Print Edition: 2 April 2014

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Bangladesh women bag maiden winnShishir Hoque from Sylhet

Bangladesh women clinched their first

ever victory in an ICC global event and

ended their maiden World Twenty20

appearance on a high note by beating

Sri Lanka by 3 runs in their exciting last

Group B match at the Sylhet Interna-

tional Stadium yesterday.

When the mens team ended their

campaign without a single victory yes-

terday, the womens team, who just

set their feet in the international crick-

et arena, gave the nation a reason to

cheer up with their maiden win over in

the mega event.

After winning the toss for the first

time in the tournament, the home side

also made it past the triple figure for

the first time to put up a decent total

of 115 for 9 thanks to Rumana Ahmeds

career best 41. Bangladesh made count

of the strong bowling unit at their

disposal as Sri Lanka was restricted

to 112 for 9.

The victory, however, did not

change Bangladeshs position in the

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Who gained what?nMohammad Al-Masum Molla

Three more times in the last three decadesthe country has seen upazila parishad elec-

tions, but the local body polls have never

been so important.

Both the ruling Awami League and the

BNPJamaat-led alliance had their own

reasons for taking these elections very

seriously.

After having boycotted the January 5

national elections demanding non-partisan

arrangements, BNP took these elections

as an opportunity to put up a display of its

nationwide popularity.

So, for the BNP and its allies, the upazila

polls were an opportunity to redeem some

sort of institutional representation in the

countrys governance structure.

For the ruling party on the other hand,

upazila parishad polls were an opening on

their own to prove that fair elections were

possible under partisan arrangements.

The good work that the Election Com-mission (EC) and the Awami League-led

administration did by staging fair elections

in the five city corporations last year could

have been enough to quash BNPs claims

for non-partisan polls-time government.

This backdrop made the upazila elec-tions, which are essentially non-partisan in

nature as parties are not allowed to contest

them organisationally, a fully partisan affair

with the major parties spending a lot of

energy.

The poor performance of the independ-

ent and the so called rebel candidates in the

five phases of the local polls is also strong

enough reason to reinforce the stream of

thought that no election in Bangladesh can

be non-partisan.

Just like last years city polls, the ruling

party and the EC could have once again

cashed in on these local polls to remind

people that they were good enough to

stage fair polls under partisan government.

But the party wasted that opportunity

as its leaders and activists were largely

blamed for the violence, the subsequent

loss of lives and vote rigging that media

portrayed vividly.

Things went south for the ruling party

after the first two phases of the polls when

the upazila chairman candidates backed byBNPJamaat performed better than those

blessed by the ruling party.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

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11| IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? 14| CHELSEA READY FOR PSG BATTLETREEHOUSE | TALES FROM THE CITY 8|RUSSIA ENDS UKRAINE GAS DISCOUNT

News4 The Directorate of Primary

Education is working to

reform the system of Primary

Terminal Examination as the

competency level of primary

schoolchildren still remains

low despite a high pass rate,

offi cials concer ned said.

Nation6 The adverse effects of

Farakka barrage, climatic

change and decrease in

mean annual rainfall have

put four rivers in Chapain-

awabganj in a vulnerable

condition.

Long Form7 Haor areas of the

northeastern part of

Bangladesh face flash floods

caused by sudden and early

downstream water from the

surrounding upstreams from

late March to May.

Entertainment12 A new Michael Jackson

album is set for release on May

13, Epic Records announced

Monday. The posthumous

album called Xscape will

feature eight previously

recorded but unreleased

songs by the King of Pop.

INSIDE

nMohammad Al-Masum Molla

The ruling Awami League and the BNP

have apparently lost their strongholds

in the recently completed five phase of

upazila parishad elections.

The Awami league-backed con-

tenders have demonstrated their or-

ganisational strength in the five di-

visions while the BNP and its key allyJamaat-e-Islami retained their strength

in the northern region of the country in

the recently concluded upazila parish-

ad elections.

A poor picture was projected by HM

Ershads Jatiya Party as it failed to secure

a single chairman post in Ershads home-

town Rangpur district, popularly known

as stronghold of the JaPa. The party, themain opposition in the parliament, se-

cured only three chairman posts.

Interestingly, the Awami league-

backed contenders failed to establish

its supremacy in the party strongholds

in Gopalganj, Habiganj, Sunamganj and

some other districts and the BNPJa-

maat failed to maintain their strong-

holds in Lakhmipur, Satkhira, Feni,

Noakhali, Chapainawabganj and some

other districts where violence and ir-

regularities marked the elections.

The Jamaat-e-Islami led by con-

victed war criminals failed to secure asingle chairman post in Dhaka division

and bagged only one in Barisal division.Feni district is popularly known as

the stronghold of the BNP and home-

town of BNP Chairperson Khaleda

Zia. But in the upazila elections, BNP-

backed chairman candidates f ailed to

secure a single chairman post in the six

upazilas.

Gopalganj, the home district of

Prime Minister and Awami League

President Sheikh Hasina, Awami

League-backed chairman contenders

failed to secure two chairman posts in

Moksedpur and Tungipara, the home-

town of Hasina.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

EC blames field level offi cers forfailure in containing polls violencenMohosinul Karim and

Mohammad Zakaria

The Election Commission and the top

brass of the civil administration have

made conflicting statements over the

allegations of negligence of field lev-

el offi cers in conta ining vi olence, i r-

regularities and vote rigging during

just-concluded upazila polls.

Election Commissioner Md Shah

Newaz hel d the fi eld leve l offi cers

responsible for irregularities in the

upazila polls.

Field le vel offi cers did no t work

properly during the upazila polls. It was

a chain of works as the administration

and law enforcement agencies worked

in the polls. It cannot be said that the

commission is satisfied with holding

some elections in a free and fair man-

ner, he told reporters yesterday.

ECs Senior Assistant Secretary Far-

had Hossain told the Dhaka Tribunethat the commission gave the authori-

ty to the returni ng offi cers and the lo -

cal administration to take immediateaction against any type of irregular-

ities. But they did not take any meas-

ures from the first phase of the polls,

he added.

We did not get any allegation or in-

formati on from the retu rning offi cers

about the violation of electoral code of

conduct and irregularities in the five-

phase upazila polls. The commission

has asked them to take action against

the allegations submitted by the candi-

dates to the EC secretariat, he said.Sources said the commission asked

its offi cials to i nvestigate s ome alle-

gations which were proved later. The

commission had given directives to

the returning o ffi cers and the admi nis-tration to take action immediately, but

they did not follow the directives of the

commission, they said.

The commission received an alle-

gation from Gazaria upazila in Mun-

shiganj that Awami League rebel can-

didate vandalised the union parishad

and torched election mikes of Awami

League-backed candidate Refayet Ul-

lah Khan.As per the probe report, the commis-

sion asked the ret urning offi cer to take

action, b ut the returning offi cer did not

take any steps against such allegation,

EC sources said.

The commissioner thinks it would

be better if election offi cials and

law enforcers are not from the local

administration. But the commission

does no t have its own offi cials to

conduct the polls.

If any irregularity took place, it was

not presented to the commission on

right time. So, the EC cannot take im-

mediate action against irregularities, he

said, adding that the commission asked

the returning offi cers to take acti on

against the allegations placed to the EC.But we did not get any report on

irregularities from the field level of-

ficers, he said.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD

Smuggled goldaccounts for 86%of all contrabandnSyed Samiul Basher Anik,

Mohammad Jamil Khan

andRabiul Islam

Eighty-six percent of the total smug-

gled consignments that are entering

the country have been identified by the

customs authorities to be gold.

According to information available

with the Customs Intelligence, they

seized a total of 240 consignments of

illegal goods from July to December last

year, of which 2 07 were gold, offi cials

at the National Board of Revenue said

quoting statistics.

In terms of value, gold was 95% of

the total smuggled items, according

to information received from the

Dhaka Customs House, the Chittagong

Customs House and the Customs

Intelligence.During the last six months of 2013,

customs had seized different smuggled

goods worth Tk263.38 crore, of which

Tk251.41 crore was from gold smug-

gling, reads the statistics.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

VICECHAIRMAN POSTS

Jamaat in secondplace ahead of BNPnMohammad Al-Masum Molla

At the end of Mondays fifth round

of upazila polls, Jamaat-backed

vice-chairman contenders stand clear

of those backed by its ally BNP, al-

though the latter stood second in the

tally of chairman posts.

Out of the 459 vice-chairman posts

up for grabbing, Jamaat-backed can-

didates bagged 115, followed by BNP

with 107, both behind Awami League-

backed ones, who secured 172.

The right wing Islamist party often

associated with committing war crimes

as an organisation in 1971 has steadily

maintained its success with regards to

the vice-chairman posts since the first

phase of the elections.

In the first phase, contenders backed

by Jamaat secured 23 vice-chairman

posts, 32 in the second, 23 in the third,

22 in the fourth and 15 in the fifth.

Interestingly, in the first two

rounds of voting, BNP not only led the

chairman tally, but also those of thevice-chairmen and vice-chairwomen.

But as violence and allegations of rig-ging started mounting from the third

phase, Awami League bounced back

with more chairman posts. Simulta-

neously, Jamaat chipped in with more

vice-chairman posts that its 18-party

alliance partner.

In the first phase, Awami League

backed contenders bagged 29

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Dhaka seeks WB budgetassistance for next FYnAsif Showkat Kallol

The government has sought budget

support from the World Bank for the

next fiscal year, Finance Minister AMA

Muhith said yesterday.

Following a meeting with visitingWorld Bank Vice-President Phillippe

Le Houerou at his secre tariat offi ce, the

minister said although assistance has

been sought, it was diffi cult to get bud-get support from the bank.

The request was made to the bank at

a time when the government was pre-paring its budget plan for the next year.

The World Bank yesterday also

promised a total of $2.8bn in loans to

Bangladesh for the current fiscal year,

the highest ever amount in a single

fiscal year.

I have asked the World Bank

vice-president to evaluate the perfor-

mance of Bangladeshs budget imple-

mentation over the last five years togive budget assistance to Bangladesh,

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

AL, BNP and JaPalose strongholdsUpazila polls throw up a few surprises

PMO FOR ACTIONP16

Cabinet secretary saysoffi cers carried outduties properly

Panna Ghosh is pumped up after taking a wicket, Bangladesh Women v Sri Lanka Women, Womens World T20, Group B, Sylhet ICC


2/21

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, April 2, 2014

61% voter turnoutin fifth phase

nMohammad Zakaria

With around 60.83% voter turnout

in fifth phase polls in 73 upazilas, the

overall average turnout in this years

upazila polls stood at 61.35%.

A total of 8,459,509 voters out of

13,891,992 cast their votes in the fifth

phase, while 317,112 votes have been

cancelled in this phase.l

All 50 JS watchdogs formednTribune Report

Parliament yesterday completed for-

mation of all the standing committees

headed by the Awami League MPs, not

giving any post of chairman to the op-

position parties as done in the ninth

parliament.

According to separate proposals of

Chief Whip ASM Feroz, the House formed

26 standing committees yesterday.

During the 2009-13 period, two

standing committee chairmen were

from then main opposition BNP, two

from the Jatiya Party, one from the

Workers Party, one from the Jatiya Sa-

majtantrik Dal and one from the Liberal

Democratic Party.

Five former ministers and state min-

isters have been made chairmen of the

watchdogs on same ministries they

served. They are former foreign min-

ister Dipu Moni, former environment

minister Hasan Mahmud, former state

minister for labour and employment

Begum Mannujan Sufian, former land

minister Rezaul Karim Hira and former

state minister for primary and mass ed-

ucation Motahar Hossain.

Meanwhile, former cultural affairs

minister Abul Kalam Azad has been elect-

ed chairman of the Parliamentary Stand-

ing Committee on Planning Ministry.

On Monday, 10 watchdog bodies

were formed when four former minis-

ter were made chairmen of the stand-

ing committees concerned.

The prime ministers cousin Abul

Hasnat Abdullah has been elected

chairman of the Parliamentary Stand-

ing Committee on LGRD and Coopera-

tives Ministry.

HN Ashequr Rahman will head the

watchdog on Public Administration

Ministry.

Former primary and mass education

minister Afsarul Amin has been electedchairman of the Parliamentary Stand-

ing Committee on E ducation Ministry.

The prime ministers cousin Sheikh

Fazlul Karim Selim, who was the health

minister during Awami Leagues 1996-

2001 tenure, has been elected chair-

man of the Parliamentary Standing

Committee on Health Ministry.

Home minister during the Awa-

mi Leagues previous term Maj (retd)

Rafiqul Islam has been elected chair-man of the Parliamentary Standing

Committee on Shipping Ministry while

Ekabbar Hossain to head the watchdog

on Communications Ministry.

Tajul Islam has been elected chair-

man of the Parliamentary Standing

Committee on Energy, Power and Min-

eral Resources Ministry.

The House elected Rebecca Mo-

min as the chairman of Parliamentary

Standing Committee on Women and

Children Affairs Ministry, Mir Shawkat

Ali Badsha for the Fisheries and Live-

stock Ministry, Abdul Wadud for food,

Saber Hossain Chowdhury for textile

and jute, Maj Gen (retd) Shubid Ali

Bhuiyan for defence and Md Mokbul

Hossain for Agriculture Ministry.

Mozammel Hossain has been made

chairman of the Parliamentary Stand-

ing Committee on Social Welfare Min-

istry, Dabirul Islam for housing and

public works, Zahid Ahsan Rasel for

youth and sports, Simin Hossain Rimi

for cultural affairs, and former health

minister AFM Ruhal Haque for the Par-

liamentary Standing Committee on Sci-

ence and Technology Ministry.

ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury has

been elected chairman of the Parlia-

mentary Standing Committee on Rail-

way Ministry.l

CHCPs to get

19,000 computersnMoniruzzaman Uzzal

Directorate General of Health Services

(DGHS) is going introduce more digital

tools at the grass root level health in-

stitutes across the country today.

The DGHS will distribute around

19,000 laptops and android-based tab-

let computers among the health work-

ers of Community Health Care Provid-

ers (CHCP) and union level healthcare

sub-centres across the country.

Professor Dr Abul Kalam Azad, ad-

ditional director general of the DGHS

told the Dhaka Tribune that more than

12,500 community clinics and 1,275

union level healthcare sub-centres had

been providing health care services to

the grass root people.

According to the DGHS annual Pub-

lication Health Bulletin 2013, since

April 2009 to December 2012 a total

of 147.9 million patients had received

treatment from the community clinics

and around 3 million patients had been

referred to different hospitals during

these period.The professor said last year more

than 3,465 laptops and 3,500 tablet

computers were distributed among the

CHCPs and health assistants.

After distributing these digital

tools, training would be provided to

the health workers so that they could

operate it smoothly, he added.

Sources said the health service pro-

viders would have to enrol everyday

with their photographs and mention

the date and time of their entry and exit

from the community clinics through

the laptop.

Health Minister Mohammed Na-

sim will inaugurate the distribu-

tion programme and hand over few

computers at the Management Infor-

mation Services auditorium of the

DGHS today.l

Muhith: Ministers shouldmaintain some mannersnTribune Report

Ministers should show some manners

while speaking in public, Finance Min-

ister AMA Muhith said yesterday in re-

action to some derogatory comments

made recently by Planning Minister

AHM Mostafa Kamal.

The two have been at loggerheads

lately over the outlay of the revised an-

nual development programme (ADP).

Challenging Muhiths ability to serveas a finance minister, Mostafa Kamal

recently criticised his opposition to

increasing the size of the revised ADP

citing fund constraints.

Refuting Kamal's allegation, Muhith

said he did not get any pension from the

World Bank. I do not get any pension

from anyone in the world, except the

government of Bangladesh, Muhith

told reporters yesterday. He was the

first alternate executive director from

Bangladesh in the World Bank.About suing the World Bank for dis-

regarding Bangladesh over allegations

of corruption in the tendering process of

the Padma bridge project, Muhith said:

I told the media that I would file a case

against the World Bank when I leave the

cabinet and become a private citizen.

Muhith also said Kamal did not un-

derstand public-private partnership

(PPP) initiative, which is an interna-

tionally known concept, and I did not

create the model in Bangladesh.

Kamal had earlier said: The finance

minister has developed the PPP, but I

do not know if it is a cow or a goat? I

hope the people know what it is! l

Smuggled gold accounts for 86% of all contrabandPAGE 1 COLUMN 6The worst scenario was seen in De-

cember when all 36 smuggled consign-

ments seized by customs were gold.

Offi cials b lamed the dut y hike in gold

import in neighbouring India for the

rise in gold smuggling in Bangladesh.

Customs chief Moinul Khan told the

Dhaka Tribune that the Indian govern-

ment had increased the tax rate to 10%

from existing 6% which had resulted

in reduction of 95% of gold imports.

The smugglers have an excellent

opportunity to make some quick mon-

ey, he said adding that the smugglers

bring gold from the Middle East to

Bangladesh, and then take it to India

using different routes.

To hide them from law enforcement

agencies, smugglers carry the gold in-

side hard drives, multimedia projectors

and television, and even inside soap,

food sacks and luggage.

Syndicates, comprising of interna-

tional smugglers, are involved with

gold smuggling. However, in most

cases, only the actual smugglers arecaught by the intelligence wing while

the ring leaders remain out of reach, a

customs offi cial obse rved.

The offi cial say s the act ual num-

ber of smuggled consignments would

probably be much higher since only

1-2% of the total number of illegal con-

signments is held by the law enforce-

ment agencies.

Gold is being smuggled mostly

through the inside of an aircraft, which

is impossible for any person without

the help of t he aircraf t offi cials, the

offi cial told the Dha ka Tribune seeki ng

anonymity.

Customs o ffi cials say th ey are beef-

ing up monitoring to nab leaders of the

smuggling ring.In this regard, the NBR has also tak-

en up a plan to increase monitoring ac-

tivities at different ports including the

airports for combating the sudden rise

in gold smuggling, as those places are

used as transit points to smuggle goods

from one country to the other.

An NBR offi cial sa id Tk1 cror e had

already been allocated for the Customs

Intelligence and Investigation Directo-

rate to tap the routes through intense

monitoring.

The NBR plans to prioritise the cus-

toms activities in Dhaka, Chittagong

and Pangaon customs houses, the bond

commissionerates of Dhaka and Chit-

tagong, the Customs Intelligence, and

the Investigation Directorate.

Under the plan, the cust oms offi cials

will check the vehicles and people at

the airports. If any smuggled products

are found and the actual owner cannot

be traced, they will question all the

passengers of the plane.

Senior Assistant Superintended of

Armed Police Battalion (APBn) Nur-e-

Alam Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune

that besides performing their regular du-

ties, the force had also taken all necessary

steps to make its intelligence wing strong.

He said the monitoring team was

modified with the support of latest

technology.

About punishment of the gold smug-

glers, Additional Commissioner of Dha-

ka Customs AKM Ohidul Alam told the

Dhaka Tribune: The customs depart-

ment does not have its own prosecu-

tion department. It merely detains the

criminals and files cases against them,

after it hands them over to the police.

We do not have any idea how crimi-

nals are getting bail in such special cas-

es, he said adding that the customs didnot have information about such cases

since those were handled by the po lice.

He also urged the authorities con-

cerned to empower the customs to bet-

ter deal with smuggling.

Offi cer-in-Charge of Ai rport p olice

station Shaheduzzaman refuted the al-

legations against police saying that they

only place a criminal at the court after

completing investigation properly.l

Jamaat in secondplace ahead of BNPPAGE 1 COLUMN 6

vice-chairman posts, 32 in the second,

28 in the third, 39 in the fourth and the

highest 44 in Mondays fifth round.

On the other hand, for the BNP, it

has been a steady journey downwards.

In the first round 32 BNP-backed

vice-chairman contenders won, 36 won

in the second, 18 in the third, 17 in the

fourth and the worst of only four in the

fifth round.

However, although the BNP fell

behind both the Awami League and

Jamaat in terms of the vice-chairmanposts, the female candidates it had

backed had more vice-chairwoman

posts than the other two parties.

At the end of the fifth round,

BNP-backed contenders backed 189

vice-chairwoman posts, followed by

the Awami League with 180 and Jamaat

with 33. l

EC blames field level offi cers forfailure in containing polls violencePAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hos-

sain Bhuiyan told reporters yesterday

that the cabinet division is yet to get

any allegation [from the Election Com-

mission ] against a ny field level offi cer

who ignored the responsibilities during

the upazila polls.

We will take necessary steps against

those offi cials if we found them guilty

or got any allegation against anybody.

But, none complained against anybody

as they did not follow the directives of

the election commission. None would

be spared for their irresponsibility and

misconduct, he said.

He also claimed that all the

offi cers, involved with the u pazi-

la polls, had carried out their duties

properly. l

Dhaka seeks WB budget assistance for next FYPAGE 1 COLUMN 5Muhith said.

Receiving budget support from the

World Bank was not unprecedented,

the minister said, adding that the bank

provided budget assistance through re-

form programs.

Although the government had not

received budget support from the

World Bank in recent times, the Asian

Development Bank had provided finan-

cial assistance to Bangladesh following

the global recession, Muhith said.

He added that the government had

previously received about $300m as bud-

get support from the International Devel-

opment Association of the World Bank.

Reforms would be made in the

banking sector, social safety net and

food distribution programmes, Muhith

said, adding that budget support would

be given in line with the execution of

reforms in various sectors, which will

be discussed later with World Bank of-

ficials.

Muhith said the World Bank has

called for decentralising the authorities

for the utilisation of the government

fund. As part of the decentralisation ef-

forts, the government will enhance the

project implementation capacities of

ministries, divisions and PPP projects,

which currently amounts at only Tk50

crore, Tk25 crore and Tk7 crore respec-

tively.

Replying to a query by Le Houerou

on the Padma Bridge, Muhith said themain tender for construction of the

bridge would be floated by July.

The ongoing tender processes for

training and hiring a consultant would

be completed within this year, while

the main consultant would be appoint-

ed during the July-August period, he

added.

The global lender was becoming

more involved in projects dealing

with primary, secondary and higher

education, while the country will not

get any more funding for the powersector as the bank would not invest in

coal-based power plants on principle,

Muhith added.

On the other hand, World Bank

Vice-President Phillippe Le Houerou

said the World Banks previous invest-

ment for the Padma Bridge would now

be invested in other sectors.

The World Banks assistance to Ban-

gladesh since the countrys indepen-

dence has so far amounted to $18bn,

the banks vice-president said.

The World Bank was supporting

the governments initiative to achieve

middle-income status for the country

by 2021, but to that end the govern-

ment needed to put emphasis on the

improvement of infrastructure and the

power sector, Le Houerou added.l

Bangladesh women bag maidenPAGE 1 COLUMN 3

group as they still finished bottom

behind Sri Lanka and India. Despite

having equal two points, the net run-

rate put the home side behind their

sub-continent opponents, thus ending

all hopes for the Bangladesh women

to qualify for the next edition of World

Twenty20 scheduled to be held in India

in 2016. They will now fight for the 9th

place in the event against Ireland in a

play-off tomorrow.

After a series of poor totals against West

Indies (79), India (58) and Pakistan (72), the

hosts batswomen finally geared up and

sang in rhythm to register their highesttotal in the shortest version of cricket. The

previous best was 113 which they made

twice against India and Pakistan.

The start however wasnt the best as

Ayasha Rahman returned in the very

first over before skipper Salma Khatun

tormented the bowlers to give Bangla-

desh their best start in the tournament

reaching fifty in nine overs.

After the dismissal of Salma (22) and

Sharmin Akhter (18), Rumana Ahmed

guided the side past 100 and stayed in

the middle till the last over depending

mostly on singles and doubles. Theright-handed batter slammed a 34-ball

41 that included only three boundaries.

Birthday girl, Jahanara Alam gave

Bangladesh the perfect start by dis-

missing Hasini Perera in her first de-

livery. Sri Lanka however was cruising

with Yasoda Mendis (33) putting on

two partnerships of 37 and 28 with

Chamari Atapattu and Shashikala Siri-

wardene respectively.

Medium fast bowler Panna Ghosh

brought Bangladesh back on track by pick-

ing up two quick wickets before dismissing

Sri Lanka captain Siriwardene (31) to take

control of the game despite several drops

from the home fielders. Panna bagged

three wickets for just 18 runs. Apart from

the batting contribution Rumana also

claimed a wicket which brought her the

player of the match award.l

Who gained what?PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

That alarmed the Awami League, who was

looking to strengthen and reward its grass-

roots by doing well in these polls. Soon af-

ter, the third phase saw a marked escalation

in violence for which the ruling party men

were largely blamed. Simultaneously, the

Awami League-backed contenders started

performing well too.

That trend remained unchanged in the

next two phases as well, the last of which

was held on Monday.

The Awami League might have in the

end soared high above its arch rivals in

terms of the number of seats bagged by the

candidates it had backed 254 for the ruling

party, 164 for the BNP and 36 for Jamaat.

But eventually, the violence and rigging

only gave momentum to the BNPs claim

that fair elections were not possible under

partisan governments.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi

Rakibuddin Ahmad, who won a lot of ac-

claim for staging fair city polls only last year,

mysteriously went to the USA on a vacation

in the middle of the upazila polls.

That not only gave rise to extensive crit-

icism, but also induced similar speculation

about the governments role and interfer-

ence with the ECs work.

Unfortunately, the chaos that the coun-

try has witnessed surrounding the upazila

polls was surely going to hurt the credibility

of the ECs independence for a long time

to come and it would not be easy by any

stretch of the imagination to gain it back. l

AL, BNP and JaPa lose strongholdsPAGE 1 COLUMN 2In Moksedpur, independent candidate

won the chairman post and in Tungipa-

ra rival candidates of Awami League

won the chairman post.

In Lakhmipur district, there are five

upazilas that are also known as strong-

holds of the BNP, the party-backed

chairman candidates secured only one

chairman post.

In seven upazilas of Satkhira, known

as a stronghold of the Jamaat, the right

wing political party-backed candidate

secured only one chairman posts out

of seven and the rests were secured by

Awami League-backed chairman can-

didates.

In Noakhali elections were held in

nine upazilas while in one upazila it

was postponed. Among the nine upazi-

las, five chairman posts were secured

by Awami League-backed contenders

while BNP-backed aspirants secured

only three.

Sunamganj district is popularly

known as stronghold of Awami League

but in the upazila polls, the AwamiLeague lost its stronghold as the BNP-

backed chairman candidates won sev-

en chairman posts out of the 10.

Political strength of Awami League

in Habiganj is well known but in the lo-

cal body elections the party bagged five

chairman posts while the BNP secured

two and the other one by an independ-

ent candidate.

The BNP showed its strength in

the northern region as it bagged 26

chairman posts in Rangpur division

and 26 in Rajshahi while the Awami

League-supported candidates secured

21 and 18 chairmen posts respectively.

The Awami League-backed contend-

ers took lead in Dhaka, Sylhet, Chit-

tagong, Khulna and Barisal divisions.In Dhaka, the Awami League-backed

candidates secured 57 chairman posts

while those backed by the BNP won in 41

seats. Ershads JaPa got only one chair-

man post in Tarail of Kishorganj but the

Jamaat got no seats in the division.

The candidates supported by the

Awami League and the BNP came out

neck and neck in Sylhet division where

the ruling party-backed candidates

bagged 18 and the BNP 15 chairman

posts. The Jamaat got two seats.

In Barisal division, the Awami

League-backed contenders got abso-

lute majority as they bagged 21 chair-

man posts while the BNP-backed can-

didates got just four. Jamaat-backed

contender bagged one chairman post

in Zianagar of Pirojpur and another was

bagged by the JP (Monju) in Bhandaria

of Pirojpur.

In this division, at least in 20 upazi-

las, the BNP-backed candidates boy-

cotted the elections alleging vote rig-

ging and illegal stamping by the ruling

party men.

There were incidents of stray vio-

lence in the first phase of polls but it

increased in the second phase. In the

third phase, violence took a serious turn

as three people were killed and clashes

took place at a number of places.

In Chittagong division, Awami

League-backed contenders also took

the lead as they bagged 40 chairman

posts while the BNP-backed contend-

ers ensured 30 and Jamaat only 5.

In Khulna, Awami League-backed

contenders bagged just the double

chairman posts than the BNP-backed

contenders as the ruling party bagged

36 chairman posts and the BNP-backed

aspirants 18 and Jamaat-backed 5.

Interestingly, Jamaat also per-formed well in Bogra, the hometown

of BNP founder Gen Ziaur Rahman,

as it bagged five chairman posts while

seven were grabbed by the BNP-backed

candidates.

Regional political parties like the

Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati

Samity (PCJSS) and the United Peoples

Democratic Front (UPDF)-backed can-

didates bagged 13 chairman posts. l

PM Sheikh Hasina presents a copy of Bangabandhu's autobiography to World Bank Vice-President Phillippe le Houerou yesterday PMO


3/21

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, April 2, 2014

PMs no to aid that has harmful conditionsnUNB

Bangladesh does not want any assis-tance from anyone that tags conditions

harmful for the country, Prime Minis-

ter Sheikh Hasina said yesterday.

She made the remark when visiting

World Bank Regional Vice-President

for South Asia Philippe Le Heuerou

met her at the PMO. The premiers Spe-

cial Assistant Mahbubul Hoque Shakil

briefed reporters after the meeting.

The prime minister said Bangladesh

always welcomed assistance from oth-

er countries or organisations, and eachand every country of the world had its

own philosophy of development.

This philosophy includes culture,

nature, environment, psychology and

the geographical characteristics of thatparticular country, she said.

According to Shakil, the WB envoy

highly appreciated the unprecedent-

ed achievements of the government

in women empowerment in termsof economy, attaining over 6% GDP

growth in the last couple of years, edu-

cation and health sectors.

Heuerou, who is on his maiden visit

to Bangladesh, said Hasina had suc-

cessfully been leading the country in

its march forward.

He also praised the government for

taking steps for developing the social

safety net, and expressed the WBs in-

terest to assist Bangladesh in its infra-

structural development.The offi cial said the WB had pledged

to provide $2.8bn in the current fiscal

where it already signed aid agreement

with the Bangladesh government for

$1.73bn in February last. Heuerou em-

phasised the enhancement of regional

connectivity and said the WB would

like to take part in this sector.

In this connection, the prime minis-

ter said the regional connectivity was

increasing day by day. She also men-

tioned about two hydro-power proj-

ects Bangladesh-Bhutan-India and

Bangladesh-Nepal-India.

Hasina also referred to declining trend

in traffi cking of women and children in

the region due to concerted efforts of all.Describing various government ac-

tivities taken for development of ed-

ucation, health and power sectors, the

premier said Bangladesh had managed

to attain more than 6% GDP growth at a

time when the entire world was under

economic stress. It was possible due to

the pragmatic and time befitting steps

of her government.

Ambassador at-large M Ziauddin,

PMs Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan

Chowdhury and Principal Secretary

Abdus Sobhan Sikder were present on

the occasion.l

Prosecution seeks arrest of Tarailrazakar leader Hasan AlinUdisa Islam

The prosecution yesterday submitted

a petition to the International Crimes

Tribunal 1 seeking arrest of Syed Hasan

Ali, an alleged razakar commander of

Tarail in Kishoreganj during the 1971

Liberation War, as the investigation

against him was near end.

The petition sayied Hasan is now

staying in Brahmanbarias border areas

and he may flee the country anytime.

So he needs to be arrested to ensure

smooth investigation.The investigation report may be com-

pleted within a mo nth, offi cials said.

Prosecutor Abul Kalam Azad submit-

ted the petition to the tribunals registrar

offi ce. A hearing on the petition may be

held today at the three-member tribunal

1 led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim.

Azad said the suspect had been the

razakar commander of Tarail upazi-

la and involved in all kinds of crimes

against humanity and genocide. We

got evidence of direct involvement of

Hasan in the incidents.Mosleh Uddin, father of the suspect,

was the chairman of Peace Committees

Kishoreganj district unit. Hasans broth-

er had also been a member of the raza-

kar force and the whole family commit-

ted atrocities in 1971.

Investigator Hari Devnath began the

probe against Hasan on June 6 last year

under the supervision of prosecutor

Azad. This will be the first case where

he will work as conducting prosecutor.

Hari said: Hasan was involved in

the killings of at least 50 Hindu people,

looting of houses, and arson. We have

at least five witnesses for each charge

against him.

Sources said the suspect might

be charged for the murders of Tofaz-

zal Hossain Bhuiyan, Abdur Rashid

and Hasan Ahmed, and the Shimulhati

killing.

The investigation agency is now

dealing with at least eight cases. The

probe against another war crimes sus-

pect Lahar Ali Shah from Rajshahi is ad-

vancing fast. Investig ation Offi cer Ataur

Rahman started the probe on October 1,

2012 under the supervision of prosecu-

tor Jahid Imam. They are also working

on the allegations against suspected war

criminal Abdul Jabbar from Pirojpur.

This time the junior prosecutors will

conduct some of the cases and they al-

ready started to coordinate with inves-

tigation agency.

Prosecutor Rezia Sultana Begum,

Sabina Yeasmin and Syed Sayedul Huq

will conduct the cases against Maulana

Shakhawat Hossain from Jessore, Ataur

Noni from Netrokona and Sirajul Islamfrom Bagerhat.

Though prosecutors Sabina and Re-

zia assisted seniors earlier in other cas-

es, it would be the first case for Sayedul

at the tribunal.l

Prosecution declares its witnessin Azhar case hostilenUdisa Islam

The prosecution, in the case against

Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul

Islam yesterday, declared their seventh

witness hostile and appealed to the

tribunal to send him to safe custody.

The tribunal 1 disposed of the peti-

tion as the witness, Aminul Islam, 56,

of Uttar Maksudpur under Badarganj

upazila in Rangpur, said he needed no

security.

Aminul was declared hostile as

he said the Pakistani occupation army

and their anonymous collaborators had

killed Kaltimai during the 1971 Libera-

tion War. He did not use the name of the

accused during the proceedings.

Conducting prosecutor AKM SaifulIslam requested safe custody for the

witness as he might influence other

prosecution witnesses in the case. Fol-

lowing his request, the tribunal asked

the witnesses whether he wanted to go

into safe custody. Aminul replied in the

negative.

The tribunal then directed the law

enforcement agencies to keep him un-

der observation so that he could not in-

fluence other prosecution witnesses. It

also said if the witness was found doing

so, the lawmen might take legal steps.

Tajul Islam, counsel for the accused,

termed the prosecutions stance un-

just saying that a witness could not be

forced to testify. The appeal for sendingthe witness to safe custody might fright-

en other witnesses, he said.

The same tribunal yesterday record-

ed the last part of the deposition by In-

vestigation Offi cer Satya Ranjan Roy in

the trial of Zahid Hossain Khokon, alias

Khokon Razakar. He was the 24th and fi-

nal prosecution witness in the case. Lat-

er state defence counsel Abdus Shukkur

stared cross examining him.

Meanwhile, the tribunal 2 set Sunday

for placing a new prosecution witness

against Mir Kashem Ali, as the defence

ended cross-examination of the 20thwitness, Lutfar Rahman Faruk. l

Lawmakers to drawallowance from January 9nKamran Reza Chowdhury

The lawmakers of the 10th parliamentwill draw their allowances from

January 9.

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, the

speaker, yesterday instructed the par-

liament secretary, who in January sent

the file to her for decision, to pay the

10th parliament MPs their monthly al-

lowance as soon as possible.

Earlier, the speaker had a meeting

with Law Minister Anisul Huq and his

predecessor Shafique Ahmed to seek

opinion on deciding the current par-

liaments starting date without which

the allowances of the MPs could not be

decided.

They suggested the speaker, accord-

ing to the rule, that the MPs should get

allowances from the date they take oath.

The 10th parliament MPs will get

allowances from January 9; I have giv-

en my decision in this regard, Shirin

Sharmin Chaudhury told the Dhaka

Tribune. She said questions could be

raised, but this parliament case was dif-ferent from previous instances.

According to the constitution, a par-

liament tenure is of five years from the

first day of the first sitting. The 9th par-

liament had its first sitting on January

25, 2009.

This time general elections took

place keeping the ninth parliament

alive. There is no such previous prece-

dence, said the speaker who said she

was constitutionally bound to adminis-ter oath to the MPs in 72 hours from the

publication of gazette on the election

results.

The Election Commission published

the gazette notification of the January

5 election on January 8. The next day,

the speaker administered oath that dis-

solved the 9th parliament and started

the 10th parliament.The article 123 of the constitution

says that the MPs of the previous parlia-

ment must not ass ume offi ce until the

completion of the five-year tenure and

the article 148 of the constitution says

the MPs wi ll assume offi ce from the

time they take oath.

Parliament session to stretch

The tenure of the current session of

parliament will stretch up to April 10

instead of the previous decision to run

the House up to April 3.

We have to run the session up to

April 10 as many of the MPs electedfrom the womens reserved seats will

deliver their speech on the presidents

parliamentary address, Shirin Sharmin

Chaudhury told the Dhaka Tribune.

The Business Advisory Committee,

headed by the speaker, authorised to

stretch or shrink the session tenure in

case of necessity.l

No progress in SQC

verdict leak casenUdisa Islam and Mohammad

Jamil Khan

The Detective Branch (DB) of Policehas failed to make any progress in in-

vestigating the draft verdict leak for

Salauddin Quader Chowdhurys war

crimes case, and is still busy analysing

the clues, nearly six months after the

incident.

Investigators claim that they were wait-ing for the prime suspect, fugitive Me-

hedi Hasan, who is a junior counsel for

SQ Chowdhury.

The tribunal offi ce has also refrained

from taking any initiative in this regard

as two of its staff are involved and werearrested.

Krishna Pada Roy, the DB deputy

commissioner (south), told the Dhaka

Tribune that they had been investigating

the case as a special priority since it was

a sensational one. Asked about the slow

progress, he said they needed to analyse

all data and clues before making a move.

At present, we are analysing the

statements of the arrestees while our

offi cials are in search of the other sus-

pected accused who are on the run, he

said. He, however, refused to name the

suspects.

After pronouncing the verdict, the

tribunal commented that the family

of the convict had made huge invest-ments to leak it beforehand.

On October 2 last year, the Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal filed a general

diary with Shahbagh police station over

the leak. Tribunal Registrar AKM Na-

siruddin Mahmud made the announce-

ment at a press briefing that day.

After just five days of being arrest-

ed, tribunal staff Nayan Ali on Octo-

ber 10 admitted his involvement in

the incident. Metropolitan Magistrate

Tareq Mainul Islam Bhuiyan recorded

his statement where he said he had ac-

cessed the Tribunal 1 chairmans com-

puter and gave Mehedi the data on a pen

drive several times.

He also claimed that Salauddin Quad-

ers counsel Fakhrul Islam Chowdhury

and one of his managers were involved

in the matter. Nayan, a cleaner, and Md

Faruque, a stenographer of the tribunal

registrar o ffi ce, were remanded af ter

their arrest on October 5.

The DB arrested Fakhrul in connec-

tion with the leak around two months

after the inci dent. DB offi cial then sai dthey had arrested him after verifying

information extracted from the two de-

tained tribunal staff.

In this regard, Arunabha Chakrabarty,

deputy registrar of the tribunal, told the

Dhaka Tribune: We hope that the case

will be solved as early as possible. We

need to know the truth for the sake of

our security. If the court gives an obser-

vation, we will be aware about the loop-

holes, if any.

He added that they could not pres-

surise the investigators since their staff

were suspected in the case and the in-

vestigation was underway.l

PSC: Proposalto simplify

quota systemignorednEmran Hossain Shaikh

Although five years have passed since

the Bangladesh Public Service Com-

mission recommended simplifying the

existing quota system, the incumbent

government has yet to respond to it

positively.

State Minister for Public Adminis-

tration Ismat Ara Sadique yesterday

placed the annual report for 2013 to

the Jatiya Sangsad, making the obser-vation.

According to the report, the rules

and regulations of the existing quo-

ta system are very complicated and

time-consuming. It is almost impos-

sible to choose qualified candidates by

applying the method.

The report stated that using the dis-

trict quota to select cadres has alsoturned the system into very much so-

phisticated. Considering the matter,

the commission placed the recommen-

dation to the government on March 19,

2009.

The report showed a gradual in-

crease of female candidates in the cad-

re service. In 31st BCS, the ratio of male

and female candidates was 70.42:29.58,

while 44.90:55.10 in 32nd special BCS

and 61.78:38.22 in 33rd BCS.

The report added that the PSC has

so far recommended 186 candidates for

non-cadre posts in the 31st and 32nd

BCS examinations.l

UK thanks Dhaka forabstaining from votingon Crimea issue

nSheikh Shahariar Zaman

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahri-ar Alam said British High Commissioner

in Dhaka Robert Gibson thanked Ban-

gladesh for abstaining from voting on

Crimea issue in the United Nations Gen-

eral Assembly.

Thank you for abstaining from vot-

ing, he quoted Robert Gibson as saying.

Robert Gibson and British State Minis-

ter for International Development Alan

Duncan met Shahriar Alam at the foreign

ministry yesterday.

The UNGA on Thursday adopted a

non-binding resolution on Crimea where

Bangladesh abstained from voting with-

out explaining the reason.

He [Gibson] actually expressed his

satisfaction and we also said there are

friends who are not so happy, but they

[British] actually said they are happy that

we remained abstained, Shahriar said.

Earlier, the state minister at a media

briefing said Bangladesh was observing

the situation in Ukraine.

Bangladesh being a member of non-aligned countries and G-77, we do notsupport any party in any internal matter

of a country. We did not deviate from that

policy and we abstained due to that poli-

cy, he said.

When asked why Bangladesh ab-

stained without giving an explanation,

he said it is Bangladeshs right.

Meanwhile, the United States had re-

gretted that Bangladesh did not support

Ukraine on Crimea issue. US ambassador

in Dhaka Dan Mozena on Monday said:

I regret that Bangladesh was not able to

join the majority.

According to UN website, by a record

vote of 100 in favour and 11 against with

58 abstentions, including Bangladesh,

the UNGA adopted the resolution titled

Territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Russian ambassador in Dhaka Alexan-

der Nicholaev at a programme on Sunday

also expressed his satisfaction that Ban-

gladesh abstained from voting when the

resolution was adopted.l

Bangladeshi UN

peacekeepers

off to Mali

nBSS

A 112-member contingent of Bangla-

desh Army left Dhaka yesterday to join

the United Nations Peacekeeping Forc-es in Mali for the first time.

The contingent, led by Colonel M

Jahangir Harun, left Shahjalal Interna-

tional Airport in the afternoon for the

land-locked African country.

A total of 1,446 members of the

Army and the Navy, including an infan-

try unit, two signal units, an engineer

unit, a navy unit and a riverine unit are

also expected to be deployed in the Af-

rican state. The remaining peacekeep-ers will leave for Mali in phases. l

Professor Anisuzzaman receives the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in

India, from Indian President Pranab Mukherjee at New Delhi yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Members of the Armed Forces depart the Shahjalal International Airport in the capital yesterday to join UN Peacekeeping Forces in Mali

DHAKA TRIBUNE

After pronouncing theverdict, the tribunalcommented that thefamily of the convicthad made hugeinvestments to leak itbeforehand

Give your sonsor Tk20, 000nOur Correspondent, Tangail

Gopalpur upazila yesterday saw a fierce

backlash against opposition supportersfrom the ruling Awami League men fol-

lowing the March 31 polls.

Sexagenarian Sokhina probablyfaced the most terrifying moment in

her life when the ruling party support-

ers pinned a gun to her head.

Give us your sons, they howled.

Sokhina was granted with an option

payment of Tk20, 000 within 10 min-

utes or face the inevitable, said locals

and witnesses.

Sokhina was granted mercy after

she pleaded for forgiveness but others

known to be affi liated with t he BNP in

the area were not so fortunate.

The post-poll violence in the upazila

witnessed vandalism, arson and looting

allegedly by ruling party supporters.

Most of the BNP supporters fled the

upazila fearing backlash. Armed rul-

ing party men swooped on Sokhina in

Hemnagar area on Monday night look-

ing for her sons Humayun Kabir Liton,

Nur Nabi and Lokman.

Unable to locate the trio, they van-

dalised the house and demanded mon-

ey from Sokhina, said localsIt was the same night when they

vandalised establishments of BNP

leaders Liton Mia, Harun-RRashin,

Abdul Barek, Anisur Rahman, Lal Mia

and Rezaul Karim in Hemnagar Bazar.

Even the poultry firm of BNP support-

er Shafiqul Islam was not spared. His shop

was vandalised and chickens looted.

Meanwhile, several villages in Jawail

union were also attacked the same

night. The pharmacy of BNP activist

Dr Hamid was vandalized too. Another

activist Badiuzzaman was assaulted in

Mouza Dakuri. l


4/21

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, April 2, 2014

World AutismAwareness Day todaynMoniruzzaman Uzzal

World Autism Awareness Day will be

observed across the world including

Bangladesh today to raise awareness

about autism.

Different ministries have chalked out

elaborate programmes to mark the day.

The social welfare ministry will or-ganise a discussion and cultural pro-

gramme participated by children with

autism at Bangabandhu International

Conference Centre where Prime Minis-

ter Sheikh Hasina will be present as the

chief guest.

Important buildings of differentministries, divisions, departments in

the capital and districts will be lighted

up blue on the occasion.

Autism is a complex neuro-behav-

ioral disorder that affects a persons

brain function. Autism affects girls and

boys of all races and in all geographic

regions and has a large impact on chil-

dren, their families, communities and

societies.

The prevalence of the disease is cur-

rently rising in many countries around

the world.

As many as 10 public medical col-

lege hospitals including Shishu Bikash

Kendra (SSK) of Dhaka Medical College

Hospital (DMCH) are providing treat-

ment to children with autism and other

neuro-development problems.

Humaira Muslima, child health p hy-sician of SSK of the Dhaka Shishu Hos-

pital said neuro-development of a child

mostly develop within two to three

years of age.

If parents can realise that their child

has development disorder they should

bring them within this time and those

autistic children can become self-de-

pendent.

The annual bulletin of the Director-

ate General of Health Services (DGHS)

in 2013 said that the social welfare de-

partment of Bangladesh estimated that

around 2, 80,000 were suffering from

autism related health problems in the

country.

Professor Dr Abul Kalam Azad, the ad-

ditional director general (planning),

told the Dhaka Tribune that the nation-

al health programme had identified au-

tism as a priority.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib

Medical University is going to set up a

specialised centre for treating children

with neuro-development problems.

He said Saima Wazed, daughter of

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had

placed an agenda at the 133 execu-

tive board of the WHO and the board

had approved it and it would soon be

placed before the World Health Assem-

bly for approval.l

UK delegation surprised at Tariquesfirst president commentnSheikh Shahariar Zaman

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahri-

ar Alam said a British delegation had ex-

pressed surprise over a recent comment

by BNP leader Tarique Zia contending

that his father, Ziaur Rahman, was the

first president of Bangladesh.

I raised the issue and asked them

where Tarique Zia, who is now living in

England, got such information after 43

years and what they thought about it,

Shahriar Alam said after meeting with a

delegation led by Alan Duncan, UK min-

ister for international development, at

the foreign ministry in Dhaka yesterday.

They told me that they were sur-

prised to hear that. They were smiling

when they said so. They did not have

any explanation as to why a political par-

ty gave such distorted information. They

were very surprised, Shahriar said.

About bringing Tarique back to Ban-

gladesh, the state minister said there

was a procedure to do that.

Shahriar said the foreign ministry

could only act when there was a war-

rant, but no warrant was issued against

Tarique yet. When a warrant is issued,

the foreign ministry will act upon re-

quest from the home ministry, he said.

The British minister, however, did not

make any comments after the meeting.

Duncan arrived in the city on a

three-day trip on Monday. He is sched-

uled to visit the Rana Plaza disaster site

at Savar today, and will address a press

conference later.

Tarique, son of former president

Ziaur Rahman and former three-time

prime minister Khaleda Zia, at a sem-inar marking Bangladeshs Indepen-

dence Day in London last month, re-

marked that Zia, a sector commander in

1971, was the countrys first president.

Khaleda Zia later endorsed his view,

publicly saying her late husband was

indeed Bangladeshs first president.l

60 injured in post-poll violencenTribune Report

More than 60 activists of rival political

parties were injured in post-poll violence

in three districts during the hartal called

in protest of alleged vote rigging in the

fifth phase of the upazila polls yesterday.

The BNP-led alliance have been ac-

cusing the ruling Awami League of tak-

ing over the polling stations and ballot

boxes, and driving polling agents out oftheir stations in rival camps, while the

Election Commission and the local ad-

ministrations were mere spectators.

In Sirajganjs Belkuchi, Awami

League activists beat up 10 voters from

Vaturia village of Rajapur union around

10pm because they did not vote for the

candidate from Awami League. They

also vandalised a weaving factory and

a stationary shop.

However, when contacted, Belkuchipolice station OC Abdul Hai claimed it

was normal that some violence would

take place after the polls. The injured

received primary treatment.

In Sunamganjs Bishambharpur upa-

zila, at least 20 people were injured in a

fight between Awami League and BNP

activists in the afternoon.

Two groups led by local Awami League

leader Rafique and BNP leader Harun

clashed following an altercation over the

polls, according to the po lice. Offi cer In-

Charge Nurul Abser Khan said the injured

were admitted to different hospitals.

In Moulvibazars Rajanagar, follow-

ers of two Awami League chairman

candidates got into a fight, injuring at

least 30 people. The incident took place

around 11pm on Monday at Parchakra

village of Mansur Nagar union. The in-

jured were admitted to local hospitals.

Local sources said Awami League-

backed chairman candidate Askir Khan

was pro nounced winner u noffi cially,

which was followed by his rival Misba-

hudduja Velai Mias followers clashing

with his supporters. Police rushed there

and brought the situation under control.

Meanwhile, in Satkhira and Bargu-

na, the hartal called by the BNP-led

alliance was observed peacefully. No

Jamaat activists were seen picketing

in Satkhira. On the other hand, the dis-

trict offi ce of BNP was closed in Bargu-

na the entire day. l

Policeman suspended fortorturing businessmannKailash Sarkar

A poli ce offi cer was s uspended yes-

terday for allegedly assaulting a busi-

nessman for refusing to pay protection

money in the capitals Sayedabad area.

Mustaq Ahmmed, deputy commis-

sioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Polices

Wari division, confirmed the suspen-sion of assistant sub-inspector Saiful

Islam of Jatrabari police station.

Apart from the suspension of the

ASI, a committee, led by an additional

deputy commissioner, has also been

formed to probe the incident, Mustaq

told the Dhaka Tribune.

According to witnesses and sources,

a team of police, led by Saiful, severely

beat up a local steel trader on Mondaynight for refusing to pay the policemen

on opening a new shop.

The victim, Nazmul Sheikh, 26, is un-

dergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medi-

cal College and Hospital. Nazmul, owner

of SK Steel Mills in Sayedabad, claimed

that the policemen had assaulted him.

The ASI enquired whether po-

licemen were paid at the opening of

the new shop, and at one stage, they

swooped on me, Nazmul added.

The injured businessman was later

rushed to the DMCH by some locals.l

Sayedee appealcase adjourneduntil April 8

nTribune Report

The Appellate Division of the Supreme

Court yesterday deferred the war crimes

appeals case of death row convict Dela-

war Hossain Sayedee till April 8.

The five-member apex court bench

led by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hos-

sain passed the order following a plea of

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.

The top law o ffi cer of the co untry

told the court, on the charge of Bisabali

killing, Sayedee got death penalty.

Mahbubey said Sayedee, whose

main name was Delawar Shikdar,

turned into a notorious Razakar in

1971. The war criminal went into hiding

when Bangladesh achieved bloody vic-

tory in the Liberation War, he said.Later, the hearing was adjourned.

Earlier, the top court deferred the

case till April 1 after Attorney General

sought time.

Assistant Attorney General BashirAhmed assisted the AG while SM Shah-

jahan represented Sayedee.l

Supreme Courtstays Rana Plazaowners bailnNazmus Sakib

The Supreme Courts Appellate Divi-

sion yesterday stayed a bail order in

favour of Sohel Rana, owner of the col-

lapsed garment factory building, Rana

Plaza at Savar near Dhaka.

Chamber Justice Hasan Foez Siddique

passed the order following an appeal by

the prosecution which challenged the

High Court order that granted bail to

Rana for six months in a case lodged by

Rajuk for constructing the building flout-

ing building construction laws.

Rana is in jail after the eight-storey

Rana Plaza collapsed on April 24 last

year, claiming at least 1,135 lives and

injuring nearly 2,500 people. l

Reform of primary examsystem on the cardsnMushfique Wadud

The Directorate of Primary Educationis working to reform the system of

Primary Terminal Examination as the

competency level of primary school-

children still remains low despite a

high pass rate, offi cials conc erned said.

We are working to make the ex-

amination competency-based so that

students are evaluated properly, Md

Emran, director (monitoring and eval-

uation division) at the Directorate of

Primary Education, told the Dhaka Tri-

bune.He said students answered compe-

tency-based questions in the Primary

Terminal Examination 2013, adding

that all the questions will be competen-

cy-based by 2016.

The DPE is working on the exam-

ination reform as its own report shows

that most of the fifth grade students

are not competent in Bangla and math-

ematics.

Nearly 75% of fifth graders do nothave adequate competence in Bangla

while 67% lack competence in math-ematics, said a World Bank report re-

leased recently.

Although these students are at the end

of the primary education cycle, they

are still performing at a level lower

than what is typical of fifth grade com-

petence, said the report titled Bangla-

desh: Education Sector Review.

The learning level, according to thereport, is low at the beginning of prima-

ry education with 50% of third graders

failing to meet the competency target

for mathematics and 33% failed to do

so in Bangla.

However, 98.58% students passed

the Primary Terminal examination in

2013 while a total of 240,961 students

secured GPA-5. The pass rate was

92.34% in 2010, 97.26% in 2011, 97.35%

in 2012 and 98.58% in 2013.

Educationists often question the

evaluation system as the learning level

of the students remains low.

Md Emran, however, defended the

examination, saying that the aptitude

test is of international standards and

unfamiliar to students. Once we will

reform the examination system, things

will change, he said.l

HC: Deactivate allunregistered SIMsnUNB

The High Court on yesterday ordered

the countrys mobile phone operators

to deactivate all the unregistered SIM

cards as soon as possible.

It also directed the mobile operatorsto provide details of SIM card users

who demand toll over phone.

An HC bench comprising Justice

Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Mo-

hammad Khurshid Alam Sarker passedthe order following a writ petition filed

in the form of public interest litigation.

Supreme Court lawyer JR Khan

Robin filed the writ following a report

titled, 70 lakh unregistered SIMs in-

volved in various crimes, including

demanding extortion, published in a

national daily on March 6.

The court also issued a rule asking

authorities concerned to explain as to

why they should not be directed to de-

activate the unregistered SIM cards and

as to why law enforcers not be directed

to take action against the SIM card us-

ers who demand extortion over phone

under the criminal law.l

Roberto Bissio, coordinator of Social Watch, a global civil society alliance, addresses a panel discussion titled Post 2015 Development

Agenda: Future Global Development Partnership, at the Dh aka Reporters Unity yesterday RAJIB DHAR

6 companies bid for Bibiyana South power plantnAminur Rahman Rasel

Six international companies submitted

bidding documents yesterday for the

construction of the Bibiyana South,

a 400MW gas-based combined cycle

power plant project in Habiganj, which

will become the first power plant to be

constructed with funds collected from

a portion of consumers electricity bills.

Around Tk1,800 crore will be used

from the consumers bill fund set up

by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory

Commission named Energy Develop-

ment and Maintenance Fund for the

construction of the plant.

A power plant of this capacity re-

quires at least Tk4,000crore to be con-

structed, while every year nearly Tk-

700crore are deposited to the fund.

The Power Development Board

(PDB) decided to construct the pow-

er plant project with its own fund as a

private company apparently failed to

build a power plant named Bibiyana 1

at the site because of fund crunch.

Six companies submitted tender.

The consortium did not submit bid se-

curity that excluded the company from

the process. The other five companies

will go through technical and financial

evaluation. Then we will select a com-

pany for the work, PDB Chairman Md

Abduhu Ruhulla told the Dhaka Tri-

bune yesterday.

He added: The whole process will be

completed within three months and itwill be sent to the cabinet committee on

government purchase. Then a contract

will be signed with the eligible bidder.

The land for construction of the

power plant was acquired earlier and

the private enterprise, Summit Group,

failed to work on the project. So, we

will construct another plant on the

land, the PDB chairman said.

In May 2011, the government had

signed agreements with the Summit

Power under the independent pow-er producer guideline to install three

power plants the gas-fired Bibiyana 1

and the 341MW Bibiyana 2 in Habiganj,

and the 337MW dual-fuel Meghnaghat

in Narayanganj with a combined pro-

duction capacity of 1,019MW.

The simple cycle of the plants was

scheduled to start in August last year

while the combined cycle production

next August.

Meanwhile, the Summit Group has

claimed $45m in compensation from

the government and asked it to return

$3m the company deposited as securi-

ty, after the PDB cancelled the agree-

ment for the 341MW Bibiyana 1 power

plant. The compensation issue is to be

settled by the High Court.

On the last date for submission, the

companies that submitted documents

are Consortium of China National Elec-

tric Engineer Co Ltd and Shenzhen

Shennan Gas Turbine Engineering

Technology Co Ltd from China, Isolux

Ingenieria SA of Spain and Samsung

C&T Corporation of South Korea, Con-

sortium of Hyundai Engineering Co Ltd

and Daewoo International Corporation,

Consortium of China National Techni-

cal Import and Export Corporation and

China National Corporation and Over-

seas Economic Corporation, joint ven-

ture of Harbin Electric International Co

Ltd (HEICCCE) and CCC Engineering

and Tecnicas Reunidas SA of Spain. l

Hall-Mark bossessued again

nMd Sanaul Islam Tipu

Sonali Bank yesterday filed a fresh caseagainst Hall-Mark Chairman Jasmine Is-

lam and Managing Director Tanvir Mah-

mud for realising more than Tk30 crore

from Boby Denim composite Ltd, one of

the units of the beleaguered company.

Abdus Salam , executive offi cer

of the banks Ruposhi Bangla Hotel

branch, filed the case with Artha Rin

Adalat 1 (money loan court) in Dhaka.

Judge Md Rabiuzzaman took the

case into cognizance and ordered the

defendants to submit a written state-ment before the court by April 16.

With the case, authorities of the

state-run commercial have filed 11 cas-

es against Hallmark Group for realising

more than Tk100 crore.

On March 30, Sonali Bank filed a case

against Hallmark for realising more

than Tk9 crore from Boby Denim Ltd.

On March 27, Sonali Bank filed three

cases with the court for realizing over

Tk21.71 crore from three sister concerns

of the notorious group. l

We are working tomake the examinationcompetency-basedso that students areevaluated properly

As many as 10 publicmedical collegehospitals wereproviding treatment tochildren with autism

British State Minister for International Development Alan Duncan and British High Commissioner Robert W Gibson meet State Minister

for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam at the Secretariat in the capital yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM


5/21

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, April 2, 2014

PRAYER TIMES

Fajar 4:38am

Sunrise 5:53am

Zohr 12:03am

Asr 4:29pm

Magrib 6:13pm

Esha 7:29pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Source: Accuweather/UNB

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A Y

Dhaka 38 25

Chittagong 33 23

Rajshahi 40 20

Rangpur 38 20

Khulna 38 23

Barisal 36 23

Sylhet 35 19

Coxs Bazar 32 23

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:14PM SUN RISES 5:49AM

YESTERD AYS H IGH AND LOW37.2C 17.7CTangail Sayedpur

Parking, hawkers clog roads around Jatrabari intersectionnAbu Hayat Mahmud

With authorities turning a blind eye,

illegal vehicle parking and street ven-

dors continue to occupy and clog dif-

ferent sections of roads and footpaths

near Jatrabari intersection, one of the

citys busiest intersections and a prime

entrance into the capital.

Due to such rising illegal practices,

vehicles and pedestrians in the area

now find it diffi cult to tra vel through

the narrow roads. Most of these roads

have also become unfit for vehicular

movement as construction materials

for the Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jatra-

bari-Gulistan Flyover were being kept

on the roadsides.

During a recent visit, this correspon-

dent found that a large number of vehi-

cles, mainly buses, trucks, human haul-

ers, auto-rickshaws and rickshaws were

unlawfully parked on roads around the

Jatrabari intersection, such as the Mawa

road, Chittagong road, Sylhet road,

Narayanganj road and Demra road.

Besides, many roadside shop own-ers had also taken over a portion of the

public space to display their products

while many makeshift shops, such as

tea stalls, utensil and fruit sellers, were

also seen on the footpaths.

Earlier, illegal parking only took

place at certain points under the May-

or Hanif Flyover, but now vehicles are

being parked on both sides of Jatra-

bari-Sayedabad road, said Saiful, a lo-

cal resident.

To avoid the congestion at the in-

tersection, a large number of vehicles

now avoid Jatrabari-Sayedabad road

and use the Shamibagh-Dayaganj road

as an alternative route, he added.

He also said that not only footpaths,

street vendors have also started to oc-

cupy a portion of the roads to put their

goods on display.

Salma Akter, a resident of Shamibagh

alleged: Unauthorised kitchen markets

on walkways and roads adjoining Jatra-

bari intersection are very common, but

city corporatio n offi cials and the polic eare silent over the issue.

Imran Sikder, assistant sub inspector

of Jatrabari Traffi c Police Box told the

Dhaka Tribune: There is no traffi c jam in

the area (Jatrabari intersection). We are al-

ways trying to reduce jam at the area.

He furth er claim ed traffi c conges-

tion in the area had lessened than be-

fore and would reduce further once the

construction of flyover was complete.

However, the correspondent found

drivers have parked their buses and

trucks on the road in front of the police

box, while the other side of the road

was occupied by street vendors.

When asked, Dhaka South City Corpo-

ration Chie f Estate Offi cer Khalid Ahme d

said: I am aware of the situation, action

would be taken immediately.

He also said the city corporation

would conduct eviction drives against

the encroachers within a few days.

Residents of Jatrabari and its adjoin-

ing areas, daily commuters to the capital

from nearby districts, mainly Narayan-

ganj, Narsingdi and Munshiganj, havebeen hard-hit by these illegal practices

as several sections of these roads were

already in a dilapidated state due to

negligence and the lack of maintenance

from concerned authorities.

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated Ja-

trabari-Gulistan flyover, which was built

with an aim to ease the traffi c congestion

on the eastern side of the capital, had

failed to attract vehicles as the flyover

operators charge high toll from its users.

A large number of commuters, who

travel through the route daily, avoid

using the flyover and prefer the road

below to save travelling costs instead

of time.l

DAP review committee reformednMohosinul Karim

The cabinet committee to review and

finalise the Detailed Area Plan of the

capital was reconstituted yesterday,

with Housing and Public Works Minis-

ter Mosharraf Hossain as its convener.

LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam,

convener of the present cabinet com-

mittee formed in February, as well as

the previous one, was dropped from

the committee.

As a result, the number of commit-

tee members has now come down to

six from seven.

Mosharraf was joint convener of the

committee previously.

According to a Cabinet Division or-

der issued on Tuesday, the committee

members are: Communication Minis-

ter Obaidul Quader, Water Resources

Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Envi-

ronment and Forest Minister Anwar

Hossain Manju, Shipping Minister Sha-jahan Khan and Land Minister Shamsur

Rahman Sharif.

The secretaries of the Water Resourc-

es Ministry, Environment and Forest

Ministry, Housing and Public Works

Ministry and Shipping Ministry, the

Roads Division, Bridges Division, Rail-

way Division and Local Government

Division will work with the committee

as supporting offi cials. The Housing and

Public Works Ministry will provide sec-

retarial support to the committee.

The order stated that the committee

would finalise the plan analysing the

existing DAP, consulting with the pub-

lic representatives and looking over

public opinions received through its

website or directly.

The government announced and de-

cided to implement the DAP to resolve

problems related to housing, water-log-

ging and traffi c congesti on in Dhaka, as

well as to protect the wetlands, water

reservoirs, canals and low-lying areas

from land grabbers.

The cabinet committee was formed

on June 27, 2010 for the first time, after

the Housing and Public Works Ministryhad announced the DAP on June 22.

The existing DAPs tenure will end

next year, and a new DAP will be an-

nounced for the next 20 years.

A total area of 590sq-km has been

covered in the DAP, including the north-

ern part of Gazipur municipal area,

Dhaleswari River in the south, Bongshi

and Dhaleswari rivers in the west, and

Shitalakkhya and Meghna rivers and a

part of Sonargaon upazila in the east.

Narayanganj, Kadam Rasul, Sidhwir-

ganj, Tarabo, Savar, Tongi and Gazipur

municipals, Savar EPZ, Keraniganj, Jin-

jira and parts of Rupganj and Kaliganj

have also been added to the DAP, as

well as the two city corporations in the

capital.

The area has been divided into 17

zones.

The previous DAP review commit-

tee received several applications from

people as well as housing companies,

of which some were accepted, some re-

jected and the rest still pending.l

BCL man killed by rivalsnOur Correspondent, Mymensingh

A Bangladesh Chhatra League leader

was killed in an attack allegedly by a rival

group on Bangladesh Agricultural Univer-

sity (BAU) campus yesterday morning.

University sources said Saad Ibne

Momtaz, 21, a fourth-year student at

the Faculty of Fisheries, and organising

secretary of the Ashraful Haque Hall

Chhatra League unit, was killed over

the election of class representative.

The sources said Momtaz, who was

the incumbent class representative,

had been involved in a feud with some

of his party men over the election for

the past few days. The election of class

representative was scheduled to be

held yesterday.

Following the dispute, a group of

Chhatra League activists loyal to the

present president of the university

unit, Morsheduzzaman Khan Babu, al-

legedly attacked Momtaz around 9pmon Monday, injuring him critically.

Momtaz was left at the hall untreated

until yesterday morning, alleged Sham-

suddin Al Azad, former Chhatra League

president at the university.

But Babu claimed that the Chhatra

League, the student wing of the ruling

Awami League, was not involved with

the incident, and miscreants might

have attacked Momtaz to put the blame

on the party.

When contacted, BAU Proctor Pro-

fessor Dr Md Shahidur Rahman Khan

said: Hall Provost Professor Rafiqul

Islam informed me about the incident

around 9:30am today, and I rushed tothe spot and sent the victim to My-

mensingh Medical College Hospital

where he succumbed to his injuries

around noon.

The victims body was sent to the

morgue for post mortem examination.

Meanwhile, BAU Vice-Chancellor

Professor Dr Md Rafiqul Hoque held a

meeting with the registrar, the proc-

torial body and the students affair

adviser around 12:30pm to discuss the

situation.

A probe body would be formed to in-

vestigate the matter to identify the real

killers, the proctor said.

Police had visited the spot, and ad-

ditional police had been deployed on

the campus, sources said.l

BCL activists beatup student

nJU Correspondent

A student was beaten up by leaders and

activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League

at Jahangirnagar University.

Rezaul Amin Barshan, a final year

student of the Department of Comput-

er Science and Engineering, received

injuries on the head and in the hands.

He was admitted to a private hospi-

tal in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka.

Mass Education Affairs Deputy Secre-

tary Didarul Islam of the university Chha-

tra League unit along with his followers

went to Barshans room at Maulana Bha-

shani Hall at around 2am and beat him up

with rods, said the witnesses.

Among other attackers were SM

Firozur Rahman of Bangla department,

Roman of Institute of Information

Technology, Arif of geography and en-

vironment, Tareq of public health, Se-

lim of law, Shakil of anthropology andImran of law.

Chhatra League leader Didar said

they beat up Barshan because he was

an activist of the university unit of Ja-

tiyatabadi Chhatra Dal. l

WEATHER

TUESDAY, APRIL 1

PARTLY

CLOUDY

People decorate potteries with traditional designs at Bashantapara in Rajshahi yesterday ahead of Pahela Baishakh DHAKA TRIBUNE

Hospital closedafter doctors, staffresign en masse

nOur correspondent, Barisal

The authorities of Holling Bery Syed

Moazzem Red Crescent Hospital inBarisal yesterday closed the hospital

and released all patients after doctors

and other staff resigned en masse fol-

lowing non-payment of their salaries.

Sources said the doctors and staff

had resigned and left the hospital, lock-

ing the main gate.

Enayet Karim, acting superinten-

dent-in-charge of the hospital, said 57

personnel, including five doctors, 12

nurses and 40 staff, of the hospital re-

ceived their last salaries in November

last year and since then no fund had

been disbursed by the authority de-

spite repeated requests.

Four of the doctors left the hospital

submitting their resignation on Monday

and advising the release of 20 indoor pa-

tients and closing all outdoor activities.

Other staff members also sent their res-

ignation letters via fax to the authority.

Enayet said the hospital would remain

closed until further notice.

When contacted, Iqbal Hossain For-

kan, president of the ho

Print Edition: 2 April 2014

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