spending Tk40 lakh in May this year, the two important roads, linking the capital with the southern-western part of the country, became un� t again for vehicular movement due to heavy rainfall in the last three months.

After visiting some areas, it was found that big potholes have developed on the highways from Rajbari intersection to Kamarkhali and Bhanga town to Boroitala at Gangabadi, Ka-naipur Bazar, Parikkhitpur, Madhukhali Rail-gate, Bagat Bazar, Bahirdia and Basantapur.

As the roads are not � t for vehicular move-ment, vehicles, be they heavy or light, have to struggle to cross the points amid high risk of accident.

Sometimes, vehicles fall in danger after toppling over on the roads.

Su� erings of the residents in the areas know no bound due to the dilapidated condi-tion of the roads.

In many areas like Joaria and Rathkhola potholes have turned into shallow pools due to stagnant water, creating hurdles for the ve-hicles to cross.

When contacted, Executive Engineer of Roads and Highways Department Jahangir Alam said repair works had been started in order to make the two highways � t for move-ment of the public.

“The problems will be solved before Eid-ul-Azha,” he said. l

Potholes mark the 30 kilometre rundown portion of Dhaka-Khulna Highway from Madhukhali-Kamarkhali. The photo was taken yesterday from Madhukhali upazila in Faridpur DHAKA TRIBUNE


Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:58PM SUN RISES 5:47AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

36.6ºC 24.7ºC

Sayedpur Faridpur

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 29 26Chittagong 30 26Rajshahi 30 26Rangpur 26 24Khulna 29 26Barisal 29 26Sylhet 26 24Cox’s Bazar 29 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:32am

Sunrise 5:46amZohr 11:53am

Asr 4:19pmMagrib 5:58pm

Esha 7:13pm

WEATHER

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Dope gang busted near cattle market n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Police arrested six members of a dope gang from near Sagarika Cattle Market in Chittagong yesterday.

Assistant Commissioner ABM Foyzul Islam of Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropolitan Police said a DB team arrest-ed them around 5am.

The arrested – Sohag, Rubel, Pavel, Anwar, Ajmal and Joynal – were involved with mugging in the port city and adjoining areas and were accused in cases lodged with di� erent police stations. They had gathered near the cattle market targeting cattle traders ahead of Eid-ul Azha.

Police seized three knives and some drugs from their posses-sion. They were sent to the Pahartoli police station, the AC said.

A total of 475 members of dope gangg, frauds, muggers, coun-terfeit note brokers and robbers are enlisted in CMP’s criminal list. Most of them are arrested, however, they manage to get bail afterwards, said sources at Chittagong Central Jail.

CMP Detective Branch Additional Deputy Commissioner Tan-vir Arafat told the Dhaka Tribune: “Miscreants and frauds get active this season but police are alert to thwart them before they cause any harm to general people, particularly cattle traders.”

“We have set up checkposts in the cattle markets and at the city’s entrance points, City Gate, Natun Bridge, Oxygen, Paten-ga and Kalurghat,” said CMP Additional Commissioner Devdas Bhattacharya. l

Six drugstores � nedn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A mobile court yesterday � ned the owners of six drugstores Tk1.05 lakh in Chittagong on charge of selling and storing unlicensed food supplements and cattle-fattening drugs.

The court, led by Chittagong dis-trict Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate Md Ruhul Amin, also seized unlicensed Indian drugs and food supplements worth Tk500,000 from the shops at Haque

market in Bahaddarhat area. Shah Amanat Pharmacy was

� ned Tk20,000, Jamuna Pharma-cy Tk20,000, Chandgaon Phar-macy Tk5,000, Shormi Pharmacy Tk10,000, Idris Pharmacy Tk30,000 and Ajgar Shah Pharmacy Tk20,000.

The pharmacy owners were also warned.

The magistrate said a powerful syndicate, with its members spread across the port city, is selling Indian food supplements and cattle-fatten-ing drugs ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. l

Ratargul forest under threatn Tribune Report

Ratargul Swamp Forest, the only freshwater swamp forest at Gowainghat, Sylhet, a poten-tial tourist spot located 16 km o� the city, lies under threat due to unplanned tourism.

According to locals, tourists from di� erent parts of the country and abroad visit the forest round the year to enjoy its natural beauty, but their � ow marks a sharp rise during the dry sea-son.

So the excessive pressure of tourists and their noise disturb the calm and quiet environ-ment of the forest forcing the wildlife and birds to � ee it, said Saidur Rahman, a boatman who carries tourists.

During a recent visit to Ratargul Swamp For-est, it was found a group of excited young boys and girls visiting the forest from Sylhet city, cre-ating noise pollution while taking sel� e at the watch tower installed in the forest.

Disturbed by their noise, a � ock of monkeys started running away seeking safer shelter as they prefer a quiet and isolated place to live in.

Sona Miah, another boatman who carried the correspondent, said locals repeatedly asked the Forest Department to announce a particular area of the forest as a ‘safe zone’ for the wildlife where the access of tourists will be restricted so that the wild animals and birds can live safely and peacefully.

“But, there has been no response yet,” he added.

The forest is the only freshwater swamp for-est in Bangladesh while one of few in the world.

The 204-hectare evergreen forest is situat-ed by the Goain River and connected with the Chengir Khal. The most trees have gown here are ‘koroch’, ‘hijal’, ‘barun’, ‘baladumor’.

This forest goes under 20-30 feet water during monsoon, while itswater level remains about 10 feet deep during the rest of the year.

According to data provided by Forest De-partment o� cials, once there were about 73 plant species, 20 species of reptiles, 26 species of mammals and 175 species of birds in the Ratargul forest,reports UNB.

Locals said most of the species have already

disappeared or gone extinct or � ed the forest due to food crisis and loss of their habitats. Now, only a few species like reptile, snake and monkey are found there.

During his visit, this correspondent found only some monkeys and one snake in the for-est, but the monkeys living in the forest are small in seize. Birds were hardly seen.

“You’ll � nd monkeys here, but they’re very small in seize as they hardly get food. So, these monkeys frequently swim to nearby villages in search of food,” said Sona Miah.

Asked why birds do not prefer to stay in the forest, he said as there is no fruit-bearing tree, birds do not like to live in the forest.

Ismail Hossain, another 35-year-old villager, said there were thousands of birds barely 5-7 years ago, but all the birds � ed the forest as the tourist � ow started increasing.

Forest o� cials say the increasing depend-ence of local people on forest resources, climate change impacts and excessive � ow of tourists have been posing a serious threat to the biodi-versity and plants in the forest. l

Two policemen suspended n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Two police o� cials in Chittagong were suspended yesterday as an arrestee, who was undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital in the custody of police, escaped on Friday noon.

Chittagong Superintendent of Police AKM Ha� z Akhter or-dered the suspension of Assistant Sub-Inspector Foyzur Rahman and Constable Faisal Ahmed.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) in Chit-tagong Naimul Hasan said the two were also attached to the dis-trict police lines.

On Friday noon, Syed Alam, 35, who was beaten by a mob on charge of mugging on Thursday and later handed over to police, escaped from the hospital by dodging the on-duty policemen.

Apart from Syed, who was described as the leader of a gang of muggers, the mob also indiscriminately beat up his wife Rokhsa-na Begum, 26, and his associate Abdul Gafur, 30, in Fatikchhari upazila on the same charge. l

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015NEWS 9

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

FACTBOXEurope’s borderless Schengen areaEurope’s borderless Schengen system, one of the continent’s � agship policies, is being put to the test like never before as Germany, Austria and Slovakia move to reintroduce border controls to slow a record in� ux of mi-grants and refugees.

Here are some key facts about the 26-na-tion, passport-free zone:

Cornerstone of European integrationThe Schengen area is one of the pillars of the European project, enshrining the fun-damental right to free movement. 22 EU countries, plus non-EU Norway, Switzer-land, Iceland and Liechtenstein are part of Schengen. The six EU countries that do not participate are Britain, Ireland, Bulgaria, Ro-mania, Cyprus and Croatia. The groundwork for borderless travel was laid in 1985 when European countries signed an agreement in the Luxembourg village of Schengen, but implementation took another 10 years. The � rst border checks were abolished in 1995 between seven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Exceptional measuresUnder Schengen rules, member states may “exceptionally” reinstate controls at borders

with fellow members “if there is a serious threat to public policy or internal security.” In such cases, the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation European Union, the European Parliament and other Schengen countries must be informed. Germany did so recently and immediately began carrying out passport checks on the border with Austria. It was the � rst time, EU sources said, a Schen-gen country had ever reintroduced tempo-rary border controls over migratory pressures since Europe’s internal borders were opened in 1995. Following Germany’s move to reim-pose border checks, Austria and Slovakia an-nounced similar measures on Monday.

Police cooperationAs part of the Schengen agreement, any per-son, whatever his or her nationality, may cross the internal borders without undergo-ing border checks. However, national police forces can check travellers as long as their aim is not one of border control. Member countries on the external borders assume responsibility for imposing controls and issu-ing uniform Schengen visas. In the absence of internal border checks, the Schengen In-formation System (SIS) has been set up to allow police forces in member states to share data and preserve internal security. l

US: Assad must go, timing down to negotiationn Reuters, London

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sat-urday Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has to go but the timing of his departure should be decided through negotiation.

Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in London, Kerry called on Russia and Iran to use their in� u-ence over Assad to convince him to negotiate a political transition.

Kerry said the US welcomed Russia’s in-volvement in tackling the Islamic State in Syr-ia but a worsening refugee crisis underscored the need to � nd a compromise that could also lead to political change in the country.

“We need to get to the negotiation. That is what we’re looking for and we hope Russia and Iran, and any other countries with in� uence, will help to bring about that, because that’s what is preventing this crisis from ending,” said Kerry.

“We’re prepared to negotiate. Is Assad pre-pared to negotiate, really negotiate? Is Russia prepared to bring him to the table?”

Kerry said of Assad’s removal: “For the last year and a half we have said Assad has to go, but how long and what the modality is ...that’s a decision that has to be made in the context of the Geneva process and negotiation.”

Kerry added: “It doesn’t have to be on day one or month one ... there is a process by which all the parties have to come together and reach an understanding of how this can best be achieved.”

Kerry said he did not have a speci� c time frame in mind for Assad to stay. “I just know that the people of Syria have already spoken with their feet. They’re leaving Syria.” l

The Schengen Area

France

ItalyMalta

United Kingdom

Ireland

DenmarkNetherlandsBelgium

Luxembourg

Germany

PolandCzech Rep.

Slovakia

Greece

Cyprus

FinlandSwedenNorway

Spain

Estonia

LithuaniaLatvia

Slovenia

Austria

Hungary

Bulgaria

RomaniaCroatia

Portugal

Iceland

Non-member (6)

Schengen Area

Free circulation of peopleMember states may temporarilyreintroduce border controlsin case of crisis

Schengen member (22) Schengen member (4)

LiechtensteinSwitzerland

European Union countries: Non-EU countries:

Eastern European nations tussle as refugee crisis deepensn AFP, Beli Manastir, Croatia

Thousands of migrants sought their way through a chaotic maze of rumour and pro-liferating border controls in the western Bal-kans on Saturday.

In the latest chapter in the EU’s escalating refugee crisis, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia tussled over how to cope with a wave of refu-gees desperate to reach northern Europe.

The European Union, meanwhile, sketched plans to boost aid to encourage Syr-ians in Turkey to stay put rather than join the exodus.

In a new hurdle aimed at stemming the in-� ow, Hungary said it had completed a 41km barbed-wire barrier along part of its frontier with fellow EU member Croatia.

It “was � nished overnight Friday,” defence spokesman Attila Kovacs said in Budapest.

The remaining 330km of the border runs roughly along the Drava river, which is di� -cult to cross.

The new barrier adds to a barbed-wire fence that Hungary set down along its frontier with Serbia, and backed with laws threaten-ing illegal migrants with jail.

That move sparked � erce condemnation internationally and forced the migrant � ow towards neighbouring Croatia.

Reversing an open-door policy, Croatia on Friday said it was swamped and redirected the migrants back to Hungary.

Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic on Friday said that Zagreb and Budapest had agreed to allow “vulnerable migrants” to cross.

Austrian police said 6,700 people had ar-rived on its border from Hungary, and as many as 10,000 were expected by the end of the day.

They were then taken by bus or special train to various reception centres around Austria, police said.

Another branch of the refugee � ow has been through Croatia and to Slovenia.

Hundreds of migrants spent the night in the open on the Croatian side of the bor-der at Bregana, state-run HRT television reported.

At Harmica, several dozen migrants faced o� with a cordon of riot police on the frontier bridge, demanding that Slovenian police let them enter the country.

Late Friday, police used tear gas against several hundred migrants, some with chil-dren, who had sought to push through the police line.

The clash happened shortly after Slo-venian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said the small country might consider creating “cor-ridors” for refugees wanting to reach north-ern Europe if they continue arriving in large numbers.

Slovenian police said on Saturday that 1,287 had arrived as of midnight Friday, of which 483 were from Afghanistan, 470 from Syria and 126 from Iraq.

Migrant flowWith no let-up in the � ow of people desperate to � nd shelter in Europe from war and misery, new � gures showed the EU received almost a

quarter of a million asylum requests in the three months to June.

The International Organization for Mi-gration (OIM) also said nearly 474,000 people had so far this year braved peril-ous trips across the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Italy’s coastguard on Saturday said it was coordinating 20 rescue operations in the Mediterranean that had picked up 4,540 people.

The continent’s biggest migratory � ow since the end of World War II has dug a deep rift between western and eastern EU mem-bers, with Hungary leading the hardline group.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is the great magnet for the refugees, many of whom are Syrians.

On Friday, Berlin warned it could invoke EU’s majority voting system to force reluctant states to accept quotas of migrants.

Another worry is over the fate of the Schengen agreement, a pillar of the European project that allows borderless travel between member states.

In addition to fences or restrictions on parts of the border between Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia, there are identity checks that Germany, Austria and Slovakia have reim-posed on parts of their borders, and Poland and The Netherlands are considering wheth-er to follow suit.

EU interior ministers are to meet again on Tuesday, followed by an emergency summit on Wednesday. l


Gujarat caste protest leader detention followed by violence n Tribune Desk

Gajarat police on Saturday detained Patel quota stir leader Hardik Patel and 36 of his followers in Surat city.

Non-violent protests that started soon after detention of Patel turned violent by evening. Stone pelting was reported in Kapodra area of the city as mobs started gathering nearest Kapodra police station. The crowd demanded release of Hardik.

Police lobbed tear-gas shells to disperse the crowd. The rioting mobs blocked all ma-jor cross roads in Varachha and Kapodra area. They also blocked the � yovers to disconnect the city from main entry points in city from National Highway 8.

The detainees were moved to police head-quarters in Athwalines.

On Friday, the Gujarat government had denied permission to Patel-led ‘Ekta Yatra’ march scheduled for Saturday, even as the Pa-tel quota agitation leader remained adamant to go ahead with the march “at any cost.”

In past two weeks, Hardik had announced to take out the “reverse Dandi March” twice, but cancelled the plan after the dis-trict administration denied permission to them.

“We have denied permission to (Hardik Pa-tel) to take out the rally tomorrow in the larg-er interest of law and order situation,” Navsari district collector RM Muthudath said.

Muthudath said the district administration has also denied permission to a counter-rally sought by the movement’s leaders.

Hardik said they will follow the path of “civil disobedience,” but assured that the ral-ly will be held peacefully without doing harm to anybody. l

Trump defend Obama? ‘I don’t think so!’n Reuters, Washington

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Saturday it was not his job to de-fend President Barack Obama after a man at one of his campaign events said he was a Muslim and “not even an American.”

Trump drew criticism from Republican and Democratic rivals in the 2016 race for the pres-idency when he failed to challenge a man at a New Hampshire town hall on Thursday night who said Muslims were a problem in the US.

“We know our current president is one. You know he’s not even an American,” the man said.

Trump, now leads the pack of Republicans seeking the presidential nomination, has cast doubt on whether Obama was born in the US and therefore quali� ed to stand as president.

“Am I morally obligated to defend the presi-dent every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don’t think so!” Trump said on Twitter.

“If someone made a nasty or controversial statement about me to the president, do you real-ly think he would come to my rescue? No chance!”

Obama is a Christian who as president has attended church occasionally. l

Japan enacts bills on overseas troop deployment, China concernedn Reuters, Tokyo

Japan’s parliament voted into law on Sat-urday a defence policy shift that could let troops � ght overseas for the � rst time since 1945, a milestone in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to loosen the limits of the paci� st constitution on the military.

Abe says the shift, the biggest change in Ja-pan’s defence policy since the creation of its post-war military in 1954, is vital to meet new challenges such as from a rising China.

But the legislation has triggered massive protests from ordinary citizens and others who say it violates the paci� st constitution and could ensnare Japan in US-led con� icts after 70 years of post-war peace. Abe’s ratings have also taken a hit.

The legislation “is necessary to protect the people’s lives and peaceful way of living and is for the purpose of preventing wars,” Abe told reporters after the bills were approved by the upper house. “I want to keep explaining the laws tenaciously and courteously.”

Japan’s ally the United States has wel-comed the changes but China, where bitter memories of Japan’s wartime aggression

run deep, has repeatedly expressed concern about the legislation.

China’s Foreign Ministry said the move was “unprecedented.”

“We solemnly urge Japan to learn the les-sons of history ... uphold the path of peaceful development and act cautiously in the areas of the military and security, and do more to help push regional peace and stability rather than the opposite,” it said.

The bills, already approved by parlia-ment’s lower house, were voted into law by the upper chamber in the early hours of Sat-urday despite opposition parties’ e� orts to block a vote by submitting censure motions and a no-con� dence motion against Abe’s cabinet in the lower house. All were defeated.

A key feature of the laws is an end to a long-standing ban on exercising the right of collective self-defence, or defending the United States or another friendly country that comes under attack, in cases where Japan fac-es a “threat to its survival.”

Thousands of demonstrators have rallied near parliament every day this week, chant-ing “Scrap the war bills” and “Abe resign.” Large crowds were still protesting into the

early hours of Saturday.The protests have called to mind those that

forced Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, to resign 55 years ago after forcing a US-Japan security treaty through parliament.

The revisions also expand the scope for logistics support for the militaries of the Unit-ed States and other countries, and for partici-pation in peace-keeping.

The changes still leave Japan constrained in overseas military operations by legal limits and a deeply rooted public anti-war mindset.

Critics, however, say the changes make a mockery of the paci� st constitution and de-plore what they see as Abe’s authoritarian mode of pushing for enactment of the bills.

Opposition to the legislation brought to-gether both liberals keen to preserve Japan’s paci� st principles and conservative critics of what they consider Abe’s authoritarian tac-tics.

Abe won a second three-year term as rul-ing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chief earli-er this month and faces no immediate danger of being unseated, but voter distaste for the new laws could hurt the ruling bloc in an elec-tion next year. l

IN-DEPTH

India’s dream of borderless trade grinds to a halt at checkpointsn Reuters, Walayar/New Delhi

At the Walayar checkpoint in southern India, lines of idle trucks stretch as far as the eye can see in both directions along the tree-lined in-terstate highway, waiting for clearance from tax inspectors that can take days to complete.

Delays are so bad that textile entrepreneur D Bala Sundaram has stopped sending his trucks to the international container termi-nal at nearby Cochin, instead diverting them hundreds of kilometres to a smaller regional port and onwards via Sri Lanka.

“Our containers would get stuck for four to � ve days,” said Sundaram, who runs a � rm with an annual turnover of $150m. “O� cials at the checkpost are � nicky.”

The rollout of a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) from April was supposed to sweep away hundreds of checkposts on India’s state borders, paving the way for the seamless movement of goods from the tropi-cal south to the Himalayas in the north.

But political opposition and the dilution of some of the tax’s key tenets mean hopes are fading that the checkposts will be demol-ished any time soon, a major blow for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reform agenda - and for India’s economy.

The rollout of the long-delayed GST regu-larly tops the list of demands made by CEOs of Indian and foreign companies.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley calls the new sales tax a “game changer” that will sub-sume a slew of federal and state levies, mak-ing Asia’s third-largest economy one of the world’s largest single markets and bumping

up economic growth.But opposition parties prevented a vote

on the GST in the last session of parliament, making a rollout next April unlikely.

Barriers remainEven when the tax is eventually implement-ed, concessions made to win support from states mean many of the obstructions to a customs union will stay.

For example, while the GST will be col-lected on goods and services in states where they are consumed, Jaitley allowed a 1% ad-ditional levy on the cross-border transport of goods, to please states with large manufac-turing bases.

Items such as alcohol, tobacco and petrol have been kept out of the new tax bill. States have also been given the � exibility to � x their GST rates within a band, providing arbitrage in the inter-state movement of goods.

“Enforcement is de� nitely required, we cannot do away with it at any point,” said a senior state government o� cial in Tamil Nadu. “We will need checkposts.”

Other provinces have similar plans to check tax evasion. States such as Maharash-tra, which includes commercial capital Mum-bai, are even erecting new checkpoints.

Logistical hasslesIndia has more than 650 interstate check-points, which studies say increase truck trav-el time by a quarter.

Road tra� c accounts for about 60% of all freight movement in India and such delays, McKinsey estimates, in� ate logistics costs to

13% of India’s gross domestic product.Sundaram, whose KG Group is one of the

biggest � rms in western Tamil Nadu, says sending his shipments from the industrial city of Coimbatore hundreds of kilometres in the wrong direction to Tuticorin port, on Ta-mil Nadu’s southern coast, has pushed up his freight costs by 20%.

Unlike Cochin, the Tuticorin port is not a container terminal, so his cargo must go from there to Colombo, where it is loaded on to a container ship to be sent around the globe. But the additional cost is worth it for Sund-aram, who says it means he can honour his commitments on time.

“We can give our clients an exact date when the cargo will reach its destination,” he said. “With the Cochin port, we simply can-not be sure when or whether our cargo will reach the port itself.”

Ease of doing businessThese travails underscore the challenge for Modi, who has set an ambitious goal of im-proving India’s position on a World Bank “Do-ing Business” ranking from a woeful 142 of 189 to the top 50 by 2017.

Jaitley views the GST rollout as the biggest push in achieving that target. He and his aides argue that, over time, higher tax collections and better compliance under the GST will en-courage states to start dismantling the border checkposts.

Saloni Roy, senior director at tax consult-ants Deloitte, agrees that the new tax will be a big improvement, but is not sure it will herald a borderless trade. l

11D

TWORLD


INSIGHT

With Brexit deadlines tight, EU-UK talks start slown Reuters, Brussels

Jeremy Corbyn and George Osborne have combined to remind Europe that London is now fully embarked on a turbulent, quick� re negotiation with Brussels that may see Britons vote next year to quit the European Union.

As Osborne was in Luxembourg on Saturday securing good-will from eurozone � nance ministers for his call for fair play for sterling, his Labour opponents in London were electing a new left-wing leader, Corbyn, who warns his support for continued EU membership is no “blank cheque.”

Three months after Prime Minister David Cameron was re-elected with promises to reform Britain’s relationship with the EU before a referendum by late 2017, Europe’s attention is consumed by its migration crisis.

But discreet EU-UK talks are now under way to de� ne how and what to negotiate to avoid a “Brexit” that Cameron says he does not want and which would shake the bloc to its core.Mean-while, The EU’s disarray on refugees is helping Eurosceptics in tight opinion polls.

The prospect of Labour turning cool on Europe and worries that ministers like Osborne are slow to spell out what Britain wants at the EU council table have stirred unease in Brussels.

EU o� cials close to the initial discussions said they were en-couraged by the talks so far.

Negotiating teamsBritish negotiators have been meeting key o� cials since July at the European Council, the forum of governments headed by Donald Tusk, and in Juncker’s executive. Both sides call the di-alogue technical talks, not yet real negotiations.

People involved say the British have explained their de-mands in broad terms and EU o� cials have responded with de-tailed questions requiring further clari� cation.

It will be up to Council chief Tusk to craft any deal that can secure political buy-in from all EU leaders.

British o� cials like to divide Cameron’s demands into what they call four “buckets”: competitiveness, sovereignty, “fairness” and migration. The � rst two, involving elements such as promoting free trade and markets and increasing oversight by national parliaments, are broadly in line with Juncker’s plans.

It is on migration, which Cameron has made a centrepiece of his political argument with his own Eurosceptic Conservatives, that EU o� cials see the greatest di� culty.

British o� cials say the problem is not with the principle of free movement of labour but with the scale of immigration.

But making working in Britain less attractive to other EU citi-zens – Cameron wants to make them wait four years before they get equal rights to in-work bene� ts – “looks blatantly discrim-inatory” to one senior EU o� cial involved in the talks, and as such incompatible with basic treaties.

Treaty changeA further di� culty for Cameron will be to convince voters that any deal is legally watertight. He says that means at least legally binding promises to change EU treaties.

Other leaders are loath to commit to treaty change, saying the anti-EU mood in much of Europe makes winning rati� ca-tion referendums in some countries highly doubtful.

British o� cials place some hope in German calls for change to treaties to help the euro zone withstand more shocks like the Greek crisis. London could have its own changes then, they say.

Much remains uncertain in the process, however. EU diplo-mats complain they have yet to see a written proposal for spe-ci� c legislative changes Britain wants.

Cameron’s next moves may become clearer at his Conserva-tive Party conference in early October and a regular EU summit two weeks later. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Union’s power-broker, has pledged to help – but not at the expense of EU principles. l

WORLD12DT

London 5th expensive city in the worldn Reuters, London

London is the � fth most expensive city in the world to live in but wage levels have failed to keep up compared to oth-er major centres, a report by Swiss Bank UBS has found.

The British capital ranked behind Zurich, Geneva, New York and Oslo

when it came to the relative cost of goods, including rent, but was in 13th place on a comparison of gross salaries.

The study found that whilst it was cheaper to live in Sydney, Copenhagen and Chicago, residents there earned more relative to Londoners.

UBS found that London was also far

more expensive than comparable Euro-pean capital cities Paris and Berlin.

Among the cheapest places in the world to live were So� a in Bulgaria, Bucharest in Romania and New Del-hi and Mumbai in India, where wag-es were also among the lowest of the 71 locations compared around the world. l

13D

TEDITORIALSUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

INSIDE

An analysis by Dhaka Tribune of recent data on public universities found many institutions operating with less than 10 professors.

The shortage is most acute in newer institutions outside the capital with, for instance, Barisal University and the Pabna

University of Science and Technology only having one professor each who is the VC.

By contrast, at Jahangirnagar University, around a third of its total 657 teachers are professors. Likewise, at Dhaka University, around 35% of teachers are professors, while, elsewhere in South Asia, at Delhi University, the proportion approaches nearly half.

The same pattern can be seen in other sectors with Dhaka exerting an overwhelming gravitational pull on talent and resources. This over-centralisation of expertise within Dhaka creates a vicious cycle across the whole public sector that deprives people outside the capital of good quality public services, and hampers the spread of economic growth.

The concentration of coveted opportunities in Dhaka increases migratory pressure towards the capital, which in turn reduces quality of life in the capital. It also gives rise to corruption and lobbying in the job allocation process, undermining the integrity of the bureaucratic apparatus.

A comprehensive approach is required to incentivise more public servants to take up posts outside of Dhaka. Staying in Dhaka is lucrative from the perspective of career advancement because of networking opportunities and the possibility of taking on consultancy jobs. In order to o� set this, more key o� ces should be relocated out of the capital and salary incentives provided to public servants willing to relocate.

Investment also needs to be made on infrastructure and facilities, such as education and healthcare, in order to improve the attractiveness of cities outside of Dhaka.

Decentralisation will help everyone in the nation by reducing pressures on Dhaka and helping to spread the bene� ts of economic growth across the whole country.

Decentralisation is vital to spread the bene� ts of economic growth and reduce pressures on Dhaka

Decentralise to spread opportunities

How can we improve TV?

The green threadIn Paris, governments can start delivering on their newly enshrined development goals by constructing an agreement that signals the end of the fossil-fuel age

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Feeding your child rightImmediately after birth, the newborn should be breast-fed, at the earliest, within half an hour. For the � rst six full months (180 days), the infant should be breast-fed exclusively and not be given even a single drop of water

Are there enough producers out there to deliver the quality required to satisfy the new generation of audiences who have more than one channel to choose from? The local channels are not just competing with themselves, but with international channels

BIG

STO

CK

OPINION14DT


n Saleemul Huq

On September 25, at the UN General Assembly in New York, government leaders will agree to “take urgent action to combat climate change

and its impacts” as they sign on to the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -- set-ting the global development agenda for the next 15 years. It is good to see that climate action and renewable energy have their own distinct goals and that references to tackling climate change run through most of the 17 goals like a green thread.

We can’t deliver sustainable development without taking urgent action to tackle climate change and supporting the communities already su� ering from its impacts. By signing o� on the SDGs, world leaders are acknowl-edging this and people around the world will be watching closely as they approach their � rst real test of resolve -- the UN climate negotiations in Paris this December.

Out in the real world, climate impacts are hitting hard and taking a massive toll on vulnerable communities already beset by poverty and inequality. Just last month, Hur-ricane Erika slammed into Dominica, killing 31 people, setting back development by 20 years, and leaving the nation with damages valued at $228m -- we know that climate-in-duced sea level rise is making mega-storms like this more dangerous.

The refugee crisis unfolding right now across the Middle East and Europe has its roots in social unrest that was compounded by an unprecedented drought that struck the Syrian region from 2006 to 2011, a drought that cannot be explained without taking climate change into account.

Governments know the reality, they have signed o� on the agreed climate science, and they know that we require rapid cuts in carbon emissions to limit dangerous climate impacts and boost development. Many countries are now acknowledging this more openly than they have in the past. For instance, President Obama recently visited Alaska, where he acknowledged that our in� uence on the climate is now having visible e� ects on fragile regions, while Secretary John Kerry warned that several Inuit communities face becoming “climate refugees” as they gradually lose their lands to the sea.

We are seeing more and more coun-tries submit national climate-action plans ahead of the UN negotiations in Paris, but at present, these proposals will not deliver enough action to limit global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (let alone the recommend-ed 1.5 degrees) above pre-industrial levels. Fortunately, people, businesses, and institu-tions around the world aren’t waiting for our governments -- they are taking the lead.

There is unprecedented momentum building behind the call for urgent climate action. Through the historic Islamic Climate Declaration and Papal Encyclical, we have religious authorities impressing the moral case for phasing out fossil fuels and tackling inequality upon billions of Muslims and Christians around the world. We have cities like Vancouver, Kasese, and Sydney setting the bar high by pledging to go 100% renew-able -- at the same time others are pulling their money out of fossil fuels, most recently the US state legislature of California and the world’s busiest coal port in Newcastle, Aus-tralia. We have local champions in countries

like India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia helping to roll out renewable energy in rural areas to provide energy access and boost the standard of living in ways impossible through major, centralised coal expansion.

The SDGs will lay out the development framework for the next 15 years; in a similar way, the new global-climate agreement due to be forged in Paris is expected to create an international frame-work for the deep de-carbonisation of our economies, and the just transition to a world powered by 100% re-newable energy, where no one is left behind.

In Paris, governments can start delivering on their newly enshrined development goals by constructing an agreement that signals the end of the fossil fuel age, supports vulnerable communities a� ected by increasing drought, � ooding and sea-level rise, and creates a framework that brings countries back to the table to boost their actions every � ve years. l

This post is part of a series produced by The Hu� ngton Post: “What's Working: Sustaina-ble Development Goals,” in conjunction with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The proposed set of milestones will be the subject of discussion at the UN General Assembly meeting on September 25-27 in New York. The goals, which will replace the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015), cover 17 key areas of development -- including poverty, hunger, health, education, and gender equality, among many others.

Saleemul Huq is Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London and Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University, Bangladesh. This article previously appeared in The Hu� ngton Post.

The green threadThere is now unprecedented momentum behind the call for urgent climate action

In Paris, governments can start delivering on their newly enshrined development goals by constructing an agreement that signals the end of the fossil-fuel age

The present proposals may not deliver enough action to limit global warming BIGSTOCK

OPINION 15D


n Afroza Amin

According to World Health Organisation’s calculations, every year, the untimely death of 150,000 children can be prevented if they

are breast-fed during the � rst six months after birth. In the last � ve years, our country has seen a rise from 47% to 64% in the breastfeeding of infants up to six months.

Immediately after birth, the newborn should be breastfed, at the earliest, within half an hour. For the � rst six full months (180 days), the infant should be breast-fed exclusively, and not be given even a single drop of water.

After that, the child should be breast-fed along with solid food side by side. The � rst milk produced by the mother after giving birth is called colostrum. Colostrum is dense, sticky, and pale yellow in colour. It is extremely bene� cial for the infant and works as the child’s � rst ever vaccine.

It has multiple bene� ts: l It is rich in proteinl It cleanses the child’s stomach and helps in regular bowel movementsl It reduces the possibility of the infant

developing neo-natal jaundicel After child-birth, the amount of milk produced in the � rst two to three days is su� cient for the newborn. Feeding the infant water, honey, or sugared water is extremely harmful. It increases the possibility of the infant getting diarrhoea. Moreover, its eagerness to feed on breast milk decreasesl Breast milk contains all the necessary nutritional elements for the baby. Up till the age of six months, breast milk alone is su� cient. Besides nutritional elements, breast milk is comprised of 90% water,

which is why the infant does not need any additional water during the � rst six months.l Breast milk is clean and free of germs. It has no chance of being a� ected by them, be they airborne or waterbornel Breast milk enables the infant to ward o� diseases such as diarrhoea, ear infection, pneumonia, lung diseases, asthma, allergy, itching, etc. Even if the child catches any disease, the child recovers faster due to greater resistance to diseasesl Breast milk facilitates the child’s physical and mental growthl It is easily digestiblel It contains the optimum amount of Vitamin A, which eliminates the child’s chances of catching night-blindness. Moreover, breast-feeding is not only bene� cial for the child, it is necessary for the mother as welll It creates an emotional attachment between the mother and childl Breast-feeding the child helps rescue the mother’s body from post-partum complicationsl Breast-feeding helps the mother’s uterus to recover faster from the disturbances during pregnancy. In addition, to an extent, it controls the post-partum bleedingl Breast-feeding reduces the chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer, and helps the mother reduce her weight after childbirth

The government of Bangladesh has taken various initiatives to ensure proper nutrition of mother and child. In addition to government initiatives, private organisations such as di� erent hospitals have come forward to establish lactation corners, and are playing a signi� cant role by conducting various scienti� c workshops to raise awareness about the bene� ts of breast milk.

Greater awareness is needed to ensure the

achievement of millennium development goals for the very large population of this country. In this age, where half of the working population consists of women, a more mother-friendly workplace is extremely important.

Today’s children are tomorrow’s future. Let us work together to build an excellent future with these children, and build a beautiful Bangladesh. l

Afroza Amin is Company Doctor, Nestlé Bangladesh Ltd.

Feeding your child rightBreast-feeding is a crucial part of a child’s growth

Immediately after birth, the newborn should be breast-fed, at the earliest, within half an hour. For the � rst six full months (180 days), the infant should be breast-fed exclusively and not be given even a single drop of water

We must take care of both mother and child BIGSTOCK

LONG FORM16DT


n Abu Saif Ansari

Television was one of the most ex-citing inventions of its time, and its evolution over the past century has been remarkable. From cathode ray

tubes to internet television, the development in television is a re� ection of the audience’s ever-changing demand, and expectation from the medium itself.

For some, it has been the biggest source of entertainment, while for others it has been a weapon more powerful than an F-16 � ghter aircraft, when one takes into consideration television’s ability to advocate global policies and reformation. Television media, over the years, has earned its share of negative publicity alongside the positive. Audiences automatically do not trust what they see on television because they believe it to be a means through which certain people want to ful� ll their own personal agendas.

That assumption is not completely mis-placed, since media requires sponsorship and funding from stake-holders to operate and, more often than not, these stakeholders will try to leverage as much as possible through the dissemination of information that may serve their best interests. This has existed through the ages for obvious reasons.

However, by no means should we under-mine television’s parallel ability to contribute positively to our society. If it can be used to instill a biased idea in the audience’s minds, it can equally play a critical role in promoting behaviour that could improve society.

Bangladesh’s local channels now face tough competition from the more experi-enced foreign channels, and the question to ponder is this: What strategy can the indus-try deploy to make a major comeback and deliver the quality expected from them?

Television’s journey in Bangladesh began with one state-owned channel and now, there are 27 private and with three state-owned channels on air. There are 13 more channels waiting in the pipeline. The statis-tics clearly indicate a tremendous growth in the industry, an impact of the government’s favourable policies, the availability of cheap-er Chinese television sets, and the increase in accessibility of electricity in most parts of the country.

Today, if you visit the char regions of Bangladesh, you will � nd a television set in a tea stall, whereas, a few years back, these regions could not even boast electricity. Can the industry live up to the potential of this expansion? Are there enough competent journalists, editors, and producers out there to deliver the quality required to satisfy the new generation of audiences in Bangladesh, who have more than one television channel to choose from? The local channels are not just competing with themselves, but with international channels which are giants of the global media industry.

The Nielsen Media Demographic Survey (NMDS) 2013, which comprised of 12,000 respondents nationwide, indicated that 79% of the population of Bangladesh had access to a television.

When it comes to entertainment, interna-

tional channels have become more popular recently, whereas, for news, they tune into the local channels, since only these channels can cater to the regional information de-mands of the audience. The current situation may look a bit dismal for local entertainment producers, but it does not mean there is no potential to turn things around.

A combination of local information mixed with the right blend of entertainment can enable local channels to regain popularity. This format of programming is popularly termed “infotainment.” The application of such a format allows the program to grab the attention of the audience for a longer period, while educating them through the dissem-ination of relevant information which, in turn, promotes behavioural changes.

These behavioural changes can result in social, economic, or political bene� ts. The NDS 2014, conducted by MRB Bangladesh, shows that cable television network has increased by 29% between 2012 and 2014, which is an indication that major parts of Bangladesh now have access to a wide range of channels. This development has made competition for the local channels far more intense but, at the same time, has expanded

their market. To stay ahead, the local chan-nels could adopt some of these strategies:l Balance between advertisements and quality content: Setting up a television station is a very resource-intensive initia-tive. Hence, it is only normal for the media gate-keepers and owners to focus on revenue generation through sponsors. However, a tel-evision channel cannot retain audiences and its business solely through advertisements; it needs to focus on developing quality content through programs and news. l Stakeholder analysis: A good quality program requires both � nancial and human resources. It is crucial for television channels to conduct a comprehensive stake-holder analysis, while planning the program at the same time. For instance, an interactive segment of a program may comprise of live phone calls, which may open opportunities for acquiring sponsorship deals from the telecom sector. Hence, a health program may even have a telecom partner, even though the main issue is not directly related.l Demand-based programs: This is a crucial factor, since local channels can establish their unique selling point by understanding local information demands and broadcasting

programs accordingly, which is not possible for foreign channels. Additionally, it is important for the television channels to be updated on the changing preferences of the audience. A program should be able to di� erentiate itself from both local and international competition, for which necessary research needs to be conducted on a regular basis.l Info-tainment: NMDS 2013 indicates that 72.4% of viewers approve of Bengali news, 54.3 % approve of Bangladeshi � lms, and 46.5% approve of drama serials. This behaviour is common in most other countries as well. However, focusing only on entertain-ment cannot sustain the industry, nor allow it to reach its full potential. Programs can be designed in a way that contains a com-bination of both valuable information and entertaining content -- a program format that e� ectively disseminates information which is absorbed properly by the audience.l Interactive programs: Incorporating mech-anisms such as live call-ins or text messaging are known to be e� ective in connecting with the audience and disseminating updated in-formation. With the advent of cheap, Chinese mobile phones, it is now possible to connect with viewers from both the urban and rural regions.l Capacity-building for journalists: The television industry does not focus heavily on training for its employees compared to other industries. Training on developing journal-istic skills to produce innovative content on agriculture, health, business, women em-powerment, and other areas besides politics should be pursued by the industry. l

The concluding part of this long form will be published tomorrow.

Abu Saif Ansari is Senior Business Consultant, Information Channels, Swisscontact-Katalyst.

How can we improve TV?

Are there enough producers out there to deliver the quality required to satisfy the new generation of audiences who have more than one channel to choose from? The local channels are not just competing with themselves, but with international channels

A lot of good can be done using television media. This is part one of a two part long form

The ‘idiot box’ doesn’t always have to play the idiot BIGSTOCK

17D

TBusiness SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

HOW CHINA DECIDED TO REDRAW THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL MAP17EYES ON PMIS FOR CLUES AFTER FED

KEEPS MARKETS GUESSING18

BD ranks 16th in Brookings � nancial inclusionn Kayes Sohel

Bangladesh has been ranked 16th of 21 coun-tries on its � nancial and digital inclusion ef-forts, according to the 2015 Brookings Finan-cial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) report.

The Brookings Institution is a nonpro� t public policy organisation based in Washing-ton, DC.

Kenya has ranked one, followed by South Africa and Brazil. Ethiopia came last on the list.

The 2015 FDIP report evaluates and ranks countries based on four dimensions of � nan-cial inclusion – the country’s commitment to increasing � nancial inclusion, its mobile ca-pacity, the regulatory environment and adop-tion of traditional and digital � nancial services.

The 21 countries selected are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Ni-geria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, and Zambia. The rationale for selecting these coun-tries was that all of them have made recent com-mitments to � nancial inclusion, all re� ecting political, economic, and geographic diversity.Bangladesh’s overall score was 67%. It scored 94% on its commitment to � nancial inclusion. This score is based on the country’s digital � -

nancial service commitments, its � nancial inclusion strategy, quanti� ed targets, a ded-icated � nancial inclusion body and surveys which measure � nancial inclusion.

On mobile capacity, which is based on unique mobile subscribership, 3G mobile net-work coverage, mobile money deployments, domestic transfers through mobiles, bill pay-ment facilities, it scored 94%.

On regulatory environment that facilitates competition by allowing non-banks to pro-vide � nancial services, encouraging provid-ers to improve interoperability, and limiting agent exclusivity through regulation helps foster the emergence, it scored 78%.

On adoption of innovative and a� ordable services, it scored 40%.

While Bangladesh has demonstrated its

commitment to providing access to qualify � nancial services for the under-resourced through a responsive regulatory environment and emphasis on digital � nancial services, further works remain, said the report.

It said an early leader in mobile � nancial ser-vices (MFS), bKash, provides a useful snapshot of mobile money emergence and operation.

Bkash approach was a valuable since un-like many mobile companies, bKash is not a mobile network operator and therefore did not have a pre-existing customer base.

Greg Chen who works for CGAP (Consulta-tive Group to Assist the Poor) and Stephen Ras-mussen who heads CGAP’s Technology and Business Model Innovation Team stated that Bkash’s success is mainly due to three reasons: its identity as a specialised organisation built to deliver mobile � nancial services, its shared vision for scale among a diverse group and an enabling and � exible regulatory environment.

“The drafting of a national � nancial inclu-sion strategy under a committee led by Bangla-desh Bank governor was underway as of April 2015. Completion of this strategy as well as the undertaking of another national-demand-side � nancial services survey could help Bangla-desh better identify and advance speci� c � -nancial inclusion targets,” said the report. l

Half of last year’s rawhide still remain unsoldn Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

The likely shortage of sacri� cial animals this year would not a� ect the country’s rawhide collection as there was a su� cient reserve from the last year’s collection, sector people said.

They said Bangladeshi traders still had 40-50% of rawhide collected during last Eid-ul-Azha in their stock due to poor demand and economic slowdown in major destination countries.

Almost 50% of annual rawhide collection takes place during Eid-ul-Azha when a large number of animals are slaughtered by Mus-lims in Bangladesh as elsewhere in other parts of the world as a sacri� ce to Allah.

There has been a fear that the country’s cattle market could see a dearth of supply this year due to the Indian government’s bar on ex-porting cattle. Bangladesh is largely depend-ent on the Indian cattle to meet its demand.

“But the shortage of Indian cattle will not be a problem in rawhide collection this year as we have enough stock from last year,” Abu Ta-her, chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leath-er, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said about 40-50% rawhide still re-mained unsold due to slowdown in the global market.

“Prices of leather and leather goods have fallen as demand is poor in the major export destinations. There was also a devaluation of euro which also cast a negative impact on Bangladesh leather sector.”

About 60% of Bangladeshi leather prod-ucts are exported to the EU countries.

However, the sector people are not willing to set any price of rawhide for this year be-cause there has already been about 20% price fall in the global market.

Meanwhile, the sector people will meet commerce minister to discuss the matter and about setting prices of rawhide.

“We don’t want to � x any price as the global market has remained sluggish,” said Abu Taher.

Md Shaheen Ahmed, pres-ident of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), expected the crisis would be solved soon as the government started im-porting cattle from neighbour-ing Myanmar while India was also easing cattle export barrier.

He said they had set a target to collect 4-5m pieces of raw-hide this year.

According to the BTA, Bangladesh slaughtered over 6m cows and 3.5m goats on last Eid-ul-Azha. The associa-

tion set price of cow rawhide at Tk65-70 per square feet for Dhaka and Tk60-65 for the are-as outside Dhaka last year. The goat hide price was set at Tk30-35 per square feet for Dhaka and Tk25-30 for outside Dhaka.

According to the EPB data, in the last � scal year the export earnings from the leather and leather products marked a meager growth by 0.56% to $1.13bn, which was $1.12bn in the previous year.

The leather export declined by 21.36% to $397.54m, while leather products export rose by 3.78% to $249m in the � scal. However, the leather footwear posted a robust growth by 27.81% to $484m, which was $378.5m a year ago. l

NBR nets Tk1,097 crore on � rst four day of income tax fairn Tribune Report

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has so far collected around Tk1,097 crore as income tax from the ongoing National Income Tax Fair that began on September 16 across the country.

The board has served over 4.25 lakh people including 77,118 taxpayers who � led their in-come tax returns in the countrywide fair.

The fair, like the previous days, has attract-ed a huge number of service seekers, mostly the taxpayers visiting here for � ling returns and people seeking registration with Electron-ic Taxpayers Identi� cation Number (e-TIN.)

The tax fair in Dhaka O� cers Club drew huge crowd as the fair remained open from 10am to 8pm yesterday, with three hours ad-ditional time from the usual schedule to help service holders � ling their income tax returns.

O� cials said the fair did not attract that much crowd in the morning due to rainy weather. However, the crowd started con-verging on the venue from the afternoon. Although the fair was full of crowd till 5pm, there was not that much audience in the evening despite the extension of the time frame. l

BUSINESS18DT


Eyes on PMIs for clues after Fed keeps markets guessingn Reuters, Paris

Business con� dence data from China and the euro zone will o� er some pointers this week to where the global economy is going after the US Federal Reserve kept markets guessing about when it will begin raising rates.

With a Chinese slowdown blamed for spooking the Fed last week into postponing a rate hike, China’s � ash manufacturing pur-chasing managers’ index on Wednesday will be closely watched for signs of deterioration in the world’s second-biggest economy.

Economists polled by Reuters are banking on a slight improvement and any disappoint-ment risks reigniting concerns that the Chi-nese economy is slowing faster than thought.

“We would caution against pinning hopes on more than a slight stabilisation at weak levels, given continued weak industrial conditions and especially as the e� ect of recent factory closures will not have completely washed out,” said economists at brokerage Exane BNP Paribas.

In the United States, economic data is like-ly to take a back seat next week.

“Of more signi� cance will be Fed speech-es, which may be used to nudge rate hike ex-pectations following the markets’ seemingly dovish interpretation of the press release and

conference message,” ING economist James Knightley said in a research note.

“We still feel there is a strong case for ex-pecting an October hike,” he added.

Yellen, xiMost Wall Street banks polled by Reuters shortly after the decision was made public expect that the Fed will not act that soon, and will instead begin hiking rates only at its meeting in December.

No longer muzzled by the pre-meeting black-out, Fed o� cials will be out in droves to air their views, with the highlight a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen in Massachusetts on Thursday.

But intense attention will fall on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting on Friday with U.S. President Barack Obama, with no short-age of economic issues to chew over.

Looking to the euro zone, economists see � ash PMI data due on Wednesday coming in slightly stable to soft in September.

However, expectations for Germany’s PMI and IFO business con� dence are on the down-side, despite a weaker euro bene� ting its ex-ports as Chinese demand eases.

Money supply data from the European Central Bank will indicate whether the � ow of credit to households and businesses continued its ever so gradual recovery in August. l

A formation of military helicopters � ies past the central business area (CBD) of Beijing REUTERS

Global economy worries prompt Fed to hold rates steadyn Reuters, Washington

The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday in a bow to worries about the global economy, � nancial market volatility and sluggish in� ation at home, but left open the possibility of a modest policy tightening later this year.

In what amounted to a tactical retreat, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said developments in a tightly linked global economy had in e� ect forced the US central bank’s hand.

“The outlook abroad appears to have become less certain,” Yellen told a news conference after the Fed’s policy-setting committee released a statement following a two-day meeting.

She added that a recent fall in US stock prices and a rise in the value of the dollar al-ready were tightening � nancial market condi-tions, which could slow US economic growth regardless of what the Fed does.

“In light of the heightened uncertainty abroad ... the committee judged it appropriate to wait,” Yellen said.

The policy statement also nodded squarely to the global economy as a decisive variable within Yellen’s “data-dependent” Fed, warn-ing that recent developments abroad and in � nancial markets might restrain economic ac-tivity somewhat and likely put further down-ward pressure on in� ation in the near term.

But the Fed maintained its bias towards a rate hike sometime this year, while lowering its long-term outlook for the economy.

Fresh economic projections showed 13 of 17 Fed policymakers foresee raising rates at least once in 2015, down from 15 at the last meeting in June.

Traders in futures markets cut bets that the central bank would lift rates by December to

around a 47 percent probability, from 64% be-fore the release of the policy statement.

“We’re in the same situation we were in before, which is uncertainty about when are they going to move,” said John Bonnell, a sen-ior portfolio manager at USAA Investments in San Antonio, Texas.

Four Fed policymakers now say rates should not be raised until at least 2016, compared to two who felt that way in June. The Fed has pol-icy meetings in October and December.

In deciding when to hike rates, the Fed repeated it wanted to see “some further im-provement in the labour market,” and be “rea-sonably con� dent” that in� ation will increase.

The dollar fell sharply against a basket of currencies after the release of the statement. Stocks initially edged higher before falling and ending the trading session lower. Prices for US Treasuries rose.

‘More dovish’Taken as a whole, the latest Fed projections of slower GDP growth, low unemployment and continuing low in� ation suggest that concerns of a so-called secular stagnation may be taking root among policymakers. One policymaker even suggested a negative federal funds rate.

The median projection of the 17 policy-makers showed the Fed expects the economy to grow 2.1 percent this year, slightly faster than previously thought. However, its fore-casts for GDP growth in 2016 and 2017 were downgraded.

The Fed also forecast in� ation would creep only slowly toward its 2% target even as un-employment dips lower than previously ex-pected. It sees the unemployment rate hitting 4.8% next year and remaining at that level for as long as three years. l

BUSINESS 19D


Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited and BSRM Steels Limited have recently signed an agreement with Building Technology & Ideas (bti) Limited under which bti will exclusively use building-materials of BSRM for its real estate projects. Head of Dhaka corporate o� ce of Bangladesh Steel Re- Rolling Mills Limited and BSRM Steels Limited, Kazi Anwar Ahmed and Faizur Rahman Khan, MD of bti have signed the agreement

Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd has recently held its 49th annual general meeting in Dhaka. The company’s chairperson, Samuel S Chowdhury presided over the meeting, where the shareholders approved a cash dividend of 30% and stock dividend of 12.5% for the year ended on March 31, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

How China decided to redraw the global � nancial mapn Reuters, Beijing

Plans for China’s new development bank, one of Beijing’s biggest global policy successes, were almost shelved two years ago due to doubts among senior Chinese policymakers.

From worries it wouldn’t raise enough funds to concerns other nations wouldn’t back it, Bei-jing was plagued by self-doubt when it � rst con-sidered setting up the Asian Infrastructure In-vestment Bank (AIIB) in early 2013, two sources with knowledge of internal discussions said.

But promises by some Middle East govern-ments to stump up cash and the support of key European nations - to Beijing’s surprise and despite US opposition - became a turning point in China’s plans to alter the global � nan-cial architecture.

The overseas a� rmation, combined with the endorsement of stalwart supporters, in-cluding a former Chinese vice premier and incoming AIIB President Jin Liqun, a former head of sovereign wealth fund China Invest-ment Corp, enabled China to bring the bank from an idea to its imminent inception.

The bank’s successful establishment is likely to bolster Beijing’s con� dence that it can play a leading role in supranational � nan-cial institutions, despite the economic head-winds it is facing at home.

“At the start, China wasn’t very con� dent,” one of the sources said in reference to Bei-

jing’s AIIB plans.“The worry was that there was no money

for this.”A Finance Ministry delegation that called on

Southeast Asian nations to gauge interest in the AIIB was not encouraging, the source said. Gov-ernments backed the idea, but were too poor to

contribute heavily to the bank’s funding.But subsequent visits to the Middle East

helped to win the day as regional govern-ments informed China they needed new in-frastructure and, crucially, were able to pay for it, a source said.

“They are all oil-producing countries, they

have foreign currencies, they were very enthusi-astic, and they could shell out the cash,” he said.

“That was when we thought ‘Ah, this can be done.’”

AIIB declined to comment for this story and referred questions to China’s � nance ministry, which did not respond to a request for com-ment. Poised to rival the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the AIIB, to which 57 nations have signed up to join, will amplify China’s in� uence on global develop-ment � nance.

Around a seventh of the 50 countries that signed up in June to become a founding mem-ber of the AIIB were Middle Eastern, AIIB’s website showed, with Iran, Israel, Egypt, Jor-dan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates among the signatories.

ScepticismInternal government debates about the AIIB lasted for at least six months from spring 2013 and included the Finance Ministry, the Min-istry of Commerce and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), a state think-tank, sources said.

Government sceptics questioned China’s ability to run a multilateral bank given its in-experience and, fearing the AIIB might incur losses, suggested China set up its own state investment fund to � nance foreign infrastruc-ture deals, sources said. l

Seats for the delegates from China and other member countries are pictured ahead of a signing ceremony of articles of agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing REUTERS

Dhaka stock rebound with volatility in past weekn Tribune Report

Dhaka stock rebounded in the past week after three consecutive weeks of marginal losses. But volatility dominated most of the sessions of the week since investors remained uncer-tain over the market’s bullishness ahead of Ei ul-Azha which will be celebrated on Friday next, brokers say.

During the week that ended on Thursday, the benchmark of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, gained 60 points or 1.3% to settle at 4,819.

The blue-chip comprising index, DS30, went up 33 points or 1.9% to 1,848.

The DSE Shariah Index, DSES, was up 19 points or 1.7% to 1,186.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 8,986, ris-ing 116 points or 1.4%.

The week’s average daily turnover value on the Dhaka Stock Exchange stood at Tk450 crore, up slightly by 1.8% compared to the previous week’s average daily value.

All large cap sectors advanced in the week ex-

cept telecommunications that was down 0.8%.In the � nancial sector, banks and non-bank-

ing � nancial institutions advanced marginally. Power sector performed well, gaining over

2.4%, led by state-owned power distribution company PGCB that surged more than 18%, on raising its transmission tari� .

Food and allied was the week’s second best performer soaring 1.5%, driven by Olympic Industries, which was up 1.5%. Pharmaceuti-cals went up by 1.3% on shining the sector’s heavyweight Beximco Pharmaceuticals.

Among the low cap sectors, engineering and ceramic showed robust performance while tannery, textile and cement closed in red.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the market made an upbeat performance on the back-drop of smaller scrips, while the behemoths remained quite muted.

IDLC Investments said the search for lucra-tive spreads and then short-term positioning and repositioning put the market in a slowing mood.

It said investors continued setting strate-gies to � nd quick return ahead of Eid ul-Azha.

Besides, the lack of any lucrative story to pull up the market kept investors cautious, leaving the overall market sentiment un-changed.

“Moreover, investors were thinking of sec-toral as well as scrip-wise switch to track bet-ter investment return.” l

All large cap sectors advanced in the week except telecommunications that was down 0.8%

BUSINESS20DT


Sea Pearl begins its operation at Cox’s Bazarn Tribune Report

Country’s largest � ve-star hotel Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa has begun its commer-cial operation at Cox’s Bazar.

Industry Minister Amir Hossain Amu for-mally inaugurated the luxury hotel on Thurs-day last.

Prime Bank has � nanced the big project worth Tk600 crore through syndication loan from nine commercial banks.

Aminul Haque Shamim, managing director of the newly launched Sea Pearl said, “Nine banks have invested Tk200 crore in the pro-ject through syndication while rest of invest-ment was made from own � nancing.”

He claimed that the hotel was the larg-est in Bangladesh in terms of international time-sharing with Royal Tulip.

Prime Bank � nanced Tk97 crore while rest of Tk103 crore was jointly � nanced by Mutual Trust Bank, Standard Bank, Pubali Bank, One Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Trust Bank, NCC Bank and Modhumoti Bank.

The loan can be paid in six years with a one-year grace period.

Prime Bank Managing Director Ahmed Kamal Khan Chowdhury said, “Banks invest-ment in this project will not be a risky one as an analysis found that the occupancy rate of the hotel is above 40% which is pro� table.

Moreover, lower interest rate will reduce the risk of the project, he opined.

Banks are interested to invest for long time in hotel construction as tourism sector is growing in Bangladesh, said Golam Ha� z Ahmed, managing director of NCC Bank.

“Our targeted people are mainly local busi-nessmen and foreigners but middle class peo-ple can also a� ord the cost of the hotel,” said A H M Mokbul Hossain, chief executive o� cer of Sea Pearl.

The hotel with 493 key rooms has been built on 15 acres of land along the sea beach. The minimum price of a hotel room is Tk9,000 per day. The most lucrative feature of the ho-tel is the two private beaches, one for foreign-ers while another for the local tourists. l

UCBL launches new logon Tribune Report

The United Commercial Bank Limited has launched new logo on Thursday last at the Bang-abandhu International Confer-ence Center in the capital.

The sketched new logo was presented to Chairman of M A Hashem and Managing Di-rector. Muhammed Ali of UCB by prominent artists Mustafa Manwar and Ra� qun Nabi.

The new logo of UCB is in-spired by the caring attitude that promotes unity, progress and advancement. It’s an artis-

tic combination of two hands that symbolizes togetherness.

Among others Vice-Chair-man of UCB Ahmed Arif Billah, Chairman of executive commit-tee Anisuzzaman Chowdhury Ronny, Chairman of risk man-agement committee M A Sabur, Chairman of audit committee Abu Tayeb Muhammad Zahirul Alam, Director Sharif Zahir, Ja-hangir Alam Khan, M A Kalam, Abdul Ga� ar Chowdhury, Asi-fuzzaman Chowdhury, Sultana Rezia Begum, Shabbir Ahmed and Nurul Islam Chowdhury were present at the event. l

The newly launched luxury hotel Sea Pearl at Cox’s Bazar DHAKA TRIBUNE

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 15 represents B so � ll B every time the � gure 15 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 Strength (5)4 Teaching period (4)7 Very small (6)8 Ancient tongue (5)10 S African monetary unit (4)11 Keyboard instrument (5)12 Tree (3)14 Slender support (4)17 Seizes suddenly (4)19 Period of time (3)20 Tender (5)23 Water hole (4)25 Golf course (5)26 Closer (6)27 Agitate (4)28 Amounts owing (5)

DOWN1 Fertilising powder (6)2 Eastern ruler (4)3 Circle (4)4 Rotates (5)5 Greek letter (3)6 Give-up (6)9 Burial place (4)13 Hid (6)15 Gull (4)16 Church services (6)18 Of the sun (5)21 Ran away (4)22 Irish republic (4)24 Hawaiian garland (3)

SUDOKU

DOWNTIME 21D


Shahana’s Ja Bolo Tai Bolo: From Brick Lane to Bengaln Gopa Biswas Caesar

Those who wonder why Shahana Bajpaie’s second album took eight long years to hit the market must know good things need both long walks and long waits. And the euphonic experience each of the twelve songs in the collectionbrings you is totally worth it. As a teacher of Bengali Literature and Culture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Shahana doesn’t want music to win her bread; rather she believes that music must vibrate in the memory even after the mellowing voices vanish.

Fusing contemporary music arrangements with traditional ones has always been Shahana’s thing. Her songs e� ortlessly bridge both sensibilities; probably because the songs are home! She dedicates this album to her mother and her three-year-old daughter Rohini who happens to know all the twelve songs by heart (and many more) as they have all been her lullabies as The songs Shahana records have all been with her since her childhood at Shantiniketan. She had known the roads and turns, alleys and avenues of Tagore’s tunes long enough. Therefore, she just knows it as soon as she hears the arrangement whether it suits a tune or not. And when it suits, the sources barely matter; it could be tambourine or tanpura or both along with tabla.

On the other hand, her songs e� ortlessly

grew as she discussed and practiced them with friends who, like her, are very much into the music as well. And even the list of friends is also an example of � ne fusion, including well acclaimed � gures like music director Probuddha Banerjee, singer Shameek Sinha, mandolin player Diptangshu Roy from Kolkata, as well as English Jazz composer-pianist Zoe Rahman, clarinetist Idris Rahman, composer-guitarist Oliver Weeks from the UK. The arrangements in the album have employed almost anything and everything: ranging from ektara to violin and piano to mandolin.

Yet, none of them seems imposed. These songs neither need the tag of being ‘experimental’ to justify themselves to the purists, nor require deep musical knowledge in regular listeners to appreciate the mellow.

Shahana chose this time of the year for album-release out of sheer nostalgia, with the festivities and

vacations at hand. Lose yourself in the songs’ o� erings; you are bound to enjoy each morsel. l

n Showtime desk

It’s that time of the year, awards season is among us. While the Emmys celebrate the wonders of television, this is the pre-game to the inevitable Oscar season. We take a look at the nominees in all major categories for this Sunday’s viewing of the 67th Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Drama SeriesBetter Call SaulDownton Abbey

Game of ThronesHomelandHouse of CardsMad MenOrange is the New Black

Outstanding Comedy SeriesLouieModern FamilyParks and RecreationSilicon ValleyTransparentUnbreakable Kimmy SchmidtVeep

Lead Actor, DramaBob Odenkirk for Better Call SaulKyle Chandler for BloodlineKevin Spacey for House of CardsJon Hamm for Mad MenJe� Daniels for The NewsroomLive Schreiber for Ray Donovan

Lead Actress, DramaTaraji P Henson for EmpireClaire Danes for HomelandViola Davis for How to Get Away with MurderTatiana Maslany for Orphan BlackElisabeth Moss for Mad MenRobin Wright for House of Cards

Lead Actor, ComedyAnthony Anderson for black-ishMatt LeBlanc for EpisodesDon Cheadle for House of LiesWill Forte for The Last Man on EarthLouis CK for LouieWilliam H Macy for ShamelessJe� rey Tambor for Transparent

Lead actress, ComedyLisa Kudrow for The ComebackLil Tomlin for Grace And Frankie

Amy Schumer for Inside Amy SchumerEdie Falco for Nurse JackieAmy Poehler for Parks and RecreationJulia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep

Variety Talk SeriesThe Colbert ReportThe Daily Show With Jon StewartJimmy Kimmel LiveLast Week Tonight With John OliverLate Show With David LettermanThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon l

And the nominees are

n Showtime desk

One of the biggest headliners this week from Tinseltown is that Leonardo DiCaprio will take the role of an executive producer for a new mob series on the American premium network Showtime.

The small screen project is an untitled 1980s ma� a drama. It will be under the Appian Way production company and will be penned and produced by writer Brett Johnson, who has also written for the hit show Ray Donovan on the same network.

Set in Brooklyn, the series follows a decade-long relationship between the ma� a captain and a rogue federal agent. Both lead characters are violating their own strict codes of their respective organizations. The show also dives into how much power the Wall Street era had on the ma� a and the FBI. l

Leo for Showtime

Andy Samberg will be hosting this year’s Emmy;s

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015SHOWTIME22D

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TSUNDAY, SEP 20, 2015T

-JUNCTION

22newsThe machine in the garden

23Trending4 questions with Goutaom Saha

24his styleThe a� ordable looks expensive

INSIDE

A stylish statementPhoto: Mahmood Hossain

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015T-JUNCTION News24D

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Special Eid Package at Hotel Sarina

Walton had kicked o� its mobile phone ventures with custom ringtones. Ahead of the festival season, the company announced its new o� ering, a ringtone based on the song “Rong” by Dilshad Nahar Kona, a � rst for this acclaimed artist.

The third edition of Walton mobile ringtones has been composed by Fuad Ibn Rabbi, and lending his voice alongside Kona’s is Ishtiak Dewan Romeo.

This ringtone will remain built-in in every Walton mobile phone set, giving it a signature sound.

Commenting on the venture, Kona said, “We have done a great job under the supervision of Fuad Bhai. We have enjoyed the task. It feels good to think that my voice will ring in millions of calls on Walton mobile sets, bringing me closer to my fans.” l

Kona’s music, now on Walton

The Machine in the GardenSpeakers at the National Conference on ‘The Machine in the Garden: Literature, Language and Technology in English Studies’, held recently at the Da� odil International University, stressed on the important role of technology in today’s global education and development and overall human progress.

English Department of Da� odil International University organised the national conference. Dr. Fakrul Alam, Professor, Department of English, University of Dhaka shared the keynote speech during the day-long conference. Professor Dr. Yousuf M. Islam, Vice Chancellor, Da� odil International University inaugurated the conference as the chief guest while Prof. Dr. M. Golam Rahman, Pro- Vice Chancellor of Da� odil International University and George Mesthos, Cultual A� airs O� cer of

the American Center of Embassy of the USA were present as the special guests. The inaugural session was also addressed by Umme Kulsum, Conference Convener and Head, Department of English and Professor Dr. Shusil Kumar Das of Da� odil International University.

The panelists included Professor Claire Bradin Siskin, English Language Specialist of Da� odil International University, Dr. Arifa Rahman, Supernumerary Professor, IMI, University of Dahka, Professor Dr. Khaliquzzaman M Elias of NSU, Dr. Shireen Huq of NSU and Professor Dr. Shamsad Mortuza of University of Dhaka. 33 papers of 42 presenters from 16 di� erent public and private universities were presented at the daylong conference. l

Escape the daily grind of the city and enjoy the Eid weekend in a grand fashion. Hotel Sarina, one of the leading business hotels, o� ers a Special Eid Package for the local citizens and expatriate residing in Bangladesh. The package includes couple accommodation only at BDT 9,999 net in Super Deluxe or Premium Room. Guests will also enjoy complimentary bu� et breakfast, fruit basket on arrival, 25% discount at all restaurants, access to the swimming pool, gym, steam and sauna. The package is valid from September 23 to October 3, 2015. For more details: +88 01730020307. l

TrendingT-JUNCTION 25D

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n Khan N Moushumi

Fashion editor and designer, Goutom Saha, tells us what he’s looking forward to and what he’s skeptical about in the upcoming season.

What’s ahead for us in the coming season?Our infatuation with South Asian trends will continue. Imported ghararas will be big this season. Palazzos to pair with kameezes and tops will continue to be a top favourite. Floral prints will stay put as well. As for deshi trends, our fashion houses are working with soft jamdanis and silver jewellery for the coming season.

For men, slim-� t pants and contrasting colourful sneakers and converse will be very popular this time. They will come in solid shades of maroon, blue, olive and more. Formal attire will take a back seat at workplaces and wedding ceremonies. The semi-formal look will be the way to go this season.

What’s your take on embellished jamdani?Jamdani is a highly sophisticated fabric, primarily meant for the niche market. But there was and still is a dire need for it to

go into mass production. Otherwise the weavers won’t be able to survive in the market.

Another thing is we have to remember that people’s tastes and preferences are constantly changing. So we need to experiment with traditional elements a lot more to make it interesting, just so that it garners more popularity.

Even though many people and designers will personally find it distasteful, embellished jamdanis surely have projected an increase in demand since other designers have started to experiment with them. From a commercial point of view it really has more benefits than drawbacks and it’s crucial for the survival of weavers.

New York Fashion Week will have a pair of Bangladeshi designers for the first time. Is Bangladesh ready to join the ranks of global fashion giants?Sure, why not! But it all sums down to what kind of designs we are planning to put on the front line. For example, designers such as Rina Latif and Bibi Russell can cause any runway to tremble any day anywhere in the world. Their designs are

truly outstanding. Zurhem, a relatively new brand representing the mainstream international standards in Dhaka, is also one such label that can join the ranks of global fashion giants.

With Bangladesh sitting on the cusp between deshi attire, Bollywood attire and western styles, why are men still complaining about a lack of options?We do have more options now and our market may seem swamped with low-

priced Indian products, but it’s still hard for someone with enough suavity to pick something classy from all that garb. A number of fashion houses such as Ecstasy, O2, Noir, Yellow, Artisti, etc, and local designers like Emdad Hoque have joined the wagon of introducing cutting-edge trends in men’s fashion. But that being said, the options are still very limited. I feel as though we need more spunk and are not being brave enough to experiment with something that truly stands out of the lot. l

Find out which trends are about to hit the scene this Fall

Photo: Courtesy

4 questions with Goutom Saha

T-JUNCTION Tailored26DT


n Mahmood Hossain

From your clothes and accessories, there lies an entire collection that looks like you might have broken the bank with. This little illusion applies especially during the autumn and winter months.

Brown Oxfords - A simple pair of dark-brown oxfords are quite versatile. It already possesses the elegance of a fine match to a suit or even a semi-formal look. The only rule here is, make sure you take care of them if you’re going to wear them more than once a week.

Dressy dark jeans - What’s with all these dark coloured clothing looking so darn expensive? Sophistication gentlemen. Traditionally, evening wear has always had the dark colour code, which makes dark denim an advantage in your style arsenal. Don’t be afraid to buy a pair or two of these, they’ll take you a long way. And as we all know, it’ll take several wears until the denim is finally broken in.

Tortoise shades - Sunglasses with the tortoiseshell print can look amazingly cool, and more importantly, distinguished. This instantly creates the illusion that you’ve spent more than most men would dare to. The old-school 60s era of cool

still remains, and you can easily make a brandless pair of shades look like they came straight off the runway.

Solid dress shirts - We all love the stripes, dots and prints of summer,

but nothing beats the simplicity of solid

coloured dress shirts. Just as

long as it fits, no one will ever know how much you spent on them. And always, we always recommend that you get your shirts made from scratch or tailored. The more perfect

the fit, the higher non-existent price tag.

Neutral scarf - The weather is warm enough for linen and soon, it’ll be cool enough for the rest. A neutral coloured (beige, ivory, taupe, black, grey and white) scarf brings you a whiff of the Upper East Side. Scarves can be a wonderful replacement for a tie on those really cold nights. And to wrap it around your neck over a coat or jacket, that’s extra style points, friends.

Navy trousers - With the risk of looking like a total uniform, navy trousers are a go-to item throughout the year. Navy or a darker shade of blue, will always add a touch of class to your outfits. They can be

chinos or dress pants, no matter, you’ll

still look sharp and pricey

in them. Just as long as they are fitted, as

usual. l

his style trends

n Mahmood Hossain

It was a heavy, heated Friday night out but all the cool, suave characters found themselves in Baridhara at Zurhem’s exclusive look at their Prêt-à-Porter autumn/winter 2016 collection for men. Beverages and hors d’euvres at hand, the classy shindig left visitors of all kinds pleasantly surprised and impressed. It’s something the folks at GQ would approve of.

From the early days of its skeleton form, one can admire the e� ort and grace the dynamic duo of Mehruz Munir (CEO and Creative Director) and Saadat Chowdhury (Chairman) have put into the place. Pure elegance one would say. The transformation of its � nished

product has left little to almost no space for improvement. They’ll never admit it to being perfect, but the astonished, invite-only crowd showered them with encouraging compliments.From the choice furnishing to the quality items up for sale, you might � nd yourself in a foreign experience. However, their warm welcome and eagerness to make you look your best will make you feel at home, right here in Dhaka. Time to give those high-end labels a run for their money with our homegrown talent, we say. Yes, it’s kind of a big deal. l

Zurhem’s autumn/winter 2016Always classy, Zurhem has � nally opened its doors for all

The a� ordable looks expensiveThere’s list of items from your closet that can look more expensive than they actually are

Zurhem5th Floor, House 13/1, Road 12,

Baridhara, Dhaka 1212

Photos: Mahmood Hossain

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Sylhet’s left-handed Rahatul Ferdous attempts to pull during his unbeaten 56 on day two of their opening National Cricket League game against Chittagong at the Fatullah stadium yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK


NADAL WINS ON RETURN TO NAT’L DUTY FOR SPAIN

SECOND SURGERY TO SIDELINE WOODS UNTIL 2016

28 3029

Brazil have appealed the suspension of star striker Neymar for their two opening World Cup 2018 quali� ers to the Court of Arbitration for Sport

(CAS). Neymar was given a four-match ban during Copa America

APPEAL

SportZOUMA AND HAZARD PUNISH NINE-MAN ARSENAL

BRIEF SCORES, DAY 2Barisal v Rajshahi - SKS, RajshahiBarisal 302-allout & 160-allout (Sanjamul 4/49, Farhad 3/20, Reza 3/31)Rajshahi 93-allout (Towhidul 6/31, Kabir 3/11) & 25/0

Rajshahi need 344 more runs to winSylhet v Chittagong – KSOAS, FatullahSylhet 352/8 (Ruman 80, Rajin 74, Rahatul 56*; Nabil 3/78)Dhaka v Khulna – SANS, KhulnaDhaka 187-allout (Musta� zur 4/29, Razzak 4/72)Khulna 168/4 (Mehedi 53)

Khulna trail by 19 runsDhaka Metropolis v Rangpur – SCS, BograDhaka Metro 238-alloutRangpur 266/5 (Dhiman 85*)

Rangpur lead by 28 runs

Nasir exudes con� dence in series decidern Mazhar Uddin

The visiting Bangladesh A team will take on India A today in the series-deciding third and � nal uno� cial one-day international at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Nasir Hossain’s unbeaten hundred and � ve-wicket haul enabled the second-string Bangladesh side to square the series 1-1 last Friday.

Bangladesh A will be con� dent of claiming the series and they will take a lot of heart from the second match. The tourists were in deep trouble at one stage but vice-captain Nasir rescued his side to clinch a scintillating 65-run win.

“I like batting at No 7, I’ve batted there for the national team so I’m happy to do it here also,” Nasir was quoted by Cricinfo after the win. “When I was there, the wicket was good for batting, I just wanted to bat throughout.”

In order to seal the series, Bangladesh A’s top-order has to � re, something they have been unable to do in the � rst two one-day-ers. Rony Talukdar, Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque and skipper Mominul has been disap-pointing with the bat and the quartet will be desperate to come good today. l

Towhidul rocks Rajshahi, weather dampens other matchesn Reazur Rahman Rohan

Rain dampened half of the � rst-round match-es in the 17th National Cricket League yester-day. The second day produced a high-� ying performance from Barisal’s Towhidul Islam, who racked up six wickets to complement Mosaddek Hossain’s hundred and give his team the rare opportunity to win.

In Khulna and Fatullah, the day’s play could not be completed for bad weather.

Towhidul yorks Rajshahi as Barisal grab upper-hand6’1’’ tall fast bowler Towhidul, more familiar by his nickname Rasel, dismantled Rajshahi on the second day as Barisal skittled the for-mer champions cheaply for just 93 runs in the � rst innings. Although Barsial, who had � n-ished at the bottom in the last two editions, were also bowled out for a mere 160 in 44.4 overs in the second innings, it was their � rst innings lead of 210 that set a sti� target of 370 for the home side.

And it was all possible for the 24-year old

lanky pace bowler from the rural Kaukhali district in Barisal who registered his career best 6 for 31 in 15 overs, in his 10th � rst-class appearance, after day two resumed at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi.

Along with his sidekick Golam Kibria, another fast bowler who had played just eight matches before this, the duo bagged nine wickets to demolish the hosts. Mush� qur Rahim, whose stumps were uprooted by the right-arm Rasel, made the highest 32 for the hosts.

However, left-arm spinner Sanjamul Is-

lam took four while Farhad Reza and Forhad Hossain scalped three each in the second in-nings to restrict their opponent from setting a higher target as Rajshahi, who were 25 for no loss at stumps, need 345 runs with a galaxy of time in their hand.

Rangpur take the cautious route Away in Bogra, Dhaka Metropolis managed to gather just half of Rangpur’s wickets as the latter surpassed Metro’s 238 in the � rst innings and took a 28-run lead with � ve wick-ets still in hand.

The over-cautious and slow approach from Rangpur’s batsmen saw them score 266 for � ve in the 85 overs played before the close of play with Dhiman Ghosh (85) and Ariful Islam (48) still in the middle. Apart from Ghosh, the other contributors – Ariful, Mahmudual Hasan (41) and Naeem Islam (46) – had strike rates of below 50 as the Metro bowlers toiled hard for wickets throughout.

Khulna on verge of first-innings leadHome side Khulna trail Dhaka division by 19

runs as they were placed at 168 for four before play was suspended due to bad weather. After losing around 28 overs on day one, rain took away 41 overs yesterday.

Resuming day two, Dhaka added 13 to their overnight tally before losing their last two wickets to Abdur Razzak and Musta� zur Rahman. Bangladesh’s left-arm wonder-kid Musta� zur � nished with � gures of 4-29 while southpaw Razzak claimed 4-72.

Shakib al Hasan promoted himself to No 3 during Khulna’s batting but was only able to notch 13 runs before being dismissed o� Mos-harraf Hossain’s bowling.

Lazy day in FatullahOnly 30.2 overs were bowled in Fatullah as Sylhet are still stuck in their � rst innings on a healthy 352 for eight. Resuming the day on 240-4, overnight batsmen Rajin Saleh (74) and Ruman Ahmed (80) were dismissed ear-ly, but Rahatul Ferdous (56) made sure Sylhet cross the 300-mark.

Inconsistent drizzle eventually saw the game called o� at 4:25pm. lTowhidul Islam took 6-31 to shatter Rajshahi’s hope

28DT Sport


Arsenal defender Gabriel (L) and Chelsea striker Diego Costa (2R) are separated by Petr Cech (C) as they clash during their English Premier League match at Stamford Bridge in London yesterday AFP

Zouma and Hazard punish nine-man Arsenaln AFP, London

Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard scored as Chel-sea exploited the dismissals of Gabriel and Santi Cazorla to beat Arsenal 2-0 on Saturday and revive their Premier League title defence.

Gabriel was sent o� late in the � rst half af-ter a tussle with the provocative Diego Costa and Zouma, playing in place of Chelsea cap-tain John Terry, put the hosts ahead in the 53rd minute.

Cazorla was shown a second yellow card for sliding in on Cesc Fabregas and Hazard made the game safe a minute from time with a shot that beat former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech via a sizeable de� ection o� Calum Chambers.

It was for Chelsea a � rst home league win of the campaign and, arriving on the back of

Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League, � red hope that Jose Mourinho’s side may yet salvage something despite making their worst start to a season in 29 years.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had overcome Mourinho for the � rst time in last month’s Community Shield, but here found himself in the familiar position of having been eclipsed by his Portuguese nemesis.

His side have not beaten Chelsea in the league since October 2011 and following the mid-week defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in which Olivier Giroud was sent o� , this was another partly self-in� icted setback.

As ever in this � xture, the � rst tremors of the contest were felt before kick-o� , with Terry’s inclusion on the substitutes’ bench followed by a keenly anticipated handshake

between Wenger and Mourinho.Wenger had swerved a chance to shake his

Chelsea counterpart’s hand after Arsenal’s 1-0 win in the Community Shield, but on this oc-casion Mourinho made himself impossible to avoid by lingering beside the tunnel.

Eyes averted, the pair performed the most perfunctory of handshakes before taking their seats.

Mourinho said Terry’s omission was “tacti-cal” and it seemed to re� ect concern over the pace of Theo Walcott, who got in behind Chel-sea’s defence early on and rounded goalkeep-er Asmir Begovic, only to run the ball out.

The England forward also squandered an opportunity created by Mesut Ozil’s pass by shooting straight at Begovic, but as the � rst half wore on, so Chelsea’s grip on it tightened.

Back at a ground he had called home for 11

years, Cech was by far the busier goalkeeper, smothering an attempt from Pedro Rodri-guez, brilliantly picked out by Fabregas, and later parrying the Spain forward’s 20-yard drive.

Hazard had a strong penalty appeal turned down after being eased o� the pitch by Gabri-el, which drew a rueful smile from Mourinho.

Zouma and Pedro also shot narrowly o� target before the pressure � nally told with the dismissal of Gabriel.

Costa, characteristically, was the catalyst, wildly lashing out at Laurent Koscielny inside the Arsenal box and then clashing with Gabri-el, which saw both players booked.

But Costa continued to goad Gabriel as the players walked down the pitch and when the centre-back reacted with a sly kick, referee Mike Dean brandished the red card.l

Barcelona join forces with Red Cross to raise funds for refugeesn AFP, Madrid

European champions Barcelona have launched a fundraising campaign in collab-oration with the Red Cross to raise funds for victims of the refugee crisis engul� ng Europe.

“FC Barcelona wants to involve all its so-cial mass (members, fans and fan clubs), its sportsmen (professional players and coaches) and economic agents (sponsors and suppli-ers) to obtain economic resources and make donations to the Red Cross, who will attend the needs of the refugees,” the club said in a statement on Friday.

Star players such as Lionel Messi and

Neymar will front an advertising campaign to raise money for the project that will be launched when Barca host Levante at the Camp Nou on Sunday.

The club also con� rmed it will work with the local authorities to ease the integration process of those that arrive in the Catalan capital.

The move is the latest in a series of at-tempts on the part of Spanish football to help with the crisis.

The Syrian refugee who made world headlines when a Hungarian camerawoman tripped up he and his son as they entered the country has been handed a new life in Spain

by a football coaching school.Osama Abdul Mohsen, a former � rst divi-

sion football coach in Syria, and his sons Mo-hammad, 18, and Zaid, seven, have already been welcomed by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez at the club’s Bernabeu stadi-um and invited to Los Blancos’ clash against Granada on Saturday.

Real Madrid also donated one million eu-ros ($1.1 million, £729,000) to support pro-jects for refugees in Spain.

Real Sociedad have pledged their support by meeting housing expenses and providing educational grants in the northern Gipuzkoa region. l

Liverpool hit by new Henderson blown AFP, London

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines after su� ering a broken foot in training.

The 25-year-old was injured in one of his � rst training sessions since returning from the United States, where he had undergone a specialist procedure in an attempt to cure an ongoing heel problem.

Henderson is now expected to have sur-gery on Monday and will be unavailable for England’s � nal Euro 2016 quali� ers against Estonia and Lithuania next month.

“Very disappointed and frustrated with the injury setback but will work hard to be back as quickly as possible,” Henderson wrote on Twitter.l

Ibrahimovic books Malmo’s Main Square for homecomingn AFP, Stockholm

Paris Saint-Germain’s Swedish striker Zla-tan Ibrahimovic revealed Friday that he has booked Malmo’s Main Square for his home-coming match in the Champions League on November 25.

“I have previously said that the game will be heard all over Malmo. Now I’ve also made sure that all of Malmo will be able to watch the game,” the Swede said on Facebook.

“I’ve booked the Main Square where the game on November 25 will be broadcast live. All are welcome! More surprises await that day. I’m on my way.”

PSG will travel to Malmo for the � fth game of their Champions League group games.

It will be the � rst time in 14 years that Ibra-himovic has played at his home club where he started his professional career.

After PSG beat Malmo 2-0 on Tuesday in Parc des Princes, Ibrahimovic said it was “a dream come true” to play at this level against his former club.

The 33-year-old started his career in Mal-mo in 1999, playing two years with the club before signing for Dutch giants Ajax. l

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Star Sports 1English Premier League 6:20PM Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace 9:00PM Southampton v Manchester UnitedStar Sports 2German Bundesliga 9:15PM Borussia Dortmund v Leverkusen Star Sports 45:55PM F1: Singapore, Main Race9:00PM English Premier League Liverpool v Norwich City Ten Sports5:00PM Sky Bet Championship Bradford City v She� eld United Ten Action6:00PM French Ligue 1 Girondins De Bordeaux v Toulouse French Ligue 1 9:00PM Saint-Etienne v FC Nantes 1:00AM De Marseille v Olympique Lyonnais Sony KixSpanish La Liga4:00PM Sevilla FC v RC Celta 8:00PM Deportivo v R Sporting 10:15PM Villarreal CF v Athletic Bilbao 12:30AM Barcelona v Levante Sony Six10:00PM IRB Rugby World Cup 2015New Zealand v Argentina 12:30AM Italian Serie A Napoli v Lazio

DAY’S WATCH

Institute of Kabaddi, Jatrabari lift Fed Cupn Tribune Desk

Institute of Kabaddi, Jatrabari emerged as the champions of the inaugural Aarong Dairy Federation Cup Women’s Tournament beating Dhaka Wanderers Club 23-21 in the � nal at the Kabaddi stadium last Thursday.

National Sports Council secretary Ashoke Kumar Biswas was present during the grand � nale as the chief guest and distributed the prizes among the winners.

Aarong Dairy chief operating o� cer Mohammad Abdur Rouf was also present among others. The champions were awarded Tk20,000 while the runners-up side pocketed Tk10,000. l

Borna bags karate silver in New Delhin Tribune Desk

Maun Zera Borna clinched silver medal in the women’s minus-48kg weight category in the 8th Commonwealth Karate Championship 2015 at Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Del-hi yesterday.

It was Bangladesh’s � rst medal in the event that will conclude today. Sri Lanka won gold and India took bronze in the same event.

General secretary of Bangladesh Karate Federation, Sheikh Ali Ahsan Badal informed the media through a press release that there is no referee from Bangladesh in the tourna-ment and that they would have surely won gold if the referees from other countries had been fair. He however, hoped to win more medals today.l

Australia to ‘bore’ their way to victory in subcontinent: Smith

n Reuters, Melbourne

Australia must sti� e their attacking instincts in the subcontinent and “bore” batsmen into giving up their wickets, captain Steven Smith has said.

Smith will lead a rebuilding Australia team into a two-test series against Bangladesh next month after a disappointing 3-2 Ashes loss in England.

Australia swept Bangladesh 2-0 in their last tour in 2006 but have always struggled on the subcontinent’s � at wickets, which nullify pace bowling.

Though Smith led Australia against India in three tests at home, he will captain the side on tour for the � rst time.

“I think that’s something I’m going to have to adapt to with my captaincy,” Smith told lo-cal media in Sydney. “In Australia you can be a little bit more attacking.

“In places on the subcontinent you’ve got to � nd ways to get batsmen out, you might have to bore them out.

“For me it’s about being adaptable wherev-er we play.

“So you might have to be more defensive with that and when the ball starts to spin and reverse swing, that’s when you can attack.”

Australia have elected to rest fast men Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood from the tour, leaving workhorse Peter Siddle and left-armer Mitchell Starc to lead the attack.

One-test tyro Pat Cummins will bid with uncapped Tasmania bowler Andrew Fekete to be the third seamer, though Smith has left the door ajar to play two spinners in the tests in Chittagong and Dhaka.

Unused for most of the Ashes, Siddle un-derlined his quality with six wickets in Aus-tralia’s consolation win in the � fth test at The Oval and will be important for Smith’s hopes of a maiden series win away.

“A big part of my game, especially in Aus-tralian conditions, has been reverse swing,” Siddle told reporters.

“That does bene� t me a lot over there, and what I normally do is what I’ll do over there. Be patient, build pressure and bowl in the right areas.

“And I think my experience, not in Bang-ladesh, but in those conditions, will help.” l

Vettel storms to pole in Singaporen Reuters, Singapore

Sebastian Vettel broke Mercedes’ qualifying stranglehold to secure a � rst pole position of the season for Ferrari at the Formula One Sin-gapore Grand Prix on Saturday.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton had roared to 11 poles in 12 races, with his team mate Nico Rosberg claiming the other, but neither could prevent Vettel from lapping quickest at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on a balmy Singapore evening.

The four-time world champion clocked one minute, 43.885 seconds around the 23-turn 5.065 km � oodlit circuit to edge out Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo as Ferrari claimed their � rst pole position since the German Grand Prix in July 2012.

Hamilton and Rosberg quali� ed in � fth and sixth respectively.l

Second back surgery to sideline Woods until 2016n AFP, Los Angeles

Golf superstar Tiger Woods said Friday he will be sidelined until 2016 after a second back surgery, but con� dently predicted he would make a full recovery.

In an article posted on his website, the 14-time major champion revealed he had sur-gery on Wednesday in Utah.

The microdiscectomy was similar to the procedure he underwent on March 31, 2014, Woods said.

“This is certainly disappointing, but I’m a � ghter,” Woods said. “I’ve been told I can make a full recovery, and I have no doubt that I will.”

In the meantime, Woods said he would

have to withdraw from the USPGA Tour’s Frys.com Open in October, as well as the two-man America’s Golf Cup in Mexico City and his own uno� cial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December.

“I’d like to send my regrets to Frys and all those associated with the America’s Golf Cup,” Woods said. “Those were two events I was really looking forward to playing.

“I was ready to start the 2015-16 PGA TOUR season at Frys, and I was excited to join my good friend Matt (Kuchar) in Mexico City.”

Woods said he would attend the Hero World Challenge that bene� ts his charitable foundation, but won’t be able to play.

“I look forward to being there to support my event,” he said.l

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FIXTURES Chievo v Inter Roma v Sassuolo Torino v Sampdoria Atalanta v Verona Bologna v Frosinone Genoa v Juventus Carpi v Fiorentina Napoli v Lazio

FIXTURES Sevilla v Celta Vigo La Coruna v Sporting Gijon Villarreal v Athletic Bilbao Las Palmas v Rayo Vallecano Barcelona v Levante A sticker reading ‘Refugees welcome. We help’ is seen at the jersey of FC Cologne’s Matthias Lehmann

during their Bundesliga match against Borussia Moenchengladbach in Cologne yesterday REUTERS

Kei Nishikori (R) of Japan serves to Alejandro Falla of Colombia during their Davis Cup World Group play o� match in Pereira, Colombia on Friday REUTERS

Alves set to return as Luis Enrique calls on youthn Reuters, Barcelona

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique expects to have Dani Alves � t to face Levante in La Liga on Sunday but says he will need to rely on his youth players over the coming months due to injuries and the FIFA transfer ban.

Alves su� ered a groin strain in their open-ing La Liga match of the season against Athlet-

ic Bilbao and has been joined in the treatment room by Claudio Bravo, Thomas Vermaelen, Douglas and Ra� nha.

“He (Alves) seems to be � ne and we will wait to see what the situation is tomorrow,” Luis Enrique told a news conference.

“Alves is the good news of the week, that he can return, and also Douglas.”

Ra� nha su� ered cruciate ligament damage in Barca’s Champions League clash with AS Roma on Wednesday and could miss the rest of the campaign. Barca were already short on reinforcements due to a FIFA ban on transfers for two windows having been found guilty of signing underage players. This has led the Catalan club to rely more on youth players at the start of the campaign.l

Napoli look to boost embattled Sarrin AFP, Milan

Napoli host Lazio looking to rebuild con� -dence around beleaguered coach Maurizio Sarri on Sunday as Juventus aim to build on their solid form in Europe by clinching their � rst league win of the season away to Genoa.

With stuttering champions Juventus slip-ping to 16th after two defeats and a draw, Na-poli’s sluggish start to Serie A under Sarri had

almost gone unnoticed -- until Diego Marado-na dropped a bombshell last week.

The outspoken former Napoli striker said Sarri was “the wrong man for the job” of lead-ing the Partenopei, who won the last of their two league titles when the Argentinian legend last starred at the San Paolo in the early 1990s.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has since leapt to the defence of Sarri, telling Pu-pia TV: “Maradona makes sensationalist state-ments to make an impact. It’s like he throws a stone into the water to watch the ripples.”

Napoli routed Club Brugge 5-0 in their Eu-ropa League Group D game on Thursday, but the Belgians were completely outclassed.

It was Sarri’s � rst competitive win with Napoli and the Italian, who replaced Rafael Benitez on the back of a strong showing as coach of Empoli last season, is reported to be on borrowed time.

After Thursday’s win, the coach was still circumspect: “I saw some positive things but

we lost focus too easily.“The team has lacked consistency, we’ve

had spells of good play but not been consist-ent and that has cost us points. Tonight, we were more ruthless.”

Lazio su� ered a 4-0 battering by on-form Chievo in their last away � xture but bounced back with a 2-0 win over Udinese last weekend.

Both goals came courtesy of well-travelled AC Milan striker Alessandro Matri, who, having played on loan for Fiorentina, Genoa and Juven-tus, was given a hostile reception after he signed a loan deal with Lazio until the end of the season.

Thanks to Matri’s brace, Lazio are only three points o� the pace of Inter, who are two points clear of a clutch of sides notably in-cluding Torino, Chievo, Sampdoria and Roma.

Juventus, meanwhile, swap the glitz and glamour of beating Manchester City 2-1 in their Champions League opener for what de-fender Martin Caceres believes will be a gritty encounter away to Genoa.l

Nadal wins on return to nat’l duty for Spainn Reuters, Barcelona

Rafa Nadal returned to Davis Cup action for the � rst time in two years on Friday with his victory putting Spain ahead in a Group One relegation playo� against Denmark.

The 14-times grand slam champion, short of form and beaten in the third round of the U.S. Open by Fabio Fognini, overcame world number 909 Mikael Torpegaard 6-4 6-3 6-2.

The 29-year-old’s last appearance was against Ukraine in 2013, since when the � ve-times champions have tumbled out of the World Group, and he was joined by David Fer-rer as Spain established a 2-0 lead on day one.

Nadal did not have things all his own way against Torpegaard, who had three break points to take a 5-4 lead in the opening set before Na-dal regained control. In the World Group play-o� s, Switzerland’s big guns Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka helped their country into a 2-0 lead against the Netherlands, although Wawrinka was given a huge scare before beat-ing Thiemo de Bakker in � ve sets. l

Moreno visits Shaw in Dutch hospitaln Reuters, Amsterdam

Luke Shaw has received a visit from PSV Eindhoven defender Hector Moreno, whose challenge in Tuesday’s Champions League tie broke the Manchester United fullback’s leg in two places. Moreno was accompanied on Fri-day by PSV coach Phillip Cocu at the hospital in Geldorp, where Shaw underwent surgery directly after being admitted.

“We � rst asked whether Shaw would meet us, which he wanted to,” Cocu told Dutch media on Saturday. “We o� ered him the help of PSV should he need anything in relation to his recovery.” Cocu said the incident had weighed heavily on Mexican international Moreno, who su� ered a broken leg of his own at last year’s World Cup in Brazil.

“It has a� ected him, it has a� ected the oth-ers and it has a� ected me,” Cocu told report-ers. “Hector is really distressed his opponent was so badly hurt.”l

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September 20, 2015

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