Government to make formal statement today on new video; Chittagong adopts precautionsn Asif Islam

Law enforcement agencies scrambled to assess the threat raised by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri’s announce-ment that a South Asian branch of its international armed group had been established “to raise the � ag of jihad” in the region.

The al-Qaeda video comes six months after a previous call to Bang-ladeshi Muslims to adopt al-Qaeda’s version of Islam and take part in holy war. An audio message believed to be authentic, calling on Bangladeshis to join the movement, was released in January this year.

The 63-year-old Islamist militant, who took over the al-Qaeda organisation after US commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011, an-nounced the establishment of “Qaedat al Jihad in the Indian subcontinent,” in a video spotted on Wednesday on online jihadist forums by US-based jihadist threat monitor, SITE Intelligence Group.

State Minister for Home A� airs Asa-duzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said Bangladesh’s o� cial reaction to the video would be made today.

“We are looking into the al-Qaeda video message,” he said yesterday as intelligence agencies worked to au-

thenticate the video. “We are verifying the origin and au-

thenticity of the video,” the state minis-ter said, adding: “We have been working on curbing militancy for a long time.”

In neighbouring India, the home minister, Rajnath Singh, met with Na-tional Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the director of the intelligence bureau, sources said. The government was treating the video as “genuine”, al-though it would be veri� ed, and issued “an alert across several states,” India’s The Hindu newspaper reported.

The new entity, Qaedat al Jihad in the Indian subcontinent, was an-nounced by As Sahab, al-Qaeda’s o� -cial media wing, in a video posted on social media outlets including You-Tube, Qatar-based al Jazeera reported.

Known to be active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, al-Qaeda has vowed to export jihad to India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, in defence of those Zawahiri described as: “Vulnerable in the Indian subconti-nent, in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gu-jarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir...”

The only known operation by al-Qa-eda in India, a reconnaissance mis-sion carried out by a Yemeni national in Goa some time between 2008 and 2009, was discovered when US forc-es retrieved the terrorist’s comput-er after he was killed in Iraq, India’sNDTV reported.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

DHAKA: FROM THE BIRD’S EYE, TO LIFE UP-CLOSE

7 | FEATURE

INDIA ON ALERTP9

20 pages plus 24-page weekend supplement | Price: Tk12FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

Bhadro 21, 1421Zilqad 9, 1435Regd No DA 6238Vol 2, No 154

3 | NewsThe war crimes tribunal yesterday disposed of the contempt notice it had issued upon New York-based HRW asking it to be more circum-spect and careful in making any comment or placing statement on the judiciary of Bangladesh.

4 | NewsAround 200 doctors, who teach and provide al-ternative medical treatments like unani, ayurve-dic and homeopathy, were posted to di� erent district and upazila hospitals. The Health Direc-torate had issued a gazette noti� cation in this regard on September 1.

5 | NewsDhanmondi playground, which had recently been re-declared as a public ground by DSCC, has again become virtually o� -limits to children, young-sters and locals as authorities of the playground continue to control its gates.

6 | NationWithout any boundary wall, Birpur Government Primary School in Narsingdi municipality is run-ning just beside a railway line posing risks to its students. Headmistress of the school says as there was no boundary wall surrounding the school it had become di� cult to control the students.

I N S I D E

POLLPOSITION

11 | OP-ED

PLAYINGWITH THE GERM CELL

WEEKEND

ANGEL SETS UP SWEET REVENGE OVER GERMANY

14 | SPORT

al-Qaeda puts South Asia in crosshairs

MyanmarGujarat Bangladesh

RakhineState

Assam

Islamabad Jammu andKashmir

THE EASTWARD MARCH OF TERROR

ASIM UMARHEAD OF QAEDAT AL

JIHAD

USAMA MAHMOUD

SPOKESPERSON OF QAEDAT AL JIHAD

AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI

HEAD OF AL QAEDA

MULLAH OMARHEAD OF

AFGHANISTAN TALIBAN

Six television anchors sued for Faruqi murdern Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Six presenters of religious programmes in di� erent private television channels, two of whom are involved with Jamaat-e-Islami, have been sued in connection with the kill-ing of Shaikh Nurul Islam Faruqi.

Emran Hussain Tushar, Dhaka city unit general secretary of Islami Chhatra Sena – student wing of Islamic Front Bangladesh, � led the case with Dhaka’s Chief Metropoli-tan Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The accused are NTV’s Tarek Monawar; ATN Bangla’s Arakanullah Haruni and Ka-maluddin Jafree; RTV and Radio Today presenter Khalid Saifullah Bakshi; Diganta TV and Peace TV anchor Kazi Ibrahim; and

Bangla Vision’s Mokhtar Ahmed.Of the accused, Tarek Monwar is a rokon

of Jamaat while Jafree is the former Jamaat ameer of Narsingdi district unit.

Presenter of religious programmes on Chan-nel i, Faruqi, 60, was slaughtered by a group of unidenti� ed people at his house on August 24.

He was a Presidium member of Islamic Front – a platform of several Islamist organ-isations. He also served as the international a� airs secretary of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, an Islamist group that opposes Jamaat and Hefazat-e-Islam.

Faruqi was the imam of Supreme Court mosque. He had di� erent business including a hajj agency.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

MPs demand ban on AK Khandaker’s new bookn Emran Hossain Shaikh

Senior treasury and opposition bench lawmak-ers yesterday asked the government to ban the recently published book of AK Khandaker for distorting facts while describing the history of 1971 Liberation War and the role of Bangab-andhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

While taking part in an unscheduled dis-cussion in parliament, the MPs also demanded that a sedition charge be brought against him.

Air Vice Marshal (retd) Khandaker was the deputy chief of army during the war. He served as the planning minister during the Awami League’s previous tenure. But he did not seek nomination in the January 5 election.

Through his book “1971: Ins and Outs,” the lawmakers alleged that weapons were hand-ed over to others by writing controversial words on Bangabandhu and the war.

The book, published by Prothoma and launched Tuesday, says Bangabandhu at the end of his historic March 7, 1971 speech had uttered “Joy Pakistan” after “Joy Bangla.”

It also criticises the role of Awami League leadership during the Liberation War saying that the political leadership had failed to play its due role. The book says it was true that the political leadership succeeded in the end, but the country had to pay high price because of their clashes and lack of visionary thoughts.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

A boost for local militants?n Julfi kar Ali Manik

After nearly seven months of the much-talked-about release of an audio message on Bangladesh, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s latest video mes-sage announcing a plan for Bangladesh, India and Myanmar can be the latest source of encouragement for Bangla-deshi militants and terrorist out� ts.

This may also bring new challenges for the three countries, which have al-ready been su� ering from the radicali-sation problem for long.

Despite being infected by the prob-lem of militancy and terrorism, these countries have been able to maintain stability through extensive e� orts – separate and sometimes collective. The e� orts are likely to need strengthening further after the latest video message of Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician.

“We will keep watching very closely so the militants in our country cannot organise or cannot give their out� ts and acts an organised shape,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detec-tive Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Po-

lice, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday over phone.

Monirul has longstanding experience of playing a signi� cant role in combat-ing Islamic militancy and terrorism. He said they would be monitoring each and every small aspect of the issue “closely, deeply and cautiously” though Mon-irul thinks they need to check whether Zawahiri’s video message is authentic.

Leading foreign media yesterday reported Zawahiri’s latest 55-minute video message with huge importance,

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

DU ADMISSION TEST

Authorities little prepared to stop digital fraudn Arif Ahmed

With threats of digital fraud still very much there and authorities appearing equally hapless as before, Dhaka University admission tests for the 2014-15 session are set to kick o� today.

The Dhaka Tribune has learned that at least 100 syndicates – comprising DU teachers, Chhatra League leaders and activists, general students and coach-ing centre instructors – have been ac-tive in the capital.

Reportedly, these groups have been trying to lure admission-seekers into adopting unfair means in exchange for lakhs of taka, primarily because no notable action have been taken against the accused from the previous years and nearly all members of these syndi-cates have remained out of law’s reach.

The fraud is done mainly through technological tools such as mobile phones, miniature bluetooth headsets, and tweaked calculators and wrist-watches that can communicate.

The syndicate members generally bribe invigilators to collect the ques-tion papers after examinations start, solve the problems and send the an-swers to the devices that the exami-nees carry with them to the exam halls.

During last year’s admission tests, at least 16 candidates were detained from various examination centres in the cap-ital and were handed over to police on charges of adopting unfair means. Sev-eral cases were also � led against them.

However, according to police, all PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

ACC � nds MP Aslam innocentn Tribune Report

The Anti-Corruption Commission has found Dhaka lawmaker Aslamul Haque innocent while investigating into the phenomenal growth of his wealth.

The ACC initiated the inquiry against Aslam in January following media reports that highlighted large discrepancies between the information he had provided for the 2008 election.

The lawmaker told reporters in March that the a� davit he had submit-ted to the ACC prior to this year's poll had an error.

“My income tax adviser mistakenly wrote that I owned 145 acres of land, which is actually 1.45 acres,” he said.

According to the a� davit placed be-fore the Election Commission, Aslam had just over six acres of land � ve years ago, which turned into 145 acres of land.

ACC Deputy Director KM Mejbah Uddin and the investigation o� cer, submitted the probe report to the ACC, recommending the graft buster to exempt Aslam from the allegation of amassing illegal wealth as no such evidence was found, an ACC o� cial con� rmed the Dhaka Tribune.

Aslam is likely to be cleared of all allegations soon after the report is ap-proved by the commission. l

13 Huji men indicted for CPB rally attack n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday framed charg-es against 13 activists of banned Isla-mist out� t Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji) in a case � led in connection with the 2001 attack on a rally of the Com-munist Party of Bangladesh in the cap-ital’s Paltan.

Judge KM Imrul Kayes of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Special Tribunal 4 indicted the 13 under the explosive substances act.

The court also set October 23 for the prosecution witnesses to testify.

Five of the accused, who were pres-

ent at the court including Mufti Han-nan, claimed themselves innocent and sought justice when Additional Public Prosecutor Assaduzzaman Khan read out the charges in front of them.

Of the remaining eight accused, sev-en have been on the run since the case proceedings began and the other went into hiding after he had been bailed.

The attack on the CPB rally killed eight people and injured over 50. Two cases were � led over the incident - one for killing eight people and the other for blasting bombs which was � led un-der the Explosive Substances Act.

On August 21, the same court indict-ed the 13 accused in the killing case.

On November 27 last year, investi-gating o� cer Mrinal Kanti Saha sub-mitted the charge sheets before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka accusing Huji of the attack.

Manzurul Ahsan Khan, then pres-ident of the CPB, � led the cases with Motijheel police station, and claimed that a group of anti-state conspirators carried out the attack.

The Criminal Investigation Depart-

ment submitted a � nal report on the cases on December 17, 2003, accusing none. The plainti� , however, was not satis� ed with the report.

On January 27, 2005, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate asked the au-thorities to re-investigate the cases re-sponding to a petition for fresh probe.

Of the 13 accused, Mufti Hannan, Mufti Mainuddin Khaja alias Abu Jan-dal, Arif Hasan Suman, Maulana Sabbir Hossain and Shawkat Osman are now behind bars.

The eight others are Md Moshiur Rahman, Maulana Abdul Hai, Mufti Sha� qur Rahman, Jahangir Alam Ba-dar, Nurul Islam, Mohibul Muttakim, Anisul Morsalin and Ra� qul Islam Miraj.

Involvement of Huji in the blast sur-faced nine and a half years after the at-tack when Jandal claimed responsibili-ty in a judicial confessional statement.

In his statement, Jandal said the at-tack made by Huji men killed � ve peo-ple. The three others, including two hawkers, died in another explosion at Bangabandhu Avenue. l

Authorities little prepared to stop digital fraud PAGE 1 COLUMN 6of them have secured bail from vari-ous courts. Shirajul Islam, o� cer-in-charge of the capital’s Shahbagh police station, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The courts did not grant us remand for any of these candidates. That is why, we have failed to make any progress with the cases.”

DU VC AAMS Are� n Siddique said: “We cannot take any action against the candidates caught while adopting unfair means because they are not our students. We can only hand them over to police.”

A case studyLast year, Sadia, an admission seek-er who sat for the Ka unit examina-tion, was detained for adopting unfair means. For getting prepared to take the admission test, she got herself admit-ted to the University Coaching Centre (UCC), the most popular tuition house in the country.

“Masum Sir [a teacher of the UCC] told me that he could guarantee my ad-mission if I paid him Tk4 lakh. Before the exam, he gave me a calculator-like device. During the examination, he sent me the answers on that device,” Sadia told police.

DU Proctor Professor Amzad Ali told the Dhaka Tribune that the university authorities had � led a case against the coaching centre.

But as police could not � nd any ev-idence against Masum, the university could not take any action against the UCC.

The Dhaka Tribune has talked to a teacher of the UCC who takes classes at the centre’s Farmgate branch in the capital. He is a current student of the Faculty of Social Sciences at DU.

Seeking anonymity, he said he had set a target of earning at least Tk5 lakh this year by being part of the fraud.

Most vulnerable centresIn the past few years, most of the cases of fraud and detention were reported from the o� -campus examination cen-tres.

The university has to take the ad-mission exam at these centres because there is not enough space to accommo-date all the candidates on its campus. In today’s Ga unit examination, a total of 49,976 candidates are � ghting for only 1,170 seats. There are four other units under which admission tests are taken.

Last year, DU authorities identi� ed the Dhaka College, Eden College, Ti-tumir College, Mirpur Bangla College, Home Economics College, Tajgaon Col-lege, Sheikh Borhanuddin Degree Col-lege and the Teachers Training College in the capital as the most fraud-prone centres.

Interestingly, ruling party’s student front Chhatra League is very active in most of these colleges.

A member of one of the digital fraud syndicates has told the Dhaka Tribune that the task is easier to carry out at the centres that are located outside the main campus of DU.

He said most of the above men-tioned colleges have fully � edged com-mittees of Chhatra League, whose lead-ers can easily in� uence and sometimes even threaten the teachers to play ball with them.

The invigilating teachers help the syndicate members sometimes by supplying the question papers or turn blind eyes towards adoption of unfair means in the examinationhalls.

Last year, Foyez, the then joint sec-retary of the Dhaka College unit of Chhatra League, took the question pa-per of Kha unit admission tests from a teacher of the college in exchange for a huge amount of money.

Witnesses said Chhatra League ac-tivists Mamun and Kawsar accompa-nied Foyez.

Reportedly, they took the ques-tion paper to room 205 of the South Hall dormitory of the college, solved the problems and sent the answers to the mobile phones of at least 35candidates.

Witnesses said Pallab, the then pres-ident of Dhaka College unit Chhatra League, and Swim, the general secre-tary, were involved with the racket.

A few months ago, Dhaka College unit Chhatra League Publicity Secre-tary Sohel allegedly kept a DU student con� ned for two days because the DU student had not paid him the pledged Tk3 lakh. Sohel reportedly sent the an-swers to the student’s mobile phone via text messages.

After the incident, DU authorities decided to exclude Dhaka College as a centre from this year.

However, at a press conference on August 14, VC AAMS Are� n Siddque revoked the decision, saying ade-quate measures would be put in place to prevent fraud at these vulnerablecentres.

This year, the list of examination centres include 10 such venues that were marked vulnerable last year.

DU Proctor Prof Amzad Ali said: “This year, we will try to make sure that each room at these examination centres has at least two DU teachers for invigilation. We will also take addi-tional precautionary measures at these centres. We could not exclude these centres because of the large number of candidates.”

Sources said not just those from the other colleges, a number of leaders of the DU unit Chhatra League are also involved with the fraud syndicates. Among them are DU unit Vice-Presi-dent Mithun Das, Joint Secretary HM Al Amin Ahmed, Organising Secretary Apel Mahmud Shabuj, Ekushey Hall unit President Rakib Hasan, SM Hall unit Secretary Didarul Islam and Awa-mi Law Students Council Secretary Shariful Hasan Shuvo.

Dr Syed Manzoorul Islam, a profes-sor of English at DU, said: “Not just in Dhaka University, admission question fraud is happening in almost all public universities, especially those that take the tests on the basis of multiple choice questions.”

Steps taken Professor Hasibur Rashid, DU ad-mission examination coordinator, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have changed the question pattern by re-moving complex mathematics. In that way we have eliminated the need forcalculators.

“We requested the mobile phone operators to halt the SMS tra� c for an hour during the examinations, but they said they could not do it because it would cause huge losses. We then requested them to keep it shut for half an hour.

“But they turned down that request too,” he said.

He added: “Because the number of students is large, it is not possible to frisk everyone.

“But we will try to make sure that nobody enters the examination halls with mobile phones.”

Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam said: “Ensuring exemplary punish-ment for those involved in the fraud, tight security measures around the ex-amination centres and taking extra care of the external ones can signi� cantly check fraud.”

The DU VC said: “This year, the uni-versity will be more cautious about digital fraud. We have increased the number of invigilators and teachers for every examination centre.” l

MPs demand ban on AK Khandaker’s book PAGE 1 COLUMN 2Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah, who was in the chair, in his observation said the book might hurt the sentiment of the people. “I was surprised. Though he has written some partial truth, he also made some distortions,” he said adding that such distortion was not acceptable.

“Bangabandhu is the Father of the Nation. Bangabandhu means Bangla-desh and Bangladesh means Bangab-andhu,” he said.

Ruling party lawmaker and former minister Abul Kalam Azad initiated the discussion. Senior Awami League MPs Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and Maj Gen (rted) Ra� qul Islam Bir Uttam; Jatiya Party lawmaker Kazi Feroz Rashid; and JaSoD lawmaker Mayeen Uddin Khan Badal took part in the discussion.

Taking the � oor, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said: “We should speak carefully about Bangabandhu because he is the best Bangalee of thousand years.”

On “Joy Pakistan,” Tofail said he felt shame uttering the words written by Khandaker, who was made a minister by the daughter of Bangabandhu.

“I was present on the stage (on March 7). I did not hear such a slogan

from Bangabandhu,” he told the House.Quoting from the book, Tofail said

Khandaker had not been aware of the incidents of mass upsurge in then East Pakistan since he was in West Pakistan from 1951 to 1969.

Tofail also criticised Khandaker for writing that there was no political preparation for the War of Independ-ence. “Bangabandhu knew every piece of information. Even, he knew what was happening in the cantonment at that time,” he said.

Industries Minister Amu said Bang-abandhu had been mentally prepared for the country’s independence since 1947. “The unarmed nation did not take arms overnight,” he said.

Sheikh Selim asked the writer to come up with a proof of his claims. He wanted to know why the former minis-ter had written the book.

“Khandaker joined the Liberation War upon suggestions of Pakistan. He has been praising Ayub Khan under-mining Bangabandhu and the constitu-tion,” Selim said.

He also suspected that Khandaker might have written the book with the money of the ISI (the intelligence agen-cy of Pakistan).

He demanded that the government

bring a sedition charge against the writ-er and ban his book.

Former home minister Ra� qul told the House that Khandaker might have distorted the history being instigated by vested quarters.

“Why did he make such statement all of a sudden? What is the source of his information?”

The whole nation would refuse the book for undermining Bangabandhu, he said. “We fought in 1971 under polit-ical leadership, under the leadership of Bangabandhu,” Ra� qul said.

Former information minister Abul Kalam Azad called for hating those who would like to distort the history.

“Information provided by AK Khandaker has hurt the nation,” he said adding that a section of people was still hatching conspiracies.

Condemning Khandaker, JaPa law-maker Kazi Feroz Rashid said Khanda-ker was trying to mislead the nation by writing false history.

Mayeen Uddin considered the book as an o� ence. “This is no way accept-able,” he said asking all not to under-mine the constitution.

However, most of the parliament members have reportedly not read the book. l

A boost for local militants? PAGE 1 COLUMN 5in which the al-Qaeda boss announced the creation of an Indian branch of his militant out� t to “raise the � ag of jihad” in Bangladesh, Myanmar and some parts of India.

In February, in an audio message Zawahiri called upon Bangladeshi Muslims to � ght against secularists and “atheists,” and said: “My Muslim broth-ers in Bangladesh, I invite you to con-front this crusading onslaught against Islam, which is being orchestrated by the leading criminals in the subconti-nent and the West against Islam...”

The message had an indication about al-Qaeda’s growing interest of expanding its network in South Asian region beyond its longstanding exist-ence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Although there have been several militant out� ts in Bangladesh, there has been no o� cial branch or presence of the out� t; nor do the local militant organisations have any o� cial a� lia-tion with al-Qaeda network.

But based on individual relation-ship some Bangladeshi Islamist mili-tant leaders and their out� ts have had longstanding relations with al-Qaeda, its founding chief Osama Bin Laden and other leaders, including Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Leaders of the country’s � rst openly formed militant out� t Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji) were not also linked with al-Qaeda. Many of these Huji leaders are now at the helm of recently emerged radical out� t Hefazat-e-Islam, in whose favour Zawahiri released his audio message in February.

Monirul said al-Qaeda exists in Pa-kistan but in Bangladesh it has “dis-tant relatives” and communication between them was at individual level. There was no organisational structure of al-Qaeda.

He added that al-Qaeda did not open any branch anywhere else and it recognised out� ts around the world that have ideologies similar to its as its a� liates.

Monir is curious to get con� rmation � rst about the authenticity of Zawahi-ri’s latest video message.

Former Maj Gen Abdur Rashid, a security analyst who closely studies militant and terrorist out� ts across the world, is however certain about the authenticity of the video. He rather expressed doubt over the possibility of the message’s impact in Bangladesh.

He thinks although there has been no presence of al-Qaeda in India and this region, many militants and mil-itant groups in Bangladesh have had link with al-Qaeda for long, and many of them have also enjoyed state pat-ronisation in the past but could not succeed.

“Now Bangladesh and India – both have strong stance against militancy issue separately and mutually,” said Rashid, adding that for this he believed this call from Zawahiri would not cre-ate any impact in Bangladesh and its two neighbouring countries.

He, however, thinks the video mes-

sage will de� nitely encourage Bang-ladeshi militants and similar clouts in India and Myanmar.

Rashid observed that against the backdrop of the recent rise of anoth-er similar out� t named Islamic State (IS) – formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – al-Qaeda is in an existence crisis. So, Zawahiri’s video message is an attempt towards survival by opening its activities in Bangladesh, India and Myanmar.

It can also be that al-Qaeda wants to shift focus from the IS to it.

Whatever the motive was behind the video message, the retired general said, after this announcement al-Qae-da was likely to try to carry out some terrorist acts in Bangladesh, India and Myanmar.

“So, after the video message main-taining the peaceful situation of the re-gion will be a challenge for these three countries and all countries should face this common challenge together,” Gen Rashid said. l

Six anchors PAGE 1 COLUMN 2Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur recod-ed the statement of the plainti� . The judge also directed the o� cer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police to register the complaint as a regular case and carry out investigation along with the murder case � led by Faruqi’s family with the same police station.

In the case, Emran alleged that Ja-maat-Shibir extremists had tried to kill Faruqi in January, 2010 while Kazi Ibra-him threatened to kill him in Trishal of Mymensingh in 2012.

According to the case details, at a meeting arranged by “Association of Islami Media Personality” on August 22, accused Tarek Monwar had threat-ened to burn Faruqi down. The other accused supported Tarek’s speech at the same meeting.

Leaders of Ahle Sunnat too blame Jamaat for the killing of Faruqi since he used to speak against superstitions and fanaticism.

At a recent rally in Chittagong, Ahle Sunnat leaders also demanded ban on Peace TV and several programmes on di� erent private channels for instigat-ing militancy. Police say di� erence over religious ideology was the main reason behind Faruqi murder. l

al-Qaeda puts South Asia in crosshairs PAGE 1 COLUMN 2In the 55-minute video, al Zawahiri said Qaedat al Jihad would recognise the overarching leadership of Afghan Tal-iban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar but will be led day-to-day by senior Pa-kistani � ghter Asim Umar, according to al Jazeera.

Asim Umar, who featured in an al-Qa-eda � lm commemorating the 11th anni-versary of the 9/11 attacks, is regarded as a rising star in al-Qaeda’s Pakistani oper-ations, according to the Wilson Centre, a prominent US think-tank.

Umar, while focused on al-Qaeda’s stated strategic war against the US and the West, has also advocated for war against the “near enemy” and called for localised jihad in South Asia.

In a 2013 video released by al-Qa-eda titled, “Why Is There No Storm In You Ocean,” Umar chastised Indian Muslims for not taking a greater role in international jihad. Although, his identity has not been con� rmed, some

sources have speculated he might be a Pakistani Punjabi militant commander from the town of Miranshah, the BBC reported.

Intelligence analysts say the new video is part of a recruitment cam-paign by al-Qaeda to battle the growing pre-eminence of Islamic State (IS) in jihadist circles. IS has overrun territo-ry in eastern Syria, and northern and western Iraq the size of Belgium and has set up a rudimentary state, which it calls a caliphate, in the area it occupies.

Analysts say the Zawahiri video, al-though it could presage actual jihadist vi-olence in South Asia, may be understood to be an attempt to challenge the IS.

The appeal to notions of Muslim persecution, real or imagined, is not new to al-Qaeda. In the video, Zawahiri says: “Your brothers in Qaedat al Jihad did not forget you and they are doing what they can to rescue you from in-justice, oppression, persecution, and su� ering.”

But his vow to “crush the arti� cial borders” dividing Muslim populations in the region probably refers to IS suc-cesses in Iraq and Syria. In the words of BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, “Islamic State (IS) has grown into everything al-Qaeda tried – and failed – to be.”

Because of its location straddling two of the new areas of operation highlighted in the video – Bangladesh and Myanmar – Chittagong police au-thorities have taken precautionary measures, according to a report sent by our Chittagong Correspondent Tarek Mahmud.

A Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Detective Branch (DB) o� cial, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that the CM P had increased surveillance over 15 madrasas in the port city dominated by Hefazat-e-Is-lam, Jamaat-e-Islam and Islami Chha-tra Shibir, following instructions from police headquarters.

CMP acting commissioner Banaz Ku-mar Majumder con� rmed to the Dhaka Tribune that police had increased sur-veillance over certain madrasas, some organisations and some residential ar-eas, but did not disclose details for se-curity reasons.

CMP DB Additional Deputy Com-missioner Engineer Hasan Chowdhury said detectives had been deployed as a precautionary step.

Of the 15 madrasas, Lalkhanbazar Madrasa of Hefazat Senior Nayeb-e-Amir Mufti Izharul Islam, Mojaherul Ulum Madrasa in the city’s Miakhan Nagar and Darul Ulum Madrasa in the Chandanpura area were considered signi� cant. Other madrasas at Chan-dgaon, Firoz Shah Colony and Bakalia areas were also under surveillance, said the DB o� cial, who asked to re-main anonymous.

The killing of Osama bin Laden in a US commando operation in Pakistan, demonstrated the susceptibility of

South Asia to Islamist militant groups – both as a safe haven and source of crowd-funding and also as a potential theatre of military operations.

While the dominant position of al-Qaeda among jihadist forces has been eclipsed in recent times, � rst by its spin-o� organisations in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the challenge posed by Islamic State seems to have elicited a response from the group, an-alysts said.

Although al-Qaeda is still regarded as a threat to the West but it has never been able to replicate an attack on the scale of the September 11, 2001 attacks by hijacked airliners on New York and Washington.

Analysts believe the launching of Qaedat al Jihad in the Indian subconti-nent, hoping to capitalise on unrest in Kashmir and Myanmar, could be an at-tempt by the group to remain relevant and regain some of its lost lustre in ji-hadist circles.

The political economy of jihadist terrorism, apart from any ideological agendas the groups may have, is su� -cient incentive for groups to push for top position.

The IS, for example, has managed to get hold of a de facto capital, Raqqa, operates a disciplined administrative and command structure, runs a rudi-mentary � scal apparatus, and has an estimated $2 billion in its war chest.

Despite international outrage for the atrocities it has committed against civilians and journalists, the IS is en-joying a surge in recruitment, the BBC says.

The latest video showed footage of bin Laden before showing a map of southwest Asia, the Indian subconti-nent and the Horn of Africa. It then showed Zawahiri’s speech, in Ara-bic, followed by Asim Umar, speak-ing in Urdu, and identi� ed a new group spokesman identi� ed as Usama Mahmoud. l

The attack on CPB rally killed 8 and injured over 50. Two cases were � led over the incident - one for killing eight people and the other for blasting bombs

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

Khaleda’s appeal hearing starts in Supreme Courtn Ahmed Zayeef

The Supreme Court yesterday started hearing the plea of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia � led against a High Court order that rejected her petition chal-lenging legality of the appointment of a judge conducting two corruption cases.

The � ve-member Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Mozammel Hossain after a hearing set September 7 for further proceedings.

Lawyer Zoynul Abedin read out the High Court order on behalf of Khaleda.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam attended the hearing on behalf of the state and lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan on behalf of the Anti-

Corruption Commission.The trial of Zia Orphanage Trust

and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases, in which Khaleda is the prime accused, already began in the Third Special Judge’s Court of Judge Basudev Roy. Khaleda had to appear before the court on Wednesday.

But the special court has set Sep-tember 10 for recording deposition of the complainant after the defence � led two petitions seeking adjournment.

On May 12, Khaleda Zia � led the writ petition challenging legality of appointment of the judge who framed charge against Khaleda and six others at trial court. On June 19, High Court’s single bench of Justice Kazi Razaul Huq rejected the petition.

On July 07, Khaleda � led two peti-tions with the Appellate Division chal-lenging the rejection order. She also sought stay order on the trial proceed-ings.

On August 8, 2011, the ACC � led the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon police station accusing four people, including Khale-da Zia, for abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.

The ACC � led the Zia Orphan-age Trust graft case on July 3, 2008 accusing Khaleda, her elder son Tarique Rahman and four others for misappropriating over Tk2.10 crore, which came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans. l

46 BNP leaders’ charge framing hearing deferredn Md Snaual Islam Tipu

A Dhaka Court has deferred the charge framing hearing against 46 BNP leaders including party acting secretary gener-al Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in an arson case lodged in 2012.

Metropolitan Magistrate Moham-mad Ataul Haque � xed September 24 for next hearing following a time petition � led by defence lawyer Md Sanaullah Miah yesterday.

Defence counsel Md Sanaullah Miah � led a time petition for six BNP lead-ers including Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon and former Dhaka City Corpo-ration Mayor and BNP Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

A total of 37 BNP leaders including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee members MK Anwar, Brig

Gen (retd) Hannan Shah, Mirza Abbas, joint secretaries Amanullah Aman, Barkatullah Bulu, Juba Dal president Moazzem Hossain Alal, Shecchashebok Dal president Habib-Un-Nabi khan So-hel, and Liberal Democratic Party Pres-ident Col (retd) Oli Ahmed appeared before the court. Three other accused including former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Maqbul Ahmed are absconding.

The accused, according to the case, torched vehicles in front of the Prime Minister’s O� ce during April 29 shut-down in 2012.

BNP had called the countrywide hartal demanding rescue of BNP Lead-er M Ilyas Ali and restoration of the caretaker government system.

On May 10, 2012, Detective Branch Inspector Md Nurul Amin submitted the charge sheet to the Court. l

240 gold bars seized at Ctg airportn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Custom o� cials at the Shah Amanat International Airport have recovered 240 gold bars worth Tk12 crore from a plane of Regent Airways.

The plane arrived at the airport from Bangkok around 6pm yesterday.

Moshiur Rahman Mondal, assistant commissioner of customs at the air-port, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had found the bars wrapped in a black polythene in an abandoned condition, after searching the toilet of the plane around 6:45pm. No one arrested in this connection, he said.

The gold bars weighing 28 kilo-grammes were handed over to Bangla-desh Bank while a case was lodged with Patenga police station in this connec-tion, added the assistant commissioner.

Existing law allows a person to carry highest 200 grams of gold from abroad paying necessary duty at the airport while the passenger can bring highest two kilogrammes of gold by giving early notice to the authorities concerned and paying duty, according to a circular of Bangladesh Bank. Till date this year, the customs authorities have seized around 3,000 gold bars worth around Tk200 crore from the Chittagong airport. l

Bangladesh to engage in trade diplomacy with Japann Tribune Report

Bangladesh will engage in trade diplo-macy with Japan when its Prime Min-ister Shinzo Abe arrive in Dhaka with a 50-member high-powered business delegation tomorrow.

“The focus of the visit is investment,” Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told a press conference yesterday, adding that the visit would encourage Japanese investors to invest in Bangladesh.

The government wanted to expand economic and technical relationship with Japan to implement the “Vision 2021” which was put forward by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to elevate Bangladesh’s status to middle-income

country, Mahmood said.Leading businessmen of both the

countries, representatives of the Board of Investment and Japan External Trade Organisation would take part in the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Fo-rum to be held in Dhaka tomorrow, he said.

During the visit, exclusive economic zones for Japanese investors would also be discussed, he said. Bangladesh agreed to provide some 500 acre lands for the Japanese investors exclusively when Sheikh Hasina visited Tokyo in May.

During the � rst meeting of the Ban-gladesh-Japan Joint Public-Private Economic Dialogue on August 21, both the parties discussed investment barri-

ers in Bangladesh, the minister added.“The Japanese investors are likely

to invest in energy, power, infrastruc-ture, information technology, textiles and RMG, pharmaceuticals, auto-mo-biles and some other sectors,” he in-formed.

Relaxation of ROOBangladesh will seek Japanese assis-tance to allow more export to their country.

“We hope that there will be prog-ress in relaxing the rules of origin for exporting knitwear, jute and jute prod-ucts, home and oven textiles, and table wear,” the foreign minister said.

Dhaka requested the Japanese prime minister in May to waive duties

on the products and it expected prog-ress during this visit, he said.

Comprehensive PartnershipBangladesh-Japan relationship has been elevated to comprehensive part-nership level and the Japanese pre-mier’s visit is expected to boost the relationship.

A joint statement issued by Hasina and Abe in May said the two prime ministers launched the “Japan-Bangladesh Comprehensive Partnership” and both also decided to detail the modalities at the earliest. “Abe will reiterate Japanese assistance to the mega projects announced in the joint statement,” Mahmood added. l

HRW urges revocation of media policyn Tribune Report

The government should immediately revoke a new media policy that imposes draconian restrictions on media freedom, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Wednesday.

Donors should make it clear to the government that limits on freedom of expression that violate international law are unacceptable, the statement read, adding that the policy contains overly broad language and imprecise de� nitions that appear aimed at signi� cantly curtailing critical reporting.

“This policy exempli� es how little appreciation the government has for free speech,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This vague policy will allow the government to take arbitrary action against those it sees as its political opponents and could be a precursor to legislation that would lead to censorship and criminal penalties.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s veiled threats in defence of the media policy are of particular concern, Human Rights Watch said.

The clause restricting the reporting of “anarchy, rebellion, or violence” seems aimed at limiting reporting of opposition protests, and because none of the key terms are de� ned, media would be susceptible to arbitrary enforcement, the New York-based human rights body added.

“This policy is a frontal assault on media freedom, which is essential as a check on government power, corruption, and human rights abuses, among many other issues,” Adams said. “It empowers an increasingly authoritarian state with tools to go after critics. It needs to be revoked if the government is serious about its commitment to freedom.”

Human Rights Watch noted that the slippery slope allowed by the media policy could have broad-ranging e� ects and that no media area is exempt from its reach.

Hasina claimed that the media policy was modelled on the BBC media policy guidelines but the foundations underlining the BBC policy are absent from the Bangladeshi policy, Human Rights Watch said. l

Order on Bergman’s case Oct 13n Udisa Islam

After hearing both parties, the Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal 2 has � xed Oc-tober 13 for passing order on the con-tempt charge brought against British journalist David Bergman.

Counsel for the petitioner yesterday replied to some questions that Berg-man’s lawyer raised earlier.

Tribunal Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan � xed the date after both the petitioner and the defence completed submissions in presence of Bergman.

On April 17, the tribunal started

contempt of court proceedings against Bergman as it found prima facie ele-ments of contempt in his blogposts. On February 18, Supreme Court lawyer Abul Kalam Azad � led the contempt petition alleging that Bergman in his article had questioned the � gure of martyrs in the Liberation War.

Meanwhile, the prosecution in the tri-al against Maulana Abdus Subhan placed its 27 witness Azab Uddin, an assistant li-brarian of Bangla Academy, as seizure list witness. After his deposition, the tribunal 2 � xed next Sunday for further witness in the case which is at the � nal stage. l

Tribunal blasts HRW for remarks, disposes of noticen Udisa Islam

The war crimes tribunal yesterday dis-posed of the contempt notice it had issued upon New York-based Human Rights Watch asking it to be more cir-cumspect and careful in making any comment or placing statement on the judiciary of Bangladesh.

“People like opposite parties in a civilised society got no mandate to ex-ceed the limit of law. Everybody knows that all are equal in the eye of law,” said the International Crimes Tribunal 1.

A comment cannot be fair which are not truly stated and accurate. “Any unfair criticism of judgement under-ling the con� dence of the judiciary amounts to contempt,” it said.

The three-member tribunal said: “It is the worst kind of contempt to scan-dalise court or its judges by the com-mentators without having adequate knowledge on the fact in issue. It is also a contempt of court touching the impartiality and integrity of a judge or making sarcastic remarks regarding his judicial competence.

“On scrutiny of the dossier present-ed by the parties concerned [prose-cution and defence], the issue [HRW report] in hands is found to be con-temptuous against the opposite parties [HRW, its Asia Director Brad Adams and associate for HRW Asia Division Storm Tiv].”

The prosecution on August 20 last year � led the contempt petition against HRW’s board of directors, its Executive Director of Asia Division Brad Adams and its associate for the Asia Division Storm Tiv for making “biased, baseless, utterly false, fabri-cated and ill-motivated allegations” in its report regarding the trial of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam.

The HRW report reads: “Human Rights Watch’s concerns about the Azam trial include: judges improperly conducted an investigation on behalf of the prosecution; collusion and bias among prosecutors and judges; failure

to take steps to protect defence wit-nesses; changes in the trial court panel; and lack of evidence to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The organisation also alleged that the law minister and the law state minister had interfered in the indepen-dence of judiciary at the tribunal.

Tribunal Member Justice Jahangir Hossain in the order said: “They [HRW] neither made an inquiry into the mat-ter nor did they attend any proceed-ings of the tribunal but hypothetically made the biased, illegal and unethical report. They wilfully but unethically tarnished the dignity and image of the tribunal and its judges.

“We are expecting more circum-spection, understanding, discretion and judgement on the part of the op-posite parties [HRW] because they are strongly claiming that they speak on behalf of the distressed and oppressed people and of their fundamental rights.”

Mentioning that US Ambassa-dor-at-Large for War Crimes Stephen J Rapp visited the tribunal and laud-ed the roles of the judges, the tribunal said: “However, as the accused party sought mercy at the initial stage of the hearing and it was the � rst contempt notice issued against them ever, we are herewith disposing of the matter.”

After passing the order, the prose-cution pleaded to the tribunal seeking two orders – one is to ask the HRW to upload the order in their o� cial web-site and another is to send the order to the Foreign Ministry giving direction to communicate with the US government so they can share the directives.

The tribunal rejected the pleas say-ing: “We will upload it [the order] in our o� cial website.”

Then law minister Sha� que Ahmed last year lambasted the HRW saying: “Where did they get such nerve? Who gave them the right? They have been working as a lobbyist [of Jamaat] or else they could not present such a re-port.” l

A local city bus stops in the middle of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to pick more passengers in the capital yesterday. Despite the government’s attempts to transform the highway from two-lane to four-lane in a bid to ease tra� c � ow, reckless actions of vehicles continue to add to the su� erings of passengers along the route MEHEDI HASAN

Helen O’Connor, climate and environment adviser at DFID Bangladesh, speaks at a round table on Climate Change and Urbanisation In Bangladesh, in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

4 NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

200 doctors posted to provide alternative medical treatmentsn Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Around 200 doctors, who teach and provide alternative medical treatments like unani, ayurvedic and homeopathy, were posted to di� erent district and upazila hospitals.

The Health Directorate had issued a gazette noti� cation in this regard on September 1 that said 59 homeopathic, 47 unani and 47 ayurvedic indoor and outdoor o� cers were given postings. Be-sides, 40 doctors were posted as lectur-ers and indoor medical o� cers at public homeophathic and unani-ayurvedic medical college and hospitals.

The doctors were instructed to join their new o� ces by September 7.

Dr Gour Moni Sinha, director at Al-ternative Medical Care (AMC) of the Health Directorate, told the Dhaka Tri-bune that to boost the quality of Alter-native Medical Care (AMC) in the coun-try the Health Ministry had appointed three categories of AMC doctors in the district and upazila hospital.

He also informed that currently 45 district hospitals in the country had only one doctor each to provide AMC services.

Several senior health o� cials told the Dhaka Tribune that the drugs used for alternative treatments had no side e� ects and were cost-e� ective than any other modern treatment methods.

It is learnt that a � ve-year (2011-2016) long operation plan of the AMC pro-gramme has been running under the Health Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP) to popularise and create awareness

among the general people.Dr Gour Moni Sinha, meanwhile,

mentioned that World Health Organi-zation (WHO) had also recommend-ed alternative health care systems to avoid health risks.

Health Directorate o� cials said it was decided to provide across the country. Around 15% to 20% patients in 45 districts are currently getting health care from alternative doctors, they claimed.

It was learnt that One of the chief targets set by the government under the National Health Policy 2011 was to upgrade the traditional health care sys-tem and education.

Khodadad Khan, an adviser to the Unani Oshud Shilpa Samiti, said tradi-tional medicine was used for treating 24 diseases under primary health care in Bangladesh. More than 82% raw materials of traditional medicine were available inside the country, he added.

He said India, Nepal, China and many other European countries were then relying on traditional medicine for primary health care.

Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub, president of Health Rights Movement Bangladesh, said the alternative doctors were be-ing unable to gain the patients’ trust, although a large number of people had relied on knowledgeable alternatives doctors in the past.

He said alternative treatments could be used for children, but not for emer-gency care. However, the quali� cation of the doctors and the quality of med-icine should be checked properly, he added. l

STUDENT STRIKE AT CU

Teachers’ bus vandalised in Chittagong, crude bombs blastedn CU Correspondent

A teachers’ bus of Chittagong Univer-sity (CU) was vandalised by miscreants in the city’s AK Khan Area yesterday, the � fth consecutive day of CU stu-dents’ strike demanding reopening of closed residence halls.

Meanwhile, several crude bombs were blasted at the Rail Station area when the campus bound shuttle train was ready to make its � rst trip of the day.

Sub Inspector Arab Ali of Govern-ment Railway Police (GRP) of Sholos-hohar Rail Station Police Outpost said, at least � ve crude bombs were set o� at the eastern corner of the station at around 7:40am.

The blast created panic among the

general students and made the train delayed by 25 minutes, added Md Sha-habuddin, station master of Sholosha-har railway station.

Earlier in the day, miscreants van-dalised the teachers’ bus at Ispahani Rail Crossing area under Pahartali po-lice station at around 7:30am.

Rabiul Islam, director of CU trans-port said, miscreants put up a bar-ricade at the area and began pelting stones when the bus was going to pick up teachers.

The miscreants behind the bomb blast and the vandalism could not be identi� ed, said the CU Proctor Sir-aj-ud-Dowla adding that the authority had been trying to resolve the issue.

However, classes and examinations

of di� erent departments of the univer-sity are going on as usual despite the strike, con� rmed the Proctor.

A section of students who used to reside at the Shah Amanat and the Suhrawardy residence halls enforced the inde� nite strike on Sunday under the banner of “General Student of CU” demanding reopening of the halls.

Shah Amanat hall was closed down on January 12 after a bloody clash took place between the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) activists while Suhrawardy was locked after a gun � ght between the same men on August 24. CU authority and BCL leaders of CU unit claimed that Shibir men in guise of general students were behind the strike. l

DG Food Ahammad made OSDn Mohosinul Karim

Director General of Directorate General of Food Ahammad Hossain Khan, also an additional secretary, was made o� -cer on special duty (OSD) to the Public Administration Ministry.

He was replaced by OSD Additional Secretary Sarwar Khan, previously at-tached with the Labour and Employ-ment Ministry.

The Public Administration Minis-try has issued separate gazette noti� -cations on Wednesday regarding the changes.

According to the ministry, Ahammad was removed from his o� ce for his al-leged involvement with several corrup-tions including recruitment of o� cials and employees in the DG food o� ce.

Meanwhile, additional secretary to Liberation War A� airs Ministry, Mo-jibur Rahman, was made the chief controller of the controller’s o� ce of export and import. l

EC to use EVMs in UP polls n Mohammad Zakaria

The Election Commission (EC) has decided to use Electronic Voting Ma-chines (EVM) in the union parishad (UP) elections.

The commission took the decision at a meeting yesterday, a senior EC of-� cial said.

EVMs have been used in Bangladesh before, in city corporation and munici-pality polls. The � rst time it was used in a ward during the Chittagong City Cor-poration polls in 2010.

However, after some glitches oc-curred during vote collecting during

Rangpur City Corporation election in 2012, the EC decided not to use the ma-chines in any other elections.

Authorities concerned are work-ing on � xing the glitches, according to sources at the commission.

A few more amendments to the sys-tem are going to be made as well, and the revised plan will be presented at the EC’s next meeting for � nal approv-al, said Election Commissioner Mo-hammad Abu Ha� z after the meeting.

After the � nal approval, the plan will be sent to the Law Ministry for vet-ting, and then implemented in the UP polls, he said. l

Muhith happy with education sector improvementn Our Correspondent, Habiganj

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith yesterday said the education sector had seen a rapid improvement in the country after the ruling Awami League government took over.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a Jubo League, the youth front of the Awami League, meeting in Habiganj.

Jubo League Chairman Omar Faruk Chowdhury inaugurated the meeting while Chairman of Zilla Jubo League Ataur Rahman Selim chaired the event.

Awami League Organising Secretary Misbah Uddin Siraj, Jubo League Chair-man Omar Faruk Chowdhury, General Secretary Harunur Rashid Chowdhury, Zilla Awami League Chairman Abu Ja-

hir MP, General Secretary Abdul Majid Khan MP, Mahbubur Rahman MP and female MP Keya Chowdhury spoke, among others.

In his speech, the Minister said: “The education sector has witnessed a signi� cant improvement. Now there is a school within the range of 2km for every student. When this government took o� ce, the budget was too small.”

The minister said the prime minister wanted to form an inclusive govern-ment, but it is unfortunate that the BNP didn’t participate in the last election.

The minister also said: “Develop-ment is not possible without peace, and within the next four years this gov-ernment will surely turn this country into a peaceful and wealthy nation. l

Recognition of female farmers demanded n Abu Bakar Siddique

Civil society members yesterday urged the government to recognise female farm labourers as they have been play-ing a vital role in ensuring the country’s food security.

They also demanded the equal wage for female farmers like their male col-leagues to enhance their potentiality.

They came up with the demanded at a press conference held at the Nation-al Press Club auditorium. The Oxfam

Bangladesh has organised the event. “The role of female farm labourers is

invisible in agriculture sector, said Prof Sharmind Neelormi of Jahangirnagar University. Currently, the female agri-culture workers have been receiving around 41% less wage than male work-ers, she added.

According to Labor force survey 2005-06, there are around 2.20 core female labours in Bangladesh. Around 77% of them are rural female, who are involved in rural economy that in-

cludes agriculture, livestock, poultry and � sheries.

Despite having constitutional assur-ance of the equal rights for male and female, the females are still facing dis-crimination in all aspects of their lives, said Monisha Biswas, policy advocacy manager at Oxfam.

In addition, the civil society mem-bers urged the government to bring the female farmers under the subsidy scheme of the government to boost their capacity and potentiality. l

Students of a Samajik Shikkhakendra Government Primary School join a rally organised by Chhatra Union yesterday, protesting the demolition of their school building on Bailey Road in the capital RAJIB DHAR

Unilever BizMaestros ends n Tribune Report

The � fth session and the � nal stage of Unilever BizMaestros, a much-dis-cussed business competition of the multi-national company in search of the best business minds, completed at Hotel Lake Shore in the capital on Tuesday.

In the programme, 11 teams placed their campaigns along with visual demonstrations of their activation plan, from which the judges selected the top 3, says a media release.

The team from Department of Chemical Engineering of the BUET won the � rst runners up title and the team of Bangladesh University of Profes-sionals (BUP) grabbed the second title while the grand � nale of competition was supposed to be held in London in March, 2015. l

Muggers shoot father and son to loot Tk48 lakh in capitaln Afrose Jahan Chaity

A group of muggers shot a father and his son and looted Tk48 lakh from them in front of the Khilgaon � re sta-tion yesterday evening.

Following the incident, locals peo-ple took the two victims, Israil Hossain, 60, and Sharif Hossain Saymon, 32, to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where the on-duty doctors declared Saymon dead.

Israil is now receiving treatment at the hospital in critical condition.

The victims were the owners of the Universal Money Exchange in Motijheel and were on their way back to their Go-ran home when the attack took place.

“They came under attack by four to � ve muggers in front of the Kh-ilgaon � re station around 8:30pm. First, they held them at gunpoint and opened � re on them after snatching their bag containing Tk48 lakhs,” said Muktar, relative of Israil Hossain, while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

Local people said the muggers snooped upon them after they parked their private car near their house.

Shirajul Islam, o� cer-in-charge of Khilgaon police station, said police had now been conducting an investigation into the incident.

A case was � led with the police sta-tion in this connection. l

WEATHER

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

PRAYER TIMES Fajar 4:24am Sunrise 5:40am Jumma 11:57am Asr 4:28pm Magrib 6:13pm Esha 7:30pm

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:13PM SUN RISES 5:42AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW35.0ºC 24.0ºC

Dinajpur Sylhet

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 33 26Chittagong 31 26Rajshahi 33 26Rangpur 33 26Khulna 31 25Barisal 31 25Sylhet 32 24Cox’s Bazar 29 25

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

THUNDERSHOWER

DMCH two-deck railings considered riskyn Moniruzzman Uzzal

The height of the deck railings on Dhaka Medical College Hospitaltwo � oors has raised security concerns as hospital o� cials consider the barri-ers risky.

Anyone can jump o� a � oor as the height of the railings is not high enough, they said.

Authorities of the hospital, which was built at a cost of more than Tk100 crore, are said to have sought a Tk2 crore fund from the Health Ministry to construct higher deck railings.

According to hospital records, two patients died in the last few months after they had jumped o� the 7th and 9th � oors.

The one jumping o� the 9th � oor on Tuesday was Nurnabi, a cancer patient. It was alleged that the doctors did not pay attention to him as he had come to the hospital to seek treatment. The frustrated man then jumped o� the building.

The High Court on Wednes-day sought a report on the allegednegligence of duty on the part of hos-pital sta� which resulted in Nurnabi’s death.

Director of the hospital Brigadier General Dr Musta� zur Rahman, how-ever, denied the allegation and told the Dhaka Tribune that it was nothing but an accident.

He said a three-member probe com-mittee headed by Professor Dr Firoz Ahmed was formed to examine the cause of the death.

“In the primary investigation, no evidence of negligence of duty was found,” said Musta� zur.

He said it was impossible to keep all the patients, visitors and hospital sta� under watch in order to prevent possi-ble suicide.

“The deck railings are not high enough and anyone can jump o� any of the � oors. If we get the fund from the ministry, we will build higher railings,” he added. l

Five fake dentists jailed for nine months in capitaln Tazlina Zamila Khan

A mobile court of the Rapid Action Bat-talion (RAB) sentenced � ve fake den-tists to one-year imprisonment during a drive at Karwan Super Market in the capital yesterday for practising without approval of the government.

The mobile court also � ned them Tk1 lakh each and seized their equip-ment.

A team of the elite force led by Md Didarul Alam, deputy director of RAB 2, conducted a drive at Garden Dental Care, Al-Madina Dental Care and Al-Hera Dental Care and Zannat Dental Care and gave verdict against the fake dentists.

The convicts are Illias Hossain of Garden Dental Care, Hasanur Rahman and Md Akhter Hossain of Al-Madina

Dental Care, Tofazzal Hossain of Al-Hera Dental Care and Alauddin Hossain of Zannat Dental Care.

Md Didarul Alam, deputy director of RAB 2, said the mobile court had given verdict against them as they had been practising without having any registra-tion from the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC).

“Most of them have passed the SSC only, but doing practice which is risky for general people,” he said.

The fake doctors, however, said they had done a short course on den-tal treatment and took the certi� cates from the Desh-Bangla Kollyan Samity.

Swapan Kumar Tapadar, deputy di-rector (hospital) of the Director Gen-eral for Health Service, said: “I did not heard about the Desh Bangla Kollayan Samity, which provides dental certi� -

cates. None of them are registered by the BMDC.

Nur-e-Alam, who visited one of the fake dentists, said: Few days back, I took my nephew Nisha to Zannat Den-tal Care. Fake doctor Alauddin took Tk6,000 for dental � lling, but it broke within few days.”

Akhter Hossain, one of the convicts, said: “After the SSC, I did a short dental diploma course from the Desh Bangla Kollyan Samity. I asked them if I could consider myself as a doctor, then the o� cials said that I can use the designa-tion before my name.” He mentioned his monthly income as Tk 25,000.

Executive Magistrate AHM Anwar Pasha said: “There was a risk of getting a� ected with aids and other diseases as equipment used in treatment at those clinics are not washed properly.” l

3 arrested with geckos in Sylhetn Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Police, in separate drives, have arrest-ed three people and recovered four geckos, a lizard like creature, in Surma upazila of Sylhet.

Police arrested them from Humayun Rashid intersection and Hazrat Shah-jalal Dargah gate areas and recovered the geckos on Wednesday night.

The arrestees are Monir Uddin, 60, son of late Abdul Malek of Dorakul vil-lage, Mohammad Abdul Majid, 48, son of Abdul Go� ur of Khagrachhari and Julhash Mia, 48.

Police said a gang had been involved in the trade of geckos in Sylhet for a long and as its part, they had brought four geckos from Khagrachhari on Wednesday night. South Shurma police outpost SI Sha� qul Islam Khan said: “Acting on a tip-o� , a team arrested Ma-jid and Julhas from Humayun Rashid intersection area around 9:30pm.”

“Upon their information, police conducted another drive in the Hazrat Shahjalal Dargah gate area and arrested Manir with the four geckos,” he said.

The SI said the estimated price of the geckos was more than Tk1.5 crore.

During preliminary investigation, Monir confessed that he had brought the geckos to keep them as pets.

O� cer-in-Charge of South Shurma police station Md Mursalin said: “The arrestees will be sent to the court and the geckos will be handed over to the forest department. l

JU students protest brood quotan Mahadi Al Hasnat

Students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday staged demonstration on the campus protesting authorities’ decision to reduce admission tests re-quirements for brood quota.

Campus sources said over 200 stu-dents under the banner of general stu-dents formed a human chain in front of new arts faculty building around 11:30am.

Speaking at the human chain they alleged that authorities of the univer-sity had reduced admission require-ments under the pressure of universi-ty’s o� cers and employees’ movement which was misuse of quota system.

Azad Likhon, a student of Urban and Regional Planning department, said: “There are some competitions in other quotas such as player quota, freedom � ghter quota and seats under those quo-tas are limited. But in brood quota, there is no competition and seat limitations.

“Moreover, applicants under the brood quota get a special grace mark in the admission tests, although many of them fail to get pass marks in intake test.”

Speakers at the human chain said many unquali� ed students who get enroll at the university getting special privileges and grace marks even cannot complete their academic carrier because of their poor results in the departments.

Nishat Imtiaz Bijoy, a student of Journalism and Media Studies depart-

ment, said students who get enroll-ment in the university under brood quota often feel inferior and guilty.

“I have some friends who feel infe-rior and shy as they are brood-quota students. If there was any standardise rules and minimum competition they would do better in class and feel con� -dent,” he said.

Later, the protesting students submitted a memorandum to JU Vice-Chancellor Prof Farzana Islam.

The VC said: “We are trying to stop giving grace marks in the admission tests, but it is little bit tough stopping grace marks right now as the system has been going on for a long time in the university.

Earlier, a section of teachers held a press conference protesting authori-ties’ decision in reducing admission requirements.

The teachers said university author-ities had done this to provide special privilege to a certain group.

The university authorities have re-cently reduced some requirements for B and C units following o� cers and employees’ movement as some candi-dates became unquali� ed for registra-tion in the admission test.

The o� cers and employees at that time called a two-day work abstain to reduce admission requirements un-der brood quota. Later, they withdrew their movement following the assur-ance of the VC.

When contacted, Deputy Registrar (education) said: “The committee has re-duced admission requirements of social science and arts and humanities faculties to provide scope for attending the admis-sion test to the students of rural areas.”

General Secretary of JU Employee Association said as they were working at JU, they had rights to admit their children to the university. l

Pro-govt panel sweeps DU syndicate polls n DU Correspondent

The Blue Panel, a platform of the ruling Awami League-backed teachers, dom-inated the elections held yesterday of Dhaka University Syndicate as well as ac-ademic council and � nance committee.

The panel bagged eleven of thirteen seats while Jamaat-e-Islami-blessed White Panel managed to secure only two seats. DU Treasurer Mohammad Kamal Uddin, also the chief election commissioner of the elections, an-nounced the results in the afternoon, which started around 9am and contin-ued till 1pm without any break.

In the polls, 1289 of 1419 voters had cast their votes without any untoward incident, the treasurer continued.

The syndicate member winners are Prof ASM Maksud Kamal (Dean), Prof Dr Farid Uddin Ahmed (Professor), Dr Chandra Nath Poddar (associate pro-fessor) and Nilima Akthar (assistant professor) from the Blue Panel while the white lock's elected are Prof Mo-hammad Lutfar Rahman (provost) and Afrin Chowdhury (lecturer).

The academic council members are Dr ZM Parvez Sazzad (Associate Professor), Dr Mahbub Ahasan khan (Associate Professor), Dr Mohammad Abdullaha-hel Amin (Associate Profes-sor), Abul Kalam Lutfor Kabir (Assis-tant Professor), Mohammad Touhidul Haque (Assistant Professor), Shoboth Dev Nath (Assistant Professor).

The winning member for the Finance committee is Dr Mohammad Masudur Rahman. The syndicate elections were held under six categories – dean, hall prov-osts, professors, associate professors, as-sistant professors and lecturers while the academic council is in only two categories – associate and assistant professors. l

Dhanmondi playground goes back to the clutches of Sheikh Jamal ClubOccupiers use Bangabandhu, prime minister's portraits to gain political sympathyn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Dhanmondi playground, which had recently been re-declared as a public ground by Dhaka South City Corpora-tion (DSCC), has again become virtual-ly o� -limits to children, youngsters and locals as authority of Sheikh Jamal Dh-anmondi Club continue to control the playground's gates.

In the last decade, several concrete structures, including housing for club's players, sta� s and construction labours, were built on the public ground by the private sporting club due to the negli-gence and lack of planning by DSCC.

During this period, the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club had been using the name of Bangabandhu's family to fend o� any legal action that might be taken against them for the illicit occupation. Recently, they painted large portraits of

Bangabandhu, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and late Sheikh Jamal in front of the main gate of the playground.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, sev-eral residents of the area said they could not enter the playground due to restriction and protests from Sheikh Jamal club authority. Ishtiaq Ahmed, a resident of Dhanmondi yesterday, said: “Though the city corporation had reo-pened the playground to public in May, the private club authority had again shut the gates for the public.

“When the media ran reports on the playground, the club authority had al-lowed the general public to enter the ground. Now, the club authority does not allow it any more.”

Visiting yesterday, the Dhaka Trib-une correspondent found that a securi-ty guard was being kept at gate of the playground. However, when this re-

porter tried to enter in the playground, he was stopped by the security guard saying the club authority has directed him not to allow anyone, except club o� cials, to enter the ground.

Contacted, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club President Manjur Kader, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “The issue is now a pending issue in the High Court. So, I cannot say anything about this.

“If you further want anything about it, you can go to the court and ask,” he suggested.

Back in 2004, following a petition � led by the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) and Institute of Architects Bang-ladesh (IAB), the High Court directed the then Dhaka City Corporation (now Dhaka South City Corporation) to free the play-ground from the illegal occupation.

On April 24 this year, DSCC authorities reopened the public playground follow-

ing a demonstration staged by the green activists, locals and sports personalities.

Later on May 18, the city corporation conducted a drive at the Dhanmondi playground and demolished only two illegal establishments in compliance with an HC order of 2011.

Earlier, a High Court bench dropped a petition � led by six green activists, seeking the court directives to remove illegal structures built on the Dhan-mondi playground, from its cause list.

The petition was later accepted and sent to another bench, which felt em-barrassed to hear it.

Meanwhile, the DSCC authority had always played silent role over the issue.

When contacted, DSCC Chief Execu-tive O� cer Md Ansar Ali Khan, repeated: “We have not been informed about any such incident. If any irregularities are found, we would take action against it.” l

Encroachment on the Turag River has stopped after the Water Development Board constructed a walkway along the river bank at Amin Bazar in the capital. Earlier, the area was under the occupation of sand traders and land grabbers SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Dada factory turns into a scrapn Our Correspondent, Khulna

The once famous Dada Match Factory of Khulna is in a shambles. Following the shut down of the factory, most of its expensive equipment is out of order due to lack of maintenance.

Moreover, a lot of equipment has been stolen as security measures of the factory is not satisfactory.

In this circumstance, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu is sched-uled to visit the factory today. He would take decision about the future of the mill after going back to Dhaka. Khulna City Corporation has been di-rected to clean and prepare the factory for the minister’s visit, said Additional

DC of Khulna Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain.

The long-standing factory was closed down on February 2010 in the face of � nancial crisis. In 2011, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, at a rally in Khulna’s Khalishpur, announced to revive the factory under the Bangla-desh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC). However, no concrete meas-ures has been taken since then. Prime Minister’s assurance, e� orts from ministries and local MPs and workers’ movement have remained all but fruit-less.

It will be very di� cult to start the factory with very little equipment and that too in such bad condition. Spare

parts of various machineries have been long stolen. Parts stored in various storage spaces are also gone. Even the ceiling fans are not spared.

Khulna DC Anis Mahmud, in his de-fence, said the factory was not under the purview of the administration. He just followed government’s order to seal o� the factory.

Meanwhile, labour leader of the fac-tory Md Delwar Hossain Dilkhosh said, workers of the factory had been going through immense su� erings since the shutdown.

Many workers died out of hunger and diseases in the last four years. Ed-ucation of their children is also being hampered due to � nancial crisis. l

The teachers said university authorities had done this to provide special privilege to a certain group

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

Six killed across the countryn Tribune Report

At least six people were killed in Netrakona, Khulna, Comil-la, Feni, Khulna and Shariat-pur districts yesterday.

Our Netrakona corre-spondent reports: A farmer was hacked to death by his rivals in Kendua upazila here over land dispute.

The victim was identi-� ed as Alimuddin, 45, son of Sundor Ali of Birmohori vil-lage of the upazila.

Abhiranjan Dev, o� cer-in-charge of Kendua police station, said Alimuddin had a long standing dispute with his cousin Ali Newaz over land.

The supporter’s of Ali Newaz chopped Alimuddin as he went to work at the disputed land in the morn-ing, leaving him critically injured.

He was rushed to My-mensingh Medical College Hospital around 10am where doctor declared him dead.

Khulna correspondent said a wood trader was shot dead by unidenti� ed miscre-ants in Digholia upazila.

The victim was identi� ed as Lakhmikanta Mandal, 36, son of Nothuram Mandal of Pashchimpara village.

Shova Mandal, brother-in-law of Lak hmikanta, said a group of miscreants shot him when he was standing in front of his home at the village around 9pm.

He was rushed to Khulna Mediacal College Hospital where doctor declared him dead. Rabiul Hossain, of-� cer-in-charge of Digholia police station, con� rmed the incident.

According to Bagerhat correspondent, miscreant hacked to death a local Awa-mi League leader in Morhel-ganj upazila.

Mojammel Hossain ali-as Mojam Sikder, 50, was

attacked by a group of men armed with machetes around 8.30 pm , said Mor-helganj police station OC Md Aslam Khan.

Nishanabari Union Awa-mi League's General Secre-tary Abdur Rahim Bachchu said Hossain was hacked by a group of men at the Jew-dhara village. Locals rushed him to the upazila health complex where he died later.

Our Comilla correspond-ent said a man was beaten to death by his younger broth-ers at Kalkharpar village in Sadar upazila over family feud.

SI Sa� qul Islam of Sadar upazila police station said Shah Alam,35, son of Sanu Mian died on the spot as his younger brothers Faruk Hossain and Sharif Hossain beat up him with bamboo branches mercilessly.

Police arrested Faruk and Sharif in this connection.

Feni correspondent re-ports: A youth was hacked to death at Bandua village in Fulgazi area in the district.

Fulgazi police station O� cer-in-Charge Harunur Rashid said miscreants mur-dered Harun, son of Khaej Ahmed and dumped the body in the area.

Additional Superinten-dent of Police Saiful Haque said the deceased was ac-cused of a murder case.

Police investigated into the matter, he said.

Shariatpur correspondent said a madrasa student was killed at Gosairhat in the dis-trict. The deceased was iden-ti� ed as Zihad Hossain,10, son of Jahangir Alam.

Police sources said Zi-ahd went out on Wednesday when one Ruhul Amin called him. Later, he was found dead under a bridge in the area.

Police suspected he was killed after torture. l

AL leader commits suiciden Shahriar Milton, Sherpur

Joint publicity and publication editor of Na-litabari upazila Awami League, Khonodoker Azar Ali, 53, committed suicide by hanging himself.

The incident occurred on Wednesday night, September 3 at his home in Dakhkh-inbazar area. Police collected his dead body from the location of the incident.

According to Nalitabari police source,

sometime in the evening the AL leader made a noose with a scarf which he used to hang himself from his room’s beam. Khonodoker Azar Ali was the son of late Khondoker Hafez Ali Member from Fakirapara village in Mari-chrpur union of the upazila. The deceased left two wives, one son and three daughters.

Nalitabari thana Sub-inspector, Md. Ru-hul Amin said: “No motive was found re-garding the suicide and had a good relation-ship with family members. l

Man becomes prey to kidnappingn Our Correspondent,

Rangamati

A gang of culprits reported-ly abducted a man from his residence in Pagoijjachhari village in Bagaichhari upazi-la early yesterday.

The victim is Bikram Chakma, 35, son of Sneho Kumar Chakma, a resident of the village.

It was learnt that a gang of unknown 10-12 armed miscreants swooped on Bikram's house around 1am and they picked up him.

Con� rming the news, the

upazila's 35 Bangatali UP Chairman Tarusi Chakma said Bikram was not involved in any political parties.

On the other hand, United People's Democratic Front Spokesperson Maichel Chak-ma echoed the chairman's voice saying the JSS (Santu Larma faction) caused the kidnapping while he urged upon the party not to harass the ordinary people for the division between them.

When asked, JSS Infor-mation and Publication Sec-retary Sajib Chakma denied the allegation. l

Jessore power company sta� demand job rights n Our Correspondent,

Jessore

The workers and employees of West Zone Power Distri-bution Company Ltd (WZPD-CL) yesterday from a human chain demanded necessary rights in their jobs.

Sources said about 150 workers of the company under the banner of WZPDCL Bidyut Sramik Karmachari League took position in front of the dis-trict press club in the morning and they demanded all facili-ties in their job, which Bidyut Unnayon Board granted. l

School beside railway tracks, students cross gutter to enter classroomsn Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

Without any boundary wall, Birpur Government Primary School in Nars-ingdi municipality is running just beside a railway line posing risks to its students.

Headmistress of the school Mir Nasrin Sultana said as there was no boundary wall surrounding the school it had become di� cult to con-trol the students. “Whenever they get a chance they run to the shops situated on the other side of the railway line taking risks, sometimes they even throw pebbles on the trains while playing,” she said.

Situated at the centre of Narsing-

di municipality, Birpur Government Primary School was established in 1929. Later in 1998, a two-storey building was built while another one-storey building was established in 2008 inside the school area.

Because of poor construction work cracks have already developed on di� erent parts of the two-storey building which is situated right be-side the railway line, said a number of teachers, students and locals.

Moreover, because of the ongoing construction work for extending the Tangi-Bhairab railway line, heavy vehicles are plying on the road be-side school making the building more vulnerable, they said.

During a visit yesterday it was found that a three feet gutter has de-veloped on the school � eld that stu-dents are crossing by a narrow pillar to enter classrooms.

A class two student Sumaiya Sid-diqua hurt herself on Wednesday after slipping down from the pillar while crossing the gutter.

Despite informing local admin-istration about the issues, no steps had been taken, said parents and teachers of the school who are pass-ing days in fear of more accidents.

The o� cials concerned should take immediate steps to address the problems of the school that has a to-tal of 545 students, they said.

Chairman of the school manage-ment committee Mostafa Kamal Ahmed said the issues had been in-formed through written statements several times to the upazila chair-man, and primary education o� cials both at district and upazila level.

“However, I do not see any sign of progress,” he said.

Upazila Education O� cial Md Ab-dul Jalil Howlader said: “I have not heard about the issues. However, upon visiting the school, the issues like boundary wall, gutter and vul-nerable building will be informed to the concerned higher authority soon. I would make recommenda-tions to take necessary steps.” l Human chain formed

protesting abduction and murder of schoolboyn Our Correspondent, Narshingdi

Students from di� erent educational insti-tutions and general people of Narshingdi formed a human chain yesterday protesting murder of Nasib, a schoolboy who was ab-ducted last Friday.

Ayes Ali Academy, the school in which the deceased boy studied, organised the programme yesterday. The protesters gath-ered beside Dhaka-Sylhet highway near the Itakhola area around 11am.

Ajraf Hossain, principal of Ayes Ali Acad-emy, Mumtaz Begum, the deceased’s aunt

and some general students made speeches at the meeting. The speakers demanded im-mediate measures by the administration to ensure punishment of the culprits responsi-ble for the schoolboy’s murder.

Nasib was abducted by Tauhid and Al-Amin, who rented a � at in Nasib’s house, on Friday. On Saturday morning they demand-ed Tk2 lakh from his uncle Kajal over phone. When informed, police arrested Tauhid on Sunday night and learned from him that they had already strangled the boy to death. Later police recovered the body from a bio-gas tank in Shadharchar village. l

General students from Narshingdi formed a human chain yesterday protesting the murder of Nasib, a schoolboy who was killed after abduction last Friday DHAKA TRIBUNE

7Feature Friday, September 5, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

Dhaka, as a city, may be on the receiving end of a lot complaints, be it related to tra� c, roads, buildings, politics, or the enforcement of law and order. But on the other hand, Dhaka appears to bask in a candid glory that is obvious only when perceived not through the eyes of a citizen who sees the city as a mere means to an end. When one gazes at it with an openness to take it all in as the city’s pulse, as the city is, instead of what it should be, there comes a vivid collage of images, whose character ranges from � amboyant to humble with a uniqueness that stands in a league of its own

Photos:Syed Zakir Hossain

Dhaka: From the bird’s eye, to life up-close

Ý This road in Shakharibazar depicts a calm yet busy aspect of everyday life in Dhaka

Ý On the left we see the Karail slums and in stark contrast stands the Gulshan and Banani a� uence on the right

Ý The grand design of the Ruplal House in Old Dhaka mkaes one wonder whether this building was the centre of such utilitarian bustle back when it was constructed

Û Swooping down twoard Hatirjheel, reveals the texture of the urban jungle below

This tunnel-like passage in Boro Katra mixes past and present in

one de� nitive interplay

Ý This tabla store in Dhamrai, far removed from the rush of city life, rests in the serenity of humility combined with obsessive care

Þ

Friday, September 5, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World8

Britain considering arming, training Kurdish forces: PM Cameronn Reuters, Newport Wales

Britain said on Thursday it was con-sidering arming Kurdish forces but Prime Minister David Cameron sig-naled he would not sanction UK air-strikes against Islamic State mili-tants before a new Iraqi government is in place.

Britain has so far carried out aid drops and surveillance and transported military supplies to Kurdish regional forces allied with the Baghdad central government.

Other European countries, includ-ing Germany, France and Italy have already agreed to send Kurdish forc-es a quantity of light weapons to use against the militants who have swept into northern Iraq.

“We’re prepared to do more and we’re considering actively whether to give them arms ourselves and whether we can do more directly to train Kurd-ish militia - we’re already playing a role there but we can do more,” Cameron told ITV.

Cameron, hosting a two-day Nato summit in Wales, said he was not ruling anything out in the e� ort to “squeeze” the Islamic State (IS) “out of existence,” but signaled Britain would not join US airstrikes before a new Iraqi govern-ment is in place.

Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi said last week he was optimistic about forming a new gov-ernment soon.

Abadi is tasked with forming a pow-er-sharing administration that can ease tensions and counter IS militants who pose the biggest security threat to Iraq since a US-led invasion toppled Sadd-am Hussein in 2003.

“We musn’t see this as something where you have a western intervention over the heads of neighboring states,” Cameron told the BBC.

“What is required is a strategy to help those on the ground and to have an Iraqi government there that can make a di� erence, Kurdish forces that can make a di� erence and then we ask what more we can do to help them. It needs to be that way round.” l

In northeast Syria, Islamic State builds a governmentn Reuters, Beirut

In the cities and towns across the des-ert plains of northeast Syria, the ul-tra-hardline al-Qaeda o� shoot Islamic State has insinuated itself into nearly every aspect of daily life.

The group famous for its behead-ings, cruci� xions and mass executions provides electricity and water, pays sal-aries, controls tra� c, and runs nearly everything from bakeries and banks to schools, courts and mosques.

While its merciless battle� eld tac-tics and its imposition of its austere vision of Islamic law have won the group headlines, residents say much of its power lies in its e� cient and often deeply pragmatic ability to govern.

Syria’s eastern province of Raqqa provides the best illustration of their methods. Members hold up the prov-ince as an example of life under the

Islamic “caliphate” they hope will one day stretch from China to Europe.

In the provincial capital, a dust-blown city that was home to about a quarter of a million people before Syria’s three-year-old war began, the group leaves almost no institution or public service outside of its control.

“Let us be honest, they are doing massive institutional work. It is im-pressive,” one activist from Raqqa who now lives in a border town in Turkey told Reuters.

In interviews conducted remotely, residents, Islamic State � ghters and even activists opposed to the group described how it had built up a structure similar to a modern government in less than a year under its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Reuters journalists are unable to vis-it the area for security reasons.

The group’s progress has alarmed re-gional and Western powers - last month

US President Barack Obama called it a “cancer” that must be erased from the Middle East as US warplanes bombard-ed its positions in Iraq.

But Islamic State has embedded it-self so thoroughly into the fabric of life in places like Raqqa that it will be all but impossible for US aircraft - let alone Iraqi, Syrian and Kurdish troops - to up-root them through force alone.

Bride of the revolutionLast year, Raqqa became the � rst city to fall to the rebels � ghting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. They called it the “Bride of the Revolution.”

A variety of rebel groups ranging from hardline Islamists to religious moderates held sway in the city, al-though Islamists clearly dominated. Within a year, Islamic State had clawed its way into control, mercilessly elimi-nating rival insurgents. l

Russian plan fails to calm Ukraine as Nato backs Kiev over Moscown Reuters, Newport/Donetsk

Ukraine’s president heard words of support from Western leaders at a Nato summit on Thursday, but a Kremlin peace o� er failed to halt � ghting in the east where dramatic advances by pro-Russian rebels have tipped the bal-ance of power against Kiev.

The West believes a rebel advance since last week is the result of an as-sault by heavily armed Russian troops sent across the border, and has been scrambling to � nd a response to the biggest confrontation with Moscow since the Berlin Wall fell.

Western states have backed Kiev

with words and economic sanctions on Moscow, but have also made clear that they will not � ght to protect Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels rose up in two provinces after Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula in March.

President Petro Poroshenko was invited to meet US President Barack Obama, Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s Francois Hollande and other Western leaders at a summit of Nato in Wales hosted by Britain’s David Cameron.

“To the east, Russia has ripped up the rule book with its illegal, self-de-clared annexation of Crimea and its troops on Ukrainian soil threatening

and undermining a sovereign nation state,” Obama and Cameron wrote in a joint newspaper editorial.

Hollande brought the biggest surprise on the eve of the summit: postponing the delivery of a heli-copter carrier warship to Russia, a measure he had long resisted. Mos-cow accused him of caving in to US political pressure.

“France’s reputation as a reliable partner that carries out its contractual obligations has been thrown into the furnace of American political ambi-tions,” Russian Foreign Ministry dep-uty spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook.

Conflicting signalsThe past few days have seen con� icting signals from Moscow. After a week of belligerent statements, President Vlad-imir Putin unveiled a peace proposal on Wednesday and discussed it with Poro-shenko. The Ukrainian president, who has tried to keep diplomatic lines open with the Russian leader, at one point even suggested on his website on that a cease� re was in the works.

But his prime minister, Arseny Yatse-niuk, dismissed Putin’s proposal, which would require Ukraine to pull its forces out of rebel held territory, as a “decep-tion” and said Putin’s real aim was to “de-stroy Ukraine and restore the USSR.” l

Newcomer leftists shake-up Spain politics n Reuters, Madrid

Confronted by a steep fall in support after years of economic crisis and scan-dals in the ruling class, Spain’s conser-vative government has proposed an electoral reform it says will improve democracy but critics fear could help keep discredited elites in power.

The move appears to have been prompted by the whirlwind success of 8-month-old leftist party Podemos (“We Can”), which has taken main-stream politics by storm to become Spain’s third-biggest party, a hair’s breadth behind the Socialists .

The credibility crisis of Spain’s two main parties - the People’s Party (PP) conservatives and Socialists - (PSOE) is evident in their decline from a combined 80% of votes cast 10 years ago to around half of intended votes now.

If consolidated, their broad losses to

smaller parties could mean that by the time the next national election is due, in late 2015, they themselves could be forced into what up to now had been unthinkable - a grand coalition.

With that threat looming, the PP government says it plans to change the format for the May 2015 municipal elections to give anyone with 40% vot-er backing the automatic right to form a government, less than the full majority needed at present.

The government has touted the idea as a response to the Spanish pub-lic’s demands for more real democra-cy - one major factor behind the rise of Podemos.

But critics have derided the mea-sure, saying it could well assure PP vic-tories in many town halls unless rivals form coalitions. That is a tall order at a time when politics is more deeply pola-rised than usual. l

UN says $600m needed to tackle Ebola as deaths top 1,900n Reuters, Washington/Conakry

The United Nations said $600 million in supplies would be needed to � ght West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, as the death toll from the worst ever epidem-ic of the virus topped 1,900 and Guinea warned it had penetrated a new part of the country.

The pace of the infection has ac-celerated, and there were close to 400 deaths in the past week, o� cials said on Wednesday. It was � rst detected deep in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March.

The hemorrhagic fever has spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, and Senegal, and has killed more peo-ple than all outbreaks since Ebola was � rst uncovered in 1976. There are no approved Ebola vaccines or treatments.

An experimental Ebola vaccine that

Canada said it would give to the World Health Organization for use in Africa was as of Wednesday still in the lab that developed it as o� cials are puzzled over how to transport it.

Ottawa said on Aug. 12 that it would donate between 800 and 1,000 doses of the vaccine, being held at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

“We are now working with the WHO to address complex regulatory, lo-gistical and ethical issues so that the vaccine can be safely and ethically de-ployed as rapidly as possible,” Health Canada spokesman Sean Upton said in a statement.

“For example, the logistics sur-rounding the safe delivery of the vac-cine are complicated.” Upton said one of the challenges was keeping the vac-cine cool enough to remain potent. l

Ukraine and rebels to seek peace plan, cease� re on Fridayn Reuters, Mariupol, Ukraine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the main pro-Russian rebel leader said they would both order cease� res on Friday, provided that an agreement is signed on a new peace plan to end the � ve month war in Ukraine’s east.

The � rst apparent breakthrough of its kind in the war comes after a week in which the pro-Moscow separatists scored major victories with what Nato says is the open support of thousands of Russian troops.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Wales, Poroshenko said the cease� re would be conditional on a planned meeting going ahead in Minsk on Friday of envoys from Ukraine, Russia and Europe’s OSCE security watchdog.

“At 1400 local time (7.00am EDT on Friday), provided the (Minsk) meeting takes place, I will call on the General Sta� to set up a bilateral cease� re and we hope that the implementation of the peace plan will begin tomorrow,” Poroshenko told reporters.

Rebel leader Alexander Zakharchen-ko said in a statement that the separat-ists would also order a cease� re, from one hour later, provided that Kiev’s representatives signed up to a peace plan at the Minsk meeting.

The announcements come a day after Russia’s President Vladimir Pu-tin put forward a seven-point peace plan, which would end the � ghting in Ukraine’s east while leaving rebels in control of territory.

So far there has been no sign of a halt in � ghting in the east, where reb-els have rapidly advanced in the past week, backed by what Kiev and Nato say is the support of thousands of Rus-sian troops with artillery and tanks.

Moscow denies its troops are there, in the face of what the West says is overwhelming evidence.

Reuters journalists heard explo-sions and saw columns of smoke on the eastern outskirts of Mariupol, a gov-ernment-held port of 500,000 people that is the next big city in the path of the rebel advance. A Ukrainian military source said troops were bracing for a potential attack on the city.

Reuters reporters also heard govern-ment shells rain down overnight on a residential district Donetsk, capital of one of the rebels’ two self-proclaimed independent states.

Poroshenko won support from Western leaders at the Nato summit. The West has backed Kiev by imposing economic sanctions on Moscow, but has also made clear it will not � ght to protect the country, where pro-Russian rebels rose up in two provinces after Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula in March.

The Ukrainian president was invited to meet US President Barack Obama, Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s Francois Hollande and other Western leaders at a summit of Nato in Wales hosted by Britain’s David Cameron.

“To the east, Russia has ripped up the rule book with its illegal, self-declared annexation of Crimea and its troops on Ukrainian soil threatening and un-dermining a sovereign nation state,” Obama and Cameron wrote in a joint newspaper editorial.

Hollande brought the biggest sur-prise on the eve of the summit: post-poning the delivery of a helicopter carrier warship to Russia, a measure he had long resisted. Moscow accused him of caving in to US political pressure.

“France’s reputation as a reliable partner that carries out its contractual obligations has been thrown into the furnace of American political ambi-tions,” Russian Foreign Ministry dep-uty spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook. l

Relatives and soldiers from the Lebanese army carry the co� n of Lebanese soldier Ali al-Sayyed, who was beheaded by Islamic State militants in Arsal, during his funeral in his hometown of Fnideq in Akkar September 3. Islamic State militants beheaded al-Sayyed, a Lebanese soldier who was one of 19 captured by hardline Syrian Islamists when they seized the Lebanese border town for a few days last month, a video posted on social media showed on Saturday REUTERS

(From L-R) French President Francois Hollande, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi hold a meeting on the situation in Ukraine at the Celtic Manor Resort during the 2014 Nato Summit AFP

The separatists would also order a cease� re, from one hour later, provided that Kiev’s representatives signed up to a peace plan at the Minsk meeting

9Friday, September 5, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World

India on alert after al-Qaeda announces local wingn Reuters, New Delhi

India ordered several provinces on Thursday to be on increased alert after al-Qaeda announced the formation of a wing of the militant group in India and its neighbourhood, a senior govern-ment o� cial said.

In a video posted online, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahri promised to spread Islamic rule and “raise the � ag of jihad” across the “Indian subcon-tinent.” The government believes it is authentic and has warned local govern-ments, said an o� cial who attended a security brie� ng in which the video was discussed with the home (interior) minister.

“This matter has been taken very seriously,” the o� cial told Reuters. “An alert has been sounded.”

Indian security forces are usually on a state of alert for attacks by home-grown Islamic militants and by anti-In-dia groups based in Pakistan. It was not immediately clear what additional steps were being taken.

Until now there has been no evi-dence that al-Qaeda has a presence in India.

The timing and content of the vid-eo suggests rivalry between al-Qaeda and its more vigorous rival in Syria and

Iraq, Islamic State, which anecdotal ev-idence suggests is gathering support in South Asia. According to media reports, Islamic State pamphlets have been dis-tributed in Pakistan in recent days.

Zawahri’s announcement also made two references to Gujarat, the home state of India’s new Prime Minister Na-

rendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist.Modi has long been a hate � gure for

Islamist groups because of religious ri-ots on his watch as chief minister of the state in 2002. More than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, died in the spasm of violence.

“In the wake of this al-Qaeda vid-

eo, we will be on a higher alert. We will work closely with the central government to tackle any threat posed to the state,” S.K. Nanda, the most senior bureaucrat in the home department of Gujarat, told Reuters. A high security alert in the state in-volves activating informer networks in sensitive areas.

A senior police o� cial said that Gu-jarat has been high on the list of mili-tant organisations, including al-Qaeda, since the 2002 riots.

“It will be more so now because Nar-endra Modi is prime minister,” the o� -cial said, requesting anonymity.

Zawahri described the formation of “Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” as glad tidings for Muslims “in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmed-abad, and Kashmir” and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

Ahmedabad is the main city in Guja-rat state, which borders India’s arch-ri-val, Pakistan.

Assam is an state in India’s far-flung northeast where religious tensions are high after massacres of Muslims by tribal populations in the past two years. A senior intelligence officer in the state said security forces there were “well prepared”

to face any threats.Muslims account for 15% of Indians

but, numbering an estimated 175 mil-lion, theirs is the third-largest Muslim population in the world.

Tensions between Hindus and Mus-lims on the subcontinent have grown since Pakistan was carved from Mus-lim-majority areas of India in 1947, a violent partition in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan, has long attracted foreign mujahideen � ghters as well as home-grown separatist militants. In June, al-Qaeda released a video urg-ing young radicals in Kashmir to draw inspiration from militants in Syria and Iraq and join the “global jihad.”

Intelligence sources in Indian-held Kashmir told Reuters on Thursday that they had so far detected no traces of al-Qaeda in the Himalayan region that borders Pakistan and China.

The appearance of Islamic State � ags at recent protest rallies in Kash-mir was the work of an individual and did not point to any involvement of the group there, one said.

India has suffered several large-scale attacks by Islamist militants, most recently the 2008 Mumbai ram-page by Pakistani fighters that left

166 people dead.Smaller domestic militant groups

regularly detonate small bombs, but have so far failed to launch a ma-jor attack. Earlier this year, Indian intelligence agencies said a hand-ful of Indian men had joined the militancy in the Levant, among the � rst known cases of Indians joining foreign jihad.

Hindu nationalist groups sympa-thetic to Modi have been stirring sec-tarian tensions in recent weeks, claim-ing there is an Islamist conspiracy to seduce Hindu women and convert them to Islam.

At one of the world’s most in� uen-tial Islamic seminaries, Darul Uloom Deoband, in northern India, an o� cial said that extremist groups routinely try to recruit young, uneducated and poor Muslim boys as militants.

“We inform our students about the dangers faced by Islam, and rising mil-itancy is one of the key subjects dis-cussed in the seminary,” said Ashraf Usmani from the seminary, which is known for its conservative Muslim thought.

“I can say this with con� dence that no student from Deoband can be re-cruited by al-Qaeda or any other terror groups.” l

Iran, US meet in Geneva as search for nuclear deal intensi� esn Reuters, Geneva

Iran and the United States met in Ge-neva for bilateral talks on Thursday as international diplomacy intensi� es to end a decade-old dispute over Tehran’s atomic activities by a new deadline in late November.

The o� ce of European Union for-eign policy chief Catherine Ashton con� rmed Iran and six world pow-ers would hold their � rst negotiating round since they failed to meet a July 20 target date for an agreement in New York on Sept. 18.

The deadline was extended until Nov. 24 after six months of talks be-cause wide gaps persisted over the future scope of Iran’s uranium enrich-ment program, which can have both civilian and military applications.

The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain - aim to persuade Iran to scale

back its nuclear program in exchange for phasing out sanctions that have se-verely hurt its oil-dependent economy.

The election last year of President Hassan Rouhani, widely seen as a prag-matist, raised hopes of a settlement of the stando� after years of soaring tension and fears of a new Middle East war, and an interim accord was reached between Iran and the six powers in Ge-neva late last year.

But Western diplomats say the sides remain far apart on what a � nal deal should look like - especially on the is-sue of how many enrichment centri-fuges Iran can operate - and that a suc-cessful outcome in the negotiations is far from guaranteed.

Western countries suspect Iran’s program is aimed at seeking the capa-bility to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran says it is a peaceful project to generate electricity.

Thursday’s meeting in Geneva be-

tween senior Iranian and US o� cials was the second time they held talks in the Swiss city in the past month.

US Sanctions pressureState news agency IRNA and a US of-� cial con� rmed the discussions were underway. “If there is good will and a constructive approach, we can reach a desired result before Nov. 24,” IRNA quoted Iran’s deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi as saying late on Wednesday.

The United States last week penal-ized a number of Iranian and other foreign companies, banks and airlines for violating sanctions against Teh-ran, saying it was sending a signal that there should be no evasion of sanctions while talks continue.

Rouhani said on Saturday the sanc-tions were against the spirit of negotia-tions, but added he was not pessimistic about the viability of the talks. l

Dalai Lama again refused South Africa visan AP, Johannesburg

The Dalai Lama has again been refused entry into South Africa where he was going to attend the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, his South African representative said. Concern about angering China has been cited for a visa refusal in the past.

Nangsa Choedon, the representa-tive, said o� cials from the Department of International Relations and Coop-eration called her to say the Tibetan spiritual leader’s visa was denied, the Cape Times newspaper reported Thursday.

“For now the Dalai Lama has decid-ed to cancel his trip to South Africa,” Choedon was quoted as saying.

South Africa’s international rela-tions department said later Thursday it had received written con� rma-tion from the o� ce of His Holiness The Dalai Lama in India indicating he has cancelled his planned visit to South Africa.

South Africa’s High Commission in New Delhi was still processing the visa application “in line with due process,” it said. But “following the cancellation of the planned visit by the o� ce of His Holiness, the Department now consid-ers the matter to be closed.”

Tashi Phuntsok, the spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile, said “if the news reports are correct, it is unfortunate that the South African government did not extend the same courtesy to the respected religious leader, the Dalai Lama, as it did to the other Nobel laureates.”

The annual summit is being held in Cape Town next month and is meant to commemorate the life of Mandela.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation on Thursday said it took note of South Africa’s statement about processing the visa.

“We look forward to being in at-tendance at the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Cape Town together with His Holiness and other laureates,” the foundation said. l

Foreign minister denies that IS operates in Pakistann Agencies

During a media brie� ng, the Ministry of Foreign A� airs stated that they were not aware of Pakistani nationals work-ing in association with the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi led militant movement, Islamic State (IS), in Iraq.

“Reports about IS in Pakistan’s trib-al areas are not correct and Pakistani forces are � ghting against terrorists and this � ght is in the middle of its suc-cess,” Foreign O� ce (FO) spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said.

However, a small group of activ-ists belonging to the IS, which is led by an Afghan national, has distribut-ed a booklet in parts of Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa and tribal areas, particularly in Afghan refugee camps.

The booklet calls upon people to support the IS which has occupied large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

It says the caliphate declared in parts of Iraq and Syria will expand to Khurasan, comprising Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.

Aslam also con� rmed Chinese Pres-ident Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan was on schedule, and that dates of the visit were under discussion.

“China is Pakistan’s best friend and this visit would further cement this re-lationship between the two countries,” the FO spokesperson said.

Earlier, a high-level Chinese delega-tion comprising security and protocol of the President Jinping had arrived in the capital to � nalise the dates of his visit. l

Islamabad stand-o� : MPs heap scorn on protesting partiesn Agencies

As the political crisis prevailing in the country continues unabated, the gov-ernment and opposition parties in the Assembly are making frantic e� orts to negotiate with the protesting PTI and PAT.

The previous day saw the PTI law-makers march into Parliament, with Shah Mehmood Qureshi making a fe-verish speech about his party’s deci-sion to march. There was, however, no � nality on the acceptance of their res-ignations as the NA speaker maintained his wish to meet with the disgruntled lawmakers in his chambers.

The MQM, too, added to mounting pressure on the government when par-ty chief Altaf Hussain demanded the resignations of all MQM legislators.

While the opposition jirga gave the welcome news that the issue was “70% resolved,” Dr Tahirul Qadri show no signs of retreat; an absurd appeal for bats, balls and legos for the children at the PAT dharna was made, as well as mattresses for the women.

With the numbers at the Constitu-tion Avenue parade continuing the ebb and � ow pattern of the past weeks, a dramatic ruling from the Supreme Court or � exibility from the de� ant government and stubborn protesting parties are the only likely options to end the deadlock.

Will worn-out Imran give up on his de-mand for the premier’s resignation? Will better sense prevail for Dr Qadri, who is calling for an overthrow of the system as we know it? Will the passive government pull a new trick out of its hat? l

A person stands in front of a 25.3 meter long giant rabbit designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman at an old aircraft hangar as part of the Taoyuan Land Art Festival in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, September 3. The rabbit is named ‘Moon rabbit’ for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival or the Moon Festival and will be displayed from September 4 to 14 at the Taoyuan military base REUTERS

Thai cabinet meets king; doubt grows over power handover schedulen Reuters, Bangkok

Thailand’s new military-stacked cab-inet met King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok on Thursday, marking the formal start of an administration that will spend at least a year overhauling the political system before calling an election.

The leader of a May 22 coup, army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is now prime minister, has said he wants a year of reforms to culminate in a late 2015 election. But observers say there are signs a power transfer could be delayed.

“Prayuth has given himself several tasks to attend to while he is appointed prime minister,” said Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of South East Asian A� airs a� liated with Chiang Mai University.

“These could likely legitimize a rea-son for him to extend his term as prime minister and thus consolidate the pow-er of his military faction and himself.”

Dressed in a crisp, white military uniform, Prayuth, 60, led his cabinet to Bangkok’s Siriraj hospital, where King Bhumibol, 86, has been staying while he undergoes a health check-up, the palace says.

The army seized power after months of protests in Bangkok by supporters of the royalist establishment against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Analysts say the coup leaders want to end in� uence of Yingluck’s brother, former telecoms tycoon and populist premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. He lives abroad to avoid a jail term for graft but retains huge support, to the anger of the estab-lishment which sees him as a threat.

The military-backed government installed after the 2006 coup re-wrote the constitution to try to curb Thaksin’s sway. But that failed to derail his polit-ical juggernaut and Yingluck swept a 2011 election.

“Rightly or wrongly, there is a feel-ing among the generals that the armed forces is the only institution in Thai-

land that is capable of revamping the political landscape and rooting out Thaksin’s in� uence,” Ambika Ahuja, a Southeast Asia specialist at Eurasia Group, a New York-based political risk consultancy, told Reuters in an email.

Policy misstepSince taking control Prayuth has rolled out a temporary constitution that grants the military absolute powers and hand-picked an interim parliament stacked with military � gures that ap-pointed him prime minister.

The military government is striving to revive an economy that contracted in the � rst half of the year. There are signs of recovery but data on Friday suggested a broad-based recovery is some way o� .

The man overseeing the economy in the new cabinet is one of its few ci-vilians, Pridiyathorn Devakula, 67, a former central bank governor who was � nance minister in the government the military set up after the 2006 coup.

During that government, he bungled an attempt to impose capital controls to prop up the currency, leading to a sharp fall in the stock market. His appoint-ment has garnered mixed reactions.

“I don’t think he is a stand-out to foreign investors and any who have followed Thailand for a long time re-member his capital controls mistake,” Andrew Stotz, chief executive at A. Stotz Investment Research in Bangkok, told Reuters.

Others welcome someone they say is respected in the international � nan-cial community who, as economics ad-viser to the junta, has helped ease for-eign investor concerns about stability.

But democracy, said Chambers, may have to wait.

“Prayuth’s promises to achieve mul-tiple goals also gives them what they perhaps perceive as a mandate to re-main in power until these objectives are reached,” said Chambers.

“Only one year until elections? I doubt it.” l

In this still image from video obtained September 11, 2012, courtesy of the Site Intelligence Group shows al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a video, speaking from an undisclosed location, released by Al-Qaedaís media arm, as-Sahab AFP

Thailand’s prime minister and Army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha (L) talks with deputy prime minister Pridiyathorn Devakula (R) during a group photo at government house in Bangkok yesterday AFP

T H E M O O N R A B B I T

Treat waste as a resourceIt is deeply concerning that municipalities lack even a rudimentary

system for processing e-waste generated from computers, handsets, and other electrical and electronic equipment.

Electronic waste contains many toxic and non-biodegradable materials, which can be valuable if recycled properly. The Department of Environment prepared a draft for an E-Waste Control Policy in 2012, but there is no sign of it being put into practice.

This neglect contaminates land and exposes thousands of waste-pickers to hazardous health risks.

With growing economic activity, the amount of such e-waste is set to multiply at an even faster pace than general waste. As it is, the dysfunctional system for waste collection in cities like Dhaka fails to collect over half the waste generated each day. Recycling and waste sorting sites are pitifully provided for and are frequently a nuisance, with noxious wastes being tipped out and sorted on public roads.

We must make our systems for collecting and treating all types of waste � t for purpose. As a country with a successful ship recycling industry and large pools of labour, there is no shortage of resources to draw upon.

As well as ensuring safer facilities for processing toxic materials and bringing in mandatory rules for e-waste recycling, we have to boost collection rates.

The city corporations should provide proper recycling bins to allow organic materials to be usefully composted at source and to encourage more people to pre-sort paper, plastics, and glass.

While such schemes do not replace the need for expert sorting of materials, they have been widely proven to encourage more people to recycle and are helpful in reducing litter.

Newer avenues for remittance

A Bangladeshi remittance and investment fair is all set to be held in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur on September 21 and 22. The fair is largely being

organised by a number of private � rms and will house open stalls from numerous Bangladeshi banks, insurance companies, other � nancial institutions, and certain product manufacturing companies.

It is very good to see private companies starting to take more initiative in bringing in more foreign remittance to our country. While o� cial remittances from the country’s 8 million expatriates have tended to grow throughout changing economic cycles, economic turbulence in other countries, and competition from other nations which export labour, make it imperative to seek out new ways of earning more foreign remittance.

Expanding the skills of our workforce has been a proven method of accomplishing this goal, but it is initiatives such as the Kuala Lumpur remittance fair through which larger quantities of foreign funds can be earned.

The government would do well in making the in� ow of foreign remittances an easier process for the individuals and organisations which are operating outside our borders, key improvements can be made in our infrastructure, while entirely new, technology-driven channels can also be explored.

Chamber Orchestra’s powerful and convincing act wows audienceSeptember 1

Naveed HossainI’m sad to have missed this show. :( But hopefully, I’ll be there to support them and catch them at their next performance.

Ex-Oriental Bank o� cials, businessman sent to jailAugust 28ZA“A Dhaka Court sentenced six former Oriental Bank o� cials yesterday to seven years of imprisonment, and a businessman to 10 years of imprisonment for loan forgery. The court also � ned Tk1,428,572 to each of the accused.”

Meanwhile, how did the chief of risk management get o� the hook? We know the power of in� uence in this country.

Editorial10 DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

ACROSS1 Call for aid (6)5 Unhappy (3)7 Do wrong (3)8 Good name (6)11 Cleaning implement (3)12 Devotional song (5)14 Thrown (4)16 Staggers (5)18 Drive (5)20 Woody plant (4)21 Make suitable (5)23 Melody (3)24 Hard outer coverings (6)27 Frozen treat (3)28 Donkey (3)29 Instrumentality (6)

DOWN1 Queensland town (3)2 Vigour (3)3 Broke out (7)4 Specialised skills (4)5 Boil gently (6)6 Testify (6)9 Dutch cheese (4)10 Corn spike (3)13 Salad item (7)14 Shrill-sounding insect (6)15 Glittering particles (6)17 Fasting period (4)19 Resinous substance (3)22 Self-righteous person (4)25 Japanese monetary unit (3)26 Secret agent (3)

CROSSWORD

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.

SUDOKU

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 10 represents D so � ll D every time the � gure 10 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appro-priate 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.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

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Most people satis� ed with governmentSeptember 1

Raihan Al-Beruni “In a dramatic turn of public opinion, three-fourths of the population were found to be more or less happy with the performance of the current government led by Sheikh Hasina.

“But, in an opinion poll conducted immediately after the January 5 election, more than three-fourths of the respondents wanted fresh elections as early

as possible, or within a year. In a poll held last month, only a fourth of the respondents wanted fresh elections. In December, just before the parliamentary election, seven out of 10 people thought that the country was headed in the wrong direction.”

I am happy that Bangladeshis understand the di� erence between good and bad.

Monir Uddin Ahmed BadalSo many contradictions in the poll results.

Ashraf da Friend#JoyBangla #JoyBangabandhuLong live #SheikhHasinaLong live #Bangladesh!

Nazim AhmedI love my country and by its side I stand. Joy Bangla!

Tahsin Mahedy PrinceIf the government has oh so much love for the public, then why is it so scared of holding another election??

The government would do well in making the in� ow of foreign remittances an easier process

3 killed in protesters’ clash with Pakistan policeAugust 31Sayeda RumiI think many more were killed than just those three.

Saleha Toseef Sayeda Rumi: Yes, we’re in the midst of a very bad situation.

Love you, DhakaAugust 31

Hafeejul AlamI fully agree with the writer. Dhaka, good-old Dhaka!

Mahbub U RahmanI agree 100%. I love my own city, and it’s originally my very own city, Dhaka. For some reason, I have ended up living outside of it. I miss my � rst-love!!

Faruqi killing: Islami Chhatra Sena to enforce hartal on SundayAugust 30Ummul FazlNothing but killings and killings. Law enforcement needs to search out and execute these criminals. No more sympathy or kindness.

Minister’s chopper visit angers � ood victims

August 28

Zahid “The minister observed the � ood situation from

the helicopter for 15 minutes.”Wow! The minister was able to use this

opportunity to his advantage to go for a helicopter ride!

10 missing as trawler capsizes in Meghna

August 28

Sheikh Jinat Mahmid “Some 40 passengers were on-board the trawler

when it capsized near the Kagbazar area of Bhairab in Kishoreganj. Around 30 of these

passengers managed to swim ashore with the help of nearby � shermen. E� orts are ongoing to

rescue the missing passengers.”God save them!

Baby stolen from DMCH rescued

August 28

Nazmul Khair What good news on a bad day!

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZElectronic waste contains many toxic and non-biodegradable materials, which can be valuable if recycled properly

n Nadeem Qadir

John F Kennedy, in his inaugural address in 1961, said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but

what you can do for the country.” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the chief of the ruling Awami League, almost advised likewise to the activists

of her party’s student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) recently.

Speaking at the BCL mourn-ing-month rally in Dhaka’s historic Suhrawardy Udyan, the prime minister told them to follow Bangabandhu’s spirit of sacri� ce, not greed or amass-ing wealth. The country’s oldest student group, BCL, was founded in

1948 and played a pivotal role in all great movements of the country, in-cluding the 1971 liberation war and the 1990 movement to oust the autocratic government.

“History has not remembered those who joined politics driven by greed for wealth, and those who do so now will face the same fate,” she told the rally.

Hasina added: “Always think what you can give to the people of the coun-try, and not what you got.” The prime minister had rightly spoken.

In an opinion poll carried out by the Dhaka Tribune, the majority said they were satis� ed with the government and the next elections should be held after this government completed its � ve-year tenure.

But unfortunately, BCL has been resorting to activities that have damaged the government’s image and have given the wrong message of lawlessness in the country. Newspaper reports regularly speak of BCL activists resorting to various crimes, especially extortion and tender businesses.

This gives some vested quarters the chance to further malign BCL, and that means Sheikh Hasina, by using the or-

ganisation’s name in various criminal activities.

The latest incident involved BCL activists rampaging the Chittagong railway station. The station master, Jafar Ahmed, was quoted as saying that some 30 BCL men vandalised the manager’s room without trying to un-derstand the situation. The BCL men did not get the 340 tickets they had asked for earlier. It has been alleged that they often ask for such a huge number of tickets.

Even if we want to believe Nurul Azim Roni, general secretary of BCL Chittagong City Unit, that they were manhandled � rst by the railway em-ployees, vandalising the station is still not the answer. The result was another humiliation for Sheikh Hasina, who is fondly called “Apa” or “Sister.” The Daily Star, even wrote an editorial on the issue saying the “government must reign in.”

“The damage that the wayward BCL activists do to the government’s image should not be countenanced by the authorities. It is in the greater interest of the ruling AL that it keep such activists of its student front on a tight

leash,” the newspaper’s editorial said. It charged that BCL resorted to its “all too familiar, high-handed methods to impose their will ...”

The Daily Star is widely read, and its readership includes the expatriate community, who assess the country’s situation on the basis of these reports. What impression have they gotten? The Dhaka Tribune has also published a report titled: “BCL goes on rampage at Chittagong rail station.”

Is that the gift you – BCL activists – give to your Apa, the prime minister? You must re� ect the pride that comes

with belonging to the Awami League of the Father of the Nation Bangaband-hu Sheikh Muibur Rahman, and her able daughter, Sheikh Hasina, who has been struggling to give Bangladeshis a better life despite many hurdles. There were so many attempts to assassinate her, but God’s mercy has saved her. You are a majority and must be toler-ant, not violent and anarchic.

BCL must carry this proud � ag and give up all such activities and set an example of tolerance and positive stu-dent politics. They must focus on how the education system can be improved and how politics can be saner with more debate rather than muscle.

To quote Kennedy again: “We ob-serve today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom – symbolising an end, as well as beginning – signify-ing renewal, as well as change.” You must not let down a great leader like Bangabandhu, nor his daughter. Think and act, don’t let the country down. Celebrate the freedom of a Razakar-free Bangladesh. l

Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism.

n Dwitiya Jawher Neethi

A person who grew up in Bang-ladesh is familiar with the face of poverty. Beggars, hungry

children, and desperation are not new for us. I remember how when I was a young girl, a boy showed up at our doorsteps. He was hungry and my mother fed him dinner. He left after he ate and I bawled for him because I wanted him to stay with us, and could not understand why my family did not feel the same way.

This empathy evolved into sympa-thy; thinking about street children and the desperate lives they lived, made me disconsolate. My sympathy was also coupled with a hint of jealousy for all the freedom they seemed to enjoy. Eventually, it became nonchalance. Poverty was everywhere, and there was nothing I could do about it.

This is the general evolution of our psyche regarding poverty. It leads to the feeling that it is there and nothing can be done. But this is where we are wrong. And this is the reason why we tolerate this social ailment.

Government statistics from 2010 put 17.6% of the population of Bang-ladesh below the lower poverty line. This represents over 26 million people, or about 6 million families. They strug-gle with access to khasland, education, medical facilities, and proper liveli-hoods. Additionally, they also have to contend with climate shocks. The living conditions of the extreme poor are almost beyond the imaginations of people who grew up in middle-class families in urban Dhaka.

Often a part of their daily lives in-volves thinking about where their next meal will come from, and how their income sources may vary seasonally. Jobs may include strenuous labour, which hardly provide adequately for their families. Children may have to work to share their parents’ burden and provide for themselves.

The deep, entrenched nature of this social ailment makes the extreme poor unaware of globally established norms like sending children to school and not permitting child marriages. Their im-poverished lives rob them of the ability to live with dignity and they become deprived, and also often unaware, of their basic rights as human beings.

Extreme poverty is also not unique to Bangladesh. Countries such as China and Brazil have also combated it with targeted programs and commit-ment. Policies in China in 2004 that ensured near-universal coverage of healthcare changed the face of poverty in that country. A high 2.7% of Chinese GDP is government expenditure on healthcare.

In Brazil, 6.5% of the population lived on just $1 a day in the year 2000. By 2009, this � gure was cut in half. The Bolsa Familia (Family Grant) program, which targets short-term poverty through direct cash trans-fers and aims to eradicate long-term poverty by building human capital through conditional cash transfers, has lifted 50 million people out of poverty and inspired policies in more than 20 countries.

These examples, along with the gains made in extreme poverty allevi-ation in Bangladesh itself, prove that poverty can be eradicated. 34.3% of the total population in Bangladesh was below the lower poverty line in 2000, as opposed to 17.6% in 2010.

However, this rate may be hard to maintain as the threat from climat-ic shocks increase and as more and more people fall back into the trap of extreme poverty. According to Shiree, an estimated $3bn will be required to take 6 million families out of extreme poverty by 2022. With Bangladesh’s GDP at $116bn in 2012, this represents less than 0.5% of its GDP per year over six years.

Now that we realise poverty is not an incurable condition, poverty alleviation in Bangladesh should be prioritised because the gains made in industry are obviously not reach-ing this set of people. Committed implementation strategies, along with programs and policies that speci� cally target the extreme poor, are needed in order to comprehensively address this pressing issue. Targeted policies could include introducing an Extreme Pover-ty Reduction Tax which would channel funds towards poverty eradication programs.

All Bangladeshis, not just the government, must take this pledge. In a democracy (almost) the public has a role to play when it comes to what is prioritised by the government. The eradication of extreme poverty is a demandable priority. Community-level private sector initiatives are also essential in bringing about change.

A rising GDP that does not enhance human wellbeing and capacity-build-ing for all is not a sign of economic progress, and what’s more, negates the gains made by development by weigh-ing it down with social malaise.

As long as such large numbers of people do not have the opportunity to have and use economic resources and entitlements and are deprived of social opportunities, there can be no real economic growth. l

Dwitiya Jawher Neethi works in the development sector.

11Op-Ed Friday, September 5, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

BCL has been resorting to activities that have damaged the government’s image

There is a cure

T H E F L I P S I D E

Not helping AL

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Zafar Sobhan

My phone has been ringing o� the hook since Monday when the Dhaka Tribune published its opin-

ion poll on the government’s � rst six months in o� ce.

In response to the � rst question I am asked, let me state unequivocally that I stand fully behind the poll. The poll was conducted by IRC, a well-re-puted polling and research � rm, along precisely the same lines as the previ-ous two Dhaka Tribune polls. 

Our last two polls have held up well, corresponding closely to other polls commissioned contemporane-ously, and seemingly being con� rmed by subsequent observable facts on the ground, and I am con� dent that the polling methodology employed in all three polls has been sound and scienti� c, and that the results and very credible.

In response to the second ques-tion as to how could the poll results show the government so popular when everyone knows the opposite is true, I would humbly submit that it is precisely because we do not know, beyond our own limited circles (that may or may not be representative of the nation as a whole), how people are thinking, that it is important to conduct polls in the � rst place.

Anecdote, casual conversation, un-scienti� c observation, and dime-store analysis are simply no substitute for the empirical process of polling to try to get to the heart of public sentiment and perception.

Are polls infallible? By no means. Can they be wrong or inaccurate? Most certainly. 

But I think it is important to under-stand the science behind polling and to accept their results as a base-line from which to conduct one’s analysis. 

Now, it is possible that the DT poll was what is known as an outlier and did not fully capture or present an accurate picture of what the public thinks. It is for this reason that I welcome more polling by other organisations.

The more polls we have, the more accurate the picture we will receive, and this information can be very useful to us in terms of crafting or assessing public policy and spotting important trends, or shifts in the public mood.

I also think that it is equally important to know how to parse the information that a poll reveals, and to understand what it actually says and does not say. To my mind, a careful reading of the DT poll suggests results that are not nearly as unexpected or far reaching as would appear at � rst glance.

Let’s take the almost 70% of the

public, who feel that the country is now heading in the right direction, compared to roughly an equal percent-age who felt the opposite when we polled them in December 2013.

Well, why is that so hard to fathom? The country then was mired in shock-ing political violence and appeared to be on the brink of civil war or at least a never-ending cycle of bloodshed. No one knew whether the Jan 5 election would even be able to be held or what the aftermath might be. 

Fast forward six months, and things are a lot better. The streets are safer, there appears to be some measure of stability, the economy appears to be chugging along, and the uncertainty and violence of the last six months of 2013 appear to be a thing of the past.

Similarly, while immediately after the Jan 5 elections, fully 77% wanted to see new elections within one year, is it so hard to believe that, after six months of relative peace and quiet, a majority might now be content to let the government see out its term?

Nor is the 75% satis� ed with the government’s performance in its � rst six months so hard to credit. Look

back to the opinion polls from 2009. The Bangladeshi public (indeed this is true almost everywhere in the world) is generally charitable to newly-elect-ed governments, and it typically takes a while for disenchantment to set in. There is even a term for it among polit-ical analysts: The honeymoon period.

So, none of these results are par-ticularly outlandish or inexplicable. But the important point is that neither should they necessarily be interpreted as a strong endorsement of the govern-ment or a strong statement of support for its conduct.

That’s not what I read in the DT poll results. What the poll suggested to me is a populace that is sick and tired of violence and instability, and is enjoying a little peace and quiet. More than anything else they simply want to get on with their lives without having to worry about the buses they travel in being burned or the schools their children go to being shut down or the businesses they own or patronise being reduced to rubble.

Frankly, had the BNP taken part in the Jan 5 election and had they won and come to power, we might well be seeing the same results in reverse. 

The importance of the DT poll is that it points us in the direction of the right questions to ask: What do these poll results mean in terms of what the Bangladeshi public wants, and what are the implications for the future of the Bangladeshi polity?

I don’t have the answers, but some-times knowing the right question to ask is almost as important. l

Zafar Sobhan is the Editor, Dhaka Tribune.

Poll position S T R A I G H T T A L K

What do these poll results mean in terms of what the Bangladeshi public wants, and what are the implications for the future of the Bangladeshi polity?

BIGSTOCK

DHAKA TRIBUNE Entertainment FRIday, September 5, 201412

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak

Nusrat Faria, the gorgeous host of reality-show “Handsome: The Ultimate Man,” is current-

ly on a tour to Cox’s Bazar to shoot for the next episode of the show. Dhaka Tribune caught up with the 21-year-old anchor and model to know about her recent ventures.

Are you planning to work in any TV play? I have been in the industry for nearly two years now. I got a couple of o� ers from di� erent directors but none of these interested me. My favourtie di-rector is Raihan Khan. If I happen to get an o� er to act in his play, I will grab it without a second thought!

What kind of role are you interested in? I would like to play roles that are glamourous and dynamic. Usually, I like to put elements of drama and glamour in my shows so that the audi-ence can di� erentiate me from other anchors. I will try the same method in my � lm too.

Any update on Redowan Rony’s upcoming film Morichika?Yes, I am supposed to work in Morichi-ka along with Tahsan Khan. But it’s still in the pre-production stage, so I cannot say much at this moment.

On your shows one can detect a mix of energy and spontaneity not often seen on air. What’s the source of this energy? My strength is my con� dence. For every show I take preparations so as

to be able to impress the audience. I am not camera-shy. There’s nothing unsettling for me there. I don’t know how it happens, but the moment a camera starts to roll, I feel relaxed and con� dent.

Who is your childhood crush?My childhood crush is Hrithik Roshan. Actually, I am still in my childhood (laugh). I am not too old, you know, and I still have my childhood feelings alive in my heart. I guess Hrithik will remain my life-long crush.

Which one of your shows is your personal favourite? I host a celebrity fun show titled “Late Night Co� ee” on Rtv, which is won-derful in that there’s nothing arti� cial or fabricated about it. But my person-al favourite is the show that I host on Radio Foorti called “Night Shift with Nusrat Faria.”

Why is that? In other shows there is always some restriction you have to abide by. You cannot say this or that, you know. Such restrictions are a hindrance to spontaneity. But in this show, I feel like I can do anything I want, play with my audience and co-anchors and guests. I have the freedom.

Do you have a dream to work with any particular Bangladeshi actor? I have been a fan of Riaz since my childhood. These days I am working closely with him for “Handsome: The Ultimate Man.” If I ever get an opportunity to act, I will take that opportunity to romance him on the screen. l

Ace dance duo Shibli Mohammad and Shamim Ara Nipa and their dance school Nrityanchal staged much-acclaimed production ‘Rai-Krishna Padabali’ on Wednesday. A houseful audience was enthralled by the grace and grandeur blended with skillful choreograpy demonstrated in the dance drama which was staged as part of the ongoing ‘Ganga-Jamuna Natya O Sangskritik Utsab 2014’ at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Written by poet Sheikh Ha� zur Rahman and choreographed by Sukalyan Bhattacharya, it is based on the eternal love story of Radha and Krishna KHAN HASAN MUHAMMAD RAFI

RAI-KRISHNA PADABALI

Love stories of three di� erent timesn Entertainment Desk

A tele� lm titled “Kagojer Camera” will be aired today on NTV at 2:35pm. It is written and directed by Gautam Koi-ri. Prosun Azad, Shamol Mawla and Abu Hena Rony has been cast in the lead role.

The tele� lm portrays three di� erent love stories in three di� erent timelines: 1974, 1994 and in 2014. The story of 1974 depicts the story of a boy named Farid who is in platonic love with Mira. While he does not have the guts to talk with her, he stares passionately at the girl. His friends insist that he communicates with her. One day, he writes a love letter, and with a trembling heart he tries to give the letter to the

girl. Somehow, the letter does not reach Mira. In the story of 1994, Kabir and Roksana are involved in a two-year-long relationship. Kabir is unemployed, and constantly look-ing for a job. They regularly communicate through wired telephones, but one day, Roksana gets caught by her father while talking to Kabir. Rokhsana’s father locks her up while Kabir waits in vain for her at a railway station. In the story of 2014, Sam bumps into Mashiyat at a dj party. Mashiyat challenges Sam to a car race which takes place during mid-night, in Dhaka. After the event, they fall in love with each other, but the relationship lasts for three days only.

One � ne day, Sam discovers that they are taking part in the same race again. l

Prosun Azad and Shamol Maola in Kagojer Camera

n Entertainment Desk

The actress was recently voted the “Sexiest Woman Alive” by a Youth Survey 2014 conducted Indian na-tional daily India Today, elbowing out the likes of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie and singer Beyonce Knowles to bag the top spot by 37% of the votes.

This comes as no sur-prise, especially since the actress was named “India’s Most Beautiful” by a leading magazine this year and also crowned the “Sexiest Wom-an in the World” for the � fth year in a row, a feat no other Bollywood actress has man-aged to achieve so far.

With Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Mahin-

dra Singh Dhoni and Aamir Khan in the race, Katrina Kaif was one of the front runners on India’s Most Attractive Personality list, coming in at the number six position according to a sur-vey held by TRA - Trust Re-search Advisory across 15 prime cities in the country.

If that wasn’t all, Ka-trina, also secured the top spot in the world-re-nowned 50 Sexiest Asian Women List 2013.

Despite not a single re-lease so far in 2014, Katrina manged to stay in news courtesy her much spec-ulated upon relationship with actor Ranbir Kapoor. She is all set to sizzle on screen with Hrithik Roshan in “Bang Bang” in October. l

n Entertainment Desk

Disney will make a short � lm, a follow-up to its hit movie “Frozen.”

The studio has con-� rmed that the “Frozen Fever” will premiere in 2015 and will see the re-turn of all the main orig-inal characters, reported Hu� ngton Post.

Released last year, the Oscar-winning animated � lm “Frozen” is a story of a fearless princess who sets o� on a journey to � nd her estranged sister.

“In ‘Frozen Fever,’ it is Anna’s birthday and Elsa and Kristo� are de-termined to give her the best celebration ever, but Elsa’s icy powers may put more than just the party at risk,” reads a plot de-scription for the � lm pro-vided by Disney.

The movie will also have a song from Oscar winners Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, while Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck are set to re-turn to direction with it. l

MoyurakkhiMaasranga TV11:59pm

Mou, Aparna and Maznun Mi-zan are the lead actors of the single-episode TV play featuring complications in the married life.

Hera PheriStar Gold12pm

In the comedy, three unemployed men � nd the answer to all their money problems when they re-cieve a call from a kidnapper. However, things do not go as planned.

13DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, September 5, 2014

Sport 1414 CR7 impressed by United’s Falcao capture

Angel sets up sweet revenge over Germany

15 Ian Botham calls for end to Indian Premier League

Did you know?Wayne Rooney

has now overtaken Michael Owen and has

41 goals for England. Only Charlton, Lineker & Greaves have more

WI set to extend dominance over Bangladeshn Agencies, Kingstown

The West Indies and B a n g l a d e s h commence a two-Test series at the Arnos

Vale Stadium in St Vincent today with the hosts heavily favoured to extend their dominance over the visitors from the preceding limited-over matches.

The visitors may take some heart in returning to the scene of an historic Test triumph over a severely depleted Caribbean side on their last campaign in the region � ve years ago.

However their performances in last month’s one-day internationals, where they were swept 3-0 and were only really competitive in the � rst match, hardly bodes well for this � xture and the following Test in St Lucia.

Usually strong in the spin bowling department, Bangladesh go into the brief series without their hero from the 2009 tour, left-arm spinning all-round-er Shakib al Hasan, who remains un-available for national duty to suspen-sion for disciplinary violations.

To make matters worse, skipper Mush� qur Rahim will not be able to call on the services of o� -spinner So-hag Gazi, whose bowling action was reported as suspect by the umpires during the second ODI in Grenada.

He has since returned home and his place is to be taken by the left-arm spinner Elias Sunny, although it is questionable whether he will be match � t for the � rst Test.

Given their limited bowling resourc-es, Bangladesh’s best chance of avoid-ing being trampled by the West Indies again will be for their batsmen to rise to the occasion on what are expected to be placid pitches for the two Tests.

Mush� qur and Nasir Hossain com-piled hundreds in the high-scoring drawn three-day match against a St Kitts Invitational XI in Basseterre over the weekend.

And with 22-year-old Mominul Haque carrying an impressive record of three hundreds in seven Tests and an average

of 75.50 into the series, determined and resolute batting seems the only option for Bangladesh to thwart a West Indian side keen to make amends under new captain Denesh Ramdin for a 2-1 home series loss to New Zealand in July.

Two key players, mystery spinner Sunil Narine and experienced all-round-er Dwayne Bravo, are unavailable for the Tests due to commitments with their In-dian Premier League franchises for the Indian Champions League tournament, which gets underway September 13.

However Narine’s absence gives gangling left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn another opportunity to cement a place in the Test side after bowling successful marathon spells in the three matches against the New Zealanders.

With four faster bowlers named in the squad of 13, the nature of the pitch on the � rst morning is likely to deter-mine whether tearaway pacer Shannon Gabriel gets the nod or if the selectors will keep faith with the trio of Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor and Jason Holder.

While the shortcomings of the West Indies batting line-up were exploited by the e� cient New Zealanders, these two matches against a much less repu-

table bowling attack o� er the Caribbe-an batsmen the prospect of a run-feast.

One has already whetted his ap-petite. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the Kingstown 40-year-old who has played more Tests - 156 - than any other West Indian compiled 183 in the warm-up match against Bangladesh at War-ner Park. It is an ominous portent for Mush� qur and his men.

While Chris Gayle continues to struggle for runs at the top of the or-der in 2014, opening partner Kraigg Brathwaite and middle-order player Darren Bravo both hit hundreds against New Zealand.

The two Test matches will have no bearing on the ICC Test rankings with the West Indies down at eighth and Bangladesh occupying the last posi-

tion, 10th. A 1-0 or 2-0 series win for Bangladesh, however, will see them closing the gap on ninth placed Zimba-bwe. A 1-0 or 2-0 victory for the West Indies, on the other hand, will decrease their gap with New Zealand, who are seventh. A 0-0 or 1-1 draw, meanwhile, will see both the teams maintaining their current rating points – Bangladesh (28) and the West Indies (73). l

10-man U23s get the better of BD Policen Shishir Hoque

Regardless of a poor display in the opening half, the Bangladesh Under-23 football team registered a 3-0 victory over � rst division out� t Bangladesh Police Athletics Club, in the national side’s sixth practice match, at the Ra-jarbagh Police Ground yesterday.

Jewel Rana netted a brace while Atiqur Rahman Meshu grabbed a goal, all in the second half, to give the na-tional team a hard-fought victory.

The game against Bangladesh Police will probably be the national side’s last practice match at home as the team is scheduled to leave the country on Sun-day night for the upcoming 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

Talks are already ongoing to hold another friendly match in Singapore before the players set their feet in the northwestern city of South Korea to take part in the men’s football competi-tion slated to get underway on Septem-ber 15. The Bangladesh Football Feder-ation (BFF) earlier wanted to organise a friendly against a Malaysian club but it was cancelled later.

Bangladesh will � y to South Korea via Singapore Airlines and during their tran-sit in Singapore they are planning to play a match there, but, according to sources within the BFF, it is highly unlikely.

The national side’s Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif retained only two players – Meshu and Yousuf Sifat

- in the starting eleven which played against the Nepal U-23 team last week and started the game in the worst man-ner possible going down to 10 men with just 16 minutes into the clock as Abdul Malek received his marching orders.

Bangladesh appeared disorganised and anonymous on the � eld in the � rst half and skipper Mamunul Islam came o� the bench following Malek’s straight red card to bolster the attack.

“Only two players from the friend-ly against Nepal played in the starting eleven today (yesterday). We played better in the second half and scored,” said Mamunul after the game.

“We played against Nepal four days ago. The players are working hard to re-gain their form,” added Mamunul.

The visitors tried to script a come-back after resumption and it was Jew-el who broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half with an angular shot. The Brothers Union forward notched the second with a header in the 75th minute before another head-er from Meshu, who scored a hattrick against Bangladesh Army, extended the lead to 3-0 three minutes later.

The Bangladesh U-23 side earlier played two matches each against the Nepal U-23 team and Bangladesh Army and one against BFF Eleven losing just once against Nepal in Sylhet.

Bangladesh will begin their Asiad campaign against Afghanistan on Sep-tember 15. l

Hosts eye win in Hockey World League opener against Sri Lankan Shishir Hoque

Favourites Bangla-desh will kick-o� their FIH Hock-ey World League round-1 campaign against Sri Lan-ka at the Maulana Bhashani National

Hockey Stadium at 3:30pm today.Apart from the Lankans, Bangla-

desh, who � nished as the champions in the last edition of Hockey World League round-1, will face Hong Kong on Sunday in their last match as the fourth team of the group, Afghanistan, withdrew from the event.

Bangladesh coach Naveed Alam be-lieves this tournament will serve as a great preparation for the national side’s Asian Games participation later this month, but at the same time cautioned his players not to take the opponents lightly. During the Asian Games qualifying in March, Sri Lanka held Bangladesh to 2-2, before the latter won 3-0 in penalties.

“We are taking this tournament as a part of Asian Games preparation and this tournament will give me clear con-cept about the team and we will � nd out the improvements in the last three months,” said Naveed yesterday.

“There is no space to underestimate any opponents in the international tour-nament. We will play for the champion-ship and will try to boost our con� dence before the Asian Games.” he added.

Despite losing three matches against a strong India side last month, Naveed thinks the series was a great “learning opportunity” while he also expressed happiness over his charges who “tried to improve their low fault.”

“I think they will show their im-provement in the Hockey World League,” Naveed said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Mamunur Rahman Chayan echoed the same sentiment as of his coach’s and said, “We will take them (Sri Lanka) very seriously and will try to play ac-cording to our plan. If we stick to our own plan then we will win both the

matches with big margins.”After arriving yesterday, Sri Lanka

enjoyed their warm-up at the match venue in the evening. This will be the island nation’s � rst appearance in the Hockey World League while they have also quali� ed for the Asian Games.

“If you look at the ranking both Ban-gladesh and Hong Kong are ahead of us but we are improving and also want to qualify for the next round,” said Sri Lanka’s newly appointed coach Na-deem Ahmed Bhaat yesterday.

The number of teams to progress to the next round is not � nalised yet as the FIH will only con� rm the issue after the end of round-1 which will be played in nine di� erent venues across the world. The round-2 is scheduled to be held in Singapore in January next year.

The Bangladesh Hockey Federation also introduced three sponsors of the tournament — Sonali Bank Limited, Janata Bank Limited and Argani Bank Limited — who will combine to provide Tk3.5m to the BHF while TV channel ATN Bangla will telecast the games live.l

Gazi relaxed ahead of bowling testsn Mazhar Uddin

Upon returning to the country from the West Indies after the limited-over leg of the tour due to a suspect bowling ac-tion, Bangladesh o� -spinner Sohag Gazi yesterday informed he is not worried about his bowling test at the Metropoli-tan University, Cardi� , on September 19.

The match o� cials reported Gazi’s bowling action after the conclusion of the second ODI of the three-match one-day international series between the West Indies and Bangladesh and as per the International Cricket Council pro-cess, Gazi must now go through a series of tests to be conducted by specialists.

“I am playing cricket for the last 13-14 years and I have struggled a lot and have witnessed many ups and downs in my career so far before reaching this position today. So if I compare this with those struggles it is nothing. I don’t think it will be anything serious and I am actually quite relaxed,” said Gazi.

The 23-year old cricketer from Patu-akhali made his bow in the internation-al arena with a bang becoming the only

player in the history of Test cricket to smash a hundred and take a hat-trick in the same Test against New Zealand last year in October. Gazi is desperate to come back soon with the home series against Zimbabwe scheduled to be held in October-November.

“Obviously I would like to make a comeback as early as I can as we have many games lined up in the future. I am hoping for a positive result so that I can make a comeback in the upcoming series. I will try to start fresh once again and for-get my mistakes from the past,” he said.

Gazi went on to say he had very little ideas about what sort of tests he will have to face in Cardi� but left-arm spinner Ab-dur Razzak gave him advice who also en-countered similar tests after undergoing similar fate following the two-match Test series against NZ at home, 2008.

“Honestly I do not know what type of test I will have to give. Razzak bhai told me I have to bowl 9–10 overs with some equipments attached to my body. They’ll ask me to bowl all types of de-liveries that I normally bowl at an inter-national match,” he added. l

Bangladesh captain Mush� qur Rahim (L) and opener Anamul Haque (R) enjoy the company of Prime Minister of St Vincent Dr Ralph E Gonsalves during an o� cial reception at the Premier’s residence in Kingstown on Wednesday COURTESY

Bangladesh U-23’s Abdul Malek shown a direct red card after a harsh tackle on a Bangladesh Police player during their practice game at the Rajarbagh Police Line Ground yesterday MUMIT M

25 November, 2012 at Khulna, West Indies won by 10 wkts - West Indies tour of Bangladesh 2012, 2nd Test

17 November, 2012 at Dhaka, West Indies won by 77 runs - West Indies tour of Bangladesh 2012, 1st Test

02 November, 2011 at Dhaka, West Indies won by 229 runs - West Indies in Bangladesh 2011, 2nd Test

25 October, 2011 at Chittagong, Match drawn - West Indies in Bangla-desh 2011, 1st Test

21 July, 2009 at St George’s, Gre-nada, Bangladesh won by 4 wickets - Bangladesh in West Indies Test Series, 2009, 2nd Test

LAST 5 MEETINGS (TEST)Total WI win BD win Draw10 6 2 2

HEAD TO HEAD (TEST)

RESULTBangladesh U-23 3-0 Bangladesh PoliceJewel 55, 75, Meshu 78

DHAKA TRIBUNE14 Sport Friday, September 5, 2014

Robert LewandowskiDortmund to Bayern Munich; free transfer

It was announced back in January that Polish striker Lewandowski would be moving to Bayern in the summer on a � ve-year deal under freedom of con-tract. The 26-year-old followed the path trodden last summer by Mario Goetze in joinng Bayern from their biggest rivals. Lewandowski scored 74 Bundesliga goals in four years with Dortmund and was the division’s leading scorer last season with 20. He is therefore expected to be an improvement on Mario Mandzukic, sold to Atletico Madrid.

Ciro ImmobileTorino (ITA) to Dortmund; £15.5m ($26.4m)

To replace Lewandowski, Dortmund splashed the cash to recruit Colombia striker Adrian Ramos from Hertha Berlin but the more intriguing deal was that which saw 24-year-old Italy striker Immobile, the leading scorer in Serie A last season for Torino with 22 goals, arrive in the Ruhr.

Immobile, previously with Juventus and Genoa, signed a � ve-year contract with Dortmund. He fea-tured in two of Italy’s games at the World Cup but was largely ine� ectual.

Josip DrmicNuremberg to Bayer Leverkusen; undisclosed fee

Leverkusen moved to strengthen their front line with the signing of highly promising 22-year-old Swiss international striker Drmic. Formerly of FC Zurich, Drmic sprang to prominence with 17 goals in a Nuremberg side that were relegated last season.

He put pen to paper on a four-year deal before featuring in all of Switzerland’s games as they reached the last 16 at the World Cup.

Mehdi BenatiaRoma to Bayern Munich; 30m euros

Moroccan international defender Benatia, 27, signed on a � ve-year deal from Serie A side Roma to help Bayern plug the gap left by the loss of Javi Martinez to a serious knee injury.

Benatia was born in France but only played in the lower leagues there before making a name for himself in Italy with Udinese. He then joined Roma last year and helped the capital club � nish second to qualify for the Champions League.

Xabi AlonsoReal Madrid to Bayern Munich; 10m euros

Alonso, 32, joined Bayern from European champions Real Madrid last week in what he described as “the most complicated” decision of his career. A member of the Spanish side that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, Alonso had joined Real from Liverpool in 2009. He announced his retirement from international football last Wednes-day. The recent purchase of German mid� elder Toni Kroos had also complicated his future with Real, and so he eventually agreed to move in the opposite direction.

THE BIGGEST SUMMER TRANSFERS IN BUNDESLIGA5

Argentina mid� elder Angel Di Maria (L) congratulates his teammate Sergio Aguero after he scored the opening goal during their friendly match against Germany in Duesseldorf, Germany on Wednesday AP

Dunga’s Brazil re-start against Colombian Reuters, Miami

It will be easier said than done but Bra-zil attempt to put their World Cup hu-miliation behind them when they start life under new coach Dunga in a friend-ly against Colombia in Miami on Friday.

Barely two months after their shocking 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-� nals of the tournament they hosted, there is a new look to the Sele-cao with Dunga, in his second spell in charge, hoping that fresh faces will be less a� ected by July’s traumatic exit. The coach’s message of not dwelling on the past has been embraced.

“Dunga told all of us that we have to hold our heads up, put the past be-hind us, show our ability and that we

deserve to be national team players,” mid� elder Oscar told Reuters.

“It is not easy to put the Germany defeat out of our minds, it is di� cult, but we have to work and to show our value.”

Indeed, there was a relaxed look about the team as they chatted with reporters even though Friday’s oppo-nents, a Colombia team out to avenge their 2-1 loss to Brazil in the World Cup quarter-� nals, are stern opposition.

Striker Radamel Falcao, who moved on Monday to Manchester United from Monaco, is back in the Colombia side after missing the World Cup through injury and will team up again with one of the success stories of the tourna-ment in James Rodriguez.l

Begovic goal enters record booksn AFP, London

Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic expressed pride on Thursday after his freak goal against Southampton last season was included in the Guinness World Records book.

The Bosnian international scored in a Premier League game at the Britannia Stadium in November when a wind-as-sisted clearance bounced over opposite number Artur Boruc only 13 seconds after kick-o� . The distance of the strike was measured at 91.9 metres and it has now been recorded as ‘the longest goal scored in football’ in the latest edition.

“I feel amazing to be honoured in this way and as a goalkeeper I didn’t expect this to happen, not for this type of record anyway. I will take it though and enjoy it,” Begovic told. l

Angel sets up sweet revenge over Germanyn Reuters, Duesseldorf

A brilliant performance from Angel Di Maria spurred Argentina to a crushing 4-2 friendly win over world champions Germany on Wednesday in an entertain-ing rematch of July’s World Cup � nal.

Despite the absence of injured cap-tain Lionel Messi, Argentina ran circles around the World Cup winners on their home turf in the � rst match for both

teams since Germany’s 1-0 extra-time victory in the � nal in Brazil.

So impressive was the performance of the Argentine winger, who had missed the � nal through injury, in the Duessel-dorf arena that even many of the German fans applauded his performance when he was replaced late in the match.

Germany coach Joachim Loew put only four of the starting 11 that won Germany’s fourth World Cup on the pitch in the warm-up match for their Euro 2016 campaign that starts on Sun-day against Scotland.

Di Maria set up the � rst goal in the 21st minute with a pinpoint lob to the

penalty spot where Sergio Aguero slipped away from his marker and beat Manuel Neuer with an unstoppable volley from point-blank range.

Nineteen minutes later Di Maria broke free on the right near the goal line where he lofted a cross back to Erik Lamela, standing in for the injured Li-onel Messi, who smashed a � ne volley past a frustrated-looking Neuer.

Central defender Federico Fernan-dez headed the third two minutes after the intermission from Di Maria’s free kick before the winger made it 4-0 with a superb chip in the 50th minute.

“Di Maria is one of the best four or � ve players in the world and so his perfor-mance didn’t surprise me,” said Argenti-na’s new coach Gerardo Martino, adding he could have possibly made a di� erence had he been on the pitch in July.

“His absence there was noticeable,” Martino told a news conference looking back to the World Cup � nal.

But Loew later told reporters he did not think Di Maria would have made a di� erence in the � nal.

“We would have beaten them on July 13 even if Di Maria had been playing,” Loew said, a statement that prompted some German reporters to applaud. “He couldn’t have beaten us on that day.”

Germany came into the match still aglow over their World Cup win in Bra-zil but were facing a rout when they fell behind 4-0.l

CR7 impressed by United’s Falcao capturen AFP, London

Former Manchester United favourite Cristiano Ronaldo has given his ap-proval to the club’s signing of Radamel Falcao and reiterated his desire to re-turn to Old Tra� ord one day.

United signed Colombia striker Fal-cao from Monaco on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day and will be able to make the deal permanent next year for a fee of around 55 million euros ($72.3 million).

Several observers questioned the move for Falcao at a time when Unit-ed are bereft of experienced players in central defence, but Ronaldo believes it was a good piece of business.

“He is a very good player. I think United did very well,” the Portugal captain said in an interview published in Thursday’s edition of the Daily Tele-graph.

“I don’t think it is wrong. He will be a fantastic buy. United have not started well, with only two points from three games, so they need quality players. And Falcao is a quality player.”

Ronaldo ful� lled his ambition of winning the Champions League with Real Madrid last season, but he says that he still carries a torch for United, the club he left in 2009.

“I love Manchester. Everyone knows that. Manchester is in my heart,” said the 29-year-old. “I left many good friends there, the supporters are amazing, and I wish I can come back one day.”

Ronaldo set a new Champions League scoring record with 17 goals last season and wrested the FIFA Ballon d’Or away from eternal rival Lionel Messi. l

Rooney rescues England in turgid Norway winn AFP, London

Wayne Rooney marked his � rst game as captain with a goal as England overcame Norway 1-0 in a forgettable friendly game at a half-empty Wemb-ley Stadium on Wednesday.

The Manchester United striker smashed home a 68th-minute penalty won by the impressive Raheem Ster-ling to give England victory in their � rst game since they limped out of the World Cup at the group phase.

It was his 41st goal for his country, taking him above Michael Owen in the all-time scorers’ list, and saw England end a run of � ve games without victory ahead of Monday’s opening Euro 2016 quali� er in Switzerland.

England manager Roy Hodgson also gave debuts to Aston Villa mid� elder Fabian Delph and Arsenal defender Calum Chambers, whose new team-mate Danny Welbeck caught the eye as a second-half substitute.

But on a night when only 40,181 fans turned out to watch England -- a record low in the seven-year history of the new Wembley -- there were few satis-factions for Hodgson, whose side regis-tered only two shots on target.

“We probed very well in the � rst half and asked a lot of questions of them. We started the second half poorly for 15 minutes, and Joe Hart had to make a couple of saves,” Hodgson told ITV.

“But luckily we got ourselves going again with Danny Welbeck and Fabian

Delph, and got on top. We were good value for our victory.”

The thin crowd made for an atmo-sphere more akin to a testimonial in-side the cavernous national stadium and it took the promptings of Sterling to spark the home team into life.

Sterling’s raking 40-yard ball set up a chance for Liverpool team-mate Dan-iel Sturridge, who could only lob over the bar, and he also teed up Sturridge and Leighton Baines for shots that were blocked.

Meanwhile, Alexander Kerzhakov became Russia’s record goalscorer with a double against Azerbaijan in a 4-0 friendly win in Moscow on Wednesday.

Sergey Ignashevich and Vladimir Granat were also on target in Russia’s

� rst game since their disappointing showing at the Brazil World Cup, where they failed to get past the group stage.

Teenage defender Ozan Tufan scored his � rst goal for Turkey in sec-ond-half stoppage time to give his side a 2-1 win over Denmark in their friendly international in Odense on Wednesday.

Denmark captain Daniel Agger, who last week left Liverpool to return to Co-penhagen club Brondby, gave the Danes the lead from the penalty spot late in the � rst half, and the home side had plenty of chances to increase their advantage.

Nicklas Bendtner, left out of the original squad but called in as injury cover, was lively in attack but Turkey equalised through Olcay Sahan after 55 minutes. l

Germany’s forward Miroslav Klose (L) and former skipper Philipp Lahm celebrate their retirement from national team prior to the friendly match against Argentina in Duesseldorf on Wednesday AFP

RESULTSEngland 1-0 NorwayRooney 68-P

Czech Republic 0-1 United States Bedoya 39

Denmark 1-2 TurkeyAgger 34-P Sahan 55, Ozan Tufan 90+2

Ukraine 1-0 MoldovaBezus 63

Russia 4-0 AzerbaijanKerzhakov 6, 12, Ignashevich 41, Granat 81

Germany 2-4 ArgentinaSchuerrle 52, Aguero 20, Lamela 40,Goetze 78 Fernandez 47, di Maria 50

Ireland 2-0 OmanDoyle 20, Pearce 81

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE 15Friday, September 5, 2014

Brazil club banned over racist chantsTop-� ight Gremio were thrown out of Brazil’s main cup competition Wednesday in an unprecedented pun-ishment for a club in the football-mad country after a visiting goalkeeper was subjected to sustained racial abuse. Brazil’s sports justice tribunal also � ned Gremio 50,000 reais ($20,000) after a group of fans of the club from the southern city of Porto Alegre chanted insults and made monkey noises at Santos goalkeeper Aranha during a cup clash on August 28. Gremio had condemned the fans involved and launched an anti-racism campaign, with the players taking to the � eld in their last league game holding a banner urging supporters to “say no to racism.” But it is the second racist incident this year involving Gremio, the � rst earning the club a � ne of $35,000. Separately, one young female supporter clearly seen yelling “macaco” (monkey) at shot-stopper Aranha was suspended from her job and her behavior sparked a storm of outrage on social media.

–AFP

Massa tips Bottas as potential championFelipe Massa has tipped his ever-im-proving Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas as a potential world champion. The Brazilian, 33, believes that his 25-year-old Finnish team-mate has all the necessary credentials to claim the title. Massa’s career has been spent alongside a string of world champions including Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, seven-time champion German Michael Schumacher, Finn Kimi Raikkonen and two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso. “He’s a great driver,” said Mas-sa. “He’s shown since the beginning of the season that he’s a great driver, that he’s quick, competitive, that he’s clever, intelligent, working very hard. “It’s clear he’s doing everything correct. People need to see him as a great driver in the � eld. Not just him, (Daniel) Ricciardo too.” Asked if Bottas could � ght for a world championship, Massa replied: “He can, de� nitely. He’s still young.”

–AFP

Japan’s Okubo banned for trashing advertising boardJapan’s World Cup striker Yoshito Okubo has been banned for two games by the J-League after smashing an ad-vertising board in a � t of pique during a match last weekend, o� cials said Thursday. The suspension completes a double-whammy for the Kawasaki Frontale player after being dropped by Japan coach Javier Aguirre for the Mex-ican’s � rst game in charge against Uru-guay on Friday and Tuesday’s friendly with Venezuela. Okubo, who has a reputation for having a short fuse, kicked the hoarding in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Nagoya Grampus, prompting the J-League’s disciplinary committee to charge him with destruction of prop-erty. His suspension comes less than a week after J-League rivals Yokohama F-Marinos were hit with a $48,000 � ne after a supporter racially abused a black player by waving a banana during a game against Frontale.

–AFP

McMillan con� rmed as NZ batting coachFormer international Craig McMillan was con� rmed as New Zealand’s bat-ting coach on Thursday, after assuming the role on a temporary basis earlier this year. McMillan, who played 55 Tests and 197 one-day internationals for the Black Caps, has been given a two-year contract, New Zealand Crick-et said in a statement. The 37-year-old worked as batting coach for the Black Caps tour of the West Indies in July and New Zealand A’s recently completed tour of England.

–AFP

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DAY’S WATCH

Akbar claims 1st Junior Open Golfn Raihan Mahmood

Akbar Hossain of Moinamoti Golf Club emerged as the champion of the 1st Bangladesh Junior Open Golf held at the Kurmitola Golf Club yesterday.

Afnan Mahmud Chowdhury Mahi of Army Golf Club won the boys’ Under-16 crown while Sha� k Ahmed of Kurmitola Golf Club clinched the title of the boys U-21 section. Nasimaa Akter

Shiba of Kurmitola Golf Club lifted the crown of the girls’ U-16 section while the title of the girls’ U-18 category was claimed by Zakia Sultana of Kurmitola Golf Club. A total of 91 junior golfers from nine clubs participated in the meet.

Lt. Gen. Anwar Hussain, the Quarter Master General of Bangladesh Army, distributed the prizes as the chief guest. l

Winners in the Bangladesh Junior Open Golf pose for a photograph along with guests at the Kurmitola Golf Club yesterday COURTESY

Home series very crucial for ‘A’ team players n Minhaz Uddin Khan

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday announced the Bangladesh A team for their � rst four-day match against Zimbabwe A at the Sheikh Ka-mal International Cricket Stadium in Cox’s Bazar from 14-17 September.

National selector Minhajul Abedin believes the upcoming home series for the second string national side to be vi-tal for the discarded national team play-ers. The former national skipper consid-ered it as a big platform for the players.

“Playing for the A team will help those who eyes to play for the national side. We are giving priority to the Zimbabwe A se-

ries as it is being played at home and as because they (Zimbabwe) will have six to seven players from their main team. This series is very important for few new play-

ers as well. I believe this is going to be an exciting series,” said Minhajul to the me-dia at SBNS yesterday.

Minhajul informed, the national se-

lection panel tried to accommodate both experienced and freshers in the side for afore mentioned reasons.

Upon queried of how realistic the chances are for the players (Marshall Ayub, Rokibul Hasan, Naeem Islam and Shahadat Hossain) who look to retain their place in the Tigers line-up, Minha-jul said, “A player performing does have the chance to get back. We observed them during the practice sessions and to be honest their � tness looked good.”

Meanwhile, among the new faces the brightest future prospect is un-der-19 batsman Sadman Islam who had a superb U-19 World Cup in Dubai earli-er this year. l

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (2L) and former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (2R) along with former Australian cricketers Brett Lee (L) and Adam Gilchrist pose with the Cricket World Cup trophy at an event in Mumbai yesterday AFP

Botham calls for end to IPLn AFP, London

England great Ian Botham said Wednesday the Indian Premier League was “too powerful” for cricket’s long-term good as he called for the lucrative Twenty20 domestic tournament to be scrapped.

Delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s, where he was once a ground-sta� boy before going on to star at the ‘home of cricket’ for both Somerset and England, Botham also ex-pressed his fears about the IPL’s e� ect on corruption within the world game.

“I’m worried about the IPL -- in fact, I feel it shouldn’t be there at all as it is changing the priorities of world crick-et,” the 58-year-old former England captain said.

“Players are slaves to it. Administra-tors bow to it. How on earth did the IPL

own the best players in the world for two months a year and not pay a penny to the boards who brought these play-ers into the game?

“I know this has been modi� ed to a degree, but it is still an imbalance. The IPL is too powerful for the long-term good of the game. Corruption is enough of a problem in itself, but the IPL compounds that problem given it provides the perfect opportunity for betting and therefore � xing.”

Botham, one of cricket’s greatest all-rounders, added: “We have seen a few players exposed, but does throw-ing the odd second XI player into jail solve it? To kill the serpent, you must cut o� its head.

The ICC (International Cricket Coun-cil) Anti-Corruption Unit must pursue the root of the problem and if neces-sary expose the big names.”l

Djokovic, Nishikori take long road to semi-� nalsSerena crushes Pennetta to reach last fourn Reuters, New York

Serena Williams and Ekaterina Ma-karova sprinted into the semi-� -nals of the U.S.

Open on Wednesday, while world num-ber one Novak Djokovic and marathon man Kei Nishikori were forced to take the long road into the last four.

Having already played the longest match of the tournament in the fourth round, a bruising four-hour 19-minute battle with Canadian Milos Raonic, Ni-shikori had enough left in the tank to get past third seed Stan Wawrinka 3-6

7-5 7-6 (7) 6-7 (5) 6-4 in a four-hour 15-minute test of wills to become the � rst Japanese man into the last four of a grand slam in 81 years.

Bidding to reach the Flushing Meadows � nal for a � fth straight year, Djokovic did not need � ve sets to tame a valiant Andy Murray 7-6 (1) 6-7 (1) 6-2 6-4 but the big Serb did have to dig deep to see o� his longtime rival who was in obvious distress at the end of what had been a wildly enthralling sta-dium court encounter.

While Murray and Djokovic battled their way through a 73 minute opening set, 32-year-old Williams needed just 63 minutes in total on a sultry evening

to breeze past Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-2 and become the oldest player to reach the last four at Flushing Mead-ows since Martina Navratilova in 1991.

Russian left-hander Makarova, who will take on Williams for a spot in Sun-day’s � nal, made her best mark in grand slam singles by outslugging Victoria Az-arenka, the U.S. Open runner-up the last two years, 6-4 6-2 in a snappy 87 minutes.

While the day presented plenty of intriguing matchups it was the late night clash under the Arthur Ashe Sta-dium � oodlights between Murray and Djokovic, in a rematch of the 2012 � nal won by the Scotsman, that was always going to be the showstopper.

The pair delivered on the promise, combining for some stunning long rallies until Murray struggled with his movement near the end and required a hot compress for his back midway through the fourth set. But he pro-duced arguably his best tennis since having back surgery 11 months ago and gave the top seed a real scare.

“I think we played a very physical match in the � rst two hours,” Djokovic said. “I am very glad to get through to another semi-� nal. We both gave our best. At times, the tennis was not that nice, we made a lot of unforced errors but that’s due to a very physical battle we had in the � rst two sets. l

PCB investigates Shahzad-Dilshan ‘religious spat’n AFP, Karachi

Pakistan on Thursday said it has set up a committee to look into a religious spat between their opener Ahmed Shahzad and Sri Lankan counterpart Tillakaratne Dilshan last month.

Television footage showed Shahzad passing a religious remark at Dilshan after the third and � nal one-day inter-national in Dambulla last week.

After Sri Lanka notched a sev-en-wicket win to take the series 2-1 and the players were walking o� the � eld, Shahzad can be heard on camera saying to Dilshan: “If you are a non-Muslim and you turn Muslim, no matter whatever you do in your life, straight to heaven.”

Dilshan replied he doesn’t want to go there, to which Shahzad replied: “Then be ready for the � re.”

The remarks stemmed from reports that 37-year-old Dilshan was born to a Muslim father and a Buddhist mother and was originally named Tuwan Mo-hamed Dilshan.But once his parents separated he changed his religion and name to Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan as a Buddhist.

The footage went viral on the In-ternet, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to summon Shahzad on Wednesday.

A PCB spokesman said the matter will be investigated by an internal com-mittee headed by director of interna-tional cricket Zakir Khan. l

Du Plessis ton guides SA to � naln Cricinfo

South Africa secured their place in the triangular series � nal against Australia thanks to a third century in the com-petition from Faf du Plessis, which formed the spine of a target too tall for Zimbabwe to chase. Du Plessis shared a 103-run stand with JP Duminy for the � fth wicket and led the � nal assault which helped South Africa take 61 runs o� the last � ve overs to put a place in the � nal beyond Zimbabwe’s reach.

The hosts had to reach the score in 25.2 overs to earn a bonus point and im-prove their run-rate enough to leapfrog South Africa but at a required run-rate of 10.83 to the over that was always go-ing to be a tough ask. Zimbabwe have only managed over 200 once in the � ve ODIs they played before this one and, although they crossed the mark again this time, their batting let them down again. Aside from Brendan Taylor, who scored his � rst 50 in six innings, no one else managed to stay at the crease for longer than 41 minutes or score more than 29 runs.

As soon as the score moved beyond 220, Zimbabwe’s chances of winning, not in the overs they needed to get to

the � nal, but overall, were dimmed. Their opening partnership remains brittle, their middle-order soft and their tail brave but inadequate even against a South African attack that was a man short.

De Villiers was run-out cheaply at the non-strikers’ end to give Zimbabwe a chance to take control but Duminy de-nied them that. He played a Test-match style innings with du Plessis which focused on � nding gaps and rotating strike rather than muscling through. They did not breach the boundary for nine overs, including during the Pow-erplay but importantly, did not lose a wicket in that period either to ensue the foundation was laid.

Du Plessis inside-edged a ball for four to register a hundred in 135 balls and hammered the bowler for six over long-o� . South Africa had the freedom to hit out at the end and ended up with a comfortable score on a sluggish surface.

Zimbabwe had prepared for a speedy start by inserting Vusi Sibanda in at the top but in his haste he was run out. Sikandar Raza threatened for the umpteenth time and then threw it away while Hamilton Masakadza also got a start he should have turned into something more signi� cant.

Taylor was composed but with Phangiso and Duminy turning the ball and the fear factor of Dale Steyn, Zimba-bwe’s middle-order crumbled and with it, their chance to cause another upset. l

Liton Kumar Das, Sadman Islam, Marshall Ayub, Farhad Hossain, Rokibul Hasan, Shabbir Rahaman, Naeem Islam, Nurul Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Zuber Hossain, Saqlain Sajib, Shahadat Hossain, Moham-mad Shohid, Muktar Ali

SQUAD

South Africa 271/6 in 50 overs(du Plessis 121, Duminy 51)Zimbabwe208-all out in 47.2 overs(Taylor 79, Duminy 3/35)

South Africa won by 63 runs

BRIEF SCORE

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

1,205 schools closed due to � oodn Mushfi que Wadud

Academic activities in 20 districts are be-ing hampered as a total of 1,205 schools – 965 primary and 240 high schools – were a� ected by the recent � ood and river bank erosion. Some of the school build-ings were demolished because of river bank erosion, o� cials said.

In most cases, authorities concerned were forced to shut down academic ac-

tivities because of the � ood. On the oth-er hand, a good number of schools in the � ood hit areas are being used as � ood shelters, suspending academic activities.

Director General Fahima Khatun at the Directorate of Secondary and High-er Education said they had informed the ministry about the situation.

“We are continuously taking up-dates regarding the current situation of those schools. We have also instructed

them to arrange classes and examina-tions in alternative areas, so that aca-demic activities are not hampered,” she told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Contacted, Nurul Amin Chowdhury, an assistant director of the Directorate of Primary Education, also echoed the same voice.

Meanwhile, school teachers said such gap in academic activities during this time of the academic year might

hamper students' preparation for the upcoming Primary School Certi� cate (PSC) and Junior School Certi� cate (JSC) examinations scheduled in November.

Abul Bashar, a primary school teach-er in Kurigram, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone that his school had been closed for two weeks. “We are worried whether they would be able to com-plete the syllabus for PSC examina-tion,” he said. l

CHANCERY PROJECT IN TOKYO

4-year delay pushes up cost by 17.56%Bangladesh also paid a penalty to Japan government for missing project deadlinen Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has � nally selected a Japanese contractor for building a chancery complex in Tokyo, but a four-year delay has pushed the project cost up by 17.56%.

The Ministry of Foreign A� airs has recently sent a proposal to the cabinet committee on public purchase, saying the complex will now be built by Jap-anese � rm Muramoto Corporation at a cost of Tk91.44 crore.

If the project could be kicked o� four years ago – that is right after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had laid the foundation stone in Tokyo in Novem-ber 2010 – the complex would have cost the government Tk77.78 crore.

A chancery is a complex that houses

the o� ces of an o� cial representative of a foreign country.

The proposal, singed by Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque, says Bangladesh cannot not delay the con-struction any further because Japan is going to host the 2020 Olympics and therefore all construction � rms in the country will get busy improving the infrastructure for the mega sporting event.

The delay was a result of a bureau-cratic tangle that originated from a confusion over which law to follow in implementing the project, which even-tually led to the cancellation of the � rst tender. The Bangladesh government – the cabinet committee on public pur-chase to be speci� c – wanted to follow its own Public Procurement Act 2006

but the interested Japanese contrac-tors wanted to follow the laws in their country.

The Foreign Ministry launched the project in 2011 after the Japanese gov-ernment had allotted land and speci-� ed a June 2012 timeframe for build-ing the chancery. In case Bangladesh missed the deadline, a penalty of 111.7 million Japanese Yen had to be paid.

Three � rms emerged as pre-qual-i� ed bidders for the project after the Bangladesh embassy in Japan � oated tenders.

The � rms were supposed to submit o� ers in December 2013, but two of them said at that time that they would not be able to place their proposals. One of them said it could not follow a Bangladeshi law for a construction

work in Japan.Another Japanese � rm placed its

proposal but refused to deposit any se-curity bond that the Bangladeshi pro-curement law stipulated. As a result, the lone bidder’s o� er was cancelled.

Bangladesh had by then already missed the timeframe speci� ed by the Japanese government, plunging the Bangladesh Embassy into a big trouble because of the liability of paying the penalty.

However, after a long parley and upon payment of a part of the penalty, the Japanese government � nally ex-tended the timeframe until June 2014.

Later, a second tender was � oated in which Muramoto Corporation emerged as the best bidder and agreed to follow the Bangladeshi procurement act. l

More than 60 BNP-Jamaat activists sued for Bakshibazar clashn Tazlina Zamila Khan

A case has been � led against more than 60 BNP-Jamaat activists centring the clash that took place between police and the party activists yesterday when BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia went to appear before a court in the capital's Bakshibazaar area Wednesday.

Sub-Inspector Sadeque Miah � led the case with Chawkbazar Police Sta-tion accusing around 65 BNP-Jamaat activists of assaulting and barring po-lice from carrying out their duties.

Of the accused, names of 60 activists have been mentioned in the case de-tailed.

Mohammad Azizul Haque, o� cer-in-charge of Chawkbazar Police Sta-tion, told the Dhaka Tribune: “They have been sued for attacking police outside the court. Some of the accused are named in the case.”

According to the in the case state-ment, the clash erupted around 1:10pm just after Khaleda entered the court. In-itially, police tried to disperse the crowd by charging truncheons but the situation turned worse when the BNP men started throwing brickbats at the law enforcers.

Earlier on Wednesday, activists of

BNP and its associate bodies locked horns with police after party cheif Khaleda Zia appeared before the Spe-cial Judge Court 3 for a hearing in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.

The court was set up on the Aliya Ma-drasa ground. Khaleda reached the ven-ue at 1:05pm and left 40 minutes later.

Since morning, many BNP activists were seen gathering on the streets lead-ing to the court. Senior pro-BNP lawyers as well as senior party leaders thronged the court premises when Khaleda ar-rived there. BNP activists wanted to enter the court after Khaleda but police prevented them, prompting a clash.

The 45-minute clash, which left several people injured including four policemen, spread to Bakshibazar and Badrunnessa College areas. Chased by police, BNP activists entered the Buet campus where they were again driven out by Chhatra League activists.

Later, BNP activists vandalised some vehicles and roadside makeshift stalls in the area.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner Saidur Rahman said: “Around 60 activists were sued, including Nahidul Islam Nahid, Said Hassan Mintu, Farhatullah, Anwar Parvez Badal, Abdus Samad, Abu Mu-talib, Moshiul Alam Sentu and others.”

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Addi-tional Deputy Commissioner Mehedi Hasan earlier said police did not allow all the BNP activists inside the court premises for the sake of security. l

SYLHET RAPE CASE

High Court reinstates death penalty verdictn Ahmed Zayeef

The High Court yesterday reinstated the verdict of a speedy trial tribunal that had sentenced three people to death in a case � led for molesting, and then killing a teenage girl in Sylhet in 2006 to cover up their crime.

A HC bench of Justice Md Abdul Hye and Justice Krishna Debnath gave the order and they approved the carrying out of the execution order to the three convicts - Saad Ahmed and Ruhul Amin and Atik. Of them, Atik has remained on the run.

According to the case statement, Saad and Ruhul prayed acquittal to the bench during the hearing.

Deputy Attorney General Md Mon-irujjaman Rubel and Assistant Attorney General Abul Kalam Azad moved for

the state side while advocate SM Mubin for the convicts side.

On November 28, 2006, the convicts raped a 13-year-old girl and they killed her before throwing away her body in an abandoned place of Nolua Haor in Golapganj upazila of Sylhet.

In the incident, the then Golapganj police station SI Tapas Kumar � led a case and later police arrested Saad and Ruhul who gave their confessional statements before a court in the follow-ing year.

In the same year, police pressed charges in the case against the three with Sylhet Women and Children Re-pression Prevention Tribunal.

Afterwards, the case was shifted to Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal which pronounced the death penalty to the trio in 2009. l

‘One person commits suicide every 40 seconds’n AFP, Geneva

One person commits suicide every 40 seconds -- more than all the yearly victims of wars and natural disaster -- with the highest toll among the elderly, the United Nations said Thursday.

In its � rst report on suicide, the UN’s World Health Organisation blamed in-tense media coverage when celebrities kill themselves for fuelling the prob-lem.

“Suicide is an amazing public health problem. There is one suicide every 40 seconds -- it is a huge number,” said Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s mental health department, at the pres-entation of the report in Geneva.

“Suicide kills more than con� icts, wars and natural catastrophes,” he said. “There are 1.5 million violent deaths every year in the world, of which 800,000 are suicides.”

Some of the highest rates of suicide are found in central and eastern Europe and in Asia, with 25 percent occurring in rich countries, the report says.

Men are almost twice as likely as women to take their own lives. Com-mon methods are hanging, gunshots, and especially in rural areas the use of

poisonous insecticides.“Globally, suicide rates are highest

in people aged 70 years and over. In some countries, however, the high-est rates are found among the young,” WHO said. “Notably, suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year-olds globally.”

Don’t glamorise suicideAlexandra Fleischmann, one of the report’s co-authors, said part of the blame lies with the publicity given to suicides by famous people, such as Hollywood actor Robin Williams.

The Oscar-winning star, who had su� ered from depression, was found dead at his home on August 1, prompt-ing an outpouring of emotion from the public and widespread media cover-age.

Ella Arensman, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, said that after news broke of Williams’ death she received “� ve emails of people who had recovered (from a) suicide crisis and saying that they are thinking again about suicide.”

“These overwhelming reports can have a contagion e� ect on vulnerable people,” she said, referring also to the

“sharp increase” in suicides after Ger-man football player Robert Enke killed himself in 2009.

“Suicide should not be glamorised or sensationalised,” Fleischmann said, urging news outlets not to mention su-icide as the cause of death at the start of reports, but only at the end, “with a mention of where (the reader) can � nd help.”

WHO, which called suicide a major public health problem that must be confronted and stemmed, studied 172 countries to produce the report, which took a decade to research.

It said that in 2012 high-income countries had a slightly higher suicide rate – 12.7 per 100,000 people, versus 11.2 in low- and middle-income na-tions.

But given the latter category’s far higher population, they accounted for three-quarters of the global total.

Southeast Asia, including North Ko-rea, India, Indonesia and Nepal, made up over a third of the annual � gure.

WHO cautioned that suicide � gures are often incomplete, with many coun-tries failing to keep proper tallies.

In addition, “there are many suicide attempts for each death,” WHO chief

Margaret Chan said.“The impact on families, friends

and communities is devastating and far-reaching, even long after persons dear to them have taken their own lives,” she added.

Suicide and attempted suicide are considered a crime in 25 countries, mostly in Africa, in South America and in Asia.

The most suicide-prone countries were Guyana (44.2 per 100,000), fol-lowed by North and South Korea (38.5 and 28.9 respectively).

Next came Sri Lanka (28.8), Lithu-ania (28.2), Suriname (27.8), Mozam-bique (27.4), Nepal and Tanzania (24.9 each), Burundi (23.1), India (21.1), and South Sudan (19.8).

Next were Russia and Uganda (both with 19.5), Hungary (19.1), Japan (18.5), and Belarus (18.3).

The UN agency said its goal is to cut national suicide rates by 10 percent by 2020.

A major challenge, it said, is that su-icide victims are often from marginal-ised groups of the population, many of them poor and vulnerable.

However, “suicides are preventa-ble,” Chan said. l

Speaker asks police to decide on chief whip’s letter on Sujitn Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has instructed her security wing to ask the police to decide on the House commit-tee’s letter requesting Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station not to arrest or harass a parliament sta� charged with assisting a fake army o� cer to intrude on the parliament premises.

According to the rules of procedure, the speaker is the authority to allow any sta� of the parliament secretariat to be on parliament premises. But the House committee, headed by the chief whip, sent a letter to the police station in violation of law, asking not to arrest or harass Sujit Kumar Dey, an adminis-trative o� cer at the hostel wing.

The House committee is tasked with ensuring food and accommodation for the parliamentarians.

Police say Sujit allegedly helped Mahmud Hasan, a fake army o� cial, to get into the o� ces of the MPs in their ab-sence. Mahmud, who impersonated a ma-jor, would sneak into the MPs’ o� ces, as a means of cheating people and collecting money by promising jobs and contracts.

On August 12, security o� cials at the parliament caught Mahmud and caretaker of the hostel wing Salahud-din Md Amin red-handed from the of-� ce of Kabirul Haque.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police said Salahuddin’s boss Sujit � ed the scene when police arrived there.

Police said Sujit should be interro-gated to determine his involved in the intrusion.

“The deputy sergeant-at-arms showed me the House committee’s let-ter which asked not to arrest Sujit. But I told him to let police decide the course of action according to the law. I have nothing to say about this,” Shirin told the Dhaka Tribune.

At a meeting on August 18, Chief Whip ASM Feroz termed Sujit innocent and said he was being dragged into the incident with a motive. His prede-cessor Abdus Shahid supported him, though the majority did not.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police sent the House committee’s letter back to the o� ce of the serjeant-at-arms, seeking the speaker’s opinion on this.

The parliament’s security wing fears that Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police might place the House committee’s letter be-fore court as a proof that the committee had intervened.

“That would be embarrassing for the legislature. It could also mean that there is a clash between the speaker and the chief whip,” a security o� cer at the parliament secretariat told the Dhaka Tribune. l

A group of � shermen collect � shes on a boat in their farm at the capital’s Shonir Akhra area yesterday as rising � ood water threatens to wash away the production out of the enclosures MEHEDI HASAN

BNP activists wanted to enter the court after Khaleda but police prevented them, prompting a clash

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

www.dhakatribune.com/business FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

B3 German factory orders shrug o� ‘Putin e� ect’

B4 Swiss economy most competitive once again; EU, US, Japan improve

BB sets green loan targets for banksIt will be applicable only for 47 green products recognised by Bangladesh Bank n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank has set targets of di-rect green � nancing for all the banks and non-banking � nancial institu-tions to ensure � nancing environ-ment-friendly projects.

It imposed the target at 5% of the total disbursed loans by the scheduled banks operating in the market since early 2013. The rate is 3% for the nine new banks and 4% for non-banking � -nancial institutions.

It will be 5% for all banks and non-bank-ing � nancial institutions from January 2016.

The instruction came for the � rst time will be e� ective immediately, said a circular Bangladesh Bank issued yes-terday.

The green � nancing will be applica-ble only for 47 green products recog-nised by the central bank.

The achievement of the expected target will be considered in the valua-tion of CAMELS rating, an international bank-rating system.

The circular warned that appropriate measures will be taken against those banks that will fail to achieve the target.

The central bank has set the target

to bring the banks under obligation, said Bangladesh Bank Deputy General Manager Morshed Millat.

The products under green � nancing include biomass-based large Biogas plant, poultry and dairy-based large Bi-ogas plant, 1mw or above solar PV plant, solar cooker assembly plant, solar water heater assembly plant, solar air heater and cooling assembly plant, solar-driv-en cold storage, Bioenergy-driven pow-er generation plant, power switch as-sembly plant for power saving, hybrid cook stove assembly plant, LED bulb or tube light assembly plant, power gener-ation from municipal waste, compost generation from municipal waste, re-cyclable non-oven polypropylene yarn and baggage manufacturing and palm oil production plant etc.

The Bangladesh Bank has issued the policy guidelines for green banking to the scheduled banks in February 2011.

All the 47 banks have their own green banking policy guidelines ap-proved by their board of directors and have Green Banking Unit (GBU) for pursuing green banking activities.

They also have their own Green O� ce Guide for conducting in-house green activities.

The central bank had launched the Tk200 crore green banking re� nance scheme in August 2009 to set up solar panels, biogas plants and industrial ETPs (e� uent treatment plants) under the scheme to help reduce industrial pollu-tion and increase the power supply.

Under the scheme, Bangladesh Bank is currently providing loans for com-mercial banks between 5% and 12% interest rate for direct re� nancing and credit wholesale to the entrepreneurs.

The scheme was undertaken in line with the government’s plan to meet 5% of the total demand for electricity from green energy by 2015 and 10% by 2020. l

CSE looks for strategic partner n Tribune Report

The Chittagong Stock Exchange is look-ing for strategic partner to sell its 25% stake in line with the demutualisation law, says its chairman yesterday.

“But we need to strengthen the bourse more for higher valuation with-in the three-year timeframe,” said Ab-dul Mazid, CSE chairman, in a monthly press brie� ng at his Dhaka o� ce.

According to the demutualisation law, the country’s second bourse, CSE, will have to sell its 25% stake to the stra-tegic partner within three years from the date of formation of new board.

The new board of CSE was formed on February this year under the demu-tualisation law.

While giving update about the CSE’s activities, he said the stock exchange is working with the Bangladesh Se-curities and Exchange Commission and Asian Development Bank under the capital market development pro-gramme III.

He said the CSE is also working to make investors aware through arrang-ing training programme, discussion and workshop.

“Besides, we are making e� orts to set up a training programme which will be modelled on Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.” Under the programme, new products and setting up a clearing cor-poration will get pace, he said, adding that the CSE is also working to make internet-based trading popular among the investors. Welcoming the new IPO (initial public o� ering) application method, Mazid said it is a milestone for the country’s stock market.

“It will help reduce time of IPO pro-cedure and bring momentum not only in the primary market but also in the secondary market.”

Moreover, the new method will boost trade, opening up new avenues of earn-ing source of the TREC (Trading Right En-titlement Certi� cate) holders, he said. l

Cheaper imported foods help in� ation falln Kayes Sohel

In� ation fell to 6.91% in August from 7.04% in July, driven mainly by falling prices of imported food items, said of-� cial data released yesterday.

But the fall of in� ation has taken the analysts by no surprise as they were expecting in� ation to stay stable under the current politically calm situation.

They also said � oods in some dis-tricts are unlikely to hurt in� ation as the crisis is short-lived and has already started to disappear.

However, the year-on-year average in� ation rose to 7.24% from 7.19%.

The downward slide was recorded in the prices of food items and upswing was recorded in the prices of non-food items, according to the Bangladesh Bu-reau of Statistics (BBS) data.

Food in� ation in July slipped to 7.67% from 7.94% in August while non-food in� ation rose to 5.76% from 5.71%.

“Drop in global food prices and rela-tively stable prices in local items, push-ing down in� ation,” Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said.

He expected in� ation might come down further in coming months if the global food prices continue to decline.

Kamal also believed the country ex-perienced a brief spell of � oods and therefore the supply chain was unlikely to be af-fected.

A planning ministry state-ment said prices of locally pro-duced foods like vegetables, � sh, � attened rice, meat, spices, milk and other essen-

tials increased.Prices of non-food items also in-

creased, which include clothing, house rent, utensils, health service, trans-port, education materials and other services.

In rural areas, the overall in� ation stood at 6.83%, dropping from 6.93%. In urban areas, it fell to 7.08% from 7.24%.

“Month-to-month basis in� ation remained more or less stable, which is not a situation to be worried,” said Zaid Bakht, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.

“This is neither a bad news nor a good news,” he said. Though, seasonal � ood is a matter of concern but might not turn worse and if there is no bad news from the political front, in� ation will decline in future, he said.

Bangladesh Bank, in its policy statement (July-December), said the FY15 in� ation target announced in the Budget is 6%.

Reducing average in� ation from its current level may prove challenging es-pecially as aggregate demand is likely to pick up in � rst half of this � scal.

In general, the twelve-month aver-age in� ation, by de� nition, only chang-es in an incremental manner, it said. l

‘Diversi� cation will make exports competitive’ n Tribune Report

Speakers at a seminar yesterday urged Bangladeshi exporters to focus on product diversi� cation and add more value to their products for being com-petitive on the global market, particu-larly in Europe.

“It is the high time for us to explore new opportunities in our foreign trade,” Dr Mashiur Rahman, Prime Minister’s Economic A� airs Adviser, said.

He emphasised the need of creating access to knowledge and technology to diversify products so the exports can sustain in global competition.

He was addressing the seminar on “Revised GSP Scheme of European Union: Implications for Bangladesh” at CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka. Bang-ladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) organised the event.

Bangladesh depends on garment in-dustry for 80% of its export earnings, but the industry, according to Minis-

ter-Counsel of EU delegation, is “still far behind to set working condition.”

Economists, analysts, entrepre-neurs and business leaders spoke on the occasion.

They said the revised scheme may not a� ect Bangladesh’s export, es-pecially in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector but in the long run the competitors like Pakistan may grab the EU market share of Bangladesh by en-hancing capacity.

BFTI director Dr Mostafa Abid Khan presented the keynote paper.

During January-May, Bangladesh witnessed an 11% rise in exports to EU while Pakistan’s exports grew 17% to the market, a BFTI analysis found us-ing � gures of some certain products.

While Pakistan’s home textile export grew 27%, Bangladesh saw 3% fall.

Centre for Policy Dialogue Execu-tive Director Musta� zur Rahman also called for diversi� cation of and value addition to export goods to challenges

in the international market. Prime Minister’s Power and Energy

Adviser Taw� q-e-Elahi Chowdhury put stress on trade facilitation and use of knowledge and technology.

According to BGMEA president Atiqul Islam, Pakistan is more compet-itive than Bangladesh in the sector of woven products export.

He said: “Pakistan is increasing their capacity and building economic zones to develop industries. They are already one step ahead of us. They can produce cotton and can o� er less price to EU market than us.”

Frédéric Maduraud, Minister-Coun-sellor, EU delegation in Bangla-desh, however, criticised the Bang-ladeshi government’s move as the country is yet to meet the pledges giv-en to the EU.

The pledges include ensuring labour rights and corporate social responsibility.

Frédéric Maduraud cited the failure

by the government to appoint 200 ad-ditional factory inspectors. “The ap-pointment was supposed be complet-ed by the end of 2013. But we know this has not been completed yet.”

According to him, Bangladesh is “still far behind to set working condi-tion in RMG sector.”

About Tuba protests, the o� cial said the use of forces in the workers’ sit-in shocked the EU.

He said the EU parliament made the trade issues of Bangladesh on top of the priority list.

The EU companies might face legal challenges in court if they placed sup-ply orders in Bangladeshi non-compli-ant factories, he said.

BFTI Chief Executive O� cer Md Mozibur Rahman chaired the seminar while Additional Commerce Secretary Monoz Kumar Roy, trade adviser in EU delegation Zillul Hye Razi and BKMEA � rst Vice President Mohammad Hatem also addressed. l

WEF: Corruption remains a major factor in business n Tribune Report

Inadequate infrastructures, corrup-tion and bureaucratic ine� ciency re-mained the most problematic factors in doing business in Bangladesh, said Global Competitiveness Report.

World Economic Forum prepared the report which was published in Bang-ladesh yesterday by the Forum’s local partner Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Bangladesh, however, progressed one notch forward in Global Competi-tiveness Index to 109th from 110th.

As per the report, Bangladesh has made positive changes in seven pil-lars including infrastructure, macro-economic stability, higher education, goods market e� ciency, � nancial mar-kets sophistication, market size and innovation.

Major deterioration was observed in institutions, health and primary ed-ucation, labour market e� ciency and technological readiness.

Ethical standards of politicians are very low, which came down to 94% from 87%, while politicians ability is poor to govern e� ectively, the report said.

Parliament is ine� ective to some ex-tent as a law-making institutions and the ranking became bad to worse.

During launching of the report, CPD also held a dialogue on a recent update on business environment in Bangla-desh.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu and former Commerce Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, among others, attended the dialogue.

On corruption, Amir Hossain Amu said: “Anti Corruption Commission is now working independently, which was proved in recent moves against some politicians.”

Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said there is no sign of accountability in

the country’s present administration. To attain higher GCR ranking in near

term future, the report suggested some reforms including strong political com-mitment for reduction of corruption and strengthening ACC.

Ensuring transparency and account-ability in the operation of private and public sector � nancial institutions, � nalising the � nancial reporting act, establishing strong monitoring and enforcement of laws in the capital market, implementing environmental rules, resource development, better industrial relations, maintaining work-place safety and security.

Slow progress in global competitive-ness could hardly generate momentum for developing an enabling business environment in the country, said Kh-nodaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of CPD.

The World Economic Forum made the report on 144 countries after evaluating 12 di� erent issues known

as “twelve pillars” under the three sub-indices.

The pillars include institutions, in-frastructure, macroeconomic environ-ment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market e� ciency and labour market e� ciency, � nancial market develop-ment, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and inno-vation.

Switzerland topped the index for the sixth consecutive years followed by Singapore, United States, Finland, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, the Neth-erlands, United Kingdom and Sweden.

Among the South Asian Associa-tion for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, India was ranked 71, Sri Lan-ka 73, Nepal 102, Bhutan 103 and Paki-stan 129.

Syed Manzur Elahi, treasurer of Board of Trustee of CPD and former FBCCI President A K Azad were also present at the dialogue. l

Discussants at a seminar on revised GSP scheme of EU, organised by Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute at CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Speakers at a dialogue on business environment held at a city hotel yesterday. CPD orgnised the event while launching Global Competitiveness Report RAJIB DHAR

All the 47 banks have their own green banking policy guidelines approved by their board of directors and have Green Banking Unit for pursuing green banking activities

B2 Stock Friday, September 5, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

News, analysis and recent disclosersFrom TradeServers:MHSML: The Board of Directors has recommended 25% stock dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 30.10.2014, Time: 11:30 AM, Venue: Factory O� ce, Thakurbari Teac, Masum-abad, Bhulta, Rupgonj, Narayangonj. Record date: 25.09.2014. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 2.62, NAV per share of Tk. 18.23 and NOCFPS of Tk. 2.20 for the year ended on June 30, 2014.COMPANY NEWS: Shurwid Industries Limited: Trading of the shares of Shurwid Industries Limited will commence at DSE from September 08, 2014 under 'N' category. DSE Trading Code for Shurwid Industries Limited is "SHURWID" and DSE Company Code is 13234.RELIANCE1: AIMS of Bangladesh Limited has informed that as per amended Income Tax Ordinance No. XXXVI of 1984 (ref: Finance Act 2014) section 54, every unitholder is required to furnish 12 digit Taxpayer's Identi� cation Number (TIN) for deduction of Advance Income Tax (AIT) @

10%. Those who would not provide the 12 digit TIN will be subjected to deduction of AIT @ 15%. Therefore, the unitholders of Reliance One, the � rst Scheme of Reliance Insurance Mutual Fund, whose name appeared on the register at Record Date on 01 September 2014 are requested to submit their 12 digit TIN to the o� ce of the Fund at AIMS of Bangladesh Limited at Unique Trade Center (UTC), Level 6, 8 Panthopath, Karwan Bazaar, Dhaka 1215 on or before September 07, 2014 by hand/post/couANWARGALV: The company has informed that the Board of Directors of the company has taken the following decision: "Resolved that, the Board of Directors be and are hereby agreed to open the L/C through South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank Limited to import new thread cutting machines. The new thread cutting ma-chines are being imported at value of USD 56,863.70, other than setting cost."IPO Subscription: Khan Brothers PP Wo-ven Bag Industries Ltd. subscription date

24-28 August 2014, NRB upto 06 Septem-ber 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Western Marine Shipyard Limited subscription date 10-14 August 2014, NRB upto 23 August 2014. @ taka 35, face value taka 10 and market lot 100.Right Share: MIDASFIN: Subscrip-tion period for rights issue will be from 01.09.2014 to 30.09.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 03.08.2014.ICB: Subscription period for rights issue will be from 07.12.2014 to 30.12.2014. Re-cord date for entitlement of rights share: 09.09.2014. Dividend/AGMFARCHEM: 20% stock, AGM: 09.10.2014, Record date: 11.09.2014.SAIHAMCOT: 10% cash, AGM: 23.10.2014, Record date: 17.09.2014.BSCCL: 10% cash, AGM: 12.10.2014, Record date: 04.09.2014. PRAGATILIF: No dividend, AGM: 30.09.2014, Record date: 14.09.2014. GPHISPAT: 15% cash and 5% stock, AGM: 10.11.2014, Record date: 22.09.2014.

Stocks extend rally for 4th day n Tribune Report

Stocks ended � at yesterday, extend-ing their rally for the fourth session in a row.

The market opened on upbeat mood and the momentum remained strong till end of the session.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark index, DSEX, rose 9 points or 0.3% to 4,642.

The Shariah index, DSES, was mar-ginally up almost 2 points or 0.2% to 1,089. The comprising blue chips DS30 witnessed fractional gains of 0.2 points to 1,758.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, shed 5 points to 8,725.

Trading activities, however, was upbeat as turnover at DSE stood at Tk602-crore, an increase of 9.4% over the previous session.

The major sectors posted mixed performance with non-banking � -nancial institutions posting highest gain of over 2%, followed by power, IT, textile and telecommunication that closed almost � at.

Food and allied, pharmaceuticals and banks edged down.

Lanka Bangla Securities said in-dex had a stellar rally at the begin-ning of the trading session. How-ever, pro� t booking in last hour narrowed the gain, it said.

“Market kept its bullish trend intact as it observed two consecu-tive green days after crossing 4,600 level. Strong market sentiment is evident by the high market turnover and return on picky stocks.”

IDLC Investments said market momentum continued for the fourth consecutive session amid improved turnover.

It said large cap stocks still demonstrating strong conviction from investors’ part, while a number of non-banking � nancial institution showed up in the top gaining list.

Gainers beat losers as out of 295 issues traded, 185 advanced, 88 de-clined and 22 remained unchanged.

Mobil Jamuna Limited was the most traded stock with shares worth nearly Tk34 crore changing hands, followed by Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd Bangladesh, Beximco Limited, BSRM Steel, Grammenphone and Beximco Pharma. l

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Reliance1 M.F.-A -9.41 -8.98 7.70 7.70 7.70 7.70 0.012 1.38 5.6GreenDeltaInsu -A -7.87 -7.87 82.00 82.00 82.00 82.00 0.074 1.90 43.2Samorita Hospital -A -5.05 -5.07 92.08 92.10 93.10 91.00 0.276 2.20 41.9ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A -4.88 -3.05 7.95 7.80 8.30 7.80 0.088 1.40 5.7AB Bank 1st Mutual Fund-A -4.84 -4.52 5.92 5.90 6.10 5.90 0.059 0.64 9.3BDCOM Online-A -4.59 -5.16 26.81 27.00 27.20 26.80 0.131 1.43 18.7DBH 1st MF-A -4.00 -3.60 4.82 4.80 4.90 4.80 0.060 0.06 80.3Miracle Industries -B -3.76 -0.55 18.11 17.90 18.50 17.70 0.417 0.19 95.3R. N. Spinning-Z -3.70 -5.06 25.90 26.00 26.40 25.20 2.215 2.74 9.5Prime Islami Life -A -3.66 -3.70 81.50 81.50 81.50 81.50 0.033 4.95 16.5

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

EBL NRB M.F.-A -9.62 -9.45 4.79 4.70 5.20 4.70 2.387 0.85 5.6Standard Ceramic -A -4.74 -4.33 46.40 46.20 47.90 45.50 0.116 1.32 35.2BD. Thai Alum -B -4.29 -2.23 27.24 26.80 28.40 25.70 22.706 0.84 32.44th ICB M F-A -4.18 -4.18 185.90 185.90 185.90 185.90 0.019 23.11 8.0Tung Hai Knitting -N -3.79 -0.31 25.85 25.40 27.00 25.30 46.923 0.60 43.1IFIC 1st MF-A -3.77 -2.64 5.16 5.10 5.40 4.80 2.793 0.72 7.2Wata Chemicals -A -3.42 1.45 246.02 237.20 255.00 226.00 12.824 6.20 39.7Miracle Industries -B -3.26 1.16 18.30 17.80 18.90 17.60 8.617 0.19 96.3R. N. Spinning-Z -2.97 -4.74 25.94 26.10 26.90 24.30 11.200 2.74 9.5Legacy Footwear -A -2.96 1.79 30.18 29.50 31.70 28.80 18.581 0.28 107.8

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 570,566 23.96 5.61 41.80 -1.42 42.40 43.00 38.50 41.98LafargeS Cement-Z 196,500 23.76 5.56 118.90 0.17 118.70 122.20 118.50 120.94The Peninsula CTG.-N 441,400 15.06 3.53 33.90 -0.29 34.00 34.40 33.80 34.13Con� denceCement A 112,620 12.84 3.01 114.60 0.79 113.70 115.50 114.00 114.04BSRM Steels-A 125,460 12.45 2.92 99.50 3.22 96.40 99.90 100.00 99.26MJL BD Ltd.-A 102,067 11.79 2.76 116.50 4.20 111.80 117.10 112.00 115.47FarEast Knitting -N 276,600 11.31 2.65 40.70 3.04 39.50 41.80 40.00 40.91Aftab Auto.-A 127,142 10.22 2.39 80.60 3.47 77.90 81.40 78.00 80.40Khulna Printing-N 310,000 10.18 2.38 32.20 -3.30 33.30 34.00 32.00 32.84UNITED AIR-A 775,963 9.87 2.31 12.70 -1.55 12.90 13.10 11.70 12.72BSC-A 13,870 8.51 1.99 610.50 -0.54 613.80 620.00 609.50 613.44Moza� ar H.Spinning-N 242,500 8.48 1.98 34.00 0.59 33.80 36.00 33.80 34.96People`s Leasing-A 472,456 7.65 1.79 16.30 4.49 15.60 16.80 15.60 16.19AramitCementA 166,500 7.46 1.75 45.20 3.43 43.70 45.50 44.00 44.81aamra technologies-A 161,250 6.04 1.52 37.00 -2.12 37.80 38.50 36.70 37.46

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW AvgPrice

MJL BD Ltd.-A 2,918,341 337.68 5.61 116.70 4.76 111.40 118.10 100.30 115.71LafargeS Cement-Z 2,029,500 244.92 4.07 119.20 0.08 119.10 122.50 118.20 120.68BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 5,442,421 228.42 3.79 41.70 -1.65 42.40 45.10 38.20 41.97BSRM Steels-A 2,238,025 221.14 3.67 98.50 1.97 96.60 99.90 94.00 98.81Grameenphone-A 539,150 183.10 3.04 338.10 0.06 337.90 342.70 325.00 339.61Beximco Pharma -A 2,804,800 155.32 2.58 55.00 -1.79 56.00 58.00 51.00 55.38Bengal Windsor-A 2,009,888 116.74 1.94 58.10 3.01 56.40 58.70 51.00 58.08Agni Systems -A 3,364,213 109.44 1.82 33.50 5.68 31.70 34.50 28.80 32.53Delta Life Insu. -A 728,120 95.73 1.59 132.80 5.48 125.90 136.00 122.00 131.48Summit Power -A 2,267,783 91.72 1.52 40.40 -0.98 40.80 41.60 36.80 40.44Moza� ar H.Spinning-N 2,599,000 90.25 1.50 34.10 -0.29 34.20 36.00 33.80 34.73Golden Son -A 1,860,496 89.17 1.48 47.70 -0.83 48.10 49.00 43.40 47.93Olympic Ind. -A 382,365 86.59 1.44 227.00 0.80 225.20 229.10 209.00 226.46FarEast Knitting -N 2,057,000 84.54 1.40 40.90 3.02 39.70 42.00 40.10 41.10BSC-A 135,085 82.89 1.38 610.25 -0.57 613.75 621.75 609.00 613.63

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 271.31 4.50 19.09 4.12 290.40 4.48NBFI 381.74 6.34 38.67 8.35 420.41 6.48Investment 146.29 2.43 7.05 1.52 153.34 2.36Engineering 825.69 13.71 49.94 10.79 875.63 13.50Food & Allied 373.98 6.21 21.73 4.69 395.71 6.10Fuel & Power 759.77 12.61 34.81 7.52 794.58 12.25Jute 2.36 0.04 0.00 2.36 0.04Textile 846.02 14.05 65.99 14.25 912.01 14.06Pharma & Chemical 663.42 11.02 33.70 7.28 697.12 10.75Paper & Packaging 62.85 17.69 3.82 80.55 1.24Service 66.88 1.11 3.42 0.74 70.30 1.08Leather 49.93 0.83 10.47 2.26 60.40 0.93Ceramic 99.53 1.65 6.79 1.47 106.32 1.64Cement 354.08 5.88 49.52 10.70 403.60 6.22Information Technology 201.81 3.35 24.63 5.32 226.44 3.49General Insurance 123.73 2.05 3.16 0.68 126.89 1.96Life Insurance 161.51 2.68 9.57 2.07 171.09 2.64Telecom 183.10 3.04 7.18 1.55 190.29 2.93Travel & Leisure 107.56 1.79 25.58 5.52 133.13 2.05Miscellaneous 341.18 5.66 33.97 7.34 375.14 5.78Debenture 0.12 0.00 0.05 0.01 0.16 0.00

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4642.37703 (+) 0.21% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1758.24193 (+) 0.01% ▲

CSE All Share Index: 14355.89810 (-) 0.06% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11499.73850 (-) 0.44% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8725.25120 (-) 0.06% ▼

DSE key features September 4-2014Turnover (Million Taka)

6,022.85

Turnover (Volume)

160,170,902

Number of Contract 138,512

Traded Issues 295

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

196

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

98

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

1

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,449.11

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.69

CSE key features September 4-2014Turnover (Million Taka) 442.47

Turnover (Volume) 13,752,524

Number of Contract 17,520

Traded Issues 232

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

129

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

95

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,364.49

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.66

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

Index had a stellar rally at the beginning of the trading session. However, pro� t booking in last hour narrowed the gain

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Aziz PipesZ 9.93 5.46 15.45 15.50 15.50 14.50 0.016 0.42 36.8ISN Ltd. -Z 9.73 11.11 12.40 12.40 12.40 12.30 0.198 0.20 62.0PrimeFin. 1st MF-A 9.38 9.09 17.53 17.50 17.60 17.20 0.219 1.30 13.5Intl. Leasing-B 9.09 8.87 11.91 12.00 12.10 11.20 3.401 -0.78 -veI P D C -A 8.90 5.43 15.53 15.90 16.00 14.80 0.751 0.92 16.9Wata Chemicals -A 8.73 8.73 239.20 239.20 239.20 239.20 0.048 6.20 38.6SonarBangla Insu. -A 8.28 8.04 18.15 18.30 18.30 17.50 0.121 1.74 10.4Islamic Finance-A 8.03 6.22 14.52 14.80 15.00 13.90 3.196 1.50 9.7Shahjibazar Power-N 7.48 7.42 639.05 639.50 639.50 619.00 6.454 3.04 210.2AFC AgroBiotech-A 6.67 4.37 56.42 57.60 57.90 56.40 0.164 2.84 19.9

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

ISN Ltd. -Z 9.91 11.56 12.16 12.20 12.20 10.00 0.890 0.20 60.8PrimeFin. 1st MF-A 9.64 9.15 17.89 18.20 18.20 16.80 45.040 1.30 13.8Meghna Con. Milk -B 9.59 8.34 7.92 8.00 8.00 7.60 0.626 -4.85 -veI P D C -A 8.22 6.21 15.57 15.80 16.00 13.20 9.765 0.92 16.9CVO PetroChem RL-A 7.49 9.21 645.89 648.50 648.50 630.00 49.055 -3.16 -veIntl. Leasing-B 7.27 8.24 11.82 11.80 12.10 10.00 12.720 -0.78 -veIslamic Finance-A 6.52 6.12 14.56 14.70 15.10 12.50 28.976 1.50 9.7Prime Finance-A 6.35 3.49 19.88 20.10 20.30 17.50 58.370 1.02 19.5Saiham Tex.A 6.12 5.05 30.78 31.20 31.50 29.60 75.210 3.09 10.0Union Capital -A 6.04 4.31 19.11 19.30 19.50 17.00 7.936 2.08 9.2

ANALYST

'Strong market sentiment is evident by the high market turnover and return on picky stocks'

B3BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

LOTTO Bangladesh has recently stepped into its third year by holding a celebration ceremony of its 2nd anniversary at a city hotel in Dhaka. Giorgio Guglielmino, the ambassador of Italy to Bangladesh attended the ceremony as chief guest along with the company’s chairperson, Engineer Nurul Haque, managing director Kazi Jamil Islam and its chief executive o� cer Abdullah Al Musaddek

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in Bangladesh has recently distributed gifts to the children under the care of ActionAid Bangladesh

MasterCard has recently announced the winners of its � rst “Spend & Win” campaign called “Char Chakka Hoi Hoi”. Abu Taher Ratan was awarded with a new car for winning the contest. Ari Sarker, MasterCard’s division president for South Asia also attended the prize distribution ceremony among others

SBAC Bank Ltd has recently signed an agreement with Jamuna Bank Limited (JBL) for disbursement of foreign remittance as an associate bank. The managing director and CEO of JBL, Sha� qul Alam and Md Ra� qul Islam, managing director and CEO of SBAC Bank signed the agreement

First Security Islami Bank Ltd has recently opened a collection booth and an ATM booth at HM Samorita Medical College and Hospital. The bank’s chairperson, Alhaj Mockbul Hossain was present at the inaugural ceremony

MediaVest starts its journey in Bangladeshn Tribune Business Desk

MediaVest, a media agency has recently started its journey in Bangladesh. The media agency has marked its arrival by holding a ceremony at a city hotel in Dhaka recently. The media agency has previously obtained the responsibility

of media management services for Gra-meenphone.

MediaVest, founded in 1959, is a media specialist agency relating to ad-vertising media selection services. Me-diaVest is based in New York City, with additional o� ces in Chicago, Los Ange-les and San Francisco. l

German factory orders shrug o� ‘Putin e� ect’ n AFP, Frankfurt

German industrial orders, a key mea-sure of demand for German-made goods both at home and abroad, jumped in July, suggesting the fallout from the Ukraine crisis remains limited for now, data showed yesterday.

Factory orders were up 4.6% in July compared with the level in June, the statistics o� ce Destatis said in a state-ment.

In June, German factory orders had declined by 2.7%.

The o� ce said that orders growth was driven mainly by strong foreign demand, with export orders advancing by as much as 6.9%, and domestic or-ders up 1.7%.

A regional breakdown showed that orders from the eurozone climbed by 1.7% and orders from outside the euro-zone soared by 9.8%.

The headline � gure was overstated by a disproportionately large number of bulk orders, the economy ministry said in Berlin.

However, “after the uncertainty triggered by geopolitical developments and the economic soft patch in the sec-ond quarter, the strong rise in orders is an encouraging sign for industry,” the ministry said in a statement.

Analysts said the data suggested that the feared fallout from the crisis in Ukraine was not proving quite so se-vere as expected.

“After a long series of negative sur-prises in data in recent weeks, the strong orders number is grounds for some optimism,” said BayernLB econo-mist Stefan Kipar.

“It suggests that day-to-day busi-ness in Germany has not su� ered un-duly under the Ukraine-Russia con-� ict.”

But the data should not be over-in-terpreted, the expert cautioned.

“There is a risk in the coming months that the uncertainty will make itself felt a lot more in the hard data,” he warned.

Berenberg Bank economist Chris-tian Schulz also believed that “the im-pact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and Western sanctions on German exports is limited.”

Nevertheless, the key e� ect of the crisis was the uncertainty it caused, he said.

“Only if the situation in Ukraine sta-bilises will con� dence and thus growth rebound.”

ING DiBa economist Carsten Brzeski predicted the German economy “should return to growth in the third quarter.”

The data “should give some re-lief that not everything is gloom and down,” he said.

UniCredit economist Andreas Rees said that “all the talk about geopolitical tensions and their swift impact on Ger-man hard data was wrong and largely exaggerated.

“The Russian-Ukrainian crisis does

not resemble the Lehman shock with its swift and brutal impact we had gone through six years ago,” he said.

“We think that at least a moderate rebound of German economic activity in the third quarter is in the pipeline” after a contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter, Rees concluded. l

A worker mounts a tyre at the serial production BMW i3 electric car in the BMW factory in Leipzig REUTERS

BoJ holds o� fresh stimulus despite weaker economy n AFP, Tokyo

The Bank of Japan yesterday stuck by its view that the world’s number three economy was recovering, despite a contraction in the second quarter that underlined the damage in� icted by an April sales tax hike.

Policymakers held � re on expanding the bank’s vast stimulus programme following a two-day policy meeting, although they � agged housing and factory output as weak spots, along with shaky demand for Japanese exports.

Investors will now turn their focus to a regular post-meeting brie� ng by governor Haruhiko Kuroda at 0630 GMT to see if he hints at future moves to counter the downturn.

The April-June quarter saw Ja-pan’s economy su� er its deepest quarterly contraction since the 2011 quake and tsunami owing to April’s sales tax hike.

The 1.7% dip in gross domestic prod-uct - or a 6.8% contraction at an annu-alised rate - gave the clearest picture yet of the impact of the tax hike and has thrown into question plans for an-other rise next year.

It also underlined an apparently widening gap between the BoJ’s up-

beat view of Japan’s economy and of-� cial data.

For the past 20 meetings, the BoJ has held o� making any major adjustments to its stimulus unleashed in April 2013, despite growing calls to act in the face of softening data.

Kuroda has given little indication he will soon increase its asset-purchasing stimulus - similar to the Federal Re-serve’s quantitative easing - saying the impact of the sales tax hike has not been as bad as expected.

However, he has pledged to take fur-ther action if necessary.

The former Asian Development Bank head was tapped last year by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a key player in Tokyo’s plans to stimulate the laggard economy.

‘Glass half full’ On Thursday, the BoJ pointed to a de-cline in the real-estate sector and said factory output has “recently shown some weakness” - a term it also applied to exports.

But it also noted that employment and wage growth were “improving steadily”.

“Japan’s economy has continued to recover moderately as a trend, al-though the subsequent decline in

demand following the front-loaded increase prior to the consumption tax hike has been observed,” it said, echo-ing earlier statements.

The BoJ added that it expects the negative impact of the rate rise “to wane gradually”.

However, in July it slightly lowered its growth forecast for the current � s-cal year to March to 1% from a previous 1.1% estimate. It had been predicting growth of 1.5% in late 2013.

The decision to stand pat again will likely see economists roll back their ex-pectations for further easing in the last quarter of 2014.

“The key question ahead of today’s meeting was how the bank would re-act to the poor Q2 GDP � gures,” Capital Economics said in a note.

“The Board’s glass-half-full rhetoric suggests that the chances of additional easing being announced as early as next month, which had been expected by a number of analysts until recently, have further diminished.

“However, in� ation is set to fall short of the Bank’s forecasts by year-end, while the recovery is set to remain sluggish.”

It added that “that a more aggressive pace of purchases may still eventually be required”. l

Maruti Suzuki to pay Japanese parent royalties in rupees for future models n Reuters, New Delhi

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the nation’s top carmaker, said yesterday it would make royalty payments due to parent Suzuki Motor Corp for all future mod-els in rupees to limit risks from foreign exchange � uctuations.

“On all future models the royalty will be expressed in rupees...and not (in) the yen so that we are not exposed to the variation in the exchange rate which has been happening in the past,” Maruti Chairman R.C. Bhargava told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in the Indian capital.

Maruti, over 56% owned by Suzuki, currently pays royalties in yen for use of technical know-how and its Japa-nese parent brand name. The company paid 24.86bn rupees ($412m), or nearly 6% of its net sales, in royalties for the year to March, according to its annual report for the year.

In February, some large Indian in-vestment funds, challenging a plan by Maruti to source cars from a plant in western India to be built by Suzuki, say-ing the royalty paid by Maruti to its Jap-anese parent was too high, a complaint made previously by minority investors.

Maruti, which has said it will take minority shareholders on board before progressing on the new Gujarat plant, expects the factory to be commis-sioned in 2017, chairman Bhargava said at the shareholder meeting.

Bhargava also said Maruti would in-vest in increasing its research and devel-opment capabilities, and the work done locally would be taken into account while calculating royalty payments.

“That will mean that our expendi-ture on R&D will get rewarded in terms of lower royalty rates,” he said. l

IFC, VF Corp to provide $10m for local RMG manufacturers n Tribune Report

International Finance Corporation and global apparel and footwear company, VF Corporation, will provide up to $10 million to help suppliers in Bangladesh � nance � re and building safety up-grades in their factories.

VF, the parent company of many well-known brands including The North Face, Vans, Wrangler and JanS-port, will provide a full corporate guar-antee in support of loans for its suppli-ers, says an IFC press release.

This enables IFC and its partner BRAC Bank to lend suppliers at lower interest rates and helps suppliers speed up � re and building safety upgrades.

The garment sector in Bangladesh accounts for 80% of the country’s total export earnings and 20% of its GDP.

It employs more than four million workers—80% of them women—in for-mal jobs in more than 4,500 factories. The sector, including buyers and sup-pliers, is eager to improve workplace environment and sustainable competi-tiveness.

The VF Corporation is a founding member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, an industry group of in-ternational apparel manufacturers and buyers.

This group has provided � re and safety training for more than 1 million

Bangladeshi factory workers and car-ried out inspections at all 587 factories that supply to its members.

Its work has resulted in corrective action plans for bringing factories up to acceptable standards.

Lack of � nancing is an obstacle to many suppliers who need to invest in these safety upgrades.

“The safety of the people making our products around the world is an imperative,” said Eric Wiseman, chair-man, president and CEO of VF.

“Our programme with the IFC helps to ensure that our suppliers have ac-cess to the necessary capital to com-plete safety improvement plans.”

Serge Devieux, IFC Director for South Asia, said: “The employment in the apparel industry has reduced pov-erty for millions of women in Bangla-desh. This � nancing model, which we think could work well for other buyers and suppliers, will help Bangladesh’s suppliers improve work conditions and strengthen the country’s ability to at-tract garment manufacturers.”

This � nancing arrangement with the VF Corporation is part of the IFC’s broader approach to transforming Ban-gladesh’s textile sector.

The IFC also launched its supplier-� nance programme, which allows sup-pliers to improve their access to work-ing capital. l

Square Consumer Products Ltd rebrandedn Tribune Report

Square Consumer Products Ltd., the leading manufacturer of many popular consumer products will be operating as ‘Square Food & Beverage Ltd.’ from now on.

According to a press release, the for-mal announcement of name change came at a launch programme held at the Headquarters of Square Food & Beverage at Square Center, Mohakhali on Monday.

Addressing the event, Na� sa Alam, Head of Marketing of Square Food & Bev-erage said: “This change will de� nitely add a new dimension to our success”.

Managing Director of Square Food & Beverage Ltd. Anjan Chowdhury said: “It’s always about raising the bar. This will de� nitely bring us closer to higher standards.” The program was graced by Chairman of Square Group Samuel S Chowdhury, Vice Chairman of Square Group Ratna Patra, MD of Square Phar-maceuticals Ltd. Tapan Chowdhury, MD of Square Informatix Ltd. Charles C R Patra and Director of Square Food & Beverage Ltd. Eric S Chowdhury.

Square Consumer Products Ltd. was formed in 23 February 2000 and started operating the next year with a goal to provide quality food products. In the last 14 years, the company has manufactured and marketed award winning brands like Radhuni, Ruchi and Chashi. l

B4 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, September 5, 2014

DILBERT

Swiss economy most competitive once again; EU, US, Japan improve n Reuters, Geneva

T he European Union is becoming more competitive but Switzerland, Singa-pore and the United States are the three economies to beat, an annual survey by the World Economic Forum said on Wednesday.

The Global Competitiveness Report published by the Geneva-based body, which is most famous for gathering politicians and billionaires for an an-nual exchange of views at the Alpine resort of Davos, showed the same 10 countries � lling the top 10 spots for at least the third year running.

Switzerland’s slick e� ciency, in-novation and macroeconomic stability kept it on top for a sixth year in a row, although it was marked down for the di� culty of � nding quali� ed workers.

“A potential threat to Switzerland’s competitive edge might be the increas-ing di� culties faced by businesses and research institutions in � nding the talent they need to preserve their outstanding capacity to innovate,” the report said.

The United States muscled into third place ahead of Finland and Germany, while Japan leapfrogged Hong Kong and the Netherlands to take sixth spot.

EU states such as Romania, Portugal and Latvia were among those rising up the ranks of competitiveness. Greece, which is still bringing up the rear for the EU, in 81st place globally, jumped 10 places up the rankings from 91st last year. Greece was helped by improve-ments in its goods and labour markets and a sharply reduced budget de� cit, which improved the outlook despite still very high levels of government debt.

“All this suggests that the imple-mented reforms are starting to pay o� ,” the report said.

China climbed one rank to 28th,

Russia jumped 11 to 53rd spot, while In-dia slid 11 to 71st and became the least competitive BRIC economy, 14 places behind Brazil. Bottom-ranked this year was Guinea, lately in the news for being the source of the world’s most deadly Ebola outbreak.

The Forum bases its assessment on a dozen drivers of competitiveness, including institutions, infrastructure, health and education, market size and the macroeconomic environment. The report also factors in a survey among business leaders, assessing govern-

ment e� ciency and transparency. India has been sliding down the

rankings since 2009, let down by basic healthcare and education, red tape, high business taxes, poor technology and a rigid labour market.

Russia’s new-found competitive edge was sharpened by improvements to domestic competition and business sophistication that came befornoe the Ukraine con� ict.

Reverberations from that con� ict - sanctions and the impact on the gas trade, with knock-on e� ects on public

funding - could blunt it again in the fu-ture, the survey said.

A major brake on competitiveness for many advanced economies, includ-ing the United States, Japan and many EU countries, was doubt about their macroeconomic environments.

In that category, the United States was ranked 113th worldwide, slightly better than 117th last year. The leaders in macroeconomic stability were Nor-way and Qatar, both blessed with en-ergy bonanzas that have pushed GDP above $100,000 per head. l

A Swiss � ag is pictured on a building in Geneva REUTERS

A woman tries out the Samsung Gear, a virtual reality simulator that uses the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for a screen at a media launch event on September 3, 2014 in New York City. The Note 4 features a 5.7-inch screen AFP

Draghi under pressure of his own making to deliver ECB stimulus n Reuters, Frankfurt

The European Central Bank faces in-tense market pressure to take policy action later yesterday and risks losing credibility if it fails to back up a dovish message delivered by President Mario Draghi late last month.

Draghi ramped up expectations for the next today ECB meeting when, de-parting from his speech text, he told the Jackson Hole central bankers’ con-ference on Aug. 22 that markets had in-dicated in� ation expectations showed “signi� cant declines” in August.

He added that the ECB’s Governing Council would acknowledge these de-velopments and, within its mandate, “use all the available instruments” to deliver price stability over the medium term.

“Draghi has increased expectations that the ECB is preparing to act again,” said Nomura economist Nick Mat-thews.

“Our reading of his speech is that his deviation (from his text) was important and signi� cant and, we think, intended to signal that some further action was likely the next month.”

Draghi’s problem is the ECB is running out of weapons with which to � ght the low in� ation - running at just 0.3% - and stagnation gripping the 18-country euro zone. The ECB targets in� ation of just under 2% over the medium term.

The one big weapon the ECB retains is quantitative easing (QE) - essentially printing money to buy assets. Though other central banks have used this tool, hawkish members of the ECB’s 24-member policymaking council are resistant.

“The barrier to QE is still very high,” one ECB source told Reuters last week.

Nomura’s Matthews thought that Draghi’s use in Jackson Hole of the term “all instruments”, rather than the “unconventional instruments” he referenced in the original text of the speech, put an interest rate cut on the table.

However, a Reuters poll pointed to no change in rates, which are already at record lows.

Limited options Another policy option the ECB has � agged without yet launching is a programme to purchase asset-backed securities (ABS), with a view to stimu-lating this market and o� ering smaller businesses an alternative source of funding.

“It’s di� cult to imagine the ECB turning up yesterday and doing very little,” said ABN Amro analyst Nick Kounis. “I think the ABS purchase pro-gramme is the absolute minimum.”

Draghi said in Jackson Hole the ECB’s preparations for an ABS purchase programme were “fast moving forward and we expect that it should contribute to further credit easing.”

The ECB has already committed to new bank funding plan, with the � rst so-called TLTRO operation set for Sept. 18, which it believes will help stimulate the economy. It may want to see how that plays out before taking any further action.

“The likely uptake from periphery banks in particular will be fairly ag-gressive we think,” said Owen Mur� n, fund manager with BlackRock’s global bonds team.

As well as hinting at further ECB

policy action, Draghi used his Jackson Hole speech to urge governments to use � scal policy and structural reforms to support the euro zone economy.

Many observers focused on Draghi’s comment that there was scope for gov-ernments to use � scal policies to help growth as the main message of the speech.

ECB Executive Board member Sa-bine Lautenschlaeger disputed that reading on Wednesday, calling the fo-cus on more growth-friendly govern-ment spending “a very one-sided” in-terpretation.

In remarks suggesting she would resist further signi� cant ECB stimulus, Lautenschlaeger, a German, added: “For me the main message was that structural reforms are the most impor-tant tool to solve the problems that we currently have.”

Loose ECB policy is regarded with scepticism by many in Germany. Fi-nance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said last week that monetary policy has run out of tools.

Top bankers also expressed scepti-cism at a banking conference in Frank-furt on Wednesday: “The equation that ECB money means time is not valid anymore,” said Georg Fahrenschon, president of Germany’s Sparkassen savings banks association.

“The more time the ECB buys the more it exposes itself to growing politi-cal expectations,” he added.

Deutsche Bank Co-CEO Anshu Jain said his group was grateful for the steps the ECB has taken, but added: “We are getting to the point where much more wouldn’t make that big a di� erence.” l

Gold gains modestly from two- month low n Reuters, Singapore

Gold inched up yesterday on technical and physical buying interest in Asia, but prices continued to hover near a 2-1/2 month low as brighter prospects for the U.S. economy and the dollar dimmed the metal’s appeal.

Investors were waiting for a Euro-pean Central Bank meeting later in the day to see whether it will deliver a fresh round of policy stimulus, and its im-pact on the euro and the dollar.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,270.10 an ounce by 0643 GMT. The metal fell to a low of $1,261.19 on Wednesday, its weakest since mid-June, before closing with a small gain.

“There is some technical buying after gold prices failed to retain losses below $1,265,” said a precious metals trader in Hong Kong. “We can see some fresh buying interest in the $1,260-$1,270 range. Physical buying from Asia is also supporting.” Gold, seen as an alternative investment during times of geopolitical and � nancial uncertainties, has gained about 5% this year amid ten-sions in Ukraine and the Middle East.

But bullion investors continue to worry over strong US economic data and its impact on the dollar.

In recent days, a string of encouraging US economic data, along with a sell-o� in the euro and the yen, has boosted the

dollar. A stronger greenback hurts dollar-denominated gold as it makes the metal more expensive for holders of other cur-rencies. SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund and a good measure of investor sen-timent, said its holdings fell 2.69 tonnes to 790.51 tonnes on Wednesday.

US nonfarm payrolls data due on Friday will be closely watched for fur-ther clues about the economy and the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s mon-etary stimulus. Yesterday, all eyes will be on the ECB policy meet. The ECB is under strong pressure to tackle stub-bornly low in� ation at a time when the con� ict in Ukraine threatens to desta-bilise the region’s fragile recovery.

The euro on Wednesday recovered modestly from one-year lows against the dollar, but traders said euro bears were just taking a breather ahead of the ECB meet. Any further weakening of the euro would hurt gold.

“The ECB meeting is more likely to be gold-bearish than gold-bullish,” HSBC analysts said in a note. “Gold is likely to be more in� uenced by US unemploy-ment data due at the end of the week and the general direction of the dollar.”

Among other precious metals, plati-num and palladium - used in auto man-ufacturing - gained as US August auto sales were the highest for that month in more than a decade. l

Hollande, Draghi agree on threat from low growth, low in� ation n Reuters, Paris

French President Francois Hollande and European Central Bank chief Ma-rio Draghi agreed on Monday that low in� ation and weak growth were threat-ening the European Union’s economy, an o� cial in the president’s o� ce said.

Draghi called last week for greater emphasis on � scal stimulus over aus-terity - comments that irritated Ger-man leaders but were welcomed in France because they hinted at a shift away from a current emphasis on bud-getary austerity.

“I think the diagnosis is a shared one,” an advisor to Hollande told re-porters after an hour-long meeting between the Socialist president and Draghi at the Elysee presidential palace.

The two men shared the view that weak growth and dangerously low in-� ation in the European Union were problems that needed to be addressed, the advisor added.

“We need to work together on de-mand in Europe,” he said.

France has been singled out as a lag-gard in an otherwise tepid European recovery due to its weak growth rate, record-high unemployment rate and repeated delays in bringing its public de� cit below EU targets. l

LVMH, Google unite against fake online luxury goods n AFP, Paris

French luxury products group LVMH and Internet search engine Google have agreed to work together to � ght the sale of counterfeit goods online, the two � rms said yesterday.

The agreement ends nearly 10 years of litigation over complaints by LVMH - owner of top luxury labels in every-thing from champagne to luggage - that the Google Adwords key words service helped counterfeiters sell their prod-ucts on the back of LVMH brands.

LVMH is a leading group in the growing, global market for luxury products, but faces the mounting prob-lem of copycat products sold at huge discounts.

The companies said in a joint state-ment that they would work together “to develop new ways of engaging con-

sumers online whilst preserving the value of trusted brands and enhancing creativity...”

They said they would use their considerable resources “to tackle the advertising and sale of counterfeit goods online”.

For Google, the head of the business in southern and eastern Europe, Carlo D’Asaro Biondo, said: “We are very happy to reach this agreement with LVMH and to work together to tackle the advertising of counterfeit goods online and preserve the value of trust-ed brands.”

LVMH vice president Pierre Gode said the deal meant that “brands will be protected both online and o� ine”.

Google was found guilty in a French court in 2005 of counterfeit activities, unfair competition and providing mis-leading advertising. l

Yahoo adds ‘Style’ to digital magazine line-up n AFP, San Francisco

Yahoo on Wednesday hit the Internet catwalk with a digital fashion magazine dubbed ‘Style.’

The online publication headed by print magazine veteran Joe Zee prom-ised a fresh, sophisticated approach to fashion for people of all kinds.

“I had a mission to create a digital magazine that was a study in contrasts - accessible but aspirational, insider but inclusive,” editor-in-chief Zee said in a blog post.

“For me fashion is storytelling and Yahoo Style is what I hope will be the must-land destination for great and

stylish storytelling.” The publication’s debut was accom-

panied by the launches of a “Fashion Bites” video series in which “taste-makers” banter about tips, tricks and secrets and the video series “Unbut-toned,” billed as candid round table talk about fashion industry truths.

Yahoo.com/style will stream live commentary and interviews on Sep-tember 9 to spotlight New York Fashion Week, according to Zee.

Silicon Valley-based Yahoo early this year dove deeper into being an Internet Age media company, with the intro-duction of online magazines focused on technology and food. l

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi speaks during the bank's monthly news conference in Frankfurt REUTERS