Let’s hear it for the boysBangladesh U-16 football team comes of age with Sa� victory against Indian Shishir Hoque from Sylhet

A young, spirited and clinical Bangladesh side clinched their � rst ever Sa� Under-16 Cham-pionship title, beating reigning champions India 4-2 in a breathtaking penalty shootout in the � nal at a jam-packed Sylhet District Sta-dium yesterday.

After the stipulated time ended 1-1 in a game largely dominated by the home side, the fearless Tigers were composed and calm-headed in the tie-breaker, leaving the holders to rue what might have been.

An early second-half goal by Bangladesh mid� elder Fahim Morshed was cancelled out later by a screamer from Amay Avinash Mora-jkar. And the way Fahim, Jahangir Alam Sa-jeeb, Atiquzzaman and Saad Uddin converted their penalties from the spot, one could hard-ly guess that they are an U-16 side. The junior Tigers exhibited a glimpse of maturity and announced themselves as the next big stars of Bangladesh football. Bangladesh goalkeeper

Faysal Ahmed also deserves credit for saving India’s fourth penalty, taken by Saqlain, after Abhijit hit the bar in the previous e� ort.

The galleries were more than elated with

the triumph as there were not a single seat available inside the stadium. Not only that, each and every single building surrounding

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

PAGE 3Shawkat Mahmud arrested in arson case

PAGE 8No survivors in Indonesian plane crash, black box found

PAGE 9Just who is leading Nigeria’s jihadists?

PAGE 4HC questions minors’ data in voter list

PAGE 32Stalker arrested in Gaibandha schoolgirl suicide case

SECOND EDITION

MOTIJHEEL WARNED OF INTERNET CUT PAGE 15

WHO GETS EXCLAVE CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS? PAGE 5

BLOGGER MURDERS MASTERMIND HELD PAGE 3

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015 | Bhadro 4, 1422, Zilqad 3, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 125 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

Muhith: Time scale, selection grade willbe reconsideredn Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said they will reconsider the exclusion of time scale and selection grade before implementing the new pay structure for government employees.

The minister told this to reporters after a meeting with a delegation of BCS o� cers at the Planning Commission in Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar yesterday.

“I had a wrong idea about time scale and selection grade. Today, the concepts have be-come clear to me,” he said.

The government is implementing the new pay scale for government employees on the basis of and after reviewing the recommen-dations placed by the 8th National Pay and Services Commission (NPSC).

Among other things, the NPSC had recom-mended that the two provisions be scrapped because these had over the years bred corrup-tion and discrimination.

Time scale and selection grade have been used to compensate those public servants

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Ajibor was number two accused in the Magura mother shooting casen Our Correspondent, Magura

Mehedi Hasan Ajibor, a prime accused in the much-talked-about case of shooting of a pregnant woman that also injured her baby, was killed after an alleged gun� ght between law enforcers and his cohorts in Magura town early yesterday.

The gun� ght ensued when the police were on a drive to arrest Ajibor, 35, in Doarpar area of the town around 1am, Magura Assistant Police Superintendent Shudarshan Kumar Roy said.

The law enforcers gave their customary version of an alleged gun� ght. “As we con-ducted the drive to arrest Ajibor and his ac-complices, they opened � re on the police. In retaliation, the law enforcers shot at them

and later found Ajubor’s bullet-hit body on the spot. His cohorts � ed the scene.”

The ASP said that locals had recovered his body from the area around 2am.

Ruling party supporter Ajibor was named as the second accused in a case � led over the July 23 incident when the Awami League sup-porters clashed among them killing a person and injuring pregnant Nazma. She had to un-dergo surgery immediately to save the baby, whose body was pierced with the bullet.

The mother and the newborn were � rst treated separately. Condition of the baby, un-dergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital for around two weeks, is now stated to be stable.

Over a dozen people have so far been ar-rested in the case. l

Arju was accused of beating teenager Raja to deathn Kamrul Hasan

Arju Mia, the Hazaribagh unit president of pro-government Chhatra League, was killed in a so-called cross� re with the Rapid Action Battalion personnel early yesterday, hours af-ter being sued as a prime accused for beating a teenager to death in the area.

RAB Assistant Director (legal and media wing) Maj Maksudul Alam said that they had arrested Arju on Monday night following a complaint lodged by the victim’s sister. The gun� ght occurred when the RAB team headed towards Baroikhal area to arrest his associates.

“Some miscreants attacked the RAB patrol team to snatch Arju around 3:30am. Arju was hit by bullets as he tried to � ee,” Maj Maksud

claimed adding that doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital declared him dead.

Two pistols and bullets were recovered from the spot, he said.

Morgue sources said that Arju had sus-tained seven bullet injuries in his head.

Hazaribagh police registered the case of Raja’s sister Reshma Akhter Shabana early yesterday against 14 people with Arju named the prime accused.

The family alleged that Arju had called the boy to his house around 10:30am Sunday, locked him in a room on the ground � oor of his three-storey building and beat him severely along with his accomplices. Arju alleged that Raja had stolen laptop and mobile phones from his Gonoktuli Lane house the previous day.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Killers killed in gun� ghts

Bangladesh youngsters celebrate their victory – a turning point for the country’s football – against India U-16 team in Sylhet District Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Arju was accused of beating teenager Raja to deathLater, they took the boy to Kamrangirchar, tortured him in an under-construction build-ing and left him almost-dead at his house in the afternoon. Before losing his conscious-ness, Raja only wanted to drink water, locals said.

The 17-year-old was taken to the DMCH and declared dead around 5pm on Monday.

Raja had been living with his aunt in Kam-rangirchar area for the last two years and worked at a steel furniture shop. He came to his Hazaribagh house two days back.

The murder took place at a time when the country has been abuzz over the recent brutal killing of several children in Sylhet, Khulna and Narayanganj.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday grant-ed the police three days to interrogate two people who were arrested from Hazaribagh in the case. Another arrestee gave confessional statement in the court.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shamsul Are� n granted the remand for Moniruzzaman Monir alias Peitya Monir and Sujon Hossain Shamim after Investigation O� cer Sub-In-spector Aliv Mahmud produced them before the court.

The SI also pleaded to the court to record the confessional statement of Sagor Ahmed Sana. He was later sent to jail.

On the other hand, Arju’s brother Masud Rana yesterday threatened Raja’s family

members with dire consequences at the DMC morgue, Ratna Akhter, an aunt of Raja, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Masud claimed that his brother could not be killed “centring such a minor issue. Someone must have misled the elite force to achieve their political gain.”

Locals alleged that Arju had killed anoth-er person of the same area, Jamir, over a land dispute two years ago, and returned to the area recently.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that it was an incident of gun� ght. The law enforcement agencies could have ob-tained more information from the accused if the encounter had not taken place. l

Let’s hear it for the boysthe venue were swarming with enthusiastic fans. Even a water tank, around 100m from the venue, was � lled with people who were � ying the red and green � ag with a lot of pride.

Bangladesh began the game with a bit of tiredness and it was apparent from their body language as they struggled for the � rst quarter of the � nal. This was due to the e� ect of play-ing three matches inside the space of six days.

However, the home side seemed to have charged up following their � rst attack in the 22nd minute when Fahim set up Mohammad Shawon with a � ne pass from the left side of the box. Shawon’s header though � ew inches over the bar.

In the second half, the home side took only a minute to take a deserved lead. Shawon initiated the attack with a cross from the right � ank, Mostajeb received the ball in the middle of the box and passed it back to Fahim whose left-footer rolled straight into the back of the net.

Bangladesh custodian Faysal Ahmed pro-duced a lovely save to deny Indian mid� elder

Abhijit Sarkar’s shot from inside the box in the 55th minute.

India equalised the margin in the 63rd min-ute from a stunning strike by mid� elder Avi-nash whose powerful strike from just outside the box hit the woodwork before entering the net. Faysal had nothing to do with the goal due to his height.

Fahim squandered a great opportunity to give the hosts the lead in the 79th minute when the mid� elder received a missed clear-ance from an Indian defender but failed to � nd the target despite an empty net.

India’s intention was clear in the last quar-ter of the game as they wanted to take the tie into the tiebreaker, going fully defensive. Bangladesh had a couple of chances but noth-ing concrete. Just a minute before the � nal whistle, the encounter was stopped for 12 minutes due to blackout.

And when the game did resume, no one could stop the Bangladesh youngsters from sealing their maiden success in the third edi-tion of the age-level competition. l

Muhith: Time scale, selection grade willbe reconsideredwho deserve promotions but have not got any due to shortage of posts. Most public servants have strongly opposed the government move to drop these two pro-visions.

Muhith said two weeks ago that the new pay structure would be placed in a cabinet meeting in August and implemented thereafter.

The minister yesterday said that there is no reason for the government employees to be worried as the new structure would be imple-mented with retrospective e� ect. This means that alongside the hikes, they would get the arrears for July as well.

The pay commission recommended near-ly doubling the salaries of public servants at all grades. The government has made some changes to the commission’s proposals after review. l

Firearms, ammos recovered from Jubo League leader’s ditch n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The Criminal Investigation Department recov-ered � rearms and ammo from a ditch, owned by a local Jubo League leader in Satkania.

Sources said the CID was searching the ditch as part of a murder investigation on Monday night when they recovered an AK 22 ri� e, six bullets, 2 magzines, 3 light guns, 3 rounds of 7.65mm bullets and 7 cartridges.

Mahfuz, from Chankhola village, is a mem-ber of Eociya union parishad and a known follower of Satkania lawmaker Abu Reza Mo-hammad Nezamuddin Nadvi, said an Awami League insider. Mahfuz was arrested recent-ly in connection with the murder and gave information during primary interrogation, based on which the CID raided the ditch and found the weapons and bullets, CID Inspector Obaidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune. l

BTRC to form new cyberspace monitoring bodyn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is planning to form a separate body to control cybercrime and ensure cyber-security in coordination with all law enforcers.

The main objective of the body will be to monitor cybercrime and activities on social media, investigate the criminal acts and iden-tify the guilty, the BTRC said in a statement is-sued yesterday. The telecom regulatory body is preparing a proposal in this regard to send to the Prime Minister’s O� ce. l

Rajshahi Journalists’ Union forms a human chain in Saheb Bazar demanding immediate release of Probir Sikdar yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

Old Dhaka Jubo League leader shot, condition criticaln Kamrul Hasan

A ward-level leader of ruling Awami League’s youth body Jubo League was shot by un-known miscreants in front of his Hatkhola residence late last night.

Abdul Mannan, 32, general secretary of Dhaka South City Corporation’s ward number 31 unit Jubo League, was coming back home with a friend by rickshaw around 10:45pm when he was shot, his family said.

His wife Nusrat Jahan said having heard the sound of several gunshots in the street adjacent to their house – Nakshi Apartment, they rushed downstairs and saw Mannan lying on the road in the middle of a pool of blood.

Nusrat said she had been told by witnesses that there were two to three miscreants who opened � re on her husband. She also said that Mannan’s friend Al Amin was with him but he had probably ran away to save his own life af-ter the miscreants opened � re.

Al Amin could not be immediately reached.Mannan was � rst taken to the Dhaka Med-

ical College Hospital (DMCH) in critical con-dition, with at least two bullet wounds on his

head and chest. Our correspondent reports that Mannan was referred to the Square Hos-pital because there was no life support facili-ties available at that moment at DMCH.

He was brought to the Square Hospital around 11:50pm. But the on-duty doctor, Tanvir, said Mannan required an emergency vascular surgery, which could not be done because there was no vascular surgeon in the hospital. He was then referred to the Apollo Hospital.

Nurul Amin, assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Wari Zone, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have heard about the incident and have already began collect-ing information. As the victim is now under treatment, we could not talk to family. So, we are not yet clear about the reason behind the incident.”

Nusrat also said that Mannan ran a drug store near the Mitford Hospital on Old Dha-ka. They live on the second � oor of the sev-en-storey apartment building.

When this report was being � led around 12:50am, Mannan was being taken to the Apollo Hospital located in the Bashundhara Residential Area on the other side of the city.l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Journalist Shawkat Mahmud arrested in arson casen Kamrul Hasan

Detectives yesterday arrested BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s Adviser and journalist leader Shawkat Mahmud in an arson case.

Also president of a faction of Bangla-desh Federal Union of

Journalists, Shawkat was held by plainclothes police around 11am while he was on his way to attend a programme in the capital.

Pro-BNP organisation Adarsha Dhaka An-dolon was set to disclose a report on irregular-ities centring the city corporation elections, organisers said. But it did not take place. Po-lice claimed that the organisers had not taken permission to hold the event.

DMP Deputy Commissioner Muntasirul Islam said that Shawkat is a charge-sheeted accused in cases � led for an arson attack on

a bus that killed one and burned 27 others in Dhaka's Jatrabari during the BNP-Jamaat al-liance’s anti-government movement. One of the cases was under the Special Powers Act.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that Shawkat had been arrested on speci� c charges.

Shawkat’s assistant Abdul Momen said that when they reached near the venue, a car intercepted them and asked Shawkat to get out of his car. Shawkat inquired them about their identities. “They did not give any reply and forcibly took him to their car.

“Later we followed the car and found that it went inside the DB Headquarters at Mintoo Road,” he added.

A former president of the National Press Club, Shawkat might be produced before a court today seeking remand, police said.

Meanwhile, a faction of BFUJ condemned the arrest. They are set to hold a protest rally in front of the National Press Club today de-manding Shawkat’s release. l

Pro-BNP citizens accuse police of foiling meetingn Tribune Report

Leaders of Adorsho Dhaka Andolon, a pro-BNP citizens’ platform, have claimed that police foiled their scheduled meeting in the capital’s Panthapath area yesterday.

The platform had arranged the programme at Samurai Convention Centre in Panthapath to discuss the city corporation polls that was boy-cotted by the BNP-backed candidates on the allegations of vote rigging and manipulation.

Adorsho Dhaka Andolon Convener Prof Emajuddin Ahmed, mayoral candidate Tabith Awal and several other eminent citizens were scheduled to attend the programme, but the gate of the convention centre was found locked since morning.

“This incident shows the opposite scenar-io of what the prime minister and her cabinet members claim to be democracy. I do not even want to condemn it; I just wish to say that they [the government] should be aware of people’s rights,” Prof Emajuddin, also a for-

mer vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, told journalists after failing to enter the venue.

Mahfuzullah, a leader of the platform, said: “We were not required to take permis-sion for any in-house programme. Still, we informed Kalabagan police station about the meeting in a letter. Intelligence o� cials, who had enquired about the programme, also did not object to it.”

Yakub Ali, assistant sub-inspector of police who was stationed at the convention centre, said he was there for security purposes, but he declined to say anything more.

Police also detained journalist Shawkat Mahmud, a leader of Adorsho Dhaka Andolon and an adviser to BNP Chairperson Khale-da Zia, from the convention centre, for his alleged involvement in sabotage during the BNP-led 20-party alliance’s blockade-hartal movement early this year.

His personal assistant, Abdul Momin, said police picked him up and then took him to the Detective Branch o� ce. l

Blogger killers' mastermind arrestedn Kamrul Hasan

Law enforcers have arrested the suspected mastermind behind the murders of two secu-lar bloggers, as well as detaining two of his co-horts – all of them active members of banned militant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team.

Touhidur Rahman, 58, who is being accused of masterminding the killings of bloggers Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das, is a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, said Commander Mufti Mahmud, the director of the Rapid Action Battalion’s legal and media wing.

With Ansarullah chief Jasim Uddin Rahma-ni behind bars since 2013, IT-expert Touhidur had been handling the � nances of the mili-tant group along with masterminding all the killings committed by its members, Mahmud told a press brie� ng at the RAB Headquarters yesterday.

The two other arrestees are 28-year-old Sadek Ali Mithhu, who RAB accuses of being involved in murdering both bloggers; and 35-year-old Aminul Mollik, who reportedly helps members of the out� t � ee the country by making them fake passports.

The Detective Branch of police, who are overseeing the cases of blogger murders, did not issue any o� cial statement following the latest arrests by the elite force.

Since the brutal killing of Avijit near the TSC roundabout earlier this February, law enforcers had been searching for the mas-termind of the operation. The breakthrough � nally came on Monday night when RAB ar-rested Sadek Ali Mithhu, who is in charge of Ansarullah Bangla Team’s online presence, from the capital’s Nilkhet area.

Based on the information he provided dur-ing primary interrogation, RAB members led a raid to arrest Touhidur and Mollik from the city’s Dhanmondi in the early hours yesterday.

Sadek and Touhidur have already admitted to their complicity to the blogger killings, RAB Commander Mahmud said.

The militants reportedly executed their plan following directives given by their chief from behind the bars of the Kashimpur Jail. RAB authorities also said the murders were committed by a team of � ve men – Sadek, Ramjan alias Siam, Nayeem, Julhas Biswas and Jafran Al Hasan.

However, in brief comments to reporters at yesterday’s press conference, detained Sadek claimed that he was at his sister’s house at the time of the murders, and added that it was Ramjan and Nayeem who committed the kill-ings. Jafran and Julhas later claimed respon-sibility of the murders on social media, Sadek

told reporters.Earlier, the DB had claimed that there

were seven killers involved in the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy. They also arrested Hizb ut-Tahrir leader Sha� ur Rahman Farabi for instigating the killing of Avijit by openly threatening him with death several times on Facebook.

According to law enforcers, Touhidur had been living in the UK since the 1990s where he worked as an IT expert. Following his re-turn to the country, he was inspired by the works of Jasim Uddin Rahmani and became involved with Ansarullah Bangla Team.

Apart from masterminding the blogger murders, Touhidur also gathered intelligence against Avijit and Ananta and monitored their activities, said the RAB o� cial.

Sadek, on the other hand, had been work-ing as the health adviser to the militant out-� t’s chief and regularly visited him in prison to receive instructions about the next courses of action.

It was at the Kashimpur Jail where Ansarul-lah chief Rahmani, who is currently facing tri-al for the killing of blogger Rajeeb Haider and the attack on Asif Mohiuddin, reportedly set the blogger killings in motion by issuing the initial directive.

Based on his orders, Touhidur formed the plan and laid down the groundwork for the � ve-member team to carry out the blogger killings.

On February 26, the day writer-blogger Avijit Roy was killed, the � ve Ansarullah members reportedly waited at the Mohsin Hall � eld for two hours for the blogger to ar-rive at the Ekushey Book Fair. They followed him from there, later attacking and hacking him to death near the TSC. His wife Ra� da Ahmed Bonna survived the attack, but was seriously injured.

On May 12, two months after the killing of Avijit, assailants hacked to death secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das in Sylhet. RAB’s Commander Mahmud said the team of killers also acted in a similar method to kill Ananta, an activist of the Gonojagoron Mancha and editor of a science magazine.

Also in May, the Bangladesh branch of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), who identi� ed themselves as Ansar Al Islam, claimed responsibilities for the murder of several secularist activists since February 2013.

On July 2, RAB claimed to have arrested 12 militants including the Bangladesh chief coor-dinator of the AQIS, Mufti Mainul Islam alias Mahim, from di� erent areas of the capital with huge explosives from their possessions. l

RAB arrest three militants, Touhidul Islam, left, Sadek Ali, middle, and Aminul Mollik, right, of Ansarullah Bangla Team in bloggers Avijit and Ananta murder cases MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015NEWS4DT

Man chased by RAB falls to his deathn Kamrul Hasan

A man fell to death from a three-storey build-ing while being chased by RAB o� cers in the Shantinagar area of the capital yesterday.

The dead man, Kayes Mohammad Babar, 28, was the son of Mazibur Rahman of Titas, Comilla.

The elite force had come to the site to ar-rest Babu, allegedly a drug dealer in the Shan-tinagar Bazaar area.

Although he was not a suspect in the RAB raid, Babar became nervous when the elite force arrived, and � ed.

When RAB o� cers followed him, Babar climbed to the roof of the market and fell.

He was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, RAB 3 Commanding O� cer Khan-dokar Golam Sarwar said.

The injured man was then taken to Dha-ka Medical College Hospital, where he suc-cumbed to his injuries 6am yesterday, Mo-zammel Haque, the in-charge at the DMCH police camp, said.

Doctors said he had sustained head injuries that caused external and internal bleeding. l

SELIM AL-DEEN’S BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

JU holds three-day festival n JU Correspondent

A three-day festival marking the 66th birth an-niversary of Natyacharya Selim Al-Deen start-ed at Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday.

A documentary on the veteran playwright and theatre artist was screened on the � rst day of the festival. Two of Al-Deen’s plays will be staged during the festival.

Selim Al-Deen, the founder chairperson of the Department of Drama and Dramatics at JU, died at a hospital in Dhaka on January 11, 2008 due to cardiac attack.

Hundreds of teachers and students, under the banner of “Jatiya Natyashala,” brought out a colourful procession from the department.

JU Vice-Chancellor Prof Farzana Islam, Pro-VC Prof Abul Hossain, Al-Deen’s wife Begumja-di Meherunnesa Selim attended the rally. They placed � oral wreaths at Natyacharya’s grave.

Prof Farzana Islam said: “Selim Al Deen made extensive contributions to the � eld of Bengali drama that the nation will forev-er cherish. He launched a social movement across the country though writing plays.”

Begumjadi Meherunnesa Selim said: “Selim had become prominent with his writings. I am trying to publish his unpublished writings and I vow to work rest of my life to do so.”

A documentary “Adimatar Borputra O Nat-yacharya Selim Al Deen” was screened at Za-hir Raihan Auditorium in JU. Selim Al Deen’s play titled “Usha-Utshab,” directed by Prof Afsar Ahmed was staged around 7pm.

Selim Al Deen’s play “Swarnoboal” will be staged today at 7pm at Zahir Raihan Auditori-um. The closing ceremony of the festival will be held at Shilpakala Academy in the capital.

JU Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), Dha-ka Theatre, Bangladesh Gram Theatre, Desh Bangla Natyadal, Swapnadal, Bunon Theatre, Taluknagar Theatre, Selim Al Deen Founda-tion and, leaders and activists of di� erent cultural organisations and theatre groups put � oral wreaths on Al-Deen’s grave. l

Contempt case brought against TV channeln Tribune Report

The Supreme Court has declared that con-structive criticism can be made after a court delivers a judgement but many people do not understand what positive criticism is.

All people should be respectful of the rule of law, it said, adding that the court should not be scandalised in any manner. There is freedom of speech in the USA and in Europe-an countries, but people do not criticise any pending cases there, the court also said.

The four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha made these statements yester-day during proceedings over an August 10

report and a television talk show based on a conversation between two judges.

The court received the videotape from the TV channel on the report and talk show which was submitted by the TV channel authorities on Sunday as per the SC’s order of August 11. The court said that an order will be passed af-ter the court examines them.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told the court that comments were made about the judiciary in the talk show which is a contemp-tuous act.

Ekattor had aired the report and the talk show on the conversation between two SC judges with the pending proceedings of a con-tempt of court rule against Janakantha Editor

and Publisher Atiqullah Khan Masud and Ex-ecutive Editor Swadesh Roy.

The SC on August 13 sentenced Masud and Swadesh Roy to con� nement in the courtroom for over three hours on � nding an article, relating to war crimes convict on Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, as contemptof court.

The journalists were also � ned Tk10,000 each which they must donate to two charita-ble organisations within a week.

“None can scandalise the court and its judges, and the state would be damaged if the judiciary is harmed,” the Attorney General told reporters about the court’sobservation. l

HC questions minors’ data in voter listn Ashif Islam Shaon

The High Court yesterday issued a rule asking why the Election Commission’s move to col-lect information of minors for the updating the voter list should not be declared illegal.

The bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal asked the chief election commissioner and the election commission secretary to explian as to why the decision should not be declared illegal as per section 11 of the Voter List Act 2009 and Rule 27 of the Voter List Rules 2012 within 10 days.

The order came in response to a writ peti-tion � led on July 24 by Supreme Court lawyer ZI Khan Panna.

Shahdeen Malik and M Manjur Alam ar-gued for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General Md Motahar Hossain Saju represent-ed the state.

The EC on July 24 decided to collect data of citizens aged 15 or above, for the � rst time, to update its database for 2015-2016. Earlier, data of only the 18-year-old or above were collected.

During the hearing, Shahdeen told the court that updating the voter list means in-clusion of those who have reached the age of 18 in the previous years. He said that the EC must update the list annually or every year. They cannot update the list in advance, he added.

According to Article 122 of the constitution

and section 11 of the Voter List Act 2009, the list will only include data of 18-year-old citi-zens or above and therefore, it is beyond the jurisdiction of the EC to collect information about citizens who are under 18, he added.

Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hos-sain Sazu said that the EC was not including the under-18 citizens as voters, rather it was a preparatory work as part of updating the voter list.

The commission has been saying that the minors will not be registered as voters, but once they turn 18 they will automatically be included in the electoral roll. The data of the minors will be collected in advance to process their personal data to prepare national identi-ty (NID) cards. l

Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh forms a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club yesterday demanding exemplary punishment for Awami League MP Abdur Rahman Badi for beating up an engineer in Ukhia of Cox’s Bazar SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

NEWS 5D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

SC seeks concise statement in Mir Quasem casen Tribune Report

The Supreme Court yesterday asked the attor-ney general to submit a concise statement in convicted war criminal Mir Quasem Ali’s ap-peals case within two weeks.

A four-member bench of Appellate Divi-sion headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha passed the order after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam sought time.

The defense lawyers have already submit-ted their concise statement to the apex court. The statement will contain the points on which the counsels will place their arguments.

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 sen-tenced Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem to death on November 2 last year after � nding him guilty on 10 of 14 war crime charges.

The convict � led the appeal on November 30 pleading him not guilty.

Top Jamaat � nancier Mir Quasem was a commander of notorious al-Badr force in Chit-tagong during the 1971 Liberation War, and per-petrated genocide, murders and torture on the Hindus and freedom � ghters in the port city. l

Memorial speech on Bangabandhu heldat UGCn Tribune Report

A memorial speech on the life and works of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was held yesterday at the UGC auditorium in the capital.

Terming Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as an uncompromising leader, Emeritus Professor Dr. Ra� qul Islam said, “Bangabandhu was the leader of the nation and he dedicated his life for the liberationof the country.

He also called all for taking lessons from the life and works of Bangabandhu.

Emeritus Professor Dr. Ra� qul Islam was the memorial speaker on the occasion. UGC Chairman Professor Abdul Mannan attended the programme as the chief guest. UGC Sec-retary Dr. Md. Khaled, who is also the presi-dent of UGC O� cers’ Association, chaired the event.

UGC O� cers’ Association and UGC Kar-machari Union jointly organized the me-morial speech to mark the 40th NationalMourning Day. l

IFPRI: Bangladesh yet to ensure nutrition for alln Abu Bakar Siddique

Although Bangladesh has achieved food se-curity, it is yet to ensure nutrition for all, said International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Director General Shenggen Fan.

Still 36% of children aged under � ve are stunted, he said while addressing a press confer-ence organised to mark IFPRI’s 40th founding anniversary at a hotel in the capital yesterday.

“From 1990 to 2014, the percentage of peo-ple su� ering from hunger in the country had come down to half. I am optimistic that Bang-ladesh government can bring the number of people su� ering from lack of nutrition to zero by 2025,” said Shenggen.

The conference highlighted that when planning development oriented initiatives, any government must pay attention to the � ndings and suggestions made by di� erent research organisations

This can bring out the best output, said Akhter Ahmed, IFPRI representative in Bang-ladesh.

“The country has already achieved food security by analysing all gaps and opportuni-ties underscored in di� erent study � ndings,” he said.

Therefore, the remaining issues related to food security and nutrition must be handled with more attention and research.

According to the latest progress report, Bangladesh is on track to achieve � ve out of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

It has made remarkable improvement in poverty reduction, ensuring gender pari-ty in enrollment in primary and secondary schools, and curbing child and maternal mor-tality rate.

However, progress still remains slow in ar-eas like hunger reduction, elevating nutrition rate, sanitation, environmental sustainabili-ty, and certain aspects of gender parity.

With an aim to eradicate huger by 2015, IF-PRI and partners, including Bangladesh, are going to launch a new initiative titled “Com-pact 2015” in November this year. l

Just who is entitled to exclave citizenship privileges?n Ariful Islam, Kurigram

In the wake of the land swap between Bangla-desh and India that followed the implementa-tion of the Land Boundary Agreement, some people are � nding it di� cult � tting in.

One man, Mo� z Uddin, has petitioned to have himself, his children and his exclave res-ident spouse, put on the list of those seeking Indian nationality.

Mo� z’s story is important because his pe-tition is based on the fact that his spouse is a resident of a former exclave, though he him-self is not, and that her family subsequently should be able to exercise the option of be-coming Indian citizens.

He is the only Bangladesh-born person af-fected by the exclave swap to have petitioned on behalf of his family in neighbouring India’s Cooch Bihar. He claims his family failed to en-list themselves for Indian citizenship due to threats made by locals.

Some say he is attempting to use the inter-national agreement as a back door into India.

Mo� z’s situation highlights the complexi-ties of citizenship and residency rights.

To determine the authenticity of his pe-tition, an India-Bangladesh joint team yes-terday held a hearing in Dasiar Chhara in Kurigram district’s Phulbari upazila.

While a two-member Indian delegation came to Bangladesh through the Burimari Land Port in the morning, District Magistrate Ra-bindra Nath Bose of Mekhaliganj, Cooch Behar, went to Dasiar Chhara to verify Mo� z’s claims.

Phulbari Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Nasir Uddin Mahmood accompanied him at the hearing.

Mo� z, his wife and three of their children

were not at the hearing, since they reside in India. Only Mo� z’s son, Moksedul, was in the village for he hearing.

The joint team o� cers interviewed Idris Ali, brother of Mogor Ali – Mo� z’s brother-in-law with whom Moksedul is residing – be-cause Mogor is physically disabled.

They also interviewed Moksedul.“His whole family lives in India. We found

one son, 11-year-old Moksedul, who told us his family prefers Indian citizenship. We will

take further steps according to the report � led by the inquiry o� cer,” he said.

Kurigram Deputy Commissioner Nurul Amin on Monday told the Dhaka Tribune that the name of the six members of Mo� z’s family were not in the 2011 head count list.

“We do not know why they complained to the Cooch Behar administration,” he added.

The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that Mo� z was in fact included in the original 2011 sur-vey. His head count number was 1,183.

Mofiz’s storyMo� z hails from a village in Kashiani union parishad under Phulbari upazila in Kurigram. His village is not a former exclave.

Fifteen years ago, he married Manju Be-gum, 35, a resident of Dasiar Chhara, a former Indian exclave within Bangladesh’s Kurigram district. Manju lived in ward 3 of Dasiar Chhara. It was Mo� z’s second marriage.

Mo� z later took a job at a brick � eld in Del-hi and took his wife there. The couple had four children there: Monira Begum,13, Mo-hammad Moksedul Haque, 11, Mojidul Islam, 8, and Monisha Khatun, 6.

Mo� z regularly visited Bangladesh for a few days each year and then returned to India.

Mo� z was included in the 2011 joint survey which serves as the basis to determine who may seek repatriation because of residency in the exclaves.

His inclusion is disputed by a Bangladeshi local administration o� cial, but harassment by locals is part of Mo� z’s petition. He � led a complaint in the Indian district of Cooch Be-har, instead of in Bangladesh.

Three years ago, he brought his son Mok-sedul to Bangladesh and left him at his broth-er-in-law Mogor Ali’s house.

“My family lives in India, but I am here with my aunt Monowara Begum’s family. I want to live where my father wants us to live,” Moksedul, a third grade student at the local Talukder School, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Mo� z visited Bangladesh on July 14, two days before the joint survey ended.

“He came to include his name on the list to choose Indian citizenship, but he failed,” said Idris Ali, another of Mo� z’s brothers-in-law. l

Mekhaliganj District Magistrate Rabindra Nath Bose from Cooch Behar and Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Nasir Uddin Mahmood visit Dasiar Chhara to hear claims that an exclave resident’s family was barred from opting for Indian nationality DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS6DTWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Adivasi Kendrayio Committee forms a human chain at Naohata in Naogoan yesterday demanding punishment to the killers of indigenous leader Alfred Soren. Soren was murdered on August 18, 2000 AZAHAR UDDIN

Four cops hurt in criminal attack, accused snatchedn Our Correspondent, Chandpur

A gang of drug peddlers snatched their aide by attacking law enforcers and leaving four police personnel injured at Haimchar in chan-dpur district early yesterday.

Sources said police searched the bodies of Amir Hossain and Ripon in the area and re-covered six yaba tablets from them.

In interrogation, they confessed they had got the contraband from drug trader Kana Jasim, son of Anwar Hossain.

Later, the law enforcers raided the house of Jasim in Tekkandi area and arrested him.

At least 25 cohorts of Jasim attacked the members of law of enforcers with local weap-ons and snatched him from the police custo-dy while they were heading to police station.

Four police personnel were injured at the attack seriously. They are SI Younus, ASI Abul Kalam, Anwar and constable Md Halim.

Waliullah, o� cer-in-charge of Haimchar police station con� rmed the incident. l

Pirojpur guava growers see dingy future n Tribune Report

Guava farmers in Pirojpur are apprehending that a dark future is waiting for them as they are not getting fair price of the seasonal fruit for lack of communication facilities.

The growers have also been being deprived of fair price of the fruit for the last several years for various reasons, including shortage of cold and middlemen’s manipulation.

Succeeding generations of farmers have so far cultivated guava, locally called `Apple of poor’ for its unique taste, for their livelihood.

The growers of the area send their produce to various places across the country, including Dhaka, but for lack of a developed communi-cation system, the item cannot be supplied to full extent.

Despite good harvest of guava in the cur-rent season, farmers could not be happy, as apprehending heavy losses they were forced to sell the item at throughway prices in the lo-cal markets for lack of preservation facilities.

During o� -peak season, guava is sold at Tk560-700 per maund at the local markets but in the peak season it is sold at only Tk30-40 per maund.

In the current season, the demand of gua-va is high across the country but due to poor management and lack of preservation facili-ties along with poor communication system supply and marketing of the fruit face a seri-ous setback.

Besides, representatives of the food pro-cessing companies show lack of interest to come to buy the fruit using the undeveloped roads here; consequently the traders have to sell the item at throwaway prices.

Sources said guava is grown by 1,345 families in their orchards at 50 villages in the district.

Farmers at Songgitkathi, Khairkathi, Vodrananda, Bastuvita, Adabari, Dholahar, Zindakathi, Aatghar, Kuriwana, Edolkathi, Mandra, Bengoli, Adamkathi, Andarkul vil-lages in Swarupkati of the district produce more than 10-12 tonnes of guava each year

from which they earn at least Tk 8-9 crore.Swarupkathi upazila Agriculture O� ce

sources said 26 villages in the upazila have re-tained their name for producing the fruit for over 100 years.

Around 645 acres of land were brought un-der guava cultivation at the villages this year.

Guava orchards at the villages have come under attack of virus diseases, for which young guavas wither away from the plants.

Eight-nine tonnes of guava are produced per hectare of land in the upazila every year but for lack of su� cient number of cold stor-ages, preservation of the fruit is being serious-ly hampered.

As a result, the growers are bound to sell their produce at throughway prices, su� ering heavy losses, much to their disappointment.

Mostafa Kamal, a guava grower of Vhimruli village, who owns some large guava orchards, said in August-September, season of guava production, he employs at least three labour-ers in his orchards,

which costs Tk1500 but now he has to sell guava at Tk35-40 per maund to the middle-man, which leads him to utter frustration.

Guava growers of the area now think it an urgent need to have some cold storages and agro-based industry in the area, which could boost guava cultivation, he said.

Shekhar Kumar Sikdar, chairman of Kuri-wana Union Parishad, said lack of cold stor-ages and market manipulation by the middle-men hinder preservation and sale of guava, which has created frustration among the cul-tivators at 50 villages.

Agriculturalist Jagotpriyo Das said produc-tion of guava has noticeably increased due to research in the last few years and some aid from the government could help the growers earn huge pro� t from guava cultivation.

Upazila Agricultural O� cer of Swarupkathi Md Rifat Sikdar said the government has tak-en steps to build two guava purchasing centes in the area, construction work of which will start in 2016. l

23 BNP men charge-sheeted over Magura bomb attackn Our Correspondent, Magura

Police submitted a charge sheet against 23 BNP and Chhatra Dal men yesterday in con-nection with a case of petrol bomb attack in Magura on March 21.

Imaul Hoque, DB police inspector and in-vestigation o� cer of the case, said the charge sheet was submitted accusing 23 persons in-cluding Chhatra Dal central committee presi-dent Rajib Hasan , its general secretary Ekra-mul Hoque , Magura district unit BNP general secretary Ali Ahmed Biswas and vice presi-dent Monoar Hossen Khan.

During the blockade on March 21, miscre-ants hurled petrol bomb at a sand laden truck in Moghi area on the Magura –Jessore Road injuring nine persons .

Later, they were admitted to Magura Sadar Hospital in critical condition from where they were sent to Dhaka Medical College and Hos-pital. Five persons succumbed their injuries in the hospital.

On March 22, SI Abdush Salam � led a case with Magura police station accusing 22 per-sons.

After investigation, the police submitted charge sheet accusing the 23 persons. l

ATTACK ON STUDENTS

Eight accused sent to jailn Our Corresponden, Chandpur

A court in the district yesterday sent eight BCL men to jail who were accused of a case in connection with attack on students of of Bhuyapara High School under Kachua upazila in Chandpur district on August 16.

Sub-inspector Nasiruddin of Kachua police station, also the investigation o� cer of the case, said the accused were appeared before the court at noon praying seven days remand. The court also sent them to jail.

Sources said some Jubo League activists went to the school on August 15 and demanded extortion to its headmaster Dulal Chandra Sark-er on the occasion of National Mourning Day.

They harassed him physically as he re-jected their proposal. Fazlur Rahman, an as-sistant teacher of the school went to the spot and rescued the headmaster. He also protest-ed the Jubo League men.

Later, a number of Jubo League activ-ists attacked the house of Fazlur Rahaman at night and tortured him. In the morning, the students organized a protest rally in the school premises while Jubo League activists led by Faruk, Liton and Munir attacked them with local made � rearms, leaving 40 injured.

Of the injured, Sujan, Sahaparan, Rakib, Makbul, Milon, Ra� ,Popy, Misti, Tania, Sayema and Tanjina Meem were admitted to Upazila Health Complex in critical condition. l

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015NEWS 7

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:29PM SUN RISES 5:35AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.4ºC 24.2ºC

Sayedpur Rangamati

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 32 26Chittagong 30 26Rajshahi 32 26Rangpur 31 25Khulna 33 26Barisal 32 26Sylhet 26 24Cox’s Bazar 28 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:14am

Sunrise 5:34amZohr 12:02am

Asr 4:37pmMagrib 6:29pm

Esha 7:59pm

WEATHER

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Kibria murder case hearing deferred seventh timen Our Correspondent, Sylhet

The charge framing hearing in former Awa-mi League minister Shah AMS Kibria murder case was not held yesterday, for the seven consecutive date since June 23, as all the ac-cused were not produced before the court.

Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Mokbul Ah-san deferred the date as the law enforcers had failed to produce suspended Sylhet mayor Ar-iful Huq. The judge set August 25 for further hearing and ordered the jail authorities to en-sure appearance of Arif on that day.

BNP leader Arif was not produced follow-ing a medical report on his health condition, public prosecutor Kishore Kumar Kar said.

However, 13 out of 32 accused including former home state minister Lutfozzaman

Babar and banned militant group Huji leader Mufti Hannan were brought to the court.

Ten accused are on the run while eight oth-ers secured bail.

The indictment hearing was earlier de-ferred six times due to non-appearance of all the accused.

Kibria and four others were killed in a gre-nade attack on January 27, 2005 after holding a rally in Habiganj sadar. He died on the way to Dhaka. Two cases – one for the killings and the other under the Explosives Act – were � led over the incident.

The case was transferred to the Speedy Trial Tribunal in early June for quick dispos-al. As per the law, the case would be disposed of within 135 working days. But the judge can take more time due to rational reasons. l

2 crore su� er from kidney ailmentsn BSS

Heath experts at a seminar yesterday said nearly two crore people have been su� er-ing from kidney related ailments across the country.

The experts suggested a set of preventive measures, including keeping under con-trol high blood pressure, diabetes and body weight, for avoiding fatal consequences of the disease.

The seminar was organised by Kidney Foundation at its auditorium at Mirpur.

Vice-chancellor to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Prof Kamrul Hassan was the chief guest at the programme while International Chamber and Commerce of Bangladesh (ICCB) President Mahbubur Rah-man, Kidney Foundation General Secretary Professor M Muhibur Rahman and Vice Presi-dent Prof MA Wahab were the special guests.

Kidney Foundation Founder President Pro-fessor Dr Harun-ur Rashid held lifestyle and lack of awareness responsible for kidney dis-eases and said the number of kidney patients has increased alarmingly in the country.

“In most of cases kidney diseases are not diagnosed at an early stage in our country though prevention and early detection can reduce morbidity and mortality,” he said. l

Chittagong’s � rst Hajj � ight starts with 417 pilgrims n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The � rst Hajj � ight carrying 417 Bangladeshi pilgrims left Shah Amanat International Air-port of Chittagong city for Saudi Arabia on Monday night.

The � ight, BG-1015, of Biman Bangladesh Airlines departed from the airport at 9:25pm, said airport sources.

Chittagong City Corporation Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, also the general secretary of the city unit of Awami League, and AL’s lawmaker MA Latif saw the pilgrims o� at the airport.

They exchanged views with the pilgrims before the � ight’s take o� while the CCC May-or said all the authorities concerned were working intensively to send the pilgrims to

Saudi Arabia without any hassle. The next � ight is scheduled at 9:35am on August 20, said the airport sources.

This year a total of 12,000 persons applied for Hajj from Chittagong, however, 1,500 ap-plicants’ Hajj performing has become uncer-tain due to visa related complexities, said Hajj Jattri Kalyan Sanstha sources.

Airport sources said this year about 10,000 people would go to Saudi Arabia for perform-ing Hajj from Chittagong.

To carry the pilgrims, 16 special � ights will take o� from Chittagong to Saudi Arabia while the pilgrims can go to Jeddah by regular � ights.

In Chittagong, a total of 76 Hajj agencies out of 96 are going to Saudi Arabia with Hajj pilgrims this year. l

Two drugstores sealed o� n Tribune Report

A mobile court of Directorate of Drug Admin-istration in a drive yesterday  morning sealed o� two medicine stores and � ned three others with Tk27,000 for selling unapproved drugs.

Assistant Commissioner also Executive Magistrate of District Administration Ruhul Amin led the mobile court in Agrabad, Chow-mohuny area.

Ruhul Amin said the mobile court � ned three drug shops with Tk27,000 and sealed o� two others for selling medicine without having license and other documents.

The mobile court � ned New Janata Phar-macy with Tk 10,000, Saif Pharmacy with Tk15,000, M and N Pharmacy with Tk2,000 for selling unapproved medicine without doc-ument while it sealed Shuvo Homeo Hall and Saif Pharmacy o� . l

BNP leader MK Anwar sent to jailn Our Correspondent, Comilla

A court in the district yesterday sent BNP stand-ing committee member MK Anwar to jail reject-ing his bail petition in a case � led in connection with petrol bomb attack on a bus in Chouddo-gram upazila under the district on February 3.

Sources said Anwar appeared before the session court-5 and pleaded for his bail.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Shahidullah Kaiser passed the order after hearing, said An-war’s lawyer Md Harunur Rashid.

On February 3, eight people were killed in a petrol bomb attack on a bus at Chouddogram upazila.

Later, Sub-inspector Nuruzzaman Hawla-dar of Chouddogram police station � led two cases against 56 persons in this connection under the Explosives Substance Act.

MK Anwar along with its chairperson Khaleda Zia, standing committee members Barrister Ra� qul Islam Mian and joint secre-tary general Rizvi Ahmed, were indicted in one of the two cases for instigating the petrol bomb attack. l

A pilgrim reads the rules to follow while performing Hajj prior to departing from Ashkona hajj camp in Dhaka yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

WORLD8DT

No survivors in Indonesian plane crash, black box foundn AFP, Jayapura, Indonesia

A plane that crashed in eastern Indonesia was Tuesday found “completely destroyed” with the bodies of all 54 passengers and crew strewn amid the wreckage in a � re-blackened jungle clearing, o� cials said.

Rescuers � nally reached the debris of the Trigana Air plane, which went down Sunday in Papua province during a short � ight in bad weather, after abandoning search e� orts a day earlier due to mountainous terrain, thick

fog and rain.The black box � ight data recorders, which

could provide clues about the cause of the crash, were retrieved. Money – some of it burnt – was also found among the wreckage of the plane, which had been transporting IDR6.5bn ($470,000) in cash.

It is just the latest air accident in Indone-sia, which has a poor aviation safety record and has su� ered major disasters in recent months, including the crash of an AirAsia plane in December with the loss of 162 lives. l

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Shakeup in Myanmar as Aung San Suu Kyi allies with ousted ruling party chiefn Reuters, Naypyidaw

Myanmar’s main opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Tuesday her opposition would ally with powerful ousted ruling party leader Shwe Mann, as the country’s political forces re-align in the biggest shake-up since the end of military rule.

President Thein Sein purged rival Shwe Mann and his allies from the Ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in dramatic fashion last week, just months be-fore a landmark election.

“It is now clear who is the enemy and who is the ally,” Suu Kyi told reporters at the coun-try’s parliament, when asked if Shwe Mann’s sacking had cost her an ally. “The National League for Democracy will work with the ally.”

She did not detail how they would work together. As chairman of the USDP, Shwe Mann sought to build ties with Suu Kyi, which sparked suspicion among some members of the ruling party and contributed to his sack-ing. The USDP is made up of many former military o� cers.

Shwe Mann had antagonised the military by backing Suu Kyi’s campaign to reform the constitution to limit the sway of the generals over Myanmar’s politics.

She is banned from the presidency under a constitution drafted by the military before it handed over power in 2011. The armed forces hold a veto over any charter changes.

On Tuesday, Shwe Mann denied he had divided the country in a speech to the joint chambers of parliament.

“I am not destroying party unity and sta-bility,” he said.

Security forces surrounded the USDP com-pound late on Wednesday, locking down the building while the president’s allies met party

leaders to remove Shwe Mann’s faction from the leadership committee.

“As for the happenings of the middle of the night, this is not what you expect from a working democracy,” Suu Kyi said.

In response, Information Minister Ye Htut told reporters at a news conference that po-lice had a duty to respond to a request for pro-tection made during the evening by the USDP.

Suu Kyi’s said the upheaval in the USDP was likely to bene� t her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which would win more votes in the election.

Her party was already expected to win the most seats in the November ballot, seen as a crucial test of the country’s democratic reforms.

Concerns over the durability of those reforms were heightened last week by a media crack-down in the wake of Shwe Mann’s sacking. The scrapping of censorship in 2012 was one of boldest reforms of Thein Sein’s govern-ment.

Ye Htut said on Tuesday that a radio sta-tion, Cherry FM, with links to Shwe Mann had been taken o� the air until after the election after failing to convince the government it would be impartial. l

Hunt on for Thai blast CCTV suspectAnother small explosion at a Bangkok river pier, no causalities

n Reuters, Bangkok

Thai authorities said on Tuesday they were looking for a suspect seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near a famous shrine where a bomb blast killed 22 people, nearly half of them foreigners.

The government said the attack during the Monday evening rush hour in the capi-tal’s bustling commercial hub was aimed at destroying the economy. No one has claimed responsibility.

Jangling nerves in the city on Tuesday, a small explosive was thrown from a bridge to-wards a river pier, sending a plume of water into the air, but no one was injured.

The man suspected of the bombing at the Erawan shrine was seen in grainy CCTV foot-age entering the compound with a backpack on, sitting down against a railing and then slipping out of the bag’s straps.

Wearing a yellow shirt and with shaggy,

dark hair, the young man then stands up and walks out holding a blue plastic bag and what appears to be a mobile phone. The backpack was left by the fence as tourists milled about.

National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the suspect could be Thai or foreign.

“That man was carrying a backpack and walked past the scene at the time of the in-cident. But we need to look at the before and after CCTV footage to see if there is a link,” Somyot told a news conference.

Police earlier said they had not ruled out any group, including elements opposed to the mili-tary government, for the bombing at the shrine, although o� cials said the attack did not match the tactics of Muslim insurgents in the south.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also re-ferred to the man as a suspect without giving details. He said there were “still anti-govern-ment groups out there,” although he did not elaborate.

Police were at the blood-splattered site on

Tuesday, some wearing white gloves and car-rying plastic bags, searching for clues to an attack that could dent tourism and investor con� dence.

Police said the death toll was 22, with 123 people wounded.

“Police are not ruling out anything includ-ing (Thai) politics and the con� ict of ethnic Uighurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China,” Somyot said. Thailand forcibly re-turned 109 Uighurs to China last month.

The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres, o� ces and a hospital, is a major attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia, including China. Chi-na urged Thailand to thoroughly investigate the blast and punish the perpetrators.

Four Chinese, a British resident of Hong Kong, 2 Malaysians, a Singaporean, an Indo-nesian and a Filipino were also killed.Scores of people were wounded, including many Asian tourists. l

‘It is now clear who is the enemy and who is the ally,’ Suu Kyi told reporters at the country’s parliament

Amnesty to UN: Probe war crimes into Yemeni con� ictn AFP, Dubai

Rights watchdog Amnesty International called Tuesday for a UN-commissioned in-vestigation into alleged war crimes commit-ted during the Yemeni con� ict that has killed more than 4,300 people since March.

In a report, Amnesty criticises “unlawful co-alition airstrikes in densely populated residen-tial neighbourhoods” as well as attacks in civil-ian areas by rebels and pro-government forces.

“All the parties to this con� ict have dis-played a ruthless and wanton disregard for the safety of civilians,” said Donatella Rovera, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty.

The report speaks of a “gruesome and bloody trail of death and destruction in (third city) Taez and Aden from unlawful attacks, which may amount to war crimes, by all parties.”

Amnesty called on the UN Human Rights Council to form an international commission of inquiry to investigate “alleged war crimes” committed during the con� ict. l

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Rajapaksa’s comeback bid fails, Sri Lankans back reformsn Reuters, Colombo

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s at-tempt to stage a comeback in Sri Lanka’s general election has ended in defeat as re-sults on Tuesday showed the alliance that toppled him making decisive gains.

The ruling United National Party (UNP) was likely to fall just short of an outright majority but Prime Minister Ranil Wick-remesinghe should still command enough support to form a stable government.

“I invite all of you to join hands,” Wick-remesinghe, 66, said in a statement. “Let us together build a civilised society, build a consensual government and create a new country.”

The outcome is a triumph for President Maithripala Sirisena, who beat his former ally Rajapaksa in a presidential vote in Jan-uary and called early parliamentary polls to secure a stronger mandate for reforms.

Defeat for Rajapaksa will keep Sri Lanka on a non-aligned foreign policy course and loos-en its ties with China, which during his rule pumped billions of dollars into turning the Indian Ocean island into a maritime outpost.

Wickremesinghe’s UNP won 93 of the 196 seats up for grabs in multi-member constit-uencies. The alliance led by Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) took 83 seats after su� ering losses.

Final representation in the 225-seat chamber will be decided when 29 nation-al seats are allocated by proportional rep-resentation.

UNP sources said the party expected to win up to 107 seats overall - just shy of a 113-seat majority. It won 45.7% of the popular vote, ahead of 42.4% for Rajapaksa.

The power struggle between the past and present presidents overshadowed the election in a country with a history of political feuding that has often spilled over into violence and even the assassination of its leaders. l

India embarks on nationwide drive to protect its millions of forest inhabitantsn Thomson Reuters Foundation,

Bhubaneshwar

India is embarking on a national campaign to help millions of indigenous people protect their forest land and resources using a seven-year-old landmark law that has gone largely ignored, the country’s tribal a� airs minister said on Monday.

The Forest Rights Act of 2008 was hailed by campaigners as a watershed law that would improve the lives of impoverished tribes by recognising their right to inhabit and live o� the forests where their forefathers set-tled centuries before.

But India’s Tribal A� airs Minister Jual Oram admitted the law remains poorly imple-mented, leaving some forest dwellers open to abuse, exploitation and eviction, with Prime

Minister Narendra Modi calling for action to protect their livelihoods.

“Although a large number of forest dwell-ers know about the Forest Rights Act, we still need to create awareness so that everybody knows about it and bene� ts from it,” Oram said during an interview.

Oram said recent progress in technology will make it easier to identify the land claimed by forest dwellers, many of whom live on the margins of society and are dependent on the land for their food security.

“...With the adoption of new technology such as Google maps to demarcate areas, set-tling claims could be much faster,” he said.

While the law was passed by the central government, many of the country’s 36 states and territories, which are responsible for its implementation and enforcement, had failed

to do so, Oram said.“Our country is very big, knowledge of

people living in interior forested areas is lim-ited and the state bureaucracy, which is re-sponsible for raising awareness, is very slow. These are the main problems why it is not im-plemented,” he said.

Directives have been sent to the states to enforce the law and the central government is organising workshops and seminars with local o� cials and human rights groups to promote awareness of the Forest Rights Act, he said.

According to a July study by the Wash-ington-based Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), the Forest Rights Act has the potential to give an estimated 150m people rights over at least 40m hectares (100m acres) of forested land.

If properly implemented, the study said, the law would shift forest governance from “an undemocratic, colonial system to a de-centralised, democratic one” where local vil-lage councils are the main decision-makers over the forest land and produce.

Inhabiting remote areas, the way of life of many tribes and other forest dwell-ers has barely changed over the centuries, with communities eking out a living from farming, cattle rearing and collecting fruit and leaves.

Few have bene� tted from the India’s eco-nomic boom over the last two decades, partly due to a Maoist insurgency in the country’s central belt and partly due to general neglect by authorities. As a result, social indicators such as child malnutrition and literacy are among the worst in the country. l

The Boko Haram mystery: Just who is leading Nigeria’s jihadists?n AFP, Lagos

Claims that Nigeria’s Boko Haram has been “decapitated” have been spectacularly re-bu� ed by the jihadists’ leader, yet his � rst broadcast in months may not see o� an im-pending mutiny, say analysts.

Abubakar Shekau released an eight-min-ute audio recording on Sunday – his � rst since March – denying claims by Chadian leader Idriss Deby that he had been re-placed, and dismissing the president as a “hypocrite” and a “tyrant.”

The tirade was a reaction to Deby telling reporters in N’Djamena last week that Boko Haram was no longer led by the fearsome Shekau and that his successor, whom he named as “Mahamat Daoud,” was open to talks with the government.

Security analysts accept the Shekau re-cording as genuine and many experienced observers are taking Deby’s claims with scepticism, pointing out that similar re-ports have proven untrue in the past.

But Ryan Cummings, chief security an-alyst at South African consultancy Red 24 and an expert on the Nigerian insurgen-cy, described the Chadian head-of-state’s claims as “not without merit.”

Cummings believes Boko Haram may be an umbrella movement comprising many disparate factions rather than a monolith-ic organisation and says internal rivalries “would be no means be a new development for the sect.”

He points to the formation of Ansaru, a splinter group formed in 2012 on the back of ideological di� erences and a leadership struggle between Shekau and a high-rank-ing Boko Haram commander known as Khalid al-Barnawi.

“So this does highlight that a precedent

for leadership squabbles and factionalism does exist within the Boko Haram entity,” Cummings said.

‘Top dog’Boko Haram has been waging a six-year up-rising against the Nigerian state, claiming more than 15,000 lives, but the jihadists’ recent extension of their northeastern in-surgency across borders has brought Chad and its neighbours into the fray.

In March, Shekau pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, renaming his organisa-tion “Islamic State West Africa Province,” or “ISWAP.”

Deby’s speech on the group’s decapi-tation made headlines around the world, but shed little light on Shekau’s putative replacement, an apparently new player in global jihad who was virtually unknown before last week.

Nigerian security analyst Fulan Nasrul-lah, one of the country’s most respected Boko Haram watchers, argues in a blog post for the London-based Royal African Society that the “Mahamat Daoud” to whom Deby referred is actually Muhammad Daud, a Shuwa Arab from Borno State, the cradle of the insurgency.

Daud, aged around 38, is an ex-ser-viceman and protege of slain Boko Haram founder Muhammad Yusuf, who disagrees with the 2009 uprising and is “one of the few top dogs against the pledge of allegiance made to Islamic State,” Nasrullah says.

The militant, who has a Chadian mother, is a powerful commander in charge of coun-ter-intelligence and internal security who oversaw the training of suicide bombers and the planning of attacks in major cities, according to the analyst. l

WORLD 9D

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Privileges threatened, days may be numbered for Greece’s ‘everyman’ farmersn Reuters, Naxos, Greece

A jovial potato farmer whose family has tilled the fertile land on the island of Naxos for over 200 years, Stelios Vathrokilis is unfazed by all that he believes a farmer must inevitably face: God, inclement weather and natural disasters.

But mention tax hikes on farmers demanded by Greece’s creditors and Vathrokilis’ face darkens with anger.

“With the new taxes we will turn the clock back to 1970 when my mother cooked on a wood stove,” the portly 50-year-old says. “Life will be like what it was when Nazis occupied the country, except this time it will be forever.”

For Vathrokilis’ compatriots, the hardships of seven years of austerity are nothing new. One in four workers is unem-ployed and virtually every industry has made sacri� ces in jobs and in pay. Yet some sectors, notably agriculture, have been relatively untouched and even, critics say, coddled. No longer.

The change is an illustration of the hardened mood among Greece’s creditors in Brussels, Berlin and at the IMF, and a sign of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ weakened hand in the latest round of bailout negotiations.

Greece’s new bailout programme, the third, looks set to scrap the status of Greece’s farmers as a protected group long the bene� ciaries of subsidies and tax breaks.

Farmers have been shielded by successive governments in a nod to supporting agriculture and keeping an important vot-er base on side. As a consequence, farmers largely escaped the worst of Greece’s � nancial ruin. As the crisis bit, many Greeks who lost big-city jobs even returned to villages for the relative safety of farming.

But that is set to change at a stroke. Greece’s creditors are demanding measures to end special treatment for farmers. These would involve doubling their income tax rate to 26%, making them pay tax upfront, full instead of partial taxation of EU farm funds and scrapping bene� ts such as a 40% discount on power and diesel subsidies, Greek o� cials say. Farmers are also expected to triple contributions to their pension fund.

The changes would mark the end of an era for Greek farm-ing, a sector dominated by small-scale farmers who thrived in recent decades thanks to an in� ux of EU funds and bene� ts aimed at making up for a lack of economies of scale and ensur-ing the country preserved its agricultural sector.

The lenders say farming should now simply be brought in line with other professions. In a country where inheriting a tiny olive grove or a small patch of land in the countryside is common, the changes would also end the incentive to declare oneself a farmer in order to enjoy preferential tax treatment.

Only about 350,000 of the 850,000 Greeks involved in farming are full-time farmers, said an agriculture ministry of-� cial, adding that a third of agricultural output is sold or trad-ed illegally without receipts.

Farming has also been beset with legal loopholes: until re-cently, the size of land held rather than output determined el-igibility for farmers’ bene� ts, allowing some Greeks cultivat-ing small plots for their own use to enjoy the perks.

And even the current 13% income tax rate was only intro-duced in 2013 under pressure from EU/IMF creditors after they found farmers were being taxed not on income but on a method based on acreage and type of crop that resulted in minimal taxes for most, the o� cial said.

Before that tax rate was set, farmers paid a total of €350m in tax in 2013 - meaning the state only received about €400 in taxes annually per Greek farmer, said an o� cial at Greece’s � nancial crimes unit, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Agrarian rootsBut in a country that prides itself on an agrarian heritage and where most urban Greeks have family or roots in villages, the latest proposals have stirred deep anger and a backlash from opposition and government lawmakers.

“Greece is seen as an agrarian society - the farmer is more associated with the common man than the industrial labour-er,” said Joann Ryding, vice president of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, which teaches farmers to run their

farms as a business. “The farmer represents the struggling common man.”

So contentious is the issue that Prime Minister Tsipras ex-cluded it from two sets of reforms passed last month, leaving it part of a small set of unresolved issues still being discussed with lenders before being voted on.

Last week, Tsipras visited the agriculture ministry to pledge

he would � ght for farmers even as his government rushed to conclude talks with creditors before a mid-August deadline. He said he was pushing to keep the farmers’ income tax rate at 13% and have them pay half rather than all tax upfront.

“We need to support agricultural production which can be a tool to grow and exit the crisis,” Tsipras said, and then, refer-ring to farmers: “Without them, we cannot make it.” l

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015World10D

T

Greek farmers stage a rally with their tractors in Alexandroupolis, Greece for fairer tax system on February 18 last year BIGSTOCK

11D

TEDITORIALWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

INSIDE

The arrest of Probir Sikdar on Sunday illustrates the way in which draconian provisions of the Information and Communication Technology Act can be used to suppress independent journalism.

Sikdar, editor of Uttoradhikar 71 News, was sent to jail in a case for allegedly “tarnishing the image” of LGRD Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain. A court on Tuesday has allowed police to hold him a further three days for questioning.

The case arises out of a Facebook post made by Sikdar in which he claimed three individuals, including the minister, had threatened his life over some of his investigations.

We have commented before on how the draconian nature of the ICT law enacted � rst by the BNP in 2006 and amended by the AL government in 2013, can be misused as a tool to clamp down on freedom of expression. The jailing of Sikdar over the disputed contents of a social media posting, is a case in point.

There is no reasonable justi� cation for him to have been jailed in this matter. This is especially so given that the police reportedly did not investigate the alleged threats against Sikdar, before arresting him on a complaint � led by a local AL leader.

Like everyone else, the individuals accused by Sikdar have the right to dispute the facts and veracity of his reports in free media and to bring civil actions for defamation.

It is worrisome that draconian provisions of the ICT law have instead enabled a third party to summarily � le a case and have Sikdar arrested and jailed. This means he now faces a potential seven-year prison sentence if found guilty in the defamation case brought under Section 57 of the ICT Act.

This loosely de� ned provision goes far beyond the standard national security and cyber-crime parameters found in analogous ICT laws in other countries. Its existence puts citizens at risk of a prison sentence if found guilty of defamation.

It means any newspaper or other media which publishes reports that can potentially be described as false, runs the risk of facing similar charges and imprisonment. The chilling e� ect on free debate and free media of such laws is self-evident.

We hope the courts will release Sikdar at the � rst available opportunity.The government should support calls to release Sikdar and take steps to amend

the ICT Act so that it can no longer be misused by in� uential persons to suppress legitimate journalistic inquiry and free expression.

Amend draconian provisions of the ICT law to prevent their misuse to suppress free expression

We need to stop using ICT Actto suppress journalism

Women among equals

Would you like some poison with that?Despite knowing the health risks, we are more likely to consume whatever is presented to us

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com

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PAGE 13

PAGE 12

PAGE 14

Armchair activists everywhereWe don’t truly care enough to stand by what we think is worth � ghting for, but consciously or otherwise, we try our best to be articulate on social media

The concept of shame has to be taken out when it comes to educating our children. Adults need to learn to behave as well

BIGSTOCK

OPINION12DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

n Syed Zainul Abedin Eiffel

In a recently revealed study, they sur-veyed the level of heavy metal toxicity in the food in Bangladesh. It was a chart so monumental in size that I was unable to

complete reading it. I couldn’t help but � inch at each entry on the table.

We, as Bangladeshis, often called “mach-he bhaate Bangali,” eat food, at least twice a day, which is contaminated with cadmium, arsenic, lead, and mercury, all of which are injurious to our health.

We as a nation are swallowing high volumes of this harmful stu� every day, constituting a severe threat to our health. This particularly a� ects the middle and upper-middle classes, according to the study. The annual rate of sickness as a result of this is nothing if not alarming.

It has become not so hard to believe that all we consume from morning till night is laced with some form of “venom” that is slowly corroding us from the inside. These are the secret assassins that might eventually get to us, in a country which is already teem-

ing with invisible threats to our lives. Bangladeshis -- we love our food. To gen-

eralise, due to our preference for food when we see it, despite knowing the health risks, we are more likely to consume whatever is presented to us, and, through these foods, the poisons � nd themselves in our system.

The reasons for food contamination are numerous: From environmental and industrial pollution to shoddy agricultural practices, and food processing and packaging, all of these contribute to an overall production of food that is unsuitable for human consumption. This, in turn, is causing damage to our kidneys, our nervous systems, intellectual capacities, and also creates cancers, to name a few, culminat-ing, no doubt, in a most painful death.

The rate at which industrial sludge and e� uents are being emitted without treat-ment is another reason for this sorry state of a� airs. Industrialisation is, of course, good for economic growth, but at what cost? Our lives? Without a healthy populace, what is the point of a booming economy? It won’t buy back our lives.

SK Roy, a senior scientist from ICDDR,B,

detailed their e� ects, and I paraphrase: Use of arti� cial ripening substances, growth hormones, and chemical dyes also contribute to this phenomenon. Formalin injected into our � sh, fruit, meat, and milk cause throat and blood cancer, asthma, and skin diseases. Poisonous colouring agents like auramines, rhodomine b, malachite green, yellow g, allu-ra red, and Sudan red may very well give o� the illusion of bright and juicy fruit, but the reality is one of damaged livers and kidneys, and stomach and bladder cancers.

Other colouring agents such as chrome, tartzine, and erythrosine are used in spices, sauces, juices, lentils, and oils. The results of these: Cancer, of course, in addition to allergies and respiratory problems. Calcium carbide -- another sleeping agent -- causes cancer in the kidneys, livers, skins, prostate, and lungs. Rye � our used in barley, bread, and wheat � our contribute to convulsion and miscarraige.

Hormones used in cauli� owers results in infertility in women. Agino moto, or monoso-dium glutamate, used generally in Chinese food, causes nervous system disorders and

depression. Urea put in rice also results in the same, with a bonus of respiratory problems. Sulphuric acid in milk causes damage to the cardiac system.

The greed for pro� t doesn’t really improve the situation.

About a month ago, in Dinajpur, eight chil-dren, aged between two to six, died eating highly contaminated lychees. In the same month in 2012, 14 kids died for the same rea-son, also in Dinajpur, and Thakurgaon. Since then, the government has not embarked on any investigation on the matter.

So what do we do now? Do we stop eating? Surprisingly enough, there are 16 laws

which are there to � ght food adulteration, which result in, one presumes, the sporadic drives to check for contamination, especially during Ramadan. The government should be taking a more hardened stance on the issue, so that necessary steps are taken to prevent incidents such as these in the future. Other-wise, we’ll be having poison for dinner, with a side of actual food. l

Syed Zainul Abedin Ei� el is a journalist.

Would you like some poison with that?The amount of adulteration in our food should be a cause for alarm

Perhaps clean food should be a basic human right BIGSTOCK

Despite knowing the health risks, we are more likely to consume whatever is presented to us

OPINION 13D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

n Saquib Rahman

Social media networks, especially Face-book, have had an unbelievable im-pact on the youth these days. No stone was left unturned when it came to

heated debates online -- be they legalisation on gay marriage, politics, religion, or secular-ism -- with dedicated Facebook groups being made to tackle such heady subjects, such as the now defunct “Moja Losss?”

During the Shahbagh movement of 2013, I myself was present when Professor Muham-mad Zafar Iqbal publicly apologised to the youth, saying how he had always been wrong in thinking that the current generation only knew how to raise their voices online, that they lacked the guts to bring the protests down to the streets. Though Shahbagh proved to be an exception for a short term, I honestly believe that Zafar Iqbal sir’s original thought still stands somewhat correct.

Leaving protesting outside, even in light of something as appalling as 13-year-old Rajon’s torture-murder last month, most of our young folk were content with the oft-made “suggestion” in their social network of choice, forgetting that there are other, more public, platforms, such as newspapers, in which they can have their voices heard more loudly.

Going by the fact that most choose to share their thoughts through social media almost exclusively, it’s hard not to get the impression that, not only do they post online for the convenience, but that it also requires

less research and knowledge regarding the matter concerned, the depth of which the youth does not care enough to dig into.

Such shallowness not only makes the youth inconsistent with their stances regarding ongoing issues, but also provides them with a false feeling of righteousness. Even though most realise that their social media “messages” make no practical di� erence, another popular trend is to attack speci� c groups or persons for not standing up for a cause which is completely unrelated to the activism of that particular group or person.

For instance, there was the unwarranted online criticism of Gonojagoron Moncho for not organising something as big as the Shah-bagh protests to rally against child abuse in Bangladesh, an issue which has been brought to light after the Rajon incident.

To Facebook posts in the vein of “where is Shahbagh now?” for every other unfortunate incident that occurs, I feel it is important to reply with: “Forget them, why aren’t you there?” The same Imran H Sarker, who the youth once thought as their leader, now has hundreds of such young men and women swearing at him in the most uncouth manner on his Facebook page (related or unrelated to his activism).

Things have taken a turn now, with the intolerance of the youth against secular or atheist writers and free-thinkers. The same youth now judge Imran Sarker for being an atheist (such judgments, unfortunately, have spill-over e� ects), and now they also blame

him and his organisation for not taking into consideration matters which hardly concern them.

I am not trying to make it a point how inconsistent or hypocritical we, the youth, have become just over a short span of time, instead, I am emphasising the comfort of actually doing nothing, or blaming someone else for doing nothing, with regards to a par-ticular issue, while posting entire paragraphs on social media, prioritising one matter above all. Irrespective of the statements Gonojagoron Moncho may make regarding many contemporary issues, there is no doubt when it comes to the organisation’s main motive.

Since I was very young, on every July 21, I have noticed candlelight walks and silent protests being held. Participants of the protests were not only the family members but also leaders and activists of JSD and the socialist followers of Bir Uttam Lieuten-ant Colonel Abu Taher, who was executed through a kangaroo trial. Such a trial was proven to have been illegal, and the pro-testers � nally found some solace after their years of activism, upon the Supreme Court’s verdict in 2011.

On an even smaller scale, “Desh, We’re Concerned” is the only registered non-pro� t organisation to have consistently cam-paigned over the years for the proper trial of the BDR Pilkhana carnage, in which the nation lost 57 Bangladesh Army o� cers. I had initially founded the organisation as an advocacy group, since I thought of this matter to have been of prime importance and deserving of attention.

Just like the thousands of freedom � ghters and their families, biranganas and com-moners � nd it important to � nd justice for 1971. Members of Colonel Taher’s family and his comrades also � nd it relevant to stand against how he was wrongfully killed, and the family members of the 57 o� cers along with “Desh, We’re Concerned” shall continue its activism to unearth the truth behind the Pilkhana massacre -- and all of this is being carried out o� ine.

The youth must try and build a Shahbagh of their own, rather than wait for Gono-jagoron Moncho to act. All activist groups have aims and objectives, and, provided the long paragraphs posted on Facebook actually aim to bear some fruit, the youth are required to be bothered enough to act in real life. Oth-erwise, not only does the nation miss out on the potential good that social media o� ers, but, over time, we will become a generation that practically has nothing to o� er but lists of complaints.

We don’t truly care enough to stand by what we think is worth � ghting for, but consciously or otherwise, we try our best to be articulate on social media, with the sole target of attracting followers, the increasing amount of which we falsely believe makes each of us more celebrated than the others. l

Saquib Rahman is the founder of “Desh, We’re Concerned,” a registered society for rights and social awareness.

Armchair activists everywhereWe are full of strong words, but do we care?

We don’t truly care enough to stand by what we think is worth � ghting for, but consciously or otherwise, we try our best to be articulate on social media

A lot of online activism is meaningless BIGSTOCK

OPINION14DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

n SM Shahrukh

On the April 17, the Dhaka Tribune printed my opinion piece, “Learn to respect women,” in which I tried to delve into how the concept of

shame that is prevalent in our society with regards to the naked human body, the sex act, and the lack of sexual education from an appropriate age, has brought out perversity in the minds of the menfolk and has made women vulnerable members of society. This, time, however, I will try to enumerate the ways in which the overall sexual harrassment situation can be improved.

Rape is the ultimate form of violation meted to a woman; it crosses our de� nitions of sexual harassment and becomes a crime at par with murder and other heinous crimes. Rape victims face numerous problems and are stigmatised for life. The rapist, even if caught red-handed, somehow escapes puni-tive action, largely due to the patriarchal bias that plagues our society.

And the raped, if she is unmarried, will be hard-pressed to � nd a “suitable boy” for marriage. And, as is common with victims of sexual harassment, more often than not, the victim is blamed and faces censure.

A very sad case (or cases) in point: The victims of rape in our War of Independence. The women abused by the Pakistani army and their local allies, the women we call “birangona,” get recognition and a few words or some petty cash on various special days, but are mostly forgotten the rest of the time. Big words have never translated into big attempts at their restitution.

Besides, these women -- not all, but a great majority -- had to wear their “loss of virtue” as a stigma, and even their near and dear ones would not welcome them into their households with open arms, and society pointed them out, mercilessly, as “fallen” women. Their stories are probably the sad-dest legacy of the pains we su� ered during that most glorious of our achievements as a nation -- our independence.

Punishing rapists in the court of law is tricky business. There is almost never an eye-witness and mostly, if ever a rape case comes to court, its outcome hinges on circumstantial evidence, making it di� cult to punish the criminal. Additionally, a rape victim will have to undergo a medical test within 24 hours of the rape, which is another hurdle, as the police in our country are found to be dillydallying about. This is an example of the patriarchal system we live in, oppress-ing women and depriving them justice.

There is now a demand for a provision of “attempt to rape” in the penal code. Even if such a law were to be inducted into the penal code, it won’t be of much use to the victims. In the absence of eye-witnesses, these cases may become a matter of “he said/she said.” But if there is any possibility of improve-ment, bring on the provision.

The matter of sexual harassment, not rape per se, is faced by women from a very early age, way before puberty, and one will be hard-pressed to � nd a woman who has not this demeaning experience. Little girls going

to school or walking about in an amusement park or in close proximity to men in a queue are often mercilessly groped.

The groper skidaddles away, high on perversion, and the groped is scarred for life. The negative e� ects of being groped as a child makes a woman suspicious of all men and the culture of impunity that exists for gropers stops her from reporting it.

The sexual harassment continues for the girl-child through her teens and into her 20s and 30s and does not stop until she is an old lady of vastly diminished physical allure. Young girls and women going to schools, col-leges, and universities face harassment from teachers and other students.

Even if they can stand up to classmates and give a much deserved slap or two, they are often helpless against the higher-ups who are hell-bent on sexual aggression. They can take action against errant teachers only if they get the co-operation of their male colleagues.

In workplaces, the situation is no better. Men often make remarks laced with sexual overtones and get away with it. Women are often groped, shoved, pushed, and their bod-

ies, not so accidentally, brushed, or worse, as they walk the streets or wait for the bus. This sort of behaviour is present in every realm of public space.

A very slim minority of women scream and shout at such ghastly “manly” behav-iour; most su� er in silence. The Bengali woman is raised to become virtuous, and staying demure is a big part of that “edu-cation.” Some women have got it into their heads that wearing the hijab is a sure way of averting cat-calls or saving the orna from getting snatched.

Recently, I read the story of a devout woman who had been sexually harassed in her o� ce; she was hijab-clad at the time. Wearing the hijab to stop from getting sexu-ally harassed is a defeatist attitude and will not stop the marauding “men” from doing what they did at TSC on Pohela Boishakh. However, I respect a woman who wears the veil purely as a religious edict -- to each his or her own faith.

The deputy commissioner of police in charge of media matters declared in no un-certain terms that the police deems as sexual harassment even acts such as a suggestive

stare or remarks that smack of sexual mis-behaviour. But I fail to see the police being rigorous in implementing these policies. No wonder, then, that women seldom turn to the law for protection.

How can we change this deplorable state of a� airs?

Some women’s rights groups are raising hell after the untoward incidents during Pohela Boishakh, and rightly so. This is an opportunity to bring the issue to the fore. Women have faced enough and they deserve a vast improvement in the way they are treated, everywhere they go, be it for edu-cation, work, amusement, or shopping. The government should stand beside them with the full support of the administration. The prime minister, several cabinet ministers, the speaker of the house, and the opposi-tion leaders, both o� cial and uno� cial, are women. The battling begums of our politics should unite in this issue, at least.

At the time of our independence and the � rst two decades after that, the population boom could not be supported by the meagre resources of a country trying to grapple with the aftermath of a bloody war. But then the government of the day and the subsequent ones launched massive family planning awareness and implementation programs with support from donor agencies. Since then, we have reduced the growth in popula-tion signi� cantly.

The taboo of talking about sex and contra-ceptives was broken by health o� cials and volunteers who went to the farthest and re-motest villages to create awareness. I see no reason why such large-scale programs cannot be launched to � ght the scourge of sexual harassment. A few posters about “eve-teas-ing” and a small advert or two on television will not su� ce.

The government needs to empower the local governments and employ experts to impart knowledge to the � eld workers whom the upazilla or union parishads will employ. A country that aims to be a middle-income one by 2021 should not have any dearth of funds for this country-wide operation. It needs initiative from the people in power. The clerics will also need to be trained with regards to the correct and acceptable social behaviour; people listen more to them than even their family elders.

Some apparently unpopular steps need to be taken but there can be no equivocation about taking them.

The concept of shame has to be taken out when it comes to educating our children. Adults need to learn to behave as well. If one sees one’s father showing utter disdain to-wards women, one is wont to follow in those footsteps.

We all need to grow up and acknowledge the elephant in the room. Meanwhile, the perpetrators like those at TSC, should be pun-ished to the fullest extent of the law. Howev-er, that would only be treating a symptom; the disease that needs immediate attention is in our minds. If we stop at the symptom, the disease simply goes merrily along. l

SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

Women among equals Awareness must be created to curb sexual harassment against women

The plight of women in our country is an unacceptable one BIGSTOCK

The concept of shame has to be taken out when it comes to educating our children. Adults need to learn to behave as well

15D

TBusiness WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Bangladesh, USA gap in RMG compliance persists

17 Stocks rebound from three-week low19

Muhith: FIs not upgraded to satisfactory level

16 The cost of China’s devaluation20

Banks su� er huge provision shortfalln Jebun Nesa Alo

The country’s banking sector experienced a provision shortfall of Tk2,472 crore in June, which was required to maintain against the default loans.

Though the shortfall amount was de-creased by over Tk1,300 crore in April-June quarter compared to Tk3,778 crore in the pre-vious January-March quarter.

“A slight fall in bad loans mainly accounted for the lower provision requirement that led the shortfall to go down during the second quarter of this year,” a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank yesterday.

The actual provision maintained by the banking sector was Tk27,564 crore against the required provision of Tk30,036 crore in June, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

The provision shortfall of the � ve state-owned banks including BASIC Bank, which had major contribution in total shortfall amount, increased by 691% or Tk1,211 crore to Tk2,957 crore in June compared to Tk1,746 crore in March.

Sonali Bank and BASIC Bank mainly ac-counted for the total shortfall amount that incurred by the � ve state-owned banks.

The shortfall of Sonali Bank stood at Tk1,468 crore in June compared to surplus of over Tk81 crore in March.

The scam-hit BASIC Bank experienced a decline in shortfall amount to Tk1,691 crore in June from Tk2,043 crore in March, said Bang-ladesh Bank data.

Attending a recent meeting, Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman had warned that observers would be appointed at the state-owned banks if their existing perfor-mances were not improved.

The governor expressed his extreme dis-satisfaction over the poor performance of the state-owned banks mainly due to the rising trend of default loans and capital shortfall.

The three private banks, out of 39, su� ered from provision shortfall are-Bangladesh Com-merce Bank, National Bank and Standard Bank.

The shortfall of National Bank stood at Tk62.22 crore, BCBL Tk196 crore while Stand-ard Bank Tk20 crore.

The total bad loans of the banking sector decreased slightly to 7.75% in second quarter from 8.07% in the � rst quarter, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

The total bad loans stood at little over Tk42,000 crore in June compared to Tk42,158 crore in March.

The � ve state-owned banks have a total bad loan of Tk 18,649 crore as of June, rising from Tk18,514 crore in March.

The gross default loan rate stood at 9.67% in April-June quarter of the year 2015 from 10.47% in the previous quarter.

The amount of total default loans de-creased by Tk2,141 crore to Tk52,516 crore in June compared to Tk54,657 crore in Janu-ary-March quarter.

Bangladesh Bank’s latest data showed that the total outstanding loan stood at Tk5,43,085 crore in June. l

ISPs warn to stop services in Motijheel n Tribune Report

Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) warned to stop providing internet services in the capital’s Motijheel and Dilkusha commercial areas in protest of a de-cision to remove overhead internet cables.

Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) has decided to remove the overhead cables from the areas by August 21.

“If the decision is � nally enforced, we will have to take tough actions. DPDC and DESCO will be responsible for any disastrous situa-tion in that case,” MA Hakim, president of ISP-AB, told a press conference yesterday.

He said the government has given Nation-wide Telecommunication Transmission Net-work (NTTN) licence to two organisations only. “But they are not fully prepared to provide us with technical solutions. The ISPs have devel-oped their networks in their own ways. We have installed hundreds of kilometres of cables on the poles investing hundreds of crores of taka.”

MA Hakim said overhead cables were es-sential to provide the internet service smooth-ly. “In order to avoid the problem of overhead cables, the number of LDP points needs to be increased, which is the responsibility of NTTN operators.”

“Unfortunately, it has been noticed that the ministry of power and the DPDC always try to put the responsibility on the shoulders of ISP operators instead of NTTN operators,” he alleged.

Motijheel and Dilkusha areas are the major commercial hubs of Bangladesh. All the com-mercial activities of the country are operated and controlled from here. Bangladesh Bank, head o� ces of di� erent state-owned and pri-vate commercial banks, insurance companies, garment industries and other major compa-nies are situated here. All overseas commer-cial operations are also carried out from here.

In this regard, a technical committee has been formed, led by deputy secretary to pow-er, energy and mineral resources ministry. Other members of the committee include rep-

resentatives from DESCO, DPDC, BTRC, Sum-mit Communication Ltd, Fibre@Home Ltd, BTCL, CCOAB and ISPAB. The committee has been working for removal of overhead cables over the last two years after monitoring and analysing the technical problems.

“We don’t understand how DESCO and DPDC have published notices through news-papers for removal of overhead cables in com-mercial areas like Motijheel and Dilkusha without prior consultation with the commit-tee,” ISPAB General Secretary Md Emdadul Huq said.

“Every year, we pay Tk62 crore to Fibre@Home and Tk42 crore to Summit Com-munication, but we didn’t get proper services from them,” he alleged.

He said in order to avoid such an undesirable situation, ISPAB leaders proposed to en-sure NTTN operators’ “last-mile

underground connections” to � x the NTTN ca-ble rate at Tk0.25-0.30 per mitre.

“But now it stands at Tk2.00. DPDC, DE-SCO, city corporations and other 2/3 private companies should be given the opportunity to have the NTTN licence. Otherwise all the ISPs will not get the bene� t of NTTN.”

Former ISPAB President Akhtaruzzaman Manju also spoke at the press conference. l

JAN-MAR2015

OCT-DEC2014

Required Provision

28,960Actual Provision

28,164Provision Shortfall

796

Required Provision

30,680Actual Provision

26,902Provision Shortfall

3,778

APR-JUNE2015

Required Provision

30,036Actual Provision

27,564Provision Shortfall

2,472

(TK IN CRORE)TREN

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PRO

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ORTF

ALL I

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NKIN

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CTOR

BUSINESS16DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Another denim expo in November after successfullast eventn Tribune Report

Bangladesh is going to host another denim expo in November as the sector received a huge response from the last event in May this year.

The two-day event titled “Bangladesh Denim Expo” will be held on 11-12 November at the International Convention City Bashun-dhara in Dhaka, said a press release yesterday.

The expo will aim to attract international buyers to the latest designs of Bangladeshi jeans and other denim products.

“There was a huge response from interna-tional buyers after the May event, so we have decided to organise another such event in larger arrangements in November,” said CEO of the Expo Mosta� z Uddin.

“In May we displayed products of unique and innovative designs which pleased the buyers,” he added.

Musta� z said their primary purpose was to create a platform for denim stakeholders and make Bangladesh as one-stop sourcing plat-form for denim industry, which could bring bene� ts to the entrepreneurs.

The expo is aimed at not only promoting the denim industry but also encouraging a better business practice and raising the living standard of the people, he stressed.

There will have six seminars on di� erent topics relating to denim industry and its pros-pects and challenges on the sidelines of the upcoming expo. A “Trend Zone” will be set up to display latest and future denim trends.

About 4,000 apparel entrepreneurs, busi-nessmen, fashion professionals and other stakeholders from 1,200 companies of 60 countries will visit the expo. Bangladesh is the second largest denim exporter to the European market and the third largest in the US market.

About 50 denim manufacturers and enter-prises from 15 countries including the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the Neth-erlands, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Hong Kong, Brazil, Australia, Russia and Bangladesh will take part in the expo. l

ECNEC okays six projects of Tk4,000crn Tribune Report

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved six development projects related to improving seed quality, riv-er dredging and communication.

The cost of the projects has been estimated at a total of Tk3,962 crore.

Of the amount, the government will pro-vide Tk3,814 crore from public exchequer while the respective agencies will bear Tk147 crore from their own funds.

Among the projects, four are new and two are revised.

The projects were approved at a meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Of them, the project on production and development of high quality seed of pad-dy, wheat and corn (second phase) is worth Tk353.45 crore.

Under the project, some 150,000 metric tons of standard quality cereal seeds including

paddy, wheat and corn would be produced, processed and distributed among the farmers.

This is aimed at boosting crop production and ensure food security in Bangladesh, Plan-ning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told jour-nalists after the meeting.

He said annual demand for seed is 370,000 metric tons, of which, around 37% could be met after completion of the project. Bangla-desh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) will implement the project at 166 upazilas under 35 districts in six divisions by June 2020.

Another project on procurement of dredg-ers and other related equipment for dredging rivers of Bangladesh (� rst revised) will be implemented at a cost of Tk1,253 crore. Bang-ladesh Water Development Board will imple-ment the project by 2016.

Under the project, 21 dredger sets with 650 mm diameters, 500 mm diameters and 250 mm diameters would be procured, said the planing minister.

He said some 216 dredgers would be re-quired for carrying out capital dredging across the country. The dredgers will cost around Tk31,000 crore.

The project on damaged roads, drains and footpath development of � ve areas under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has been taken at Tk250 crore.

Under the project works include develop-ment of some 169 kilometres roads, construc-tion of about 187.63 kilometers drains and development of around 25.19 kilometer-long footpaths. The DSCC will implement the pro-ject by June 2017.

Other projects are rehabilitation of Kalu-khali-Bhatiapara section railway track and construction of Kashiani-Gopalganj-Tungipa-ra railway track at a total cost of Tk2,023 crore, creating physical facilities for transfer of tech-nology and innovation of BCSIR at Tk36.63 crore, expansion of BCS administrative acad-emy building and extension of training facili-ties there at Tk44.60 crore. l

Muhith: FIs not upgraded to satisfactory leveln Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has stated that the services of the banks and � nancial institu-tions have been developed over the years but their upgradation works are yet to reach the expected level.

Muhith came up with the remark while ad-dressing a two-day national conference titled “Inclusive Finance in Bangladesh” at Bangab-andhu International Conference Center in the city yesterday.

Institute of Micro� nance organised the event.

Speaking as chief guest, the minister said, “A poor man is facing hardship to repay loan instalments at 27% interest rate although the country’s � nancial agencies have spent huge amount of money to provide those credit fa-cilities.”

Country’s banks provide major services to their clients but every one admit government services have increased by 3-4 times com-pared to previous period, he also said.

Muhith further said the services of the country’s � nancial institutions wouldbe in-creased if the local � nance institutions could create more innovative activities for their cli-ents like commercial banks. Banks provide major � nance services to clients. Besides a large number of micro-� nance institutions come in the front to provide � nancial facili-ties to clients, observed the minister.

“But now the major problems of the coun-try’s � nancial institutions is to arrange funds for their operation,” opined Muhith.

Muhith said, “The � nancial institutions have expanded across the country over last 20 years but they have imposed huge service charges to their clients. Those institutions will go further in the rural areas to reduce the poverty level.”

A research conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management shows that � -

nancial inclusion of the total population was 39.76% in 2004 which rose to 56.42% in 2010 due to the opening of 90 lakh Tk10 farmers’ accounts in state banks.

There are around 9,000 bank branches along with about 18,000 branches of NGO-MFIs, 1,200 thousands post o� ces and 183,000 co-operative outlets totalling about 2.1 lakh branches/outlets for the 56.6 million economi-cally active population - generating at least one � nancial service point per 270 people.

In 2011,Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, issued Mobile Financial Servic-es (MFS) Guidelines de� ning a model where MFS must be bank-led, but partnerships with regulated micro-� nance institutions were

made to reach customers. Two MFS providers have emerged as early

leaders: bKash of BRAC Bank and Dutch Bang-la-Bank mobile banking.

Launched in 2011, bKash, initially a joint venture of BRAC Bank and the US based com-pany Money in Motion, has emerged as the market leader with more than 15 million cus-tomers.

Following IFC’s investment, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the world, also made an equi-ty investment in 2014. The service provider has around 105,000 agent points nationwide to facilitate cash-in and cash-out services at every corner of Bangladesh. l

UAE open to meeting Indian oil demandn Reuters, Abu Dhabi

The United Arab Emirates is open to meeting any demand for oil from India, the Gulf OPEC member’s economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri told Reuters on Monday.

Mansouri was speaking after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the UAE on a two-day visit.

“India is importing oil now and the UAE is open to meet demand for any oil from India,” Mansouri said, adding that the issue would be discussed further by representatives of the two sides. Abu Dhabi currently provides 9% of India’s energy needs and India is the world’s fourth biggest oil consumer.

Mansouri said Modi presented proposals for investments in India worth $1tn. “The UAE can focus on certain areas such as infrastructure, railways, medical, tourism, real estate,” Man-souri said, adding the tourism sector had huge potential but needed rules to develop it. l

Finance Minister AMA Muhith speaks at a national conference on inclusive � nance in Bangladesh at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

BUSINESS 17D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Proposal to buy lighterage vessel goes to cabinet committee todayn Asif Showkat Kallol

Shipping ministry is set to place a proposal before cabinet committee on public purchase today to procure a crude oil carrying light-erage vessel. The present two vessels are 27-year old and will not be allowed in the inter-national maritime area after the end of 2015.

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) provision, the single hull based two oil lighterage vessels - MT Banglar Jyoti and MT Banglar Shourabh will no longer be allowed to operate in international mari-time area from end of this year.

IMO said the vessels are 27-year old and need to be replaced. It said only the double hull based vessel would be allowed in the interna-tional maritime area after the end of this year.

A shipping ministry o� cial said the Tur-key’s Camlica Shipping would supply a 12 year-old crude oil carrying lighterage vessel in a few months as per condition tagged with tender.

A total of � ve local and foreign companies participated in the tender.

Turkey’s Camlica Shipping’s local agent M/S Afroz Shipping and M/S Overseas Market-ing Corporation passed the technical evalua-tion of tender process, the o� cial said.

Camlica Shipping scored the highest point and agreed to supply MT PULI lighterage ves-sel with a capacity of 15,857 MT DWT. The ves-sels will be procured at a cost of Tk156.11 crore.

In January the cabinet committee on pub-lic procurement approved in principle the procurement of six vessels for BSC with fund-ing from Chinese Exim Bank - one of a number of investment undertakings China pursuing.

Presently, the corporation has 13 ships. Of them, one is container ship, 10 are product carriers and two are lighter tankers. A BSC o� cial said the average age of the ships is 28 years, which need to be replaced very soon.

Established in 1972, the BSC is entrusted with the responsibility of carrying bulk cargo, food-grains and crude oil, chartering, tramp-ing and feeder services, unloading and pro-viding agency service and ship repairing. l

Norwegian fund excludes four Asian � rms over palm oiln AFP, Oslo

Norway’s gigantic sovereign wealth fund an-nounced Monday it was divesting from four large Asian companies over the environmental damage their palm oil activities have on trop-ical forests. The world’s largest public invest-ment fund, managing 7.15tn kroner (785bn euros, $872bn), said its decision to exclude four groups - including South Korean group Daewoo International - from its portfolio was based on “an assessment of the risk of severe environmental damage” from their conver-sion of tropical forests to cultivate palm oil.

Daewoo, South Korean steelmaker Posco and Malaysian groups Genting and IJM were targeted in the divestment decision by Norway’s central bank, which manages the wealth fund that owns around 1.3% of all stocks on global equity mar-kets, with stakes in about 9,000 companies. l

Vehicles travel on a bridge past the skyline of the central business district in Singapore REUTERS

Bangladesh, USA gap in RMG compliance persistsn Tribune Report

The di� erence between Bangladesh and USA over the implementation of the Action Plan outlined for the restoration of GSP facilities stillpersists.

Although the government of Bangladesh has claimed that it has successfully complet-ed all the sixteen conditions of the Action Plan, the US government is arguing that still three is room for more progress in the � eld of labor rights, freedom of association and safe-ty issues.

However, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday clari� ed that Bangladesh was just only one condition away to comply with all the conditions of the Action Plan set by the US authorities to get back the GSP fa-cility.

The rules of the amended Labour Act, the lone condition to comply with, will be done-shortly as it is now pending with the law min-istry for vetting, said Ahmed.

“We’ll be able to achieve 100% compli-ances as soon as the rules are issued after the vetting within an expected one-week period,” said the minister while brie� ng the reporters

after a meeting with the foreign diplomats in Bangladesh, including the US Ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat.

During the meeting, the diplomats and the commerce minister broadly discussed about the Sustainability Compact and National Tri-partite Action Plan, which is aimed at upgrad-ing the safety standard of Bangladesh indus-try especially in the RMG sector.

“I think tremendous progress has already been made on labor safety and some progress on workers’ rights,” said US Ambassador Ber-nicat.

In response to a question, the US diplomat said: “As we’ve satisfactory situation for all concerns, I want to sent the message to our USTR representative who will visit Bangla-desh in mid-September to see the overall pro-gress so far made.”

“We’re exceedingly pleasedto be here, all of us present here renewed our commitment to help Bangladesh and its RMG sector and still there are number of issues where we’ve worked together and continued to work fur-ther,” she added.

She also pointed out that there were a six-teen-point Action Plan and there was progress

in many of the items but still there are some issues to be addressed which include workers rights, safety, online data for union registra-tion, transparent data base on working condi-tions and complains and stopping unfair labor practices.

“We’re working with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to focus on those area,” she added.

A USTR team will visit Bangladesh in Sep-tember while Bangladeshi team comprising commerce, foreign and labor secretary will visit USA, said Ahmed.

“Following the view-exchange meeting, I am sure that the US administration will soon realisethat time has come to withdraw the GSP suspension for Bangladesh and provide trade facilities under the scheme, hoped the minister.

Among others, Benoit Pierre Laramee, high commissioner of Canada to Bangladesh, Sa-rah Cooke, head of DFID Bangladesh, Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh Hanne FuglEskjer, Labor Secretary MikalShipar, Senior Com-merce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and Foreign SecretaryShahidul Islam attend-ed the meeting. l

Singapore bankers rattled by Asian moves to chase undeclared wealthn Reuters, Singapore

Singapore-based wealth managers, already under pressure from a global move towards tax information sharing, face a more imme-diate threat as Asian countries including In-donesia and India look to chase undeclared money in the low-tax city state.

A global crackdown on tax evasion launched during the 2008 � nancial crisis has already forced Switzerland and other European o� shore hubs to surrender their prized bank secrecy.

Like those centres, Singapore has commit-ted to automatically start sharing information with foreign tax authorities from 2018, in line with an agreement signed by more than 51 countries last year that seeks to put an end to tax evasion.

But Singapore banks face a more urgent challenge.

Indonesia, Singapore’s main source of wealth assets, is considering o� ering a tax amnesty to individuals willing to repatriate funds from abroad - targeting $225bn Jakarta says is parked in Singapore alone.

“Indonesia accounts for 30-50% of busi-ness for private banks in Singapore,” a Sin-gapore-based banker at a top global wealth manager told Reuters. “Clients are worried and asking about this, (while) accounting and legal � rms are pitching to help clients struc-ture their transactions,” said another banker.

Both declined to be named due to client con� dentiality rules. The second banker said one client was considering whether to pass his wealth directly to one of his children, who is in the process of taking Singapore nationality.

Singapore, Asia’s second-largest o� shore

centre by assets behind Hong Kong, has thrived as a banking centre due to its political and economic stability, low taxes and rule of law. It manages $470 billion of private client assets, Deloitte data show.

Singapore’s central bank has said it has a rigorous regime to combat money laundering and is ready to take tough action if there are breaches. Sources said Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) o� cials have been asking private banks if they have heard any client concerns about the exchange of information mechanism. The MAS didn’t comment.

The � nance ministry noted that Singapore would need to sign bilateral agreements be-fore any automatic data sharing, and those deals would depend on partner countries hav-ing a “robust” legal framework to maintain in-formation con� dentiality and “con� ne its use to tax purposes”, a ministry spokeswoman

said.Seeking to recoup funds it � rst bled in the

aftermath of former president Suharto’s gov-ernment, Jakarta is looking to introduce a tax amnesty, but has given no timetable for this.

“The idea is to � rst prepare the legal frame-work,” Suahasil Nazara, who heads the � scal policy o� ce, told Reuters.

The planned amnesty, private bankers say, is modelled on a successful but controversial Italian tax scheme that helped Rome recoup billions of euros unlawfully parked in Switzer-land against the payment of a modest penalty.

This system, which was criticised for al-lowing tax evaders to come clean without too much pain, is a faster way to recover funds than wading through a myriad of tax and bank data.

India, too, is trying to turn up the heat on an estimated $340 billion of undeclared wealth by its residents. l

BUSINESS18DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 646.38 12.23 40.58 8.57 686.97 11.93NBFI 208.79 3.95 17.95 3.79 226.74 3.94Investment 98.00 1.85 3.89 0.82 101.89 1.77Engineering 872.85 16.51 73.54 15.53 946.39 16.43Food & Allied 285.16 5.39 113.43 23.96 398.60 6.92Fuel & Power 716.46 13.55 47.16 9.96 763.62 13.26Jute 14.88 0.28 0.00 14.88 0.26Textile 653.76 12.37 46.95 9.92 700.71 12.17Pharma & Chemical 805.13 15.23 44.79 9.46 849.92 14.76Paper & Packaging 13.26 0.25 1.13 0.24 14.39 0.25Service 73.22 1.39 4.44 0.94 77.65 1.35Leather 189.64 3.59 11.53 2.43 201.17 3.49Ceramic 42.67 0.81 2.50 0.53 45.17 0.78Cement 164.26 3.11 17.50 3.70 181.75 3.16Information Technology 31.38 0.59 2.14 0.45 33.51 0.58General Insurance 29.58 0.56 0.91 0.19 30.49 0.53Life Insurance 45.05 0.85 2.69 0.57 47.74 0.83Telecom 151.10 2.86 14.38 3.04 165.48 2.87Travel & Leisure 84.15 1.59 12.24 2.59 96.39 1.67Miscellaneous 159.49 3.02 15.71 3.32 175.20 3.04Debenture 0.56 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.56 0.01

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

News, analysis and recent disclosuresRUPALIBANK: Alpha Credit Rating Limited (AlphaRating) has rated the Company as “A” in the long term and “AR-2” in the short term along with a stable outlook based on audited � nan-cial statements of the Company up to December 31, 2014 and relevant qualitative information up to August 16, 2015.1STPRIMFMF: ICB has informed to the hon ’ble Unit holders and all concerned of Prime Finance First Mutual Fund, managed by ICB Asset Management Compa-ny Ltd., that Prime Finance First Mutual Fund will complete its tenure of 7 years on 14 March, 2016. As per rule, this fund will be abolished from 15 March, 2016. As a result, from that date its trading will remain closed. As per rule 50 (Kha) of the Securi-ties and Exchange Commission (Mutual Fund) regulation, 2001, if required consent is obtained from three forth number of unit holders present in the meeting, then the term of the scheme can be extended subject to approval of BSEC. In the trustee commit-tee meeting, it has been decided that if minimum three forth con-sent is obtained from the unit holders of Prime Finance First Mutual Fund in the unit holders meeting, the term of the fund may be extended for 3 years, subject to approval of BSEC. The record date in this case will be 09.09.2015. Date, time and ven-ue of the unit holders’ meeting will be noti� ed later.Dividend/AGMAPEXTANRY: 45% cash, AGM: 04.10.2015, Record date: 09.09.2015. GRAMEENS2: 10%

cash 15% Unit Dividend, Record date: 07.09.2015. GRAMEEN1: 82% Unit Divi-dend, Record date: 07.09.15.GREENDELMF: 4.50% Cash Dividend. Record date: 06.09.2015. ABB1STMF: 15% Unit Dividend. Record date: 07.09.2015. EBLNRBMF: 6% Unit Dividend. Record date: 07.09.2015. PHPMF1: 7.50% Unit Dividend Record date: 07.09.2015. POPULAR1MF: 12% Unit Dividend. Record date: 07.09.2015.BERGERPBL: 100% interim cash dividend. Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 20.08.2015.PRAGATILIF: 17% cash and 5% stock dividend AGM: 29.09.2015,. Record Date: 20.08.2015.SHASHADNIM: 10% interim cash dividend for 2015, Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 20.08.2015.NAVANACNG: 15% cash general shareholders (excluding Sponsors), AGM: 16.09.2015, Record Date: 18.08.2015. SUNLIFEINS: 6% stock, AGM: 15.09.2015, Record Date: 18.08.2015.APEXSPINN: 20% cash AGM: 30.09.2015, Record date: 18.08.2015.SQURPHARMA: 30% cash and 12.50% stock dividend, AGM: 16.09.2015, Record Date: 13.08.2015.MEGHNALIFE: 13% cash and 20% stock, AGM: 27.08.2015, Record Date: 30.07.2015.STYLECRAFT: 60% cash, AGM: 27.08.2015, Record Date: 30.07.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Apex Tannery -A 9.93 7.88 161.35 165.00 165.10 150.00 9.909 6.25 25.8Apex Foods -A 9.88 9.91 170.14 170.10 170.20 170.00 0.158 0.36 472.6Prime Textile -A 9.69 6.52 20.91 21.50 21.50 20.00 4.575 0.99 21.1IFIC 1st MF-A 8.51 7.59 5.10 5.10 5.10 5.10 0.003 0.73 7.0AMCL (Pran) -A 8.12 7.80 230.88 233.00 234.20 224.90 2.726 6.19 37.3Zahintex Ind.-N 7.80 3.31 21.54 22.10 22.40 20.60 2.122 1.03 20.91st ICB M F -A 6.22 6.22 1498.00 1498.00 1498.00 1498.00 0.003 142.00 10.5Social Islami. B-A 6.11 4.02 13.71 13.90 14.10 13.40 2.172 0.70 19.6Apex Footwear-A 5.76 5.75 389.00 389.00 389.00 389.00 0.012 -24.62 -vePeople`s Leasing-A 5.16 4.21 16.08 16.30 16.50 15.50 12.664 0.20 80.4

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Apex Foods -A 9.96 7.19 170.86 177.80 177.80 157.50 47.936 0.36 474.6Apex Tannery -A 9.96 4.96 157.32 163.40 163.40 147.00 155.340 6.25 25.2Atlas BD-A 9.86 4.56 153.05 156.00 156.20 140.20 32.599 -1.24 -veNorthern Jute -Z 8.75 8.64 353.44 355.50 355.50 331.10 4.699 1.75 202.0Prime Textile -A 8.63 6.12 20.81 21.40 21.50 19.50 34.645 0.99 21.0AMCL (Pran) -A 8.31 6.20 229.30 233.40 234.20 215.00 63.834 6.19 37.0People`s Leasing-A 6.41 5.20 16.19 16.60 16.80 15.60 93.855 0.20 81.0FAR Chemical-N 6.12 2.24 55.73 57.20 57.60 53.60 118.105 3.23 17.3Zahintex Ind.-N 5.69 3.32 21.77 22.30 22.90 20.90 24.128 1.03 21.1Renwick Jajneswar-A 5.54 3.05 273.00 278.10 283.40 262.10 1.380 3.91 69.8

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

6th ICB M F-A -10.40 -9.91 60.30 60.30 60.30 60.30 0.000 13.93 4.38th ICB M F-A -9.80 -12.11 61.70 61.70 61.70 61.70 0.000 17.26 3.6EBL NRB M.F.-A -9.26 -8.16 4.95 4.90 5.90 4.90 0.010 0.61 8.1Rupali Bank - A -8.30 -8.21 43.14 43.10 45.00 43.00 0.071 2.20 19.6AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A -8.16 -6.33 4.59 4.50 4.80 4.50 0.137 4.76 1.0Standard Insurance-A -7.27 -7.27 15.30 15.30 15.30 15.30 0.001 2.90 5.3Samata LeatheR -Z -5.80 -5.93 26.00 26.00 26.00 26.00 0.000 -0.05 -veSonargaon Tex -Z -4.60 -4.48 8.31 8.30 8.50 8.20 0.059 -2.26 -veNational Life I -A -4.11 -4.11 172.60 172.60 172.60 172.60 0.002 12.46 13.91st Janata Bank MF-A -3.92 -2.17 4.96 4.90 5.00 4.90 0.093 0.79 6.3

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

GeminiSeaFood-B -5.44 -1.16 418.92 408.20 442.00 397.00 7.561 11.77 35.6BD Fixed Income MF-A -5.26 -6.87 7.19 7.20 7.80 7.10 1.165 0.51 14.1Midas Financing-Z -4.96 -7.04 13.08 13.40 13.80 12.90 0.625 -1.55 -veLR Global BD MF1-A -4.26 -2.58 4.53 4.50 4.60 4.50 1.257 0.40 11.3Phoenix Fin. 1st MF-A -4.08 -2.89 4.71 4.70 4.80 4.70 0.256 0.65 7.2Trust Bank 1st MF-A -3.92 -2.18 4.93 4.90 5.10 4.80 4.772 0.69 7.1Monno Sta� lers -A -3.75 -2.73 275.74 275.00 282.00 266.50 0.640 0.70 393.95th ICB M F-A -3.52 0.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 199.90 0.097 35.67 5.6Kohinoor Chem -A -3.29 -3.64 391.43 391.00 402.00 382.50 1.325 8.25 47.4Al-Haj Textile -A -3.28 -5.20 133.65 132.50 139.00 130.10 86.223 1.07 124.9

DSE key features August 18, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

5,285.77

Turnover (Volume)

145,392,177

Number of Contract

122,274

Traded Issues 319

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

133

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

182

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,701.54

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.75

CSE key features August 18, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

473.46

Turnover (Volume)

11,921,231

Number of Contract

17,180

Traded Issues 253

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

95

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

150

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,603.31

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.56

BUSINESS 19D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Stocks rebound from three-week lown Tribune Report

Stocks bounced back from nearly three-week low yesterday, snapping a three-session losing streak.

The market opened lower and continued to remain in red till last session but � nal minute buying spree mainly on heavyweights like banks and telecommunications that pulled up the market.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark index, DSEX, closed up over 41 points or 0.9% at 4,809.

The Shariah index, DSES, rose 10 points or 0.9% to 1,184. The blue chip comprising index DS30 settled at 1,841, rising 14 points or 0.8%.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX gained 48 points to 8,963.

Gainers took a marginal lead over losers as out of 318 is-sues traded, 143 advanced, 133 declined and 42 remained unchanged.

However, trading activities still remained sluggish as DSE turnover stood at Tk528 crore, down over 14% from the pre-vious session’s Tk610 crore.

Banks continued to show its muscle since the news that default loans came down to single digit. The banking sector moved up 1.8%, extending winning streak for the second consecutive session.

After remaining � at over the last several sessions, tele-communications-led by the country’s largest mobile phone operator Grameenphone, surged 1.5%.

Pharmaceuticals also went up by 1.4%, followed by ce-ment 0.8%, non-banking � nancial institutions 0.6%, power 0.3%, and food and allied 0.2% respectively. IT and textile were down by 0.5% and 0.6% respectively.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market has closed higher above 4800 aided by lucrative prices of value stocks.

All the major multi-national companies stock gained while banking stocks continued to rally reacting to the news of improved asset quality, it said.

Islami Bank continued to top the liquidity chart with turnover worth over Tk20 crore. It was followed by Fami-lytex, Square Pharmaceuticals, Apex Tannery, Shahjibazar Power Company Limited and Lafarge Surma Cement. l

The gradual trimming down of the market continued as most scrips traded succumbed to investors’ reluctance

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 12342.24140 (+) 0.87% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1841.86016 (+) 0.76% ▲

CSE All Share Index: 14717.98780 (+) 0.54% ▲

CSE - 30 Index : 12342.24140 (+) 0.69% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 8963.51700 (+) 0.54% ▲

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

BATBCL -A 35,000 103.25 21.81 3000.00 0.00 3000.00 3000.00 3000.00 2950.00BSRM Ltd. -A 148,231 17.36 3.67 115.40 -2.04 117.80 119.90 114.00 117.09LafargeS Cement-A 126,559 14.75 3.12 117.40 0.17 117.20 118.00 115.90 116.55Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 1,007,970 14.61 3.08 14.40 -2.04 14.70 14.70 14.30 14.49United Power-N 86,904 13.90 2.94 159.20 -0.50 160.00 162.00 158.20 159.91FAR Chemical-N 235,904 13.09 2.76 57.20 5.93 54.00 57.80 54.00 55.48People`s Leasing-A 787,489 12.66 2.67 16.30 5.16 15.50 16.50 15.50 16.08UNITED AIR-A 1,048,253 11.03 2.33 10.50 -0.94 10.60 10.70 10.40 10.53Grameenphone-A 33,788 10.57 2.23 315.80 1.54 311.00 318.00 308.40 312.86BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 332,754 10.43 2.20 31.20 -1.58 31.70 32.00 31.00 31.33Apex Tannery -A 61,413 9.91 2.09 165.00 9.93 150.10 165.10 150.00 161.35CVO PetroChem RL-A 20,634 8.95 1.89 432.00 0.70 429.00 445.00 428.00 433.81Islami Bank BD - A 287,816 8.81 1.86 30.60 0.66 30.40 31.00 30.30 30.62Square Pharma -A 35,377 8.37 1.77 239.20 1.70 235.20 239.80 234.60 236.61Olympic Accessories -N 129,682 8.06 1.70 61.80 -1.12 62.50 63.40 61.60 62.16

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

Islami Bank BD - A 6,620,315 202.69 3.83 30.80 1.32 30.40 31.00 30.20 30.62Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 13,906,328 200.57 3.79 14.40 -2.70 14.80 15.40 14.20 14.42Square Pharma -A 701,715 166.16 3.14 238.90 1.70 234.90 239.50 234.50 236.80Apex Tannery -A 987,421 155.34 2.94 163.40 9.96 148.60 163.40 147.00 157.32Shahjibazar Power-N 797,450 153.79 2.91 192.30 -1.44 195.10 195.00 190.20 192.85LafargeS Cement-A 1,095,424 128.13 2.42 117.80 0.86 116.80 119.20 115.80 116.96United Power-N 796,582 127.61 2.41 159.50 -0.75 160.70 163.00 158.60 160.20FAR Chemical-N 2,119,047 118.11 2.23 57.20 6.12 53.90 57.60 53.60 55.73Ratanpur Steel -N 1,720,580 116.70 2.21 67.70 -0.88 68.30 69.00 67.10 67.82Grameenphone-A 370,013 115.52 2.19 315.90 1.54 311.10 320.00 309.00 312.21Beximco Pharma -A 1,568,153 101.58 1.92 65.00 -0.15 65.10 65.70 64.10 64.78BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 3,206,361 100.19 1.90 31.20 -0.95 31.50 31.90 31.00 31.25Ifad Autos -N 928,426 99.13 1.88 107.80 4.05 103.60 108.90 103.20 106.77CVO PetroChem RL-A 224,896 97.58 1.85 431.40 1.55 424.80 446.00 426.00 433.89People`s Leasing-A 5,795,849 93.86 1.78 16.60 6.41 15.60 16.80 15.60 16.19

BUSINESS20DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

BRAC Bank Limited has recently signed an agreement with Guardian Life Insurance Company Limited for providing life insurance coverage to its (small business, unsecured) loan customers. The bank’s MD and CEO, Syed Mahbubur Rahman and MM Monirul Alam, MD & CEO of Guardian Life Insurance exchanged documents after signing the agreement at the bank’s head o� ce

The cost of China’s devaluationn Edward Chancellor

Financial markets, like religions, are faith-based networks. The complex structures of assets and liabilities that comprise markets are held together by a set of underlying beliefs. Un-like religions, however, � nancial dogmas are occasionally shown to be false. We experienced such a moment last week, when the Chinese authorities chose to devalue their currency.

For years, the consensus view has been that as China’s economy outgrew the devel-oped world, its currency would inevitably appreciate. True, the yuan’s value was pegged to the dollar, but Beijing in the past had allowed it to gradually rise. The decision by the People’s Bank of China to relax the peg and depreciate the currency thus took the market by surprise. The signi� -cance of this move is not that it will set o� another round of currency wars or that it will exacerbate glob-al de� ation – although both these outcomes are possible. Rather, the true danger comes from the adverse impact this unexpected devaluation may have on China’s dysfunctional � nancial system.

The era of ultra-low US dollar interest rates has lured global carry traders to China. It’s easy to see why. Chinese banks paid better deposit rates than their US coun-terparts and yields were even higher in the country’s shadow banking system. In addi-tion, carry traders could expect to earn a few percentage points from currency appreciation each year. To many foreigners, lending in Chi-na with an expected annual return of around 10% must have seemed a one-way bet.

The inclination of Chinese borrowers to avail themselves of foreign loans has been driven by need as much as greed. Of course, it has been cheaper to borrow abroad and the rising yuan shrunk the size of outstanding li-abilities. More to the point, as the country’s credit boom continued, China’s � nancial sys-tem has strained to keep up with demand. Foreign lenders have � lled the gap.

Furthermore, as China’s non-� nancial debt has climbed above 250% of GDP, the costs of servicing these obligations has become ex-tremely burdensome. Two years ago, Fitch estimated that Chinese corporate interest

payments were 11% of GDP and rising rapidly. Foreign loans reduced this burden.

The result has been a surge in Chinese overseas borrowing, much of it from foreign banks. The Bank for International Settlements records that global banks’ net US dollar lend-ing to China rose from around $100bn in late 2012 to nearly $650bn by mid-2014. The BIS also notes that Chinese corporations have in-creasingly taken to borrowing abroad through their overseas a� liates – a type of borrowing misleadingly recorded in the national ac-counts as foreign direct investment.

Trade credit has provided yet another

source of foreign currency borrowing. Chi-nese corporations betting on the continued appreciation of the renminbi have got around the country’s capital controls by faking export invoices, which enabled them to bring dol-lars into the mainland. The practice, which is known as export preconversion, has been mainly conducted with Hong Kong counter-parties. In recent years, the value of exports to Hong Kong as reported by Beijing has regu-larly exceeded Hong Kong’s own record of im-ports from the mainland by a wide margin. In the late 1980s, Japanese companies likewise boosted their pro� ts with complex � nancial transactions known as zaitech.

The result is that China now has vast foreign debts. Although the country is still a net for-eign creditor, its gross foreign liabilities have climbed to nearly $5tn, according to Macro Strategy Partnership, an independent research company – a � gure that even exceeds China’s $3.7tn pile of foreign exchange reserves.

In recent months, China has experienced large capital out� ows, estimated by Goldman

Sachs to have reached some $224bn in the second quarter. As the global carry trade re-treats, foreign bank lending to China has col-lapsed – it’s down by around $250bn over the last year, according to the BIS. While Beijing was maintaining its currency peg, these out-� ows forced the PBOC to sell foreign exchange reserves and buy renminbi.

The trouble is that when a central bank swaps foreign exchange for its own currency domestic liquidity tightens, something that China’s cash-strapped corporate can ill a� ord. The PBOC has reduced the reserve ratio re-quirement – the money that banks must hold

at the central bank – to 18.5% of de-posits and could lower it further. But it’s not clear whether this would be su� cient to o� set tightening liquid-ity conditions. Historically, there has been a strong correlation between growth in capital in� ows and growth in Chinese bank deposits.

The alternative was to let the cur-rency depreciate, thus upsetting the calculations of all those who were relying on the renminbi’s continued appreciation, or at least stability, rela-tive to the U.S. dollar. Chinese foreign borrowers – particularly real estate companies, many of which have large

dollar debts – now face the consequences of having mismatched their assets and liabil-ities. Thai � nance companies found them-selves in a similar predicament in 1996.

Great � nancial disasters often result from what the investment writer Vitaliy Katsenel-son has called “false axioms”. For instance, Japan’s bubble economy of the 1980s was founded on the notion that the country’s property prices could only go up. When that belief turned out to be wrong, Japan’s banking system collapsed taking down the economy with it. Likewise, Ben Bernanke and others argued that US home prices would never de-cline. That false axiom delivered us the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The belief that China’s currency could only appreciate is another such mistaken belief. We cannot predict the consequences. Yet history suggests that bad things happen when the market’s deepest faith is shaken. l

Edward Chancellor is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The article was initially published Reuters.

India, UAE plan infrastructure fund, defence and tech tiesn Reuters, Dubai

India and the United Arab Emirates will set up a multi-billion dollar fund to invest in Indian infrastructure projects and cooperate in pro-ducing military equipment, space technology and nuclear energy, o� cials said on Monday.

Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyan Jaishankar announced the plans at the end of a two-day visit to the UAE by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which focused on both busi-ness ties and national security.

India is eager for foreign capital and tech-nology to develop its economy while the UAE, one of the richest of the Gulf Arab energy ex-porters, wants to use overseas investments to

diversify its asset base beyond oil.The fund will aim to raise $75bn to build

railways, ports, roads and other projects in India, Jaishankar said. He did not give a time frame, say how such a huge sum would be � nanced or describe how the fund would be structured.

A joint statement by the two governments said the UAE would help India develop strate-gic petroleum reserves in addition to its up-stream and downstream petroleum sectors.

It set a target of increasing bilateral trade by 60% in the next � ve years and pledged cooperation in developing and launching satellites, as well as peaceful uses of nuclear energy. l

Oil prices slide further in Asian AFP, Singapore

Oil prices slipped further in Asia yesterday, weighed down by a strengthening dollar as concerns about weakening demand in China added to expectations a global oversupply will last for years.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was down 12 cents to $41.75 in afternoon trade. WTI has lost more than 30% in the past two months, bringing it to the lowest level since March 2009. Brent crude for October gave up 11 cents to $48.63.

Oil has led a slump in energy commodity prices in the past month “due to concerns about falling demand from China and robust global supply, especially in the US,” research house Capital Economics said.

Strong output from US shale oil producers and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel has outpaced the growth in demand, leading to an oversupply that has depressed prices.

BMI Research, a subsidiary of � nancial information provider Fitch Group, predicted the glut will persist until 2018.

“The return of Iranian oil to market, cou-pled with strong project pipelines in North America, the Middle East, west Africa and Kazakhstan, will see global supply expansion outstrip the growth in global consumption for the next two years,” it said.

Punishing Western sanctions that have re-stricted Iran’s oil exports for years are expected to be lifted once it is veri� ed that Tehran is com-plying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Analysts say the return of Iranian oil will add to the current excess, further dampening prices.

Anticipation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as early as September and Chi-na’s surprise devaluation of the yuan have also boosted the US currency, making dollar-priced oil more expensive in the global market.

This tends to discourage demand and leads to lower prices. l

A shop clerk checks a 100-Chinese renminbi note AFP

Due to concerns about falling demand from China and robust global supply, especially in the US

21D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19 2015T

-JUN

CT

ION

22Trial roomThe IT scientist

24Pro� lesThe path least trodden

INSIDE

A new eraPhoto: Bigstock

Trial RoomWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19 2015

T-JUNCTION22DT

The IT scientistKazuki Nakayama, country director of Sekai Lab Bangladesh, a Japanese software development start-up, took us on a journey of his experiences in Bangladesh

“This is a very young country. Engaging yourself in shaping up the form of the country is something people cannot experience in developed countries like Japan. The economy is booming, and surely you can make the new success story (or a new chapter in Bangladesh history) with the IT industry.”

n Rad Sharar Bin Kamal

How did you � rst enter the commercial industry in Japan?It all began when I joined an apparel company, where I was given charge of setting up a factory here in Bangladesh. Initially I joined to support that � rm, but due to multiple external reasons, I ended up becoming their general manager in Bangladesh and managed the company for two and a half years. As I was in charge of setting up their operations from scratch, in a country still new to me, I had to manage it all to the day the company was sold. I also gave time as a JICA (volunteer) lecturer at Dhaka University for two years. It was truly a di� cult time for me then.

I didn’t enjoy the � rst three months to be honest. I lived in Shyamoli and had to transit using public transport from there to Dhaka University for the � rst three months. The attention, the constant e� orts to take advantage of me thinking I didn’t know the local fare (I did), the under-toned “Chinese” comments (I’m Japanese, but nodded along as it was easier than explaining) among others, kind of made that time a bittersweet experience. Yet, it was an unforgettable one and one of the most important phases of my time here.

What are you personally fond of in Bangladesh? And vise versa.The best part about this country are the people, which I took a bot of time to understand. When I lived in Shyamoli, there was a tea stall between my home and the bus stand. When returning from o� ce every day, I would sit there, sipping tea and

sharing stories with the locals, who used to show so much interest that it was surprising in the very least. I had to speak in English at the university, hence the tea stall became a perfect hub for me to learn the language and know the people. What they changed extensively was my perception of rich and poor, and rede� ned my understanding to one where I realised how rich the people are here; not because they have wealth, but have it in their hearts to give whatever they can even when they aren’t well-o� . The raw and warm hospitality I was shown was comparable to no other, and it made me slowly fall in love with the culture.

Tell us your Sekai Lab journey.After I moved back to Japan, I was looking for a job to which I can fully devote myself to in an Asian country, and funnily enough, somewhere other than Bangladesh.

Soon, I got to know that Sekai Lab was going to start a new branch in Dhaka. Still curious, I talked to them and came to know their vision for creating a platform for diversity, and their aim to nurture the understated potential talents of the youth in Bangladesh. I just fell in love with Sekai Lab after that, and immediately decided to join.

Trial Room T-JUNCTION 23D

T

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19 2015

I believe there are huge opportunities for Bangladesh to excel in the IT industry within the next 10 years. We will grow up as fast as India and China if we persist, and now it is our turn to overtake their history.

Mitarai HiroshiChief Technology O� cer Sekai Lab Bangladesh

How did the activities of Sekai Lab initially start out in Bangladesh?The word is quickly! Sekai Lab is a start-up, and one of the great strengths of a start-up is that they are nimble and fast.

The decision to set up a branch here was made in December 2014. From then on, the recruitment process had already begun in Japan, with me interviewing in February and joining in March. Company registrations began by April and new recruits from Bangladesh were taken in by May. And today, we have 22 employees working at full speed.

How do you plan to help develop the company and employees through Sekai Lab? Challenge is the keyword. As a Bangladeshi,

there is a common success story:“Get a diploma abroad, get a good job

there, invite your family and maybe get a citizenship and settle.”

As the economy is growing, we can have a di� erent success story by providing enough challenging jobs and projects in Bangladesh; not just by writing codes and implementing from a lower platform, but handling top-to-bottom overall IT solutions. Creative work, such as business plan creation, upper-level information sourcing to bottom-level user acceptance testing is all part of the process, giving our employees a full view and practice of global projects.

By providing new challenges to these young engineers, coupled with a very competitive salary, we might just be able to o� er a new concept of success in Bangladesh.

What are your future development plans for Sekai Lab?Firstly, to become the number one leading IT company in Bangladesh in 10 years, which will be visible to the world and change their perception of the country being inadequate in the industry.

Secondly, to handle large-scale international projects with our local team. l

In my spare time:I actually like to take street photos of Bangladesh, photography being an interest of mine. Moreover, I love Cafe hopping here too!

I have some hobbies, including football (Arsenal fan), trekking and traveling for sure.

Also a history enthusiast, I love to know more about Asia.

Pro� lesT-JUNCTION24DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19 2015

The path least troddenn Sharafat Hussain

In the minds of his friends and family, the future of Jobayer Hossain Shuvo was somewhat predetermined and predictable. He was one of the brightest students to come out of Comilla Zilla school, and him getting admitted in IUT to study engineering raised no eyebrows on that regard. But when he left it all behind for the pursuit of greatness in photography, everyone could tell he wasn’t taking it as a mere hobby. Only a few photos shot by him at IUT concerts and at friends’ weddings had tell-tale signs of the hidden talent that was bursting at the seams, waiting to pop out and make him renowned.

The same man recently received an international membership from WPPA for illustrating Bengali wedding culture with his photography. WPPA is one of the biggest photography institution in Asia that provides membership to the world’s best photographers based on the artistic quality and professionalism of the photographer. The judges take interviews of the photographers and analyse their work, and Shuvo’s work passed the test quickly.

At � rst, he was worried that they might not like it, but to his astonishment, they asked, “Can you show us a few more photos? It’s possible that you will be the � rst one to receive the craftsmanship award from your country.”

Unfortunately, he hadn’t snapped too many. As a result, he had to be content with the licentiateship award alone, which is quite respectable on its own, being the second photographer from Bangladesh to

ever receive it. However, Shuvo was looking forward to becoming the best photographer not only in Asia, but in the world.

This recognition indicates that Shuvo is successful both as an entrepreneur and a photographer. But was the path of this journey an easy one? Far from it. Shuvo and his team from IUT started their photography � rm “Dream Weaver” while they were just students. Finding the capital was not easy and having satisfactory clients was even harder. Hence, he had to buy his own gear and camera from taking private classes, and the � rst wedding event they covered was the wedding ceremony of the “canteen mama,” thereby receiving a mere Tk500 as payment. With passing time, the photos of their Facebook page started accumulating attention and made them the most sought after photographers. Although the load of engineering was very hectic, he managed to bring out the best from both worlds. He passed engineering within time with a respectable degree.

But why would an engineer choose photography as a profession? Many people could not swallow the idea. And it wasn’t only him, but 24 members from the group of Dream Weaver photographers are engineers who dared to take photography as their profession, and all of them are quite content with their decision. Luckily, Shuvo’s family and his signi� cant other were always supportive and he remained determined to follow his passion. Although wedding photography was a luxury reserved only for the elites in the beginning, numerous people from ordinary backgrounds also dreamed

to get photographed on their special day. Subsequently, Dream Weaver made their wedding photography a� ordable and conventional for the middle class, and now the rising popularity of wedding photography among all classes of people is very prominent after the change.

When we tried to ferret out the reason behind their success and how they came to have 600,000 fans along with arranging two “Bibaho Utshab” (wedding festival) within three years, we realised that it was their professionalism, hard work and savvy marketing strategy that led them to glory. As a result, they had opened their second branch in Chittagong on June 15, 2015 at Madina Tower. However, not relying on our own assumption, we thought it would be better to hear from him the secret of his success, to which he replied promptly,”If everyone follows their dream and passion and start taking their best skill as their profession, then I believe we will have more people like Einstein, Picasso and Mozart. Many youngsters are crazy to get a job. But I think they should focus more on becoming a successful entrepreneur.” l

The tale of Dream Weaver coming to existence

25D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

BILBAO HOLD BARCA TO END 31-YEAR DROUGHT

SL AIM TO PRESENT SANGA VICTORIOUS FAREWELL

26 2827

James Anderson could feature in the � fth Ashes Test against

Australia after returning to practise on Monday. He will be assessed on

Tuesday and Wednesday before the � nal decision

FIT ENOUGH?

Sport

SYLHET TIDBITSBANGLADESH V INDIA, SAFF U-16 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

WOMEN’S TOUR OF PAKISTAN UNCERTAIN

The favourite venueIt has not been long since the Sylhet District Stadium last hosted an international football match. Less than a year ago, the north-east venue hosted Bangladesh U-23 and Nepal U-23 in a friendly ahead of the 17th Asian Games in Incheon in September. Since then, Sylhet has become one of the favourite ven-ues of the organisers. The last time an inter-national tournament took place in Sylhet was the 3rd Bangabandhu Gold Cup earlier this year. That the di� erent age-level home sides have performed admirably at the venue is largely down to the e� ort of the organisers and the boisterous support of the crowd.

Extra demands, extra ticketsWhat the 20m people in the capital could not do, the football lovers in Sylhet did it with pride and aplomb. Most of the matches, do-mestic or international, in Dhaka fail to at-tract the full capacity but it is totally a di� er-ent scenario in Sylhet. All the o� cial tickets, around 20,000, of the grand � nale between the hosts and the holders were sold out a day before matchday so the organisers decided to sell extra 3,000 tickets yesterday morning. Even after those 3,000 extra tickets were sold out and the stadium was packed to the raft-ers, thousands of fans were seen queuing out-side the venue hours before kick-o� .

Emotional speechThe chairman of the Bangladesh Football Federation’s organising committee, Badal Roy, has been working his socks o� for the development of the country’s youth football. The former footballer, who also happens to be the vice president of the country’s football regulatory body, gave an emotional and inspirational speech to the members of the Bangladesh U-16 squad before they went for lunch yesterday. “It is an opportunity for you to accomplish something what your formers could not achieve. Just imagine where you were two months ago and where you are now. It is you who will decide where you will

be after two months,” said Badal during his 15-minute motivational speech to the players.

Salahuddin’s wishBFF president Kazi Salahuddin too had a message for the youngsters. The BFF supre-mo has never had the opportunity to hand over the trophy to his countrymen in any Sa� event during his six-year tenure as the presi-dent of the South Asian Football Federation. He was in Sylhet yesterday to watch the game and conveyed his wish to the players. The BFF boss also had words of encouragement for the youngsters.

–SHISHIR HOQUE FROM SYLHET

Bangladesh’s jubilant Under-16 boys take a lap of honour with the trophy after beating India in a scintillating Sa� Under-16 Championship � nal at the Sylhet District Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

When joy knows no bounds

Sport26DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

WHAT THEY SAID

11 companies interested in buying BPL teamsn Mazhar Uddin

The governing council of the Bangladesh Pre-mier League yesterday announced the names of 11 companies who have submitted the Ex-pression of Interest for the third edition of the money-spinning Twenty20 tournament.

During yesterday’s press conference the governing council initially declared the names of 10 companies who are interested in purchasing franchises but the number of par-ties was later increased to 11.

The interested companies are - DBL Group, Sohana Group of Industries, Beximco, BBS Cables, Blues Communications, Networld Bangladesh Ltd, Mediacom (Square Group) Index Group, Bengal Communications, Axi-om Technology Ltd and Fiber@home Ltd.

BPL member secretary Ismail Haider Mall-ick informed the media yesterday that the

board would � nalise the owners of seven franchises within next month.

“We are going to sit with every corporate house separately and only then can we ensure the � nancial prospects with the franchises. Then, we will approve the interested parties. I hope we can announce the seven new fran-chise owners by next month,” said Mallick.

According to Mallick, there are very little chances for the previous owners of the seven franchises to take part in the upcoming edition.

“As we have received interest from the new � rms, we did not accept the terms of the pre-vious seven franchise owners. But if the previ-ous franchises pay their due payments, we may think about their inclusion in the third edition. However, it is not in our hands. We are yet to � nalise any decision with regards to the previ-ous franchises and we are only looking forward with the prospective new owners,” he said. l

Women’s tour of Pakistan uncertainn Minhaz Uddin Khan

A Bangladesh Cricket Board delegation will only be sent to Pakistan to inspect the secu-rity condition if the Bangladesh government gives the green signal. The BCB was supposed to send a team to Pakistan earlier this month to assess the security situation. But it did not materialise as the BCB was waiting for a nod from the Bangladesh government.

BCB director and chairman of the me-dia and communications committee, Jalal Younus, said the home ministry of Bangla-desh has been informed of the issue and has been requested to act accordingly. Jalal also said the � nal call, both on sending a dele-gation and the women cricketers, will come from the government, and not from the BCB.

“We have informed the home ministry a long time ago and wanted a representative from the ministry to be a part of the delega-tion and visit Pakistan. We wanted the team to consist a representative each from the BCB, home ministry and government secu-rity agency. We want the government to be involved in this. So now it depends on the government if a security team should visit Pa-kistan or not. We are waiting for a call from the government at the moment,” informed Jalal yesterday.

The recent security crisis in Pakistan has made the BCB rethink of the tour, informed Jalal. Last Sunday, a suicide attack in Pakistan killed Punjab’s Home Minister Shuja Khanza-da and at least eight others. A Taliban-linked group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier on August 5 this year, former Pa-kistan captain Wasim Akram said he had es-caped a gun attack in the southern port-city of Karachi. Wasim said he was on his way to the city’s National Stadium where he was con-ducting a bowling camp when a man rammed a vehicle into his car and then opened � re be-fore � eeing.

The women’s tour of Pakistan has been mooted as a possibility ever since PCB chair-man Shahryar Khan visited Bangladesh last year but the recent incidents have confused the BCB.

“We had nothing to worry about even a few days ago. Bangladesh’s handball and football teams visited Pakistan and everything was � ne. They informed us that they were very much satis� ed with the security and the VVIP treat-ment. But the recent incidents are alarming and you always have room to think when a Home Minister of a country gets killed by a terrorist at-tack,” Jalal explained. He further informed that a decision is likely on the issue from the home ministry within eight to 10 days. l

(L-R) BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury, director Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan, BPL member secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha and BCB directors Jalal Younus and Akram Khan address the media in a press conference yesterday COURTESY

There was not an inch left to � ll inside the Sylhet District Stadium yesterday as hundreds of football crazy fans risked their lives and hurried on to the rooftops of the adjacent under-construction building and climbed the � oodlight tower to cheer the home side in the Sa� U-16 � nal yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Syed Golam Jilani, Bangladesh head coachOur football needed this trophy very much. This is a turning point in my coaching career as well. I said it before that I want to move ahead one step at a time and we showed the improvement by winning this trophy.

It never came to my mind that we could lose the game. Our strategy was not to allow them taking long range shots. Our players perhaps lost the concentration for a while but the goal was brilliant and deserves all the credit. My plan was to keep the defense solid and attack.

Shaun Hossain, Bangladesh defender and the Player of the FinalWe wanted to reach the peak with small steps and we made it. I want to thank the coaches es-pecially as they prepared us in a very short time which is unbelievable.

Sarowar Zaman Nipu, Bangladesh striker and the Most Valuable PlayerI was always con� dent that we would win the game. I'm very grateful to the people of Sylhet for their amazing support throughout the tournament.

Bitan Singh Ngangkham, India head coachToday we were unlucky. Bangladesh are a good team and they utilised the home support and advantage. Our boys also put up an excellent dis-play. We had several attempts in the second-half where we attacked from the wings and equalised with an excellent goal. We tried everything but I can not say anything about the tie-breaker. They are more experienced (in taking penalties). Ours are good but they looked more matured. l

Sport 27D

T

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Bridge tournament starts FridayThe Max Group Open Bridge Tournament, organised by the Bangladesh Bridge Federation, will begin at the Engineers Recreation Center from Friday. A sum of Tk 24000 will be given away as prize money in the tournament. Non Dhaka players will receive an allowance of Tk 1000 while educational institution teams will receive an allowance of Tk 4000 as special in-centives. In a press conference held at the BOA auditorium yesterday, Lt. col (retd) Mosharraf Hossain, the general secretary of the federation and chairman of Max Group presented the details of the event to the media.

–TRIBUNE DESK

Messi, Tevez join Argentina for friendliesBarcelona star Lionel Messi, who su� ered more disappointment with Argentina in the Copa America last month, has been called up by national coach Gerardo Martino for friendlies against Bolivia and Mexico in September. Argentina lost the Copa America � nal to Chile on penalties a year after falling in the World Cup � nal to Germany.

–AFP

Proteas eye revenge for NZ World Cup defeatWhen it was announced that South Africa and New Zealand would play a one-day interna-tional series during the South African winter, the obvious marketing angle was that it would provide a rematch of the dramatic World Cup semi-� nal between the two teams.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

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DAY’S WATCH Rogers con� rms retirement after Ashes � nalen AFP, London

Chris Rogers is retiring from international cricket after this week’s Ashes � nale against England, the Australia opener announced on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old joins his captain Michael Clarke in retiring from international career after the � fth Test.

He said: “I have had an amazing couple of years playing for Australia and enjoyed it and been part of some pretty special things - but everything comes to an end.”

England wrapped up the Ashes with victo-ry in the fourth Test that put them 3-1 up in the � ve-match series.

Tuesday’s con� rmation comes after Rog-ers had suggested it was his plan to make the Oval his international swansong in what will be his 25th career Test.

Rogers, who has more than 24,000 � rst-class runs to his name, made his Test debut in 2008 but did not win his second cap until the start of the 2013 Ashes - at the age of 35.

The determined left-hander has since scored � ve Test centuries, most recently in Australia’s only victory of this Ashes series at Lord’s.

Rogers su� ered a dizzy spell in the second

Test at Lord’s and was forced o� the � eld on 49 in Australia’s second innings.

Medical tests revealed the injury was re-lated to a balance problem in the inner ear caused when Rogers was hit on the helmet by a James Anderson bouncer during his Test-best 173 in the � rst innings.

Despite injury doubts he was able to play at the next Test at Edgbaston.l

Sri Lanka aim to present Sangakkara victorious farewelln AFP, Colombo

Kumar Sangakkara gets a chance to bow out in style by leading Sri Lanka to a series-clich-ing victory in the second Test against India starting in Colombo on Thursday.

The proli� c left-hander, the highest run-get-ter among those still playing at the highest lev-el, will bid adieu to international cricket after

the match, ending a glorious 15-year career.With Sri Lanka leading the three-match se-

ries after conjuring a brilliant come-from-be-hind win in the � rst Test in Galle by 63 runs, the stage is set at the P. Sara Oval for a Sanga-kkara special.

The 37-year-old will be desperate to end an unusually barren streak at the venue where he has fallen for zero in each of his last three

Tests, including a � rst-ball duck against Paki-stan in June.

Sangakkara scored � ve and 40 against the Indians in Galle, where Sri Lanka snatched a remarkable victory after seemingly heading for a crushing loss.

The hosts had been reduced to 95-5 in their second innings before lunch on the third day, still 98 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat, when Dinesh Chandimal led the re-covery with a brilliant 162 o� 169 balls.

Chandimal shared valuable partnerships with Lahiru Thirimanne (44) and Jehan Mubar-ak (49) to lift the hosts to 367 before veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath took over.

Herath grabbed seven wickets as Virat Kohli’s men, chasing a modest victory target of 176, were skittled for 112 soon after lunch on the fourth day.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said nothing less than a series win would be a � t-ting tribute to Sangakkara.

“We will de� nitely go for the kill,” he said. “Sangakkara deserves the best possible fare-well and only a win can do that. There is so much to play for in this Test.”

Indian team director Ravi Shastri said it hurt to lose at Galle after dominating the Test till the third afternoon, but promised to set things right in the next two matches.

“Matches like Galle hurt you more than some others, because you have dominated the Test and still lost it,” the former all-round-er said.

“You learn from this kind of result quicker than any other kind of result. Hopefully you will see it in the next few days.”l

Manager hails Benteke impact after win at Bournemouthn Reuters

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said Christian Benteke gives his side a di� erent di-mension and hailed his performance against Bournemouth on Monday after the Belgian in-ternational scored on his home debut to make it two wins out of two in the Premier League.

Liverpool beat Bournemouth 1-0 after the 24-year-old, who signed from Aston Vil-la for 32.5 million pounds ($50.6 million) in the o� -season, turned in mid� elder Jordan Henderson’s cross from close range midway through the � rst half.

“I thought he was a real handful, you saw all the facets of his game,” Rodgers said.

“His hold-up play is outstanding, he’s got a wonderful touch for a big guy and you saw that this evening.

“Because of his physicality and contact, he keeps the ball alive in a dangerous area of the � eld,” the Northern Irishman added.

“It gives us a di� erent dimension to our game, whilst looking to retain that philoso-phy to move the ball and get � uency.”

Benteke was pleased to mark his An� eld debut with a winning goal, but was equally happy with his team’s second consecutive clean sheet.l

Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara (L) plays football during a practice session at P Sara Oval Stadium in Colombo yesterday AFP

28DT Sport

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

n AFP, Madrid

Athletic Bilbao claimed their � rst trophy in 31 years as they drew 1-1 with 10-man  Bar-celona to win the Spanish Super Cup 5-1 on aggregate on Monday.

Lionel Messi had given the European champions - who trailed 4-0 from the � rst leg - a glimmer of hope with the opener two minutes before half-time.

However, any realistic hope Barca had of pulling o� a monumental comeback dis-appeared when Gerard Pique was shown a straight red card for dissent 10 minutes into the second-half.

And Aritz Aduriz exploited the space left by the Spanish international defender’s dismissal to follow up his hat-trick in the � rst leg with the crucial away goal midway through the second-half.

“For us to win a title is the best thing that can happen to us,” Aduriz told Spanish TV station Telecinco.

“Apart from the birth of my daughter this is the happiest day of my life.”

Defeat ends Barcelona’s hopes of match-ing the club record set by Pep Guardiola’s side in 2009 of winning six trophies in a cal-endar year.

They won’t have long to wait for a chance at revenge, though, as the two sides square o� once more in their opening game of the La Liga season on Sunday in Bilbao.

“It is a tie of two games and in the � rst they were clear victors,” said Barca captain Andres Iniesta.

“Today we tried everything. Possibly we needed another goal in the � rst-half so that they would have more doubts.

“I think very few teams have won six titles. Very few have won three or four, we

will go for the � fth and until December we have an interesting � rst part of the season ahead of us.”

Barcelona  boss Luis Enrique had made six changes to the side that was thrashed at the new San Mames on Friday with a host of � rst-team regulars coming back into the side.

The hosts started on the front foot as Luis Suarez saw a shot de� ected just over before Pique’s e� ort came back o� the crossbar.

Yet, Athletic’s mass ranks of defence were comfortably keeping Enrique’s men at bay and the visitors even had a great chance to put the tie to bed when Javier Eraso skipped past Javier Mascherano before � ring into the side-netting rather than squaring for Aduriz to apply a simple � nish.

Barca � nally found a way through thanks to a brilliant move as Suarez headed down for Messi who controlled the ball on his chest before sweeping home.

Claudio Bravo kept  Barcelona’s hopes alive early in the second period with saves from Markel Susaeta and Aduriz, but the Chilean’s good work was undone when Pique was sent-o� for something he said to the referee’s assistant after he failed to � ag Aduriz o� side. To their credit Barca didn’t give up as Pedro Rodriguez, Ivan Rakitic and Suarez all � red o� target with � ne chances to reduce the de� cit to two goals. l

Bilbao hold Barca to end 31-year trophy drought

1-1Bilbao win 5-1 on aggregate

29D

TAscent Cup 2015WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Favorites progress after nail biting pre-quartersn Arsalan Quddus and Syed Shabab

It may have been raining cats and dogs out-side the STM but it wasn’t raining goals in-side, as all the high pressure matches of the Pre-Quarters were played out today. Each and every match was a nail biter and what may have lacked in goals surely made up in terms of scintillating action on the pitch.

COMFIT COMPOSITE vs ANCHORThe � rst match of the day saw Anchor take down a very stubborn Com� t Composite. It took the brilliance of Raznoor’s brace to break down the Composite defense. Com� t Composite can leave this tournament with their heads held high as we bid farewell to this exciting team.

SECUREX vs ACCENTUREThe match between Securex and Accenture is one of the reasons that we love this game. It was an eye an eye encounter with neither team willing to budge or give any quarter. The match was locked at nil-nil till the last minute of regulation time until Monir of Securex broke deadlock with a screamer

from the halfway line. It ought to be added that the security company were missing the mercurial captain Mosabber who incurred an injury in his last match. As for Accenture, it was the end of the road of a highly successful campaign.

SAJEEB GROUP vs BONGOSajeeb Group versus the Bongo tie was an ill-tempered a� air which saw a lot of ar-gy-bargy going on between the players both on and o� the pitch. The Bongo players even-tually lost the plot in the second half with Sajeeb group romping into the quarter-� nals with a hard earned 6-3 win. Chisty and Piash both scoring braces for the Sajeeb while Sal-man Khan replied with two of his own for the advertisers.

RUNNER GROUP vs BANGLA CATOne of the best matches we have seen in the tournament so far was when Bangla Cat took on Runner. In the � rst half we saw Cat take a 3-0 lead. Sajeeb Group came back from be-hind to even the score but two goals from Cat’s Sourav put the game beyond Runner

reach at the � nal wistle. We say Sayonara to Akihiro Ueda and his men – their skillful play will surely be missed at the STM.

BEXIMCO PHARMA vs ASUTEXPowerhouse Beximco Pharma found the going tough when they came up against a plucky Asutex. The � nal scoreline of 3-0 did not re� ect the actual nature of the match as Asutex fought tooth and nail for their pride. Sunny, Akhter, and Shuvo all converted for Beximco as they look ominous once again for the rest of the tournament.

ASCENT GROUP vs STERLING GROUPHome side fans of Ascent could be heard at high decibels inside the STM with their drumbeats and vuvuzelas, but it was a di� erent story on the pitch. Ascent may have had the � nal laugh but newcomers Sterling Group gave a marvelous account of themselves. We hope to see Sterling back next year stronger but it is Ascent Group who will live to � ght another day in this tournament. Faruk scored a fabulous two goals for the home side. l

GEMCON GROUPIf BexiPharma is the Brazil of the Ascent Cup, then Gemcon Group would have to be Holland. The expression ‘Always a bridesmaid’ applies to them as much as it does to the Dutch. However like the Dutch they also play their own brand of Total Football. Gemcon is a team that has it all. A tight unit that can move up and down the length of the pitch with devastating pace. They also have the � nishing skills of Sohel, last years Golden Boot (highest scorer) winner and Shamim, the recipient of last years MVP award. We have watched the nucleus of this team develop over 5 years and the improvement is staggering. On their day, they can bring heavy weight teams like BexiPharma and Union Capital down to their knees. However, they have been beaten runners up for 2 consecutive years before � nally wearing the crown in the previous edition. Only time will tell if Gemcon can repeat their feat in presence of competition from other heavyweights Bando Design and BexiPharma.

THE HEAVYWEIGHT OF ASCENT CUP

RESULTS, DAY 5GEMCON 12-0 METRONET

BANDO DESIGN 10-0 CENTRO TEX

ANCHOR EXIM US LTD 3-1 COMFIT COMPOSIT

SECUREX 1-0 ACCENTURE

SAJEEB GROUP 6-3 BONGO

RUNNER GROUP 4-5 BANGLA CAT

BEXIMCO PHARMA 3-0 ASUTEX

ASCENT 3-1 STERLING GROUPDefending champions Gemcon Group (yellow) in action during their match against Metronet yesterday. The holders cruised through to the last eight

DOWNTIME30DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 20 represents N so � ll N every time the � gure 20 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Little wave (6) 4 Apply friction to (3) 7 Unbound (5)8 Photographic apparatus (6) 11 Was ahead (3)12 Love god (4)13 Require (4)15 Frighten from (5)16 Clenched hands (5)20 Domestic animals (4)23 Midday (4)24 Merry amusement (3) 25 Quickly(mus) (6)26 Fragrance (5)27 Lair (3)28 Stinging plant (6)

DOWN 1 Contested in speed (5) 2 Gift (7)3 Dash (4)4 Acting part (4) 5 Second-hand (4)6 Resting place (3)9 Land measure (3)10 Pithy saying (3)14 Distinguished (7)17 Distress signal (3)18 Small child (3)19 Sleep noisily (5)20 Remedy (4)21 Soon (4)22 Short space of time (4) 24 Passing craze (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

JATRA BIROTI BULLETIN

“Bhaab” featuring Tanveer Alam ShawjeebTime:Thursday, August 20Tickets:Tk500Shawjeeb is a singer/musician/composer/arranger with over 25 years of experience in performing producing, directing and editing. He has worked in both documentary and � ctional genres.

Shawjeeb will be accompanied by the talented musicians Yameen Khan, Rahin Haider, Zunayed Sabbir Ahmed and Dewan Anamul Hasan Raju

Open MicTime: Friday, August 21Tickets: Tk300An audience-driven event.

Yoganika followed by electro/accousticTime: Saturday, August 22Tickets: Tk500Public yoga session with well-known instructor Anika Rabbani. Don Donadoni will do a live set that he speci� cally created to take the experience to another level. Yoga session will be followed by Electro/Acoustic with The Speakeasy crew, Fahad Zaman and some other surprise guests. Follow Yoganika’s event page for further details: https://www.facebook.com/events/996876387013816/

Tickets are available to book or buy online at www.imdhaka.com Tea and phuckha are included in the ticket price.

n Showtime Desk

The Criterion Collection has quite a few releases coming out this November, but Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy is certainly the crown jewel among them all. As an American video distribution company that specialises in licensing “important classic and contemporary � lms,” � lm a� cionados are in for a rare treat with this new release.

After the highly anticipated wait, the boutique label is � nally putting Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) into one must-have set.

Just a few days prior to the 60th anniversary of Pather Panchali’s � rst theatre release on August 26, � lm enthusiasts around the world are going to experience the high-resolution home video version of these masterpieces.

These aren’t just barebone releases given spi� y 4K restorations; they come with extras (interviews, documentary excerpts, audio recordings) and basically anything and everything someone who has been waiting for these movies to get o� cially released stateside could want.

Elsewhere, Michael Haneke’s Code Unknown will mark his � rst entry into Criterion. The Juliette Binoche starring

movie has a new 2K transfer and will include a making-of documentary, vintage interview material featuring Haneke himself, and more.

Akira Kurosawa’s lovely Ikiru gets a Blu-ray upgrade, while there will also be a Julien Duvivier Eclipse set.l

Apu Trilogy enters the Criterion Collection

Sony awards Bangladeshi photo enthusiastsn Showtime Desk

The award giving ceremony for Sony’s World Photography Awards 2015 competition for Bangladeshi nationals was held at Sony CCM Center, Sonartori on August 12.

Winner Ata Mohammad Adnan’s “Monsoon Splash” won the best photography award, securing � rst place, while the second place was awarded to Arafat Siraji for his photograph “Worried Worker.” Mohammad Amir Hamja secured third place for “Bangladeshi Smile.” The � rst prize was Sony α7S camera with Vario-Tessar, second prize a Sony α7 camera with Sonnar T* FE and third prize a Sony α6000 camera with Vario-Tessar T* E. l

BACK PAGE32DT

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

APU TRILOGY ENTERS CRITERION COLLECTION PAGE 31

ROGERS TO RETIRE AFTER ASHES PAGE 27

BANKS SUFFER PROVISION SHORTFALL OF TK2,400CR PAGE 15

Islamic Climate Declaration calls for fossil fuel phaseoutn Abu Bakar Siddique

Islamic leaders from 20 countries yesterday launched a climate change declaration to en-gage the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims on the most pressing issue of our times.

Adopted by 60 participants at the Inter-national Islamic Climate Change Symposium held in Istanbul from August 17 to 18, the declaration urged governments to signal the end of the road for fossil fuels and limit global warming above pre-industrial levels to 2, or preferably 1.5, degrees Celsius.

The declaration called for a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels as well as moving towards 100% renewable energy to mitigate the environ-mental impact of fossil fuel use.

Participants from the Muslim countries urged emitters to provide generous � nancial and technical support to less well-o� nations to achieve the greenhouse gas phaseout.

In addition, the declaration urged corpo-rations and the � nancial and business sectors to shoulder the consequences of their prof-it-making activities and to take an active role in reducing their carbon footprint.

In order to mitigate the environmental impact of their activities, the business sector should commit to switching to 100% renewa-ble energy as quickly as possible, the declara-tion stated.

Representatives from the Muslim coun-tries called on developed nations and oil-pro-ducing states to lead the phaseout of green-house gas emission by 2050.

The declaration presents the moral case, based on Islamic teachings, for Muslims and

people of all faiths worldwide to take urgent climate action.

It was drafted by a large, diverse team of international Islamic scholars from around the world following a lengthy consultation period prior to the symposium.

It has been endorsed by more than 60 participants and organisations including the Grand Muftis of Uganda and Lebanon.

The Declaration is in harmony with the Pa-pal Encyclical and has won the support of the Ponti� cal Council on Justice and Peace of the Holy See.

Dr Saleemul Huq, Director of the Interna-tional Centre for Climate Change and Devel-opment, said: “I am proud to be part of the Islamic Climate Change Symposium held in Istanbul and to be associated with the Islamic Declaration on Climate Change.”

“It appeals to all Muslims to abide by the tenets of Islam to preserve the environment and to help the poorest and most vulnerable,” he added yesterday in an email communica-tion with the Dhaka Tribune.

Citing the � ndings of climate scientists, the declaration said a rise in global temperature of two degrees Celsius was a “tipping point” that would be unavoidable if global behaviour did not change.

The civil society of several Muslim coun-tries adopted the declaration ahead of COP21, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place later this year in Paris.

The two-day symposium was organised by Climate Action Network International. l

Stalker arrested in Gaibandha schoolgirl suicide casen Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Police yesterday arrested an alleged stalker, two days after a schoolgirl committed suicide in Gaib-andha sadar upazila. The girl has also left behind a � ve-page suicide note.

Amina, 15, a ninth grader at the Gaibandha Gov-ernment Girls’ High School, committed suicide by hanging herself with a saree from a tree near their home in Dulaler Vita village under Kholahati union on Saturday night.

Her family alleged that arrestee Rayhan, 19, used to stalk Amina on her way to school almost everyday.

Police took the matter seriously and eventually detained the young man after Gaibandha Deputy Commissioner Md Abdus Samad visited Amina’s house and talked to her parents. Gaibandha police chief Ashraful Islam accompanied the DC.

Amina’s mother Shilpi Begum said that on August 7, Amina was going to attend private tuition in Gaibandha town, when Rayhan stopped her on the way and forcefully took her to a nearby place called Garerbata.

Rayhan used one of his female cousins, who is a neighbour to Amina, to convince her to go with him.

At one point, local people in Garerbata noticed that they were having a loud altercation. They then got hold of them and brought them to Amia’s residence in Dulaler Vita.

Later that night, Rayhan’s father, who is a vegetable vendor in a nearby village market, went to Amina’s house along with some local in� uential people and arranged for an arbitration.

The arbitration decided that Amina will have to marry Rayhan and � xed August 16 for the wedding. The girl did not have consent to this marriage

although her rickshaw-puller father and housewife mother agreed to the arbitration’s decision. After that, the local in� uentials and his family took Ray-han back home.

On the night of August 15, a day before the scheduled wedding, Amina left a note and commit-ted suicide.

Police later that night recovered the dead body, sent it to the Gaibandha government hospital for autopsy and also took the � ve-page suicide note as evidence, said Rajiur Rahman, OC of the Gaibandha sadar police station.

The OC however refused to give details of the autopsy report and the content of the note for the sake of investigation. The dead body was later handed over to the family.

He also said: “We have registered an unnatural death case with the police station. Rayhan was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on the basis

of a tip o� . He is now being interrogated. I cannot tell you anything more for the sake of the investi-gation.”

When contacted, Gaibandha DC Samad also refused to make any comment because investiga-tion was going on.

Both Amina’s parents are illiterate, but some of their neighbours had the chance to have a look at the suicide note before police took it.

According to neighbours, Amina wrote in the note that she was being stigmatised for having an a� air with Rayhan and she did not want to get married to him.

Her family said Amina was a brilliant student. She got distinction in the grade � ve Primary School Certi� cate examination.

Rayhan’s neighbours said Rayhan, who just had primary education, was an unemployed youth and was known for stalking many other girls. l

Indian President’s wife Suvra Mukherjee passes awayn BSS

Suvra Mukherjee, wife of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, died yesterday at 10:51am, Rashtrapati Bhavan announced.

She died at the age of 74.The couple had been married for 58 years

and had three children – Abhijit Mukherjee, Indrajit Mukherjee and Sharmistha Mukherjee.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said: “It is informed with deep sorrow that First Lady Smt Suvra Mukherjee passed away this morn-ing (August 18, 2015).”

President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several cabinet ministers condoled her death and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed their sympathies to members of the bereaved family.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to attend the funeral of Suvra Mukherjee today in New Delhi.

A VVIP � ight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines

carrying the Prime Minister will take o� from Shahjalal International Airport at 6am, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told BSS. The � ight is scheduled to reach Indira Gandhi Inter-national Airport in New Delhi at 8am local time.

Suvra Mukherjee was su� ering from a res-piratory ailment and had su� ered a cardiac arrest about a fortnight back. She was under treatment at the Army (Research and Referral) Hospital in Delhi.

Suvra Mukherjee was born on Septem-ber 17, 1940 in Jessore (a southern district in Bangladesh) and married Pranab Mukherjee on 13 July, 1957.

Suvra Mukherjee was an ardent fan of Ra-bindranath Tagore. She was a vocalist of Ra-bindra Sangeet and performed in the poet’s dance-dramas for long years not only in di� erent parts of India, but also in Europe, Asia and Africa.

She was also a highly talented painter who had many groups and solo exhibitions to her credit. l

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