Joishthya 9, 1421

Rajab 23, 1435

Regd. No. DA 6238
Vol 2, No 53

FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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Police find
ex-RAB duos
involvement

Now Thai army

says its a coup
n Reuters, Bangkok

Police said the two men were shown

arrested as a private car and a motorbike were found abandoned in front
of their house. We would ask for a
remand to interrogate the two men
to get further information, said Mahbub Morshed, officer-in-charge of Feni
model police station.
The role of law enforcers was questioned by Delowar Hossain, a friend
of Ekram who was with the upazila

Thailands army chief General Prayuth

Chan-ocha seized control of the government in a coup yesterday, two days
after he declared martial law, saying
the military had to restore order and
push through reforms after six months
of turmoil.
The military declared a 10pm until
5am curfew, suspended the constitution and told outgoing cabinet ministers to report to an army base in the
north of the capital by the end of the
day. Rival protest camps were ordered
to disperse.
Thailand is locked in a protracted
power struggle between supporters of
ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and opponents backed by the royalist establishment that has polarised
the country and battered its economy.
In order for the situation to return
to normal quickly and for society to
love and be at peace again ... and to reform the political, economic and social
structure, the military needs to take
control of power, Prayuth said in the
televised address.
The general made his broadcast
after a meeting to which he had summoned the rival factions in Thailands
drawn-out political conflict, with the
aim of finding a compromise to end six
months of anti-government protests.
But no progress was made and
Prayuth wound up the gathering by
announcing he was seizing power, according to a participant.
The Thai armed forces have a long
history of intervening in politics - there

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Narayanganj seven murder

suspect Tarek tells court
that he may not get justice
n Ahmed Zayeef
Police have told a Narayanganj court
that ex-RAB officials Tarek and Arif
were directly involved with the abduction and killing of seven in the port city.
Yesterday, the two former army officers were produced before the court at
the end of 5-day remand. The Narayanganj District Court granted fresh 8-day
remand for each of them.
A high-ranked source in police told
the Dhaka Tribune that SM Rana the
other ex-RAB official arrested in connection with the murders would be
produced on Sunday.
Police also told the court yesterday
that prime accused Nur Hossain had
good relations with the two ex-RAB
men.
They needed to be taken in fresh remand in order to find out where the abductees had been kept and later killed
at, police told the court while seeking
10-day remand for each of them in one
of the two case filed by the families of

slain Nazrul Islam and Chandan Sarker.

While defending himself at the court
yesterday, Lt Col (retd) Tarek Sayed
Mohammad expressed fears that he
might not be served justice.
Meanwhile, Narayanganj police
have sought Interpols assistance in
arresting prime accused Nur Hossain,
said district police super Khandakar
Mahid Uddin. However, he said he still
did not have any definitive information
that Nur had fled the country.
At the court yesterday, Lt Col (retd)
Tarek looked emotionless. But Maj
(retd) Arif was looking around nervously. Although Tarek defended himself,
Arif did not say anything.
Manunur Rashid, investigation officer of one of the murder cases, was
supposed to explain to the local court
by yesterday why the two suspects had
not been shown arrested in the murder
cases. However, since he had brought
them to the court, he did not need to
give the explanation anymore.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Pickets block a highway by felling trees in Fulgazi upazila in Feni during yesterdays dawn-to-dusk hartal protesting the murder of upazila
chairman Ekramul Haque
BANGLAR CHOKH

FULGAZI CHAIRMAN MURDER

Role of police mysterious

n Mohammad Jamil Khan, from Feni
The role of police in connection with
the killing of Fulgazi upazila Chairman
Ekramul Haque has been brought into
question, with records showing that a
police team was near the crime scene
at the time of the incident, while there
has not been any significant headway
into solving the crime so far.
Following the death of Ekramul, who
was killed by a group of unmasked and

masked people in front of witnesses on

Tuesday, police have so far detained 30
people but shown only two people arrested Iqbal Hossain, 22, and Shakha-

P2 AL MEN PLAY BLAME GAME

wat, 26. The arrestees reportedly had
no political affiliation, while Shakhawat
was the brother of Sohel, an alleged
mugger who witnesses said was present
when the crime was committed.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, May 23, 2014

FULGAZI CHAIRMAN EKRAMUL KILLING

Local AL men play blame game

n Mohammad Jamil Khan
from Feni
Local Awami League leaders and activists are divided over the killing ofFulgazi upazila Chairman Ekramul Haque
Ekram as they have blamed each other
for the incident.
Awami League lawmaker of Feni 2
constituency Nizam Hazari said Joynal
Hazari should be detained and put on
remand to find out the details of the
killing. He said Joynal knew everything
and also published a report in his newspaper a day before the killing.
However, Joynal Hazari, former lawmaker and suspended Awami League
leader, said Nizam and his men killed
Ekramul as he had assisted in publishing some reports on the anomalies and
irregularities of Nizam.
Joynal told the Dhaka Tribune that
the BNP would not dare to attack any
Awami League activist in the district.
This is entirely a baseless claim to
hide the real incident. Nizam is responsible for the murder, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, a group of 30-35

criminals shot Ekramul, also the president of Fulgazi upazila Awami League,
in the chest and then set fire to his car
in broad daylight in the presence of
hundreds of people in Feni.
Police have so far made no arrest
in this connection as most of them
are close associates of the ruling party
lawmaker, several grassroots Awami
League leaders of the upazila said requesting anonymity.
They said Ekramul had disputes
with Nizam over establishing supremacy in local tenders and control of several socio-political institutions, which
might have led to the killing.
Abid, a cousin of Nizam, Jahid,
a joint secretary of Fulgazi Awami
League unit, Sahabuddin and Shipon,
two bodyguards of Nizam, were seen
on the spot before Ekramul was killed,
they added.
A witness told the Dhaka Tribune
when the aforementioned people were
asked about their presence in the area,
they said they were waiting there to
join a rally of Awami League.
Ekramul was once a close aide to

Joynal Hazari and had maintained good

relation with Nizam for a year. Their
[Nizam and Ekramul] relationship,
however, turned sour when Ekramul
wished to run for the January 5 national elections from Feni 1 constituency.
This is next to Feni 2 where Nizam got
elected from.

This is entirely a
baseless claim to hide
the real incident. Nizam
is responsible for the
murder, Joynal said
Since then, the two had been bitter rivals
asNizam allegedly extended his support
to BNP-backed candidate Minar. Ekramul later won upazila polls with support
from top Awami League leaders.
Conflict between the two reached
extreme heights after a report on
Nizams jail term was published in a
daily and when Ekramul was made the
secretary of Feni Diabetic Hospital.
Nizam Hazari, however, denied his

involvement in the killing, saying none

of his associates was present at the scene
and the main reason would be revealed
following probe. Addressing a press conference in Feni town, he said an organised gang was conspiring against him.
He, however, did not disclose details
of the gang.
Meanwhile, Joynal said Nizam had
long-standing disputes with Ekramul
over establishing supremacy in tenders of the Water Development Board
and also the Local Government and
Engineering Department. He said there
were contention between them over
the control of Feni Diabetic Hospital
committees and other socio-political
institutions.
Nizam is using his influence to file
a case in connection with the murder in
order to distract attention from the real
event. The family members were unaware of the case and it was filed according
to the direction of Nizam, Joynal said.
Nizam, however, denied having any
influence in the registration of the case.
Meanwhile, the daylong general strike
yesterday almost paralysed Fulgazi upazi-

Confusion over who filed the case

n Mohammad Jamil Khan
from Feni

A case was filed on Wednesday against

local BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury Minar accusing him of killing Fulgazi Upazila Chairman Ekramul Haque.
Minar who lost Fulgazi upazila election to Ekram as a chairman candidate
thrice attempted to kill Ekram before
and during the polls, reads the case
statement. Minar was named as the
price suspect in the case along with 35
other unidentified people.
However, Ekrams brother Ziaul Haque
Selim told the Dhaka Tribune that he did
not even know what was written in the
case. He further said his younger brother
filed the case and it was just a formality. We do not know whose names were
mentioned in it, he explained.
When asked who wrote the case,
he said some other people had done it
for them and his brother Rezaul Haque
Jashim simply signed his name.
We do not know who killed my

brother. Ekram had been involved in politics for more than 15 years and he might
have had enemies both inside and outside of his party, he further explained.
Supporters of the BNP set fire to the
vehicles of Ekrams friends on the day
of election and attacked Ekram a couple of times. It could have been done
by them or by some other people, said
a confused Selim.
He also said: Nizam used to come
to our house often and attended several
family programmes. I do not know anything about any kind of political enmity
between Nizam Hazari and Ekram.
The Dhaka Tribune contacted
Rezaul Haq, another brother of Ekram
and the plaintiff of the case. Rezaul said
Minar was named as the prime suspect
as per the decision of the district Awami League, as Nizam's men attacked
Ekrams motorcade a couple of times.
ASM Aanaul Karim Faruk, legal advisory secretary of local AL, drafted the
case statement.
Jashim alleged that neither police of-

ficials nor the investigation officer had

contacted them for the last three days.
Ekramul was once a close aide to
Nizam Hazari but they developed an
intense rivalry centring upazila polls.
Ekram had to quit the polls race in
the face of pressure from Nizam, locals
and district Awami League leaders said.
Taking control of tenders and extortion have recently brought Ekram into
conflict with Nizam Hazari.
Earlier this month, Nizam got furious with Ekram, who allegedly supplied
documents to journalists showing how
Nizam had come out of jail through producing fake papers before the High Court.
After Ekram's janaza, people loyal to
him chanted slogans against Nizam.
Local lawmaker Nizam Hazari, also
secretary of Feni Awami League, refuted
the allegation and said Ekram was like a
younger brother to him. This is a baseless
allegation against me to ruin my career."
Asked about how Minars name came
up in the case statement, he said it had
nothing to do with the Awami League.

The decision came from family members.

About the demand for his punishment, he said: They do not belong to
Awami League; they are BNP loyalists."
On the presence of his followers and
supporters at the murder scene, he said
everything would be clear once the investigation is done. If anyone from my
party is involved in the killing he too
has to face punishment.
A source in police of Feni said Nizam
visited the Feni Model police station
on the night of the murder and stayed
there until midnight. The officer-incharge of the police station confirmed
the filing of the case only after Nizam
came out of the police station.
About his stay at the police station
Nizam said he visited the police station
to ensure a fair probe into the incident
of murder.
Mahbub Morshed, the OC of the Feni
Model police station, said the investigation was underway and they would
soon contact the relatives of the victim,
if needed. l

Two more AL leaders killed in Lakshmipur

n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur
Just two days after the murders of a
Chhatra League and a Jubo Dal leader,
police recovered the bodies of two local
leaders of the ruling Awami League from
Sadar and Raipur upazilas yesterday.
They are Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan,
president of Charshahi Union unit AL,
and Abdul Majid, general secretary of

ward two unit AL of Raipur municipality.

The bodies were sent to Sadar Hospital
morgue for a post mortem examination.
In Sadar upazila, locals spotted the
throat-slit body of Mannan in a field at
Rampur village around 12:30am. Daserhat
police outpost SI M Kamal Hossain said
they were trying to arrest the murderers.
Mannans wife Anjuman Ara said
her husband went out around 10pm on

Police find ex-RAB duos

involvement
PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Sakhawat Hossain, president of a local

association of lawyers, said at the court:
From the deposition of the witnesses
and the other available clues, it is clear
that they [the two ex-RAB officials] have
committed the murders. They staged
the abduction in broad daylight under
the cover of law. Taking money from Nur
Hossain, they got oblivious of their duties and acted like professional killers.
The post mortem reports of the seven victims have made it clear that a
trained force had committed the murders, he said.
Meanwhile, two lawyers named Abdul Majid Khandakar and Mozammel
Haque, came to the court yesterday
and claimed themselves as defence
attorneys; but they did not give any
statement during the session.
Soon after the court was adjourned, a
group of local lawyers severely beat up
Mozammel. Sakhawat later rescued him
and safely took him out of the court.
One of the lawyers, who beat Mozammel, said they had reached a decision to
not stand in favour of the suspects. Majid and Mozammel were not members
of the Narayanganj Bar Association;
rather they belonged to the Dhaka bar.

What tarek said

Since he did not have any counsel,

Tarek spoke for himself at the court.
He said: I sympathise with the families
and colleagues of those who were killed.
The demand for proper investigation and
justice is not exclusive to Narayanganj, it
is now a national demand. We also identify with it. We expect compassion and patience from the probe team, government,
judge and the lawyers.

He alleged that some individuals

and organisations had been trying to
politicise the national demand.
Tarek also said: In this country, the
professions of doctors, journalists and
lawyers are said to be noble. If a doctor
is harassed at workplace, other doctors
take it seriously and abstain from work.
But this practice is not acceptable. The
court is also going to consider this a
crime. Similarly, if lawyers decide to stop
giving service because one of their fellows have been harmed, then suspects
like us will be deprived. As a suspect, I
would also expect sympathy from all.
I know truth will come out one day.
Many of those present here today will
sympathise with us then. I know their
sympathy will not mean much and we
will not need it either. I seek assistance
from everyone present here.
Remands will not matter be them
of one day or 100 days. Truth will not
become false and false will not become
true. Truth is one and it never changes. I hope that nobody will do anything
that may influence the investigation.
We fear that we may not get justice,
the former army officer said.
Many of the local lawyers present at
the court swore against Tarek when he
was speaking.

Mass hearing

The government probe committee has

written to former Narayanganj deputy
commissioner Manoj Kanti Baral and
former police chief Syed Nurul Islam
asking them to take part in a mass hearing at the secretariat on Sunday.
Manoj and Nurul were withdrawn
from the port city following the seven
abductions and murders. l

Tuesday after getting a call of someone

on his mobile phone. She also said: To
the best of my knowledge, my husband
had no enemies and maintained a good
relation with all political parties.
The leaders daughter Tahmina Akter
demanded exemplary punishment to the
killers of her father. Law-enforcers can
track down the killers easily after checking the call list of my fathers cell phone.

Locals alleged that Mannan might

have been killed because he was
against illegal activities in the area.
In Raipur upazila, police recovered
the body of Abdul Majid from in front of a
house at Charpata village in the morning.
Raipur police station OC Manjurul
Hoque said the miscreants dumped
Majids body in the village after killing
him elsewhere. l

la as businesses and offices remained

shut. The strike was enforced by the Awami League in protest of the murder.
Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal activists
picketed in the upazila while the Awami League activists blocked roads by
placing logs in several places. They also
held a protest rally in front of Fulgazi
police station.
Participants of the rally demanded exemplary punishment for the killers. They
also chanted slogans, accusing Nizam
Hazari of the killing. Awami League
Fulgazi upazila unit leader Abdul Alim
sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas
intervention in arresting the killers.
Local BNP leader Minar was accused
in the murder case filed by Ekramuls
brother. However, some local Awami
League activists accused Nizam Hazari
of the killing.
Paritosh Ghosh, superintendent of
police in Feni, told the Dhaka Tribune
they were yet to have any clues to the
murder.
We hopefully would be able to
crack the mystery behind the killing,
he added. l

chairman when the attack took place.

Delowar told reporters that he had seen
several police personnel standing near
the scene of the crime who did not respond to their repeated shouts for help.
Delowars claim was also reflected
in statements of local witnesses, who
said a police team that was waiting at
the hospital intersection area moved to
a different direction after hearing the
sound of the violence, only to return to
the scene of the crime after a while.
According to the register book of
the Feni model police station, on the
day of incident, newly joined Assistant
Sub-Inspector Aminul Islam was leading the Kilo 1 patrol team, which was
responsible for patrolling the Academy
Road and its adjacent areas.
The team assigned on the Academy
Road usually remains standby at the
nearby hospital intersection, from where
it can move easily in every direction.
However, on Tuesday, police personnel took over half an hour to reach

the spot, rushing in only after the fire

service had rushed in and doused
Ekrams vehicle which was set ablaze
by the culprits.
When asked about the delay in
reaching the scene, Aminul claimed
that he was not near the spot at the
time of incident and managed to reach
the scene only after the district police
superintendent had reached there.
Feni model police station OC Morshed also claimed that there was no police personnel nearby during the crime,
while all of them rushed to the spot together after being notified.
On the other hand, local sources
also claimed that police were trying to
eyewash the people and detaining people to make some quick money.
While visiting the police station at
11:30am yesterday, this reporter found
a local Awami League leader, Abul
Hashem, requesting the OC to release
some of the men they had picked up.
However, they both became silent after
learning the identity of the reporter.

Thai army takes power in coup

PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

have been 18 previous successful or

attempted coups since the country
became a constitutional monarchy in
1932, most recently when Thaksin was
deposed in 2006.
Hundreds of soldiers surrounded the meeting at Bangkoks Army
Club shortly before the coup announcement and troops took away
Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the protests against the pro-Thaksin government.
Some of the other meeting participants were being held back in the venue afterwards, said a Reuters reporter
waiting outside.

Shots Fired Into Air

The army ordered rival protest camps

to break up and soldiers fired into the
air to disperse thousands of pro-government red shirt activists gathered in Bangkoks western outskirts, a
spokesman for the group said.
The military detained at least one
leader of the activists, said the spokesman, Thanawut Wichaidit.
Twenty-eight people have been
killed and 700 injured since the anti-government protests erupted late
last year.
Martial law may have been to test
the waters, the army gave the opposing
camps a chance to negotiate a way out

The ruling Awami League will not

nominate anyone for the Narayanganj 5
by-election as it will extend support to
the opposition Jatiya Partys candidate.
We have decided to leave the seat
for the Jatiya Party, Suranjit Sengupta
told the Dhaka Tribune after a meeting
of the Awami League parliamentary
party yesterday with party chief Sheikh
Hasina in the chair.
Apart from Suranjit, members of
the body Amir Hossain Amu, Alauddin
Ahmed and Syed Ashraful Islam were
present at the meeting held at Hasinas
official residence Ganabhaban.
The by-election to Narayanganj 5 constituency will be held on June 26. The
seat fell vacant following the death of
JaPa lawmaker Nasim Osman on April 29.
The last date for filing nominations
for the by-election is May 29. The Awami
League did not field any candidate in the
constituency in the January 5 national
election to share the seat with JaPa.
Nasim Osmans wife Parvin Osman
is rumoured to get JaPas nomination
in the by-poll. l

'Moududs statement
not needed'
n Nazmus Sakib

BNP Standing Committee member

Moudud Ahmed yesterday claimed that
before approving charge sheet against
him in a case filed for allegedly grabbing
government land, the ACC should have
recorded his statement as per the rules.
However, the Anti-Corruption Commission Rules, 2007 states that it is up
to the commission whether it would
hear the statement of an accused or not
during investigation on a matter.
On Wednesday, the ACC at a regular meeting approved a charge sheet
which was based on a five-month-long
investigation. It found Moudud and
his brother Manzur Ahmed, now living
in London, responsible for grabbing
a government property valued Tk300
crore since 1978 by producing different
fake documents and abusing power.
An ACC official said there was no obligation to hear an accused before finalising charge sheet. However, Moudud
was asked to give statement by an ACC
team at the jail gate during investigation in the case, the official said.
At a press briefing on the Supreme
Court premises, Moudud said his
brother got the ownership of the house
in the capitals Gulshan area through
a High Court verdict. In addition, the
High Court in another case said the
house was not an abandoned property
and the government had no ownership
on the house, he said.
The appeals of the government and

Role of police mysterious in Feni murder

PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

AL wont field
candidate in Nganj
5 by-poll
n Tribune Report

the Rajuk against the High Court judgements are pending with the Appellate
Division. So, filing of this type of criminal case against me is motivated.
Before the government and the Rajuk obtained permission to file appeals,
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam had
told the apex court that ownership of
Moududs brother on the house was
based on fake documents.
ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan
told the Dhaka Tribune that the Supreme Court in many judgements
clearly said criminal case and civil suit
could be continued simultaneously.
The criminal case against Moudud
and his brother was lodged on December 17 last year for fraud and misconduct while the appeals pending
with the Appellate Division were on
ownership of the house. So, charging
Moudud and his brother in the criminal
case is right, Khurshid said.
According to the case, the house on
1.13bigha (0.374 acre) land belonged to
Mohammad Ehsan and his wife Inze
Maria Flatz two Pakistani nationals
who left the country before the 1971
Liberation War. It was included in the
list of governments abandoned property on January 21, 1972. On August 2,
1973, Moudud prepared a counterfeit
power of attorney of Maria Flatz to
capture the land and used it to gain his
own interest. Since then, he had been
living in the house showing himself as
a tenant of Maria Flatz, the case document says. l

The victims elder brother, Rezaul

Haque Jasim, also claimed it was nothing but eyewash by the police, as the case
could have been easily solved because
there were many witnesses to the incident.
Several local residents and witnesses told the Dhaka Tribune that around
30-35 people had gathered in front
of Bilashi Cinema Hall on the Academy Road the scene of the crime at
around 9:30am on the day of the incident. The group was busy talking
among each other, while locals reportedly heard one of them as saying loudly: Why is he still not coming?
Locals also claimed they had seen
local Chhatra League leader Sohel
Chowdhury, joint general secretary of
the local Awami League unit, Jahidul
Islam, and Sohel, the leader of an alleged mugging gang, waiting at the
spot prior to the murder. AL-backed
Ward Councillor Shiplu, who reportedly had dominance in the area, was also
present there, they added.
Seeking anonymity, a witness who

was also a local resident, told the Dhaka

Tribune that he had asked Jubo League
leader Ziaul Haque Mister, who was
present at the scene, why so many people were waiting there, to which Ziaul
answered that a a procession would be
brought out. However, the witness said
he had never before seen the other people who accompanied Ziaul.
The claim was also echoed by former
Feni MP Joynal Hazari, who said he had
also heard that Sohel and Ziaul were
present on the spot when the murder
was committed.
However, all of the men whose
names were mentioned by witnesses
have reportedly gone into hiding following the killing of Ekramul.
Asked why the police had not arrested any of the men named by the witnesses, the OC said the investigation
had just began, adding that the real
mystery will be solved in time.
Asked about the role of police, Feni 2
lawmaker Nizam Uddin Hazari refused
to make any comment. l

but I think the endgame was always the

military taking over, said Kan Yuanyong
of the Siam Intelligence Unit think-tank.
The possibility of conflict is now
much higher, he said. Thaksin will
fight back.
Former telecommunications tycoon
Thaksin has lived in self-exile since
2008 to avoid a jail term for graft, but
still commands the loyalty of legions of
rural and urban poor.

of an interim prime minister, political

reforms and the timing of an election.
But neither side backed down from
their entrenched positions on Wednesday
and again yesterday, participants said.
As we cannot find a way to bring the
country to peace and everyone wont
back down I would like to announce
that I will take power. Everyone must
sit still, Prayuth told the meeting,
according to one participant who declined to be identified.
The army has also clamped down on
the media, including partisan television channels, and warned people not
to spread inflammatory material on social media. l

Everyone wont back down

In a first round of talks on Wednesday,

Prayuth had called on the two sides
to agree on a compromise that would
have hinged around the appointment

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, May 23, 2014

Khaleda calls for end to plainclothes drives Police bar BNP from
BNP chief demands independent probe body for all extrajudicial killings
n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday
demanded that plainclothes drives by
law enforcement agencies be stopped.
No drive should be conducted by
any plainclothes agents, or at night.
If anyone needs to be arrested, they
should be arrested in front of a witness
and if necessary, in the presence of a
magistrate, she said.
She placed a set of proposals for
ending killings and abductions and
demanded forming a credible independent probe committee, headed by a former chief justice and comprising lawyers, rights activists and journalists, to
investigate all such incidents.
Khaleda was addressing a press conference at her Gulshan office after police
barred a BNP rally she was supposed to
attend from being held in the capital.
An end to the prevailing situation
is a must. We do not want to see any
single killing anymore. Law enforcers
should not do any illegal activities. Extrajudicial killings should be stopped.
All serious incidents should be investigated and tried, Khaled said, reading
from a written statement.
Repression in the name of remand
should be stopped. If anyone is injured
or dies in detention, those responsible
should be brought to book, she added.
The former prime minister said all
her proposals already existed in law
but were not implemented.
She said these were not political
demands, but the proposals should be
accepted for saving peoples lives and
ensuring their security.
Khaleda called upon the citizens of
the country to raise their voices to implement all her proposals to end the
chaotic situation created by the government and law enforcement agencies.
Our beloved country has turned
into a death valley. It seems there is
no government, there is no rule of law,
there is no administration there is
only fear and insecurity, she said.

Law enforcers obstruct BNP supporters from entering the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh to attend a programme yesterday called
for protesting against killings and abductions across the country
RAJIB DHAR
Family members of some missing
people also narrated their sufferings at
the press conference, turning the event
sombre with their crying.
Khaleda continued: Evil attempts
to harass rights organisations should
be stopped. Illegally shut down media
houses should be reopened immediately and detained editors and journalists should be freed.
She reiterated her demand of holding fresh elections under a non-partisan administration after resignation of
the incumbent government.
When any support-less government adopts a strategy to stay in office
by using force, the country and the society head towards a dangerous situation. This sort of government is truly

dangerous. The sooner they quit, the

better for the people and the county,
Khaleda said, referring to the Awami
League-led alliance.
Harshly criticising the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Khaleda demanded disbanding of the elite anti-crime force, which she
said, had turned into a killer force.
We formed RAB, and it earned accolades controlling militancy and criminal activities. It got huge public support. We never formed the elite force
for political purposes, but this force is
being misused illegally to repress and
eradicate opposition forces. Loyalty to
the (ruling) party _ not merit or competency is now considered as a measure
for appointments to important posts of
RAB, she said.

Although we formed RAB, we demand its dissolution as the force has

turned into a frightened and dangerous
organisation for the people. Goodwill,
discipline and qualitative standards
have broken down. It is not possible for
any law enforcement agency to work
without love and respect of the citizens. RAB has lost it. So, it has become
the demand of time to dissolve the
force, like the way Rakkhi Bahini was
dissolved in 1975, she said.
Khaleda said as most officers of RAB
came from the armed forces, there was a
chance of tarnishing the militarys image.
The incumbent illegal government
is responsible for all these misdeeds,
and shouldering all the responsibilities,
it has to dissolve RAB, she added. l

holding rally in capital

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
Despite having permission from authorities concerned, BNP yesterday
was barred by law enforcement from
holding their gathering at the capitals
Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh,
reasoning that the venue authority had
cancelled their booking.
Party leaders and activists were seen
gathering at the venue to join the rally, organised by Dhaka city unit BNP at
4pm, where party Chairperson Khaleda
Zia was expected to deliver a speech regarding the recent killings and abductions in the country before civil society
members.
Since the morning, decorators were
seen preparing the venue for the gathering which was expected to be attended by diplomats, senior journalists,
businessmen, members from different
professions and the civil society.
At 11:30am, law enforcement reportedly came to the venue and asked
decorators to stop working as the hall
allocation had been cancelled. However, no one was found available to comment on the police action.
We have the permission and the
hall authority did not tell us anything
about the cancellation of hall booking.
Police came to the venue and shouted at the decorators to stop working.
They also told us that we cannot hold
our programme as the hall authority
had cancelled our booking, Dhaka city
unit BNP leader Abdus Salam, who was
present at that time, told the media.
Contacted, Ramna police station
Assistant Commissioner Shibli Noman
said: The hall authority had cancelled
their booking. So, they cannot hold the
gathering.
Meanwhile, a large number of policemen, including female police personnel, were seen taking position in
front of the venue gate. All entry gates
of the venue were locked down.
However, leaders and activists of
BNP were seen gathering at the ven-

Fakhrul among 29 BNP Police beat tea stall owner to death

leaders charge sheeted n
Ashif Islam Shaon

n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Detective Branch (DB) of police yesterday pressed charges against 29 BNP
leaders, including its acting Secretary
General Mirza Fakhrul Islam, in a case
filed for violence in Dhaka city on
March 2, 2013.
Investigation Officer Md Fazlur Rahman, a DB inspector, submitted the
charges to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Anowar Sadat.
Taking the charges into cognisance,
he ordered transferring the case document to Dhakas Sessions Judges Court
for starting the trial.
Investigator Fazlur says he has
dropped eight names from the case as
no evidence could be found against
them.
He says he has filed with the same
court for issuing an arrest warrant
against eight charge-sheeted accused
who have been on the run while 21 others, including Fakhrul, have been on bail.
Thirty five people have been enlisted as witnesses. Eight bamboo stick, 15
pieces of bricks, 15 pieces of SUV broken glasses and five exploded cocktails
shown as material evidence in the charge
sheet, the investigation officer adds.

Order on contempt
against Kaler
Kantho May 28
n Udisa Islam
The International Crimes Tribunal 1
will deliver order on a contempt of
court matter brought against the daily
Kaler Kantho for publishing comments
of a prosecutor in a report partly.
Prosecutor Mohammad Ali during a
hearing yesterday urged the tribunal 1 to
issue a rule against the editor, the publisher and a reporter of the Bangla newspaper.
In a report published on May 11, the newspaper termed the prosecution inefficient
and blamed the team for delay in trial.
After hearing for one and a half
hours, the three-member tribunal led
by Justice M Enayetur Rahim asked the
prosecutor whether it was possible to
solve the matter out of the court. The
prosecutor did not answer directly. It
said the prosecution could submit further argument on the day of order.
The prosecutor said the newspaper had published his comment partly
which might have given wrong message to the readers. He did not send any
rejoinder, Ali said. l

Apart from Fakhrul the charged are

BNP Standing Committee members
Moudud Ahmed, Mirza Abbas and
Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Joint Secretaries General Amanullah Aman and
Barakatullah Bulu and Vice-Chairman
Abdullah Al Noman.
BNP Students Affairs Secretary Shaheed Uddin Chowdhury Anne, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) President Abdul Quader Bhuiyan Jewel, former JCD
Presidents Sultan Salahuddin Tuku and
Azizul Bari Hela have also been charged.
Swechchhasebak Dal President
Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel and its General Secretary Mir Sharafat Ali Sapu and
Jubo Dal President Moazzam Hossain
Alal have been accused in the charge
sheet.
Earlier on March 2, 2013, Ramna police station Sub-Inspector Ashfak Rajib
Hasan filed the case and naming 29
BNP leaders and activists and not naming 1200 others in it.
The accused, according to the case,
had prevented police from discharging
their duties, attempted to kill police,
vandalised and torched vehicles and
exploded cocktail bombs creating panic at Shantinagar and Malibagh during a
rally in the city that day. l

Police on Wednesday allegedly beat

a poor roadside tea stall owner to
death after he refused to pay Tk1,000
demanded by them at Nabinagar in
Savar.
Sathi Akhter, the wife of victim
Ripon Miah, 26, said around 9pm on
Wednesday police picked up Ripon
near his tea stall in front of the National
Monument.
Later they informed Ripons family
members that Ripon had sustained
injuries in a road accident and died.
The street vendor who comes from
Moheshpur village under Bakherganj
upazila of Barisal lived with his wife
at Niribili area adjacent to the National
Monument.
They killed my husband for only
Tk1,000, Sathi, who was present on the
spot during the incident, told reporters
at the DMCH morgue. She just got off a
bus after a visit to his village home and
Ripon went there to receive her when
police picked him up.
Sub-Inspector of Ashulia Police
Station Anwar Hossain and two
plain-clothed
police
appeared
there and grabbed my husbands
collar saying that my husband was
a criminal and there were cases

Martyrs wife testifies

against Subhan
n Udisa Islam
The seventh prosecution witness in the
case against Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer
Maulana Abdus Subhan yesterday said
the Pakistani occupation forces had
killed many people including her husband at Shahpur of Ishwardi, Pabna
during the 1971 Liberation War upon
order of the accused.
Jahanara Begum, wife of martyr
Razab Ali Bishwas, told the International Crimes Tribunal 2 that the accused had killed her husband as he had
been a pro-liberation activist and leader of Swadhinata Sangram Parishad. He
was a contractor by profession.
Jahanara, 65, said she used to help
the freedom fighters of the area by hiding their arms and feeding them during
the war.
During the deposition, she said: On
May 2, 1971, Subhan along with the Pakistani Army personnel attacked our
village and opened fire indiscriminately. I along with my husband, his friend

Shamsul Haque and members of my inlaws family hid in a bamboo brush. But
Subhan and his cohorts took us into
their custody.
When the army men wanted to
shoot my husband following the order
of Subhan, I begged to him to save my
husbands life. But Subhan threw me
away and then the army shot my husband and Shamsul in front of my eyes.
On that day, the witness said she
heard that Subhan and his accomplices had killed her neighbours Rahim
Sarder, Mahmud Sarder, Chand Ali Pramanik, Akter Pramanik, Anar Pramanik
and Hamez Uddin Pramanik. Jahanara
also said the collaborators had looted
15 houses.
She later moved to Manik Nagar
with her brother and buried the body
of her husband there. Shamsul was
buried at Shahpur.
After the deposition, the defence
counsel cross examined her and the
tribunal adjourned the hearing until
May 25. l

against him with the police station.

They then demanded Tk1,000 in
return for his release. As my husband
said he had no money they started to
beat him and I ran to the other side of
the road in fear. They whisked him off
in a police van, she said.
Constable Imdadul Haque and
Ruhul Amin were also with the SI, she
said adding that local street vendors
confirmed their identities.
I tried to release him from the
police station but failed. Our relatives
talked to Ripon over phone when Ripon
was at the police station, she said.
In the early hours, a policeman
called Ripons friend over the phone
and told him that Ripon was crushed
under the wheels of a vehicle and taken
to the Ganasasthay Hospital in Savar.
We rushed to the hospital and
found a police constable sitting behind
my husbands body. The policeman
said, Ripon had died, Sathi said.
Sathi also claimed that the
policemen forced her to put a signature
on a white paper at the hospital.
On-duty doctor at the hospital
Koushik Ahmed said, police took Ripon
to the hospital when he was already
dead. His body bore injury marks.
The morgue sources at DMCH where
Ripons post-mortem was conducted

in the afternoon also said his body had

marks of injuries.
Rasel Sheikh, assistant police
superintendent of Dhaka District said
he heard Ripon sustained injuries in
a road accident when he was trying
to escape. Locals rushed him to the
hospital.
His inquest report was prepared
in presence of a magistrate and the
body was sent to the DMCH morgue
for an autopsy. As Ripons wife raised
allegations of torture we will take
departmental action against the
policemen if the post-mortem report
terms it a murder, he said.
A three-member probe committee
headed by Additional SP of Dhaka
District Shayamol Kumar Mitra has
also been formed to investigate the
incident. The committee visited the
spot yesterday and talked to witnesses.
Meanwhile, after the autopsy
Ripons family members took the
body to his village home at Bakherganj
upazila.
In the evening Sathi told the Dhaka
Tribune over phone that they received
Ripons body.
We are poor people. We dont want
the police put us in more trouble.
Please, forget that my husband was
murdered, she sobbed. l

ue, later sat down in front of the venue waiting for partys acting secretary
general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
arrival.
At 2:30pm, police created a human
chain in front of the main entry gate
to bar BNP leaders and activists from
entering the venue. A prison van was
brought to the scene.

We have the
permission and the
hall authority did not
tell us anything about
the cancellation of hall
booking. Police came to
the venue and shouted
at the decorators to
stop working
The law enforcers repeatedly asked
BNP senior leaders and activists to
leave the venue premises immediately, but the leaders insisted that they
would leave by 4pm.
Before leaving the venue, Fakhrul
harshly criticised the government for
not allowing them to hold the gathering and further claimed that such
incidents prove that the government
wants to rule the country using its law
enforcement.
While Fakhrul was talking to the
media, a German delegation arrived
at the venue. Later, Fakhrul had a talk
with the delegation members.
Barrister Rafiqul Haque, who arrived
at the venue at 4pm, told reporters: I
think it is everyones duty to rescue the
country from the existing situation.
We should not see which party is doing
what, rather the civil society should
view the situation as a whole.
Earlier, BNP was denied holding
rallies in Jatrabari and Narayanganj to
protest against the abduction and killing of seven people in Narayanganj. l

Jubo League activist

killed in Bogra
n Our Correspondent, Bogra
A Juba League activist was shot dead in
Ghagurduar area of Shibganj upazila in
Bogra in the afternoon yesterday.
Deceased, Shiplu, 25, is from Rainagar union under Shibganj upazila in
Bogra. He was a local Juba League activist.
The Officer-in-Charge of Bogra Sadar police station Faizur Rahman said
police arrested the two suspects after
recovering Shiplus body from the emergency ward of the Shaeed Zia-ur-Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZMCH).
The arrested are Firoz Ahmed Rizu,
the chairman of Rainagar Union Council who is connected to the Awami
League and another person named
Shanta, the OC said.
Police also recovered two foreign
pistols, two magazines, and five rounds
of bullet from Firozs house. An arms
case has been filed against him in this
connection.
Meanwhile, supporters of late Juba
League activist besieged the DhakaDinajpur highway in Mahasthangarh
area for one and a half hours protesting
his murder.
The Superintendent of Bogra
Police Mojammel Haque said they are
interrogatingthe suspects. l

Acting chief not valid as Tipoo returned

n Udisa Islam
A senior official of the Law Ministry
yesterday said it did not require any
formal procedure to notify that the post
of acting chief prosecutor is not valid
when the chief prosecutor joins office.
Syed Aminul Islam, acting secretary of the Law Ministry, said usually
when the chief prosecutor returns from
leave, the responsibility of the acting
chief dissolves by itself.
He said as the gazette notification
was valid for one month, Syed Haider
Ali is not going to occupy the position as
the acting chief prosecutor after May 13.
When contacted, Haider said the
ministry did not tell him anything officially.
Haider was made the acting chief of
the prosecution team in the absence
of Tipoo, says a gazette notification issued by the ministry on April 13.
Tipoo went to Singapore for treatment. He joined his office on April 30
but has been absent since. Some members of the prosecution were confused
whether his joining office was official
since the Law Ministry did not withdraw the previous notification nor did

it issue a new gazette.

Aminul said: It is not in our notice
that the chief prosecutor cannot work
in his office and even we do not know
that the acting chief is working.
The unstable situation within the
prosecution mounted after its meeting
on May 11. As per the meeting resolution, the seven-member team preparing charges to try Jamaat-e-Islami as a
political party for war crimes was asked
to hand over all documents to the acting chief prosecutor.

However, Tureen Afroz, coordinator

of the team formed by Tipoo, wrote to
the chief prosecutor, seeking his directives. She also mentioned that the documents were kept at Tipoos office.
The team stopped working on the
case on Sunday. None of the team attended the prosecution meeting on
May 18 and yesterday.
When contacted, Tipoo said he was
on leave and taking rest. I was not informed of the meetings held recently,
he said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, May 23, 2014

DNA test not

enough to identify
dead workers
n Udisa Islam
Only DNA samplings are not enough to
identify the dead workers of industrial tragedies like Rana Plaza or Tazreen
Factory fire since most of the bodies
are handed over to relatives without
collecting DNA samples, speakers said
at a discussion yesterday.
The roundtable titled No Grave to
Grieve: The Search for Missing Garment Workers and the Challenges of
DNA Technology in Bangladesh was
organised by Activist Anthropologist, a
group working with the lists of missing
garments workers since the 2005 Spectrum Garments tragedy.
Prof Sharif Akhtaruzzaman of the
National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory of Dhaka Medical College said
there were many chances that the bodies had been handed over to wrong
families since the process was done
based on visual identification marks.
The DNA lab can identify all the
bodies only if it can collect samples
from all the victims, he said adding
that the DNA profiles of 105 bodies from
the Rana Plaza collapse incident still
remained unidentified. To solve these
types of problems, he suggested setting
up of a makeshift morgues at the disaster sites to collect DNA samples.
Earlier, Saydia Gulrukh, one of
the organisers, read out the keynote
paper. Based on field investigation she

Committee yet
to find those
responsible for
question leakage
n Mushque Wadud
The probe committee, formed to investigate question paper leakage, has
failed to indentify who were responsible for the leakage of English second
paper question of this years Higher
Secondary Certificate examinations.
The committee, however, will give
some recommendations to reform examination system to avoid question
paper leakage.
Committee members told the Dhaka Tribune that the report would suggest taking help from law enforcement
agencies to identify those who were
responsible.
Committee head and education
ministers Additional Secretary Sohrab
Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that he was hopeful to submit the
report to Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid next week.
When asked, he said they were yet
to find who were responsible and they
were still working on it.
Education Ministry formed the seven member committee on April 10, one
day after the English second paper examination of Dhaka Education Board
was postponed for allegations of question paper leakage. Initially, the committee was given 15 days time but the
time was extended.
Earlier, a committee of the Board of
Intermediate and Secondary Education,
Dhaka also failed to identify those who are
responsible for question paper leakage.
Dhaka Board Secretary Prof Abdus
Salam Hawlader told the Dhaka Tribune earlier that the boards probe
committee also suggested taking help
from law enforcement agencies to
identify those who are responsible. l

5 Jamaat leaders
sent to jail in May 5
mayhem case
n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
A Dhaka court yesterday denied bail and
remand prayers of five Jamaat-e Islami
leaders in a case filed over the mayhem
during a Hefazat-e-Islam programme in
the capital on May 5 last year.
Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman
Nur passed the order when DB Inspector
Sarwar Hossain produced the accused before the court seeking a 10-day remand.
Meanwhile, defence counsel Abdur
Razzak filed a petition before the court
seeking bail for his clients.
After a hearing, the court denied
both the petitions and sent them to jail.
The accused are Helal Uddin, Faruk
Hossain, Abdullah Al Sani, Belal Hossain and Iqbal Hossain.
They were arrested at Purana Paltan
on Wednesday and shown arrested in a
case filed over May 5 violence. l

claimed that in some cases, remains of

two workers or more were put in one
bag which also led to misidentification
by the DNA lab.
Teachers, activists and labour organisers were present at the discussion
that took place at the Daily Star Centre.
Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, assistant
executive director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS); Roy
Ramesh Chandra, general secretary of
IndustriALL Bangladesh Council; and
Prof Tanzimuddin Khan from Dhaka
University also spoke among others.
Jahangirnagar University teacher
Prof Anu Mohammad said it should be
made mandatory for every factory and
the BGMEA to preserve the list of workers.If it is available, then there will be
no need to examine all the DNA profiles
and every family will at least able to get
the body.
He also expressed frustration as
the government was yet to formulate
a compensation policy. This is unexpected after continuous disasters in the
garments sector.
Human rights activist Hameeda
Hossain said while conducting DNA
tests, local administration and representatives could investigate to identify
the deceased workers families.
Moshrefa Mishu, president of Garment Sramik Oikya Parishad, said: If
there are active trade unions, then they
can provide the list of total workers. l

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu and several other lawmakers visit a site chosen for relocating the capitals tannaries, in Savars Hemayatpur yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

AL among 3 parties submits Ershad sees political interference

poll expenditure returns
behind rising crimes
n Mohammad Zakaria

Three political parties, including the

ruling Awami League, submitted their
expenditure return on the 10th parliamentary elections to the Election Commission yesterday.
The other two parties are Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) and Jatiya
Party (Manju).
According to the return, AL spent
Tk25,392,712 in the January 5 national
polls while BNF Tk5,7 98,000 and JP
(Manju) Tk12,36,000.
The Awami Leauge Office Secretary
Abdus Sobhan Golap submitted the
return to the commission, saying that
We have submitted a Tk25,392,712
polls expenditure return to the EC,
which was spent by the party for campaigns, meetings, advertisement etc.
According to the EC laws, any party
participating in polls has to submit their
poll expenditure return to the commission within 90 days after gazette on
election results has been published.

Sirajul Islam, Acting Secretary to EC,

confirmed the submission, saying If
any party does not submit the return,
the commission can cancel the party
registration as per law.
Earlier, the EC sent notices to the
contested political parties warning
them to submit the return within 30
days, because they missed the last submission date on April 23, the secretary
continued, adding that So far 534 out
of 543 candidates have submitted their
individual polls expenditure reports.
He stated that the EC ordered the returning officers concerned to file cases
against those who yet to submit their
reports yet.
In the general elections, Jatiya Party
(Ershad), Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Tariqat Fedaration, Gonotantri Party, National Awami Party
(NAP), Gonofront, Khelafat Majlish and
Bangladesh Islami Front also took part.
Of them, Bangladesh Islami Front informed the EC that they had withdrawn
their candidatures from the polls. l

n Manik Miazee
Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad yesterday claimed that violent incidents
like the seven murders in Narayanganj
were taking place because of political
interference.
Ershad also said criminals were carrying out such crimes without any fear,
believing that politically influential
people would save them from punishment.
If the government wants to bring
an end to any type of crime, then it will
have to stop politically motivated interference in such activities, Ershad said
while addressing a joining ceremony at
his office in the capitals Banani area.
The programme was held a day after
Rawshan Ershad, leader of the opposition and JaPa presidium member, talked to the media, apparently without
the party chiefs knowledge.
Ershad, who is also a special envoy
to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said

Dalit community in acute water,

sanitation crisis
n Rabiul Islam
Speakers at a seminar yesterday said
the Dalit communities in the capital as
well as across the country had been suffering from acute crisis of safe water.
They also observed that this underprivileged section of the society had
very little access to sanitation.
Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights
Movement (BDERM) and Nagorik Uddyog jointly organised the seminar titled
Water and Sanitation: Access and Reality of Dalit Community at the Cirdap Auditorium in the capital yesterday.
Nagorik Uddyog Executive Director
Zakir Hossain moderated the event
while Project Coordinator Afsana Binte
Amin presented the keynote paper.

Afsana pointed out that there was

no adequate information as to what extent the Dalit community was deprived
of water and sanitation facilities. It
requires a study at the national level to
depict the real picture.
As per the government strategy for the
poor people, a person must have access
to at least 20 litres of water every day and
one latrine for each family; if not possible, two families would use one latrine.
But getting 20 litres of water a day is
a dream for a person of a Dalit community, Afsana said.
Speaking as the chief guest, Md Israfil Alam MP admitted that the Dalit
community was suffering from severe
water crisis. Being a lawmaker, I will
raise the issue in parliament, he told

the seminar.
Md Khairul Islam, local representative of WaterAid Bangladesh, said: We
have to raise our voice strongly to demand water as fundamental right for
every citizen.
Sunil Kumar Mridha, president of
BDERM, said the women workers in tea
gardens of Sylhet region had been deprived of sanitation facilities. The labourers drink unsafe water from ditches,
and suffer from various diseases including
jaundice and liver cirrhosis, he added.
Speaking as a special guest, Dhaka
Wasa MD engineer Taksim A Khan said:
We are covering only the Dhaka City.
We have a plan to supply water to all
people of the city including in all the
slums legally by 2015. l

the countrys law and order situation

would not improve until a true democratic government comes to power
through fair elections.
But I do not know when that time
will come, he added.

If the government
wants to bring an end
to any type of crime,
then it will have to stop
politically motivated
interference in such
activities
Commenting on the past tenure of the
BNP-led alliance, the former dictator
said: The regime was not better as
bombs exploded all over the country
during that time, whereas, people did
not face any such problems during my
tenure.
Meanwhile, party insiders said Raw-

shan did not inform Ershad before organising a meeting to exchange views
with journalists at the parliament
premises on Wednesday.
They also claimed that Ershad arranged yesterdays event, which was
announced through a press release on
Wednesday, to counter Rawshans programme.
However, party secretary general Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu said yesterdays
function was pre-scheduled to welcome about 200 new members.
Ziauddin also denied rumours of an
ongoing conflict between Ershad and
his wife, Rawshan, saying: A big political party has many problems, but there
are no problems between them.
Ershad was reportedly furious at
comments made by Rawshan at a presidium meeting earlier this month and
threatened to resign as chairman. He
also sent a resignation letter to the partys secretary general after the meeting, but withdrew it shortly. l

Mozena: RABs
accountability important
n Tribune Report
US Ambassador Dan Mozena has said
the accountability of RAB is now more
important than ever, especially in the
context of the recent allegations about
their abuse of power.
As every Bangladeshi knows, recent events have cast a dark shadow
over the Rapid Action Battalion. All are
aware of the allegations against some
of the RAB members for abuses and
misconduct, he said at a certificate
awarding programme at the RAB headquarters in the capital yesterday.
But government support for this intensive, eight week-long training course
to strengthen the effectiveness of the RAB
Internal Enquiries Cell makes clear that the

senior leadership of the government is endeavouring to hold accountable members

of the Rapid Action Battalion, he said.
A total of 23 individuals from the
Rapid Action Battalion participated in
the training assisted by the US, said a
US embassy press release.
Nobody has a greater interest in
holding those accountable who commit abuse their power in the name of
RAB than those members of RAB itself
who work with integrity and honesty,
Mozena said.
The RAB officials should carry out
these investigations fearlessly and share
the conclusions in a transparent manner
that which will help build greater public
confidence and trust in the organisation,
the ambassador suggested. l

Sundarbans fire razes

4-acre forest area
n Our Correspondent, Bagerhat

Nagorik Uddyog Executive Director Zakir Hossain addresses a seminar on Dalit communitys access to water and sanitation, held at the
citys Cirdap auditorium yesterday
NASHIRUL ISLAM

A fire that broke out in the Sundarbans

East Zone under Mongla upazila on
Wednesday has gutted some four-acre
area of the mangroves forest until yesterday afternoon.
The fire broke out around 10:30pm
on Wednesday.
Divisional Forest Officer of the zone
M Amir Hossain Chowdhury told the
Dhaka Tribune: Trees on three to four
acre land have already been burned
down. But the fire is now under control.

A team of 60 forest guards are struggling to douse the blaze, he added.

The extent of the damage could not
be estimated immediately, said Forest
Department officials.
Fire Service and Civil Defence
Officer of Sharankhola range Ariful
Haque said: The officials of Forest Department, tiger team and fire fighters
along with locals are trying to douse
the fire.
He also said the fire was under control and that they would put it out
within a short span of time. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, May 23, 2014

Study: 80% slum girls victims of child marriage

n Tazlina Zamila Khan
Nearly 80% of the slum girls in the capital are the victims of child marriage
while 46% of slum boys get married before they turn 18, according to a survey
by Save the Children.
The figures were published at a national event Children Living in Dhaka Slums: Context and Analysis in
Gulshan 1 yesterday. It was organised
by Save the Children and two reports,
namely Urbanization Trends and Implications for Children and Situation
Analysis of Selected Slums in Dhaka
City, were presented there.
The reports said around 52% of underage marriages took place because
of the availability of a suitable partner. The other factors include, poverty
and fear of sexual harassment which
accounted for 20% and 19% of the
marriages respectively. Reasons for
the rest were said to be miscellaneous
at 9%.
Around 40% of the households surveyed said they had children working

Speakers address the Children Living in Dhaka Slums: Context and Analysis event at
Spectra Convention Centre in the capital yesterday
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
11-12 hours a day, 32% had children
working 9-10 hours and children from
the rest of the families work less compared to others.

Speaking at the programme, Manager of The Nielsen Company Bangladesh

Ltd AKM Fazlur Rahman said: At least
one family member in around 84% of

the households fell ill in the last thirty

days. 36% of children and 57% of the
adults fail to attend schools and offices
due to sickness once in a month.
37% of the boys and 47% of the girls
in slums attend schools, according to
the reports.
Most of the slum dwellers were
found to be unaware of birth registration. 41% of the parents do not comprehend the importance of birth registration, 32% did not know where to get it
from and 27% could not afford the registration process.
Among 17% of the households with
working children, 44% work in the
garment industry, 24% in small stores,
9% beg, and the rest 23% in other
sectors including domestic help. In
addition, nearly 9% of the domestic
workers become victims of assault by
employers.
Bangladesh has taken so many
steps to reduce child mortality rate
and creating the scope for primary
education but there are a lot more
things needed to be done, said Save

the Children Country Director Michael

McGrath.
Dr Shahana Nazneen, programme
director of Shishuder Jonno Programme under Save the Children, said:
The key reason for migration of the
slum people is the state of being landless, river erosion, the search for employment and better jobs. The parents
leave their children alone at home for
8-10 hours a day which is why the children take part in criminal acts, drug
peddling and also become victims of
abduction.
Recommendations made to improve
the situation include prevention of
child marriage, addressing the needs
of adolescent girls, construction of
separate latrines, spaces for children
to play, rehabilitation, vocational training, raising awareness of importance of
birth registration and after-school support in education.
Around 422 households of 10 slums
in Dhaka were surveyed from December 2013 to January 2014 to prepare the
reports. l

Chhatra League attack FIAB against immoral Hazaribagh

foils left students demo poultry feed traders
n DU Correspondent
A group of Dhaka University Bangladesh
Chhatra League activists, allegedly led
by Mohsin hall and Jashim Uddin hall
unit leaders, carried out an attack on the
activists of left student bodies yesterday.
The attack left at least 5-7 students
injured, including Samajtantrik Chhatra Front President Rashed Shahriar
and Chhatra Front General Secretary
Snehardi Chakrabarty Rintu.
The left students were demonstrating in front of the Arts building, demanding cancellation of a night course
at the political science department of
the university. They termed the step as
commercialisation of education.
The student bodies under the banner
of Students against Commercialisation

of Education on May 18 declared the

strike through a press conference.
The injured students alleged that
Chhatra League central unit Deputy Secretary Didar Hossain Roni and
Jashim Uddin hall Chhatra League Organising Secretary Jahangir Alam led
the attack on the demonstrators.
Earlier, the demonstrators locked
the Arts and Social Science buildings
around 6:30am, later brought out a
procession around 10:30am, following
the attack. Later, at a press conference
they alleged that the administration
used Chhatra League activists to suppress the general students demand.
However, BCL Secretary Omar Sharif
denied the allegations and said students,
who had exams, were barred by the
demonstrators to sit for their exams. l

n Tribune Report
Despite several drives by law enforcement and reports by media, many factories in Dhakas Hazaribagh continue manufacturing poultry feed using
toxic tannery waste, said members of
Feed Industries Association Bangladesh (FIAB) at a meeting in the capital
yesterday.
The association also urged the concerned government authorities to conduct an immediate drive in Hazaribagh to identify and shut down these
factories.
In the meeting held at FIABs Gulshan office, FIAB President Moshiur
Rahman said the association had been
asking the government to take necessary steps to shut down the toxic feed

manufacturing factories for the past

few years.
In March this year, one such factory was sealed off and fined by a mobile
court for food adulteration. Another
drive was conducted in the same area a
few years back, he said.
The High Court also issued a ruling
to shut down these factories, but they
are still running.
Therefore, a combined operation
is a must in order to close down this
deadly business, he said.
These companies are not members
of FIAB. Many have established such illegal business by acquiring trade licence
from the city corporation, he said.
Moshiur said he was grateful for the
drive by the Department of Environment on Wednesday that ousted four

such factories in Hazaribagh.

FIAB Secretary Khondker Monsur
Hossain said ousting or sealing off one
or two factories would not uproot the
problem.
According to our information,
there are at least 20-25 factories from
Hazaribagh to Gabtoli areas that are
producing poultry feed by using toxic
tannery waste. The small farmers are
being cheated by purchasing such lowcost adulterated feed, risking health
hazards, he said.
Monsur claimed that, though the
market of such substandard feed is very
small, the health risks are very high.
Therefore, to ensure consumer
rights and secure their health, we must
uproot these factories without wasting
any more time, he said. l

Thalassaemia
Foundation gets
VAT relief
n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Thalassaemia Foundation,

a non-profit organisation to help and
support thalassaemia patients in the
country, has been temporarily exempted from paying the value-added tax
(VAT) on the rent of its premises.
National Board of Revenue this week
made the decision as the foundation supports thalassaemia patients through providing treatment and medication at low
costs and completely depends on donations from individuals and organisations
to run its operation, an NBR official said.
He said the NBR issued a Statutory
Regulatory Order yesterday exempting
the foundation of Tk2,26,350 of VAT on
the house rent that was paid between
July 2009 and June 2013. l

WEATHER

THUNDERSHOWERS

FRIDAY, MAY 23
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:37PM
SUN RISES 5:13AM
FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka

39

Chittagong

33

28
27

Rajshahi

43

29

Rangpur

37

25

Khulna

40

26

Barisal

38

27

Sylhet

39

24

Coxs Bazar

31

27

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW

40.6C
Rajshahi

22.2C
Rangpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES
Fajar
Sunrise
Jumma
Asr
Magrib
Esha

3:47am
5:12am
11:55am
4:35pm
6:38pm
8:03pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org

Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon inaugurates the Digital Tax Block in front of the National Eidgah yesterday

Water woes trouble Rajshahi city

n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi
Drinking water crisis has soared in Rajshahi city. The water being supplied is
now dirty and has a foul smell.
Added to the crisis there is a longstanding shortage of water as Water
Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa)
says it supplies a bit more than a half of
the total water demand here.
Wasa says there is a demand for 11,
80, 77,000 litres of water while it is
currently supplying only 6, 26, 37,000
littres of water through 76 deep tubewells every day, meeting only 67% of
the water demand.
The mercury has been hovering
above 40 degrees for the last week.
A housewife, Momena Begum, who
lives in Talaimari Shaheed Minar area,
told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: I
have been fetching water from a faraway place for a week because the water being supplied here is muddy and it
reeks.

I went to get water from the usual

place this morning here, but returned
frustrated and had to get water from
almost half a kilometre away.

Wasa says there is a

demand for 11, 80,
77,000 litres of water
while it is currently
supplying only 6, 26,
37,000 littres
Like her, many others have been fetching drinking water from a faraway places in the city.
The pictures is not different in the
citys suburbs Bhadra, Darikharbona
and court area yesterday as people
there also complain about the water
supplied there.
A Wasa official, seeking anonymity,
tells the Dhaka Tribune: Water crisis

is longstanding here. It has worsened

as water cannot be pumped as before,
because the water table has dropped
dramatically with the beginning of
Summer in the city.
Shaheed
Kamruzzaman
Water
Treatment Plant has stopped because
of the extremely shallow water levels in the rivers. Moreover, four more
plants are not coming to any use as
they have not been repaired since they
broke down 10 years ago.
Rajshahi city Wasa Secretary
Shafiqul Islam says, Water can be
muddy due to excessive iron or due to
a breakdown of any pipe in the ground.
So, I cannot say anything about it without seeing the water for myself.
City Wasa Caretaker Engineer Parvej
Mahmud says, The Wasa has decided to set up 20 more deep tube-wells
to meet the demand of water here. Of
them, 10 tube-wells have already been
installed. Efforts are on in full swing to
meet the total water demand here. l

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

13 trafficking victims
return from Iran
n Rabiul Islam
Thirteen Bangladeshi migrant workers,
who were rescued by Iranian police after being held hostage for a month and a
half, were repatriated home yesterday.
Besides, a suspected trafficker
named Saddam was also sent back
along with the workers.
Sources said the repatriation was
done with the help of Bangladesh embassy in Iran, Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) and Right Jessore,
an NGO working with human trafficking victims.
A scheduled flight carrying the
ill-fated workers arrived at Hazrat
Shahjalal International Airport around
9:30, Executive Director of Rights
Jessore Binoy Krishna told the Dhaka
Tribune.
The migrants were working in
Dubai. Human traffickers allured them
with lucrative jobs in European countries but they were taken to Iran and
kept confined to a house in Bandar Abbas of Iran, Krishna continued. l

SBMCH authorities
lodge counter
case for assault on
doctors
n Our Correspondent, Barisal
Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College
authorities yesterday lodged a counter case against the families of patients
for assaulting doctors, accusing 15 people including five family members of a
dead patient.
Abdul Jalil, administrative officer
of SBMCH upon the order of the hospitals director, lodged the case with
Barisal Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Court under sections 332, 333, 353, 307,
427 and 109 of the Penal Code. The accused were charged for obstruction in
performing public duties, attacking, injuring, endangering life and defaming
doctors.
After accepting the petition, Barisal
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Wahiduzzaman Shikdar ordered the officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station
to submit a report on the issue after
investigation.
Julia Begum, wife of the dead patient Rezaul Karim, Selim Khan, Sohel Khan, Shahin Khan, Jahirul Islam
Babu, brothers and cousins of the dead
patient, were named and 10 others
unnamed as accused in the case. Nine
doctors, including the director of the
hospital, departmental head, register,
consultant of orthopaedics department, were named as witnesses in this
case.
The complainant alleged that the accused at 10:30am on May 18 attacked Dr
Shahidul Islam, assistant register, and
Dr Maniruzzaman, assistant professor, of the orthopaedics department,
beating them with lethal weapons following the death of Rezaul Karim at
9:20am.
It was also alleged that the attackers
had ransacked the office of the assistant register, causing damages worth
Tk80,000.
Earlier, Rezauls wife Julia lodged
a case on May 20 with the same court
against 50 doctors and interns SBMCH,
accusing them of negligence in treating
Rezaul. It was also alleged that the doctors had attacked the protesting attendants of the patient, beating them with
cricket stamps after they asked the
doctors about the cause of death.
Rezaul Karim, 31, a rental motorcycle driver, was admitted at the orthopaedics department of SBMCH in
the early hours of May 15 after he was
injured in a road accident the previous
night. He died on May 18. l

Battery-run rickshaws, van

workers demand permission
n Mohosinul Karim
Bangladesh Rickshaw and Van Workers
United Council yesterday claimed that
the decision of the police administration to impose ban on battery-run auto-rickshaws was not logical.
At a press conference yesterday,
the organisations General Secretary
Ruhul Amin read out the keynote. He
said the air-coolers and air conditioners of the rich people were consuming
more power than the battery-run auto-rickshaws. So, the decision of imposing the ban was not logical at all,
he added.
Demanding government permission
to ply the auto-rickshaws and amending the transport and traffic laws,
Ruhul Amin said: The importers are
importing the machineries and traders
are selling the auto-rickshaws after as-

sembling in the country with legal permission from the government.

They are paying taxes for making
the auto-rickshaws and the owners
are buying the legally imported and
assembled auto-rickshaws spending
their deposited or borrowed money.
They should have permission from the
government as they are facing losses
for the ban.
He also demanded that the rickshaw pullers should not be harassed
illogically.
Mushfiqur Rahman Mintu, president of Shahid Mostafa Kamal Stadium
Market Traders Association, claimed
that there were around 60,000 battery-run auto-rickshaws in the capital,
which is around 9 lakh in the country.
The ban on the auto-rickshaws had
made around one crore people workless, he added. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Tk70cr sugar
remains unsold
in Rajshahi
n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi
Rajshahi Sugar Mills Ltd has been struggling to sell about Tk69.88 crore worth
of sugar (about 7,470 metric tonnes) for
a long time.
Consequently, the mill authorities
are not being able to pay the Tk12 crore
that they owe the local sugarcane cultivators, causing immense suffering for
the latter.
Sources at the Rajshahi Sugar Mills
said last years sugar production was
about 26,810 metric tonnes. Of that,
9,340 tonnes were sold.
The authorities bought Tk30 crore
worth of sugarcane from local producers in order to meet their production
target, but were able to pay only about
Tk18 crore.
The cultivators are gradually becoming discontent and this may worsen at any time, the sources continued.
Tofazzal Hossain Mridha, president
of the Rajshahi sugar mill Akhchasi
Kayllan Samity, alleged that the mill

authorities have intentionally refused

to pay the cultivators their money,
causing them to incur losses.
However, the Samity often arranges
protest rallies on the mills premises
demanding the dues.
Abul Kalam Shamsuddin, manager
(finance) of Rajshahi Sugar Mills, said:
The cultivators will soon be paid their
dues after we sell the hoarded sugar.
The authorities are trying their best to
get out of this crisis.
The manager blamed vested interests for the sugar remaining unsold,
saying that when sugar prices were
fixed by the government at Tk50 per
kg, then these people manipulated the
prices by selling sugar at Tk48.
Afterwards, the government was
forced to lower the price to Tk40 and
they then started selling at Tk38.
Because we sell sugar at seemingly
high prices, the dealers do not buy sugar from us. And now the cultivators are
also urging them to hike the sugarcane
prices, said Abul Kalam. l

Nation

Pension fund
seminar at
Manikganj
n Our Correspondent, Manikganj
A seminar titled Universally Accessible
Pension Fund for Bangladesh was held
yesterday at the Manikganj Lawyers
Association Building in Manikganj. The
seminar was organised with a view to
implement the Private Pension Fund
Scheme promised by the government.
The Project Manager, Barrister Dr
Shamim Alam, presented the keynote
paper at the seminar while it was jointly addressed by prominent Australian
jurist and the Project Investigator Dr
Jeffrey Nicole and Dr Abu Taher Mollik.
The seminar was told that this initiative is quite unique for Bangladesh
where a population over 18 years of
age, engaged in different professions
but do not enjoy pension facilities, will
be incorporated into this scheme.
The members under the scheme will
be saving Tk50 each month up to 58
years of age and the government will pay
the pensioners double the amount accumulated in their respective accounts.
The professionals who are financially
capable and whose annual income is less
than Tk5,000, will be included in this
scheme, the speakers said. Necessary
policies have already been formed in
this connection, the speakers added. l

Friday, May 23, 2014

Adamjee Export Processing Zone

Adamjee Nagar, Siddhirgonj, Narayangonj

Ref. No. 03.353.014.00.00.600.2013-588

Date: 19 May 2014

Invitation for Tenders

No. 5/2013-2014

Seal tenders are hereby invited from the eligible Tenderer(s) for the following works as per terms & conditions stated
below:
1

Ministry/Division

Prime Ministers Ofce (BEPZA) Governors Board Secretariat).

Agency

BEPZA

Procuring Entity Name

Adamjee Export Processing Zone.

Procuring Entity District

Narayangonj.

Invitation for

Tender for works for Single lot.

Invitation Ref. No. & Date

05/2013-2014, date: 19 May 2014

KEY INFORMATION
7

Procurement Method

Open Tendering Method (OTM)

FUNDING INFORMATION
8

Budget and source of Funds

Self nance of BEPZA

Development partners (if applicable)

N/A

PARTICULAR INFORMATION
10

Project/Programme Code (if applicable)

N/A

11

Project/Programme name (if applicable)

N/A

12

Tender Package No.

N/A

13

Tender Package Name

N/A

14

Tender publication date

On or before 25 May 2014

15

Tender last selling date

09 June 2014 During Ofce hour.

16

Tender Closing Date & Time

10 June 2014 at 12:00 Noon

17

Tender Opening Date & Time

10 June 2014 at 3:00 PM

18

Name & Address of the ofce(s)

Selling of Tender (Principal)

Accounts Section, Adamjee EPZ, Siddhirgonj, Narayangonj.

Selling of Tender (Others)

1.
2.

Receiving of Tender

1.
2.
3.

Accounts Section, BEPZA, BEPZA Complex, Houuse # 19/D,

Road# 6, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205.
Ofce of the Deputy Commissioner, Narayangonj.
Executive Engineer (Civil), Adamjee EPZ, Siddhirgonj, Narayangonj.
Chief Engineer, BEPZA, BEPZA Complex, House # 19/D,
Road # 6, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205.
Ofce of the Deputy Commissioner, Narayangonj.

Opening of tender
19

Executive Engineer (Civil), Adamjee EPZ, Siddhirgonj. Narayangonj.

Place/Date/Time of Pre-Tender meeting

Not to be held.

INFORMATION FOR TENDERER

20

Eligibility of Tenderer

The Invitation for Tender is open to all eligible Tenderers who

satisfy the following.
h) The Tenderer must have successful completion experience
on similar nature of work in a single work order amounting
not less than Tk. 5.00 lac within the last 05 (ve) years in
Govt./Semi Govt./Autonomous bodies. The work completion
certicates shall have to be issued by the ofcer not below the
rank of Executive Engineer of equivalent ofcer of concern
Department/Organization.
i) Average Annual Construction Turnover shall be greater than
Tk. 9.00 lac over the last 05 years. (best of three). Construction
Turnover will be calculated on the basis of work completion
certicates enclosed with the Tender.
j) Minimum Liquid Assets/credit facilities shall be Tk. 5.00 lac.
k) Black listed/debarred Tenderer(s) from any govt./Semi Govt/
Autonomous bodies will be treated as ineligible to participate
in the Tender.
l) Up-to-date Trade license, Income Tax clearance certicate,
VAT registration certicate, from the concern Department/
Organization.
m) Others required conditions and documents of the Tenderer
are shown in Tender Data Sheet (TDS) of Tender documents
must be fullled.
n) All other criteria will be taken according to the Public
Procurement Act-2006 and its amendments.

21

Brief Description of related service

Brick work, Plaster work, RCC work etc.

22

Tender document Price

Tk. 500.00

Wooden bridge in Bandarban district built over the Naikkhyangchhari Lake by local timber dealers and residents a long time ago lies in a
dilapidated condition
DHAKA TRIBUNE

Bridge needs repairing in Bandarban

n Our Correspondent, Bandarban

The suffering of the residents of the

Mrach Aung area of the Naikkhyangchhari upazila in Bandarban, knows no
bounds because a local bridge has yet
to be repaired.
Locals said the wooden bridge that
was built over the Naikkhyangchhari
Lake by local timber dealers and residents a long time ago, is now in a dilapidated condition. As a result, locals
have to risk their lives when crossing
the bridge every day.

Kau Hla Marma, one of the residents

of the locality, told the Dhaka Tribune that they are attempting to repair
the bridge by raising funds from local
sources but when they do not have
funds and the work is stalled, which
happens every few days, it goes back
to its worn out condition, making them
suffer again.
Dr Abdur Rahim, a local physician
said due to the broken-down condition
of the bridge, the luxury bus service
has been suspended for a long time.
Locals have been demanding that

the 8km road stretching from Naikhongchari to the bordering Chakdhala

be widened to a width of 24ft.
They have also repeatedly demanded that the local administration should
repair the bridge immediately in order
to ensure safe and secure transportation for commuters.
Member of the Bandarban District
Council Kazi Mojibur Rahman said they
are discussing the issue with the engineers of LGED and the district council
and will repair the bridge as soon as
possible. l

Four killed, 37 injured in road

accidents across districts
n Tribune Desk
At least four people were killed and 37
injured in road accidents in Gazipur,
Sylhet, Sunamganj and Chuadanga districts yesterday.
In Gazipur, a police constable was
killed as a truck ran over him on the Dha-

ka-Tangail Highway in Kaliakoir upazila.

The deceased, identified as Salamat
Hossain, 50, hailed from Pathuli village
in Basail upazila of Tangail district.
In Sylhet, two passersby were run
over by a speeding bus in Nazirpur Bazar
area on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway.
The deceased were identified as
Sufian Ahmed, 8,
Farhan Ahmed, 9,
were student of a
Madrasa in Nazirpur area.
Following the
accident,
locals
blocked Dhaka-

Sylhet highway that created a huge

traffic jam in the area.
In Sunamganj, a minor girl was killed
and three other people were injured in
a road accident in Monar Bhangti area
of Jagannathpur upazila.
The deceased was identified as Liza
Begum, 5, daughter of Delwar Miah of
Biswanath upazila.
Police said the accident took place
when a motorcycle ran over Liza in the
area on the Jagannathpur-BiswanathRashidpur Road in the evening, leaving
her injured critically.
She was rushed to the upazila heath
complex where doctors declared her
dead.
In Chuadanga, at least
25 people were injured in a
road accident at Bhalaipur
area of Sadar upazila.
Witnesses said the accident took place when a
Chuadanga-bound speeding bus from Meherpur
ploughed through a fish
market in the area around
3pm, leaving 25 people injured.
On information, two
units of firefighters went to
the spot and rushed the injured to the Sadar hospital,
among which five were in
serious condition. l

23

Lot
No

Identication of lot

Location

Tender security
Amount (Tk) (In favour
of BEPZA)

Completion
Time

Construction of boundary wall near

to main gate (back side of pothokali
school) at Adamjee EPZ.

Adamjee EPZ,
Narayangonj.

21,000.00

60 days

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS

24

Name of ofcial Inviting Tender

Md. Abdul Matin Miea

25

Designation of Ofcial Inviting Tender

Executive Engineer (Civil).

26

Address of ofcial Inviting Tender

Adamjee EPZ, Adamjee Nagar, Siddhirgonj, Narayangonj.

27

Contract Details of ofcial inviting

tender

Phone: 02-7692937, Fax: 02-7692939,

e-mail: matinbepza@gmail.com

28

Special Instruction:
(u)
(v)

Any false, forged and miss leading documents furnished by tenderer shall result in rejection of the
Tender.

(w)

In case of any confusion arises due to printing mistake or other reason, The Public Procurement
Rule-2008 will govern.

(x)

Tender shall be submitted along with one duplicate copy and it should be mentioned on the cover
sheet.

(y)
29

Eligible rms/authorised representative may purchase Tender Documents from the ofces mentioned
in Sl No. 18 on submitting written requested in their letter head Pad.

The Tender shall be valid for a period of 120 days from the date of opening the Tender(s). Tender
Notice is also available at website: www.epzbangladesh.org.bd of BEPZA.

The Procuring Entity reserves the right to accept or reject all the Tenders of annual the tender proceedings.

GC-100/14 (20 x 4)

Md. Abdul Matin Miea

Executive Engineer (Civil)
E-mail: matinbepza@gmail.com

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Friday, May 23, 2014

China and India: Leadership in contrast

n Shaqur Rahman
he Indian Election results
are astounding, and that
is a euphemism. All the
wishful thinking and
self-justifying commentaries from secular intellectuals proved
to be just that, self-deluding. Even as
the exit polls carried on the tradition
of failing to capture the complexity of
electoral preference of Indian voters,
they failed not in predicting the BJP
victory, but failing to gauge the magnitude of the victory.
In terms of representative democracy, this is truly an epochal election
in India. There is virtually no main
opposition party in the Parliament.
Sansad Bhaban, the house of Parliament of India, is really the house of
Narendra Modi now.
Two things stand out to me in
the post-quake landscape of Indian
politics. First, with barely 38% of
the votes the BJP led coalition now
commands 62% of the total seats.
With support from one or two smaller
regional parties, the NDA coalition can
comfortably cross over the hallowed
67% or two third Special Majority
mark. And with Special Majority,
Emergency Proclamation, Amendment of the Constitution via article
368, Removal of Supreme Court
Judges, Removal of President etc are
all within the grasp of an NDA government led by Modi.
This election has been all about
Modi and India is now his oyster.
Rarely in recent Indian history have
hopes and fears of billions of people
in and around India been centred on a
single personality like now. For his detractors, coronation of Modi raises the
spectre of the most notorious human
clich from 1930s Germany.
To his devotees, Modi carries the
ambition for an Indian Lee Kwan Yew;
who will firmly take charge of India
Incorporated and unleash the dynamism to make the country a world
economic and political superpower,
not just in theory and potentially but
in reality. What Modi will think and do
is known unknowns; to quote from
the famous saying of Rumsfeld.
In short, dramatic change for better
or worse is in the cards and with it
entails huge uncertainty. Those who
dismiss the potential for disruptive
change in an established democracy
like India, do not pay sufficient heed
to the confluence of charismatic
and ambitious leadership, large and
enthusiastic support from people and
resourceful interests and power of
mass media in shaping mass psychology; a conjunction that has shown its
potency in recent history time and
time again.

Indian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters in large numbers attend a rally by Chief Minister of western Gujarat state and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad on May 16. Hindu nationalist Narendra
Modi pledged May 16 to make the 21st century Indias century after leading his right-wing party to a landslide election victory
AFP
tic economy.
India on the other hand was regularly complimented because of the
stability and robustness of its plural
political system and diverse society.
As we can see now that even established and healthy democracies can
throw up great uncertainty in the form
of unknowns focalised in a singular
leadership, it is a good time as any to
evaluate the Chinese political leadership during the transformational
recent decades.

China: A closer look

Chinese economic growth in the last
three decades is an unprecedented
macro event in recorded human history. In 1980, real per-capita income of
China was one fortieth of a US citizen
and now it is almost one-fourth.
Analysts say that China will overtake
USA as the largest economy within the
next few years.
The social change is no less
outstanding; in 1980 only a fifth of
Chinese people lived in cities, now
more than a half does. These dizzying
statistics of change often mask another remarkable thing, despite high and
regular turnover of people at the apex,
Chinese political leadership remained
uniquely stable, continuous and
focused during these years of tumultuous change. This stability is mainly

Democratic systems throw up autocratic leaders

quite often and sometimes autocratic systems have
remarkable democratic decision-making process

And that brings us to the main thesis

of this article, a high level glimpse
on the stability and uncertainty of
political leadership in democracy and
other systems.

due to the hierarchical and grouped

structure of Chinese leadership and
decision-making.

Growth: India vs China

Chinas political system is divided into

three major institutions: the government, the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP), and the military. The Party sits
at the apex, subordinating all others.
The Communist Party has 80 million
members (5% of Chinese Population)
and people only become member
after a selective process that can take
several years.
The Party is organised into three
major bodies: the Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Politburo
Standing Committee. The Central
Committee is comprised of 200
members who are elected in the
Party National Congress which is held
every five years. Committee members
include senior party and government
officials, different agency heads,

Rightly, in this purported Asian

Century, all developments in India is
compared and contrasted with China,
currently the third and the second biggest economies by PPP. Throughout
the last two decades, when China has
been growing at unprecedented breakneck speed and India was developing
at solid, respectable rate but was increasingly falling behind, both Indian
and western political commentators
comforted the worldwide adherents
of plural politics by rationalising that,
while Chinas growth is spectacular,
its economy and society is increasingly in precarious position because
of a forced marriage of an autocratic
political system with a free-capitalis-

The Chinese political structure

military generals, provincial governors, head of State-owned companies

etc. The Central Committee appoints
the 25-man Politburo, which is then
narrowed even further into a five to
nine-man Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) that really runs the Party and
the country.
Each PSC member is generally in
charge of a portfolio covering a major
area such as the economy, legislation,
internal security, or propaganda.
Although most of the important policy
decisions are often dictated from top
down in this hierarchy, Central Committee does wield real power through
the five years; it sets the direction of
policy and leadership changes and
ratifies them. There is intense politics
and lobbying in the committee between different groups.
The seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) are
ranked in order of primacy, from one
to seven. The rankings do not exactly
refer to the official post of the members; sometimes members do not hold
any official post but is still ranked high
and wields huge influence.
Usually though, the President and
the Prime Minister holds the first and
second rank. The most important
point of the PSC is that the person at
the top is not the leader of the group
but the first among equals. It is a
consultative and collective decision
making body, no one can impose a
view upon others; a decision must
garner substantial support from the
members.
The second important feature of
the PSC is its regular turnover. There
is an enforced retirement age of 68
which effectively limit the term of
members, including the top ranked
leader. Also leaders who fail to perform are often dropped after the first
term or even within term.
The age limit not only curbs unchecked ambition of charismatic leaders but also initiates a long grooming
process. The small number of promising people who can rise to the top
must be given ministerial or provincial
leadership positions in their early and
mid-50s so that they can be ready for
PSC when they are 60.
Many Politburo members in China
have been involved in business,
corruption or other profit-seeking
activities and became fabulously
wealthy. But no matter how influential
they become, no one can stay beyond
the term limit. Also China is notoriously nepotistic; children and family of
political leaders enjoy huge perks in all
aspects of society. But no one can place
their children in top political positions,
everyone has to go through the long
process of membership, committee,
appointments and prove themselves
consistently as leader and manager.
Interestingly, Engineers and Technical people heavily dominated the
previous Chinese top leadership; all
members of the 16th PSC (2002-07)
were engineers. But six out of the
seven members of the current PSC
(2012-17) are trained in social sciences.
This reflects a greater awareness of
politics and society than just economic growth.

The gradual evolution to collective

leadership has engendered several
broad trends in Chinese statecraft.
The most visible is the stability and
continuity; Chinese policy direction
does not make radical changes on
whims of new leader but reflects
deliberative and broad-based decision-making. This stability is highly
prized by international and domestic
businesses who regard uncertainty as
a principal impediment to long-term
business and economic planning.

Party Congress gradually the new

rules were introduced and by the
Congress in 2002 most of the current
implicit and explicit rules have become established.
A similar reaction also took place
in the Soviet leadership during the
Communist Party rule. Stalins rule
(1922-53) was the archetype of godlike,
dictatorial regime. After Stalin there
was strong demand for collective leadership at the top. Nikita Khrushchev
was largely ousted from leadership

Entrusting fate of hundreds of millions or even

billions upon hit or miss charismatic leaders seem
to be risky proposition indeed

The balancing act

Secondly, although China is a
one-party state where the party seeks
to maintain a tight control over the
population, current Chinese leadership also recognises that control can
only be achieved by a careful balancing of freedoms and restrictions. The
Chinese government pays very close
attention to public opinion while
trying to control it; the government
prioritises wealth accumulating
economic growth but at the same time
try to ensure wide distribution of the
spoils from growth.
There is no magic formula for these
kind balances and it is continuously
changing. A single-apex leadership
system would have been very inadequate for such careful fine tuning;
collective decision-making enable a
robust leadership mode with sufficient flexibility and rigidity to chart
the huge country through tumultuous
changes. Chinese leaders clearly see
that even among their senior leaders
there is divide between those who
are more inclined to reforms and
liberalisation and those who are more
conservative. The Chinese leadership
institutionalised robustness in leadership by ensuring that both camps are
adequately represented in the highest
bodies but no camp gains an overwhelming advantage.
This collective leadership arose
a lot due to the three-decade long
all-powerful and capricious rule of
Mao Zedong. During Maos rule the
PSC was a totally ineffectual body and
there were no mechanism or institution to check Maos disastrous policy
decisions like the Great Leap Forward
in the 1950s or the Cultural Revolution
in the 1960s.
After Maos death Deng Xiaoping
started to develop rules to govern
decision-making at the top level and
manage power succession. From 12th

because of his failure to institute

collective leadership.
After him, the regimes of Brezhnev,
Andropov, Chernenko all had strong
collective leadership. Perestroika;
the policy that opened up the Soviet
Union and initiate its eventual demise, did not spring out of the head
of Mikhail Gorbachev alone; there
were a lot of institutional support
for far-reaching change from various
quarters of the Soviet Central Committee. Even then, Gorbachev had to do
continuous to-and-from with politburo members to get majority approval
for his policy changes.

The theoretical approach

Political scientists construct the spectrum of leadership by democratic and
autocratic leadership at two extremes.
Democratic leadership style supposedly emphasise group participation,
discussion, and group decisions, while
an autocratic leader keeps tight control
over group decisions and determines
all policies only through own consent.
Curiously there are often mismatch
between leadership and politics. Democratic system throws up autocratic
leaders quite often and sometimes
autocratic systems have remarkable
democratic decision-making process.
We in Bangladesh need no lesson in
how democratic elections can produce
most autocratic leaders.
Interestingly, most established and
mature democracies have a democratic
system of electing leaders but give remarkably autocratic and arbitrwary decision making power to the top. Most
often, democratically elected leaders
are moderate and reasonable men who
depend on broad consultation rather
than personal whim as principle of
policy-making. But occasionally, we
also see leaders like man-on-a-mission George W Bush, who religiously
believe the divine mandate.

Democracy is not just a system of

selecting leaders democratically but
also checking bad decisions of elected
leaders and getting rid of them easily
when they fail dismally. The Chinese
collective leadership with its institutionalised development of leaders,
group decision making and regular
turnover at the top seem to have
integrated many of the best features
of democratic leadership. This is not
an advocacy for Chinese Political
system; China is after all a one-party
state where people have very little say
about the course of their destiny.
Leadership function arose in the
biological world to solve coordination
and collective action problem of large
groups of social animals. Anthropologists say that pre-civilisation human
societies had more group decision
making than hierarchical leadership.
The vast increase of social complexity
due to founding of cities and states
produced need for powerful, centralised and formal leadership structures.
But as the communication and
knowledge revolution vastly changed
the coordination problem of big societies, the formal-singular leadership
system is increasingly questionable.
The paradox of leadership is that versatility, the ability to do multiple, even
competing roles is greatly correlated
with leadership effectiveness but
individuals who can do that are very
rare indeed.

Getting the right mix

Democracy is the best method of
selecting leaders but even it often
fails to find those rare individuals,
particularly in countries where the
choice is very limited. But we should
not overlook the attractive features of
the Chinese leadership. Democracy
is not a formula but a participatory
argument. Democracy should evolve
with the need and circumstances of
the time and place.
Whether one believes in the End of
History thesis of Francis Fukuyama
or not, one cannot deny that most of
the world citizenry do not hunger for
revolutionary change but for improvement and problem-solving. In this day
and age, where there is huge pool of
expert and informed leaders in every
society, entrusting fate of hundreds of
millions or even billions upon hit or
miss charismatic leaders seem to be
risky proposition indeed.
Collective leadership as a mechanism of power-sharing through checks
and balances among competing
political camps, but also incorporating
more dynamic and pluralistic decision-making process seem to be more
suited for the age we live in.
I believe that single leaders as
messiah or saviour is out of place in
todays world. We need real time participatory democracy. We need checks
against uncertainty of democratically
elected dictators and we need mechanisms for diversity and robustness
at the top of decision making. How to
develop such mechanisms is an argument we must join vigorously. l
Shafiqur Rahman is a freelance contributor.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Rebels kill nine

Ukraine soldiers
ahead of crunch vote
n AFP, Volnovakha
Separatist rebels killed at least nine
Ukrainian soldiers in the restive east
yesterday, dealing a heavy blow to the
beleaguered government just three
days before a crunch presidential poll.
The attacks were the deadliest for
the military since it launched an offensive six weeks ago against a pro-Moscow insurgency that is threatening to
tear the country apart.
Western pressure is mounting on
Russia not to interfere in Sundays
vote, and Nato suggested Thursday
that it had seen the first firm evidence
of Moscow following through on a
promise to pull back its forces from the
Ukraine border.
But rebels in Ukraines heavily-Russified eastern industrial regions of
Donetsk and Lugansk are showing no
signs of scaling back resistance to what
they regard as an illegitimate government in Kiev.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said
the worst of the two overnight attacks
saw the insurgents blow up a military
vehicle after volleying mortar shells
and grenades at a roadblock set up by
government troops near the Donetsk
region town of Volnovakha. It said
eight men were killed and another 17
wounded in Volnovakha, while another soldier was killed and two injured in
a strike near Rubizhne in Lugansk.
Kievs interim government launched
its so-called anti-terrorist operation
in mid-April aimed at crushing the rebels who have seized more than a dozen
eastern cities and towns.
An AFP toll compiled through UN

and Ukrainian government sources

puts the number of deaths suffered in
fighting across the east since mid-April
at around 140.
President Vladimir Putin his government wary of devastating sanctions
threatened by Washington and its European allies has so far refrained from
recognising the legitimacy of the separatists self-declared republics in Lugansk and Donetsk.
He has also ordered the withdrawal of some 40,000 forces that Russia
began massing along its ex-Soviet
neighbours eastern border after seizing Ukraines Black Sea peninsula of
Crimea in March.
Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday he has seen some
evidence of limited Russian troop activity in the vicinity of the border with
Ukraine that may suggest that some of
these forces are preparing to withdraw.
Putin rejects the legitimacy of the
pro-Western team that toppled a Moscow-backed president in February on
the back of a massive wave of street
protests. But he has given only the most
grudging backing for an election that is
all but certain to bring a pro-Western
president to power who will seek to
fold the nation of 46 million more fully
into Europe and break for good its historic dependence on Russia.
What is important is not the election itself, Putin said Thursday during
a visit to China.
US Vice President Joe Biden warned
Putin that Russias economy already
approaching recession would suffer immediate consequences should Russia be
judged to have interfered in the vote. l

World

Moscow
demands official
explanation for
Charles remarks
n AFP, Moscow
Russias foreign ministry yesterday
demanded an official explanation
after Britains Prince Charles reportedly compared President Vladimir
Putins actions in Ukraine to those
of Hitler.
If these words were really said,
then undoubtedly they are not worthy
of a future British monarch, foreign
ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in Moscow.
We have requested an official explanation from British authorities over
the statements.
Lukashevich slammed Western media for using Charless reported words
in what he said was a propaganda campaign against Russia.
We consider it is unacceptable,
disgusting and low that Western media are using members of the British royal family to unroll a propaganda campaign against Russia on a
contentious
international
issue
like the situation in Ukraine,
he said.
Russia and Britains positions differ
widely and that is obvious, we see that
from the statements of British politicians, Lukashevich said.
To discuss these topics, we have
absolutely legal two-way channels
and that does not call for pronouncing judgements in a broad public
forum.
A senior Russian diplomat was expected to hold talks at Britains foreign
ministry Thursday after the Daily Mail
reported the comments, which Charles
apparently made in a private conversation with a Polish-born woman who
fled the Nazis as a child. l

Irans president:
Nuclear deal by
July likely
n AP, Shanghai

EU election kicks off with

British and Dutch voters

Irans president said yesterday an

agreement by July on curbing its nuclear program is very likely despite
a snag in talks last week, but that the
deadline might also be extended.
Talks in Vienna stalled last Friday,
denting hopes that negotiators could
meet a July 20 target. The failure to advance diminished optimism that had
been growing since negotiations began
Feb. 18 on a comprehensive deal.
The talks involve Iran and the five
permanent members of the UN Security
Council plus Germany. It is very likely
that we can come to an agreement by the
end of July, President Hassan Rouhani
told a news conference. He was in Shanghai for an Asian security conference.
Reaching agreement depends on
unspecified countries not being given
a chance to create problems, Rouhani
said. Western nations say Irans nuclear
program could allow it to build atomic
weapons. Iran says its program is for
peaceful purposes. l

Europes mammoth parliamentary

elections kicked off yesterday, with
Britain and the Netherlands going to
the polls in a vote that is expected to
see a swing towards populist rightwing parties.
The elections, which are spread over
four days in the EUs 28 member states,
are expected to see major gains for parties bent on dismantling the European
Union from the inside.
The vote comes as the EU struggles
for relevance in the aftermath of the
euro financial crisis and as it grips with
the chaos in on its borders in Ukraine.
I believe in Europe, but I think
there are far too many rules coming
from Brussels, Margreet de Jonge,
63, told AFP as she cast her ballot in
The Hague, echoing the view of many
that the EU has become a bloated
bureaucracy.
Polls opened at 0530 GMT in the
Netherlands and 0600 GMT in Britain.
When the results are announced

Missing girls:
Protest at Nigerias
presidency, US
military in Chad
n AFP, Abuja
Protesters yesterday were taking their
call for the release of more than 200
schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram
to Nigerias president, as US military
personnel headed to Chad as part of the
rescue effort.
Demonstrators said they were intending to march on Goodluck Jonathans presidential villa in the capital,
Abuja, to maintain pressure on the embattled head of state to secure the girls
safe release.
It is the wish of this movement that
this engagement will catalyse positive
action towards (the) quick rescue of
our abducted girls, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign coordinator, Hadiza
Bala Usman, said in a statement.
Previous street protests in Abuja
have led to meetings with lawmakers
at the national parliament, Nigerias
national security adviser and military
top brass.
Thursdays planned march comes
after US President Barack Obama announced that 80 military personnel had
been deployed to Chad to help find the
223 girls still missing since their abduction on April 14. Obama said in a letter
to Congress that the military contingent
would stay in Chad until their support in
ending the crisis that has triggered worldwide outrage is no longer required. l

n AFP, London

Friday, May 23, 2014

from 2100 GMT on Sunday, eurosceptic parties may top the polls in Britain,
France, Italy and the Netherlands.
The anti-immigration and anti-EU
UK Independence Party (UKIP) of Nigel
Farage, and Geert Wilders virulently
anti-Islam Party of Freedom (PVV), are
both forecast to make big gains.
UKIPs rise has rocked the British political establishment as a party without
a single representative in its national
parliament heads into the European
election ahead of the main opposition
Labour Party, according to polls published by the Times and the Daily Mail
newspapers on the morning of the vote.
Farage, a former financial trader
who likes to hold court with journalists in the pub, has ruled out joining
a far-right bloc of Wilders party and
Frances National Front, led by Marine
Le Pen, saying the National Front is anti-Semitic.
The latest polls show eurosceptics
and others could secure almost 100
seats in the new parliament, trebling
their number in the 751-seat assembly. l

In this May 19 file photo, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists gesture from the defendants cage as they receive
sentences ranging from death by hanging for one, life in prison for 13 and 8-15 years for the others after they were convicted of murder,
rioting, and violence in a mass trial in Alexandria, Egypt
AP

In Egypt, Brotherhoods hope is

in boycott of election
n AP, Cairo
There is a gaping hole in the center
of next weeks presidential election
in Egypt: The space once filled by the
Muslim Brotherhood.
The former political powerhouse
that won election after election the
past three years has been decimated
by a crackdown since the military last
summer ousted President Mohammed
Morsi, a veteran Brotherhood figure.
The Islamist group has been declared
a terrorist organization, hundreds of
its supporters have been killed and
thousands arrested. And the man who
removed Morsi the now retired army
chief, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is a near
certainty to win the election, taking
place Monday and Tuesday.
The election could seal the groups
expulsion from political life: If turnout
is strong among Egypts 53 million voters, authorities could present that as a
solid evidence that the public rejects
the Brotherhood and supports Morsis
ouster, which Islamists brand a coup
against the popular will.
The Brotherhoods only tool now
has been to declare a boycott of the
election, branding it a farce, and try to
escalate the street protests it has been
holding since Morsis July 3 ouster.
The goal is to dent the legitimacy of
the election and keep Islamists voice
alive, hoping to draw supporters if
el-Sissis popularity collapses.
The street movement may have
thinned, but everyone is still charged
up and that will be manifested in the
future, Ashraf Abdel-Wahab, a doctoral student from the Brotherhood, told
The Associated Press.
Diaa el-Sawy, a spokesman for the
Islamist-led Youths Against the Coup,
said he expects the crackdown after the

election will become bloodier because

el-Sissi will want to establish his regime.
But, he said, people will turn against
the retired field marshal when he fails
to resolve the countrys many problems. We are betting that we will be
joined by others, he said. They will
abandon their support for el-Sissi. They
will not necessarily be with us, but they
will be against el-Sissi.

Their goal is to dent

the legitimacy of
the election and
keep Islamists voice
alive, hoping to draw
supporters if el-Sissis
popularity collapses
So far, 10 months of protests have failed
to rally non-Islamists to the cause amid
public resentment over Morsis year in
office and a media-fueled perception
that the group is behind a wave of terror attacks. The group denies the claim,
but some members warn that young
Islamists are turning to militancy a
trend that would deepen public opposition to it.
In 2012, Morsi became Egypts first
democratically elected president after
the toppling of longtime autocrat Hosni
Mubarak. But by last summer, he faced
massive protests by millions demanding he step down, prompting the militarys move.
A Brotherhood-led alliance of Islamists last week called for the third
revolutionary wave of protests against
the presidential election. Step up your
efforts to win over new sectors of so-

Lavish weddings the norm for celebrity Romeos

n AP, Paris
As Romeo said: My bounty is as boundless
as the sea ... the more I give to thee, the
more I have. His modern-day counterparts
the kind with deep pockets are going
all out to offer extravagant, star-studded
weddings to their own Juliets.
Hip-hop star Kanye West may uphold
glam-set tradition this week with a wedding
to TV reality star Kim Kardashian. The office
of the mayor of Florence and the Chateau
of Versailles say the couple will celebrate in
palatial, centuries-old venues in Italy and
France. The potential bride and groom,
however, are staying mum. It would be the
first marriage for him, the third for her.
Despite the hype preceding celebrity
wedding vows, the special moment and the
after-parties are often locked in secrecy,
with photographs going exclusively to the
highest bidder. And love itself is often less
immortal than Shakespeare had in mind.
Kardashians second marriage to basketball
star Kris Humphries lasted 72 days.
A look at some of the more glamorous
celebrity weddings of late:
THE FANTASY:
Eva Longoria-Tony Parke
Longoria, who found fame on the TV soap
Desperate Housewives, and NBA star Tony
Parker married in 2007 at a Paris church that
was once frequented by royalty. It was stage
two of a weekend extravaganza all hidden
from view, even by black umbrellas at the
church. Stage one was a civil ceremony conducted by then-Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe.

In this Nov. 18, 2006 file photo, a dark van followed by a limousine arrives at the Orsini Odescalchi castle in the lakeside town of
Bracciano, some 43 kilometers (27 miles) from Rome where US actor Tom Cruise will wed actress Katie Holmes
AP
THE FAIRYTALE:
Liz Hurley-Arun Nayar
The wedding of actress-model Liz Hurley and
businessman Arun Nayar began in Britain
and moved through several cities in India
over six days. The blessing and party in 2007
at Sudeley Castle west of London drew the
likes of Elton John, arriving by helicopter,
Kate Moss and actor Hugh Grant, Hurleys ex.
From there the wedding moved to Mumbai
for celebrations that ended at the Maharaja of
Jodphurs palace for a traditional Hindu ceremony, some 60 guests in tow. Secrecy was so
tight that guests cellphones were banned.

THE NEVER-ENDING KISS:

Katie Holmes-Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise arrived for his 2006 wedding at a
15th-century Italian castle accompanied by flag
bearers in medieval costumes as he walked
down a stone ramp, drums rolling. Bride Katie
Holmes wore Armani and the designer was
among the guests in Bracciano outside Rome,
along with Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez
and Jim Carrey. Italian singer Andrea Bocelli
serenaded the couple, and fireworks lit the sky.
Despite the lavish accoutrements, the couple
exchanged vows in a former stable decorated
with white flowers in a Scientology ceremony.

THE $60 MILLION BASH:

Vanisha Mittal-Amit Bhatia
Bollywood stars were flown in from India
along with chefs for the most opulent, secretive wedding blowout that France has seen in
a long time. The Indian steel mogul Lakshmi
Mittal paid 55 million euros ($60 million at
the time) then about the price of an Airbus
A320 to fete the 2004 marriage of his
daughter Vanisha to investment banker Amit
Bhatia. The six-day event began at the Tuileries Gardens. Some 1,500 guests from around
the world received silver-encased, 20-page
invitations, Indian newspapers reported. l

ciety for the boycott of the sham elections, so we may regain our freedom,
the alliance said Wednesday.
This week saw a marked escalation
in protests by university students loyal
to Morsi in Cairo, the southern city of
Assiut and a string of other localities
north of the capital.
The crackdown is the worst trauma
the 85-year-old Brotherhood has suffered. Still, its members pride themselves on enduring suppression. For
most of its existence, it was a banned
underground organization. Still, it built
up a grassroots network of charities,
businesses and mosques that generated public support, and it ran candidates in parliamentary elections.
After Mubaraks fall, it formed a political party and burst openly onto the
scene. It and its ultraconservative allies won every election that followed
parliamentary elections in the winter
of 2011-2012, the June 2012 presidential
election, and a December 2012 referendum that passed a constitution drafted
largely by Islamists.
Brotherhood supporters said the
votes proved Egypt wants Islamists in
power. But its detractors insist the wins
spoke more of the weakness of its opponents and the allure of its charity networks for poor voters. In the end, both
sides will count turnout and raw numbers of voters as a gauge of popularity.
In the 2011-2012 parliamentary elections, around 18.4 million Egyptians
voted for candidates from the Brotherhood party and its Islamist allies, largely competing against newly formed
and little known liberal parties.
Morsi garnered 13.2 million votes
in the 2012 presidential election including many who backed him to prevent victory by his rival, Mubaraks last
prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. l

Syria army breaks

rebel siege of
Aleppo prison
n AFP, Beirut
Syrias army has ended a year-long rebel siege of Aleppo central prison after
a fiercely fought battle for the strategic
prize, a monitoring group said yesterday.
After a siege of nearly 13 months
by Al-Nusra Front and Islamist rebels,
regular armed forces backed by pro-regime fighters were able to break the
siege of Aleppo central prison, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Tanks and armoured vehicles entered the prison grounds and intense
celebratory gunfire was heard inside
the sprawling complex, Observatory
director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
The armys advance in the area
around the prison in northern Aleppo
had cut a path for essential supplies
to rebel fighters between areas they
control and the Turkish border, Abdel
Rahman said. The breakthrough means
that President Bashar al-Assads forces
are now within reach of Castelo road,
which links rebel-held parts of Aleppo
to the northern countryside.
Fighting in the area has killed at
least 50 rebels and an unspecified
number of pro-regime fighters, since
Tuesday, according to the Observatory, a Britain-based group that relies on
sources on the ground for its reports.
Rebel fighters have repeatedly attacked the prison since April 2013,
hoping to free the approximately 3,500
detainees inside. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Biggest attack in years kills 31 Whats behind rising

violence in Chinas west?
in Chinas troubled Xinjiang
n
n Reuters, Beijing

Explosives hurled from two vehicles

which ploughed into an open market in
Chinas troubled Xinjiang region killed
31 people yesterday, state media reported, the deadliest act of violence in
the region in years.
China called the attack in the regional capital of Urumqi a serious violent terrorist incident and domestic
security chief Meng Jianzhu vowed to
strengthen a crackdown on the arrogance of terrorists. Ninety-four people
were wounded. China has blamed a series of knife and bomb attacks in recent
months on separatist militants from
Xinjiang, the traditional home of the
ethnic Muslim Uighurs.
The cross-country vehicles rammed
into shoppers in an open market, Xinhua news agency reported, citing witness reports. Explosives were flung out
of the windows, and one of the vehicles
exploded. One witness told Reuters he
saw the aftermath of the blasts on his
way to work. The air was full of the
smell of gunpowder and the sound of
sobbing, he said. There were simply
too many (casualties), old folks who
were at the morning market.
A business owner told Xinhua he
had heard a dozen loud explosions at
the market near Renmin Park in downtown Urumqi.
Xinjiang has been plagued by violence for years, but rights activists and
exile groups say the governments own
heavy handed policies in the region
have sowed the seeds of unrest.
Photos posted on social media purportedly of the blast, but not verified by
Reuters, showed a column of smoke and
chaos at the market, with bloodied people lying on the tree-lined road near small
stands selling fruit, vegetables and eggs.
There were two vehicles that drove
like crazy towards the morning mar-

AP, Beijing

Attacks in China
Killed
Victim
Alleged
attacker

BEIJING
Oct 28

Urumqi
XINJIANG May 22

What is behind the violence?

31*
Apr 30

Kunming
Mar 1

Corruption-fighting agencies in South

Asian countries lack the power and independence to properly investigate
politicians and officials for fraud entrenched in the region, a watchdog said.
A report released by Berlin-based
Transparency International yesterday
said that many agencies needed their
governments consent to investigate
suspected corruption cases, while others faced massive political interference
during their investigations.
The region is characterised by a vicious cycle in which a highly elitist and
unaccountable political culture remains
largely unchallenged because the very
actors who can bring those in power to
task are being systematically silenced,
said Srirak Plipat, Transparency International Asia-Pacific director.
The report comes days after Indias
Congress party, embroiled in a string of
corruption scandals during its 10 years

Tensions have been simmering in Xinjiang for years, but Uighur discontent
seems to be growing over restrictive Chinese practices such as refusing to allow
women to wear traditional head scarfs
or young men to grow beards. China has
also been gradually phasing out the use
of the Uighur language in education,
throwing Uighur teachers out of work
and adding to concerns that Uighur culture is under siege. Uighurs feel marginalized as the benefits of growth and
resources exploitation accrue to Han
Chinese migrants who have flooded the
region in recent decades. Add to that the
influence of global militant Islam and
the sense that Muslims elsewhere are
standing up for their religion, and it creates a highly combustible mix.

29

*At least
Xinjiang facts
Population: 22.1 million**
Uighur
47%

Han
38.2

Others
3.3

Area: 1.7 million sq km

Economy: grew 10.8% Jan-Sept 2013
Holds roughly:
30% of Chinas onshore oil
and gas deposits

Hui Kazakh
4.5 7.0

Are outsiders involved?

40% of Chinas coal

**2011 data
Source: Chinese authorities/media/Xinjiang regional govt
ket, another witness who declined
to give his name told Reuters by telephone. The market was total chaos.
Hawkers and shoppers started running
everywhere... it was definitely a terror-

South Asian anti-corruption

bodies lack teeth
n AFP, Berlin

A pair of trucks smashed through metal barriers and plowed through crowds
of early morning shoppers yesterday in
the far western city of Urumqi, capital
of the volatile Xinjiang region, killing 31
and wounding more than 90. It was the
latest and bloodiest in a rising number
of increasingly bold attacks by extremists among the Turkic Muslim Uighur
ethnic group that is native to the area.
Here is some background on the region:

Recent fatal attacks that have been linked to Xinjiang

in power, was defeated in national

elections.
The study, released in Nepals capital, Kathmandu, examines efforts to
fight corruption in six South Asian
countries - Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
As long as nobody brings the corrupt to justice, South Asias leaders run
the risk that future growth only benefits the powerful, doing nothing to help
the half-billion South Asians who still
live in poverty, said Plipat.
In many cases, South Asian watchdogs are deliberately weakened by
their governments, while officials
also use agencies to settle scores
with political opponents or to protect powerful backers, Transparency
International said.
In Nepal, the head of the national
anti-corruption watchdog has faced
allegations of fraud himself for several years and is currently the subject of
several investigations. l

ist act. Im so angry.

Other photos showed riot police
on the scene and bodies lying amid
flames. Produce and debris were scattered across the street. l

China says the violence is not attributable to religion or ethnicity, but is orchestrated by separatists and malcontents supported by instigators overseas.
Specifically, it blames a Uighur military
group known either as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement or the Turkistan Islamic Party. While Uighurs are
known to be among Islamic militants
hiding across the border in Pakistans
lawless northwestern region, it isnt
clear whether such a group exists and is
capable of organizing and carrying out

violence in Xinjiang. Uighur militants

occasionally turn up in propaganda
videos to either praise or take credit
for attacks within China. There is also a
large network of activists in the Uighur
diaspora who call for a peaceful struggle against the authorities. They are led
by US-based Rebiya Kadeer, whom China imprisoned, then exiled and now accuses of having been behind 2009 ethnic riots in Xinjiang that left almost 200
people dead. She denies the allegation.

How has china responded?

Beijing rules Xinjiang with an iron fist

and has ignored Uighur demands and
even calls from within the Chinese political system to reconsider some of its
most restrictive policies. This position
was reinforced by President Xi Jinpings
recent visit to region when he visited a
paramilitary unit, observed a military
exercise and vowed that the government
would make terrorists become like rats
scurrying across a street, with everybody
shouting Beat them! The other aspect
of Beijings policy has been to pour resources into the area to promote rapid
economic growth that it hopes will tie the
region ever closer to the rest of China.

What is the regions history?

The arid Central Asian region has for

centuries occupied a position along the
Chinese geographic and cultural periphery and was not under Chinese control
for much of that time. The ancient Silk
Road ran through the region, making it
a key route for trade and the transmission of foreign concepts such as Buddhism. It was ruled by a pair of independent Uighur republics in the first half of
the last century, but was brought firmly
under Chinese control after the communist seizure of power in 1949. Large
numbers of Han Chinese began moving
to Xinjiang, including those in military
production units that act almost as
mini-states unto themselves. l

South Koreas president yesterday

nominated a new prime minister and
accepted the resignations of two senior officials, the beginning of a shakeup that follows widespread criticism
of the governments handling of last
months ferry disaster.
President Park Geun-hye nominated
Ahn Dai-hee, a former Supreme Court
justice, to replace the current prime
minister, who has offered to quit over
the ferry sinking, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said in a statement. Parks nomination requires approval by the legislature.
Parks government has faced rising
public anger over the April 16 sinking,
which left more than 300 people dead
or missing. Most of the victims were
students from a high school near Seoul.
About five weeks after the disaster, 288
bodies have been retrieved and 16 others are missing. l

Vietnams prime minister said yesterday for the first time that his country is
considering legal action against China
over its sovereignty claims in the South
China Sea, a move that Beijing would
likely fiercely oppose.
China claims nearly all of the South
China Sea as its own, bringing it into
conflict with the far smaller nations of
Vietnam, the Philippines and three others that have rival claims. Beijing also
has a territorial dispute with Japan over
a cluster of islands in the East China Sea.
Last year, the Philippines filed a
complaint against China before an international tribunal in The Hague to
challenge the legality of Chinas claims,
antagonizing Beijing. China wants any
disputes with countries to be resolved
bilaterally even as it continues to engage in what many in the region regard
as provocative assertions of its sovereignty in the waters.
China raised the stakes in the region
earlier this month when it deployed an
oil rig to an area claimed by Vietnam,
triggering fury in Hanoi, which sent
ships to try to disrupt the drilling operation. Street protests morphed into
bloody anti-Chinese riots that damaged hundreds of factories.
Vietnam had been trying a more
low-key approach in its dealings with
China, but the oil rig deployment may
have changed that thinking.
In a written reply to questions sent
by The Associated Press, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said, like all
countries, Vietnam is considering various defense options, including legal
actions in accordance with the international law. He did not specify what
legal actions it was considering.
Two Vietnamese diplomats have previously told the AP that Vietnam might
now file its own appeal or join Manilas
legal challenge against China. l

Yellow ribbons fly from a pier at the Jindo harbour relief centre for relatives of victims of the Sewol ferry. South Koreas president
yesterday nominated a new prime minister following widespread criticism of the governments handling of the ferry disaster
AFP

Modis crushing win leaves rivals broken

cut ties with the party over its decision
to field Modi, a popular but divisive figure, as a prime ministerial candidate.

BJP wins first majority in 30 years

many of the most high-profile politicians clinging on for dear life after staggering electoral losses.
Modis campaigners hailed the tidal
wave of support for the Hindu nationalist who demolished rivals ranging
from Indias top low-caste politician to
its most famous anti-corruption activist and a widely admired chief minister.
Nitish Kumar, former chief minister
of Bihar, whose government was feted
for engineering a turnaround in the
once crime-wracked state, resigned after his party was decimated.
Kumars Janata Dal (United) party
won just two seats while Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the state,
one of the countrys most populous
and poorest, taking 22.
Political analyst Paranjoy Guha
Thakurta described the result as an
all-India tsunami in favour of the
BJP, signifying that most people voted for a change at the centre, ignoring
the otherwise strong track record of regional leaders like Nitish Kumar.
With the exception of a handful of
states in southern and eastern India,
which have long lacked a significant Congress or BJP presence, the anti-incumbent vote went to Modi, Thakurta said.
Kumars loss at the hands of former
BJP allies came less than a year after he

Vietnam threatens
legal action against
China over sea
n AP, Manila

S Korea president
nominates new
prime minister
n AP, Seoul

N Korea fires shells

near South Korea
n AFP, New Delhi
Indian election result
warship
Narendra Modis landslide victory
in Indias polls has swept aside the
Electorate
n AFP, Seoul
long-dominant Congress party and left
North Korea yesterday fired shells into
waters near a South Korean warship on
patrol south of the disputed Yellow Sea
border, prompting an evacuation of residents on a nearby island, officials said.
Two shells fell near the South Korean
ship, which was sailing near the frontline island of Yeonpyeong, the Souths
defence ministry said. North Korea
fired shells which fell near our ship, but
it did not cause any damage to our ship,
a ministry spokesman told AFP.
The Norths move began at 6:00 pm
(0900 GMT), prompting a response
from the South Korean vessel which
fired several rounds into North Korean
territorial waters, he said. The Norths
military threatened Wednesday to attack South Korean warships without
any warning if there was even a trifle violation of the maritime border.
The threat came a day after a South
Korean naval ship fired warning shots
to stop an incursion by three North Korean patrol boats across the sea.
The Souths navy urged the North to
stop absurd threats and warned: We
will mercilessly punish any provocative actions by North Korea.
The North does not recognise the
Yellow Sea border, the scene of brief
but bloody naval clashes in 1999, 2002
and 2009. l

Friday, May 23, 2014

814.5 million (713 million in last election,

in 2009)

23 million voters in the 18-19 age group

Results by constituency
Approximate locations
National Democratic Alliance
led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

(about 3 percent of total compared to

0.75 percent in 2009)
Jammu & Kashmir

United Progressive Alliance

led by Indian National Congress (INC)

Others

Himachal Pradesh

Chandigarh

Uttarakhand

Punjab
Haryana
Delhi

Sikkim

Uttar Pradesh

Rajasthan

Arunachal
Pradesh
Assam

Bihar

Nagaland
Manipur

Meghalaya
Tripura
Gujarat

Madhya
Pradesh

Mizoram

West
Bengal
Jharkhand
Odisha

Daman &
Diu

Chhattisgarh

Dadra &
Nagar Haveli

Andaman
and
Nicobar
Islands

Maharashtra
Andhra
Pradesh

Goa

New parliament

Karnataka

Puducherry
Lakshadweep

Kerala

Tamil
Nadu

BJP
282

Others
217

44
Source: India Election Commission/India Press Information Bureau

INC

Caste-focused parties lose out

The Modi landslide also buried other

rivals, including Dalit Queen Mayawati, a former chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh state and champion of Indias
low-caste Dalit community previously
known as untouchables. Her Bahujan
Samaj Party won no seats in the electorally pivotal state.
Moreover, Modis success at painting himself as an unifying leader left
scant room for opponents, who traditionally relied on votes from specific
castes, communities and religions.
B.G. Verghese, of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research,
said Modi first played the orthodox
Hindu card but later changed gears,
appealing to moderates as well as
lower-caste Hindus, many of whom
switched loyalties and voted for him.
The gamble paid off spectacularly in
Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP increased
its 2009 tally sevenfold, winning 71 of
80 seats and isolating usually dominant caste-focused regional parties.
Besides Mayawati, ex-wrestler Mulayam Singh Yadavs Samajwadi Party,
which has relied on rural, low-caste
votes, also saw its strength plummet.
Sunil Khilnani, director of Kings
College Londons India Institute, likened the impact to a democratic asteroid that wiped out many old habits. l

Pakistan hits
Taliban targets
for second day
n AFP, Miranshah
Pakistani troops, artillery and helicopter gunships hit targets in the countrys
tribal areas yesterday, officials said, in
a second day of military action against
Taliban insurgents.
The attacks in North Waziristan, a
militant stronghold on the Afghan border, destroyed hundreds of shops and
houses, officials said. They came a day
after air strikes and ground fighting
killed at least 71 suspected militants and
four security officials in the same area.
It was not clear how many people
were killed or wounded in Thursdays
raids, but local residents and officials
said thousands had started fleeing towards the garrison town of Bannu in
neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
due to the unrest.
The violence comes as another blow
to peace talks between the government
and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP), which have made little progress
since they began in February. Troops
backed by tanks, helicopter gunships and
reconnaissance drones swung into action
on Thursday, destroying shops and houses, local residents and officials said.
Shelling is continuing since overnight as military has launched a search
operation in Machis Camp, a local government official told AFP on the second
day of clashes. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Friday, May 23, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Boost startups to
help entrepreneurs

t is good to see a growing range of initiatives to encourage new entrepreneurs.

The recently launched Bangladesh Startup Cup and the upcoming
GIST Startup Boot camp are hopeful signals that the entrepreneurship
scene in Bangladesh is finally taking off.
This opens up exciting avenues for economic and social development
across the country. Such initiatives provide a huge lift to new businesses by
providing mentoring and training to develop the capacity of entrepreneurs
and to increase awareness of available resources and new sources of
finance.
Although the technology sector is most strongly associated
with startups, the advice and resources being developed through
these programs are helpful to entrepreneurs in all sectors.
Most successful efforts to
develop the startup community
come from the private sector.
This is not to say that the government cannot also play a role in helping the growth of entrepreneurship.
In particular, it can help by removing archaic and arbitrary regulatory
barriers to accessing finance, especially from international sources.
Bureaucracy and outdated rules are obstacles faced by all types of business. It is especially important for future economic growth not to allow
such impediments to inhibit much needed new entrepreneurs.
A flourishing startup scene in Bangladesh can bring many benefits, both
economic, technical and social, by unleashing the creativity of entrepreneurs and young people.
However, concerted efforts are needed from policy makers, investors
and the established business community to ensure that Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are able to fulfill their potential.
We must encourage more startups as they will be vital to secure economic growth.

More startups
must be
encouraged as
they will be vital to
secure economic
growth

Buildings must be
earthquake-ready

istorically, building codes in the country have downplayed the importance of earthquake-proofing buildings.
With more and more people living in urban areas and Dhaka
being named among the 20 cities in the world most susceptible to earthquakes, it is high time for the government to require improvements in our
building practices.
Seismic activity can be expected to remain the same as in the past. But
as our urban areas become more and more densely populated, the consequences of any major earthquake
become potentially far more serious.
Unless more is done to improve
construction standards and raise
safety awareness, earthquakes
pose a huge threat to human life in
the country. The disasters that our
country has been faced with over
the last few years have painted a
grim picture of the governments
rescue preparedness.
We cannot afford to take the
risk to life and our economy in not coming more earthquake-ready. Awareness needs to be raised among the public, and rescue services need to become better prepared.
The safety standards of buildings and major constructions need to be
re-evaluated to appropriate standards. Builders, property developers and
government should work together to continually improve the countrys
ability to withstand and recover from any natural catastrophes.
Improving our emergency response capability and making the country
more resilient to earthquakes should be a higher priority. There is plenty of
expertise and knowledge available on this issue from other countries such
as Japan. We need to incorporate this into our own strategy and building
practices.

More must be
done to improve
construction
standards and raise
safety awareness

Be heard
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Open letter to Narendra Modi

How to solve: Each number in our

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

May 17

Wahid Choudhury
Good writing!
One thing I will add to this open letter. Too much
interference in our politics, and teaching us lessons
through BSF might push us too close to China. Not a
very good thing for you as your neighbour.
WaliulHaqueKhondker
Disclaimer: The following is an imaginary letter and
may be read accordingly.
From: Narendrabhai Modi
Dear Ms Nadine Murshed,
I have read your letter with rapt attention, despite
my extreme preoccupation with new cabinet formation and other political activities that normally follow a landslide victory, which I call a triple century in
a house of over 500 members of parliament!
Im very much alive to your concerns. But I can
see you are a researcher and not a politician like me.
I started my life as a chayewala, selling tea to the
customers, and now I will be heading the government of the largest democracy in the world.
You will appreciate that my stake is much higher
than what you perceive. I can no longer tarnish my
image by taking some lives of Muslims, here and
there. I dont deny that they have been my eyesore
for all my adult life, but now I have to take it as fait
accompli. After all, Im the leader of over a billion
people now.
But Im sorry to say, I may not be able to help you
with water. You have a saying in Bangla, Chacha,
apon pran bacha. Yes, I have to save my people first
with water; after that, if there is any left over, which
is unlikely, it may be spared for you.
By the way, you have a lot of rainfall during monsoon, and most of it goes to waste and flows to the
Bay of Bengal. Why dont you harvest and store
those waters for your dry season?
There is a simple technology to do that. Just dig
deep tube wells up to the depth of dry sand-bed un-

91% pass SSC exams, but what

have they learned?
May 17

vihan
The other day I tried to have a talk with a
successful SSC pass student. I asked him in
English: What is the name of your country? But
the boy did not understand my question at all.
When an SSC student sits for his/her SSC
exams in Bangladesh, (s)he participates in at
least 30 exams in English (primary school +
secondary school). In all exams, the student has
to pass successfully; otherwise, (s)he cannot
be promoted to a higher class or participate in
the SSC examination. However, at the end, (s)he
has no idea about the basics of the subject (s)he
passed successfully. In this case, has (s)he really
learned anything?
Once, a headmaster of a high school told me
that SSC and HSC exams cannot be checked too
seriously; otherwise, the results would be of a
catastrophic scale of under-performance. Thats
the sad reality about our education system.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

derground. Keep the well-heads at the flood level

of water-logged areas. As the well-heads get submerged in stagnant rainwater, the suction by dry
sand-bed underneath and gravity will pull down and
store all the water in the sand bed. No extra energy
needed! Yes, Im most willing to sell you the deep
tube wells, as many as you want!
During dry seasons the same tube wells can
pump water, do the irrigation in the villages, and
supply drinking water in the urban areas. You should
be innovative rather than be dependent on your
neighbours mercy.
About your travel restriction, I dont think it is a
good idea to remove them, because bad people take
undue advantage of it and create troubles. I want no
troubles. In fact, I will construct more fences around
India-Bangladesh borders, so that most people have
to travel to India through legal routes only.
About Indians working in Bangladesh, the only
solution is to develop your own manpower with
technical and managerial skills. You can then gradually repatriate the Indians back to India.
To assure you further on the safety and security of
your fellow Muslims, let me confess something. I have
ridden the crest of Vikaas (Proliferation of Progress)
to capture the heart and soul of the Indians. Now I
have to deliver. And to do that I have to carry all Indians with me, and I can ill afford to discriminate race,
religion and creed. I wont be stupid to do that.
Last but not the least, I have a bad news for you.
If I fail to deliver as promised, I shall have no option
but to get after the Muslims as a diversionary tactic,
before the Indians get after me. So, it is in your own
interest to please pray for my success.
Regards,
N Modi

CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 In a frenzy (4)
6 Margin (3)
7 Utter wildly (4)
9 Slight parody (4)
10 Melody (5)
11 Icy cold (5)
12 Snow runner (3)
14 Frighten from (5)
17 Holding and lifting
implement (5)
20 Surface measure (3)
21 Nostrils (5)
23 Cold dish (5)
25 Continent (4)
26 Single entity (4)
27 Anger (3)
28 Blackthorn (4)

DOWN
1 Help (6)
2 Beginning (6)
3 Flying toy (4)
4 Fuel (3)
5 Dry, of champagne (3)
7 Ill-mannered (4)
8 Snake (5)
10 Central (3)
13 Mohammedan Scriptures (5)
15 Pendent ornament (6)
16 Discount (6)
18 Insect (4)
19 Unhappy (3)
22 Facial features (4)
23 Heavenly body (3)
24 Cover (3)

Guest
Haha. The open letter is quite amusing, but I have to
admit Im quite impressed with their Bharatnatyam.

PM: Zia considered AL as his

main enemy
May 18

Joyfal
Look forward. Its time you move on and work for
a prosperous Bangladesh, not look back like a silly
old woman.
Ronnie
Surely the PM has greater, nobler duties than randomly
dishing out these ridiculous lies and drivel about Ziaur
Rahman. For starters, she should, at least privately, graciously acknowledge and be grateful for the fact that it
was ex-President Zia who had permitted and facilitated
her return home to Bangladesh (incidentally, just two
weeks before he was tragically slain).
Its preposterous of anybody to accuse Zia of seeking to obliterate the Awami League, let alone the signs
and spirit of the Liberation War from Bangladesh.
These lies dont stand. Anybody with a memory of
that eras history and a modicum of honesty ought to
testify to that. I have to say that the AL and the PM are,
frankly, better off not even straying into that territory.

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.

Cut the Gordian knot

May 18

Sammy
Great article, except for the surprise the
author expresses that a government committee of law enforcers gave the RAB a clean
bill of health. Why exactly is it surprising that
government investigated itself and came
to the conclusion that it did no wrong? I
mean, was something else expected from
a one-party government that has left no
independent institutions standing?
Bozo
Absolutely agree. Its time for RAB to be
disbanded.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Dreams to reality
May 18

nds
I dont believe that those who go abroad for
higher education have the least desire to give
something back to their motherland. Their
prime and only motivation to go abroad is
earning money and so-called social status
and making themselves rightly branded in
the marital market. Nothing more or less.
Sammy
nds: I think you are largely correct. I have seen
it aplenty here in North America. The one other
thing Ill add is the desire to have more social
freedom and personal space that are both
largely unavailable in their countries of origin.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Friday, May 23, 2014

Are you going to eat that?

Life isnt getting

better

n Mubashar Hasan

n Azra Salim

e are what
we eat is
what we
have been
told by our
parents as they tried to get us into the
habit of eating healthy and nutritious
food when we were children. Then
why does my hand shake today as
I peel that mango for my children?
Why does my voice quiver as I tell my
children to drink their milk? And why
do I hesitate to teach them that eating
small fish is the best way to have good
eyesight? The answer is as unfortunate
as it is deadly. We are living in times
when the basic food on our table is
slowly poisoning us.
We have read the newspaper articles and watched the TV reports about
how adulterated food has penetrated
our markets. Children have died and
fallen sick from eating poisonous
mangoes, watermelons, lychees, and
blackberries. Countless people have
suffered from the ingestion of harmful
chemicals in fruits, vegetables, and
other food items. The incidence of
cancer, kidney disease, and heart disease in our country is on a sharp rise,
and eating healthy does not guarantee
us a healthy life anymore.
Enough lives have been lost, and
enough money has been made at their
expense. It is time for us consumers to
say: STOP Poisoning Us! We will not
just sit around dinner tables complaining amongst friends and family about
how unsafe our food is. We will not
just look for small and sparse organic
sources of food. We have a basic right
to safe food as citizens of Bangladesh,
and we choose to claim that right now.
As tax-paying citizens of Bangladesh,
we refuse to be fed toxic food in
silence.
Just last summer, a test showed
that 94% of the mangoes and 100% of
the lychees collected from the markets
were tainted with formalin to make
them last longer. Regular formalin
ingestion can cause kidney disease,
cancer, and even death. Mangoes are
routinely ripened before their time
using calcium carbide, another deadly
chemical. Toxic pesticides such as
DDT are commonly used in dried fish
to preserve them. Chromium enters
our food chain when tannery waste is
used in poultry feed just to keep costs
down. There is chalk powder mixed
with flour, brick powder mixed with
chili powder, dye injected into watermelons and other fruits where does
the profit-mongering end?
TheSTOP Poisoning Us community initiative resulted from extreme
frustration over the rampant practice
of food adulteration in our country.
Newspaper reports stating that 40% of
the food in our markets is adulterated,

Food that looks good just might be toxic

starting from fruits and vegetables, to
fish, poultry, milk, and spices, have
showed us how bleak the situation
really is, essentially leaving us with
nothing safe to feed our children. And
so it gave rise to an initiative to raise
awareness among consumers and
traders and demand some steps from
our government to ensure food safety.

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

into the public sphere and ask for

a solution from the government,
because this affects all of us
lawmakers and common citizens,
young and old, rich and poor, alike.
As concerned citizens, we are in
the process of circulating a petition for
all citizens to sign to urge the government to include some of our sugges-

As tax-paying citizens of Bangladesh, we refuse to

be fed toxic food in silence

Who we are is a group of concerned

citizens and parents. What we want is
the government to ensure basic food
safety for our loved ones. Harmful
chemicals like formaldehyde, calcium
carbide, DDT, chromium, among others, have no place in the food chain.
Our cause is to ensure a better
future for our children by voicing
our demands for food safety. Instead
of just talking about it at home, we
would like to move the discussion

tions into its food-safety laws, rules,

regulations, and guidelines. Mainly,
we want to see stricter implementation of food safety laws and heavy
punishment meted out to all those
who violate these laws and endanger
our health. We ask for awareness campaigns by the government that will
show traders, farmers, and consumers
the implications of food adulteration,
and we want education and training
for farmers on safe pesticide use and

cost-effective ways of farming. We also

urge the government to ensure transparency of tests and reports of the
produce being sold in major markets.
Basically, we want food safety assured
on all levels farming, processing, and
the market.
In order to show unity for the
cause, we have organised a peaceful
human chain in front of the National
Press Club today at 3pm. Our goal
is to voice the concerns and fears of
consumers, and ask for more attention on the issue. We realise new laws
and rules are in the works, but till the
day comes when a mother can again
safely feed her child seasonal fruits or
their favourite fish, it is our duty as citizens to resist the unethical business
practices that have become all too
common in our country.
If you know anyone who has
suffered from inexplicable cancer
or kidney disease in spite of leading
a healthy life, died suddenly due to
food-poisoning, or if you simply feel
it is not fair to have to think ten times
before picking up that apple for your
children, it is time for you to act for
your loved ones, for your country, and
for our future. l
Azra Salim is a freelance contributor.

oliticians in our country quite

often use the phrase people
are the source of all power. Our
constitution too, in Article 7(1), states
that all powers in the Republic belong
to the people. However the reality is
somewhat different.
Since the inception of the country
we the masses are caught between
politics and conflicts of interest
between elites who develop, shape,
and use mass sentiment for their own
purposes. The carefully crafted, vague
conflict among elites in Bangladesh
revolved around religion, secularism,
and national identity. But my question
is: What do these mean for me or you
the masses who are caught between
supposed ideological distinction and
regularised events such as forced
disappearances, crossfires, load shedding, roadway mishaps, extortion, hartals, arson, water shortage, rising food
prices, traffic jam, etc, every day?
Our politicians ride the high-tech
cars of the latest model, they have
unabated access to power and wealth
while we suffer year after year. A study
conducted by a professor of political
science in Pennsylvania University
finds that a key aim of politics in
Bangladesh is to receive and use unjustifiable state patronage, influence
permits, license, and foreign policy
to some extent. In short, the study
indicates that people are the capital
for politicians to make money here, in
the sense that they vote for them, and
in return, they have access to power
and resources. Therefore, we see most
of our politicians are millionaires in a
country where millions live under $2
per day. This is immoral and vulgar.
One could argue that these parties
have a large following as they demonstrate in front of droves of people in
every rally, therefore I lose validity
in my point which says politics is not
about the people. However, I argue
that most of these people participate
in the rally not out of ideology but because they also get a share of the power in smaller contexts such as in trade
unions, teachers unions, doctors
unions, journalists unions, student
wings, administration, and so forth,
through the party patronage system.
The important point to note about
these associations or unions is that most
of the members come from not-so-economically solvent families. Party patronage in the name of foreign trips, media
license, jobs, work orders, political
postings, keeps these associations alive.
In other words, these people, with
otherwise limited access to resources, are simply being exploited by the
powerful elites, and as a result, we see
corruption everywhere. Morale seems
to have been all but lost here. The
ideological distinction between two

Safety first

n Nasim Uddin

Mubashar Hasan is the Founder and CEO

of alochonaa.com, a non-religious, nonpartisan online platform to foster dialogue
among civilisations. He is a PhD candidate
at the School of Government and IR, Griffith
University, Australia.

Moving forward with ASEAN

n Javeed Ahsan

parties seems a facade.

In support of my argument, I raise
a point arguing that, since 1990, there
has been no fundamental distinction
between the two parties in terms of
service delivery for human development, which includes human rights,
political and civil liberty, corruption,
political violence, and, above all,
increasing quality of life.
Finally, I feel that time has come
to change the very theory of politics
in our country. The point of politics
should no more be about using people
as a means to acquire power, rather,
the interest of the people should be
the end. In Aristotelian terms, people
are the wealth of a nation. By that I
mean increasing the quality of life for
the masses should be the top priority
for politics here in Bangladesh. This
idea was first put forward by Amartya Sen who criticised the traditional
utilitarian approach of measuring lives
of people by economic value.
The main concept of his idea is that
a persons well-being does not only
depend on economic value. There are
other factors related here apart from
money; for example, a persons happiness, sorrow, friendship, security,
mobility, etc. In his view, a persons
being and functioning is important
when considering his/her capabilities.
Similarly, Sen is a critic of the traditional GDP measurement that fails
to reflect peoples actual capabilities,
and also fails to depict the deficiencies
in the peoples quality of life. To put it
simply, whether one has the money to
buy basics is not the real indicator of
development, rather whether one has
money to buy basics and whether they
enjoy a decent and secured life should
be the major point of politics. If one
doesnt have electricity and water in
their home, if one has to remain stuck
in traffic for hours, if one can just be
picked up and shot dead for no reason,
what is the point of life?
The spirit of our liberation war was
about improving the quality of life in
times of Pakistani oppression and discrimination. If one argues that oppression
and discrimination are now being institutionalised, few will retaliate; because
after our independence, we, the masses,
are now caught between politics for
power and their subservient middle class
goons who dominate public discourse.
As a result, quality of life is in jeopardy as
our country is becoming an increasingly
dangerous place to live in each day. The
use of unevenly balanced GDP indicators
as an indicator for growth sheds little
truth about the quality of life here. l

hat have we done so far to

address water safety despite
the tragedies being repeated
every year? The answer is: Absolutely
nothing, because we are not bothered.
I cant think of a near-civilised country
where any water transportation is
allowed to operate without ensuring
that every passenger has put on a
lifejacket.
Before thinking of any other step,
the authorities must immediately
make it mandatory for every passenger to wear a lifejacket while on any
form of water transport. The transport
management should be responsible for
making sure that no one, whether passenger or crew, is onboard without the
lifejacket on, and a heavy fine must be
paid in case of any violation.
Dont give me the lame excuse that
lifejackets are expensive. They dont
have to be the inflatable lifejackets
with built-in signals and whistles that
you see on airplanes. These can be
bought from the scrapped ships from
the ship-breaking yards for a throwaway price. Affordable lifejackets
can also be produced with the locally
available raw materials. If we can
make branded t-shirts for a few cents,
we can surely make these simple lifejackets for a few dollars or less. Then
what is stopping us? The only solution
I can think of is the authoritys commitment to saving lives by making
lifejacket use mandatory.
Who is making sure that the vessels
do not carry more passengers than
allowed? Most of the water accidents
here have happened because the boats
were carrying many more passen-

gers than was allowed. This is due to

sheer negligence of the authorities
concerned and the greed of the vessel
owners.
After such accidents, while some
of the owners are often quizzed or
chased after, the authorities concerned always walk away as if it is
none of their business. For every
accident, the authorities responsible
for ensuring a boats compliance with
safety and fitness issues must be
brought to justice for negligence of
duty that resulted in the casualties.

The only solution

is commitment
to saving lives by
making lifejacket use
mandatory

I dont understand why we are still

allowing these unfit, outdated,
and risky boats to carry passengers
when our own ship-building
companies are supplying quality
and safe ships around the world. I
would rather prefer some of our
tax money to be spent on creating
a fully-equipped and well-trained
water rescue team among the
coastguards or police than on
expensive tours of officials. l
Javeed Ahsan is a development
communication professional.

he 24th ASEAN (Association of

Southeast Asian Nations) Summit recently concluded in Nay
Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The theme of this
years summit was moving forward
in unity to a peaceful and prosperous community. Indeed, the ASEAN
states have been moving forward
steadily over the last few decades. Our
neighbouring country, Myanmar, as a
member of the association, is getting
numerous benefits from the trade bloc
while India is very much eager to get
the membership of the association
considering its potential economic
benefits. Then why would Bangladesh
lag behind and not try to join the trade
bloc?
To reduce dependency on the West
and narrow its trade gaps with other
countries, the best viable option for
Bangladesh is to look for newer export
destinations. It has always been better
to join a trade block for international
trade as economic alliance guarantees
more benefits than bilateral trade. We
already have a good trade relationship
with the West, especially with the USA
and European counties. Now the time
has come to follow the Look East
policy, which will bring huge benefits
to Bangladesh if the country can prove
its immense potentials.
Due to her geographic and strategic proximity, Bangladesh has been
enjoying very close commercial links
with most of the ASEAN countries.
The importance of Bangladesh joining
ASEAN has been intensified by the
frustration over the tardy progress
in Saarc activities compared to the
success of other regional bodies.

Saarc was established with the aim to

promote economic and socio-cultural
development in the region. Since its
inception, the association focused
mainly on economic cooperation
among the member states, and did not
keep any scope for addressing political
disputes, thinking that political issues
would hamper economic cooperation
in the region.
But they failed to comprehend
the fact that without resolving
political disputes among the Saarc
nations, it is not only difficult, but
also quite impossible to facilitate
regional cooperation. Besides, mutual
consensus on regional peace is one
of the important prerequisites to
regional cooperation. But the Saarc
member states, especially India and
Pakistan, consider each other as
threats. Long-running disputes and
tensions between India and Pakistan
have marred the progress of Saarc.
The regional association has so far
failed to achieve anything substantial
except SAFTA (South Asian Free
Trade Agreement) and SAPTA (Saarc
Preferential Trading Agreement).
SAPTA was signed to remove trading barriers like tariff and para-tariff
and giving special trading facilities
to LDCs like Bangladesh, Nepal, and
Bhutan. This agreement has enabled
Bangladesh to enjoy some specific
trading privileges while exporting
goods to India. But India does not
get the same facilities from Bangladesh. So Bangladesh had to develop a
bilateral trade relationship with India.
Bangladesh is heavily dependent on
India for imports of various items and
our trade deficit with India has now
crossed $4bn. So Dhaka is more con-

cerned about how to reduce Bangladeshs trade deficit with India.

Bangladeshs trade deficit with
India remained high at $4.17bn in
the FY2012-13 as different non-tariff
and para-tariff barriers have limited
the countrys exports to India. It was
hoped that Bangladeshs trade deficit
with India would come down as India
gave duty-free access to Bangladeshs
main export products readymade
garments in late 2011.

To make the export

basket heavier, it is high
time for Bangladesh
to boost relations with
ASEAN nations

But a number of states in India were

not following its central governments
direction of duty-free access facilities
for Bangladeshi RMG products. So
earnings from export of RMG products
were not satisfactory and could not
play the role in reducing the trade gap
with India at the desired level. Thus
para-tariff and non-tariff barriers have
continued to limit Bangladeshs exports to India, preventing the existing
trade gap between the countries from
narrowing down.
Thus, there is little hope for
reducing the trade deficit with
India to a great extent. So there is
a pressing need for increasing its

export earnings in order to reduce

its overall trade gap with other
countries. In order to make the export
basket heavier, it is high time for
Bangladesh to boost relations with
ASEAN nations. We have to work
towards integrating Bangladesh into
the ASEAN economy whose trade
volumes are running at more than
$1.5tn per year. If we consider ASEAN
as a single entity, it would rank as the
ninth largest economy in the world.
Bangladesh has been enjoying
good trade relations with ASEAN
countries. However, we have great
potential of increasing export volume
with the ASEAN members. The area
of relationship with ASEAN countries
will be in the field of export of goods,
including non-traditional goods,
export of manpower, export of services including tourism, culture, and
education. Moreover, Bangladesh has
the potential to become an investment
destination as it still has a cheaper
labour market, which will attract the
10 Southeast Asian countries to invest
in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh formally joined the
ASEAN Regional Forum in 2006-2007
and the country now stands directly at
ASEANs western door. There is a need
for Bangladesh to widen its economic
relations with the South Asian states,
especially ASEAN member countries,
which in turn will bring greater
benefits to Bangladesh. What is now
needed most is to justify Bangladeshs
claim to become a future member
of ASEAN, which will improve the
existing trade relations with ASEAN
member countries. l
Nasim Uddin is a freelance journalist.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

'There is no mystery behind

my black dress'

Chhayanaut to observe
Nazruls 115th birthday
n Afrose Jahan Chaity

n Shadma Malik

Chhayanaut is all set to observe National Poet

Kazi Nazruls 115th birth anniversary with a
two-day commemorative programme titled
Nazrul Utsob-1421at the auditorium of Chhayanaut on May 24 and May 25 at 6:30.
Marking the occasion, the countrys cultural
arena is now buzzing with varied programmes
which give a brief sketch of the vibrant life and
works of the rebel poet.
The two-day festival will be opened with
a chorus rendition Hey Partho Sharothi Bajao Bajao Ponchojonyo Shonkho by student
and teachers of the organisation. Professor
Seraj Salekin will deliver a speech on the poets inspirational works and his secularist and
revolutionary spirit on the same day. A total
of 60 artistes will take part in the festival that
includes discussion, musical performances,
dance recitals and recitations.
Prominent singers like Shahin Samad, Ferdous Ara, Yeakub Ali Khan, Khairul Anam
Shakil, Yeasmin Mushtarin and many others

Shayan, famed for her flaming lyrics, unique

style of composition and careless style of
singing, found her niche in music from an
early age. It took her several years to release
her first album Shayan-er Gaan which
enabled her to make a lasting impression
among the audience of the country. In a
conversation with the Dhaka Tribune, Shayan
talked about her musical journey.

What are your inspirations behind protest

songs?

I am a social being. I cannot isolate myself

from the society. I do not play songs related
to protest all the time, however, if I realise
that something is not right, I find it my duty
to raise my voice against it. I observe the dark
side of the society, accumulate my thoughts
and feelings and express them through my
songs. That is how I find solace.

Any interest in politics?

Not at all. I keep myself away from this field.

As a musician, I have a social responsibility
towards my people. If I could bring a positive
change in the society, I would feel content. A
few of my numbers relate to political issues
that are an unavoidable part of a society. I am
not up for politics, but my songs have political
flavour.

Why you are not affiliated with bands?

I have been trying to connect with people

through my songs. Unfortunately, I have yet
to find the right partners. I am still looking for
people with whom I can share my ideas rather
than impose my style on someone's creativity
or dominate someone's thought. On the

other hand, I enjoy playing solo. It gives me a

sense of freedom. I enjoy jamming with other
musicians; it is a learning experience.

At present, what are you working on?

Well, I have been working on two albums

simultaneously. One is of love songs and the
second one is of my usual style. It consist
songs related to women issues, human rights,
freedom fighters, war criminals and many
others based on different stories. I have yet to
decide the names for the albums.

Who is your favourite musician?

Shahnaz Rahmatullah is my favourite

musician. I grew up listening to her songs.
There is always a mark of my childhood in my

songs, and Shahnaz has a bigger role to play.

Lata Mangeshkar is also one of my favourites.
Others in my list include Tagore, Nazrul,
Kishore Kumar, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd,
Leonard Cohen, Tracy Chapman and Bhupen
Hazarika. On the other hand, Joler Gaan has
thrilled me with their music.
There is no mystery behind my attire. Black
is my favourite colour and I already have ten
to twelve black suits in my wardrobe. I am
quite lazy and dressing up like this is easier
as I dont have to think about what to wear
in different occasions. However, during Eid, I
wear colourful dresses which match with the
ones my nieces wear. l

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk

The stunning Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a breathtaking appearance at the Cannes
Film Festival and stunned her critics
in a figure-hugging Roberto Cavalli
fishtail gown. Not only did she make
news because of her rocking comeback but she also openly praised Narendra Modi.
Speaking to media at the Cannes,
Aishwarya said she is very happy on
Modi's victory and is thrilled to see

him as the next Prime Minister of our

country. She feels that India will develop and prosper under his leadership. She also added that she is looking forward to India shining.
Aishwarya's open praise of Modi
at a public platform has been hailed
by his supporters.
Aishwarya's father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan has also previously
worked with Modi to promote Gujarat tourism. Hence, it does not come
as a surprise that his daughter-in-law
is a Modi fan. l

Short film Jononi, a story of a brave woman who was brutally raped and tortured by the Pakistani Army in the 1971 Liberation War, will premiere today at the National Art Gallery
in Bangladesh Shipakala Academy at 6:30pm. Written and
directed by Rowshan Ara Nipa, the 42 minute film features
Joyeeta in the lead role.
Director Rawshan Ara Nipa, who earlier made a few documentaries and a travel show for a satellite channel is experimenting with fiction in the plot of Jononi.
The film is about Monira, a teacher of Dhaka University,
and her friend Shahed. Moniras father is a retired teacher
and a follower of Sheikh Mujibur Rahmans ideology. On the
historic night of March 25, 1971, when the Pakistani army
launched a crackdown, her parents get killed. Led by army
officer Khurshid, a troupe turns Moniras house into their
camp and constantly tortures her. She becomes a source of
the troupes unholy pleasure. At one point, Khurshid gets
Monira pregnant. But, she decides that her baby would not
see the light of the world and stops eating in the hope that
she would miscarry. On the other hand, Khurshid wants the
baby to be born since it holds the inheritance of Pakistan.
Nipa, who is also the writer of the film claims the character to be a reflection of the sacrifice of the Biranganas. l

Batman v Superman title revealed

n Entertainment Desk
Warner Bros has announced its forthcoming
superhero film will be titled Batman v Superman:
Dawn of Justice.
The title seemingly references the Justice
League - a superhero team also featuring Batman
and Superman - which director Zack Snyder is due,
bring to the big screen at a later date.
A website for the film has also been created
featuring a new logo - a combination of both
heroes insignia. It will be released on May 6, 2016.

will grace the occasion. Besides, dancers of

Chhayanaut will perform dance recitals on
the occasion. Also, Rupa Chakraborty, Belayat
Hossain, Mahidul Islam and Fahima Samad
will recite Nazruls famous poems.
The programme will be wrapped up with
the chorus rendition of the National Anthem.
The festival is supported by Grameenphone. l

Why do you dress in black all the time?

Aishwarya praises Narendra

Modi at Cannes

Jononi premieres
today

Friday, May 23, 2014

The movie - seen as a follow up to Snyders 2013

Man of Steel - features British actor Henry Cavill
reprising his role as Superman, with Oscar winner
Ben Affleck as the Caped Crusader.
Fast and Furious actress Gal Gadot also stars as
Wonder Woman, alongside Amy Adams, Laurence
Fishburne and Diane Lane, all of whom return
from Man of Steel.
Newcomers to the franchise include Jesse
Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Bruce
Waynes butler Alfred and Holly Hunter in roles
newly created for the film. l

A scene from Jonakir Alo to be screened at the Rainbow Film Fest 2014

3 Bangladeshi films in the

Rainbow Film Fest, London
n Entertainment Desk
Three Bangladeshi films, all of them produced by
Impress Telefilm Ltd, are going to be showcased
at the Rainbow Film Festival-2014 in London
which will run from May 25 to June 1.
Akash Koto Durey directed by Samia Zaman
will be screened at the Brady Arts Center on May
26 at 6pm local time while the director will be
present at the time of screening and will take part
in a lively discussion session with the audience.

The other two films are Mrittika Maya directed by Gazi Rakayet and Jonakir Alo by Khalid
Mahmood Mithu. The films will be screened at
the same place and time on May 27 and May 29
respectively.
Apart from the Bangladeshi films, another 13
films from Asian countries including India, Iran,
Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philipines, Iraq and Azerbaijan will be showcased at the eight-day long event.
Rainbow Film Society has been organising the
festival since 2000. l

TODAY IN DHAKA
Exhibition

Exhibition on Rabindranath
Tagore
Time: 11am-7pm
National Art Gallery
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Time: 7pm 9pm

Goethe Institut Bangladesh
Road 9(new)
House 10
Dhanmondi

Mukh O Mukhosh 5
Time: 11am 8pm
Galleri Kaya, Sector- 4, Uttara

Ondhokare Methane
Time: 7pm 9pm
Experimental Theatre Hall
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy,
Shegun Bagicha

Theatre

Film

Dog, Woman, Man

Ill certainly
get married
n Entertainment Desk
Former beauty queen and actress
Sushmita Sen, who adopted two
daughters, says she will certainly get
married and that too in a beautiful
ceremony.
The 38-year-old, who has been
linked to the likes of Randeep
Hooda and Vikram Bhatt among
others, doesn`t conform to the
social norms.
When asked about this, she said:
I think you save the best for last. I
don`t think I should walk with the
system. Our society has made this
system that one should graduate at 18,
by 22 starts panicking to get married
and by 27 have your first child. I don`t
believe in that ..., she added.
Sushmita also said: Every person`s
DNA is different. I will certainly get
married and for sure it`s going to be a
beautiful wedding.
Actress and former Miss Universe
also celebrated 20 years of winning
the Miss Universe title on Wednesday
on May 21. The stunning actress, who
started her acting career in Bollywood
with Dastak, is celebrating her special
day in Maldives now. l

I, Frankenstein

Children of War
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Captain America: The Winter
Soldier (3D)
STAR Cineplex
Level 8, Bashundhara City
13/3 Ka, Panthopath

Festival

The City Fest

Time: 10am 10pm
The Westin South Park
Gulshan 2

Did you know?

Luis Suarez had more
shots on target at 2010
World Cup (15) than any
other player. He was also
the top goalscorer (11)
in the South American
qualifers for the 2014 WC

Sport

Friday, May 23, 2014

14 Suarez hopeful
after surgery

14 Romario, Bebeto
fight over WC

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Can Europeans
make breakthrough

DPL players eye

strict measures
n

Cricketers who are yet to be paid for

their services in the Dhaka Premier
League (DPL) 2013-14 season are considering the possibility of going hardline. The players are likely to call a
press conference to attract the attention of the Bangladesh Cricket Board
(BCB) to this issue.
The players payment issue in the
premier 50-over competition of the
country resurfaced a month ago after a
few players had complained about not
getting paid.
The inability of the clubs to remunerate the cricketers in time questioned
the significance of the assurance provided by the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) and also brought
to doubt the role played by the BCB after the players by choice system was
introduced.
Despite the fact that the schedule
of the DPL 2014-15 season has already
been given, it was learned that majority of the sides in the competition,
with the exception of reigning champions Gazi Tank Cricketers, Prime Bank
Cricket Club and Prime Doleshwar, are
yet to clear the payment of the cricketers.
Cricket Welfare Association of Ban-

gladesh (CWAB) member secretary Debabrata Paul informed that they have
written to the BCB twice as the board
is also the guarantor of the players remuneration. But we are yet to get any
reply from them (BCB), Debabrata told
Dhaka Tribune.
I believe BCB president (Nazmul
Hasan) is very keen on this issue. We
will wait for another week and see if
there is any reply from the board, he
added.
Even though Debabrata did not
make any comments, it was understood
that if the board continues to maintain
the stance of non-cooperation, CWAB,
along with the cricketers, will hold the
media conference in order to force the
clubs to clear the payments.
Meanwhile, former CCDM president
Jalal Younus, who is liable for the payments, has informed of making conscious efforts to sort out the unfortunate situation.
I personally made phone calls to
the officials of those clubs who are yet
to pay their cricketers in full, Jalal told
Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Jalal, who is also a BCB director, notified that the issue of non-payments is
likely to be an agenda in the next board
meeting. The meeting is most likely to
take place before or on June 10. l

Lenin Ganis 1st

death anniversary
n

Squad for India series

to be named today

Shakib helps KKR to playoff spot

Today is the first

death anniversary of eminent
sports journalist
Lenin Gani. Lenin passed away
having lost the
battle
against
pulmonary hypertension on this day in England last
year at the age of 46.
Starting his career in The Daily Star,
Lenin later worked as the sports editor of the New Age, the Daily Sun and
bdnews24.com. A prayer program will
be arranged at Lenins Sylhet residence
after the Jumaa prayer today. Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association in a
press release prayed for the salvation of
the departed soul. l

Kolkata Knight Riders

continued to sizzle
with ace Bangladesh
all-rounder Shakib Al
Hasan, Robin Uthappa and mystery spinner Sunil Narine playing leading roles as
they booked the IPL playoff berth after
shutting doors on Royal Challengers
Bangalore with a 30-run victory at the
Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Continuing his dream run Uthappa
played the sheet anchor role in his unbeaten 83 from 51 balls (10x4, 1x6) in a
121-run partnership from 70 balls with
Shakib (60 from 38 balls; 5x3, 3x6) to
help KKR post a towering 195/4.
Uthappa and Shakib exposed RCBs
bowling frailty. Local man Ashok Dinda
was wayward, while the spin attack in
Muttiah Muralitharan, Yuzvendra Cha-

Following a long hiatus, the Bangladesh cricket team will start their practice camp at the end of this month after
the selectors submitted a 22-member
squad yesterday for the upcoming ODI
series against India. The squad is expected to be announced today.
The Tigers new coach Chandika Hathurusingha will be arriving in Bangladesh on June 10 and is expected to take
over the national teams charge from
June 13. However, the fitness, skill and
conditioning camp will be starting before the head coachs arrival.
In Hathurusinghas absence, a local
coach will oversee the camp. However,
the identity of the coach was yet to
be determined. Bangladesh Cricket

Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Shakib al Hasan raises his bat after scoring his maiden IPL fifty during their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens yesterday

Board cricket operations committee

chairman
Akram
Khan
though
informed that former national coach
Sarwar Imran will be given the
responsibility.
Apart from Imran, the other local
coaches are passing a busy time as
Mizanur Rahman Babul is now working
with the Bangladesh A team in the West
Indies while Sohel Islam is engaged
with the Bangladesh Under-19 side for
the home series against the Maddhya
Pradesh Under-19 side.
While the selectors have already
submitted the preliminary squad, it
was learned that there was no big surprises although the BCB boss had announced after the poor performance
by the Tigers earlier this year that there
will be huge changes in the side. l

MSC end Brothers merry run

n

Raihan Mahmood

In-form Mohammedan
forward Wahed Ahmeds
brace steered his team to
a 2-1 win over Brothers
Union, who tasted their
first defeat in 6 matches, in the second phase
of the Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier
Football League at the Bangbandhu
National Stadium yesterday.
Mohammedans intentions were
clear from the very beginning as they
stormed into the opposition defense
twice in the first two minutes and almost took the lead. Defender Topu Barmans dash down the right flank enabled
him to take control of a loose ball which
the Brothers defenders thought would
go out. Topu then cut a low cross to forward Wahed Ahmed whose clever backheel hit the foot of a Brothers defender
before the rebound fell to skipper Emily.
But his grounder was lost in the jungle
of feet in front of the Brothers goal.
However, the Black and Whites saw
their constant endeavor bear fruit in the
16th minute when the in-form Wahed
Ahmed broke the deadlock. Nigerian
midfielder Damien Chigozies crisp freekick found Wahed unmarked on the left
edge of the box and Wahed used the free
angle to slot the ball home at the far post.
Brothers counter attacking strategy received hiccups amid the five men
midfield deployed by Mohammedans
interim coach Jewel Rana and Augustine Walson and Rubel Miah, the attacking live-wires continued to lack the
finishing touch.
In the 43rd minute, Wahed was staring at the sky about what went wrong.

After picking up an angular through

pass of Vincent Hementa Biswas, Wahed decided to lob the ball over the
onrushing Brothers goalie Sobuj Das
Roghu. But the high elevation on the
ball saw it fly agonizingly over the bar.
Thanks to an electric strike from
their dashing winger Rubel Miah,
Brothers Union restored parity in the
contest in the 52nd minute. Snatching
the ball from Vincent in the midfield,
the dark and dapper winger displayed
his oozing confidence to unleash a
blistering run while shrugging off chal-

lenges from three defenders before

slotting past a hapless Mohammedan
goalie Titumir Chowdhury at the near
post to make it 1-1.
With Brothers dominating, Mohammedan took a counter attacking strategy and it paid off in the 72nd minute.
Topu Barman floated a long ball forward and Wahed ran past his marker
and the goalie to score the winner.
Mohammedan now have 29 points
from 16 matches while Brothers remain
on their previous aggregate of 26 points
from 17 matches. l

Mohammedan forward Wahed Ahmed scores past Brothers Union goalkeeper Sobuj Das
Roghu during their Primer League match at BNS yesterday
MUMIT M

hal and Yuvraj Singh could not make

any inroads.
Defending the massive total,
off-spinner Sunil Narine joined the
party and executed the role of wrecker-in-chief to perfection grabbing 4/20
to hand KKR a sixth successive win, a
milestone they had only posted in their
triumphant 2012 season.

BRIEF SCORE
Kolkata Knight 195/4 (20ov)
Uthappa 83*, Shakib 60

Bangalore 165/ 5 (20ov)

Takawale 45, Narine 4/20
Kolkata won by 30 runs
KKR were reduced to 56/3 in the seventh
over at the sun bathed Eden Gardens
after Virat Kohli put the home team up
front but Uthappa defied the heat to

Abahani, Russel draw blank

n Shishir Hoque
Abahani
Limiteds
title
hopes
received
another jolt as the Sky
Blues were held to a
goalless draw by 10-man
Sheikh Russel in their
Nitol Tata Bangladesh
Premier Football League secondphase encounter at the Bangabandhu
National Stadium yesterday.
Four-time
professional
league
champions Abahani failed to close the
gap on table-toppers Sheikh Jamal to
three points and instead, the Sky Blues
now find themselves five points behind
Jamal. Abahani have 33 points from 17
matches and if Jamal win their game in
hand against Uttar Baridhara today, the
difference will be eight points which
would further complicate the Sky
Blues task.
The defining moment of the game
was the controversial red card of Russels Haitian striker Pascal Millien in the
18th minute. Following the incident, the
game was halted for eight minutes and
the aftermath saw Russel fully concentrated on bolstering their defence. Abahanis attacking line also failed to post
any threat and was unable to penetrate
the opponents defence. Thus the game
turned out to be a dull one.
Russel coach Dragan Djukanovic
burst into anger during the post-match
press conference due to Pascals red
card. Something in Bangladesh is very
wrong with Sheikh Russel. Im very disappointed to see such refereeing here.
They denied us two penalties in our
previous match and today (yesterday)
they showed Pascal a red card which
was totally unfair, said the Montene-

grin coach adding, He (Pascal) didnt

hit him (Saikat) and everybody saw
it but the referee. Whats happening
here, whats the problem and why it is
always against Russel?
Abahanis Iranian coach on the other hand also blamed the referee for the
draw and slammed Russels defensive
tactics. The Sky Blues initiated the first
attack in the ninth minute when Pranotosh Kumar Das sent the ball over the
bar following a corner from Atiqur Rahman Meshu.
Mithun Chowdhury and Shakil
Ahmed orchestrated a lovely attack in
the 16th minute. Shakil fed Pascal with
a through pass inside the penalty area
which the Haitian striker failed to connect properly.
A controversial decision by referee
Tayeb Hassan saw Russel reduced to
10 men two minutes later. After Saikat
grabbed Pascals ponytail, the Haitian
striker had a contact with the Abahani
defender. Saikat immediately fell to the
ground and the referee subsequently
consulted with the linesman before
giving Pascal his marching orders.
Russell though still had the best
chance to open the scoring in the first
half when Abahani keeper Shahidul
Alam Sohel produced a stunning save
in the 35th minute to deny Serbian
midfielder Miroslav Savanovics freekick from 25 yards out.
Russell keeper Biplob also produced
a stunning save in the 76th minute to
deny Pranotoshs header on a corner
from Meshu.
Abahani wasted their last chance
in stoppage time when Osei Morrison
received a cross from Soares using his
chest and attempted a volley but it
went straight to the Russel keeper. l

take the attack to the opposition.

Shakib played a perfect ally and was
more brute at the other end as the Bangladeshi all-rounder spanked 38-ball
60 and the duo put together 121 runs
from 70 balls for the fourth wicket to
stage a remarkable recovery against a
frail RCB bowling attack.
Uthappa went on to complete his
second half-century in a row in 34 balls.
In-form Uthappa played the full 20
overs and slammed 10 fours and a six
during his undefeated knock while
Shakib struck five boundaries and three
sixes. Shakib smashed rookie leg-spinner Chahal for three sixes and a boundary as KKR stole 24 runs in an over.
Interestingly, Uthappa has not
scored less than 40 runs after he was
promoted at the top of the order when
KKRs India leg began at Ranchi. His
tally in the eight matches read: 475. l

NCL starts May 25

n Tribune Desk
The 34th National Cricket Championship is set to begin on May 25, the
Bangladesh Cricket Board announced
yesterday. The first-round matches of
the tournament will be played across
14 venues of the country.
The first-round matches of the 50over competition will be played on matting wickets. 64 district teams have been
divided into 14 groups with the sides
scheduled to play against each other in
the first round through a league system.

Save the Sports

seminar held

n Raihan Mahmood

Sports organizers and former players

urged all belonging to the countrys
sports arena to unite in order to eradicate
corruption and nepotism out of sports in
a seminar hosted by Save the Sports at
the National Press club yesterday.
National sports award winner Manzur
Hasan Mintu lamented that nepotism
and politicization had gripped the cricket
board and the football federation. Former
national cricket captain Shafiqul Huq
Heera said that patronization of foreign
culture ahead of local culture in this years
World T20 concert was a shameful incident. Zakaria Pintu, the convener of Save
the Sports vowed that they would continue to protest, including hunger strike,
to uproot politics from sports. Veteran
sports journalist Md. Qamruzzaman complained that domination of people from
non-sporting background in the sports
arena was prevalent in the country and
its not a good sign. Former national athlete Razia Sultana and shooter Kazi Shahana Parvin also spoke on the occasion. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Mexico ban beef to avoid doping risk

Mexicos World Cup squad will not eat beef during their preparations for the
Brazil tournament for fear of testing positive to banned drugs in contaminated
meat, coach Miguel Herrera said on Wednesday. Five players were withdrawn
from Mexicos CONCACAF Gold Cup squad in the United States in 2011 after
testing positive for clenbuterol, a banned stimulant sometimes illicitly mixed
into livestock feed to make meat leaner. Mexico, who face hosts Brazil, Cameroon and Croatia in Group A at the tournament starting on June 12, will play
warm-up games against Israel, Ecuador, Bosnia and Portugal.
Reuters

Sport

Friday, May 23, 2014

Cell phone question mark at venues

At least two of Brazils 12 World Cup host stadiums will not be able to provide
fans the cell-phone and Internet coverage that organizers had promised,
telecoms companies revealed. The executive director of the industrys
umbrella group, and Curitibas Baixada Arena, which will host four matches.
The chief of telecoms firm Vivo, Antonio Carlos Valente, told senators the
stadiums in Manaus and Porto Alegre could also face communications problems because of delays finishing temporary structures to house transmission
equipment.
AFP

Croatia donate cash to flood victims

Croatias football squad have donated a quarter of their money earned for reaching the World Cup finals to victims of deadly floods that have devastated the
Balkans. Members of Bosnia-Hercegovinas World Cup squad, led by star striker
Edin Dzeko, have also appealed for help for their stricken compatriots as they
participate in a training camp near the disaster zone. Croatia will take centre stage
when they face hosts Brazil in the opening game of this years World Cup in Sao
Paulo on June 12.But almost 50 people have died and about 150,000 have been
forced from their homes because of floods in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. AFP

Suarez hopeful
after surgery
n
Liverpool star Luis Suarez is remaining upbeat after the Uruguayan Football Association
(AUF) said that his participation at the World
Cup is not ruled out following knee
surgery on Thursday.
In an email sent to Uruguayan journalist Federico Buysan, and which the
latter posted on Twitter, Suarez wrote:
Im doing great and am ready to run.
Thanks to everyone and stay calm, Ill
make it.
Earlier, in the first official statement
to come out of the Uruguayan camp
after news leaked that Suarez would
require an operation, the AUF indicated that the player had suffered an intense pain in his left knee in training
on Wednesday morning.
It was therefore decided that he
should undergo arthroscopic surgery
to repair meniscus damage.
The statement added that no other
damage to the knee was spotted but
the AUF pointed out that the 27-yearold took a knock to the same knee playing for Liverpool against Newcastle
United on the final day of the Premier
League season on May 11.

Sabella cuts four

from squad
n
Argentina national team coach Alejandro Sabella on Wednesday dropped
four players from his provisional 30man World Cup squad, the countrys
football federation announced.
With the squad set to meet up at
their training camp in Ezeiza next Monday, Sabella opted to dispense with defenders Lisandro Lopez (Getafe) and
Gabriel Mercado (River Plate), Catania
midfielder Fabian Rinaudo and Werder Bremen striker Franco di Santo, according to a press release on the AFAs
website.
Sabella has until June 2 to decide
on his final 23 players that he will take
to the finals in Brazil, which start on
June 12. l

Suarezs mother Sandra Diaz told

local media that he would be released
from hospital around lunchtime on
Thursday.
He now faces a race against time
to be ready for Uruguays World Cup
campaign, which begins in a little over
three weeks against Costa Rica in the
northern Brazilian city of Fortaleza.
The AUFs statement confirmed
an earlier report by leading television
journalist Martin Charquero, who
wrote on Twitter that Suarez had felt
pain in training before an MRI scan
detected a meniscus problem.
Suarez was the top scorer in the
Premier League in the season just finished with 31 goals and won both the
PFA Players Player of the Year and the
English Football Writers Association
Player of the Year prizes.
His club Liverpool will therefore be
keeping a close eye on developments.
Experts said it could take anything
from two to six weeks to recover from
the keyhole surgery, but the AUF are
remaining optimistic.
News of the injury generated widespread reaction on Twitter, with the
former president of the AUF, Sebastian
Bauza, writing: STRENGTH LUIS!! Everyone in Uruguay is confident that you
will recover!!! l

Schweinsteiger will
be fit for World Cup
n

A boy leans on a mural with the portrait of Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez at Tavares Bastos shatytown in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday AFP

Madrid a divided city for clash of archrivals

n

Madrid bars will be packed Saturday

with red-striped Atletico Madrid football fans and Real Madrid rivals, all in
white, drinking and yelling the night
away for the first one-city Champions
League final.
The two sides will not mix for the
historic occasion though. The match
will be a new test of a century-old rivalry between the two sides in the Spanish capital. Some 1,250 police will be on
duty to prevent clashes.
It is going to be a tense atmosphere.
People will be very nervous, said Marcos Vinagre, a 32-year-old Atletico fan
who works as a porter in Madrid.
He thanks his father for making him
an Atletico fan even though most of his
friends support Real.

The fans are going to spend the

night each on their own turf with their
own people, said Alejandro Lora, 64,
president of an association of Real Madrid fan clubs.
Theres a lot of excitement. They have
been rivals since the very beginning.
Shop windows dummies are dressed
in the rival team shirts and on public squares hang giant posters of each
teams colours -- red and white for
the Atletico Colchoneros and meringue-white for the Real Merengue.
Real and Atletico will dispute the
final in Lisbon. If Real win it will be
their 10th European title. For Atletico it
would be a first.
Local authorities had planned to
screen the match on Madrids Puerta del Sol square. They changed their
minds after security warnings.

Instead, separate giant screens will

go up at Reals Bernabeu stadium in the
posh north and Atleticos Vicente Calderon in the poorer southwest.
Rivalry between Real, founded in
1902, and Atletico, born a year later,
has long been seen as a clash of rich and
poor. Relano reckons this image is out
of date, even though Real Madrids fans
still have a more genteel image and Atleticos a rowdy one.
Real players and even their opponents can expect to hear respectful applause in the Bernabeu. The Calderon
bubbles with abuse and chants of Atleti, oh-eh, oh-eh.
Kiosks near the Calderon sell womens pink scarves with the slogan:
Mummy made me pretty, smart and
anti-Real Madrid. It rhymes in Spanish: Guapa, lista, antimadridista.

There are insults, but relations are

not violent, said Relano.
Both sets of fans are scattered around
the city and rub shoulders at work. After
a big win, the Colchoneros rush to party
around a statue of the Roman god Neptune in the centre of town.
The Merengue celebrate just up the
road around a statue of the Greek goddess
Cybele. Still, for Spanish footballs image, Relano agreed it was better to avoid
screening the match on Sol, just in case.
Media quoted government officials
worrying about the atmosphere of
high rivalry.
In the end most people will join in
the party, said Vinagre, however.
One lot to celebrate the victory and
the others to drown their sorrows -and to celebrate even having played in
a Champions League final. l

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will be fully fit for next months
World Cup in Brazil, Germanys assistant coach Hansi Flick said on Thursday.
The holding midfielder, nicknamed
the brain by Germany coach Joachim
Loew for his ability to orchestrate the
teams quick passing game, did not
train with the squad on the first full day
of a training camp in the Italian Alps.
He is only gradually returning to full
fitness following a knee inflammation
which caused him to miss Bayern Munichs German Cup final win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, the latest in a
succession of injuries this season.
He has his programme and we have
to see how he handles it, Flick told a
news conference in northern Italy.
Schweinsteiger, key for Germanys
flowing attacking game, is not the only
injury concern with top striker Miroslav Klose also undergoing individual
training to catch up after missing much
of the season.
First-choice keeper Manuel Neuer and
captain Philipp Lahm are expected to join
their team mates on Friday after undergoing intensive treatment in Munich for
injuries picked up in the Cup final.
Neuer, who is wearing a sling following
a shoulder injury, is expected to be fit for
the tournament starting in June, although
officials have put new Barcelona keeper
Marc-Andre ter Stegen on standby. l

English FA imposes
worldwide betting
ban on players
n
All professional players in English soccer
will be banned from betting on matches
anywhere in the world, the Football Association said on Wednesday.
The ruling, which will come into
force from Aug. 1, was ratified at the
governing bodys Annual General
Meeting and covers players from the
Premier League down to the nonleague Football Conference and its lower regional divisions.
The ban also includes betting on any
other football-related matters.
FA rules currently forbid players from
betting on matches in which they are
involved or that they can influence. l

Romario, Bebeto fight over World Cup

As team-mates they brought home the 1994

World Cup for Brazil, but as politicians Romario and Bebeto have become bitter rivals
over the hosting of this years tournament.
Romario de Souza Faria better known as
simply Romario was the wild child of the pair,
known for all-night parties and a hot temper.
As a congressman for Rio de Janeiro,
the 48-year-old Romario has turned that
explosive personality against the World
Cup, backing the protesters who say the $11
billion-plus budget would have been better
spent on education, health and transport.
FIFA, footballs world governing body,
have been the target of some of his fiercest
criticism. In March he called their secretary
general Jerome Valcke a blackmailer and
their president Sepp Blatter a corrupt thief

and son of a whore.

Last year, when violent protests overshadowed the Confederations Cup, a rehearsal for the World Cup, Romario voiced
sympathy for the movement and accused
FIFA of setting up a circus, not spending a
cent and then pocketing everything.
He has also criticised Brazils chronically
delayed preparations, saying the country will
not be 100-percent ready for the World
Cup when it starts on June 12.
Bebeto real name Jose Roberto Gama
de Oliveira is now a Rio state legislator,
fighting in the opposite corner.
The sweet-smiled evangelical Christian
is known for his visits to schools and social
programmes but also for his love of luxury
cars and designer clothes.
An ambassador for the World Cup in Brazil, he has shrugged off criticism of the event.

We have struggled hard to get where

we are. And where we are is the result of
the struggle and efforts of all Brazilians, the
50-year-old said in December. Their shared
story began in the late 1980s, two young forwards in a team that became national heroes
as they went unbeaten for 27 matches.
Their first taste of defeat came at the
1990 World Cup, when arch-rivals Argentina
sent them packing in the round of 16. They
made up for it four years later when, at their
peak as players, they won Brazils fourth
World Cup. Romario scored five times in
the tournament, including the goal against
Sweden which put Brazil into the final. He
was awarded the World Cup Golden Ball and
named FIFA World Player of the Year.
Bebeto scored three World Cup goals,
including in Brazils 1-0 win over the United States in the round of 16. I love you! he

shouted to Romario, who provided the assist.

Their public rift began in April last year,
at a Brazilian legends match to inaugurate
Rios revamped Maracana stadium. Bebeto
announced Romario would participate. Romario confirmed, but then failed to show up.
Soon after, he lashed out at the Maracana
renovations, saying planners had totally disfigured the legendary stadium.
By the time the Confederations Cup arrived that June, he was lashing out at FIFA
and encouraging the protests that disrupted
the tournament.
Hes as opportunistic in politics as he
was on the pitch, commented well-known
journalist Juca Kfouri.
Bebeto joined Rios World Cup organising
committee and has been a reliable cheerleader for the event, alongside fellow Brazilian legend Ronaldo. l

Stegen completes
Barca move
n

Indonesian goalkeeper
sorry over striker death

Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter

Stegen was officially presented as a Barcelona player on Thursday after signing
a five-year contract at the Camp Nou.
The 22-year-old arrives from Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach
on a deal worth a reported 12 million
euros (9.7m, $16.4m) and he said he
is relishing the chance to play for the
Spanish giants.
I believe I have taken the right
step, Ter Stegen, who has won four
caps for Germany, said at a press conference.
This club has always given the impression that they wanted me.
Its a fantastic club and there is no
better option for me. l

Barcelonas new goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen poses during his presentation at the
Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona yesterday
AFP

An Indonesian goalkeeper said Thursday he was truly sorry after a striker he kicked in the stomach during
a match in one of the countrys top
leagues died.
Agus Rohman said he had received
death threats after Akli Fairuz, 27, died,
but insisted he was not solely to blame
and suggested the players medical
treatment was inadequate.
Rohman told AFP that when he heard
the news, he couldnt stop crying.
I have never in my life intended to
hurt or kill my opponents.
I regretted what happened, why
did he have to die from my kick? I am

truly sorry to Akli, to his family, to everyone, added the 34-year-old.

The incident happened during a
match between Rohmans side, PSAP
Sigli, and Fairuzs Persiraja Banda
Aceh, in the city of Banda Aceh on
western Sumatra island. The clubs play
in the Liga Indonesia Premier Division,
the countrys second-tier league.
Video footage showed Fairuz run into
the box of the opposing team to take a
shot after the ball rebounded off Rohman.
But the goalkeeper ran out and
kicked him in the stomach as he took
the shot, knocking him to the ground.
Fairuz died on May 16 in hospital, with
officials saying he suffered a ruptured
intestine. l

Osasuna, Valladolid
coaches leave after
relegation
n
Osasuna coach Javi Gracia and Real Valladolids Juan Ignacio Martinez have
parted company with their clubs after
they were relegated from La Liga on the
final day of the season on Sunday.
After meeting with the president, I
have decided not to continue, Gracia
told a news conference on Wednesday.
I would like to stay here my whole
life but circumstances dictate that it
would not be positive for the club, or
for me, if I stayed.
Valladolid said on their website
(www.realvalladolid.es) that Martinezs contract had contained a clause
that meant he would automatically
leave if the club were relegated. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Hodgson may
need to be brave
and drop Rooney

QUICK BYTES

Indian High
Commission - BSJA
friendly T20 today

Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association and Indian High Commission,

Bangladesh will play a friendly T20
cricket match at the Bangladesh Cricket
Board Academy ground at 9:30am today. BSJA and Indian High Commission
officials will feature for their respective sides. Bangladesh Cricket Board
directors are expected to be present to
witness the match.

Bayern refuse to
improve deal for
United target Kroos
Bayern Munich have said they will not
raise their offer of a new contract for
Toni Kroos amidst reports in Britain
that the Germany midfielder is poised
to join Manchester United. The
24-year-old Kroos rejected Bayerns
latest offer in January and has opted
to put any decision on hold until after
next months World Cup while there
have been reports he is demanding
to become one of the Bavarian giants
highest-paid stars. Bayern have now
said they will not improve their undisclosed offer and are refusing to meet
Kroos wage demands with Manchester
United reported to be on the verge of
securing his signature.
AFP

Lennon leaves Celtic

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has left the
club after four years in charge during
which he won three Scottish titles, he
said on Thursday. Former player Henrik
Larsson, currently manager of Swedish
club Falkenburgs, is favourite to replace
him. I have parted company with
Celtic, the 42-year-old Lennon said in
a brief statement on the BBC website.
The club are in a very strong position
and I wish the fans and the club all
the very best for the future. Lennon,
the former Celtic captain and northern
Ireland international, took charge in 2010
and won a hat-trick of league titles and 2
Scottish Cups. The club have not made an
official comment.
Reuters

Makelele to
manage Bastia
Paris Saint-Germain assistant boss
Claude Makelele is to become the new
manager of Bastia, a source at the Corsican side revealed on Thursday.
This will be the 41-year-old former Chelsea, Real Madrid and PSG midfielders
first full managerial role. He is set to
sign a two-year deal with Bastia where
he succeeds Frederic Hantz, who in a
four-year spell gained Bastia promotion to Ligue 1 with a 10th place finish
last term. Makelele has acted as PSGs
assistant manager since 2011 after his
retiremnent from the pitch where he
won the Champions League with Real
in 2002, and the Premier League title
with Chelsea in 2005 and 2006. He has
also won league titles in France with
Nantes in 1995 and twice in Spain with
Real in 2001 and 2003.
AFP

No Liverpool offer
for Can: Voeller
Liverpool have yet to table an official offer for Emre Can, the Germany Under-21
midfielders club Bayer Leverkusen
said on Thursday. Reports in the British
media suggest the Premier League
runners-up are on the verge of a 10
million (12m euros, US$16.4m) deal to
bring him to Anfield for next season. But
Bayers director of sport Rudi Voeller
said the club had heard nothing about
the versatile 20-year-old who enjoyed
an impressive first season at Leverkusen
after signing from Bayern Munich. We
know they are interested, but we have
not been presented with anything officially, Voeller told German daily Bild.
AFP

Maracana stadium is seen from Mangueira slum before the last Brazilian league football match in the stadium between Fluminense and Sao Paulo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Wednesday.
Brazil will host the World Cup starting on 12 June and Maracana stadium will host the World Cup Final match on 13 July
AP

Wayne Rooney might not be an automatic choice in Roy Hodgsons England

starting line-up at the World Cup, according to former club and country
team mate Paul Scholes.
Attention inevitably focuses on
Rooney every time England appear at
a major tournament and next month in
Brazil will be no different as the Manchester United forward looks to finally
make an impact at a World Cup having
yet to score in two finals.
Rooney is expected to start Englands opening Group D game against
Italy in tandem with Liverpools Daniel
Sturridge but with exciting attacking
talents such as Raheem Sterling, Ross
Barkley and Adam Lallana all providing
options, Scholes believes Rooney will
have to be on his toes.
Im not saying Wayne needs to be
dropped but if his form doesnt get up
to scratch in the warm-ups, or in the
first game of the World Cup, itll be interesting to see if the England management team has the balls to make that
decision, Scholes said in his column. l

Can Europeans make a breakthrough?

n
In seven attempts, no
European country has
ever won a World Cup in
the Americas, but that
statistic will come under serious threat at this
years tournament in Brazil.
While teams have traditionally
struggled in tournaments on foreign
continents, the sports increasing globalisation and advances in technology
mean that playing at home is no longer
the advantage it once was.
From a purely sporting perspective,
the 13 teams from the UEFA confederation who head to Brazil will do so at a
time of clear European dominance.
Three of the four semi-finalists at
the 2010 World Cup were European and
six of the last seven Club World Cups
were won by European teams, with
Brazilian side Corinthians 2012 triumph over Chelsea the sole exception.

Meanwhile, although Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has dominated the

FIFA Ballon dOr in recent years, the
last time another South American player finished on the podium was when
Kaka received the award in 2007.
Messi is also an illustrative example
of a South American player who has
spent more time playing in Europe than
on the continent where he was born.
The 26-year-old may be an extreme
case, having left his homeland for
Barcelona at the age of just 13, but his
experience reflects a wider trend.
Whereas 21 of the 22 players in
the Argentina squad that triumphed
on home soil at the 1978 World Cup
played their football in their home
country, only five of the 30 names in
Alejandro Sabellas provisional squad
for the 2014 tournament could say the
same.
As England manager Roy Hodgson
observed earlier this year, the mass exportation of South American players to

WORLD CUPS IN AMERICA

Year

Hosts

Champions

1930

Uruguay

Uruguay

1950

Brazil

Uruguay

1962

Chile

Brazil

1970

Mexico

Brazil

1978

Argentina

Argentina

1986

Mexico

Argentina

1994

United States

Brazil

2010

South Africa

Spain

2014

Brazil

Europe means that they may not feel

much more at home playing in Brazil
than their European counterparts.
South American teams are exporting all their players to Europe, so
theres a certain European-ness about
even the South American teams these
days, Hodgson told the FIFA website.
The Brazil team will probably have

very few players in it that are actually

playing in Brazil. The Uruguayans and
the Argentinians probably dont have
many that are playing there.
- Woodwork denied Holland Transportation is also a much less
thorny factor than it was for the Europeans who travelled to the first World
Cups to be held in South America -- in
Uruguay in 1930, Brazil in 1950, and
Chile in 1962.
Whereas the four European teams
who contested the first World Cup in
Uruguay had to cross the Atlantic by
boat, many of the players competing in
Brazil this year will arrive in executive
comfort aboard luxurious jets.
Warm-weather training will help the
non-South American teams to adapt to
Brazils climactic conditions and while
humidity will be an issue in several
host cities, temperatures will largely be
akin to a warm European summer.
Furthermore, European teams have
already come close to enjoying success

in previous World Cups in the Americas.

Czechoslovakia took the lead
against hosts Brazil in the 1962 final,
only to lose 3-1, and Argentina required
an 84th-minute Jorge Burruchaga goal
to see off West Germany in the 1986 final in Mexico.
Dutch midfielder Rob Rensenbrink,
meanwhile, would have given the
Netherlands the trophy in 1978 had
his shot not hit the post in injury time
of the final against hosts Argentina in
Buenos Aires.
Instead the Argentines took the
game to extra time before winning 3-1,
leaving Rensenbrink to reflect: If the
trajectory of my shot had been five centimetres different, we would have been
world champions.
The presence of figures from Argentinas military junta inside the Estadio
Monumental helped to create an atmosphere that felt thick with intimidation
for the Dutch players, but there again,
Brazil will be different. l

Serena back on song for French Open

n

Defending champion and top seed

Serena Williams goes into the French
Open having blasted her way to the
Italian title last week, confounding
those who said that at 32 she was
beginning to show distinct signs of
wear and tear.
The American lost just the one set
in Rome and her 6-3, 6-0 demolition of
former French Open finalist Sara Errani in the final served notice that she is
back to her steamroller best.
Williams enjoyed an outstanding
2013 when she posted career highs in
match wins (78) and titles (11), including her 16th and 17th major champion-

ships at Roland Garros and the US Open.

But this year has been much more
of a struggle with a fourth-round exit
to Ana Ivanovic in the Australian Open
followed by a stunning opening-round
defeat to 78th-ranked Jana Cepelova in
Charleston.
That upset left Williams saying she
felt really dead and in need of a long
layoff, which she duly took up until
her return at the Madrid Masters two
weeks ago.
She was forced to retire from that
tournament at the quarter-final stage
with an injured left leg, casting renewed doubts on her hopes of winning
a third French Open title.
But her romp in Rome just a week

later restored her as an overwhelming

favourite to win in Paris at the annual
consecration of the claycourt season.
I am like fine wine. I am getting
better with age, Williams said then although she still had doubts about her
fitness going into the years second
Grand Slam event.
I feel better but I am not 100%. I am
going on adrenaline at the moment, so
Ill take a couple of days off.
I hope to win one more Grand Slam
before I retire, but I dont want to look
too far ahead. There are hundreds of
players who want to do the same.
Evert for one believes she can add
to her Grand Slam haul if she puts her
mind to it. l

REASONS WHY SERENA CAN BE BEATEN

Getting old
At 32, Serena will be among the veterans
at Roland Garros and, as has been seen
with Roger Federer, age catches up with
all tennis players eventually. She says that
like good wine she improves with age,
but a fortnight of bruising claycourt play
at Roland Garros could turn that wine to
vinegar.

Injury woes
Serena has been beset with injuries over
the last few years although she was healthy

for most of last year when she won in Paris

and New York. A back injury hit her at the
Australian open and she was forced out in
Madrid two weeks ago with an injury to her
left leg. Admits she is not 100% fit.

Clay constraints
- Clay always has been and will remain
Serenas least favourite surface. Only two
of her 17 Grand Slam titles came on clay in
2002 and last year and her movement on
the red dirt has hardly improved over the
years as she uses her power to compensate. The surface also takes some of the
sting out of her big service game.

DAYS WATCH

Crowd pressure
Serena loves Paris, but Paris has not always
loved Serena. The centre-court faithful at
Roland Garros have booed and jeered her
before, notably against their favourites
Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo, at
times reducing her to tears. She won some
converts last year by conducting her courtside interviews in French.

State of Mind
Known to be the most unforgiving opponent
in womens tennis when she is in the mood,
Serena can, at times, allow herself to become
distracted and unfocused.

Players of American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) players celebrate

winning the Walton Refrigerator Uni Cricket 2014 at BKSP yesterday
COURTESY

AIUB win University Challenge Cup

n
American International University (AIUB)
clinched the Walton
Refrigerator University Challenge Cup as they comprehensively beat University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) by 80 runs in the final
played at the BKSP-3 ground yesterday.
Batting first, AIUB posted 165 runs
from 20 overs as national cricketer Anamul Haque top scored with 44 while another first class cricketer Tanveer Haider
scored 41 runs for the batting side. ULAB
left no stone unturned to restrict AIUB
to a lower total as they used as many as
eight bowlers. Chasing 166 runs fro vic-

tory, ULAB never looked like challenging

their opposition and could manage to
score only 85 runs for nine wickets from
their 20 overs. Altaf Kamals 19 was the
highest score for them.
AIUBs all-rounder Kamrul Islam was
adjudged man of the final for his two
wickets and a quick-fire 22 of 14 balls.
Anamul Haques aggregate of 165 runs
from three matches saw him become the
highest scorer of the tournament while
his AIUB teammate Tanveer Haider was
the highest wicket-taker in the tournament claiming 15 wickets.
Bangladesh Cricket Board arranged
this T20 tournament where ten public
and private universities of the country
participated. l

BCB announces U-19, U-17 squads

Sony Six
Indian Premier League
04:30PM
Mumbai v Delhi
8:30PM
Punjab v Rajasthan
6:30AM
Major League Soccer 2014
Sporting KC v Toronto Fc
Star Sports 1

12:30PM & 6:30PM

Badminton
Thomas & Uber Cup
Star Sports 2
11:30PM
Natwest T20 Blast
Birmingham Bears v Yorkshire

15

Friday, May 23, 2014

Helena Costa (L), the newly named football coach of French club Clermont holds her new
jersey with the club president, during a news conference yesterday
REUTERS

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)

yesterday announced the U-19 and U-17
squads for the matches against different
Indian oppositions in May-June 2014.
Bangladesh U-19 team will face the
Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association
(MPCA) U-19 side at home. The series
will begin with the only three-day game
at BKSP on May 25. The two four-day
matches will be held on May 29 and June
4 at Fatullah and BKSP respectively. This
will be then followed by the three-match
one day series with matches scheduled
to be played on June 9, 12 and 13.
On the other hand, the U-17 team
will embark for a tour of India later this

month to play against MPCA U-17 and

Coca Cola India XI. Bangladesh U-17, in
its first part of the tour, will play four
three-day matches against an MPCS U-17

side. All the matches will be played in Indore. In the second part of the tour the
young Tigers will face a Coca Cola India
XI in three one-day games in Delhi. l

Bangladesh U-19 squad

Munim Shahriar. Joyraj Sheik, Md Zakir Hasan, Md Mehidy Hassan Miraz (Captain), Md
Najmul Hossain (Vice-Captain), Md Saifuddin, Mosabbek Hossain , Prosenjit Das, Md Sifat
Islam , Rifat Pradhan, Md Mehede Hasan, Sanjib Saha, Saleh Ahmed Shawon, Nahid Hasan
Stand By: Abdul Qayium, Kamrul Hasan, Md Touhidul Islam, Abu Naser Limon, Shakir Hossain

Bangladesh U-17 squad

Afif Hossain, Mohammad Shakib, Rayan Rafsan Rahman, Mohammed Saif Hassan (Captain),
Shafiul Hayet (Vice-Captain), Md Rakib, Jaker Ali, Mohammad Abdul Halim, Shahibul Motin,
Siddikur Rahman, Md Kamil Ahmed, Md Habib Ullah Habib, Rabbi Hassan, Nayeem Hasan,
Pinak Ghosh
Stand By: Asanullah Himel, Mohammed Ashikul Islam , Arafat Yeasin, Fardeen Hasan

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Friday, May 23, 2014

Muhith hints more

rise in Padma
bridge cost
Chinese firm gets the construction
job as the lone bidder
and its longevity would be 100 years,
n Tribune Report
Muhith said.
The cabinet committee on public purchase has approved the Communication Ministry proposal for selecting
the China Major Bridge Engineering
Company Limited for constructing the
Padma bridge while Finance Minister
AMA Muhith has hinted further rise in
the project cost.
Muhith endorsed the proposal yesterday at a meeting of the purchase
committee at a cost of Tk12,133.29
crore, but he said the cost might rise after revision of the construction.
At a brief press conference after the
meeting, the finance minister said the
China Major Bridge would sign the contract in June and start the construction
work in October or November.
After the first pre-qualification tender in the Padma bridge project in 2012,
the World Bank, the ADB and the IDB
had previously recommended giving
the construction job to China Major
Bridge.
The construction of the Padma
bridge would complete in four years

He said the World Bank, the Asian

Development Bank and the Islamic
Development Bankhad estimated the
project cost at Tk9,000 crore although
the consultant firm AECOM had put
the cost at Tk13,885 crore. The Chinese company got the job for a cost of
Tk12,133.29 crore.
The finance minister said the cost
could increase further when the government floats tender for river training
in July.
Regarding the legal complications
over two South Korean companies not
participating in the tender, Muhith said
those firms had asked for extending
time for their financial offer but the
technical and evaluation committee rejected their requests.
We cannot say there was no competition among the bidders in the Padma bridge tender process, he said.
In reply to a question, Muhith said
the
Anti-Corruption
Commission
would look into any possible future
corruption. l

With less than a month to go before the Fifa World Cup, one of the biggest global sporting extravaganzas, the roads of Dhaka take a colourful look with vendors ferrying flags of various
participating countries. The photo was taken yesterday from the capitals Bangabandhu Avenue area
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Top private hospitals selling unregistered drugs

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Some of the capitals leading private

hospitals are breaking the law by using
and prescribing smuggled drugs that
are not registered with the countrys
drug administrations.
On April 24, two teams of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) made unannounced
inspections at seven city hospitals
Square, Apollo, United, Labaid, Central,
Samorita, and Health and Hope to find
that doctors there had been prescribing
different unregistered drugs to treat patients who were in critical condition.
The teams also seized a large quantity of over 30 different kinds of generic
drugs as well as illegal food supplements from the hospitals pharmacies.
Hospital authorities failed to produce
any legal document for the drugs, which
were mostly used to treat patients suffering cancer and other complex diseases of the kidney, heart, brain etc.
The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a
document listing the names of the generic drugs that were seized.

According to the Drugs (control)

Ordinance 1982, no medicine can be
stocked, exhibited or sold without being registered with the DGDA.
Although it was unethical to use
unregistered drugs, some such foreign
medicines were saving the lives of patients in critical conditions, said Dr
Rashid-e-Mahbub, president of Health
Rights Movement Bangladesh.

Most of the seized

drugs were smuggled
into the Bangladesh
from countries
including India, the
US, the UK
The companies that manufactured the
drugs were not interested in registering
the particular medicines in Bangladesh
as the market size was small, said Mahbub, also the ex-president of Bangladesh Medical Association, adding that
the drugs were coming from illegal

sources as a result.
Dr Jamaluddin Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Private
Medical Practitioners Association told
the Dhaka Tribune that any use or sale
of unregistered drugs would be a clear
violation of the drug control ordinance.
Saifur Rahman Lenin, senior manager (brand and communication) at Labaid Hospital, admitted that food supplements were found on its pharmacy
shelf during the surprise visit by the
DGDA team, but did not elaborate on
allegations of prescribing unauthorised
drugs, saying he was unaware about
the issue. The drug administration also
directed the hospital to follow some
guidelines in the future, he added.
Maj Gen Jahangir Hossain Chowdhury, director general of the DGDA,
claimed that the most of the seized
drugs were smuggled into the Bangladesh from countries including India,
the US, the UK, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Turkey,
Poland, Hong Kong, Russia, Thailand,
Pakistan, and South Korea.
Some of these drugs were also re-

portedly being brought into the country by airlines passengers known as

luggage party, who buy the drugs
from abroad but later sell the medicines to the local hospitals.
The efficacy and potency of this
high price drugs were not tested in
the drugs laboratory, sources said. The
quality of the drugs was also questionable as none of the seven private
hospitals reportedly maintained a cold
chain, which is the temperature-controlled supply chain essential for using
the sensitive drugs.
Asked about what action had been
taken against the seven hospitals,
DGDA chief Jahangir said show-cause
notices have been served asking them
to produce documents for the drugs.
However, several top officials of
the DGDA told the Dhaka Tribune that
the hospitals have already provided
unsatisfactory replies to the notices. Most of them reportedly claimed
of being ignorant about the necessity of the legal permission, and said
they had kept the medicines to save
patients lives. l

Fish traders attack

a mobile court
n Tribune Report
Fish traders attacked a mobile court
which went to the citys Mohammadpur Town Hall Kitchen market to check
for formalin in fish yesterday.
As the court seized a huge amount of
fish from the market, its vendors went
berserk and hurled brick chips towards
the mobile court team. Policemen with
the court charged with baton, fired rubber bullets to bring the situation under
control.
We nabbed some traders during
the incident around 12:30pm but they
were freed later. Additional police were
deployed in the area following the situation, said Azizul Haque, officer-incharge of Mohammadpur police station
over phone.
The mobile court was conducted by
Senior Assistant Secretary Abul Kalam
Azam of Public Administration Ministry, the OC said.
He said the mobile court found presence of formalin in almost all the fish
at every shop of the kitchen market. As
the court attempted to seize the fish,
the traders barred the court and at a one
stage they hurled brick chips at the court.
The traders also switched off the lights
in the market so that the court could not
examine the fish. Two or three policemen sustained injuries when they resisted the traders, the OC claimed.
However, some detainees told the
police that they just protested the
court as the court was fining the traders
Tk30,000 to Tk40,000 which was very
high for them.
They also alleged that the court was
also fining those who were selling live
fish for the presence of formalin. l

Life support for unfit

CNG-run autos
n Abu Hayat Mahmud
The government is set to add four
more years to the lifespan of CNG-run
auto-rickshaws, which had already
passed 11 years in operation, upon few
specific conditions.
The decision was jointly taken by
the Ministry of Communication and
Bangladesh Roads Transport Authority
(BRTA) as per a demand from the Dhaka Metropolitan CNG Auto-rickshaw
Owners Association.
Apart from extending the lifespan,
the ministry is also planning to set a
higher rate for daily drivers deposit
and an increased fare rate.
In 2002, the government banned all
two-stroke auto-rickshaws in urban areas and paved the way for four-stroke
CNG-run three-wheelers, for which the
lifespan was set at nine years.
Currently, there are around 13,000
commercially-run green auto-rickshaws and 3,000 private ones, usually
painted grey, operating in the capital.
As the lifespan of all such
three-wheelers ended in 2011, the government then extended two more years
as per the demand of vehicle owners.
Sources said when the extended
lifespan expired in January this year,
the government again agreed to extend
four more years amid pressure from the
owners association.
However, BRTA officials claimed
that they simply implemented a ministry detective following a recommendation from the Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

Referring to the Buet recommendation, the officials said existing CNGrun auto-rickshaws in Dhaka and Chittagong must ensure overhauling of its
engines and mechanical fitness from
certified workshops.
Buet engineers pointed out that four
years can be added to the lifespan of existing auto-rickshaws upon few conditions, such as replacing old gas cylinders.
Md Rafiqul Haque Talukder, a director of BRTA, said: As per a ministry
directive, the lifespan of existing auto-rickshaws will be set at 15 years.
Rafiqul also claimed that the notification will only be applicable to CNG-run
auto rickshaws in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Although the three-wheelers are
considered a cause of traffic congestions in Dhaka, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader earlier announced
introducing 5,000 more such vehicles
in Dhaka and 4,000 in the port city.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Passengers
Welfare Association has denounced the
governments decision.
Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the association, said:
Almost all auto-rickshaws have exceeded their lifespan. But, the government have repeatedly extended permits for these faulty vehicles.
He also reasoned that such unfit
vehicles have been causing most accidents in the city and termed the new
fare rate irrational.
They proposed that fare should be
Tk40 for the first two kilometres, up
from Tk25, while the charge for each subsequent kilometre should be at Tk12. l

Dhaka likely to be PM
Modis first destination
n Emran Hossain Shaikh

(Top) A leader of the shop owners association of the Town Hall Kitchen Market in the capitals Mohammadpur tries to pursue a mobile
court to not run formalin test; (bottom left) police beat up the leader after being attacked by the shop owners; (bottom right) police
seize some adulterated fishes from the market
MAHMUD HOSSAIN APU

Indian prime minister-elect Narendra

Modi's first official destination as head
of government is likely to be Dhaka
where he might ink the much-awaited
Teesta water-sharing treaty.
The possibilities came up following
a telephone conversation over the issues between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Modi, who takes
oath as the Indian premier on May 26,
the Business Standard reported on
Wednesday citing anonymous diplomatic sources.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested Modi to make his first official
visit to Dhaka considering Bangladesh
as his second home, it reported.
The Teesta treaty accounted for a
substantial part of the conversation
with Hasina, reported the English daily.
The Indian English daily understood
that Modi had told Hasina he would

take concrete and meaningful steps"

for a robust bilateral relationship.
Contacted, Prime Ministers Sheikh
Hasinas Information Adviser Iqbal
Sobhan Chowdhury confirmed it to the
Dhaka Tribune yesterday and said the
prime minister invited Modi to visit
Bangladesh during the conversation.
They talked about several bilateral issues and about taking the ties between Dhaka and Delhi to new heights,
he said, without going into details.
When asked whether Teesta treaty
and land boundary deal had come up
for discussion, he said, These issues
are natural to be discussed.
Modi's recent comments also indicate that he will first visit Bangladesh
and Pakistan, he said.
The Teesta treaty was expected to
be inked during Manmohan Singhs
maiden visit to Dhaka in September
2011. But West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee got in the way. l

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B3 Russia-China gas deal

B4 Boeing wants to be more

creates benchmark for

global market

like Apple

FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Softex files $100m compensation suit

over factory closure without notice
n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

n Kayes Sohel
Proposal to continue tax holiday facility for demutualised companies at
stock markets for next five years will
produce no benefit for the investors,
according to market analysts.
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and
Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE)
have put forward a number of budget
proposals, including tax holiday, for
inclusion in fiscal year 2014-15.
They presented the proposals
to the National Board of Revenue
last month as the budget is set to be
placed on June 5.
Tax holiday will neither benefit investors nor infuse confidence
among the investors, said Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance adviser to
last caretaker government.
However, he backed the stock exchanges proposal to reduce corporate
tax of the listed companies. It (cutting corporate tax) will increase profit
of the listed companies, and thus investors will get higher dividends. But
from 2% to 2.5% can be reduced.
The DSE and CSE proposed reducing tax rate for banks, insurance companies and financial institutions to
32.5% for listed entities and 37.5% for
non-listed entities from the current
42.5%.
About the proposed formation of
market stabilisation fund of Tk5,000
crore, former adviser said some South
Asian countries have formed such
market stabilisation fund in 1996-98
when world stock market was in the
downturn, but in most cases such
kind of fund eventually made losses.
Referring to Bangladesh Fund of

Tk5,000 crore that was formed after

market debacle in late 2010, he said,
This fund is yet to be utilised. So,
I dont think any market stabilised
fund is needed right at this moment.
Islam, also a market and financial
sector analyst, strongly supported
the enactment of the Financial Reporting Act.
Although the Act will have no
impact on market, it is important to
maintain standard accounts. Since
some companies in the country have
a tendency to fabricate their accounts, the enactment of the Act will
help rectify the accounts.
Everything should be considered
on the basis of the interest of the investors and markets rather than indi-

vidual interest, Mirza Aziz emphasised.

Besides, the stock exchanges demanded reduction of tax at source
on members share transaction to
0.015% from the present 0.05%, tax
exemption facility for the unrealised
capital gain of shares which have
been issued to the initial shareholders of the demutualised exchanges.
The proposals included exemption
of 1.5% stamp duty on transfer of dematerialised shares, which is currently applicable only on listed entities
securities, reduction of tax at source
on commissions of the stock exchange members and extending the
exemption limit of dividend income
from Tk10,000 to Tk50,000. l

The ministry of fisheries and livestock

has urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to enhance the status of the fisheries and livestock sector as agriculture
sub-sector, so it can get more facilities
and incentives from the budgetary allocation.
In response, Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, however, yesterday assured the
minister, state minister and high officials
of the ministry of providing adequate
supply of power for the poultry and
hatchery farmers as like as other farmers.
The premier came up with the assurances as she visited to the ministry
under her routine job to visit various
ministries to oversee the overall activities of various ministries.
She also assured the high officials of
the ministry of giving sufficient budgetary allocations for the ministry to produce and supply more milk, meat and
eggs across the country.
Expressing her satisfaction over the
implementation of the development
projects and achievements of the ministry, the prime minister has agreed to allocate sufficient budget for the ministry,
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Sayedul Haque told the Dhaka
Tribune immediately after the meeting.
Though the planning ministry has
agreed to give us Tk603 crore from the
development budget, we have sought
more allocation for us. Our estimated
demand to the government is Tk955
crore for the implementation of the development programme, he added.
During the meeting, Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina urged the ministry officials to work attentively and thus can
contribute to the progress of the country.
The fisheries and livestock sector is
contributing around 8% to the national
income while 90% of the animal protein comes from the livestock sub-sector, said the prime minister. l

Lending by two Sonali and BASIC branches be stopped soon

finance ministry yesterday. Meanwhile Later in the dividend given
ceremony of the Sonali Bank UK at
finance minister said.
Ill immediately stop loan programme of the Sonali Banks Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch and BASIC Banks Ghulsan branch, he told
the reporters.
The two branches of the two staterun banks were involved in a huge

credit scam by Hall-Mark Group that

took place during a period between
2012 and 2013.
Muhith said the scams happened
one after another causing the banks
to suffer huge provision deficit while
the amount of bad loans going up.
The Hallmark Group and five
other companies swindled worth
Tk3,547 crore from Sonali Banks
Sheraton hotel branch (now Ru-

but after the budget was revised and

reached 5%.
Larger budget deficit may prompt
the government to borrow more from
banks, said Dr Zaid Bakht, research
fellow of Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies (BIDS).
Finance Ministry officials also feared
the same thing saying the budget deficit
will force the government to increase
domestic borrowing, creating a crowding out impact of the private sector.

'Larger budget deficit

may prompt the
government to borrow
more from banks'
According to finance division sources,
the expected bank borrowing will be
Tk27,000 crore in the next fiscal year,
which might be increased further as a
result.
Initially, the target was to keep the
budget gap within 5% of GDP and the
finance ministry proposed Tk79,032
crore ADP for the upcoming fiscal year.
Official data showed as of March
2013 the net domestic borrowing stood
at Tk18,419 crore, which is almost
double the figure the government borrowed till December last year. As of
December, the government borrowed
Tk9,881 crore from domestic sources.
The borrowing till March is 54% of
the total budgetary estimation of borrowing for the current fiscal year.
The current budget had set domestic borrowing target at Tk33,964 crore
and foreign loan of Tk23,729 crore to
meet budgetary expenditure. l

Fisheries, livestock
seek agriculture
sub-sector status
n Mohosinul Karim

Tax holiday for demutualised bourses

unlikely to benefit investors

The government would soon ask

Sonali Bank and BASIC Bank to stop
lending from two of their ailing
branches.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith
spoke of the imminent measure to
force the braches run independently, following a dividend handover
ceremony of Sonali Bank, UK at the

n Asif Showkat Kallol

The budget deficit in the next fiscal

year would cross 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) as the development
expenditure has been set high at
Tk80,314 crore, Finance Minister AMA
Muhith said yesterday.
He, however, made it clear the total budget outlay for the fiscal 2014-15
would not go beyond Tk250,000 crore.
The minister was talking to reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase at Bangladesh Secretariat as he shared about the
extent of fiscal deficit in the next fiscal.
The government as well as the business and industries always remain
skeptical about the deficit financing
as they think increased deficit would
mean increased borrowing from the
banking system and thus crowding out
the private sector.
The approved ADP for the next fiscal
is 22% higher than the Tk65,872 crore
Debates continue between factory owners and Western inspection authorities over the suspension or closure orders after safety faults original outlay and 34% more than the
revised allocation of Tk60,000 crore
are revealed
RAJIB DHAR
for the outgoing fiscal.
payment of compensation and sought commitment to provide financial and
The company lodged the suit with
Usually, the deficit remains below
technical support to improve fire and the 5% level, but this time it would
apology within 7 days.
the Joint District Judge Court of Dhabuilding safety standard of RMG facto- cross the mark, said finance ministry
The decisions made by the review
ka as the review panel did not provide
panel were not in accordance with the ries, from where they source products. officials.
satisfactory explanation responding
As per their commitment, the Acto the legal notice and their justifi- laws or under the provision of BanRecords show that there was only
cation was not come in proper time, gladesh Labour Act 2006, the plaintiff cord will inspect over 1700 factories one case in last two decades when the
till September 2014 for fire, electrical, budget gap exceeded 5% of GDP.
said in its suit.
Md Matiur Rahman, a lawyer of Softex
Under the Bangladesh Labour Act and building safety, while Alliance will
Cotton Limited, told the Dhaka TriThe wider budget gap is expected to
inspect over 600 factories.
2006, there is no provision of a Rebune yesterday.
increase the governments borrowing
On February 20, the Accord, a from the countrys banking system.
view Panel or its power and function
The next date for the return of service
platform of 150 European retailers, Total budget deficit is expected to be
or authority to inspect the factory of
of summons is fixed on May 26, 2014
the plaintiff or instruct it to shut it launched the first phase of inspection Tk68,083 crore, which is 5.08% of GDP.
On April 29, Softex served the legal
and inspected over 550 factories for fire
down, it said.
notice to Accord claiming compenNext fiscal years total GDP is estiand electrical safety structural safety.
Following the deadliest incident at
sation worth $100m for the damage
mated to be Tk13,39,500 crore.
On the other hand, the Alliance for
Rana Plaza building collapse that killed
the factory would have incurred since
The countrys budget deficit usually
over 1,100 workers, the retailers plat- Workers Safety in Bangladesh had in- remains at around 4.5%. In the current
shutting down the factory on March 6.
forms Accord and Alliance had made spected 508 factories. l
The legal notice had demanded
budget, the deficit target was 4.6%,

The Softex Cotton Limited has filed a

suit against the members of review
panel for the factory closure without
prior notice, seeking a compensation
package worth US$100m.
The plaintiff of the suit also sought
20% interest per year till realisation of
the compensation and cost of the suit,
in accordance with the case filed on
Wednesday.
It would be the first such case in
Bangladesh after the Accord and Alliance began inspection of the readymade garments factories in Bangladesh in an effort to ensure factory
safety standards.
A review panel following recommendation by the buyers platforms
has so far closed 19 factories allegedly
for their poor conditions as compared
to the standard specifications of the
factories. Production of 10 more factories has also been suspended.
Industry insiders said other factory owners, who faced closure or
production suspension, were also observing the developments of Softexs
legal notice.
The defendants of the case are Brad
Loewen, chief security inspector of
Accord on Fire and Building Safety in
Bangladesh, Kazi Wahidul Haque, representative of Alliance for Bangladesh
Worker Safety, Shahidullah Azim, representative of BGMEA, Syed Fakhrul
Ameen and professor Ahsanul Kabi,
representative of Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology (BUET),
Syed Ahmed, and Sanjoy Kumar Das,
representative of Factories and Establishment Inspection Directorate.

n Tribune Report

Muhith: FY15 budget

deficit to cross 5% of GDP

poshi Bangla) by using forged documents, between January 2010 and

May 2012.
A Bangladesh Bank inspection
found irregularities in four branches
of state-owned Basic Bank Motijheel, Shantinagar, Dilkusha and
Gulshan branches that involved
loans of nearly Tk4,425 crore between December 2009 and November 2012. l

Telcos asked to pay

Tk514cr as Vat dues
n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

National Board of Revenue (NBR) has

asked six mobile phone operators to pay
Tk513.55 crore dues as value added tax.
Of the amount, Tk244.38 crore is on
spectrum charges and Tk269.17 crore
on revenue sharing, according to the
letters sent by Large Taxpayers Unit
(LTU) of NBR to the operators.
The companies - Grameenphone,
Banglalink, Robi, Airtel, Citycell and
Teletalk have, however, decided to
challenge the Vat claims in the court.
They said the NBR in a directive on
12 August 2013 exempted the operators
from paying Vat on 5.5% revenue sharing as it will be a dual taxation.
The dues were calculated for the
period from April 2012 to August 12
of 2013. The Vat dues on spectrum
charges include 2% interest, said the
NBR letters.
Vat on 2G licence renewal spectrum
charges is applicable to four operators
- Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and
Citycell. NBR requested Bangladesh

Telecommunication Regulatory Communication (BTRC) to collect the Vat

amounts from the four companies.
Letters regarding Vat on revenue
sharing were sent to the six operators
last week and letters regarding spectrum Vat were dispatched to four mobile companies yesterday.
We have sent letters today (Thursday) for Vat on spectrum charges. Letters on revenue sharing Vat were sent
earlier, Md Abdus Samad, commissioner (legal and licence) of NBR, told
the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
According to the NBR, Grameenphones outstanding Vat on spectrum
charges is Tk106.95 crore and Vat on
revenue sharing is Tk120.53 crore.
Banglalinks outstanding Vat is
Tk65.06 crore and Tk52.90 crore on
two sources respectively.
According to the LTU, Robi has dues
of Tk62.73 crore on spectrum charges
and Tk50.14 crore on revenue sharing.
Citycell will have to pay Tk34.43
crore as Vat on spectrum charges and
Tk2.52 crore on revenue sharing. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks dropped with volatility yesterday, failing to sustain the previous sessions rally seen after eightday of losses.
The market moved in the range
of 65 points through intraday, creating volatility, as investors remained confused over the markets
direction and the economy as well,
according to analysts.
The benchmark index DSEX lost
26 points or 0.7% to settle at 4,384,
hitting the highest 4,449 in the
morning.
Shariah Index DSES was down
almost 10 points or 1% to 973. The
blue-chip comprising DS30 fell 15
points or almost 1% to 1,589. Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective
Category Index, CSCX, closed at
8,432, shedding over 40 points.
Activities were sluggish in the
initial hours, as majority participants remained cautious observer.
Eventually, the resistance crumbled and market observed shed off
amid increasing activities, said
IDLC Securities in its daily market
report.
Investors were not convinced
over the GDP growth rate for the
current fiscal year, forcing the index to undergo an intra-day technical correction, said an analyst at a
top brokerage firm.
On Wednesday, the government
projected 6.12% GDP growth for
fiscal year 2013-14 to be ended next

Number of Contract
Traded Issues
Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

108

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

172

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

13

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

2,261.16

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

27.41

CSE key features

May 22, 2014
Turnover (Million Taka)

196.98

Turnover (Volume)

5,673,955

Number of Contract

8,753

(-) 0.60%

Traded Issues

212

(-) 0.99%

Issue Gain
(Avg. Price Basis)

94

(-) 0.94%

Issue Loss
(Avg. Price Basis)

112

13553.78460

(-) 0.45%

Unchanged Issue (Avg.

Price Basis)

5
2,148.90
26.05

11122.14630

CSE Selected Index :

DSE LOSERS

(-) 0.51%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion. Tk.)

8435.24370

CSE - 30 Index :

(-) 0.44%

Market Capital Equity

(Billion US$)

Purabi G Insu.A
Northern Jute -Z
Shampur Sugar -Z
Aziz PipesZ
AFC AgroBiotech-N
Linde (BD) Ltd. -A
GPH Ispat Ltd-A
MJL BD Ltd.-A

-11.96
-9.63
-7.89
-5.70
-3.89
-3.87
-3.69
-3.59

Average (%
change)
-12.36
-9.63
-4.47
-3.36
-3.07
-2.07
0.52
-2.56

ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A

Rahima Food -Z

-3.56
-3.24

-2.79
0.29

Closing (%
change)

CSE LOSERS

Sinobangla Indu.-A
AFC AgroBiotech-N
PragatiLife Insu. -A
ICB -A
MeghnaCement -A
Legacy Footwear -A
Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A
Bata Shoe Ltd. -A

-6.10
-5.82
-5.15
-5.08
-3.70
-3.24
-3.24
-3.00

Average (%
change)
-8.20
-4.06
-5.18
-5.08
-2.41
-3.05
-3.11
-3.00

Hwa Well Textiles-N

MJL BD Ltd.-A

-2.99
-2.65

-3.11
-2.50

Closing (%
change)

ANALYST

Closing
average

Closing

DSE
Million Taka
377.27
60.18
69.81
231.74
128.99
203.68
0.54
314.53
518.84
0.30
58.99
21.13
11.68
301.96
17.15
35.23
51.26
100.61
17.87
66.11
0.15

Daily high

Turnover
in million

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

18.44
122.00
7.27
15.26
57.76
905.09
48.11
81.19

18.40
122.00
7.00
14.90
56.80
891.50
47.00
80.60

18.70
122.00
7.50
15.70
59.30
925.00
49.50
86.10

18.30
122.00
7.00
14.80
56.50
886.00
44.00
75.50

3.678
0.024
0.008
0.306
21.774
2.489
12.332
9.606

0.92
-11.08
-61.36
0.68
2.32
36.20
2.42
4.72

20.0
-ve
-ve
22.4
24.9
25.0
19.9
17.2

29.98
55.37

29.80
53.80

30.80
56.50

29.60
52.60

2.473
4.153

4.57
-1.01

Imam Button -Z
Ambee Pharma -A
Modern Dyeing -Z
Standard Insurance-A
BEXIMCO Ltd. -A
Barakatullah E. D.-A
DBH 1st MF-A
Beximco Pharma -A
AB Bank - A
SummitAlliancePort.-A

Closing (%
change)
9.09
6.36
6.28
4.41
3.95
3.79
3.23
3.22
2.76
2.59

CSE GAINERS
Company
Standard Insurance-A
ISN Ltd. -Z
Ambee Pharma -A
AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A
Nitol Insurance -A
The Ibn SinaA
ACI Formulations-A
Eastland Insur -A
Central Insur -A
Barakatullah E. D.-A

Closing (%
change)
8.05
7.84
6.26
5.41
4.73
4.00
3.90
3.86
3.85
3.77

Average (%
change)
5.00
4.99
6.81
4.82
3.54
5.16
0.64
3.34
3.33
4.43
Average (%
change)
7.99
6.66
4.67
4.23
4.73
4.00
3.94
3.86
3.84
5.11

Closing
average
8.40
355.55
80.00
35.64
23.72
30.58
6.32
41.75
26.35
24.02

Closing
average
34.88
10.89
350.36
7.64
31.00
104.00
85.23
40.40
27.01
30.64

Closing
8.40
361.40
79.60
35.50
23.70
30.10
6.40
41.70
26.10
23.80

Closing
34.90
11.00
361.30
7.80
31.00
104.00
85.20
40.40
27.00
30.30

Daily high
8.40
368.00
80.00
36.50
24.40
31.80
6.50
42.50
27.00
24.60

Daily high
35.00
11.00
367.90
7.80
31.00
104.00
85.90
40.70
27.90
31.90

Daily low
8.40
336.50
78.00
32.00
20.60
26.10
6.20
36.40
22.90
20.90

Daily low
34.50
10.60
337.50
7.60
31.00
104.00
85.00
40.00
26.90
30.20

Turnover
in million
0.071
22.844
0.020
2.114
39.525
24.493
1.637
37.636
53.900
15.103

Turnover
in million
0.087
0.109
3.625
0.195
0.016
0.010
0.102
0.081
0.837
2.173

Latest
EPS
-1.85
3.20
1.61
2.88
0.59
1.69
0.81
3.60
3.12
1.08

Latest
EPS
2.88
0.20
3.20
1.49
3.24
3.12
6.28
4.24
3.64
1.69

Latest
PE
-ve
111.1
49.7
12.4
40.2
18.1
7.8
11.6
8.4
22.2

Latest
PE
12.1
54.5
109.5
5.1
9.6
33.3
13.6
9.5
7.4
18.1

News, analysis and recent disclosers

UCBL: Emerging Credit Rating Limited
(ECRL) has assigned the rating of the Company as "AA" in the long term and "ECRL-2"
in the short term along with a stable outlook to the Company based on financials of
the Company up to December 31, 2013 and
other relevant qualitative information up
to the date of rating.
BEDL: The Company has informed that
the 50 MW HFO fired IPP power plant at
Patenga, Chittagong, owned by 51% subsidiary Company of Barakatullah Electro
Dynamics Limited (BEDL) named Baraka
Patenga Power Limited (BPPL) has started
its commercial operation from May 04,
2014. Bangladesh Power Development
Board (BPDB) vide their letter dated May
21, 2014 has declared Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the plant with capacity
of 50.815 MW.
ICBIBANK: (Audit Opinion): The auditor of
the company has given the following Audit
Opinion in the audit report of the company
for the year ended on 31 December 2013:
"Audit Opinion" In the note 3.18.1.2 Gratuity
As per service rules of the bank, every
permanent employee is entitled to 50% of

basic salary for 5 to 10 years, 75% of basic

salary for 10 to 15 years and 100% of basic
salary for more than 15 years for every
completed year of services with the bank.
There was no provision for gratuity created in the financial statements since the
inception of the bank. As on 22 September
2008, at Board of Directors meeting (77th
board meeting) it resolved that gratuity
accounting will be made on cash basis, i.e.if any employee separates from the bank,
their entitlement will be charged to profit
and loss account. Estimated liability as at
31 December 2013 on accrual basis was not
computed and provided for.
FLEASEINT: The Company has informed
that it has credited the Bonus shares for
the year ended on December 31, 2013 to
the respective shareholders' BO Accounts
on May 21, 2014.
RIGHT SHARE: DELTASPINN: Subscription 05.08.2014 to 31.08.2014. RD for entitlement of rights share: 28.04.2014.
IPO Subscription: Tung Hai Knitting &
Dyeing Limited subscription date 18-22 May
2014, NRB upto 31 May 2014. @ taka 10,
face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Far

East Knitting & Dyeing Industries Limited

subscription date 15-19 June 2014, NRB
upto 28 June 2014. @ taka 22, face value
taka 10 and market lot 200. Shurwid Industries Limited subscription date 08-12 June
2014, NRB upto 21 June 2014. @ taka 10,
face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Saif
Powertec Limited subscription date 06-10
July 2014, NRB upto 19 July 2014. @ taka
10, face value taka 30 and market lot 200.

Dividend/AGM

AMBEEPHA: 15% cash and 20%

stock, AGM: 16.06.2014, Record Date:
28.05.2014.
MBL1STMF: 3% cash, Record date:
02.06.2014.
AIBL1STIMF: 5.5% cash, Record date:
02.06.2014.
ORIONPHARM: 15% cash, AGM:
22.06.2014, Record Date: 21.05.2014.
PURABIGEN: 15% stock, AGM:
29.06.2014, Record date: 21.05.2014.
SALVOCHEM: 10% stock, AGM:
27.08.2014, Record date: 25.06.2014.
ISNLTD: No dividend, AGM: 17.06.2014,
RD May 20, 2014.

6.6
-ve

Closing
average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover
in million

Daily low

Latest
EPS

Latest
PE

23.06
57.37
160.25
1,730.00
125.20
27.03
29.93
970.00

23.10
56.60
160.30
1,730.00
125.00
26.90
29.90
970.00

23.80
58.50
161.00
1,730.00
128.00
27.50
30.00
970.00

22.60
56.20
159.50
1,730.00
124.50
26.80
29.90
970.00

0.184
1.635
0.160
0.087
0.626
0.568
0.060
0.097

0.80
2.32
2.38
53.53
7.00
0.20
1.84
48.12

28.8
24.7
67.3
32.3
17.9
135.2
16.3
20.2

42.62
80.39

42.20
80.80

43.70
83.90

42.00
80.10

7.885
0.650

3.99
4.72

10.7
17.0

Investors avoided aggressive

buying, thus keeping the
benchmark to oscillate within
a narrow range

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company
Square Pharma -A
LafargeS Cement-Z
Prime Bank-A
HeidelbergCement -A
Grameenphone-A
Orion Pharma-N
Hwa Well Textiles-N

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

293

1589.60172

CSE All Share Index:

Sector

67,647

972.91998

DSE - 30 Index :

Company

66,695,862

4384.06428

DSE Shariah Index :

Company

2,588.00

Turnover
(Volume)

Daily capital market highlights

DSE Broad Index :

Company

Turnover
(Million Taka)

month, beating economists and donor agencies estimate of below 6%.

Investors avoided aggressive
buying, thus keeping the benchmark to oscillate within a narrow
range, said the analyst.
A stock dealer said investors
were seen to be adopting a cautious
approach, wondering over the future course of action.
Trading activities also remained
dull as DSE turnover stood at Tk258
crore, slightly down from previous
sessions Tk271 crore.
Losers outpaced gainers strongly as out of 291 issues traded, 87
advanced, 159 declined and 45 remained unchanged.
Selling pressure witnessed in
the engineering, textile, food and
allied, insurers, power, cement and
financial institutions. The market
bellwether sector banks ended flat.
The performance of the banking
sector, throughout most of the trading day was laudable however due
to lack of support from other sectors, banks too had to face down.
Shares of Wata Chemical still remained hot, as it witnessed no sellers since it was brought back to the
main market from the OTC market
on May 14.
Square Pharmaceuticals was the
most traded stock for second consecutive session, followed by Lafarge Surma Cement, Prime Bank,
Heidelberg Cement, Grameenphone, Orion Pharmaceuticals and
Hwa Well Textile. l

Friday, May 23, 2014

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features

May 22, 2014

Stocks fail to sustain rally,

creating volatility
n Tribune Report

Stock

% change
14.58
2.33
2.70
8.95
4.98
7.87
0.02
12.15
20.05
0.01
2.28
0.82
0.45
11.67
0.66
1.36
1.98
3.89
0.69
2.55
0.01

Million Taka
24.03
7.90
3.02
17.92
9.20
20.57
29.71
31.15
10.94
2.66
11.63
1.15
23.99
1.58
1.77
3.96
12.48
4.05
11.71
0.09

CSE

% change
10.47
3.44
1.32
7.81
4.01
8.96
0.00
12.94
13.57
4.77
1.16
5.07
0.50
10.45
0.69
0.77
1.72
5.44
1.77
5.10
0.04

Million Taka
401.30
68.08
72.83
249.66
138.19
224.25
0.54
344.24
549.98
11.24
61.65
32.76
12.83
325.95
18.73
37.00
55.22
113.09
21.92
77.82
0.24

Total

% change
14.24
2.42
2.59
8.86
4.90
7.96
0.02
12.22
19.52
0.40
2.19
1.16
0.46
11.57
0.66
1.31
1.96
4.01
0.78
2.76
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

AB Bank - A
Matin Spinning-N
Active Fine Chem.-A

BSRM Steels-A
Eastern Housing -A
Southeast Bank-A
BEXIMCO Ltd. -A
Mercantile Bank -A
CSE TURNOVER LEADERS
Company
LafargeS Cement-Z

BEXIMCO Ltd. -A
Square Pharma -A
Hwa Well Textiles-N
BD Submarine Cable-A
Grameenphone-A
Appollo Ispat CL -N
Active Fine Chem.-A
UCBL - A
HeidelbergCement -A
LankaBangla Fin. -A
Orion Pharma-N
Meghna Petroleum -A
Ambee Pharma -A
UNITED AIR-A

Volume
shares
782,689
2,655,030
4,090,861
140,550
273,078
1,228,780
1,373,500
2,045,554
1,073,600
673,987

625,830
712,673
1,946,508
1,666,591
2,211,900

Volume
shares

209,000
405,347
36,405
185,000
35,600
23,400
218,200
79,000
192,514
9,400
92,195
79,900
13,400
10,347
307,244

Value in
million
201.95
185.96
95.13
73.04
70.39
63.11
58.86
53.90
49.08
46.89

44.72
42.79
40.13
39.53
37.87

Value in
million

14.64
9.64
9.45
7.88
6.46
6.02
6.01
5.58
5.12
4.87
4.21
4.10
3.78
3.63
3.56

% of total
turnover
7.80
7.19
3.68
2.82
2.72
2.44
2.27
2.08
1.90
1.81

1.73
1.65
1.55
1.53
1.46

% of total
turnover

7.64
5.03
4.93
4.12
3.37
3.14
3.14
2.91
2.67
2.54
2.20
2.14
1.97
1.89
1.86

Daily
closing
255.00
69.30
23.50
513.40
255.30
51.50
42.30
26.10
45.20
68.80

70.50
59.10
20.60
23.70
17.00

Daily
closing

69.00
23.70
256.50
42.20
180.10
255.70
27.10
68.90
26.40
512.40
45.60
51.40
282.20
361.30
11.50

Price
change
-2.60
0.14
1.29
-1.00
-1.96
0.59
-2.98
2.76
-2.80
-2.13

Daily
opening
261.80
69.20
23.20
518.60
260.40
51.20
43.60
25.40
46.50
70.30

Daily
high
263.80
70.90
23.80
528.00
263.50
51.90
43.90
27.00
46.70
71.70

Daily
low
239.00
69.00
21.20
510.00
245.00
46.20
42.10
22.90
45.10
65.00

Daily
average
258.02
70.04
23.25
519.64
257.77
51.36
42.85
26.35
45.71
69.57

Price
change

Daily
opening

Daily
high

Daily
low

Daily
average

-2.89
-1.83
1.48
3.95
-0.58

-0.86
3.49
-2.58
-2.99
-2.12
-1.80
-2.52
-1.71
0.00
-1.56
-0.87
0.39
-0.63
6.26
-0.86

72.60
60.20
20.30
22.80
17.10

69.60
22.90
263.30
43.50
184.00
260.40
27.80
70.10
26.40
520.50
46.00
51.20
284.00
340.00
11.60

73.50
63.00
21.50
24.40
17.20

70.90
24.50
265.00
43.70
185.40
262.50
28.30
71.00
27.00
525.00
46.00
51.80
285.00
367.90
11.70

67.00
55.00
18.30
20.60
16.00

68.50
23.00
255.40
42.00
179.90
255.00
27.00
68.60
26.20
511.00
45.40
50.60
281.60
337.50
11.50

71.46
60.03
20.61
23.72
17.12

70.06
23.79
259.47
42.62
181.44
257.27
27.53
70.58
26.61
518.31
45.65
51.26
282.22
350.36
11.58

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Friday, May 23, 2014

Russia-China gas deal creates

benchmark for global market
Agreed gas price is cheaper than Asian LNG

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and China's President Xi Jinping, right, smile during signing ceremony in Shanghai, China on
Wednesday, May
AP

n Reuters, London
The keenly priced gas deal signed
this week between Russia and China
will create a new price benchmark for
global markets that puts cost pressure
on other producers because consumers have a growing number of supply
sources to choose from.
China and Russia signed a longawaited $400 billion gas supply deal
this week, providing energy-hungry

China with a major source of fuel and

opening up a new market for Moscow
as it risks losing European customers
over the Ukraine crisis.
Russia's state-controlled Gazprom
has so far declined to say at what
price the deal was struck, but industry
sources say it is between $350-$380 per
thousand cubic metres.
That would be similar to what most
European utilities pay under discounted long-term contracts signed in the

last two years, and several sources said

it is as low as Gazprom could have gone
before making a loss.
Fitch Ratings said the deal "sets a
new benchmark for what China is willing to pay for natural gas over longer
term contracts". The deal also opens up
a huge new market for Gazprom, which
so far generates around 80% of its revenues from Europe, where demand is
stagnating and profits are falling.
"With European gas demand growth

RBI allows private

agencies to
import gold
n Reuters, Mumbai

Airtel launches on
experience portal

The RBI eased tough gold import

rules on Wednesday by allowing seven more private agencies to ship the
precious metal, a move that industry
officials say could augment supplies
and reduce premiums in the peak wedding season.
Gold imports by India, the world's No.
2 bullion consumer after China, could
quickly rise from current levels, according to the officials. This would help global prices, which slumped 28% last year,
partly due to India's import curbs.
Struggling with a ballooning trade
deficit, India in 2013 imposed a record
high duty of 10% on overseas purchases
of gold, the second-biggest item in its
import bill, and introduced a rule tying
import quantities to export levels. l

Mobile phone operator Airtel has

launched an online portal to cater for
customers needs with services which
can be accessed anytime and anywhere.
The virtual platform called the
Airtel Online Experience Centre was
inaugurated yesterday. It is the first of
its kind in Bangladeshs telecommunication industry.
The site provides the customers
with a unique opportunity to access
self-care services over digital space
and Internet, Airtel claimed in a press
release.
At the same time it also facilitates
Airtel in creating awareness and increase knowledge level of customers
through visual aid, the release added.
Online Airtel Experience Centre is a

n Tribune Report

3D animated online portal that can be

accessed through the website of Airtel
Bangladesh Limited (www.bd.airtel.
com).
It is a one stop solution for Airtel customers in the virtual platform
where they can avail any service that
they could have received from a physical experience centre.
Anybody can have access to the portal from anywhere and anytime from
their computer connected with Internet.
The use of experience centre is
seamless and intuitive and requires the
first time customers to create a profile
to access the portal.
The customers can navigate by using keyboard keys and mouse.
Chief Operating Officer Rajnish Kaul
and Chief Service Officer Rubaba Dowla
were present at the launching function. l

uncertain and the Ukraine crisis leading

to calls for Europe to reduce its reliance
on Russian gas, Gazprom now needs a
'new Europe'- enter China," said Stephen O'Rourke of energy research and
consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie.
A Russian government decision last
year to end Gazprom's sole right to export gas has also spurred it to lock in
the deal with China, dropping its price
closer to levels favoured by Beijing.
For China, the price of the Russian
deal is crucially below the cost of importing liquefied natural gas (LNG)
from Asia, a fuel on which it increasingly depends.
Increased gas imports will also help
Beijing in its declared "war on pollution", aimed at reducing its reliance on
coal which contributes to the harmful
smog shrouding its big cities.
The deal between the world's biggest energy exporter and the top importer will have implications far beyond Russia and China, as it effectively
creates a new price benchmark.
"With a pipeline deal of this scale,
Russia has thrown down the gauntlet to
LNG producers courting Chinese buyers," said David Stokes of Timera Energy.
"Russian pipeline exports, which look
to be competitively priced versus LNG,
are set to have a material impact in eroding Chinese LNG demand. There is likely
to be an important knock-on impact on
the global LNG supply and demand balance, given the central role China plays
in growth projections," he added.
China plans to build 15 new import
terminals which, once completed, will
catapult it from a relatively small LNG
importer into the world's biggest consumer after Japan. l

DSE introduces Bangla website

n Tribune Report
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has introduced Bangla version of its web site by
upgrading all the relevant information.
DSE Chief Executive Dr Swapan Kumar Bala inaugurated the upgraded
version of the Bangla web site by including information, according to a
press statement issued yesterday.
The premier burses had earlier
launched a Bangla version of its web

site on February 18 to provide the investors with information in their mother tongue for better understanding.
From now on, investors will get information about all the listed companies in Bangla version as well as English version of its web site, according to
the statement.
Investors could visit the Bangla web
site directly by clicking Bangla version on English web site or by clicking
bangle.dsebd.org. l

'Music streaming is 'game

changer' for record cos'
n AFP, Singapore
Stiff competition among technology giants for a share of the burgeoning online music streaming market has given
traditional record companies a muchneeded boost, a top Universal executive said yesterday.
Industry behemoths such as Apple,
Google, Amazon and Microsoft are increasingly seeking to provide for techsavvy consumers willing to pay to stream
their favourite tunes. With legal music
downloads declining, this is a shot in the
arm for the record companies representing major artists, Max Hole of Universal

told a conference in Singapore.

"In the past a lot of the tech companies
were not very respectful of music," Hole,
who heads Universal Music Group's international business, told the Music Matters conference. "Now the competition
for eyeballs for their services and attention is really game-changing.
"You've got real competition between
all the tech giants, and they are very interested in us as owners of music." The music industry has been grappling for years
with how to make money from music
distributed on the Internet, and streaming services such as Spotify are seen as a
possible model to generate revenues. l

Thai economy shrinks more than

expected in first quarter
n Reuters, Bangkok
Thailand's economy shrank more than
expected in the first quarter as exports
remained weak and domestic activity
was battered by months of political unrest, adding to fears the country is sliding into recession.
Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 2.1% in January-March from the
previous three months and was 0.6%
smaller than a year earlier, the state planning agency NESDB said on Monday.
A Reuters poll of economists had
forecast GDP in January-March to
shrink by 1.6% on the quarter and to
grow 0.1% on the year.
The planning agency chopped its
2014 GDP growth forecast to between
1.5 and 2.5% from 3-4%.

Thailand has been without a proper government since last December

and anti-government protesters have
promised a final push to oust the caretaker government by May 27. Their
leader says he will surrender to the authorities if they fail.
"It's likely there'll be recession in the
second quarter because all the figures
came in bad. But we also have to wait
and see the political situation on May
26-27," said Pragrom Pathomboorn, an
economist with KGI Securities.
"If it ends well, the second half will
get better. But if it drags on without a
functioning government in the third
quarter, we think the economy will
grow just 0.8 percent this year."
The political crisis flared up in November. The NESDB revised its figure

for fourth-quarter 2013 growth to just

0.1% from 0.6%, compared with the
previous quarter.
Expansion in the rest of Southeast
Asia highlights the political drag in
Thailand: Malaysia reported annual
growth of 6.1% in the first quarter
while Indonesia, the largest economy
in front of Thailand, grew 5.2%.
"Chances are we are going to see another technical recession in the economy, given that the second-quarter GDP
number is likely to be rather poor as
well," said Cahyadi, who now expects
2014 full-year growth of less than 2%.
Public sector investment fell 19.3%
in the first quarter from a year before
and private investment fell 7.3%, the
NESDB said, with overall spending
down 9.8%. l

Grameenphone Limited recently signed a corporate agreement with IPDC on providing the
employees of Grameenphone exclusive discounts on IPDCs financial services. Kazi Samiur
Rahman, head of retail business at IPDC of Bangladesh Limited and Quazi Mohammad
Shahed, chief human resources officer of Grameenphone signed the agreement
ACI Electronics as the marketing partner of Panasonic has recently launched a new
camera, Camcorder HC-MDH2 in Bangladesh with a vision to develop the professional
camera market in the country. Syed Alamgir, executive director of ACI Consumer Brands
along with the Panasonic officials from Singapore and Bangladesh were present at the
event that was held in Gulshan Spectra Convention centre
Pubali Bank Limited has recently introduced SMS based banking services for its
customers. The banks MD and CEO Helal Ahmed Chowdhury inaugurated the services as
chief guest in a ceremony held at the banks head office

Walton introduces Fair & Lovely

3 new models of awards scholarship
to students
smart phones
BRAC Bank recently organised a story telling programme named Asthar Prothom
Shobdo Ma on Radio Foorti to celebrate the occasion of Mothers Day. The banks head
of communication & service quality, Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq handed over gift to one of the
winners, Musharrat Tarannum Baishakhi and her mother in a ceremony held at the radio
station recently

Italian brand Lotto has recently opened a new outlet at New Market in Rajshahi. Rajshahi
Metropolitan Additional Police Commissioner Tamijuddin Ahmed and chief executive
officer of Lotto Bangladesh, Abdullah Al Mosaddaq inaugurated the outlet

Walton, manufacturer of electronic

products have introduced three new
models of smartphone handsets.
The new Android smartphones are
Primo GH+, V1 and R3, said a press release.
It added, the newer models are featured with the ultra modern technologies and affordable prices. l

Fair & Lovely Foundation, a social initiative

of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd has carried out
a countrywide scholarship programme
for the family members of its distributors
sales force. The 99 winners of the scholarship were selected from Primary School
Certificate (PSC) and Junior School Certificate (JSC) candidates based solely on their
merit, said a press release. l

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Friday, May 23, 2014

Boeing wants to be more like Apple

n Reuters, Seattle
Boeing Co Chief Executive Jim McNerney said the company wanted to be
more like Apple Inc in the way it innovates, rather than doing a "moon shot"
development every 25 years.
Speaking in Seattle at an annual conference with analysts on Wednesday,
McNerney also said Boeing's job was to
improve execution and productivity to
cut costs and boost margins.
Building up technology and doing "a
big a moon shot" every 25 years is the
"the wrong way to pursue this business," McNerney said. "We want to be
more like Apple" by bringing out products more quickly.
Chief Operating Officer Dennis Muilenburg expanded the Apple comparison, saying Boeing's 777X jet was an
example of using evolutionary technology to create a revolutionary product.
"We're still going to deliver revolutionary capability," he told analysts at
the conference. "The way we deliver
is to build on technology we have. We
get to the same end point if you take
10 low-risk, well-managed steps rather
than one big step."
Apple has delivered a string of popular consumer electronic devices in the
last decade, ranging from the MacBook
notebook to the iPod Touch media
player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet.
Boeing chose to adapt technology to
its 777X and 737 MAX aircraft rather than
developing all-new jetliners such as the
787, with more than $20bn in deferred
production costs. Boeing's defense,
space and security unit plans to cut $2bn
in the next five years and capture a "disproportionate share" of growing international markets, McNerney added.
The Apple remarks underscored
Boeing's intense focus on wringing all
the profit from its planes, rockets and
other products by cutting costs in its
factories and those of its suppliers.
Cost-cutting and smooth-running assembly lines will ensure it has the cash
to develop products and make good
on promises to shareholders with dividends and share buy-backs.
Boeing made no change to its 2014

Boeing CEO Jim McNerney waits to be introduced to speak, in front of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner under construction at the Boeing facility in Everett, Washington in this February REUTERS
financial forecast, saying it still expects
adjusted "core" profit of $7.15 to $7.35 a
share on sales of $87.5bn to $90.5bn.
But the two-day analysts' visit to
Boeing's jetliner centre also highlighted
several challenges the company faces.
Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith
said Boeing is buying and storing parts

for its 787-9 jetliner to ensure production runs smoothly after the first delivery in the summer. That may mean
the overall cost of the 787 will not fall
as quickly as forecast, but there will be
a long-term payoff, he added.
Analysts said that forecast might worry investors, but the move would benefit

Boeing by reducing the risk of schedule

disruptions or cost overruns.The deferred
costs of the 787 stand at about $23bn and
are expected to peak at $25bn in 2017 before subsiding as the cost of production
falls below the sales price for the jet.
"We think additional de-risking here
should ultimately help down the line,"

RBC analyst Rob Stallard said in a note.

Muilenburg said Boeing's products
still cost far too much to develop when
compared with the automotive and
computer chip industries, and Boeing
needed to break that pattern.
"We think there's huge opportunity
here," he added. l

Obama aims to
lure more foreign
travellers
n AFP, Washington
President Barack Obama will move yesterday to reduce airport waiting times
for foreign travellers arriving in the
United States in order to boost tourism,
the White House said.
Obama will visit the Baseball Hall of
Fame in Cooperstown, New York to discuss tourism, two years after establishing the goal of making the United States
the world's top tourist destination.
The US is currently the world's second tourist destination after France,
according to the World Tourism Organization, and Obama says that gaining
the top spot would create jobs.
Obama is going to ask his secretaries of commerce and homeland security, Penny Pritzker and Jeh Johnson, to
"develop a national goal to improve the
entry process and reduce wait times for
international travellers to the United
States, and action plans at the 15 largest airports for international arrivals," a
White House statement said.
It is common for international travellers arriving in the US to spend more
than an hour at passport control and
customs processing checkpoints at
American airports, where controls there
have been tightened dramatically since
the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Congress recently gave the green
light for an additional 2,000 border
guards to be deployed..
On January 19, 2012 Obama set the
goal of making the United States the
world's top tourism destination by,
among other things, granting more visas to people from China and Brazil.
Two years later, the White House
says it has made significant progress by
reducing the average time people from
those countries must wait to get a visa.
The White House says the total
number of visas granted by the United
States has gone up by 42% since 2010,
reaching 9.2 million in 2013.
Obama wants the United States to
lure 100 million visitors a year by 2021.
In 2013, the figure was 70 million, compared to 55 million in 2009, according to
figures released by the administration. l

Adidas sees boost to sales Google sees spending $30bn buying foreign firms
n
from World Cup
AFP, San Francisco

n Reuters
German sportswear company Adidas has
given a more precise sales growth target
for 2014, amounting to a rise of up to 8%,
as it gets a lift from the soccer World Cup
that starts in Brazil next month.
As a World Cup sponsor, Adidas provides the official match ball and is kitting out nine teams of the 32 finalists,
including former world champions
Spain, Germany and Argentina.
"This year we will add 1-1.2bn euros
($1.4-1.6bn) to operational revenue,
with the World Cup playing an important role," Chief Executive Herbert
Hainer told journalists at a briefing in
Munich in remarks released for publication on Thursday.

That increase represents a rise of 7-8%

from the 14.492bn euros of sales Adidas
recorded in 2013. Previously, Adidas had
guided for a "high single-digit" increase
in currency-neutral sales in 2014.
The world's second-biggest sportswear firm has been losing market share
in western Europe, its home territory,
to Nike (NKE.N), which is also challenging the German company's dominance
in the soccer market.
Nike is supplying teams from 10
countries, including the Brazilian
hosts, at the World Cup.
Hainer confirmed that Adidas expected to make a record 2bn euros of
sales in football this year, exceeding
Nike's estimated $2bn of soccer turnover. l

Google told US regulators that it could

spend as much as $30bn of its offshore
cash reserves on buying foreign companies or technology rights, it emerged
Wednesday.
In responses to questions from the
US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internet titan said that the
bulk of the money it is amassing outside the country is likely to be spent on
acquisitions.
Google told regulators in a letter
that "it is reasonable to forecast" that
it needs from $20bn to $30bn of its foreign earnings to pay to companies or
technology in the years ahead.
"We continue to expect substantial
use of our offshore earnings for acquisitions as our global business has
expanded into other product offerings

like mobile devices where our competitors and business partners are no longer primarily US based multinationals,"
Google said in the letter, which was
dated December of 2013.

A year earlier Google

spent $12.4bn to buy
Motorola Mobility,
which it is now selling
to Lenovo at a fraction
of that price
Google said acquisitions would be a
part of its overall growth strategy, and
that the trend was for the sizes of deals
to get bigger.
Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of
Enderle Group did not expect Google to
go on an international buying binge any

that price.
Google told the SEC that about half
of its revenue came from outside the
US as of the end of last year.
Google also told regulators that it
envisions that one day that digital ads
along the lines of those seen on smartphones or tablets will begin popping up
on once 'dumb' devices such as thermostats, eyewear, watches, and appliances being made smart with computer
chips and Internet connections.
"We expect the definition of 'mobile'
to continue to evolve as more and more
'smart' devices gain traction in the
market," Google said.
"Our expectation is that users will
be using our services and viewing our
ads on an increasingly wide diversity
of devices in the future, and thus our
advertising systems are becoming increasingly device-agnostic." l

Facebook giving smartphone

app an ear for music

Sony CEO: Not

thinking of selling
or shutting TV
business
n Reuters, Tokyo
Sony Corp could take on an equity
partner in its TV unit, which has racked
up losses every year for a decade, but
the Japanese consumer giant was not
thinking about selling or exiting the
business, its chief executive said on
Thursday.
Sony plans to turn its struggling TV
business into a separate entity - Sony
Visual Products Inc - within a few
months to boost transparency.
The splitting off of its TV unit had
fired up speculation about a sale, which
CEO Kazuo Hirai sought to dispel.
"We are not thinking about selling
our TV operations or shutting them
down or anything like that," he said.
"We're doing business in the competitive environment of a market. I
wouldn't rule out the possibility of an
equity tie-up, but right now we are not
doing business under the assumption
that would happen."
Hirai, speaking on Thursday at a
briefing outlining Sony's annual strategy, acknowledged TV sales could
fall below the company's forecast
for an industry-beating 20% rise this
fiscal year.
He said, however, that Sony had
restructured the business so it could
withstand external shocks. l

time soon, reasoning that the company

may actually be keeping cash abroad to
avoid getting slammed by taxes in the
United States.
"The real reason companies retain
capital overseas is not to buy startups,
it is to avoid taxes," Enderle said, noting
that other tech giants including Apple
and Microsoft are in similar positions.
"Every company that has a multinational position really has a problem
bringing capital back here."
Last year, Google spent about $1.4bn
on more than 20 strategic deals, including
the $1bn acquisition of Israel-based Waze.
Google wrote that it tried to buy
another foreign firm, which it did not
name, in a deal that could have been
valued between $4bn and $5bn.
A year earlier Google spent $12.4bn
to buy Motorola Mobility, which it is
now selling to Lenovo at a fraction of

n AFP, San Francisco

Facebook yesterday said its mobile
application will be getting an ear for
music, as well as for film or television
show sound tracks.
A feature being added in coming
weeks to Facebook in the US on smartphones or tablets powered by Apple or
Android software is intended to recognize songs, shows or movies based on
listening, according to product manager Aryeh Selekman.
"When writing a status update
- if you choose to turn the feature
on - you'll have the option to use
your phone's microphone to identify
what song is playing or what show or
movie is on TV," Selekman said in a blog
post
Once activated, the audio feature
searches for titles of songs, shows or
films matching verses, lines or sound
tracks and then lets people add the in-

DILBERT

A Leica II Model D Luxus, part of an auction taking place on May 23 is pictured on the occasion of the company's 100 year anniversary
during an exhibition on May
AFP

formation to Facebook posts, according

to Selekman. Music shared in a post using the technique will include the option of Facebook friends getting 30-second previews of songs.
Information added to posts about
recognized TV shows will include
which episode was being watched "so
you can avoid spoilers," Selekman said
Facebook also said it had sealed
a partnership with French advertising and public relations giant Publicis
Group emphasizing image and video
marketing at the leading social network
and its smartphone imagery-sharing
service Instagram.
"Our work with Publicis will center
on bringing clients closer to our products, and creating new planning and
measurement tools to make buying
easier, more efficient, and ultimately
prove out ROI," Facebook global agency
director Patrick Harris said in an email
response to an AFP inquiry. l