School attendance drops for unrest

n Munir Momtaj

Although the academic school year has already started, throughout January – most schools in Dhaka city have been seeing reduced student attendance as

many parents are keeping their chil-dren at home fearing possible block-ade-related violence on the streets.

Talking to teachers from diff erent schools in the capital, the Dhaka Trib-une learned that the schools were see-

ing fewer students in class since the blockade began; as a result, academic progress was being stalled from the very beginning of the academic year. They admitted that reports of violence on the streets was prompting parents to keep their children at home.

Their fears are not unfounded. Many children including infants have so far fallen victims in blockade-related ar-son attacks, while two SSC candidates in Feni also received serious injuries earlier this month when pickets hurled crude bombs at them.

Mohammad Abul Mansur, a teacher of Dhaka’s Udayan Higher Secondary School, said student attendance has been lower than usual on regular block-ade days but no one comes to class when a hartal is announced.

The rate of attendance is staying around 70% which was lower than usu-al, Mansur said, adding that the stu-dents who managed to come to school did so in a panicked state.

If the situation continued then it would become tough to complete the syllabus in time, the teacher cautioned.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

THE BAD KIND OF HARTAL

11 | OP-ED

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B1 | BusinessBASIC Bank has been asked to intensify their e� ort on loan recovery to reduce de-fault loan rate growing abnormally.

5 | NewsLichu Bagan Road at Joar Shahara area of Baridhara in the capital has become un-usable as it has been under sewage and unsanitary water continuously for more than a year now.

6 | NationWhen launched ‘Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar’ project, the aim was to alleviate poverty in the country. In Kishoreganj, little prog-ress has been made in alleviating poverty.

8 | WorldA rare BJP leader, Kiran Bedi, the party’s chief ministerial nominee for Delhi, on Monday described the Sangh as ‘very na-tionalistic’ that has kept India united.

I N S I D E

MEDIATION, NOT LITIGATION

7 | JURIS

Presence of students at schools in the capital has shrunk signi� cantly because of the ongoing blockade enforced by the BNP-led alliance. The photo was taken at Kamrunnesa Government Girls High School on Tuesday MEHEDI HASAN

A child, along with two others, su� er burn injury after a bomb went o� while being made at a house in the capital’s Lalbagh area yesterday. They were rushed to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital for treatment DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Mohammad Jamil Khan

Three people including two children were injured in a bomb blast in the cap-ital’s Lalbagh area yesterday, while the police also recovered a huge quantity of gunpowder and 130 crude bombs from a mess belonging to Shibir cadres in Mohakhali.

The bomb exploded at around 3pm on the second fl oor of a house in Dhakeswari Road, injuring three peo-ple: Mahbubur Rahman Bappi, 25, his niece Happy Akther Sumi, 14, and a former neighbour Samaran Ahmed Ripon, 6.

All three are now undergoing treat-ment at the burn and plastic surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Sumi, an eighth grader of Azimpur Girls High School, said she was watch-ing television after lunch when her un-cle Bappi was doing something while sitting on the fl oor.

“Suddenly I heard a big bang and the entire room was engulfed in smoke and seconds after that another sound of explosion came from the room and I cannot remember anything after that.”

Bappi’s right wrist was blown off in the bomb blast while Sumi and Ripon received injuries in their eyes.

Sumi’s mother Jhumur said she was cooking in the kitchen when she heard the sound. She, however, did not make any comment on her brother Bappi’s involvement in bomb making.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PM: It would be logicalto arrest Khaledan Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said it would be logical to arrest BNP Chair-person Khaleda Zia as the main ac-cused for ordering the killing of around 30 people in the name of blockade.

“It will be logical to bring her under the purview of law as the accused of giving order [of the killings]; the law will take its own course. The law en-forcement agencies will look into the matter and they will take their actions,” she said.

Hasina made the comments during the weekly question-answer session for the prime minister at the parlia-ment. She was answering a supplemen-tary question by ruling party lawmaker ABM Tajul Islam, who asked if there was any chance to the bring the BNP chief to justice for the deaths and arson during the ongoing blockade.

She added that the BNP-led alliance also unleashed a reign of terror during the last national elections by killing people with petrol bombs.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Intelligence asks BTRC not to allocate remaining 3G spectrumn Muhammad Zahidul Islam

A high profi le intelligence agency has recently requested BTRC to not allo-cate anymore of the 3G spectrum to operators, when the regulator has been making preparations to offl oad unused 15 megahertz, sources said.

In a letter sent to the Bangla-desh Telecom Regulatory Commis-sion (BTRC) in December, the agencysaid easy access to 3G services has emerged as a big threat for security be-cause smartphone-based communica-

tion applications cannot be monitored.Earlier this week, the government

blocked popular mobile internet-based voice and text messaging applications Viber, Tango, Whatsapp, etc, saying they were being used by criminals to create anarchy in the streets during the ongoing blockade of the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance.

Sources said copies of the letter have also been sent to State Minister for Home Assaduzzaman Khan Kamal and State Minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted the

BTRC several times in the last few days but nobody was ready to make any comment in this regard.

When contacted last week, State Minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak denied receiving any such letter; but said he also thinks militants are taking advantage of the 3G facilities.

He told the Dhaka Tribune: “There is no doubt that popular voice and messaging services are not beingmonitored and hence they are threats for the nation.”

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Tk1 lakh bounty for aids in arresting anarchists n Shohel Mamun

The government has announced Tk1 lakh bounty for helping in the arrest of miscreants who are creating anarchy on the streets, making arson attacks and blasting bombs in the name of blockade.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu made the announcement yester-day after a cabinet committee meeting on law enforcement.

This comes as an offi cial bounty an-nouncement only a day after State Min-ister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Ka-mal said rewards would be announced.

In December 2013, when political unrest in the country was at its peak, Dhaka Metropolitan Police published a list of 11 individuals and declared Tk1 lakh bounty for each of them after a group of criminals vandalised and set fi re to cars and shops and explod-ed bombs near the Fakirerpul kitchen market in the capital.

However, as of yesterday, nobody has given police any information about those suspected Jamaat-Shibir activ-ists.

According to sources, there is no in-stance in Bangladesh’s history where a bounty is announced and a common citizen has helped police in arresting a criminal by giving information or any other means.

The perception is that although po-lice always pledge to keep informers’ identity secret, the citizens do not trust police enough to tip them off even if they have any information.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Blast while making bomb hurts kidsPolice � nd gunpowder and crude bombs at a mess rented by Shibir men in Mohakhali

Isolated blasts, arson attacks mark � rst day of striken Tribune Report

Yesterday, the fi rst day of the 48-hour general strike called by the BNP-led 20-party alliance in Dhaka and Khulna divisions amid a countrywide indefi -nite blockade, saw sporadic blasts, ar-son attacks and vandalism.

A car was set ablaze near Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute in Gazi-pur around 8am while a bus of Jagannath University teachers was set on fi re on the university premises around 11:30am.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

01_FRONT.indd02_News.indd16_BACK.indd

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

Amnesty calls for fair probe, trial of arsonists n Tribune Report

Amnesty International has observed that human rights situation continues to deteriorate as government and BNP-led 20-party alliance supporters are bat-tling each other for the past few weeks.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the London-based organisation urged the government to carry out thorough and impartial probe into all arson at-tacks and killings and bring those re-sponsible to justice in fair trials.

It suggests that the government re-lease anyone detained solely for exer-cising their rights to freedom of expres-sion or peaceful assembly and ensure that the law enforcement offi cials do not use excessive or unnecessary force.

It asks the government to ensure that all state bodies abide by the hu-man rights obligations to which Bang-ladesh has committed. l

Tk1 lakh bounty PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Amu said yesterday: “Innocent people are being killed across the country by hurling petrol bombs and crude bombs in the name of political programmes. Vehicles are also being vandalised and torched.”

He said: “Attackers are killing people in the name of political programmes. They have also destroyed governmen-tal resources. The cabinet committee has decided that violence and sabotage have to be stopped at any cost.

“We have also decided to form strong anti-terrorism committees at every dis-trict and upazila which will be led by the respective deputy commissioners and upazila executive offi cers. Civil society members, professionals and student will also be involved [in the committees].”

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and State Minister for Home Asaduz-zaman Khan Kamal attended the cabi-net body meeting. l

Intelligence asks BTRC not to allocate remaining 3G spectrum PAGE 1 COLUMN 5He also said: “But I am not in a position to comment on spectrum allocation. It is BTRC’s issue. If necessary, the prime minister will make a decision in this regard because she is in charge of the telecom ministry,” Palak said.

Senior offi cials from a number of mobile operators have said that they had also heard about such a letter from an intelligence agency but none of them were ready to say anything on record.

“This type of requests will not help the cause of building a digital Bangla-desh,” a senior executive offi cer of a

mobile operator told the Dhaka Trib-une requesting anonymity.

“Similar requests delayed our join-ing the submarine cable in the early 1990s,” he said.

The agency letter reads: “Terrorist groups, militants and anti-state ele-ments are carrying out terror and sub-versive activities using the facilities of communication devices such as mobile phones and Internet technologies such as Viber, Skype, Tango and WhatsApp.”

The 3G spectrum is like a natural re-source; it is scarce but not perishable. Every country has its own unique sig-nal transmission frequency spectrum.

Through auction, a government sells the rights or licences to transmit sig-nals over specifi c bands of the electro-magnetic spectrum to telecommunica-tion companies.

Market sources said the six mobile operators in the country are already enjoying 25MHz of the existing 40MHz spectrum. Expecting to have a much wider subscriber base in the near fu-ture, all these operators now want more from the remaining spectrum chunk.

The BTRC is now on the fi nal stage of arranging an open auction for off -loading the remaining 15MHz spectrum in the 2100 band and 10.6MHz in the

1800 band. The telecom watchdog expects to

earn more than Tk5,000 crore by sell-ing the remaining spectrum.

In an open auction in September 2013, market leader Grameenphone acquired 10MHz and Banglalink, Robi and Airtel took 5MHz each.

Before that, in October 2012, the lone state-owned mobile operator Teletalk took 10 MHz spectrum for a commercial test run of 3G.

At present, Grameenphone has 32MHz spectrum, Teletalk 25.2MHz, Banglalink and Airtel 20MHz each and Robi enjoys 19.8 MHz spectrum. l

Blast while making bomb hurts kids PAGE 1 COLUMN 1Lipi Akhter, mother of Ripon, said they live in the city’s Elephant Road and her husband Nizamuddin Bacchu has a pet shop at Kataban.

She said her family used to live in Lalbagh a couple of months back when they met Jhumur’s family.

“Yesterday around 12pm Sumi came to our fl at after her coaching classes and wanted to take Ripon with her to their fl at. Although I refused, Ripon began to cry and insisted on going with Sumi and I let him go,”

Lipi said she later came to know that her son had been admitted to the DMCH. Visiting the site of the explo-sion, this correspondent found that the two-room fl at was left in ruins with the glass-windows broken and the steel door twisted. The entire fl at smelled of gunpowder.

Sufi a Begum, owner of the house, said Jhumur and her husband Ab-dul Hakim had rented the fl at just a month ago for Tk8,000 and they paid Tk20,000 in advance.

“We have often visited their fl at but never found anything suspicious,” Su-fi a said.

She added that Jhumur claimed that her husband was a private car driver and that four members used to live in the fl at: Bappi, Jhumur, Sumi and Hakim.

“I often found Hakim out of the house at 7pm and he came back about

11pm.“Yesterday, when we had just had our

lunch, I heard a sound of explosion and I found Bappi in an unconscious state with his wrist blown off in the blast.”

Mofi z Uddin Ahmed, deputy com-missioner of Lalbagh Division of police, said Bappi is a well known bomb mak-er in the capital’s Nilkhet and Kataban area and better known as Boma Bappi.

“Inspecting the spot, we have come to know that the explosion happened

while making bombs and we have de-tained a total of 10 persons for interro-gation,” he says.

A case will be fi led shortly in con-nection with the incident.

A source in the police and locals of Kataban area said Bappi is a secretary of Chhatra Dal of New Market thana unit.

When Jhumur’s family had been liv-ing in Kataban slum a few months back, local residents reportedly forced Bappi to leave the place as they came to know

that he was a bomb maker.Meanwhile, in another incident, the

police conducted a drive at a house in Mohakhali TB Gate area at around 4am and recovered 130 crude bombs, two litres of petrol, 10kg stone powder, 12 tapes and 15 pots, as well as arresting fi ve Islami Chhatra Shibir loyalists.

The arrestees are Shibir’s Banani unit President Mostafi zur Rahman, Shibir activists Joynal Abedin, Arifuzzaman Arif, Atiar Rahman and Khalid Saifullah.

Bhuiyan Mahbub Hossain, offi cer-in-charge of Banani police station, said the detained men make bombs and supply them to other Shibir cadres.

The arrestees fi rst damage tyres of a vehicle by throwing nails and once the vehicle comes to a halt they set it on fi re by pouring petrol and blasting crude bombs, said the OC.

Mostafi z is a second-year student of Islamic History of Jagannath University and he comes from Charcaladi of Gazi-pur while Joynal is a third-year student of LLB at Prime University and is from Gangni of Meherpur.

Arif is a second-year student of Dha-ka Polytechnic Institute and he comes from Hotathpara of Meherpur; Khalid is awaiting admission to Titmur Col-lege; Atiar Rahman, a student of fi nal year of English in Titumir College, comes from Gaibandah.

A case has been fi led with the police station concerned in this connection.l

PM: It would be logical to arrest PAGE 1 COLUMN 2However, the situation has improved a lot since the elections, Hasina claimed, adding: “It is very unfortunate that when the country’s image was improv-ing and people were passing their days in peace, BNP leader Khaleda Zia again started killing people without any issue.”

Blaming activists of the 20-party alliance for killing people with petrol bombs, the premier said: “Islam does not permit such kind of activities.”

She also claimed that Khaleda was now staying in her offi ce instead of her own home in order to issue directives for killing people.

Replying to another starred question from Chittagong lawmaker Mostafi zur

Rahman Chowdhury, the prime min-ister said the BNP-Jamaat alliance was trying to create anarchy and carry out destructive activities after being fright-ened by the government’s develop-ment activities.

She also claimed that the heinous activities of the BNP-Jamaat had sur-passed the heinous activities of Paki-stani occupation forces in 1971.

“We are trying to contain these by deploying the police, the BGB and the Ansar. They are performing their du-ties,” the prime minister said.

Hasina also requested people to hand over the criminals to the police and help the law enforcement agencies with information. l

School attendance drops PAGE 1 COLUMN 3Claiming that schools sometimes man-age to recover the lost progress by tak-ing extra classes on weekends, Mansur said the non-stop blockade is prevent-ing teachers from doing so this time.

Mainul Islam, who was waiting to pick up his daughter from Viqarunnisa Noon School, told the Dhaka Tribune he was worried about his daughter as the indefi nite blockade and hartals are not letting her study since the new school year began. Mainul said fearing possible any sudden violence on the streets, he was bringing his daughter to school and also picking her up on most days at the end of her classes.

A teacher of Sunbeams School, seek-ing anonymity, said the school authorities kept the institution closed during hartals as parents did not want to send their chil-dren to class during general strikes.

He added that during any hartal or volatile political situation, most Eng-lish medium schools notifi ed their stu-dents by sending text messages telling them that classes would not take place.

Md Habibullah Khan, headmaster of Junior Laboratory High School in Dh-anmondi, said it was the parents’ duty to send their children to school. As long as the parents would send their child to school, the teachers would take all classes, he added.

Visiting several government primary schools over the past few days during the blockade, the Dhaka Tribune found that the number of students were very low, even though the schools stayed open.

Nayan, a student of Nilkhet Govern-ment Primary School, said classes were not being held regularly as most stu-dents were absent.

While school students face the ex-isting crisis of fear and uncertainty, this year’s SSC candidates are readying themselves for challenging days ahead as one of the biggest exams of their lives begin on February 2. The BNP-led 20-party alliance, however, reportedly has no plan to relax their grip on their anti-government programmes during the exams if there is no sign of solution to the prevailing political crisis. l

Police arrest � ve suspected activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir and seize more than hundred crude bombs and bomb-making materials after a drive at a residence in the capital’s Mohakhali area yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nasim tells Khaleda to go home n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Awami League Presidium member and Health Minister Mohammad Nasim yesterday suggested that BNP Chair-person Khaleda Zia go home instead of losing politically to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He also suggested that Khaleda should calm herself and do politics with more cool, adding that she should be taking preparation for the 11th par-liamentary election in 2019.

Nasim made the remarks yesterday evening at a 14-party rally, which he was attending as chief guest, on Mirpur 10 Ave-nue in the capital. The rally was organised as part of the ruling alliance’s countrywide campaign to resist ongoing violence.

AL lawmaker Kamal Ahmed Majum-dar, who chaired the event, also ad-dressed many other 14-party leaders.

Nasim, also the spokesperson of the AL-led 14-party, said: “You [Khale-da] will not win with your techniques against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and thus will lose to her.

“Be calm, and do not get excited. Politics is not done properly when there is excitement or anger.”

He further said no election will be held under Sheikh Hasina before 2019.

“I am requesting you to go home and practise fair politics for the next four years, and become close to the people.”

He also warned Khaleda that a dis-cussion held in parliament has said they will take action against her if peo-ple of the country express need for that.

President of Samyabadi Dal, Dilip Barua alleged that Khaleda Zia is con-spiring against the government along with international conspirators, and added: “She is a queen of terrorists and militants. But her conspiracy will lose in front of the country’s people.”

Furthermore, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya has again urged the government to arrest BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for fomenting violence, killing people and torching vehicles in the name of blockade and hartal.

Activists carry hockey sticks Several hundred activists belonging to Awami League as well as bodies affi liat-ed with the party, including ward level leaders joined the 14-party rally with bamboo sticks and hockey sticks.

This was the scenario both at Mazar Road rally on Tuesday as well as yes-terday’s Mirpur rally. The activists car-ried sticks with small, triangular fl ags of white cloth. A Jubo League activist, on condition of anonymity, told this correspondent: “Why do not you un-derstand? We have to carry the stick to control the BNP men, in case they want to create violence on the streets.” l

Transport workers to cordon o� Khaleda’s o� ce todayn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Pro-Awami League transport work-ers have threatened to cordon off BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan offi ce, in protest against the ongoing BNP-led country-wide blockade.

Two organisations of transport workers – Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan

Sramik League and Sammilito Gari Chalak Samaj made this threat while distributing leafl ets in front of the Na-tional Press Club yesterday.

Activists from the organisations said if Khaleda would not withdraw the blockade by Wednesday night, they would have to cordon off Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan offi ce, in protest against

the terror created in the city, the petrol bomb attacks, vandalism and arson at-tacks on buses, and other forms of sab-otage in the name of blockade.

They said they will begin with a ral-ly in front of the National Press Club at 11am today, and then begin a march to Khaleda’s Gulshan offi ce.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia has been kept

confi ned in her Gulshan party offi ce since January 3.

The party then declared a non-stop nationwide blockade since January 5, which has resulted in deaths of many common people as well as grave injuries on many from arson attacks with petrol bombs, and vandalism of vehicles. l

Isolated blasts, arson attacks mark � rst day of strike PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Three to four youths vandalised and torched the bus before fl eeing quickly. The fi re, which destroyed the seats of the bus, was put out by university staff .

Offi cer-in-Charge of Kotwali Police Station Abul Hasan said police were trying to identify the arsonists with the help of university offi cials.

Around 1:15pm, two crude bombs were blasted in front of Chief Metropol-itan Magistrate Court in Old Dhaka but none was injured.

Traffi c was relatively thin on roads in the capital compared to the past few days and long-haul bus services remained suspended since the morn-ing, but train and launch services were normal.

Darus Salam police station Offi cer-in-Charge Rafi qul Islam said long-haul buses did not leave Dhaka but some set off for nearby districts.

ChittagongPolice detained 14 BNP and Ja-maat-e-Islami activists for their alleged involvement in subversive acts in Chit-tagong.

A man named Faruk was arrested in Bayazid Bostami area as he was about to torch a bus. A wood-laden truck was set on fi re in Eshapur of Hathazari.

FeniFour people were seriously injured when miscreants torched a CNG-run autorickshaw at Daganbhuiyan in Feni late Tuesday night.

Two of them - Main Uddin, 28, a small business owner and Saddam Hos-sain, 35, a day labourer - were sent to Dhaka Medical Collage Hospital as their condition deteriorated.

“Their faces and chests were burnt along with some other internal organs,” said Dr Ashim Shaha of Feni Sadar Hos-pital where Main Uddin and Saddam took primary treatment.

Azim Uddin, offi cer-in-charge of Daganbhuiyan police station, said the other two – autorickshaw driver Man-ik and passenger Joynal Abedin – were treated locally.

“We are trying to arrest the arsonists and will lodge a case,” he added.

BarisalMiscreants set fi re to a bus near Khairabad bridge on Barisal-Kuakata route early in the morning, leaving six

people injured. They were provided with fi rst aid

and resumed the journey. Golam Kabir, second offi cer of Kot-

wali police station, said the bus of Abdullah Paribahan left from Dhaka’s Sayedabad for Kuakata.

Three cabins of triple-decker launch-es MV Sundarban 7 and MV Parabat 10 were torched on Tuesday night just be-fore those were leaving Barisal port for Dhaka, damaging furniture.

A human haulier parked in Battala was set alight yesterday.

BNP activists organised a short march on Nabagram road and chanted slogans in support of the blockade.

Some Jamaat and Shibir activists blasted crude bombs at Kawnia and Ka-shipur areas early in the morning.

MeherpurPolice detained 30 people from diff er-ent parts of Meherpur on charges of possible violence and subversion.

Azbahar Ali Sheikh, additional su-perintendent of Meherpur police, said the detainees would face court pro-ceedings.

GaibandaBlockaders vandalised a truck and four rickshaw vans on Dhaka-Rangpur high-way near Palashbari of Gaibanda in the morning.

Joint forces detained 25 BNP, Jamaat and Shibir activists from diff erent parts of the district on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Additional Superintendent of Police Mosharraf Hossain said the joint forc-es had beefed up operations to detain criminals.

SylhetPolice arrested 15 people, including Sylhet city Jamaat Ameer Hafez Abdul Hai Harun and former offi ce secretary of district BNP unit Moinul Haque, in Sylhet during the blockade.

Additional Deputy Police Commis-sioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police Md Rahmath Ullah said they were detained from diff erent parts of the city.

He also said the city was not aff ected by the strike, he added.

Around 8am, Chhatra Dal marched at Shah Eidgah area. They lit fi re on the road by pouring petrol and blasted a few crude bombs there, witnessed said. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina poses for a group photo at her o� cial residence with the cricket board chief, its o� cials and the Tigers ahead of their ICC World Cup tour PMO

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

BERC PUBLIC HEARING

PGCB crippled by corruption and ine� ciencyn Aminur Rahman Rasel

The Power Grid Company of Bangla-desh has become an unprofi table agen-cy due to offi cials’ lack of effi ciency and increased corruption, the associa-tion of consumers has claimed.

Having lost Tk3 crore for the fi rst time in 2013-14 fi scal year, the compa-ny has recently submitted a proposal to hike transmission charges.

The matter came up on the second day of public hearing at the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).

The Power Grid Company of Bangla-desh (PGCB), which receives electricity wheeling charge from its clients – the dis-tribution companies – at the rate fi xed by the BERC, has sought increased charges.

Md Shamsul Alam, energy adviser of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said BERC should not make any decision over transmission charge until a disagreement between PGCB and Power Development Board (PDB) is resolved.

The PDB says the price of assets relat-ed to the transmission system should be Tk8,500 and the PGCB says it should be Tk2,200 crore.

Suggesting the two entities to come to an agreement within seven days, Sham-sul said: “For the ineffi ciency of offi cials and increased corruption at PGCB, it has become an unprofi table agency.”

Since its inception in 2003-04 until 2013-14, Power Grid was never a losing concern. It made Tk7 crore profi t in its fi rst year and the fi gure rose to Tk169 crore in 2012-13.

The adviser also said: “After Abul Ka-lam Azad, former secretary of the Prime Minister’s Offi ce, became chairman a few years back, the company’ [Power Grid] profi t margin started narrowing. I think he should be removed as soon as possible.”

PGCB is mainly concerned with the operation, maintenance and develop-ment of the power transmission system all over Bangladesh.

Before Power Grid was formed, the PDB used to look after the transmission system. Power Grid got full responsibili-ty in December 2002.

The power generated by diff erent state-owned and private power plants all over the country is evacuated and transmitted through Power Grid’s inte-grated grid system by 230KV and 132KV lines and substations.

Power Grid General Manager (Fi-nance) Mohammed Salim presented their proposal before the commission. The technical evaluation committee of BERC yesterday recommended increas-ing of the wheeling charge by 1.53%. The recommendation was made in a public hearing on hiking power price.

BERC Chairman AR Khan, members Salim Mahmud, Delwar Hossain, Md Maksudul Haque and Rahman Mur-shed, along with other stakeholders attended the public hearing at TCB Bhaban in the capital.

AR Khan said: “if any company does not do the energy audit, then we will ac-cept any proposal of price hike from the company.”

Power Grid proposed that BERC raised the wheeling charge at 132KV level by 70.77% or Tk0.3873, and at 33KV level by 70.06% or Tk0.3896 per unit. The current rates are Tk0.226 and Tk0.2291 per unit.

The company claims that it will suff er losses worth Tk818 crore for the ongoing 2014-15 fi scal if the price is not hiked.

As per the BERC schedule, the pub-lic hearing on raising the existing elec-tricity retail tariff of the state-run PDB and Dhaka Power Distribution Compa-ny Limited will be held today. l

BNP: Lawmen given licence to kill opposition menn Tribune Report

The BNP has alleged that Awami League resorted to killing opposition men to thwart the 20-party alliance’s ongoing movement for a mid-term poll under a caretaker administration.

The party yesterday also alleged that the government had given “licence to the law enforcers for secret killing.”

“The illegal government’s law en-forcement agencies again resorted to killing opposition leaders and activists in the name of so called gunfi ght,” Ru-hul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of the party, said in a press release is-sued from a hideout.

The government forces were given licence to commit crimes against hu-manity – enforced disappearance and secret killing, he said.

“Police, RAB and detectives are picking up our leaders and activists from their homes while their dead bod-ies are recovered from other places,” he claimed while blaming the government agents for sabotage, including arson at-tacks and killing innocent people.

The statement said resignation of the incumbent government was the only solution to the political crisis. “An inclusive election under a non-partisan government will only end the prevail-ing political crisis and it is the demand

of the people of the country.”Meanwhile, the alliance yesterday

drew the attention of international community and rights bodies to “extra judicial killings.”

A press release of the alliance signed by BNP Vice-Chairman Selima Rahman said: “The top brass of the ruling party are provoking law enforcers to shoot on sight, killing people without trial and instigating party cadres to take laws in their own hands.

“In the name of joint force drive, law enforcers are repressing the opposition supporters, vandalising their houses and even assaulting family members in various places.”

Claiming that their ongoing move-ment is logical, the alliance warned of dire consequences if the government did not shun the path of repression.

Through the statement the alliance asked all quarters to exercise restraint and patience to create a congenial atmosphere to reach a consensus leaving the path of vengeance and confrontation.

Calling upon the law enforcers to act neutrally, the alliance said the law enforcers were not their opposition. “We hope that they will refrain them-selves from carrying out any illegal or-der and will uphold people’s hopes and aspirations.” l

US envoy: Rohingyas statelessn Abu Bakar Siddique

Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard yesterday said the Ro-hingya population had remained state-less as they were not recognised as a distinct ethnic group in Myanmar’s cit-izenship law.

Being stateless is a root cause of the suff ering and displacement that the Rohingya people are experiencing in-side their own country, the US offi cial said while addressing a seminar titled “US policy on refugee, migration and population dynamics.” The seminar was organised by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) at its offi ce.

Richard also said the US had been urging the Myanmar government to take steps to end hostilities, build mu-tual confi dence and establish a political dialogue. “At the highest levels, we have repeatedly pressed the Government of Burma to take decisive action to address the root causes of confl ict.” Richard said the US supported the UNHCR mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness and protect stateless persons.

Rohingya refugee issue is the major problem in the bilateral relation be-tween Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Myanmar government refuses to grant them citizenship. A large number of Ro-hingyas has crossed over to Bangladesh

to live here because of riot in Myanmar since long. It is estimated that 16,000 people left the Myanmar-Bangladesh border by boat in just four weeks be-tween October and November 2014.

Richard thanked Bangladesh govern-ment for hosting the Rohingyas for the past four decades and for launching the National Strategy for Undocumented My-anmar Nationals.

Munshi Faiz Ahmed, chairman of the BIISS Board of Governors, said the US as the most powerful country had a re-sponsibility to solve the Rohingya crisis.

Urging to solve the matter inside Myanmar, Faiz said it was tough for Bangladesh to receive new migrants.

Richard said Bangladesh had set a shining example in 2008 when its High Court recognised 300,000 Urdu-speak-ers as citizens.

Richard arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday from Myanmar on a four-day tour – to learn about the Bangladesh perspective of the situation of the Rohingya refugees.

Talking about her Myanmar visit, Rich-ard said violence in Kachin and north-ern Shan states had internally displaced an estimated 100,000 people since 2011 while fi ghting between ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya communities in Rakhine State displaced 140,000 since 2012.

The UNHCR says over 50m people have been forcibly displaced globally, mostly since World War II. l

Arrest warrant against Prothom Alo editorn Tribune Report

A Jhalakathi court yesterday issued ar-rest warrant against Matiur Rahman, the daily Prothom Alo editor, and Sajid Hossain, its photographer, in a case fi led for hurting religious sentiment.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Arifuz-zaman passed the order as the duo did not appear before it on three dates, re-ports our Barisal correspondent. Febru-ary 22 has been set for the next hearing.

The court summoned the accused to appear before it on November 16, De-cember 17 and yesterday.

The case was fi led on October 9 last year under sections 295 and 298 of the Penal Code accusing Matiur of hurting re-ligious sentiment of the plaintiff – lawyer Bony Amin Baklai – by publishing a car-toon of Prophet Muhammad (SM) in its now-defunct satire magazine “Alpin” on September 17, 2007. The Prothom Alo editor was accused of publishing a “fake photo” of Hindu women casting vote during last year’s January 5 election, taken by photojournalist Sajid, adds our Jhalakathi correspondent.

If the charges are proved, the ac-cused would have to face maximum two years’ imprisonment.

The four weeks’ anticipatory bail they had secured ended on January 12. l

Obaidul Quader: Three new bridges on Dhaka-Chittagong highwayn Tribune Report

The Dhaka-Chittagong Highway is going to get three four-lane bridges over the Shitalakkhya, Meghna and Gomati Riv-ers, with the fi nancial assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Road Transport and Bridges Min-ister Obaidul Quader told reporters about the massive project at a press briefi ng at the Secretariat yesterday around 10:30am.

The bridges will be constructed near the existing bridges, which will be re-paired as well, the minister said.

“Around Tk8,500 crore is estimated to be the cost to run feasibility tests and appoint consultants for the construc-tion of the new bridges, supervision and renovation of the old bridges and construction of a fl yover and intersec-tion at Kaachpur,” he told the reporters.

“Of the estimated cost, Tk6,500 crore will be provided by Jica, and the rest will be paid by the government. The feasibility tests, appointment of consultants and designs are already done,” he added.

International tender was fl oated on Tuesday for the three bridges, and the deadline for tender submission for the project is on April 27, the minister said.

Work order for the bridge construc-tion will be given in September, and the minister hopes that the construction can start off by November.

Asked about the ongoing violent attacks on vehicles on the highways during the 20-party-imposed blockade, the minister said: “The transport situ-ation has indeed been much troubling due to the continuous arson and bomb attacks in the name of blockade, as well as the vandalism of the vehicles.

“We are trying to keep the highways safe by enforcing extra security and urge the transport owners to run their vehicles on the highways.”

He said: “No matter how much vi-olence is infl icted on us, construction of mega projects such as Padma Bridge and Metro Rail will not be stopped.”

Among others, the press briefi ng was attended by MAN Siddique, sec-retary at the Road Transport and High-ways Division, and Md Feroz Iqbal, chief engineer at the Roads and High-ways Department. l

Joj Mia cross-examined in August 21 casesn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu and

Probir K Sarker

The trial of two cases fi led over the deadly grenade attack of August 21, 2004 resumed yesterday after three months with the partial cross-exam-ination of Joj Mia.

Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal 1 Judge Shahed Noor Uddin later fi xed January 27 for next hearing in the cases – one fi led for murder and the other for use of explosives.

Defence counsels of 15 accused cross examined Joj Miah during the tri-al proceeding.

Joj Mia testifi ed at the tribunal on September 30 last year as the 104th prosecution witness.

The recording of deposition had been stopped since than as a defence counsel, Mohammad Ali, fi led a peti-tion for expunging Joj Miah’s statement mentioning that the witness had given confessional statement in the cases.

As the tribunal rejected the petition, the defence counsels went to the High Court. On November 23, the High Court cleared way for the trial proceedings.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s elder son Tarique Rahman, a number of former cabinet members of the BNP-Jamaat-led government, and some militants are facing trial in the cases.

At least 24 people including Ivy Rahman were killed in the grenade at-tack launched on an Awami League ral-ly on August 21, 2004. Then opposition leader and now Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped death but her one ear was impaired.

Then the government staged a drama by accusing petty criminal Joj Miah and notorious Seven Star Group of carrying out the attack. According to Joj Mia, he was forced by some offi cials of the Crim-inal Investigation Department to give the confessional statement. It was also alleged that the law enforcers had dam-aged evidence from the crime scene.

Hasina blamed BNP high-upsTen months after the attack, Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina citing an investigation by her party claimed that at least 50 criminals had carried out the attack in cahoots with the police.

Addressing a press conference on June 13, 2005, Hasina said BNP chief

Khaleda Zia, her son Tarique, then home state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, Nasiruddin Pintu and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury organised the at-tack, says a US embassy cable released by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

“After the attack, the criminals, who were earlier given training at De-wanganj in Jamalpur, went for Singair in Natore where a petrol pump owner gave them shelter. Prior to the attack, they held a series of meetings at Than-thonia Bazar in Bogra.”

She said: “I have heard that four per-sons wearing veil offl oaded a consign-ment of arms from a tinted jeep in Tarique’s in-law’s residence at Dhan-mondi on the night of August 20. The arms were used in the attack on the Awami League rally.”

Hasina also alleged that the police had fi red tear gas after the attack to provide cover for the fl eeing assail-ants, says the cable sent to Washington by then ambassador to Dhaka Harry K Thomas on June 15, 2005.

The former ambassador in the same cable mentioned: “On June 14, Babar claimed to us that the BDG [Bangla-desh government] has identifi ed the individuals involved in the August 21 attack, but acknowledged there is no concrete evidence of ‘direct’ involve-ment by AL leaders.”

It also stated that the government’s offi cial inquiry, which was never re-leased, concluded that India had been behind the attack but acted without Awami League’s knowledge.

In another cable sent on February 7, 2005, Harry said: “We have serious concerns given our experience after the August 21 attack, when the BDG denied ATF consultants access to key witness-es and failed to protect the crime scene from severe contamination.” l

Doctors and employees of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital form a human chain in the capital’s College Gate area yesterday, demanding the arrest of BNP chief Khaleda Zia for her alleged role in blockade violence MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

A trader falls asleep on his stack of pumpkins as the markets in the capital witness a low turnout of buyers due to a sharp rise in the prices of vegetables. Due to the inde� nite blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance, supply of vegetables has been severely disrupted causing the prices to go up. The photo was taken yesterday at Karwan Bazar MEHEDI HASAN

Joj Mia said he was forced by some o� cials of the Criminal Investigation Department to give the false confessional statement

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

Railway to get 120 more coaches n Tribune Report

A total of 120 broad-gauge coaches will be added to the fl eet of Bangladesh Railway (BR) in the next two years to ensure a smooth and safe transpor-tation of passengers.

The Railways Ministry inked a deal with Indian company Rites Limited yesterday at Rail Bhaban to procure the coaches.

Railways Minister Md Mazibul Hoque said at the signing of the agreement the coaches would be pur-chased for an estimated Tk975.96 crore under the Indian Line of Credit while the government would provide Tk175.49 crore.

“The two-year project is expected to be completed by December 31, 2017. The rail-way authorities will be able to ensure better services for passengers after adding the new coaches,” he said.

“The BNP is a new mil-itant party as arson attacks made by its activists de-stroyed railway resources. They also destroyed fi sh plates,” added the minister. l

Five suspected Shibir men held at DUn DU Correspondent

Police yesterday detained fi ve alleged members of Dhaka University unit Isla-mi Chhatra Shibir, the student body of Jamaat-e-Islami, from Zahurul Haque Hall of the university.

The detainees Shakhawat, Fazlur Rahman, Masum, Badru Alam and Ikramul Haque were students of dif-ferent departments of the university, campus sources said.

Police said they detained the fi ve from the hall around 4pm after being instructed by DU authorities. They were charged with being involved with Shibir politics.

According to some of the dormitory residents, hall unit Chhatra League ac-tivists caught the fi ve initially and then beat them up. The DU acting proctor Amzad Ali later went to the scene after being informed of the matter and hand-ed them over to the police.

The acting proctor said: “Suspicious replies from the students compelled police to make the detention.”

“We will investigate the matter and necessary action in this regard would be taken as per directions of the au-thorities concerned,” he added.

The police with the help of univer-sity authorities also seized some books related to Jamaat-Shibir from the hall.

Meanwhile, most of classes at the university were postponed except scheduled examinations because of the 48-hour hartal and student strike at all educational institutions called by Jati-yatabadi Chhatra Dal.

During the student strike, unknown people locked seven classrooms of the science faculty including two dean of-fi ces at Curzon Hall early yesterday.

On information, the proctorial body of the university went to the spot and broke the locks around noon.

DU acting proctor Amzad Ali alleged that JCD activists locked the class-rooms in a bid to curb the usual aca-demic activities of the university. l

JU teachers, students protest blockade violence n JU Correspondent

Pro-Awami League teachers and stu-dents of Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday brought out a procession on the campus protesting the ongoing arson attacks and bomb blasts in the name of blockade.

Several hundred people, including the employees and the JU unit BCL activists, under the banner of “Bang-abandhur Adorshe Biswashi Jahangir-nagar Biswabiddalay Paribar” joined the silent procession that started

from the administrative offi ce around 11:30am.

It ended on Shaheed Minar premises after parading the Dhaka-Aricha high-way, where they held a rally, sources said.

In the programme, the speakers urged the BNP and its alliance to stop the violence immediately.

JU Teachers’ Association (JUTA) President Prof Dr Khabir Uddin said: “Terrorism is not a mean of protest in a civilised and democratic society.” He opined to take legal action against

those who were committing crime and violence in the name of movement.

Alleging Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal for attempting to commit subversive activities, JU unit BCL President and General Secretary Mahmudur Rahman Jony and Rajib Ahmed Rasel respective vowed to ensure stability on the cam-pus at any cost.

On Monday night, security forces caught the unit’s JCD leader named Wasim Ahmed Anik while he was fl ee-ing after exploding a crude bomb in front the VC’s residence. l

‘Sultan Mela’ kicks o� today in Narailn Our Correspondent, Narail

A seven-day fair will begin today in Narail marking the 90th birth anniver-sary of renowned artist SM Sultan.

The SM Sultan Foundation and the district administration organised the fair titled “Sultan Mela” in front of Sul-tan Mancha on Narail Government Vic-toria College premises.

Sultan’s 90th birth anniversary was on August 10 last year but the fair was delayed as winter is more convenient for organising such an event, Member Secretary of SM Sultan Foundation Ashiqur Rahman Miku told the Dhaka Tribune.

Narail Deputy Commissioner Abdul Gaff ar Khan, also the president of the foundation, said preparations had been taken to make the event successful.

In the fair and elsewhere in the town, a range of events will be held, including art competition, exhibition, volleyball competition, kabaddi, wres-tling, bullfi ght, handball competition, jari songs and a seminar on Sultan’s life and works.

A total of 100 stalls with traditional

textile and cottage industry products will be sold in the fair.

Dr Gowher Rizvi, adviser to the prime minister on international aff airs, is to attend the inauguration ceremony as the chief guest while Gaff ar Khan will preside over the programme.

Lawmaker of Narail 1 constituency Kabirul Haque Mukti, that of Narail 2 constituency Sheikh Hafi zur Rahman, Narail District Council Administrator Subhas Chandra Bose, Police Super Sardar Rakibul Islam and Principal of Narail Government Victoria College Sheikh Anwar Hossen are expected to attend the programme as special guests.

Sultan Padak will be given on the concluding day and artist Kalidas Kar-maker will receive the accolade this year.

Sultan was born on August 10, 1923, in a poor family at Masumdia village in Narail Sadar upazila. His artworks were displayed in Shimla of India in 1946, and in Lahore and Karachi in 1948-49.

In 1959, Sultan’s paintings were ex-hibited in New York, Boston, London and University of Michigan university. He joined the international conference of painters in the US in 1950 as the represen-tative of the then Pakistan government.

The famed artist won Ekushey Pa-dak in 1982, Bangladesh Charu Shilpi Sangsad Award in 1986 and Swadhina-ta Padak in 1993. He was declared the Man of Asia in 1982 by the University of Cambridge.

Sultan died at the Combined Mili-tary Hospital in Jessore on October 10, 1994. l

The famed artist won Ekushey Padak in 1982, Bangladesh Charu Shilpi Sangsad Award in 1986 and Swadhinata Padak in 1993

The ticket counters at the Gabtoli Bus Terminal in the capital is almost deserted as the on going blockade, coupled with violence and strikes, has deterred passengers from travelling. The photo was taken yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Residents of Lichu Bagan su� er from waterloggingLocals say they � led complaints to authorities to solve the problem but haven’t received any responses

n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Lichu Bagan Road at Joar Shahara area of Baridhara in the capital has become unusable as it has been under sewage and unsanitary water continuously for more than a year now.

Despite being one of the busiest roads of the capital, it has now become a nightmare for commuters given it is constantly logged with poisonous wa-ter, with the authorities taking no step to solve the problem.

Locals blame the fl ooding on a lack of monitoring by the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) and Dha-ka South City Corporation (DSCC), the two bodies responsible for managing the area’s sewerage and drainage systems.

Residents who live on both sides of Lichu Bagan Road, which is between Baridhara DOHS and Jamuna Future Park, and is adjoining to Pioneer Den-tal College, alleged that they have fi led complaints several times to the author-ities to solve the problem, but haven’t received any responses.

Faruque, a tea-stall owner beside the road, said: “The sewerage lines under the road have been blocked since a year. This has caused the roads to continu-ously fl ood with stinky sewage water.”

He added that there is no vehicular movement on the road, which has ef-fectively cut them off . Thus, many lo-cals are trying to get some media atten-tion with the hope to pressurise Dhaka Wasa into taking some action.

Mohammad Afanul, a local resident, said: “We have informed the Wasa and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) authority but they did not take any step. Although a private TV channel has published a report, it has not had any eff ect.”

He further claimed that many high profi le government offi cials including a secretary live in the area but don’t ap-pear concerned about the problem.

“We’ve even seen that the secretary goes on foot into the road fl ooded with

sewage water. How is that possible?” he asks, adding bitterly that the gov-ernment has been irresponsible about this issue.

“Those offi cials are busy with only one target: how to take public money into their pockets, nothing else,” he said angrily.

During a spot visit yesterday, the Dhaka Tribune observation found that the road was immersed in pitch black waters, with no vehicular or even pub-

lic movement.We also noted that four education

institutions including a private dental college, and a university college were situated adjacent to the major road of the area. Besides, there are at least three garment factories, making the area rather populated. When asked what is being done, this correspondent found confl icting reports.

Faruque said: “Around eight months ago, a team of (DNCC) paid a visit and

took measurements for renovation. However, there has been no further step from them.”

However, Wasa Managing Director Taqseem A Khan told the Dhaka Trib-une that he had no idea about this is-sue, and in fact expressed shock at the incident.

“What were the concerned persons doing this whole year?” he asked, in-quiring further if the issue falls under Dhaka Wasa’s service.

“I will direct concerned offi cials to look into the problem and take neces-sary steps,” he added.

However, during the spot visit this correspondent found that few labours were working adjacent to the Lichu Ba-gan Road.

Several attempts were made to contact DNCC Chief Engineer Brig Gen Md Gazi Firoz Rahman, but he remained unavailable for comment on this matter. l

WEATHER

PRAYER TIMES Fajr 5:24am Sunrise 6:42am Zohr 12:10am Asr 4:01pm Magrib 5:37pm Esha 6:56 pm

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:21PM SUN RISES 6:03AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW31.8ºC 19.4ºCBogra Dinajpur

THURSDAY, JANUARY 22

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 21 15Chittagong 27 15Rajshahi 17 11Rangpur 16 12Khulna 28 10Barisal 28 14Sylhet 26 12Cox’s Bazar 27 16

DRY WEATHER

LIKELY

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

Blockade hurting Khulna’s poultry industryn Our Correspondent, Khulna

Around four lakh people who rely on Khulna’s poultry industry for a living – are passing through dire times as the ongoing political unrest continues to disrupt the distribution chain of the poultry farms in the region.

Industry insiders said violence on the roads was hampering the process of supplying and distributing poultry feed, eggs, poultry medications, fresh-ly hatched chicks and chicken meat.

Sources said 4,952 poultry farms are currently operational in Khulna; the eggs and chickens from these farms usually meet the regional demand while the surplus products are sup-plied to diff erent areas. However, since the blockade began, the owners have been facing massive losses as they are unable to transport their products.

Exploiting the crisis, unscrupulous traders have allegedly hiked up pric-es of poultry feed and poultry medi-cation, as fresh supply of these items have been scarce since the start of the political turmoil.

SM Sohrab Hossain, secretary general of Khulna Poultry Fish Feed Industries Owners Association, told the Dhaka Tribune around four lakh workers involved with the industry are facing a severe crisis. If such turbulent political times continued, these poultry workers would have to give up all hopes of staying alive, Sohrab claimed.

Local traders said the poultry farms in Khulna supplied around 40 tonnes of chicken meat every day during regular times. Since the blockade cut access to the regular chicken meat distribution system, the local poultry

farm owners have been counting total daily losses worth around Tk60 lakh, with around Tk9.25 crore in cumulated losses so far.

Meanwhile, the fi ve lakh eggs that were usually sold every day from the local poultry farms are also remaining unsold, causing Tk5.25 crore worth of losses so far. Around eight hatcher-ies in Khulna – which produce around one lakh chicks every week – have also suff ered from over Tk25 lakh worth of losses since the blockade began.

At least fi ve farms also produce poultry feed in Khulna, supplying 80 tonnes of feed every day during regu-lar times. But the political unrest has so far caused Tk5 crore in losses to these farms. The poultry medication sector has also suff ered a total of around Tk1 crore worth of losses because of the turmoil, sources said. l

BR suspends CU shuttle train operationn CU Correspondent

Bangladesh Railway (BR) authorities yesterday suspended Chittagong Uni-versity bound shuttle train services, fearing sabotage on railway tracks as Ja-tiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) called for a two-day countrywide student strike.

Bangladesh Railway’s Divisional Transport Offi cer Firoj Iftekhar told the Dhaka Tribune: “CU shuttle train services has been suspended since morning as there were possibilities of

subversive activities on the trains.”BR sources said the decision was

taken based on police and detective reports as it suggested that JCD’s men might attack CU-bound shuttle trains to create anarchy during their coun-trywide student strike which was en-forced in protest of JCD leader Nuruz-zaman Jony killing.

Chittagong city’s Sholoshahar Railway Station’s Master Md Shahabuddin said: “After receiving orders from higher au-thorities, we sent the two shuttle trains to

the dockyard from the station premises.” He added that train services will remain suspended until further notice.

CU teachers’ bus service also re-mained suspended because of the 36-hour hartal enforced by BNP-led 20-party alliance in Chittagong district. CU transport department Deputy Di-rector Rabiul Alam said no bus had left the campus due to the BNP hartal.

CU Proctor Siraj Ud Dowla said no academic activities took place on the campus. l

The Lichu Bagan road in Baridhara area of the capital lies in unusable state as the sewerage water has been clogging the road for a long time. The residents struggle to cross the road using sand bags placed on two sides MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Newsmen for taking stern actions against fake journalists n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Speakers at a programme said presence of vehicles with “press” logo had in-creased alarmingly in Sylhet city which sometimes cause embracing situation for the genuine journalists.

Journalists leaders at a view ex-change meeting with Sylhet Metropol-itan Police Commissioner made the observation.

At the meeting, the leaders also re-quested the SMP commissioner to take immediate action against fake journalists for the well being of actual journalists.

Fraudulent in guise of journalists realise extortion from common people which tarnish image of journalists in the society.

In this circumstances, Photo Jour-nalists Association Sylhet divisional unit in association with police con-ducted drives against them at the city’s Chowhatta and Zindabazar Point area, journalists told the com-missioner.

During the drive, the law enforc-es found about 30 vehicles with press logo. Owners of these vehicles were also warned not to use vehicles with press logo.

Rahmat Ullah, additional deputy commissioner of the Sylhet Metropol-itan Police, said they had taken some initiatives to detect fake journalists who were also doing diff erent types of criminal activities.

He said: “We are fed with the matter. Police will provide all out sorts of sup-ports to reduce such kinds of crime.”

Iqbal Siddique, president of Sylhet Press Club said, “We suggested the SMP to take action against the fake journalists.”

Police detained three fake journal-ists, including a female from the Tech-nical road area in South Surma upazila yesterday recently on charge of extort-ing money from a principal of a local college. l

NID required to book launch cabinn Our Correspondent, Barisal

Passengers who want to book launch cabins to travel on the Dhaka-Barisal route will have to produce copies of their national identity cards to buy the tickets from now on.

Upon implementation of the new rule, passengers will have to show their NID

cards and produce the copies to be attached with their tickets. The tickets will also have the names and mobile phone numbers of the passengers written on them.

The decision was taken in a meeting at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Author-ity (BIWTA) offi ce in Barisal river port yes-terday evening. l

Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, the student wing of the Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, brings out a rally in the capital to celebrate its three decades since inception. The photo was taken in Dhaka University area yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

DHAKA TRIBUNE Nation6 Thursday, January 22, 2015

BGB detains Indian cattle smuggler n Our Correspondent, Panchagarh

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained an Indian cattle smuggler at Ghasalu village near Barshalupara bor-der in Atwary upazila of Panchagarh yesterday morning.

The detainee was identifi ed as Pa-shir Uddin alias Tilkhowa, 35, son of late Hafi z Uddin of Ghomadighi village under Islampur police station of Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal, India.

The BGB also detained his Bangladeshi fellow Md Delwar Hossain, 28, son of late Tomiz Uddin of Darkhor Nodidangi vil-lage under Atwary upazila in Panchagarh with 28 Indian smuggled cattle.

Commanding Offi cer of 30, BGB Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Tush-er Bin Yunus said acting on a tip-off a BGB petrol team of Balapara camp de-tained the Indian cattle smuggler and his Bangladeshi fellow along with 28 smuggled cattle at Ghasalu village 100 yards inside Bangladeshi territory near Barshalupara border. l

Students lock school building protesting additional feesn Our Correspondent, Natore

Candidates of Secondary School Certif-icate from Mirjapurdigha High School in Naldanga upazila put their school under lock and key yesterday demand-ing the return of the additional fees which has been taken by the school au-thorities for the enrolment.

Earlier, the High Court in this regard has given an order to give back the ad-ditional fees to the students.

The board has fi xed fee Tk1,385 for the students of Science group while Tk1,280 for that of Humanities.

Naldanga police station OC (inves-tigation) Wazed Ali Khan said about 85 students from the school fi lled up the SSC form for paying Tk2,400-2,900 for the upcoming examinations.

In the morning, some candidates fl ocked into the room of Shishir Prosad Talukder, headmaster of the school, and demanded the excess money re-turn back.

When the headmaster denied do-ing so, the agitating students locked up all rooms of the school and started demonstrating on the premise. During the demonstration, they also demand-ed removal of the head teacher.

Being informed, Naldanga police station OC and local UNO Sharmin Ak-ter Jahan rushed to the scene and or-dered the headmaster to give back the additional money.

When contacted, the OC confi rmed the incident, saying the school authorities had contacted the bank and the students might have get the money by 5pm. l

6 killed in road accidentsn Tribune Report

Six people were killed and three were left injured in separate road accidents in Tangail, Savar and Noakhali in the last two days.

Four people were killed and two others were injured after a truck collided head-on with a CNG-run autorickshaw in Kalihati upazila of Tangail early yesterday, reports our Tangail correspondent.

The dead were Golam Kibria, 40, son of Abdur Rahman of Kalihati upazila, CNG-run autorickshaw driver Farukh Ahmed, 30, son of Abdus Salam of Tan-gail Sadar upazila, Niranjan Saha, son of Mintu Saha, and Nurul Islam, 45, son of Abdul Khalek of Jamalpur.

Offi cer-in-Charge Md Akheruzzam-an of Bangabandhu Bridge East po-lice station said: “The Alenga-bound autorickshaw collided head-on with a truck coming from the opposite di-rection at Char Vabla area on the Dha-ka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge high-way.” “The incident took place around 12:15am leaving four spot dead,” he added.

The OC said the two injured were admitted to Tangail Medical College Hospital and police seized the truck.

Our Savar correspondent reports, a motorcyclist was killed yesterday

evening after a bus hit the bike on the Dhaka-Aricha highway near Bishmail bus stand area.

The dead Shafi qul Islam, 40, was turning his motorcycle when a bus of Babul Enterprise ran over the bike, leaving Shafi qul spot dead, according to witnesses.

OC Mostofa Kamal of Ashulia police station said the dead body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy and the bus and its driver Rubel Ahmed Bepari was arrested from the spot.

In Noakhali, another motorcyclist was killed and one was injured in a road accident on the Sonaimuri-Lakh-sam road in Kalabagan area under Sonaimuri upazila late Tuesday night, reports our correspondent.

The dead Md Ibrahim, 30, was son of Md Abdul Matin of village Kandail in Comilla abd the injured was identifi ed as Md Hasan who was admitted to a lo-cal clinic after the incident.

Quoting locals, OC Ashraful Is-lam of Sonaimuri police station said the accident took place around 11 pm when Ibrahim was going home with his friend Hasan on his motorbike.

A goods-laden truck hit the motor-bike head-on near Kalabagan area leav-ing Ibrahim spot dead and Hasan criti-cally injured, he added. l

Habiganj passport o� ce seeped with corruption, recipients su� ern Our Correspondent, Habiganj

Dominance of brokers and their faulty deals at Habiganj passport offi ce has reached an extreme level, causing enormous suff ering to those intending to travel abroad and are in need of passports.

According to sources, there is a strong syndicate among the workers of the passport offi ce and some out-side brokers. The passport offi cials are receiving a heavy sum of money through this syndicate.

Sources say, there are passport brokers in about 12 travel servic-es across the city – some exposed, some hidden.

The syndicate is regulating a business of passports under the mask of travels business. Each month, the passport offi ce receives

about Tk1.5lakh from each of these travel offi ces.

By this calculation, the offi cials at the passport offi ce are receiv-ing more than Tk20lakh per month from these travel agencies.

Namely, Faruk and Helal, com-puter operators at the passport of-fi ce, along with an Ansar member are working in a corrupt group to control this syndicate of brokers. There are complaints that Faruk brings in about Tk50lakh per week from the travel agencies.

According to sources, the con-signment for a regular passport is Tk3,000 and for emergency pass-port is Tk6,000 at Sonali Bank.

After depositing the money in the bank, when a passport customer goes to the passport offi ce to submit their papers, they become subject to

exploitation by several corrupt work-ers who send them to the brokers.

Some of the more cautious indi-viduals who fi ll up the forms with-out help of brokers, are subject to much suff ering and complications regardless.

At the same time, villagers who intend to go abroad are often in need of assistance with such mat-ters. They thus seek help from the brokers, who heavily abuse this op-portunity. The brokers are charging Tk6,000 for the Tk3,000 package and Tk9,000 for the Tk6,000 pack-age.

A large portion of this money then goes to the passport offi ce and District Special Branch.

Khokon Miah, who came from Jalalbad village in Habiganj main upazila to get his passport, said:

“I have received my visa for Oman a while back. I have paid a broker Tk9,00 for an emergency passport and still haven’t received it. He is leading me on.”

Another passport customer, Sha-hidul, who came from Ajmeriganj, told this correspondent: “The bro-kers have taken Tk9,000 from me for the passport to be issued in one week, but I’m not getting it on time. This is aff ecting my visa applica-tion.”

Nurul Huda, the Assistant Direc-tor at the regional passport offi ce of Habiganj, has said if individuals at the passport offi ce are involved in such corruption, necessary meas-ures will be taken against them. He, however, claims that the passport offi ce has gotten rid of brokers since he joined in February last year. l

Little done with ‘One House, One Farm’ project in KishoreganjMore than 90% members have been a� liated with the ruling party n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj

When the government launched its “Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar” project fi ve years ago, the main aim was to allevi-ate poverty in the country. However, in Kishoreganj, little progress has been made in alleviating poverty.

The project is supposed to enable the rural poor and the community people to fi nd self-employment opportunities with the physical and fi nancial supports off ered by the project. Besides, the vil-lage organisations coming under the project are supposed to work as the driv-ing force to mobilise the poor, including the women, in their respective areas.

But the reality tells a diff erent story.

In the project’s cooperative associations in the district, more than 90% members have been found affi liated with the rul-ing party in one way or the other – some are leaders, some are activists, and some are just followers of the Awami League.

This reporter spoke with several mem-bers of the cooperative associations in the Mahinanda, Maizkhapon, Kadirjan-gal and Sogra unions under Kishoreganj

Sadar upazila. When asked if they met all the criteria to be eligible to be a part of the project, they all admitted that they, in fact, were not.

“We got the membership with inside help, as we know the local infl uentials as well as Awami League leaders,” they told the Dhaka Tribune.

It is to be noted that the target bene-fi ciaries of the project must be: 1. Poor women in charge of their households in the village, 2. Households having only homestead, 3. Landless people or those who own land up to 0.5 acre of land, including their homestead, and who earn their livelihood by selling manual labour and have no regular sources of income, and/or 4. Small and marginal

farmers having up to 2.5 acres of land, including homesteads. Applicants are prioritised based on the aforemen-tioned order.

In case of backward/char areas, households having land up to 4 acres can also be included as project benefi ciaries.

This reporter also found that several people in Mahinanda and Maizkhapon unions who actually met the criteria for membership in the cooperative associ-ations did not get it.

“The government gave the project to its own supporters. They are not poor, and they have suffi cient land. They take the money, but they do not invest in farming,” they alleged while talking to the Dhaka Tribune. l

As buds will start blossoming within a few days, a grower sprays pesticide on a mango tree to protect it from pest attacks. The photo was taken from Baneswar village under Puthia upazila, Rajshahi yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

The Border Guard Bangladesh and the Border Security Forces yesterday destroyed poppy plants cultivated on no-man’s land near Chapainawabganj frontier DHAKA TRIBUNE

People who met the criteria for membership in the cooperative associations did not get it

JurisDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015 7

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JURIS QUOTEThere is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

Charles de MontesquieuFrench Philosopher

January 18, 1689 – February 10, 1755

RAJSHAHI UNIVERSITY LAW FACULTY

Pioneer of legal studies in Bangladeshn Sadiqul Islam Sagar and

Md Moniruzzaman

Faculty of Law, University of Rajshahi is one of the pioneer institutes for legal education in

Bangladesh as well as in South Asia. University of Rajshahi, the second largest university in Bangladesh, was granted its charter in 1953 through the Rajshahi University Act, 1953 and Law was one of its six founding subjects. Since 1953 faculty of law has created a proud legacy and established itself as a prominent institute in the fi eld of legal education in Bangladesh.

A two years Law (pass course) program was initiated in 1954 by this faculty of law, which was the fi rst of its kind amongst the law faculties in South Asia. It started off ering Bachelor of Jurisprudence (B.Jur.) and Master of Jurisprudence (M.Jur.) programmes in the years 1970 and 1973 consecu-tively. B.Jur. and M.Jur. programmes were renamed as LLB (Honors) and LLM respectively in the years 1976 and 1981. There is only one department, ie department of law, under the faculty of law, which was previously known as department of law and justice.

Currently the faculty of law is off ering a four years LLB (Honors) programme and a one year LLM programme. It also runs a one year evening LLM course for professionals and another one year Masters in Police Science (MPS) course at Sarda Police Academy for the BCS (Police) cadres. Faculty of law also awards postgraduate research degrees, such as MPhil and PhD to the successful fellows. It also hosts the research projects funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and University of Rajshahi itself.

At present there are 26 faculty members at the department of law and two of them are abroad on study leave. The present dean of the faculty of law is Mr Biswajit Chanda and the present chairman of the department is Professor Dr M Ahsan Kabir. Among the past faculty members internation-ally famed expert on the law of the sea

Professor Dr Habibur Rahman, present Chairman of Human Right Commis-sion Dr Mizanur Rahman, present member of Law Commission profes-sor Dr M Shah Alam and former chief justice and chief adviser to the care taker government late Justice Habibur Rahman are a few notable fi gures.

The total number of students at the department is around 550. Every year around 110 students get enrolled at this department through a very com-petitive admission test. A good num-ber of judges of the lower judiciary and the higher judiciary have completed their graduation from this department. Its alumni are also playing a signifi cant role in the legal profession, teaching, NGOs, and other legal fi elds.

To meet the demands of the 21st century the faculty of law has intro-duced a more scientifi c and digitalised method of study. It has been following an innovative and rigorous curriculum for its students over the years. Almost all the classrooms are equipped with projectors and sound systems so as to provide a more convenient atmos-phere for teaching. A computer lab has also been set up for the students so that they can be familiar with the international standards of legal educa-tion. Furthermore the whole depart-ment has been converted into a wifi zone and the students of this depart-ment have free access to it all the time.

The faculty of law has always been striving to attain the highest stand-ard in legal education and to make it a center of excellence. The seminar library provides a rich collection of books on diff erent areas of legal study written by national and international

legal scholars. The seminar library off ers a good collection of various law journals and authoritative reference books. The central library of University of Rajshahi also has a separate corner for the law students where numerous research materials can be accessed for higher studies.

Faculty of Law, University of Ra-jshahi is not only committed to give the students high quality and innova-tive legal education, it is also provid-ing the students with practical legal experience. A new course named “Pro-fessional Ethics, Trial Advocacy, Moot Court and Court Attendance” has been

added to the curriculum to serve that purpose. Students are getting fi rst-hand experience in litigation matters. Regular visit to the court is also enrich-ing their experience and preparing them for the future challenges of legal profession. The course teacher Sadiqul Islam Sagar, an Assistant Professor of the department, personally oversees the activities of this course.

The faculty of law also organises various seminars, workshops and training sessions in collaboration with various NGOs, think tanks and other research organisations, which helps the students to become aware of the social problems and encour-ages them in lawyering for the poor and the under-privileged. Students from this department also success-

fully participated in various Moot Court competitions and won prizes. Recently “Rajshahi University Moot Court Society” has started its journey with a grand inauguration programme. RUMCS is doing very well under the direct and dedicated supervision of it’s fi rst president Mr Sadiqul Islam Sagar.

Two research journals namely, “Rajshahi University Law Review” and “Rajshahi University Law Journal” are regularly being published by the faculty of law. Department of law has an impressive track record in the fi eld of sports as well. It is the reigning football champion of University of Rajshahi. The department is also doing good in other sports as well.

Despite all these accomplish-ments, improvement in infrastructure has become a need of the hour. The computer lab has become inoperative. The seminar library is not accessible for the students after 2pm. Addition of up-to-date academic books in the cen-tral library has been a demand of the students for a long time now. Student counseling facility should be intro-duced to keep the students motivated to their studies.

Faculty of law is producing qual-ity law graduates, who are working diligently and honestly to serve their clients and the public, to lead the legal profession and to help solve the problems of our society, our country and the world. l

Sadiqul Islam Sagar is an Assistant professor, Department of Law, University of Rajshahi and Md Moniruzzaman is a � nal year LLB student at Department of Law, Universityof Rajshahi.

The total number of students at the department is around 550. Every year around 110 students get enrolled at this department through a very competitive admission test

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Mediation, not litigationThis is a new process of resolving civil and commercial disputes

n Khandker Dider us Salam

Mediation is the process of solving civil and commercial disputes through a third party who is not a party to

the dispute and works impartially to help the parties reach a conclusive and mutually satisfactory agreement.

In mediation, parties voluntarily resolve the dispute and the media-tor’s duty is to facilitate the parties but not to judge who is right and who is wrong. The primary duty of a mediator is to identify relevant legal and factual issues and bring those into attention of the parties so as to enable the disputing parties to reach a settle-ment avoiding legal proceedings. It is the parties who select their mediator.

In England, a joint study on legal practitioners on commercial disputes reveals that at least 60% of them want to solve their disputes through Alter-native Dispute Resolution (ADR). The main reason for this is the confi den-tial nature of the ADR mechanisms. Mediation also takes less time and money.

The mediator In order to become a competent mediator and to conduct the media-tion process smoothly, the mediator needs to have certain competencies and skills. If one can apply them very professionally, he will certainly be able to build confi dence in the minds of the parties which will enable the parties to reach a solution. Three competencies and skills are essential to conduct a mediation process professionally. They are, relationship skills with the clients, process skills to carry out the me-diation process and content skills for closing the mediation with a solution. If anyone understands these skills and also know how to apply these skills properly, he or she will be able to act as a successful mediator. Here are the three competencies for a mediator:

Relationship skillsIn order to start a mediation process, it is necessary to create an environ-

ment conducive to mediation. It is important to welcome the parties warmly and enthusiastically. Clients must be assured that they are not fi ghting a legal battle rather they are there to mediate. The mediator must create a comfort zone in order to building confi dence in the minds of the clients.

A mediator has to use non-judg-mental language and show neutrality in his verbal and non-verbal com-munications with both the parties. A mediator should treat all the parties to the dispute equally so that his role can never be questioned.

Before the mediation process starts, a mediator needs to take good preparation by studying the dispute and recognising the issue properly. Patient hearing of the parties is a must for the mediator to build confi dence in the minds of the parties which will give them the feeling that the mediator actually understands their perspectives and sensitivity. It is also important to deal with the clients in such a manner that they retain the positivity and confi dence throughout the process.

Process skillsThis is the most technical skill that one must possess in order to be a successful mediator. If a mediator opens the mediation well, it will be easier for him/her to end up with a good outcome. At the beginning of the process, the mediator explains his/her role, responsibilities and procedures to the participants and demonstrates the parties the whole process of mediation. Though there is no pre-scribed rule or method of conducting a mediation, the mediator may sketch his/her own method of conducting the proceedings. The mediator must keep the clients assured about the confi -dentiality of their information.

Mediators must avoid asking lead-ing questions to the clients which may create a negative impression in the minds of the clients. It is also neces-sary to decide whether the mediator will have private meetings with the clients and prepare a schedule of the

private meetings and the joint meet-ings. It is also important to maintain a proper pace so as to keep compatibil-ity with the events.

Content skillsA mediator must be able to convey his responsibility and the outcome of the mediation process to the par-ties, be it positive or negative. The mediator should motivate the parties to go with the process and help the clients understand the outcome of the mediation process and take their own decisions.

A mediator must caution the clients about the negative outcome of mediation. This will enable the clients to prompt themselves to reach a positive solution. It is necessary to perform a reality check by asking questions. However, mediators need to be technical while asking hypo-thetical questions to the parties. It is also crucial to manage information correctly and explore diff erent pos-sible outcomes of the dispute.

Benefits of mediationA successfully completed mediation has many benefi ts. In a mediation pro-cess, it is possible to reach a solution within a few days and therefore, busi-nesses do not suff er and get interrupt-ed. In our country, legal and preparato-ry costs are comparatively high. Hence, solving disputes through mediation may save money which can be used in other ventures. One of the principles of mediation is that the mediator does not disclose any facts without the consent of one party to the other party. Therefore, greater confi dentiality is ensured. It helps the parties to be safe from unwanted publicity.

In mediation, parties reach a set-tlement through dialogue and thus it is possible to continue relationship in the future. Honest discussion with the help of the mediator helps parties to ascertain the actual disagreement and solve it amicably.

Barriers to mediationSince mediation is a comparatively new concept of ADR process, the

main barrier to mediation is lack of knowledge about the process and the legal practitioners still do not think that this is an acceptable way of resolving disputes. Confusion among the parties as to its acceptability is also a barrier to the process. Though the Arbitration Act has been enacted by the parliament in 2001, mediation in particular is yet to get popularity among disputing parties.

For an ADR mechanism to be successful, especially in mediation proceedings, both the parties must agree to refer the dispute to be settled through mediation. Therefore, the parties must agree to each other otherwise they will have to face an actual litigation. Since no specifi c rules of procedure have been framed for mediation, the parties have to depend on the rules of mediation determined by a tribunal and the current Arbitration Act, 2001. This lacuna in the system makes ADR an uncertain game.

Lack of awareness regarding the advantages of ADR is another problem and we also do not have the institutional support that has been developed in countries like UK, USA, Singapore and even in India.

According to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Aff airs, disposing of millions of cases pending before the courts in Bangladesh would take at least 86 years if no new cases are fi led. The pending cases will not only make the litigants suff er, but will also cause loss to the state.

To reduce the burden on the courts, there is no alternative to ADR mechanisms and, hence, mediation can be an eff ective tool for popularis-ing the ADR system in our country. Therefore, in order to establish this comparatively new system of ADR, the mediators must establish them-selves as not only lawyers but also performers. l

Khandker Dider us Salam is an Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, a CEDR accredited Mediator and a Faculty Member at the Department of Law, Da� odil International University.

BIGSTOCK

RIO SHUVO

Thursday, January 22, 2015DHAKA TRIBUNE World8

Man who saved lives at Paris grocery gets French citizenshipn AP, Paris

French authorities on Tuesday honored a Mali-born employee who saved lives at the kosher supermarket attacked by terrorists as a hero and granted him French citizenship.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised Muslim Lassana Bathily, 24, for his “courage” and “heroism” during a ceremony in the presence of Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Cazeneuve said Bathily’s “act of hu-manity has become a symbol of an Is-lam of peace and tolerance.”

“Tonight I’m very proud and deeply touched,” Bathily said with tears in his eyes, humbly stressing that he doesn’t consider himself a hero. “I am Lassana. I’ll stay true to myself ... “People are all equal to me and skin color isn’t a matter. France is the country of human rights.”

Bathily was in the store’s under-ground stockroom when gunman Ame-dy Coulibaly burst in upstairs on January 9 and killed four people. He turned off the stockroom’s freezer and hid a group of shoppers inside before sneaking out through a fi re escape to speak to police and help them with their operation to free the 15 hostages and kill the attacker. l

Palestinian stabs seven people on Tel Aviv busn Reuters, Jerusalem

A Palestinian stabbed and wounded seven people on a Tel Aviv commuter bus during the morning rush hour yes-terday before he was shot in the leg by a security offi cer as he fl ed, police and emergency services said.

It was the fi rst Palestinian attack reported in Israel’s commercial capital since a soldier was stabbed to death two months ago.

Passengers on the bus said the as-sailant, later identifi ed by police as a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, stabbed the driver and then oth-ers as the vehicle slowed to a stop.

“The terrorist had murder in his eyes,” one passenger, identifi ed only as Orly said on Israel Radio.

As screaming passengers spilled out of the bus, prison offi cers in another vehicle at one of Tel Aviv’s busiest in-tersections saw the suspected attacker trying to fl ee and gave chase.

One of the offi cers shot him in the leg. Television footage showed the al-leged assailant, whom police said was aged 23, lying face down in mud, his

arms handcuff ed behind his back.The Magen David Adom ambu-

lance service said seven people were wounded in the stabbing, four of them seriously, and two other passen-gers suff ered injuries while running off the bus.

During the attack, the bus driver managed to alert his dispatcher and plead over the phone for help.

“Save me. I have been seriously in-jured, stabbed all over my body. He has stabbed my passengers ... If anything happens to me, look after my chil-dren,” the driver said, according to the dispatcher’s account on Army Radio.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the Hamas Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip called it “the natural reaction to Israeli terrorism against the Palestinian people.”

In a statement, Israeli Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack “a direct result of venomous incitement disseminated in the Pales-tinian Authority against Jews and their country.” l

IS executing ‘educated women’ in new wave of horrorn AFP, Geneva

The UN on Tuesday decried numerous executions of civilians in Iraq by the Is-lamic State group, warning that educated women appeared to be especially at risk.

The jihadist group is showing a “monstrous disregard for human life” in the areas it controls in Iraq, the UN human rights offi ce said.

The group, which controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and in

neighbouring war-ravaged Syria, last week published pictures of the “cruci-fi xions” of two men accused of being bandits, and of a woman being stoned to death, allegedly for adultery.

Numerous other women have also reportedly been executed recently in IS-controlled areas, including Mosul, spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.

She said “educated, professional women, particularly women who have

run as candidates in elections for public offi ce, seem to be particularly at risk.”

“In just the fi rst two weeks of this year, reports indicate that three female lawyers were executed,” Shamdasani said.

A number of other groups are also targeted by the jihadists, Shamdasani said, pointing to “the ruthless mur-der of two men, who were thrown off the top of a building after having been accused of homosexual acts by a so-called court in Mosul.” l

AQAP says ‘preparing’ attacks on US, Westn AFP, Washington

Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch called for lone-wolf attacks against the United States and the West in a video posted Tuesday, days after the group claimed responsibil-ity for the Charlie Hebdo killings.

One of the group’s ideologues, Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, urged sup-porters to conduct what he called “individual jihad,” according to the SITE monitoring group, which tracks

Islamist extremists online.“We are preparing and lurking for

the enemies of Allah. We incite the believers to do that,” Ansi is quoted as saying in the online video.

In a previous video, Ansi claimed Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was behind the attack on French satir-ical weekly Charlie Hebdo, the start of three days of bloodshed in France that left 17 people dead.

Western governments say it remains

unclear if AQAP directly orchestrated the violence, although they do believe one or both of the attackers spent time with jihadists in Yemen.

In the latest recording, which was presented in an interview format, Ansi recommended lone-wolf attacks as those were “more harmful.”

But, if this was not practical, then supporters should leave Western coun-tries rather than live under the rule of “disbelievers.” l

‘Big nations can’t bully small,’ Obama tells RussiaRussia issues counter-statement

n AFP, Washington

President Barack Obama warned Russia on Tuesday that US support for Ukraine was a show of Ameri-can strength and diplomacy which had left Moscow isolated and its economy in tatters.

“We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small – by opposing Russian aggres-sion, supporting Ukraine’s democra-cy, and reassuring our Nato allies,” he told US lawmakers in his State of the Union address.

His words came as Kiev accused Russian forces of attacking its sol-diers after crossing over into the ex-Soviet state’s war-wrecked sepa-ratist east in violation of a September truce deal.

Russia hit back on yesterday, saying it showed the United States believes it is “number one” and seeks world domination.

Obama said his country was up-holding “the principle that bigger na-tions can’t bully the small” by oppos-

ing what he called Russian aggression and supporting democracy in Ukraine. Russia, he said, was isolated and its economy was in tatters.

“The Americans have taken the course of confrontation and do not assess their own steps critically at all,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference.

“Yesterday’s speech by the presi-dent shows that at the center of the (U.S.) philosophy is only one thing: ‘We are number one and everyone else has to respect that.’ ... It shows that the United States wants all the same to dominate the world and cannot merely be fi rst among equals.”

This phase would pass, Lavrov said, but added that it would take time.

“I would prefer all countries to adopt the philosophy of cooperation, not ‘diktat’,” he said.

Relations between Russia and the United States have sunk to their low-est level since the end of the Cold War, mainly because of Moscow’s confron-tation with the West over the crisis in Ukraine. l

Obama declares victory, way too laten Matt Bai for Yahoo N ews

In case you didn’t watch the president’s swaggering speech Tuesday night, because after a month of previews it seemed to lack the drama of “Storage Wars” (which was on A&E at the same time and is actually a reality show about repossessed storage lockers, but let’s not get into it), here’s what you missed.

Remember that wrecked economy from the Bush years that was just kind of limping along, and how we were all living in 1930 with everybody destitute?

Yeah, forget all that. We’ve turned the corner. The economy’s on fi re, and now it’s time to get back to building the country of our dreams, where every-body gets a Tesla.

Actually, Barack Obama’s case – slightly more nuanced than I just made it sound – is pretty compelling on the facts; by any traditional measure, the economy really is powering back from the steep recession he inherited. What’s puzzling is why it took so long for Obama to own that progress, and why he’s wasted so much of his presidency trying to fi gure out how to talk about it.

Obama, as you may have noticed by now, is a pretty cautious guy when it comes to testing the boundaries of political convention. If he’d asked my advice (and that’s never going to hap-pen), I’d have suggested he dispense with the cursory mention of a hundred topics and the anecdotes about people sitting in the balcony, and instead use the entire speech to tell a story – much as Bill Clinton did at the 2012 conven-tion – about why the economy tanked in 2008 and why it’s rebounding now.

I’d have suggested he become the fi rst president to use PowerPoint slides in a national address, so that Americans at home could see the graphs showing job growth (about 246,000 per month last year), falling unemployment (the largest

annual drop in 30 years, even if some of that refl ects a decline in workforce par-ticipation) and shrinking defi cits.

Also, it would have been a riot to see last month’s unemployment numbers projected onto John Boehner’s forehead.

But in his more traditional way, Obama off ered the rough draft of his own legacy and tried to focus the na-tion’s attention on exactly the policy choices we ought to be focused on. The president wanted to make clear this wasn’t his “mission accomplished” moment; he acknowledged, for in-stance, persistent inequality. But he also looked ahead to the next phase of the economic mission, which is to help families meet the nearly insurmount-able costs of higher education, child care and saving for retirement.

If Obama’s words Tuesday night didn’t land with the kind of impact they should have, though, it’s because they came so long after most Americans had stopped paying attention. Ironically, given his relative inexperience and his reputation as an orator when he was elected in 2008, Obama has turned out to be a better steward of the economy than he is a champion of it.

This confusion goes all the way back to 2009, when Obama’s genius advisers made some very ill-advised projections about how the economy would magi-cally right itself within plenty of time of

the 2010 midterms. That was the calcu-lus that led Obama to steer his admin-istration into a fi erce storm over health care, even as the unemployment rate hovered stubbornly near 10 percent.

By the time he ran for re-election in 2012, the economy had cleared imminent danger and was slowly recovering, and he could reasonably have claimed cred-it. The 2009 auto bailout, for instance, staved off catastrophe in the Midwest and maybe the entire industrial sector.

But Obama’s aides were petrifi ed of pointing to any real progress without fi rst going through an entire mono-logue on the misery that continued to befall ordinary Americans. They feared that too much boasting would make the president seem out of touch.

And, more than that, the deeper he got into what he characterised as his “one paragraph” presidency, the more fatalistic Obama himself seemed to be-come. He gave the impression that he didn’t think he could really aff ect the economy, anyway. The winds of history would blow this way and that, and all a president could do was hope for a gust.

So Obama made taxes and concen-trated wealth – rather than the prom-ise of a nascent recovery – the central theme of his re-election campaign.

Ever since, Obama has found him-self buff eted by the self-described populists in his party, whose core message relies on the idea that Amer-ica is always headed backward and that everything is getting worse. This was the subject of an interesting, if little noticed, debate in Washington during the run-up to the State of the Union address. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator and idol of the populist left, took the unusual step of publicly attacking a story in Politico Magazine, because the writer, Michael Grunwald, argued (only a little face-tiously) that the real state of the Amer-

ican economy was awesomeness.As has been the case throughout his

presidency, Obama, determined not to be seen as a triangulator, has shied away from disagreement with the pop-ulists in his own party, even if it means downplaying his own record. He’s gone on talking mostly about economic suf-fering and inequality, at a time when the broad base of the country might well have responded to a more hopeful message – especially from the guy who used “hope” as his campaign slogan.

At every one of these junctures, Obama forfeited an opportunity – not simply to trumpet his own growing success, but to help voters understand the crucial distinction between short-term and long-term economic chal-lenges. He missed the chance to say, “Guess what? Things are actually get-ting a lot better now. You’re welcome. But we still face a serious crisis for your kids not too far down the line, and that’s what I want to focus on next.”

That’s the argument he made Tues-day, and it comes too late for his own presidency. No one seriously believes that Obama can enact any of the major proposals he ticked off in his speech. The public isn’t likely to rally around him now, and absent that, Republicans have written him off .

Obama has now been reduced to suggesting topics for conversation, sort of like a facilitator-in-chief. “Talk amongst yourselves.”

But maybe that role can be use-ful, too. Because the speech he gave Tuesday, long overdue and soon to be eclipsed by another presidential cam-paign, raises all the right questions for the country’s future.

What does a modern tax code look like? What about modern infrastruc-ture? Where are the next century’s jobs?

Trust me, we’re not going to fi nd them in a repossessed storage locker. l

l Our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999.

l Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the � nancial crisis.

l We battled terror, went past recession and fought wars.

l More of our kids are graduating than ever before. More of our people are insured than ever before.

l We salute the courage and sacri� ce of every man and woman in this 9/11 gen-eration who has served to keep us safe.

l We’ve fought our way back from economic crisis. It’s time for Congress to build on that momentum.

l In two weeks, I will send this Congress a budget � lled with ideas that are practical, not partisan.

l Over the past � ve years, our businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs.

l In the past year alone, about 10 million uninsured Americans � nally gained the security of health coverage.

l Millions more now have the peace of mind that comes with having health insurance, thanks to ‘Obamacare.’

l It’s time we stop treating child care as a side issue.

l It’s time for Congress to help build an economy that works for everyone and not just for a few.

l This country does best when everyone gets their fair shot.

l Middle-class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change.

l Paid sick and maternity leave should be a right for all workers – not just a privilege.

l Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave.

l It’s 2015. It’s time for equal pay.l If you truly believe you could work full-

time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it.

l We still need laws that strengthen rather than weaken unions, and give American workers a voice.

l That’s why I am sending this Congress

a bold new plan to lower the cost of community college-to zero.

l Free community college is possible-and I want to spread that idea all across America.

l To every CEO in America: If you want someone who will get the job done and done right, hire a veteran.

l Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year.

l 21st century businesses will rely on American science, technology, research and development.

l America should lead on science and technology, and Americans should win the race on the kinds of discoveries that unleash new jobs.

l When it comes to issues like infrastructure and basic research, I know there’s bipartisan support in this chamber.

l We need a tax code that truly helps working Americans trying to get a leg up in the new economy.

l When what you’re doing hasn’t worked for 50 years, it’s time to try something new.

l No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.

l 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all fallen in the � rst 15 years of this century.

l I will not let this Congress endanger the health of our children by turning back our e� orts.

l Leading, always, with the example of our values. That’s what makes us exceptional. That’s what keeps us strong.

l I know how tempting such cynicism may be. But I still think the cynics are wrong. I still believe we are one people. I still believe that together, we can do great things, even when the odds are long.

l I want future generations to know that we are a people that see our di� erences as a great gift.

l My fellow Americans, we too are a strong, tight-knit family. We, too, have made it through some hard times. l

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPEECH

Barack Obama shakes hands with Republican Senator Marco Rubio, left, as Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, 2nd left, gives him a thumbs up Obama delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of the US Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday REUTERS

Obama has now been reduced to suggesting topics for conversation, sort of like a facilitator-in-chief. ‘Talk amongst yourselves’

Thursday, January 22, 2015DHAKA TRIBUNE World 9

Nigerian o� cers face court martial over Boko Haramn Reuters, Abuja

Nigeria has ordered a brigadier gener-al and 21 other army offi cers to face a court martial over alleged sabotage in the war against Islamist militant group Boko Haram, two military sources said on Tuesday.

The charges were not specifi ed.Some offi cers have long been sus-

pected of colluding with Boko Haram, with President Goodluck Jonathan say-ing in May that the Sunni jihadist group had “infi ltrated ... the armed forces and police.” l

Pakistani IS commander arrested in Lahoren Reuters

Pakista ni security forces have arrested a man they believe is the commander of the Islamic State group in the country as well as two accomplices involved in recruiting and sending fi ghters to Syria, intelligence sources said yesterday.

Authorities in South Asia are con-cerned about the rise of the jihadist group in a region already beset by home-grown insurgencies fi ghting to topple local governments and set up strict Islamic rule. l

AirAsia jet’s alarms were ‘screaming’ before crashn AFP

Warning alarms in AirAsia fl ight QZ8501 were “screaming” as the pilots desperately tried to stabilise the plane just before it plunged into the Java Sea last month, a crash investigator said yesterday.

The noise of several alarms includ-ing one that indicated the plane was stalling, can be heard going off in re-cordings from the black box in the Air-bus A320-200’s cockpit, the investiga-tor told AFP, requesting anonymity.

“The warning alarms, we can say, were screaming, while in the back-ground they (the pilot and co-pilot) were busy trying to recover,” the inves-tigator said, adding the warnings were going off “for some time.”

The investigator, from Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Com-mittee (NTSC), added that the pilots’ voices were drowned out by the sound of the alarms.

The revelation came a day after In-donesian transport minister Ignasius Jonan said that the plane had climbed abnormally fast before stalling and plunging into the sea, during a fl ight on December 28 in stormy weather from Indonesia’s Surabaya to Singapore.

“In the fi nal minutes, the plane climbed at a speed which was beyond normal,” the minister told reporters.

Wreckage of the crash.The plane crashed in shallow waters

with 162 people on board, but so far

just 53 bodies have been recovered. Divers have been struggling for a

week against rough seas and strong currents to reach the plane’s main body, which was spotted on the seabed and is thought to contain the bulk of the remaining passengers and crew.

The two black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and the fl ight data re-corder, were recovered last week after a lengthy search, and investigators are expected to complete a preliminary re-port next week.

As well as the cockpit voice record-er, the NTSC is examining a wealth of information in the fl ight data recorder, which monitors every major part of the plane.

They are focusing on the possibility of human or aircraft error, after ruling out terrorism following an analysis of the cockpit voice recorder.

Committee head Tatang Kurniadi said that the preliminary report into the crash would be completed on Tues-day, a month after the accident. He said the full report would not be released publicly but the media would be told some of its contents.

There was a huge international hunt for the crashed plane, involving ships from several countries including the US and China.

All but seven of those on board the flight were Indonesian. The for-eign nationals were from South Ko-rea, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France. l

DELHI ELECTION

Kiran Bedi: Nationalistic RSS kept India unitedAnna Hazare says politics is dirty

n Agencies

A rare BJ P leader with no RSS link, Kiran Bedi, the party’s chief ministe-rial nominee for Delhi, on Monday de-scribed the Sangh as “very nationalis-tic” that has kept India united.

The 65-year-old Bedi, who has been pitchforked to a leadership role within days of joining BJP, also felt that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing organisation, was a very dis-ciplined outfi t and has been contribut-ing signifi cantly to nation building.

“They (RSS) are very nationalistic. I would think here is an organisation which kept India together, which has

kept India neat,” Bedi told in an exclu-sive interview.

The former IPS offi cer, who was a core member of Team Anna till about two years back along with Kejriwal before they parted ways, said the AAP leader’s agitation at Rajpath within a month of becoming chief minister (on December 28, 2013) had “ticked” her off very much.

It was after Kejriwal’s protest at Ra-jpath that she thought of joining poli-tics to save Delhi from “confrontation-al politics,” she said.

“The city of Delhi was the reason for my joining politics. Delhi has gone through a huge upheaval ever since

this man’s (Kejriwal) entry (into poli-tics). It stood still and it’s been only on an agitation mode which left a very bad taste in the mouth of Indians. Because whatever happens in Delhi, happens in India. It aff ects India, it impacts India. It’s been all about confrontation, it’s all about Rajpath Dharnas. What kind of person is he (Kejriwal) who says I am an anarchist? Three days Delhi was standstill (when Kejriwal was on dhar-na as chief minister),” she said.

While she was severely critical of AAP, she was full of praise for RSS and said people do not know the “real” RSS.

“You do not know them. I have seen

it all ... I saw very disciplined people and being very very strongly nation-alistic. Teaching discipline to young-sters,” she said.

Anna Hazare’s fi rst reaction on Bedi:Anti corruption crusader Anna Haz-

are yesterday said that he doesn’t want to get into ‘dirt’ of politics. Shutting his doors on Kiran Bedi, Hazare said that corruption and Lokpal were top prior-ity for him.

Interestingly Kiran Bedi has an-nounced that corruption was seventh on her agenda. Hazare said that anti corruption movement will be re-launched after New Delhi elections with new team members. l

Hindu widow saved 10 Muslims in Bihar riotsn Agencies

A Hindu woman who saved lives of 10 Muslims in this village in Bi-har’s Muzaffarpur district during the recent clashes in which five peo-ple died is being hailed as a hero, officials said.

Shail Devi, a frail widow in her early 50s, risking her own life, gave shelter to her Muslim neighbours when a mob of more than 5,000 peo-ple attacked Azizpur Bahilwara vil-lage after a 20-year-old Hindu boy’s body was found Sunday.

He was allegedly abducted and killed over his love affair with a Muslim girl.

“I provided shelter to my Mus-lim neighbours to save their lives because the mob could have killed them,” Shail said yesterday morning.

Shail, a poor woman fighting for her survival like many others in this village, told IANS that she along with her two daughters stood guard out-side her house when a mob was tar-geting Muslims in the village. She told them that it was a house of a “Mallah” (fisherman).

“I lied to rioters that I had not giv-en shelter to Muslims in my house. Though some people tried to enter my house but I stopped them and they returned,” she said.

Shail, widow of late Jaglal Sahni, has become a household name in the village and neighbouring villages for her rare example of communal harmony.

“She has proved again that hu-manity is still alive, we are proud of her,” Arvind Kumar, a villager, said.

Ash Mohammad, a man in his 60s, who was one of the ten Muslims whose lives were saved by Shail, told IANS that she is like “farishta” (an-gel) to them.

“Shail was like god-sent angel to us ...,” Mohammad said.

Mohammad admitted that all of them could have been killed if Shail had not given shelter to them.

A day after she saved lives of her

Muslim neighbours, some Hindu vil-lagers warned her that she may be targeted by some people of the mob for doing it, Shail said.

“I was so frightened that I along with my two daughters and a son Monday took shelter in Mohammad’s house but after district administra-tion persuaded, I returned to my home,” she said.

Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who visited the village yes-terday, met Shail. He lauded her role and compared her with legendary Rani Lakshmibai.

Manjhi also announced a cash re-ward of Rs 51,000 for her.

“She is an example of commu-nal harmony. People should take lesson from her and she would in-spire others to follow her,” Manjhi praised her.

Manjhi also announced assistance of Rs 20,000 each to her two un-married daughters under a welfare scheme.

Earlier, Bihar information tech-nology minister Shahid Ali Khan also praised Shail for saving the lives of her Muslim neighbours.

“I promised her help by the state government, and a reward for her soon,” said Khan, who visited the vil-lage Tuesday.

A first information report (FIR) was registered Monday against 2,000 unidentified people and 12 named ac-cused who were part of the mob that attacked the villagers from a partic-ular community, the official added.

Police have already arrested 14 people in this connection.

Additional director general of po-lice Gupteshwar Pandey submitted an inquiry report on the incident Tuesday to the state government.

Soon after the incident, Manjhi asked Pandey and state home sec-retary Sudhir Kumar to conduct a probe and report to him.

The BJP Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the killing of four people and arson in a village that later turned into a communal clash in Bihar. l

Iraqi Kurds in major o� ensive against ISILn Tribune Desk

Kurdish Pesh merga forces have launched a major military operation in northwestern Iraq, following recent at-tempts to push across a frontline near the ISIL stronghold of Tal Afar.

Hundreds of Peshmerga troops have been deployed along frontlines pushing south from the Mosul Dam yesterday, after clearing almost 4km of territory.

With the help of the US-led coali-tion, the Peshmerga have been try-

ing to take strategic territory that will cut vital ISIL supply lines from their strongholds in Syria into Iraq.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from near the Mosul Dam, said that Peshmerga commanders were con-fi dent of the operation, even though they knew it may take some time.

“The military operation is being car-ried out jointly with the US coalition. Since the early hours of the morning we have seen coalition planes drop-ping bombs targeting ISIL positions,” she said. l

PAKISTAN’S IDEOLOGY COUNCIL SUBMITS PROPOSALS

Three consecutive declarations for divorce should be punishable o� encen Tribune Report

Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) yesterday proposed that the practice of making divorce an act of three vocalised sentences be made an o� ence.

The CII proposed numerous resolu-tions yesterday, the final day of its con-vention which was chaired by Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani.

Religious experts, clerics, research-ers and the 11 members of the council were present at the meeting in which 14 issues were conferred upon.

Under many interpretations of Islam-ic law, men easily can obtain a divorce known as “talaq” by simply declaring their intention three times. A woman, however, usually needs the pronounce-ment of a Muslim judge who is a scholar in the field of Islamic jurisprudence.

Earlier, the CII had suggested that the divorce sought by a woman would go into e� ect if the husband fails to respond within three months. It also recommend-ed registering the � rst declaration of divorce by the husband, following which the second and third declaration would terminate the marriage.

The recommendations sparked a row as religious scholars and political parties criticised the Council for Islamic Ideolo-gy of misinterpreting the Islamic Shariat laws. Critics were of the view that the

Council has no right to suggest reforms against the basic spirit of Shariah Laws.

DivorceChairman of the CII Maulana Sherani proposed that the pronouncement of three divorces at once be recognised as a punishable offense. He declared on behalf of the council that pronouncing divorce thrice simultaneously is un-Is-lamic and against Shariah.

In response to the council’s decision on multiple divorces, religious cleric Mufti Naeem told DawnNews, “To declare giving three divorces at once a crime, I think is inappropriate.” He maintained that while declaring a di-vorce there consecutive times has been strongly disliked by Prophet Muhammad (SM), it is not a crime per say.

The council earlier stirred controver-sy when it stated that a Muslim woman could not object to the second or subse-quent marriages of her husband.

Maulana Sherani declared that the nature of punishment for the pro-nouncement of three divorces should be left to respective courts where particular cases are handled.

Obligation of niqab for female judgesSpeaking on behalf of the CCI, Maulana Sherani proposed that female judges

should be obligated to cover or observe niqab (face veil). He added that the veil should be observed according to princi-ples of Shariah Law.

Juvenile punishmentsIn the convention, the council rejected a bill regarding juvenile punishments, declaring punishments for minors un-Is-lamic and inappropriate. It has advised the government to reassess and draft a new bill in this regard.

Independence day holidayThe council, which has been holding sessions for the past two days, has pro-posed for Aug 14 to be rendered a public holiday owing to the day’s paramount national significance.

During his address, Maulana Sher-ani presented the council members’ consensus that ‘Black Days’ or days of mourning should not be observed in Pakistan regardless of adversity faced by the nation.

Denouncing instances of sectarian violence rife in the country, CCI pro-posed in the final session of its meeting that a Code of Conduct be formulated by the government to curb sectarian hostility.

The members of the council also dis-cussed measures to promote interfaith harmony among the Pakistani people. l

Former top police o� cer turned politican and Bharatiya Janata Party Chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi gestures during a road show while heading to the district collectors o� ce to � le her nomination papers for ongoing Delhi State Assembly election in New Delhi yesterday. Polling will be held on feb 7 with counting two days later AFP

Catholic Church ‘Allah’ appeal shot down in Malaysian Tribune Desk

Malaysia’s highest court has rejected the Catholic Church’s application to ap-peal a ban on its use of the word “Allah” in the Malay-language section of its newspaper, the Catholic Herald, bring-ing to an end a protracted legal battle over constitutional rights.

The fi ve-man panel, headed by Fed-eral Court Judge Abdul Hamid Embong, yesterday dismissed unanimously the application, the second by the Church. l

Philippines says China expanding South China Sea reclamationn AFP

Philippine offi cials accused China yes-terday of expanding reclamation work in disputed waters of the South China Sea, as the United States again called for re-straint in the territorial confl ict.

Philippine and US offi cials spoke as the longstanding allies ended a two-day

strategic dialogue in Manila, reaffi rming defence and economic cooperation.

“The Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) contin-ue to be a serious concern, arising from reports of greater development in recla-mation,” Philippine defence undersecre-tary Pio Lorenzo Batino told reporters.

Batino refused to elaborate on the

progress of the reclamation, saying only: “It’s very serious. It has grown.”

Philippine foreign undersecretary Evan Garcia described the Chinese rec-lamation work as “massive” and a vi-olation of an agreement among South China Sea claimants not to build new structures until a binding code of con-duct is in place. l

BNP cannot evade responsibility for hartal carnageIt has demonstrably been proven that whatever politicians calling

blockades and hartals say about only supporting peaceful protests, these calls continually lead to sickening incidents of violence.

Dozens of people have been killed and injured by the anarchy and violence wrought by this month’s blockades and strikes.

The appalling case of a family of two innocent doctors and their two-year-old son being seriously burnt and maimed by pickets hurling petrol bombs onto a public bus in Narayanganj on Sunday, is but one of many distressing tragedies.

Even if such acts are mostly perpetrated by tiny numbers of thugs for hire and unrepresentative militants, it is the general public that pays the price for politicians prolonging the dispute that gives license to these criminals.

It is totally unacceptable for the public to su� er from the in� exibility of political leaders in the stand-o� between the government and BNP.

We � nd the BNP leader’s decision to call a 48-hour hartal this week to be the height of irresponsibility.

Not only does it heighten the chances of violence and deliver nothing to bring forward a peaceful resolution, it also forfeits the moral high ground that Khaleda Zia could have claimed from the government’s highhandedness in denying the BNP space for political protests.

She would have been better o� using her clout to publicly call o� the blockades and lay claim to a peaceful, and undoubtedly more popular path to putting the government on the spot.

Cut subsidies, not pricesThe public hearing on the Power Development Board’s proposal

to raise bulk power tari� rates by 18.12% should take note of the strong arguments for raising prices.

While it may seem tempting and more popular to use recent falls in global oil prices as a reason to resist energy price rises, the fact remains that the economy is harmed by current pricing structures.

Arti� cially low prices deprive the PDB of funds for investment in new production sources as it is forced to incur large losses on its bulk electricity sales to distribution companies.

They also encourage wasteful use by consumers who can a� ord to pay market prices and reduce investment in cutting system loss and improving e� ciency.

Irrational subsidies are an underlying reason why the country is deprived of the reliable power supplies it needs to support growth and improve living standards.

To sustainably end the curse of load shedding, the economy needs higher energy prices to ensure more funds are invested in stable energy supplies.

Taxpayers currently spend almost a billion dollars (Tk7,500 crore) directly subsidising power prices. The harm done by distorting the market creates more costs for the public in the long run by keeping energy supplies unreliable.

Scarce taxpayer funds should not be spent subsidising wasteful use by consumers who can a� ord to pay market prices, when they could be better invested in education and development.

Falls in global oil prices should be seen as an ideal opportunity to move towards cutting subsidies and letting energy prices follow the market.

An open letter to politicians January 10

sb“You’re the people who should let us know how our tomorrow will look like.”

Noble attempt, but our politicians don’t read letters.

They hit the streets for mayhem.

Barely Legal Alien sb: I doubt if most of them are even capable of reading in the � rst place.

roseOur politicians should indeed think about this open letter.

Mush� que WadudThe � rst open letter should be written to journalists and then politicians … correct our journalists � rst and politicians will be corrected automatically.

Rajapaksa concedes defeat after decade in powerJanuary 9WaliulHaqueKhondkerDemocracy has won in Sri Lanka as it did in India last year! Bangladesh and Pakistan are still in their nascent forms, so far as democracy is concerned. One has Islam as it’s state religion and other is an Islamic Republic! Could that be the reason?

Editorial10 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

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The public pays the price for the in� exibility of political leaders

Don’t waste taxpayer money on costly subsidies, let prices follow the market

CODE-CRACKER

ACROSS1 Bludgeon (4)4 Scottish garments (5)9 Craft (3)11 Water � lled trench around castle (4)12 Emits fumes (5)13 Sports (4)14 Augury (4)15 Vegetables (5)19 Precipitous (5)21 Encourage in crime (4)25 Be concerned (4)26 Cunning (5)28 Otherwise (4)29 Morse (3)30 Swarms (5)31 Seeks charity (4)

DOWN1 Fish (4)2 Metal-bearing rock (3)5 Set as a burden (6)6 Machine for burden (4)7 Story (4)8 Gem (5)10 Useful thing (5)16 High regard (6)17 Small anchor (5)18 Aspect (5)20 Company of lions (5)22 Large bundle (4)23 Celtic language (4)24 Wagers (4)27 Ship’s record (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 20 represents S so � ll S every time the � gure 20 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

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 Z

Writing o� democracyJanuary 10

vhsEsam Sohail is such a pleasure to read. A rare, truly neutral columnist.

shottikar bangaleeThere’s a saying: Scratch a cynic and you get a disappointed idealist underneath. I think Mr Sohail is one such idealist. Thoroughly enjoyed the piece.

LonewolfGreat piece! This would have been the time for a rational opposition to step up and show the way … sadly, history and current rhetoric tell us that they would hardly be better. The restoration of fundamental rights will require strong independ-ent institutions, and though a hard pill to swallow, it might require some external pressure along with a grassroots e� ort.

VecoGreat piece. Unfortunately, this type of fact-based criticism is not possible for anyone living in Bangla-desh. He/she has to fear for sedation charge and/

or jail time and even “disappearance.”

Farhad FaisalMr Sohail has done an excellent job of recalling the two crucial periods of political distortions, perpetrated from the opposite directions. They are among the legacies of today’s political reality. It would be too hurried though to write o� a democratic future for this land. One may well be disappointed without a collateral, but what collat-eral did he have in mind? There is one though, a long-term one, that is the people of Bangladesh.

ZiaAnother great piece of writing. Let us not write o� democracy yet. Let us � nd a way to dialogue and move democracy forward. Clamping down on democracy through oppressive means bodes ominous future for Bangladesh. Let us learn from history and walk in the shoes of reason before things go out of control in Bangladesh.

Karl HungusI know not why, but reading Mr Sohail’s column always brings out the inner misanthrope in me … in a twisted-ly good way though.

Dreampie Karl Hungus: Indeed-ly doodley. In fact, I read that line about pampered youth and their self-in-dulgent seminars in James McCa� rey’s distinct monotone in my head.

Climate change and a prosperous AsiaJanuary 9sattarGood, noble initiatives. Planet � rst, everything else comes later.

Dreampie sattar: Everything else comes later ... even our lives.

Evil People PoliticsClimate change is nothing to take lightly - literally each and every single citizen of the world is respon-sible of how mother Earth reacts to our blatant abusing of her.

Abellard the Greek-LoverProps to the writers for pointing out how it is the actions of developed countries which will eventually sink (pun unintended) the less developed ones. It feels like not enough focus is ever given on that speci� c factor when it comes to the matter of climate change.

Mother-son debacleJanuary 9SRWhat a circus. The son is worse than the mother though.

Tom Clancy’s Sunglasses SR: Agreed. Takes a special kind of cowardice to literally abscond.

BSGrovelling.

BNP mulling new strategy for the coming months

January 10Babul Sarwar

Is the government failing to ensure people’s lives and properties? If the answer is “yes,” shouldn’t

the government start talking?

Rubel gets bailJanuary 11

Optimistic ShufolHow do laws in Bangladesh de� ne rape? I became

very confused when, according to the law, Rubel Hossain was arrested for rape and then denied

bail. Committing rape by refusing to marry? The whole thing is absurd! And if women can try and get away with it, then it is terrifying for the men who might � nd themselves in similar situations.

Hartal in Dhaka, 17 districts Monday

January 11Tim Steel

Could someone please explain the theoretical and the practical di� erence between hartal and

blockade?

There can be no excuseJanuary 10

riazoThank you for an editorial that does not append condemnation with the word “but” or “if.” Those

words are never applicable when condemning such barbaric acts by Islamist terrorists.

11Op-Ed Thursday, January 22, 2015DHAKA TRIBUNE

n William Milam

This intensifi cation of the meas-ures against all forms of oppo-sition could signal a decision by

the AL leaders (really Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who seems to answer to no one these days) to consolidate the AL one-party government into a one-party state before growing pop-ular disillusion solidifi es into popular resistance.

If so, it probably also means a cycle of increasing repression, increasing violence, and much greater instability. The BNP wanted to hold a rally to pro-test government actions despite the offi cial ban on street demonstrations put in place recently by the govern-ment. Insisting on doing so would be a recipe for violence.

Clearly, the fi rst item on the agenda of an authoritarian-minded party seeking absolute power is to destroy any opposition that can claim to be legitimate. The BNP can claim legitimacy despite its abysmally poor record when in offi ce.

Both parties have governed very badly. Rumour has circulated for a number of months that Khaleda would be arrested on some charge or other, possibly on corruption, or perhaps as the Economist magazine has suggest-ed, on sedition.

Given the control the government exercises over the courts, and the authoritarian mindset that seems to be

inspiring the AL, speaking as oppo-sition leader against the government could lead to a charge of sedition that the courts would uphold.

One wonders, however, if the sud-den crackdown on all opposition is not a preemptive move of a government that feels growing levels of dissatis-faction in the country. The AL has, it is assumed by many observers, managed to avoid popular discontent so far because the economy keeps chugging along at 5-6% growth, and poverty continues to decline, albeit at a fairly slow rate.

The prime minister took to the media herself the other day to boast of the government’s plans for the future largely on empowering women and the underprivileged. One might infer that it was an eff ort to take peoples’ minds off the present and focus them on heady promises for the future. It is not clear to me, despite statistics

that are almost always manipulated to make the government look better than it is, that the economic outlook is as rosy as many predict, especially in the rural areas.

In any case, it is possible that Sheikh Hasina’s legitimacy may not be as solid as she thought it was, and she may have decided to hammer the opposition on the one hand and off er up bucolic visions of the future on the other to the masses.

With most of the opposition locked up or clammed up or bought up – the only voices of dissent I see in the

English language press are from the Bangladeshi diaspora – it is not certain that she can be stopped.

The international community seems inclined to look the other way, perhaps believing that Bangladesh is a lost cause for democratisation. India, which stands to lose most if instability becomes chronic and dysfunctional,

seems unconcerned now. This, in itself, is a disincentive for

those in Bangladesh who are opposed to the AL’s authoritarian ways to step up and voice dissent. Can the West, and will it try to, keep them out of jail and out of harm’s way?

As one wag recently wrote that Sheikh Hasina has trained the AL “in the art of bullying, bashing, muzzling free voice, thuggery (sic), creating and abolishing movements (like the Shahbagh movement), creating an opposition party that is a part of her government and [whose leader] sits in her cabinet and votes in favor of the ruling party …”

She has, this anonymous writer says, created the “world’s fi rst model of autocratic ‘democracy’.” (I note the author of this send up did not sign his name to the article. I also note that the BNP wasn’t bad at these same skills when in power.)

My guess, however, is that the democratic elements of civil society and the opposition parties will not bow down without a fi ght. Sooner or later, in the absence of a peaceful turnover of government, there will be violence – and it may be pretty serious. We may regret our indiff erence. l

William B Milam is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC, and former US Ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh. This article was � rst published in The Friday Times.

An ill wind blows from the east

n Ukhengching Marma

This is the story of an eight-year-old Marma girl who loves to go school, likes to play with her

friends, and lives with her family in a small remote village in Rangamati in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. On January 14, 2015, she was coming home from school alone as her friends had left her behind.

She did not know what was going to happen to her that day. With her child’s mind, she walked home care-free. As she passed the jungle on the way back to her home, a man suddenly attacked her and a terrible incident took place: The man raped this little girl. When the girl fi nally returned home, she was crying and bleeding profusely.

The family, including the girl’s parents and grandmother, was able to reach Chittagong town from Ranga-mati with the help of some indigenous students and they admitted the girl to a hospital. A senior sister contacted me at 10pm on January 14 and asked me to come to the hospital but my university did not give me permission to leave campus at night for security reasons.

The sister stayed with the girl the whole night. According to her, the girl was bleeding profusely, but the hospital authorities did not try to give special attention to her condition. The senior sister cleaned the blood herself the whole the night and tried to con-sole both the parents and the girl.

Then the next day, on January 15, the girl was shifted to the OCC (One-stop Crisis Centre) in another section of the hospital, but no one was allowed to stay with the girl except her mother. As the mother cannot communicate in Bangla, I was given permission to stay with them for one night as a translator to help the mother communicate with the nurses and doctors.

As I had heard about the condition of the girl from the senior sister, I struggled to muster the courage to face the girl for the fi rst time. I stumbled as I walked into the room. I saw a glimpse of the girl’s face from the corner of the door, closed my eyes, and then went near her.

My heart kept sinking and pinching

itself as I touched her little fi ngers. She did not look at me. Perhaps she was wondering about her pain and seeking answers about herself. As she was not allowed to take solid food and could only take liquids provided by the hos-pital, she was hungry and kept asking her mom for food.

It was heart-wrenching that we could not provide food to a hungry child due to her physical condition. The whole night her mom and I barely slept, because the girl would often scream due to her pain. The night passed away and the sun rose with our eyes still open.

According to the girl’s mother, they know the rapist well. He has a plan-tation near their home and is also a tea seller in their area. In their village, there are only six indigenous Marma families surrounded by the Bengalis who were settled there from elsewhere a few years back.

Due to the hospital’s rules, I had to leave the patient’s room in the morn-ing, but the next day I went to visit her again. I entered the OCC room by tak-ing special permission. But this time, I discovered a completely diff erent girl compared to my fi rst visit.

The girl was smiling, even as she felt shy about answering my ques-tions. I felt hopeful that perhaps the girl would be able to survive the psychological and physical trauma of the assault. I was touched by the support of the volunteers, donors, and social activists who have continuously done their best to provide all kinds of support to the girl and her family.

This incident happened within one month of another tragic incident on December 15, 2014, which also occurred in Rangamati, where one Marma girl was raped and murdered by settlers. This could have happened to me or any of my sisters. As I held the little girl in my arms and tried to comfort her, I kept asking myself why this had happened. Since God made all of us and fi lled our veins with the same blood, why didn’t God also provide each and every one of us with a compassionate heart? l

Ukhengching Marma is a student. This article was � rst published on AlalODulal.org.

The survivor

n Mahdin Mahboob

The religion of Islam, followed by approximately 1.6 billion people in the world, is perhaps the most

misunderstood and misinterpreted of religions.

Originally intended to be a religion with one God and one prophet, various interpretations over time has led to many diff erent man-made sects, who seem keen on fi ghting each other to death.

The Holy Qur’an has often been misused to support political ideologies, which has done more harm than good. A way of life which promises social and personal peace and harmony seems to be a thing of the past.

In Bangladesh, over 90% of the population is Muslim, and ironically enough, we also have a very high corruption rate. I fail to understand how both of these can be true at the same time.

Perhaps it is because we, the Muslims in our country, take words from the Holy Qur’an too literally, when it has really provided many of its instructions metaphorically.

In Chapter 17, Verse 35, the Holy Qur’an clearly states: “And give full measure when you measure, and

weigh with a balance that is straight. That is good (advantageous) and better in the end.”

Also, in Chapter 83, Verses 1 to 6, it is mentioned, “Woe to the defrauders. Who, when they take the measure (of their dues) from men, take it fully, but when they measure out to others or weigh out for them, they are defi cient. Do they not think that they shall be raised again, for a mighty day, the day on which men shall stand before the Lord of the worlds?”

It is important for us to understand that these instructions are not only meant for shopkeepers who are selling products based on weight, but for everyone belonging to every profession. Whether you are a banker, a teacher, or a high government offi cial, you have to give your 100% in your job, and make your income halal (permissible) for you and your family.

It is not enough to lead a corrupted life and then perform the Hajj (and get “purifi ed of all sins”) after one retires. We have to lead a good life all the way through, and have to feel compassion for others who are needy and helpless. That is what Islam and the Holy Qur’an asks us to do. l

Mahdin Mahboob is a graduate student, based in New York, USA.

Corruption in a Muslim country?

The AL has, it is assumed by many, managed to avoid popular discontent so far because the economy keeps chugging along at 5-6% growth

n Mohammad Habibur Rahman

Hartals have become a regular feature of every-day life in Bangladesh. Indeed, hartals in Bang-ladesh are historically

associated with numerous important movements, including the Language Movement of 1952, the Liberation War, and the movement against an auto-cratic ruler in 1991.

Hence, there are many people in our country who believe that hartals are quite justifi able, and are called for appropriate causes. However, with the increasing violence and indisci-pline that are associated with hartals nowadays, there are questions of how such hartals can be legal, and how destruction in the name of hartals can be a right, have been raised by various groups.

Recently, the question of legality of hartals has entered public discourse due to the anxiety, insecurity, uncer-tainty, and threats associated with har-tals. Top political and business leaders are proposing to enact a law banning hartals to put an end to its detrimental eff ects.

A UNDP report on hartals showed a majority of the public agreed hartals should be banned. Thus, this issue needs to be resolved as the common people of Bangladesh hold a confused perception about the legality of hartals.

Generally, most of the people of our country regard hartals as lawful, and identify them as a democratic right. They feel banning hartals would be

imposing a limitation on every funda-mental democratic right, and in the end, it would not produce any positive result for the nation.

There is a good possibility it may even help turn a democratically elected government into an autocratic one. They believe that without estab-lishing a trustworthy and sustainable democratic culture, based on mutual tolerance, accountability, and an independent judiciary, such a decision will be desperately detrimental for the nation and our democracy.

Although there is no concrete judge-ment or ruling regarding the legality of hartals, the issue of its legality was already answered and clarifi ed by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in distinct judgments. For the fi rst time in 1999, the HCD of the Supreme Court issued a suo moto rule asking for an explanation as to why a call for a hartal and the enforcement of a hartal would not be declared illegal and a criminal off ence.

In this case, the court declared the

hartal as a political and constitutional right. However, the court also held that committing violence and coercion for or against hartals is a criminal off ence.

Considering the violence associated with hartals, the court also interpret-ed Section 141 Clause 5 of the Penal Code 1860, which is on the off ences against public tranquility, and held that a procession or other activities of fi ve or more persons in support of, or to enforce, hartals shall be unlawful assembly, punishable under Section 143 of the code.

Likewise, all assemblies of fi ve per-sons or more to oppose a hartal shall be an unlawful assembly. Activities of the members of these assemblies shall be cognisable off ence according to their behaviour under the relevant sections contained in chapter VIII of the Penal Code.

Several questions still come to mind. On the one hand, the court has declared hartals a political and constitutional right, hence it should be tolerated when observed calmly with

no illegal activities. Conversely, it has kept a precaution against those calling the hartals, saying they shouldn’t commit any violence and infringe on anyone’s rights in the name of hartal, and directed that the government take initiative to ensure the rights of indi-viduals from the harm of hartals.

Consequently, a common question that pops into people’s minds is: By any means, is it possible to observe hartals with no violation and harm to others’ fundamental rights including the right to liberty, movement, work, conduct business, and so on? If it is possible, what will be the nature of that hartal? Or, can that be defi ned as a “hartal” at all?

Finally, a question that remains to be answered is: How can the hartal, as a democratic right, be observed legally without violating others’ rights? We cannot disregard the argument of the people who think that banning hartals will, in time, be damaging to the dem-ocratic process itself.

For that reason, we have to realise that the hartal is an extreme form of protest in a democratic society, and it should not be resorted to unless all other democratic forms of protest have become ineff ective. Alternatively, another way to resolve political hartals is to reach an understanding through dialogue and negotiation between the government in power and the oppo-sition parties to determine the issues that spark off hartals. l

Mohammad Habibur Rahman is a freelance contributor.

The bad kind of hartal

Hartal is an extreme form of protest. It should not be resorted to unless all other forms of protest have become ine� ective

Burning buses is not legitimate protest RAJIB DHAR

BIGSTOCK

12 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

Sport1413 France’s Euro 2000 hero Trezeguet retires

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14 China’s Dalian Wanda buys 20% of Atletico Madrid

Did you know?Chelsea managed

just one shot in each half of

Tuesday’s Capital One Cup match

against Liverpool

BANGABANDHU GOLD CUP

Tier one assured, thanks to Sri Lankan Shishir Hoque

The much-hyped forthcoming Bangab-andhu Gold Cup is all set to be classi-fi ed as a Tier 1 Fifa competition, courte-sy of the participation of the Sri Lankan national team.

Bahrain and Singapore had already confi rmed to send their Olympic team while the respective football governing body of Thailand and Malaysia yesterday sent their approval of participating in the six-nation international tournament with their Under-23 side. That leaves only Ban-gladesh and Sri Lanka playing with their national team and as per the law, one international match is enough to make a tournament fall under Tier 1 competition.

Meanwhile, Fifa and Asian Foot-ball Confederation (Afc) have also answered to the Bangladesh Football Federation’s query through email and assured to offi cially authorise the tour-nament as Tier 1 soon.

According to Fifa regulations of gov-erning international matches (Article 7.3), “A competition that contains at least one Tier 1 international match shall be classifi ed as a Tier 1 competition.” Hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are placed in Group A and therefore their encounter is enough to label the tour-nament as Tier 1. “We asked them (Fifa and Afc) whether the tournament will be under Tier 1 category. It will be Tier 1 competition and they said they will authorise it soon,” said BFF general sec-retary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday.l

BD face Oman in QFn Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh face Oman in the third quarterfi nal of the Hockey World League at the Sengkang Hockey Stadi-um at 3.30pm BST today.

Bangladesh will look to avenge their 2-3 defeat to the same opponent in the Asian Games last year and reach the semifi nals of this mega event.

A win will see Bangladesh face Poland in the semifi nal while a loss will make them play the loser from the match between Poland and Singapore. l

n Mazhar Uddin

Cricket is a sport where only physical ability is not enough. Mental strength is also required in order to overcome a crunch situation.

Without a shadow of a doubt, sledging or verbal exchanges between opposition players has been a common sight of modern cricket in recent times. Sledging is often used as a tactic to frustrate the opponent mentally.

Therefore, if a player is mentally vulner-able, he is susceptible to breaking down during a game, which sometimes has a negative in� uence on his performance. Sim-ilarly, if a player is mentally resolute, then he will be more than capable of handling a di� -cult scenario, thus enhancing his prospects of displaying a good performance.

Ever since attaining the Test status back in 2000, the Tigers have come a long way as far as sledging is concerned. In the early stages, the Bangladesh cricketers, in response to the opposition’s wrath, replied with a mere smile. But, as time went on, the Tigers have shown their mettle, thanks to the current batch of fearless cricketers like Tamim Iqbal, Mush� qur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan.

Among the trio, Mush� q, Bangladesh’s Test captain and former ODI skipper, rea� rmed that sledging is indeed a part of cricket but it has its limits. “Obviously, sledg-ing is part of cricket, why should it not be? If it helps my team to get the momentum, it is always fair. But, it has its limits,” Mush� q told Dhaka Tribune recently.

The chirpy Tamim is probably the most verbal amongst the Bangladesh cricketers. Most of the Tigers’ squad members unani-mously agreed that the marauding opener leads the way when it comes to riling up any opposition cricketer. “Most of the times, Tamim bhai interacts with the opponent. He often frustrates the opposition batsmen while he is � elding,” opening batsman Ana-mul Haque told Dhaka Tribune.

One of Tamim’s recent exchanges came

in the second Test against the West Indies in the Caribbean last year. It was West Indian batsman Darren Bravo who started it all.

“Why don’t you pay the cricketers money?” Bravo inquired Tamim, poking fun at the Bangladesh Premier League Twen-ty20 where several West Indian cricketers participated.

Tamim replied without hesitation, “Don’t come to our country and beg for money.”

The verbal clash between Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza and Tamim last month is also another example.

Upon being dismissed, Masakadza expressed his dismay with the umpire’s decision. As the burly Masakadza was refusing to leave the ground, Tamim dished out an earful which no doubt annoyed the Zimbabwean batsman.

Tamim was � ned following the end of the game but according to the Chittagong cricketer, he is happy to be punished if his team is bene� tted. “I think sledging is part of cricket. I try to frustrate the opponent which sometimes helps us. I am happy if my team bene� t from my conversations or comments towards the opposition cricket-ers,” Tamim told Dhaka Tribune.

The hard-hitting opener went on to

inform that he always gets into a heated conversation with veteran New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori whenever they meet in the � eld. “We always had heated conver-sations on the � eld and he always tries to tempt me. However, it’s nothing personal,” Tamim added.

Sports psychologist Ali Khan on the oth-er hand informed Dhaka Tribune that only a cricketer who is mentally strong can use it to a positive e� ect.

“Look, there is always a positive or negative reaction to sledging. If a cricketer is mentally tough and applies those words in a positive way, then he can dominate,” he said.

With the 2015 ICC World Cup knocking at the door, the Tigers should also concentrate on their mental aspects besides honing their technique and skill. However, all the mental preparation might not be required at all as the International Cricket Council recently announced they would clamp down on any on-� eld confrontation in the mega event. It remains to be seen whether the guidelines are followed.

If they aren’t, then the Bangladesh fans need not worry as the Tigers are more than capable of looking after themselves. l

Tigers end home prep on happy note n Minhaz Uddin Khan

The Bangladesh national cricketers wrapped up their home-phase of train-ing ahead of the World Cup yesterday. The last two days saw the Tigers play “match situation” games alongside some unusual fi elding drills that even involved a “bowling machine.”

The Bangladesh team is sched-uled to leave Dhaka on January 24 for the two-week long conditional camp in Brisbane. Fast bowler Rubel Hos-sain attended the press conference at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yes-terday and said they are happy with the preparation and are eagerly waiting to set foot in Australia.

“I think we tried to do the best we can,” said Rubel. “Of course the condi-tion here is totally diff erent from what we will have in Australia and New Zea-land but for that we have the two weeks of conditional camp in Brisbane.”

The mega multinational event will be the second for 25-year-old Rubel, yet it will be a “very tough time” for him given his recent personal problems. His

legal tussle with actress Naznin Akter Happy saw a Dhaka court send him to jail earlier this month and spent three nights behind the bars.

“I think those were the toughest days in my life but I don’t want to think much about it. We have a very big mis-sion ahead so I personally want to fo-cus only there,” said the Bagerhat lad.

When queried if the recent set of

events in his personal life will make his appearance in the World Cup more challenging, Rubel said, “I always try to perform when I am given the opportunity. Yes, this World Cup is a challenge for me but only because we have to get good results from it.”

Bangladesh, given the condition in Australia and New Zealand, aim to put up competition with their counterparts relying on the pace attack.

However, there is a question mark on the strategy looking into the performances of the side’s seamers in the ODIs in their last away tour to West Indies in August last year.

“Bouncy wickets do help the pacers as it allows to attack the batsman at many points but then again to be suc-cessful one has to maintain proper line and length.”

“But the problem with our (Bangla-desh) bowlers is that we rarely play on wickets which help the pacers. But I hope we will be able to come over the barrier through the conditional camp and utilise what we learn in the match-es,” explained Rubel. l

Sledging is part of cricket: Mush� q, Tamim

ULAB face NSU in Fair Play Cup openern Raihan Mahmood

Transmitting the message of cama-raderie, the 8th ULAB Fair Play Cup Inter-Private University Cricket Tour-nament comprising 16 leading univer-sities starts at the ULAB cricket ground today. Defending champions Universi-ty of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and North South University will lock horns in the inaugural match.

The tournament’s fi rst edition back in 2006 saw only six teams participate and after nine years the number of teams grew to highest 16 this time. Apart

from the hosts the other participating universities are BRAC University, North South University, East West University, Northern University Bangladesh, United International University, State University of Bangladesh, Manarat International University, Independent University Bangladesh, University of Asia pacifi c, South East University, Eastern University, Green University of Bangladesh, Premier University of Chittagong, University of Information Technology and Sciences, European University of Bangladesh.

The T20 format tournament will see the teams split across four groups with

the top two from each group progressing to the Super 8. The champions will re-ceive Tk40,000 while the runners-up will be awarded with Tk25,000 as prize mon-ey. The fi nal will be played on February 11.

The details of the event were re-vealed in the press conference held at the Dutch-Bangla Bank Auditorium of BOA House yesterday where Prof. Im-ran Rahman, Vice Chancellor of ULAB, Roquibul Hassan, former captain of Bangladesh cricket team and Advisor of ULAB Fair Play Cup and Lt. Col. Foy-zul Islam (Retd.), Registrar of ULAB, were present among others.

Bangladesh paceman Rubel Hossain rolling in the � eld during training at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Prof. Imran Rahman (L), former cricket captain Roquibul Hassan (C) and Lt. Col. Foyzul Islam (retd.) attended the press conference at BOA auditorium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Me and Daniel Vettori always had heated conversations on the � eld. He always tries to tempt me. But, it’s nothing personal

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal (L) riles up Zimbabwean batsman Hamilton Masakadza during a one-day international last year MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE 13Thursday, January 22, 2015

Mourinho jokes about Gerrard loan dealChelsea manager Jose Mourinho has joked that he might make a bid to sign Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard on loan when he leaves for the United States at the end of the season. Gerrard announced at the beginning of the year that he would leave An� eld when his contract expired in July to join MLS champions LA Galaxy. The 34-year-old proved he can still play at the highest level though, after a lively display in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea in a pulsating League Cup semi-� nal � rst leg at An� eld on Tuesday. When asked if he would try to sign Gerrard, Mourinho told BBC radio: “Or to get him on loan. “I’m not happy he leaves. I would love the Premier League to keep always the best players. “I think he has more than enough quality to play in the Premier League. In spite (of the fact) he’s my opponent, I feel sorry that he’s leaving,” he added. Mourinho had spoken before the semi-� nal tie about his regret at not completing a deal to sign Gerrard in 2005 during his � rst spell as Chelsea manager, with a move breaking down after the mid� elder decided to stay at An� eld.

–Reuters

Arsenal sign Polish teen BielikArsenal on Wednesday con� rmed the signing of teenage mid� elder Krystian Bielik from Polish side Legia Warsaw. The transfer of the promising 17-year-old was posted on the o� cial Arsenal website, with a fee in the region of £2.5million ($3.8million, 3.3 million euros) said to have been agreed. The Poland youth international is expected to work initially within the Gunners’ Under-21s side, but then the aim would be for him to swiftly progress through to the senior squad. A statement from Arsenal read: “Arsenal have completed the signing of 17-year-old mid� elder Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw for an undisclosed fee.” Bielik, who made his senior debut for Legia at the age of 16, has made six appearances for the club, and can play in both mid� eld and defence. Arsenal won 2-0 at Man-chester City on Sunday to close back up on the top four of the Premier League and manager Arsene Wenger is determined to secure some more defensive cover in the January transfer window.

–AFP

AC Milan send Niang on loan to GenoaFrench striker M’Baye Niang has been loaned to Genoa by struggling Serie A giants AC Milan, according to reports Wednesday. Niang joined Milan in 2012 but spent much of last season on loan at Montpellier, where he scored four goals in 19 games for the Ligue 1 side. The 20-year-old Niang, born in France to Senegalese parents, returned to Milan at the start of the season but has made only � ve appearances for Filippo Inzaghi’s side. Milan and Genoa have yet to make any o� cial announcement but a website report on La Gazzetta dello Sport said Niang, who made a rare start for Milan in a 1-1 draw away to Torino a fortnight ago, was seen saying goodbye to the rest of his teammates after training on Wednesday. If con� rmed, the move could see Genoa drop their interest in Roma forward Marco Borriello. For the third consecutive season, seven-times European champions Milan are struggling in Serie A and are in danger of missing out on next season’s Champions League for what would be the second successive season.

–AFP

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DAY’S WATCH

Three Russian Olympic walk champions get doping bansn Reuters, Moscow

Russian Olympic walk champions Valery Borchin, Sergei Kirdyapkin and Olga Kaniskina are among fi ve athletes banned for doping, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) said on Tuesday.

Russia’s 2011 world champion Sergei Bakulin and silver medallist Vladimir Kanaykin have also been banned for failing doping tests, RUSADA added on its website (www.rusada.ru).

“The Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA after meeting with its Disci-plinary Committee has decided to ban fi ve sportsmen for taking banned sub-stances,” it said in a statement.

“The breaking of anti-doping rules was due to abnormal blood levels in their biological passports, which be-long to the International Association of Athletics Federations.”

Borchin, 28, has been suspended for eight years backdated to Oct. 15 2012, although he had already retired from competition.

Kaniskina, 30, who had also fi nished competing, and 35-year-old Kirdyapkin, were banned for three years and two months from Oct. 15 2012, while Bakulin got the same ban from Dec. 24 2012.

Kanaykin, 29, has received a life ban from Dec. 17 2012.

Kirdyapkin won gold in the men’s

50km walk at the 2012 London Games, while Kaniskina took silver in the women’s 20km race following the gold she claimed in Beijing in 2008.

The length of Kirdyapkin’s ban means he will be eligible to defend his title at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Borchin, who won the men’s 20km walk in Beijing, had previously been banned for a doping off ence. In 2005, he tested positive for ephedrine and was suspended for one year.

Bakulin, 28, won the men’s 50km walk at the 2011 worlds while the 29-year-old Kanaykin, who was banned for two years in 2008 for taking a banned substance, won silver in the 20km. l

Is it a bee? Is it a blister? Federer doesn’t known Reuters, Melbourne

The mystery affl iction that aff ected a fi nger, or fi ngers, on Roger Federer’s right hand had still not been solved more than an hour after he saw off a spirited performance from Italian jour-neyman Simone Bolelli at the Austra-lian Open on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old Swiss had just been blasted off the court in the fi rst set by the 29-year-old journeyman when he sought treatment on his hand. Federer said it did not look like a blister and he had thought he may have been stung by a bee, but was still examining his hand after the 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory.

“I don’t know what that thing is,” the 17-time grand slam winner told reporters in a media conference while staring intently at the tips of his fi ngers.

“It’s the weirdest thing.“I feel it on the tip of my fi nger. Just

felt really odd starting after the break, and for three, four games, it was the funniest feeling I have.

“I feel like it’s numb and swollen. Actually it went away, but now I feel it again. I don’t know what the feeling is.”

Federer declined to have the fi nger taped by medical staff because it would have just looked “bigger and weird”.

“You can’t see anything,” he said laughing while staring intently at his hand. But it is defi nitely swollen and it’s funny. I don’t know what it is. As long as it’s not getting bad, it’s okay.”

Federer and Bolelli had hammered away at each other in the fi rst set, with the Italian seizing his one, and only, service break opportunity to seal it in 33 minutes.l

ICC promise sledging crackdown at WCn AFP, London

International Cricket Council chief ex-ecutive David Richardson said Tuesday the global governing body would come down hard on players who “sledged” or verbally abused their opponents at the upcoming World Cup.

During the course of an extensive interview on the ICC website, former South Africa wicketkeeper Richardson also said offi cials were determined to continue their campaign against ille-gal bowling actions and added he was confi dent the World Cup would not be blighted by match or spot-fi xing.

Several high-profi le incidents in re-cent months have led former Australia captain Ian Chappell to say he fears it can only be a matter of time before things get so heated that a physical clash ensues.

Meanwhile New Zealand great Mar-tin Crowe has called for the introduc-tion of a yellow and red card system common to many other sports in a bid to punish poor on-fi eld behaviour in cricket, which has traditionally prided itself on being a “gentlemen’s game”.

India’s ongoing tour of Australia has been marred by numerous verbal spats, with Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland taking the unusual step of publicly telling David Warner to “stop looking for trouble” after the opener’s latest fl are-up saw him de-mand India’s Rohit Sharma “speak En-glish” during a one-day international in Melbourne on Sunday.

Richardson said he was confi dent the existing system, whereby match referees oversee disciplinary punish-ments at major international fi xtures, could cope with “disrespectful be-haviour”.

“Over the last six months, or even

going back further to the last Ashes se-ries, there have been too many exam-ples of player behaviour going too far and overstepping the boundaries of ac-ceptability,” Richardson told icc-crick-et.com.

“The amount of sledging and disre-spect shown by players to each other was bad.

“Since then, we have done a lot of work with our umpires and match ref-erees to ensure they are much more pro-active in terms of policing be-haviour on the fi eld and - when players do overstep the mark - taking appropri-ate action.”

He added: “Over the last three or four months, you have seen 12 ICC code of conduct charges laid against people for exactly that - disrespectful behaviour on the fi eld.

“For the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, it will be no diff erent - and at all pre-event briefi ngs with the teams, the match referees will be making sure that message is delivered loud and clear.”

“The game realised we had a signif-icant problem - and there were just too many bowlers, from all teams, bowling with suspected actions,” said Richard-son.

“I think we have made very good progress in identifying those bowl-ers, sending them off to be tested and, where necessary, suspending them un-til they can remedy their actions,” he added.

As for the scourge of fi xing, a bullish Richardson said: “On the corruption side, it’s safe to say we’re the best pre-pared we’ve ever been.

“It will be very diffi cult for anybody outside of the game to come and even attempt to try and corrupt players, um-pires or anybody involved in the World Cup, to try and fi x a match.” l

Nadal, Sharapova survive big scaresn AFP, Melbourne

Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova sur-vived huge scares after being pushed to the limit at the Australian Open on Wednesday, but Roger Federer had an easier workout in the gruelling Mel-bourne conditions.

World number three Nadal battled stomach cramps to come out on top of a mammoth fi ve-setter with American qualifi er Tim Smyczek, with the 14-time Grand Slam champion prevailing 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 7-5 in a 4hr 12min epic.

The Spaniard is returning from in-jury and with little match practice and said he found it tough going in the hu-mid night conditions, at one point be-ing sick on court.

“For me after a tough period of time out of competition in the last seven months and just playing a few match-es, today was a little bit humid and I felt very tired after the fi rst set and for the whole match,” he said.

The second seeded Sharapova also struggled, melting down as the after-noon heat was turned up.

She needed to draw on all her expe-rience to save two match points before staging a gritty comeback to beat cou-rageous compatriot Alexandra Panova 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

World number two Federer also had a wobble, dropping the fi rst set before bouncing back to trounce Italian Sim-one Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and move into the third round.

British sixth seed Andy Murray joined him with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 drubbing of local hope Marinko Matosevic.

Other seeds progressing included men’s and women’s seventh seeds To-mas Berdych and Eugenie Bouchard, and 10th seeds Grigor Dimitrov and Ekaterina Makarova.

World number ones Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic play their second round matches on Thursday.

While the searing 42 Celsius (107.6

Fahrenheit) heat of last year has yet to materialise in Melbourne, tempera-tures topped 33C and players, includ-ing Sharapova and Nadal, draped ice towels around their shoulders at the changeovers.

Sharapova, who can unseat Wil-liams as world number one if she wins the title, wilted badly after winning the

opening set, fi ring a slew of unforced errors that almost had her on an early plane home.

“I didn’t actually want to be out here for two-and-a-half hours but that’s sometimes the way it goes on days when you’re not playing your best - sometimes it’s good enough just to get through,” she said.

“I was one point away from being out of this tournament twice today and not playing my best tennis so I’m just happy I was able to win that last point.”

The fi ve-time Grand Slam champi-on, red-faced from the heat, trailed 4-1 in the deciding set and looked out for the count, but rallied to save two match points when down 4-5 before hanging on for an unlikely victory.

Federer, chasing his fi fth Australian Open title, enjoyed slightly cooler, but still humid conditions, later in the day and steadied after losing the fi rst set to sweep past Bolelli, despite a mystery swollen fi nger.

“Simone played really well in the fi rst set, I wasn’t playing badly, and I had to fi ght in the middle of the third set and go up a break to enable me to relax a little bit and play a touch better because of less pressure,” Federer said.

“He didn’t have to lose as much as me, I guess sometimes it can be an ad-vantage and sometimes a disadvantage to be favourite.”

Federer, chasing his 18th Grand Slam title, has always made the third round in 16 attempts in Melbourne and has reached the semi-fi nal stage for the last 11 Australian Opens.

Murray, a three-time runner-up, was always in charge against Matosevic, continuing his dominant record against Australians, having now won all 10 pre-vious Tour level meetings with Austra-lian players.

The Scot jumped out of the blocks and wrapped up the opening set in just 21 minutes but had some tighter games in the second and third sets. l

Vettel a good � t for Ferrari: Surteesn Reuters, London

Sebastian Vettel could be just the man to revive Ferrari’s Formula One for-tunes because both need to recover their lost lustre after a dismal year, the team’s 1964 world champion John Sur-tees said on Tuesday.

Quadruple world champion Vettel failed to win a race in 2014 with Red Bull and was eclipsed by Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo.

The 27-year-old German has re-placed Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso as Kimi Raikkonen’s team mate at the most successful and oldest outfi t on the grid, one who also ended the season winless for the fi rst time since 1993.

“He’s very interested in the past, and the cars and the motorcycles. He’s a great enthusiast, but there was some-thing missing from him last year,” Sur-tees told Reuters at the regional fi nals of the F1 in Schools competition at Chel-sea’s Stamford Bridge soccer stadium.

“The sparkle wasn’t there. But I think because he’s such an enthusiast, this is just what he needs. And what Ferrari needs,” added the 80-year-old Briton.

“Someone who says ‘Lets fi nd our-selves again’ because they’ve both got to fi nd themselves again. So that makes a good combination.”

Surtees, the only man to win the world championship on two wheels and four and now the oldest surviving F1 champion, took his title with the Italian team in an era when there was plenty of political in-fi ghting at Ma-ranello but less money.

Under-performing Ferrari had a tur-bulent year off the track too, with three principals in the space of a season, and the Briton said he was surprised by de-velopments.

He said he had expected Ferrari, one of just two constructors to make both chassis and engine, to adapt better than they had to the new turbo hybrid V6 era.l

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after defeating Tim Smyczek of the US during their men’s singles second round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday REUTERS

Anderlecht’s new player Marko Marin poses at a press conference on Tuesday. German winger Marin is coming over on loan from English club Chelsea FC AFP

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE14 Thursday, January 22, 2015

Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling (top) celebrates scoring against Chelsea with team mates during their English League Cup semi-� nal � rst leg match at An� eld on Tuesday REUTERS

Australia, China ready to kick-start long rivalryn Reuters, Brisbane

Australia versus Chi-na: it should be one of the great rivalries in Asian soccer.

That it isn’t, at least right now, is a refl ection on how long the two region-

al powerhouses have taken to embrace the world’s most popular game.

But the times are changing quickly and on Thursday, the two nations will lock horns in the quarter-fi nals at the Asian Cup.

The stakes are high and in years to come, this match could be remembered as the start of a long battle for Asian su-premacy.

The countries have played each oth-er 10 times before, with Australia win-ning fi ve times, China four times and the other match drawn, but this will be

the fi rst time in a major competition.There are more than just bragging

rights on the line. Neither country has won the Asian Cup before and both have even grander ambitions, investing millions of dollars to develop the talent they need to become a contender at the World Cup.

Although Australia are newcomers to the Asian Cup, entering the com-petition for the fi rst time in 2007 after ditching Oceania in search of tougher competition, the pressure is on.

The popularity of the sport in Aus-tralia has been rising steadily since the Socceroos ended a 32-year drought by qualifying for the 2006 World Cup and winning the Asian Cup on home soil would be a major shot in the arm for the code.

But an early exit for a team that made the fi nal four years ago and was vying with Japan as favourites would be a major setback.

Australia will start as slight favou-rites despite suff ering a surprise 1-0 loss to South Korea in their fi nal pool match, a result that saw them fi nish as group runners-up and pitting them against China, who topped their group after winning their three pool matches.

The Australians piled on eight goals

in their fi rst two matches but squan-dered a stack of chances against the Ko-reans when Postecoglou rested some of his key attackers and Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak sat the game out because of an injury.

Jedinak has been cleared to make his return on Thursday and Posteco-glou said all his players had recovered from the group phase.

China only just scraped into the tournament after a poor qualifying campaign but have been a revelation under French coach Alain Perrin.

Elsewhere, Uzbekistan will harness the pain of almost two decades of frus-tration against South Korea to drive them to victory in the other quarter-fi -nal on Thursday, coach Mirdjalal Kasi-mov said.

The Uzbeks have only beaten the Koreans once in 11 meetings, a 1-0 suc-cess in the semi-fi nals of the 1994 Asian Games in Japan where they went on to win gold.

Since then, South Korea have had the measure of their technically strong but mentally frail central Asian foes, a 2-1 World Cup qualifying win in 1997 kicking off a streak of eight victories and two draws.

The last meeting came in Seoul 18 months ago in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. l

Parma sign Varela, Rodriguezn Reuters, Milan

Parma, joint bottom of Serie A along-side Cesena, have signed Uruguay mid-fi elder Cristian Rodriguez and Portugal forward Silvestre Varela, both on loan, the club said on Tuesday.

Rodriguez, who has played for Uru-guay at two Copa America tournaments and the 2014 World Cup, joined from At-letico Madrid, where he has made only six league appearances this season. The former PSG, Benfi ca and Porto player has not previously played in Serie A.

Varela has been loaned by Porto, having spent the fi rst half of the season at EPL’s West Brom, where he scored one goal in seven league appearances.l

France’s Euro 2000 hero Trezeguet retiresn AFP, Buenos Aires

France’s 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning striker David Trezeguet, who enjoyed a decade leading the Ju-ventus attack, has retired, Argentine daily Clarin reported Tuesday.

The 37-year-old’s agent had con-fi rmed the news of his retirement on Tuesday according to Clarin and he was now set to rejoin Italian champions Ju-ventus’ management team where he scored 149 goals in 245 games between 2000-2010. Despite a goal at the 1998 World Cup fi nals which France ulti-mately won, the striker’s most memo-rable goal remains the extra-time gold-en-goal (sudden death) that saw France beat Italy in the Euro 2000 fi nal.

However, he was to be the only play-er to miss a penalty in the 2006 World

Cup fi nal which saw Italy this time pre-vail in the penalty shootout.

He was born in France to an Argen-tine father who was at that time play-ing in France and although he grew up in Argentina he joined AS Monaco in 1995. After leaving Juventus, Trezeg-uet played for various Argentine clubs including River Plate and Newell’s Old Boys and ended his playing days at Pune City in India’s Super League.l

Cameroon, Ivory Coast escape shock defeatsn Reuters, Malabo

Powerhouses Cameroon and Ivory Coast both battled back from a goal down to avoid shock defeats as they drew 1-1 with Mali and Guinea respectively in the African Nations Cup on Tuesday.

Mali were six minutes away from their fi rst ever win over Cameroon in a raw, bruising encounter when Am-broise Oyongo struck an equaliser for the Indomitable Lions, cancelling out Sambou Yatabare’s opener.

Mali, third in the last two Nations Cups, thought they had grabbed a last-minute win when Yatabare headed in a rebound following Seydou Keita’s free kick, but it was ruled off side.

Ivory Coast were down to 10 men and trailing to Mohamed Yattara’s goal against Guinea before Seydou Doum-bia saved their blushes in another full-bloodied encounter which saw

Gervinho dismissed just before the hour.The AS Roma winger, Ivory Coast’s

top player, was given his marching or-ders for lashing out at an opponent off the ball.

Tuesday’s Group D double bill in Malabo completed the opening round

of matches which produced fi ve draws in eight games and no goal-less stale-mates.

The two games were played before a full house in Malabo with all fans screened for the Ebola virus and or-dered to wash their hands before they were allowed into the stadium.l

Roma scrape past Empolin Reuters, Milan

AS Roma needed a hugely controversial penalty, converted by Daniele De Rossi six minutes from the end of the extra time, to see off modest Empoli 2-1 in the Italian Cup last 16 on Tuesday.

The penalty was awarded when Em-poli’s Piotr Zielinski slid in to make a clearance and seemed to get the ball away cleanly, but Roma forward Le-andro Paredes tripped over his out-stretched leg and referee Marco Di Bel-lo pointed to the spot.

The offi cial was surrounded by an angry group of Empoli players and both Vecino and Zielinski were booked before De Rossi sent Davide Bassi the wrong way for the winner after the game had

fi nished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.Roma got off to a fl ying start when

Juan Iturbe latched onto Maicon’s cross and beat Bassi with an angled drive in the fi fth minute but the Argentine did not celebrate the goal, apparently in protest at criticism of his recent performances.

Empoli stunned the Stadio Olimpi-co with 10 minutes left when Vecino’s through ball sent Simone Verdi clear and he rounded Lukasz Skorupski to score into an empty net and force the match into the extra period. l

Chelsea eye Cuadrado signingn AFP, Milan

Chelsea are preparing a bid for Fioren-tina winger Juan Cuadrado although La Viola would not sell the Colombian for less than 35m euros ($40million), re-ports in Italy said Wednesday.

Cuadrado, a reported summer trans-fer target for Manchester United and Barcelona, has eclipsed his shaky start to the season with a string of solid per-formances to help the Serie A side up to sixth place. Reports claim Chelsea are set to off er 27m euros ($31million) for the Colombian international, although Gazzetta dello Sport said Fiorenti-na club president Andrea Della Valle would not sell for less than the value of his buy-out clause, 35m.

In Italy’s top fl ight Fiorentina are 16 points behind leaders and champions Juventus. Cuadrado, who moved to Fiorentina from Udinese in the sum-mer of 2012, has scored fi ve goals this season including four in Serie A. l

Sterling slalom checks Chelsean AFP, Liverpool

Raheem Sterling’s magnifi cent sec-ond-half solo goal earned Liverpool a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the fi rst leg of their League Cup semi-fi nal at a snow-speckled Anfi eld on Tuesday.

With Chelsea leading through Eden Hazard’s 18th-minute penalty, Jose Mourinho’s side were poised to pull off a classic smash-and-grab when Sterling surged through their defence to equal-ise in the 59th minute.

The goal, Sterling’s seventh of the season, was a demonstration of the 20-year-old England forward’s quick-silver brilliance and was the reward for

a committed and industrious display by Brendan Rodgers’s men.

“I’m delighted with the perfor-mance, disappointed with the result. We thoroughly deserved to win the game,” said Rodgers.

“We showed wonderful character. Some of our play was very impressive and it sets up the second leg perfectly because they’ve probably got to open up a bit more. It’s still all to play for. It was a great game and that shows the improvements that we’re making.”

Sterling’s goal prevented Premier League leaders Chelsea from recording a third successive victory at Anfi eld,

where they famously derailed Liver-pool’s title challenge last season.

Chelsea’s away goal means that Mourinho - seeking to win the trophy for a third time - will feel he holds the upper hand ahead of next week’s return leg.

“It’s a draw. I am not sad as a defeat, not as happy as a victory. My emotion is in the middle,” Mourinho told the BBC.

“I’m not saying we are favourites now. This semi-fi nal was two legs and now it’s only one match, and that’s at Stamford Bridge. We defended well and our goalkeeper was good.”

Gerrard almost silenced them in the 16th minute, letting fl y with the kind of dipping 30-yard shot that was once his trademark, only for the recalled Thi-baut Courtois to palm it over the bar.

It came after a spell of Liverpool pres-sure that briefl y ignited the freezing crowd, but within two minutes, the hosts were behind. After Cesc Fabregas darted past him, Emre Can stuck out a leg, and Hazard fell over it. Referee Martin Atkin-son deemed it a penalty and Hazard sent his Belgium team-mate Simon Mignolet the wrong way from the spot.

Chelsea continued to resist early in the second half, Gary Cahill blocking from Sterling, but just before the hour Liverpool drew level with a goal of shimmering quality.

Receiving a pass from Jordan Hen-derson with his back to goal 40 yards out, Sterling span away from Nemanja Matic and then glided past Cahill be-fore drilling home with his left foot.l

China’s Dalian Wanda buys 20 pct of Atletico Madridn Reuters, Beijing

China’s biggest property conglomerate, Dalian Wanda Group Co, has bought 20 percent of Spanish soccer champions Atletico Madrid for 45 million euros ($52 million), becoming the fi rst Main-land company to invest in a premier European club.

The purchase adds to a string of deals as Wanda expands overseas and diversifi es away from a weak domestic real estate market. Over the past two years, the company agreed to invest nearly $2 billion in London and Madrid hotels and properties.l

RESULTSGuinea 1-1 Ivory CoastM. Yattara 36 Doumbia 72

Cameroon 1-1 MaliOyongo 84 S. Yatabare 71

COPPA ITALIA RESULTAS Roma 2-1 EmpoliIturbe 5, Rossi 114-P Verdi 80

LEAGUE CUP RESULTLiverpool 1-1 ChelseaSterling 59 Hazard 18-P

Wang Jianlin (C), chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, holds an Atletico Madrid jersey with his name, to pose for a photo with Atletico Madrid’s President Enrique Cerezo (R) and managing director Miguel Angel Gil after a signing ceremony in Beijing yesterday REUTERS

Mali’s goalkeeper Soumbeylia Diakite dives to save a shot on goal by Cameroon’s forward Vincent Aboubakar (C) during their 2015 African Cup of Nations group D match in Malabo on Tuesday AFP

QUARTER FINAL FIXTURES Australia v China Uzbekistan v South Korea

DHAKA TRIBUNE Entertainment Thursday, January 22, 2015 15

ExhibitionChaos & OrderBy Jasna BoudardTime: 3pm – 8pmDhaka Art Centre, Dhanmondi

Di� erent StrokesTime: 3pm – 8pmDhaka Art CenterHouse-60, Road-7/ADhanmondi

FilmGame, Into The Storm, Ek Cup Cha, Desha: The LeaderBlockbuster Cinemas

Penguins of Madagascar (3D)Romeo V/S JulietInto The WoodsBeauty and the BeastStar Cineplex

Made in Bangladesh to be staged on Mondayn Entertainment Desk

After touring Europe and India, German-Bangladeshi dance production “Made in Bangladesh” will be � nally staged in the capital, at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Monday.

Invited by Goethe-Institut Bangladesh in association with Shadhona, there will be two shows of the production – at 2pm and at 7pm.

Directed by renowned German theatre director Helena Waldmann, “Made in Bangladesh” explores the notorious sweat shops of the RMG industry and the supposedly legitimate artistic “sweat shop” of a dance studio, and comes to the conclusion that they have

more in common than the cultural establishment would like to admit.

Waldmann and her Kolkata-based co-choreographer Vikram Iyengar use the complicated staccato dynamics of Kathak as a relentless choreographic re� ection of piecework sewing. The choreography with 12 dancers from Bangladesh is thereby interspersed with multimedia extension in the form of video clips and sound collages.

After the premiere of “Made in Bangladesh” in the German city of Ludwigshafen in November last year and the Europe tour that followed, the ensemble most recently toured India with the support of Goethe-Institut, participating in two renowned dance festivals as well. l

EMBROIDER THE WORLD:Nakshi Kantha in Tarshito’s eyesn Nadira Sultana Ava

“Tarshito: Embroider the World,” a solo art exhibition by Italian artist Nicola Strippoli Tarshito, was inaugurated on Friday at Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts in the capital.

The inauguration ceremony was at-tended by Italian Ambassador to Ban-gladesh Mario Palma, and National Crafts Council Bangladesh President Chandra Shekhar Saha.

Nicola Strippoli was named Tarshito, which means “thirst for inner knowl-edge,” by his guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during his journey to India in 1979. He was intrigued by Indian primitive and spiritual beliefs. During his visit to Bangladesh, the traditional “nakshi kantha” (hand-embroidered quilt) caught his attention.

Bangladeshi nakshi kantha has unique stitching style, depicting a va-

riety of objects and designs including mythical fi gures, animals, birds, geo-metrical objects, symbols of the sun and moon, etc. Each quilt represents its maker’s cultural background, nature and perception of the world.

In the exhibition, Tarshito is show-casing 30 artworks which aptly blend these stitch work with an array of media like acrylic, gold leaf, ink, and rubber on canvas and fabric. Fifteen women from Jessore worked on these artworks for six months. Tarshito is, indeed, a master of fi nding the best possible craftsmen and fi lling them with his own inspiration, be it in Italy or any other country.

The artist believes that richness of a culture can only be grasped through its art, so he tries to incorporate the harmo-ny of people into his own work. Merging traditional techniques of craftsman-ship, he conveys messages of light, truth and goodness through his work.

For this reason, his brilliant unifi cation of the Bangladeshi rural culture and his creations earns universal appeal.

Tarshito’s excellent mapping ac-quaints us with a new world which transcends geographical boundaries and relieves us from the confi nement of time. In one of his thought-provok-ing artworks, Tarshito has connected the map of Bangladesh with that of It-aly and written BANGLADESHITALY on it, using gold leaf on canvas.

Born in Southern Italy in 1952, Tarshito completed his graduation from the University of Architecture in Florence. In quest of inspiration and curiosity, he travels to many places and, looking into his own inner space, he fi nds his own way to be creative, his own notion of design.

Open for all every day from 12pm to 8pm, the exhibition will run until Jan-uary 30. l

Pandit Uday Bhawalkar performs ‘Dhrupad’ at ‘Mayar Madhuri,’ an Indian classical music programme arranged by Bengal Foundation, at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh auditorium on Tuesday KHAN HASAN MD RAFI

JENNIFER ANISTON proclaims herself the ‘No 1 Oscar snub’n Entertainment Desk

Jennifer Aniston may not have snagged an Oscar nominations, but she still feels like a winner.

“I’m the number one snubbed! That’s the silver lining!” she smiled to Ellen Degeneres in an Ellen interview airing Monday. “It hasn’t even come out! That’s the crazy thing — we’re so shocked and amazed that we have had this much love for a movie that hasn’t even been released yet.”

Aniston earned SAG, Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nominations for her performance in the indie drama as a woman

living with chronic pain, loss and addiction. She also took home a trophy from the inaugural People Magazine Awards and will receive the Montecito Award at the 2015 Santa Barbara International Film Festival on January 30.

“What’s been so incredible is the amount of people that have come out to me who are suff ering with chronic pain and in this same situation,” Aniston explained. “It’s unbe-lievable how much positivity it’s bringing to those who are kind of silently suff ering. It’s a beautiful, hopeful movie.”

“Cake” opens in limited theaters January 23. l

DIANA PENTY makes a comeback n Entertainment Desk

Diana Penty was last seen in “Cocktail” playing the girl Saif Ali Khan chooses to marry over Deepika Padukone. Two years after her big debut, the actress is back in the game with her second fi lm. The mod-el-turned-actress has recently signed a fi lm titled “Dolly Lahore Mein” where she will be seen playing the lead opposite Abhay Deol.

A source close to the fi lm informed a leading daily, “After the release of Cocktail in 2012, the entire indus-try was waiting to sign Diana. However she kept on refusing fi lms. In the midst there were also rumours that she was all set to tie the knot with her boyfriend who happens to be a diamond merchant and she was seen hanging around with him at various social events as well. However that aside, Diana has fi nally gone ahead and signed a fi lm and it is expected to go on the fl oors in the next couple of months.”

“Dolly Lahore Mein” is a romantic comedy produced by Aanand L Rai and directed by Mudassar Aziz. l

JOHNNY DEPP: Actors making music is ‘sickening’n Entertainment Desk

In comments that are unlikely to endear him to Russell Crowe and Jared

Leto, Johnny Depp took aim at actors who capitalise on their

fame to make music, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Speaking at the Berlin premiere of his latest fi lm, “Mortdecai,” Depp didn’t hold back in slamming those of his profes-

sion who fancy themselves as musicians. “That whole idea for me is a sickening thing,

it’s always just made me sick,” he told reporters. Depp himself plays guitar and has played on

records by British band Oasis as well as recorded and performed with Marilyn Manson, as he did last November. He also played guitar with super-group The New Basement Tapes and was fea-tured in the 2014 Showtime documentary “Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued.”

Dabbling with music though is fi ne, accord-ing to the actor. “I’ve been very lucky to play on

friends’ records and it’s still going. Music is still part of my life.... But you won’t be hearing

The Johnny Depp Band. That won’t ever exist.” Depp was content with being

a low-key musician, and expanded his point of people riding their

success to push their music. “The kind of luxury now is,

anybody with a certain amount of success, if

you have a kind of musical being, you

can go out and start a band and capitalise on your

work in other ar-eas,” he said. l

Bjork surprise releases new albumn Entertainment Desk

Björk has released her new album, “Vulnicura,” on iTunes just one week after announcing it in a handwritten note and two months ahead of its original March release date. The surprise early re-lease may have been prompted by a leak of the al-bum, which Stereogum reports surfaced over the weekend.

In a note on Facebook, the eccentric Icelandic musician said she wrote six of the nine tracks her-self, co-wrote two with Arca and penned one with

Spaces. Björk and Arca produced much of the al-bum together, while British producer the Haxan Cloak also chipped in on one track, and handled most of the mixing, save for two he mixed with Chris Elms. “Vulnicura” marks Björk’s fi rst album in four years, and follows 2011’s “Biophilia,” which arrived complete with its own interactive app.

Björk detailed the making of “Vulnicura” in an-other Facebook note posted Tuesday, saying one year into writing, she realised she was making “a complete heartbreak album” with an “emotional chronology” to it. l

Artist Nicola Strippoli Tarshito shows his artworks to the distinguished guests at the gallery

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

Big screen celebrities protest Hindi � lm release, call o� productions n Tribune Report

Wearing white crisp shrouds and carrying various banners, the Dhallywood stars yes-terday chanted slogans and walked the street in protest of Hindi fi lm release in the coun-try.

Top actors Shakib Khan, Rubel, Amit Hasan, Ahmed Sharif, Amrita Khan, Pari Moni, Nijhum Rubina, Zayed Khan and others led the procession, which began at around 1:30pm from Bangladesh Film Devel-opment Corporation (BFDC) premise in the capital and ended at Jatiya Press Club.

Noted directors Sohanur Rahman Sohan, Mushfi qur Rahman Gulzar, Delwar Jahan Jhantu and Mustafi zur Rahman Manik ac-companied the celebrities.

The procession, organised by Bangladesh Cholochitro Oikkyajot, was an outburst of the silver screen fraternity against the gov-ernment decision to allow screening of Hin-di-language fi lms in the local theatres.

18 other organisations, which are part of the Oikkyajot, also participated in the pro-cession.

Later at a human chain held in front of the Jaitya Press Club, Sohanur Rahman Sohan said: “Our industry is already struggling and allowing Hindi fi lms at this stage will be real-ly detrimental. Instead of helping the indus-try, the government is allowing Hindi fi lms and destroying our livelihood.”

Secretary General of the directors’ asso-ciation Mushfi qur Rahman Gulzar said they had sent a memorandum to the prime min-ister.

“We are expecting something positive. So far our movement has been really peaceful.

If our demands are not met soon, we will be forced to take strong measures.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Bangladesh Film Di-rectors’ Association announced to halt pro-duction work of all fi lms in the country.

Vice President of the association Sohanur Rahman Sohan said letters had been sent to all the BFDC and outdoor units to stop their work.

“This import of Hindi fi lms will totally destroy our local industry and we cannot let that happen,” he said.

The Bollywood fi lm “Wanted”, starring Salman Khan, is scheduled for release in more than 80 cinemas across the country on January 23.

Earlier in 2010, the Ministry of Commerce allowed 12 Indian fi lms to be imported and screened in the country. Among them, nine were Hindi and three were Bangla.

Since then a faction of the local fi lm in-dustry has been demonstrating against the decision.

The Indian Bangla fi lms – Jor, Badla and Sangram – were released in 2011.

The Hindi fi lms that were allowed were Sholay, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Don, Wanted, Three Idiots, Taare Zameen Par, Dil-wale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hain and Kuch Kuch Hota Hain.

Out of them, Wanted is the only fi lm which is ready to hit the theatres.

The association of cinema owners, how-ever, are in favour of releasing Hindi fi lms on the ground of saving their business. They said many theatres were closed down due to the failure of local fi lms and they releasing foreign fi lms could be a boost for the indus-try. l

Su� erings unbound for petrol bomb victimsNumber of burn patients has been risingat the Dhaka Medical College Hospitaln Mohammad Jamil Khan

As the nationwide blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance con-tinues, there seems to be no respite in sight from crude bomb and petrol bomb attacks.

New victims with burn injuries from the attacks keep pouring in at Dha-ka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) everyday. The air is heavy with the pain-fi lled groans of the patients, and equally heart-wrenching grief of their families.

Abdur Rashid, 45, an autorickshaw driver, suff ered severe burns when the bus he was travelling on was attacked by pickets near Nandan Park at Ashulia on Tuesday evening. He is currently under-going treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery at the DMCH.

Dr Partha Shankar Pal, resident sur-geon at the burn institute, said Rashid had suff ered 39% burn injuries, and his respiratory system had been severely aff ected. “His condition is critical,” the doctor told the Dhaka Tribune.

Rashid’s wife Rasheda Begum said: “My husband had gone to Aricha to visit his sister’s husband, who had re-cently recovered from heart complica-tions. He went on Friday, but could not come home [at Kaliakair in Gazipur] as he could not get a bus because of the blockade.

“But when I told him about our three-year-old son Rahat falling ill from high fever on Tuesday, he started for home in the evening.”

Rashid’s bus was attacked around 7:30pm that day near Nandan Amuse-ment Park in Ashulia.

“He never came home; fate brought him here instead,” a crying Rasheda

said in front of the ICU. Carrying her feverish son, she said:

“I do not know what to do now. At this point, I feel death would be better than suff ering such pain.”

Three other people suff ered burn in-juries in the same attack – two of them students. They are being treated at the burn institute as well.

The students, Prithwiraj Chakrob-orty, 20, and his close friend Rajib Kar-makar, 21, were going to Pritihwiraj’s sister’s house in Kaliakair to fetch Prithwiraj’s HSC certifi cate for univer-sity admission.

Before he could reach his sister’s house, Prithwiraj fell victim in the at-tack and received 4% burns in his hands. His friend Rajib suff ered 7% burns.

Chandan Chakroborty, Prithwiraj’s father, told the Dhaka Tribune that his son had been off ered a place at the ac-counting department of Mohammad-pur Central University, while Rajib had secured a place at the political science department. The admission deadline at their university is on January 28.

“I do not know what will happen to his admission. If he misses the dead-line because of this attack, who will take the responsibility? My son’s future is at stake here,” Chandan told the Dha-ka Tribune.

Another victim Nitai Sarker, 57, an accountant, suff ered 2% burn injuries. He was going home at Baraipara on that bus after work at Aminbazar area.

In a separate incident in Feni, fab-ric trader Main Uddin, 30, received 8% burn injuries. Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, he said pickets attacked his autorickshaw on Basurhat Road in Da-ganbhuiyan upazila yesterday night.

“Will this ever end?” he asked. According to the records at the burn

institute, at least 42 victims of arson vi-olence have been brought in since the blockade started.

At present, 21 victims are undergo-ing treatment at the hospital. A total of three patients have died while under-going treatment so far. l

BERC against raising west zone company’s retail tari� n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The technical evaluation committee of the Bangladesh Energy Regulato-ry Commission (BERC) has recom-mended against raising power tariff s at the consumer-level by a distribu-tion company.

The recommendation came yes-terday after a public hearing on pro-posals by the West Zone Power Dis-tribution Company Ltd (WZPDCO) for hiking electricity prices by 21.31% if the proposed bulk tariff went up.

WZPDCO Deputy General Manag-er Rabindranath Roy presented the proposal before the commission,

but said they would not have made the retail tariff proposal if there was also no proposal regarding bulk tar-iff hike.

However, the BERC committee recommended increasing average per unit (each kilowatt-hour) tar-iff s for the WZPDCO consumers by 2.28% if the bulk tariff was in-creased.

The WZPDCO has about eight lakh customers in 21 districts and 20 upazila towns, including Khulna, Bagerhat, Jessore and Barisal.

BERC Chairman AR Khan, Mem-bers Salim Mahmud, Delwar Hos-sain and Md Maksudul Haque and

other stakeholders attended the public hearing at the commission’s offi ce in the capital.

Meanwhile, Shamsul Alam, ener-gy adviser of the Consumer Associ-ation of Bangladesh (CAB), opposed the BERC move to raise power tariff s during yesterday’s hearing.

During the hearing, members of some left-leaning parties, including the Communist Party of Bangla-desh, also requested the commis-sion not to increase the tariff s.

Mostaque Ahmed, chief of the evaluation committee and also a di-rector for the BERC, said if the bulk power tariff was increased by 5.16%,

the operating revenue in 2014-15 fi s-cal year for the WZPDCO would be Tk1542.8 crore for 2351.02 million units.

If the bulk tariff was not in-creased, then the company’s reve-nue would be Tk1509.7 crore; while the company would reach break-even if the BERC recommendation for only 2.28% increase in case of a bulk tariff hike was approved.

On January 20, the technical eval-uation committee of the BERC rec-ommended raising bulk power tar-iff s. It recommended increasing the average per unit (per kilowatt-hour) tariff of the PDB by 5.16%. l

Laser-etched metal ‘bounces’ water and cleans itselfn BBC

Physicists in the US have created metal surfaces that repel water to the extent that droplets bounce away.

They sculpted the surface of small pieces of platinum, titanium and brass using a very high-powered laser.

The materials “self-clean” be-cause water droplets gather dust particles before they slide away.

If it can be scaled up, the tech-nique could help produce hygienic, easily-maintained devices - from so-lar panels to toilets - that do no rust or ice up.

The team, from the University of Rochester in New York, reported

their fi ndings in the Journal of Ap-plied Physics.

Most other eff orts to produce such “superhydrophobic” surfac-es have relied on coatings, but this approach permanently changes the shape of the metal’s surface.

“The structures created by our laser on the metals are intrinsically part of the material surface,” said senior author Prof Chunlei Guo.

“The material is so strongly wa-ter-repellent, the water actually gets bounced off . Then it lands on the surface again, gets bounced off again, and then it will just roll off from the surface.”

Prof Guo’s team etched paral-

lel grooves into the metals, 0.1mm apart, using rapid pulses of a laser beam that are extremely strong but extremely brief - lasting just a few quadrillionths of a second.

On close inspection, these

grooves are covered in complex “na-nostructures” that give the surface its remarkable properties.

Immediately following the treat-ment, water actually sticks very easi-ly to the metal surface. But as soon as it comes into contact with air, it be-comes almost impossible to get wet.

Water droplets released from 2cm above the surface bounce back to a height of 5mm, maintaining 30% of their energy. And any drops sitting on the surface, given half a chance, will slide away.

These materials are even slip-perier than Tefl on, a hydrophobic material well-known from non-stick frying pans. l

Top, Rasheda, wife of autorickshaw driver Abdur Rashid who sustained 40% burns in a petrol bomb attack on Tuesday, sheds tears as her husband writhes in pain on the hospital bed

Rajib Karmakar, who su� ered 7% burn injuries in the same incident, also taking treatment at the DMCH burn unit

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Drugs in dirt: Scientists appeal for helpn BBC

US scientists are asking the public to join them in their quest to mine the Earth’s soil for compounds that could be turned into vital new drugs.

Spurred on by the recent discovery of a potential new antibiotic in soil, the Rockefeller University team want to check dirt from every country in the world.

They have already begun analysing samples from beaches, forests and de-serts across fi ve continents.

But they need help getting samples.On their Drugs From Dirt website,

they say: “The world is a big place and we can’t get to all of the various corners of it.

“We would like some assistance in sampling soil from around the world. If this sounds interesting to you – sign up.”

They want to hear from people from all countries and are particularly keen to receive samples from unique, un-explored environments such as caves, islands, and hot springs.

Such places, they say, could house the holy grail – compounds produced by soil bacteria that are entirely new to science.

Researcher Dr Sean Brady told the BBC: “We are not after hundreds of thousands of samples. What we real-ly want is a couple of thousand from some really unique places that could contain some really interesting stuff . So it’s not really your garden soil we are after, although that will have plenty of bacteria in it too.”

He said they would also be interest-ed to hear from schools and colleges that might want to get involved in the project.

From the 185 samples they have tested so far there are some promising results, the researchers say in the jour-nal eLife. l

Film actors and directors bring out a procession followed by a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital yesterday protesting the release of Hindi � lms in Bangladesh NASHIRUL ISLAM

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 THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

B3 Brent crude inches above $48, but outlook remains weak

B4 Bank of Japan slashes in� ation outlook, boosts growth forecast

Obama: US, not China, must write trade rules n Reuters, Washington

US President Barack Obama said the United States and not China must write trade rules for Asia and called on Con-gress to give the White House a freer hand to close trade deals.

Obama, who is pushing to over-come resistance to so-called fast-track authority from within his own party as well as conservative Republicans, said if China prevailed, US workers and businesses would be at a disadvantage.

“That’s why I’m asking both parties to give me trade promotion authori-ty to protect American workers, with strong new trade deals from Asia to Eu-rope that aren’t just free, but fair,” he said in the State of the Union address on Tuesday, also acknowledging past deals had not always “lived up to the hype.”

China is not part of the Trans-Pacifi c Partnership the United States is nego-tiating with 11 other trading partners, which aims to set common standards on issues such as workers’ rights and the environment as well as lower trade barriers.

The Asian giant is instead pushing for faster progress towards a trade pact with the wider Asia Pacifi c Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc.

Asked about Obama’s comments, China’s Foreign Ministry yesterday said the country was willing to work with the US to resolve trade problems.

“We hope each side can put forth joint eff orts to provide a fair, open and transparent trade and investment environment, and jointly work to make contributions to improving global investment rules,” said ministry spokeswoman HuaChunying in a daily briefi ng.

National Association of Manufacturers President Jay Timmons said fast-track, which gives Congress a yes-or-no vote on trade agreements in exchange for setting negotiating objectives, would make trading partners take the United States more seriously and backed Obama’s focus on China.

“I think it’s important to note that there are countries all over the world, China included, that would like to take away America’s mantle of economic leadership,” he said.

Trade supporters and critics are al-ready lobbying lawmakers on fast-track authority, and Maryland lawmak-er Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, said the White House had to consider Democrats’ concerns about trade deals hurting jobs and wages.

“The majority of Democrats right now are very hesitant, to say the least, and not at all sure that trade is good for working people,” said Hoyer, who voted against fast-track in 2002 but has supported major trade deals. l

BB sets re� nance limit for physically impaired entrepreneursn Tribune Report

Physically challenged entrepreneurs would be entitled to get a maximum refi nancing facility of Tk5 lakh from Bangladesh Bank Fund, established in 2013 without having any limit.

All the individuals, including the visually impaired SME entrepreneurs, will be ben-

efi ted by the refi nancing that ranges from Tk10,000 to Tk5 lakh, said a circular Bang-ladesh Bank issued yesterday.

They will get 100% refi nancing, with 10% interest, subject to availability of funds.

Banks have been asked to take neces-sary measures, following their own policy, to expand the loan disbursement activities among those physically challenged under

the Bangladesh Bank fund.They were also advised to make support-

ive programme in their annual activities and take measures to allocate necessary budget for physically challenged individuals in-cluding those visually impaired, according to the circular.

Banks may make this expenditure under the CSR programme, the circular said, add-

ing that the instructions will take immediate eff ect. An offi cial in every branch of banks would be tasked with providing banking ser-vices easily for those physically challenged.

Moreover, such insolvent individuals would be allowed to open a bank account with Tk10 and there is no compulsion to maintain minimum deposit against that ac-count, added the circular. l

Cash subsidy on exports released n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has released Tk875 crore as cash subsidy on exports, espe-cially of jute and garment sectors, for the third quarter last fi scal year.

Finance Division disbursed the amount yesterday, which is expected to help the political unrest-hit garments sector to pay wages of their workers by the fi rst week of month, said offi cials.

Of the money, the garment sector got Tk500 crore and jute and other sec-tors received the remaining fi gure.

The garment industry leaders earli-

er demanded the release of the subsidy instalment so they could pay the work-ers’ wages.

However, Bangladesh Garment Man-ufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Associ-ation (BKMEA) had jointly demanded Tk1,900 crore to Bangladesh Bank.

“The subsidy amount we have re-ceived will give exporters little comfort to meet the present crisis in political unrest,” former fi rst vice president of BKMEA Mohammad Hatem told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said it would take fi ve more days to have the money in their hands as some processes are involved.

Besides, the blockade is delaying the process of delivering export payments through local channels, Hatem alleged.

He also feared the production might slow down as blockade was disrupting raw materials supply to the factories.

Cash incentive or export subsidy rose by more than 35% to Tk3,500 crore in fi scal year 2014-15 compared to last fi nancial year, a fi gure that has crossed 3.0% of the total National Board of Rev-enue earnings.

Currently, 14 export-earning sectors including apparel and frozen foods get the fi nancial benefi t ranging 5-20% on their export earnings. Earlier, 19 sec-tors were eligible for export incentives.

Meanwhile, BGMEA has already urged the politicians to fi nd a solution to the current political instability as the nationwide transport blockade is caus-ing huge losses to the industry.

“Keep the RMG sector alive. Please, ensure a safe supply chain, resolve the current deadlock and guarantee con-genial business climate,” said Atiqul Islam, president of BGMEA. l

BASIC Bank asked to intensify default loan recoveryTotal outstanding of large loans stood at Tk8,534 crore in November last year n Jebun Nesa Alo

State-owned BASIC Bank has been asked to intensify their eff ort on loan recovery to reduce default loan rate growing abnormally.

The instruction came at a meeting Bangladesh Bank held with the BASIC Bank management on Monday over the fi nancial situation of the scam-hit bank.

The default loans were growing ab-normally as large borrowers of the bank have been turning defaulters, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

The rate of loan recovery from the top defaulters is very poor, prompting the central bank to ask focusing on the loan recovery drive, he said.

BASIC Managing Director Khondok-er Md Iqbal expressed his hope that the fi nancial picture of the bank will change by June this year as they got the capital support of Tk790 crore from the government on 29 December last year.

He said they expect to get more fund from the government soon as part of recapitalisation and the positive ef-fect of funding will be refl ected at the year-end fi nancial statement of 2014, which is yet to be published.

BASIC management also demanded that the bank be allowed to purchase

loans of the clients who terminated their relations with the bank but the central bank did not allow such prac-tice.

Currently, the bank faces a capital shortfall of Tk2,257 crore, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

The default loans against top 20 de-faulters rose by 103% to Tk1,793 crore on November last year compared to Tk879 crore in December 2013.

The default loan against top bor-rowers also rose aggressively, but the recovery was very poor last year.

The loan recovery was only Tk2 lakh in November last year which was Tk2.20 crore in December 2013.

The total loan recovery against top defaulters was only Tk2.19 crore last year, even in some months, the recov-ery was zero.

The total outstanding of large loan stood at Tk8534 crore in November last year.

The total default loans of the bank stood at Tk6,473 crore or 56% in the same month, according to the central bank latest data.

On the other hand, the bank already submitted many proposals of loan re-scheduling to the Bangladesh Bank.

The bank rescheduled total of Tk154 crore during last year. l

Call for strong political will to face post-2015 agenda n Tribune Report

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) distin-guished fellow Debapriya Bhattacha-rya has called for incorporation of as-pirations of transformative changes, a credible work plan and strong expres-sion of political will in the upcoming international development agenda.

He was speaking at the fi rst session of inter-governmental negotiations on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, said a CPD press release is-sued in Dhaka yesterday.

Debapriya also calle d upon the member-states of the UN to demon-strate visible political will to endow the post-2015 international agenda with necessary momentum.

The session was co-chaired by the co-facilitators of the negotiations Macharia Kamau, Ambassador of Ken-ya and David Donoghue, Ambassador of Ireland.

Debapriya, also chair of Southern Voice on post-MDGs–a network of 48 think tanks from Asia, Africa and Latin America, in his presentation highlight-ed the issues that should fi nd place in the political declaration on post-2015 agenda.

He emphasised that the global lead-ers need to commit themselves to a new framework of international part-nership for development cooperation.

This would entail provisioning ad-equate resources for implementation of the SDGs, making space for private sector and non-state actors in the im-plementation process, putting in place a rigorous accountability mechanism, and operationalising an eff ective monitoring and review procedures, he said. l

Guideline formed against use of chemicals in ripening fruits n Tribune Report

Ministry of Commerce has formulated a guideline to prevent the use of chem-icals for quick ripening of fruits.

The guideline has been submitted to the Court, said a ministry statement yesterday.

On July 22 last year, the High Court asked the commerce ministry to for-mulate a guideline by six months against chemicals use in fruits.

The guideline would remain eff ec-tive for an interim period before the

Food Safety Authority was formed un-der the Food Safety Act 2013.

The guideline incorporates the pro-visions of several laws, including the Food Safety Act 2013, Special Powers Act 1974 and Consumer Rights Protec-tion Act 2009.

Under the guideline, a central moni-toring committee, headed by addition-al commerce secretary, will be formed.

In its statement, the ministry said a group of unscrupulous business-men use chemicals harmful to human health to ripen fruits.

It said the government would mon-itor the use of chemicals and take pu-nitive actions against the people found involved in using chemicals.

Under the new guideline, the com-mittee will also visit warehouses and examine the registration books of pur-chases and sales.

Besides, necessary steps would be taken to make people aware about the hazards of using chemicals in mangoes, lichees, jack fruits, blackberries, pineap-ples, guavas, bananas, papayas and oth-er seasonal fruits, the ministry added. l

ICMAB award winners pose for a photograph at a prize-giving ceremony held in Sonargaon Hotel day before yesterday. Finance Minister AMA Muhith was present at the function MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

BGB members stand guard on the street to let a convoy of goods-laden trucks pass through Raypara area under Rajpara police station of Rajshahi district yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

‘The majority of Democrats right now are very hesitant, to say the least, and not at all sure that trade is good for working people’

B2 Stock Thursday, January 22, 2015DHAKA TRIBUNE

News, analysis and recent disclosuresSHURWID: The Company has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on June 30, 2014 to the respective shareholders BO Account on January 20, 2015.ENVOYTEX: (Q1 Un-audited): Pro� t after tax from Oct14 to Dec14 was Tk. 174.57 million with EPS of Tk. 1.21 as against Tk. 39.36 million with EPS of Tk. 0.27 (restat-ed) respectively for the same period of the previous year.CNATEX: (Q3 Un-audited): The Company has reported its net pro� t after tax Tk. 66.36 million and basic EPS Tk. 0.51 for the 3 (three) months ended on 31 March 2014 (Jan 2014-March 2014) as against pro� t af-ter tax of Tk. 77.93 million and basic EPS of Tk. 1,558.53 for the same period of the pre-vious year. It is to be noted that basic EPS has been calculated based on weighted av-erage Pre-IPO paid-up number of shares i.e. 130,000,000 shares and 50,000 shares in 2014 and in 2013 respectively. However, considering Post-IPO 175,000,000 number of shares the Companys basic EPS for the 3 (three) months ended on 31 March 2014

would be Tk. 0.38. For the period of 9 (nine) months (July 2013 to March 2014) ended on 31 March 2014 net pro� t after tax was Tk. 297.30 million and basic EPS was Tk. 6.61 as against pro� t after tax of Tk. 271.37 million and basic EPS of Tk. 5,427.48 for the same period of the previous year. It is to be noted that the said EPS has been calculated based on weighted average Pre-IPO paid-up number of shares i.e. 44,950,000 shares and 50,000 shares in 2014 and in 2013 re-spectively. However, considering Post-IPO 175,000,000 number of shares, Companys basic EPS would be Tk. 1.70 for 9 (nine) months ended on 31 March 2014 (July 2013 to March 2014) and NAV per share would be Tk. 16.60 as on 31 March 2014.ZAHINTEX: (H/Y Un-audited): Net Pro� t after tax from July14 to Dec14 was Tk. 20.38 million with EPS of Tk. 0.33 as against Tk. 21.79 million and Tk. 0.35 (restated) respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas net pro� t after tax from Oct14 to Dec14 was Tk. 2.45 million with EPS of Tk. 0.04 as against Tk.

2.77 million with EPS of Tk. 0.04 (restated) respectively for the same period of the previous year.DBH: (H/Y Un-audited): Net Pro� t after tax from July14 to Dec14 (excluding pref-erence dividend) was Tk. 246.85 million with EPS of Tk. 2.13 as against Tk. 200.84 million and Tk. 1.73 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Dividend/AGMHRTEX:12.50% cash, AGM: 31.03.2015, Record date: 12.02.2015.MARICO: 225% interim cash, Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 29.01.2015.ECABLES: 10% cash, AGM: 26.02.2015, Record Date: 05.01.2015.JAMUNAOIL: 90% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 07.02.2015, Record date: 11.12.2014.PADMAOIL: 100% cash, AGM: 14.02.2015, Record date: 22.12.2014. SPCL: 25% cash and 5% stock dividend, AGM: 29.01.2015, Record Date: 27.11.2014.SAVAREFR: No dividend, AGM: 24.01.2015, Record Date: 23.12.2014.

Stocks tumble as political strife continues DSEX slips to over 7-week lown Tribune Report

Stocks went into tailspin yesterday as fear of prolonged political unrest made investors panicky.

The benchmark index DSEX dived 73 points or 1.6% to 4,783 – lowest since November 30 this year and extended the losing streak for the fourth straight sessions.

The DSEX also saw a single-day steep fall in recent months.

The Shariah index DSES lost 16 points or 1.2% to 1,134. The compris-ing blue chips DS30 closed at 1,774, shedding 27 points or 1.6%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, was down 120 points to 8,885.

“Uncertainty over the political situation remained a key concern as still there was no sign of political reconciliation among feuding politi-cal parties,” said a stock broker.

Investors were disturbed by the images on TV channels and won-dered where the country is heading for, he said.

The country saw escalation of political violence since January 5

when 20-party alliance called for in-defi nite blockade, demanding fresh national election.

In line with negative sentiment, all the sectors closed in negative ter-ritory, where non-banking fi nancial institutions took the maximum hit plunging 3%.

Cement also lost a hefty more than 2%, followed by power that declined 1.3%, food & allied 1.2%, pharmaceuticals and banks 1% each.

Dhaka Stock Exchange witnessed sluggish trading continuously, as risk-averse investors preferred to stay sideline.

Total turnover at DSE was Tk280 crore, up by 14% over the previous session. C & A Textile Limited that made debut on the day alone con-tributed more than 15% of the total turnover.

The new-comer was the biggest gainer of the day rallying 120% on its off er value of Tk10 per share.

More than 85% share prices fell, as out of 309 issues traded, 20 ad-vanced, 265 declined and 24 re-mained unchanged.

Lanka Bangla Securities said it was another tough day for stocks. Since the opening of this week, Motijheel Street has been observing steep fall in index, it said.

“Fears over impact of prolonged political unrest might be the reason behind the ongoing skid in stocks.”

IDLC Investments said market encountered panic-shaken free-fall during the session. l

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

National Feed-N -9.97 -11.08 35.46 34.30 37.90 33.00 19.135 1.37 25.9Central Insur -A -8.50 -8.58 22.60 22.60 22.60 22.60 0.002 2.96 7.6Pragati Gen. I -A -7.89 -7.89 35.00 35.00 35.00 35.00 0.018 2.47 14.2Hamid Fabrics -N -7.16 -7.38 32.87 32.40 34.20 32.10 5.277 3.12 10.5NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A -6.35 -3.34 6.08 5.90 6.30 5.80 0.824 0.43 14.1Khan Brothers-N -6.19 -5.72 31.00 30.30 31.90 29.60 3.216 1.36 22.8BEXIMCO Ltd. -A -6.08 -6.31 31.31 30.90 32.60 30.60 12.202 1.01 31.0Sinobangla Indu.-A -6.03 -5.96 26.53 26.50 26.70 26.40 0.239 1.21 21.9ICB Sonali Bank 1 MF-A -5.97 -5.37 6.34 6.30 6.40 6.30 0.029 1.04 6.1Prime Insur -A -5.79 -3.14 17.90 17.90 17.90 17.90 0.014 1.81 9.9

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

National Feed-N -10.65 -11.52 35.50 34.40 37.30 33.00 85.786 1.37 25.9Shampur Sugar -Z -8.70 -17.60 8.24 8.40 8.50 8.30 0.021 -52.72 -veMidas Financing-Z -7.55 -4.20 15.29 14.70 16.00 14.60 0.451 -7.00 -veProgressive Life-A -7.24 -5.54 71.60 70.50 76.00 70.20 0.367 2.30 31.1Bangladesh Welding -Z -6.98 -7.64 16.32 16.00 17.30 15.70 2.304 0.44 37.1Sinobangla Indu.-A -6.74 -5.65 26.88 26.30 28.00 25.50 2.919 1.21 22.2Samata LeatheR -Z -6.37 -6.30 19.20 19.10 19.10 19.00 0.024 0.05 384.0NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A -6.35 -3.27 5.92 5.90 6.30 5.70 10.027 0.43 13.8BD. Thai Alum -B -6.33 -7.56 37.28 37.00 40.00 36.50 14.926 1.09 34.2GeminiSeaFood-Z -6.11 -6.88 231.93 230.30 250.00 226.00 0.555 1.39 166.9

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

C & A Textile -N 4,155,974 93.65 28.75 21.90 0.00 0.00 27.00 20.10 22.53National Feed-N 539,571 19.14 5.88 34.30 -9.97 38.10 37.90 33.00 35.46Jamuna Oil -A 60,586 12.55 3.85 202.50 -0.78 204.10 211.90 200.00 207.07BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 389,665 12.20 3.75 30.90 -6.08 32.90 32.60 30.60 31.31WesternMarine -N 230,118 11.80 3.62 50.20 -4.38 52.50 54.00 49.60 51.29LafargeS Cement-Z 82,477 10.27 3.15 125.20 -3.10 129.20 128.70 121.30 124.55SummitAlliancePort.-A 131,917 8.77 2.69 66.70 -5.79 70.80 69.70 64.20 66.49Alltex Industries -Z 201,809 5.84 1.79 28.80 -4.32 30.10 29.60 28.20 28.95Bengal Windsor-A 97,900 5.51 1.69 56.90 3.08 55.20 57.50 55.70 56.27Khulna Printing-N 260,505 5.49 1.68 20.90 -5.43 22.10 22.00 20.00 21.06Hamid Fabrics -N 160,531 5.28 1.62 32.40 -7.16 34.90 34.20 32.10 32.87Shurwid Ind. -N 189,995 5.15 1.58 27.00 -5.59 28.60 28.50 26.80 27.09Grameenphone-A 13,141 4.57 1.40 349.70 -0.60 351.80 350.90 345.30 347.90aamra technologies-A 118,930 4.35 1.34 36.50 -1.62 37.10 37.00 36.20 36.58SAIF Powertec-N 57,995 4.10 1.26 69.80 -2.10 71.30 73.80 69.00 70.75

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

C & A Textile -N 18,750,608 425.58 15.10 22.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 21.10 22.70LafargeS Cement-Z 1,482,375 186.28 6.61 126.10 -2.47 129.30 129.00 123.00 125.66National Feed-N 2,416,198 85.79 3.04 34.40 -10.65 38.50 37.30 33.00 35.50Grameenphone-A 224,848 78.53 2.79 350.20 -0.54 352.10 351.00 345.30 349.26Envoy Textiles Ltd-N 1,298,813 73.17 2.60 55.70 -2.62 57.20 59.00 54.90 56.33BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 2,110,971 66.20 2.35 31.00 -5.78 32.90 33.00 30.70 31.36WesternMarine -N 1,057,318 53.75 1.91 50.40 -4.36 52.70 53.00 49.90 50.84Agni Systems -A 1,532,265 48.68 1.73 31.80 -3.93 33.10 33.00 31.30 31.77Brac Bank -A 1,097,492 42.68 1.51 39.00 -0.76 39.30 39.80 38.70 38.89Beximco Pharma -A 730,849 42.03 1.49 57.80 -2.03 59.00 58.40 56.30 57.51IDLC Finance -A 498,444 38.74 1.37 78.20 -0.64 78.70 79.10 77.10 77.71Titas Gas TDCLA 496,756 38.06 1.35 76.40 -1.29 77.40 78.10 76.00 76.61Square Pharma -A 146,467 37.26 1.32 254.10 -0.51 255.40 258.90 253.50 254.36Alltex Industries -Z 1,269,976 37.02 1.31 28.90 -4.93 30.40 30.80 28.20 29.15Hamid Fabrics -N 1,063,865 35.20 1.25 32.80 -5.20 34.60 34.70 32.50 33.09BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 1,093,190 36.46 1.48 32.90 -2.66 33.80 34.20 32.60 33.35

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 274.67 9.75 17.47 5.23 292.14 9.27NBFI 164.59 5.84 7.14 2.14 171.74 5.45Investment 40.03 1.42 6.24 1.87 46.27 1.47Engineering 236.70 8.40 37.21 11.15 273.91 8.69Food & Allied 74.72 2.65 4.78 1.43 79.50 2.52Fuel & Power 264.61 9.39 28.44 8.52 293.04 9.30Jute 1.76 0.06 0.00 1.76 0.06Textile 769.52 27.31 124.65 37.35 894.18 28.37Pharma & Chemical 221.04 7.84 11.00 3.30 232.04 7.36Paper & Packaging 22.04 0.78 7.80 2.34 29.84 0.95Service 77.23 2.74 13.58 4.07 90.80 2.88Leather 22.03 0.78 2.87 0.86 24.90 0.79Ceramic 19.01 0.67 2.39 0.72 21.40 0.68Cement 198.15 7.03 12.34 3.70 210.48 6.68Information Technology 70.79 2.51 6.44 1.93 77.23 2.45General Insurance 15.72 0.56 0.59 0.18 16.31 0.52Life Insurance 36.51 1.30 1.85 0.56 38.37 1.22Telecom 90.56 3.21 7.16 2.14 97.71 3.10Travel & Leisure 30.00 1.06 5.33 1.60 35.33 1.12Miscellaneous 188.33 6.68 36.51 10.94 224.84 7.13Debenture 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.00

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4783.21231 (-) 1.52% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1774.77209 (-) 1.52% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 14662.64510 (-) 1.43% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11877.40510 (-) 1.04% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8882.00740 (-) 1.37% ▼

DSE key features January 21, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

2,819.24

Turnover (Volume)

86,692,499

Number of Contract 110,738

Traded Issues 309

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

25

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

277

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,559.92

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.03

CSE key features January 21, 2015Turnover (Million Taka) 326.86

Turnover (Volume) 11,945,586

Number of Contract 22,656

Traded Issues 238

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

23

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

208

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,475.87

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.01

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

Market encountered panic-shaken free-fall during the session

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

7th ICB M F-A 9.88 9.66 84.33 84.50 84.50 84.00 0.013 8.52 9.9Islami Ins.BD-A 7.73 7.73 19.50 19.50 19.50 19.50 0.007 1.48 13.2Aziz PipesZ 7.14 7.14 19.50 19.50 19.50 19.50 0.001 -0.37 -veIFIL Islamic M.F.1-A 3.45 3.66 5.95 6.00 6.30 5.80 0.060 1.52 3.9Bengal Windsor-A 3.08 1.96 56.27 56.90 57.50 55.70 5.508 4.16 13.5BGIC -A 2.97 0.84 20.40 20.80 21.00 19.90 0.072 2.35 8.7SonarBangla Insu. -A 2.75 2.20 18.60 18.70 18.80 18.30 0.020 1.77 10.5Bata Shoe Ltd. -A 2.37 2.36 1199.63 1199.80 1200.00 1195.00 0.148 52.96 22.7Padma Islami Life*-N 2.13 2.24 38.30 38.30 39.00 37.60 0.038 1.10 34.8Dutch Ban. Bnk- A 1.83 1.82 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 0.000 9.69 10.3

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

3rd ICB M F-A 7.16 7.02 244.00 244.00 244.00 244.00 0.012 65.28 3.7Shahjibazar Power-N 2.24 1.39 210.16 214.60 218.70 204.00 22.855 9.00 23.4SonarBangla Insu. -A 2.15 (0.54) 18.56 19.00 19.10 17.90 1.506 1.77 10.58th ICB M F-A 2.02 2.61 65.63 65.70 65.90 65.00 0.105 4.76 13.8BD Fixed Income MF-A 1.49 (1.19) 6.62 6.80 6.90 6.40 0.129 0.48 13.8Fine Foods A 0.99 0.89 10.19 10.20 10.30 10.10 0.100 -0.48 -ve1st ICB M F -A 0.87 0.82 1,153.66 1,154.10 1,158.00 1,154.00 0.976 45.56 25.3Bengal Windsor-A 0.87 0.59 57.91 58.10 58.60 57.10 5.919 4.16 13.9Modern Dyeing -Z 0.77 (1.30) 105.00 104.20 108.00 101.10 0.042 -2.16 -veNorthern Jute -Z 0.70 (0.40) 244.99 245.10 246.10 245.00 0.159 1.00 245.0

ANALYST

'Fears over impact of prolonged political unrest might be the reason behind the ongoing skid in stocks'

B3BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

Gold tops $1,300 on stimulus hopes n Reuters, Singapore

Gold climbed above $1,300 an ounce yesterday for the fi rst time since Au-gust as a softer dollar, worries over the global economy and hopes of stimulus measures from the European Central Bank (ECB) fuelled safe-haven bids.

Financial markets have been ner-vous about the ECB policy meeting on Thursday, when the bank is widely ex-pected to unveil a quantitative easing (QE) programme that is likely to boost demand for bullion.

“Prices have been boosted by hopes of QE by the European Central Bank, which is expected to have far-ranging eff ects on the bond market,” said Howie Lee, an in-vestment analyst at Phillip Futures.

“The prospects of looming defl ation and increased volatility in fi nancial markets have added to gold’s gains,” Lee said, adding that global growth worries were adding to the metal’s safe-haven appeal.

Spot gold hit a session high of $1,303.20, its loftiest level since Aug 18, and was at $1,299.60 an ounce by 0752 GMT, up 0.5% on the day.

The dollar lost some ground as the yen strengthened after the Bank of Ja-pan kept its monetary policy steady.

A softer greenback makes dollar-denominated gold cheaper for holders of other currencies, while also boosting its hedge appeal.

Bullion has performed well since the

beginning of the year as its safe-haven appeal has been burnished by uncer-tainties in Europe.

Traders are watching out for Sun-day’s snap election in Greece. Polls sug-gest anti-bailout party Syriza will win, which may set off fresh turmoil in the euro zone.

Worries over the health of the global economy have added to gold’s demand. On Tuesday the IMF cut its forecast for global growth in 2015 and called on governments and central banks to pur-sue accommodative monetary policies and reforms.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, jumped 1.55% to 742.24 tonnes on Tuesday.

But some in the market warned that gold could see profi t-taking at these levels as it has climbed steeply, gain-ing nearly 10% this month after two straight annual declines.

“While we do not discount further safe-haven-inspired gains in gold, the yellow metal may be in need of a price consolidation,” HSBC analyst James Steel said, adding that softer physical buying might also keep a lid on prices.

Other precious metal prices rose along with gold.

Spot silver jumped more than 2% yesterday and has gained about 16% so far this month. Palladium rose 1% to stretch its rise to a third session, while platinum climbed 0.4%. l

Prime Bank Ltd has recently signed an agreement with Korea Exchange Bank. Habibur Rahman, deputy managing director of Prime Bank Limited and Jong Yeong Park, managing director of Korea Exchange Bank have signed the agreement

Managing director of EXIM Bank, Dr Mohammed Haider Ali Miah has recently congratulated central bank governor, Dr Atiur Rahman for being awarded “Governor of the Year in Asia-Paci� c” for 2015 by “The Banker”, a UK based � nancial magazine of Financial Times Group

Modhumoti Bank Limited has recently signed an agreement with Dhaka WASA. The bank’s MD and CEO, Md Mizanur Rahman and MD of Dhaka WASA, Engineer Taqsem A Khan have signed the agreement

Standard Bank Limited has recently signed an agreement with Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) Limited for collecting electricity bills through online banking system from its branches. Tha bank’s DMD, Mamun-Ur-Rashid and general manager of DPDC, Md Aminul Islam have signed the agreement

Professional Advancement Bangladesh Limited (PABL) has recently organised a workshop on compliance for underwriters of Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd

Brent crude inches above $48, but outlook remains weakn Reuters, Singapore

Oil prices edged up yesterday in a fur-ther sign of support around current levels, but analysts fretted that the out-look for the next six months remained bleak due to oversupply.

Oil fell as much as 5% on Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund cut its 2015 global economic forecast and key producer Iran hinted prices could drop to $25 a barrel without sup-portive OPEC action.

Prices stabilised yesterday, with traders pointing to buying this week whenever benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 dropped towards $48 a barrel.

Brent was trading at $48.44 a barrel at 0413 GMT, up 45 cents from its last settlement, while US crude CLc1 was up 48 cents at $46.95 a barrel.

But analysts said they expected low prices to continue for the next half-year.

“We see little scope for avoiding a large stock build in 1H15 and therefore anticipate weak prices ... Commodity price strength is inversely related to the dollar. With the US in monetary tight-ening mode and Europe and Japan in an expansive phase, an expected stron-ger dollar will create headwinds for any upward oil price improvement,” BNP Paribas said in a note overnight.

Lower oil prices are bringing down infl ation in many countries, especially Asian and European economies that have to import to meet a lot of their demand.

“Headline infl ation rates have come down sharply in developed economies because of low oil prices ... The global low-infl ation environment has created

room for policy easing in key econo-mies, most notably in the euro area,” US-based Pira Energy Group said in an overnight note. l

A ship passes a petro-industrial complex in Kawasaki near Tokyo REUTERS

Nigeria under pressure to cut petrol prices furthern AFP, Lagos

Nigeria’s government was under pres-sure Tuesday to cut petrol prices fur-ther, with unions saying people were being “short-changed” over the global crude price plunge.

The main opposition accused the government of “tokenism” before the February 14 elections, after Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke an-nounced 10-naira (fi ve US cent, 4.5 euro cent) reduction on Sunday.

A litre of fuel at the pump in Africa’s most populous nation and top oil pro-ducer now costs 87 naira.

But the opposition and unions said the price of petrol as well as diesel and kerosene should be slashed further.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) said in a statement on Monday that the new price of petrol was “mere token-ism at a time the price of crude oil has crashed by about 60 %”.

Party spokesman Lai Mohammed said the government should immedi-ately cut the price of petrol to 70 naira

a litre and diesel and kerosene to no more than 90 naira.

Mohammed charged that state cor-ruption was to blame for the size of Sunday’s reduction, saying the govern-ment was unwilling to reduce the price

further as it would hit its so-called “commissions”.

The plunge in crude prices to below $50 a barrel has slashed the Nigerian government’s revenue, forcing it to re-vise its 2015 budget forecast.

Africa’s leading economy based on gross domestic product derives 70% of government revenue and 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings from crude sales.

Nigeria currently produces 1.75 mil-lion barrels of crude a day, according to OPEC, but imports most of its refi ned petroleum products, which the govern-ment subsidises to keep prices low.

A devaluation of the currency against the US dollar has also hiked the cost of imports, with a knock-on eff ect on the price of imported goods and ser-vices to consumers.

Peter Ozo-Eson, general-secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress work-ers’ union, echoed calls for further re-ductions at the pump.

“If we consider all the variables in determining petrol prices, Nigerians are still being short-changed,” he told AFP.

“The 10-naira drop is not enough. It should have been 30% or even more. If you check other oil-producing nations, you will notice that the drop is at least one-thirds.” l

Taiwan 2014 export orders hit record thanks partly to iPhonen AFP, Taiwan

Taiwan’s export orders hit a record high of $472.8bn in 2014 thanks to robust demand for handheld devices includ-ing Apple’s iPhone 6, government of-fi cials said Tuesday.

The 6.7% rise over the previous year marked the highest growth since 7.2% in 2011.

The growth rate stood at only 1.1% in 2012 and 0.4% in 2013, as the economies of major trading partners such as China, the United States and Europe faltered.

“The latest fi gure indicates the strength of local companies in obtain-ing orders on the international mar-kets,” an offi cial at the economic min-istry said.

However, the booming export or-der fi gures do not necessarily help the economy as nearly half of the orders are fi lled by overseas plants of local compa-nies, mainly on the Chinese mainland.

Export orders - those fi led to manu-facturers one or two months ahead of delivery - are an indicator for the is-land’s export-reliant economy.

Taiwan’s actual overseas shipments

rose 2.7% year-on-year to a record high of $313.84bn in 2014.

Export orders for information and mobile devices rose 9.4% from 2013 to $127bn, the ministry said.

It did not identify brands but the of-fi cial referred to the iPhone 6 as a major factor in the increase.

Robust demand for the iPhone 6 and rival Android cellphones also benefi ted microchip makers and other suppliers.

Taiwan’s Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, is the world’s largest com-puter components manufacturer and assembles products for leading inter-national brands including iPhones.

Media reports say local fi rm Pega-tron Corp worked on the assembly of the new iPhone and Taiwan Semicon-ductor Manufacturing Company -- the world’s biggest contract microchip maker - manufactured its chips. Neither company has confi rmed the contracts.

Orders from the United States rose 7.2% in 2014 from the previous year to $118.5bn, while those from China in-creased 4.1% to $117.7bn.

Orders from Europe came in at $91bn, up 11.3%. l

Yen rises despite Bank of Japan cutting in� ation outlookn AFP, Tokyo

The yen rose in Asia yesterday, buoyed by the Bank of Japan’s decision to hold off fresh easing measures as it project-ed a pick up in the economy.

The gains came despite the central bank’s slashing of its outlook on infl a-tion, as the vaunted 2% target slid fur-ther out of reach, which was likely to boost speculation over further policy measures.

The dollar slipped to 117.39 yen yester-day afternoon, down from around 118.40 yen before the BoJ decision and 118.80 yen in New York. The euro, meanwhile, bought 135.97 yen and $1.1582 against 137.24 yen and $1.1553 in US trade.

The BoJ slashed its infl ation outlook for the year from April 2015, as plung-ing oil prices dent its eff orts to slay infl ation, and decided against fresh easing measures as it wrapped up a two-day policy meeting.

Policymakers boosted their growth forecasts, however, saying the econo-my was rebounding.

“If the infl ation forecast is cut, it would normally boost expectations for further monetary easing, sending the yen lower and stocks higher,” Daisuke Uno, chief market strategist at Sumi-tomo Mitsui Banking, told AFP.

But Uno said the bank’s forecasts for growth and infl ation were stronger for the year starting April 2016, while a sharp fall in the currency recently also left room for it to bounce back.

He added that some traders had priced in additional easing, setting the stage for the yen’s rise after the BoJ held steady.

Investors were now waiting for the European Central Bank’s policy meet-ing on Thursday.

The ECB is set to decide whether to buy sovereign bonds under its quanti-tative easing (QE) programme in a bid to prop up the sagging 19-nation euro-zone economy.

The prospect of such a move has hit the euro, which last week fell below $1.1500 for the fi rst time in more than 11 years before recovering slightly.

“Expectations are obviously coalesc-ing around a big ECB sovereign QE pro-gramme,” Richard Franulovich, chief currency strategist for the northern hemisphere at Westpac Banking Corp. in New York, told Bloomberg News.

Yesterday the dollar weakened against other Asia-Pacifi c currencies.

It slipped to 1,083.30 South Ko-rean won from 1,085.60 won recently, to Sg$1.3349 from Sg$1.3379, and to 12,493.00 Indonesian rupiah from 12,640.00 rupiah.

The dollar also weakened to Tw$31.49 from Tw$31.59, to 32.57 Thai baht from 32.71 baht, to 61.60 Indian rupees from 61.79 rupees, and to 44.41 Philippine pesos from 44.67 pesos.

The Australian dollar rose to 82.25 US cents from 81.76 US cents, while the Chinese yuan slipped to 18.91 yen from 19.01 yen. l

An oil and gas terminal in southern Nigeria's Niger Delta REUTERS

B4 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, January 22, 2015

DILBERT

Bank of Japan slashes in� ation outlook, boosts growth forecastn AFP

The Bank of Japan on yesterday slashed its infl ation outlook as plunging oil prices dent eff orts to slay defl ation, but policymakers boosted their growth forecasts and said the economy was re-bounding.

The bank, which held off fresh easing measures after a two-day policy meet-ing, said infl ation for the year starting in April would come in 1.0%, well down from an earlier 1.7% forecast.

But the economy would expand by 2.1%, up from 1.5%, it said.

The price downgrade underscores how reaching the BoJ’s 2% infl ation tar-get by early next year looks increasing-ly unlikely, and it may ramp up expec-tations for further stimulus to kickstart the world’s number three economy.

Markets are now awaiting a post-meeting press briefi ng by BoJ chief Haruhiko Kuroda, who has repeatedly pledged to do whatever is necessary to achieve the infl ation target.

Observers will be keen to see what Kuroda says about the possibility of further measures, after surprising markets in October when the bank an-nounced a huge expansion of its asset-buying programme.

Kuroda previously acknowledged that falling oil prices threatened the bank’s infl ation bid, but he said cheaper energy should give the wider economy a shot in the arm and generate higher prices.

“Kuroda will be under pressure to increase stimulus,” Masamichi Adachi, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., told Bloomberg News.

“It must be getting harder for him to communicate with market participants, with the economy expected to recover while infl ation is slowing due to oil.”

Oil prices have lost more than half their value from above $100 in June last year.

The meeting comes a day before Eu-ropean Central Bank policymakers are widely expected to give the go-ahead to a huge bond-buying programme aimed at propping up the ailing euro-zone economy.

Oil prices weigh on target The BoJ’s infl ation target is a corner-stone of Tokyo’s wider bid to turn around years of tepid growth by gener-ating price rises and prompting fi rms to boost their hiring and expansion plans.

But a sales tax rise in April slammed the brakes on consumer spending, plunging the economy into recession during the third quarter and throwing

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s growth proj-ect, dubbed Abenomics, into question.

The BoJ, however, on Yesterday kept up its view that the economy was on track for a recovery, and said its longer-term infl ation view remains un-aff ected.

The infl ation rate in the year start-ing April 2016 would come in at 2.2%, it said.

“With regard to the CPI (consumer price index), the outlook for the under-lying trend remains unchanged, but the year-on-year rate of increase will likely be lower toward fi scal 2015, due to the signifi cant decline in crude oil prices,” the bank said in a statement.

The rest of the statement was large-ly a mirror of the one issued after the BoJ’s meeting in December, when the bank struck a more upbeat view of economy, saying exports were showing signs of picking up while factory out-put was bottoming out.

“Apart from a minor tweak to its lending programmes, the Bank of Ja-pan left policy settings unchanged to-day and signalled no concern about the impact of lower oil prices,” Capital Eco-nomics said after the decision.

“The chances of additional stimulus being announced as early as April as we currently expect have thus diminished somewhat.” l

A man using his mobile phone walks past the Bank of Japan headquarters building in Tokyo REUTERS

Central bankers lurch from ‘whatever it takes’ to ‘whatever next’n Reuters

The Swiss currency shock has raised an awkward question many investors have been fearful of asking - what if central banks become as unpredictable and fallible as they are powerful?

The Swiss National Bank’s sudden decision to abandon its three-year-old cap on the franc - the “cornerstone” of its monetary policy just three days before - led to the biggest one-day move in major ex-change rates in the post-1973 � oating rates era. To some it was a warning sign of other U-turns, mishaps and possible failures by central banks still ahead, outcomes not fully appreciated by long-becalmed markets.

For decades the power of currency printing presses has held markets in thrall. “Don’t � ght the Fed” and all its interna-tional variations has been a devout belief among � nancial traders.

Even after the failure of Alan Greens-pan’s Federal Reserve to spot and heado� one of the biggest credit booms and busts in history, the ability of the Fed, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and others to � ood their money sup-ply to ease the fallout helped anaesthetise fractious markets.

The subsequent waves of cheap credit, currency � xes and “quantitative easing” drove down borrowing rates and erased volatility.

The demonstrations of central bank might culminated in ECB chief Mario

Draghi’s declaration in 2012 that he would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro. In the face of the power of the money print-ing press, speculation became pointless.

So much so that one of the biggest conundrums of recent years became the persistently low implied volatility in mar-kets even in the face of outsized economic, political and policy risks. Not everyone was pleased by the complacency.

“Monetary methadone was the best of no choice but we have become addicted to cheap money everywhere and, somehow, that central bankers are prophetic,” Nigel Wilson, chief executive of UK insurer Legal & General told Reuters last week as he be-moaned the track record of central banks over many years.

The � rst cracks appeared last summer, when it became clear the Fed was turning o� the printing presses even as counter-parts in Europe and Japan were still crank-ing up theirs.

The idea the world’s largest economy was about to suck dollars back out of the world just as others were pumping in euros and yen sent once-steady exchange rates lurching. The power of the central banks was as daunting as ever, but no longer such a reassuring and calming in� uence.

ThunderboltLast week’s thunderbolt from the Swiss authorities went further by calling into ques-tion whether central banks are as committed to their policies as they purport to be.

The SNB may simply have tried to pre-empt a � ood of euro sales expected after the ECB announces sovereign QE this week. But in allowing 30% plus franc appreciation it delivered its ailing economy a harsh blow, which few outsiders saw as unavoidable.

And for a major central bank to twice proclaim the virtue of e� ectively printing Swiss francs at a � xed 1.20 per euro, only to scrap the cap within the week, injects an element of randomness into monetary policymaking not seen for many years.

Can investors now be sure now Denmark’s central bank - facing a similar problem of holding a long-standing crown peg to a weakening euro - will hold the line as it repeatedly promises?

Or more immediately, will Draghi stay good to his commitment to do “whatever it takes” to sustain the euro zone and stave o� euro de� ation? Will he even be there to see it through?

Stephen Jen, manager of the epony-mous hedge fund SLJ Macro, reckons the Swiss decision was as much about personalities as the durability of the policy. The expansion of the central bank’s bal-ance sheet to date did not leave it way out of whack by comparison with the likes of Singapore, for example.

Jen argues the abandonment of the Swiss franc cap was simply a personal pref-erence of SNB chief Thomas Jordan who had inherited a policy he never liked from predecessor Philipp Hildebrand. l

Swiss 100 franc bank notes are withdrawn from an ATM in the northern Swiss town of Kreuzlingen in this picture illustration REUTERS

German investor con� dence up on 'QE e� ect’n AFP, Germany

Investment sentiment in Germany hit an 11-month high this month on hopes the European Central Bank is about to roll out its heavy anti-defl ation artil-lery, analysts said on Tuesday.

The widely watched investor confi -dence index calculated by the ZEW eco-nomic institute jumped 13.5 points to 48.4 points in January, its highest level in 11 months, ZEW said in a statement.

It was the third consecutive month-ly rise and beat analyst expectations for a more modest increase to around 40 points.

“The new year started with turmoil in the capital markets. News of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Greece and the Swiss National Bank’s decision to abandon the euro cap on the franc’s value have led to strong stock market fl uctuations,” said ZEW president Clemens Fuest.

“However, this seems not to have impressed ZEW’s fi nancial market ex-perts with regard to their expectations for the German economy. Instead, de-creasing crude oil prices and a depreci-ating euro have contributed to a further gain of the indicator,” Fuest explained.

For the survey, ZEW questions ana-lysts and institutional investors about their current assessment of the eco-nomic situation in Germany, as well as their expectations for the coming months.

The sub-index measuring fi nancial market players’ view of the current eco-nomic situation in Germany jumped by 12.4 points to 22.4 points in January.

Germany leaves lull behind While the ZEW is frequently criticised for being volatile and not particularly reliable, analysts nevertheless took heart from this month’s better-than-expected reading.

“The third increase in a row is a good piece of good news and adds to signs that the German economy is about to leave the recent lull behind,” said

Natixis economist Johannes Gareis.“Indeed, with the recent sharp de-

cline in oil prices and the lower euro exchange rate, a signifi cant stimulus is in the pipeline. Obviously, Germany’s investors and analysts have also scaled up the expectations for the ECB’s loom-ing QE programme,” he said.

The ECB is scheduled to hold its fi rst policy meeting of the year on Thursday and market speculation is at fever pitch that its president Mario Draghi will announce a programme of sovereign bond purchases, known as quantitative easing or QE, to jump start the euro-zone’s morose economy.

QE is regarded as the central bank’s most powerful tool yet to ward off the threat of defl ation in the single curren-cy area, where consumer prices actu-ally started to fall in December.

Lower euroBayernLB economist Christiane von Berg similarly attributed the strong ZEW reading to the “QE eff ect”.

The large-scale purchase of govern-ment bonds would help drive the euro down lower against major currencies “and that will provide a boost for ex-ports,” she said.

“Today’s ZEW data confi rm the posi-tive upturn which has emerged in Ger-many over the past couple of months. All the signs are for more dynamic growth in 2015,” von Berg said.

BNP Paribas economist Evelyn Her-mann said expectations of the asset purchase programme “certainly ex-plains part of the ZEW increase.”

The euro’s drop against the Swiss franc would also help.

“In this context, we expect other January surveys for Germany are likely to show sizeable improvements, too, in line with our expectations of gradually strengthening quarterly growth rates in 2015,” the analyst said.

Capital Economics economist Jenni-fer McKeown said that “presumably any worries about the eff ect of the Greek crisis on the German economy were off -set by expectations of ECB quantitative easing and hopes of a boost to exports from the weakening euro.”

“But note that the ZEW survey has not been a particularly reliable indica-tor of actual activity in the past and if the Greek situation deteriorates in the aftermath of this week’s election or ECB QE disappoints, investors may well take a dimmer view of Germany’s prospects,” she cautioned. l

Gloomy survey opens Davos meetingn AFP

Global business leaders are very down-beat on the potential for economic growth in 2015, a closely watched survey said recently, bringing a gloomy start to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In a Davos tradition, consulting group PwC surveyed 1,300 business leaders in the runup to the high alti-tude gabfest, and their responses fell in line with the International Monetary Fund, which recently slashed its world growth forecast for this year and next.

The poor outlook comes despite a sharp drop in oil prices and will weigh heavily as the world elite gather over the next four days in this Swiss Alps village.

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be among the 2,500 prominent fi g-ures attending the meeting, along with Nobel laureates, top bankers and CEOs.

Asked how they saw the big eco-nomic picture at the start of the year, only 37% of the PwC respondents said they expected the economy to improve in the next 12 months, down from 44% a year ago.

Even worse, 17% of business leaders said the economy would turn for the worse in 2015, more than double the 7% last year.

For the fi rst time in fi ve years, the United States came ahead of China as the country respondents felt would best boost the world economy over the next 12 months.

As ever, over-regulation by govern-ments was cited as the biggest barrier to growth, but cyber-security, the un-controlled advance of technology and the lack of qualifi ed talent also rose as worries.

The IMF recently sharply cut its 2015-2016 world growth forecast of only six months ago, despite hopes that lower oil prices would off set pervasive weaknesses around the globe.

The IMF said poorer prospects in China, Russia, the euro area and Ja-pan will hold world GDP growth to just 3.5% this year and 3.7% in 2016. l

US is bright spot for Davos CEOs in troubled global economy n Reuters, Davos

Chief executives are more worried than a year ago about the global economic outlook, as defl ation stalks Europe and commodity prices wilt, but the United States stands out as a bright spot.

That is the verdict of a worldwide survey of more than 1,300 CEOs, re-leased on the eve of the Jan. 21-24 World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, that also found business leaders still moderately confi dent in their own fi rms’ ability to grow revenues.

Seven years on from the fi nancial cri-sis that brought the global economy to the brink, there are a host of new geopo-litical issues to worry about today, from turmoil in the Middle East to fi ghting in Ukraine to protests in Hong Kong.

Those confrontations all have eco-nomic knock-ons, adding to a wariness that has been compounded by recent market volatility, including a rocketing Swiss franc which has shocked locals in the ski resort of Davos.

“There’s a fair amount of concern about the economy,” said Dennis Nally, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) International, which conducted the annual CEO health check.

“There’s probably more negativity thus far in 2015, which is really a continu-ation of the theme from the fourth quar-ter of last year.” Just 37% of CEOs think global economic growth will improve in the year ahead, down from 44% last year, and 17% think growth will decline, more than twice as many as in 2014.

But when it comes to their own busi-nesses, 39% of CEOs said they were “very confi dent” of growing revenues in the next 12 months, an unchanged reading from a year earlier and slightly up from 36% in 2013. That steady inter-nal confi dence is helped by the fact ex-ecutives see opportunities to use tech-nology to move their companies into new business areas.

Emerging markets lose shine The pendulum has swung further away from many emerging markets over the past year, with the notable exception of India, where the arrival of pro-business Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made the country’s CEOs the most con-fi dent in the world.

Russia, however, has plunged from top of the confi dence table a year ago to having the gloomiest business lead-ers, as a tumbling oil price and Western sanctions take a heavy toll.

Confi dence in China, too, is down and the country is no longer the automatic go-to market for multinationals.

Instead, for the fi rst time since the question was asked fi ve years ago, the United States has overtaken China as CEOs’ most important overseas growth market.

With the US economy some 7% larg-er than before the fi nancial crisis and more jobs having been created than were lost, executives see a strong case for investing in a country that remains a hub of technological innovation.

That echoes a report earlier on Tues-day from the International Monetary Fund, which lowered its forecast for global economic growth in 2015 but raised it for the United States.

It rings true, too, for Barry Salzberg, global CEO of Deloitte, a rival to PwC in the audit and consulting business.

“You can sense that things in the U S are getting better, while the euro zone has big economic challenges and China’s economy has slowed,” Salzberg told Reuters. l

'There’s a fair amount of concern about the economy'