September 14, 2015

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

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Protests compound su eringThe fth consecutive day of protest by private uni-versity students demanding VAT withdrawal caused untold su erings to city commuters. Despite earning public support, commuters said the protest could have been designed in a better way.

NEWS PAGE 5

Mamma Mia! Pennetta wins US Open, then retiresFlavia Pennetta won her rst grand slam singles title over Roberta Vinci in an all-Italian US Open nal then added one more shock by announcing her retire-ment. The 33-year-old Pennetta becomes the fourth oldest grand slam winner in the Open Era.

SPORTS PAGE 28

World on edge as Fed weighs rate increasePossibility that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates has injected new anxiety in the global economy. With markets still in turmoil from Chinas downturn, calls for the Fed to hold o are being coun-tered by pushes from emerging economy o cials.

BUSINESS PAGE 16

Ananya Shirshadosh Sammanana 2014Language movement activist Professor Laila Noor and 10 other women have been awarded Ananya Shirshadosh Sammanana 2014, in recognition of their contribution to their respective elds. The awards ceremony took place in the city on Saturday.

SHOWTIME PAGE 31

INSIDE

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 | Bhadro 30, 1422, Zilqad 30, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 151 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

BANGLADESHI DIES IN MECCA MISHAP PAGE 6

HC: CLEAN HEART INDEMNITY ILLEGAL PAGE 32

JUSTICE MANIK DEMANDS CJ'S IMPEACHMENT PAGE 5

Biggest VAT demo so farMuhith, Tofail hint at govts softening stance

n Tribune ReportPrivate university students yesterday staged a massive demonstration in Dhaka and some other places in the coun-try that by far is the biggest gathering since the anti-VAT protests began months ago.

Amid statements that the government is not rigid on the VAT issue, several universities announcing early Eid vaca-tions and others promising to not take the tax from stu-dents, protesters announced their intention to continue demonstrations today as well.

Boycotting classes, hun-dreds of students staged sit-ins on important roads and the busiest intersections from 10am to 4:30pm, bringing the capital city to a literal stand-still with a severe tra c grid-

lock on the rst working day of the week.

The protesters mainly gathered at Uttara, Dhanmon-di, Baridhara, Shyamoli, Pan-thapath, Mohakhali, Banani and Rampura areas, which have a concentration of pri-vate universities.

Reports of similar protests came in from Rajshahi, Sylhet and Chittagong cities as well.

However, just like the pre-vious days, the protests have been largely peaceful and there have been no reports of any violence or untoward incidents anywhere in the country.

On Thursday, anti-VAT pro-testers blockade and sit-in programmes also caused the city to experience a similar tra c gridlock.

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Teachers call for Muhiths resignationn Tribune ReportThe Federation of Bangla-desh University Teachers As-sociation (FBUTA) called for Finance Minister AMA Mu-hiths resignation yesterday, as public university teachers observed yet another day of work abstention demanding their own separate pay scale.

The teachers said the an-ti-education minister was conspiring to create anarchy at the universities and destroy the countrys higher educa-tion system.

Because of senility and anti-education mentality, our nance minister is continu-ously presenting irrelevant and fabricated information about university teachers and

higher education system, thus confusing the whole nation, said Farid Uddin Ahmed, pres-ident of the FBUTA.

So we are calling for him to resign from his own post for the greater bene t of the countrys economy, he told a press conference on the Dhaka University campus yesterday.

Reading out a written state-ment, FBUTA Secretary Gen-eral Prof Maksud Kamal urged the government to form a new unbiased salary commission for teachers.

If the government fails to meet our demands by Sep-tember 17, the teachers would be forced to go for an inde -nite work abstention after Eid-ul-Azha, he said.

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Biggest VAT demo so farAround 300 agitators from the East West Uni-versity blockaded the Rampura Bridge around 11am, halting vehicular movement on the road from Mouchak to Badda Pragati Sarani. Tra c in the entire Gulshan area was also a ected.

Taking position on the Rampura Bridge, they chanted slogans like education is not a prod-uct and VAT on education is the death of a na-tion, according to our reporter Shadma Malik.

The EWU has announced that tuition fees will not be raised in the next three years, but the students do not want VAT on education. If the authorities need to pay the tax then they would cut other facilities which will hamper our academic curriculum, said Tanjin, a stu-dent of genetic engineering at EWU.

After a meeting with a team of RAB around 2pm, EWU Vice-Chancellor Prof Ahmed Sha-fee said: We will soon hold a meeting with the government and nd a solution that will bene t the students.

Students of the North South University (NSU) and Independent University Bangla-desh (IUB) brought out processions from their campuses and blockaded the road in front of the gate of the Basundhara Residential Area, our reporter Jebunnesa Alo reports.

Brac University students began the days protests in the morning by bringing out a pro-cession and then blockading the Mohakha-li-Gulshan road around 12:30pm.

In Dhanmondi, vehicular movement on the Satmasjid Road, Asad Gate crossing to Sukrabad crossing and the Science Laboratory crossing came to a halt after students of State University Bangladesh (SUB) and University of Development Alternative (UODA) took to the streets.

Protesters from the Dhaka International University (DIU) and World University of Bang-ladesh took position at the Panthapath-Green road intersection, halting tra c from Russel Square to the Bashundhara City Shopping Mall, reports our correspondents Abu Hayat Mahmud and Nure Alam Durjoy.

The protesters, however, kept emergency ve-hicles such as ambulances and public university transports out of the purview of their blockade.

We are not general peoples enemies. We are just carrying out the protests to press our demand for cancellation of VAT, said Badal Mirja, a student of Electrical and Electronics En-gineering department of the Dhanmondi-based University of Asia Paci c (UAP).

Protesters said they would take up the same positions today if the situation does not change.

If our demand is not ful lled, we will stage the same programme tomorrow [Monday] at 10am, Badal said while brie ng media in front of the Shankar campus of the State University of Bangladesh.

In a press brie ng near Rapa Plaza in Dhan-mondi, Abdul Baten, deputy commissioner of polices Ramna zone, told reporters that the students listened to their requests and freed the roads. In reply to a query about their plan of action regarding todays scheduled protests, Baten said their next step would depend on the direction that the movement takes.

NSU, IUB closedYesterday, the authorities of NSU and IUB de-clared the universities closed until September 15 and 26 respectively. The announcement came in the second half of the day in the form of notices published on the university websites.

NSU classes and exams have been suspend-ed. IUB went into Eid-ul-Azha vacations at least a week ahead of schedule. Da odil In-ternational University and Brac University both suspended classes for today. Prime Asia University examinations scheduled for today have been postponed.

South East University, which is on va-cation, has pushed back the resumption of classes to September 30 from September 15.

Outside Dhaka Students of the North Bengal and Varendra uni-versities in Rajshahi took to the streets.

Under the banner No VAT on Education, around 100 students of the North Bengal Uni-versity brought out a procession in the city and ended up with a gathering at the Shaheb Bazar Zero Point around 11am. Students of Varendra University blockaded the highway in front of the campus creating a half-an-hour tra c jam.

Elsewhere in Sylhet, students of several private universities staged a demonstration in the city from 11am to 3pm. Students from the Metropolitan University, Leading University, International University, North-East University, Women Medical College and North-East Medi-cal College participated in the protests.

Government softensFinance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said that the government had not closed the door to discussion on the VAT issue.

I am not rigid about the National Board of Revenues decision to impose VAT on tuition fees of private universities, he said.

Muhith claimed he had not been rigid on any matter over the six years he had been serving as nance minister.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said yes-terday: We will make a practical decision on the imposition of 7.5% VAT on private universi-ty tuition fees. l

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015NEWS4DT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Teachers call for Muhiths resignationTeachers at public universities have been pro-testing the Eighth National Pay Scale since May 14, advocating a four-point charter of de-mands that includes the formation of a com-mission to initiate an independent pay scale for public university teachers.

As part of their movement, teachers of 37 public universities of the country observed work abstention programmes yesterday.

Teachers at Chittagong University, Chit-tagong University of Engineering and Tech-nology and Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Science University abstained from work and staged sit-ins on their respective campuses.

Terming the eighth pay commission Chair-man Dr Muhammad Farashuddin an enemy

of university teachers, CU protesters said the former central bank governor was responsi-ble for the unrest at public universities.

Meanwhile, teachers in Khulna University also observed work abstention, expressing their disappointment at not being given any chance to hold a discussion with the govern-ment on the pay scale issue.

Criticising the humiliation done to the teach-ers, protesting teachers of the Khulna Universi-ty said meritorious students would not want to become teachers any more if the government fails to show respect to the profession.

Our district correspondents reported that work abstentions were also observed peace-fully by teachers of Rangpurs Begum Rokeya

University, Noakhali Science and Technology University and Dinajpurs Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science & Technology University.

Muhiths responseFinance Minister Muhith has said public uni-versity teachers must meet with the govern-ment committee concerned to discuss reducing any discrimination in the new salary structure.

We have to sit with them [public universi-ty teachers]. They have ve or six grades. The [salary] pyramid might have become uneven at some points, AMA Muhith said, comment-ing on alleged salary discrimination.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, who was accompanying Muhith at the time, also

said: What can we do if they [teachers] do not want to attend the governments salary committee meeting?

Earlier in the day, the FBUTA declared they would not sit with the government commit-tee as the nance minister who recently had to apologise for making derogatory com-ments about teachers was heading the body.

Talking to reporters following a meeting in the city, Muhith assured that the status of professors would not be downgraded com-pared to government secretaries.

We will look into how professors bene t from selection grades which were dropped by the cabinet according to the recommendation of the pay commission, he added. l

3 charged for torturing stray dogn Md Sanaul Islam TipuA Dhaka court has accepted the charge sheet led against three youths who tortured a stray dog mercilessly at the capitals Rampura on June 16. Dhakas Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court yesterday sent the case documents to the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Mollah Saiful Islam for disposal. On Thursday, Magistrate

Md Shamsul Are n accepted the charge sheet, in the rst ever case of cruelty against animals in Bangladesh. If convicted, the accused may face up to three-month jail term. On August 3, Rampura police submitted the charges against Johny, 19, Shovon, 18, and Imran Mridha, 18. The case was led on June 18 by Rubaiya Ah-mad, chairman of Obhoyaronno animal welfare group. The accused were arrested on July 8. l

Khaledas London visit likely this weekn Mohammad Al Masum MollaBNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is likely to y to London tomorrow for her treatment and to meet her elder son Tarique Rahman, who has been living there for treatment since 2008.

It will be their rst meeting since Khaledas younger son Arafat Rahman died in January.

She [Khaleda] was scheduled to go earlier,

but could not due to political reasons. Party leaders requested her to celebrate Eid with her family members in London, BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan told reporters yesterday.

At the meeting, Khaleda warned everyone that committees should be formed only with dedicated leaders, party sources said. The par-ty leaders also demanded withdrawal of VAT on private tertiary education at the meeting. l

Anti-VAT protesters from di erent universities in the Dhanmondi area came out with innovative messages for their placards yesterday RAJIB DHAR

NEWS 5DT


Protests compound su eringn Kamrul HasanThe fth consecutive day of protest by private university students demanding withdrawal of 7.5% VAT on their tuition fees yesterday caused untold su erings to city commuters.

The protest earned public support from the moral point of view, commuters said the protest could have been designed in a better way taking into consideration the su erings of people.

However, the transport workers lauded the way agitated students demonstrated saying that private university students were better as they did not vandalise vehicles during their protest.

Rashed (not real name) tried to commit su-icide for his failure in the examination yester-day around 1pm at Segunbagicha.

His worried family members took him to Samorita Hospital immediately.

The journey took them two hours more than it usually does. Doctors said a little more delay might have taken his life.

Mahabub Zaman, a businessman of Ba-nani, supported the protest from the moral point of view but said no one cared about their su erings.

He said whatever happens in the city the ultimate su erers are general people.

Nobody cares about public su erings in the city, said Jamal, who was going to Gazi-pur to attend a job interview.

He said all his e orts were about to go in vain. However, he sided with the protesters saying the demand of private university stu-dents is a just one but unfortunately it had a ected him.

Police said vehicular movement on the roads from Abdullahpur to Uttara, fromDhanmondi to Mirpur and from Kuril Bis-wa Road to Malibagh, Farmgate to Karwan Bazar, City College intersection to Sat Rasta intersection, Panthapath to Science Lab in-tersection and Gulshan to Mohakhali came to a standstill, slowing down the overallcity tra c.

Agitating students, however, left the streets between 4:30pm and 6pm.

Deputy Commissioner (Ramna Zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Abdul Baten said the students had left the streets as police per-suaded them to do so.

Police yesterday did not try to disperse the agitating students; rather, they were found re-

questing commuters to use alternative ways.Bonoj Kumar Majumder, Joint Commis-

sioner of DMP Tra c, said although the stu-dents took to the streets around 10:30am vehicular movement was hampered immedi-ately after 12 noon. l

DB: 3 Hizb ut-Tahrir preachers identi edn Mohammad Jamil KhanO cials of the Detective Branch of police have claimed to have identi ed three out of six speakers at the online political conference of banned militant out t Hizb-ut Tahrir held on September 4.

Of the trio, one is a private university teacher, who played key role in organising the event held somewhere near the capital. Another is a student of a private university in Dhaka. Around 740 users logged in to the des-ignated website but only 400 among them at-tended the whole session. Among them were journalists, police and intelligence o cials.

Although the conference was supposed to be aired live, the organisers uploaded a two-hour recorded video of the speeches after the scheduled time.

The law enforcers had arrested several members of the banned group ahead of the event for campaigning on the streets, but they did not stop the conference for the sake of

investigation.We have identi ed three of the speakers

after analysing the video conference and ar-rest of its seven members, who actively took part in the conference, DB Joint Commis-sioner Monirul Islam said yesterday.

Sources said the detectives had identi ed Shibli Ahmed, Karim Abu Jahidiur, Chowd-hury Mohammad Galib and Harunur Rashid. Detectives are now trying to trace them.

Based on a tip-o , the DB cyber crime unit conducted a drive in the capitals Khilkhet area around 11pm on Saturday and arrested the seven militants. They are Ekramul Khayer alias Opu, Abdul Kaiyum, Nazmul Hasan alias Nipon, Ibrahim Shaikh, Rashedul Islam Shai-kh, Ariful Islam and SM Tarek Amin. Huge number of lea ets, radical books and mobile phones were recovers from their possessions.

A case was led under section 57 of the In-formation and Communication Technology Act. A Dhaka court later placed them each on a two-day remand. Of the arrestees, Opu, Kai-

yum, Ibrahim and Rashed were arrested earli-er and served jail time in cases led under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

According to the Anti-Terrorism Act that is applied against outlawed groups, any activity of such organisation in any form is consid-ered as anti-state. They claim that caliphate will ensure justice in the society.

Having branches in a number of countries, Hizb ut-Tahrir started its operation in Bangla-desh in 2000 and was banned in 2009 for its involvement in militant activities.

Arif used Facebook as Enlighted Thinker while Tarek as ASM Tareq Amin. They used to post anti-state remarks on the social network-ing site, said Monirul, while addressing a brief-ing at the DMP media and community centre.

Also chief of DB police, Monirul said that the group had organised the online confer-ence to declare their presence at national and international levels. Asked whether any defence o cials were involved with Hizb ut-Tahrir, Monirul replied in the negative. l

Justice Manik demands CJs impeachmentn Tribune ReportJustice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik has written to the president, asking for the impeachment of Chief Justice Surendra Ku-mar Sinha for gross misconduct and vio-lating constitutional oath.

In the letter sent yesterday to President Abdul Hamid, the Supreme Court judge al-leged that the chief justice out of his person-al grudge had removed him from the apex court bench.

He said that the chief justice had removed him from the bench since September 9.

According to the Supreme Court sources, Justice Manik sent copies of the letter to the prime minister, the speaker, the chief justice, the law minister and the judges of the Su-preme Court.

However, Presidents Press Secretary Zainul Abedin said that they had not received any such letter during the o ce hours yesterday.

Law Minister Anisul Huq did not want to make any comment on the matter saying that he had come to know about it through jour-nalists. l

Two Tripura rivers to be linked with Meghnan Tribune DeskTwo major rivers of the Indian state of Tripu-ra would be linked with Bangladeshs Meghna River in order to create three waterways be-tween Bangladesh and the landlocked state.

The Indian central Ministry of Water Transport and Shipping has asked the state government to prepare a detailed project re-port (DPR) to connect states two major rivers Howrah and Gomati with Meghna, news agency PTI quoted the states Transport Sec-retary Samarjit Bhowmik.

Transport department has already en-gaged a consultancy agency to prepare a DPR for the project, which is likely to be available within a short period and then we would place the budget for the project, Bhowmick said.

In 2013, the Rail India Technical and Eco-nomic Services (Rites) had conducted a sur-vey for the new waterways and submitted the report to the ministry suggesting dredging of the two rivers and a required fund of Rs47cr for developing three waterways.

Meanwhile, another (DPR) for construction of a 250ft-long bridge on River Feni has been nalised to connect Sabroom, a subdivisional town in South Tripura district with Ramhar of Chittagong division and the government of India has sanctioned Rs91cr for the project.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dur-ing his visit to Dhaka on June 6 had laid the foundation stone of the bridge through video conferencing in presence of his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

India will construct the bridge to get ac-cess to the Chittagong international sea port in Bangladesh and the neighbouring country has agreed to allow India to use the Chit-tagong port, about 75km from Sabroom. l

As anti-VAT protesters take position on the Rampura Bridge, commuters are left with no option but to walk to their destinations yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

NEWS6DTMONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Bangladeshi dies in Mecca crane collapsen Tarek Mahmud and Adil SakhawatChittagong city resident Mohammad Abul Kashem Su had long cherished a desire to perform the Hajj.

But before he could complete the rites of the pilgrimage, he and 106 others were killed on September 11 when a crane collapsed in the Grand Mosque complex in Mecca that houses the Kaaba.

Another 40 Bangladeshis were injured in the accident. Thirty-nine have since been re-leased from hospital.

Nizam Uddin of Chanddnaish in Chit-tagong is still undergoing treatment at a hos-pital in Mecca.

Kashem, 45, a follower of the local Kanchanabad Su Darbar Sharif shrine in

Chittagong districts Chandanaish upazi-la, was not able to make the trip in previous years because of family and professional ob-ligations. This year, the contractor was nally able to arrange to perform the pilgrimage.

The son of late Mohammad Anu Miah, Kashem left Bangladesh on September 5 for the Hajj which is scheduled to begin on Sep-tember 22.

First Secretary (Labour Wing) Mohammed Altaf Hossain of the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Jeddah yesterday con rmed the news of Kashems death to the Dhaka Tribune.

Quoting Kashems uncle, Abu Syed, an expatriate living in Saudi Arabia, and the vic-tims Hajj agency DBH International, the o -cial said the victim had been missing since the accident.

The consular o cial con rmed that the Bangladeshi national had been killed in the crane collapse after his relative identi ed the remains at the al-Moaisim mortuary in the holy city.

Kashem, originally from Elahabad in Chan-danaish upazilas Kanchanabad union, was a resident of Chittagong citys Motijharna area where he lived with his family.

His wife, Rubi Akhter, and their three chil-dren a son in class eight and two daughters, in class seven and class two were in a state of shock since hearing the news, relatives said.

Rubi fainted repeatedly and has become like stone, while the three children will not talk to anyone, said Ra qul Islam, the vic-tims brother-in-law.

Kashems mother, an elderly woman, was

speechless with grief after losing the eldest son of seven sons and a daughter.

My father passed away some years ago. Now the death of our eldest brother has bro-ken our hearts, said Kashems youngest brother Mohammad Selim.

We lost our umbrella, he said, using a symbol for the protective cover the head of the household provides, his voice choked with tears.

He was the lone earning member of his family but his familys nancial condition is good, Kanchanabad Union Parishad Chair-man Abdul Shukkur said.

Some 107 people were killed and more than 238 injured when a crane collapsed in the Grand Mosque complex in Mecca on Friday evening. A total of 101,758 Bangladeshi pilgrims are sched-uled to perform the Hajj this year. l

ACC forms taskforces to probe govt institutionsn Tribune ReportThe Anti-Corruption Commission has formed two task forces in order to investigate corrup-tion in government institutions.

An o cial announcement was made in this regard at the ACCs regular meeting yesterday, an ACC source con rmed.

Earlier in 2012, the anti-graft body formed 11 teams to look into corruption in 11 impor-tant government institutions.

But due to those teams failure to nd corruption and initiate probe into such activi-ties in those institutions, the commission has decided to launch two task forces, said ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman.

The task forces comprise ve ACC o cials each, he said.

Team A consists of Deputy Directors Mirza Zahidul Islam (team leader) and SM Ra qul Is-lam, Assistant Directors Sheikh Abdus Salam

and Debabrata Mondal, and Deputy Assistant Director M Saiduzzaman.

Team B has Deputy Directors Mir Jainul Abedin Shibly (team leader) and Monjur Mor-shed, Assistant Directors Syed Ahmed and Masudur Rahman, and Deputy Assistant Di-rector Ra Mohammad Nazmus Sadat.

These two teams will have no speci c tasks. They will be led by an ACC director and the com-mission will also monitor their work, the ACC chairman told the Dhaka Tribune. They [the task forces] will have the authority to conduct random raids in any government institutions.

But they will raid a government agency only after receiving information about cor-ruption there, ACC sources said.

The task forces will mainly look into the lacking, limitations and obstacles in govern-ment organisations as well as nd out corrup-tion and potential harassment of people while availing services at those organisations. l

Babar among 32 indicted in Kibria murder casen Our Correspondent, SylhetA special court in Sylhet indicted 32 accused including former state minister for home af-fairs Lutfozzaman Babar in Shah AMS Kibria murder case yesterday, more than 10 years af-ter the former nance minister was killed in a grenade attack.

Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Makbul Hos-sain passed the order after the charge framing hearing.

Twenty-two accused including Babar, sacked Sylhet city mayor Ariful Haque Choud-hury and banned militant group Huji leader Mufti Hannan were produced before the court.

The other accused are sacked mayor of Ha-biganj municipality GK Gaus, Huji leaders Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul, Badrul Alam, Mi-zan, Mizanur Rahman alias Mitu, Mufti Moin Uddin alias Abu Jandal, Mufti Sheikh Farid, Maulana Abdus Salam, Muhibullah alias Hobi and Ripon.

The other accused now on bail are AKM Abdul Kaiyum, Jamir Ali, Joynal Abedin, Sha-hed Ali, Ayat Ali, Selim Mia, Joynal alias Mo-min and Jalal.

The 10 absconding accused are Khaleda Zias former political adviser Harris Chowd-hury, Mufti Sha qur Rahman, Abdul Hye, Ha z Maulana Ahia, Mohammad Kajal Mia, Moham-mad Ali, Bazlur Rahman Alias Bazlu, Maulana Taj Uddin, Mubibur Rahman and Abdul Jalil.

The hearing was deferred nine times due to illness of Ariful. The court yesterday asked the jail authorities to submit Arifuls health report within 48 hours.

Kibria, technocrat minister of the Awami League government from 1996-2001, and four others were killed and more than 100 people injured in the grenade attack when he was returning to Dhaka after attending a rally in Habiganj on January 27, 2005. Two cases were led over the incident one for murder and the other for use of explosives. l

Apollo Hospitals: Medicine approval pending for a yearn Tribune ReportApproval for the medicines that a mobile court con scated from the pharmacy of Apol-lo Hospitals last week have been pending for a year, said the hospital authorities.

In an o cial statement issued yesterday, the hospitals medical service authorities said they had submitted an application for ap-proval of the drugs to the Directorate General of Drug Administration in June last year.

These drugs are internationally reputed, life-saving and essential medicines, manu-factured by reputed companies, which do not have exact, locally-produced substitutes, the statement said.

The application is still under consideration of DGDA authorities and the mobile court was informed of the matter during the raid, it said.

The mobile court run by RAB 1 raided the pharmacy last Tuesday, and ned the hospital authorities Tk16 lakh for storing unauthorised medicines of 51 categories. l

Two held for raping college girln Kamrul HasanPolice late Saturday night arrested two youths for raping a prospective undergraduate stu-dent in a hotel in the capital in August.

One of the young men, Anisur Rahman alias Shaon, was held in Rangpurs Pirgachha while the other, Niloy alias Habibullah, was detained in Dhakas Mohammadpur area.

Joint Commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Monirul Islam told a press brie ng at the DMP media centre yesterday that Shaon and the girl are friends but she denied to be in a romantic re-lationship with him.

On August 14, Shaon told her to accom-pany him to Greenway International Hotel in Moghbazar to collect exam notes. Niloy, who is Shaons associate and was waiting at the hotel, joined Shaon in violating the girl in a room, he said.

The two men let the victim leave in the evening and her father lodged a case with Ramna police station the following day. lAs private university students block streets protesting the 7.5% VAT imposed on tuition fees, a bus turns

back from road 27 in Dhanmondi of the capital yesterday RAJIB DHAR

The hearing was deferred nine times due to illnessof Ariful

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015NEWS 7

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:04PM SUN RISES 5:45AM

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW

36.4C 23.9C

Saidpur Kutubdia

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 34 27Chittagong 34 27Rajshahi 34 25Rangpur 32 26Khulna 33 26Barisal 32 27Sylhet 33 25Coxs Bazar 31 27

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:29am

Sunrise 5:44amZohr 11:55am

Asr 4:22pmMagrib 6:04pm

Esha 7:20pm

Bapex selects four rms for oil and gas explorationn Aminur Rahman RaselState-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Explo-ration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) has selected four international oil and gas companies (IOCs) to jointly carry out exploration and development of several geo-logical structures.

Bangladesh does not have the funds or technical capacity to explore these struc-tures, so Bapex is opting for a joint venture.

Now, we will send requests for proposals to the IOCs to explore and develop four po-tential onshore gas structures in gas block 22, in the greater Chittagong region. One of the companies will be selected on the basis of the proposal they submit, Bapex General Man-ager (Geological Division) Md Mijanur Rah-man told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Earlier, Bapex invited expressions of in-terest from the IOCs. Several IOCs submitted proposal and of those Bapex selected four companies.

Sources said the requests for proposal stipulate that until production begins, the company partnering Bapex will bear sole re-sponsibility for mishaps and the costs of cor-recting them.

Bapex will not spend any money during

the exploration phase. The joint venture be-tween Bapex and the selected rm will come into e ect during the production phase, with Bapex taking 30-35% of revenues.

The selected companies are China Inter-national Trust and Investment Corporation, China National Petroleum Corporation, China based Geo-Jade Petroleum Corporation and USA based Improved Petroleum Recovery.

Bapex hopes to explore a number of well-de- ned four-way anticline closures Patiya, Jal-di, Kasalong and Sitapahar situated in Chit-tagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Patiya was drilled during the early 50s, Jaldi in the mid-60s and Sitapahar in the late 80s. All of them were considered encourag-

ing, while Kasalong is ready to be drilled as well.

These prospects are located very close to the industrial gateway and port city of Chit-tagong, which is an assured gas market that has existing gas transportation infrastruc-ture.

Earlier, several state-owned global oil gi-ants China National O shore Oil Corpora-tion and Sinopec, Thai PTTEP and Russian Gazprom all showed interest in striking joint venture deals with Bapex.

A Bapex invitation for expressions of inter-est (EoI) in 2010 met with interest from Sino-pec. The EoI to drill a series of wells in greater Chittagong to explore gas under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provi-sion) Act 2010 was later cancelled.

Bapex currently has just one joint venture with Canadian Niko Resources. Together, they developed Feni Gas Field, but production has been suspended because of a payment dispute. They also undertook drilling at Chhatak.

The countrys lone state-owned oil and gas exploration rm has so far discovered seven gas elds Saldanadi, Fenchuganj, Shahbazpur, Semutung, Sundalpur, Srikail and Rupganj. l

Four NGO workers placed on two-day remandn Md Sanaul Islam TipuA Dhaka magistrate court yesterday put four workers of Adammo Bangladesh Foundation, an NGO, on a two-day remand in a case led for con ning 10 children to a house at Ram-pura in the capital.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jakir Hossain Tipu passed the order after Sub-Inspector Ziarot Hossain, also the investigation o cer (IO) of the case, produced them before the court seeking a seven-day remand.

The remanded are Arifur Rahman, Jakia Sultana, Hasibul Hasan Sobuj and Firoz Alam

Khan Shuva.Opposing the remand petition, defense

counsel Molay Saha submitted a plea seeking bail for the four NGO workers.

But the court rejected the bail petition af-ter hearing.

The IO in the remand plea said they were investigating whether the detainees are en-gaged in smuggling out the children in the name of NGO activities.

They needed a seven-day remand for the four accused for interrogation in their custody.

However the defense counsel mentioned in the bail plea that they are NGO employees

and gathered the children as part of their pro-ject activities.

Meanwhile, another Magistrate Md Toshruzzaman sent the 9 children to safe custody of Gazipur Child Development Cen-tre while another child named Mobarok was handed over to his father.

Earlier, police rescued the 10 children sus-pected to be victims of a human tra ckers gang from a house in the capitals Banasree area of Rampura on Saturday.

During the drive police also detained the four accused suspecting them as human traf- ckers. l

Chittagong anti-VAT protests cause gridlockn FM Mizanur Rahaman, ChittagongIn line with massive protests in Dhaka, students of ve private universities in Chittagong yesterday blocked the road at Chittagong Wasa intersection for two hours demanding immediate withdrawal of the 7.5% VAT imposed on tuition fees.

The demonstration not only created tra c congestion but also disrupted road transports, multiplying the woes of passengers as well as pedestrians.

Carrying anti-VAT placards and posters, some 1,000 students of Premier University, BGC Trust University, International Islamic University Chittagong, East Delta University and Southern University took to the street around 11:30am under the banner of Private University Students, Chittagong.

People were forced to head for their destinations on foot because of the gridlock during the demonstration.

Tra c jam also spread to many other areas of the port city as tra c policemen struggled to clear roads.

The demonstrators said the burden of the VAT would ultimately be on them.

Even if we do not pay the VAT directly, the university will charge us a range of additional fees to collect the extra money, said Subhajit, a student of Premier University. l

During sudden rainfall yesterday afternoon, school kids engage in playing football in the middle a road after class that turned almost empty following the movement of students of private universities. The photo was taken at Russel Square of the capital PROBIR K SARKER

The joint venture between Bapex and the selected rm will come into e ect during the production phase, with Bapex taking 30-35% of revenues

WEATHER

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

NEWS8DTMONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

People at risk due to insu cient cyclone shelters in Pirojpurn Our Correspondent, PirojpurPeople in Pirojpur, a disaster-prone coastal district, are at risk during natural calamities due to insu cient cyclone centres.

Sources said most of the people in the dis-trict are poor and live in wooden and tin-shed houses. During long-term oods, they face se-rious insecurity.

Every year, natural disasters like ood, cy-clone, tidal bore and storm, hit the district of around 12 lakh people and cause large-scale destruction. In this way, super cyclone Sidr in November of 2007 and Aila claimed many lives.

There are only 171 cyclone shelters and shelters-cum-schools in the district which are not enough to meet the actual need.

District Relief and Rehabilitation O cer (DRRO) Md Abul Kalam says there are 13 shel-ters in Pirojpur Sadar, 9 in Zianagar, 8 in Ka-wkhali, 50 in Mathbaria, 24 in Nesarabad, 8

in Nazirpur, and 59 in Bhandaria. Mathbaria upazila is geographically and by population the largest upazila in the district, consisting of 11 unions and one municipality, and is situated on the pivotal point of extreme natural disasters.

Though natural calamities cause wide-spread damage, there are only 50 shelters in Mathbaria, while in Bhandaria upazila there are 59 shelters for seven unions.

According to DRRO o ce sources, new-ly-built shelters have separate rooms for male and female and also have cattle, toilet facilities, ramp for disabled people and water source, but the shelters-cum-schools do not have such facilities. The sources said each shelter can ac-commodate around 200-400 persons.

The DRRO o ce has no update because di erent departments construct the shelters.

Abul Kalam said that had requested all pro-ject o cers to update compilation report of the shelters. l

Youth beaten to deathover theft n Our Correspondent, JessoreA youth was beaten to death over theft charge at Harikhali village in Sharsha upazila of the district yesterday morning.

The deceased Saiful Islam, 25, was son of Kawser Ali, a resi-dent of the village.

Enamul Haque, o cer-in-charge of Sharsha police station, said residents of a house at the village caught Saiful while he was walking past the house at night.

They beat him indiscriminately on charge of stealing a mobile phone set, leaving him critically injured.

Later he was rushed to Sharsha Upazila Health Complex, where he succumbed to his injuries around 8:30am. l

Jute workers take to streets on 5-point demandn Our Correspondent, KhulnaWorkers of state-owned jute mills in Khulna and Jessore districts have brought out separate processions demanding a ve-point demand including their arrears.

State-run Jute Mills CBA and non-CBA Oikkya Parishad called a ve-day continual programme on the aforesaid ground in seven jute mills in the districts and yesterday was the rst day of the movement.

Sources said the workers took position in Khalispur, Atra and Rajghat industrial areas around 9:30am and held rallies there. Later, they brought out a stick procession independently and pa-raded the thoroughfares.

The demands include necessary allocation for the survival of the jute sector, implementing packaging act urgently and forma-tion of wage commission board for the workers.

In the programmes, the speakers termed their protest logical and said they would adopt tougher movement unless their de-mands are met by the government.

The organisations Convenor Md Shohrab Hossain said the sta and workers of the seven jute mills have been unpaid since last eid pushing them into a miserable condition with the family although earlier they had met the jute minister with the crisis.

Since the stocks of jute bre have already sold out, the mill au-thorities kept the workers in arrears in the name of fund crunch, the convenor went on. l

A traditional boat race is held yesterday in Chapra Beel under Basail upazila in Tangail DHAKA TRIBUNE


Zawahiri: IS claim to be a caliphate illegitimaten Reuters, CairoAl-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a latest audio recording posted online on Sunday main-tained his earlier position on Islamic State that he viewed the groups claim to be a caliphate as illegitimate but would join them in ghting Western and secular forces in Iraq and Syria.

He also urged unity between Islamist mili-tant factions in Syria and Iraq, where a West-ern-led coalition is bombing Islamic State tar-gets, but recognised it would he be di cult. He called for the formation of an independent sharia court to settle disputes.

The Egyptian physician, who took over the charge of the infamous terrorist group after the death of Osama bin Ladena death in 2011, called on young Muslim men in the United States and other Western countries to carry out attacks inside there and urged greater uni-ty between militants.

I call on all Muslims who can harm the countries of the crusader coalition not to hes-itate. We must now focus on moving the war to the heart of the homes and cities of the crusad-er West and speci cally America, he said in the audio recording, referring to nations making up the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria.

He suggested Muslim youth in the West take the Tsarnaev and Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Boston marathon bombings and Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris respec-tively, and others as examples to follow.

It was not clear when the recording was made. l

WB study: Many nations laws hinder womens access to jobs, creditn Thomson Reuters Foundation, LondonLaws in many nations persist in keeping women from working in jobs of their choice, block their access to credit or leave them un-protected against domestic violence, accord-ing to a recent World Bank report.

Women in the Middle East and North Afri-ca face the most obstacles, with laws prohibit-ing married women from applying for a pass-port or getting a job without their husbands permission, the World Bank Groups report Women, Business and the Law 2016 said.

But legal obstacles to women working stretch around the world, said the report, which studied laws in 173 economies.

Of those, 90% have at least one law imped-ing womens economic opportunities, it said.

Women are legally barred from certain factory jobs in 41 economies, and in 29 econ-omies they cannot work at night. In 18 econ-omies, women cannot get a job without per-mission from their husband, it said.

The consequences a ect only not women but their children, their communities and their nations economies, the report said.

We cant a ord to leave their poten-tial untapped - whether because laws fail to protect women against violence, or exclude them from nancial opportunities, property ownership or professions, said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

When there is inequality under the law, fewer girls attend secondary schools, fewer women work or run businesses and the gen-der wage gap is higher, the study said.

Among the barriers to women working, in Russia women cannot hold an array of jobs from freight train conductor to deckhand and woodworker, the study said.

In 10 economies, it is more di cult for women than men to acquire the documenta-tion that allows them to borrow from nan-cial institutions.

Forty-six economies do not have laws against domestic violence, including Haiti, My-

anmar and Russia, and nearly as many, 41, have no laws against sexual harassment, it said.

The United States and only three other economies - Tonga, Suriname and Papua New Guinea - have no paid maternity or parental leave, it said.

Progress has been made, nevertheless, with reforms over the past two years particu-larly in Europe, Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

East Asia and Paci c economies improved womens access to credit, while Croatia, Hungary, Kenya and Nicaragua improved womens property rights and Egypt and Mo-zambique passed laws protecting girls from sexual harassment in school, it said.

Just 18 economies have no legal restric-tions that impede womens work - Armenia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Hun-gary, Kosovo, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, Neth-erlands, New Zealand, Peru, Puerto Rico, Ser-bia, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, and Taiwan, China, it said. l

Exiled Yemeni govt pulls out of planned peace talksn Reuters, SannaYemens exiled government pulled out of UN-mediated peace talks with its Houthi ad-versaries on Sunday as troops from the Sau-di-led coalition that is seeking to restore it took part in ground ghting in a central prov-ince for the rst time.

The moves push back the prospects of a peaceful resolution to the con ict that has de-veloped into a proxy war re ecting Saudi and Iranian rivalry for regional in uence.

Loyalists of President Abd-Rabbu Man-sour Hadi have been battling the Iran-allied Houthis across Yemen since March, when the group forced him and his administration to ee to Saudi Arabia.

A mainly Gulf Arab alliance intervened in the con ict, mounting hundreds of air strikes and backing ground forces they hope will seize the capital Sanaa, which the Houthis seized in September 2014.

The exiled governments o cial news agen-cy Saba said it would not join the UN mediated peace talks until the Houthis accepted an April UN Security Council resolution calling on them to recognise Hadi and quit Yemens main cities.

The con ict now appears set to intensify as thousands of coalition troops have been de-ployed to the central desert province of Marib.

The force includes troops from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and there are uncon rmed reports that Bahraini and Egyptian troops are present. l

Scottish nationalists mull another go for independencen Reuters, LondonScottish nationalist leader Nicola Sturgeon will include triggers for a second indepen-dence referendum in the partys manifesto for the 2016 Scottish election, she said in an interview with the Sunday Herald newspaper.

British Prime Minister David Cameron in May ruled out another independence referen-dum despite spectacular gains by the Scottish National Party (SNP) in that months election, saying Scots had emphatically rejected a breakaway last year.

Scots voted 55%-45% against independ-ence in a September 2014 referendum but the May 7 general election saw the SNP take 56 of Scotlands 59 seats in the Westminster parliament.

Our manifesto will set out what we think around the circumstances in which, and the possible timescales in which, a second ref-

erendum might be appropriate, Sturgeon told the paper in an interview. It will then be down to people to accept whether they vote for that manifesto.

Citing sources close to Sturgeon, the news-paper reported the trigger list would be limited but could include a general option allowing for a referendum in the event of a dramatic, un-foreseeable event such as Cameron embarking on what they termed an illegal war.

When asked for comment on the Sunday Herald report, a spokesman for Cameron said: The people of Scotland voted to remain part of the United Kingdom last year and we will see through our commitments to give them the extra powers.

Another go?SNP leader Sturgeon has previously said there could only be another independence vote if Scots voted for a party which proposed one in

a Scottish parliamentary election.Scottish elections are due in May 2016

but so far Sturgeon has refused to say direct-ly whether she would include a referendum pledge in her manifesto.

After Jeremy Corbyn was elected as the new leader of the opposition Labour Party on Satur-day, Sturgeon cautioned that if his party failed to show swiftly it could beat Camerons Con-servatives in the next national election then desire for Scottish independence would rise.

The reality today is that at a time when the country needs strong opposition to the Tories, Jeremy Corbyn leads a deeply, and very bitterly, divided party, she said.

Sturgeon has previously warned that if England voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on membership due by the end of 2017, then Scotland could seek a second in-dependence referendum if its people voted to stay in the EU. l

Catalan pro-independence supporters hold a giant estelada (Catalan separatist ag) during a demonstration called Via Lliure a la Republica Catalana (Way of Freedom for the Republic of Catalonia) on the Diada de Catalunya (Catalunyas National Day) in Barcelona on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people packed the streets of Barcelona on Friday to call for Catalonia to break away from Spain, two weeks before a September 27 regional election that many see as a make-or-break moment for the independence movement REUTERS

WORLD 9DT

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015WORLD10DT

Russia foreign minister: Moscow to continue military support of Syrian Reuters, MoscowRussia will continue with military supplies to Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on Sunday.

Moscow has come under increased inter-national pressure in recent days over what Washington and Gulf states say is a Russian military build-up in Syria, where the Kremlin has been supporting President Bashar al-As-sad in a four-and-a-half-year war.

There were military supplies, they are ongoing and they will continue. They are in-evitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to adjust the equipment, to train Syrian personnel how to use these weaponry, Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is travelling to New York for the UN General Assembly meeting later this month, plans to address the assembly on the topics of Syria, the con ict in Ukraine, the state of the global economy and sanctions against Russia.

He (Putin) will touch speci c aspects, such as Syria, the Ukraine crisis. All these crises arise from systemic problems regard-ing attempts to freeze the process of forming polycentric world, Lavrov said.

The United States and its allies oppose As-sad, whose government has been ghting an array of insurgent groups, including hardline Sunni Islamist militants, Islamic State. A US-led coalition is conducting air strikes on Is-lamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Moscow says its military assistance to the Syrian army is in line with international law and that Russian servicemen, including military ex-perts, have been present inside Syria for many years, including before the start of the war. l

Britains Labour faces divisions over Jeremy Corbynn Reuters, LondonBritains opposition Labour Party must unite behind new leader Jeremy Corbyn, his deputy said on Sunday as he revealed his own di er-ences with his new boss over issues such as defence and foreign policy.

Left-wing veteran Corbyn won the support of 59.5% of members and supporters but he has far less backing among Labour lawmak-ers, with several saying that the party cannot win the next election in 2020 if it lurches left.

I understand the concern of my colleagues in parliament, this is a huge change for the party, there is no point in denying this a huge political realignment too but Jeremy Corbyn has got a huge mandate from our members, Tom Watson, who was elected deputy leader on Saturday, told the BBC.

I say to my colleagues watch this space, respect the mandate that he has been given from our members, try and unify.

Watson said there was zero chance of a coup against Corbyn but acknowledged there were di erences to overcome on policy, which he said could be put to the vote of La-bour members.

At odds with the existing Labour position, anti-war campaigner Corbyn opposes the re-newal of Britains Trident nuclear-armed sub-marine programme and has advocated with-drawing from the Nato military alliance.

I need to be honest about where I stand on things, I think Nato has kept the peace in Europe for half a century, Watson said, add-ing that he did not believe most members had backed Corbyn solely for his views on Nato.

Watson also said he would de nitely be supporting Britain staying in the European Union at a referendum due by the end of 2017.

The rise of Corbyn, who voted No to Eu-rope in a 1975 referendum and has been am-biguous about how he plans to campaign in the upcoming vote, has raised fears among some British pro-Europeans that he will scup-per the hopes of drawing out millions of La-bour voters in support of the EU.

Wrong leaderPrime Minister David Camerons Conserva-tives have quickly sought to play on Corbyns foreign policy views, saying he is a risk to Brit-ains security and highlighting his past meet-ings with Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese Shia Muslim group Hezbollah - something Corbyn has defended in the inter-est of gathering a wide range of views.

Hamas and the military wing of Hezbollah are both o cially designated as terrorist or-ganisations by Britain.

However, Corbyn told the Observer news-paper he had a huge mandate and members and supporters would expect Labour lawmak-ers to cooperate with him but Britains right-wing press was dominated by warnings over the partys future.

The Mail on Sunday declared the party Red and buried while the Sunday Times front page said Corbyn had sparked a civil war.

A Survation poll for the Mail carried out after Saturdays result found 44% of the 1,031 people surveyed believed Cameron would make the best prime minister, compared to 27% for Corbyn. Asked whether Labour would lose the next two national elections, 39% said yes and 22% no. l

US DoJ: Clinton had right to delete personal e-mailsn AFP, Washington, DCHillary Clinton had the right to delete mes-sages from her personal e-mail account that she deemed non-work related while she was Secretary of State, the US Department of Jus-tice said in a court ling.

The ling obtained by the news agency on Saturday came in response to legal action led by Judicial Watch, a conservative monitoring group that wants access to all of Clintons e-mail while she was the top US diplomat.

There is no question that former Secre-tary Clinton had authority to delete person-al emails without agency supervision -- she appropriately could have done so even if she were working on a government server, the Justice Department wrote in a document led this week with a US District Court in DC.

Clinton, the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination, has been dogged for months by revelations that she used a private email account and home server in lieu of the o cial government email system while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Under US National Archives State Depart-ment policies, individual o cers and em-ployees are permitted and expected to exer-cise judgment to determine what constitutes a federal record, the DOJ said.

Absolutely no meritJudicial Watch President Tom Fitton dis-missed that argument as having absolutely no merit.

All we ask is that the court preserves those emails ... until the legal issue is resolved, Fit-ton said.

.According to Fitton, the Justice Depart-ment is undermining its own investigation of this issue while also providing a defence

for Mrs Clinton personally, a move that he said also bene ts her political aspirations.

If this is allowed to go by, our open re-cords law ends, Fitton said.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the company that managed Clintons pri-vate e-mail server said it had no knowledge of the server being wiped, suggesting that deleted emails could be recovered.

The scandal broke in March, and it wasnt until this past week that Clinton publicly apologised for using her private e-mail server.

That was a mistake. Im sorry about that. I take responsibility, she said in an interview with ABC News.

Clinton turned over 30,000 o cial emails to the US State Department in late 2014. The messages are being released to the public in batches.

Many contain information that has been ret-roactively classi ed -- raising questions about whether Clinton was inappropriately sending and receiving sensitive material, and whether su cient security measures were in place to protect her private server from hackers.

FBI experts are examining the server to de-termine whether the arrangement has com-promised secret government data.

Clinton is scheduled to testify on October 22 before a Republican-led House panel prob-ing the deadly 2012 attack on the US mission in the Libyas Benghazi.

Democrats have called for the panel to be disbanded, saying it is nothing but an an-ti-Clinton witch hunt. But the probe goes on, and has even widened to take in the email issue.

In the Senate, two committees are also looking at Clintons email woes, and their Re-publican leaders say they could o er immu-nity to a former sta er tasked with installing the server in order to secure his testimony. l

Germany to temporarily reintroduce border controlsn AgenciesGermany is reinstating controls at its bor-der with Austria temporarily as Europes top economy struggles to cope with a record in- ux of refugees, according to media reports Sunday.

Passport checks had been abolished for countries within Europes Schengen zone, but the decision to bring back controls is expected to be announced by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere at a press conference on Sunday evening, several German media reported.

According to German newspaper Bild, the move would a ect Germanys border with Austria rst.

The German government was not immedi-ately available to comment on the report.

Bild cited security sources as saying that the state government in Bavaria had asked the federal police to help deal with the task. The newspaper said the federal police would send 2,100 o cers to Bavaria to help it secure its borders.

Germany has become the destination of choice for migrants, particularly Syrians, af-ter Chancellor Angela Merkel relaxed asylum rules for citizens of the war-torn country.

But with 450,000 migrants arriving since the beginning of the year, infrastructure in Germany is being stretched to the limit. The German government is expecting 800,000 new arrivals this year. On Saturday around 13,000 arrived in Munich alone.

By reinstating controls, Berlin is seeking to buy time to cope with the in ux, according to news magazine Der Spiegel.

Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt had issued a statement earlier Sunday saying that e ective measures are necessary now to stop the in ux.

That includes help for countries from where refugees are eeing and also includes an e ective control of our own borders which also no longer works given the EUs complete failure to protect its external borders, he said.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel

said in a newspaper interview on Sunday that Germany was now reaching its limit as thou-sands of refugees continue to stream across its borders every day.

Its true: The European lack of action in the refugee crisis is now pushing even Germany to the limit of its ability, he said in the interview published on Der Tagesspiegels website.

Its not so much the number of refugees as the speed at which theyre arriving thats making it so di cult for the states and the municipalities to cope, he added.

Gabriel said Germany and Europe should together put up 1.5bn euros ($1.7bn) of im-mediate aid to provide food, accommodation and above all schools for the biggest refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. He urged the United States and the Gulf states to support the camps refugees with the same amount.

Its unacceptable that hundreds of billions of euros can be mobilised to rescue banks within a few weeks but the international com-munity cant even get together a fraction of that amount to save people, Gabriel said. l

11DTEDITORIAL


INSIDE

We o er our deepest condolences to the families of those killed in Makkah on Friday when a large crane crashed into the Masjid Al Haram.It is especially tragic and poignant when such a fatal accident occurs at or around the Hajj pilgrimage.

Local o cials blame heavy rains and fast winds for loosening the support available for the crane, which is believed to have killed 107 hajj pilgrims and injured around 240 other people when it fell.

We join the prime minister and foreign minister in expressing deep sympathy to the victims and their family members.

Some 40 Bangladeshis were injured in the incident and its aftermath. This large proportion of Bangladeshi nationals among the victims re ects the timing of the accident just before Hajj, when more pilgrims are present, and also the very large population of Bangladeshi expatriates who work in Saudi Arabia,

According to the Bangladeshi consulate in Jeddah, all but one of the Bangladeshis injured have been discharged from hospital in reasonably healthy condition.

We are grateful for the swift response and close co-operation between local authorities and the Bangladesh embassy and consular o cials in working to assist victims and update their families. O cials are right to be vigilant in identifying and responding to any concerns expressed by Bangladeshi pilgrims and expatriate workers.

It must be hoped that the inquiries and investigations being launched by local authorities will lead to lessons being learned to improve safety measures. All possible precautions must be taken to prevent re-occurrence of such accidents and tragedies.

Ensure vigilance in helping victims and take precautions to improve safety

Tragedy in Makkah

Football is stuck in a rut

Killing me softly no moreWhile people coming out of the education system in neighbouring India are now dominating the global corporate sector, it is indeed sad to see that we are still dealing with the fundamentals, and still taking a few steps in the right direction and then a few more in the opposite direction

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PAGE 14

A debate between sentiment and logic in BiharLaloo Prasad Yadav is stuck in a mental and oratorical groove that has not changed in a quarter of a century. The jaded phrases, jokes, and mannerisms echo through a canyon of lost time

Its prudent to realise that given the standard we currently have, expecting any triumph outside the South Asia region would be a bit too much, even with jaw-dropping motivations. Once again, we must accept that we have never been able to raise the standard of the game beyond this region

REU

TER

S

OPINION12DTMONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

n Mridul Chowdhury

This is an imaginary story of a father and son on a September day of 2015: The father teaches at a public university, has never been able to bag any consultancies, barely makes enough income to stay alive in Dhaka, and lives with the shame that he cannot a ord to give his son anything more than his daily bus fares.

The son studies at a private university, tries his utmost to win a scholarship, and lives with the shame that he got rejected by public universities, and is now having to be a huge nancial burden to his father by attend-ing a private university.

Both their shames are generally silent, hidden away safely but not that day.

On the morning of the September day, they both have their breakfast and go out, oblivious that the next few hours will change their lives forever. Within an hour, the father nds himself in a teachers protest demand-ing that their pay scale and rank be kept sepa-

rate from those of the civil servants. Not too far away, the son nds himself in a students protest demanding that education be kept out of the clutches of VAT.

After an arduous day of protests, speech-es, and police-charges, they meet at the dinner table, each congratulating the other for making some progress. The son starts out by saying: So, the nance minister has apol-ogised for his derogatory remarks regarding teachers -- you must be happy?

The father responds that he is, and that he appreciates the culture of a minister apologising, but also adds that this apology e ectively does not make much of a di er-ence in their core demands of a separate pay structure. While civil servants perform the important function of keeping the gov-ernment machinery running and making important resource-allocation decisions, the teachers, particularly university teachers, perform the important function of creating the foundation for skills and talents needed for keeping the nation running.

They are parallel but inter-dependent functions, and the governance ought to re ect that. He laments that the recent sig-ni cantly improved pay structure could have been an opportunity to re-build the public universities with renewed enthusiasm from the teachers, who could now a ord to focus

less on secondary sources of income and more on their core responsibilities.

The father changes the topic and says: So, it has been declared that the VAT will not be levied on students but on universities -- you must be happy?

The son responds by saying that he is, and that he appreciates that the government took their protests seriously enough to issue a statement promptly, but also adds that this statement has to be taken with a big grain of salt. Showing o his knowledge of econom-ics, he explains that VAT is a consumption tax generally paid by the consumer, not by the service provider. He knows that the nancial authorities of the country have to know what he learned in his Economics 101 class -- so he is still not sure what to make of this statement and feels that a VAT will ultimately fall on the shoulders of students, and may pass on in disguise through reduced facilities, increased auxiliary fees, reduced scholarships, etc, even if the tuition fee itself is not increased abnormally.

He points to the fact that many of his friends at his university come from far less privileged backgrounds than him and he cannot imagine how adversely this increased VAT will a ect them. The dominant thinking behind imposition of this VAT seems to be that, since private universities make a lot of

money, they should share more of that with the government, or that relatively well-o families send their children to private univer-sities, so they should be able to a ord a little extra.

While the private universities started out attracting the more wealthy sections of socie-ty, the situation has changed drastically over the years and he feels that the government does not seem to be aware of that from their statements.

He says that the thinking he would have welcomed from the government is that, since such a large number of students from all backgrounds are having to go to these non-pro t private universities, how can the quality of their education be improved and nancial ow better monitored to ensure that the students are reaping the ultimate bene t.

A few more minutes of their conversa-tion make it clear to them that it is too soon to celebrate anything, and the statements from the authorities are either misguided or misleading. The father vents out frustrations about how the tertiary education sector has been historically de-prioritised, with little funding going into research or improvements in overall quality of education.

While people coming out of the education system in neighbouring India are now domi-nating the global corporate sector, it is indeed sad to see that we are still dealing with the fundamentals, and still taking a few steps in the right direction and then a few more in the opposite direction.

The mother, who has been patiently listening, suddenly interrupts: What are you really ghting for?

The father says: Our professional pride.The son says: Our economic rights.The mother responds: None of you are

correct -- you all are ghting to keep the nation alive by trying to keep its heart, the education sector, pumping. You are all ght-ing for a common thing really.

The mothers prudent words make the father and son realise that their ght is hardly

about their own respective groups, and own respective demands. It is ultimately about saving this nation -- it is about putting edu-cation, teachers, and students at the heart of the national growth policy, giving students the right opportunities for higher education, giving teachers the environment where they feel that they are respected in society and can operate autonomously.

The mother continues: But why do you have to shut down the entire city to make your point?

Simply because that is the only way that the government will listen, both the father and son echo.

The mother refutes, saying that the ght is about saving our nation through saving the tertiary education sector, which requires all walks of life to join the ght. A strategy that brings countless su erings to the entire population of a city of more than 11 million people does not win hearts and minds. She reinforces her point by saying that one should not be looking for a short-cut to win-ning this ght. This has to be an inclusive, long-term one if a sustainable outcome on these issues are sought. She gets up from the table and leaves behind a pensive father and son looking at each other.

The father retires for the night, listening to his favorite uplifting song -- Ekti phulke bachabo bole juddho kori.

The son retires for the night, listening to his favorite morbid song -- Killing me softly.

The father and son both realise that they just have to join forces and so do the rest of society, and tell the powers-that-be in non-vi-olent and non-disruptive ways that it is our collective responsibility to allow killing me softly no more, if we have to save the ekti phul that we have, before its too late. There is a lot of convincing to be done when they wake up the next day to new possibilities. l

Mridul Chowdhury is Co-Founder of Jagoree, a youth-based platform for alternative thinking.

'Killing me softly' no moreDo we have our priorities right in the ght for education?

While people coming out of the education system in neighbouring India are now dominating the global corporate sector, it is indeed sad to see that we are still dealing with the fundamentals, and still taking a few steps in the right direction and then a few more in the opposite direction

Shutting down the city does nothing to save the nation RAJIB DHAR

OPINION 13DT


n MJ Akbar

The Bihar Assembly election has become a powerful debate between sectarian sentiment and economic logic. The bookends of sentiment, caste, and community are familiar. What is the logic?

Everyone agrees that this election is about development. Development is impossible without good governance. Good governance needs stability. Evidence proves that Nitish Kumar cannot possibly lead a stable government. He has cobbled an opportunistic mismatch with Laloo Prasad Yadav and Congress, with a history of mutual character assassinations and barely concealed resentments at both the personal and base-support levels. The BJP-led NDA is evidently on rmer ground, and gives more reason to believe that it is ready to govern. QED: Quod erat demonstradum, or proof through demonstration.

Voters are responding hugely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's consistent message of development for all, backed by speci c schemes aimed at the development of Bihar. The Bihar Package was a game-changer because it burst the old and stale bubble of caste and creed as the critical variants in electoral preference. Roads do not have a caste. Electricity does not have a creed. Poverty does not have a religion. National initiatives like the Jana Dhan Yojana and insurance initiatives aimed at social security

for the impoverished add to the demonstra-tion e ect.

Bihars youth are voting heavily for logic. This is not surprising. They will, after all, be the biggest losers if things remain what they are. Their lives are at stake. Their future is linked to the states economy. For those born between 1990 and 1995, ve years add up to a quarter or fth of their lives. The next ve years are also the most crucial part of their future, for this is when job-anxiety will peak.

If Narendra Modi is their lodestar, it is be-cause he speaks the language that they want

to hear. Even rebels -- in-house heartburn cases who thought they could bully their way to preferment -- have begun to concede that the youth vote in Bihar has shifted overwhelmingly towards Narendra Modi. The young have created a new demographic, which is beginning to register on some, but not all, opinion polls.

In comparison, Laloo Prasad Yadav is stuck in a mental and oratorical groove that has not changed in a quarter of a century. The jaded phrases, jokes, and mannerisms echo through a canyon of lost time. His humour is as at and heavy as bread without yeast.

The only comic role in this election drama is being played by pseudo-liberals desper-ate to revive, through occasional op-eds and drawing room conversation, the fading relevance of caste and creed simply because their standard-bearers have nothing else in the armoury of ideas.

They are insisting that Bihar remains where it was two decades ago, only because Narendra Modi is ghting these elections on the basis of economic logic.

It is not as if the old parameters are totally dead; but they are no longer decisive. Their market has shrunk. The mainstream is shift-ing. A shrinking stream tends to consolidate around the bank on the far side. This is another phenomenon we will witness in this election.

Moreover, the absence of credibility at the core always encourages fragmentation at the edges. Voters that Nitish Kumar and

Laloo Yadav took for granted on the assump-tion that they would never go to the BJP, are now travelling away from them in the other direction. In other words, their core voters do not believe in the leadership of Laloo Yadav and Nitish Kumar anymore, and hence seek other leaders.

No one purchases an illusion. The process will intensify as we get closer to polling day. Even the AAP mascot Arvind Kejriwal, who grandly volunteered to campaign for Nitish Kumar and Laloo Yadav, has now discovered that he has better things to do.

Obviously, my view on the Bihar elections will be treated as partisan, and as a member of a political party I am ipso facto partisan. All you have to do is take a trip to Bihar and see the churn for yourself; or, more accu-rately, hear the churn. Indian democracy is famous for the silent voter. Bihar, this time, is quite vocal.

No one shouts, for there is no need to; voices are generally raised in either excite-ment or anger, and the public mood is cool. People know what they want, and are waiting to express their preference when the ballot

opens. The mood is not argumentative but calm.

What is exciting is a status reversal that may re ect something deeper than the possibility of a mere change of government. The debate is no longer being controlled by the hierarchic elder. It is being shaped by the young. The young are tired of gimmicks. They want a life. l

MJ Akbar is an Indian journalist. He is the founder of The Sunday Guardian. This article was rst published in The Sunday Guardian.

A debate between sentiment and logic in BiharThe political landscape is changing as Bihar's youth gravitates towards Narendra Modi

Laloo Prasad Yadav is stuck in a mental and oratorical groove that has not changed in a quarter of a century.The jaded phrases, jokes, and mannerisms echo througha canyon of lost time. His humour is as at and heavy as bread without yeast

Is Laloo Yadav underestimating the youth vote? REUTERS

OPINION14DTMONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

n Towheed Feroze

Sometimes I decide that I am not going to write about football anymore. What is the point? And the truth is, any article on the game, along with its status in Bangladesh, has the lowest number of readers.

Lets be blunt: People dont care about the game anymore.

And that is why players are not victims of relentless jeering when they concede goals against foreign teams within the country.

It was a di erent picture in the 80s, because, despite being far o from the top Asian footballing nations, Bangladeshs loss-es at home were lower than the number of victories. Fear of fan backlash worked as an extra motivator.

One missed pass and irate supporters at the gallery would break into innovative waves of expletives involving the players closest relatives and private body parts. Players who made glaring mistakes or played below potential were also targeted outside the stadium. Hence, in order to avoid public humiliation, the desire was to give all-out e ort.

Sorry to say, when I went to see the Jor-dan-Bangladesh World Cup Qualifying match a few days earlier, that killing instinct was totally absent. The fans at the gallery were also a bit nonchalant.

Like I said, ignominy in football is easily digested now, since, in cricket, we are now among the elite, capable of winning against any side.

No one expected a win against Jordan, ranked more than seventy places above us, but we have been told time and again that in football, ranking hardly re ects the actual capability of a side.

That is why Kyrgyzstan, a team ranked be-low Bangladesh, created a ripple when they beat us and then held Jordan to a nil-nil draw.

Understandably, the second tier Middle Eastern team was very cautious while taking on Bangladesh. Those who were at the sta-dium will clearly say that the visitors worry was unnecessary. Miracles dont happen for us! Simply because we have never tried to do the impossible.

Realistically speaking, the four-goal loss to Jordan cant be called a disaster when we think of the recent 10-nil drubbing of Ma-laysia by UAE, the 15-nothing decimation of Bhutan by Qatar, the 2-1 insult of India at the hands of the unheard of Guam, or the 9-nil annihilation of Myanmar by Kuwait.

The issue here is, in the match, Bangla-desh got two clear chances which they could not covert. A team like Jordan does not make too many mistakes and, unless the opponent can make good use of the lapses, chances of a better score are lost for good. Meanwhile, there has been plenty of theatrics about the coach of the national team. In this Dutch dra-ma involving a coach from the Netherlands, we have several twists.

On-the- eld results have been dismal while the o the eld shenanigans can easily make a salacious 10-part soap opera. Now it

seems there is an Italian at the helm who has reportedly delivered some ery messages. Not di erent from the previous ones who were introduced with much fanfare and hope only to zzle out amidst ignominy and rancor.

Otto P ster, Samir Saker, Dido, Ilievski, Chang, Cruciani, Gyrgy Kottn, Mark Harrison, Beckenhoft, and many others were appointed at one time or the other. Then, at one point, they had to take their exits, with a whimper.

For football to improve, a virtuous cycle is needed where players will be in regular supply, the federation will be adamant to do better internationally, and the government will be prompt to hand out monetary awards for a success.

It was evident from the Jordan match that many players were safe-guarding their phys-ical safety, which in Bengali translates as: Pa bachae khela. Cannot blame them because if an injury lasts more than a month, their careers plus income potential will be severely dented.

Another dark reality: An injured football player is a liability for most clubs and the federation. However, if there were nancial incentives for every match and for certain

tournaments, the teams overall performance could improve.

A perfect example is the recent success of the local club team Sheikh Jamal, which has won local leagues and trophies abroad. Someone told me, requesting anonymity, that the reason players give 100% for that club is because the top man, also a business magnate, is generous with bonuses after each signi cant victory.

This special monetary motivation is in addition to the salaries they receive for playing the local leagues. I recall, when Bangladesh won the SAFF tournament in 2003 in Dhaka, players were given cash plus empty plots -- undoubtedly a solid move to get the best out of them. This may sound very mercenary but thats how professional sport works!

Its prudent to realise tha,t given the standard we currently have, expecting any triumph outside the South Asia region would be a bit too much, even with jaw-dropping motivations. Once again, we must accept that, in the last 43 years, we have never been able to raise the standard of the game beyond this region. While there have been isolated wins against teams from other regions, even in the so-called golden age of football in

the 80s, Bangladesh never won the regional cup, always losing it in the nal.

It was a rag -ag team which won the regional trophy for the rst time at the SAF Games in Nepal in 1999, against all expecta-tions. No matter what superstars of the past say, we have always been running around in a labyrinth. I would say, doing better than this is not possible.

Reality check: The current SAFF champi-on, Afghanistan, in the World Cup quali ers for 2018, was drubbed 6-0 by both Syria and Japan. Cant imagine how a war-ravaged nation like Syria can still prove to be such a ferocious footballing powerhouse. Well, after following football for most of my adult life, I must say, some simply can despite the odds, whereas others cant.

A former footballer, in an interview recently, said that planning has to be done with focus at the grassroots level. Sorry to sound cynical but with the money, glamour, and prestige in cricket and only humiliation in football, dont think too many youngsters would want to become a footballer.

And another point: Such lines of nurturing from the lowest level have been delivered for the last 30 years with no tangible outcome.

At this stage, sparing the platitudes, the practical line should be: As all South Asian football teams are of a similar standard which is way below second or third tier Asian teams (read Oman, Jordan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines), our concentration should be to at least be the best of this region for several years in a row and nothing more.

We can only think of reaching the Asian mid-level when at least ve players are of the standard of Jamal Bhuiyan, the lone expat Bangladeshi, who is the only player notice-able on the eld, making the least number of mistakes and playing 90 minutes without fear with a never-say-die attitude. l

Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Football is stuck in a rutOur footballing leaves a lot to be desired

Its prudent to realise that, given the standard we currently have, expecting any triumph outside the South Asia region would be a bit too much, even with jaw-dropping motivations. Once again, we must accept that, in the last 43 years, we have never been able to raise the standard of the game beyond this region

We don't seem to have the ght in us anymore MUMIT M

15DTBusiness MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

China economic growth sputters in August, more support measures seen

17 Stocks open week marginally higher19World on edge as Fed weighs rate increase

16 Income Tax Fair kicks o Wednesday20

BRAC plans to buy 40% stake in IPDCn Kayes SohelBRAC the worlds largest non-government development organisation plans to buy 40% stake in IPDC (Industrial Promotion and De-velopment Company), a non-banking nan-cial institution.

In a share purchase agreement last week, IPDC majority shareholder and a Switzer-land-based international development agen-cy Aga Khan Fund For Economic Develop-ment (AKFED) has signed a deal with BRAC to sell its 40% out of 51% shares in IPDC, said the IPDC in a statement.

Of the 40% shares purchased, BRAC is ex-pected to take control of 25%, its sister concern Ayesha Foundation 10% and RSA Capital 5%.

However, the planned share purchase agreement is subject to the approval of regu-latory bodies concerned.

With this agreement, BRAC is set to enter into non-banking business. Currently, it has a number of commercial enterprises that in-clude a dairy and food project and a chain of retail handicraft stores called Aarong.

Under the present shareholding structure of IPDC, the government of Bangladesh holds 21.88%, AKFED 51.05%, public 27.07% stakes

in IPDC.Once the deal is executed after regulatory

approval, AKFED stake will come down to 11% in IPDC.

IPDC managing director and CEO Mominul Islam said the agreement will take IPDC to a new height with strong nancial footing.

The company will be able to come up with new products for the development of nan-cial market.

In early 2004, AKFED as part of strategy to strengthen its presence in the nancial sector of this region acquired 70% stake in IPDC by purchasing shares from International Finance

Corporation (IFC), Commonwealth Develop-ment Corporation (CDC) and German Invest-ment and Development Company (DEG).

After being public, AKFED maintains man-agement control of the company by holding 51% shares.

IPDC is the rst private sector nancial in-stitution of the country established in 1981 by a distinguished group of shareholders namely IFC, DEG, AKFED, CDC and Bangladesh government.

Over the last one week, share price of IPDC has increased by around 12% to more than Tk20 a share on Dhaka Stock Exchange. Yes-terday, it declined 0.6%. l

Bantora Kun launched in capital to bolster Japan-Bangla trade, cultural ties

n Tribune ReportBantora Kun, a brand mascot of Bangladesh and Japan aimed at increasing brand equity of Bangladesh and its products in Japan while gaining awareness of Japanese products and

culture in Bangladesh, has been launched in the city.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed un-veiled the logo of Bantora Kun at a city ho-tel yesterday. The meaning of Bantora Kun is Bangladeshi Tiger and Japanese ambassador Sadoshima gave the name.

Bantora Kun is painted by Nasir Hossain, who became popular in Japan since SIA fes-tival held in 2013. The painting work takes an active part as a Japan Bangladesh Goodwill Ambassador.

Its a good beginning, as Japan, a close friend of Bangladesh since the independence, has taken the responsibility of branding Bang-ladesh, said Tofail Ahmed while addressing the ceremony as chief guest.

In this regard, the minister explained, Such an initiative was taken following the bilateral visits by both two premiers of Bang-ladesh and Japan, which paved a new way for us in trade cooperation.

Addressing the ceremony, Japanese

September 14, 2015

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