Joishthya 20, 1421

Shaaban 4, 1435
Regd. No. DA 6238
Vol 2, No 64

TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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8 | RUSSIA TO SUBMIT UKRAINE RESOLUTION

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11 | THE MIGHTY PEN

13 | STREAK UP FOR CHALLENGE

Dhaka, Beijing to
seal the deal on
deep-sea port

City life falters

as waterlogging
continues to
take toll
n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Hasina goes to China on June 6

n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Bangladesh wants to conclude the negotiations with China on construction
of a deep-sea port at Sonadia in Coxs
Bazar during the visit of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina there.
We have analysed three proposals
[for deep-sea port] that were submitted to the government and we found
the Chinese proposal is the best. We
hope to sign an instrument with China
during the visit of the prime minister
in Beijing, said a senior official of the
Foreign Ministry.
Sheikh Hasina is going to China on
June 6 on a five-day trip and is scheduled to return home on June 11.
Bangladesh has long been negotiating the mega-project and invited all
interested countries to submit their pro-

Depending on the
situation, a consortium
can be formed to
build the port
posals and three countries the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and China
showed interest, said the official.
They made presentations before
the high-powered committee headed
by the principal secretary where foreign and shipping secretaries are also
members, he said.
After evaluation, the committee
found that the Chinese proposal was
the best, he added.
During the visit, we would like
to hand over a letter of intent to the
Chinese side to build the port, the official said, adding that the multi-billion
dollar project at Sonadia can be set up
by a single country or it can be a consortium.
We want to keep it open. Depending on the situation, a consortium can
be formed to build the port following

consultation between Bangladesh and

China.
When asked about geopolitical pressure, he said, Bangladesh should first
consider its national interest. We waited too long for the project.
An inter-ministerial meeting on the
prime ministers visit to China was held
at the Foreign Ministry yesterday with
Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque
in the chair and various issues, including deep-sea port, were discussed in
the meeting.
Bangladesh has two sea ports Chittagong and Mongla and felt the need
to have the deep-sea port because of
the growing demand from business
people.
At present, both the ports handle
over $60 billion of trade, which is growing at a faster rate.

Hasinas visit

The prime minister will fly to Kunming from Dhaka to attend the South
Asia Expo and will have an interaction
with Chinese businessmen to encourage them to make more investment in
Bangladesh, said another official of the
Foreign Ministry.
She will fly to Beijing on June 8 and
will have official talks with Chinese
Prime Minister Li Keqiang, he said.
They will declare a joint statement after the meeting.
She will also call on Chinese President Xi Jinping and will have another
interaction with Chinese businessmen,
he said.
The primary focus of the visit will
be to lure investment and cooperation
in deep-sea port, power and infrastructure, he added.
Bangladesh has already awarded
Padma Bridge project to a Chinese company and signed a contract yesterday.
Bangladesh has multi-dimensional
cooperation with China and it is the biggest trading partner of Bangladesh with
two-way trade is over $10 billion but it
is heavily tilted towards Beijing. l

Vehicles ply a submerged road as heavy rain inundated many roads in the capital yesterday morning. The picture was taken from
Chankharpool
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Prime suspect of Ekram murder

flees to India with police help
n Mohammad Jamil Khan
back from Feni
The prime suspect in the murder of
Fulgazi chairman Ekramul Haque fled
the country by crossing the border into
India, allegedly with the help of the police, claimed local sources.
The suspect, Feni district Awami
League Joint General Secretary Jahangir Mohammad Adel, crossed the border
through the Bilunia point of the districts Parshuram upazila last week, according to several sources in Feni. They
also said local lawmaker Nizam Uddin
Hazari helped Adel escape while local
police assisted in exchange for a huge
sum of money.
Ziaul Haque Jashim, elder brother
of Ekram, told the Dhaka Tribune that

Adel was helped to flee the country as

his arrest would have revealed the connection of a top ruling party leader of
Feni with the killing.
Jashim also expressed his suspicion
that the investigation into his brothers
death might come to an end with the arrests of Jihad Chowdhury and BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury Minar. He
further urged for transferring the case to
the Criminal Investigation Department
and for not stopping the probe without
tracing all the masterminds.
On May 20, a group of criminals
killed Ekram by shooting and setting
fire on his vehicle in front of witnesses
at the Academy Road in Feni.
Following the incident, police have
arrested 23 people including Jihad
Chowdhury, an alleged mastermind

and joint secretary of Fulgazi upazila

AL unit, and BNP leader Mahtab Uddin
Chowdhury Minar, the alleged financier.
The name of Adel a known associate of Feni 2 MP Nizam has come up
during the interrogations of Jihad and
others arrestees, as well as from the
analysis of mobile phone calls records.
Even after Adels connection with
the crime came to the fore, he had allegedly been travelling out on the open
until May 28; but disappeared after that
day. He reportedly crossed the border
through Bilunia, only 30km from Feni
town.
Iqbal Reza Ripon, a ward councillor
of Parshuram municipality, said many
of the locals had seen Adel cross the
border in the early hours of Thursday.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE
B1 | Business

The next fiscal year budget speech may

include steps to establish good governance
in the countrys banking sector, said
Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

5 | News

The people,
who lost their
lands during the
construction of
the HatirjheelBegunbari project,
have to wait
another year for
compensation as the Rajdhani Unnayan
Kartripakkha (Rajuk) cannot hand the flats
over to them before June 2015 because

of confusion over the actual number

of evicted people and some internal
problems.

of the fate of the wealthy who ignore the

poor in their midst (Lk 16:19-31).

7 | Long Form

The US decision to release five Taliban

detainees from Guantanamo Bay in order
to recover a soldier held in Afghanistan
sparked a furor in Washington, with
Republicans warning Sunday the move put
Americans at risk.

Jesus teachings
offer good news
for the righteous,
whether they
are the poor and
marginalised or
the rich who are
generous with their
bounty. All can find
a place in the kingdom. Yet there is little
comfort for those who expect that their
wealth alone will save them. The story of
Lazarus and the rich man is a reminder

9 | World

14 | Sport

FIFA oversaw the final World Cup test

event at the Corinthians arena on Sunday
and officials said there was a week and a
half of hard work ahead to get the stadium
ready for the opening match of the
tournament on June 12.

NARAYANGANJ SEVEN MURDER

The initial plan was

to kill just two
n Ashif Islam Shaon
A police official involved with the investigation into the Narayanganj seven
murders have said the criminals initial
plan was to kill only two; the rest were
killed to cover the trails.
He said the abductors had been primarily instructed to pick up city panel
mayor Nazrul Islam and his close friend
Moniruzzaman Swapon.
Nur Hossain, who provided the
money, had a feud with Nazrul but he
wanted to see Swapans end as well because he helped Nazrul in many ways.
Nur contracted RAB for killing those
two; the preparations were made accordingly. Two RAB officials worked at

The government initiatives to get rid of

water-logging in the capital have proven unsuccessful, with the perennial
problem running its own course this
monsoon also.
In the wake of yesterdays rainfall,
many areas across the capital were inundated and the stagnant water began
to take its toll on the city life.
As usual, Shukrabad, Indira Road,
Rajabazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Shantinagar, Badda, Baridhara,
Natun Bazar, Mirpur, Mohammadpur,
Rayerbazar, Hazaribagh, Old Dhaka,
Sayedabad and Jatrabari areas went under knee-deep water, leaving the city
dwellers marooned for the time being.
A series of irregularities, plus negligence on the part of local government
bodies in maintaining the citys drainage system are allegedly responsible
for the woes of the city dwellers.
Even the prime ministers directives
to local government bodies Dhaka
Water Supply and Sewerage Authority,
Dhaka North and South City Corporations, Rajuk, PWD and WDB to immediately take steps to address the waterlogging produced no desired effect.
In an effort to rid the capital of waterlogging, Dhaka Wasa, the prime
state-owned agency to maintain the
citys drainage and sewerage system,
set up pumping stations in Kallyanpur,
Dholaikhal, Rampura and Kamlapur to
drain off rainwater, but appeared ineffective.
In addition, the Dhaka Water Supply
and Sanitation project in association
with the World Bank, approved by the
government in September 2008 could
not make a difference.
As part of the project, the Wasa took
steps to reclaim 26 canals from the
grabbers, but failed to recover properly.
Though the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City
Corporation (DNCC) have long been
installing pipes along the storm drains
in different areas in the city, the efforts
did little to address the waterlogging.
The city residents attributed the
longstanding problem to the sluggish attitude of the Wasa and the city
PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Three progress
reports on probe
submitted
n Udisa Islam and Kailash Sarkar

the field level and another kept contact

over phone.
But the entire plan went wrong
when the RAB men picked up seven
people instead of two because of unavoidable circumstances, said an investigator, who preferred not to be named.
One RAB member was assigned to
keep an eye on Nazrul on the premises of the local district court. But he got
caught and Nazruls aides handed him
over to police.
Before that, the RAB man informed
the team that was waiting to abduct,
that two cars were heading their way.
The RAB officials on spot decided
to pick up five people instead of two;

In line with a court order, three authorities have submitted progress reports
to the attorney generals office regarding the Narayanganj seven murders following abduction.
The seven-member investigation
team under the Law Ministry, the Inspector General of Police and elite force
Rapid Action Battalion authorities
handed over their reports yesterday.
These would be presented before a
High Court bench tomorrow, Deputy
Attorney General ASM Nazmul Haque
said. Another report from the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) is yet
to be prepared.
He denied disclosing contents of the
reports.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Hasina: If alive, Zia Fakhrul: Awami League killing its own men
n
would be sued for
killing Bangabandhu
Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

n Emran Hossain Shaikh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday claimed that late president Ziaur
Rahman was involved in the Bangabandhu killing.
His death saved him or else we
would have accused him and sued
him for the murder, the premier said
while addressing a meeting of the
Awami League's Central Working
Committee at her official residence
Ganabhababan.
Zia was a big conspirator, she said:
"Moshtaque was Bangabandhus killer.
As Moshtaque made Zia the army chief
Zia had his involvement in the Banganbandu's murder.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also the father of the prime minister, was assassinated by a group of disgruntled junior army officers on August
15, 1975, along with most of his family
members. After the coup, Khondaker
Mostaque Ahmad became his immediate successor.
The prime minister also criticised
Gono Forum president and noted lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain for his mocking

comment that more than half of the

lawmakers in the current parliament
were elected uncontested.
"He [Kamal] himself won uncontested in the polls of 1970 and 73 from
the seats vacated by Bangabandhu
how come he now comments on it!
she wondered without referring to his
name.
The person who once won elections
uncontested now is vocal against winning uncontested, she retorted.
The PM said as the Awami League
earned the country its freedom it has a
commitment to the nation.
Sheikh Hasina has slammed the media of the country for their anti-government stance. You can see the practice
of democracy in the talk show on private TV channels, she quipped.
Criticising the representatives of the
civil society she said they like undemocratic governments.
"There are many conspiracies
against us; the conspiracy was made
against my family. But in the face of all
sorts of conspiracies we have embarked
on the work of the Padma Bridge," the
prime minister asserted. l

BNP acting secretary general Mirza

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said
after filing thousands of cases against
the party activists, the ruling Awami
League had now been engaged in killing and abduction of its own party men.
Fakhrul alleged that the government
did not have any control over anything
and the incidents of Narayanganj and
Feni suggested so.
Like the 1972-75 tenure of the Awami League, it has began to again to
destroy everything of the country. Actually the government does not have
control over anything, he said.
The BNP leader was addressing a
discussion at the National Press Club

organised by the Sramik Dal to mark

the party founder Ziaur Rahmans 33rd
death anniversary.
Fakhrul called upon the countrymen to unite to oust the government
from the office as there was no alternative but to remove the government and
get rid of such a situation.
The party spokesperson claimed
that the BNP was born in a democratic
country and the party was formed following the state rules and regulations.
Fakhrul repeated his claim that
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman buried the
Awami League forming a one-party
parliamentary system, BAKSAL.
Ziaur Rahman gave the Awami
League a rebirth, introducing multiparty democracy to the country, he said.

Awami League killed the then president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975,
added the leader.
Khandakar Mostak Ahmed, leader
of the Awami League, assumed office
after killing him [Mujib]. He promulgated military rule, and then chief justice
ASM Syaem was made president. To
conceal history, some Awami League
lawyers labeled Zia a killer. They
cannot change history just through
falsehood.
Regarding BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahmans recent controversial statement on political
history, Fakhrul said: He [Tarique]
talked about politics and history. If his
statement is not true, give logical explanation.

Earlier, at a press briefing at the

partys Nayapaltan headquarters, BNP
Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir
Rizvi said the illegitimate cabinet
members of the illegitimate government became desperate to draw the
attention of the prime minister through
scolding opposition men.
He allegedly said nobody knew
about the law ministers party position in the Awami League, but after
being appointed as a minister, he became the key figure in hurling abuses
at the BNP.
Pointing his finger at the law minister, Rizvi said during the 1/11 changeover Law Minister Anisul Huq was
appointed as a lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Commission. l

Gold crest scam comes under ACC scanner

n Tribune Report

The Anti-Corruption Commission has

decided to investigate the scandal over
sham gold crests, which were presented to foreign friends for their contributions to the 1971 Liberation War.
A regular meeting of the anti-corruption body yesterday decided to
probe the scam as the ACC is the only
authority to look into the matter, which
involved civil servants and public representatives allegedly misappropriat-

ing government funds by producing

the crests with less gold than specified,
an official told reporters.
The official also said the ACC had already scrutinised media reports on the
scam.
A government probe report found
that 13 senior bureaucrats, including
Liberation War Affairs Secretary KH
Masud Siddique, former minister AB
Tajul Islam and ex-secretary Mizanur
Rahman, were connected with the
embezzlement, which cost the govern-

ment Tk7.04 crore. Two gold suppliers,

Amicom and MS Mohsinul Hasan, were
also involved in the scheme.
From 2011 to 2013, the government
honoured 338 foreign individuals and
organisations for their contributions to
the countrys liberation. Each honoree
was given a crest, which was supposed
to be made of one bhori (11.66g) of gold
and 30 bhori (350g) of silver.
However, a test conducted by Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution found that there was only about

three ana (2.2g) of gold and three bhori

(35g) of brass and copper in each crest.
ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman told
the Dhaka Tribune that the commission would analyse the government
probe report and try to trace the people
behind the irregularity.
As the government probe found the
involvement of government high-ups in
the forgery, we will inquire into this in
our own way, as it is related to the image of the country and is a scheduled offense under ACC, Bodiuzzaman said. l

JS goes into its budget

session today
n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Indiscriminate waste dumping in the City Haat area in Neodapara of Rajshahi city causes a drain to overflow and pollute the adjacent places

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Parliament goes into a session today as

Finance Minister AMA Muhith is set to
place the national budget for the fiscal
year 2014-15 starting on July 1.
This is will be the first budget of the
Awami League government that took
office after winning the January 5 general elections boycotted by the BNP
and its allies.
If Muhith places the budget on June
5, he would become the first finance
minister in the countrys history to
present the proposed budget for six
consecutive terms.
For the first time since 1991, the BNP
and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami have
no representation in the parliament.
According to the order of the day, the
session will start at 5:00 pm, preceded
by a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee that determines the

Prime suspect of Ekram murder flees

Three progress reports

PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Asked how he managed to flee despite

beefed up security, Ripon said there
was no barricade at Talukpara area of
Bilunia border and anyone could easily
cross the border there.
There are also allegations that Kamal Uddin Majumdar, general secretary of Awami Leagues Parshuram
upazila unit, helped Adel escape as per
a directive from Nizam.
Kamal, however, denied the claims,
saying it would not have been possible
for him to help Adel escape as he was
not present in the area on Thursday.
Seeking anonymity, a leader from
the district unit of Awami League, said
the police were aware about Adels escape plan but remained silent because
of an order from a top ruling party leader along with a large bribe.
Following the murder of Ekram, MP
Nizam had been denying any involvement in the incident, claiming that anyone connected to the crime must face
punishment, irrespective of their political allegiance.
Asked whether Adel had escaped
through the Bilunia border, Border

Guard Bangladeshs Bilunia camp incharge Subedar Tofazzel Hossain said

they had no such information.
Paritosh Gosh, superintendent of police in Feni, also told the Dhaka Tribune
that they had no information on whether Adel had fled the country. Letters
with pictures of suspects Adel, Jiaul
Alam Mister and Ruti Sohel have been
sent to immigration police and the border areas for preventing the fugitives
from leaving the country, he added.
The police were trying their best to
arrest the criminals, Paritosh claimed.
Replying to a query on whether the police was involved in any irregularity, he
said any personnel found guilty of such
allegation would face punitive action.
Following the murder, the role of
the local police was also questioned
as there was reportedly a police van
parked near the crime scene which
failed to respond timely.
Sources also said an intelligence report by the Special Branch had been
sent to the Police Headquarters in Dhaka a few days before Ekrams murder,
mentioning that the Fulgazi chairman
might be attacked by his rivals. Howev-

The initial plan was to kill just two

PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

but they also picked up Chandan Sarkar

and his chauffer because they had witnessed the incident.
Arif did not inform Tarek that they
had abducted Chandan Sarker and his
driver. Learning this later, Tarek and
Rana got upset and rebuked Arif for his
dumb work.
On April 27, Nazrul and his four aides,
and lawyer Chandan Sarker and his
driver were kidnapped after they had
left the court area by two separate cars.
Six bodies, including those of Nazrul
and Chandan, were found floating on the
Shitalakkhya on April 30 while the body
of the other was found the next day.
On May 3, Nazruls father-in-law
Shahidul Islam alleged that local ward
councillor Nur Hossain gave Tk6 crore as
bribe to the RAB men for killing Nazrul.
Three Rab officials Lt Col (retd)
Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj (retd)

Arif Hossain and Lt Commander (retd)

Masud Rana were sent into forced retirement following the allegations and
a media outcry. Later they were arrested following a High Court rule.
One of the investigators said: The
abductees were taken in two microbuses. Nazrul, Swapon and Tajul were
in one.
Soon, the abduction induced disagreements among the three officials.
Rana and Tarek blamed Arif for the
problem that was created because
five additional people were picked up.
Even during interrogation in police
custody, the duo blamed Arif for killing
seven.
They thought, abducting and killing Nazrul and Swapon would not be
a problem and they would be able to
tackle the situation because the two
had criminal records including being
accused in murder cases, the police

er, no preventative action was reportedly taken.

Golam Morshed, officer-in-charge
of Feni Model police station, told the
Dhaka Tribune that no police official
was on duty near the crime scene when
the attack took place, adding that they
rushed to scene as soon as they were
notified.
Meanwhile, a Feni court yesterday
placed Jihad Chowdhury on a fresh
three-day remand, after a previous
eight-day remand ended. Senior Judicial Magistrate Khairul Amin passed
the order after the investigation officer
Abul Kalam Azad sought a seven-day
remand.
Another accused in the case, Belal Hossain, also gave his confessional
statement to the court yesterday after
he was placed before it following a fiveday remand.
On the other hand, the Fulgazi unit
of Awami League staged a dawn-todusk hartal in the upazila, protesting
the killing of Ekram and demanding
the trial of his killers. Traffic movement
on the upazilas streets remained halted during the hartal. l

official said.
But the abduction of lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver made the
situation complex and difficult to manage. Even the abductors were confused
whether or not to free them until the
others were killed.
The investigators have also found
that among the RAB officials, Arif was
the closest to Nur Hossain. Nur had always graced Arif with money and other
facilities in exchange of certain services and favours.
Investigators however are yet to find
exactly how much money had been exchanged for the murders.
So far they [the arrested] have given all confusing information about the
amount. But, among the three, Arif has
provided most of the information, one
of the investigators said.
Arif also told during interrogation
that the abductees had been confined

The police and the RAB authorities

have declined to disclose findings of
their progress reports. Talking to the
Dhaka Tribune, IGP Hassan Mahmood
Khandker yesterday evening said:

Since I have not gone through the report, I cannot make any comment now.
RAB first formed a departmental
committee to look into the matter as
allegations were made against three of
its then officials over their links in the
incident. They formed another probe
body following the High Court order.
Additional Director General (operations) Col Ziaul Ahsan said he had no
idea about the findings as he did not
interfere in the investigation.
Wing Commander ATM Habibur
Rahman, director of Legal and Media
Wing, said in the advance report, the
RAB authorities had mentioned about
the people whose statements were taken and some other related issues.
The RAB director said they could
not reach any conclusion. We are yet
to confirm whether the three former officials had any links with the killings.
About the findings of the departmental probe body, Habibur said the
four-member committee had been
merged with the RAB enquiry committee formed after the court order. The
task of the departmental probe body is
yet to complete. l

at the office of RAB 11 at Adomzi until

late into that night. They were taken to
the old court camp later.
When Nazruls family went to the
RAB office to talk with the commanding officer, the abductees were already
confined to a room there. They were all
unconscious, he said.
Meanwhile, according to another
source in Narayanganj police, on the
night of April 26, Rana went to Nur
Hossains Shiddhirganj office wearing a Panjabi and held a meeting with
Nur. He went there once again on the
evening of April 28.
Asked whether this information was
included in the police progress report
submitted to the High Court, the investigator said he had no idea.
The police high ups are supposed
to prepare the progress report, he said.
Meanwhile, a Narayanganj court
yesterday placed Rana on a fresh five-

day remand.
Senior Judicial Magistrate KM Mahiuddin passed the order when DB
Inspector Mamunur Rashid Mondal,
the investigation officer of the case,
produced him on the expiration of his
second spell of eight-day remand.
In his forwarding, the investigation
officer told the court that evidence indicated that Rana had been involved in the
seven murders and therefore needed to
be taken into fresh a seven-day remand.
Important information has already
been gleaned during interrogation. He
needs to be grilled again for further information, SI Mamunur said.
Former RAB 11 chief Tarek and Arif
are now on their third-phase of fiveday remand.
The investigation officer told the
court earlier that they had found Tarek
and Arifs direct involvement with the
abduction and murder. l

Mokhlesur Rahman, additional deputy

inspector general of the CID, said they
might present the progress report as an
affidavit before the stipulated date.
The government committee submitted its report to the attorney generals
office mentioning that they needed four more weeks to complete the
probe. It has taken depositions of 329
people, according to Mizanur Rahman
Khan, deputy secretary of the Law
Ministry and a member of the team.
The investigations were launched after the bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque
and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore issued a rule when Supreme Court lawyer
Shamim Sarkar drew its attention over
media reports on the seven murders.
On May 15, the same bench asked
the authorities concerned to submit a
report to the court within tomorrow.

Rab mum on advance report

tenure of each session. Speaker Shirin

Sharmin Chaudhury will preside over
the meeting of the committee, considered as the highest legislative body.
Rawshan Ershad, leader of the opposition, is expected to attend the meeting
at 4:00 pm.
On the opening day, the House will
discuss the life and works of former Jatiya Party MP Nasim Osman who died
of heart ailment on April 30 in India,
and all stipulated businesses of the legislature would be suspended.
He was the brother of Narayanganj
MP Shamim Osman.
After placing of the national budget,
MPs will hold discussion on it and the
finance minister will change some of
the proposals in line with the recommendations of the lawmakers.
The discussion on the proposed
budget being over, the House must
pass the budget by June 30. l

City life falters

as waterlogging
continues to
take toll
PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

corporation authorities to consider the

issue seriously.
Alamgir Kabir, owner of a tea stall in
Shukrabad, said waterlogging became
a regular feature in the entire Shukrabad, Indira Road and Rajabazar areas
during monsoon.
We are facing this problem every
year and so we want to get rid of it.
Since the divide of city corporations, drainage and street maintenance in many places has not been
done properly as the DSCC and DNCC
authorities are uncertain about which
areas of the city fall under whose
jurisdiction.
Admitting the poor condition of the
roads and drains of the inundated areas, DSCC Chief Engineer Zahangir Alam
told the Dhaka Tribune, Shukrabad, Indira Road and Rajabazar were not under their jurisdiction.
We have nothing to do with the repair work in those areas, he said.
The city corporations Chief Executive Officer Ansar Ali Khan said: I
suppose only Shukrabad is under the
DSCC, not Indira road and the adjacent
areas.
He added that he would seek information on the demarcation and talk to
the officials concerned.
Contacted, Dhaka Wasa Deputy
Managing Director (administration) Md
Ataur Rahman termed the waterlogging a temporarily problem.
He attributed fund crunch to the
poor drainage and sewerage system in
the city.
We have already contacted different donor agencies for their support
to develop this sector in Dhaka, he
added.
Ataur also blamed the city people
for dumping of waste in the canals and
drains, which prevents free flow of water. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Mobarak case among 5 to see verdict any day

The case against Mobarak was kept on hold for about four months for the reconstitution of the tribunal

n Udisa Islam
Now four cases are pending for verdict
at the two International Crimes Tribunals following the end of the case
against Mobarak Hossain alias Mobarak
Ali, an alleged razakar commander
from Brahmanbaria.
After the end of closing arguments,
the three-member tribunal 1, led by Justice Enayetur Rahim, yesterday kept the
case in CAV (Curia Advisari Vult, a Latin legal term) which means the verdict
would be given any day, drawing an end
to the case that took over 13 months.
Mobarak was indicted on April 23
last year on five charges of crimes
against humanity he had committed in
Akhaura of Brahmanbaria during the
1971 Liberation War.
The case proceedings were halted
for about four months due to the reconstitution of tribunal 1 following the re-

tirement of its former chairman Justice

ATM Fazle Kabir.
This is the third case which is now
awaiting verdict.
The other pending cases at the tribunal 1 are against Jamaat-e-Islami chief
Motiur Rahman Nizami and absconding Faridpur BNP leader Zahid Hossain
Khokon. The case against Jamaat leader Mir Kashem Ali is awaiting verdict at
the tribunal 2.
Meanwhile, the Appellate Division
of the Supreme Court is set to deliver
verdict in the appeals case of death row
convict Delawar Hossain Sayedee any
day. The Jamaat leader was given the
death sentence on February 28 last year.
Yesterday, tribunal 1 Chairman Justice Enayetur accepted a prosecution
plea to make some changes in charge
number three. It also kept additional
documents in record.
The prosecution filed the pleas on

Court

Accused

Date of CAV

Tribunal 1

Motiur Rahman Nizami

March 24, 2014

Zahid Hossain Khokon

April 17, 2014

Mobarak Hossain

June 2, 2014

Tribunal 2

Mir Kashem Ali

May 4, 2014

Apex court

Delawar Hossain Sayedee

April 16, 2014

May 27, one for correcting a clerical

mistake, and another for accepting its
explanation regarding the list of razakars. The defence yesterday submitted
a written objection regarding the pleas.
Mizanul Islam and Tajul Islam,
counsels for the accused, took part in
the short hearing. On the other hand,
Syed Haider Ali and Md Shahidur Rahman stood for the prosecution.
During arguments, the defence
claimed that the prosecution had
failed to prove the war crimes charges

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

brought against the Brahmanbaria

Awami League leader as the case was
fabricated with false documents.
The prosecution, on the other hand,
claimed that they had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and sought capital punishment for the accused who they
said had been a political opportunist.
The prosecution submitted the formal charges on February 25 last year
and the tribunal took the charges into
cognisance on March 12.
During the trial, 12 prosecution

witnesses testified against Mobarak

whereas the accused himself and his
eldest son Asad Uddin gave depositions
as defence witnesses.
The charges against Mobarak include
killing of 33 unarmed civilians at Tanmandail in Akhaura; capture of Anandamoye
Kalibari temple and naming it Razakar
Manjil; torturing one Ashuranjan to
death; abduction and murder of Abdul
Khaleque of Satian village; abduction and
torture of Khadem Hossain Khan; and
abduction of Abdul Malek of Kharampur
and killing of Mohammad Siraj.
Khodeja Begum, daughter of martyr Abdul Khaleque who was an Ansar
member, filed a case with a Brahmanbaria court in 2009. The case was later
transferred to the tribunal.
War trial activist Shahriar Kabir
hopes that verdicts in the pending cases
would be delivered soon. The people
are eagerly waiting for the verdicts. l

RAB nabs Tekerhat

double murder
mastermind
n Kailash Sarkar
Rapid Action Battalion yesterday
claimed to have arrested the mastermind behind the double murder that
took place on Saturday night at Tekerhat in Rajoir upazila, Madaripur.
Wing Commander ATM Habibur
Rahman, director of RABs legal and
media wing, said RAB 2 personnel arrested Khandaker Saifur Rahman, alias
Shaheen, 45, from a residential hotel in
the capitals Mohakhali area.
RAB officials claimed Shaheen admitted to being involved in the murders, saying that he had planned to kill
Bashar due to personal enmity.
The RAB official, quoted Shaheen
saying: He hired a gang of killers paying Tk3 lakh to kill Bashar.
Shaheen, the general secretary of Awami League Bollovdi union, Faridpur was
charged as the main accused in the case. l

Victims brother testifies against

Abdus Subhan
n Udisa Islam

Police intercept a Gonojagoron Moncho procession yesterday which was heading towards the Law Ministry demanding the withdrawal
of the law ministers comment on the trial of Jamaat-e-Islami as an organisation
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Imran: Govt trying

to save Jamaat
n DU Correspondent
Gonojagoron moncho spokesman Imran H Sarker said the government is
trying to save Jamaat-e-Islami and its
student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.
The ambiguous statement involving Jamaat-Shibir by the high-ups of
the government proves that it is trying
to shun the Jamaat trial, Imran said,
while staging a demonstration in Doyel
Chattar area in the capital.
He urged to the law minister to
withdraw his remarks about the Jamaat
trial.
Earlier, police intercepted a procession of the moncho in the area while it
was heading towards the Ministry of Law
and scuffle ensued there, leaving three
activists hurt who were taken to DMCH.
Later, the activists continued
demonstrating, from where they declared of stage a nationwide demonstration programme on June 6.
Shahbagh police station OC Shirajul
Islam said: We have stopped the procession as per direction from the higher
authorities. l

The ninth prosecution witness in the

trial of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Maulana Abdus Subhan said yesterday that
he had witnessed the abduction and
torture of his brother Jhoru Kha and
neighbour Alauddin Mia during the
1971 Liberation War.
Riaz Uddin Mandal, 72, from Ishwardi of Pabna, corroborated the testimony of the previous witness Ashraf
Uddin Mia, 57, the son of Alauddin.
The new witness said after returning from the torture camp, his brother
had said Subhan, Khoda Box and other
razakar members had brutally tortured
him and other confined people. Sometimes they charged with bayonets.
In the beginning of his deposition at
the tribunal 2, Riaz said: On a day in
the middle of Baishakh [first month of
Bangla calendar], Subhan and his cohorts came to our place and enquired
about my brother. Some Biharis and

members of the Pakistani Army were

with him. The witness said Subhan
had ordered them to loot the house
since they had failed to capture Jhoru
Kha and Alauddin. They also set the
house on fire.

On May 12, the tribunal

issued the order against
Jabbar, a former Jatiya
Party lawmaker, after
accepting the five
formal charges
He continued: On the first day of
Jaishthya [second month of Bangla
calendar], Subhan and some Pakistani
Army men came to Arunkhola and surrounded a tea stall in the market place.
They captured my brother and Alauddin Mia from there and took them to
the Ishwardi government rest house.
After the incident, the family had

contacted razakar Khoda Box for their

release. Khoda Box told us to request
Subhan as he was their leader. When
they met Subhan, he confirmed that
the Pakistani Army would free them,
and they were released.
Quoting his brother, the witness
said he had been tortured on Subhans
orders. After his deposition, the defence questioned the witness and the
tribunal adjourned the trial until today,
leaving it incomplete.
Meanwhile, the tribunal 1 asked the
IGP, the SP of Pirojpur and the OC of
Mothbaria police yesterday about the
progress on the arrest warrant issued
against war crimes suspect engineer
Abdul Jabbar.
On May 12, the tribunal issued the order against Jabbar, a former Jatiya Party
lawmaker, after accepting the five formal charges placed by the prosecution.
Yesterday, the tribunal asked the authorities concerned to place report on
further progress on June 12. l

Two more testify in

Zubair murder case

ACC sues ex-state ministers APS

n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday filed a case against a former aide

to ex-state minister for religious affairs
M Shahjahan Miah for allegedly amassing illegal wealth worth over Tk1crore.
ACC deputy director KM Mejbah
Uddin filed the case with Ramna police station after an inquiry found
that ex-assistant personal secretary
(APS) Soumendra Lal Chandra Shoilen
earned huge sums of money through
irregular means during his four years of
service with the former state minister.
According to the case statement,
in addition to his legal earnings, the
ACC found Soumendra made an extra
Tk11,185,639 illegally during his service
period from 2009 to 2013.
The statement says the former APS
used to earn Tk2.39lakh annually from
his salary and other benefits, which
should come to a total of Tk11.76lakh
in four years. However, the inquiry
revealed that Shoilen made around
Tk1.18crore over four years, leading
investigators to suspect that he earned
the money illegally.

Two prosecution witnesses testified

yesterday in the Jahangirnagar University student Zubair Ahmed murder
case, in which 13 Bangladesh Chhatra
League activists are accused for their
direct involvement in the incident.
Dhakas Speedy Trial Tribunal 4
Judge ABM Nizamul Haque recorded
their depositions and fixed June 8 for
further witnesses. The judge did not
hear the other witness, Kamrul Hasan,
as he was feeling ill.
Enam Medical College Hospital physician Dr Sohel Rana, the 20th witness,
said the victim had been brought to
the hospital in Savar by two persons
on January 8, 2012. At that time he was
working in the emergency department.
One of them provided me with a
telephone number and requested that
I talk to a friend of the victim. I gave
him first aid and transferred him to the
ICU. Later the victim was sent to United Hospital for proper treatment, Rana
said.

So far, the court has recorded depositions of 21 out of 37 witnesses in the

sensational case.
Earlier, several prosecution witnesses did not appear at the court on time,
fearing attacks by the accused nine
of whom are now out on bail while the
others are absconding.
SM Rafiqul Islam, public prosecutor
of the tribunal, said four of the accused
fled the courtroom in front of lawyers
and police soon after their bails had
been cancelled. He said those accused
were frequently threatening the witnesses with dire consequences.
Zubair Ahmed, 23, an final year honours student of the English department
was severely beaten and hacked on the
campus on January 8 by over 40 Chhatra
League activists. He died at United Hospital the following day. A former Chhatra
League activist, Zubair was reportedly attacked by his rivals in the Chhatra League.
Following an investigation, the
university authorities found the 13 accused responsible for the killing and
expelled them for different terms. l

n Tribune Report

After analysing Soumendras income

tax statement for 2013-14, the ACC found
that his net income was around Tk31lakh,
while he had deposits with several banks,
including over Tk64lakh at Sonali Bank,
over Tk3lakh at Mercantile Bank and over
Tk4lakh at Premier Bank.
Soumendra, who is also the office
secretary of the ruling partys Patuakhali unit, has built a five-storey building
in the town, while his wife owns several
flats in Dhaka, the case statement says.
The ACC initially began investigat-

ing the former APS for allegedly taking

Tk50crore in bribes for issuing licences
to nearly 400 Hajj and umrah agents.
When Soumendra worked for Shahjahan Miah, the religious affairs ministry approved at least 400 licences
for several new companies, allegedly
in exchange for hefty kickbacks. The
then APS reportedly was the key player
in the bribery scam. There are also allegations that the former APS smuggled
huge amounts of money to India using
his mother and siblings. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Jatiya Sangsad
body recommends
revitalising jute
sector
n Kamran Reza Chowdhury
The highest advisory body for the improvement of the jute sector could not
hold a single meeting since 2012, contradicting an electoral pledge by the
ruling Awami League to promote the
golden fibre, which was once the countrys main export item.
While discussing development initiatives of the present government regarding the sector, a 10-member parliamentary standing committee on the
textile and jute ministry recommended

Most of the jute mills

were set up in 1960s.
So, BMRE (overhaul)
of the mills would
increase production
by at least 50%
yesterday that the National Jute Sector
Coordination Committee, headed by
the jute minister, should hold a meeting immediately.
It is unfortunate that the committee headed by the minister has not met
a single time since 2012. It should meet
immediately for policy guidelines from
all stakeholders, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary
committee, told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.
Former jute secretary AshrafulMo-

qbulsaid the 38-member national coordination committee is comprised of

representatives from both the government and private sector. The committee once played an important role in
formulating guidelines for the development of the sector.
The standing committee also discussed the disbursement of government declared incentives for jute exports. It also noted that the government
owed Tk650 crore to the state-run Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC)
and the private sector for jute exports.
The total pending incentives for
jute exports stand at Tk650 crore. The
BJMCs share is Tk150 crore, while the
private sector gets the rest, Saber Hossain said, adding that his committee
had recommended immediate distribution of the amount.
In 2013, former jute minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui told parliament that
state-owned jute mills had run out of
funds, and could not buy raw materials
or pay wages.
The standing committee also backed
the ministrys proposal for modernising the jute mills, which would require
over Tk2,000 crore.
Most of the jute mills were set up in
1960s, and those are too old. So, BMRE
(overhaul) of the mills would increase
production by at least 50 percent, ultimately benefitting the sector, Saber said.
Committee members Mirza Azam,
Enamur Rahman and Sabina Akter
Tuhin also attended the meeting, held
at the parliament building. l

Free movement
of human hauliers
demanded
n Our Correspondent,
Chapainawabganj

Two locals stand in front of a memorial built in memory of those who lost their lives in a deadly fire in Old Dhakas Nimtoli. Today is the
fifth anniversary of the incident, which claimed the lives of over a hundred people
NASHIRUL ISLAM

IPH to introduce food safety courses

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

With food adulteration becoming a major health concern across the country, the
Institute of Public Health (IPH) is planning to introduce graduate and postgraduate courses that will enable students
to learn about health technology and be
better prepared to tackle the crisis.
The Health Ministry has already given permission to the IPH for introducing BSc courses for the disciplines of
health technology (laboratory science)
and health technology (food safety)
along with courses for the Masters of
Public Health (MPH) degree.
IPH sources said the institute will initially start by admitting 30 students next

January under the four-year undergraduate programme in health technology

(laboratory science). The other two programmes will be introduced later.
The IPH has submitted a request to
the Health Ministry for creating over
100 posts for teachers and other staffs;
budget allocation will also soon be
sought from the ministry.
IPH Director Dr Subimal Sinha
Choudhury said the initiative to introduce the health courses had been taken
a couple of years ago.
In November 2012, the ministry gave
permission to the IPH for opening three
programmes, while in February this
year, the Dhaka University gave approval for starting classes for the laboratory

science courses. The DU authority also

made recommendations including suggesting the course curriculum for the
food safety discipline before giving approval for the other BSc programme.
Abdul Hannan, a former director of
the IPH, had earlier told the Dhaka Tribune that the IPH should be more determined to introduce the BSc in food
safety programme as soon as possible
because food adulteration has become
a serious health concern.
The IPH has also sought the affiliation of BSMMU to introduce a one-year
MPH programme; but BSSMUs director of college inspection, Dr Abu Shafi
Ahmed Amin, said the process would
take more time. l

Sramik Oikko Committee held a protest

rally yesterday at Collector Chattar in
Chapainawabganj demanding unrestricted movement of human hauliers,
which are locally known as Nasiman-Kariman.
They also submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner and
demanded that such impounded vehicles be released.
Police intercepted the rally in different areas, including Fire Brigade
intersection, Police Line intersection
and Nayagala intersection, prompting
altercations between the rally participants and them.
Earlier in the day, around 10:30am,
drivers and conductors belonging to
the committee gathered at Dairapur
truck terminal and headed for the
city but were obstructed by police at
a number of points. In face of their
persistence, law enforcers were compelled to gather them at Collector
Chattar.
Thousands of human haulier workers gathered there by 11:30am and submitted a memorandum to the deputy
commissioner after the rally.
The committees president Bakul Hossain, general secretary Abdul
Khaleq and several others addressed
the rally and warned that stern steps
would be taken if their demands were
not met.
Chapainawabganj Deputy Commissioner Sardar Sarafat Ali said the local
human hauliers would not be allowed
to move on highways, adding that the
vehicles were permitted to run in rural
areas.
Bakul said the next programme
would be announced after the organisation made a decision unanimously. l

Ershad hurt at formalin speech

n Manik Miazee

Jatiya Party Chairman Ershad said

yesterday he was hurt at the recent
political comments making fun of
formalin, a harmful chemical widely
being laced with food in the country.
Earlier on Wednesday, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia said Awami
League had gone rotten and forma-

lin is a must to keep it alive.

Later on Saturday, Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh
Hasina said her party was trying to
keep BNP alive with formalin while
the next day, BNP acting Secretary
General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
termed the present government as
risky as formalin.
I feel hurt when people crack

jokes about formalin. The top leaders are making fun of the formalin
that is pushing us towards death,
Ershad said yesterday.
He was speaking at the Jatiyo
Prakton Soinik Party representative
convention held at his Bannani office in Dhaka city.
They actually do not have the
honest will to stop its use, he said,

adding: I will stop its use within

seven days when I come to power.
The former military dictator
questioned the existence of democracy and civilisation people expect
in the country.
People talk about democracy
and civilisation but where are they
[democracy and civilisation] now?
he said. l

Five killed
in road
accidents
n Our Correspondent,
Tangail

Five people, including a

child, were killed in separate
road accidents in Tangail Sadar upazila, Ghatail upazila,
Madhupur upazila and Basail upazila yesterday.
Police confirmed the
identities of four of the victims, Rafiqul Islam, 35, Kuddus Ali, 40, Mozibur Rahman, 45, and Sami, 10.
The fifth victim was an
unidentified
22-year-old
woman.
Anwar Hossain, subinspector of Tangail Model
police station, said: Rafiq
was killed around noon on
the Dhaka- Tangail highway
near Biswas Betka area.
He was run over by a bus
when he fell down from his
motorcycle after colliding
with a battery-run autorickshaw.
Kuddus was hit by a bus
in Porabai area under Ghatail upazila around 10:15am,
and died instantly, said
Sub-Inspector Mizan of Ghatail police station.
Mozib, an auto-rickshaw
driver, was killed when a
speeding truck hit his vehicle in Madhupur Thana Mor
area around 11am, leaving
him injured. He later died
on his way to Madhupur
Upazila Health Complex,
said Mozibor Rahman, OC of
Madhupur police station.
Meanwhile, the unidentified woman and Sami were
when a Sirajganj-bound
bus fell into a ditch beside
the Dhaka-Tangail highway
in Patkhaguri area around
4pm. Sami died on the spot,
and the woman, along with
19 others, were injured.
They were taken to Tangail
General Hospital, where she
died at 5:15pm. l

Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh

Ofce of the Chief Engineer/West

Bangladesh Railway
Rajshahi.

Invitation for Tenders

1
2
3
4
5
6

Ministry/Division
Agency
Procuring Entity Name
Procuring Entity Code
Procuring Entity District
Invitation for

7 Invitation Ref. No
8 Date
KEY INFORMATION
9 Procurement Method
FUNDING INFORMATION
10 Budget & Source of Funds
PARTICULAR INFORMATION
11 Tender Publication Date
12 Tender last Selling Date
13 Tender Closing Date & Time
14 Tender Opening Date & Time
15 Name & Address of Ofce(s)
-Selling Tender Document (Principal)
-Selling Tender Document (Others)
-Receiving Tender Document
-Opening Tender Document
INFORMATION FOR TENDER
16 Eligibility of Tender
17 Time for completion of works
18 Price of Tender Document
19 Amount of Tender Security

Ministry of Railway.
Bangladesh Railway.
Chief Engineer (West), Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.
Not used at present.
Rajshahi.
Procurement of 20Nos. Steel Almirah for Godown of Chief
Engineer/West Ofces.
54.01.8100.155.04.079.14
01-06-2014
Open Tender Method (NCT)
Revenue (GoB)
08-06-2014.
25-06-2014 at 13.00 Hrs.
Date: 26-06-2014
Time: 12.00 hrs.
Date: 26-06-2014
Time: 12.30 hrs.
Chief Engineer/West, Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.
Chief Engineer/West, Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.
Chief Engineer/West, Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.
As Stated in the tender document.
60 (Sixty) days.
Tk. 500/- (Five Hundred Only).
Tk. 15,000/- (Fifteen thousand) only. Through Bank Draft or Pay
Order in favour of FA&CAO/West, Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS

20 Name of Ofcial Inviting Tender
Md. Mahbubul Haque Bakshi.
21 Designation of Ofcial Inviting Tender Chief Engineer(West), Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.
22 Address of Ofcial Inviting
Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.
23 Contact details of Ofcial Inviting Tender Tel: 0721-761984, Fax: 0721-761984
24 The procuring entity reserves the right to accept or reject all tenders

RPRD No-3783, Date: 02/06/2014

GC- 73/14 (73)

Md. Mahbubul Haque Bakshi

Chief Engineer/West
Bangladesh Railway
Rajshahi.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Ship-breaking
accident kills one
n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong

HATIRJHEEL COMPENSATORY FLATS

Affected people to
wait 1 more year
n Manik Miazee
The people, who lost their lands during
the construction of the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project, have to wait another
year for compensation as the Rajdhani
Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) cannot
hand the flats over to them before June
2015 because of confusion over the
actual number of evicted people and
some internal problems.

A total of 201
applications were
received and all of them
claimed compensation.
We will verify the
applications and
documents and will
begin delivering the
flats
Rajuk is still looking for people who
were genuinely affected when the
place was given a facelift and before
the full completion of the project, the
handover of the flats will not be
possible, for at least another year, officials said.
Earlier, the government decided to
compensate the land owners with flats
as part of the project within December
2014.
We cannot complete the project
by the end of the year because of some
internal problems, one of which is the
slow pace of construction, said Md

Arefur Rahman, director of the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project.

He said Rajuk had published notices
in national dailies inviting applications
from real victims who lost their lands.
A total of 201 applications were
received and all of them claimed compensation. We will verify the applications and documents and will begin
delivering the flats, he added.
Arefur said they are hopeful about
completing the project by June next year.
Construction of a multi-storeyed
building is finished and that of another
one is underway, he said, adding that
the completed structure has yet to get
utility connections, which is why more
time is needed for the handover.
According to the Rajuk plan, it will
construct two 16-storeyed buildings
with 56 flats measuring 850 square feet
each.
The 56 flats will be distributed
among the people who lost their lands
and the remaining 56 will be sold to the
general people.
The money generated from the
selling of the flats will be used for compensating other victims, if any, officials said.
Construction of the 300-acre Hatirjheel-Begunbari project began back in
2004 and the Executive Committee of
National Economic Council approved it
in 2008.
Engineering Construction Battalion
of the Bangladesh Army is implementing the project under the supervision
of the Ministry of Housing and Public
Works and Rajuk. l

A worker was killed late in the day on

Sunday in an accident at a ship-breaking yard in Kadam Rasul area of Chittagongs Sitakund upazila.
The deceased Mohammed Mohiuddin, 22, was from Moheshkhali upazila in Coxs Bazar, and was a worker of
ship-breaking yard SH Enterprise.
Yard owner Kamal Uddin said Mohiuddin fell from the scrap vessel, MV
Recher Express, when he was returning
after doing some cutting work. He added that the injured worker was rushed
to the Sergiscope Hospital, where the
on-duty doctors pronounced him dead
around 11pm.
Aminul Islam, inspector at Sitakund police station, said the deceased
worker was not wearing a security suit
during the accident, adding that they
were investigating further into the incident.
Earlier on April 3, three workers
were killed in an accident at Arefin Enterprise, a sister concern of SH Enterprise, while another worker was killed
in an accident at a ship-breaking yard
in Jahanarabad area on May 14 last
year. l

RMG workers
continue work
abstention
n Our Correspondent, Savar

The photo taken from Power house area of Tejgaon shows a 16-storey incomplete building meant for those affected by the HatirjheelBegunbari Project
DHAKA TRIBUNE

BU students postpone protest

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Students at Barisal University postponed their agitation programme to

press home their six-point demand
yesterday, following a meeting with
the road transport owners and the university authorities.
H M Zahirul Islam, convener of
the universitys Shadharon Chhatra
Parishad, said the programme was
postponed as they reached an agreement with the bus owners and received assurances from the university
authorities.
The demonstration was planned
in protest of a two-hour clash that
took place between the university
students and road transport workers
in front of the new, under-construction campus of the university t h a t
left 10 injured and three vehicles damaged.
The agitated students boycotted
classes and exams and placed a sixpoint demand on Saturday, threatening to launch a tougher movement if
the demands were not met by Monday
evening.
The meeting was held at the

vice-chancellors office yesterday afternoon.

The six-point demand includes
punishment of the transport workers
and leaders who attacked students on
Thursday, immediate construction
of dormitories and boundary walls,
construction of a passenger shed and
speed breaker in front of the campus,
the fixing of the session fees including all other charges at Tk3,000 for
each student, the announcement of
the date for the universitys student
union elections, and the withdrawal
of the resignation letters submitted
by five assistant proctors.
The meeting was attended by
Vice-Chancellor Professor Md Harunor
Rashid Khan, Registrar Monirul Islam,
President of Teachers Association
Professor Shafiul Alam, Secretary of
Teachers Association Professor Professor Tanvir Qaiser, leaders of the
agitating students HM Zahirul Islam,
Ferozul Islam, Imran Hossain Nantu
and Toufique Omar, and Secretary and
Organising Secretary of Barisal Bus
Owners Association Kawsar Hossain
and Md Naim, respectively.
The bus owners association leaders

said they had consented to provide a

special shuttle bus service from the
city to the university campus, introduce concessions on the ticket price
for the students on all the routes to
the campus upon showing their ID
cards, and stopping at the campus
entrance.
The vice-chancellor said the assistant proctors were still on duty
as their resignation had not been accepted.
Also, the university authority had
decided to fix the session fees at
Tk3,000 per student, adding Tk500 as
transportation fees, he said.
Construction of the speed breaker
and passenger shed was under way,
and the boundary walls would be built
later, he added.
Zahirul Islam, one of the student
leaders, said the authority also agreed
to allow the formation of a student
body after the inauguration of the dormitories and a full-fledged campus.
However the student leaders also
cautioned that if the agreed decisions were not implemented properly,
they would launch the agitation programme. l

USTC protestors block road

again, no solution yet
n

CU Correspondent

The teachers, students, officials and

employees of University of Science
and Technology Chittagong (USTC)
again observed a blocked of Jakir Hossain road in the port city yesterday and
staged a protest rally.
The protestors started the strike
demanding the implementation of service rules, and yesterday was the 13th
day of the protest.
Campus sources said the demonstrators brought out a procession on
campus of the university in the morning and then held a rally in front of
Mowlana Bhasani auditorium.
Later, the USTCs Engineering and
Technology Faculty students put a
barricade on the road around 11am demanding membership of Institute of
Engineering of Bangladesh (IEB), stopping the traffic movement for half an
hour, said Mohammed Shah Alam, SI
of Khulshi police station.
Despite having passed 13 days of
the deadlock, Janasheba Foundation,

the trustee board, remained silent over

solving this issue, leaving the future
of around 3000 students hanging in
balance though it called an emergency
syndicate meeting in Dhaka Office on
Friday, which ended without a resolution.
On the other hand, the university
authorities have stopped the pay of
the staffs following the agitation, said
Anwarul Islam Bappy, member secretary of USTC Teachers-Doctors and
Officials-Employees Coordination Parishad.
Trustee Board formed a pay
commission to consider the staffs
demands and it will submit a
recommendation letter in this regard,
said USTC vice chancellor Dr M Rezaul
Karim.
Stopping all types of academic activities and administrative tasks, the
Teachers-Doctors and Officials-Employees of USTC have been observing
their protest for four hours since May
18 demanding the implementation of
service rules. l

Workers of a garment factory in Ashulia abstained from work for the second
day running yesterday, protesting the
dismissal of five of their colleagues.
Authorities of a sweater company
named Helicon Limited, located inside the Dhaka Export Processing Zone
(DEPZ), reportedly laid off five of its
workers on Saturday. Hearing the news
on the following day, the workers of the
factory started demonstrating instead
of starting their work.

The factory authorities

were later forced to
declare a holiday to
calm the situation
They staged protests on Sunday claiming that their colleagues have been dismissed without any valid reason. The
factory authorities were later forced to
declare a holiday to calm the situation.
The agitated workers continued
the
demonstrations
yesterday,
demanding a stop to unnecessary job
cuts, harassment against workers,
and intimidation by local goons. They
carried on the protests until Helicon
authorities declared a holiday again at
1:30pm.
When asked about the demonstrations, Director of Ashulia Industrial
Police Mostafizur Rahman said the factory had to shut down because of the
ongoing protests by the workers.
Additional police personnel have
been deployed in the area to prevent
any untoward incident, he added. l

KARNAPHULI RIVER DREDGING

WEATHER

Action to be taken
against contractor

HEAVY RAINS

TUESDAY, JUNE 3

n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong

DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:43PM
SUN RISES 5:11AM
FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka

35

Chittagong

32

27

Rajshahi

37

28

Rangpur

36

26

Khulna

34

26

Barisal

32

26

Sylhet

35

24

Coxs Bazar

32

27

28

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW

35.0C
Sayedpur

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

24.0C
Khepupara

The Power Development Board, Rajshahi conducts a drive against illegal gas connection in Sagorpara area yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman on the Shipping Ministry Rafiqul Islam

said yesterday that they would recommend
legal measures against the contractor of the
capital dredging of the Karnaphuli River
project for not completing their task as per
the treaty.
The contractor firm, Malaysian
Marine and Dredging Corporation,
should be black listed as they have not
completed the work as per the treaty,
he said while visiting the headway of
the project at Sadarghat and Chaktai
He also said they would go through
the documents to find out whether the
Chittagong Port Authorities (CPA) had

paid any extra amount to the company,

adding that if so, measures would be
taken to get back the extra money.
The standing committee chairman
also said they would take necessary
measures to complete the dredging
work, appointing a new contractor.
CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Nizamuddin said only 35%-40% of the
dredging work had been completed
under the project. However, 99% of jetty construction and 95% of bank protection embankment work had been
completed, he added.
The project, worth Tk229 crore, was
initiated on May 15, 2011. Though the
contractor firm was scheduled to finish
the project by January 2013. l

PRAYER TIMES
Fajar
Sunrise
Zohr
Asr
Magrib
Esha

3:45am
5:10am
11:57am
3:16pm
6:43pm
8:09pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org

Six muggers held in Ctg

Two men shot during attempted mugging

n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

Source: Accuweather/UNB

n Our Correspondent, Savar

Police arrested six alleged muggers in

Muradpur area of Chittagong city early yesterday and seized three sharp
weapons from their possession.
The detained are Md Ismail, 33, Md
Jafar, 18, Md Haidar Ali, 19, Md Sumon,
22, Md Shahid, 18 and Md Belal, 18,
said police.
Sub-Inspector Kamruzzaman of
Panchlish police station said the

muggers stole valuables from Kamal

Hossain after hacking him with sharp
weapons near N Mohammed Convention Centre in Muradpur area around
2:30am, leaving him critically injured.
Hearing the hue and cry, locals caught
the muggers and informed the police.
Police then recovered three machetes
from their possession, the SI added.
Kamal was sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital and a case was
filed in this regard. l

Some unidentified criminals shot and

injured two men during an attempted
mugging yesterday near the Ashulia
police station in Savar.
Retired army personnel Abdur Razzak, 60, was returning to his home in
Ashulias Gazirchot area, when four
young men riding on two motorbikes
stopped him near the Ashulia police
station and tried to snatch around Tk5.5

lakh that Razzak was carrying with him.

During the scuffle, the culprits shot
Razzak in his leg, said witnesses and
the victims family members.
When a bystander, 45-year-old businessman Yunus Miah, came forward
to rescue Razzak, the muggers also
shot him in the head before fleeing the
scene without being able to take the
money with them.
Razzak is now receiving treatment
at Savar Combined Military Hospital

for the bullet wound to his leg, while

Yunus Miah has been kept at the intensive care unit of Enam Medical College
Hospital.
Dr Shaikat, the on-duty doctor at
Enam Medical College Hospital, said
Yunus was in a critical condition and his
health might deteriorate at any time.
Ashulias Assistant Superintendent
of Police Russel Sheikh said the police
have inspected the scene, but added
that no arrest has been made yet. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Thakurgaon Diabetic
Hospital employees
go on indefinite strike
n Our Correspondent,
Thakurgaon
Being unable to get the hospital authority to pay their
arrears by staging a three-day
work abstention programme,
doctors, nurses and other
employees of Thakurgaon
Swasthoseba Hospital (Diabetic Hospital) called an indefinite strike there yesterday.
In the afternoon yesterday, Dr Nur Alam Mandal,
spokesperson for the employees of the hospital, confirmed the strike, which was
supposed to start from today.
Due to the work abstention, the hospital services
had virtually stopped and the
patients in the district as well
as nearby Panchagarh have
been suffering massively.
Sources said there is a to-

tal of 126 staff members at the

hospital, and they have been
unpaid for last nine months.
On Thursday, the employees
went on a three-day work
abstention, demanding their
arrears and allowances.
When contacted, the agitating staff blamed the authorities concerned for the
deadlock, saying they were
forced to call the strike as the
situation had finally become
unbearable.
Ekramul Hoque Swapan,
executive director of the hospital, said he was trying his
best to solve the crisis by contacting the higher authorities.
Mukes Biswas, Thakurgaon Deputy Commissioner,
said the ongoing impasse
was an internal hospital matter that the authorities would
solve. l

Leaders and activists of Fulgazi upazila unit stage demonstration in

the district town demanding arrest of the killers of Ekramul Haque
FOCUS BANGLA

UNO office vandalised

over snap poll deferral
n Our Correspondent,
Sirajganj
Agitated locals vandalised
the offices of the Chouhali
upazila nirbahi officer (UNO)
and the election officer over
the sudden deferral of the
election for the upazilas
Khas Pukuria Union Parishad in Sirajganj yesterday.
Witnesses said the election
for the Uniona Parishad had
been deferred for 12 years due
to a court ruling on it, but the
Election Commission had recently announced the schedule for holding the election.
As per the schedule, the
election was to be held on
Monday. All the preparations were in place, but the
locals later learned that
the election had been post-

poned again, they said. Enraged at the deferral, early in

the morning yesterday, the
locals brought out a procession and reached the upazila
town. They then vandalised
the offices of the upazila nirbahi officer and election officer, said the witnesses.
Chouhali Upazila Nirbahi
Officer Mohammad Abdullah said they had all the
preparations in place for the
elections to be held. But we
had to defer it upon a High
Court order at 11pm (Sunday), he explained.
The deferral order followed a petition filed by current Union Parishad Chairman Mizanur Rahman, who
was also the BNP-backed
candidate in the postponed
election. l

Two children die in

roof collapse
n Our Correspondent,
Gaibandha
Two children died on Sunday
when an under-construction
mosque roof collapsed on
them in Gaibandha Sadar
upazila.
The victims were Kazi
Safalya, 7, the son of Kazi
Khaled Mahmud Biplob of
the upazilas Kazibari village
and Bishal, 6, the son of Abdul Mannan of Gobindaganj
upazilas Mohimaganj village.
Four other children were
also injured in the incident.

They were treated at local hospitals. Their identities could

not be known immediately.
Kholahati Union Parishad Chairman Kazi Ibrahim
Khalil Ulfat said the six children were playing inside the
under-construction mosque.
Four of them then climbed
onto the roof. As soon as they
got on the roof, the roof collapsed and fell, along with
them, on top of Safalya and
Bishal, he said. Bishal died on
the spot and Safalya died while
receiving treatment at Rangpur
Medical College Hospital. l

One shot, 11 held after

shootout in Habiganj
n Our Correspondent,
Habiganj
A robber was shot in a gunfight between police and
robbers at Aushkandi in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj on
Sunday night.
Lutfur Rahman, 40, received bullet injuries during
the shootout that took place
around 11:30pm. Police also
detained 11 robbers, and
seized four pipe guns and a
microbus.
A 28-member police team
chased the robbers, who are
all from Habiganj, as the lat-

ter were attempting to commit a robbery in Goalabazar,

Sylhet. Chased by law enforcers, the robbers headed
for Habiganj in a microbus
and the police team, assisted
by Nabiganj police, collared
11 of them from Aushkandi
CNG station area. Before being nabbed, the robbers fired
8-10 rounds at police who
responded with six rounds.
Lutfur received bullet injuries during the fight and four
policemen were also injured.
The four were admitted to
Moulvibazar Sadar Adhunik
Hospital. l

Nation

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The bane of global indifference

An economist considers Pope Francis critique of capitalism

The predominance of global indifference makes starvation commonplace

n Jeffrey D Sachs
esus teachings offer good
news for the righteous,
whether they are the poor and
marginalised or the rich who
are generous with their bounty.
All can find a place in the kingdom. Yet
there is little comfort for those who
expect that their wealth alone will
save them. The story of Lazarus and
the rich man is a reminder of the fate
of the wealthy who ignore the poor in
their midst (Lk 16:19-31).
So we should not be surprised by
the highly divergent reactions to Pope
Francis apostolic exhortation, The
Joy of the Gospel. On the one hand,
people across the globe were immediately and powerfully drawn to the
popes message of hope and social jus-

Society at large, including the elites of

finance and academia, abandoned interest
in the fate of the poor or even came to
blame the poor for their condition

tice. They were stirred by his critique

of the dictatorship of an impersonal
economy lacking a truly human purpose, and they were uplifted by his
call for solidarity with the poor.
Yet in the United States, a number
of the famously rich, and commentators who routinely speak for them,
were clearly incensed. Marxist, cried
a few, and the charge echoed. The
pope is confused, declared others.
And still others tried to deflect the
popes message by claiming that it was
really directed to his own homeland,
Argentina, rather than the United
States. At least one wealthy individual
threatened to withhold a donation for
the renovation of St Patricks Cathedral in New York.

WIKIMEDIA

Those who presumed to read into

the popes words a specific economic
plan were mistaken. Pope Francis,
like Jesus, offered no such plan. This
exhortation is not a social document,
writes the pope. Jesus overturned the
tables of the money changers not to implement a first-century Glass-Steagall
Act, but rather to make a moral point
that the house of divine justice had
become a den of thieves. Pope Francis
carries Jesus message into the heart of
todays capitalism. He reminds us that
we need a moral framework for our
21st-century economy.
That message is fundamentally
subversive of prevailing attitudes in the
corridors of American power, whether
on Wall Street or in Washington. And
it is crucial for exactly that reason. Far
too many of the rich and powerful in
the United States are in thrall to an
economic ideology that places property
rights over human dignity, even human
survival. Too many believe that morality is the result of the marketplace.
That is no exaggeration. The doctrine of libertarianism, for example, as
expounded by Ayn Rand and her followers, including Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve,
is based on the idea that economic
justice is defined by the liberty of
the marketplace. Liberty in this vision
is the freedom to buy, sell and protect
ones property. Neither government,
nor regulation, nor even moral
self-restraint, should interfere. Taxes,
for example, are viewed as a form of
servitude to the state, even when the
tax revenues are destined to feed the
poor, sustain the unemployed, provide
health to the indigent and protect the
environment for all.

a market economy, yet one in which

the rights to private property are
embedded in a moral framework.
Morality and human dignity must be
paramount; property rights should
be responsive to the higher calling of
justice.
Pope Leo XIII put it this way: It is
lawful, says St Thomas Aquinas, for
a man to hold private property; and it
is also necessary for the carrying on of
human existence. But if the question
be asked: How must ones possessions
be used? the church replies without
hesitation in the words of the same
holy doctor: Man should not consider
his material possessions as his own,
but as common to all, so as to share
them without hesitation when others
are in need ...
To sum up, then, what has been
said: Whoever has received from the
divine bounty a large share of temporal
blessings, whether they be external
and material, or gifts of the mind, has
received them for the purpose of using
them for the perfecting of his own nature, and, at the same time, that he may
employ them, as the steward of Gods
providence, for the benefit of others.
In the same vein, Leo XIII held that
voluntary contracts may be deemed
unjust when the contracting parties are
too unequal in their wealth and power.
As Pope Paul VI later put it in Populorum Progressio (1967), referring
back to these teachings, The rule of
free consent remains subservient to
the demands of the natural law. And
on a global scale, Pope Paul VI noted,
free trade between nations must also be
subject to the demands of social justice.
Church teaching describes the
moral framework of property rights as
the universal destination of goods.
Yes, the church avers, property is and
should be (mostly) privately owned.
Private property boosts efficiency,
protects the family and enables the
middle class to resist the predations
of the state. Yet property must also be
understood as a public trust; the needs
of humanity must take precedence
over individual claims to property,
especially when the needs of the poor
or the environment are at stake.
In line with this great tradition,
Pope Francis aims at nothing less than
re-establishing a moral foundation for
our local, national and global economic dealings, by spreading the churchs
teachings of social justice, which has
roots in Jewish teaching as well. But
beyond specific doctrines, the pope
is invoking universal themes that
are shared by many major religions,
as well as by agnostics and atheists,
whom he recently invited to join in
the quest for justice and peace. He
writes that an inter-religious dialogue
which seeks social peace and justice
is in itself, beyond all merely practical
considerations, an ethical commitment which brings about a new social
situation.

The Popes moral code

Pope Francis is reinvigorating a widely
if not universally shared moral code,
one that has been suppressed by the
glam and glitter of our media age and
hijacked by the idolatry of private
property (which the pope likens to the
golden calf). With his joy and humility,
Francis is trying to awaken us from
our stupor, from what he calls the

globalisation of indifference.
Pope Francis appeals to us to reawaken our personal moral awareness.
We know not what we do, he tells us,
because:
Almost without being aware of it,
we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the
poor, weeping for other peoples pain,
and feeling a need to help them, as
though all of this were someone elses
responsibility and not our own. The
culture of prosperity deadens us; we
are thrilled if the market offers us
something new to purchase. In the
meantime all those lives stunted for
lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.
My own profession of economics has exemplified this deepening
demoralisation. In its quest for scientific rigor, mainstream economics
long ago shed its traditional interest in
a moral framework. A profession that
started out as a field of moral inquiry
had, by the 20th century, become a
cheerleader for egoistic materialism,
with little or no concern for moral
inquiry. Human well-being, once a
central interest of the moral philosophy of the classical economists, in
the hands of 20th-century economists
became virtually synonymous with
ones purchases and possessions.

example. The Global Fund to Fight

AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the
worlds central institution to fund
the fight against these three killer
diseases. Through modern science,
these diseases are treatable and often
preventable. The Global Fund has
saved millions of lives by dispensing
medicines and preventive measures like anti-malaria bed nets. Yet,
when the Global Fund appealed for a
replenishment of its funds this past
year, asking $5 billion from the worlds
governments and companies to tend
to hundreds of millions of the worlds
poorest people, it came up short, raising only $4 billion.
The shortfall of $1 billion will cost
considerable death and suffering, as
clinics run out of life-saving commodities. Yet this $1 billion is less
than the paychecks of several hedge
fund owners in 2013. It is less than
one days Pentagon spending. It is less
than $1 per year for each person in
the high-income world. Why did the
Global Fund come up short? There is
only one reason, and no justification:
the globalisation of indifference.
A reinvigoration of a global economic moral code can be our lifeline
in the 21st century. At a time when our
societies are driven by unprecedented
inequality, when six million children

The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are

thrilled if the market offers us something new to
purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted
for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle;
they fail to move us

There have been three disastrous

consequences of the globalisation of
indifference. First, society at large,
including the elites of finance and
academia, abandoned interest in the
fate of the poor or even came to blame
the poor for their condition. Second,
financial markets were deregulated,
and market trade became the test of
morality itself.
Even as the major Wall Street banks
peddled toxic assets to unsuspecting
foreign buyers, thereby stoking a
financial bubble that burst in 2008,
the chief executive officer of Goldman
Sachs declared that the firm was, after
all, doing Gods work since it helped
create wealth and jobs. Third, my
own profession of economics aided
and abetted this process by shedding
its professional moral code as many
rushed to lucrative jobs on Wall
Street. The award-winning documentary movie Inside Job exposed an
economics profession that had lost its
moral compass.
The results are devastating. Income
inequality in the United States is at the
highest level in a century, if not more.
Wall Street illegality and corruption
nearly brought down the world economy. And at a time of unprecedented
global wealth, impoverished people
around the world have often been left
to fend for their own survival against
terrible odds.
Consider a recent shocking

under the age of five worldwide could

be saved each year from premature
death and when reckless destruction of
the earths environment puts the lives
of humans and millions of other species in peril, it will be our attitudes, our
moral judgments, that will be the most
important determinants of our fate.
At this stage of history, humanity is
at a crossroads, with the future course
of our own choosing. We have the
technical means to solve our national and global problemsto banish
poverty, fight disease, protect the
environment and train the illiterate
and the unskilled. But we can and will
do so only if we care enough to mount
the effort.
We face a moral crisis much more
than a financial or economic crisis. And
for this reason we must offer our gratitude to Pope Francis. He has lovingly
reminded us that our highest aspirations really are within our grasp. l
Jeffrey D Sachsis director of The Earth
Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable
Development and Professor of Health Policy
and Management at Columbia University
in New York City. He is also special adviser
to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on
the Millennium Development Goals and
author of The End of Poverty (2005). His
most recent book is To Move the World:
JFKs Quest for Peace (Random House,
2013). This article is published under special
arrangement.

The church and property rights

The church has rightly and consistently rejected the idea that private
property rights are sacrosanct. Since
the modern church first took up
the economic question more than a
century ago, notably in Pope Leo XIIIs
Rerum Novarum (1891) during the
first wave of industrialisation (and
the robber-baron era), it has favoured

Dr Patrick Angelo wraps a homeless man in blankets under the overpasses on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago

REUTERS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Abbas swears in unity

government, Israel shunns
n Reuters, Ramallah

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as leaves his office as a former Hamas government Prime Minister, in Gaza City June 2.
President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a Palestinian unity government on Monday under a reconciliation deal with Hamas Islamists that
led Israel to freeze US-brokered peace talks with the Western-backed leader
REUTERS

President Mahmoud Abbas swore in

a Palestinian unity government on
Monday under a reconciliation deal
with Hamas Islamists that led Israel to
freeze US-brokered peace talks with
the Western-backed leader.
Abbas, who heads the mainstream
Fatah movement, has said the 17-member cabinet would be comprised of unaffiliated ministers and that it would strive
to pursue peace, despite Hamass refusal
to accept co-existence with Israel.
Ministers in the new administration
took the oath of office in a ceremony in
Ramallah, the Palestinian seat of government in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank. Three ministers from the Hamasrun Gaza Strip were denied entry to the
West Bank by Israel.
Today and after announcing the
government of national unity we declare
the end of division that caused catastrophic harm to our cause, Abbas said.
Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since
seizing the territory from Fatah forces

Calm returns after

battle as divided east
Ukraine city awaits fate
n

Reuters, Donetsk

Uneasy calm returned to the streets

ofDonetskon Wednesday after the biggest battle of a pro-Russian separatist
uprising ineastern Ukraine, a conflict
transformed by the landslide election
of a pro-European leader who has
vowed to crush the revolt.
Government forces killed dozens
of rebel fighters on Monday and Tuesday in an assault to retake the airport,
which the rebels had seized the morning after Ukrainians overwhelmingly
electedPetro Poroshenkoas president.
Pro-Moscow gunmen have declared the city of a million people
capital of an independent Donetsk
Peoples Republic.
After the government assault - the
first time Kiev has unleashed its full
military force against the fighters after
weeks of restraint - morgues were filled
with bodies of rebel gunmen. Some
were missing limbs in a sign of the massive firepower used against them.
The separatist authorities say as
many as 50 died, including a truckload
of wounded fighters blasted apart as
they were driven away from the battlefield. The government said it suffered
no losses in the operation, which saw
its aircraft strafe the airport and paratroops land to reclaim it.

Britain may soon

have Muslim and
Hindu holidays
n Agencies
An online petition urging politicians to
create a bank holiday for Hindu festival
Diwali and Muslim celebration Eid has
attracted more than 119,000 signatures
and could be debated in the House of
Commons, Daily Mail reported.
If applied, it would be the first
non-Christian religious holidays in
Britain and could lead to calls from
other faiths for their events to also be
recognised.
As the e-petition has reached 100,000
signatures it has to be considered in parliament under rules set up in 2011.
Nationalists have complained that
St Georges Day and St Davids Day are
not holidays but an e-petition calling
for these days to be marked has only 34
signatures.
Diwali is described as the Festival of
Lights and is celebrated by Hindus in the
Autumn while Eid is held at the end of
Ramadan when Muslims break their fast.
Details of the petition are said to
have been passed to the Backbench
Business Committee, which will consider its suitability for debate.
Set up by Jon Timmis, it states:
I believe that, given the number of
Muslims and Hindus in this country it
is only fair we allow them to have the
most important days in their faiths recognised in law.
The e-petition has sparked widespread debate on internet forums and
social media, especially those aimed
at British Muslims and Hindus. While
religious and community leaders have
distanced themselves from the idea,
popular opinion is evenly split. l

Poroshenko, a billionaire confectionary magnate who became the first

Ukrainian since 1991 to win the presidency outright in a single round of
voting, repeated his promise to restore
government control rapidly over secessionist-held areas.
We are in a state of war in the east.
Crimea is occupied byRussiaand there
is great instability. We must react, he
told Germanys Bild newspaper. The
anti-terrorist operation has finally begun in earnest. We will no longer permit these terrorists to kidnap and shoot
people, occupy buildings or suspend
the law. We will put an end to these
horrors - a real war is being waged
against our country.
His swift offensive has thrown down
a challenge to Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, who made defending
Russians in other parts of the former
Soviet Union a pillar of his rule since
declaring his right to use military force
inUkrainein March.
Moscow has demanded Kiev halt
the military operation in the east, but
Putin has also announced the withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops
he had massed on the frontier. A Nato
officer said on Wednesday thousands
of Russian troops had indeed been
pulled out, although tens of thousands
were still in place. l

Aricca Wallace knew she was nearly out

of time.
For more than three years, she had
suffered cramping and irregular bleeding, which her doctor thought was a
side effect of her birth control implant,
known as an intrauterine device, or IUD.
Her annual Pap smears were always
normal, so no one suspected cancer.
Except it was cancer, and by the
time the 34-year-old mother of two had
the IUD removed and was finally diagnosed, her tumors had reached stage
three and the disease was spreading
through the lymph nodes in her abdomen and chest.
I was told by a specialist that there
wasnt any chemo that could kill it, Wallace told AFP. And that Id be gone in
a year.
That was in February 2012. A few
months later, Wallaces doctor told her
about an immunotherapy trial at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, a research hospital just outside the
US capital.
Wallace enrolled. Doctors removed
one of her tumors and collected some
of the immune cells that were surrounding it. They selected specific T-cells that
would attack human papillomavirus.
HPV is a common sexually transmitted disease, and most adults get it at
some point in their lives. While HPV is
often harmless, some strains can cause
genital warts or lead to cancers of the
cervix, anus, head, neck and throat.
Some 70% of cervical cancers are
caused by HPV types 16 and 18.
The idea behind HPV-targeted adoptive T-cell therapy is to boost the bodys

Hamas hails unity government of

all Palestinians
We hail the national consensus
government, which represents all the
Palestinian people.

Abbas hails end of Palestinian

division
Today, with the formation of a national
consensus government, we announce
the end of a Palestinian division that has
greatly damaged our national case.
Egypt, have failed over power-sharing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged world leaders not to
rush into recognizing the new Palestinian government, saying it would serve
as a front for Hamas and strengthen
terrorism.
At the inauguration ceremony, Abbas said the new government would
abide by commitments made by pre-

vious Palestinian administrations and

by agreements ratified by the umbrella
Palestine Liberation Organization, a reference to interim accords with Israel.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State
John Kerry, who spearheaded the
peace efforts that collapsed when the
unity deal was signed in April, spoke
by telephone with Abbas and voiced
his concern about Hamass role in the
government, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Israel, the United States and the
European Union regard Hamas as a
terrorist group over its refusal to recognize Israel, accept existing interim
Israeli-Palestinian peace deals and renounce violence.
In his telephone call, Kerry stressed
the importance of the new government committing to those principles,
Psaki said.
The Secretary stated that the United States would monitor the situation
closely and judge any government
based on its composition, policies, and
actions, she added. l

Russia to submit UN
resolution on Ukraine
n Reuters, Moscow
Russia will submit a draft resolution
to the UN Security Council on Monday
calling for an immediate end to worsening violence in Ukraine and the creation of humanitarian corridors in the
east of the country, Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov said.
Lavrov said that Western nations had
assured Russia the situation in Ukraine
would improve after its May 25 presidential election but that everything is

happening in exactly the opposite way.

People are dying every day. Peaceful civilians are suffering more and
more - the army, military aviation and
heavy weapons continue to be used
against them, he said when asked about
Ukraine at a joint news conference after
talks with his Mauritanian counterpart.
The draft resolution will contain a demand for the immediate halt to violence
and the beginning of actual negotiations
with the aim of establishing a stable and
reliable ceasefire, Lavrov said. l

Cameron and Putin to talk Ukraine

n Reuters, London

A member of the Donbass self-defence battalion takes part in a training at a base of the
National Guard of Ukraine near Kiev, June 2
REUTERS

New therapy wipes out

cervical cancer in two women
n AFP, Bethesda

in a brief civil war in 2007. Past reconciliation efforts, largely brokered by

immune response to HPV in the tumors.

Wallace first endured a week-long
regimen of strong chemotherapy to
knock out her immune system. Then
came the infusion, which aimed to rebuild her defenses with more than 100
billion of her lab-grown T-cells that targeted the tumors.
After that, she was given two doses
of aldesleukin, which helps the immune
cells grow.
The treatment can lead to serious side
effects like bleeding, vomiting, low blood
pressure, fluid retention, confusion, fever and infection.
It was the worst fever I ever had, recalled Wallace.
But it worked. Her tumors grew
steadily smaller. Four months after the
infusion, all the tumors were gone.
On May 29, Wallace visited the NIH
Clinical Center again for scans, which
showed no disease, marking 22 months
since the start of her experimental
treatment.
It is a miracle, honestly, said Wallace, now 37.
Immunotherapy is a promising field
that has shown some early successes
against the deadly skin cancer melanoma and a handful of other cancers.
Wallace is the first person with cervical cancer on whom this novel approach
has worked.
A second US woman has also seen
her metastatic cervical cancer disappear
completely and is still disease-free one
year later.
But they are just two of nine patients
in total. A third woman responded for a
short time, but then her cancer returned.
The treatment did not help the other six
women in the study. l

British Prime Minister David Cameron

will hold rare face-to-face talks with
Russian President Vladimir Putin on
Friday inFranceat which he will urge
Putin to help de-escalate the situation
in Ukraine, Camerons spokesman
told reporters.
The meeting, which Cameron requested, will be held on the sidelines
of the 70th anniversary of the World
War Two D-Day landings in Normandy and is the first time the two have
met since Prince Charles sparked a
diplomatic spat by likening Putin to
Adolf Hitler.
The Cameron-Putin talks were
announced as tensions in eastern

Ukraine worsened with Russia accusing the Ukrainian authorities of escalating violence against civilians there,
even as it offered Kiev a brief respite in
a dispute over billions of dollars worth
of unpaid gas bills.
Its an important opportunity
... to set out the importance of
a dialogue between the Russian
government and the new Ukrainian
governmentfollowing the presidential
elections, Camerons spokesman said,
saying the vote offered a chance to deescalate the situation.
Britain
has
repeatedly
condemned Russia over Crimea and eastern Ukraineand officials said the meeting with Putin did not signify a return
to business as usual withMoscow. l

Old-school to new-wave:
Spain under King Juan Carlos

n Tribune Desk
King Juan Carlos, who announced plans to
abdicate on Monday, helped guide Spain
to democracy after the death of dictator
Francisco Franco. From old-school family
values to womens rights and gay marriage,
Spanish society was transformed in the four
decades of King Juan Carloss reign.
The democratic rebirth he oversaw
spawned fast but fragile economic growth
that later plunged Spain into economic
crisis, however.
When a 37-year-old Juan Carlos was
crowned on November 22, 1975, he took
the throne of a deeply conservative society.
After 40 years under the dictator General Francisco Franco, Spain was just starting
to reap the fruits of industrial development.
Since then, the main changes have been
economic growth, immigration, women

joining the job market and public life, and an

international openness, said Maria Angeles
Duran of the state research body CSIC.
Annual per capita income in Spain soared
from 12,600 euros ($17,170) to 22,700 euros
between 1980 and 2011, according to adjusted data from Spains central bank.
Former defence minister Jose Bono
recalled how relatively undeveloped the
Castile-La Mancha region was when he
became its president in 1983.
There were 80,000 homes that had
no indoor bathrooms, 108 villages that
had no electricity, there was not one single
kilometre of highway, he said.
Now we have some of the most advanced infrastructure on the planet.
After Francos death in 1975, Spanish
leaders overseen by Juan Carlos thrashed
out a new political system in a historic
process known as the Transition.

Opposition political parties were

legalised and a constitution passed in 1978,
granting new freedoms to Spaniards under
a system of parliamentary monarchy.
Following the long dictatorship, Spaniards accepted a constitutional and democratic form of monarchy, said Luis Palacio
Banuelos, a historian at Madrids King Juan
Carlos University.
Divorce was legalised in 1981 and gay
marriage in 2005.
With new freedoms came a cultural boom, symbolised by the so-called
movida a new wave of nightlife, music
and film centred on Madrid in the 1980s
that nurtured the likes of filmmaker Pedro
Almodovar.
The economy flourished, particularly
after Spain in 1986 joined the European
Economic Community, the precursor to
todays European Union, gaining access to
its development funds.
A graft scandal had eroded the kings
popularity in recent years. His daughter
Princess Cristina and her husband, Inaki
Urdangarin, are under investigation over
alleged embezzlement of 6 million euros in
public funds through his charity.
He himself faced accusations of being
out of touch when caught on a lavish privately-funded elephant-hunting trip while
Spaniards at home were suffering deep and
sustained economic recession and high
unemployment.
His unexpected decision to abdicate
in favour of his son Prince Felipe was announced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
He said the king, whose health is failing and
who has had five operations in two years,
was stepping down on personal grounds. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

US prisoner swap sparks

political firestorm
n

AFP, Washington

The US decision to release five Taliban

detainees from Guantanamo Bay in order to recover a soldier held in Afghanistan sparked a furor in Washington,
with Republicans warning Sunday the
move put Americans at risk.
Republican lawmakers were unanimous in their happiness about Saturdays release of Bowe Bergdahl after
nearly five years in captivity but quick
to hit out at what they saw as setting a
worrying precedent.
Across northern Africa, the number
one way that Al-Qaeda raises money
is by ransom, kidnapping and ransom.
We have now set a price, said Mike
Rogers, the Republican chairman of the
House intelligence committee.
If you negotiate here, youve sent
a message to every Al-Qaeda group in
the world that says by the way some
holding US hostages today that there
is some value now in that hostage in
a way they didnt have before. That is
dangerous, Rogers told CNN.
Thats why so many of us are so
concerned about what really is a break
with US policy of not negotiating with
terrorists.
Washington often chides foreign governments suspected of paying ransoms
to hostage-takers in order to secure the
release of their nationals held abroad.
But Howard Buck McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, said the deal brokered by Qatar to release the 28-year-old
Bergdahl had given insurgents a strong
incentive to capture Americans.
That incentive will put our forces
in Afghanistan and around the world at
even greater risk, McKeon said.
Even President Barack Obamas first
national security advisor, retired gen-

This still image provided on December 7, 2010 by IntelCenter shows the Taliban associated
video production group Manba al-Jihad December 7, 2010 release of US Sergeant Bowe
Bergdahl (L)
AFP PHOTO HANDOUT-INTELCENTER
eral Jim Jones, said the risk posed to
soldiers merited debate.
If enemy fighters think that the
value of taking action against Americans and holding Americans is going
to somehow help them achieve their
goals, then theyre going to do that,
Jones told CNN.

Soldiers at risk?

The IntelCenter monitoring group

said the prisoner swap dramatically
increases the threat to all Americans
around the world who are leading targets for Al-Qaeda and their affiliates.
Republican Senator John McCain,
who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam
at the infamous Hanoi Hilton, argued
that the Taliban figures released all
former officials in the 1996-2001 regime, and still influential could again
attack the United States.

India treated Nawaz like

a schoolboy, says Imran
n Agencies
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan on Monday said that Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif was treated like
a schoolboy in India, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to media representatives
outside the Parliament House in the federal capital, Khan said that by not meeting representatives of the Hurriyat Conference in New Delhi, the prime minister
had struck a bargain on Kashmir.
Khan questioned that if the premier
could meet lead and cement traders
in New Delhi, why couldnt he hold a
meeting with those representing the
Hurriyat Conference.
He said that a clerical mistake had
taken the vote bank of Pakistan Muslim

League Nawaz (PML-N) from seven

million in 2008 to 12.5m in 2013.
Khan said issues were being run on
stay orders for the past one year, adding that massive rigging had occurred
in the 2013 election yet political leaders
were hiding behind the guise of such
orders.
The PTI chairman said several legal
fora had been approached over the issue of rigging.
Separately, Khan said that President
Mamnoon Hussains address to the
joint sitting of the Parliament made no
mention of minorities.
Khan said the war against terrorism
had compounded the problem of extremism in the country, adding that the
army had been pushed to fight in North
Waziristan on US directives.

New state of Telangana

is born in southern India
n Agencies
Indias southern state of Andhra
Pradesh has formally split in two, with
its northern area carved out to create a
new state called Telangana.
The move followed prolonged protests by residents of Telangana, who
felt the region had long been neglected.
Telangana, which officially came
into existence at midnight local time,
becomes the countrys 29th state.
With a population of 35 million, it
comprises 10 former districts of Andhra
Pradesh and the city of Hyderabad.
Hyderabad, which forms the joint
capital of the two states for the next 10
years, was covered with pink balloons,
banners and flags to mark Telanganas
statehood, says BBC Hindis Zubair
Ahmed. Pink is the colour of the TRS.
The sacrifice of our people and
the youth who led the movement has
culminated in the formation of a new
state. It is a historic day for us, Krishank, a local student leader, said.
He said providing jobs to thousands
of young people should be a top priority of the new government. But there
are also opponents of the division.
One, A Ravi, said he was unhappy that
his beloved state had been torn apart.
Its a sad day because we speak the
same language and have no distinct
identity. Politicians played a dirty role in
dividing the state into two, Mr Ravi, an
info-tech professional, told BBC Hindi.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
share the same language of Telugu.
Correspondents say the large state

of Andhra Pradesh was deeply divided economically, with people in the

less-developed Telangana region feeling largely neglected.
Indias upper house approved a bill
to carve out the new state in February,
despite opposition from lawmakers in
the Congress Party, which governed
Andhra Pradesh.
The then chief minister of Andhra
Pradesh state, Kiran Kumar Reddy, resigned after parliament approved the bill.
Opponents are unhappy that Hyderabad, which is home to many major
information technology and pharmaceutical companies, would become a
shared state capital.
After 10 years, Andhra Pradesh is expected to develop a new capital.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA)
is yet to provide boundary details to
the Survey of India.
Once the MHA provides us with the
final boundaries of the state, we will incorporate them and release the official
map. Some of the district boundaries in
Telangana will become state boundaries with other states, an official of the
Survey of India said.
When contacted, surveyor general
of India Swarna Subbarao said it would
take 10 days to draw the Telangana map
after getting details from the MHA.
The Union government had last week
promulgated an ordinance merging some
villages and mandals of Khammam district in Telangana with Andhra Pradesh
(Seemandhra) in a bid to deal with resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced by the Polavaram project. l

These are the hardest of the hard

core. These are the highest high-risk
people, McCain told CBS televisions
Face the Nation program, noting the
men were possibly responsible for the
deaths of thousands.
A Qatari source has said the men
were due to remain in the Gulf state
for one year. US officials have only said
their movements and activities would
be restricted.
Other Republicans went so far as to
accuse Obama of breaking the law.
In executing this transfer, the president also clearly violated laws which
require him to notify Congress 30 days
before any transfer of terrorists from
Guantanamo Bay and to explain how
the threat posed by such terrorists has
been substantially mitigated, McKeon
and Senator James Inhofe said in a joint
statement. l

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Afghan president fumes at prisoner

deal made behind his back
n Reuters, Kabul
The Afghan president is angry at being
kept in the dark over a deal to free five
Taliban leaders in exchange for a captured US soldier, and accuses Washington of failing to back a peace plan for
the war-torn country, a senior source
said on Monday.
The five prisoners were flown to Qatar on Sunday as part of a secret agreement to release Army Sergeant Bowe
Bergdahl, who left Afghanistan for Germany on the same day.
The only known US prisoner of war
in Afghanistan, Bergdahl had been held
captive for five years.
The president is now even more
distrustful of US intentions in the country, said the source at President Hamid
Karzais palace in Kabul, who declined
to be identified.
He is asking: How come the prisoner exchange worked out so well, when
the Afghan peace process failed to
make any significant progress?
Karzai has backed peace talks with
the hardline Islamist Taliban movement, which ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 and has fought a
bloody insurgency since then against
US-led forces in the country.
But they have come to little so far,
and the group has moved swiftly to
dash hopes that the prisoner swap
would rekindle peace talks between it
and the Afghan government.
It wont help the peace process in
any way, because we dont believe in
the peace process, Taliban spokesman
Zabihullah Mujahid said on Sunday.
The palace official also said Karzai
was worried about further deals being
cut without his knowledge.
It indicates that other deals could
be negotiated behind the presidents
back, he said.

Karzai has yet to comment publicly on a swap that is bound to deepen

the mistrust of a leader who has been
fiercely critical of the US administration in recent years.
He is due to step down as president
later this year, but many Afghans believe Karzai will continue to wield considerable influence over policy from
behind the scenes.
Karzais press office said in a statement that the US deal to transfer
five Taliban militants from a Guantanamo Bay jail to Qatar violated
international law.
No government can transfer citizens of a country to a third country as
prisoners, said the statement, issued
on behalf of the foreign ministry.

In a hurry to leave?

The prisoner swap has stoked widespread anger in Afghanistan, where

many view it as a sign of a US desire to
disengage from the country as quickly
as possible.
Washington has mapped out a plan
to fully withdraw all of its troops by the
end of 2016.
Under the terms of the deal, cut by
Qatari intermediaries, the five Taliban
detainees were released from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they had been
held since it opened in 2002, and flown
to Qatar where they must stay for a
year.
Senior officials at the Afghan intelligence agency say they believed the
men would return to the battlefield and
bolster the insurgency just as most foreign combat troops prepare to exit by
the end of this year.
All five were classed as high-risk
and likely to pose a threat by the Pentagon and held senior positions in the
Taliban regime before it was toppled by
a US-led coalition in 2001.

At least two of them are suspected

of committing war-crimes, including
the murder of thousands of Afghan
Shiites, according to leaked US military cables.
The swap has similarly drawn protest from US Republican politicians
who have called it negotiating with terrorists and warned the freed men will
likely return to battle.
While Bergdahls release on Saturday was celebrated by his family and
his hometown, and could be seen as
a coup for President Barack Obama as
he winds down Americas longest war,
Senator John McCain and other Republicans questioned whether the administration had acted properly in releasing the militants.
These are the highest high-risk
people. Others that we have released
have gone back into the fight, said McCain, a former prisoner of war and Vietnam War veteran.
Thats been documented. So its
disturbing to me that the Taliban are
the ones that named the people to be
released, he said on CBS Face the
Nation.
As the Obama administration sought
to counter the criticism, Bergdahl was
flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical
Center in Germany for medical treatment.
After receiving care he would be
transferred to another facility in San
Antonio, Texas, US defense officials
said, without giving a date for his return to the United States.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
said he hoped the exchange might lead
to breakthroughs in reconciliation with
the militants and rejected accusations
from Republicans that it resulted from
negotiations with terrorists, saying the
swap had been worked out by the government of Qatar. l

FLUSHING OUT RAPE-PROTESTS WHILE NEW REPORTS EMERGE

While political protests and outrage
poured in so did new reports of rapes
from across the state that drew condemnation even from the United Nations on Monday.
In Meerut, a 10-year-old girl playing outside her home was abducted
and gang-raped by unidentified men
who later also tried to run her over
with their car. She escaped with some
broken bones, local police said. Another young girl was raped by a man
at knifepoint in her house in Gavada
village under Fatehpur district, 80 km
east of Kanpur. The man, identified as
Chotey Sahu, 24, was arrested.
Reports also came in on Monday
that a woman was allegedly gang-raped
and thrown in a ditch in Sofipur village
under Basai Mohammadpur police station of Firozabad district. She was spotted by police and admitted to the local
government hospital. Three people had
been arrested, DIG, Agra Range, Vijay
Singh Meena told HT by telephone.
In the fourth incident, a 22-year-old
woman was allegedly gang-raped and
made to swallow acid in Bareilly. She
was then strangulated. Her body with
the face mutilated was recovered from
a field in Aithpura village on Saturday.
The autopsy report came in on Monday, Special Superintendent of Police J
Ravindra Gaur said, adding that there
was a possibility that the victim was
from Uttarakhand. A police team has
been sent there.
Meanwhile, police said they were
building a watertight case using forensic evidences in the Badaun rapes. l

Supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) shout slogans as police use
a water cannon to stop them from
moving towards the office of Akhilesh
Yadav, the chief minister of the
northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,
during a protest against recent rape and
hanging of two girls, in Lucknow June 2.
Three men were arrested for the crime
in Uttar Pradesh that underscored the
enduring culture of sexual assault in
India and the capacity for appalling
violence between Hindu castes. Two
policemen were held on suspicion of
attempting to cover up the killings. On
Monday, Modis BJP sought to make
political capital. Workers from the
party accused the Uttar Pradesh state
government, headed by Samajwadi
Party, of negligence over the crimes
and of being unfit to govern. Police fired
water cannon at the protesters, who
were demanding the state government
be dismissed and the imposition of
direct, presidential rule
REUTERS

Pakistani journalist
beaten in latest
attack
n AFP, Multan
A Pakistani journalist working with the
countrys largest media group has been
badly beaten, police said Monday, the
latest attack on media workers in the
country.
Zafar Aaheer, resident editor of the
top-selling Urdu-language newspaper
Jang, was attacked when he left his office in the southern city of Multan early
Sunday.
Jang is part of the group that owns
the countrys widely watched Geo TV
and is currently at odds with the powerful military.
In April unidentified attackers shot
and injured senior anchor Hamid Mir,
who hosted a popular talk show on Geo
TV, in the southern city of Karachi.
The TV station became embroiled
in a row with the military after it aired
allegations that the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind Mirs
shooting. l

Blogger uses crowdfunding to fight

PMs defamation suit
n AFP, Singapore
A Singaporean blogger sued for damages by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
said Monday he had successfully raised
fees for his legal defence in just four
days through crowdfunding.
Roy Ngerng Yi Ling, a government
health worker who posts comments on
social issues, said 1,104 people had so
far contributed more than Sg$72,000
($55,700), exceeding his target of
Sg$70,000 when he launched the campaign Friday.
Ngerng published the transaction
history of his bank account on his
crowdfunding platform. Many of the
donors registered comments criticising
Lee and opposing the use of libel suits
to silence government critics.
Singapore officials have long used
defamation suits against printed publications to defend their reputations.
Ngerng was the first online critic

brought to court by a Singaporean leader.

Donations were mostly of small
denominations, and ranged from one
cent to two thousand dollars, Ngerng,
33, told AFP.
I think it reflects the peoples frustrations with the current situation,
added Ngerng, author of a blog called
The Heart Truths.
Lee filed the defamation suit on
Thursday in the High Court, where the
typical minimum value of claims for
damages is Sg$250,000.
The prime minister alleged that a
May 15 post by Ngerng contained statements accusing him of criminal misappropriation of public funds.
Lee had earlier rejected an apology
and dismissed as derisory a compensation offer of Sg$5,000 from Ngerng.
The court will have the final say on the
amount to be awarded.
A pre-trial conference has been set
for July 4.

Lees lawyer said the post had suggested that the prime minister, who
is the chairman of state investment
agency GIC, is guilty of criminal misappropriation of the monies paid by
Singaporeans to the Central Provident
Fund (CPF).
GIC manages more than $100bn of
the city-states foreign reserves. The
CPF is the state pension fund.
Ngerng said Monday that for now,
he would not actively solicit for more
funds as the target we set has been
reached but indicated he may seek help
paying any damages awarded to Lee.
Eugene Tan, an associate law professor at the Singapore Management
University, said the lawsuit has a David versus Goliath ring to it.
There is a sense that the people
who have contributed either identify
with his cause or feel that the questions
regarding the CPF Ngerng has raised is
worth some support, he told AFP. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Looking to China

he Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry

is leading a delegation of business leaders to China this week,
ahead of the prime ministers forthcoming visit.
China has been a major provider of assistance for infrastructure
projects in Bangladesh, such as the Padma bridge, and is responsible for
$1.42bn of accumulated direct investment in Bangladesh, creating over
76,000 jobs.
As this is still relatively small compared to the fast-growing scale of
trade between Bangladesh and China, there is a lot of potential for this
to grow much higher.
The FBCCIs suggestion that Bangladesh should offer either an
industrial park or a special
economic zone specifically for
Chinese investors has considerable merit. It will provide a
way to highlight the countrys
geographical and cost benefits
at a time when more and more
Chinese businesses are looking
to invest in Bangladesh.
Both Bangladesh and China
have given strong support
to progressing the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which should
help to underpin our growing trade ties with the worlds second-largest
economy.
Chinas strong track record in developing infrastructure in particular
offers many benefits for Bangladesh if we can continue to develop our
mutual ties. Its companies also have world-beating experience in manufacturing and are increasingly looking to move more production to lower
cost economies.
As the standard of living rises in China, it is looking to boost consumption and imports generally. We hope the forthcoming talks and trade
visits can help cement deals to improve our mutual trade and investment
links.

There is a lot of
potential to improve
our trade and
investment links
with China

Smooth barriers
to PPP

ottlenecks at the approval and planning stages are slowing down

the implementation of public-private partnership initiatives in the
country.
In recent years, budgeted funds have been underutilised and carried
over because potential investors and partners have been failing to submit satisfactory proposals. It is right for the government to be cautious
in expending taxpayer funds and to ensure due transparency in the
awarding of PPP contracts.
However, the slow pace of implementation of mooted projects is
a cause for concern at a time
when many businesses are
looking for new investment
opportunities.
The government should
speed up its review of the policy
framework to try and encourage
more successful PPP initiatives.
Implemented properly, PPP
initiatives offer the quickest
available route to making
much-needed improvements to
the countrys infrastructure.
Key projects, notably the
development of the metro rail and the Dhaka elevated expressway
projects, have depended on PPP in order to get off the ground. Improvements in infrastructure are vital to make the economy more productive
and to attract more foreign direct investment.
There are a host of sectors, such as transport and tourism, where
PPPs can leverage capital and expertise to build better infrastructure.
The government should look to emulate examples of successful PPP
projects in other countries, as part of its review.
We cannot afford the opportunity costs of failing to maximise opportunities to use PPP to help build the improved communication links and
power sources, which the economy needs to develop and grow.

Speed review of the

policy framework
for PPP

Be heard
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Hizb-ut Tahrir now incorporating Rohingyas

May 27

Vikram Khan
On May 26, this paper published an article about the
Rohingyas under the headline, Rohingyas: The most
persecuted minority in the world. Ive strongly opposed that article (in writing) because the Rohingyas
are destabilising the security in the southern region
of Bangladesh. Furthermore, as Ive said before,
theyve a very strong and visible influence on local
politics (Jamaat is very strongly represented in politics in Coxs Bazar). Rohingyas are engaged in illegal
activities (drug traffic, robbery, land grabbing, and
deforestation) in Bangladesh, and should be send
back to Burma (Myanmar) without further delay.
Rohingyas are not our problem but the problem of
Myanmar. However, this problem cannot and will not be
solved until and unless the government of Bangladesh
bans the international non-government organisations
(INGOs) from the southern region of our country. These
INGOs are attracting thousands of Rohingya refugees
with unlawful promises (free food, free healthcare, free
housing, free education etc), creating a never-ending
security problem in Bangladesh.
Imzy
Vikram Khan: This selfish attitude is not right and
is a product of pathetic colonialism and how its
brainwashed so many fools. Rohingyas are Bengalis.
They are a subset, just as I am (as a Sylheti). Our
dialects are different from the Standard Bangla, but
were Bengali; forces have tried to cut away Bengalis,
so that Singhbhumis, Surjapuris, Goalpariyas and now
Rohingyas are not seen as Bengali anymore. Western
Myanmar was meant to go to East Pakistan in the 1940s.
Kmak
Vikram Khan: Let me ask you this: When Boko Haram
kidnapped the schoolgirls, you held the whole Muslim
world accountable. Why is it when it comes to the
plight of the Rohingyas, they are not our problem?
Rodders
Kmak: The Muslim world is accountable because
they allow extremist hate groups, like Boko Haram,
to be the mouthpiece of the religion. So far I have
not seen any sort of indignation, or protests from the

CNG-run auto-rickshaw strike

in capital
May 27

Sirnayem
These auto-rickshaws should be banned! The
drivers of these vehicles are charging passengers
triple the government-advised fare. They also
refuse to go anywhere when a person is in need.

Shirin: Modi to actively

consider Teesta deal
May 27

rimbus
During the meeting, the Indian premier congratulated the Bangladesh government on its huge
victory in the last general elections, said the
speaker.
Shame on her. A huge victory or a huge mockery and robbery??

How to solve: Each number in our

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a
different letter of the alphabet. For
example, today 6 represents F so fill F
every time the figure 6 appears.
You have two letters in the control grid
to start you off. Enter them in appropriate squares in the main grid, then use
your knowledge of words to work out
which letters go in the missing squares.
Some letters of the alphabet may not
be used.
As you get the letters, fill in the other
squares with the same number in the
main grid, and the control grid. Check
off the list of alphabetical letters as you
identify them.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Muslim world whatsoever, regarding the mass kidnappings of the Nigerian schoolgirls. But God forbid
some no-mark cartoonist from an obscure foreign
newspaper draws an image of Mohammad. Muslims
start killing each other in protest.
The Rohingas are not our problem because they
arent from this country, period. Their forefathers have
been in Burma for centuries, and seriously, they do not
contribute anything to this country, apart from drug
dealing, joining shady groups like the Hizb-ut Tahrir,
and allowing themselves to be manipulated by Jamaat.
Yes, we as compassionate humans, should feel for
their plight with regards to their statelessness and
oppression, but allowing them to destabilise our country
is not the way to go. Putting pressure on Burma is.
kmak
Rodders: The Muslim world is accountable because
they allow extremist hate groups, like Boko Haram,
to be the mouthpiece of the religion. So far I have
not seen any sort of indignation, or protests from
the Muslim world whatsoever, regarding the mass
kidnappings of the Nigerian schoolgirls.
Actually, numerous Muslim organisations all over
the world have condemned the actions of Boko Haram. These include Al Azhar, CAIR, the Fiqh Academy
of OIC, the Indonesian Ulema Council, MPAC and
more. What is your excuse for being ignorant of these
condemnations? Or is it that you tried to pull a fast
one by lying about Muslim disapproval?
The Rohingas are not our problem because they
arent from this country, period.
The kidnapped schoolgirls arent Bangladeshi
either. So why do you hold Bangladeshi Muslims accountable for what some Nigerians did?
They do not contribute anything to this country.
Neither do the mendicants on the streets. Where
should we deport them to?
Rodders
kmak: Nitpicking sections from my reply, and basing
an argument on that just simply proves you really
dont want to debate about the main issue, that you
want to argue for the sake of arguing, and its really
counterproductive.

The new rajahs

May 28
Evil people politics
Maybe we need to witness the rise of an honest-to-goodness despot in this century, to finally
realise how much worse everything is now?

No bed of roses for Modi

May 27

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

CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Perfume (5)
4 Fish (4)
7 Slippery catch (3)
8 Jump on one leg (3)
9 Stupid (5)
12 Agitate (4)
13 Sounds as small bell (7)
15 Sweet potato (US) (3)
16 Eyelid affliction (3)
18 Corded fabric (3)
19 Helpful hint (3)
21 Goes back (7)
24 Colour (4)
26 Nose (animal) (5)
27 Droop (3)
28 Land measure (3)
29 Swarm (4)
30 Replenish (5)

DOWN
1 Religious
denomination (4)
2 Light and clear red (6)
3 Dash (4)
4 Employer (4)
5 Liable (3)
6 Regretful (5)
10 The heavens (3)
11 Review unsparingly (5)
14 Sends out (5)
17 Time of holding (6)
18 Mechanical man (5)
20 Play on words (3)
21 Quantity of paper (4)
22 Soft sheepskin
leather (4)
23 Meat dish (4)
25 Employ (3)

Ronnie
I cant fathom what is so especially bold about
new Indian PM Narendra Modis decision to
invite fellow Saarc leaders for his swearing-in
ceremony in New Delhi. Nor do I see how this
gesture by Mr Modi is necessarily taken to mean
his extending a hand of friendship to Indias
neighbours. If only such platitudes were more
true and less trite.

... But he is not a Pathan, he

is only Shakib

CALVIN AND HOBBES

May 27

PEANUTS

Riffat Imam Auditho

If any commentator has praised Shakib in the IPL,
its Harsha Bhogle. Whenever Shakib has batted
lower down the order, multiple times Bhogle has
said: Shakib is a top-class international player
who bats at 3/4 for Bangladesh regularly. In
cricket, if you time the ball really well, then
boundaries really dont matter. Even Parthiv
Patel can hit a 100 metre six. So does that make
Parthiv a stronger player than Shakib??
If you had seen the match properly, you
would have noticed that just before Shakib got
out, Pathan hit an almost impossible six without
even timing the ball. So Harsha was just referring to that, even a miss hit from Yousuf Phatan
can go for six. On the other hand, there is no
shame in getting out on a mistimed stroke. It is
cricket after all, not wrestling, where you need
to have strong muscles. Shakib is a world-class
all-rounder and will remain so. He doesnt need
any mis-timed six to prove his worth. :)
nahiyan_dhaka1
Riffat Imam Auditho: Thanks for the input, really
appreciate that. I dont know if you have noticed,
but Id mentioned very clearly that his record as a
commentator does speak for itself. And yes, that
includes his positive remarks about Shakib. In fact,
that is why I found the comment to be a bit disturbing. Rookie commentators can get carried away
in the heat of the moment, but it is not expected
from seasoned commentators like Harsha Bhogle.

YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

What the next

budget promises
n Syed Ishtiaque Reza

Writers shouldnt chase meaningless labels

BIGSTOCK

The mighty pen

n Ikhtisad Ahmed
man left law school before
completing his undergraduate course. Many
years later, as he faced life
without a shiny certificate, he was to remember the distant
autodidactic afternoons spent becoming an accomplished writer. By then,
he had had a distinguished career in
journalism, written the seminal work
of the magic realism genre, shown
no inhibitions in expressing strong
political views and espousing equality
and justice, and been granted a shiny
medal by the Swedish Academy. The
revolutionary writer Gabriel Garcia
Marquez passed away on April 17 of
this year.
Still mourning the loss of a man
who had been the very definition of
litterateur, the world bid farewell
to Maya Angelou a little over a month
later. Obituaries have focused on their
writings and awards, columns have
been ballads composed to celebrate
their lives and lament the world
being poorer without them. Homages to these inspirational, powerful,
beautiful lives continue to pour in, as
they should, trying to preserve them
a while longer, or perhaps trying to be
close to them. After all, the words they
gifted humanity with guarantee their
immortality. Having touched so many
lives, it is expected that some of them
would try to touch them one last time
with their own meagre words.
To label Maya Angelou an activist

that coveted title so many aspiring and

current writers, particularly from third
world countries or backgrounds, give
themselves is to do her a disservice.
She believed in the beauty of life
being in adversities, its worth being in
overcoming them. She showed this to
the human race in the way she lived,
and in what she wrote. A person not
to have taken inequality and injustice
lightly, she did not belittle activism
with dishonest actions.

are conventional and appropriate,

which brings them recognition.
Validation and applause drive the
modern writers, particularly of the
developmentally challenged variety.
Their journeys begin with striving to
be the best in school. That opens the
doors to an enviable Western education. The only thing more treasured
than an Occidental education is a
creative writing degree, failing that a
literature-related doctorate. A litera-

In a world that makes very little sense, that sees

confusion and misinformation spread instead of
knowledge, words have power
The causes she fought for were always
greater, always more important, than
herself. The heartfelt, resilient, joyful
commentary on the failures of the
world and the triumph of human
beings was that of an unbreakable
survivor.
Her writing was her activism. That
Angelou, writing from the fringes where
she lived, is a part of the cultural mainstream is testament to that. Ironically,
the vast majority of those seeking to
emulate her, those very same self-proclaimed activist-writers and writer-activists, wish to bask in the glory of
popularity and celebrity. Their carefully
measured words echo sentiments that

ture-adjacent postgraduate degree is

sneered at, all else is dismissed.
Once they have honed their skills
of neatly packaging and selling their
exotic wares, they zealously pursue
agents and publishers. This education
of success, and the constant affirmation of being successful, fail to teach
them the only certainty of the life of
a writer failure, and the challenge of
reacting to it. Therefore, these myopic
contemporaries do not dare go where
Marquez and Angelou have been. They
are also more inclined to standing on
the shoulders of giants to appear tall
rather than bettering themselves to
rise above the cacophony of medioc-

rity. The process is tailored to dilute

honesty and literary integrity.
Marquez and Angelou did not
concern themselves with or give the
appearance of doing something, they
actually did it. Their bravery and
productivity come not from an innate
need for importance or congratulations, nor from a desperate desire for
relevance or aggrandisement. Unlike
many pretenders to the throne who
populate the world with their pseudo-intellect, accompanied by generous
helpings of self-promotion, the greats
penned their thoughts and constructed palaces out of their words because
it was necessary.
Their work came first, which is why
they have been elevated to a rarefied
pantheon beyond the grasp of mere
mortals. The wordsmiths of today
need to take note rather than chase after meaningless labels and limelights.
In a world that makes very little
sense, that sees confusion and misinformation spread instead of knowledge
to handicap the masses so that they
may be easier to control, words have
power. Realising that, upholding their
glory, is the key to the better future
humanity craves. The late greats persevered so that people may see that.
Their words still reverberate, and their
successors need to be primed to follow
in their footsteps to keep the echoes of
all that is right and true alive. l
Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and an erstwhile
lawyer. He can be contacted on Twitter via @
Ikhtisad.

inance Minister AMA Muhith is

going to place his consecutive
sixth budget in the parliament
on June 5 for the 2014-15 financial
year. The finance division will seek
approval for a proposal that may range
between Tk250,000cr to Tk255,000cr.
Deficit will range between
Tk67,000cr to Tk68,000cr, and efforts
will be there to keep the deficit under
5% of the projected GDP as usual.
The initial size of the budget for the
ongoing fiscal was Tk222,491cr which
was later trimmed to Tk211,220cr.
The finance minister, in most of the
pre-budget discussions, said the government would look for incorporating
two of its major political pledges in the
upcoming budget creating more jobs,
and encouraging foreign and local
investments.
But an analysis of the outgoing
budget gives us a different picture. We
see that the poverty situation didnt
improve and the joblessness is also
on the rise as there was no investment spree. Despite the very poor
status of implementation, the Annual
Development Program (ADP) for the
coming fiscal year is once again a huge
Tk86,000cr.
The next budget will be big
because our economy has expanded
over the years. Moreover, we need a
big budget in order to recover from the
political destruction suffered during
hartals and blockades last year, Muhith recently told business journalists.
The budget every year gives a
number of promises. But the rate of
savings and investment to the GDP has
remained stagnant over the years, and
the gap between savings and investment has assumed an increasing trend
lately, suggesting that the governments macroeconomic strategies fall
short of converting the savings into
investments and holding back the
possibility of capital flight.
Whatever the size of the budget
may be, it surely will raise the question of whether it is realistic or not.
Meeting the expenditure needs of the
budget for the next fiscal will require
the acceleration of the growth rate of
the GDP. Otherwise, revenue collection efforts will suffer a setback as it
faced in the outgoing fiscal year.
The government has revised down
the revenue target for the current
fiscal by 8.09% to Tk125,000cr due to
a collection shortfall in the first seven
months that went through political
volatility ahead of the national election held on January 5. The target was
revised from Tk136,090cr as set out at
the budget for FY2013-14.
For the next fiscal year, the growth
rate of this GDP that represents the
aggregate value of goods and services
produced in an economy is likely
to be once again projected at 7% as
said earlier. Given the likely state of
the politics, law and order, and the
shattered confidence in business and

economy, the achievement of the projected GDP growth target in the next
fiscal will really be a daunting task.
There are some valid reasons for
these worries. The seven murders in
Narayanganj, the gruesome murder
in Feni, the continued killing in the
greater Noakhali belt, and the pace of
enforced disappearances across the
country do not give the people the
sense that business is running as usual.

The coming budget

will hopefully give us
a strategy that will
generate increments in
productive capacity
Investors are in a quandary about
whether they should invest or wait
for a better time. Political violence is
not apparent right now. But people,
particularly businesses, want to see
that the parties reach a broad political
consensus on the major issues.
Besides external support in the
form of grants and loans, the government will be required to borrow
heavily to meet the gap between its
overall expenditure and revenue
receipts. This amount of fund, to be
collected through net borrowings
from the banking system and saving
instrument, will be a major portion of
the budget deficit.
The domestic borrowings of the government every year particularly from
the banking system results in crowding
out the effect on private investments. It
is apprehended that the borrowings will
rise in the coming fiscal too.
The private sector credit growth has
faced a declining trend in the beginning
of the second half of FY2013-14, reflecting a worrying investment climate. The
coming budget for the next fiscal will
thus face its main challenge in areas of
ensuring the availability of financial
assets. We dont want to consider a
budget by its size only. It is the operational management of the government
to ensure both the quality and direction
of public-sector spending.
Without a strong political commitment,
proper implementation of the budget is
unlikely. The economy moves if the law
and order works smoothly. A sound economic rationale also largely depends on a
prompt policy decision process.
Such decisions are needed to make
the budget an effective tool to bring
the desired changes to the existing
state of fiscal management and broader areas of economic governance. The
coming budget will hopefully give us a
strategy that will generate increments
in productive capacity, and will provide avenues for the regular people to
obtain their due shares. l
Syed Ishtiaque Reza is Director of News,
Ekattor Television.

Are all languages created equal?

n Garga Chatterjee

y parents, both of whom went

to Bangla-medium schools,
had decided to send me to an
English-medium school. Among other
things, this was a marker of relative
affluence. From Kolkatas insular perch,
it was perceived to be an essential lubricant to socio-economic ascendency.
It was also true that much of Kolkatas
upper-middle and middle classes had
deserted public institutions schools
and hospitals were the major casualties
of this trend because institutions of the
poor and administered by the rich without a stake in them run very poorly.
This reality may have also worked
in my parents minds the only son
needs to succeed and earn. In the 144
municipal wards of Kolkata, there were
only a few Bangla-medium schools that
matched the English-medium schools in
the public imagination. This illusion of
being the choicest medium of successful (however defined) education was
perpetuated partly by a cabal of good
English schools (places where the superiority of people-like-us was ingrained as
ideology), which competed against each
other and created their own legends.
Public imagination is not the same
as a public examination and this is
where many of these English-medium
schools were cut to size. The West
Bengal state board examination results
(Delhi head-quartered education
boards are numerically marginal in

West Bengal and much of the Indian

Union and hence irrelevant in this
discussion they are non-marginal in
other ways but that is a different topic)
brought into our consciousness these
others, some in Kolkata but mostly
in other districts of West Bengal, who
competed successfully with us and
often out-competed us.
What one must not forget is the
competitive advantage English as a medium had, given that the elite had invested hard in English-medium schools
when it came to infrastructure and
most other things that state-funded
public institutions could not match. But
still they matched them. And when I
gained admission to my undergraduate
institution, a medical college, I saw that
a majority of my classmates came from
a non-English-medium background.
The odds of gaining admission to a
medical college in West Bengal were far
higher if one was from the Bengali-medium Bankura Zilla School than from
my alma mater South Point High School
or one of the elite English-medium
schools. One saving grace of my high
school was that it was English-medium
only in name. We wrote our answer-scripts in English, but the instruction and rebuke was in Bangla.
Thankfully, there was no ideology
(or manners) that was taught
making unlearning an easier and less
self-destructive process. The alienated
chose to be alienated and they had
their circles and hobbies. By Mother

Saraswatis grace, most of us remained

Bengalis writing answer-sheets in English. I felt that this long introduction
to my background was necessary for
readers to know where I come from.
Disclosure is good practice.
By the constitution of the Indian
Union, not all languages are created
equal. Hindi and English have a soft
place in the heart of the four-lion
emblem of the Union that stares down
at every citizen. On May 6, 2014, when
the five-judge constitutional bench
of the Supreme Court of India struck
down the 1994 language policy of the
Karnataka government that mandated
that either Kannada or the mother
tongue be the medium of instruction
for classes I to IV.
The judges cited the lofty ideal of
freedom of expression and speech as
well as protection of minority rights.
It said that no mother tongue can be
forced onto a child. It has been widely documented that mother tongue instruction is far superior when it comes
to grasping ideas and foster creative
thinking. In fact, all the judges agreed
that children learn better when initially taught in their mother tongue.
One can easily guess which sector
of society will feel most persecuted
by the 1994 language policy of the Karnataka state government. This is the
same class that increasingly converses
in English with people from the same
mother tongue. Some of them even
scoff at the idea of mother tongue in

this globalised era of cosmopolitan

ethos. Lord Macaulay must be a very
happy man today.
The judgement goes against the
spirit of the National Curriculum
Framework of 2005 that also points out
that a childs mother language or home
language is the best medium of instruction. This judgement is a triumph
of the powerful Anglicised class which
has typically punched above its weight.

The subcontinent is
almost unique to have a
class that looks to nonmother tongues with so
much pride
The implications of this judgement
go beyond the court matter. It signals
the confidence of the elite in using the
language of rights to marginalise the
masses. This is a shameful tactic that
is not only limited to the question of
language.
Let us be very clear on a few things.
This push comes from the English
and Hindi-ised sectors of the Indian
Union, the most vociferous cheerleaders of the new Indian project. By their
inordinate grip over certain urban centres (Bangaluru, Delhi, Mumbai), they

have been exerting an influence over

the policy that they cannot otherwise
gain by democratic means.
Karnatakas populist Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah knows that his people
have no great clamour against mother
tongue instruction. In recent times,
Karnataka has been one of those
few states that have tried to restore
the dignity of their languages. The
deliberate marginalisation that comes
with terms regional or vernacular
language has now become normal.
If the judiciary is so concerned
about freedom of speech and expression, and rights of linguistic
minorities, it might want to look at
the primacy accorded to English and
Hindi. A staggering majority of the
people in the subcontinent does not
know English. The same goes for Hindi
outside the Hindi-ised belt.
The elites and decision-makers of
the subcontinent come from a class
that would start perspiring if they were
asked to only speak in their mother
tongue, even for a week. The classes
of people who actually perspire due to
hard labour that puts food on the tables of the urbane and the entrenched
elites can accomplish this easily.
The subcontinent is almost unique
to have a class that looks to non-mother tongues with so much pride. No
wonder, when it comes to scientific
creativity, China, Russia, South Korea,
Japan, etc surpass this nation. What is
common between these nations is that

their mother tongue is their language

of instruction, often all through the
university level. The narrative of incompatibility between higher education and mother tongue is a creation
of the self-serving Anglicised classes
of a subcontinent whose privilege and
entitlements would be threatened
and their authentic spokesperson to
goras status threatened if mother language education in the subcontinent
went the Japanese way.
But privilege doesnt self-destruct.
Hence we remain a self-hating land
of forgotten mothers and persecuted
tongues, good for creating a class
of cyber-coolies and enthusiastic
documenters of Euro-American moodswings. From building high-rises to
making highways, the real heavy
lifting in the cosmopolitan cyber-coolie haven of Bengaluru is done by
Kannada mother tongue folks.
Next time, look at the counter-girl
in a chain-coffee store, uncomfortable
in her dress. You walked up to her
and placed an order in English. She
breaks into Kannada when you are not
looking. We are all complicit in the
annihilation of her cultural self. Perverse word play is displayed when the
calls for the rights of the marginalised
majority is denounced as chauvinism.
Freedom of speech and expression,
anyone? l
Garga Chatterjee is a freelance contributor.
He can be followed on twitter @gargac.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Who is the fourth lead in Morichika?

Bappa Mazumders new

solo hits market soon

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak

Bappa Mazumders 10th solo album with the
proposed title of Jani Na Kon Montore will
be released during Eid. A total of ten songs

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

and two instrumentals

composed by the talented artistes will be placed
in the album.
A song written by
Sanjeeb Choudhury, Dolchuts deceased member
is placed in the track list
while other songwriters
include Bappa Mazumder, Zulfiqar Russell and
Masum Rana. Mostly
rock-melody numbers are
selected along with tracks
covering romance and social reality.
Bappa, who is releasing
his solo album after a hiatus of two years, told the
Dhaka Tribune: When I
feel that I am done with
several good pieces which
are going to be loved by the
audience, I put these in my
album. I am very particular
about my work, since my
fans have a lot of expectations from me.
Bappa also expressed his earnest interest to
work on an album which will be entirely dedicated to Sanjeeb Choudhury, along with the
band. l

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak

Redoan Rony, the director of the upcoming
flick Morichika clarifies that Bidya Sinha
Saha Mim will not be replacing Faria. Faria
remains as Tahsans heroine, while Mim will
play another lead role, said Rony.
So far, the cast of the movie includes Tahsan, Nusrat Faria and Bidya Sinha Saha Mim.
Many speculations are in the air about the
fourth character who will star opposite Mim.
It is rumoured that the duo of Mim and the

mystery character will most likely overpower the Tahsan-Nusrat Faria pair.
The film, Morichika, is based on the
young generation and the felicity and miseries that come with every romance nowadays.
The director was asked about his plans
for the film as his previous flick garnered
several National Film Awards including the
Best Actor (female) and the Best Actor in a
Negative Role. Rony answered: The success
of the actors of Chorabali surpassed my ex-

pectations. This time, I will also allow the

actors to improvise and act accordingly.
Like his previous film, Morichika, is
also an action thriller centered around a
citys underworld crimes.
However, Rony claims it to be completely different from Chorabali. I will experiment with the regular expressions of a romantic-action film.
The shooting is scheduled to start this
August while the film will hit the cinemas at
end of this year. l

Sumaiya Shimu rebels Apurbo impressed with Shokhs Rest in peace

Anjan Das
improvement
against oppressors
n
n
of society
Milan Afridi

Entertainment Desk

Apurbo and Shokh will pose as a married

couple in the single episode play Variations. Written by Ashraful Chanchal and
directed by B U Shubho, the drama features the kind of love that keeps a marriage
together, the daily hustle and the ups and
downs of married life.
About working with Shokh, Apurbo said:
I am enjoying working with Shokh, her
acting has improved remarkably. I am also
counting on the audience to like us as a
couple. Very few onscreen pairs went on to
be as popular as the Afzal-Suborna duo. It
takes producers, directors and the audience
to make a pair successful.
Shokh said: At present, I am taking a
breather. I only work when I get a good
script and the script of 'Variations' is very
well written. Apurbo is a great co-actor, I
have worked with him only once before
and this time around, I have enjoyed myself
a lot.
The play will be aired during Eid. l

n Entertainment Desk
Drama serial Naari portraying the
drawbacks of a male dominated society,
will air tonight at 8pm on Maasranga
TV. The protagonist Sumaiya Shimu believes that acting is not only performing
on screen but working with an aim in
mind and in Naari, Sumaiya is seen as
a rebellious character who fights back
against the oppressors in a male dominated society.
The plot is set in the capital. Ronti
and her husband Azad live in an apart-

ment. Suddenly, Azad gets arrested

by the police and Ronti has no clue as
to why it happened. The police do not
allow her to talk to her husband and a
helpless Ronti seeks legal help from her
neighbour, who happens to be an advocate. However, the neighbour plays
a dirty game with Ronti and she understands that he will be of no help. She
becomes the victim of inappropriate
approaches from the male characters of
her surrounding. Hence, Ronti begins a
new journey where she struggles to protect herself from the stalkers. l

Sonakshis cool
braided look
n Entertainment Desk
Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha had to sit for two hours to get her hair
tied in a braid, everytime she had to shoot for her role in the forthcoming
action flick "Holiday: A Soldier is Never Off Duty.
The actor, who has luscious locks
said she had always wanted to
sport the braided look, and the
film gave her a chance to fulfil the wish. She is impressed
with the final outcome of the
film, which releases on June
6.
Sonakshi said: Here,
I am playing a boxer, so I
thought I had to do it and I
did it. It looked quite cool
and convincing too.
Produced by Vipul Shah,
presented by Reliance Entertainment and directed by A R Murugadoss, the film
features Akshay Kumar
essaying
the role
of a dedicated
army officer. l

Indian Bangalee filmmaker Anjan Das, best

known for films like Saanjhbatir Rupkathara, Achin Pakhi and Faltu, passed away
yesterday following liver cancer, family sources said.
His 2006 film Faltu which featured Soumitra Chatterjee and Indrani Halder won the
National Award for the best feature film on
welfare. A poignant tale on refugees, it was
based on Syed Mustafa Sirajs story Ranir
Ghater Brittanto.
In 2004, his film Iti Srikanta bagged the
National Award for Best Audiography. Jara
Brishtitey Bhije Chilo, based on a poem by
Goswami, won the special directors award at
Almaty, Kazakhstan besides fetching the jury
special award for the director in Spain.
Having started his career with a 1976
box-office flop Sainik, he changed his track
to make documentaries, only to return to cinema a few years later. l

TODAY IN DHAKA
Theatre

Shesh Rokhha
By Natyajon
Time: 7:00pm 8:30pm
Experimental Theatre
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
Shegun Bagicha

Exhibition

Of Man and Earth II

Time: 12pm 8pm
Bengal Art Lounge,
Gulshan Avenue,
Rd-131, Circle -1,
Lost in the Urban World
Group art exhibition

Creinse to
distribute FIFA
World Cup album

Dhaka Art Center

Dhanmondi 7/A
Can You Handle the Truth?
Time: 9:30am 8:00pm
EMK Center
Road No. 16
Dhanmondi

Robert Pattinson to
play Indiana Jones

n Entertainment Desk
Creinse Limited
has become the
Exclusive Marketing and Distribution Partner
of the 2014 FIFA
World Cup official music album
in Bangladesh.
One Love, One
Rhythm
has
been produced
by Sony Music
E nte r t a i n m e nt
and
features
some
of
the
biggest
music
artistes of the
world, says a press release. The album was launched globally
on May 12.
The 14-song album will feature the official song of 2014 FIFA
World Cup We are One (Ole Ola) by Pitbull featuring Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Lette along with the official anthem
Dar Um Jeito (We will find a way) featuring Carlos Santana,
Avicii, Wyclef and Alexandre Pires.
The album will be available through the sales campaign integrations of a leading brand in Bangladesh.
Limited editions will also be released through select outlets, and online. l

n Entertainment Desk
Robert Pattinson is reported to be the surprise favourite to star in the rebooted version
of the Indiana Jones movie.
The Twilight hunk is claimed to be at the
top of Disney bosses list to portray the iconic
movie hero made famous by Harrison Ford,
reported MTV online.
Producers have asked their casting de-

partment for a top 10 list of potential Indies,

who must have wide-ranging appeal.
Insiders say they hope to reboot the franchise with two quick films in succession, so
would need a three-year commitment from
their leading man, a source said.
It is also reported that the other big names
on the list are Channing Tatum, Chris Pine,
Chris Hemsworth and Pattinsons Twilight
co-star Kellan Lutz. l

Did you know?

Wayne Rooney has
played more games
(8) at World Cups
without scoring
than any other
England striker in the
competitions history

Sport

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

14 Germany, France
held, Belgium
see off Sweden

DAYS TO
GO

Streak up for
challenge
n

The new bowling coach of Bangladesh

cricket team and former Zimbabwean fast bowler Heath Streak regarded
Bangladesh as his second home after
his arrival at the Hazrat Shah Jalal In-

Heath Streak arrives at the Hazrat Shah Jalal

International airport yesterday evening

ternational airport yesterday evening.

The big Zimbabwean also said that he
was looking forward to take the challenge of working with the bowlers of
Bangladesh.
The 40 year old looked very upbeat
as he greeted all the media persons
present at the airport by giving salam
and said, Nice to be here in Dhaka. My
first match was here in Dhaka when I
played for Zimbabwe. So Im happy to
be here. Its like my second home.
The former Zimbabwe captain also
added that he was looking forward to
take the challenge. Ive seen lots of
them. Weve played against them and
watched them a lot when I was coaching the Zimbabwe team, he said.
However, the new bowling coach for
the Tigers did not talk in detail as the
Zimbabwean will meet the press today
at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Streaks first assignment with the national side will be the three match ODI
series at home against India. The short
series is scheduled to begin on June 15
at Sher-e-Bangla National stadium.
The former Zimbabwe all-rounder
played 65 Tests and 189 ODIs
between 1993 and 2005 and took 455
international wickets (216 in Tests and
239 in ODIs) at an average of 28.14 and
29.82 in Tests and ODIs respectively.
He also scored 4933 international
runs (1990 runs in Tests and 2943 in
ODIs). Apart from facing Bangladesh
six times in Tests and 10 times in ODIs,
Streak also played domestic cricket in
Bangladesh. l

Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Shakib al Hasan and his wife Umme Ahmed Shishir pose for a photo with KKR owner Shahrukh Khan
and the IPL trophy during their celebration party in India on Sunday
COURTESY

A big run-chase in the Final; did it

bring back memories of 2012?
I wanted to bat till the end for my team and
would have loved to be in the middle when
the winning run was hit, just like in 2012. I did
not finish the game, but it didnt matter as long

Was the team confident of chasing

that target of 200?
To be honest, I was very confident of the runchase. We were scoring briskly from the first
over and had a good score at the end of 10
overs. We had scored at a healthy run-rate
and we backed ourselves to get the rest of the
runs. The only way we could have lost was if we
would have lost too many wickets in a hurry. We
never got behind the required run-rate and we
knew we had enough players in the team who

would contribute and win the match for us.

Chasing 191 in 2012 and 200 in 2014

what is with KKR and these huge
run-chases?
(Laughs) We hope we win in 2015 as well,
but dont have to chase such a huge total every time in the Final. We would be more than
happy if we have to chase down somewhere
close to 160 (chuckles).

And what a day for Manish Pandey to

get a big one!
Absolutely! The way Manish Pandey batted and paced his innings was remarkable.

There was a talk in the dressing room that

he was long due for a big one, and what a
day he chose to come to the party.

What has been the highlight of the

victories in 2012 and 2014?
If you look at 2012 and 2014, both victories
in the Final were a result of consistent performances on the trot. We had a lot of wins
in succession in 2012 as well, and this year,
we sprung up nine consecutive victories. It
is an excellent performance by the entire
team. I dont want to compare the two victories, I just want to enjoy this moment and
savour it for a long time. l

Bangladeshs star cricketer Shakib al

Hasan received the Best T20 all-rounder award at the prestigious Ceat Cricket
Ratings Award 2014 after his brilliant
performance for Kolkata Knight Riders
in the IPL this season. The award giving
ceremony was hosted by former Pakistani batsman Rameez Raza in Mumbai
yesterday.
We had ups and downs throughout
the tournament, said Shakib. He credited Uthappas consistency, Narines brilliance and the contributions of the support staffs behind KKRs success.
The star all-rounder was instrumental in Kolkata Knight Riders title winning IPL campaign this season with both
bat and ball. His economical bowling
this season helped his side in most of
the matches as the left-arm spinners 11
wickets in 13 matches at an economy rate
of 6.68 saw him become one of the most
economical bowlers of the tournament.
However, the left hander shined equally with the bat also as he recorded his highest IPL score of 60 runs this season on his
way to amassing 227 runs from 13 matches with an enviable average and brilliant
strike rate of 32 and 149 respectively.
KKRs another star batsman Robin
Utthappa, who was in terrific form with
bat this season, was awarded the Indian
Domestic Cricketer of the year while another opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan
was named the ODI player of the year.
The young Indian cricketer of the year
award went to Vijay Zol. l

Ashraful plays in USA with

BPL probe ongoing
n

Rewind the clock to the 2012 IPL Final. Nine required off the last over Manoj Tiwary and Shakib al Hasan are in the middle. The Chennai Super Kings are in a long
meeting amidst the tension, Tiwary has a blank look on his face, Shakib is on his haunches. Four deliveries later, KKR are crowned champions. Flash forward to 2014
Shakib sure knows a thing or two when it comes to a steep run-chase in a grand finale, in the final over. The only difference is, this time he was in the dugout and not
at the non-strikers end. As Shakib says, he would have loved to hit the winning runs, but he was more than satisfied that his team was crowned champions for the
second time. The excerpts from the Bangladeshi all-rounders interview with iplt20.com are given below
as we won at the end of it. This is a team sport
and no matter who contributes, if we are on
the winning side, we are more than happy.

15 Ronaldo looks
to avoid Ballon
dOr curse

Inform Shakib
adjudged best
T20 all-rounder
n

KKR all-rounder wants to take his time basking in his IPL glory

(Laughs) An IPL victory two times in three

years I cant feel better than this. I wasnt
there last year for the Kolkata Knight Riders;
maybe that is the reason we lost (chuckles).
There were a lot of ups and down in the
tournament this year, but the way we stuck
together as a unit was amazing.

13

CEAT CRICKET RATINGS

AWARD 2014

Will savour this moment for a long time: Shakib

You just cant stop smiling, can you?

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Mohammad Ashraful, who is currently

serving an indefinite suspension by the
BCB after confessing to being involved in
corrupt activities during the Bangladesh
Premier League, was recently allowed to
participate in a tournament that was formally sanctioned by the USA Cricket Association. The event, the $20,000 cash
prize LA T20 Championship, took place
in Los Angeles from May 23-26.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, USACA executive secretary Mascelles Bailey said
he was unaware of any banned player
participating in the tournament. He acknowledged that event organisers had
applied for and received sanctioning
approval from USACA. However, Bailey
says unless there are people employed on
the ground to monitor specifically who is
playing, it is difficult for USACA to police.
As recently as May 15, USACA sent a
memo notifying members that any inter-

national players that may be participating

need formal approval. It followed Danish
Kanerias involvement at the unsanctioned USA Friendship Cup T20 in Houston, Texas. Five players contracted by the
Pakistan board were fined by the PCB for
playing in the USA Friendship Cup without obtaining no-objection certificates.
Yet, no such concerns appear to have
been raised about Ashrafuls involvement
and his face was printed on tournament
flyers promoting the event. There are
some technical things with Ashraful, LA
Organiser Mehul Dave said. Hes not a
banned player, just temporarily suspended. That is what I was told by the team
that he represented. We acknowledged
that with everyone else and everyone
was okay with him participating so thats
why he played. Theres a different level of
suspension. Danish Kaneria has a life ban
from the ECB and hes not allowed to play
any kind of ICC event and that is not the
case I believe with Ashraful. l

Tiviakov promises to give his best to Bangladesh

n

The second ranked chess player

in Netherlands, Tiviakov is currently
ranked 86th worldwide among the active players with a rating of 2656. His
previous visits to Bangladesh were in
1997 and 1998 to take part in international tournaments.
I know this country, I know its
chess tradition and I know the local
players. So I accepted the offer, said
Tiviakov who met Bangladeshs first
GM Niaz Morshed in 1993 in India.
The federation wanted Tiviakovs
service for more than one month, but
the Dutchman was only interested to
work for the short period. Tiviakov,
however, also admitted the training

Narinda Junior Lions Club players celebrate after clinching the title of the Dhaka City
Corporation Pioneer Football League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday

Prominent Dutch Grandmaster Sergei

Tiviakov pledged to deliver his best to
improve the game of the local players
after taking charge of Bangladesh national chess team yesterday. He urged to
provide long-term training programme
for the Bangladesh chess players adding
that they also need more international
experience to develop the game.
The highly rated former Dutch chess
champion will coach four Bangladeshi
Grandmasters and one International
Master for one month ahead of the 41st
Chess Olympiad in Tromsa, Norway in
the first week of August.

Narinda win Pioneer League

period is short and said, One month

is not enough but it is a very good step
to develop the game of chess in Ban-

WOMENS CRICKET LEAGUE

n
Narinda Junior Lions Club emerged as
the champions of the Dhaka City Corporation Pioneer Football League after
edging past Araf Sporting Club 1-0 in
the final at the Bangabandhu National
Stadium yesterday.
Shohag Mia scored the all important
goal in the 13th minute of the game,
but goalkeeper Wahiduzzaman Hridoy
also played a crucial part as he guarded
Narindas goal to make sure the
scoreline remained unchanged until

the final whistle.

Shohag skipped past a defender to
break into the penalty area before chipping the ball over onrushing goalkeeper
Shohan to find the back of the net. Narinda dominated the opening half and
though Araf tried to stage a comeback
in the second-half by creating plenty
of chances, it all went in vein following
poor finishing skills. Narinda custodian
Wahiduzzaman was adjudged the player of the final while Arifur Rahman of
Akku Football Academy was named as
the player of the tournament. l

I know this country,

I know its chess
tradition and I know
the local players. So I
accepted the offer
gladesh. I hope it will be helpful for the
players in the next Olympiad in Tromso. From my part, I will do my best to
help the players improve their game
and achieve better result in future.
The Soviet Union born Dutch will

Sharmin hits brilliant ton

n

Sharmin Akhters unbeaten 105 run

knock helped Jahurul Islam City Cricket Club to an emphatic 141 run win over
Urban Sports and Cultural Dev while
Gulshan Youth Club beat BKSP by six
wickets.
However, the other match of the day
between Ansar-VDP and Rayer Bazar
Athletic was abandoned due to rain at the

Dhanmondi Cricket stadium yesterday.

After electing to bat first in a 21 over
match, Jahurul Islam City Cricket Clubs
two opening batsmen Sharmin and Rubya Haider gave their side a flying start as
Sharmin played a blistering knock of 105
off just 65 balls smashing 17 fours while
her partner Rubya remained unbeaten
on 66 off just 61 balls with 6 boundaries.
Such a solid foundation paved the way
for Jahurul Islam City Cricket Club to

post 189 without losing any wicket after

21 overs. In reply Urban Sports could only
manage to score 48/8 to suffer a humiliating defeat by 141 runs at the BKSP-4
ground.
In the other match at the BKSP-3
ground, BKSP posted 66/6 against Gulshan Youth Club in a 17 over match. Chasing 67 to win, Gulshan Youth club reached
their target quite comfortably in 11.3 overs
for the loss of just four wickets. l

coach Niaz Morshed, Ziaur Rahman,

Abdullah Al Rakib, Enamul Hossain
Rajib and Minhaz Uddin Ahmed Sagor.
They (Bangladesh players) have
good potential but the problem is
that they dont have international
experience. They dont play in strong
tournaments and I think they are
heavily underrated. If they play more
against strong players their rating will
grow and they will become stronger,
he added.
Tiviakov earned the GM title in 1991
and clinched the Dutch Chess Championship in 2006 and 2007 before adding
the European Individual Chess Championship to his tally in 2008. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Heat is on the rest, says Wilkinson

Sport

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Re-run vote if corruption proved

Final test for unfinished venue

Australia are rank outsiders in a World Cup group containing champions Spain,
Holland and Chile. But Socceroos defender Alex Wilkinson says all the pressure is
on his teams rivals. Were more than happy to go out and play with no pressure,
Wilkinson Sunday told reporters at the Australian base in the southeastern coastal
city of Vitoria. Theres going to be a lot of pressure on the other three teams in
the group to beat us, whereas we can go out and relax and hopefully play some
good football and cause some surprises, said the 29-year-old.
AFP

The Sao Paulo stadium hosting the opening match of the World Cup staged
a second test game Sunday but well below capacity, with one section temporarily closed and another at half capacity on firefighters orders. The new
Corinthians Arena remains an unfinished addition to the skyline in Brazils
stylishly affluent business hub, with the two incomplete seating sections
unable to accommodate fans as owners Corinthians met Botafogo for
the test game before a crowd of 37,119 paying guests.
AFP

The vote for the hosting of the 2022 World Cup must be re-run if
corruption allegations surrounding Qatars winning campaign are
proved to be accurate, Lord Goldsmith, a member of FIFAs Independent
Governance Committee, said on Monday. A British newspaper on Sunday
claimed it had evidence that around $5 million was paid to officials in
return for votes for Qatars successful bid, allegations organisers have
vehemently denied.
Reuters

Work to be done
at Corinthians
stadium: Fifa
n
FIFA oversaw the final
World Cup test event at
the Corinthians arena on
Sunday and officials said
there was a week and a
half of hard work ahead
to get the stadium ready for the opening
match of the tournament on June 12.
Just 37,000 fans saw Corinthians
draw 1-1 with Botafogo, far below the
68,000 capacity expected for the Brazil v Croatia game which will start the
World Cup.
Some parts of the ground have still
not been tested with fans inside and others will undergo adjustments in the coming days, said Tiago Paes, the local organising committees operations manager.

A lot will be done to change the look

of the stadium, Paes told reporters.
It is adjustments, adjustments to
the temporary structures, the setting
up of the internet, the finishing up of
the executive boxes, putting in sofas,
fridges, plants.
Everything will improve, I have no
doubt about that, Paes added.
Traffic, metro, military police, everyone is getting better. By the semi-final for the World Cup theyll be able to
do it with their eyes closed as by then
theyll all know the stadium.
The stadium was due to be ready in
December but is one of several still undergoing last-minute preparations.
Nevertheless, Sundays Brazilian
league game passed without any major
incidents. l

Cameroon striker Samuel Etoo (2R) scores past Germany goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller during their friendly match in preparation for the Fifa World Cup 2014 in Moenchengladbach,
western Germany on Sunday
AFP

Ribery hoping to
be fit despite
back problem
n

Germany drop Volland, Germany, France held, Belgium

Schmelzer, Mustafi
see off Sweden in warm-ups
n

SQUAD

RESULTS

France winger Franck Ribery is suffering from a lower back problem which is
severely hampering his preparations for
this months World Cup, a national team
official confirmed to AFP on Monday.
Ribery missed Frances 1-1 draw with
Paraguay at Nices Allianz Riviera in the
second of their three world cup warm
up matches and the Bayern Munich forward faces a battle against time to be fit
for Sundays game with Jamaica.
Hes had this problem for over six
weeks, the France official said. He
has had further tests at a Paris hospital and visited a specialist on Saturday
morning before leaving for Nice.
Since then, he has been following a
programme aimed at getting him ready
in under a week.
The news confirmed suggestions
made by coach Didier Deschamps, who
said after Sundays draw with Paraguay
that the aim is to have him available for
the match against Jamaica next Sunday.
We cant win every match 4-0 but
there were a lot of good things tonight,
he said.
On the free kick at the end, we
probably retreated too much into our
own box but we were playing a good
team who know how to defend.
Deschamps will announce his final
23-man squad for Brazil later Monday,
but the 45-year-old was quick to quash
any rumours suggesting that Ribery was
set to miss the World Cup, telling reporters not to expect any big surprises. l

Germany will travel to

this months World Cup
in Brazil with only one
out-and-out striker to end
their 18-year wait for an
international title after coach Joachim
Loew cut Kevin Volland from his final
23-man squad on Monday.
Hoffenheim forward Volland joined
defender Shkodran Mustafi and left
back Marcel Schmelzer, still nursing a
knee injury, as the three players left out
of the final squad after being included
in a provisional selection for a training
camp in Italy.
Obviously Shkodran, Marcel and
Kevin are very disappointed and I an
understand that because they had every right to hope they would be in Brazil, Loew told reporters.
All three are players who still have
the chance to take part in several big
tournaments in their careers.
Vollands exclusion came as a surprise given the stocky strikers physical strength and all-round play were
seen as a good alternative to veteran
forward Miroslav Klose, who will be 36
next week.
Attacking midfielder Mario Goetze
played as a striker in the 2-2 warmup
draw against Cameroon on Sunday
and that position can also be filled
by Thomas Mueller, on target in that
game.
Loew included Borussia Dortmunds
Erik Durm, who can play as left back,

Goalkeepers

Germany and France were held to

draws while Chelsea duo Eden Hazard
and Romelu Lukaku scored for Belgium
in the latest batch of World Cup warmups on Sunday.
Fellow Brazil-bound Cameroon
came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw
against Germany. All four goals came in
an entertaining second-half as Cameroon, coached by German Volker Finke,
came within a whisker of a historic first
win over Germany.
The Africans took a shock lead
through another Chelsea player, Samuel Etoo, on 62 minutes only for Germany to equalise four minutes later
through Thomas Mueller.

Germany

GREAT WORLD CUP SHOCKS

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman

Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hanover 96)

Defenders
Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Kevin
Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Erik Durm
(Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Hoewedes
(Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Philipp
Lahm (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders
Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Matthias Ginter
(Freiburg), Mario Goetze (Bayern Munich),
Christoph Kramer (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni
Kroos (Bayern Munich), Thomas Mueller
(Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Lukas
Podolski (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Borussia
Dortmund), Andre Schuerrle (Chelsea),
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)

Forwards

in the final squad after he won praise

following his first cap on Sunday while
also sticking with youngsters Julian
Draxler and Matthias Ginter as well as
midfielder Chrstioph Kramer, who won
his first two caps in the past weeks.
The coach, in charge of Germany
for the fourth tournament, also kept
faith in first-choice keeper Manuel
Neuer and captain Philipp Lahm, both
of whom are racing to get fit following
injuries. l

Episode

Cameroon players celebrate their historic win against Argentina at the 1990 World Cup

Cameroon 1 Argentina 0 (1990)

Argentina as defending champions opened the 1990 tournament in Italy
against a Cameroon side that had few recognised stars. However, Francois Omam-Biyiks headed goal, helped by an awful goalkeeping error
by Nery Pumpido, gave them an astonishing 1-0 win in a game that their
raw tackling saw them reduced to nine men. We hate it when European
reporters ask us if we eat monkeys and have a witch doctor. We are real
football players and we proved this tonight, said Biyik. Cameroon exited
the tournament in the quarter-finals, heads held high and one of the few
bright spots of the finals. The Argentines, with Diego Maradona their sole
creative outlet, somehow made it to the final but left unloved through a
mix of their diving and brutal attitude on the pitch.
AFP

Cameroon players celebrate their goal

United States

2 2
2 1

Johnson 26, Dempsey 52

Sweden
France
Griezmann 82

0 2
1 1

Cameroon
Etoo 62,
Choupo-Moting 78

Turkey
Inan 90-pen

Belgium
Lukaku 34, Hazard 78

Paraguay
V. Caceres 89

Andre Schuerrle then gave the hosts

the lead before Cameroon left-wing Eric
Choupo-Moting, who plies his trade in
the Bundesliga for Mainz 05, popped
up with the 78th-minute equaliser.
Down on a rainy Cote dAzur Franck
Ribery started on the bench in Frances

Scolari blasts team after training

n

Miroslav Klose (Lazio)

Mueller 66,
Schuerrle 71

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe

Scolari on Sunday criticized his World Cup
hopefuls after a training
session which he said
did not please me at all.
Brazil take on Panama in their penultimate World Cup tune-up on Tuesday
ahead of their final friendly with Serbia
on Friday and Scolari said he was resting
skipper Thiago Silva, Fernandinho and
Paulinho. Of the training session which
had so displeased him, Scolari said: I

German defence
must improve,
warns Khedira
n
Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has
told the Germany squad to improve their
defence if they are to realise their dream
of winning a fourth World Cup title.
Germany were held to a 2-2 draw by
fellow World Cup candidates Cameroon
in Moenchengladbach on Sunday with
all four goals scored in the second-half.
Khedira says while the Germans are
renowned for their attacking football,
the side with the most organised defence will win the World Cup final in
Rio de Janeiro on July 13.
Germany finished third four years
ago at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but Khedira says they will struggle
in Group G against Portugal, Ghana and
the USA unless they are tight at the back.
You cant win a tournament with
just attacking football, Khedira told
German magazine Kicker.
We were incredibly compact in 2010,
everyone defended, which is something
which we have lost since then.
Before Euro 2012, I warned against
always raving on about our great attacking football.
Well win a few sympathy points by
playing a nice attacking game, but that
is no longer our goal. l

did not like training, I liked nothing. Everything was wrong, stormed the man
who took the Selecao to the 2002 title.
He told Globo television the players
appeared too loose for his liking just 11
days before their first World Cup pool
match against Croatia in Sao Paulo.
When I dont like things, I have to
find a solution and field it on the pitch
until I am satisfied, said Scolari.
The training session saw the firstchoice eleven beat the reserves 3-2
with Neymar on target for the former
in front of watching actress girlfriend
Bruna Marquezine. l

1-1 stalemate with Paraguay.

Substitute Antoine Griezman had
appeared to give the French victory
when he curled home an 82nd right
foot shot before Victor Caceres silenced
the partisan crownd in Nice, flicking
home an 89th minute equaliser.
The match was the second Brazil
buildup for Deschamps side after they
brushed aside Norway 4-0 last Tuesday.
Hazard and Lukaku were on the
mark in Belgiums 2-0 win over Sweden. Against a Swedish side missing
their emblematic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic Belgium dominated throughout.
Lukaku, on loan to Everton last
season, set Marc Wilmots side on the
path to victory in the 34th minute, with
Hazard doubling up after the break. l

Israel beats Honduras

in friendly

n
World Cup-bound Honduras suffered a
second deflating friendly defeat in four
days on Sunday as they were beaten 4-2
by Israel.
Honduras defense struggled all
night and Israel made the most of the
openings they were offered.
Eran Zahavi grabbed the first goal
for the Israelis, his 30-yard shot sailing
past the outstretched hands of Honduras goalkeeper Denis Escobar for a 1-0
lead in the 34th minute. l

Rossi absent from Italy

World Cup squad
n

SQUAD
Fiorentina striker Giuseppe Rossi was the
major absentee when
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli named his 23-man
World Cup squad on

Sunday.
Rossis exclusion was perhaps not
a huge surprise as he missed four
months of the season due to injury and
didnt have enough time to rediscover
his form and fitness to convince Prandelli of his worth.
Versatile Napoli attacking player Lorenzo Insigne instead joins forwards
Mario Balotelli and Ciro Immobile, Serie As top scorer this season with 22
goals, on the plane to Brazil.
Parma veteran Antonio Cassano,
who will play in his first World Cup,
and Torinos Alessio Cerci are also attacking options.
Another missing from the list
was AC Milan midfielder Riccardo
Monolivo,
whose
World
Cup
ambitions ended when he suffered
a broken leg in Saturdays warm-up
against Ireland.
He has been replaced by former
Liverpool misfit Alberto Aquilani, now

Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Salvatore
Sirigu (Paris Saint-GermainG/FRA), Mattia
Perin (Genoa)

Defenders
Ignazio Abate (AC Milan), Andrea Barzagli
(Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus),
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Darmian
(Torino), Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan), Gabriel
Paletta (Parma)

Midfielders
Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Antonio
Candreva (Lazio), Daniele De Rossi (Roma),
Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Thiago Motta
(Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Marco Parolo
(Parma), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Marco
Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA)

Forwards
Mario Balotelli (AC Milan), Antonio Cassano
(Parma), Alessio Cerci (Torino), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)
with Fiorentina.
There were no real surprises in midfield with veteran pair Daniele De Rossi (Roma) and Andrea Pirlo (Juventus)
joined by Paris Saint-Germain duo Marco Verratti and Brazilian-born Thiago
Motta included. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

15

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

QUICK BYTES

Pressure mounts for

new 2022 WC vote
Pressure mounted Monday for FIFA
to call a new vote on the 2022 World
Cup hosts with Australia declaring that
corruption accusations against controversial winners Qatar were a serious
development. British government
and football officials have also said a
new vote should be held if accusations
that a top Qatari official made slush
fund payments to secure support are
proved. FIFA has not yet commented
on reports by the Sunday Times newspaper that Mohamed bin Hammam, a
former FIFA vice president from Qatar,
paid more than $5 million to football
officials around the world before the
2010 vote that awarded the 2022 contest to the Gulf state. Qatar has strongly
denied the allegations and vowed to
defend the integrity of its bid.
AFP

Liverpool complete
Rickie Lambert signing

Liverpool confirmed Monday they have

completed the transfer of England striker
Rickie Lambert from Southampton. The
former Reds trainee, underwent a medical on Saturday after a fee of 4million
($6.7 million, 4.9 million euros) was
agreed with the Saints. He is understood
to have signed a two-year contract. Lambert has emerged as an important squad
player for England and is a member of
the 23-man World Cup squad currently
at a training camp in Miami ahead of the
tournament in Brazil. I cant believe it.
Ive loved this club all my life. I left here 17
years ago -- and I havent stopped loving
it since, the 32-year-old said.
AFP

Senanayake reported
for suspect action
Sri Lanka off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake has been reported for a suspect
bowling action following his sides win
over England in the fourth one-day
international at Lords on Saturday, the
International Cricket Council said on
Monday. Senanayake, 29, was reported
by the match officials after concerns
were raised about a number of his
deliveries. Senanayakes bowling action
will now be scrutinised further under
the ICC process relating to bowlers
reported in tests, ODIs and T20Is, the
ICC said in a statement on its website.
The off-spinner is required to undergo
testing within 21 days, and, during this
period, he is permitted to continue
bowling in international cricket until the
results of the testing are known. Senanayake has played one test, 33 ODIs and
17 Twenty20 matches for Sri Lanka.
Reuters

Bombing at Nigeria
football match kills at
least 40: police

A bombing at a football pitch in Nigerias

restive northeast killed at least 40
people on Sunday in an area previously
attacked by Boko Haram Islamists, a
police officer and a nurse said. The blast
hit the town of Mubi in Adamawa state,
one of three in the northeast which has
been under a state of emergency for
more than a year as Nigerias military
has tried to crush Boko Harams fiveyear extremist uprising. There has been
a bomb explosion at a football field this
evening and so far more than 40 people
have been killed, said the officer in
Mubi who requested anonymity.
AFP

Tax-evading Hoeness
starts jail term
Former Bayern Munich president Uli
Hoeness began a 3-1/2-year jail sentence on Monday after being convicted
in March of evading $40 million in
taxes, German media reported on Monday. The state prosecutor in Munich
declined to comment on the report and
said there would be no official confirmation. Daily Bild reported Hoeness
was set to enter the Landsberg prison,
a jail with some 420 inmates that houses murderers, drug-dealers, and sex
offenders. It is also where Adolf Hitler
dictated his book Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess while serving out a sentence
for his failed 1923 beer hall putsch.
Hoeness goes to jail today, read the
headline on Bilds online edition. Exactly 81 days after his conviction.
Reuters

DAYS WATCH
Neo Sports
6:00PM
French Open, Quarterfinals
Womens & Mens Singles
Star Sports 2
7:00PM
England v Sri Lanka
5th ODI

The winners of Walton Dhaka Tribune ICC World Twenty20 quiz contest pose for a photograph at the Dhaka Tribune office yesterday

Ronaldo looks to avoid

Ballon dOr curse
n
When Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo
was awarded last years Ballon dOr in
recognition of his dazzling achievements over the course of 2013 he naturally had plenty of reason to celebrate
although one could forgive him for
feeling apprehensive about his countrys hopes at the World Cup in Brazil.
Portugal will go the tournament
as dark horses heavily reliant on their
captain and talisman Ronaldo, who
will need to defy the odds if he is to
avoid becoming another footnote in a
cautionary tale.
Since the inception of the Ballon
dOr, conceived by France Football
magazine in 1956 to recognise Europe,
and then latterly, the worlds most
outstanding player each year, of the
14 players in possession of the prize
heading into a World Cup none have
achieved ultimate success on the global stage.
Granted the facts are skewed to an
extent given only European players

were eligible for the prize prior to 1995,

ruling out the likes of three-time World
Cup winner Pele and Diego Maradona,
who was central to Argentinas 1986
triumph, but that still leaves some of
the games most decorated players who
have fallen short.
Take Barcelona star Lionel Messi,
who won the first of his four consecutive Ballon dOr awards in 2009, for
example.
An Argentina side with an embarrassment of attacking riches breezed
through to the quarter-finals at the
2010 World Cup in South Africa despite
Messi not contributing a single goal.
However, when they needed him most
he was unable to deliver as Maradonas
shellshocked Argentine team were
ruthlessly torn apart by Germany 4-0
in the last eight.
That provided merely just the latest
chapter of a World Cup campaign ending in disappointment for the worlds
leading player, a story that dates back
to 1957 Ballon dOr recipient and Real
Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano.

For Argentine-born Di Stefano, who

acquired Spanish citizenship in time
for the 1958 qualifiers despite previously representing his homeland as well as
Colombia, his adopted nation fell short
in their quest to reach the finals leaving one of the worlds greatest players
to ultimately finish his career without
ever appearing at the World Cup.
The only other time the reigning
European Footballer of the Year, as
the award was also referred to prior to
merging with the FIFA World Player of
the Year accolade in 2010 to become
the FIFA Ballon dOr, didnt appear at
the global showcase was in 1978 when
Danish striker Allan Simonsen, a European Cup finalist with Borussia Moenchengladbach the previous year, saw
his nations hopes dashed in qualifying.
However, there have been five teams
featuring the reigning Ballon dOr winner to reach the final.
Perhaps no player has come quite as
close nor suffered a fate so cruel as the
one that befell Italys Roberto Baggio at
USA 94. l

Prizes distributed
among winners
n
Sadia Akter Keya, a class VI student of
Pagla High School was ecstatic to receive
her Walton rice-cooker, the fifth price of
the Walton-Dhaka Tribune ICC World
T20 Quiz at the Tribune office yesterday.
Keya submitted almost hundred coupons
and may be dreamed of a better award
but luck saw her land the fifth prize.
However, Md. Jashimuddin of Mymensingh was savoring the moment as
he won the 32 LED Walton television
- the top award of the second phase of
the two phase quiz program.
There were 20 prizes which were
equally distributed in two phases with
the LED television and an 8.5 CFT refrigerator being the prime awards. The
quiz was participated by a good number of cricket lovers from across the
country and like Jashimuddin, Yesmin
Rahman of Chittagong, Iqbal Hossain
of Madaripur and Agradev Rohit of
Moulvi Bazar also won different prizes.
Afsana Ahmed Moon, a masters
student from the department of law of
Green University won a DVD - the 4th

Newly signed New York City striker David Villa poses for a photo

INTERNET

Regal Rafa sets up

Ferrer clash in quarters

Narinda Pragati win

Cute Prem Handball
n

Narinda Pragati Boys Club clinched

the title of the Cute Premier Handball
League beating Menzis Krira Chakra
by 46-23 goals at the handball stadium
yesterday. The eventual champions led
the first half 23-11.
Hardev Singh and Samser Singh, the
Indian recruits scored 13 and 11 goals
respectively for the champions. Robiul and Emon were the top scorers for
Menzis with 8 and 5 goals.
Azad Rahman Khokon, a player of
Narinda who started his career in 1988
retired from the game after the final.
Sports secretary Nur Mohammad
distributed the prizes as the chief
guest. Kazi Razivuddin Ahmed Chapal,
the BOA treasurer and the director of
Mousumi Industries, the producers of
Cute cosmetics and toiletries was present as the special guest. l

Eight-time champion
Rafael Nadal stormed
into a French Open
quarter-final
clash
against David Ferrer on
Monday with rock star
Prince in the stands and King Juan Carlos on his mind.
World number one Nadal, who turns
28 on Tuesday, brushed aside outclassed Dusan Lajovic, the world 83
from Serbia, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.
He was at his ruthless, efficient best
against Lajovic who claimed a paltry 15
points off the champions serve.
Nadal holds a 21-6 advantage over
Ferrer in their career meetings but it
was his compatriot who won their most
recent clash in the Monte Carlo quar-

WALTON-DHAKA TRIBUNE ICC WORLD T20 QUIZ

prize. She was quick to express her jubilation. I closely followed Dhaka Tribune and was hopeful of winning an
award. I feel happy to see myself as a
winner, said Moon.
Humayun Kabir, the executive director of Walton thanked the prize winners
for their passion towards sports. ICC
T20 World T20 was a great occasion and
your presence and participation prove
your passion for the game. Walton, as
a local brand, has always supported
countrys sports and will continue to do
so. I also thank Dhaka Tribune for its effort, said Humayun Kabir.
Shahriar Karim, the executive editor of Dhaka Tribune welcomed the
winners and thanked the sponsors.
We have built a bridge with our readers through the support of Walton.
Dhaka Tribune hopes both the readers
and Walton will continue their support
as Dhaka Tribune aspires to greater
heights, said Shahriar.
Dhaka Tribunes managing editor
Jahangir Hyder and senior manager (advertising) Shahidan Khurshed were also
present on the occasion. l

Halep, Errani and Petkovic

book quarter-final spots

Villa becomes
New York City
FCs first signing
n
Spanish World Cup striker David Villa
has signed for New York City FC on a
three-year deal, the Major League Soccer team said on Monday.
Villa, who helped Atletico Madrid
win this seasons Spanish league title,
will join the new club who will begin
playing in the MLS in 2015.
The deal is arguably the biggest
signing made by an MLS team since
David Beckham joined LA Galaxy with
the 32-year-old Villa a current world
champion.
Villa is the first player signed by NYCFC, who are jointly owned by English
Premier League club Manchester City
and baseballs New York Yankees.
This is a historic and exciting moment for the City family and the building of New York City Football Club, said
club chief executive Ferran Soriano.
I know David really well; he is one
of the best footballers in the world. l

MUMIT M

ter-finals in April.
Ferrer reached his 10th successive
Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-3,
6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 win over South Africas Kevin Anderson.
Ferrer had beaten Anderson, who
was hoping to be the first South African man in the last eight since Cliff
Drysdale in 1967, at the same stage of
the tournament last year.
Later Monday, seventh-seeded Andy
Murray, a semi-finalist in 2011, tackles
Spanish 24th seed Fernando Verdasco.
Murray has a 9-1 career advantage
over the 30-year-old left-hander although Verdasco gave the Briton a huge
scare in the Wimbledon quarter-finals
last year.
Verdasco won the first two sets before Murray rallied on his way to his
historic title triumph in London. l

Romanias Simona Halep, the fourth and highest seed remaining in

the French Open, qualified for the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the first time on
Monday when she overcame Americas
Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-3.
The 22-year-old Halep can climb to
third in the world if she reaches the final on Saturday where she can become
the first Romanian to win the title since
Virginia Ruzici in 1978.
In the quarter-finals, she will have to
overcome the challenge or Russias 2009
French champion Svetlana Kuznetsova
or 24th seed Lucie Safarova.
Sara Errani of Italy will face German
Andrea Petkovic in the quarter-finals
after both players came through tough
fourth round matches.
Tenth seed and 2012 finalist Errani,
needed 81 minutes to subdue former
number one Jelena Jankovic in the first

set before booking her last eight spot in

Paris for the third straight year 7-6 (7/5),
6-2. She was beaten in the semi-finals
last year by eventual champion Serena
Williams 6-0, 6-1.
Petkovic, who failed to negotiate
qualifying in Paris last year when she
came into the tournament ranked 136
in the world, also had difficulties before prevailing in three sets over Dutch
qualifier Kiki Bertens.
The Bosnian-born Petkovic, who is
now ranked 27 and had a personal high
of nine in the world during her finest
season in 2011, has overcome a series of
injuries to equal her best showing at a
Grand Slam thanks to a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory. Its her fourth appearance in the
last eight of a major after reaching this
stage in 2011 at Australia, Paris and the
US Open.
Bertens, a former world number 41,
was bidding to become the 10th qualifier
to advance to the quarter-finals in Paris
and equal the best result from a player
not going straight into the main draw. l

Ispi Inter
School
Football
starts today

n Tribune Desk
With the Fifa World
Cup 2014 in Brazil
just a few days away,
juvenile footballers of
16 schools will engage
themselves in a six-aside football tournament named Ispi Soft
Drinks Powder Inter
School Football at
the handball stadium
today.
The four day tournament will conclude
on June 6. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

After salmonella, thrips hit vegetable export

At least a hundred vegetable consignments to EU countries intercepted since July
n Kamran Reza Chowdhury
Having already been caught secretly
shipping salmonella infected betel leaf,
Bangladeshs $200m vegetable export
is hit by a fresh blow after the European Union detected insects in kakrol and
brinjal consignments.
Only in January, the EU warned
Bangladesh that if proper guidelines
were not followed then it would discontinue the import.
The EU member countries, one of
the largest vegetable markets of Bangladesh, stopped more than a hundred
shipments between July last year and
May this year.
In May alone, the quarantine authorities in Britain, Germany, Italy and
Sweden intercepted 35 vegetables consignments from Bangladesh.

Last month, the quarantine section

of the Plant Protection Wing of the
Department of Agricultural Extension
(DAE) of Bangladesh government, certified that several consignments of
spine locally known as kakrol contained no pest.
However, the destination ports
detected the presence of thrips, also
known as thunderflies, in kakrol, which
are in high demand in EU countries.
According to a report that the Dhaka Tribune has obtained, thrips were
found in a total of 10 shipments.
The Plant Protection Wing has already
asked the quarantine official posted at
the Dhaka airport to explain why thrips
were found in exported vegetables despite having clearance certificates.
There are allegations that unscrupulous businessmen bribe a section of

dishonest customs officials to get their

infected vegetable lots shipped to the
European countries.
Last year, EU prohibited the export
of the highly demanded betel leaf from
Bangladesh after detecting the presence of salmonella, a bacteria known to
cause stomach disorders.
Initially we did not issue phytosanitary certificate [guaranteeing safety]
for kakrol. However, later we issued the
certificate upon permission from the
director [of the Plant Protection Wing].
Now we have stopped doing it, Dhaka
airport quarantine officer Latafat Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said many of the interceptions
were results of dispatching the consignments without phytosanitary certificates.
He claimed that the Plant Protection

Wing has complained to the customs

authorities several times that many of
the customs officers were involved with
the ill-practice because they have the final say about the export of any item.
Monjurul Islam, an adviser to the
Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetable and Allied
Products Exporters Association, told the
Dhaka Tribune: Some unscrupulous
traders have been harming our business... Unless we follow the EU guidelines, our export may be hampered.
Records show that importers have
detected consignments of lemon with
canker disease; butterflies in mango;
white flies in spinach and jute leaf; and
flies in mint. Many of these lots had no
phytosanitary certificate.
On January 22, Taposh Kanti Das,
commercial counsellor of the Bangladesh mission at the EU capital Brussels,

wrote to the commerce secretary of

Bangladesh regarding the unions anger about the secret export of betel leaf.
EU officials cautioned that unless
the secret export of betel leaf was
stopped, they [EU] might have to initiate additional import ban on some
other vegetables consigned from Bangladesh in the coming months.

A ray of hope

However, on May 6, Taposh wrote

again to the commerce secretary suggesting that the EU authorities might
not extend the ban on betel leaf beyond
July 31 if Bangladesh demonstrated
that it could tackle Salmonella or check
unauthorised exports.
The commerce ministry has already
held discussions with the stakeholders
to find ways to get the ban withdrawn. l

Anisul: Judiciary
shouldnt cross
jurisdiction
n UNB
Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday
said the judiciary should not take any
such step that might create anarchy in
the countrys judicial system.
The law minister, however, said the
government welcomes the steps taken
by the court on its own motion over
public interest cases but the judiciary
should not cross its judicial jurisdiction.
He made the remark while addressing as the chief guest in the closing
session of a seminar titled Australia
and Bangladesh: Sharing Experiences
in Protection of Human Rights at Brac
Centre Inn.
Asked whether his comment came
in light of the Narayanganj seven-murder issue, Anisul Huq said, Ive made
the comment in general keeping
everything in mind.
Following the seven murders, Dr
Kamal Hossain filed a writ petition and
the court ordered the arrest of the then
three RAB officials. Commenting on
the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the law minister said the
institution is functioning independently and the government is sincere to establish human rights.
He also said the government does
not interfere in the NHRC activities
and the government always remains
sincere to implement the recommendations made by the NHRC. l

Squatters with their belongings stand on road as Dhaka District Administration and BIWTA in a drive removed illegal structures on the bank of Buriganga River in Keraniganj of the city
yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE

$500m World Cup

boost for Bangladesh
garment makers
n AFP

Putul made
WHO adviser
n Emran Hossain Shaikh
Saima Wazed Hossain Putul, the
daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, has been drafted global autism
advocate of World Health Organisation
(WHO) into its Expert Advisory Panel
on mental health.
She is set to serve in the 25-member
experts panel for four years.
Mahbubul Hoque Shakil, Prime minister's special assistant, confirmed the
news to the Dhaka Tribune.
He said: Prime minister's daughter Putul, who also advocates for New
York-based Autism Speaks, has been
drafted as one of the members of the
25-member Expert Advisory Panel on
mental health of WHO.
An expert advisory panel consists of
experts from whom the organisation
may obtain technical guidance and
support within a particular subject, either by correspondence or at meetings
to which the experts may be invited.
The panel members also convened
by the director-general for the purpose
of reviewing and making technical recommendations on a subject of interest
to the organisation.
Putul is the chair of the new national
advisory committee on autism, meant
to raise awareness of the developmental disorder in Bangladesh and in South
Asia. l

Bangladesh garment manufacturers

bagged at least $500 million in export
orders to sew World Cup jerseys for
fans across the globe in a major industry boost after a string of disasters, officials said yesterday.
The acting head of the Bangladesh
Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) said the
countrys shipment of garments grew
around 14% this year with World Cup
orders playing a key role.
BGMEA is a group of around 1,000
garment factories, which mostly make
T-shirts.

The World Cup kicks

off on June 12 in Sao
Paulo, where 65,000
spectators to are
expected for the
opening fanfare that
pits hosts and fivetime champions Brazil
against Croatia
Some 100 of our factories got orders
to make jerseys for World Cup fans. We
do not have an accurate figure of the
total value of the World Cup related
merchandise exports. But it will be between $500-$1,000 million, Mohammad Hatem told AFP.
Hatem said Bangladesh's shipments
of garments would hit a record $25
billion in the fiscal year ending this
month, up around three billion dollars
than the previous year. A big part of
the growth came from the World Cup
merchandise, he said.

Hatem said the Bangladeshi plants

supply clothing to the sportswear giants like Puma and Adidas and made
jerseys for fans of almost all the World
Cup's 32 teams, thanks largely to its
low-cost reputation.
Bangladesh is the worlds second
largest clothing maker after China.
The garment industry is the economic
mainstay, making up 80 percent of the
nation's annual exports and providing
jobs to more than four million people.
My factory alone made 250,000
World Cup jerseys for countries like
Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Italy
and Portugal, he said.
One of the Bangladeshi suppliers of
Puma bagged orders of three million
dollars to make jerseys for football supporters of Brazil, Argentina and Chile,
the company's owner Rezaul Hasanat
told AFP.
If you take into account all the
World Cup related merchandise that
Bangladeshi factories have made this
year, I wont be surprised if the figure
touches one billion dollars, Hasanat,
of Viyellatex Group, said.
Many factories made products like
flags and caps and did the shipments
through small buying houses, whose figures are not usually monitored by major
garment trade groups like the BKMEA and
the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers
and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The orders came despite a series of
disasters to hit the Bangladesh garment
industry, including the Rana Plaza factory collapse in April 2013, which left at
least 1,138 people dead.
The World Cup kicks off on June 12
in Sao Paulo, where 65,000 spectators
to are expected for the opening fanfare
that pits hosts and five-time champions Brazil against Croatia. l

Abed awarded Leo Tolstoy

International Gold Medal
n Tribune Report
Brac founder and chairperson Sir Fazle
Hasan Abed has been awarded the Leo
Tolstoy International Gold Medal by The
Russian Children Foundation (RDF) on
the occasion of International Childrens
Day on Sunday, says a press release.
He received the award at Moscows
historic Bolshoi Theatre after a Gala
concert for orphan, disabled and disadvantaged children where he was present as the Guest of Honour.
The award was bestowed upon Abed
by RDF leader and noted writer Albert
A Likhanov.
Upon receiving the award, Abed said:
I thank the Russian Children Foundation for the honour they have shown
me and Brac. Brac has been focusing on
empowering people and creating opportunities through education for the last
three decades. I have great appreciation
towards the work of the foundation by
which they are protecting countless underprivileged children in Russia.

Every year, RDF awards this medal

to an outstanding humanist who has
made a significant contribution to the
education and care of children. Previous awardees include Mother Teresa,
Albert Sabin (inventor of the oral polio
vaccine), and Swedish childrens writer
Astrid Lindgren.
RDF, which is the countrys first
public organisation for the protection
of children, was formed in September
1991. It currently has 74 regional offices actively working to provide social
assistance for needy children in Russia
in cooperation with public authorities,
businesses and other community organisations.
Brac, established in 1972, is a development organisation dedicated to
alleviating poverty by empowering the
poor, and helping to bring about positive changes in their lives by creating
opportunities for them.
So far its activities have touched
lives of an estimated 135 million people
all over the world. l

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed receiving the Leo Tolstoy International gold medal award
fromtheThe Russian Childrens Foundationsleader and famous writer Albert A Likhanov

Draft law approved

to rein in foreign
fund
n Tribune Report
The government has drafted a law
prohibiting receiving foreign contribution for political parties, judges of the
Supreme Court, parliament members,
officials and employees of the government and semi-government organisations and local government candidates.
The cabinet has given approval in
principle to the draft of the Foreign
Contributions (Voluntary Activities)
Regulation Act 2014 on Monday.
The approval has come in the regular
cabinet meeting held at the secretariat
with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in
the chair. Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after
the meeting.
Musharraf said the drafted law stipulated the registration and renewal of
the NGOs and it will ensure more transparency in receiving foreign contributions by NGOs as well as their activities.
The law has 22 sections. It clearly
mentioned that no NGO can function before registration with the NGO Bureau. In
case an individual, registration will not
be required, but approval is essential.
In the application for registration,
an organisation must clearly mention
the source of the fund and areas of
spending, he said.
The registration will be given for ten
years, however the government can
cancel the registration anytime in case
of violation of the law.
Besides, without approval of the
NGO Bureau, no NGO can take or implement any project. An NGO can appoint
a foreign expert or advisor taking security clearance from the home ministry.
The NGOs must maintain its accurate accounts and all foreign contributions should be deposited in a single
account in a bank.
Later, it could be transferred to the account of the project. Statement of the accounts of the foreign contributions must
be sent two times to Bangladesh Bank,
NGO bureau and ERD, the law stated.
Any violation of the law would be
considered as offense and punishment
will be applicable depending on the nature of the offense, the law included.
Till last April, 2013, a total of 2303
NGOs were registered with NGO Bureau since its commencement in 1990.
Out of those, 2070 NGOs are local and
233 are foreign, the cabinet secretary
mentioned. Total amount of disbursement by these NGOs is about Tk 50,000
crore, he added. l

Govt approves
work order for
Padma Bridge
n UNB
The government has approved the
work order for China Major Bridge Engineering Co Ltd for construction of the
much-talked-about Padma Multipurpose Bridge involving Tk12,133 crore.
Communications Minister Obaidul
Quader signed the notification of
award at his ministry yesterday.
While talking to reporters after signing the notification of award, Obaidul
Quader said with the approval of the
work order work on the much-hyped
bridge will begin any time.
He said the work order was given following the Cabinet Purchase Committees approval of the Chinese companys
tender proposal for the construction of
the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.
Stating that China Major Bridge Engineering Co Ltd was the pre-qualified
bidder of the World Bank, the minister said the main work on the Padma
Bridge will be done as per the design of
the World Bank.
Replying to a query, he said the company may begin their work from now
on but before beginning of the work a
contract will be signed very soon.
Responding to another question,
Obaidul Quader said the work order has
been given to the Chinese company maintaining all rules and regulations. We
hope the company will do their best.
On May 22, the Cabinet Purchase Committee approved the Chinese companys
tender proposal for the construction of
the 6.15-km bridge, the biggest-ever infrastructure project of the country.
As per terms and conditions of the
contract, the contractor will have to
complete the bridge construction work
within 1,460 days (4 years) from the
signing of the contract. The bridges
longevity will be 100 years.
The Padma Bridge project has been
a long standing issue for Bangladesh.
The donor agencies, including the
World Bank, Asian Development Bank
and the JICA, promised a loan of $1.9
billion for the project. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.
Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

B3 China accelerates as
euro zone stumbles

B4 Solar plane makes debut

with eye on global trip

TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Steps for banks good governance likely

Tax-free income
limit not for long
AMA Muhith may announce the steps in next fiscal budget
term
n Tribune Report

n Asif Showkat Kallol

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has

changed his previous stance about
setting a long-term tax-free income
ceiling, saying such step will not be
acceptable.
Muhith earlier hinted that the taxfree individual income limit would be
fixed for a 10-year term citing the example of the United States.
Continuation of a certain tax-free
ceiling for several years is not acceptable. So, we are not going to announce
any such thing in the upcoming budget, finance minister told the Dhaka
Tribune.
Currently, the tax-free income limit
for individual taxpayers is Tk2.20 lakh.
Muhith already announced it would
not be changed for the next fiscal year.
At the consultative committee
meeting of National Board of Revenue
held
recently,
finance
minister
asserted: The minimum limit for taxfree income is set for 10 years in the
USA. We will also fix a fresh ceiling
after discussion with Prime Minister
which will remain unchanged in next
10 years.
Meanwhile, finance ministry officials also said the tax-free ceiling
would not be changed at Tk2.20 lakh in
the coming fiscal.
They, however, said the tax-free
ceiling for female and senior citizens
aged over 65 years will be increased
from existing Tk250,000 to Tk275,000
and for physically challenged taxpayers from Tk300,000 to Tk350,000. The
tax-free limit for freedom fighters will
be set at Tk4 lakh.
Earlier, Federation of Bangladesh
Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FBCCI) proposed to raise the tax-free
income threshold for individuals to
Tk2.5 lakh in consistence with the increased living cost.
FBCCI cited that there was over
7% inflation rate in the current fiscal
year. So, the tax-free income limit is
not consistent with the inflation rate
and living cost of marginal taxpayers,
it said urging the government to re-fix
the ceiling. l

The next fiscal year budget speech may

include steps to establish good governance in the countrys banking sector,
said Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
In an interview with the Dhaka Tribune last week, he also said the government will allocate fund in the fiscal
for the state-owned banks to convert
their goodwill to capital.
The total fund is likely to be Tk5,000
crore as set by the development partners.
Muhith said the state banks have
faced huge provision shortfall due to
large credit scams in the recent years.
About the state-owned BASIC Bank,
finance minister thinks the management of the bank did a very bad
thing.
We will take action against the corrupt officials, whoever they are, there
will be political consideration.
Besides, finance minister alleged
that the banks disclosed less profit than
they actually made to dodge taxes.
During the interview, AMA Muhith
answered to different many other
questions which include investment,
social safety net, district budget, pension schemes for private employees
and reforms to monthly pay order of
private educational institutions.
He hoped large amounts of foreign
investment might come to the country
in the upcoming fiscal as some infrastructural bottlenecks have been removed.

BB allows agent
banking in rural
areas
n Tribune Report
Bangladesh
Bank
has
allowed
conducting agent banking activities
in
the
rural
areas,
including
municipalities, as it lifted the
restriction yesterday.
The restriction imposed on March
24 this year is still applicable in metropolitan or city corporation areas, according to a circular.
Only sharia-based banks could
provide islami banking services
at the agent banking levels. Agent
money will be brought under insurance coverage.
Every agent will have a current account with respective bank to conduct
the agent banking activities. The highest status limit of the account will be
Tk10 lakh.
Clients are allowed to deposit or
withdraw highest Tk25,000 in each
transaction (cash withdraw or cash deposit) and two times per day. But the
limit will not be applicable in case of
remittance withdrawal. l

He said social safety net would increase in the year.

Muhith differed with a present
newspaper article of Dr Mirza Azizul
Islam in which the former finance adviser of last caretaker government alleged such allocation was decreasing.
Its a bogus statement as we have
been raising the amounts every year.
Muhith also claimed that the coun-

trys woman citizens always get maximum benefits from the social safety
net programmes.
As more six district budgets will
be announced next fiscal, they are
expected to help the district administrations implement local development
projects more efficiently.
The district authorities will be able
to make better plans as they will have

ADB to invest $1bn every year

n Tribune Report
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has
promised to invest at least $1bn in Bangladesh every year mainly for infrastructure
development, Planning Minister AHM
Mustafa Kamal said in Dhaka yesterday.
This year ADB will invest $642m
and this figure might increase to $1bn,
he said, after a meeting with ADBs
new country director for Bangladesh

Kazuhiko Higuchi.
Higuchi said Bangladesh is close to
become a middle-income country, as it
has success story in many areas, including export-import business, removing
gender disparity, human resource development and social development.
Foreign investors have been showing keen interest to invest in Bangladesh, he said.
ADB has so far invested in 58 proj-

ects worth $15.8bn in Bangladesh in

the field of flood management, power
generation, improving rail line connectivity, improving irrigation system, risk
management and human resource development, according to the ADBs new
country director.
Investment will increase in Bangladesh from next year as ADB always
wants to remain as a development
partner of the country, he added. l

Remittance continues to fall as

manpower export drops
n Tribune Report

Remittance inflow continued to fall for

second consecutive month in May as
reflected in Bangladesh Bank data released yesterday.
Bankers said the fall is due to decline in manpower export to Middle
East a market from which Bangladesh
receives highest remittance.
The country received US$1.20bn of
remittance in May, marking a decline
from the previous months $1.23bn.
The remittance had dropped by 4.3%
in April from $1.27bn in March.
The remittance, however, rose
10.57% in May compared to $1bn in the
same month last year.
The major recruiting countries of
Bangladeshi workers in the Middle East
are now interested in only skilled female workers instead of male ones,
said a senior executive of Bangladesh
Manpower Export and Training (BMET).
The decline of manpower export in
the Middle East pulled down the remittance inflow, he said.

The total remittance inflow in 11

months (July to May) of the current fiscal year decreased by around 3.5% to
$12.92bn compared to $13.40bn in the
same period of the previous fiscal year.
Remittance inflows from the Middle Eastern countries dropped by 12%
in the last 10 months (July to April) of
the current fiscal year due to the fall in
manpower export and the political unrest over January 5 polls, bankers said.
The country received $6.92bn in
remittance during July to April period
of 2013-14 compared to $7.87bn in the
same period last fiscal year.
Of the remittance received in May,
$371.13m came through state-owned
commercial banks, $15.32m through
specialised banks, $801.61m through
private commercial banks and $14.11m
through foreign commercial banks.
Overseas employment decreased by
10.73% in January-March period, according to the statistics of BMET.
A total of 96,068 workers went
abroad with jobs from January to
March of the current year against

1,07,626 people during the same period last year, showing a decline of
11,567 overseas employment in three
months.
BMET also recorded that about four
lakh workers, including male and female, got overseas jobs from January
to December in 2013 against over six
lakh workers in 2012.
Of the Middle Eastern countries,
remittance inflow from Kingdom of
Saudi Arab decreased to $2.58bn in
July to April period of the current fiscal
year compared to $3.35bn in the same
period of the last fiscal year, followed
by UAE $2.21bn compared to $2.41bn,
Qatar $210m compared to $247m and
Oman $564m compared to $511m.
Of the Western countries, remittance inflow from USA increased by
24% to $1.91bn in the first 10 months
of the current fiscal year compared to
$1.54bn in the same period of the last
fiscal year while the country receiving
$757.80m remittance from the United Kingdom (UK) in the same period,
which is 12% down from $851.26m. l

New IMF credit under plan to keep Taka stable

n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government plans to sign another loan deal with International Monetary Fund after the end of the current
Extended Credit Facility fund instalments, which aims to maintain strong
local currency against US dollar.
All seven instalments under the ECF
will be paid by middle of next year.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith admitted such plan while talking to the
Dhaka Tribune during his last week
tour of his home city Sylhet.
We are looking for another credit from the IMF once ECF loan programme completes in mid-2015, he
said.
Another loan plan comes amid fear
that the local currency might face trouble as big amounts of the greenback

would be used for Padma bridge construction in next couple of years.

Over the last several months, the
local currency has remained stable being driven by the greenback purchase
from the local market, said a finance
ministry official who deals with cash
and debt management.
But local currency and balance of
payment might weaken due to the use
of US dollar in great deal during Padma
bridge construction.
To avoid devaluation of Taka,
the country needs another exchange
rate support after the end of the ECF
instalment payments, the official said.
In its latest report on Bangladesh
Economy 2014, Center for Policy Dialogue stressed that Bangladesh Bank
would need to carefully examine the
likely pressure on foreign exchange to

maintain stability as implementation

of mega projects are ahead.
According to Bangladesh Bank data,
US dollar is now traded for Tk77.63
compared to Tk81.90 in 2012, which
exposed the current strength of the
dollar.
IMF approved $987m loan to
Bangladesh in April, 2012 under
the ECF programme to help the
country overcome its macroeconomic
pressures.
The global lender has already provided four of seven instalments of the
fund. Finance Minister said fifth instalment of $141m has been approved by
the IMF board on Friday.
The remaining two instalments are
expected to be given without delay.
Our macroeconomic status was
good and stable in last last five years

despite political turmoil. We hope the

last two ECF instalments will arrive by
the stipulated time, Muhith said.
The ECF currently carries zero rate of interest
and the loan is to be repaid
within 10 years.
Meanwhile, the countrys foreign exchange reserves exceeded $20bn
in April from $19.29bn in
March. Bangladesh got the
IMF credit support after a
period of long nine years.
The ECF provides a
higher level of access to financing, more concessional
terms, enhanced flexibility
in programme design and
more focused and streamlined conditionality. l

WTO DG
arrives today
n Tribune Report

clearer knowledge of the projects, explained finance minister.

The district administrations can
also take new projects like education
and fisheries sectors.
Muhith said he would bring reforms
to the present MPO system in the next
fiscal year.
Fund for MPO will not only be
used for teachers, but also for improving quality of education and construction of educational institutions.
Besides, Muhith said the government will introduce pension system for
private sector setting a rule of thumb
in a bid to safeguard the well-being of
the retirees. A project will be taken in
this regard, he said.
Muhith said the government will
enhance earning from the value added
tax as earning from the customs declines due to relaxation of import policy under the WTO rules.
If the government makes the VAT
system popular among businessmen,
it will reduce the tax evasions.
About gross domestic product,
Muhith believes the growth that has
remained hovering around 6% will be
better if the administration is decentralised.
If the local economic authority is
given to the local government, there
will be more contribution to the countrys GDP.
He reiterated that there will be no
chance of of whitening black money
but the money can be legalised paying
10% tax as per law. l

World Trade Organisation Director

General Roberto Azevedo arrives in
Dhaka today on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to discuss implementation of
the Bali Package with the government
of Bangladesh.
It will be the second visit by any
WTO director general in two years as
former DG Pascal Lamy visited Dhaka
in 2012.
Azevedo is scheduled to hold a
meeting with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed at his office at Bangladesh
Secretariat at 3pm today, according to
a commerce ministry. He is also scheduled to visit to Square Pharmaceuticals
and Beximco Textile Mill in Gazipur tomorrow morning.
The visit at the invitation of Bangladesh is important as the country would
raise the issues of implementation of
the package adopted after hectic negotiation at the ninth ministerial conference of WTO in Bali, Indonesia in
December last year.
The agreement allows the least developed countries like Bangladesh to
get duty-free quota-free market access
in an expanded manner.
There are some countries which
have not yet provided duty-free market access completely to the LDCs and
the Bali Package urged them to expand
the coverage before the next WTO ministerial meeting.
Bangladesh enjoys duty-free market access to European Union, Canada,
Australia, Japan and some other
B3 COLUMN 6

Planning minister defends

official FY14 GDP estimate
as CPD raises question
n Tribune Report
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal
has defended the GDP growth recently estimated by Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics (BBS) for the outgoing fiscal
year as he criticised Centre for Policy
Dialogue (CPD) for its analysis on assumption and incomplete data.
CPD has no complete data. It
comes up with analysis on assumption.
In many cases, this might be correct or
not, said the minister, in response to
a question while briefing on outcome

of the meeting with ADBs new country

director for Bangladesh Kazuhiko Higuchi in Dhaka yesterday.
His reaction came a day after the
local think tank CPD raising questions
about the 6.12% economic growth projected by BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics) for the outgoing fiscal year.
He said it is BBS not CPD that has
complete data on GDP. Highlighting
some statistics that keep contribution
in the GDP growth, Kamal hoped CPDs
confusion will be removed after ana
B3 COLUMN 3

JS watchdog for BTCL

and Teletalk merger
n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Parliamentary standing committee on

Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology ministry yesterday
discussed about merger of two stateowned telecommunication companies
Teletalk and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited.
A committee member placed the
issue, but no formal recommendation
was made, Imran Ahmad, Chairman
of the committee, told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting at Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban.
It, however, proposed to rethink the
offer and invited a formal proposal.
Meeting sources said committee
member Mouazzam Hossain Ratan, a
former staff of BTCL, placed the issue
at the meeting and said: Both the
companies are owned by the government, then why we allow double expenses for them? We can merge them
and they can become a stronger contributor.

Earlier, the watchdog during the

last parliament made same recommendation, when present Information
Minister Hasanul Haque Inu was the
chairman of the committee.
Meeting sources said the committee
members also expressed their dissatisfaction over Teletalks service as they
said the lone government owned mobile phone operator could not create
any impact on the market and the network is irritating.
Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Abdul
Latif Siddique said the secretary of the
ministry became the chairman of Teletalk, BTCL or other companies under
the ministry, which is not logical.
Committee members also observed
that it was a wrong decision to separate Teletalk from the then Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board
(BTTB).
Teletalk currently have around
33 lakh subscribers while BTCL have
around 9 lakh. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stock

Stocks end flat

with volatility
n Tribune Report

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features

June 2, 2014

Number of Contract

Share price of Wata Chemicals

that was brought back to the main
market from the OTC market recently jumped over 8% following
its corporate declaration of 30%
stock dividend.
IDLC Investments said in absence of any directional movement,
investors were in sell-off mode in
large number of scrips.
On the other hand, it said, as
the deposit rates of the banks and
financial institutions were coming down, it was much expected
that the investable fund may flow
to capital market investment on a
risk-adjusted basis.
Market level overvaluation was
not permitting much room for capital market investment, it said, adding that amid such situation, a large
number of stakeholders kept their
attention to the upcoming national
budget.
Lanka Bangla Securuties said
positive sentiment was also
generated by news that following
relaxation of capital market refinancing fund, merchant banks
and brokerage houses have shown
interest for fund disbursement
and ICB will apply for installment
of next Tk600 crore re-financing
scheme.
Losers, however, took a strong
lead over the gainers as out of 297
issues traded, 190 declined, 80 advanced and 27 closed unchanged. l

Stocks ended flat in volatile trade

yesterday, as late profit booking
mainly on large cap issues cut early
gains.
The benchmark index DSEX
inched down 1 points to close at
4,447, hitting highest 4,485 in the
mid-session. It gained 18 points in
the previous session.
The blue chips DS30 gained 12
points or 0.8% to 1,007. The Shariah index DSES rose 4 points or 0.4%
to 1,007.
Chittagong Stock Exchange
(CSE) Selective Categories Index,
CSCX, was up 19 points to settle at
8,486.
Participation in trading increased as the total turnover at
DSE crossed Tk400 crore mark after four sluggish weeks. It stood at
Tk432 crore, which was 15% higher
over the previous session.
After witnessing several dull
sessions, multinational companies
have staged comeback strongly.
Significant strength was also visible in pharmaceuticals, telecommunication and food and allied
stocks, which rallied 2.8%, 2.2%
and 1.6% in market capitalisation
respectively.
All other major sectors edged
higher except the financial sectors
banks and non-banking financial institutions that declined marginally.

Company

Turnover
(Million Taka)

4,324.98

Turnover
(Volume)

70,595,615
83,532

Traded Issues

297

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

88

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

205

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

2,305.45

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

27.94

CSE key features

June 2, 2014
Turnover (Million Taka)

1,088.00

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights

8,419,105

Number of Contract

9,657

DSE Broad Index :

4447.45974

(-) 0.03%

Traded Issues

217

DSE Shariah Index :

1007.01149

(+) 0.38%

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

69

DSE - 30 Index :

1638.46595

(+) 0.76%

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

141

CSE All Share Index:

13706.96390

(+) 0.09%

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

CSE - 30 Index :

11257.29290

(+) 0.87%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

2,201.18

8486.93510

(+) 0.22%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

26.68

CSE Selected Index :

DSE LOSERS
Company
EBL NRB M.F.-A
8th ICB M F-A
Eastern Lubricants -A
AIMS First -A
Prime Bank 1st MF-A
Grameen M F One-A
ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A
Shampur Sugar -Z

Bay Leasing.-A
Global Insurance -A

-10.00
-7.91
-6.02
-6.00
-5.88
-5.52
-5.45
-5.41

Average (%
change)
-10.00
-8.01
-3.55
-4.67
-4.44
-4.14
-4.95
-4.59

-5.41
-5.39

-5.11
-4.81

Closing (%
change)

CSE LOSERS

Sonargaon Tex -Z
Grameen M F One-A
Safko Spinning-A
AIMS First -A
Bay Leasing.-A
ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A
Samorita Hospital -A
Delta SpinnersA

-10.00
-7.61
-7.17
-6.67
-5.73
-5.71
-5.26
-4.50

Average (%
change)
-10.00
-4.76
-7.22
-5.92
-5.49
-5.71
-4.26
-3.30

Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A

S. Alam CR Steel -A

-3.98
-3.75

-4.82
-3.80

Company

Closing (%
change)

ANALYST

Closing
average

Closing

Bank
NBFI
Investment
Engineering
Food & Allied
Fuel & Power
Jute
Textile
Pharma & Chemical
Paper & Packaging
Service
Leather
Ceramic
Cement
Information Technology
General Insurance
Life Insurance
Telecom
Travel & Leisure
Miscellaneous
Debenture

DSE
Million Taka
334.43
66.01
78.87
372.96
226.62
558.77
3.26
360.21
986.10
0.37
50.45
66.21
8.96
323.62
18.29
44.93
151.56
568.38
51.79
52.92
0.29

Turnover
in million

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

6.30
66.50
505.12
38.39
4.95
41.87
19.20
7.06

6.30
66.40
496.70
37.60
4.80
41.10
19.10
7.00

6.30
68.00
521.00
40.20
5.20
43.90
19.50
7.30

6.30
65.30
489.00
37.00
4.80
40.80
18.90
7.00

0.006
0.399
3.056
11.858
1.558
20.494
0.480
0.036

0.47
7.96
6.95
5.00
0.73
3.40
2.33
-61.36

13.4
8.4
72.7
7.7
6.8
12.3
8.2
-ve

24.88
22.95

24.50
22.80

25.80
24.10

23.60
22.00

4.531
1.287

1.44
2.96

Wata Chemicals -A
ICB Islamic Bank-Z
Al-Haj Textile -A
Ambee Pharma -A
Reckitt Benckiser -A
Stylecraft -A
Desh Garments -B
Midas Financing-Z
Progressive Life-A
Rahim Textile -A

Closing (%
change)
714.55
10.00
9.76
7.99
6.17
6.08
5.20
5.11
4.48
4.17

CSE GAINERS
Company
Wata Chemicals -A
Rangpur Foundry -A
EXIM Bank 1 MF-A
Meghna Life Ins. -A
Padma Islami Life*-N
BDCOM Online-A
Marico BD Ltd-A
GreenDeltaInsu -A
H.R. Textile -A
Apex Tannery -A

Closing (%
change)
164.93
8.60
7.14
7.12
6.87
5.71
5.69
5.40
5.26
3.78

Average (%
change)
558.43
14.64
5.26
2.95
6.74
5.85
3.08
4.23
4.32
2.07
Average (%
change)
225.54
8.61
4.71
7.12
5.74
5.71
5.69
11.77
5.26
4.23

Closing
average
393.74
5.48
134.61
342.74
1,154.00
1,130.00
114.78
18.50
123.53
324.07

Closing
average
436.22
106.11
7.33
123.30
66.14
22.20
1162.57
84.39
30.00
154.46

Closing
487.10
5.50
138.30
359.70
1,159.70
1,131.60
117.30
18.50
123.60
329.40

Closing
355.00
106.10
7.50
123.30
66.90
22.20
1162.60
87.90
30.00
153.80

Daily high
515.00
5.50
138.60
361.00
1,160.10
1,133.30
118.40
18.50
129.00
335.00

Daily high
500.00
107.40
7.50
123.30
66.90
22.20
1168.70
87.90
30.00
157.20

Daily low
160.00
5.30
115.00
326.00
1,136.90
1,130.00
112.00
18.50
117.50
317.10

Daily low
350.00
104.90
7.00
123.30
65.50
22.20
1150.00
77.00
30.00
150.60

Turnover
in million
119.474
2.326
56.036
25.414
1.731
0.226
19.192
0.056
1.270
3.826

Turnover
in million
0.785
0.584
0.011
0.086
0.102
0.022
0.349
0.025
0.060
2.301

Latest
EPS
9.80
-1.12
2.00
3.20
41.12
47.83
0.96
-6.91
2.30
11.16

Latest
EPS
9.80
3.08
0.71
6.45
1.10
1.43
43.99
3.00
1.62
4.35

Latest
PE
40.2
-ve
67.3
107.1
28.1
23.6
119.6
-ve
53.7
29.0

Latest
PE
44.5
34.5
10.3
19.1
60.1
15.5
26.4
28.1
18.5
35.5

News from trade server

WATACHEM: The Board of Directors has
recommended 30% stock dividend for the
year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of
AGM: 27.06.2014, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue:
Factory Premises at Murapara, Rupgonj,
Narayangonj. Record Date: 11.06.2014.
The Company has also reported net
profit after tax of Tk. 29.78 million, EPS
of Tk. 6.13, NAV per share of Tk. 119.82
and NOCFPS of Tk. 10.99 for the year
ended on December 31, 2013 as against
Tk. 20.00 million, Tk. 4.12 (restated), Tk.
110.86 (restated) and Tk. 0.63 (restated)
respectively for the year ended on December 31, 2012.
AFCAGRO: National Credit Ratings
Limited (NCR) has announced the rating of
the Company as "A" in the long term and
"ST-2" in the short term based on audited
financial statements of the Company up to
December 31, 2013.
GRAMEEN1: Grameen Fund, the Trustee
of Grameen Mutual Fund One, is pleased
to call an Unit holders' meeting on
June 26, 2014 at 11:00 AM at Samarai
Convention Center, 23/G/7 Panthopath,
Dhaka to discuss and vote on the options

of Liquidation/Redemption, Extension or
Conversion of the Fund on maturity as per
SEC (Mutual Fund Rules) 2001 and other
related matters. The current tenure of the
fund is due to mature on June 30, 2015 i.e.
one year from now. The Record Date is on
June 11, 2014 to participate in the meeting
and receive the necessary documents in
this regard.
INTECH: (Basis for Qualified Opinion):
The auditor of the company has given
the following Basis for Qualified Opinion
in the audit report of the company for
the year ended on 31 December 2013:
"Basis for Qualified Opinion" 1.0 The
company has recognised "revenue from
operations" amounting to Tk. 33,642,462
which represents revenue from related
parties as in Note-2.13. No amount was
recovered from Trade Receivables so created. The balance of Trade Receivables
stood at Tk. 69,593,867 as on 31 December 2013 as against Tk. 29,850,334
as on 31 December 2012. Therefore, the
capability to run the company as going
concern is dependent on realization of
these Trade Receivables. 2.0 The compa-

ny does not maintain Beneficiaries Profit

Participation Fund by set a siding net
profit year to year as required by Labour
Laws of the country. 3.0 The closing balance of cash in hand was Tk. 4,538,053
as on 31 December 2013, which appears
to be abnormally high. We were not provided with any cash custody certificate
by the management. 4.0 We could not
verify quantity, quality and existence
of inventory of Tk. 5,524,500 as on 31
December 2013. The provisions for BAS-2
(Inventories) have not been followed for
valuation of inventory.
TAKAFULINS: The Company has
informed that Mr. Md. Abul Hashem has
been elected as the Chairman and Mr.
Md. Mofiz Uddin as Vice Chairman of the
Company for the next term.
Primary Status of IPO: Tung Hai Knitting
and Dyeing Limited: All concerned are
hereby informed that the primary status
of the IPO of Tung Hai Knitting and Dyeing
Limited: Total amount of subscription
(excluding NRB) is Tk.8,335,829,975.
Total amount received from NRB is Tk.
30,659,056 up to 22 May 2014.

17.3
7.8

Closing
average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover
in million

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

8.10
42.40
20.68
38.12
24.98
19.80
90.00
19.33

8.10
41.30
20.70
37.80
24.70
19.80
90.00
19.10

8.10
44.00
20.70
40.40
25.50
19.80
90.00
20.20

8.10
41.30
20.60
37.60
24.10
19.80
90.00
18.80

0.008
1.124
0.041
1.601
0.164
0.020
0.090
0.963

-0.92
3.40
1.08
5.00
1.44
2.33
2.20
0.55

-ve
12.5
19.1
7.6
17.3
8.5
40.9
35.1

24.47
33.94

24.10
33.40

25.30
34.50

23.90
33.20

7.316
1.239

4.64
1.90

5.3
17.9

All other major sectors edged higher except

the financial sectors banks and non-banking
financial institutions that declined marginally

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company
Grameenphone-A
Meghna Petroleum -A
GlaxoSK (BD) -A
Square Pharma -A
LafargeS Cement-Z
Wata Chemicals -A
Mercantile Bank -A

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

Sector

Daily high

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

% change
7.73
1.53
1.82
8.62
5.24
12.92
0.08
8.33
22.80
0.01
1.17
1.53
0.21
7.48
0.42
1.04
3.50
13.14
1.20
1.22
0.01

Million Taka
21.03
6.94
5.01
28.10
10.19
445.86
28.19
303.37
9.35
1.24
165.83
0.88
21.79
2.17
0.51
8.74
39.34
9.31
8.04
0.02

CSE

% change
1.88
0.62
0.45
2.52
0.91
39.95
0.00
2.53
27.19
0.84
0.11
14.86
0.08
1.95
0.19
0.05
0.78
3.53
0.83
0.72
0.00

Million Taka
355.46
72.95
83.88
401.06
236.81
1004.63
3.26
388.41
1289.47
9.72
51.69
232.04
9.84
345.40
20.47
45.45
160.29
607.72
61.10
60.96
0.31

Total

% change
6.53
1.34
1.54
7.37
4.35
18.46
0.06
7.14
23.70
0.18
0.95
4.26
0.18
6.35
0.38
0.84
2.95
11.17
1.12
1.12
0.01

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and
audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility
if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

Delta Life Insu. -A

HeidelbergCement -A
BSRM Steels-A

Olympic Ind. -A
BD Submarine Cable-A
Padma Oil Co. -A
Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A
Active Fine Chem.-A
CSE TURNOVER LEADERS
Company
Meghna Petroleum -A

Square Pharma -A
Bata Shoe Ltd. -A
Grameenphone-A
LafargeS Cement-Z
BD Submarine Cable-A
Delta Life Insu. -A
Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A
UNITED AIR-A
BSRM Steels-A
Padma Oil Co. -A
Hwa Well Textiles-N
Appollo Ispat CL -N
HeidelbergCement -A
National Bank - B

Volume
shares
1,730,986
985,174
153,100
733,652
2,083,500
303,430
6,094,327
482,650
183,650
1,071,875

345,320
421,794
232,026
2,710,000
895,997

Volume
shares

1,524,887
1,035,802
150,600
98,800
167,000
61,215
37,500
299,000
615,260
78,710
18,339
122,500
182,000
8,700
390,235

Value in
million
489.48
277.32
267.22
202.77
168.15
119.47
114.88
100.77
96.24
82.49

81.04
78.90
76.47
66.05
62.15

Value in
million

427.02
282.91
153.62
27.89
13.48
11.45
7.81
7.32
6.82
6.08
6.02
4.93
4.91
4.55
4.27

% of total
turnover
11.32
6.41
6.18
4.69
3.89
2.76
2.66
2.33
2.23
1.91

1.87
1.82
1.77
1.53
1.44

% of total
turnover

39.42
26.11
14.18
2.57
1.24
1.06
0.72
0.68
0.63
0.56
0.56
0.46
0.45
0.42
0.39

Daily
closing
281.70
282.90
1768.00
277.30
80.30
487.10
18.80
205.60
528.30
76.30

234.60
185.70
333.60
23.90
68.90

Daily
closing

284.20
278.50
1036.20
281.40
80.40
186.10
205.80
24.10
11.00
76.40
332.90
40.70
26.80
527.10
10.90

Price
change
2.29
1.65
1.29
3.05
-2.31
714.55
2.17
2.49
1.71
-2.55

Daily
opening
275.40
278.30
1745.40
269.10
82.20
59.80
18.40
200.60
519.40
78.30

Price
change

Daily
opening

0.17
1.36
3.25
-4.78
2.23

2.08
3.45
2.19
2.07
-2.31
1.69
1.93
-3.98
-0.90
-2.43
2.68
0.00
-2.19
0.75
0.93

234.20
183.20
323.10
25.10
67.40

278.40
269.20
1014.00
275.70
82.30
183.00
201.90
25.10
11.10
78.30
324.20
40.70
27.40
523.20
10.80

Daily
high
290.00
285.90
1784.90
280.00
82.80
515.00
19.00
215.00
533.90
81.00

Daily
low
265.00
260.00
1740.00
260.00
79.80
160.00
16.60
203.00
508.00
73.00

Daily
average
282.78
281.50
1745.38
276.39
80.71
393.74
18.85
208.79
524.03
76.96

Daily
high

Daily
low

Daily
average

236.40
189.40
335.00
25.40
70.50

285.50
279.90
285.50
83.00
189.40
214.00
25.30
11.30
79.00
333.90
41.00
27.50
532.00
11.50

221.00
165.80
303.00
23.70
65.00

278.00
271.00
1007.00
278.00
80.00
185.00
203.00
23.90
10.90
76.10
324.80
39.50
26.80
519.10
9.80

234.68
187.06
329.57
24.37
69.37

280.04
273.13
1020.06
282.27
80.70
187.02
208.38
24.47
11.08
77.21
328.34
40.26
27.00
522.96
10.95

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

China accelerates as euro zone stumbles

n Reuters
Signs of an economic revival in China
have raised hopes that Beijings targeted measures to bolster growth are having an impact but a slowdown in the
euro zone will increase expectations of
policy easing there.
Chinese factory activity expanded at
the fastest pace in five months in May
but euro zone manufacturing growth
slowed more than initially thought, fuelling expectations that the European
Central Bank will ease policy this week.
The Chinese numbers were fractionally higher. We are beginning to make
some progress but it is consistent with
this story that the Chinese economy is
not going to grow as fast as it has in the
past, said Peter Dixon at Commerzbank.
The European numbers were in and
around the ballpark. Its not the kind of
data the ECB is going to react to instantly but it is part of a bigger puzzle that
says we need more growth in Europe.
US manufacturing growth probably
accelerated in May, a report from the
Institute for Supply Management (ISM)
is expected to show later on Monday.
Markits final Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the
euro zone slipped to a six-month low of
52.2 in May from Aprils 53.4 as strong
figures from Germany failed to offset a
contraction in activity in France.
The final number was below the initial reading of 52.5 but held above the
50 mark that separates growth from
contraction for the 11th straight month.
A subindex measuring output sank to
54.3 from 56.5, weaker than the initial
reading of 54.7.
The slowdown in euro zone manufacturing activity in May reinforces belief that the ECB will deliver a package of
measures at its 5 June policy meeting,
said Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight.
To spur growth, boost lending and
drive up inflation the ECB is widely expected to cut its deposit rate to below
zero, reduce its main borrowing rate and
launch a refinancing operation aimed at
businesses when it meets on Thursday.
Inflation in the 18 nations using the
euro is predicted to have held steady at
just 0.7% in May, well within the ECBs
danger zone of below 1% and also below its preferred 2% ceiling.

n Tribune Report

Stocks of Wata Chemicals Ltd yesterday saw a price hike of 715% to close
at Tk487 each at the Dhaka Stock Exchange as there was no price limit following its corporate deceleration.
The board has recommended 30%
stock dividend for the year ended on
December 31, 2013.
Total value of the traded stocks of
the company stood at Tk11.9 crore,
making up 2.8% of the total trade at the
prime bourse.
Wata Chemical Ltd has been transferred from over-the-market to the
DSEs main trading platform on May 15.
Since beginning the trade in the
main market, its stocks were not exchange hands as the offered buying
price failed to satisfy the seller.

The company has also

reported a net profit
after tax of Tk3 crore
during 2013 while it had
made Tk2 crore in 2012

A labourer paints antirust oil on vehicle at a factory in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province
A key measure of German inflation,
due later on Monday, is expected to
have fallen in May.
Germany is Europes largest economy and again supported the tepid
overall growth but in France, the blocs
second-largest, the PMI sank back below the 50 mark after just two months
of expansion.
In non-euro using Britain manufacturing activity kept expanding at
a rapid pace in May, suggesting the
economic recovery has lost little of its
shine this quarter.
The reassuring Chinese factory data
and another record high for Wall Street

HSBCs Asia Pacific chief

arrives in Dhaka today
n Tribune Business Desk
The head of international Asia Pacific at
HSBC, Jayant Rikhye is to arrive today
and had planned to stay in Bangladesh
for the next couple of days.
He is also the head of strategy and
planning at HSBC Asia Pacific.
Jayant Rikhye will be meeting colleagues from Bangladesh and a number
of key HSBC clients and stakeholders,
said a press release.
The head of international Asia
Pacific has direct responsibility for
over 12 markets in Asia, comprising
Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan,

Wata stocks skyrockets at 715%

Korea, Mauritius, New Zealand,

Philippines,
Sri
Lanka,
Taiwan,
Thailand and Vietnam.
Jayant Rikhye joined the HSBC
Group in 1989 in India. l

lifted world stocks and commodities

on Monday, although markets are waiting to see how far the ECB will go with
policy easing plans.

Stronger china

Chinas official PMI, which is geared towards bigger, state-owned firms, rose to
50.8 in May, from Aprils 50.4, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday, beating market expectations of 50.6.
Recent
pro-growth
measures,
which were stepped-up further last
Friday, may have lent a helping hand
here, said Nikolaus Keis at UniCredit.
Chinas manufacturing data bol-

stered market expectations that the

worlds second-largest economy is regaining strength as the governments
pro-growth measures kick in.
Beijing stepped up policy fine-tuning in recent weeks and has unveiled
a slew of measures this year to help
shore up the economy, which dipped
to an 18-month low in the first quarter
and is on track to post the weakest annual showing in 24 years.
Chinas cabinet announced new easing measures on Friday to help lower
funding costs and reduce operating burdens for companies to give more support
for the real economy, adding to moves

REUTERS

that included hastening construction of

railways and public housing.
In South Korea, Asias fourth-largest
economy and one of the leading manufacturing and export powerhouses, the
HSBC/Markit manufacturing gauge slid
below 50 while trade data showed exports fell.
In India, the manufacturing PMI
edged up but came in slightly below
the median forecast in a Reuters poll.
Indonesias PMI surged to a record high
but hopes were tempered after its trade
balance slipped back into deficit in
April after two consecutive months of
surpluses. l

Planning minister defends official FY14 GDP

B1 COLUMN 6

lysing the data provided by BBS.

Pointing fingers at the CPDs surprise on service sector growth in the
outgoing fiscal year, he said service
sector has enough reason to grow.
In the last six months, export grew
19.96%, agriculture sector 3.5% and
import 7.5%.
About the transport sector, the
main sub-sector of the service sector, he said growth of bus, truck and
auto-rickshaw increased by 2.2%,
5.8% and 9.6% respectively, which has
given an impetus on service sector
growth.
Fees and commissions in the banking sector has also increased by 13%
and 20% this year compared to the

previous year, and dearness allowance

of government officials and employees
also contributed to the GDP growth in
this fiscal year, he said.
Besides, a number of community
clinics and registered primary schools
have also increased, keeping positive
impact on GDP growth.
According to the CPD, the GDP
growth projected by the BBS was
shown so high at a time when the economy went through turbulent political
stage atmosphere in the first half of the
fiscal year 2014.
Many analysts including the World
Bank and the Asian Development Bank
expected the economic growth in FY14
to be between 5.5% and 6% in view of
political unrest in the first half of the

fiscal year.
The CPD in January 2014 had also
predicted that the GDP growth rate in
FY14 would be ranging between 5.6%
and 5.8%.
CPD had said the BBS estimated that
the service sector worst sufferer during political unrest grew by 5.8% in
FY14 against 5.5% in FY13.
This is quite surprising that the
service sector grew by 0.3% over its
previous fiscal when the political field
was relatively peaceful, it said.
The service sector that contributed
more than 50% of the total GDP was
adversely affected due to restive political programmes in the run up to
the national election on January 5 this
year, according to the CPD. l

The companys annual general meeting

will be held on June 27 at 11am at Factory ground at Murapara, Rupganj in
Narayangonj.
Record date of the declared stock
dividend has been fixed on June 11.
However, most investors were unhappy for not getting the companys financial insights both on DSE server and
its website. Its website is currently not
functioning.
The company has also reported a net
profit after tax of Tk3 crore during 2013
while it had made Tk2 crore in 2012.
Its yearly earnings per share in 2013
is equal to 1.3% of the currently traded
price of the company, which is far below the on-going fixed deposit rates offered in banks.
The net asset value each share of
the company is equal to Tk119.82 as of
last year, which has been questioned
by several analysts who failed to draw
conclusions due to unavailability of
sufficient information on the company. l

WTO DG arrives
B1 COLUMN 6

countries. The US being single biggest

export destination provides the trade
concession to 97% of the products from
Bangladesh, but the countrys main export earner readymade garments is not
entitled to enjoy the facility till now.
A roadmap has been declared to
implement the expansion of the greater
market access and the WTO is working
on the issue, Ahmed said.
In accordance with the Bali Package,
members of the developed and developing countries that do not yet provide
full duty-free and quota-free market
access for products originating in LDCs
shall seek to improve their existing duty-free and quota-free coverage for such
products, so as to provide increasingly
greater market access to LDCs, prior to
the next ministerial conference.
Azevdo is the sixth Director-General of the WTO and his appointment
took effect on September 1 last year for
a four-year term. l

Double A supports
Shishu Polli Plus
n Tribune Business Desk
Double A has recently pledged to support Shishu Polli Plus, a purpose built
rehabilitation village for children and
their mothers, with one year supply
of paper and shoulder the computer
training of the children.
Jinnat Knitwears Ltd, a company of DBL Group has recently won CPI2-Top Factory Award
2013-14 for its excellent engagement and performance on reducing energy consumption.
The award was given on June 1 at BGMEA Complex in Dhaka. BGMEA Chairprerson Atiqul
Islam and Norbert of CPI2 were present at the ceremon

Walton Mobile Phone Distributors showroom named Walton Mobile Smart Zone was
inaugurated at Fakirapool in the capital city. Ilias Kanchan, famous film actor and the
companys executive director launched the showroom

We are pleased to take part in

helping the underprivileged children of Bangladesh, by giving
them the basic paper needs and
vocational training for their own
welfare, said Thirawit Leetavorn,
the companys senior executive vice
president. l

Standard Bank Training Institute recently held a certificate awarding ceremony of the
course on foundation of banking for the banks probationary senior officer. MamunUr-Rashid, managing director (current charge) distributed the certificates among the
participants as chief guest

Trust Bank Limited recently held its 15th meeting of its Shariah supervisory committee
at the banks head office. The committees chair Dr Mufti Muhammad Abdullah presided
over the meeting

Shwapno, a retail chain recently launched its 46th outlet at Gopibagh in Dhaka. The outlet
was inaugurated by Abu Naser, chief of operations at ACI Logistics Ltd

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Solar plane makes debut

with eye on global trip
n AFP, Payerne
A sun-powered plane made a successful test flight yesterdat, clearing a vital
hurdle towards its goal of a round-theworld trip next year, its pilot and mission chiefs said.
Solar Impulse 2 carried out a flight
lasting two hours and 15 minutes, half
an hour longer than scheduled, German test pilot Markus Scherdel said.
Everything worked as expected,
Scherdel told a press conference at an
air base in Payerne, central Switzerland.
Of course, we have to do more testing, but its a good start and Im looking
forward to flying the airplane the next
time.
Built from carbon fibre, the
2.3-tonne plane has four 17.5-horsepower electrical motors powered by
17,248 solar cells studding its fuselage
and 72-metre (234-feet) wingspan - as
long as that of an Airbus A380.
It is the successor of Solar Impulse,
a record-breaking craft that in 2010
notched up a 26-hour flight, proving its
ability to store enough power in lithium batteries during the day to keep flying at night.
The forerunner was put through its
paces in Europe, crossed the Mediterranean to reach Morocco and traversed
the United States last year without using a drop of fossil fuel.
120-hour flight
The goal with Solar Impulse 2 is to
fly non-stop for more than 120 hours five days and five nights - enabling it to
cross the Pacific and Atlantic legs of its
global mission.
The operation in March 2015 will
circle the globe eastwards, making numerous stops on the way.
It will start in the Gulf, to benefit from
the Middle Easts low-cloud conditions.
The plane will head over the Arabian
Sea to India, Myanmar and China, then
cross the Pacific Ocean, the United
States, the Atlantic, southern Europe

German test pilot Markus Scherdel steers the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft for its maiden flight at its base in Payerne on June
2. The aircraft, which was unveiled on April 9, 2014 weighs 2.4 tons with a wingspan of 72 meter and more than 17,000 solar cells. The
attempt to fly around the world in stages using only solar energy will be made in 2015
AFP
and finally North Africa before returning to its point of departure.
Speed at night will be limited to 46
kilometres (28.75 miles) per hour to
prevent the batteries from being run
down too quickly.
The pilot sits on a business class
seat where he can take short naps,
although lavatory conditions are described as basic.
He will be helped by a virtual copilot that will wake him up and report
back any problems to mission control
in Switzerland. The masterminds of the
project are Bertrand Piccard, the scion
of a dynasty of Swiss scientists-cum-

adventurers, and Andre Borschberg, a

former Swiss airforce pilot.
Piccard made history in 1999 by becoming the first person to fly around
the world in a hot-air balloon.
He and Borschberg founded Solar
Impulse a dozen years ago, frustrated
with traditional airplane makers who
refused to take them seriously.
The pair argued that more efficient
solar cells and batteries, coupled with
ultra-light materials, could make a sunpowered plane a reality, even at night.
This is really an experimental project of exploration, so everything is
new, Piccard said on Monday.

We have to jump into the unknown

at every moment, and today was one of
these moments, where the first plane
that should fly around the world next
year had to be tested, fully tested, and
I think for Andre and myself it was an
incredible emotion.
Borschberg said the test flight was
a very important step.
Our goal is to fly around the world
next year, and we needed an airplane
able to travel the first step, a flying
laboratory.
This airplane will travel many days
and many nights over the ocean, so its
a big step up from the first one. l

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Samsung to launch
first Tizen-based
smartphone
n Reuters, Seoul
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd plans to
launch the first smartphone based on
its Tizen operating system in the third
quarter, marking the companys latest
bid to build up its own ecosystem and
reduce reliance on Google Incs Android.
The South Korean firm on Monday
said the Samsung Z, which comes with
a 4.8 inch high-definition display and
offers features such as a fingerprint
sensor, will be unveiled at the Tizen
Developer Conference in San Francisco
on Tuesday.
The phone will be available in Russia sometime in the July-September period with other markets to follow, the
firm said in a statement without specifying which markets.
Samsung did not offer sales forecasts or how much the phone will sell
for, though an executive told Reuters in
April that the company is working on at
least two models powered by Tizen and
that will be released in a few countries
where we can do well.
The Samsung Z would be the latest
effort by the electronics giant to build
momentum for Tizen, with its Gear
2 smartwatches also powered by the
platform.
The majority of Samsungs mobile
devices are based on Googles Android
platform. The push to develop its own
operating system is part of efforts to reduce dependence on the U.S. firm, but
delays in product launches have undercut expectations.
The Samsung executive said in April
he thinks Tizen would have to account
for up to 15 percent of Samsungs total
smartphone shipments to be deemed a
success.
There is plenty of room and plenty
of opportunity for a strong third vendor; arguably if you can carve out 10
percent of a two billion units market
in smartphones (by 2018), then that
could be an opportunity, said Rachel

Lashford, Singapore-based analyst at

Canalys.
Many in the industry are still in the
dark about Tizen, however, so there
are questions about Samsungs level of
commitment to the platform, Lashford
said.
Analysts also say it will be difficult
for Samsung to lure enough developers
to make the apps and services necessary to mount a serious challenge to
dominant platforms Android and iOS
from Apple Inc.
Samsung declined to say how many
apps are available for the operating system.
The market for Tizen wont be as
big as Android or Apples iOS, so I think
it will be a challenge for Samsung to
build up an ecosystem, said IM Investment analyst Lee Min-hee.
Tizen may be more useful as leverage in future negotiations with Google,
Lee said. l

Malaysia says Cadbury products

found not to contain pig DNA

Slower German inflation seen raising

pressure on ECB to act

n Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

n Reuters, Berlin

New tests conducted by Malaysian

authorities found that chocolate bars
made by British confectioner Cadbury
do not contain pig DNA, contrary to a
previous finding, the countrys Islamic
affairs agency said yesterday.
Cadbury withdrew two varieties of
its chocolate snacks from sale in Muslim-majority Malaysia last week after
government tests found traces of pork
in them, leading some Islamic groups
to call for a boycott on all of its products.
Malaysias Islamic Development
Department (Jakim) said none of the
11 samples it tested of Cadburys Dairy
Milk Hazelnut, Cadbury Dairy Milk
Roast Almond and other products from
the companys factory had shown positive results for porcine DNA.
Jakim said in a statement that Cad-

burys halal certification for the two

products would remain suspended
pending further tests and investigations of its supply chain.
Jakim is the only body in Malaysia
tasked with ensuring products are
halal, or permissible by Islamic law.
The previous tests were conducted
in February by the countrys health
ministry on products taken from store
shelves.
Jakim had said those tests might
not have been fair to Cadbury since the
products could have been contaminated after leaving the factory.
Cadbury Malaysia, whose parent
firm is Mondelez International Inc, has
stood by its products halal worthiness
and assured the public it was working
with authorities to resolve the matter.
A Muslim consumer group that last
week called on Malaysians to boycott
Mondelez products said on Monday it

would not reverse its stance unless the

health ministry concurs with the new
results released by Jakim.
There are still a lot of question
marks there, said Sheikh Abdul Kareem Khadaied, the head of research
with the Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia.
An official at the health ministry
told Reuters that it has handed the entire issue over to the Islamic agency.
Following last weeks announcement that the chocolate bars tested
positive for the non-halal ingredient,
fellow Muslim countries Indonesia and
Saudi Arabia said they were also carrying out tests on Cadbury products.
Concerns over halal food standards
could jeopardise Mondelezs sales in
Muslim markets that are larger than
Malaysia, such as Indonesia, home to
the worlds largest Muslim population,
and in the Middle East. l

Annual inflation in Europes largest

economy likely slowed in May, data
from German states suggested yesterday, probably pushing down the broader euro zone rate and raising pressure
on the European Central Bank to act
when it meets this week.
Data from six states showed annual
inflation rates ranging from 0.6% to
1.1%. Economists had forecast that the
preliminary national rate, due out at 2
p.m. (8 am EDT), would show consumer prices climbed by 1.1% on the year.
In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW),
Germanys most populous state and
traditionally a bellwether for the national data, consumer prices increased
by 1.1% on the year, their lowest annual
rate since Sept 2010.
But ING economist Carsten Brzeski
said data from some other states showing weaker inflation would probably
push the national figure down below
1%.
It shows euro zone inflation could
be weaker than expected, increasing
pressure on the ECB to act on Thursday, he said.
Euro zone inflation stood at 0.7%
in April - well below the ECB target of
close to but just below 2% - and a Reuters poll shows economists expect
data due out on Tuesday to show it
held steady in May.
Brzeski said he expected the central
bank to cuts its deposit rate into negative territory at its June meeting and
continue to offer banks unlimited access to its funding until the end of 2015
or mid-2016.
Last week ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio said the ECB was not
complacent about the risks from a

DILBERT

An employee of Japanese electronics company Panasonic wears a 4K capable wearable camcorder for a demonstration at the launch
ceremony of the next generation of 4K high-definition broadcasting in Tokyo on June 2, 2014. Japan began test broadcasting satellite
television programmes in 4K, as major firms including Sony and Sharp bet on the super high-definition technology to rescue their
embattled TV units
AFP

Women inspect a shop with reduced goods in the western city of Herne
protracted period of low inflation and
would act if necessary while Governing
Council member Ignazio Visco said excessively low inflation in the euro zone
should be dealt with as firmly as high
inflation.
Jennifer McKeown, senior European
economist at Capital Economics, said a
weighted average of data from six German states suggested the harmonized

REUTERS

index of consumer prices (HICP), the

measure used by the ECB, probably fell
to a four-year low of 0.8% or even lower
in May from 1.1% in April.
That would be far lower than expected - economists polled by Reuters
had forecast that consumer prices harmonized to compare with other European Union countries would rise by 1%
on the year. l