PAGE 5Khaleda to attend hearing if safety ensured

PAGE 3Most BNP-backed aspir-ants facing criminal cases

PAGE 32Permission required to portray cops in media

PAGE 10Shiite rebels capture Yemen presidential palace

161 MORE COUNCILLOR ASPIRANTS DROPPED PAGE 3

BLOGGER KILLING PLANNER FLEES PAGE 4

IRAN, WORLD POWERS STRIKE NUKE DEAL PAGE 2

SECOND EDITION

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015 | Chaitra 20, 1421, Jamadius Sani 13, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 2, No 358 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend | Price: Tk10

A woman is helped in Garissa after escaping from a building at the university AP

Hundreds of people gather at Bhashanchar by the Meghna River yesterday following the capsize of a trawler in Munshiganj’s Gajaria on Wednesday night DHAKA TRIBUNE

Militant attack at Kenya university kills 147n Tribune Report

At least 147 hostages were killed in an attack by al-Shabab Islamist militants on a university in north-eastern Kenya, Kenyan government o� cials say.

They added that the operation to secure the Garissa University College campus was over, with all four attackers killed. The evac-uation of surviving students was under way when this report was being � led.

An overnight curfew is being implemented in parts of the country. Four counties near the Kenya-Somalia border, Garissa, Wajir, Mande-ra and Tana River, would have dusk-to-dawn curfews imposed, reports BBC.

Nine students were critically injured and airlifted to the capital Nairobi for medical treatment, they added.

Members of the Somalia-based group attacked the campus after dawn on Thurs-day and were holed up in a dormitory with PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Mintoo, Pintu and Rezaul appeal toget back in the racen Munir Momtaj

Mayoral aspirants for the two Dhaka city cor-porations BNP leaders Abdul Awal Mintoo and Nasir Uddin Ahmed Pintu have appealed to the Dhaka divisional commissioner chal-lenging the cancellation of their nominations for the upcoming elections.

Mayoral contender Rezaul Karim also ap-pealed to the commissioner to regain his can-didacy.

Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Md Zillar Rahman will conduct hearings on the applica-tions on April 4. The Divisional commissioner is the appellate authority of the Dhaka city corporation polls.

Shahidul Islam, an o� cial of the divisional commissioner’s o� ce, said 22 aspirants in-cluding the three mayoral hopefuls appealed

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

12 die in separate trawler capsizes n Kamrul Hasan

At least eight people died when a trawler capsized in the Buriganga River yesterday af-ternoon while another trawler capsize in the Meghna River in Munshiganj claimed four more lives on Wednesday night.

The victims were related despite the acci-dents taking place in two di� erent places. The

Buriganga victims were returning home after attending an Urs – a religious gathering – of Hazrat Solaiman Shah (R) at Beltoli in Matlab of Chandpur while those who died in the Meghna River were on their way to the same Urs.

What is more surprising is the similarity between the nature of the accidents as both the trawlers collided with sand-laden vessels.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Oyasiqur killers met Avijit killersKillers of Oyasiqur rented a housein Jatrabari for three monthsn Mohammad Jamil Khan

The detained killers of blogger Oyasiqur Rah-man Babu have claimed that two-three peo-ple involved in the murder of science writer Avijit Roy visited their Jatrabari den before and after the incident, detectives say.

The duo – madrasa students Zikrullah and Ariful – were trained along with three others at a mess in south Jatrabari for at least 15 days.

They rented the mess for Tk6,000 a month on December 28 and started living there on January 1. They were supposed to stay at the mess until the end of March, police quoted the house owner, Sazzadur Rahman, as saying.

A former police o� cer, Sazzad was inter-rogated at the DB headquarters yesterday. He now works for Sinha Group.

Zikrullah and Arif revealed to the DB that two to three persons used to visit the mess regularly and they were involved in the mur-

der of Avijit. The two also said they would be able to identify those persons.

DB chief Monirul Islam yesterday said the arrestees had disclosed a few names to the interrogators. “We need to verify the names since those could be fake,” he added.

According to witnesses, three people – Zikrullah, Arif and another madrasa student named Abu Taher – attacked Oyasiqur, a trav-el agency trainer, with machetes around 9am on March 30 when he started for his o� ce at Motijheel. Taher � ed the scene immediately but the two others were caught red-handed.

Oyasiqur had bitterly criticised religious fanatics for killing Avijit as well as expressed frustration on the Facebook for the delay in the probe. He was not a regular blogger but was vocal on Facebook against Jamaat-e-Isla-mi and religious zealots.

The arrestees earlier said they were trained PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CEC to sit with DCC, CCC aspirantsn Tribune Report

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibud-din Ahmad will exchange views with mayoral and councillor candidates in Dhaka and Chit-tagong city polls slated for April 28.

The CEC would start holding the series of meetings after April 10 to apprise them about the election code of conduct and other rules and regulations, Election Commission Deputy Sec-retary Shamsul Alam told journalists yesterday.

The last date of withdrawing candidacy is April 9.

“CEC Rakibuddin will also inform them about the type of action to be taken against the violators,” he said. l

12 die in separate trawler capsizes Yesterday’s accident, which took place west of Pangaon in Keraniganj around 1pm, killed Md Samir Hossain, 42, son of late Lat Mia, Rubel, 18, son of Wahab Molla, Rubel, 30, son of Ha� z Uddin, Jakir, 30, son of Nuruddin, Sagor, 11, son of Mizanur Rahman, Karamjan Bibi, 65, wife of Ayub Ali, Hridoy, 12, and another one who could not be identi� ed.

All of them lived in Lalbagh.Victim Samir’s brother Ripon claimed that

the trawler had some 120 passengers onboard but O� cer-in-Charge of South Keraniganj po-lice station Jamal Uddin Mir said the number would be between 50 and 60.

“We saw no relatives on the riverbank looking for any missing passengers which is why we have suspended the search for today. Two people were said to have remained un-accounted for and we will resume our search tomorrow,” said Jamal.

“Dhaka’s Deputy Commissioner Md To-fazzel Hossain Miah handed over the bodies to the families without autopsy and also gave

Tk20,000 to each family,” he added.

Meghna River capsizeOn Wednesday, four people died when the trawler carrying them capsized in the Meghna River in Gajaria upazila around 8pm.

Of the dead, the bodies of Munia Akhter, 5, daughter of Munir Hossain of Siddhirganj in Narayanganj, Habib, 16, son of Shamim of Shuvaram village of Comilla, and two uniden-ti� ed youths were found in the river in Mol-lakandi area yesterday morning, reports our Munshiganj correspondent.

But police recovered the body of another man from near the scene of the accident in the river, and said the youth appeared to have died earlier.

This is why we are not including him in the trawler capsize death toll, said Gajaria police station O� cer-in-Charge Ferdous Hasan.

Two persons – Md Fayez, 16, and Keyamo-ni, 4 – were reported missing but Munshiganj Superintendent of Police Biplob Bijoy Taluk-

dar said the number might be greater. “Police, � re� ghters and Coast Guard are

searching the river for the missing passen-gers,” he said.

Habibur Rahman, sub-inspector of Gajar-ia police station, said the number of missing passengers might not exceed 5.

The accident took place when a Dha-ka-bound sand-carrying vessel hit the trawler, which had about 60-70 passengers on board.

The trawler was salvaged and the other vessel was seized. Piyash, a survivor who hails from Siddhirganj, said the trawler left Baushia launch terminal at 7:30pm on Wednesday.

“The accident took place during a storm and some of the passengers managed to swim ashore,” he added.

Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Md Sai-ful Hasan Badal announced that the families of the deceased would be given Tk20,000 each for burial of the bodies.

He also said no committee had been formed yet to probe the accident. l

Militant attackhostages until the evening.

Security forces had encircled the building exchanging sporadic bursts of gun� re with the � ghters inside, who were believed to have been holding scores of students hostage.

Witnesses told Al Jazeera they heard heavy gun� re and saw smoke coming from the campus on Thursday evening as the stando� came to an end.

Joseph Nkaissery, the interior minister, said four attackers had strapped themselves with explosives. Another had been arrested, o� cials said.

A female student who escaped the hos-tage drama told Al Jazeera that she headstepped over more bodies than she could count as she got out of the university, while another student said he had seen more than 100 bodies.

The attack was the deadliest in the country since US embassy bombings in 1998.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said the lack of security infrastructure had contribut-ed to the crisis.

Earlier, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group said their gunmen were holding Chris-tian hostages inside the complex in revenge for Nairobi’s troops � ghting in Somalia.

The gunmen reportedly ordered students to lie down on the � oor, but some of them escaped. Student Augustine Alanga told the BBC’s Newsday programme: “It was horrible, there was shooting everywhere.”

He said it was “pathetic” that the univer-sity was only guarded by two police o� cers.

Student Collins Wetangula said when the gunmen entered his hostel he could hear them opening doors and asking if the people inside were Muslims or Christians, reports As-sociated Press.

“If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot. With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die,” he said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon con-demned what he called a “terrorist attack” and said the UN was ready to help Kenya “prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism.”

The Kenyan government has named Mo-hamed Kuno, a high-ranking al-Shabab o� -cial, as the mastermind of the attack.

A BBC Somali Service reporter says Mo-hamed Kuno was headmaster at an Islamic school in Garissa before he quit in 2007. He goes by the nickname “Dulyadeyn,” which means “ambidextrous” in Somali. l

Oyasiqur killers met Avijit killersat the Jatrabari mess for at least 15 days. Their leader whom they named Masum had given them the machetes and a photograph of Oya-siqur a day before the murder at a meeting in Hatirjheel area.

The law enforcers suspect that the name Masum could also be fake and that he could be the leader of a sleeper cell of radical Isla-mist group Ansarullah Bangla Team.

During drives at some places of the capi-tal and Narsingdi, the police have seized the mobile phone of Arif from a Jatrabari mosque where he often used to stay. The law enforc-

ers are now analysing the call records on the phone.

DB Additional Deputy Commissioner Saiful Islam, also member of the team interrogating the duo, said they raided a number of madra-sas to capture Taher and Masum.

Zikrullah is a current student of Al-Jamia-tul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam in Hathaz-ari, Chittagong – run by radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam, while Arif completed Daow-ra from the same institution and later became a student of Mirpur Darul Ulum Madrasa.

Ansarullah having links with banned

Islamist groups Hizb ut-Tahrir, JMB and Huji wants to establish Islamic Bangladesh through jihad, following the path of interna-tional terrorist groups Taliban and al-Qaeda, detectives say.

It also supports Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefa-zat-e-Islam as they preach Islam.

Its chief Jasim Uddin Rahmani, now in jail, thinks atheists who demeaned Islam and the Prophet should be killed. Jasim and seven of his followers – all former students of North South University – were indicted last month in blogger Rajeeb Ahmed Haider murder case. l

Mintoo, Pintu and Rezaul appeal to get backthe cancellation of their nominations. Tafsir M Awal, son of Abdul Awal Mintoo, said he sub-mitted an application on his father’s behalf.

Mintoo’s lawyer Mahbub Uddin Khokon told reporters that his client’s nomination was cancelled due to a “faulty voter list” prepared by the Election Commission.

“We hope for a good result following the hearing,” he added.

On Wednesday, Returning O� cer Shah Alam of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC)

cancelled Mintoo’s nomination because the individual who collected the aspirant’s nom-ination papers was not listed as a voter in the would-be candidate’s area.

But the returning o� cer accepted the nom-ination papers of Mintoo’s son Tabith M Awal.

Nasir Uddin Ahmed Pintu, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayoral aspirant, saw his nomination cancelled because he was convicted in the BDR mutiny case.

Aminul Islam, Pintu’s lawyer, � led his ap-

peal around 3:20pm yesterday. He said: “Pintu’s candidacy was cancelled

due to legal discrimination. We hope that Pin-tu’s candidacy will be declared valid follow-ing the hearing.”

Rezaul Karim’s nomination was cancelled due to a failure to submit income tax returns.

Returning o� cers accepted 19 mayoral aspir-ant’s nominations for the DNCC and 23 for DSCC elections. April 9 is the deadline to withdraw from the polls. The elections will held on April 28. l

Hasina asks MPs to work for AL-backed candidatesn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the MPs from her party to work for the candi-dates backed by them for the city polls.

She gave the directive in a meeting of the Awami League Parliamentary Party held at its conference room in the parliament building last night, meeting sources said.

Hasina warned the rebel candidates of tough actions unless they pulled out.

The AL-led 14-party alliance however is yet to reach a concensus about whether all part-ners will back common candidates or not. l

Iran and world powers strike nuke dealn Tribune Report

The United States, Iran and � ve other world powers said they had reached an understand-ing that would lead to a comprehensive nu-clear agreement within three months.

Reading out a joint statement on Thurs-day evening, EU foreign policy chief Federi-ca Mogherini said a “decisive step” has been achieved.

The agreement, announced in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Thursday, will curb Iran’s nuclear capacities and end sanctions imposed

on the country because of its programme.Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wel-

comed the agreement as he read out the state-ment in the news conference. He described the deal as a “win-win” agreement.

US President Barack Obama said the world had “reached a historic understanding with Iran, which if implemented will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

Obama said the deal took long time in coming and added it would not be based on trust but on independent veri� cation of Iran’s commitments, reports Al Jazeera. l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

AL leaders call for raids before city pollsn Tribune Report

Awami League’s Publicity and Publication Sec-retary Hasan Mahmud yesterday called for se-curity drives to arrest arsonists and bombers.

“The BNP wants level-playing � eld during the elections. It is really necessary. But in the name of level-playing � eld, the Election Com-mission or the law enforcement agencies can-not allow criminals to congregate in Dhaka.

“Law enforcers should also bring the � -nanciers to justice,” he said at a discussion in Dhaka yesterday.

Food Minister Quamrul Islam said: “Elec-tions will be held in a congenial atmosphere. But allowing people, accused of hurling pet-rol bombs, to move freely cannot be termed as creating a level-playing � eld.

“All are equal in the eyes of law. There is no reason to think that you will bring crimi-nals to Dhaka and police will sit idle. No such opportunity will be given. If you want equal opportunity, nominate clean people.” l

HC orders o� cers to receive 13 councillor aspirants’ papersn Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday directed returning o� cers to receive the papers of 13 Dhaka ward councillor nominees papers.

Following eight separate petitions, the HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo gave the order.

The aspirants said DNCC and DSCC return-ing o� cers rejected their papers because they were submitted after 5pm on March 29.

Petitioners’ counsel Manzil Murshid and AKM Ehsanur Rahman said their clients ar-rived outside the returning o� ces on time, but could not get in because of heavy crowd.

The 13 nominees are Mahmuda Begum, Shahnaz Habib, Nargis Begum Baby, Mahbub Foyez, Mahfuza Rina, Mollika Zaman Mukta, Lokman Hossain, AKM Nuruzzaman, Md Mo-tiur Rahman, Md Sohrab Hossain, Hasna Be-gum, Setu Rahman and Aleya Khatun. l

Most BNP-backed aspirants facing criminal casesn Tribune Report

While preparing the list of city polls can-didates having criminal cases � led against them, police have found that most of them are backed by the BNP.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police has already sent a list of mayor candidates to the EC since on Wednesday it started scrutinising the nom-ination papers submitted for Dhaka north and south city corporation elections.

Two separate teams of the DMP are assist-ing the returning o� cials in the process.

Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the DMP, told the Dhaka Tribune that they would be able to complete the list within the next couple of days. “But so far we have found that maximum number of BNP-backed candidates are facing criminal cases.”

As per the primary data, at least 250 candi-

dates backed by the BNP for the Dhaka’s city polls are facing criminal cases. Of them, over 100 candidates have been named in charge sheets pressed by police in the cases, said sources.

On the other hand, around 100 candidates supported by the ruling 14-party alliance are facing criminal charges.

As per the EC’s directives, the police are preparing list of candidates giving informa-tion on the number of cases, � ling date, case status, and whether the candidates are ab-sconding or not.

The police are also verifying whether the candidates have Bangladeshi citizenship and linked to criminals.

Moreover, the police are also asked to in-form the EC if any candidate served jail terms in criminal cases, or made accused or convict-ed for war crimes, said sources. l

161 more councillor aspirants disquali� edn Tarek Mahmud, Adil Sakhawat and

Munir Momtaj

On the last day of scrutiny yesterday, elec-tion o� cials in Dhaka disquali� ed 120 general and 12 reserved female ward councillor aspir-ants in the two city corporations

Of the general bidders, 32 are for the north city polls and 88 for the south. All the 12 re-served female councillor aspirants whose nomination papers were cancelled yesterday are from the north.

On Wednesday – the � rst day of scrutiny – of-� cials � nished � ltering nomination papers from all the mayoral candidates in the two city corporations and those from the female councillor aspirants in the south.

After two days of scrutiny, in which police played a key role for the � rst time in history, the Election Commission has cleared 42 may-oral, 963 general councillor and 254 reserved female councillor candidates for the two city corporation polls in the capital.

This means that in the April 28 polls in the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), 19 peo-ple will run for mayor, 446 for general and 113 for reserved female councillor.

In the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) polls, 23 people will run for mayor, 517 for general councillors and 141 for female councillor seats.

The list of disquali� ed in the two city cor-porations in Dhaka includes � ve mayoral, 166 general and 34 female ward councillor bid-ders.

O� cials said that people whose papers got cancelled were mostly those who failed to submit income tax returns or presented faulty documents and false information or are accused in criminal cases.

Police yesterday arrested a Jamaat-e-Isla-mi leader named Saidur Rahman, bidding for general councillor post in ward number 28 of DNCC, at the o� ce of the returning o� cer. His papers were already cancelled for presenting wrong information.

Sabbir Hasan, OC of the Sher-e-Bangla Na-gar police station, said Saidur is facing four cases including one for a murder.

Saidur claimed that he did not know that he had cases against his name.

Yesterday, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, a dis-quali� ed Dhaka south mayoral aspirant, � led an appeal with the Dhaka divisional commis-sioner of the Election Commission for getting back his candidature.

On Wednesday, DSCC Returning O� cial Mihir Sarwar Morshed rejected his papers be-cause he had not produced income tax return.

ChittagongFor the upcoming Chittagong City Corpora-tion (CCC) elections, 29 candidates including six reserved female ward councilor aspirants were disquali� ed yesterday on the last day of nomination paper scrutiny.

This means that on April 28, 12 people will be running for the mayor of the port city, 257 for general and 61 for reserved female ward councillors.

Yesterday’s disquali� cations came either because the candidates were bank loan de-faulters or have failed to produce income tax returns or provided wrong information in the a� davits.

The nomination form of one Ramzan Ali was cancelled because he has not yet come of age. The papers of the women were mostly cancelled for providing improper or false in-formation. l

Work for the Padma bridge in Mawa of Munshiganj is on in full swing. If all goes according to plan, the 6.15km bridge will be thrown open in 2018 MEHEDI HASAN

The nomination form of one Ramzan Ali in Chittagong was cancelled because he has not yet come of age

NEWS4DTFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Police to be involved to probe anti-money laundering cases n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government will allow police to involve in the investigation and trial process of an-ti-money laundering cases, o� cials said.

The National Coordination Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing Terrorism has taken the decision at a meeting yesterday to involve police in the anti-money laundering cases, and make an amendment to the anti-money laundering law.

Financial Institutions Division (BFID) Sec-retary M Aslam Alam and o� cials of Bangla-desh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the anti-money laundering wing of the central bank, attended the meeting presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

The BFID o� cial said the anti-money laundering law 2012 will be amended, according to the decision of coordination committee meeting.

The loggerheads between the Home Min-istry and Anti-Corruption Commission over

police involvement is now solved through the decision of getting police involved in launder-ing case investigation, he added.

The o� cial said: “Such disagreement is causing delay to dissolve the anti-money laundering cases. Besides, the government has also international pressure to amend the current law to maintain international standard,”

Since 2009, the anti-graft body inquired 285 cases of money laundering. Of them, 254 were � led and 112 charge sheeted.

The court settled three cases and the ACC won all of them. The ACC con� scated 1,011

bank accounts found linked with money laun-dering while the frozen accounts had around Tk289 crore.

On August 6 last year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Fi-nance came up with some suggestions to have a stronger anti-graft body which can better deal with money laundering.

A good number of cases relating to cash transactions and suspicious transactions are currently under the central bank monitoring.

The central bank has the authority to � ne the banks and � nancial institutions for viola-tion of the law.

A proposal to increase the rate of penalty might be placed, said o� cial sources.

The Anti-money Laundering Act, 2012, was passed in the Parliament in February, 2012.

Financial Action Task Force and Asia Pa-ci� c Group, two international anti-money laundering watchdogs, keep putting pressure on the Bangladesh government to amend the anti-money laundering law to elevate that to international standard. l

ACC made a party in Zubaida wealth casen Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday included the An-ti-Corruption Commission as a party to a pre-vious ruling issued on an appeal by Zubaida Rahman, regarding a case � led for concealing wealth information.

Zubaida is the wife of BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman.

The bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hassan gave the order after a hearing on a plea by the ACC.

The anti-graft body’s counsel Md Khurshid Alam Khan said they would attend the future hearings in the case, which remains stalled due to a High Court stay order.

The ACC lodged a case with Kafrul police on September 26, 2007 accusing Zubaida and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu of giv-ing false information and concealing wealth worth Tk481.5 crore.

The charge sheet was submitted on March 31, 2008 accusing Zubaida of aiding Tarique to illegally amassing wealth and allowing him to open two � xed deposit accounts, each valued Tk35 crore. Upon a plea � led by Zubaida on April 8 that year, the High Court stalled pro-ceedings in the case for two months. l

Jatra designers told to wear burqas or quit Mongla villagen Tribune Report

Members of the arts and crafts collective, Jatra, have � ed a community near the Sund-arbans where they were working to set up an arts and crafts centre, after local musclemen gave them the choice of either wearing burqas or quitting the village.

The four Jatra sta� members were repeat-edly told to uphold “Islamic rules” and don-ning the burqa in public while working with the women of Joymoni village in Mongla.

Anusheh Anadil, a folk-rock musician and managing director of Jatra, yesterday told journalists in the capital’s Banani that the four members of the group felt compelled to return to Dhaka in the early hours yesterday after fac-ing intimidation and extortion from locals.

“For three weeks, the clerics of Joymoni have been unhappy with the women of the village coming out of their homes and dream-ing about earning a living,” she said.

Threats culminated when the four Jatra sta� members were encircled by around 300 men at the local marketplace on Wednesday evening.

“Around 11pm on Wednesday, the local correspondents of GTV, Somoy TV, Bangla Vision, My TV and Desh TV arrived in the vil-lage. With the collusion of the Union Parishad member, they threatened Jatra sta� and ac-cused them of being involved in the tra� ck-ing of women and other immoral activities,” Anusheh said.

The police initially assisted Jatra sta� , but later turned against them after being in� uenced by the locals. The group of journalists also told Jatra sta� that a settlement could be reached if they paid out Tk50,000, Anusheh said.

As the crowd grew unruly around mid-night, Jatra sta� paid Tk25,000 to Ronny, a well-known local person, she said.

With the assistance of several village wom-en, Jatra sta� were able to leave the village around 3am yesterday. l

Since 2009, the anti-graft body inquired 285 cases of money laundering. Of them, 254 were � led and 112 charge sheeted

In a press conference at Banani, Singer Anusheh Anadil shares how her workers came under threat while working for the employment of the residents of Joymoni village in Sundarbans MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

NEWS 5D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

DB: Mastermind of Avijit-Rajeeb killing � ed the country n Tribune Report

Radical Islamist group Ansarullah Bangla Team leader Redwanul Azad Rana, suspect-ed for masterminding the killings of secular bloggers Avijit Roy and Ahmed Rajeeb Haider, has escaped.

“According to available information and ev-idence we have got, Rana already left the coun-try,” DMP Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said but refrained from disclosing any further.

Another high o� cial of the police, on condition of anonymity, yesterday said most wanted criminal Rana had � own to Australia

around two weeks after the killing of Avijit on February 26 on Dhaka University campus.

The DMP on March 15 declared Tk5 lakh bounty for people who will help police to de-tain Rana or give information about his hide-out. Earlier, the DB police issued letters to the Immigration Police and port authorities so that Rana could not leave the country.

According to the Detective Branch of po-lice, former North South University student Rana coordinated the attack on Avijit and his wife Ra� da Ahmed Bonya being present in TSC area at that time.

Police suspect that Rana, who leads a num-

ber of small groups of Ansarullah activists, might be behind the killing of Oyasiqur Rahman Babu at Begunbari of the capital on March 30.

He is also a charge sheeted accused in Ra-jeeb murder case, trial of which is set to begin on April 21. He is also wanted in the case � led for attack on another blogger Asif Mohiuddin.

Ansarullah chief Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahm-ani is the follower of international terrorist group al-Qaeda and strives to establish Islam in Bangladesh through jihad. Jasim and seven of his followers, including Rana, were indict-ed in Rajeeb murder case on March 18. All the accused are now in jail. l

Khaleda � les no-con� dence petition against HC bench n Tribune Report

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday ex-pressed no con� dence in the High Court bench, which is supposed to deliver the ver-dict in a petition seeking scrapping of the pro-ceedings of Barapukuria coalmine corruption case against her on April 5.

Her lawyers Khandker Mahbub Hossain, AJ Mohammad Ali, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Bodruddoza Badal submitted an applica-tion to Chief Justice SK Sinha, expressing no con� dence in the bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hassan.

Khaleda urged the chief justice to transfer the petition to another bench.

The chief justice accepted the application, Bodruddoza Badal told reporters, expressing hope that Justice Sinha will make a decision on the no-con� dence plea before the date of delivery of the verdict.

Asked about the cause of Khaleda’s no-con� dence, one of the lawyers seeking anonymity said she apprehends that she will not get justice from the bench as it � xed the verdict date without hearing arguments from her counsels. Also, Justice Moinul had been elected the vice-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association from the ruling Awami League panel before he became a judge.

The Anti-Corruption Commission � led the case, accusing Khaleda and 15 others of caus-ing the government a loss of Tk159 crore by awarding a contract for the operation of the Barapukuria coalmine to a Chinese company. l

Khaleda to attend hearing, provided safety ensuredn Tribune Report

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia might appear be-fore a Dhaka court on April 5 for hearings in two graft cases if assurances for her security are giv-en by the authorities, her lawyer said yesterday.

The former prime minister is “keen” to ap-pear in court, but only if “the government pro-vides her with proper security,” Khandaker Mah-bub Hossain, Khaleda’s chief counsel in the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases, said at a press conference at his o� ce.

“She is respectful of the law and is willing to appear in court, but her car and several BNP leaders were attacked the last time she went to the makeshift court at Bakshibazar on December 24... The government must ensure that she will not be attacked again when she goes to court,” said Khandaker Mahbub, who is also the president of the Supreme Court Bar

Association. Khaleda has not ventured out of her Gul-

shan o� ce since early January, launching the ongoing nationwide transport blockade and a spate of hartals from its premises.

She did not leave the o� ce even to attend national observances like Martyr’s Day and Independence Day.

Although previously the BNP had sought assurances that Khaleda be allowed to re-turn unhindered to her Gulshan o� ce after appearing in court, the chief counsel did not raise the issue yesterday.

Asked what kind of security Khaleda seeks, the lawyer said: “Security for her life and be-longings. The kind of security every citizen is guaranteed by the constitution.

“As an ex-prime minister, she should re-ceive the security demanded by her position.”

About the graft cases, Mahbub said:

“Khaleda Zia has not committed any wrong-doing in setting up the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust.

“These charges of corruption were � led against her to harass her politically.”

Witness depositions in the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases are scheduled for April 5.

Even though arrest warrants were issued against her on February 25, Khaleda has not ap-peared before the court citing security reasons.

On March 4, the court of Dhaka’s Third Special Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar set the date for the hearing after scrapping a defence plea to withdraw the arrest warrant for the three-time prime minister.

A no-con� dence petition against the judge which seeks to have the case heard in another court is pending with the High Court. It is ex-pected to be heard this month. l

Pilot Tamanna buried n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Female trainee pilot Tamanna Rahman Hridi, who died in a plane crash in Rajshahi on Wednesday, was laid to rest in Gazipur yesterday.

The 22-year-old was buried beside her grandfather’s grave in Kanaiya area. Her namaz-e-janaza was held twice – in Nikunja 2 of Dhaka at noon and on Kanaiya Madrasah premises in Gazpiur after the Asr prayer.

The trainee pilot died when the aircraft crashed while making an emergency landing at Shah Makhdum Airport.

The trainer, Lt Col (retd) Shahed Kamal, also sustained serious burn injuries in the ac-cident. He was sent to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka after his treatment at Ra-jshahi Medical College Hospital and the Com-bined Military Hospital in the district.

After completing her A-level from an Eng-lish medium school in Dhaka, Tamanna signed up for the private pilot licence course at Bang-ladesh Flying Academy two years ago.

Captain (retd) Sahabuddin Ahmed, a member of Bangladesh Flying Academy and General Aviation Limited’s executive com-mittee, said the engine caught � re when the plane was at an altitude of 500 to 600 feet and crashed on the runway shortly after.

“The two persons attempted an emergen-cy escape but the aircraft crashed, burning Tamanna alive,” he added.

But Tamanna’s mother Rohana Yasmin blamed the � ying academy authorities for her daughter’s death, adding that she would lodge a case against them after consulting with her husband. l

Relatives break into tears after the body of Tamanna Rahman Hridi reached her home at Nikunja in Dhaka yesterday. The 22-year-old trainee pilot died on Wednesday after an aircraft of Bangladesh Flying Academy crashed and caught � re at Shah Makhdum Airport in Rajshahi DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS6DTFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Bail upheld for the key accused in Shamarukh murder casen Tribune Report

The Supreme Court yesterday � nally reinstat-ed a bail order of the High Court to Humayun Sultan Shadab, prime accused in the doctor Shamarukh Mahjabin murder case.

Humayun was also husband of Shamarukh. Through the SC order there is no bar to be freed of Humayun from the jail, sources said.

A three-member bench of the Appellate Di-vision headed by Chief Justice Surendra Ku-mar Sinha dismissed an appeal placed by the prosecutor challenging the HC’s bail.

In this regard, Assistant Attorney Gener-al Sadhan Kumar Banik said Humayun, also son of former Awami League lawmaker from Jessore Tipu Sultan, would be released from Dhaka Central Jail following the order.

He also said the SC, however, did not mention the ground on which it dismissed the government appeal. The cause could be

known from the written order.On March 9, the SC primarily stayed the

Humayun’s bail order as the government chal-lenged it. Later the court asked the government to place an appeal before it in favour of its plea.

Shamarukh was found hanging from win-dow grill of her bathroom in her in-law’s Dh-anmondi home on November 13, last year. Her family members have been claiming that her in-laws killed her and staged it as suicidal incident.

Although an autopsy report of the victim stated that Shamarukh committed suicide, but her father Nurul Islam, who is a retired PWD engineer, rejected it claiming that for-mer MP Tipu Sultan in� uenced the report.

Later police arrested Humayun and took him into remand although he in the meantime secured the anticipatory bail from the HC.

Shamarukh married to Humayun two years back and she was a FCPS student of Bangab-andhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. l

Charge framing against Fakhrul,25 others deferredn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday deferred until May 5 the hearing on charge framing against BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 25 others in a case � led over van-dalism and torching vehicles in the capital.

Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Tari-que Moinul Islam Bhuyan deferred the indict-ment hearing following a time petition � led by defence counsel Syed Zaynal Abedin Mesbah.

According to the case statement, on March 2, 2013, Sub-Inspector Mehedi Maksud � led the case with Paltan police station against BNP leaders and activists for vandalising and torching vehicles in the capital’s Paltan area during a hartal day.

Later, on March 26, 2013, SI Aminul Islam, also investigation o� cer of the case, submitted a charge sheet against 26 BNP men including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the party’s Stand-ing Committee members Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Joint Secretary General Amanullah Aman. l

Deposition deferredin two cases against BNP menn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday deferred the record-ing of deposition against 89 BNP leaders and activists, including the party’s Joint Secretary General Amanullah Aman, in two vandalism and arson cases.

Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Nazmul Haque Shayamal passed the order because of non-appearance of prosecution witnesses in the cases. The court also � xed April 29 as the next date in the cases � led under the Speedy Trial Act with Savar police station.

On November 13 last year, the court framed charges against the 89 accused.

According to the cases’ documents, Sub-In-spector Abdul Haque Shikdar of Savar Model police station � led a case for vandalising and torching vehicles at Aminbazar on December 9, 2012.

Another case � led by a person named Abdul Jalil with the same police station on charge of torching vehicles in front of Tetul-jhara College at Aminbazar the same day. l

JU environmental science students demand relocation of departmentn JU Correspondent

Students of environmental science depart-ment of Jahangirnagar University (JU) yester-day demanded that the university authorities take steps to shift their department to a newly constructed building on the campus.

They brought out a procession to place home their demand that the department be relocated from the Old Arts Faculty building as they were facing numerous problems to carry out academic activities there.

The agitating students also declared to form a human chain before the o� ce of the university’s vice-chancellor on Saturday.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, many teach-ers of environmental science said they could not relocate the department to the newly

constructed Science-Computer Science and Engineering-Environmental Science building due to resistance from the authorities of the departments housed there.

Earlier in 2002, the JU syndicate allotted the second � oor of the newly constructed building to environmental science depart-ment which had begun its academic activities at a one-storied temporary building adjacent to Old Arts Faculty building in 1999.

Prof Dr ANM Fakhruddin, the chair of the department, said they were facing numerous problems to carry academic and research ac-tivities due to lack of su� cient spaces in the existing building.

JU Registrar Abu Bakr Siddique said they were trying to � nd a solution to the problem soon. l

Hasina Ahmed, wife of missing BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed addresses a press conference arranged by pro-BNP platform Sammilito Peshajibi Parishad in National Press Club yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS 7D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

WEATHER

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:15PM SUN RISES 5:48AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW36.2ºC 18.3ºC

Mongla & Jessore Comilla

FRIDAY, APRIL 3

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 34 25Chittagong 31 26Rajshahi 37 23Rangpur 30 21Khulna 37 24Barisal 34 25Sylhet 27 21Cox’s Bazar 30 25

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:32am

Sunrise 5:48am

Jumma 12:02am

Asr 4:30pm

Magrib 6:15pm

Esha 7:32pm

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Riverbank erosion may make 26,940 landless this yearn Tribune Report

The three major rivers – the Jamuna, the Gan-ges and the Padma may grab around 2,695 hectares of land leaving 26,940 people land-less and homeless this year.

A prediction report of Centre for Environ-mental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) said 336 hectares of settlement are vulnerable to erosion along these three rivers.

The erosion prediction-2015 for the Jamu-na, Ganges and Padma was released yesterday at a seminar at the BRAC Centre Inn in the city.

According to the prediction report, the Ja-muna alone may grab 1,380 hectares of land leaving nearly 13,820 people landless and homeless. It said about 410 hectares of land are likely to be eroded by the Ganges and 905 hec-tares of land might be devoured by the Padma.

State Minister for Water Resources Mu-hammad Nazrul Islam Bir Protik, Professor

Emeritus of BRAC University Professor Dr Anun Nishat, Executive Director of CEGIS Eng Md Waji Ullah, water experts, engineers and o� cials, among others, addressed the sem-inar with Water Resource Secretary Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan in the chair.

Deputy Executive Director of CEGIS Dr Maminul Haque Sarker presented the keynote paper titled “Is Sylhet basin sinking” while Senior Professional CEGIS Rifat Anwar pre-sented the Riverbank Erosion Prediction-2015 at the seminar.

Nazrul said the government is going to launch a megaproject involving 1.7 billion US dollars for bank protection purposes of the Jamuna river from Bangabandhu Bridge to Kurigram of around 160 kilometres area.

“Jamuna is a very complex river in nature. That is why, people living along the river are the most su� erers due to river bank erosion,” he said, adding that after implementation of

the project, people will get relief from river bank erosion.

Nazrul said the government is giving top pri-ority to the construction of the Ganges barrage, which would ensure adequate water � ows during the dry season and feed many rivers in southern Bangladesh during the winter and play an important role in controlling salinity.

One third of the country will be bene� ted from the Ganges barrage as it will enhance crop production, check salinity intrusion as well as help recharge water levels of ground-water in the southern region and Barind are-as, he added.

The CEGIS sources said it has been carrying out riverbank erosion prediction report every year from 2004 with the support of di� erent gov-ernment and non- government organisations.

They said CEGIS made the forecast by us-ing satellite images and GIS technology as well as history of erosion along the rivers. l

100 RMG workers fall ill having snacksn Our Correspondent, Savar

More than 100 workers of a ready-made gar-ment factory suddenly became sick yesterday after allegedly having snacks provided by the unit authorities in Jirani area of Ashulia early Thursday.

The sick workers of Turag Garments Ltd situated at Panishail Mahalla of the area got admitted to di� erent local hospitals and clin-ics including Bangladesh-Korean Hospital.

Many workers told the Dhaka Tribune that they, who were on a night shift duty, started vomiting after eating bananas, bread and eggs at the factory around 1am. There were about 200 workers during the shift. Besides, many of them also fainted and felt dizziness, said Morzina Akter, a worker of the unit.

Moazzem Hossain, a senior medical o� cer at Bangladesh-Korean Hospital, said they got admitted about 25 workers there.

They primarily suspected that food poison-ing led to the massive sickness of the workers.

On the other hand, the factory’s Manag-ing Director Hussain Mohammad could not be reached despite several attempts over cell phone for his explanation in this regard.

Mosta� zur Rahman, director of Ashulia industrial police, said they rushed to the spot being informed.

Additional policemen were deployed in front of the factory to shun any possible untoward situation centring the incident, he went on. l

Housewife burnt alive in Natoren Our Correspondent, Natore

A housewife was accidentally burnt to death at the time of cooking in her residence at Kh-idramalonchi village in Bagatipara upazila here yesterday afternoon.

The fateful incident killed Mina Begum, 45, wife of Atahar Pramanik, a resident of the village.

Witness sources said Mina’s sari caught � re from her stove in the afternoon while she was cooking and � nally it engulfed her within a short moment.

Later, critically injured Mina died on the way of taking her to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

When asked, Bagatipara police station Of-� cer-in-Charge Aminur Rahman, acknowl-edged the incident. l

Police open � reon JCD procession, three hurt n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

A procession brought out by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of BNP, came under attack yesterday by police in Sylhet, which left at least three people injured.

Local sources said about 20-25 leaders and activists of Chhatra League brought out a pro-cession from Haoapara area in the city around 2pm protesting arrest and torture on their party men.

The police opened � re on the procession when it reached nearby Zindabazar point.

At least three people were injured during the incident.

The law enforcers also arrested three JCD activists from the procession. Additional Deputy Commissioner (media) Rahmatullah of Sylhet Metropolitan police confirmed the incident. l

Depleting groundwater poses threat to rice productionn Tribune Report

Rapid depletion of groundwater in parts of Bangladesh poses serious threat to future growth in rice production, according to a study of the International Rice Research In-stitute.

The outcome of the study, published in the March issue of IRRI’s regular publication “Rice Today”, said the water table in certain parts of Bangladesh is dropping by four to � ve feet per year because of the expansion of ir-rigation.

“The extent of groundwater use can be gauged by the exponential rise in the number of shallow tube wells from 21 in 1980 to about 1.62 million “, said the study.

The IRRI said Bangladesh is one of the ma-jor rice-growing countries, with more than

11.65 million hectares of rice area and produc-ing 51 million tonnes of paddy.

However, the study noted that the dry-sea-son Boro crop, which largely depends on irri-gation, now accounts for 40 percent or 4.75 million hectares of the total area, contribut-ing 55% of the total paddy production.

Apart from the exhausting groundwater, imbalanced fertiliser use in favor of nitrogen, due to subsidy and ignorance of farmers on the bene� ts of balanced fertiliser application, is ad-versely a� ecting soil health and is a major con-cern for future productivity growth in South Asia, including Bangladesh, the study said.

It pointed out that in Bangladesh the share of urea use in total fertilizer soared from 64% in 1981 to 89% in 2010, which is in fact a move towards opposite direction of using balanced fertiliser. l

Due to a shortage of vehicles, three boys risk their lives by travelling standing on the step board of a tempo in Dhaka’s Agargaon area yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

NEWS8DTFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

4 students rescued 12 hours into abduction n Our Correspondent, Natore

Police rescued four students from Alaipur area of Natore early Thursday, 12 hours into their abductions.

The law enforcers also arrested two people on charge of their involvement in the inci-dent, police said.

The arrestees are Kanchon Ghosh, son of Monmot Ghosh of Ghospara area of Natore town and Md Shamim, son of Ma� zul Islam of Borohorishpur village of Natore sadar upazi-la, they said.

Mizanur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge of Na-tore sadar police station, said the kidnappers demanded Tk1 lakh each from the family members of the victims – Tareq, Razu, Roki and Shourov of poultry haat area in Singra.

A team of police conducted a drive in Mus-lim Institute area after being con� rm of their location by tracking the phone calls, he said.

Earlier on Wednesday night, the kidnap-pers took hostage the students to the area when the latter came to Natore town for their personal needs, he added. The OC said Roki’s brother-in-law, however, sent Tk4,000 to one of the kidnappers’ bKash account and in-formed the matter to Singra police. l

Railway ripped o� of wetlandn Our Correspondent, Chandpur

Land grabbers in Chandpur are trying to grab about two acres of wetland belonging to the railway authority in Mission road area.

Locals also alleged that o� cials ofrailway are also invloved in the encroachment process.

Although the railway authority has now put up barb-wire fences around the area due to pressure from the Department of Environ-ment (DoE), the � lled up waterbody is still prone to being taken over. The group of local land grabbers are still trying to occupy the land through administrative loopholes with the help of in� uential ruling party men.

It was learnt that some local in� uentials � lled up one of the large waterbodies located east of Court Station and west of Truck Road in over a month. They were also preparing to � ll up the rest of the wetland.

According to the locals, the grabbers planned to construct a market building on the land under the ruse of a commercial lease and using the name of Chandpur municipality. They collected money from hundreds using a cooperative called “Bondhu Mohol.”

According to DoE sources, a cautionary

signboard was put up on the wetland area upon instruction from DoE Chittagong o� ce Director Md Jafar Alam after being informed of the incident. Right after, in April of last year, a general diary was � led with the Chan-dpur Model Police Station which stated a warning for the land grabbers that � lling up of such wetlands is a punishable o� ence under the environment laws. The letter, signed by Director Md Jafar Alam, stated that regarding the accusations of � lling up 1.99 acres of rail-way waterbodies statements from Chandpur municipality executive engineer, secretary, councillors and others concerned have been taken. After reviewing the statements and relevent paperwork, it was concluded that Mamun Patowari and Showkat Osman and others, with the approval of the municipality authority and Councillor DM Shahjahan, � lled up the wetlands with four lakh cubic feet of earth in the name of Bondhu Mohol cooper-ative.

The letter carried the instruction that those involved in the illegal � ll-up of the wetland must restore it to its previous state within three months or appropriate actions would be taken against them. Afterwards, railway authority put up the fence around the � lled

up land. However, seven months have passed since the notice but the instructions have not been carried out. The DoE have not taken any steps in this matter either.

Chittagong land o� cer Jashim Uddin told journalists: “We visited the site on informa-tion and also informed the district adminis-trator and the superintendent of police. Rail-way authority did not give anyone permission to � ll up its wetlands. Any paperwork those people have is forged. A case have been � led against them under the environment act. I will request the members of the cooperative to take their money back.”

DoE Chittagong o� ce Assistant Director Ar-e� n Badal said: “It was my duty to inform the higher authority and I have done that. Any future steps will be taken according to their decisions.”

Md Mokbul Hossain, Director of DoE Chit-tagong o� ce, told Dhaka Tribune: “Not all the responsibilities lie with DoE. What the own-ers of that land are doing, that needs to be checked too.“Such incidents are more or less routine. Since this harms the environment we are concerned. The railway authority was also responsible for giving us a follow-up. Since I am new here, I cannot say any more on this matter right now but I will look into it.” l

NEWS 9D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Nor’wester sweeps over 4 districts, kills 2n Tribune Report

Two persons were killed and about 50 people injured in Gazipur, Comilla Sunamganj and Jhenaidah as the nor’wester swept over the districts in the early hours of yesterday.

Our Gazipur Correspondent reported that a man was killed and � ve others were injured as the nor’wester swept over the district at night.

O� cer-in-Charge of Jaidevpur police sta-tion Khandakar Rezaul Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune that a construction worker had fellen of the rooftop of a six-storey building when a strong wind hit him while he working there. He died on the spot.

But identity of the worker could not be known immediately.

In Comilla, the nor’wester hit Ma� jabad

and Nunbad area yesterday night. Apart from damaging houses and business

establishments, the storm uprooted electric poles that left the entire city in the dark for several hours.

In Sunamganj, one person was killed and 15 others injured at Jamalganj upazila.

The deceased was identi� ed as Ambar Ali, a resident of Hotamara village of the upazila.

Locals said Ambar Ali died on the spot as a hailstorm swept through Bochhai dam of Pak-na haor in the upazila when he was returning home from Dirai upazila at about 2:30am.

Standing crops on vast tracts of land and over 100 houses were also damaged by the storm that lashed the upazila.

The injured were admitted to the upazila health complex and di� erent hospitals.

10 villages in Jhenaidah hit by nor’westerA violent storm lashed about 10 villages at

Kaliganj upazila, Jhenidah. During the storm, around 120 houses have

been damaged and about 20 people received injuries.

Of the injured, condition of a housewife Maria Khatun, wife of Sha� kul Islam of Ram-chandrapur village, is stated to be critical.

She has taken admission to Kaliganj Upazi-la Health Complex while the rest have taken � rst aid. The a� ected villages are Kharikadan-ga, Kamalhat, Ghoshpara, Kola, Ramchan-drapur, Talian, Rakra Bittipara, Khalkula, Binotpur and Daspara.

Local people said the nor’wester hit these villages around 11pm and lasted only 10 min-utes. But during the time, the storm damaged

houses, crops and uprooted a good number of trees.

Sukur Ali, a farmer of Kharikadanga vil-lage, said he had never seen such a violent storm in his life.

“Vegetables on my two bighas of land have been completely damaged,” he said.

Agriculture O� cer Mosharraf Hossain of Kaliganj upazila said crops on two hectares of land damaged by the rain.

On receiving information, Upazila Nirbahi O� cer of Kaliganj upazila Manowar Hossain Mollah, Upazila Vice-Chairman Motiar Rah-man Moti and Kola UP Chairman Ayub Hos-sain visited the area yesterday morning.

The UNO added that he had sent written application to DC Sha� kul Islam asking for ur-gent relief of the victims. l

The once mighty Mohanonda River has turned into a narrow channel. Due to encroachment the river has lost its � ow while wastes from di� erent clinics in Chapainawabganj � nd their ways into the river that is used by people for various purposes, including bathing AZAHAR UDDIN

Shifting of chemical factories from residential areas demandedn Our Correspondent, Barisal

Residents of Barisal have demanded chemical and pharmaceutical factories be shifted im-mediately from residential areas of the city.

The demand was raised following a � re that broke out in a factory of Opsonin Phar-maceuticals Ltd on Bogra Road on Monday killing one and injuring four workers of the factory.

The � re that broke out on 3rd, 4th and 5th � oors of the factory had severely weakened the structure of the building, said Shawkat Hasan, deputy director of Barisal Fire Service and Civil Defense

“Such explosions of chemicals poses risk to the structures surrounding the factory. More-over, the rickety building might collapse any time creating hazards in the residential area,” said Dr Mizanur Rahman, member-secretary of Barisal Nagorik Samaj at a human chain yesterday.

Besides, three factories of the Opsonin group, the citizens called for transfer of one fac-tory of Rephco and one factory of Chemist Lab-oratories situated on the Mathuranath School Road and College Row areas respectively.

Sukumar Biswas, director of Barisal divi-

sional o� ce of environment directorate, said: “Owners of these � ve factories were issued with notices seven times in the last � ve years to shift their factories from the densely popu-lated areas. Every time the authorities sought more time and promised to shift the factories soon. But in reality, nothing was done.”

In December 2014, authorities of Opsonin group promised to shift their factories by De-cember 2015, he told the Dhaka Tribune.

When contacted, Sayedur Rahman, factory in-charge of Opsonin Pharmaceuticals, admit-ted of receiving letters from DoE.

“We have already started the process to shift the factory. We hope it will be done by December this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Samajtantrik Sramik Front Ba-risal unit hold a human chain in front of Ash-wini Kumar Hall in the city demanding com-pensation for the workers killed and injured by the � re at Opsonin Pharmaceuticals.

Their demands included shifting the facto-ries, ensuring safety of workers at work, reha-bilitation and medical allowance for the fami-ly members of killed and injured workers.

The victims of the � re incident would be compensated as per the labour law, said Saye-dur Rahman. l

3 die, 3 others fall sick taking bread in Mymensinghn Our Correspondent, Mymensingh

Three people of a family have died and three others fell sick after taking bread in Badam Mia area under Trishal upazila in Mymensingh.

Of the deceased, two were identi� ed as Ruma and Salma.

Trishal OC Moniruzzaman said: “Six mem-bers of one Abul Kalam’s family brought bread from the nearby shop.” “All of them became unconscious after eating the bread with fried potato for breakfast,” he said.

Later, the locals took them to Mymensingh Medical Hospital where the three of the died.

The OC said the other three family mem-bers are in critical condition. l

WORLD10DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

3 countries investigate � shing slaveryn AP, Benjina, Indonesia

O� cials from three countries are traveling to remote islands in eastern Indonesia to investigate how thousands of foreign � sh-ermen wound up there as slaves and were forced to catch seafood that could eventually end up being exported to the United States and elsewhere.

A week after The Associated Press pub-lished a yearlong investigation into the problem – including showing men locked in a company cage – delegations from Thai-land and Indonesia visited the island vil-lage of Benjina. O� cials from Myanmar are scheduled to visit the area next week to try to determine how many of their citizens are stuck there and what can be done to

bring them home.“No one seemed to be aware of the prob-

lem, and now that they are, they want to do something as quickly as possible,” said Ste-ve Hamilton, deputy chief of mission at the International Organisation for Migration, or IOM, in Indonesia, which is working with au-thorities to assist the � shermen.

In Benjina, some o� cials saw a graveyard where dozens of � shermen are buried. Others talked to men who have been stranded there for months or even years after being brought to Indonesia from Thailand and forced to work under brutal conditions on boats with Thai captains.

One of the leaders of the Indonesian group, Ida Kusuma from the Fisheries Min-istry, said she found the slavery reports very

upsetting and that the government intends to take action.

“We (will) prove that we don’t want to let it happen anymore,” she said while visiting the neighboring island of Tual on Tuesday before traveling to Benjina yesterday. “I think the company who hired them should take full responsibility to bring them to their families.”

The IOM said last week there could be as many as 4,000 foreign men, many tra� cked or enslaved, who are stranded on islands surrounding Benjina following a � shing mor-atorium called by the Indonesian Fisheries Ministry to crack down on poaching. Indo-nesia has some of the world’s richest � shing grounds, and the government estimates bil-lions of dollars in seafood are stolen from its waters by foreign crews every year. l

At least 56 killed as Russian trawler sinks in icy seasn Reuters, Moscow

A Russian trawler sank in icy seas o� Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula yesterday, killing at least 56 of the 132 crew, the emer-gencies ministry said yesterday.

Sixty-three people were rescued but 13 were still unaccounted for, hours after the Dalniy Vostok � shing vessel sank in the Sea of Okhotsk so quickly that its captain, who drowned, did not manage to send a distress signal.

It was not immediately clear why the 26-year-old ship had sunk but a local o� cial said the crew may have violated safety rules by overloading it, a� ecting its balance.

Russia has a long history of road, air and sea disasters, many caused by negligence or violation of safety regulations.

“At this time we do not know what might have caused the tragedy,” Viktor Klepikov, coor-dinating captain of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchat-sky maritime rescue coordination center con-ducting the search, told Reuters by telephone.

Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov said more than 10 possible causes were being considered by investigators.

But the acting governor of Sakhalin island, Oleg Kozhemyako, told LifeNews television: “Given the fact that the tragedy occurred quickly and unexpectedly, and the ship was registered and met all technical require-ments, I think there was a violation of rules when it comes to overload and balancing of the vessel.” lShiite rebels capture Yemen

presidential palacen AP

Yemen’s Shiite rebels and their allies fought their way through the commercial centre of Aden yesterday and seized the presidential palace on a strategic hilltop in this southern coastal city, security o� cials said.

The capture was a major blow to the Sau-di-led coalition, which has been carrying out airstrikes for a week now across Yemen, in-cluding in the capital, Sanaa, in a campaign meant to halt the advance of the Iran-backed rebels known as Houthis.

The Maasheeq palace in Aden -- a cluster of colonial-era villas perched atop a rocky hill

that juts into the Arabian Sea -- was President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s last seat of pow-er before he � ed to Saudi Arabia last month in the face of the Houthi advance. He had earlier � ed to Aden from rebel-held Sanaa.

Fighting was still underway late yes-terday as Hadi’s forces and loyalists were holding on to some scattered parts of Aden after losing the palace and the city centre.

The capture of the palace came just hours after al-Qaida militants, who have pro� ted from the turmoil and violence roiling Yem-en to expand their foothold in this Arabian Peninsula nation, captured the coastal city of Mukalla, another key port, to the east of Aden.

In the raid, al-Qaida militants freed about 300 inmates from a local prison in Mukalla, including scores of militants, according to the security o� cials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media.

Among those freed from the prison was senior al-Qaida operative Khaled Bater� who had been in detention since 2011.

The militants fanned out across major roads leading into Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, and sporadic � ghting continued in the city itself.

The province is still mostly in the hands of government forces loyal to the embattled Hadi.l

Germanwings crash: Second Alps � ight recorder foundn BBC

The second � ight recorder from the German-wings A320 jet that crashed in the French Alps last week has been found, the Marseille pros-ecutor said.

The voice recorder was found almost im-mediately at the site of the crash on 24 March.

Recordings taken from the � rst “black box” suggested co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had deliberately crashed the plane.

There were no survivors among the 150 people onboard the � ight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.

In a separate development, German pros-ecutors have revealed that Lubitz had re-searched suicide methods and cockpit door security online.

Investigators found a tablet comput-er at his apartment and reconstructed his online search history in the week leading up to the disaster.

He had been deemed � t to � y by his employ-ers at Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Prosecutor Brice Robin’s announcement that the � ight data recorder (FDR) had been found came in a brief statement.

“The Republic’s prosecutor in Marseille wishes to make it clear that the second black box has just been found by the investigators at the site of the crash,” he said.

Details from the � ight data recorder (FDR) are seen as vital to the investigation into the crash.

If it is not too badly damaged, investigators will hope to yield technical information on the time of radio transmissions, the plane’s accel-eration, airspeed, altitude and direction. l

Migrant laborers, some wearing face masks, work on a construction site during a sandstorm in Dubai yesterday. A major sandstorm has whipped into the Mideast’s commercial hub of Dubai and other Gulf cities, reducing visibility, forcing � ight diversions and making breathing outside more di� cult AP

WORLD 11D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Hundreds of Boko Haram � ghters killed in Nigeria n Reuters

Chad’s army said its forces had killed hun-dreds of Boko Haram � ghters and lost nine of its own troops in clashes in northern Nigeria.

Soldiers from Chad and Niger drove the group from Malam Fatori, one of Boko Har-am’s last major footholds near Nigeria’s bor-der with Niger, earlier this week. Wednesday’s clashes took place as they were mopping up the area in Nigeria’s Borno state.

Niger military sources just across the bor-der said air strikes began before an o� ensive by ground troops.

“There was � ghting and we recorded nine dead and 16 injured. There were hundreds of dead on Boko Haram’s side,” said Colonel Azem Bermandoa, a spokesman for Chad’s army, on Wednesday.

Bermandoa said the � ghting had driven

the group’s � ghters more than 10km outside the town, which had been held by Boko Har-am since November. There was no immediate comment from Niger’s army on any casualties.

Boko Haram wants to create a caliphate in the north-east Nigeria, and thousands of peo-ple have been killed since 2009 when the group launched an armed rebellion against the state.

An o� ensive by Nigerian, Chadian and Ni-gerien troops this year has since pushed the group out of most of the towns they previous-ly controlled.

The armed group failed to deliver on threats to cause havoc during the just-con-cluded presidential election that was won by former army general Muhammadu Buhari.

The president-elect Buhari promised on Wednesday to “spare no e� ort” to defeat the group, which seized swathes of territory un-der outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan. l

Iran talks drag into day eight after all-nightern AFP, Lausanne, Switzerland

Weary negotiators hoped yesterday to see the light at the end of the tunnel after talking un-til dawn, but midway through an eighth day were still haggling over the outlines of a deal curtailing Iran’s nuclear programme.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Irani-an counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif talked through the night, going line by line over their di� erences in a bid to agree a framework for an accord to cut back Iran’s nuclear ambi-tions, diplomats close to the talks said.

They made “signi� cant progress,” but there is no “� nal result yet,” Zarif told report-ers early yesterday at the Swiss hotel hosting the negotiations, saying he felt “lucky” to have slept for two hours.

As German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier cancelled a planned trip to the

Baltics to stay in Lausanne, Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi spoke of “lots of pro-gress” and said that the “sunset is close.”

But as negotiators from the powers, with-out Iran, after a break held a two-and-a-half hour meeting to review progress yesterday morning, signs emerged that they were not in fact on the verge of a breakthrough.

“The conclusion is far from being immi-nent,” one Western diplomat said.

After 18 months of intense negotiations, the six world powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – and Iran are hoping to agree a deal that puts a lid on 12 years of dangerously rising tensions.

The aim is to turn the framework they want to leave Lausanne with into a compre-hensive accord backed by speci� c technical commitments by June 30 when an interim deal struck in November 2013 expires. l

Are you serious? BJP on Rahul’s returnn Agencies

BJP yesterday took a swipe at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his likely ap-pearance at a farmers’ rally on April 19 after a long sabbatical, saying it is not sure if such news reports are true and his “vacation” is � nally over.

“Are you serious?,” is how BJP Spokesper-son Shahnawaz Hussain responded when reporters sought his response on Gandhi’s return to active politics with the rally against the land bill amendments brought by the Nar-endra Modi government.

“We do not know if reports about the date Rahul Gandhi is coming on are true. No Con-gress spokesperson has made any statement to this e� ect.

“What plane is he coming on, when will he meet (others), if his vacation is � nally over...

this all will be discussed when he does � nally come back,” he said.

Gandhi has been missing in action for over a month and Congress has insisted that he has been granted leave of absence to introspect over the party’s a� airs following a string of electoral reverses starting with its rout in Lok Sabha elections.

He skipped the � rst leg of the crucial budget session of Parliament, inviting sharp criticism from the opposition parties with even senior Congress leader like Digvijay Sin-gh � nding fault with the timing of his leave.

The farmers rally is signi� cant as it is be-ing held on the eve of the second phase of the budget session of Parliament at a time when almost the entire opposition has joined ranks against the ordinance, which is being dubbed by them as “anti-farmer and pro-corporate.” l

EDITORIAL12DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Less than 1% of the population regularly pays taxes.Despite increasing e� orts to up the tax take, Bangladesh’s tax-GDP ratio of

less than 9% remains one of the lowest in Asia.The National Board of Revenue reports that only 43 people in the country pay

annual taxes of more than Tk1 crore, out of an estimated 5,000 people in the country who it believes are liable to pay this amount. The government needs to look deeper at the un-derlying factors, which means that more than 80% of people capable of paying taxes are not paying into the system.

Even though all citizens, including the majority whose incomes are below the annual threshold, pay indirect sales taxes, it is an important goal to bring more people into the system.

Broadening the tax base is necessary to make the government more accountable for the delivery of services. Everyone can bene� t from a more e� ective tax system. It would not only enable improved accountabil-ity for government expenditure, but also make more money available for public services.

The government needs to look deeper into the underlying reasons for the underpayment of taxes. Raising awareness and making the collection process more user-friendly by making online registration easier can only go so far to help make government � nances become self-su� cient. Corruption and complicated rules which encourage or facilitate avoidance also need to be rooted out.

Building trust among citizens that funds are being wisely and transparently spent, will bene� t society by improving good citzenship and making the govern-ment more self-reliant and capable in furthering development.

Broaden tax base for a stronger society

Corruption and complicated rules which encourage or facilitate avoidance need to be rooted out

We are concerned by the continuing delays to the bus rapid transit project which has seen hardly any progress since it began at the end of 2012.

Designs and tenders for the Tk2,040cr scheme, which is two-thirds funded by the ADB, the French government, and Global Environment Facility, have been delayed several times in the last two years.

The BRT project is meant to cut commuting times along the Dhaka-Gazipur route by facili-tating 140 buses carrying 40,000 passengers per hour along purpose-built bus corridors between Shahjalal airport and Gazipur. If pro-gress is not expedited, the BRT project risks falling behind the Metro Rail project which it is intended to complement,

We hope the DCC mayoral elections will see renewed focus on the BRT scheme and bring forth co-ordinated e� orts to improve the state of the capital’s bus services.

Congestion costs Dhaka’s economy over Tk200bn every year. Improving the quality and e� ciency of bus services so that commuters are tempted out of cars is the most cost-e� ective way available to speed up journey times for everyone. The BRT project should lie at the heart of e� orts to reform public transport for Dhaka’s residents.

Buses are the only means of transport available for most people. It is in every-one’s interest for the government and BRTC to put improving buses � rst. With space at a premium, bus services have to be prioritised ahead of the small minority of car owners.

We cannot a� ord to neglect public transport if we want to lift the curse of tra� c jams.

With space at a premium, bus services have to be prioritised ahead of the small minority of car owners

Don’t delay on bus rapid transit

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com

Send us your Op-Ed articles:opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

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Khaleda, Koko’s wife and daughters summonedMarch 22

M SirajullahI do not know the condition of the loan. This seems to be a corporate loan and the bank can seize corporate assets, if any. Usually there are no personal obligations to a corporate loan. The real problem here is the existence of these government banks, so the party in power can misuse public money. This case should be withdrawn and government banks must be closed or sold to private ownership immediately.

The same is true for Biman. Biman is losing more than Tk30 thousand crore of public money every year. Why should the public have to pay for this? Biman must be closed for business or sold if any buyer is available.

The government should be there to regulate the business and never to run the

business. This is organised corruption by our government, nothing to do with AL or BNP.

sundarMay God give her the strength and stamina to withstand this hot pursuit.

Joshim Uddinsundar: Haha! Listen, no one will support you. BNP and Jamaat are � nished.

sundarJoshim Uddin: No no, I didn’t ask for any-one’s support. Neither do I bother the BNP and Jamaat, my prayer is just for a helpless old, frail woman who is being subjected to a hot pursuit and nobody is coming forward to help her. Only God can come to her rescue now.

DTTigers get heroes’ welcome

March 23

Shahid HasanExcellent.

Keep the lights onMarch 23

Elizabeth BassTurn them o� on March 28th.

Tearful Tamim apologises to nationMarch 23

AnonymousTamim needs to stop complaining and

change his attitude. His ego has gotten overblown, along with his � tness. He will

sort himself out he will � nd himself self sidelined by younger, hungrier players. Tal-ent alone is nothing without graft and hard

work. Someone should tell him to buckle down and work harder instead of making

excuses. And it’s embarrassing that people can’t make constructive criticisms but will

take pot-shots at the families of players.

Nazia RahmanDo not forget that it was Tamim’s 95 which

was the reason for Bangladesh beating Scotland.

Taslima: Don’t call me Muslim, I am an atheistMarch 22

PS NatarajanIslam is in greater need of criticism than any other religion today.

Dev SahaAn enlightened woman with an atheist mind? I do not see any con� ict here.

rosePeople should not be persuaded to accept any religion, they ought to be given the freedom of choice.

Magnum092I guess she forgot to mention that she opposed the religious oppression under the atheist Soviet Union or the genocide com-mitted by Pol Pot. Secular countries have the highest instances of rape. Yeah, atheism is so perfect. Also please tell me how hating religion makes you smart. Yeah, atheists are the most delusional, hypocritical people in the whole world.

ScorpioMagnum092: She does not call for hating on religion but positive critique of religion must be allowed through debate … religion should be separated from state for a healthy society.

OPINION 13D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

n Ryan Burkwood

The politics of fear can be a powerful weapon, coupled with a bitterly en-trenched media and a public that wants

simple answers to complex solutions, the result is the middle-of-the-road soundbite era of politics we � nd ourselves in. People want media-friendly one-line policies.

The era of austerity -- that’s what history will call the � rst 15 years of the new millen-nium. Or possibly “the great swindle.” In the UK, we’ve been sold a lie, the lie of austerity. The lie that the co� ers are empty, that we have to cut our spending to save the country.

It’s an easy lie to peddle. People want to think that complex national economic problems can be solved with simple everyday solutions. “What would you do if your house-hold expenditure outpaced your income? A responsible person would cut their outgo-ings.” We’ve been told this again and again. Sadly this just isn’t true. History shows us as much.

At the end of the Second World War, the UK found itself in the worst � nancial situa-tion anybody could imagine; with massive

debts and an economy purely focused on war, we were in dire straits. But the British people chose hope over fear, they kicked out the conservative government and replaced them with a progressive Labour Party.

With a health ministry headed by the vision-ary “Nye” Bevan, we embarked upon one of the largest public spending program in the history of our isles: The creation of our Na-tional Health Service (NHS). Free at the point of use for all, the NHS exempli� es everything that is “great” about Great Britain.

Within 10 years the UK economy was

booming, thanks in part to the creation of an entirely new industry with the government investing in training and employing skilled workers for their new service. By the mid 50s, the UK had close to full employment.

With the budget back in the black. A skilled, employed workforce that has access to free healthcare kickstarts an economy. More people in work, earning more money, means more tax revenues.

This is a hard concept to put to the elec-torate in this age of instant, short attention media consumption. It’s far easier to pander

to the middle ground of voters who will al-ways vote regardless, to stick to the political safe ground. No wonder apathy is at an all time high. Neither of the two main parties are willing to take the time to dispel this myth.

It’s much easier to pander to a scared electorate with quick � x answers than to emulate the statesmen of the past and stand your ground. Nobody wants to get deeper into debt, but as a country it is necessary to do so in order to provide investment in our future.

We need to build an economy that is full of well-educated, highly trained, and healthy workers. We need to invest in future technol-ogies that have a basis in real products so that our economy will never again be held hostage by the � nancial markets. Until politicians start treating the voters as intelligent people who will listen to a reasoned argument, and until the voters demonstrate that they are willing to accept nothing short of this, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of this new millennium. l

Ryan Burkwood is an actor, director, teacher, and activist.

The great lie

It’s much easier to pander to a scared electorate with quick � x answers than to emulate the statesmen of the past and stand your ground

n SM Shahrukh

Extremely conservative Christians believe that “there is no such thing as religious tolerance as far as God and

Heaven is [sic] concerned. We are either in Christ or not.”

Not much is di� erent for extreme believ-ers of other faiths either. There is trickery in this on the part of people who control the religious belief system. A belief system that is pedaled, quite often, to the unsuspecting and credulous � ock, so to speak, and they gobble it up. These con� dence tricksters who use religion to further their own self-serving agenda use the economic hardships faced by the teeming millions and put up a vision in front of them that is twofold.

Firstly, they vilify their enemies in the name of religion, more often than not, banging it into people’s heads that the “truth” is more important and tolerance is a distant second to establishing that “truth”. The alleged truth is a subjective matter and is not crystal clear to a sceptic and a sceptic can become a “malcontent” within the � ock to disorient it from its designated path that is to serve the religion, in e� ect, the people controlling the religion. Normal people are not always allowed to practice faith in pri-vate, but are constantly pushed to denigrate people of other faiths; some buckle under the pressure.

Secondly, the con� dence tricksters use the idea of eternal peace of the afterlife as a possible substitute to the deprivation faced by the masses in their earthly existence. Religious leaders have always made clear in their sermons about the rewards and punish-ments awaiting one and all in the afterlife. There is nothing wrong with that. In many a case, these lessons may entice people to lead lives rich in morality and keep depravities

at bay. But alas, human beings are � awed creatures and they falter at every other step. But redemption is promised in Holy Scripture after due penance. But the conmen who use religion often to glorify the afterlife to such an extent that they profess that a life in the afterlife awaits right now and one is better o� going there at the soonest. The margin-ally educated, cash-strapped, debt-ridden, poverty-stricken and disillusioned young men and women fall into the trap like � ies to molasses. Recruitment becomes quite easy for the “men with agenda”.

One would also � nd some bright people, young and educated and from � nancially � ourishing backgrounds who fall to rhetoric of the Islamists, the so called jihadists. These people often get embroiled in activities that they had never bargained for, but once in, it becomes di� cult for them to leave the nexus of terror.

Look at the world of Islam today. The Tali-ban, the Islamic State, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, al-Shabab are all getting their lives of luxury, burning the blood of these disillusioned young men and women of Islam. Needless to say that some groups are active within the subcontinent that are wreaking havoc bring-ing various issues to the forefront and using Islam as a weapon.

The Islamic State (IS) has the attention of the world and the West and the East and, of course, the Middle East are reeling from the threats posed by them. The “Caliphate” that al-Baghdadi’s followers promise is never going to be “heaven on earth” but only a di� erent kind of a despotic rule that the Arab world has already been su� ering from; rather it promises to be more of a gruesome kind of rule -- a totalitarian heaven; a state of terror that would make George Orwell roll in his grave.

IS is also very smart as it is running its

propaganda machine using all types of social and regular media. They have successfully conjured up a certain romanticism in the ruthless lifestyle of “the jihadi” and that has enamoured Muslim youth the world over, many of them su� ering from alienation in a foreign land, a vast number, disillusioned and disenfranchised. But many sympathis-ers fail to realize that IS is nothing short of a “business venture”, a “Godfather” like family that delves in raping, looting, extorting, smuggling, wanton murder -- a total and complete mayhem.

Bangladesh, historically a country of sedate Muslims who, more or less, believed, till recently, in peaceful coexistence of many faiths and many beliefs, has started losing the collective tolerance bit by bit. This does not bode well for the future. A political scenario where one and all can become allies of the two major parties without any consideration

to ideologies will make the country slip slide into deeper mire. We have seen the hydra heads of the terrorism monster appear twice in the space of a month.

And the Muslims who would like to lead a normal life in God, a life of work, family, fes-tivities, vacations, and careers are paying a heavy price for these blood-sucking fanatics who are the � rst ones to � out all the tenets of Islam.

“Normal” Muslims the world over are get-ting the evil eye of, for want of a better word, racial hatred, and are in a constant state of exasperation for the violence and the intol-erance that only a few propagate and that is a great misfortune for the world of tolerant, moderate and sedate Muslims who constitute the silent majority of the followers of the last Prophet. l

SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor

No more tolerance?

REU

TER

S

OPINION14DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

n Zafar Sobhan

To my mind, the truly scary part of the recent murder of Oyasiqur Rahman, the second killing of a free-thinking writer who was critical

of religion in a month, was the complete lack of contrition and remorse on the part of his killers.

Their o� cial statements in custody and the look in their eyes in the photographs of them that have been published in the media say the same thing: They are absolutely convinced that they were doing God’s work.

They truly believe that someone who insults the Prophet and Islam deserves to die. They truly believe that they will be rewarded in Heaven for their righteousness.

Now, it is easy enough to place the blame for this mind-set on the madrasas where they were educated, and there is no question that educational institutions which teach that murder is an acceptable response to someone whose words o� end you or whose beliefs you oppose, and that it is acceptable to act as judge, jury, and executioner in such cases, are very much a part of the problem.

For too long Bangladeshi governments have tolerated the growth of so-called educa-tional institutions that are anything but. For too long, we have allowed venom and hatred to be taught to impressionable boys and girls, under the guise of moral instruction, when it is anything but.

What is taught in these places -- not all madrasas, mind you, but a large number of them -- is the precise opposite of education and religious instruction. The boys and girls there do not learn how to think critically, how to think for themselves, or, apparently, that killing is wrong.

They are taught intolerance and hatred,

self-righteousness and bigotry. They are taught to be arrogant and judgmental. They are taught to believe in their own moral superiority, and their compassion and human decency is systematically beaten out of them.

Equally problematic, they are taught no skills that can help them earn a living or make their way in this world. Even if they want to break free of the narrow, cloistered world in which they are brought up, they have no ability to do so due to their lack of any kind of useful training or education.

It is hard to pin down just how many such young men and women there are in Bangla-desh today, but there can be no doubt that they constitute a ticking time-bomb.

But the more di� cult truth is that that is not at all the real problem here. The problem is that many people who share this mind-set come from among the most educated in our society, and that a good education is unfortu-nately no bar to thinking this way.

Now, let me stipulate that only a tiny minority of people in Bangladesh would actually take it upon themselves to slaughter another human being in cold blood, regard-less of what they thought of him or what he

might have written or said.But the number of people who believe that

someone who insults the Prophet and Islam deserves to die is much, much higher.

Most people in Bangladesh believe that Islam cannot and should not be questioned or insulted in any way (though they do not necessarily extend this courtesy to other religions, and are often very scathing of other religions in private conversation, often enough in public).

In fact, this special protection for not hav-

ing one’s religious sentiments o� ended is en-shrined in law. You can o� end any other kind of sentiment with impunity, but not religious sentiments (though, funnily enough, I have never seen this law applied in Bangladesh to defend any religion other than Islam).

Most people feel that one’s Muslim faith should be above question, insult, and o� ence. They believe that atheists should keep their mouths shut, and that anyone who questions or is critical of religion (meaning Islam) gets what he has coming to him.

If a large number of people feel this way, is it any surprise that a small number will take it upon themselves to actually act based on

this understanding? Part of what emboldened the killers of

Avijit Roy and Oyasiqur Rahman was the tacit societal approval for what they did. I am not saying that society approves of their killing -- though such approval is far more widespread than we are willing to admit -- but that our society (and the law) holds that it is unac-ceptable to question or criticise Islam, and that one does so at one’s own peril.

It is easy to point � ngers at benighted madrasa students who do not know any better. It is much harder to look in the mirror and ask whether our own belief system and narrow-mindedness could in any way have contributed to the atmosphere of intolerance that allowed for such a crime to be commit-ted.

But it is a question that needs to be asked if we are ever to really get to the bottom of this cancer that is eating away at our society. The problem is not simply semi-educat-ed madrasa students running amok. The problem is that we believe -- as do the killers -- that insulting Islam is beyond the pale. The only di� erence between us and them is how far they are willing to go to defend Islam’s honour.

It is not enough to condemn the killings. We need to understand how our own intol-erance of free-thinking and of questioning religious belief and thought contributed to a climate conducive to such an atrocity. Make no mistake: We are all complicit in Avijit and Oyasiqur’s killings.

That is a hard and unpalatable truth, but until we come to terms with it, we will not be able to stem the rising tide of extremism that takes moral sustenance from our own intoler-ance for questioning or criticising religion. l

Zafar Sobhan is the Editor, Dhaka Tribune.

We all killed Avijit and Oyasiqur

It is not enough to condemn the killings. We need to understand how our own intolerance of free-thinking and of questioning religious belief and thought contributed to a climate conducive to such an atrocity

BIGSTOCK

15D

TBusiness FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Muhith: Insurance sector notorious for irregularities, cheating

European factories buoyant but weak Asia adds to stimulus calls

Stocks � nish the week in red17 1916

visit our website @www.dhakatribune.com

REHAB seeks indemnity for legalising black money

20

Ericson: Airtel tops the list of internet users through handsets, tablets n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Airtel tops the chart of subscribers using in-ternet through smart handsets and tablets, according to a survey by the technology ven-dor, Ericsson Bangladesh.

In a programme, Ericsson Bangladesh de-clared that 30% users in the country are using internet through smartphones while 3% using tablets.

The account came aftter 1,000 random sampling.

According to the study carried out last year, 41% of the total Airtel users are using smart handset while 5% of other users tablets for internet.

Ericsson conducted the survey in � ve divi-sional headquarters – Dhaka, Chittagon, Ra-jshahi, Sylhet and Barishal – which contained 1,000 random sampling.

Based on the study, the third largest opera-tor Robi is in the second position with 33% of its subscribers using smartphones after Airtel in terms of using smart phones, but only 2% of its subscribers are using internet though tablets.

Some 29% subscribers of Grameenphone, the market leader operator in the country, are using internet through smartphones and 3% of its internet users using tablets.

Only 19% subscribers of Banglalink are us-ing internet though smartphone while anoth-er 2% of its customers using tablets for inter-net, the study reads.

Replying to a question, Managing Director of Ericsson Bangladesh Mr Raj said as they haven’t found any handsome number of sub-scribers from state-owned operator Teletalk they dropped it from their presentation.

While brie� ng the journalists at the com-pany’s local headquarters in the capital yes-terday, its Chief Technology O� cer Abdus Salam and Head of Communications Mehnaz

Kabir, among others, attended the event. In the same study, Ericsson found 35% us-

ers from the total 1,000 random samples us-ing internet while Grameenphone subscribers accounting for 57% are using internet.

The number of internet users is 45% for Airtel, 34% for Robi and 28% of Banglalink, the study also found.

The study also said 16% internet users from Grameenphone are using their connec-

tion on laptop, tablets and desktop. Airtel also secures its highest position with

21% internet users while 11% for Robi and Banglalink each using internet through lap-top, tablets and desktop.

“We will go for the same study this year also which will be relaeased at the end of this year,” Raj also said.

In the ceremony, Ericsson Bangladesh in-formed the journalist about their plan for developing a specialised 3G network infra-structure in the country to provide ‘faster and quicker’ data services for the consumers.

Mr Raj said they are working to launch the fresh networking solution in the capital by next quarter.

“All mobile operators have appreciated the move and agreed to work in this regard,” add-ed the o� cial.

Terming the technology the � rst in its kind in Bangladesh, the o� cer said it is the ground-breaking initiative in the networking world.

Raj observed that presently consumers of the 3G network are not getting equal quality services across the networking areas, rather it has been hindered in various ways including high-rise building.

Ericsson is a Swedish multinational pro-vider of communications technology and ser-vices including software and infrastructure in information and communications technology for telecom operators, telecommunications and Internet Protocol (IP) networking equip-ment. l

User

30%

29%

33%

19%

41%

Potential

59%

74%

51%

63%

55%

User

3%

3%

2%

2%

5%

Potential

11%

10%

13%

7%

15%

Bangladesh

Grameenphone

Robi

Banglalink

Airtel

DEVICE OWNERSHIP 2014

SMARTPHONE TABLET

‘We will go for the same study this year also which will be relaeased at the end of this year’

FBCCI adviser blasts IMF over new VAT implementation n Tribune Report

An adviser of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) yesterday urged the National Board of Reve-nue (NBR) to take necessary steps to arrange a meeting between the business community and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to exchange views on implementation of the new VAT law.

He questioned the role of IMF in imple-menting the new law on Value-Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act - 2012, which is set to come into e� ect from July 2016.

“The executive body of IMF is working to reform the existing VAT system in Bangladesh and we are not against it if it is made to make the system transparent, automated and busi-ness friendly,” said FBCCI Adviser Manzur Ahmed. “Though they are not o� cially pres-surising us, they are actually doing it for im-plementation of single digit VAT rate.”

He said that there is multiple VAT rate in 27 countries in European region, but IMF is not working there for single digit.

“IMF recently made a reform in Vietnam’s VAT system, but the country also has a four stage VAT collection system. Why they (IMF) is not going to these countries. What their problem with Bangladesh,” questioned the adviser.

The new Value-Added Tax and Supplemen-tary Duty Act-2012 will have no provisions for package VAT or truncated value-based VAT system. With the introduction of the law, all level of business has to pay a unique and a single VAT rate at 15%.

“VAT system exists in 95% of the countries. But you will not � nd any of the countries where the VAT rate is collected in single digit. What is the problem in introducing multiple VAT rate in Bangladesh,” he said.

The adviser requested the NBR to take nec-essary steps to arrange meeting between IMF and the businesses in regards to the imple-mentation of the new VAT law.

“We will sit with IMF with documents and talk directly with them regarding VAT,” he added.

The FBCCI adviser came up with the obser-vation during a pre-budget meeting of NBR at its headquarters in Dhaka. NBR Chairman Md. Nojibur Rahman chaired the meeting.

Manzur Ahmed said: “Substantial input in the content of our vat law is beyond their ju-risdiction. For the interest of Bangladeshi cit-izens and the businesses, we will talk this to IMF. Please ask them (IMF) not to talk rubbish and ask them to stay in their limit,” Manzur observed.

The business leaders have been opposing the move made by NBR to implement single digit VAT rate in the country. l

BUSINESS16DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Investor poll: Being a big global bank is not worth the hasslen Reuters, London

Being one of the world’s top 30 banks is not worth the hassle of extra regulatory scrutiny and capital requirements, according to a poll of � nancial industry investors last week.

Morgan Stanley said 62% of investors polled at its European � nancial industry conference said the negatives of having a global banking business outweighed the bene� ts as regulations had “become overbearing” for the largest � rms.

Only 28% of investors said the bene� ts of being a large and truly global � rm outweighed the negatives, and 10% of the 60 people polled were undecided.

“We found it striking that some manage-ment teams are seeking to make their busi-nesses simpler, and we believe investors would reward the restructuring potential if strategy is clear and perceived as achieva-ble,” Morgan Stanley analyst Huw van Steenis wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Thirty of the world’s biggest banks are dubbed global systemically important banks, or G-SIBs, which must hold between 1 and 2.5% extra capital from the start of 2016 and also have a bu� er of debt that can absorb loss-es, so they are less likely to collapse.

These banks, which include HSBC, JPMor-gan, Citigroup and China’s ICBC, also typical-ly come under extra scrutiny from national regulators. Banks, particularly many in Eu-rope, are cutting down in size to save costs and simplify their operations.

“We were struck by how many of the management teams we met are trying to re-

con� gure their business, whether through stretching cost cutting goals via digital in the UK and Nordic banks or shrinking investment banking or addressing balance sheets, such as in Italy,” van Steenis said.

He said legacy systems, bad loans and businesses not making returns above their cost of capital remained material challenges for the � rms, however.

A majority of investors at the conference said

they expect European banks to raise at least 20bn euros ($21.5bn) more equity this year.

Morgan Stanley said 41% of investors polled said banks would raise 20-30bn euros, 9% expected them to raise 30-40bn and 13% expected them to raise 40bn or more.

A majority of investors said they expected the European Central Bank to require banks it regulates to hold core capital of at least 11% in the future. l

A worker arrives at his o� ce in the Canary Wharf business district in London REUTERS

Muhith: Insurance sector notorious for irregularities, cheating n Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has strongly criticised the country’s insurance sector for committing irregularities and fraudulent activities in absence of e� cient manpower to strongly monitor the activities of this sector.

“As the regulations to control the sector are well improved, the people, who are involved in this sector, also need to be improved to check the irregularities following the existing rules and regulations,” said the minister while inauguratinga new o� ce of the Insurance De-velopment and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) in the city yesterday.

Speaking as chief guest, Muhith said: “The previous insurance controller’s o� ce was very poor while the related laws for the insurance sector were also very much insigni� cant.”

However, the sector, meanwhile, has got-ten an improved insurance act along with a new regulation authority. But, the sector has still been badly su� ering from skilled and honest manpower, he viewed.

The minister also put more focus on strengthening the insurance academy for pro-ducinge� cient manpower for this sector. He also pledged to further boost up the activities of the insurance academy shortly.

IDRA Chairman M Shefaq Ahmed said:

“Since its inception in January 2011, the au-thority has long been trying to remove the existing irregularities and mismanagement.”

In this regard, he also admitted the fact that severe irregularities were found in cred-its and non-paymentof premiums after con-ducting an investigation into the insurance companies in 2012 by the authority.

He, however, claimed that such irregulari-ties came to total halt after taking some puni-tive actions against the scrupulous companies.

Most of the insurance companies involves in excessive management expenditures, just violating rules. As a result, the companies failed to make pro� ts, rather, in some cases they could not even return the deposited pre-mium to the clients.

“Such malpractice is creating negative perception about the insurance companies among the people, which is harmful for the whole sector,” observed Ahmed.

Nasir A. Choudhury, an advisor and found-er-managing director of Green Delta Insur-ance, said, “The number of insurance compa-nies are more than the market requirement.”

Being most senior insurers he demanded to reactivate the insurance academy to pro-duce e� cient manpower.

Shamsul Alam, chairman of Jiban Bima Corporation also criticised of the IDRA as say-ing: “The authority is imposing � ne repeated-

ly over the insurance companies for violation of rules. But, � ne is not always the only solu-tion, rather it should focus on formulating strict regulations.”

He also demanded for bringing reform in Jiban Bima Corporation to bring professional-ism among the o� cials.

Mahbubur Rahman, president of Interna-tional Chamber of Commerce (ICC) observed that the building constructions in both pri-vate and government sector were still out of the insurance coverage.

He also claimed that the banking sector was the center of the government concentra-tion although the insurance sector could be the signi� cant source of revenue for the gov-ernment only if the sector was blessed a little by the state.

Sheikh Kabir Hossain, chairman of Bang-ladesh Insurance Association (BIA) urged the government to increase manpower of the authority for strengthening monitoring activ-ities.

IDRA Member Quddus Khan gave a pres-entation over the insurance industry during his introductory speech at the function.

State Minister of Finance MA Mannan was attended at the inaugural function, as special guest, while Bank and Financial Institutions Division Secretary M. Aslamul Haque was also present. l

Remittance rises 3.4% in March n Tribune Report

The in� ow of remittance into the country rose by 3.4% in March, breaking a continuous falling trend during the last two months, com-pared to the same month of the last year.

Country received a total of US$1.33bn re-mittance during the month compared to $1.28bn in the same month of the last year, ac-cording to the Bangladesh Bank data released yesterday.

The amount was 12% higher from $1.18bn in February.

The remittance in� ow turned to a higher level as the dollar becoming stronger in the US market, said a senior executive of Bangla-desh Bank.

The exchange rate against local currency remained at Tk77.80 in last two months as Bangladesh Bank is buying dollar from money market to retain the rate.

The country experienced a fall in remit-tance in the last two months as the political unrest started since January 6, which took heavy toll on the remittance in� ow, said a senior executive of a private bank.

The fall in manpower export in the global market also played a vital role in slower remit-tance in� ow since last two years, he said. l

Insurance sector to get $200m WB support n Tribune Report

The World Bank has agreed to support US$200m to brin g reform in the country’s in-surance sector.

The global lender had earlier providedthis kind of � nancial support for Bangladesh Bank and the capital market.

M. Aslamul Haque, secretary of Bank and Financial Institutions Division, came up with the disclosure while addressing a function organised on the occasion of inaugurating a new o� ce of Insurance Development Author-ity (IDRA) held in the capital yesterday.

He said a World Bank project titled “In-surance Sector Support” would be kicked o� soon to build a standard authority for the in-surance sector.

He claimed that the deposit growth of Sonali Bank was not a� ected even after Halmark loan scam because of having a strong authority.

The deposit growth rather increased even after the loan scam as the depositors did not loose con� dence over the central bank about the return of their money, he observed.

He said all the sectors need transparency and accountability to gain client’s con� dence but in-surance sector still lags behind in this regard.

He, however, emphasised on formulation and implementation of regulations soon by authority to overcome the existing obstacles.

He claimed that professionalism and cor-porate culture were yet to develop in the in-surance sector where banking sector gained professionalism.

“We took initiative to strengthen the insur-ance academy to bring professionalism in the sector,” he said.

Insurance academy will be built as an au-tonomous body and the government has al-ready started to work over formulating a law in this regard, noted Aslamul Haque. l

BUSINESS 17D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

European factories buoyant but weak Asia adds to stimulus callsn Reuters

Companies struggled in China and much of the rest of Asia in March, suggesting central banks may have to resort to more stimulus, just as factories in the euro zone begin to reap rewards from ultra-easy policy there.

Any indication of recovery will delight the European Central Bank which embarked on a quantitative easing programme in March, aiming to buy around 60bn euros of bonds every month to drive up in� ation and spur the recovery.

But three separate surveys of China’s fac-tory and services sectors released on Wednes-day showed stubborn weakness in the world’s second-biggest economy, putting the govern-ment’s newly minted growth target of around 7% for the year at risk.

“The Chinese numbers don’t look too bad but our guess is that the People’s Bank of China will ease again. Another cut in interest rates might be on the cards,” said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.

“The recent numbers from the euro zone have suggested that the acuteness of the cri-sis has eased but there remains more work to be done.”

Markit’s � nal March manufacturing Pur-chasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the euro zone was at a ten-month high of 52.2, up from 51 in February and the 21st month in a row it has been above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

Growing demand for exports helped drive the output index - which feeds into a compos-ite PMI due on Tuesday that is seen as good growth indicator - to a ten-month high.

Speculation QE was coming from the ECB, and its eventual launch, has sent the euro down around 12% since January and facto-ries have bene� ted as it has not only made exports cheaper but also meant competing imports were more expensive.

Bolstered by a similar pick-up in export orders and strong domestic demand, Britain’s manufacturing industry grew at the fastest rate in eight months in March.

Stock markets and the dollar saw solid starts to the second quarter on Wednesday, following the upbeat European data.

Simulating asiaanalysts predict a modest expansion in U.S. manufacturing activity when � gures are re-leased later on Wednesday, taking the view that a recent slowdown was a blip related to harsh winter weather and keeping alive ex-pectations the Federal Reserve will start to raise interest rates later this year.

However, hopes that a strengthening US economy and lower energy costs would spur activity in Asia have proved elusive.

“For Asia-Paci� c as a whole, we still see limited evidence that those tailwinds, name-ly the pick-up in US consumer spending and sharply lower oil prices, are boosting growth,” said Paul Gruenwald, Standard & Poor’s Asia-Paci� c chief economist.

China’s o� cial PMI ticked up to 50.1 in March from 49.9, but a private survey from HSBC which focuses on small and mid-sized � rms showed factory activity contracted after two months of recovery.

Both reports indicate economic conditions remain sluggish, which may be re� ected in

China’s � rst-quarter growth � gures on April 15.“Recent policy actions, such as mortgage

rule easing, suggest that concerns at the top level of the government are rising. We believe this suggests that more easing measures, par-ticularly monetary easing measures, will be rolled out,” said Qu Hongbin, HSBC’s chief China economist.

“The March economic activity data are due to be released in the next two weeks. Further con� rmation that the real economy is now tracking below the o� cial target will likely prompt easing measures from the PBoC.”

Some are also calling for even more stimu-lus in Japan, including one of the architects of premier Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” re� ation-ary policies.

The Bank of Japan must ease policy fur-ther at its meeting on April 30, Kozo Yamamo-to told Reuters on Wednesday.

“The economy is at a standstill and prices are seen falling ahead. To do nothing isn’t an option for the BOJ,” said Yamamoto, an ex-pert on monetary policy in Abe’s ruling Liber-al Democratic Party.

Japanese manufacturing activity expand-ed more slowly in March than in February as domestic orders contracted for the � rst time in almost a year, in a worrying sign the recov-ering economy may be losing momentum.

Figures elsewhere in Asia provided a so-bering read.

In South Korea, exports su� ered their biggest fall in two years while factory activity in Indone-sia - the biggest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - contracted for the sixth straight month as output and new orders dropped at the fastest rate on record. l

Employees work at a steel factory in Dalian, Liaoning province REUTERS

World Bank sees protracted recession in Russian Reuters, Moscow

Russia faces a protracted recession as the im-pact of Western sanctions lingers and oil pric-es stay low, the World Bank said in a report published on Wednesday.

In its baseline scenario, the bank expected Russia’s gross domestic product to contract by 3.8% in 2015 and a further 0.3% in 2016, describing medium-term growth prospects as dim.

The World Bank’s lead economist for Rus-sia, Birgit Hansl, said “adjustment to the new oil price reality and the sanctions environ-ment” was a key policy challenge.

“If we look more into the medium term, the main challenge for Russia is the continued dearth in investment,” she said, presenting the report.

The bank’s latest forecasts are more pessi-mistic than those made in December, when it expected the economy to shrink by 0.7% this year and grow by 0.3% in 2016.

The new baseline forecasts assume that the oil price will recover only marginally over the next two years, averaging $53 per barrel in 2015 and $57 per barrel in 2016, re� ecting ample global supplies and moderate demand.

Under a more optimistic scenario, with oil av-eraging $65.5 per barrel in 2015 and $68.7 per barrel in 2016, the economy would contract by 2.9% this year and grow by only 0.1% in 2016, the World Bank said.

Its latest forecasts assume that sanctions imposed against Russia because of its role in the Ukraine con� ict would stay in place in 2015 and 2016.

The sanctions could have damaging long-term consequences that may last even after the sanctions are lifted, the bank said, citing the case of South Africa where sanctions im-posed in the 1980s caused a major slump in investment.

In Russia’s case, sanctions were likely to exacerbate an existing investment shortage.

“Low investment demand hints at the deeper structural problems of the Russian economy and has already initiated a new era of potentially small growth,” the report said.

The bank also warned that a projected 3.8% budget de� cit this year could “severely deplete” the budget’s Reserve Fund, current-ly equal to around 4.7% of GDP.

Hansl said, however: “One could argue that it is prudent to use � scal bu� ers at these times as a counter-cyclical measure.”

The Bank also foresaw a $122bn capital and � nancial account de� cit this year, re� ecting continuing heavy capital out� ows, only par-tially covered by a $74bn current account sur-plus. l

‘Low investment demand hints at the deeper structural problems of the Russian economy and has already initiated a new era of potentially small growth’

BUSINESS18DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

Sector DSE CSE TotalMillion Taka % change Million Taka % change Million Taka % change

Bank 146.98 5.35 13.46 7.20 160.44 5.47NBFI 70.93 2.58 6.02 3.22 76.94 2.62Investment 23.10 0.84 1.49 0.80 24.60 0.84Engineering 257.80 9.39 18.19 9.73 275.99 9.41Food & Allied 83.83 3.05 3.27 1.75 87.10 2.97Fuel & Power 513.46 18.69 27.68 14.80 541.14 18.44Jute 11.90 0.43 0.00 11.90 0.41Textile 236.25 8.60 29.77 15.92 266.03 9.07Pharma & Chemical 639.88 23.30 21.02 11.24 660.90 22.53Paper & Packaging 5.51 0.20 0.56 0.30 6.07 0.21Service 74.29 2.70 5.14 2.75 79.43 2.71Leather 13.32 0.48 0.71 0.38 14.03 0.48Ceramic 8.17 0.30 0.53 0.28 8.70 0.30Cement 214.28 7.80 19.72 10.54 234.00 7.98Information Technology 78.39 2.85 5.97 3.19 84.36 2.88General Insurance 13.53 0.49 1.49 0.80 15.03 0.51Life Insurance 48.14 1.75 1.27 0.68 49.41 1.68Telecom 210.85 7.68 12.90 6.89 223.74 7.63Travel & Leisure 38.61 1.41 9.58 5.12 48.18 1.64Miscellaneous 57.41 2.09 8.24 4.41 65.65 2.24Debenture 0.18 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.21 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

News, analysis and recent disclosuresJAMUNABANK: The Board of Directors has recommended 19% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 04.05.2015, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Police Convention Hall, Eskaton Garden Road (East side of Borak Tower), Ramna, Dhaka. Record date: 15.04.2015. The Company has also reported consolidated net pro� t of Tk. 1,352.74 million, consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.62, consolidated NAV per share of Tk. 20.99 and consolidated NOCFPS of Tk. 10.47 for the year ended on December 31, 2014.Trading of New Security: Trading of the shares of United Power Generation & Distri-bution Company Limited will commence at DSE from April 05, 2015 under N category. DSE Trading Code for United Power Generation & Distribution Company Limited is UPGDCL and DSE Company Code is 15318.SQUARETEXT: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on April 07, 2015 at 3:30 PM to consider, among others, audited � nancial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2014.IPO Subscription: Tosrifa Indus-tries Limited Subscription March 24, 2015 to March 31, 2015; NRB UPTO April 09, 2015. O� er Price per share Tk. 26.00, Market Lot (Shares) 200.Dividend/AGMBSRMSTEEL: 15% cash, AGM: 15.06.2015, Record date:

12.04.2015.PHOENIXFIN: 20% cash , AGM: 21.05.2015, Record Date: 13.04.2015.CONTININS: 10% cash, AGM: 01.06.2015, Record date: 16.04.2015.UNITEDINS: 10% cash, AGM: 26.04.2015, Record date: 09.04.2015. EASTLAND: 10% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 31.05.2015, Record Date: 08.04.2015.RUPALIINS: 10% cash and 5% stock, AGM: 27.04.2015, Record Date: 08.04.2015.APEXFOOT: 55% cash, AGM: 30.04.2015, Record date: 09.04.2015.ISLAMICFIN: 8% cash and 4% stock, AGM: 14.05.2015, Record Date: 09.04.2015.SHAHJABANK: 10% cash, AGM: 07.06.2015, Record date: 09.04.2015.IBBLPBOND: Annual pro� t rate of 11.18%, Record Date 16.04.2015. FLEASEINT: 5% stock, AGM: 16.04.2015, Record date: 01.04.2015. ISLAMIBANK: 15% cash, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record date: 16.04.2015.UTTARABANK: 20% cash, AGM: 23.04.2015, Record date: 01.04.2015.BRACBANK: 20% cash, AGM: 23.04.2015, Record date: 30.03.2015. BERGERPBL: 220% cash , AGM: 19.04.2015, Record date: 30.03.2015.ONEBANKLTD: 12.50% cash and 12.50% stock, AGM: 30.04.2015, Record date: 29.03.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A 9.78 9.53 20.12 20.20 20.20 20.00 0.075 2.44 8.2Brac B.C. Bond-A 6.17 6.20 1075.00 1075.00 1075.00 1075.00 0.022 0.00 -Jamuna Bank -A 5.65 5.68 13.02 13.10 13.20 12.80 1.532 2.62 5.0Asia Insur. Ltd.-A 4.07 3.84 17.86 17.90 17.90 17.70 0.051 2.17 8.2Delta Brac HFCL-A 3.86 3.86 78.00 78.00 78.00 78.00 0.001 4.26 18.3Moza� ar H.Spinning-A 3.46 2.80 32.72 32.90 33.00 32.00 1.608 2.82 11.6Apex Tannery -A 3.24 3.03 124.25 124.30 124.50 124.00 0.000 3.38 36.8Peoples Insur -A 2.91 3.99 17.71 17.70 17.80 17.70 0.005 2.25 7.9ICB AMCL3rd NRB MF-A 2.56 2.56 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 0.004 0.46 8.7Rangpur Foundry -A 2.40 2.40 98.30 98.30 98.30 98.30 0.005 3.23 30.4

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Samata LeatheR -Z 9.38 7.63 17.22 17.50 17.60 17.50 0.026 -0.46 -ve7th ICB M F-A 9.09 8.00 90.00 90.00 90.00 90.00 0.045 12.76 7.1Meghna PET Ind. -Z 7.02 8.16 6.10 6.10 6.10 6.10 0.000 -0.44 -veDulamia CottonZ 6.85 4.79 7.65 7.80 7.80 7.70 0.013 -4.02 -veJamuna Bank -A 5.65 4.83 13.02 13.10 13.30 12.80 8.862 2.62 5.0LR Global BD MF1-A 4.88 6.25 4.25 4.30 4.30 4.00 1.392 0.08 53.1AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A 4.65 11.00 4.44 4.50 4.50 4.30 0.112 0.11 40.4Kay & Que (BD) -Z 4.17 4.17 12.50 12.50 12.50 12.50 0.004 -1.41 -vePeoples Insur -A 3.37 2.54 18.16 18.40 18.50 17.70 0.668 2.25 8.1Ifad Autos -N 3.30 1.10 65.09 65.70 66.00 63.30 106.950 1.92 33.9

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Uttara Bank - A -9.69 -10.13 20.50 20.50 20.70 20.50 1.354 3.51 5.8PragatiLife Insu. -Z -6.96 -6.96 107.00 107.00 107.00 107.00 0.010 2.38 45.0I P D C -A -6.90 -6.90 13.50 13.50 13.50 13.50 0.001 1.31 10.3Hwa Well Textiles-A -6.56 -6.30 28.57 28.50 29.10 28.50 0.249 2.66 10.7First Finance- A -6.50 -5.64 11.55 11.50 11.70 11.50 0.036 0.63 18.3Unique Hotel RL - A -6.28 -6.07 47.06 46.30 48.20 46.00 0.984 3.05 15.4Rahima Food -Z -5.50 -4.27 29.58 29.20 31.90 29.20 0.024 -0.42 -veIFIC Bank - A -5.41 -1.81 21.13 21.00 21.30 21.00 0.079 3.39 6.2Zaheen Spinning -N -4.98 -5.14 21.40 21.00 22.70 20.80 4.734 1.32 16.2IDLC Finance -A -4.87 -4.72 49.62 48.80 50.30 48.50 0.841 4.95 10.0

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Uttara Bank - A -9.61 -9.64 20.71 20.70 21.30 20.70 8.849 3.51 5.9First Finance- A -8.20 -6.83 11.46 11.20 12.00 11.20 1.509 0.63 18.2AB Bank 1st Mutual Fund-A -6.67 -8.50 5.49 5.60 5.60 5.50 0.010 0.68 8.1Imam Button -Z -6.54 -6.17 10.04 10.00 10.20 10.00 0.189 -1.48 -veUnique Hotel RL - A -5.89 -5.59 47.13 46.30 49.00 45.80 24.022 3.05 15.5Modern Dyeing -Z -5.57 -4.47 75.47 74.60 80.90 74.20 0.004 -0.50 -veRenwick Jajneswar-A -5.42 -3.97 256.33 251.30 269.80 249.00 4.189 4.36 58.8Saiham Cotton-A -4.98 -3.64 19.34 19.10 19.70 19.10 1.245 1.43 13.5Zaheen Spinning -N -4.93 -4.42 21.62 21.20 22.40 21.00 19.156 1.32 16.4BD. Autocars -Z -4.92 -5.00 17.47 17.40 17.80 17.20 0.119 0.14 124.8

DSE key features April 2, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

2,746.80

Turnover (Volume)

53,648,169

Number of Contract

76,323

Traded Issues 311

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

64

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

242

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,518.08

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.52

CSE key features April 2, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

187.05

Turnover (Volume)

5,738,484

Number of Contract

10,769

Traded Issues 239

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

50

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

183

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,427.74

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.43

BUSINESS 19D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Stocks � nish the week in redn Tribune Report

Stocks dropped yesterday with low volume of trade as investors still fretted over the deepening political cri-sis.

The market began with the sale-o� that continued till close of the session, led by banking and telecommu-nications issues.

The benchmark index DSEX lost almost 41 points or 1% to settle at 4,472, ex-tending losing streak for the second straight session.

The Shariah Index DSES dropped nearly 10 points or 0.8% to 1,088. The com-prising blue chips DS30 was down 17 points or 1% to 1,703.

Chittagong Stock Ex-change (CSE) Selective Cat-egories Index, CSCX, closed at 8,324, shedding 81 points.

Investors still preferred to stay sidelines amidst deepening political crisis, which indicated low turno-ver. After remaining high in the past � ve sessions, turn-over dipped below Tk300 crore mark and stood at Tk270 crore, sharply down 23.6% over the previous ses-sion.

Almost all the sectors de-clined, with telecommuni-cations, non-banking � nan-cial institutions and food & allied su� ering heavy losses

of 1.46%, 1.41% and 1.21% respectively.

Cement, power, phar-maceuticals and banks also closed lower in the session.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the last day of the week observed another depress-ing trading session.

“Investors’ con� dence is still shaken which is re-� ected in the lack of partic-ipation. It was a slow day for the market participants with the indices falling quite steadily from the very be-ginning.”

IDLC Investments said short-term trading has ap-peared as the primary strat-egy in recent times, causing strong sell pressure to fol-low after marginal gains.

It said in absence of in-vestors’ conviction on long-term view, investors aim at exploiting short-term � uc-tuations to stay in the game.

However, Jamuna Bank shone and surged by 5.6%, following its impressive an-nual declaration.

Lafarge Surma Cement topped the liquidity chart with a turnover worth al-most Tk20 crore changing hands.

It was by Lafarge Surma Cement, Grameenphone, Mobil Jamuna Bangladesh, Square Pharmaceuticals, Khulna Power Company and IFAD Autos. l

Short-term trading has appeared as the primary strategy in recent times, causing strong sell pressure to follow after marginal gains

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4472.13767 (-) 0.91% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1703.06378 (-) 0.98% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 13696.24670 (-) 0.91% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11330.83090 (-) 1.02% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8335.97060 (-) 0.85% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change % ClosingY DHIGH DLOW AvgPrice

LafargeS Cement-Z 154,764 17.41 9.31 112.20 -1.75 114.20 115.90 111.00 112.48Shasha Denims -N 306,746 12.70 6.79 41.40 0.24 41.30 42.00 40.60 41.41Grameenphone-A 24,562 8.57 4.58 347.90 -1.67 353.80 355.00 347.50 349.00MJL BD Ltd.-A 64,305 8.38 4.48 128.80 -2.50 132.10 133.20 128.30 130.39Shahjibazar Power-N 45,356 8.25 4.41 184.00 0.66 182.80 185.80 181.00 181.92UNITED AIR-A 1,052,688 8.07 4.31 7.70 -1.28 7.80 7.80 7.60 7.66BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 185,655 6.03 3.22 32.30 -1.52 32.80 33.20 32.30 32.48Zaheen Spinning -N 221,261 4.73 2.53 21.00 -4.98 22.10 22.70 20.80 21.40WesternMarine -N 106,794 4.60 2.46 43.00 -1.15 43.50 43.90 42.90 43.12BD Submarine Cable-A 35,836 4.32 2.31 120.20 -1.07 121.50 122.30 119.10 120.66Square Pharma -A 15,493 4.06 2.17 261.40 -1.43 265.20 264.50 261.00 262.37ACI Limited- A 7,493 3.88 2.07 516.20 -0.42 518.40 523.00 511.10 517.95Khulna Power-A 54,944 3.47 1.85 62.90 1.13 62.20 64.00 61.70 63.12SAIF Powertec-N 52,325 3.45 1.84 65.50 -1.06 66.20 67.20 65.20 65.85Ifad Autos -N 52,866 3.43 1.83 65.20 2.68 63.50 65.50 63.50 64.86Ifad Autos -N 74,674 4.87 1.08 65.00 0.62 64.60 66.00 61.50 65.24Square Pharma -A 18,534 4.85 1.08 262.90 1.04 260.20 263.20 259.50 261.51

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

LafargeS Cement-Z 1,756,715 197.31 7.18 112.30 -0.97 113.40 116.00 111.40 112.31Grameenphone-A 534,800 186.71 6.80 348.50 -1.47 353.70 354.50 347.10 349.12MJL BD Ltd.-A 1,238,313 161.52 5.88 128.80 -2.35 131.90 133.50 128.10 130.43Square Pharma -A 578,967 151.87 5.53 261.80 -1.32 265.30 265.40 260.50 262.31Khulna Power-A 1,768,747 111.52 4.06 63.00 0.96 62.40 64.00 61.90 63.05Ifad Autos -N 1,643,235 106.95 3.89 65.70 3.30 63.60 66.00 63.30 65.09ACI Limited- A 192,561 99.70 3.63 516.20 -0.41 518.30 524.00 512.30 517.77Pharma Aids A 241,258 75.32 2.74 304.20 -3.09 313.90 324.00 300.00 312.18ACI Formulations-A 457,509 68.90 2.51 149.00 -1.78 151.70 154.00 148.00 150.61Shasha Denims -N 1,616,672 67.20 2.45 41.40 0.00 41.40 42.30 41.00 41.56Orion Pharma-N 1,447,598 62.75 2.28 43.40 1.64 42.70 43.90 42.70 43.35Titas Gas TDCLA 786,437 57.19 2.08 73.10 0.27 72.90 73.40 72.30 72.72Agni Systems -A 1,834,218 57.14 2.08 31.20 -1.27 31.60 31.90 30.80 31.15Shahjibazar Power-N 278,226 50.93 1.85 183.10 0.49 182.20 186.80 181.60 183.03SAIF Powertec-N 680,931 44.97 1.64 65.70 -1.05 66.40 67.30 65.30 66.04BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 2,022,154 65.13 1.44 32.30 0.31 32.20 32.50 31.90 32.21

BUSINESS20DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Training on credit access for women entrepreneurship heldn Tribune Report

A four-day training on “Credit Access for Women Entrepreneurs – Train of Trainer (ToT)” concluded yesterday at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) in the capital with an urge of building capacity of SME women entrepreneurs to improve their access to � nance.

The European Union funded Bangladesh INSPIRED – component 3, which is managed by the Ministry of Industries, organised the

training programme, in partnership with the BIBM and Bangladesh Bank Training Acade-my (BBTA), in order to get a comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the women entrepreneur segment from a banking per-spective.

Around 30 women from Bangladesh Bank, SME and Special Programmes Department (SMESPD), BIBM and BBTA, and di� erent commercial banks and women associations participated in the training programme, said a press release.

The trainees will become trainers them-selves, and in turn train other women entre-preneurs in their respective institutions.

Md Abul Quasem, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank, distributed certi� cates among the participants as chief guest.

Selima Ahmad, President of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Indus-try, Mousumi Islam, President of Association of Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs, Bang-ladesh, and Shamsunnahar, Chairperson of For the Women By the Women Forum, were

present as special guests. Professor Dr Tou� c Ahmad Choudhury, Director General of BIBM, presided over the event, while Ali Sabet, Team Leader of the INSPIRED, Component-3, and Leif Andersen, Key Banking Expert, also addressed the function.

The purpose of the training programme was to understand why the women entre-preneur segment is very important to pursue both from a country development perspec-tive as well as for the pro� tability and growth of the � nancial institutions in Bangladesh. l

REHAB seeks indemnity for legalising black moneyn Tribune Report

Real Estate and Housing Association of Bang-ladesh (REHAB) urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to allow legalising the black money with indemnity for the country’s housing sector as it fell into trouble due to the political unrest.

It made the call at a pre-budget meeting with the NBR in the city yesterday. NBR chair-man Md Nojibur Rahman chaired the meeting.

“Many REHAB members are now unable to pay the sta� salaries. You people (NBR) need to give special attention to the sector,” said REHAB president Alamgir Shamsul Alamin.

He said: “We have received the opportunity to whiten the undisclosed money in the hous-ing sector in last budget. The facility was not utilised properly as there was no indemnity.”

He called for the facility for next 5-10 years in the sector with indemnity by amending

section 19bbb in the Income Tax Ordinance.Earlier in the Finance Bill 2014, the govern-

ment had allowed people to use black mon-ey for the purchase of � ats paying a certain amount of tax for per square metre.

According to a 2011 study endorsed by the Finance Ministry, the black money accounted for 62.75% of the total GDP in 2009, while it accounted for only 7% of the GDP in 1973.

The REHAB also proposed the NBR setting the gain tax at 2% from the existing 4%, stamp duty at 1.5% from current 3%, registration fee at 1% from 2%, local government tax at 1% from 2%, and value-added tax in registration of plots and � ats at 1.5% from 3%.

The other demands included reduction of income tax on transfer of per square metre residential lands, buildings and apartments to Tk1,300, Tk1,250 and Tk300 respectively from Tk1,600, Tk1,500 and Tk600 for the are-as divided in three di� erent categories.

The REHAB also proposed to reduce tax on transfer of commercial lands, buildings and apartments to Tk4,000, Tk.2,500 and Tk800 respectively from existing Tk6,5000, Tk5,000 and Tk1,600 for the three di� erent categories.

It also recommended that the government should allow import of duty-free � re safety machinery.

The association urged the NBR chairman to attend a function, to be organised by the REHAB on a coming day and provide orien-tation and advices on tax-related issues to all members of 400 industries that are linked with the housing sector.

NBR chairman said the taxmen will go and visit the o� ces to check whether businesses are paying custom duties, VAT, and income tax properly.

“Inspectors will also ask about whether you have TIN or other documents or not. Please as-sist them during their visits,” he added. l

StanChart, The Daily Star launch Celebrating Life Contest 2015 n Tribune Report

Standard Chartered Bank and The Daily Star yesterday jointly launched Celebrating Life Contest 2015—an event that continued for the eighth consecutive year for hunting talents countrywide in the areas of photography, � lms and lyrics, which paints various aspects of life in Bangladesh.

The deadline for the entry in the competi-tion is July this year. Any Bangladeshi and any foreigner residing in Bangladesh is eligible for the contest.

This year’s competition followed the theme “The Heritage of Bangladesh.” The winner names will be announced in Novem-ber this year in a gala event to hand over cer-ti� cates, crests and cash prizes.

“We want our participants to explore the diversity and richness of Bangladesh’s herit-age in their creative pursuits,” said Standard Chartered Bank chief executive o� cer for Bangladesh Abrar Anwar while giving details about the event at a press conference at a city hotel yesterday.

He said: “We want entries to capture the essence of the Bangladeshi identity. The con-testants are allowed complete freedom to ex-plore any subject matter of their choice with-in this theme.”

The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mah-fuz Anam, festival coordinator Ra� Hossain and bank’s head of corporate a� airs Bitopi Das Chowdhury were also present at the press brie� ng.

Under the photography category, the best three photographers will be selected from the contestants. The � rst winner will receive Tk1 lakh, the second Tk75,000 and the third Tk50,000. Under the � lm category, four priz-es will be given in two sections--best � lm and best debut � lm. The length of the � lms for the best � lm segment should be between 20-45 minutes. Cash awards of Tk2 lakh will be giv-en to each of the two best � lms.

Under the best debut � lm segment, entries are invited between three to twelve minutes in length. Cash awards of Tk1 lakh will be giv-en to each of the two best debut � lms.

In lyrics contest, entries can be in both English and Bengali, and participants can submit a maximum of three entries per per-son. First winner will receive Tk50,000, sec-ond Tk30,000 and third Tk20,000.

The lifetime achievement awards for � lm, photography and lyric will also be given to those people who are veterans in their � elds. l

Real estate sector wants allowing the use of undisclosed money in the purchase of � ats for next 5-10 years RAJIB DHAR

21D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015T

-JUNCTION

Oh Tokyo!

24listology

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

quiz

The toxicity test

INSIDE

Photos: Ayan Choudhury

22review express

A taste of Tokyo

The breakdown

TantaliseT-JUNCTION22DT

n N Anita Amreen

There’s always that new eatery that creates a buzz, has people clamouring for a tasting and then slowly sizzles out with time. With its compact menu, modest pricing and fairly solid items, Tokyo Express may as well be able to ride the tides and hold their place as the go-to Sushi joint for those of us looking for fair meals at average prices. However, only time will tell if they are able to place themselves above the rest. Here’s our take on dishes that made the cut and didn’t.

Shining the spotlight on one of the most talked about sushi joints: Tokyo Express

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015T-JUNCTION22D

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The décor/ambienceWhile the average pricing may have us fooled to believe that this must be another regular joint with a mediocre set up – quite the contrary is true. This casual dining establishment gives a modern � air to quirky, urban style décor. The black washed walls, the paper place mats and the simple seating arrangement gives you a feel of a hip, urban Japanese sushi joint that is alive and kicking. Mute spot lighting extends on each table and chopsticks are the order of the day.

The bang for buckIf you’re looking for high end, top quality sushi, you almost always have to pay a hefty amount. For Tokyo Express, you can easily pack a � lling meal for two with a little over Tk2,000, which includes drinks, a rice item, a meat dish and a sushi platter. It’s important to not be deceived by the portion sizes. If you order two or three main dishes as well as rice and perhaps a sushi platter, there’s always plenty to be shared and more left to be tried. Ultimately, one reason you’ll want to go to Tokyo Express is because of their a� ordable and quality dishes.

Jumbo Prawn Tempura Tk550The Jumbo Prawn Tempura is one appetiser that will leave you with no complains. It is piece after piece of delectable goodness wrapped in a thin, crisp batter that begs to be devoured. Even when it comes to portion sizes, this appetiser is all about deliciousness and generosity – there are seven large pieces, all hiding a plump, large shrimp. It’s exactly how ideal tempura should be – crisp, delicious and grease-free.

California Maki Tk490As a popular choice for less daring sushi enthusiasts, the California Maki is perhaps a safe choice. This Plane Jane maki consists of six pieces of rolls that is hard to go wrong with. With a good helping of soy sauce and wasabi, it makes for an easy no-nonsense order that will leave yourself sated. The wasabi may not pack the most punch, but it’s got enough zing for people who aren’t used to strong wasabi.

Assorted Sushi platter Tk590The assorted sushi platter features two pieces, each of salmon sushi, cuttle� sh sushi and prawn sushi. If you’re looking to try a couple of their sushis, this platter is your best bet since it gives you a good assortment of their basic sushis. When it comes to quality and taste, it’s safe to say these aren’t great examples of raw marvels, but they’re certainly okay for the price you’re paying. The salmon easily triumphs over the cuttle� sh, while the prawn remains as a last resort item you may feel reluctant to try. Don’t expect overly thick slices of fresh � sh either. Their sushi tastes best when you have moderate expectations.

Tantalise T-JUNCTION 23D

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FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

All prices are exclusive of 15% VAT Overall Rating 3.75/5

Chicken Nanban Tk360If we’d like to attribute one item to the success of Tokyo Express, it definitely would go to the Chicken Nanban. The best bang-for-your-buck item in the menu, the Nanban is essentially a marinated fried chicken dish served hot and crisp. What makes the dish so magical is the hearty drizzling of the Nanban sauce that is hot, sweet and tangy all at once. The pool of flavours offer an interesting contrast, easily making it a must-order item on their menu.

Osaka Spicy Beef Tk450 (Rating: 3.5/5)Contrary to it’s name, the Osaka beef isn’t half as spicy as it claims to be. However, it does have a few redeeming qualities that may make you want to order it, especially if you want an accompaniment for their Tokyo Fried rice. Served on a small platter, the Osaka Spicy Beef consists of small beef strips, chopped scallions and a hint of spice. Not overly tender, the strips are slightly on the sweeter side, and are doused with what tastes a lot like a combo of oyster and soy sauce.

Grilled Octopus and Squid Tk590The Grilled Octopus and Squid are on the greasier side. Its quite rich, salty and a bit spicy. It comes with a clear yet thick chilli sauce that makes a kicking addition. Plated simply, it’s more like a stir fried dish that is zealously thrown together. Overall, if you’re into grilled squid, it’s a dish that should be given a shot.

Tokyo Fried Rice Tk180The Tokyo Fried Rice is just that – a simple fried rice that goes well with any of the main dishes. It’s not overly impressive but it doesn’t need to be either. Moreover, it does the trick of playing prime partner to any of the items from the Meat lovers section of the menu.

Iced Lemon Tea Tk120You barely ever find an iced tea that has just the perfect amount of sweetness, tang and the hint of tea. Their iced tea is everything you want it to be and more. If there’s only ONE thing you want to visit Tokyo Express for, it can easily be the iced tea. Yes, it’s that good. Priced at a mere Tk120, it comes in a large mug that takes you a while to chug down. The only reason we’re not giving it a 5/5 is perhaps because it so utterly rich and dense with flavours, it’s not for the lighthearted.

Photos: Ayan Choudhury

ListologyT-JUNCTION24DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Here’s a list of � ve most toxic beings on earth you may come across

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

ThetoxicitytestHarsh question, but we tend to be the greatest lawyers with ourselves and the best critics against others. For the pursuit of self-discovery and making amendments, � nd out how noxious you may be.

n Raisa Rahim

Queen bee“I don’t follow the rules, I make them.”These are the people who talk the talk, and walk the walk. They may appear to be nice, helpful, productive (probably the president of your school’s community service club) at first greeting, but when you get to know them better, you eventually realise that for them. Their needs and wants are the only things that matter. They make the rules, steal the spotlight and you must comply. It’s funny how these “queen bees” never fail to impress the superiors and teachers, and turn them against you if you refuse to be their “duff”- the one who brings the queen bee her latte.

Laughing BuddhaNow this guy, on the contrary, is the hilarious one in the crowd. He is literally a laughing stock, being spontaneous and witty. He’ll never stop going racist, sexist, and whatnot on you with his punch lines, unless you have wet your pants. This person here has the power to impress the crowd with his humour without offending them, even when he is making fun of someone in his jokes.

Manipulative MissieMy, oh my! This sneaky-witty fox disguised in a human body can read you like a magazine, extract your weakness with small talks and tactfully use them to make

you believe what they want you to believe. They can turn you against yourself, your friend or even make you fall in love with a TV series you once hated.

Gossip Girls“Oh, I can tell you’re up to something. Please, let me in on it. I haven’t been this bored since I believed in Jesus” - Georgina (from Gossip Girls)

This good-looking bunch makes it a habit of talking about others behind their backs, judging, passing comments and even spreading rumours. If they were a game, it’d be “Chinese whispers,” they’ve only got a tiny stomach that is mostly filled with make-believe stories that they like to spill out from time to time. Don’t be judgmental readers, it’s just another hobby, they’re real humans too, you know.

The Drama MamaThese ladies/lads are wonderfully pleasant to your surrounding. They are polite, understanding and not whinny at all. Well readers, sorry to burst your bubbles but that’s a lie. As a matter of fact these drama mamas are completely the opposite. They are over sensitive, whinny and annoying. They’ll totally ruin your tea party if you served her tea with one sugar cube and the lady next to her with two. So next time, make your guest list wisely.

Quiz

LISTOLOGY

1. Enjoying a free road on a Friday, you revved your car up and hit a passenger-less rickshaw to a curb. He’s injured. Which would you do?

a. Drive dude! Has GTA not taught you anything?

b. Get out of the car and give the moron a piece of your mind.

c. Analyse the scenario to see if you can scram without a scene.

d. Help the poor guy to a hospital.

2. You go into a friend’s bathroom after a game to take a shower. You see all these fancy products on the stand and...

a. It was a looong shower and you came out smelling confusingly good.

b. You get curious and try out some, carefully leaving no traces.

c. Just look and touch, not use.d. The soap’s just fine.

Mostly AsConcentrated toxicity

Mostly BsModerate toxicity

Mostly CsMild toxicity

Mostly DsYou're pure as water

3. A passenger on a bus is bothering you...

a. Laugh and show that passenger how the pros do it.

b. You react and snap loud enough for everyone to hear.

c. You react smartly, sending a strong yet quiet message.

d. Almost there. Almost there. Almost there.

25D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

‘TEMPORARY’ DE KRUIF FLIES BACK TODAY

ICC MISINTERPRETED MY LETTER, SAYS KAMAL

BPL MISERY STILL HAUNTS COACH PONT

2826 27

Kevin Pietersen ‘isn’t on the radar’ for an England recall,

coach Peter Moores told reporters on Thursday as his squad prepared to � y out to

the West Indies

NO CHANCE

Sport

BCB-BCCI relation not strained: Nazmuln Minhaz Uddin Khan

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan yesterday termed former International Cricket Council president AHM Mostafa Ka-mal’s decision to resign as “unfortunate”.

The Kamal-ICC spat was ignited following the quarter-� nal between Bangladesh and In-dia in the recently concluded 2015 ICC World Cup. Many thought that Kamal’s resignation might sour the bilateral ties between the BCB and the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) but Nazmul believes their relationship with the Indian board is intact and will not be a� ected by the recent episode.

“I cannot � nd any reasons for that (strained relationship between the BCB and the BCCI). It (Kamal’s resignation) has nothing to do with the relation of these two countries. We noti-� ed our concerns about the game, not India or its team. We never complained against a cer-tain country. When we made a written com-plaint [to the ICC] a day after the game (March

20), we only stressed that, despite being avail-able, technology was not being used and it happened more than once,” Nazmul told the media yesterday. Nazmul emphasised that Kamal spoke in his capacity as the ICC presi-dent and not as a BCB representative.

Regarding the BCB’s observation on the umpiring in the Bangladesh-India quarter-� -nal, Nazmul said they did their part by voic-ing their concerns. The BCB boss informed that ICC CEO David Richardson assured him and the board that they would investigate and analyse the game ball-by-ball.

“Just after the Bangladesh-India match, we wrote a letter to the ICC containing our obser-vation. The initial response from the ICC came

from CEO Dave Richardson. He said they will investigate it ball-by-ball and would later let us know following their analysis,” he said.

The ICC, through a media release last Wednesday, said it will discuss the vacant president’s post in its next meeting on April 15-16. In accordance with the constitution of the ICC, Bangladesh will get the chance to name a representative of their choice for the vacant position.

“Kamal was a choice of the Bangladesh government which the BCB passed on to the ICC. If the BCB is asked again, a similar pro-cess may be followed. The system indicated that the ICC had asked the BCB to give the name of a candidate. We gave a name follow-ing the approval by the Bangladesh govern-ment. The next ICC meeting is very impor-tant for us to know what they are thinking of at the moment. We have to know the proce-dure. We also have to speak to the honourable Prime Minister because the last person was approved by her as well,” he said.

The BCB supremo further informed that the board holds healthy relations with most of the ICC member nations and has received support from ICC chairman Narayanaswami Srinivasan in the past.

“We were in real trouble ahead of the Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 in 2014. The situation in our country was very negative but Srinivasan and a few others stepped up in our support and as a consequence of that, we hosted both the tournaments successfully.”

Nazmul also said they are planning to fe-licitate the national cricketers for their per-formance in the World Cup.

“We are planning to felicitate our cricket-ers. The programme will be held in a public place so that the general people can cheer for their national heroes. The board has already chalked out the plans and we will discuss it and � nalise a date in the next board meeting [this Monday]. We want to � nish this part before the Pakistan team arrive for the home series,” informed Nazmul. l

We performed well in the World Cup but that is past now. We have

the BCL and the Pakistan series coming up and we, the players, are

focused on performing there

Walton Central skipper Mahmudullah trains in Mirpur yesterday ahead of the Bangladesh Cricket League one-day tournament starting from April 5 MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

We noti� ed our concerns about the game, not India or its team. We never complained against a certain country

Sport26DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Prime Bank South ZoneMashrafe bin Mortaza

Abdur RazzakImrul Kayes

Soumya SarkarMohammed Mithun

Tushar ImranMosaddek Hossain

Nurul HasanZiaur Rahman

Shahriar NafeesSohag Gazi

Enamul Haque JrRubel Hossain

Al-Amin Hossain

BCB North ZoneMush� qur Rahim

Naeem IslamZunaed Siddique

Nasir HossainSabbir Rahaman

Mahmudul HassanMyshukur Rahman

Taijul IslamMuktar Ali

Farhad RezaDelwar Hossain

Ariful HaqueSanjamul IslamJahurul Islam

Walton Central ZoneShamsur Rahman

Abdul MajidMahmudullahRony Talukder

Mehrab Hossain JrMosharraf Hossain

Elias SunnyMohammed ShohidMohammad Sharif

Shuvagata HomDhiman GhoshTaskin AhmedMarshal Ayub

Nadif Chowdhury

Islami Bank East ZoneTamim Iqbal

Mehedi Hasan Mominul HaqueShadman Islam

Alok KopaliNabil SamadAsif Ahmed

Arafat SunnyAbul Hasan

Sha� ul IslamKamrul Islam Rabbi

Liton Kumar DasJubair AhmedTasamul Haq

BANGLADESH CRICKET LEAGUE 2015 FINAL SQUADS

Shakib leaves for Kolkatan Minhaz Uddin Khan

Ace Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan yesterday left Dhaka to join Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming eighth edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament. Before his departure, the ODI vice-captain appeared highly spirit-ed and looked forward to participating in the tournament.

Shakib briefed the media at his residence yesterday prior to his departure.

“IPL is a very fun tournament. I enjoy play-ing there more because the level of the tour-nament is very high with the participation of all the star cricketers from around the globe,” said Shakib, who will feature in two matches,

against Mumbai Indians this Wednesday and Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 11. A day later, the 28-year old will join the national camp for the bilateral home series against Pa-kistan. Bangladesh will host Pakistan in three ODIs, a solitary T20I and two Tests.

Shakib believes good displays in the re-cently concluded 2015 ICC World Cup will give him the con� dence to perform in the IPL and carry that run of form into the home se-ries against Pakistan.

“Naturally, my con� dence level is very high. I will look to give my best e� ort because I will be representing Bangladesh there,” said the world’s number one T20 all-rounder.

Bangladesh Cricket Board granted Shakib the NOC (No Objection Certi� cate) until April 11. l

ICC misinterpreted my letter, says Kamal n Tribune Desk

Former International Cricket Council presi-dent AHM Mustafa Kamal has claimed the ICC media release which con� rmed his resigna-tion from the ICC president post on Wednes-day was distorted.

Kamal through a media release yesterday stated, “It has been observed that some misunderstandings aroused between the contents of the resignation letter submitted by Mr Kamal and ICC Media Release on this issue.”

ICC con� rmed his resignation on Wednes-day, but disputed the tone of the departure – saying in a statement: “In his letter to the ICC Chief Executive David Richardson, Mr Kamal said he was stepping down on personal grounds and o� ered his apologies to all asso-ciated with the ICC, while adding that he had no complaints to make against anyone.”

“He wrote in his letter: ‘Let the game of cricket under the leadership of ICC touch the hearts and minds of every cricket lover.’ The ICC Board will now consider the vacant po-sition of the ICC President at its forthcoming

meeting in Dubai on 15 and 16 April.”However, Kamal, also Bangladesh’s minis-

ter fro planning, raised objection and said that the letter from the cricket’s governing body is not right and has been misinterpreted.

According to Kamal, in his resignation let-ter he mentioned, “For almost 6 years now I am with you people (lCC) in various ca-

pacities. During this period if I had hurt an-ybody I would like to submit my apology to all of them. I have no complain what so ever against anybody whatsoever. On the contra-ry, I owe so much to all of you.”

Kamal’s media release further read, “We believe what Mustafa Kamal mentioned in his letter is just a courtesy maintained by a gen-tleman.” l

BCB North Zone skipper Mush� qur Rahim attempts a scoop during training at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

It has been observed that some misunderstandings aroused between the contents of the resignation letter submitted by Mr Kamal and ICC Media Release on this issue

Ace Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan takes a sel� e prior to his departure to Kolkata yesterday

Sport 27D

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FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

BPL misery still haunts coach Pont‘It seemed impossible to carry on coaching a side that contained players I knew to be corrupt’n Cricinfo

Ian Pont has spoken out in detail for the � rst time about his courageous part in an anti-cor-ruption sting operation designed to catch match-� xers in the act, but which has result-ed in him facing a long and disturbing strug-gle to protect his reputation.

Pont, who is currently running a pace foun-dation in India, has lost job o� ers and endured whispers about his honesty since reporting attempts to � x a match in the Bangladesh Pre-mier League and then working closely with ACU o� cers to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Now he fears his involvement could have damaging consequences for the rest of his career. “I am a professional cricket coach and I’m 53 years old,” he said. “I need to work. I can’t allow my reputation to be tainted when everything I’ve done has been for the best of intentions and for the good of cricket.”

His compelling evidence, including audio recordings of individuals detailing exact-ly how matches would be � xed, was largely disregarded by the tribunal in Bangladesh because they erroneously - and almost inex-plicably - concluded that salary paid to him during the sting operation was somehow as-sociated with match-� xing.

The money was part of his agreed salary from Dhaka Gladiators in the 2013 BPL tourna-ment and he was cleared, by the ICC’s ACSU, to keep it. But the fallout from the tribunal set-up by the BPL into the ACSU investigation still remains after it concluded that it was “disturb-ing” that Pont had kept the money and that this rendered his evidence unreliable.

Pont had stayed silent until now in the hope that the ICC might successfully appeal what they regarded as a bungled verdict of the BPL tribunal. But he � nally opened up.

“It all started on February 1 2013 when Jishan Chowdury, one of the owners of the Dhaka franchise, and one other man came to my room in the evening,” Pont said. “We had just won our � fth game out of six and we were top of the BPL table. Jishan then told me they wanted to � x the game against Chittagong Kings the following day. He had a piece of pa-per with speci� c details of what should hap-pen at various stages of the match and it was clear he wanted to � x the result, not just an isolated passage of play.

“My initial response was ‘I want to go home’. My head was spinning and, from the way they were talking, it seemed other peo-ple were involved. They wanted the normal captain, Mashrafe Mortaza, replaced for the game with Mohammad Ashraful as they knew that Mashrafe would have no part in any cor-ruption. He had already reported a previous approach and gone public in the media, too. So they wanted him out of the side.

“They also wanted to bring two new bowl-ers into the side - bowlers they knew would help them - and they wanted to bring one other batsman in on the plan. I know they approached Owais Shah, who reported the approach, and Darren Stevens, who was very upset by it and told me before the game that he wanted nothing to do with it.

“I phoned my wife and told her I wanted to come home. We talked it through and she said she would support my decision to re-port the approach the next morning and then leave the tournament. I was concerned how I

withdrew without the news coming out and overshadowing the entire BPL season.

“I reported the approach the next morn-ing. I was staying in the same hotel as Peter O’Shea, one of the ACSU’s o� cers, and asked to talk to him over breakfast. I told him the whole thing and said I just wanted to get on the next � ight home. He was very good. He reassured me that I had done the right thing and he told me that he would drive me to the airport that morning if I liked. But then he said, ‘If you really want to help us catch these people, if you want to make sure that they never do this again, then you’ll stay and help us collect evidence against them.’

“I agreed to allow them to bug my room,” he said. “Straight after breakfast, they placed a pen-sized video device in the hotel directo-ry on my desk and an audio device in a draw-er. I also recorded the audio on my laptop and

put loads of papers on my bed so it appeared I was working and I invited Jishan Chowdury back to my room.

“I asked him to run through the plans again. He did so, in detail, including telling me which players were in on the plan and what they were expected to do. He thought � ve players would help him. He also told me that Chittagong were not involved in the � x. As soon as he left the room, I phoned Peter O’Shea and arranged to give him the evi-dence. I was, by then, desperate to go home. It seemed impossible to carry on coaching a side that contained players I knew to be cor-rupt and I didn’t think it was possible that I would be able to concentrate on cricket.”

“I kept thinking about Bob Woolmer. Who knows what happened to him that day in Ja-maica?” Pont said. “All I did know was, the more I thought about it, the more I was terri-� ed it would emerge that I had tricked these

people and I started to fear the consequences. Yes, I was scared. In the end, I spoke to Peter and decided that, for the long-term good of cricket, really, I should stick to the plan and stay in Bangladesh to see it through.

“I was o� ered money for my involvement. Jishan o� ered me $6,000, but I said I didn’t want it. I told him I just wanted my salary. I told him that the second instalment in my contract - $10,000 - was overdue anyway and I’d be happy just to have that. He told me not to worry about it and said I’d be paid in a few days. The audio evidence - evidence submit-ted to the tribunal - makes it crystal clear that I said I just wanted my salary to be paid as agreed before the tournament.”

The Bangladesh tribunal later made strong criticism of the ACSU’s decision to allow a BPL game to go ahead even though they had strong suspicions that � xing would occur in

it. As a result, the tribunal came to the con-clusion that the entire sting operation was � awed and to Pont’s dismay has largely disre-garded its � ndings.

“When we got to the ground it was packed,” he said. “The capacity was meant to be 35,000 but, because there was a batch of forged tickets, there were 47,000 people in the ground. I don’t think the ACSU have the authority to stop a game even if they wanted to but, had they tried to do so at that stage, there would have been a riot.”

To ensure the sting went ahead, Pont had to brazen out some anger from Mortaza, who Pont believes suspected the worst when he was left out of the side. “I was given a report which told me that Mashrafe couldn’t play because of his knee - which was possible, as he had a chronic knee condition - but he was furious when I told him. He kicked some water bottles away and I suspected he realised what was happening.”

Gladiators also left out Chris Liddle, a lit-tle-known Sussex pace bowler, to allow space for some of the bowlers who knew of the � x-ing plans. “The game was ridiculous. There were some obvious extras, a ridiculous full toss and then we batted appallingly. Ashraful opened the batting and lasted into the 19th over, scoring 33. I remember one of the Chit-tagong players said ‘you could have made it less obvious’ as we shook hands at the end.

“I was furious. I also felt con� icted because I knew I had been a part of a game that was an insult to the watching spectators. I didn’t lose sight of the long-term bene� ts - if we wanted to rid the game of these people, we had to ac-cumulate evidence against them - but at that moment, I just wanted to get away. I refused to go to the post-match press conference and went back to the hotel.

“A couple of days later all of us - the whole playing squad and the coaches - were given an envelope containing some money. That wasn’t unexpected: they owed me $10,000 in salary payments. But I opened it to � nd it contained just $6,000 which worried me as it was the amount they mentioned. I called Peter imme-diately and he said ‘keep it; that’s your salary, we’re not going to take that o� you, they still owe you $4,000.’ They never did pay the re-maining $4,000. Peter said that, as I was expect-ing my salary, and as long as I didn’t take a dollar more than was contractually obliged, it was ok.

“But when the tribunal started I had new fears. One of the judges kept saying ‘the game shouldn’t have gone ahead’ and said all evi-dence after I reported the approach would be disregarded. So in the end they cleared nearly everyone involved. They even cleared some-one who approached a player who had plead-ed guilty to not reporting an approach. How can that happen?

“To make matters worse, they’ve produced a report which I feel questions my integrity. They have said that I kept a bung and couldn’t explain why. And they have said that, be-cause I couldn’t explain why I took the mon-ey, it made my evidence unreliable. So they have disregarded rock solid evidence against people we know are involved in match � xing.

“It’s just not right. I asked the ACSU if I should keep the money and the, knowing that I hadn’t been paid - I still haven’t been paid in full - told me that I should. It was my salary. To disregard my evidence because I accepted it seems perverse and makes me ex-tremely angry.”

Pont is concerned that, unless he tells his story, the damage done to his coaching ca-reer could be terminal. Recently, the o� er of a lucrative coaching job in India was suddenly rescinded and, as things stand, it is doubtful that the ECB would dare to consider him for the role of England fast bowling coach.

“From a personal perspective, I’ve done everything I was asked to do by the ACSU. I’ve lost my job at Dhaka as a consequence, even though I coached them to the title for two years in succession. That’s ok: I knew what I was getting into. I did the right thing and, when I look back, I’m proud of that. I can live with it if people think I’m a rubbish coach or my methods are ine� ective. I think they’re wrong, but I can live with it. But to have my integrity questioned by this tribunal… well, it leaves bad taste in the mouth and leaves me with no choice but to tell the full story.” l

I suspected Mashrafe realised what was happening and he was furious

Sport28DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

‘Temporary’ De Kruif � ies back todayn Shishir Hoque

Bangladesh national football team head coach Lodewijk de Kruif is scheduled to leave the capital and return to his home Nether-lands today morning along with German goal-keeping coach Christian Schweichler. The coaching duo had arrived in Dhaka on March 12 to take charge of the national U23 side for the AFC U23 Championship Quali� ers which concluded on March 31.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) con� rmed that the Dutch will only work with the national team on assignment basis and he is expected to return in June before Bangla-desh’s matches in the Fifa World Cup quali� -ers starting on June 11.

When a head coach of a team works in phases it is natural for the team not to fare well but the reason behind taking such a step is strictly � nancial, admitted BFF general sec-retary Abu Nayeem Shohag.

Shohag said, “Financial guarantee comes above all. We had an agreement with them

only for AFC U23 Championship quali� ers and they will leave tomorrow (today) ac-cording to the agreement. Now we will work together on assignment basis. Kruif will be working with us and we will let him know about future assignments,”

“We have the World Cup quali� ers, Sa� Championship ahead and considering all these we will take the � nal decision after talking to the coaches. We will move ahead with a comprehensive plan and schedule and will do the further bargaining in the coming days,” added Shohag.

Meanwhile, De Kruif expressed his desire of working with the Red and Green saying, “I will come when they call me and I’m still will-

ing to come.” He added, “The im portant thing is the World Cup (quali� ers) games are com-ing and see where we are standing. We are in the lowest pot for the draw so the big teams are coming. Its important to play against big teams.”

Although it should hamper the preparations working in phases, De Kruif opined, “We did a lot of works before. All the players in the Bangladesh team are in my head. A few more is coming as we see their performance in the last Federation Cup. We will bring some extra players when I will come back to see how they perform in our group. Its not big problem for not staying here permanently. Titu has quality enough to see what is happening over here and give me the good report. My message is play games, train good, play as much as you can.”

The Dutchman also plans to bring in Bang-ladeshi expatriates in the squad like he did in � ying in Jamal Bhuiyan who is now one of the most important players for Bangladesh. “We want to invite Riasat again who is now play-

ing in Philippines. There are two young guys in Cardi� but they were born in 1998, young guys. We have a guy in Japan and one in New-castle. That’s one of the plan that I still have to chase for but there must be a budget.”

German goalkeeper coach Christian Schweichler submitted a 7-8 pages of report to the federation after analysing Bangladesh goalkeepers in clubs and BKSP and he be-lieves with the potential Bangladesh players have, they need proper goalkeeping training.

“There are young players who have poten-tial and talented but they are su� ering low level of coaching and training. They have lack of tactical understanding. In this 2015 this is absolutely essential,” said the German coach.

“The high quality goalkeeper is not only about standing on the line, catching the ball but you need football skills as well as tactical understanding, how to read the game, organ-ise your defence, what to do with set pieces. That is something which is missing here. This is not only a problem in Bangladesh football but in Asia,” he added. l

Bando Design o� to Kolkata for corporate footballn Tribune Desk

Bando Design Ltd, a concern of Sterling Group, � ew to Kolkata yesterday to take part in the Calcutta Parsee Club Corporate and Club Five-a-Side Invitational Football Tour-nament. Bando, captained by its managing director Imranur Rahman, are a popular team when it comes to corporate futsal in Bangla-desh as they, in the last 12 months, became champions in the Mir Corporate Football Fi-esta and runners-up in the Ascent Corporate Cup. Bando will be the � rst foreign team to play in the Parsee Cup, that has been running for the last 25 years, when they face Hay Inc in their opening match tomorrow. In this edi-tion 25 corporate houses and 44 club teams are participating. The tournament will end on April 18. l

SA U19s arrive today for seven-match youth ODIsn Tribune Desk

The South Africa Under-19 cricket team are scheduled to land in Dhaka today morning for a seven-match youth one-day international series. Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday announced a 14-man squad for the series that will last three weeks with left-handed bats-man Nazmul Hossain Shanto named the cap-tain of the home side.

It is understandable from the squad that the BCB is utilising this series to build a strong base for the future as some key names from the age-level side were left out and put in the stand-by list. Previous captain Mehedy Hasan, Shadman Islam and Joyraz Sheikh Emon are few of the names who might be called up as the series progresses.

After a warm-up game at BKSP on Monday,

the visitors will take on the hosts in the � rst youth ODI at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday. After the � rst two matches at SBNS, the teams will move to Cox’s Bazar for the third and fourth encounter before playing the remainder of the matches in Chittagong.

SquadNazmul Hossain Shanto (C), Zakir Hasan, Pinak Ghosh, Sha� ul Hayet, Mohammad Saif Hasan, Shaif Uddin, Mosabbek Hossain Sun, Mehedy Hasan, Nahid Hasan, Moham-mad Abdul Halim, Sanjit Saha, Saleh Ahmed Shawon Gazi, Nihaduzzaman, Prosenjit Das

Stand-byMehedy Hasan Miraz, Shahanur Rahman, Joyraj Sheik Imon, Munim Shahriar, Rifat Pradhan, Shadman Islam, Mehedi Hasan. l

The ITHS Super Cup, an inter-school age-level football tournament organised and hosted by International Turkish Hope School (ITHS) at the arti� cial turf inside the school premises in Uttara, kicked o� yesterday. 17 schools are participating in the annual event that comprises three age categories – Under-14, 16 and 19. Hosts ITHS and Canadian School competed in the opening match in the U-14 section which ended in a goalless draw. The tournament will end tomorrow COURTESY

ITHS SUPER CUP GETS UNDERWAY

Bangladesh football team coach Lodewijk de Kruif (R) speaks in a press conference at BFF House yesterday in the presence of BFF general secretary Abu Naeem Shohag (C) and goalkeeping coach Christian Schweichler BFF

We want to invite Riasat again who is now playing in Philippines. There are two young guys in Cardi� , one in Newcastle and a guy in Japan

Sport 29D

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Ten SportsSky Bet Championship 8:00PM Middlesbrough v Wigan Athletic 12:45AM Derby County v Watford Ten Action02:40PM Australian-League 2014/15WS Wanderers v Melbourne City Indian-League 201504:30PM Mohun Bagan v Salgaocar 07:00PM Bengaluru v Royal Wahingdoh 12:00AM French Ligue 1 AS Monaco v AS Saint-Etienne Star Sports 23:00PM, Maybank Malaysia OpenQuarter� nals 12:40AM Spanish La Liga SD Eibar v Rayo Vallecano Star Sports 311:00PM, 5:00AM ATP Miami Open Semi Finals

DAY’S WATCH

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

Murray dumps Austria’s Thiem to reach Miami semisn Reuters, Miami

Third-seed Andy Murray recovered from an early setback to beat Austrian Dominic Thi-em 3-6 6-4 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the semi-� nals of the Miami Open where he will face Czech Tomas Berdych.

Eighth seed Berdych defeated Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3 6-4 in their quarter-� nal to set up a re-match of their tense and at times acrimonious Australian Open semi-� nal which Murray won in four sets.

Murray’s 501st career win was far from easy as the 21-year-old Thiem, ranked 52nd in the world, used an impressive backhand and some entertaining tennis to take the � rst set.

But after Murray, far from his best, forced a deciding set, he took � rm control after earn-ing a break at the end of a long fourth game to go up 3-1.

“At the beginning of the match I didn’t re-turn well, especially returning his � rst serve. That put me in sort of a defensive position a lot when he was serving. I ended up doing quite a lot of running there,” said Murray.

“In the second set I went up and I was creat-ing quite a lot of opportunities, which was good, but I was just not quite � nding the right shot. I think in the third set the di� erence was really my returning. I returned his � rst serve extreme-ly well. I put him on the back foot,” he said.

Thiem was philosophical about his loss.“He won because he was the better player.

It’s very simple. I played a very good � rst set of course but if I could keep at that level of the � rst set I wouldn’t be ranked 52nd. l

Serena clinches 700th win, sets up Halep semi in Miami Openn Reuters, Miami

World number one Serena Williams overcame a dreadful second set to beat Germany’s Sa-bine Lisicki 7-6(4) 1-6 6-3 on Wednesday for her 700th career win and a berth in the Miami Open semi-� nals.

Williams will face Romania’s Simona Ha-lep for a place in the � nal after the third-seed beat Sloane Stephens 6-1 7-5.

The pair were due to meet in the semi-� -nals at Indian Wells earlier this month but Wil-liams pulled out with a knee injury and Halep went on to beat Jelena Jankovic in the � nal.

The duo are the two form players in wom-en’s tennis at the moment - Williams is on a 19-match winning streak while Halep has a 24-2 record this season.

Williams, who is seeking an eighth Miami title, made a sluggish start but went on to se-cure the � rst set in a tie-break and then broke her 27th-seeded opponent in the opening game of the second set before falling apart.

Lisicki’s precise and intelligent play took advantage of a series of unforced errors from Williams as the German won six consecutive games to force a decisive set.

But Williams, the two-times defending Mi-ami champion, quickly rediscovered her form and broke to get a 3-0 lead and held � rm for the win. Williams is the eighth player in WTA history to record 700 match wins, putting her in an exclusive club that is led by Martina Navratilova (1,442).

“I didn’t know I had 700 wins,” said Wil-liams, “I just want to keep doing, doing the best that I can. Just staying positive and win-ning as much as I can,” said Williams.

Halep utterly dominated the � rst set but Stephens recovered well in the second to open up a 5-4 lead only to see the Romanian power back to win the last three games, to the

delight of a surprisingly large and vocal Roma-nian contingent in the Key Biscayne crowd.

Halep is the last player to beat Williams af-ter she recorded a victory over the American in the round robin stage of the WTA Finals in Singapore last October.

Days later Halep was crushed 6-3 6-0 in the � nal of that tournament - by Williams.l

I’m no money-grabber: Sterlingn Reuters, London

Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling has de-nied he is a “money-grabbing 20-year-old”, but is in no rush to sign a new contract, he told the BBC on Wednesday.

England international Sterling has been o� ered an eye-watering 100,000 pounds ($148,300) a week to sign a new deal with Liv-erpool, according to media reports, but has yet to commit his future to the club.

He says, however, that money is not a deter-mining factor and ruled out discussing a new contract until at least the end of the season. “It’s not about the money at all,” Sterling said.

“It’s never been about money. I talk about winning trophies throughout my career. That’s all I talk about...

“I don’t talk about how many cars I’m go-ing to drive, how many houses I’ve got. I just purely want to be the best I can be.

“I don’t want to be perceived as a mon-ey-grabbing 20-year-old. I just want to be seen as a kid who loves to play football and to do the best for the team.”

Liverpool last won a trophy in 2012 when they claimed the League Cup, but came agonisingly close to lifting the league title last season, before being pipped by Manchester City.l

Sri Lanka urges Sangakkara retirement rethinkn AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s sports minister on Wednesday urged the world’s number one batsman Ku-mar Sangakkara to reconsider plans to retire from Test cricket and urged him to play on for another year.

Navin Dissanayake told reporters that he hoped a government-ordered overhaul of Sri Lanka Cricket might persuade the 37-year-old to stick around a bit longer after he again un-derlined his class at the World Cup.

“As sports minister, I humbly appeal to Kumar to reconsider (retirement) and play for the country for at least one more year,” the

minister said in Colombo.Dissanayake said he hoped that the ap-

pointment of an interim management team, headed by former Test player Sidath Wet-timuny, would demonstrate the new gov-ernment’s determination to “clean up” the governing body which has been beset by ac-cusations of corruption and mismanagement.

“I spoke with him (Sangakkara) in New Zea-land during the World Cup,” the minister said.

“He was very disappointed and unhappy (with the cricket administration) and now that there is a change, I think there is a possi-bility that he will change his mind.”

The minister said he had “asked Sidath

to talk to Kumar” about staying on after the left-hander’s outstanding performances at the World Cup. Sangakarra scored an unprec-edented four successive ODI hundreds during the World Cup, racking up a total of 541 in seven innings at an average of over 108.

As well as being the number one batsman in the world rankings for Test cricket, the former captain is also the number two in the ODI rankings. Although Sangakkara had an-nounced before the World Cup that it would be his swansong in one-day international cricket, he caused a stir during the tourna-ment by speaking of his intention to quit Tests within months. l

Messi’s injured foot has improved: Barcan Reuters, Barcelona

Lionel Messi’s injured foot has improved, his club Barcelona said on Thursday, suggesting the Argentina forward will be � t for Sunday’s La Liga trip to Celta Vigo.

The top scorer in Spain’s top � ight with 32 goals did not feature in either of Argentina’s friendlies during the international break af-ter sustaining a blow to his right foot in last month’s “Clasico” against Real Madrid.

“The in� ammation of Messi’s foot has im-proved and the player will attempt to join the rest of the internationals tomorrow,” they added.l

Serena Williams of the US poses with a cake to celebrate her 700th WTA Tour win after her victory against Sabine Lisicki of Germany in their quarter � nal of Miami Open in Florida on Wednesday AFP

DOWNTIME30DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

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

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 3 represents R so � ll R every time the � gure 3 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Halt (4)5 Quick (4)10 Dwarf bu� alo (4)11 Sheltered side (3)12 Interior (5)13 Period of time (3)14 Time in grammar (5)16 Light rainfall (6)18 Bacon slice (6)21 Out of order (5)23 Hail! (3)24 Combine (5)26 Lump on the skin (3)27 Legal document (4)28 Extremities (4)29 Poem of heroism (4)

ACROSS2 Dance (5)3 United (3)4 Carriers (7)6 Drinks (4)7 Calm (6)8 Afternoon reception (3)9 Sibilate (4)15 Obliteration (7)17 Highest happiness (6)19 Republic in the West Indies (5)20 Scottish dance (4)22 Repair (4)23 Respectful fear (3)25 Pinch (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

WHAT TO WATCHTELEVISION

Anaita Adajania@Anaita_AdajaniaStunning @son-amakapoor on our April cover shot by kristianschuller @bloodandco in armanio� cial… https://instagram.com/p/05Dpk1k3TM/

Madhuri Dixit-Nene @MadhuriDixitNaacho chhama chham chhamma Tamma tamma loge.......Learn the #dance moves from #DWMhttp://goo.gl/9J81Rt

CELEBS ON SOCIALRun Out set to go for Eid release

n Saudia Afrin

Recently upcoming movie Bombay Velvet made the audience quite curious through its shimmering presence of Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor and other casts. If not all yet a big junk of credits goes to its director, Anurag Kashyap.

However, this man of many shades always choose to play more roles as producer, screenwriter, actor along with directing. Bringing in front the social reality is his another signature individuality, in his early � fties honoured by the Government of France has awarded him the “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” in 2013 for his contribution in � lm.

Highly inspired by Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver Anurag started pursue his career in � lm industry through scrip writing. And his travelling into � lm continues with Dev.D, Gangs of Wasseypur, Bombay Talkies, That Girl in Yellow Boot, Uddan and many more. Anurag has also made cameo appearances in his nine � lms.

So far, Anurag’s dedication to work with the newcomers to guiding them, gifted him the tag of the “Poster Boy” of the new wave Hindi cinema. l

n Showtime Desk

Tonmoy Tansen’s debut � lm, which recently received the uncut censor board nod, is all set to hit cinemas during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

The romance action star Sajal Noor, Moushumi Nag and Romana Shwarna are in lead roles, while Omer Sunny, Ahmed Sharif and Tarik Anam Khan will be seen in supporting roles. Both Sajal and Moushumi Nag are both going to make their big screen debuts in this � lm, and apparently are in a trial run to prove they can do justice to their small screen fame in the big screen. Naila Nayem the model has featured with an intriguing item song, this will also be a debut for her on the big screen.

The story of the � lm follows of an

ordinary youngster played by Sajal, unfolding the narrative as his fate leads to something beyond ordinary; dark and deadly, infact.

The director, also a vocalist and musician, left his band Vikings to take care

of all the compositional works, including background score and a total of six tracks have been used in the � lm. Rupom and Kornia lent their voice in the item number, while Kona and Rinti sung as guest artists with the band. l

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey A- HBO 8:30pmThe story follows Bilbo Baggins, approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey. Bilbo � nds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield.Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, and Cate Blanchett

Mean Girls B- Zee Studio 5:30pmCady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha plastic Regina George.Cast: Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Lindsay Lohan

Transporter 2 B-Star Movies 12:30pmMercenary Frank Martin, who specializes moving goods of all kinds, surfaces again this time in Miami, Florida when he’s implicated in the kidnapping of the young son of a powerful USA o� cial.Cast: Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, and Amber Valletta

Dhaka Art Summit to launch third edition in Feb 2016

n Showtime Desk

Dhaka Art Summit, an initiative of the Samdani Art Foundation, will run from February 5 to 8, 2016, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

The world’s largest platform for South Asian art brings together artists, curators, scholars, museums representatives and nu-merous visitors from Bangladesh and across the world to discover institutional-quality artworks in a non-pro� t atmosphere, while this edition’s curatorial team includes representatives from renowned museums, such as the Tete Modern in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Guggenheim in New York.

The announcement came out yesterday in a press conference at the auditorium of National Art Gallery where Nadia Samdani, the director of Dhaka Art Summit, Liaquat Ali Lucky, the director general of BSA, Gou-sul Alam Shaon, a member of the summit organising committee and Muniruzzaman, curator of Bangladeshi contemporary art exhibitions, were present.

Expanding to a four-day-long event, the biennale will include new programmes for architecture, experimental writing and

historic archives in the 2016 edition. Diana Campbell Betancourt, the artistic

director of the foundation, will curate the solo projects, public art projects and the talks programmes like the previous edi-tions, while Nadia Raza from Tete Modern will explore the in� uence of sci-� and retro-futurism in South Asia art.

Like the previous edition, the Samdani Art Foundation has collaborated with the Del� na Foundation (UK) to award an out-standing young Bangladeshi artist the op-portunity to attend a three-month residen-cy at the Del� na Foundation in London as part of the bi-annual Samdani Art Award. l

Alia BhattVeri� ed account@aliaa08

Happy anniversary @GraziaIndia !!!! Thank you for this.. @EktaRajani bigggg HUGGG

Anurag, the gallon of talent

BACK PAGE32DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015

AIRTEL TOPS THE LIST OF INTERNET USERS PAGE 15

RUN OUT SET FOR EID RELEASE PAGE 31

‘BCB-BCCI RELATION NOT STRAINED’ PAGE 25

ATTACK ON BRTA OFFICIAL’S FAMILY

No trace of Kaberi’s killern Kamrul Hasan

Investigators are yet to locate the key suspect in the murder of college teacher Krishna Ka-beri Biswas, the wife of a BRTA o� cial who was killed during an attack on her family in the capital’s Mohammadpur on Monday.

Although three days have passed since the attack, the police are yet to unearth any major lead against the key suspect – KM Jahirul Is-lam alias Palash.

The only witnesses – BRTA Deputy Direc-tor Sitangshu Shekhar Biswas and his two daughters Shruti and Adri – have so far been unable to speak to investigators, as they were all recovering from injuries in hospital and were not in any condition to make a police statement.

The motive behind the attack could be known once the police were able to speak to the surviving victims, said Mohammadpur po-

lice station Sub-Inspector Mahbubur Rahman.The police have so far searched all possible

hideouts of Jahirul but were unable to locate him, said Mahbubur, who is also the investi-gation o� cer for the case.

He added that all mobile phone connec-tions belonging to Jahirul and his family members were turned o� , barring the police from tracing the murder suspect using net-work signals.

Sitangshu’s brother Sudhangshu Shekhar Biswas � led a murder case with Mohammad-pur police on Tuesday, naming Jahirul as the main accused.

According to the police, Jahirul – who works as manager of Hazi Ahmed Brothers Securities’ Gulshan branch – was familiar to the family.

On Monday night, the killer entered the � at of Sitangshu and attacked the BRTA o� -cial and his family members. Kaberi, 36, was

initially hacked with a kitchen sickle and later set on � re; she died the following day.

Sitangshu and Adri regained conscious after surgeries were performed on them, but the doc-tors recommended against any kind of verbal communication until they were feeling better.

Dr Suprio Sarker, a family friend of the vic-tims, told the Dhaka Tribune that Shruti was also recovering fast.

Sitangshu’s family, meanwhile, claimed that some media houses had been publishing fabri-cated stories suggesting that the BRTA o� cial had resorted to corrupt means to invest large amounts of money in the stock market. They urged journalists not to publish any story that violated the family’s privacy during their time of grief or might cause the case to be misled.

Himangshu Biswas, elder brother of Si-tangshu said the date of Kaberi’s funeral will be � xed after Sitangshu is able to communi-cate his wishes on this regard. l

Permission required to portray cops in median Kamrul Hasan

Permission is now required to portray the police in � lm, on television and in other visual media, police authorities announced yesterday.

Negative and comic representations of the police convey the wrong message and con-fuse the viewing public, Additional Deputy Commissioner (media and public relations) Jahangir Alam Sarker of the Dhaka Metropoli-tan Police (DMP) told the Dhaka Tribune.

“Prior permission must be sought from po-lice authorities before characterising police-men in dramas and cinemas,” he added.

He said letters had been sent to television, media and � lm companies informing them of the decision.

Several recent cases have involved the use of police uniforms by criminals and the DMP is trying to avoid such situations, he added. l

Two children killed in explosion near Savar’s army � ring rangen Our Correspondent, Savar

An explosion, allegedly caused by an aban-doned grenade, killed at least two children yesterday and injured another kid in a � eld near the � ring range of Savar Cantonment.

Hridoy and Shubho, both aged ten years, were killed in Mostapara village in Birulia union; Salman, 11, was also injured in the explosion.

The locals and the families of the deceased said some children were playing in a � eld near the cantonment’s � ring range where Shub-ho found a grenade lying abandoned on the ground. As he was bringing the grenade back home, it went o� .

Savar Model police station OC Abdul Mot-aleb Miah con� rmed that it was a grenade that went o� and killed the two children.

Visiting the site of the explosion, the Dhaka Tribune found that army personnel were re-stricting journalists from taking any pictures there. The army men also refused to comment on what might have caused the explosion.

Local residents, however, claimed that gre-nades that are used to train army personnel on the nearby � ring range had been left aban-doned on the � eld, leading to the accident. l

Study: Road accidents killed one per hour in 2014 n Shohel Mamun

Road accidents caused nearly a death an hour last year, according to a study.

In the study released at a press conference in the capital yesterday, Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, a commuters’ association, found that 8,589 people had died in road accidents across the country in 2014. The study is based on data collated from 10 national and � ve newspapers.

The association’s Secretary General Mo-zammel Haque Chawdhury said: “This is � rst time we have published a complete report on the road accident situation in Bangladesh.”

The report’s � ndings show that 17,523 were hurt in road accidents – with 1,623 su� ering life-long injuries – and 8,589 were killed in 5,928 road accidents between January and December 2014.

“This is an enormous death toll, yet the

government has not taken steps to reduce road accidents,” Mozammel said.

“There is no veri� able databank on the number of accidents in the country. That is why we tried to tally the number of accidents and casualties using published newspaper re-ports. We believe the death toll and number of accidents is actually higher than this,” he said.

The number of deaths caused by accidents

on the roads and highways in Bangladesh is a matter of dispute.

The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) claimed in its annual report published in January that over the last � ve years, road ac-cidents claimed 2,529 lives on average every year, while last year’s death toll was below 2,000.

The NRSC report is based on data collected from police headquarters. l

An autistic boy started walking back and forth in front of the dais when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was addressing a function on the World Autism Awareness Day 2015 in Dhaka yesterday. When security tried to stop him Hasina asked them to leave the boy be. The boy kept strolling until the end of the programme BSS

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