25 March, 2015

PAGE 11India, China agree to foster peace on disputed border

PAGE 10No problem before takeo� , no mayday issued

PAGE 8Dilapidated bridge brings miseries for villagers

PAGE 4Report against 8 razakars ready

NO HARTAL TODAY, TOMORROW PAGE 3

DE VILLIERS TAKES THE BLAME PAGE 26

KHOKON-SELIM CONTEST HEATS UP PAGE 3

SECOND EDITION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | Chaitra 11, 1421, Jamadius Sani 4, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 2, No 349 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 8-page Treehouse | Price: Tk10

150 dead in German Airbus crash, black box foundn Reuters

An Airbus operated by Lufthansa’s German-wings budget airline crashed in a remote area of the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren.

Germanwings con� rmed its � ight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf went down with 144 passengers and six crew on board.

One of the plane’s black box recorders has been found and will be examined immediately, France’s interior minister said. In Washington, the White House said the crash did not appear to have been caused by a terrorist attack.

The airline believed there were 67 Ger-mans on the � ight. Spain’s deputy prime min-ister said 45 passengers had Spanish names. One Belgian was aboard.

Also among the victims were 16 children

and two teachers from the Joseph-Koe-nig-Gymnasium high school in the town of Haltern am See in northwest Germany, a spokeswoman said.

Investigators described a scene of devasta-tion where the airliner crashed. Aerial photo-graphs showed smouldering wreckage and a piece of the fuselage with six windows.

“We saw an aircraft that had literally been ripped apart, the bodies are in a state of destruc-tion, there is not one intact piece of wing or fu-selage,” Bruce Robin, prosecutor for the city of Marseille, told Reuters in Seyne-les-Alpes after � ying over the crash zone in a helicopter.

French police at the crash site said no one survived and it would take days to recover the bodies due to di� cult terrain, snow and incoming storms.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Rains pour sunshine on Black Capsn AFP, Sydney

New Zealand defeated South Africa by four wickets Tuesday in one of the greatest World Cup matches ever played to win through to Sunday’s � nal as co-hosts Australia got ready for their last-four clash with defending cham-pions India.

A rain-a� ected see-saw semi-� nal at Auck-land’s Eden Park, eventually came down to New Zealand needing � ve to win o� the last two balls.

But South Africa-born Grant Elliott, whose

unbeaten 84 was a masterclass of batting un-der pressure, then stepped up to in� ict more World Cup semi-� nal misery on his compa-triots by smashing injured fast bowler Dale Steyn for six as New Zealand reached their revised victory target of 298 with one ball to spare.

The win meant New Zealand, who’d lost all six of their previous World Cup semi-� nals, had at last made it through to the tourna-ment’s climax.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Block raids planned before city polls8 groups of joint forces will be deployed to catch bomb and arson attackers, and other criminalsn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Police have planned a special week-long secu-rity operation they are calling “block raid” as a preparation for the upcoming polls in the two city corporations of Dhaka.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) are assisting the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in the drive.

The DMP wanted to start the drives from yesterday, but police said last night that they did not eventually go on any such drive.

“The BNP, Jamaat and Shibir are carry-ing out violence, arson and bomb attacks in the name of a political movement. They are spending large amounts to � nance criminals, addicts and muggers for these atrocities,” a senior DMP o� cial told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday seeking anonymity.

“The DMP has started the block raid in Dhaka to immediately stop such criminal ac-tivities and bring the � nanciers to book,” the o� cial said.

In January, police and RAB conducted joint drives in violence-prone northern districts including Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Gaib-andha, Bogra and Rangpur.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2 Police frisk a CNG autorickshaw passenger at Panthapath-Green Road intersection yesterday RAJIB DHAR

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Buet teacher Farseem grilled over Avijit murdern Tribune Report

The Detective Branch of police yesterday in-terrogated Buet Associate Professor Farseem Mannan Mohammedy over the gruesome murder of writer Avijit Roy.

“Detectives questioned him for about three hours starting from 11am at the DB of-� ce,” Masudur Rahman, deputy commission-er (media and publication) of Dhaka Metro-politan Police, said.

A high o� cial of DB police, requesting an-onymity said: “The investigators asked Far-seem about the meeting on Amar Ekushey

Book Fair premises on the day of the incident.”They also asked him about the topic they

discussed there, he said. “We have noted down all the statements given by Farseem about Avijit,” he added.

Avijit, founder of the secular platform Mukto-Mona blog, was hacked to death by un-identi� ed assailants on February 26 near the TSC roundabout. The attack also critically in-jured Avijit’s wife Ra� da Ahmed Bonya, who is currently receiving medical care in the US.

Avijit’s father Prof Ajoy Roy earlier claimed that he was suspecting involvement of Far-seem in the gruesome murder. l

Banks open to facilitate city polls n Tribune Report

All the branches of the scheduled banks locat-ed in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan are-as will remain open on Friday and Saturday to facilitate the upcoming city polls.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday issued a circular asking the banks to keep their branches open so candidates could deposit necessary fees.

The banks have also been asked to ensure proper security measures during the banking hour.

The Election Commission has scheduled April 28 for holding the polls to the three city corporations. The deadline for submission of nomination papers is March 29. l

Pro-BNP delegation to ask EC to create level-playing � eldn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

A four-member delegation of pro-BNP pro-fessionals will go to the Election Commission today to ask the commission to create a lev-el-playing � eld for all political parties to hold a free, fair and credible election.

The delegation led by former Dhaka Univer-sity vice-chancellor Emajuddin Ahamed com-prises Supreme Court Bar Association Pres-ident Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, founder trustee of Gonosashthya Zafrullah Chowdhury and Dhaka University teacher Mahbubullah.

Shoto Nagorik Committee, a pro-BNP citi-zens platform, held a meeting at Emajuddin’s Elephant Road house last night. Some 20-25 professionals were present at the meeting.

Abdul Haye Sikdar, member secretary of Shoto Nagorik, said the weekly meeting of the platform discussed the upcoming city corporation elections. He said the meeting tried to understand why the elections were announced all on a sudden.

“We are yet to understand the roles of the government, the Election Commission and the law enforcers. We have also discussed how the BNP could participate in the polls,” said Andul Haye. l

Ex-police o� cer’s wife, maid slaughteredn Tribune Report

Law enforcers yesterday recovered the bodies of the wife of a former police o� cer and her domestic help inside their apartment in the capital’s Jatrabari.

The body of landlady Raushan Ara, 60, was found lying on a bed in one room while 11-year-old housemaid Kalpana Akhter on the couch of another room. Raushan’s late hus-band Abdul Quddus was a former additional police superintendent.

Informed by locals, police recovered the slaughtered bodies in the evening from a � at of a three-storey building around 6pm, Mustaq Ahmed Khan, deputy commissioner of Wari division, said.

Raushan’s � ve daughters and sons live abroad. She used to stay on the � rst � oor of the building with Kalpana, Kalpana’s mother Lucky Akther and aunt Champa. Police picked up Lucky and Champa, who were not present in the house at the time of murder, for questioning. l

150 dead PAGE 1 COLUMN 2Police said search teams would stay overnight at altitude.

In Paris, Prime Minister Manuel Valls told parliament: “A helicopter managed to land (by the crash site) and has con� rmed that un-fortunately there were no survivors.”

Lufthansa said it was working on the as-sumption that the crash was an accident and that any other theory would be speculative.

“For the time being, we say it’s an acci-dent. There’s nothing more that we can say right now. Everything else would be specula-tion,” Heike Birlenbach, Vice-President Sales and Services Europe, told a news conference in El Prat Barcelona airport, from where the crashed plane took o� . l

Block raids planned before city pollsAccording to a notice that the Dhaka Tribune has accessed, 80 security personnel, compris-ing 20 from each of the forces, divided into eight groups will conduct the special drives in eight crime zones in the city until March 31.

The notice, signed by DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia, has recently been circu-lated among all deputy commissioners asso-ciated with the crime department. The eight crime zones, actually the eight divisions of the DMP, are Ramna, Lalbagh, Motijheel, Wari, Tejgaon, Gulshan, Mirpur and Uttara.

RAB 3 Commanding O� cer Lt Col Golam Sarwar, however, said these drives were noth-ing new and they had been conducting the drives for some time now. “The drives will con-tinue,” he told the Dhaka Tribune last night.

Tejgaon division Deputy Commissioner of

police Biplob Kumar Sarker said the law en-forcers had begun the month-long joint drive on February 23. “The recent notice is just about extending the drives until the end of March.”

Sources said during the raids, the law en-forcers will take complete control of these areas – controlling human and vehicular movements – and search for suspected criminals and arsonists.

The notice said BGB Additional Director Maj M Fazle Rabbi, the commanding o� cers of RAB 1, 2, 3, 4 and 10, and the DMP addition-al deputy commissioner for crime and ops had been assigned as the focal point o� cials of the special operation. DMP Joint Commis-sioner (crime and ops) Meer Reazaul Alam has been tasked with coordinating the drives.

“The drives will be based on information gathered by the deputy commissioners of po-

lice,” the DMP o� cial said.“The DMP has asked o� cials to conduct

visible drives instead of undercover raids, so that the public can have con� dence and faith on the law enforcers,” he said.

“The joint teams can seek support from well-known personalities, public representa-tives, community police and beat police mem-bers to make the drives successful,” he added.

When contacted, Asaduzzaman Khan Ka-mal, state minister for home a� airs, told the Dhaka Tribune that the government wants to ensure sound law and order for the polls. “We will not let anyone spoil the peaceful atmos-phere or create trouble during the elections.”

The city corporation polls are slated to be held on April 28 while deadline for submitting nomination papers is March 29.l

Rains pour sunshine on Black CapsBut for South Africa, who’ve yet to play in a World Cup � nal, this was the fourth time they’d fallen at the semi-� nal hurdle.

“At the end what a great innings from Grant Elliott,” said New Zealand captain and opener Brendon McCullum, who launched the Black Caps’ reply with a typically aggressive 59.

Elliott, who turned 36 last weekend, � nished the match in style to round o� a superb 73-ball innings including seven fours and three sixes.

“It is great. I don’t think this win is for my-self, or the team, it is for everyone here. The support has been amazing,” said Elliott.

South Africa, who won the toss and batted, overcame a shaky start to recover to 216 for three o� 38 overs. But with Faf du Plessis (82)

and skipper AB de Villiers (65 not out) going well, rain then stopped play.

When the match resumed after two hours, it had been reduced to a 43 overs per side clash and the Proteas had lost all their momentum.

David Miller’s blistering 49 o� just 18 balls helped South Africa � nish on 281 for � ve – the Proteas scoring 65 in their last � ve overs.

That left the Black Caps with a sti� revised victory target of 298 under the Duckworth/Lewis method for rain-a� ected matches.

South Africa paceman Morne Morkel and leg-spinner Imran Tahir were particularly im-pressive but the Proteas again came up short.

“It’s really painful,” said a distraught de Villiers. “We had opportunities and it will take

us a long time to get over this.”Thursday’s second semi-� nal at the Sydney

Cricket Ground threatens to be more of an ‘away’ match than a home game for Australia, with 70 percent of a sold-out ticket allocation taken up by India fans. If the pitch suits spinners, India – with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in their side – will feel that conditions are very familiar. Recent Australia-India matches have produced plenty of verbal � reworks.

However, volatile Australia opener David Warner, censured during both the Test and one-day series, will need to be especially care-ful on Thursday as a third breach of the Inter-national Cricket Council’s code of conduct could see him banned from the � nal. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presides over a session of Ecnec in NEC auditorium in the capital yesterday BSS

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TWEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Awami League leaders Sayeed Khokon, left, and Haji Mohammad Salim, right, collect nomination papers yesterday for DCC polls MEHDI HASAN

Kokhon-Selim contest heats upn Tribune Report

Awami League leaders Sayeed Khokon and Haji Selim, both of whom have been in the race for the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, yesterday collected nomination papers.

Khokon collected the form from the return-ing o� cer of Dhaka south around 12pm and Haji Selim about an hour later.

In the last week of February, Khokon was asked by Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina to make preparations for the city polls.

However, Haji Selim, joint secretary of the ruling party but an independent lawmaker from Old Dhaka, believes that he is also going to get the party’s blessings.

The city corporation polls are necessarily non-partisan in nature, meaning that political parties cannot directly nominate candidates but can support them.

In the January 5 national elections last year, Haji Selim – as an independent runner – defeat-ed Awami League nominated candidate Mo-

stafa Jalal Mohiuddin to become the lawmaker from Lalbagh in Dhaka.

“I am an Awami League man. The party is still thinking about who to select as the con-testant for Dhaka south mayor. I believe, the party will pick me eventually,” Haji Selim told reporters after collecting nomination papers yesterday.

He claimed that he had the support of peo-ple and that is why is running for the post.

There are allegations that Sayeed Khokon, son of former Dhaka mayor Mohammad Hanif, is a bank loan defaulter. He however has always been denying that claim.

After collecting the papers, Kokhon howev-er alleged that a “probable candidate” was vio-lating the electoral codes of conduct.

“Voters are being threatened with arms and muscle power. Many have been campaigning...I have full faith in the Election Commission. I am sure they will take action against those who are violating codes of conduct,” Kokhon told re-porters yesterday.

Last month, both he and Selim put up gi-

ant billboards across the Dhaka south region making their intentions about becoming Dhaka mayor clear.

Dhaka northMeanwhile, representatives of arrested civic leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna and former Awami League lawmaker and � lmstar Sarah Begum Kabari collected nomination forms yes-terday.

Arifur Rahman, representative of Manna’s Nagorik Oikya, and Sahidul Islam, Kabari’s per-sonal secretary, collected the forms on their behalf.

Sahidullah Kaisar, convener of Nagarik Oik-ya, told reporters: “The form will be sent to Mahmudur in jail through his lawyer.”

In addition, Ekhlas Uddin Mollah, a ruling party leader, Taiful Siraz and Naim Hasan yes-terday collected nomination forms.

The Awami Leauge has already � nalised that it will back businessman and media personality Annisul Huq for the mayoral run of the Dhaka North City Corporation. l

JMB leader Ershad remanded in police custodyn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterday ordered � ve-day remand for Ershad Hossain alias Mamun, the alleged Chittagong district unit commander of banned militant out� t Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) arrested on Monday.

Akbar Shah police produced him before the court of Third Metropolitan Magistrate Nur-e-Alam Bhuiyan seeking 10-day remand in a case. It was � led under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Explosives Substance Act, CMP Ad-ditional Deputy Commissioner (prosecution) Kazi Muttaki Ibn Minan said.

Additional Commissioner (crime and op-eration) Banaz Kumar Majumder said Ershad would be sent to the Taskforce for Interrogation Cell (TFI) for intensive interrogation.

During his arrest early Monday at a residence in the city’s New Monsurabad area, police re-covered crude-bomb like objects, gunpowder, grenade-making materials, jihadi books and JMB’s documents from his possession.

Son of a day labourer in Dinajpur, Ershad left his house four years back when he was a student of grade VIII. He later joined Isla-mi Chhatra Shibir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s student unit, and became the district commander of

the JMB in January last year, police said.After his disappearance, Ershad’s father

Reazul Islam lodged a general dairy with Birol police station in Dinajpur on November 2, 2011, OC Md Abdul Hai Sarkar said. “An uni-denti� ed person phoned Ershad’s mother few days after his going missing and said Ershad was in trouble but was serving Islam.”

Informed by Akbar Shah police early yes-terday over the phone, Reazul said they never thought that Ershad could be found in such a condition after a long time. “My son was a good student in his school life. I am shocked to hear that he is arrested with illegal items. I am such a poor that I cannot to go to Chittagong from Dinajpur. I do not know what to do now.”

Police said the JMB was working closely with banned militant groups Huji and Hizb ut-Tahrir, Chhatra Shibir and Ansarullah Bangla Team with a common aim to establishing a model Islamic state in Chittagong by 2020 in-corporating parts of India and Myanmar.

In the long-run, the militants under a new umbrella named “International Lions Force of Hindustan” will work to bring the three coun-tries under its grip. A four-member team of Is-lamic State (IS) from Syria visited Chittagong in September last year to coordinate the plans.

Ershad confessed that some JMB members had training from Pakistan. Police said gre-nade-maker Ershad took training in Bogra on operating sophisticated arms.

He said earlier militants had been asked no to disclose their plans. But now they are giving information deliberately to spread their vision.

Kotwali circle’s Assistant Commissioner Shah Mohammad Abdur Rouf said: “He has given us much information. We are now ver-ifying the information.”

According to Ershad, the JMB has plans to attack on o� cers of foreign NGOs working in Bangladesh before 2020 to draw attention of the people across the globe. He thinks the whole world should be ruled by the Muslims.

He also said in their journey, the law en-forcers could appear as obstacles. The JMB already has its men in some law enforcement agencies and they aim at sending more mem-bers to help their target achieved easily.

Asked about funding of the group, Ershad said the JMB takes donations from its leaders and members in Chittagong who run small businesses or work at di� erent shops. They also collect money from residential hotel owners and receives regular funds from a for-eign organisation. l

No hartal today and tomorrow n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The BNP-led 20-party alliance yesterday did not declare countrywide hartal programme today and tomorrow, despite having enforced hartals during weekdays continuously since February 1 amid a non-stop blockade.

The alliance in a press release yesterday said it would bring out protest rallies across the country today to demand the return of missing BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed and protest the repression of opposition leaders and activists..

As the country gears up to celebrate its 45th Independence Day tomorrow, the op-position alliance abandoned its practice of extending by two days the three-day hartals it customarily calls on Sundays.

The 72-hour hartal called on March 21 ends this morning.

Joint Secretary General Barkatullah Bulu asked leaders and activists to observe Inde-pendence Day with due respect.

The statement did not mention the coun-trywide blockade, which has been enforced since January 6 demanding resignation of the government and mid-term election. l

Black night of March 25 todayn BSS

The nation will recall the “Black Night of March 25” today in commemoration of the cowardly attack on Bangalis and genocide in Dhaka city by the barbarous Pakistani occupa-tion forces in 1971.

On the fateful night, the Pakistani military junta resorted to genocide in Dhaka, the pro-vincial capital of the then East Pakistan, to implement their blueprint to negate the Awa-mi League’s election mandate of 1970.

In their dreadful attack dubbed as “Oper-ation Searchlight,” the Pakistani occupation forces mercilessly killed the Bangali mem-bers of the East Pakistan Ri� es and police, students and teachers as well as thousands of common people in the city.

The Pakistani occupation forces killed peo-ple indiscriminately, torched houses, prop-erties and looted shops, business establish-ments and carried out destruction throughout East Pakistan that night.

Writing about the attack, American journal-ist Robert Payne said at least 7,000 people were killed and 3,000 others were arrested on the night of the crackdown that started in Dhaka.

In the wake of military crackdown, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who became the undisputed leader of the then Pakistan, declared the independence of Bangladesh through EPR wireless at 12:30am on March 26 from his residence at Road 32 in Dhanmondi.

He also called upon the people to build a united resistance. Soon he was arrested by the Pakistani military junta in a bid to stop the liberation movement, and was taken to the then West Pakistan where he was held in a dark condemned prison cell for the entirety of the Liberation War.

Di� erent political parties and socio-cultur-al organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes in observance of the Black Night to pay homage to the March 25 martyrs. l

NEWS4DTWEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Beijing seeks Dhaka’s support on UN Security Council reform n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

China wants Bangladesh to support its posi-tion on reforming the United Nations Security Council, a debate that has been continuing for over two decades.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang had a meeting with Foreign Min-ister AH Mahmood Ali yesterday and briefed him about Beijing’s position on the UN Secu-rity Council reform.

“The debate has been continuing since 1993, and this year, the security council re-form discussion will begin at the UN General Assembly from March 26,” said an o� cial of the Foreign Ministry.

China wants reform at the UN Security

Council but they do not want to make any de-cision hastily, he said.

The security council has � ve permanent members with veto-power – US, UK, China, Russia and France – and 10 non-permanent members elected for a two-year term.

Japan, India, Brazil, South Africa and Ger-many have been very vocal about the reform at the UNSC. Bangladesh in 2002 supported Japan, the second biggest donor to the UN, to become a permanent member and 2010 sup-ported India to become a permanent member.

“The foreign minister had listened to what the Chinese ambassador said. Bangladesh has already supported Japan and India and in this situation, Bangladesh cannot make any com-ment,” the o� cial said. l

IS hostage Helal contacts family from Libyan Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

Helal Uddin, who was taken hostage by Islam-ic militant group Islamic State in Libya, has � nally contacted his family in Jamalpur.

Helal made the unexpected phone call to his family members for the � rst time since he was abducted by the IS militants, around 10:30am yesterday.

Quoting her husband, Helal’s wife Aleya Be-gum told the Dhaka Tribune the IS militants had assured him that they would release their Bang-ladeshi hostages in a few days. “The militants let him and the others hostages speak with their families on phone, and they may set the Bangla-deshi hostages free within a day or two.”

Helal was taken hostage along with eight other foreign nationals during an attack on a central oil � eld by militants from Libya’s Is-lamic State a� liate on March 6.

The Foreign Ministry con� rmed his abduc-tion through a press release on March 9. Ac-cording to Helal, the IS militants have two other Bangladeshi workers as their hostages beside him. One of them is Anwar Hossain, but Helal did not give the name of the other hostage. l

Court defers indictment hearing of Mirza Fakhruln Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court has deferred again the indict-ment hearing of BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 28 others of the BNP-led 20-party alliance until June 7 in the case of an explosion at the Secretariat in 2012.

Judge Ruhul Amin of Dhaka Metropolitan Special Tribunal 5 passed the order yesterday as the jail authorities could not produce Mirza Fakhrul, Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Moazzem Hossain Alal and some others be-fore the court. The hearing has been deferred several times before.

The case was � led against the 29 by Shah-bagh police on April 29, 2012, and on May 31, Inspector Tapash Chandra Saha of the Detec-tive Branch of Police submitted the charge sheet of the case at Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court. l

Report against 8 razakars readyn Tribune Report

Investigators of the International Crimes Tri-bunal have found evidence against eight sus-pected war criminals of Jamalpur, six of who are now absconding, for their alleged involve-ment in crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War in 1971.

“The accused were involved in 10 counts of crimes including killing, torture and ab-duction in Jamalpur during the war,” Abdul Hannan Khan, coordinator of the agency, told reporters at its Dhanmondi o� ce yesterday.

They submitted the probe report to the prosecution after the press conference.

The tribunal issued arrest warrant against the accused on March 2. Within hours, the law enforcers arrested two of them – advocate Shamsul Haque, 75, and AKM Yusuf Ali, 83.

The duo contested the 1970’s national elec-tion from Jamaat-e-Islami for the posts of

member of the Provincial Assembly and the National Assembly. They were involved with local razakar force.

The other accused are Ashraf Hossain, 64, Prof Sharif Ahammed, 71, Abdul Mannan, 66, Abdul Bari, 62, Harun, 58, and Abul Hashem, 65. They all were involved with Islami Chha-tra Sangha, formerly the student wing of Ja-maat-e-Islami, and al-Badr – an auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army.

According to the investigators, the ac-cused committed crimes against humanity between April 22 to December 11 in now-de-funct Jamalpur Mahakuma (sub-division). They worked in the formation of local razakar group, al-Badr and Peace Committee units.

The eight are also accused of setting up an o� ce of the Peace Committee and al-Badr by occupying Sadhana Aushadhalaya; providing military training to their men at Singhajani High School; and the abduction, torture and

killing of over 10,000 people by con� ning them at PTI Hostel and a dormitory of Ashek Mahmud Degree College.

As many as 40 people have been made prosecution witness in the case. Investigating O� cer Motiur Rahman began the probe on June 6, 2013.

Of the accused, Shamsul was the ameer of Jamalpur district unit Jamaat while Yusuf Ali was the headmaster of Singhajani High School. On the other hand, Ashraf Hossain was the commander of al-Badr’s Jamalpur unit. He formed the al-Badr with some selected mem-bers of Islami Chhatra Sangha. Ashraf � ed the country soon after the investigation had begun.

Fugitive Sharif served as the director of Is-lami Bank Bangladesh Ltd for many years.

“We have information that three of the ac-cused � ed the country. We are in touch with the law enforcement agencies to arrest the fu-gitives,” Hannan Khan said. l

Actor Sirajul Islam diesn Tribune Report

Veteran actor and � lm-maker Sirajul Islam died yesterday morning at his resi-dence in Niketon area in Dhaka. He was 78.

His death was un-expected to his fam-ily as he did not have

any major health issues, sources close to the family said. His namaz-e-janaza was held at Niketan Jame Masjid after Asr prayers, and he was buried at Banani graveyard.

Sirajul is survived by his wife Syeda Maru-fa Islam, son Mobashwerul Islam, daughters Fahmida Islam and Nahida Islam, and scores of friends, admirers and well-wishers.

The veteran actor was born on May 15, 1938 in Hooghly district in West Bengal. The sole surviving child of his parents, Sirajul showed his artistic � are in his childhood. Sirajul ap-peared in more than 300 � lms before retiring in 2010. His notable work include “Naachghar,” “Onek Diner Chena,” and “Sheet Bikel,” among others. He won the National Film Award in 1985 for his performance in “Chandranath.” l

NEWS 5D


RAMPAL POWER PLANT

Bidders anxious over green oppositionn Aminur Rahman Rasel

International bidders for the construction of a controversial 1,320MW coal-� red power plant situated near the Sundarbans have called for a compensation mechanism to protect them from “unfortunate situations” arising from opposition to the plant.

Bidders raised concerns about the securi-ty of their investment in the proposed power plant and sought an extension to submit tech-no-commercial and � nancial bid proposals during a two-day pre-bid meeting that ended yesterday at Bidyut Bhaban in the capital.

The proposed plant at Rampal in Bagerhat district will be set up by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL).

BIFPCL is a joint venture between Bangla-desh’s Power Development Board and India’s National Thermal Power Corporation, who have 30% equity on an equal share basis. The remaining 70% will be mobilised as Export Credit Agency loans.

Representatives of companies from China, Japan, India, Spain and South Korea sought explanations and clari� cations of the � nan-cial aspects of the project and raised questions about the security of their investment if they engage as Engineering, Procurement and Con-struction (EPC) contractors for the project.

The pre-bid meeting is considered a major step in the implementation of the project.

Harbin Electric International Company Limited and Dongfang Electric Corporation Limited of China, Japan’s Marubeni Corpo-ration, South Korea’s Hyundai Electric Com-pany, Larsen & Toubro Limited of India and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited of India at-tended the meeting.

In response to their queries, representa-tives of Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG, the con-sultant of the project appointed by BIFPCL, said the Bangladesh government would issue sovereign guarantees to secure investments made by foreign investors.

Only three companies have so far bought

tender documents to build the power plant, more than a month after the tender period opened. Bidders remain anxious of a move-ment against the plant which opposes it on environmental grounds.

On March 22, the representatives of the foreign � rms made a mandatory visit to the project site.

Companies asked who would carry out soil tests at the project site since it had recently been � lled with earth.

The government’s plan to build the large power project near the Sundarbans has al-ready generated much debate and controver-sy on the grounds that it will adversely impact the world’s largest mangrove forest.

But the government claims the power plant will not a� ect the Sunderbans, a UNES-CO World Heritage Site.

“We are glad that many international com-panies participated in the pre-bid meeting. The company o� cials focused on techno-commer-cial and � nancial aspects of the proposed pow-

er project during the meeting,” Power Division Secretary Monwar Islam, who is the chairman of BIFPCL, told the Dhaka Tribune.

But one bidder said during the pre-bid meeting: “If an unfortunate situation arises while the power plant is being set up, we must get compensation.”

A BIFPCL o� cial said no decision had yet been taken about the bidder’s concern about compensation.

On February 12, BIFPCL invited bids to set up the 2 x 660MW Maitree Super Coal-� red Thermal Power Project in Rampal, Bagerhat on an EPC contract basis. Bids are due by May 18.

Bangladesh expects to get 660MW of elec-tricity from the plant’s � rst unit by 2018. An-other 660MW from the second unit will be available by 2020, o� cials said.

Environmentalists, left-wing political or-ganisations and the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, a lobby group, object to the power plant’s location so close to the Sundarbans. l

HC questions legality of police torture on Patuakhali journon Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday questioned the le-gality of police torture on a Patuakhali jour-nalist, issuing a ruling against the govern-ment and the police.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Ho-que and Justice Razik Al Jalil set four weeks of time for an explanation on why inhuman physical and mental torture in police custody on ABM Mizanur Rahman, the Bauphal corre-spondent of Bangla daily Prothom Alo, should not be declared illegal.

On Monday, Mizanur’s father Abdus Salam � led a petition describing how the police de-tained Mizanur and tortured him physically and mentally in custody. He also sought the High Court’s directives for punishing the cul-pable law enforcers, and also sought direc-tives for compensation.

The petitioner’s lawyer Ra� que Ul Haq told the court that the police torture had violated the law and the constitution.

Deputy Attorney General Tapash Kumar Biswas who opposed the petition said a case was already pending with a Patuakhali court regarding a clash between the police and Mi-zanur. The Patuakhali court could examine whether or not the police had tortured Miza-nur in custody, he said.

On March 17, the police � led a case against Mizanur after arresting him from the Kalaiya Bazar area in Bauphal upazila of Patuakhali on charges of assaulting a policeman.

Meanwhile, our Patuakhali correspondent reports that Judge Bimol Chandra Sikder of the District and Session Judge’s Court yester-day ordered to form a medical board to check Mizanur’s condition, and asked the board to submit the check-up results before it by March 31.

The judge also � xed April 1 for hearing a petition by Mizanur’s lawyers seeking ad-in-terim bail against a previous magistrate court order denying bail. l

Police: Smugglers mistakenly targeted NBR membern Mohammad Jamil Khan

An NBR member might have been mistakenly targeted by unidenti� ed gunmen – who shot and injured 56-year-old Barrister Jahang-ir Hossain Howlader at Banani on Monday evening, investigators have said.

After receiving a bullet wound to his waist, surgeons operated on Jahangir and was able to bring out the bullet. Doctors said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) member was now out of danger, but was still under monitoring at the ICU of the capital’s United Hospital.

At around 7pm on Monday, some criminals opened � re on Jahangir as we was walking near the customs o� cers quarters on Banani

Road Number 2.Ashraf Hossain, nephew of Jahangir, said

some four to � ve people arrived in the area in a car on Monday and shot at Jahangir, who Ashraf claimed had no enemy.

A case was � led with Banani police station on this regard against unidenti� ed persons.

Meanwhile, investigators said they suspect that the attackers might have intended to tar-get another senior NBR o� cial who had sim-ilar physical features as Jahangir, and lived in the same place as well.

They said the other NBR o� cial had led sev-eral large-scale gold hauls at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet airports during the last two years which eventually resulted in the arrest of many

smugglers; this might have been a motive be-hind Monday’s attack, investigators said.

They suspect that Jahangir was inadvert-ently shot by members of a smuggling syn-dicate who had originally intended to hit the other o� cial, whose name was not disclosed because of ongoing investigation.

Sheikh Shaheen Miah, a sub-inspector of Banani police station and the investigation o� cer of the case, said the police were com-municating with Jahangir’s family and other NBR o� cials to identify the attackers.

Sources at the police told the Dhaka Tribune that an armed policeman has been assigned to protect the NBR o� cial who the police believe was the original target for the attack. l

Railway police arrested Aktara Begum with arms and ammunition from an inter-city train at the Rajshahi rail station yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN


EC seeks mobile courts to stop poll code violationsn Tribune Report

The Election Commission has urged executive magistrates from the Ministry of Public Ad-ministration to deploy emer-gency mobile courts to prevent electoral code violations.

Yesterday the EC sent a letter to the ministry stating that large scale poll code violations were seen to be taking place prior to the city corporation polls.

Public Administration Minis-try Joint Secretary (Admin) Kazi Rowshan Akter told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are ready to help the election commission for a peaceful mayoral election in Dhaka and Chittagong.”

The EC sought six execu-tive magistrates – two each for the three city corporations – to operate mobile courts for pre-venting the electoral code vio-

lations. The EC also requested for 18 executive magistrates-for the three city corporations from April 10, the day when the formal canvassing starts.

Election o� cers in Dhaka monitoring such violations have verbally noti� ed 22 such candidates including Haji Selim. The returning o� cers will issue warnings to the can-didates if their explanations are found dissatisfactory. Pos-sible imprisonment and � nes will also be considered as puni-tive measures.

The code violations include candidates bringing proces-sions to collect nominations papers where only � ve persons are allowed to accompany a candidate, displaying banners, posters city-wide to gather sup-port before the EC stipulated time of 21 days to the election. l

Student expelled from hostel over anti-religion comments on Facebookn Our Correspondent,

Barisal

Barisal Government Brojo Mo-hun College authority expelled a student from the hostel for his alleged anti-religion com-ments on Facebook.

The student, Jahirul Islam Jasim, is an honours second-year student of Sociology and was a resident of Ashwini Kumar De-gree Hostel of the college.

“A group of students circu-lated printed copies of a status from Jasim’s Facebook account alleging that Jasim is spreading anti-religion propaganda,” said BM College Principal Prof Faz-

lul Huq, adding that the agitat-ed students have been staging demonstrations since Sunday.

Jasim stayed away from his hostel room and class to avoid the protestors.

The principal said: “Jasim denied the allegation saying someone may have created a fake account in his name to hu-miliate him.”

The college authority held an emergency meeting of the aca-demic council on Monday night and decided to revoke Jasim’s hostel seat. A four-member probe committee also advised Jasim to avoid the campus till a probe report is submitted. l

23 journos get Brac Media Award 2015n Tribune Report

Twenty three journalists and three media organisations have been given Brac Media Award 2015 for their contribution in raising awareness about tuber-culosis (TB) in the country.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim handed over the crests and certi� cates among the award recipients at a function at the Brac Centre Inn in the capital yesterday, said a press release.

Under Bangla and English newspaper, and electronic me-

dia categories, the Daily Itte-faq, Daily Observer and private satellite channel NTV got the award respectively.

Meanwhile, the journalists, who got the award in national level category, are Shepon Ha-bib, sta� reporter of the Daily Jugantor; Rabeya Begum Baby, sta� reporter of the Daily It-tefaq; Sebika Debnath, sta� reporter of the Daily Sangbad; Pradyut Sri Barua, reporter of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangst-ha; and Sarwar Sumon, sta� reporter of private television Channel 24. l

NEWS 7D


WEATHER

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:11PM SUN RISES 5:57AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW37.2ºC 16.8ºC

Rajshahi Srimangal

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 32 23Chittagong 32 22Rajshahi 34 22Rangpur 35 21Khulna 33 20Barisal 33 23Sylhet 35 20Cox’s Bazar 31 22

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:42am

Sunrise 5:57am

Zohr 12:05am

Asr 4:29pm

Magrib 6:11pm

Esha 7:27pm

DRY WEATHER

LIKELY

SWINE FLU OUTBREAK

Medical teams at Khulna border on alertn Our Correspondent, Khulna

Medical teams are on alert at the border of Khulna to check passengers travelling from West Bengal, India, a zone where the outbreak of the deadly H1N1 virus has infected around 200 lives in the last two months.

The health department, district and divi-sional administration are taking measures to stop the intrusion of swine � u in the country through the three land ports and one sea port situated in six districts – Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Jessore, Meherpur and Chuadanga.

The medical teams under the health de-partment are keeping round-the-clock watch on more than thousands of men and women entering the country through the ports every day.

They have placed a “non contract ther-mometer” to check body temperature of the passengers and mariners at Jessore’s Bena-pole port, Satkhira’s Bhomra port and Bager-hat’s Mongla port, health department, live-stock department and BGB o� cials told the

Dhaka Tribune. Three physicians are provid-ing treatment at the ports in shifts. The sus-pected are sent to the Khulna District General Hospital where separate beds are allocated for the swine � u patients.

Director of Health, Khulna, Dr Anil Chan-dra Dutta said many are becoming a� ected by swine � u in India, particularly in West Bengal. In this situation, the virus can spread to many areas under Khulna division as it shares a long border with India.

“Those coming from foreign lands includ-ing India are being suggested to take medical help if they have fever or cold. The medical o� cers have been given the vaccination to prevent swine � u. Moreover, contact details of those travelling to and from India are be-ing recorded. If any of them have fever for 6-7 days continuously then they are being re-ferred to the health department,” he said.

Khulna Medical College Hospital Super-visor Dr Abdus Samad said: “The area falls under the risk of swine � u as it is situated by the border. Physicians and beds have been

specially allocated to such patients. However, necessary materials for treatment are yet to reach the spots. The higher authorities were informed about the matter.”

Additional District Livestock O� cer Dr Arun Kanti Mondol said: “In Dumuria and Batiaghata upazila 6,138 pigs are being raised in 17 districts. The farms are being monitored regularly and reports are being informed to the authorities concerned.”

Satkhira Civil Surgeon Saleh Ahmed said passengers were observed from 8am to 1pm and 1:30pm to 5:30pm in Bhomra land port. No passenger has so far been detected with the virus.

Bagerhat Civil Surgeon Dr Md Bakir Hossain said a medical team comprising � ve members was working at the Mongla port. The mariners rarely come out of the ships.

On March 9, Khulna District Commissioner Md Mostafa Kamal, in the Khulna District De-velopment Coordination Committee’s month-ly meeting, announced that the Khulna health department was alert in tackling swine � u. l

CCC poll: 486 nomination forms collected in six days n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Nearly 500 aspirants collected nomination forms, as of yesterday, seeking to contest the Chittagong city mayoral, ward councillor and reserved female ward councillor elections scheduled for April 28.

Eighty-nine nomination papers were col-lected from Chittagong Regional Election Commission O� ce yesterday of which three were for the mayor post, 73 for general ward councillor post and 13 for reserved female ward councillor post.

CCC Election’s Assistant Returning O� cer Md Sha� qur Rahman, also the district elec-tion o� cial of Bandarban, said BNP Chit-tagong city unit former joint secretary Abdus Sattar, Bangladesh Islami Front Secretary General MA Matin and another Md Shahjahan collected nomination forms for the mayor post yesterday.

He said a total of 486 nominations have already been collected of which 11 were for the mayor post, 59 for reserved female ward councillor and 416 for ward councillor posts as of yesterday. According to the EC schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination forms is March 29 5pm and the nomination scrutiny will be held on April 1 and April 2. Deadline for withdrawal of nomination is till April 9. l

19 passport brokers jailed in the capital n Tribune Report

A mobile court sentenced 19 passport brokers to three-month imprisonment in the capital’s Agargaon yesterday.

A team of the Rapid Action Battalion led by Executive Magistrate Anisur Rahman con-ducted a drive in Agargaon passport o� ce and detained 20 brokers while they were bargain-

ing passport seekers and processing papers of other passport seekers.

Of the detainees, one was � ned to Tk10,000 and 19 others were sentenced to three months of imprisonment along with � ne of Tk5,000 each.

The executive magistrate said the brokers were hampering o� cial activities and nor-mal procedures of the passport o� ce. They were punished according to mobile court act,

he added. Lieutenant Colonel Masud Rana, commanding o� cer of RAB 2, said: “We are running an operation to make passport o� ces free from brokers.

“We have detained many people conduct-ing drives at several passport o� ces.”

O� cials of passport o� ces involved in such illegal practice will also be identi� ed soon, he added. l

Dancers perform at the inauguration of the three-day cultural function titled ‘Swadhinata Utsob’ on the premises of Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka yesterday.The Sammilito Sangskritik Jote has organised the event in observance of Independence Day MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU


Dilapidated bridge brings miseries for villagersn Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

People of nine villages under Jhenaidah Sadar upazila have to su� er a lot every day as the lone bridge that connects the district head-quarters to the villages has been lying in a rundown state for several years.

The locals said although four big holes had developed on the bridge in the last 10 years, authorities concerned did not take a single measure to � x the hole, much to cause frus-tration among them.

Sa� qul Islam, a resident of Panami village, said a man had died falling into a hole a few months back.

He said: “It has become a common phe-nomenon that somebody falls into a hole and get hurt, but there is no way to get rid of the situation.”

According to local people the bridge has been constructed over Ganga-Kapotakho ca-nal by the Water Development Board about 40 years ago to facilitate the communication of people living in the nine villages.

The Fazilpur-Hatgopalpur road where the bridge is located is very signi� cant for local people to transport their agri-produces.

Tariqul Islam, 65, a resident of Pancpakia village, said he had to su� er every year after harvest of winter crops.

“This year, I have cultivated potatoes on 10 decimals of land. We have already harvest po-tatoes. As people of my village have to spend extra money for transportation of agri-pro-duces, they get less pro� t compared to other potatoes growers.

He said with agri-produces, growers who depend on Ganga-Kapotakho bridge have to travel extra kilometres for the sorry state of the road for which the production cost of crops increased to a great extent.

He said no vehicle except bicycle could run

on the bridge for the last fours years for the sorry state.

Ukil Hossain of Chandrajani village, fell into a hole and received injuries. Later, he succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital a few months back.

Nazrul Islam, who resides near the bridge, said thousands of people of Panchpakia, Jugni, Bagni, Abaipur, Goloknagar, Bakri, Pa-nami, Chandrajani and Rupda depended on the bridge for communication.

He said: “The farmers are in great di� cul-ties with their products as they have to travel more four-three kilometers with their outputs to reach district town.”

He said he had got bumper yield of pulse this year as weather was suitable for cultiva-tion and he got seeds and agri-input in time.

Habibur Rahman, an inhabitant of Panch-pakia village, said his father Alam Mollah had fell into one of the holes and his right hand got fractured. Iltut Biswas, a resident of Kripalpur

village, also fell into the same hole and was injured severely.

Amjad Hossain Mollah, chairman of Abai-pur union parishad, said locals had repaired a big hole with timber which was not enough. He said he had informed the o� cials of the WDB several times, but there was no response.

Assistant Engineer of WDB Nazrul Islam in Shailokupa upazila said the bridge had damaged due to movement of heavy vehicle. He said they would take steps soon in this regard. l

A big hole has developed on a bridge over Ganga-Kapotakho canal in Pancpakia village of Jhenaidah Sadar upazila for lack of maintenance. The photo snapped yesterday shows a man riding on a bicycle crosses the bridge amid life risk DHAKA TRIBUNE

Crude bombs exploded during a clash over tender submission n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Two gangs of unidenti� ed miscreants yes-terday exploded some crude bombs during a clash reportedly ensued over a Tk10 crore tender submission of local education engi-neering directorate.

Later, the miscreants hurled several crude bombs at the house of former Awami League MP Khaledur Rahman Tito and beat up his son.

On the other hand, any police o� cials sur-prisingly denied to make comment in this regard as both masterminds, who are respon-sible for the clash, were allegedly from the ruling party Awami League.

Earlier, the directorate had � oated the ten-der for building two dormitories in Jessore Government Michael Madhusudan College and its deadline for submission was yesterday.

Witness Zillur Rahman Vito, general secre-tary of Jessore unit Workers’ Party, said some miscreants around 10am tried to prevent Ti-to’s sons Masuk Hasan Joy and Habib Hasan Babu when they were on the way to drop the

tender at Jessore Education Engineering Of-� ce. A scu� e ensued between both parties there as well, which was later ended on arrival of police.

Around 12pm, when Joy and Babo along with their followers again tried to drop the tender the miscreants hurled crude bombs at them, creating a counter bomb attack. How-ever, none was injured in the blasts.

Acknowledging the blasts Kotwali police station OC Sikder Akkas Ali said the muscle-men of former AL lawmaker Khaledur Rah-man Tito exploded two crude bombs.

However, the situation � nally was under their control and all sides enabled to drop their tender, the OC went on.

When asked, Tito alleged that the local DC and the SP did not pay proper heed to his con-cern although he earlier informed them that hoodlums would resist his tender drop.

The miscreants stabbed his younger son Babu while he was on move to drop the tender and they later hurled several crude bombs at his house, the former MP continued. l

NEWS 9D


Cox’s Bazar tourism hard hit by hartals, non-stop blockaden Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

Bangladesh’s top tourist destination Cox’s Ba-zar has been hit hard by the ongoing blockade and hartals enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Business owners there said they had al-ready incurred huge losses as winter, which usually sees a great in� ux of tourists, was very dull this year.

Tourists, both domestic and foreign, have been discouraged to visit the popular beach town due to the rampant arson attacks on highways and lack of transportation.

As a result, more than hundred hotels and guest houses have been shut down temporar-ily. Many are laying o� and taking other cost cutting measures.

Faisal Shah, general manager (commercial) of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, said: “November to March is the peak season for tourism in Cox’s Bazar. Usually every hotel has 70-80% occupancy during this time. But since the blockade began, it has come down to 10-15%.”

He added that last year the beach town saw

about 50,000 tourists during the peak sea-son. But this season a startlingly low number, about 150, tourists visited Cox’s Bazar so far.

“More than 400 hotels, motels, guest houses and cottages are being forced to close down,” he added.

Communication O� cer of Ocean Paradise, a top hotel in the town, Syed Alamgir, said their business was going really slow because of the hartals and blockade.

“Last season, we were fully booked around this time. But now we have only 5% occupan-cy. We had to send many employees on leave without pay,” he said.

General Secretary of Cox’s Bazar Hotel Motel Guest House Owners Association, Abul Kashem Shikdar and Financial Secretary Sha� qur Rahman said about 2,000 employees had been � red so far.

“More than 10,000 room bookings have been cancelled and no new reservations have been made,” he claimed adding that the estimated loss since January 4 was about Tk250 crore.

“Apart from the hotels, other tourism de-pendent businesses, such as restaurants, shopping centres, dry � sh stores and other

small trades have also been bearing the brunt of the anti-government campaign. About 10,000 people working in this sector have be-come almost unemployed.”

Tow� q Rahman, director of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh, said international tourists were not coming to Bangladesh be-cause of the political situation.

“Already, 15,000 tourists have cancelled their tours. If the situation improves quickly, we would still face a loss of Tk200 crore. But if it further deteriorates, the loss would be be-yond Tk1,000 crore.”

A recent visit to the popular tourist spots of Kolatoli beach, historical Buddhist monas-tries, Inani beach, Maheshkhali and Teknaf found these places empty and devoid of tour-ists.

Many hotels, even after o� ering handsome discounts, were not being able to draw cus-tomers. The restaurants along the beach were also empty.

General Manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Md Kamruzzaman feared long-term consequences if e� orts were not taken immediately to alleviate the situation. l

Justice for BCL leader demanded n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Sreepur activ-ists formed a human chain at Maona inter-section yesterday demanding justice for their leader’s murder, creating tra� c congestion on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

Sources said the demonstration took place from around 11:15am to around 11:35am, which blocked vehicular movement on both sides of the highway, which was con� rmed by Maona highway police OC Sanowar Hossain.

Al Amin’s elder brother Alamgir Hossain addressed the human chain and demanded punishment for his brother’s killers.

“We have held several demonstrations be-fore seeking justice for my brother’s murder. Yet his killers are on the loose. I demand ex-emplary punishment for the culprits.”

The protest was also attended by Al Amin’s father Abul Hossain, his other brother Solaiman Haque Ripon and several Chhatra League and upazila Sramik League leaders.

Al Amin, who was assistant secretary of Chhatra League’s Sreepur unit, was fatally in-jured in a clash between two rival candidates’ supporters during the upazila parishad elec-tion campaign on March 8 last year. He died the next day while undergoing treatment at a Uttara hospital in Dhaka. l

Contraband items seized n Our Correspondent, Satkhira

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh recov-ered 125 bottles of Indian Phensidyl syrup, 139 bottles of liquor, 2,000 pieces of ‘Anagra’ tablets and 30 kilograms of cumin seeds from Charabari Math area in Kolaroa upazila yester-day morning.

BGB-38 Taluigachha camp commander Abdur Rab said on a tip-o� , a team of the border force conducted a drive in the area around 9:30 am.

Sensing presence of the BGB men, the smugglers � ed the scene leaving behind the contraband items. l

Prime accused in AL leader murder case heldn Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur

Police arrested the prime accused in Awami League leader Abdul Mannan murder case from Gobindapur area in Sadar upazila yes-terday.

The arrested was identi� ed as Ka� l Uddin, joint secretary of Charshahi union unit of AL.

Abdullah Al Mamun, o� cer-in-charge of DB said on a tip-o� , a team of police conducted a drive in the area and arrested Ka� l.

Police said on 21 June, 2014, a gang of ter-rorists slaughtered Awami League Charshahi union unit president Abdul Mannan near his house.

Anjumara Begum, wife of Mannan, said criminals had been threatening her husband with death over mobile phone for 15 days

She � led a murder case against Ka� in this connection.

The arrested was also wanted in more sev-eral cases, including murder, robbery and ex-tortion, the OC added. l

Abducted farmer rescued in Natoren Our Correspondent, Natore

Police rescued a farmer yesterday, who was kidnapped on Sunday, and arrested a female abductor from Station Bazar area in the town.

The farmer was identi� ed as Abul Kashem, a resident of Batash Molla village in Poba upazila of Rajshahi district while the alleged abductor was Munni.

Sadar Police Station O� cer-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman said a gang of kidnappers picked up Kashem when he was going to Ma-drasa More to meet with a friend.

Later, they demanded Tk5 lakh as ransom from the family members of the victim over phone.

On a tip-o� , a team of police conducted a drive in the area, rescued Kashem and arrest-ed Munni. l

Death rumour prompts RMG workers to torch a busn Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Workers of readymade garments factory at Zirani on the Nabinagar-Kaliakoir Road in the district yesterday set � re to a passenger bus following a rumour over death of one of their fellows in a road accident.

They also blockaded the road for half an hour causing immense su� ering to commut-ers.

SI Mus� qur Rahman of Chakrabarty police camp said Shahin, worker of Hamim Group, was hit by a Pabna-bound clothes-loaded bus of Nabi Textiles Mill in the area around7:30am.

Injured Shahin was admitted to a local hos-pital.

As a rumour spread that Shahin died in the accident, the workers � ew into rage and set � re to the bus.

Later, a � re � ghting unit rushed in and doused the � re. l

Most waterbodies in many areas of the Barind tract in Rajshahi have dried up. People are having to travel afar to collect water from deep tube wells. And just like people, these ducks cannot � nd respite searching for water in the dried up ponds either. This photo was taken yesterday from Poba upazila, Rajshahi AZHAR UDDIN

WORLD10DT


Lunched Afghan over Koran-burning ‘innocent’n AFP, Kabul

Thousands protest woman’s mob killing in Af-ghan capital Associated Press

The woman named Farkhunda was lynched on Thursday by an angry crowd in central Kabul for allegedly burning a copy of the Islamic holy book.

“The accusation against her is completely invalid. Farkhunda was a religious girl, she was not involved (in burning the Koran), she was innocent,” interior minister Noorulhaq Ulumi told MPs during questioning in parlia-ment.

“It is very painful that we were not able to protect a pious young person. We hope this will not be repeated again.” l

GERMANWINGS PLANE CRASH

No problem before takeo� , no mayday issuedn Reuters, Cologne

Germanwings said it was unclear what caused its Airbus A320 aircraft to crash in theFrench Alps yesterday but that there had been no problems with the plane beforetakeo� .

“There were no anomalies on the plane,” the Lufthansa unit’s Managing Director Thomas Winkelmann told journalists at a news conference yesterday, hours after the crash.

He said Airbus delivered the plane to Lufthansa in 1991, after which it � ew exclu-sively for the German � agship carrier until it was transferred to Germanwings’ � eet last year.

That makes the aircraft older than the 11.5-year average age of Lufthansa’s � eet of 615 planes.

No mayday“The aircraft did not itself make a distress call but it was the combination of the loss of ra-

dio contact and the aircraft’s descent which led the controller to implement the distress phase,” a spokesman for the DGAC authority said.

The “distress” phase is the third and most serious of three stages of alerts used to help coordinate rescue e� orts when an aircraft is considered in di� culty.

Nusra Front quietlyrises in Syria asIS targetedn AP, Beirut

The Nusra Front, Syria’s al-Qaida a� liate, is consolidating power in territory stretching from the Turkish border to central and southern Syria, crushing moderate opponents and forcibly converting minorities using tactics akin to its ultraconservative rival, the Islamic State group.

But while the Islamic State group gets most of the attention largely because its penchant for gruesome propaganda, the Nusra Front quietly has become one of the key players in the four-year civil war, compromising other rebel groups the West may try to work with while increasingly enforcing its own brutal version of Islamic law.

Its scope of in� uence now abuts the Golan Heights bordering Israel, and its membership largely composed of Syrian nationals refuse any negotiations with the government of embattled President Bashar Assad, further complicating the brutal con� ict.

“The Nusra Front will most likely outlast ISIS in Syria, and will represent a severe and existential threat to the aspirations of the Syrian people in terms of a pluralistic, democratic society,” said Fawaz A. Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics, using an alternate acronym for the extremist group.

The Islamic State group helped create the Nusra Front, providing � nancing, manpower and military hardware in 2012. But the group and its patron eventually had a falling out in 2013 for ideological as well as strategic reasons.

The Nusra Front, while loyal to al-Qaida, has cooperated with other Syrian rebel factions in the � ght to oust Assad. l

O� cial: US-led force � ying over Islamic State-held Tikritn AP, Tikrit

The US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group has begun surveillance � ights over the extremist-held city of Tikrit and sending intelligence to Iraqi forces � ghting to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown, a senior o� cial said yesterday.

The � ights and intelligence sharing, which began Saturday, mark the � rst time the coali-tion has been involved in the o� ensive, which up to now largely has been supported by Ira-nian advisers including Gen. Qassem Soleim-ani, commander of the powerful Revolution-ary Guard Quds Force.

The coalition o� cial, who spoke on condi-tion of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to journalists about the matter, said the support began at the request of the Iraqi gov-ernment. He declined to comment on wheth-er they are providing airstrikes, saying he can-not discuss current or future operations. l

US troops driving through Poland get warm welcomen AP, Bialystok

Hundreds of residents turned out in eastern Poland yesterday to greet a convoy of US troops that is driving through eastern Europe, a region worried that the con� ict in Ukraine threatens its security.

Children climbed into the Stryker armored vehicles and residents o� ered regional souve-nirs as the crowd gathered in the main square of Bialystok under sunny skies, applauding troops from the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Cav-alry Regiment for their gesture of reassurance to a Nato ally. Poland borders Ukraine and

Russia, and the con� ict in eastern Ukraine has caused anxiety here.

“This really means a lot to us. We see that we are not alone, that there is someone to de-fend us,” Zdzislaw Narel, 60, told The Associ-ated Press. “This is really a historic moment.”

“You make us feel like movie stars,” a US soldier was heard saying from atop a Stryker.

The “Dragoon Ride” convoy of dozens of armored vehicles started last week from Es-tonia and passed through Latvia and Lithua-nia before entering Poland, on a 1,700-kilom-eter (1,000-mile) return journey to a base in Vilseck, Germany.

White House warns Netanyahu that ‘occupation must end’n AFP, Washington

The White House on Monday bluntly warned Israel that its occupation of Palestinian land must end, dismissing Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu’s e� orts to take back contro-versial campaign pledges.

In unusually tough language that un-derscores the fracture in relations between Washington and Israel, White House Chief of Sta� Denis McDonough said “an occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end.”

McDonough criticised Netanyahu’s pre-election pledge to block the creation of a Palestinian state -- the supposed end goal of decades of fruitless peace talks -- and he questioned Netanyahu’s e� orts to undo the damage.

“We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they don’t raise questions about the Prime Minis-ter’s commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations,” he said.

“The Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state,” he added. l

No survivors among the 150 on board the Barcelona-Duesseldorf A320Germanwings Airbus disaster

GermanwingsLow-cost affiliate of Lu�hansa

Airbus A320-200

Barcelona

Barcelonnette

PARIS

S P A I N

F R A N C E

I T A L Y

G E R M A N Y

Duesseldorf

144 passengers6 crew members

0947 GMT:Distress signal

Trois Evechesmountain

0855 GMT:Take off

US soldiers pictured during a meeting with Bialystok residents at the Market Square in Bialystok, Poland, yesterday. US soldiers meet with the residents of Bialystok as they move in the ‘Dragoon Ride’ convoy from Estonia to their home base in Bavaria, Germany AFP

WORLD 11D


France swings to the right as Europe retrenchesn AP, Paris

France, long the land of the left, is making a right turn.

The top two parties in weekend local elec-tions were the conservative UMP and the far right National Front. And even the governing Socialists are adopting traditionally right-wing policies: reducing labor protections, expelling immigrants and rounding up trouble-makers.

The election result is the latest sign of a long-running change in attitudes, as many Europeans shift amid economic uncertainty and security fears. That, along with disillu-sionment with mainstream leaders, is push-ing voters in new directions, from Greece to Spain and Britain.

In France, surging support for the Nation-al Front has forced mainstream conserva-tives and leftists to consider ideas that once seemed authoritarian. And a deadly rampage in January by French Islamic extremists is swaying the conversation about security, im-migration and integration.

“What seems most striking to me is the bar swinging to the right on the political chess board,” said Frederic Dabi of France’s Ifop polling agency.

That’s in part because of shrinking support for Europe’s open borders and shared curren-cy, which far right groups decry. But Dabi said it’s also because voters from all political back-grounds want to punish the party in charge.

French far-right leader and National Front Party, Marine Le Pen poses prior to a news conference at …

In the voting Sunday for local councils in France, former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative UMP and its allies won 29% of

votes in � rst-round balloting. Next came Ma-rine Le Pen’s National Front, with 25%. Presi-dent Francois Hollande’s governing Socialists and their allies trailed with 21.5%, according to o� cial results.

That means that in about a quarter of run-o� races March 29, voters will have a choice between the right and the hard right.

It’s a wake-up call for the French left, which boasts several political parties and whose defense of worker rights and the wel-fare state long set the overall national agenda. It’s bleeding support amid Hollande’s failure to create jobs and reinvigorate the economy.

Many even expected the National Front to come out on top in Sunday’s vote, since its support has steadily surged over recent years under Le Pen. With her eye on a 2017 presidential bid, she wants to close France’s borders and rails against the “Islamisation” of Europe.

Sarkozy’s conservatives dominated the Sunday elections instead–in part because they have increasingly been borrowing from the far right playbook to win votes.

The French Parliament’s vote in January to extend airstrikes against extremists in Iraq was telling: The Socialist-led National Assem-bly gave Prime Minister Manuel Valls a stand-ing ovation when he declared “war” on ter-rorists, and approved the extension by 488-1.

After the January attacks, Hollande’s ad-ministration deployed more than 100,000 security forces, and authorities rounded up dozens in a crackdown on hate speech. The government is now pushing to legalise broad surveillance of terrorism suspects, a move activists consider a major blow to France’s famed “liberte.”

India, China agree to foster peace on disputed bordern AFP, New Delhi

India and China agreed yesterday to foster peace along their Himalayan border after wrapping up two days of talks designed to re-solve a long-festering boundary dispute.

In comments issued after the round of talks in the Indian capital, the governments of both countries stressed their common de-sire to maintain calm and to press ahead with further negotiations.

“Both sides agreed to take necessary steps to maintain peace and tranquility in the bor-der areas, which is a pre-requisite for contin-ued growth of bilateral relations,” the Indian foreign ministry said.

The Chinese foreign ministry said both sides had agreed to make “joint e� orts to safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area,” which has been the scene of several re-cent military stando� s.

China’s special representative Yang Jiechi and Indian national security adviser Ajit Dov-al led their respective delegations at the talks,

which were � rst agreed during President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last year. The talks that started Monday were part of a push to make progress on the border dispute before Modi’s expected visit to China in May.

China defeated India in a brief but bloody war in 1962 but an agreement on their bor-der remains elusive, with each side regular-ly accusing the other of sending soldiers to encroach on territory. Tensions peaked last September when hundreds of Chinese troops allegedly moved into the Himalayan territory just as Xi arrived in India on a landmark visit, casting a shadow over his talks with Modi.

While there was no details on how the negoti-ators were progressing, the Indian foreign minis-try’s statement said both countries had “agreed to further expand such contacts as these consti-tute important con� dence-building measures for maintaining peace and tranquility.”

Speaking at a brie� ng in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chuny-ing said that Yang and Doval “spoke highly of the progress we have achieved.” l

Sahara employee jumps to deathn Tribune Desk

An employee of the Sahara group – who did not get his salary for four months committed suicide by jumping from the eighth � oor of his o� ce building on yesterday, police from the Indian city of Lucknow said.

Pradeep Mandal, a 45-year-old deputy manager with Sahara India Co-operative So-

ciety, came to the Sahara headquarters in Ali-ganj area in the morning.

His colleagues said he was keeping tense for the past few days as he had not been paid sal-ary by the company for the past four months.

The Sahara group has not been able to pay salaries to employees in many wings, as its chief Subrata Roy is in Tihar jail for more than a year now over a legal issue. l

EDITORIAL12DT


The death of Lee Kuan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore, has justly drawn warm tributes and condolences from across the world.

Singapore’s transformation into a leading � nancial and trading centre during the three decades of his rule has left a legacy that has seen its per capita GDP grow a hundred-fold in its 50 years since independence, to over $55,000 a year today.

It is important to draw the right lessons from his many successes.

An exceptionally able communicator and statesman, his greatest achievement was his ability to put into practice the vision he had for his people.

This required exceptional pragmatism on his part. For someone who had staked his entire political career on keeping Malaysia and Singapore united after the end of British rule, he showed great adaptability in success-fully building and leading an independent Singapore.

It will be regrettable if people associate Lee Kuan Yew only with his authori-tarian style of government, which means that, although democratic, a one-party rule is embedded in Singapore. His model of “controlled democracy” in a small city state, is clearly not viable or desirable in larger nations.

It is better to recall the practical steps which Lee took to lift Singapore’s devel-opment. They included carrots as well as sticks to eliminate corruption and also increase savings rates.

Above all, Lee invested in education and infrastructure. It was his commitment to building up human capital and creating a conducive environment for business that provides the platform for Singapore’s success today.

Adaptability and commitment to education underlie his achievements

Pragmatism is the lesson to learn from Lee Kuan Yew

We welcome reports that the government is planning to lift some of the restrictions it imposed in February, which prevent foreign tourists from visiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts without securing advance permission

from the Home Ministry.Although the government is still using security as a justi� cation for retaining

restrictions on long-term foreign researchers in the district, the state minister for the Home A� airs did tell reporters that there would be no restrictions on people visiting or meeting with any people from indigenous communi-ties.

This is a small positive sign that the govern-ment is relaxing its disgraceful discriminatory decision to bar communications between local and foreign persons or organisations, and the indigenous population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts area.

It is clear to us that it should never have embarked on such discriminatory retrograde policies in the � rst place.

Such moves are wholly contrary to basic constitutional freedoms and instiu-tionalise communalism and racism. They impose separation barriers which can only serve to increase tensions in the CHT region.

At a time when it is urgent for the government to take meaningful steps to stop escalating communal tensions, these unwarranted and harmful restrictions have only distracted attention from the key underlying issues.

The government should lift the ban altogether and focus on fully implementing the CHT Peace Accord so that discrimination and land grabbing are ended in the region. Loosening the ban is only a small step forwards. It has to go further to properly ensure peace for all people in CHT.

Do more than loosen the CHT ban

Lift it altogether and focus on implementing the CHT Peace Accord

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207Email [email protected]

Send us your Op-Ed articles:[email protected]

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207Email [email protected]

Send us your Op-Ed articles:[email protected]

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Political violence looking like organised crimeMarch 2

HanzalahWait a second, so essentially this is a police press release, is it? The same police famous for being the govt’s “enforcers” across the country?

Molla A. LatifIf anyone wants to � sh in the muddy water, here lies the propitious ground for it: Just count the bomb makers from your own estimation, divide them proportionately, and throw the bombs to kill the people.

Blame all, including the gentleman standing there on the spot, of looting none

will object to it. When all that anyone says is right and

nothing is wrong, then everything is either wrong or right.

The report is very much correct and deserves an applause. What should we do when we cannot verify its veritability ourselves?

deep purple blueit is clearly evident from the report that not only BNP-Jamaat but also the AL leaders/ac-tivists are also actively engaged in creating anarchy in the country.

‘Avijit got what he deserved’March 2

ImtiazSince when is it okay for RAB to give line by line commentary on an ongoing investiga-tion? Must this be a spectacle too?

Adom AliLet this killer get what he deserves, a cross-� re. No way, he be given a chance again to risk another life. He is far way o� from true Islam.

Maxtor MaxI wish Bangladesh will not become 2nd paki-stan. It’s all up to the Bangladeshi people to either eradicate this intolerance or see their country soaked in blood in the years to come.

New bird species spottedMarch 2Barely Legal AlienDoes it have teeth?

Farabi commends Avijit murder

March 5Shariar Sarwer

Supporting a murder should never be pro-moted as a freedom of speech.

Tarik ChowdhuryHe has freedom of speech and should enjoy

it, but does that necessarily link him to the crime ?

Syed Jawad QuaderIs this deluded extremist also the murderer?

Let’s see.

Mahmudullah makes historyMarch 9

Jay OhlmacherCongratulations on becoming the � rst ever

Bangladeshi batsman to score a century in a world cup match.

Yasmin AhmedBravo Bangladesh!

DT

OPINION 13D


n Md Ashraf Hossain

Having a home is a dream for all, but owning a piece of land or a � at in the capital city Dhaka is beyond the imag-

ination of most people who live honest lives. It is said that the price of land per katha in Gulshan is around Tk10cr, while in Bashabo it is not less than Tk1cr. A 1,000sq-ft � at in Banani costs more than Tk1cr. Even then, land, as well as � ats, are sold and purchased regularly at such sky-high prices. They are mostly bought by the privileged few who can a� ord them.

Since the emergence of Bangladesh, many people have been enjoying higher incomes, except the honest, low paid employees. Though their salaries have increased in terms of � gures, in reality they have reduced signif-icantly. For instance, in the 50s and 60s, even an employee working at the lower level could at least build a tin-shed house in a city or a town with his life savings.

This is in no way possible nowadays, even for people in good positions. In Bangladesh, many people rise to the peaks of their careers like generals in the army -- secretaries to the

government, managing directors in banks, chairmen and directors in corporations, pres-idents or general managers in private sector organizations -- but they hardly earn enough legal money to be able to purchase land or � ats in big cities.

The deprivation endured by honest service holders, irrespective of public sector or private sector, could be addressed by the government by taking pragmatic steps to meet the basic housing needs of these honest

workers. Building satellite towns for them could be a solution.

Bangladesh is an overpopulated country, and arable land is precious for growing food for the people. Keeping these factors in mind, Lauhajang, Sirajdikhan, and Srinagar upazilas of Munshiganj district are ideal areas which can be developed into satellite towns in order to meet the growing housing needs of the limited-income group. The landing site of one end of the Padma Bridge will be in the area.

Most areas in the three upazilas remain submerged during the rainy season. All these upazilas are located about 20km to 25km away from Dhaka. Taking the zero-point as the centre, this distance is a little more than it is to Uttara or Mirpur. The area can be de-veloped by � lling the land with silt from the riverbed. This will also increase navigability while also facilitating the draining of � ood waters during monsoon.

The low valued land of the three upazilas could thus be utilised to cater to the housing needs of millions of people, and reduce the ever-increasing pressure on the capital.

It would hardly a� ect crop production

as the existing low-lying lands are mostly single-cropped.

The proposed satellite towns can be linked to Dhaka via Mawa Road, and as such, no extra money would be required to connect the new townships to the capital. People would be able to commute to the city to go to their o� ces on a regular basis.

The Housing and Settlement Directorate can be assigned to implement the project, given how Rajuk is overburdened with its present responsibilities. Plots in the pro-posed satellite town should be allotted to two categories of people: The a� ected land-own-ers and the limited income group. A quota system should in no way be considered. All allottees should be selected only by lottery, if and when the number of applicants exceeds the number of plots.

Strict measures must be taken to ensure that only deserving applicants are accom-modated, and that the a� uent are kept out of the lottery. In this way, a good number of honest, low-paid employees will be able to own their dream houses. l

Md Ashraf Hossain is a freelance contributor.

A place for your dream home

n Zeeshan Hasan

On February 3, newspapers reported that the Ministry of Land had signed a contract with an Indian company to

digitise land records of several districts ini-tially at a cost of $10m-20m (which presum-ably will total over $100m to roll out to all of Bangladesh).

While modernising land records is un-doubtedly a critical undertaking for Bangla-desh, two big questions arise.

Firstly, is the technology platform which will be used for these land records free/open-source and guaranteed to be available to Bangladesh in perpetuity with no license fee? Secondly, can’t any of this work be done by local companies?

The nature of land records is such that once they are digitised, they will need to be used forever. So the initial cost, however high, is not as big a factor as the maintenance cost in perpetuity.

Over the last 20 years, free/open-source software (like the Firefox web browser and Linux operating system which forms the basis of Google Android) has established it-self in all � elds of information technology as having the lowest cost, while simultaneously maintaining quality and security on par with any proprietary technology.

None of the media reports made any men-tion of open-source software use in the land records project. This critical aspect of the deal may have been overlooked.

In fact, there is an open-source tech-nology which has revolutionised land records and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) around the world.

It is called PostGIS, and is an extension of the free/open-source PostgreSQL database which speci� cally handles the data require-ments of digital land records. PostGIS is the

system underlying www.openstreetmap.org (a Wikipedia-like equivalent to Google Maps), and is proven by use all over the world since 2001.

If the government has had the foresight to specify that PostGIS be the basis of the system it will buy, well and good. However, if they have not, then there will likely be many problems and even larger costs in the future.

First of all, a proprietary database (like Oracle) will require many additional develop-ments to handle geographical data. Certainly, foreign companies which have previously developed digital land records for Indian and other governments have already made such proprietary customisations.

But in that case, will the Bangladesh gov-ernment be committing to pay these foreign companies a fee to access our own land records forever?

Shouldn’t Bangladesh control access to its own land records? Furthermore, what is the justi� cation of paying for those proprietary customisations if open-source systems like PostGIS provide similar features for free?

Undoubtedly the foreign company select-ed has experience and expertise in digital land records which local Bangladeshi compa-nies do not, as Bangladeshi land records have not yet been digitised.

That doesn’t mean that the whole work should be given to a foreign company to be done in a proprietary system owned by them. Rather, what makes sense is to specify that foreign consultants should leverage their experience to prototype and do a pilot project of an open-source land records solution based on PostGIS to digitise existing paper records.

This approach would prevent future prob-lems of being “locked in” to a single foreign vendor forever at high cost, as the solution produced would be based on open-source PostGIS and not a foreign proprietary system;

an open-source system could be taken over by local companies with PostGIS experience after the initial development and piloted by the foreign experts.

Adoption of the above open-source strat-egy for digital land records would bene� t Bangladesh on multiple fronts.

Firstly, Bangladesh would get the involve-ment of foreign experts. Second, it would not be dependent on the foreign company as the � nal system and product would be an open-source system and not dependent on a single foreign vendor.

Finally, using an open-source system like PostGIS would open up the � eld to local companies as well; once the foreign experts designed the initial prototypes and com-pleted pilot projects in a few districts, local companies with experience in PostGIS could take over the system for further roll-out

country-wide. Such an approach would be a boon for

the local software industry as well as a big savings in cost and foreign currency for the Bangladesh government.

In the long term, the fact is that all data of the Bangladesh government should be stored in an open-source format which it can access through free software like PostGIS without dependence on a foreign software company and without any exorbitant fees.

There should be an open-source software procurement policy written by the govern-ment to this e� ect. l

Zeeshan Hasan is a Director of Kazi Farms Group (www.kazifarms.com), Dhaka Tribune, and Sysnova IT (www.sysnova.com). His articles on religion are at www.liberalislam.net and his global warming blog is at www.goodbyebangladesh.blogspot.com.

A Digital Bangladesh needs open-source land records

Owning a piece of land or a � at in the capital city Dhaka is beyond the imagination of most

BIGSTOCK

OPINION14DT


n Nadeem Qadir

When the month of March comes, we all welcome the spring season. I did the same in 1971. I had a small garden in the back-

yard of our home in Panchlaish residential area in Chittagong.

The rest of the backyard was my moth-er’s vegetable garden, and in the front was a garden as beautiful and graceful as my late mother -- Hasna Hena Qadir. She had a col-lection of 27 kinds of roses, including a black one and green one.

That March in 1971 saw the euphoria of a nation on the edge of being born -- not knowing how painful the delivery would be -- even the labour pains were not so acute, as the child called Bangladesh was born.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7 speech declaring the “strug-gle this time is the struggle for freedom” shook the Bengali nation with a sense of delight that only those of us who witnessed it can feel. The scream of “Joy Bangla” by millions mingled with that of my martyred father.

People like my father tightened their belts to face a possible attack by the Pakistani army with black � ags, and the new � ag -- red and green with a yellow map -- of a nation

about to be born, dominated the skyline. Oh! How incredible it felt at that time.

Pro-Pakistanis were on the defence, and as predicted by many, they betrayed Bangladesh -- the land where they lived and made their livelihood.

Then suddenly so many colours of spring were draped with red human blood across Bangladesh on March 25 and 26 in 1971. Chit-tagong was attacked on March 26.

The mortar shells started coming into the city randomly with tracer lights as well as the sound of automatic guns, which cannot be described in words.

The Earth shook, and the birds, which had taken shelter for the night on the trees, start-

ed screaming. It was strange to see so many birds in the night sky.

Early on March 25 and 26, Dhaka and Chittagong were drenched with human blood as thousands of bodies lay scattered across the country that was waiting to be born, the freedom-seeking people not realising the high cost they had to pay.

Soon after Bangladesh’s birth, the o� cial � gure was put at 3 million people killed, but

vested quarters quickly started a debate soon after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975.

Some still try, and it is a shame to dispute the count for political reasons. The focus should be on remembering March 25 as the

“International Genocide Day” as has been demanded by the Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nir-mul Committee for the past several years.

The committee, along with general people, hold a candle light vigil each March 25 in the Dhaka University campus.

In the book Century of Genocide edited by Samuel Totten, the number of casualties has been listed as 3 million. The � gure is the same in National Geographic magazine, Encyclopedia Americana, and Compton’s En-cyclopedia. The Sydney Morning Herald put the � gure of unarmed Bangladeshis killed in Dhaka on the night of March 25, 1971 alone at 100,000.

Kazi Mukul of the committee told me that the killing of three million people in a land of 56,000 square miles can be considered the most “macabre genocide in the history of human civilsation.”

The genocide in Bangladesh perpetrated by the Pakistan Army was much more brutal than that in Poland by the Nazis, according to the St Louis Post.

Committee chief and writer-journalist Shahriar Kabir said they were making a fer-vent appeal and demanding that the day be declared International Genocide Day. l

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

March 25should beInternational Genocide Day

That March in 1971 saw the euphoria of a nation on the edge of being born -- not knowing how painful the delivery would be

BANGLADESH OLD PHOTO ARCHIVE

TB poses potential threat to Bangladesh economy as human cost persistsn Kayes Sohel

Shiraj Mian died two years ago after su� ering multi-drug resistance-Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) for years.

He had lost ability to work and survived 10 years after the diagnosis of the disease. Shiraj had to sell all his ancestral land as the very last resort to bear the treatment expenses.

He left behind his wife and seven daugh-ters, three of them were married o� .

“When it was the time for him to earn live-lihood for the family, he fell sick. This made us to feel down,” said Sajeda, wife of late Shi-raj, standing at a corner of her only small and stu� y room at a city slum. She and her four children live there.

“We faced social stigma, as many did not want to marry us because of TB,” said 22-year Mukta, the second daughter of Sajeda. She later married one of her cousins.

The situation got worse after few days when Sajeda’s last four children were also infected with TB. Currently, they are now under treatment in a TB care centre run by a non-government organisation.

Sajeda and her four children depend on the earnings of her married daughters.

Doctors say Sajeda’s four daughters are very compliant patient, but neither she nor her family have the means to provide the nec-essary nutrition for their health.

Her story discovers that TB still poses a serious threat to Bangladesh economy in the wake of emergence of MDR-TB, pushing hun-dreds of thousands of families into wrenching poverty and the country to lose productivity.

It is one such disease that many do not per-ceive as a public health threat, when in fact it is among the leading causes of death in Bang-ladesh.

Like Shiraj, millions of people of Bang-ladesh are su� ering from TB. Annually, the country witnesses 80,000 TB deaths and 350,000 new cases, according to the World

Health Organisation. TB accounts for 9% of the deaths in Bangladesh every year. Hence, every hour nine people die of TB despite an e� ective treatment.

Bangladesh having a high MDR-TB burden with around 4,700 cases noti� ed every year ranks 7th globally in terms of the burden of TB on the population, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) Report, 2014. As many as 29% of old patients turned into MDR-TB pa-tients in Bangladesh.

If a TB patient fails to take drugs regular-ly, or does not complete full course or if the drugs are below quality, then TB germs be-come drug-resistance, which is called MDR-TB, said Shayla Islam, programme manager of TB control Programme, BRAC.

She said despite various ef-forts made by the government and some non-government organisations, factors includ-ing poverty, malnutrition, overcrowding, low education, poor access to TB treatment, negligence of patients and still lack of awareness are some of main causes behind the TB infection in Bangla-desh.

“It is taking a toll on Bang-ladesh. Almost half of all cas-es of active TB go unrecog-

nised,” she said. “Most tuberculosis patients are unable to

work and dependent on others for � nancial support during the treatment period. To ad-dress the challenges we need to make tuber-culosis a national priority.”

The death and new case � gure indicates that Bangladesh is robbing of billions of taka due to losing productivity of people getting into contact with TB like Shiraj, thus slowing down economic growth.

O� cially TB treatment is provided for free, but studies in Bangladesh consistently show that having TB can be catastrophic to poor households, said Anna Vassal, professor of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medi-cine in her paper on TB in the post-2015 and development agenda.

To reach the global TB target by 2030, around 315,000 persons need to be treated cur-rently in Bangladesh per year. So it is estimated that the current total cost of the TB programme required to reach the target to be an additional Tk680 crore per year, although this estimate falls over time as TB incidence reduces. This is over and above the current TB programme of around Tk450 crore, the paper said.

This investment will give anyone in Bang-ladesh who develops TB around 19 addition-al years of life on average, based on the fact that the average to contract TB in Bangladesh is around 45 years, and the life expectancy

in Bangladesh is currently around 70 years—and including an adjustment for the fact that some with TB will self-cure.

MDR-TB is assured of having lower rate of return given that treatment is less e� ective, at around 13.5 years of life gained.

In total, if scaled up to levels to achieve the TB targets the TB programme in Bangladesh will produce around 2.8m additional years of life for the annual investment.

The life of years saved the recommend-ed methods of using an economic value of Tk78,000 or Tk390,000. Applying this value to life years saved describe above, it is found that the economic return per taka spent rang-es from Tk29 to over Tk162, making this a sound investment in post-2015.

The average cost of � rst line treatment to be found Tk10,140 per person treated, with around Tk1560 of this cost being spent on drugs, said the paper.

There are no studies examining the costs of MDR-TB treatment in Bangladesh, but there have been studies recently conducted in Ne-pal that estimate that the treatment of those with MDR-TB can cost around Tk335,400 per person.

Despite the economic progress over the years and a 92% cure rate in Bangladesh, it still remains a very poor country, with some 20% of people live in extreme poverty.

According to a survey of National TB Con-trol Programme (NTP) in 2011, among the new TB patients diagnosed, about 1.4% was new MDR-TB cases and about 28.5% MDR patients were identi� ed from previously treated TB cases.

NTP line director Ahmed Hossain Khan said lack of awareness, taking drug irregular-ly and fear of social stigma is the prime cause for the deaths in Bangladesh. “And MDR case is not only problem in our country but allover the world,” he said.

The government has adopted directly ob-served treatment short-course (DOTS) pro-gramme with strong monitoring to control the infection, which improved the situation to a great extent, he said.

Of the new cases, 20% has always been retreated due to drug resistance, said Khan. “However, combined e� orts can help eradi-cate the disease.”

In Bangladesh, every year approximately 1.4m people on average seek care for TB and from 2004 to 2013, more than 1.5m TB patients have been treated, according to the NTP.

NTP has installed new diagnostic tool gene expert machines, which is helping to detect more TB patients including drug resistant TB in a short time. l

15D

TBusiness WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

Saudis claw back global market share with oil output push

Stocks edge lower amid dull trading

Rajshahi power distribution project okayed

19 2016

A TB patient at the National Institute of Chest Disease and Hospital in Dhaka. The country’s TB treatment programme will need an additional Tk680cr a year to reach global targets by 2030 SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Furniture exporters to get cash incentives20

BUSINESS16DT


CORPORATE NEWS

GOLDBERG, a mobile brand of Khansons Group has recently signed agreements with its distributors in several divisions including Dhaka and Chittagong. Khansons Group Chairperson AKM Azizur Rahman Khan and Founder & CEO of GOLDBERG, Abrar Rahman Khan were present on the occasion among others

Saudis claw back global market share with oil output pushn Reuters, London

When Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi says he does not want the kingdom to lose market share anymore, he really means it.

Iraq, Venezuela, Russia and Kazakhstan all saw their oil partially replaced by Saudi crude in Asia, the United States and even Europe, with its lackluster demand, as traders said the kingdom o� ered customers more oil, and more cheaply.

Supplies from OPEC’s leading producer are notoriously di� cult to track as they reach customers under con� dential direct deals rather than via the spot market. But an indi-rect con� rmation of rising deliveries came on Sunday from Naimi himself.

The veteran minister, who carefully choos-es his words and � gures in his speeches, said the kingdom was now pumping around 10 million barrels per day - near an all-time high and some 350,000 bpd above the � gure Saudi Arabia gave to OPEC for its February output.

And to stress the message, Naimi said the kingdom had the ability to increase if custom-ers asked for more.

Gary Ross, the founder and executive chairman of PIRA, the � rst consultancy to predict Saudi oil output rising to 10 million bpd in March, said PIRA’s research and con-versations with customers showed addition-al crude would be delivered to Asia and the United States.

In Asia, some Chinese re� neries switched from using West African barrels to the Saudi Arab Light grade. In the United States, some customers increased their use of Saudi oil be-cause of very competitive pricing.

Also contributing to the rise in Saudi sup-plies were much lower loadings of Iraqi crude

because of bad weather in February, said Ross.“The Saudis have said they are ready to

increase supply if there is more demand. So over the past months they got more demand and they supplied the market with additional crude,” said Ross.

“I think Saudi Arabia is comfortable with its current production volumes and is happy to restore market share. They are unlikely to go much above 10 million,” he added.

Naimi has repeatedly said that Saudi Ara-bia’s loss of its share in major markets was the main reason it decided against cutting produc-tion at OPEC’s last meeting in November 2014.

The decision contributed to a steep decline in oil prices to below $50 per barrel in January

from $115 in June 2014.The Saudis are hoping the development

will cut output from high-cost producers, such as US shale explorers, and win back mar-ket share for low cost producers such as Saudi Arabia.

The past weeks have shown that Riyadh was not waiting for a bigger market share to come their way, but was pro-actively manag-ing the situation.

“The Saudis have been placing more barrels in Europe since February - something I haven’t seen for a long time. It creates additional pres-sure on Russia and Kazakh oil grades,” said a trader with an oil major, which buys large vol-umes of Saudi, Russian and Kazakh crude. l

Britain sees no in� ation in February for � rst time on recordn Reuters, London

British in� ation vanished last month, hitting zero for the � rst time on record, o� cial � gures showed on yesterday.

The annual rate of consumer price in� ation dropped to zero percent, from 0.3 percent in January, the O� ce for National Statistics said, keeping a rate rise by the Bank of England � rmly o� the table for now.

The decline was bigger than economists had expected and marked the � rst time there has been no growth in consumer prices since comparable records began in 1989.

Sterling GBP= weakened slightly against the dollar after the data and economists said that in� ation was likely to dip below zero next month - though they stressed that Britain was at much less risk of entrenched de� ation than the euro zone.

“We still think that de� ation in the UK will be a ‘good’ development, giving household incomes a welcome boost and supporting the economic recovery this year,” said Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.

The unchanged cost of living will be appreci-ated by many Britons in the run-up to a national election on May 7, especially as annual wage growth slipped to 1.8% at the start ofthe year.

But the further in� ation falls below the Bank of England’s 2% target, the more speculation there is likely to be on whether low price growth risks becoming entrenched.

Last week the BoE’s chief economist said the central bank was as likely to need to cut rates as to raise them in the immediate future, though for now that view appears not to be shared by other policymakers.

BoE Governor Mark Carney told legislators earlier this month that cutting rates purely in re-sponse to falling oil prices would be “extremely foolish”, and most economists polled by Reuters expect the next BoE move to be a rate rise in around a year’s time.

Unlike in the euro zone, where prices are already showing year-on-year falls, most economists think British consumer demand will remain � rm in the face of falling prices, due to robust employment growth and signs of a pick-up in wages.

Tuesday’s data showed downward pressure on in� ation from falling prices for food, laptops, tablets and computer peripherals, whereas in previous months tumbling oil prices have reduced the cost of fuel and transport.

Cuts in utility bills from companies such as British Gas are among the factors likely to push prices lower in March, economists said.

An underlying measure of in� ation, which strips out increases in energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, slowed to 1.2% in February compared with 1.4% in January.

Data also released by the ONS on Tuesday showed that the prices which factories charged for goods fell by 1.8% in annual terms, similar to economists’ predictions. But factories’ raw material costs edged up slightly on the month, as oil prices recovered from lows hit at the start of the year. l

‘Tough to hit $100-$120 oil again’n Reuters, Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s OPEC governor Mohammed al-Madi said on Sunday it would be hard for oil to reach $100-$120 per barrel - the peaks it hit last year before falling sharply due to a glut of crude and weakening demand.

Last November, Organization of the Petro-leum Exporting Countries kingpin Saudi Ara-bia persuaded members to keep production unchanged to defend market share and curtail the output of more expensive producers such as the United States. The move accelerated the oil price drop to a low around $45.

“I think it’s di� cult to reach $100 or $120 another time,” Madi told an energy confer-ence in Riyadh.

Oil prices recovered since January to over $60 a barrel, but have fallen again in recent days following a bigger than expected crude stock build in the United States that fueled concerns of an oversupply in the world’s larg-est oil consumer.

Oil companies, including U.S. shale pro-ducers, have slashed spending and jobs since the price of oil fell, and may face another round of spending cuts to conserve cash and survive the downturn.

“We are not against anybody or against the

(production of US shale oil). On the contrary we welcome it, as it balances the market in the long run,” Madi said.

Benchmark Brent crude settled at $55.32 a barrel on Friday. Madi repeated that Saudi Arabia had no political motives in its oil policy.

“We understand that all countries need higher incomes...We want higher incomes, but we want higher incomes for us and future

generations,” he said.“There isn’t any political dimension in

what we do at the oil ministry - our vision is commercial and economic. We didn’t mean to hurt anybody, our vision is simply the follow-ing: the producers which have low costs have to have the priority to produce, but those who have high costs have to wait for their turn to produce,” he said. l

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna REUTERS

BUSINESS 17D


China March � ash HSBC PMI contracts to 11-month lown Reuters, Beijing

Activity in China’s factory sector dipped to a 11-month low in March as new orders shrank, a private survey showed, signalling persistent weakness in the world’s second-largest econ-omy that will likely fuel calls for more policy easing to support growth.

The poor reading added to signs that the economy has lost momentum despite two in-terest rate cuts since November, a reduction in the amount of money banks must keep in reserve and repeated attempts by the central bank to reduce � nancing costs.

The � ash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Manag-ers’ Index (PMI) dipped to 49.2 in March, be-low the 50-point level that separates growth in activity from contraction on a monthly basis. Economists polled by Reuters had fore-cast 50.6, slightly weaker than February’s � -nal PMI of 50.7.

Some analysts expect � rst-quarter eco-nomic growth to dip below the government’s new full-year target of 7% - widely seen as the level needed to keep employment steady.

“The weaker PMI data could increase pres-sure for policy loosening,” economists at CICC said in a research note.

They predicted the central bank would cut banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR) six more times this year, on top of another inter-est rate cut.

JPMorgan said the next RRR cut may come as soon as April.

Asia stocks fell after the PMI report on Tuesday, with shares in Shanghai skidding more than 2 percent, while the Australian dol-lar dipped. [MKTS/GLOB]

The survey suggested that manufacturers faced considerable challenges from weaker domestic demand and de� ationary risks.

The new orders sub-index fell to a 11-month low of 49.3 in March. New export orders de-creased for a second straight month, albeit at a slower pace.

Strains on the job market continued to rise, with the employment sub-index contracting for a 17th straight month and hitting its lowest since the depths of the global � nancial crisis.

China’s leaders have said they would be willing to tolerate somewhat slower growth as long as the labour market remained resilient.

“A renewed fall in total new business con-tributed to a weaker expansion of output, while companies continued to trim their workforce numbers,” said Annabel Fiddes, an economist at Markit said.

“Manufacturing companies continued to bene� t from falling input costs, stemming from the recent global oil price decline. How-ever, relatively muted client demand has led � rms to pass on savings in a bid to boost new work, and cut their selling prices at a similarly sharp rate.”

In Japan, a similar manufacturing survey added to concerns that its slowly recovering economy also may be losing momentum, with activity expanding at a much slower clip as domestic orders contracted.

China’s economy faces increased down-ward pressure this year but the slowdown is stabilising, with employment and services among the bright spots, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said on Sunday.

Weighed down by a property downturn, factory overcapacity and local debt, growth is expected to slow to a quarter-century low of around 7 percent this year from 7.4% in 2014, even with expected additional stimulus measures.

Data so far in 2015 indicate the new growth target may already be at risk, though the Asia

German businessmen challenge ECB’s bond purchase programmen AFP, Frankfurt

Three German businessmen are seeking to block the European Central Bank’s controversial bond purchase programme, arguing it over-steps the bank’s mandate, their legal expert told AFP on Monday.

Christoph Degenhart, a professor in con-stitutional law at Leipzig University, said that entrepreneurs Heinrich Weiss, Patrick Adenauer and Juergen Heraeus are seeking to challenge the ECB’s so-called Quantitative Easing or QE programme in the Germany’s highest court, the Constitutional Court.

Degenhart has already taken the ECB to court over previous unconventional policy measures such as the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme, which similarly has the central bank purchase bonds, but in this case to help eurozone members forced to pay high rates to borrow in the markets.

“Our argument is that, like in the case of OMT, the ECB is overstepping its mandate,” De-genhart said. A group of eurosceptic politicians and academics in Germany argue that the OMT programme is tantamount to printing money to pay o� government debt in crisis-hit countries.

The same was true of QE, Degenhart argued.“QE is a quantum leap, which essentially

means countries’ debt is being � nanced via the printing press,” he said. On January 22, the ECB announced a massive 1.14tn euro bond pur-chase programme, which will see 60bn euros in bonds per month bought for at least 18 months.

The aim is to pump liquidity into the � nancial system so as to kick-start lending and push up in� ation, currently below zero.

In the case of OMT, the Constitutional Court partially agreed with the plainti� s, ruling last year that “there are important reasons to suggest that it goes beyond the ECB’s monetary policy mandate and infringes on the powers of the member states and contravenes the ban on monetary de� cit � nancing.”

But the Constitutional Court referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg before issuing its � nal ruling.

The ECJ is expected to publish its own judgement later this year. But in January, one of its senior advisors, Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalon, said in a legal opinion that the OMT programme was “in principle” in accor-dance with European law.

Even if the ECJ does give OMT the go-ahead, the German Constitutional Court is not obliged to follow its argument and could still rule that the programme does not comply with the German constitution.

“Our aim is that the Bundesbank (or German central bank) cannot participate in the scheme. It’s about ensuring that the legal foundations of European Union are adhered to. It is about ascertaining how far the ECB’s mandate can be extended,” Degenhart said. He insisted there was no sign of de� ation in the euro area - the ECB’s main reasoning behind the programme.

De� ation is a dangerous downward spiral of falling prices, which leads consumers and businesses to postpone purchases. That in turns chokes demand, throttles output, leading to job cuts. l

Study: Feces contains gold worth millionsn AFP, Washington

Human feces contains gold and other pre-cious metals that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, experts say. Now the trick is how to retrieve them - a potential windfall that could also help save the planet.

“The gold we found was at the level of a minimal mineral deposit,” said Kathleen Smith, of the US Geological Survey, after her team discovered metals such as platinum, sil-ver and gold in treated waste. A recent study by another group of experts in the � eld found that waste from one million Americans could contain as much as $13m worth of metals.

Finding a way to extract the metals could help the environment by cutting down on the need for mining and reducing unwanted re-lease of metals into the environment.

“If you can get rid of some of the nuisance metals that currently limit how much of these biosolids we can use on � elds and forests, and at the same time recover valuable metals and other elements, that’s a win-win,” said Smith.

“There are metals everywhere - in your hair care products, detergents, even nanoparticles that are put in socks to prevent bad odors.”

More than seven million tons of biosolids come out of US wastewater facilities each year: about half is used as fertilizer on � elds and in forests and the other half is incinerated or sent to land� lls.

“We have a two-pronged approach,” said Smith. “In one part of the study, we are looking at removing some regulated metals from the bi-osolids that limit their use for land application.

“In the other part of the project, we’re in-terested in collecting valuable metals that could be sold, including some of the more technologically important metals, such as vanadium and copper that are in cell phones, computers and alloys.” l

An employee welds the exterior of a vehicle along a production line at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong province REUTERS

BUSINESS18DT


SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 336.70 13.18 63.81 26.93 400.51 14.34NBFI 73.04 2.86 4.43 1.87 77.47 2.77Investment 24.29 0.95 0.88 0.37 25.16 0.90Engineering 247.81 9.70 25.73 10.86 273.54 9.80Food & Allied 74.35 2.91 3.13 1.32 77.48 2.77Fuel & Power 342.10 13.39 25.95 10.95 368.06 13.18Jute 2.66 0.10 0.00 2.66 0.10Textile 217.67 8.52 19.87 8.39 237.54 8.51Pharma & Chemical 634.53 24.83 32.83 13.86 667.36 23.90Paper & Packaging 7.18 0.28 0.69 0.29 7.88 0.28Service 70.70 2.77 5.25 2.22 75.95 2.72Leather 23.93 0.94 1.23 0.52 25.16 0.90Ceramic 9.76 0.38 0.45 0.19 10.21 0.37Cement 190.75 7.46 12.47 5.26 203.22 7.28Information Technology 38.00 1.49 3.49 1.47 41.49 1.49General Insurance 13.71 0.54 0.22 0.09 13.93 0.50Life Insurance 29.57 1.16 1.09 0.46 30.66 1.10Telecom 113.52 4.44 16.85 7.11 130.37 4.67Travel & Leisure 33.71 1.32 4.44 1.87 38.15 1.37Miscellaneous 71.10 2.78 14.08 5.94 85.18 3.05Debenture 0.41 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.44 0.02

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 [email protected] or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

News, analysis and recent disclosuresICBIBANK: The Board of Directors did not recommend any dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 09.06.2015, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Unique Trade Center, Convention Hall (Level-5), 8, Panthapath, Dhaka-1215. Record Date: 15.04.2015. The Company has also reported net pro� t/(loss) after tax of Tk. (286.53) million, EPS of Tk. (0.43), NAV per share of Tk. (14.49) and NOCFPS of Tk. 0.45 for the year ended on December 31, 2014.RUPALIINS: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on March 29, 2015 at 03:00 PM to consider, among others, audited � nancial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2014.SAPORTL: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on December 31, 2014 to the respective shareholders BO Accounts on March 22, 2015 except fractional shares. The payment of the sale proceeds of fractional shares together with 10% cash dividend distribution schedule will be noti� ed later.SUNLIFEINS: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors has decided to purchase a land measuring 8 Katha, 6 Chotak and 17 Square Feet at Mohakhali, Shabek Tejgaon, Gulshan, Dhaka at a cost of Tk. 4.51 crore per Katha approximately (excluding registration and other related expenses).RAKCERAMIC: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has further informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on March 24, 2015 at 08:30 PM to consider, among others, the following agenda:1. To consider and approve the revised standalone � nancial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2014.2. To consider and reschedule the date, time and venue for convening the 16th AGM and EGM.

IPO Subscription: Tosrifa Industries Limited Subscription March 24, 2015 to March 31, 2015; NRB UPTO April 09, 2015. O� er Price per share Tk. 26.00, Market Lot (Shares) 200.

Dividend/AGMSHAHJABANK: 10% cash, AGM: 07.06.2015, Record date: 09.04.2015.IBBLPBOND: Annual pro� t rate of 11.18%, Record Date 16.04.2015. FLEASEINT: 5% stock, AGM: 16.04.2015, Record date: 01.04.2015. ISLAMIBANK: 15% cash, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record date: 16.04.2015.UTTARABANK: 20% cash, AGM: 23.04.2015, Record date: 01.04.2015.BRACBANK: 20% cash, AGM: 23.04.2015, Record date: 30.03.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Aziz PipesZ 10.00 10.00 18.70 18.70 18.70 18.70 0.002 -0.37 -veRangpur Foundry -A 9.76 9.76 105.70 105.70 105.70 105.70 0.000 3.23 32.7Islami Ins.BD-A 9.76 9.76 18.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 0.000 1.48 12.2Northern G Insur-A 5.00 5.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 0.021 2.77 7.6Shahjalal Islami -A 3.67 2.59 11.10 11.30 11.50 10.70 2.086 1.02 10.9Hamid Fabrics -N 3.60 4.23 26.39 25.90 27.40 25.60 2.916 1.88 14.0Uttara Bank - A 3.18 1.58 22.47 22.70 22.80 22.00 0.615 3.51 6.4Bangladesh Welding -Z 3.11 2.80 16.55 16.60 16.60 16.40 0.132 0.44 37.6Social Islami. B-A 2.92 2.60 13.82 14.10 14.40 13.50 46.702 2.74 5.0National Bank - A 2.91 1.45 10.52 10.60 10.70 10.30 3.245 1.13 9.3

DSE GAINER


Aver-age (%

Change)


in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Aziz PipesZ 9.20 8.28 17.78 17.80 17.90 16.80 0.200 -0.37 -vePharma Aids A 6.58 2.90 267.99 273.60 278.80 258.30 50.472 10.18 26.3Shahjalal Islami -A 4.59 2.31 11.09 11.40 11.50 10.80 8.951 1.02 10.91st Janata Bank MF-A 4.35 1.28 4.73 4.80 4.80 4.70 0.252 0.84 5.6National Life I -A 4.21 3.28 234.31 235.40 245.00 228.00 6.799 12.46 18.8Uttara Bank - A 4.07 2.32 22.52 23.00 23.20 22.00 11.355 3.51 6.4Progressive Life-A 3.88 4.42 75.40 75.00 79.00 72.00 0.080 2.30 32.8Marico BD Ltd-A 3.65 3.21 1,452.28 1,468.80 1,479.00 1,430.00 8.917 48.72 29.8Mercantile Bank -A 3.42 2.14 11.95 12.10 12.30 11.60 6.610 1.71 7.0Ambee Pharma -A 3.38 3.28 341.32 345.30 347.50 330.50 11.222 4.68 72.9

CSE LOSER


Aver-age (%

Change)


in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Monno Ceramic -B -7.69 -7.69 24.00 24.00 24.00 24.00 0.003 0.20 120.0Wata Chemicals -A -6.86 -6.90 210.53 210.50 210.60 210.50 0.084 5.37 39.2Shahjibazar Power-N -5.23 -5.08 188.92 185.00 197.90 183.00 10.830 8.68 21.8S.B. 1st M. F.-A -4.82 -4.82 7.90 7.90 7.90 7.90 0.012 1.54 5.1Unique Hotel RL - A -4.79 -3.35 55.13 53.70 57.80 53.50 1.539 3.05 18.1Sonargaon Tex -Z -4.76 -1.90 10.30 10.00 10.50 10.00 0.005 -0.84 -veFu-Wang Food A -4.67 -2.75 20.86 20.40 21.60 20.30 0.460 1.82 11.5Shinepukur Cera-Z -4.62 -2.05 12.42 12.40 12.60 12.30 0.109 0.39 31.8CVO PetroChem RL-A -4.47 -1.84 403.65 186.00 197.90 183.00 2.849 8.56 47.2GreenDeltaInsu -A -4.46 -4.39 53.60 53.60 53.60 53.60 0.009 2.96 18.1

DSE LOSER


Aver-age (%

Change)


in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Dulamia CottonZ -6.58 -6.58 7.10 7.10 7.10 7.10 0.000 -4.02 -veJanata Insur -A -5.26 -5.60 12.64 12.60 12.90 12.50 0.130 0.37 34.2Shahjibazar Power-N -4.82 -5.01 189.21 185.50 197.00 183.00 106.993 8.68 21.8Shinepukur Cera-Z -4.76 -3.24 12.26 12.00 12.50 11.90 0.892 0.39 31.4Unique Hotel RL - A -4.68 -5.30 54.00 52.90 57.60 52.50 19.864 3.05 17.7ICB Islamic Bank-Z -4.44 -3.36 4.31 4.30 4.50 4.20 1.205 -0.43 -veAramitCementA -4.39 -3.89 28.65 28.30 30.00 28.10 1.220 0.32 89.5Fu-Wang Food A -4.25 -3.51 20.64 20.30 21.40 20.10 15.013 1.82 11.3Saiham Cotton-A -4.10 -3.06 19.02 18.70 19.60 18.60 1.593 1.43 13.3R. N. Spinning-Z -4.00 -4.90 24.09 24.00 25.30 23.70 11.036 2.19 11.0

DSE key features March-24, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

2,555.48

Turnover (Volume)

58,368,413

Number of Contract

73,900

Traded Issues 306

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

89

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

210

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,482.94

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.10

CSE key features March-24, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

236.93

Turnover (Volume)

8,445,420

Number of Contract

10,727

Traded Issues 221

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

66

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

146

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,349.14

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.47

BUSINESS 19D


Stocks edge lower amid dull tradingn Tribune Report

Stocks edged lower with poor volume of trade and high vol-atility yesterday extending their losing streak for the second consecutive session.

The market opened higher but started to slide after a few minutes on sale pressure, losing around 35 points. However, some modest buying on � nancial institutions helped recov-er some points at the end of the day.

Dealers said trading remained terribly sluggish as most investors kept themselves to the sidelines owing to the con-tinued political unrest.

“The shrinking investor interest is de� nitely linked to the political uncertainty that remained market drivers.”

The benchmark index DSEX lost 13 points or 0.3% to close at 4,493, hitting highest 4,525 in the morning and lowest 4,490 in the mid-session. The Shariah Index DSES inched over 5 points or 0.6% down to 1,090. The comprising blue chips DS30 dropped marginally 4 points or 0.3% to 1,707.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories In-dex, CSCX, closed at 8,311, falling 34 points.

The large cap sectors showed mixed performance with pharmaceuticals advancing slightly by 0.6%. Telecommu-nication, IT, power, food & allied, banks and cement ended � at. Non-banking � nancial institutions were the biggest los-er declining 1.5%.

Trading activities at the Dhaka Stock Exchange went down sharply with the total turnover dipping below Tk300 crore mark once again and stood at Tk260 crore, down 18.7% over the previous session.

IDLC Investments said demoralised investors cashed further out of the market from most of the scrips. “This session’s dip turned down market once again below 4,500 points psychological mark, spraying depression on invest-ment sentiment.” Lanka Bangla Securities said it was anoth-er bad day for the investors.

“The ongoing political instability in the country is taking its toll on the capital market as investors are getting more and more concerned about investing in equity market.”

ACI Limited topped the liquidity chart with turnover worth more than Tk20 crore. l

Market started o� the week very positively, following a steep correction in last week. The benchmark DSEX index started moving up from the very beginning of the trading session and closed at the day’s high

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4493.40496 (-) 0.29% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1707.22412 (-) 0.25% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 13726.76500 (-) 0.50% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11271.31490 (-) 0.46% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8312.16500 (-) 0.49% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

Social Islami. B-A 3,379,189 46.70 19.71 14.10 2.92 13.70 14.40 13.50 13.82BD Submarine Cable-A 110,375 14.00 5.91 123.70 -2.52 126.90 129.00 122.70 126.87ACI Limited- A 25,299 12.33 5.20 494.00 2.79 480.60 499.00 479.00 487.28Shahjibazar Power-N 57,326 10.83 4.57 185.00 -5.23 195.20 197.90 183.00 188.92LafargeS Cement-Z 79,968 9.69 4.09 121.10 -0.49 121.70 124.50 119.50 121.18ACI Formulations-A 60,691 9.35 3.95 157.60 3.34 152.50 158.00 150.70 154.01Shasha Denims -N 179,974 6.64 2.80 36.60 -1.61 37.20 37.50 36.50 36.88BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 168,586 5.43 2.29 32.00 -0.93 32.30 32.70 31.90 32.20National Feed-N 201,228 5.31 2.24 26.40 0.38 26.30 26.60 26.10 26.37WesternMarine -N 97,003 4.07 1.72 41.60 -0.72 41.90 42.40 41.30 41.91SummitAlliancePort.-A 64,261 3.68 1.55 56.10 -3.44 58.10 59.00 55.60 57.25Singer BD -A 19,841 3.57 1.51 179.70 -0.99 181.50 182.00 179.20 180.03National Bank - A 308,505 3.25 1.37 10.60 2.91 10.30 10.70 10.30 10.52Ifad Autos -N 52,057 3.24 1.37 61.70 -1.28 62.50 63.40 61.20 62.29MJL BD Ltd.-A 26,685 3.24 1.37 120.30 -1.88 122.60 123.00 119.50 121.50

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

ACI Limited- A 413,301 201.73 7.89 495.70 3.29 479.90 498.70 480.00 488.10LafargeS Cement-Z 1,287,987 156.74 6.13 121.10 0.75 120.20 124.50 119.80 121.70ACI Formulations-A 991,811 152.99 5.99 157.20 2.95 152.70 158.30 149.60 154.26Shahjibazar Power-N 565,481 106.99 4.19 185.50 -4.82 194.90 197.00 183.00 189.21Grameenphone-A 236,359 79.63 3.12 337.20 0.39 335.90 338.70 336.00 336.92Brac Bank -A 2,111,021 76.40 2.99 36.10 -0.28 36.20 37.30 35.10 36.19MJL BD Ltd.-A 538,793 65.32 2.56 120.40 -1.95 122.80 123.60 119.90 121.23Social Islami. B-A 4,528,932 64.01 2.50 14.10 1.44 13.90 14.40 13.60 14.13Square Pharma -A 248,671 63.71 2.49 255.90 -0.39 256.90 258.00 255.70 256.18Shasha Denims -N 1,707,446 63.19 2.47 36.80 -1.34 37.30 37.70 36.60 37.01One Bank -A 3,675,642 57.57 2.25 15.80 1.94 15.50 15.90 15.40 15.66SummitAlliancePort.-A 981,554 56.00 2.19 56.20 -3.44 58.20 59.30 55.30 57.05Ifad Autos -N 869,045 54.29 2.12 62.20 -0.64 62.60 63.40 62.00 62.47Jamuna Oil -A 248,458 50.87 1.99 204.20 1.54 201.10 206.50 201.90 204.75Pharma Aids A 188,338 50.47 1.98 273.60 6.58 256.70 278.80 258.30 267.99

BUSINESS20DT


Furniture exporters to get cash incentives n Tribune Report

The government will provide the furniture exporters with cash incentives to accelerate export earnings.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed came up with the disclosure while inaugurating a three-day Bangladesh Furniture and Interior Decor Expo-2015 at Jamuna Future Park at Baridhara in the city yesterday.

Among others, Jute and Textile Minister Emaz Uddin Pramanik, Senior Commerce Sec-retary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed attended the inaugural ceremony. A total of 51 furniture and home-furnishing � rms are showcasing their products at the expo.

The government has given importance on the country’s furniture sector, as there is a huge potentiality in this sector, said Ahmed.

Tofail said, “In the sixth � ve-year plan, the

government has given importance on diver-si� cation of products and market as well to reduce dependency only on few markets and products.”

As part of the move, the government will provide cash incentives against the export of furniture products including handicrafts, said Ahmed.

The minister said, “We will prioritise the � ve sectors-pharmaceutical, leather, informa-tion technology, shipbuilding and furniture-to boost the export of non-traditional items.”

“We’ve sent a demi-o� cial (DO) letter to the � nance ministry with a recommendation for cash incentives against the export of fur-niture and the issue will be � nalized shortly,” said Ahmed.

Bangladesh Furniture Industry Owners Association President Selim H Rahman said: “If the government provides cash incentives, we will be able to generate employment for 25

lakh workers more.”Furniture sector can be next to the RMG

sector in term of export earnings as it is a la-bour intensive sector while Bangladesh is country of vibrant population, said Rahman.

During the � rst eight month of the current � scal year, Bangladesh earned US $22 million exporting furniture, which was 13% less com-pared to the same period of last � scal. In the last � nancial year Bangladesh exported furni-ture products of $42.5 million.

The display is being jointly organised by the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh Furni-ture Exporters Association (BFEA), Bangla-desh Handicraft Manufacturers and Export-ers Association (BANGLACRAFT), Bangladesh Jute Diversi� ed Products Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Furni-ture Industry Owners Association (BFIOA) in collaboration with Jute Diversi� cation Pro-motion Center (JDPC). l

Rajshahi power distribution project okayedThe project, one of � ve approved by Ecnec, is expected to be completed by 2018 n Tribune Report

The government has taken a Tk915 crore pro-ject to improve power distribution system in Rajshahi division to meet the growing de-mand for electricity in the area where many agro-based industries are being set up.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the project in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the NEC conference room yes-terday.

Installation of 1,375km new power distri-bution line, revamping of 1,808km old distri-bution line, setting up of sub power station with various capacity and land development will come under the Power Distribution Sys-tem Development Project, Rajshahi Zone.

Once it is completed by the year 2018 un-der the supervision of Power Development Board, around 200,000 people in 60 upazilas of Rajshahi will be under electricity coverage, which will increase 775 megawatt load of elec-tricity and reduce 4% system loss.

Of the total project cost, the government will provide Tk880 crore from the national exchequer and the organisation concerned which owns the project will bear Tk34.98 crore.

The project was one of the � ve development projects worth more than Tk1,205 crore, which was approved by the Ecnec yesterday. Of the total cost of the � ve projects, the government will provide Tk1,170 crore from the national exchequer and the organisations concerned will spend Tk34.94 crore from their own funds.

After the Ecnec meeting, State Minister for Finance MA Mannan said the Northwest Pow-er Distribution Company will start the work soon.

He said the auto rice mills, cold storage, poultry farms and various agro-based indus-tries are being set up in the areas.

Besides, due to the already established export processing zone in Rajshahi and an in-creasing number of educational institutions in Pabna, the power demand has increased in the area, he added.

He said several peaking power plants, inde-pendent power plants and rental power plants have been set up, but power supply from these plants would not be possible without developing power distribution infrastructure.

Apart from the power project, Ecnec also

approved a project to establish a textile insti-tute in Jamalpur at a cost of Tk62.5 crore.

The project will create 80 textile engineers and technology experts every year to meet the demand in the local industry that requires 44,863 textile engineers every year.

Of the number, 10,189 engineers are re-cruited locally while others are recruited from India and Sri Lank. The Ministry of Textiles and Jute will complete the project by 2018 taking fund from the national exchequer.

Three other approved projects are residen-tial building construction at the Dhaka Uni-versity for the sta� at Tk87.81 crore, research work for raising crop production by extensive use of technology having less-water consump-tion capacity at Tk39.02 crore and small irriga-tion project in Barisal at Tk101.18 crore. l

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed visits a stall at the Furniture and Interior Decor Expo in the city’s Baridhara yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Yunus clari� es gift tax dispute with NBR n Tribune Report

Nobel Laureate Professor Mohammad Yunus has cleared his position about tax dispute en-sued between him and the National Board of Revenue over gifting of earned money to his family members.

“This is not legally required as the dona-tion is tax-free according to the Gift Tax of 1990. Professor Yunus has appealed to the High Court and the case is now sub-judice,” he said in a statement yesterday.

His argument came in response to the claim made by the National Board of Rev-enue that Yunus had given out about Tk77 crore as gift to his family members and others over three assessment years, against which Tk15.39 crore as tax was payable to the state.

On March 23, the revenue board sent a no-tice, asking Professor Yunus or his nominated representative to meet with tax commission-er on March 29 in respect of this gift tax issue which is currently in court.

The statement said Yunus’ representative will accordingly meet the commissioner on that date.

Yunus receives very high fees for speaking at international conferences, it said.

“In many places, audiences purchase tick-ets to hear him speak. Several books written by him have been translated into 25 languag-es around the world. His books have been included in the New York Times Best Seller list. He remits earnings from books, speeches and prizes back to Bangladesh through formal banking channels,” according to the assess-ment made by the authorities.

From 2011 to 2014 � nancial years, Profes-sor Yunus donated almost all of his earnings – a total of Tk77.42 crore, after paying all necessary taxes claimed by the Tax Authority – Tk72 crore to Muhammad Yunus Trust for charitable purposes, research and develop-ment, plus social development and Tk5 crore to Yunus Family Trust for family members’ welfare, the statement said, adding that these donations were shown in his income tax re-turn.

“The tax authority accepted this up to 2013 and did not raise any questions, and issued tax payment certi� cate accordingly,” it said. l

21D

TWEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015T

-JUN

CT

IONVision of

independence

22trial room

Surging ahead

24decor

Heads will roll

NEWS INSIDE

BUET is holding a two day long event beginning on March 25 to celebrate and commemorate the Independence Day. The event includes a whole array of activities ranging from a two part cultural programme, a drama, a candlelight vigil along with a documentary. The event details are as follows:

March 25- 8pm Ferrari Fouj drama by the BUET Drama SocietyVenue: BUET auditorium- 11.59pm Black Out: A torch and candlelight vigilMuktir rong: Liberation war themed wall painting

March 26- 10am Shadhinota Olympiad- 4.30pm Cultural programme (part 1)- 6pm Orchestra- 7pm Short � lm- 7.30pm A documentary about BUET freedom � ghters - 8pm Cultural programme (part 2)- 10pm Fire breathing: releasing sky lanterns l

Muktir Khoje Shadhinotar Ahobaney ‘15

Photo: Su� Nawaz

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015T-JUNCTION Trial Room22D

T

n Khan N Moushumi

With 20 years of experience in the fashion industry, founder of Studio Emdad, vice president of FDCB (Fashion Design Council of Bangladesh) and former director of Banglar Mela, Emdad Hoque tells us what’s at stake and discusses all that our local designers have been struggling to resurrect in the fashion industry.

What role does the fashion industry play in a country like ours?Fashion a� ects our lifestyle. Nowadays, people are very fashion-conscious, they watch what they eat, the kind of clothes they put on, the beauty products they use, the jewellery items and every other single thing is carefully handpicked by them. People from all walks of life are very concerned about fashion and it really impacts their lifestyle.

We are somewhat in sync with the rest of the world throughout the year in terms of fashion, but when it’s Boishakh, Shadhinota Dibosh or Ekushey, we switch to our local trends, our own colour schemes and that’s where our fashion industry comes into play.

In what ways, do you think, our trends in� uence the youth and the elderly of the country?The current timeline of our fashion industry mostly features everything that’s youth-centric. The patterns, cuts and styling are all youth-based. But there are mature people who are very trend conscious as well and they want something fashion forward and age appropriate. Luckily there are fashion houses that have

designs tailored for them. These fashion outlets have separate segments for the two groups.

There’s a huge demand for Indian, Pakistani and other foreign products in Bangladesh because people think foreign products are better and would waste no time to get their hands on them. How can the local designers or brands compete with the foreign brands?In all seriousness, we can’t compete with Pakistani or Indian brands because they have their very own production and printing houses. They can easily export their goods in Bangladesh and other countries at unbelievably low costs. Whereas us deshi designers have to chuck a spaz to produce anything half as good at the same price. We work with a bunch of artisans which is very expensive to begin with, and the costs of raw materials that we usually import from other countries are equally pricey. On top of all that, we have tax, vat and other costs to worry about.

Even though we are on the same page with the Indian or Pakistani brands design wise, it’s the costing of our products that makes us massively lag behind.

Do we have to adapt to foreign trends to compete with the rest of the world or should we stick to our local fashion?We are following foreign trends at the moment and we should continue to do so. I mean if we can pull them o� , why not? But what we have to keep in mind is that whether we stick to our traditional trends or choose to jump on the international wagon, we have to represent our culture and be in sync with the current timeline. In other words, modernisation will take place but whatever we decide to adapt may need localisation as well.

How do you think we can promote our deshi fashion wear and accessories?We basically need backward support from the government. The cost of living is so high in a developing country like ours, even producing something as simple as clay jewellery is pricey. But our neighbouring countries have been producing the same goods at much cheaper costs because of soft loan facilities and their ability to produce everything locally. If government steps up and supports us with backward linkages we can achieve something similar too.

Surging ahead8 questions with Emdad Hoque

Photos: Courtesy

Trial Room T-JUNCTION 23D

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Over the years, we have noticed how the Indian or Pakistani media has been playing an important role in shaping our trends and influencing the market. A huge segment here religiously follows fashion trends exhibited by Indian TV channels. Do you think we could promote our deshi trends through similar mediums too?Not anytime soon, I suppose. The dramas and teleplays that our local TV stations air fail to make an impression on the viewers. The screenplay, costume designs, choreography and presentation are all of the same nature. They all need divergence, so that our deshi stars can make an impact on the viewers and people can learn to love and remember the characters they watch on screen.

As for our people being Indian sitcom aficionados, can you blame them? Their plots, costumes, presentation, execution and all never fail to appeal and bedazzle the audience. That single incident of the girl who killed herself last year because she couldn’t buy a “pakhi” dress on Eid explains the situation very well.

We have ample access to cheap labour - this is something that international brands have been exploiting. Do you think we can use this to our advantage?Our labour is not cheap, to be honest. It’s only cheap for foreign brands because they are producing goods in bulk and their investment is massive. The raw materials they are using are all imported and very reasonably priced. We can’t compare what the local producers are producing to that; that’s a completely different sector altogether.

Where are our local designers headed? What’s in store for us in the future?The problem with our local boutiques is that the designers who are relentlessly working hard for these fashion houses are being overshadowed by these big brand names. People across the world know who Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi is because they focus more on the designer than the brand itself. You won’t be able to name any designer of our country maybe except for Bibi Russell or Maheen Khan.

Even when we have a fashion show where models typically display designer wear, the talk of the town will be the make-up artist, the stylist or the choreographer - not the designers. These practices need to change because it’s solely the designers who invest their blood, sweat and tears into their work only to get the short end of the stick. l

T-JUNCTION Tucked In24DT


n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

As our living spaces shrink and our lifestyles get busier, these changes are re� ected in the way we decorate our surroundings. Our furniture has, over the past decade or so, been pared down to the core of their functionality. Gone are the days when fancy four-poster beds and elaborate armoires and dressing tables were the norm, and if the current trend for minimalism continues, the next thing to get the shave will be the headboard. Here are three quirky alternatives.

Storage spaceA staggered selection of � oating shelves would see the space getting better usage than a headboard. You could place a whole mini library behind your bed; this is an ideal solution for those who love their bedtime

stories. If the structure of your room permits, creating a punch space or built-in behind the bed for storage would also serve the same function.

Art attackDraw the eye to the wall behind the bed by placing a statement piece of art. This could be a large painting, or a wall display of framed photographs. You could also make this the accent wall and paint it a stand out colour, or paint on a mural.

Window treatmentIn a warm climate like ours, placing the bed right under a window not only anchors it in place, but also provides for a breezy night’s sleep. Be warned, however, this is not the most secure option if you live on the ground � oor. l

The entrance of your home is more than just a pass-through. And since it’s the � rst thing your guests are greeted with, make sure it makes a dramatic statement, with antiqued mirror and a chandelier that adds a warm glow.

Name: Rifat KishawarArea: MirpurPhotos: Courtesy

Heads will rollAlternatives to a headboard

decor

room of the week

Foyer � are

25D


DE VILLIERS TAKES BLAME FOR BLUNDER SHOW

UZBEKS DRAW BLANK WITH ABAHANI

MYSTERY WICKET, RAIN SPICE UP AUSSIE, INDIA TIE

26 28 29

Kevin Pietersen has been released from the majority of his Indian Premier League contract with

Sunrisers Hyderabad so that he can play domestic country cricket in an attempt to earn an England recall

ENGLAND RECALL?

Sport

KIWIS FLY, PROTEAS CRY

Sport26DT


“Bloody love Cricket ...”- Former England captain Michael Vaughan.

What a great game of cricket. SA did not lose that game. NZ won it. Well played NZ. And to the Proteas you can be proud of your campaign.

- Former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis

Big Congratulations to New Zealand for making the ICC World Cup � nals and playing amazing cricket. Its tough to see a side lose in a match like the semis. Well

played South Africa. #CWC15. - Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar

Plenty respect for AB De Villiers n his team they played great cricket. We know that 7 overs lost played a big part. #hold-headshigh #WC2015

- West Indian legend Brian Lara

What an amazing semi � nal. Congrats @BLACKCAPS bad luck @O� cialCSA Neither team deserved to lose #CWC15- Former Australian fast bowler McGrath

2 brilliant teams in a World Cup semi � nal. Well done NZ. #CWC15 #NZvSA #greatcricket-Former Australian fast bowler Gillespie

“Grant Elliot - take a bow!” South Africa DID NOT CHOKE! They got beaten by a better team today...AB led the team wonderfully well! But, well done NZ! See

you in Sydney! - Pietersen on his fellow South African

What a game of cricket in NZ, please hold your heads high South Africa, you’ve done everyone proud as you gave it absolutely everything !!

- Australian legendary spinner Shane Warne

Woohoo. Who’s coming to Melbourne???? - New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor

What an amazing World Cup semi � nal... - Australian opener Aaron Finch

“What an unbelievable game. So proud of the @BLACKCAPS and what they have achieved. Also feel the raw pain of @O� cialCSA on an amazing day.”

- Ex-NZ captain Stephen Fleming

“Still proud of my boys, good � ght thru out the game. Great game of cricket by u buggers. U can stand up tall and b proud of your performance.”

- South Africa international Lonwabo Tsotsobe

What a game @cricketworldcup @grantelliottnz Brilliant- Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee

“What a semi � nal! I feel for the SA boys. Well done to NZ.” - Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene.

Congrats to the @BLACKCAPS on a superb win, all the best for the � nals. May the best team win with a spectacular game #cwc15 #NzvSA

- Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik

TWITTER REACTION

Three key errors that made South Africa su� erMissed run-out of Anderson, 32nd over of 43Corey Anderson had made 33 when, after Grant Elliott pushed the ball to point, he was sent back to the non-striker’s end by his part-ner.

South Africa captain AB de Villiers, one of the best � elders in world cricket, was at the bowler’s end stumps to take a hard throw on the half-volley but broke the wicket before collecting the ball and was then unable to re-move a stump with ball in hand as he made a second attempt to e� ect a run-out.

Anderson went on to make 58, sharing a � fth-wicket stand with Elliott worth 103 runs.

Missed run-out of Elliott, 41st over of 43South Africa wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock failed to gather a low throw from Rilee Ros-souw and knocked the bails o� with his gloves, with Elliott, going for a risky second run, outside of the crease by a distance.

Had Elliott been run out for 66, it would have left New Zealand 272 for six.

Elliott dropped, 42nd over of 43.South Africa-born Elliott, who went on to make a match-winning 84 not out, was on 75 when he tried to pull fast bowler Morne Morkel but got a huge top edge.

Replacement � elder Farhaan Behardien was under the ball but, with JP Duminy dis-tracting him as he rushed in from � ne leg, dropped the chance with neither man appar-ently calling for the ball.

Had the catch been held, New Zealand would have been 284 for seven, needing 14 to win o� the � nal over. l

AB de Villiers falls over as he attempts a run out during their Cricket World Cup semi� nal against New Zealand in Auckland yesterday AP

De Villiers takes blame for South Africa blunder shown AFP, Auckland

Distraught South Africa captain AB de Villi-ers laid the blame for the World Cup semi-� -nal loss to New Zealand on a string of costly errors led by his own failure to run out Corey Anderson.

Anderson was on 33 at the time and scored a further 25 in a 103-run partnership with match-winner Grant Elliott.

Elliott clouted a colossal six o� the sec-ond-to-last ball of the game to get New Zea-land home by four wickets as they reeled in a 298-run target, revised under the Duck-worth/Lewis method in the rain-a� ected game.

South Africa, batting � rst, made 281-5 af-ter the match was reduced to 43 overs a side following a two-hour rain interruption.

De Villiers, who proclaimed before the semi-� nal that South Africa would go on to win the Cup, believed it was a defendable target and his team had paid a high price for their own errors.

“We had our chances especially in the second half of the game and we didn’t take them so it’s di� cult to say what kind of emo-tions I’m feeling. It’s obviously painful,” said the captain, who had made an undefeated 65 when his team batted.

“There were lots of people back home supporting us. It hurts to think of all of them. We wanted so badly wanted to take that trophy back home.”

De Villiers had a chance to break the El-liott-Anderson partnership with a run out

when, with Anderson nowhere near the crease, he dropped the ball and removed the bails with his hand.

“I tried my best to catch it but I didn’t. Life moves on. I didn’t take that unfortu-nately, but yes if you want to see it that way that I cost us then I’ll gladly take it.”

De Villiers said it was no consolation in

knowing he had taken part in a classic match.“We play to win games of cricket to take

glory home and make a di� erence in our nation’s heart and hope, and we didn’t do that. It hurts quite a bit. Gutted. We had our chances and didn’t take them.”

In the � nal over, the plan was for Dale Steyn to try to lure Elliott into thinking the last two balls would be yorkers but instead they would be length balls.

De Villiers ruled out using the rain as an excuse, despite South Africa losing seven overs when they had set themselves up for a big charge at the end of their innings.l

HIGHEST WC CHASE IN KOs

299-6_NZ v S Africa (SF), Auckland, 2015

289-4_Australia v NZ (QF), Chennai, 1996

277-4_India v Sri Lanka (F), Mumbai, 2011

264-6_Pakistan v NZ (SF), Auckland, 1992

261-5_India v Australia (QF), Ahmedabad, 2011

Sport 27D

T


NZ v SASOUTH AFRICA R BH. Amla b Boult 10 14 Q. de Kock c Southee b Boult 14 17 F. du Plessis c Ronchi b Anderson 82 107 R. Rossouw c Guptill b Anderson 39 53AB de Villiers not out 65 45D. Miller c Ronchi b Anderson 49 18JP Duminy not out 8 4Extras (b1, w13) 14Total (5 wkts, 43 overs) 281

Fall of wickets1-21 (Amla), 2-31 (de Kock), 3-144 (Rossouw), 4-217 (du Plessis), 5-272 (Miller)BowlingSouthee 9-1-55-0 (w1), Boult 9-0-53-2, Henry 8-2-40-0 (w1), Vettori 9-0-46-0 (w2), Williamson 1-0-5-0, Elliott 1-0-9-0, Anderson 6-0-72-3 (w5)NEW ZEALAND R B(victory target 298 in 43 overs under D/L) M. Guptill run out (Amla/de Kock) 34 36B. McCullum c Steyn b Morkel 59 26K. Williamson b Morkel 6 11R. Taylor c de Kock b Duminy 30 39 G. Elliott not out 84 73C Anderson c du Plessis b Morkel 58 57L. Ronchi c Rossouw b Steyn 8 7D. Vettori not out 7 6Extras (b6, lb2, w5) 13Total (six wkts, 42.5 overs) 299

Fall of wickets1-71 (McCullum), 2-81 (Williamson), 3-128 (Guptill), 4-149 (Taylor), 5-252 (Anderson), 6-269 (Ronchi)BowlingSteyn 8.5-0-76-1 (w1), Philander 8-0-52-0, Morkel 9-0-59-3 (w1), Tahir 9-1-40-0 (w1), Duminy 5-0-43-1 (w2), de Villiers 3-0-21-0Result: New Zealand won by four wickets Man of the match: Grant Elliott (NZL)

0 Fifty-plus opening stands for South Africa in this World Cup. South Africa

have posted at least three 50-plus partner-ships in each of their previous six World Cups. Their opening pair only averages 16.25 in this World Cup, with the previous low being 42.85 (during the 2011 World Cup).

71 Runs scored by New Zealand in the � rst � ve overs, the second-highest in

ODIs since 2001 (prior to which ball-by-ball data is not available).

482 Runs scored by AB de Villiers this World Cup, the sec-

ond-most by a South African batsman in a World Cup, after Jacques Kallis (485 in the 2007 World Cup).

25 Runs conceded by Dale Steyn o� the � fth over of New Zealand’s innings,

including three fours and two sixes by Bren-don McCullum, the most he has conceded o� a single over in his ODI career.

22 Number of balls in which McCullum got to his � fty. This is the fourth in-

stance of McCullum making a World Cup � fty in 22 balls or less. Overall, this has only been done nine times.

21 Wicket taken by Trent Boult in this World Cup, the most by any New

Zealand bowler in a single World Cup. The pre-vious record was 20 wickets, taken by Geo� Allott during the 1999 World Cup.

272 David Miller’s strike-rate during his 49 o� 18 balls. This is the

highest strike rate by a South African batsman in a World Cup match (minimum 40 runs) and the third-highest by any batsman.

192 McCullum’s strike-rate during this World Cup, the highest

by any batsman in a World Cup (minimum 5 innings). Each of the top-three instances on this list are from the 2015 World Cup, with the others being Glenn Maxwell (183.5) and Andre Russell (185.7).

A match that lived up to its billingAfter several lop-sided matches that include the quarter � nals, the 2015 World Cup had � nally produced a match that produced a fantastic game of cricket between two evenly matched teams of the highest quality. Both New Zealand and South Africa were playing for a place in the � nals, a place where neither team has been to. The � uctuation of fortunes throughout the game suggested that neither team knew how to win the game as control changed from one team to the other right until the last over of the match. This was a cli� anger and Dale Steyn fell of the edge as Grant Elliot smashed the 5th ball of the last over into the stands to seal the deal for the Black Caps.

A match of brilliance mixed with fortunesThis was a match that produced some great individual performances from both sides. The magni� cent example of some fantastic fast bowling by Trent Boult that took Hashim Amla and Quinton De Kock out of their com-

fort zone, the superb resilience of Paf De Plessis and Rilee Rossouw, the genius of AB De Villiers, the brutal assault of Brendon Mc-Cullum in dismantling the Proteas attack, the calm and collective spell of Imran Tahir and the con� dence of the Kiwi middle order espe-cially the composed match winning knock of Grant Elliot are some that come to mind im-mediately. With all the brilliant performanc-es, it was a game of � uctuating fortunes too.

The rain interruption when Du Plessis and De Villiers were going great guns threw the South African batting a step back and it gave the Kiwis a chance to squeeze back into the match that was otherwise about to be taken away from them. Prior to the interruption, the Kiwis were looking at a total of around 350 to chase, which in all probability could not be overcome.

South Africa brilliant on the field but fell short of capturing the key moments:In spite of the brilliant ground � elding by the South Africans, they failed to capitalize on

some key plays, which prevented them from the MCG appearance on March 29. Two run out opportunities that would have seen the back of Grant Elliot and Corey Anderson with more than 100 runs to go, a catch in the deep that was let o� by a Behardien-Duminy near collision are some of the lost opportunities that one does not expect from this Proteas team.

You cannot win a match when only two out of five bowlers are in the matchSouth Africa’s bowling arsenal is one of the best in the world, yet we saw only two out of � ve come up big in this match. Imran Tahir was his brilliant self. Undoubtedly, the best leg spinner in the world, he came into the attack when McCullum was on the rampage and immediately brought the match under control. In Morne Morkel, South Africa had a second bowler who also turned up big for the occasion. Sadly, the others were not good enough for the day. Daryl Steyn was shell shocked by the McCullum onslaught and had

its e� ect in the penultimate over and the se-lection of Philander may not have the best decision taken the Proteas.

The Black Caps controlled the middle overs better than the Proteas“Middle” is the key word. One who manages and controls the middle succeeds. Be it the economy of a country, the mid-� eld play of a soccer team or the middle order of a crick-et team, the middle factor is crucial. There is no doubt that the South African middle or-der batting did extremely well but it was the Kiwis middle order batting management be-tween Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot and Corey An-derson that saw them through. In bowling, Imran Tahir bowled a magni� cent spell in the middle but he needed to take wickets, at least two of them.

He could not and no one else looked like getting them. I had mentioned before, Imran Tahir is the “X factor” and if he had taken a couple of wickets in his spell of 9 overs, the Proteas would be smiling today. l

Yousuf Rahman (Babu), former national cricketer, vice captain and � rst centurion writes from New York for Bangladesh fans all across the globe.

TALKING POINTSNEW ZEALAND- SOUTH AFRICA

New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum embraces South Africa’s Morne Morkel after their Cricket World Cup semi� nal in Auckland, New Zealand yesterday AP

Sport28DT


Strong Bangladesh aim Asian Zonal Chess titlen Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh is focused to win both the men’s and women’s section titles in the Asian Zonal Chess Championship scheduled to start from March 27 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Premier Bank Ltd, a leading private sector bank is the o� cial sponsor of the Bangladesh contingent.

A strong 16-member Bangladesh team com-prising 10 men and 6 women will � y to Nepal tomorrow. The six-team zonal championship comprises Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Bangladesh, ranked above their competitors, are poised to qualify for the World Chess Championships scheduled at the end of the year with the dates and ven-ue still undecided. The event will be played across nine rounds Swiss-League system.

The men’s team players are GM Ziaur Rah-

man, GM Niaz Murshed, GM Mollah Abdullah Al-Rakib, GM Enamul Hossain Razib, IM Mo-hammad Minhazuddin Ahmed, FM Sheikh Nasir Ahmed, FM Khandaker Aminul Islam, FM Debaraj Chatterjee, CM Sohel Chowdhury and IM Abu Su� an Shakil. The women team comprises of WIM Shamima Akter Liza, WFM Nazrana Khan Eva, WIM Rani Hamid, WFM Zakia Sultana, WFM Sharmin Sultana Shirin and Mahmuda Hoque Chowdhury Moly.

In a press conference held at the NSC con-ference room yesterday, president of Bangla-desh Chess Federation and director general of Rapid Action Battalion, Benazir Ahmed intro-duced the team to the media. Deputy manag-ing director of Premier Bank Dewan Anwarul Latif, senior vice president Mohammed Em-tiaz Uddin and federation general secretary Gazi Shayiful Tareque were also present dur-ing the occasion. l

Uzbeks draw blank with Abahanin Raihan Mahmood

AFC U-23 Quali� ers Group E favourites Uz-bekistan drew goalless with Bangladesh Pre-mier Football League out� t Dhaka Abahani in a practice game at the Sheikh Jamal Dhan-mondi Club ground yesterday.

The Uzbeks who arrived in the capital on March 20, seven days ahead of quali� ers, showed their skills and standards against the local out� t Abahani who � elded � ve foreign-ers. However, the game did prove that the visitors are yet to get adapted with the con-ditions.

“Result of this match does not matter, I am happy to see all my players take the � eld and play a match which is very useful for them, we came here early to get accustomed with the conditions and still we have three days left ahead of the main � xture, we hope to get accustomed with the conditions before the main � xtures,” said Uzbekistan coach Bakh-tiyar Ashurmatov.

Forwards Jamshid Ishkhanderov and Sar-dor Rashddov, defender Baburbek Yuldash-ov, Igor Sargeev and Vladimir Kozak from the current Uzbek squad carries the experience of playing against Bangladesh in the Asian Games football at Incheon in September 2014.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh coach Lodewijk de Kruif, assistant coach Saiful Bari Titu and goalkeeping coach Christian Schwichler were also present during the game in Dhanmondi and observed their opponents strength from close.

After the game De Kruif praised Abahani but categorically indicated Uzbekistan as the favourites. “Abahani played with � ve foreign players who made it a strong line-up. But the Uzbekistan team also showed their capabili-ties, they are skilled and technically and tac-tically e� cient,” said the Dutch.

De Kruif, however, did not make any com-parison between the current team and the team to which he lost 3-0 in the Asian Games. “Four of � ve players from that match are here, among them Jamshid Iskhanderov is a very good player, they have the infrastruc-ture and the players, so the standard does not

vary very much,” he added. “In a practice match the players put their

70 to 80 percent, so its not all,” concluded De Kruif.

India U-23 up and running India Under-23 football team wasted no time to land their feet at the Bangabandhu Na-tional Stadium as they rushed to the venue for practice just hours after arriving in Dhaka

yesterday. The 23-member squad underwent a two-

hour practice session under head coach Savio Medeira.

The Indian squad prepared themselves in a camp in Goa from March 4 for the tourna-ment in which they face Uzbekistan in the � rst match on March 27. They play Syria on March 29 and wrap the � xtures up against hosts Bangladesh on March 31.

SquadGK: Amrinder Singh, Albino Gomes, Rehenesh. Defenders: Abhishek Das, Satish Singh, Sankar Sampingraj, Deepak, Bikramjit Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Pritam Kotal. Mid� elders: German-preet Singh, Nikhil Kadam, Dhanachandra Meetei, Prabir Das, Siam Hangal, Manish Bhar-gav, Avinash Rui Das. Forwards: Sumit Passi, Haokip Thonghkosim, Rajinder Kumar, Jayesh Rane, Vinit Rai, Holicharan Narzary. l

An action from the practice match between Uzbekistan U-23 (White) and Dhaka Abahani Club Limited (Blue) at the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club ground yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Benazir Ahmed, the president of Bangladesh Chess Federation speaks at the press conference of the Asian Zonal Chess at the NSC conference room yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sport 29D

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Mystery wicket, rain spice up Aussie, India battlen Mazhar Uddin from Australia

The Sydney Cricket Ground sta� s were on their heels for most part of yesterday as rain threatens to spoil the second World Cup semi-� nal between cricketing powerhouses Australia and India tomorrow. The ground sta� s were busy protecting the pitch since morning before it stopped raining in the afternoon.

However, with ominous clouds still hovering over Sydney and forecast suggesting showers tomorrow, cricket lovers might be in for another rain interrupted knockout game.

In the meantime, Tom Parker the head curator of the Sydney Cricket Ground was the target-man for the large Indian journalist contingent who were eager to know about the wicket that will be used in the blockbuster game.

The Indians did not hesitate to use a false recommendation saying ICC had permitted them to get information on the play-ing wicket, but Parker was a tough nut to crack as he gave away nothing before it was � nally revealed that the traveling journalists were lying about ICC granting them permission.

A typical SCG track with a grass top is expected for the hyped up encounter, but it remains a mystery whether it will be the case.

After training no one from India spoke to the media as they opted to stay disconnected with the news while Australian opener Aaron Finch said they are expecting a competitive game.

“India are playing good cricket but we are also in � ne form and I think it will be a very competitive match,” said Finch.

Finch clobbered 135 in their opening game against England but since then his willow has been silent producing 14, 4 , 24, 20 and 2. He said, “I am trying hard to return to form and I will de� nitely try to score big against India and look to contribute for my team on the big stage.”l Australia cricketers run during a team training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday AFP

I’ll sledge India if Warner won’t, says Johnsonn Reuters, Sydney

Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson says he is con-sidering taking on the role of Australia’s Sledger-in-Chief for Thursday’s World Cup semi-� nal against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Outspoken opener David Warner has been on his best behaviour at the World Cup after getting into hot water over a series of spats with the Indian side during the test series over the New Year.

The � ery exchanges continued into the Tri-series and Warner was � ned for asking In-dia’s Rohit Sharma to “speak English” during a slanging match in a one-dayer at the Mel-bourne Cricket Ground in January.

“I heard Davy said he wasn’t going to get involved in all that stu� ,” paceman Johnson told Fox TV on Tuesday.

“Someone’s got to do it and I might put my hand up. It’s part of the game and what hap-pened the other day with Shane (Watson) and Wahab (Riaz) was exceptional.

“I thought it was great entertainment and I think you’re going to see more entertainment in this game.”

Johnson has some history with India in the sledging stakes and made them pay for having the temerity to lampoon him after he went wicket-less in the � rst innings of the second test at the Gabba last December.

“I love it. The more that comes my way, the better,” he said at the time.l

Pakistan’s retiring Misbah slams criticsn AFP, Lahore

Pakistan’s normally mild-mannered cricket cap-tain Misbah-ul-Haq on Tuesday launched a blis-tering tirade against his critics as he con� rmed his retirement from one-day internationals.

After patiently enduring years of abuse for almost every failing by the perennially mer-curial Pakistan team, the 40-year-old said he was ready for a rest.

He said he had no intention of changing his mind about one-day cricket but would continue to play Tests, in which format he is Pakistan’s most successful captain.

Misbah captained Pakistan in their recent World Cup campaign which ended in a bat-tling quarter-� nal defeat to hosts Australia.

He said it was disappointing to see former stars on television laying into the team, “us-ing abusive words that are way below the ba-sic standard of ethics”.

“Pakistan’s media houses should have some rules for people appearing on television screens or at least some basic training, because it seems that anyone who can’t � nd a job in the country becomes an expert or analyst on TV screens,” he told reporters in Lahore.

Critics dubbed Misbah “tuk-tuk” after the

slow-moving rickshaw because of his dogged, patient batting style.

He was also regularly lambasted for sup-posedly negative tactics as captain and con-trasted unfavourably with the swashbuck-ling, big-hitting all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

“I was being pinpointed for everything: when the batting failed, the media blamed me, when the bowling failed, the media blamed me and when the � elding failed, the media blamed me,” he said. When Pakistan lost their opening World Cup games to India and the West Indies, e� gies of Misbah were burned in the street in Lahore.

The phlegmatic Misbah led Pakistan through some of its toughest years, taking over the captaincy after the spot-� xing scan-dal of 2010 that saw three key players banned.

He has also never led his side in a home series. International cricket in Pakistan was abandoned after the 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus and the side play all their “home” games in neutral venues.

“I can take responsibility to a certain lim-it but I am not the devil, I did not attack the Sri Lankan team, I did not end internation-al cricket in Pakistan. Why blame me for everything?” he said.l

India U-23 team arrived in Dhaka yesterday for the AFC U-23 Quali� ers and wasted no time in reaching the Bangabandhu National Stadium for practice in the evening MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

DOWNTIME30DT


CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

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

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 6 represents N so � ll N every time the � gure 6 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Quick (4)3 Singer (4)7 Time period (3)8 Money drawers (5)11 Agitate (4)12 Arched space (5)13 Harsh (5)15 Acting part (4)18 Company of cattle (4)19 Snake (5)20 Omit in pronuncia-tion (5)21 Cat’s contended sound (4)23 Repairs (5)24 Land measure (3)25 Cried (4)26 Probability (4)

DOWN1 Fixation (6)2 Precious metal (6)4 Allow (3)5 Popular dessert (6)6 Rowing implement (3)9 Food cupboard (6)10 Heavenly body (3)11 Long pace (6)14 Time of holding (6)16 Laid bare (6)17 E� aces (6)19 Vigour (3)21 Animal’s foot (3)22 Corded fabric (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D


WHAT TO WATCHTELEVISION

THE CROODS CStar Movies 07:06 PMAfter their cave is destroyed, a caveman family must trek through an unfamiliar fantastical world with the help of an inventive boy.Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone

GOLIYON KI RAASLEELA RAM-LEELA BSony Max 02:40 PMA man from a crime family falls in love with a woman who is resistant to her family’s choice of a husband for her.Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Supriya Pathak

LIFE OF PI A-Movies Now 09:00 PMA young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain

HUGH JACKMAN @RealHughJackmanMy “o� ce” for the day! Not too shabby. #EddieTheEagle https://instagram.com/p/0myy_1ChNy/

BOMAN IRANI @bomaniraniSports was de-signed for recrea-tional viewing! This match was a health hazard! Heart still thumping! What a match!!!!! #CWC15 #NZvSA

CELEBS ON SOCIALThe Song of Sparrowsn Dwitiya

Jawher Neethi

Karim (Reza Naji) works in an ostrich farm and lives with his wife, two daugh-ters and a son in a village close to Tehran.

Karim realises that his daugh-ter needs a new hearing aid. Around the same time, he also loses his job when an ostrich escapes the farm.

Karim starts to commute every-day to Tehran on his motorbike and earn some money by transporting people and goods around the city.

In the Song of Sparrows, Majid Majidi captures the struggles of providing for a family. He portrays real human struggles through Karim’s life and a man’s unyielding e� orts to make sure people around him are happy.

In the quest to make a living, Karim is

also faced with moral con� icts – some options are easier, but not easy on his conscience. Cities present lucrative opportunities that are even more attrac-tive to a man from a village. But in the end, how much worth do they have?

Majidi’s beautiful stroke to Ka-rim’s life full of hard work is his son and his friends – a group of little

boys who are obsessed with gold � sh and they are convinced that they can become millionaires by selling them. One of the most touching scenes in the movie involve them and a broken tank of � sh -- or dreams.

But life goes on. As it always does. This movie is a spiritual journey that

teaches value for hard work, human relationships and acceptance. l

KARAN JOHAR @karanjoharSome love stories are eternal.....#loveyoumom

Kebab Connection to be screened at Goethen Showtime Desk

As a part of German-Bangla Movie Night, Goethe Institut Bangladesh is going to hold a screening of “Kebab Connection” on March 29 at Berlin Hall.

Directed by Anno Saul, the 2004 German-Turkish comedy tells the story of Ibo, a young Turkish-German who dreams about making the � rst German Kung-Fu movie. While waiting for a big opportunity to make his debut, he � lms Kung-Fu-themed commercials for his uncle’s kebab restaurant. Ibo’s life is turned upside-down when he learns that his German girlfriend Titzi is pregnant.

The � lm could have been about multiculturalism and the di� culty of allowing two cultures to coexist, yet it changed its course midway and focused more on Ibo’s acceptance of his oncoming fatherhood. However, the � lm still manages to give the audience some comedic insights about relationships between identity groups, and the life of a German-Turkish family in Hamburg. l

BACK PAGE32DT


TB POSES POTENTIAL THREAT TO ECONOMY PAGE 15

THE SONG OF SPARROWS PAGE 31

KIWIS FLY, PROTEAS CRY PAGE 25

M A R C H 1 9 7 1 D I A R Y

Negotiating from strengthThis extract is the � nal part of Rehman Sobhan’s contemporaneous account of the events of that momentous month in Bangladeshi history. This was � rst published in the � nal issue of Forum on March 20, 1971. The Forum o� ces were closed and the magazine shut down by the Pakistan army on March 26

n Rehman Sobhan

The totally unprec-edented resistance to this move within Bangla Desh has led to the inevitable re-action within West Pakistan. Whilst many political � g-ures in the West be-gan by supporting

the postponement, by the end of the second week of people’s Raj in Bangla Desh, all bar the PPP were demanding that Yahya con-cede Mujib’s Four Points in toto.

Bhutto, who remained apologetic and on the defensive ever since March 1, was thus compelled to further expose his ambition in Karachi on March 14. Here he introduced West Pakistan for the � rst time to the concept of the two-nation theory and demanded that power be handed to the two majority parties of Pa-kistan, namely the Awami League in Bangla Desh and People’s Party in West Pakistan.

Bhutto’s drive towards becoming shahin-shah of West Pakistan had of course been exposed in the columns of Forum some time ago, though none would have thought that he would be crass enough to proclaim his ambition at such a psychologically unfa-vourable moment. Needless to say the reac-tion in the two regions, NWFP and Baluch-istan, where his writ does not run, was the most unfavourable. To them this was a clear attempt to reimpose Punjabi domination on

them through the agency of Mr. Bhutto. Even within the PPP there were serious

misgivings not only at Mr. Bhutto’s present posture but his entire strategy. Whatever their misgivings about Six Points, they must have awakened to the fact that the price of resisting Six Points and also imposing their will on the Baluch and Pathan was a permanent partner-ship with the likes of General Omar. Far from PPP being the champion of democracy in West Pakistan, they would merely degenerate into the civilian front of another junta.

Whilst the events of last month have ex-posed Mr. Bhutto for what he is and perhaps in the process in� icted serious damage to the progressive cause in West Pakistan, it is not certain whether the wings of the hawks have at all been clipped.

Whilst no man of whatever persuasion in West Pakistan could now doubt the Himala-yan blunder implicit in the act of postpone-ment and fail to be aware of the near fatal damage to the concept of national unity, it is yet to be seen whether the right lessons will be drawn from the experience.

A sensible general as much as a sensible leader having miscalculated would attempt to recoup his losses by trying to come to terms with the people’s representatives in Bangla Desh and handing over power to them in or-der to create an atmosphere where the future of the country can be examined soberly.

On the other hand, both generals and leaders have also been known to compound their own blunders, thereby converting simple folly into unmitigated disaster. l

Warfare display to build up civil-military relationsn Mohammad Jamil Khan

In hope of improving civil-military relations, the country’s armed forces have put on a nine-day combined Warfare Exhibition at the National Parade Ground.

The event, in honour of Independence Day, kicked o� on March 22 and will end on March 31.

Colonel Abdullah Al Mamun of the Civ-il-Military Relations Directorate of the Armed Forces yesterday said the display was meant to present the history and achievements of the armed forces and to attract new recruits.

Apart from the weapons display, the three forces have stalls highlighting their Liberation War roles.

The display will be open to the public from 9:30am to 5:30pm everyday except March 26. But on Independence Day it will only be open to Armed Forces’ family members and to stu-dents of Dhaka Cantonment schools and col-leges from 12:30pm to 5:30pm.

On the � nal day, there will be a special ar-rangement for Dhaka city school and college students to view the display from 12:30pm to 5:30pm. l

What’s your “I’m made in Bangladesh” story?

Send your submissions to [email protected] facebook.com/JoinDTribe for contest details

When I hoist the Bangladeshi � ag 16499 feet above the ground at Roopkunda and when I represent Bangladesh among 14 rappers, I feel like I am Made in BangladeshStory: Sadmann

STORY OF THE DAYI’M MADE IN BANGLADESH: TODAY’S WINNERS

PHOTO OF THE DAY

RAINBOW IN HAND: We can make our lives colourful by maintaining communal harmony. We Bangladeshis can make our society more colourful with participation by all. That is why we are proud to be Bangladeshi PHOTO: MOIN HABIB

RAJIB DHAR

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: [email protected], [email protected], Website: www.dhakatribune.com

25 March, 2015

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