20 pages plus 8-page monthly Arts & Letters supplement | Price: Tk12SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

Ashar 22, 1421Ramadan 7, 1435Regd. No. DA 6238Vol 2, No 96

ARTS & LETTERS | IF YOU GO TO HAY

9 | INDIAN NURSES GREETED

11 | NARROW TUNNELS7 | HOW TO AVOID TAKING HOME WORK

Waterlogging adds perennial woes n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Waterlogging has turned into a peren-nial hazard to the city dwellers that go through a sticky patch during monsoon and at some other times.

All the government attempts for rid-ding the city residents of this longstand-ing problem have so far proved futile.

A series of irregularities and virtual inaction on the part of the local gov-ernment bodies drag the waterlogging problem on for years.

The city residents as usual su� ered as most low-lying areas went under knee-deep water for the moderate to heavy shower that started since early yesterday.

The inundation unfailingly helped obstruct plying of vehicles on the city roads, thus contributing to long tail-backs on most major streets.

Mahmudul Kabir, assistant meteor-ologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told the Dhaka Tribune: “52mm rain has been recorded yester-day from 6am to 12pm and 17mm rain from 12pm to 3pm in the capital.”

During monsoon, even after light

shower, roads and lanes in di� erent ar-eas of the capital go under knee-deep water, a very common murky situation that apparently have failed to draw the attention of the authorities concerned for sustainable steps to address the longstanding problem.

The capital’s Azimpur, Lalbagh, Ji-gatala, Hazaribagh, Mohammadpur, Kallyanpur, Mirpur, Taltola, Shewrapa-

ra, Kalabagan, Shukrabad, Indira Road, Rajabazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Mogh-bazar, Shantinagar, Badda, Baridhara, Natun Bazar, Sayedabad, Jatrabari and other areas were � ooded.

The city residents blamed the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority of the two city corporations for their inaction.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Youthful Neymar carried hopes of a nationn AFP, Fortaleza

Slim, spiky-haired and prodigiously talented, Neymar is the child prodi-gy who made good on his talent and looked poised to deliver the World Cup for an expectant host nation.

Aged just 22, such is his importance that a serious back injury which has ruled him out of the tournament could also dash the hopes of his 200 million compatriots.

Neymar is the main creative con-tributor and leading goal-scorer for an otherwise unimpressive team whose patchy World Cup has provided uneasy viewing for Brazilian fans. His goals led Brazil to victory in the highly charged tournament opener and sealed the 4-1 victory over Cameroon which took them into the knock-out stages.

Neymar’s tears during appearances against Croatia and Chile were testa-ment to the severe pressure that he otherwise seemed to carry lightly.

And his pain and anguish while be-ing stretchered o� against Colombia were explained when hospital tests showed he had fractured a vertebra in his back, ending his tournament.

“I have been saying for three matches that Neymar has been hunted,” fumed Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari, as a shocked nation began to digest the news.

Brazilian World Cup-winning sides have always possessed a goal-scorer in top form -- from a 17-year-old Pele in 1958, to Garrincha in 1962, Jairzinho in 1970, Romario in 1994 and most recent-ly Ronaldo in 2002.

Neymar followed in Pele’s footsteps at the Santos club, wears the same 10 jersey and plays in a similar carefree style -- the “jogo bonito” (beautiful game) that made Brazil so popular with football fans worldwide.

Born in the hard-scrabble city of Mogi das Cruzes, near Sao Paulo, as the son of a professional footballer

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

2nd Round Details on page-15

INSIDE2 | NewsSchool teachers are subjecting students to corporal punishment despite a ban on in� icting any kind of physical pun-ishment.

3 | NewsPower Development Board relaxed minimum quali� cation experience in its tender to build a 1,320MW coal based power plant apparently to favor certain companies.

8 | WorldUkraine’s interior minister said most pro-Russian rebels and their top com-manders � ed their main eastern strong-hold.

11 | Op-EdMore than 17,00 kilometres separate Argentina from Bangladesh. They are two countries located in di� erent hemispheres of the planet, in literally opposite extremes of the world.

12 | EntertainmentWhen the most powerful tragedy in English literature brought to the stage the seating arrangements for the Natmondol were full of audience.

14 | SportScolari faces a potentially make or break decision as to who replaces injured star Neymar in his starting line-up for the semi-� nal with Germany.

n Tribune Report

Four o� cials of International Chit-tagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC) and a police o� cer received injuries when their motorcade came under at-tack, allegedly by Bangalee settlers, in Rangamati yesterday.

The members of CHTC alleged that activists of Bangalee Somo Odhikar Andolon and its like-minded organisa-tions might have been behind attack on their motorcade, which was under police protection, in Rangamati town.

The attack was launched around 2pm in Omda Miah Hill area of the town. The injured were CHTC member Dr Iftekha-ruzzaman, also executive director of the Transparency International Bang-ladesh (TIB), Research O� cial Ilira De-wan, car driver Nur Hossain and Sadar Police Station OC Monu Sohel Imtiaz.

Three rounds of bullets were � red in the air while the attackers also hurled brick chips on the microbus carrying the CHTC members, Abul Kalam Azad, the additional police superintendent of Rangamati, said.

“We are yet to arrest anyone. We are not sure who were involved in the at-tack. We will follow legal procedures once we gather all the information,” he added.

Under police escort, a car carrying the commission members left Ranga-mati town around 4:30pm.

Sultana Kamal, co-chairman of the CHTC, later at a press conference in Chittagong said six organisations of the CHT, which had been defying the conditions of the 1997 Peace Accord from the very beginning, might have launched the attack.

Commission members including lawyer Sara Hossain, rights activist Khushi Kabir and Swapan Adnan were also travelling with the team.

Members of the commission were carrying out their seventh mission in the three CHT districts scheduled for July 2-8. As part of the mission, they visited di� erent places including Ba-buchhara, Todekmara and Dui Tila of Rangamati and Khagrachhari. They also spoke to various groups and mem-bers of the local administration.

However, leaders of Bangalee Somo Odhikar Parishad and three other set-tler Bangalee-led groups earlier pro-tested the CHT commission’s visit al-leging that it would damage peace and tranquillity in the area. They labelled the commission as a controversial or-ganisation and its members as brokers.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Higuain ends Argentina’s 24-year drought

Lionel Messi’s Argen-tina stormed into the semi� nals of the World Cup following a hia-

tus of 24 years after they edged past an o� -colour Belgium 1-0 in the third quarter� nal at the Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha in Brasilia yesterday.

The di� erence between the two-

time world champions and the coun-try who has only ever played in one previous semi� nal and that too against Argentina in 1986 was evident in the

tactics and experience. Belgium never really threatened Argentina like they had done in their round of 16 clash against USA. The European side re-

quired something special to overcome a team who were backed on by a bois-terous crowd of around 68,000, most of whom were supporting Argentina. Belgium were missing � repower up-front and were beaten accordingly.

Argentina’s intention was clear from the word go as Messi and Co’s wide an-gled run towards the Belgium goal pro-vided Vincent Kompany’s men barely any time to settle down. The Albiceleste adopted a 4-4-2 formation and Belgium had to track back to thwart the runs of

Ezequiel Lavezzi, Angel di Maria and, of course, the indomitable Messi.

Argentina made two changes at the back with Jose Maria Basanta replacing the suspended Marcos Rojo at left-back while veteran Martin Demichelis came in for Federico Fernandez at the middle of defence.

The Red Devils’ fort was breached in the seventh minute of the game by a rejuvenated Gonzalo Higuain. Messi launched one of his typical mesmerising PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Four injuredin attack on CHTC teamThe motorcade came under attack near local DGFI o� ce

Shakib likely to face heavy sanctionn Minhaz Uddin Khan

C o n t r o v e r -sy over na-tional cricket a l l - r o u n d e r Shakib al Hasan has reached a new height with the star indulging in a verbal row

with head coach Chandika Hathurus-ingha and threatening to quit playing Tests and ODIs for the Tigers.

When it seemed Shakib had recov-ered from the repercussions of the infamous brawl with a spectator in the stand during an ODI against India recently, the biggest advertisement of Bangladesh cricket again � nds himself in hot water for leaving without a No Objection Certi� cate from Bangladesh Cricket Board to play in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The BCB President Namzul Hasan yesterday told the media that allthe Shakib issues would reach a con-clusion in the board meeting scheduled for July 7.

According to sources within the BCB, the board is likely to sanction se-vere punishment against the leading Bangladesh cricketer.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

‘I believe aggrieved Bangalees did this,’ a leader of Parbatya Chattagram Somo Odhikar Andolon said

SEHRI & IFTAR TIME

Day Sehri IftarRamadan 7/July 6 – 6.54pmRamadan 8/July 7 3.44am 6.54pm

The monsoon rain leads to waterlogging in the Hawkers’ Market adjacent to New Market in the capital yesterday, taking a heavy toll on the shopping MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Troubled Basic Bank chairman resignsn Asif Showkat Kallol

Former Jatiya Party MP Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu has stepped down as the chairman of the loan scam-hit state-run Basic Bank.

Bachchu, who dropped his papers on Friday afternoon, has been at the

bank’s helm twice since 2009. The second term of his tenure that

was scheduled to end September 4, coin-cided with credit scams of Tk4,500 crore.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith con-� rmed the resignation, submitted cit-ing health grounds, to Dhaka Tribune.

He said Basic Bank’s board of direc-

tors would be renewed today.He also said it was not possible to

appoint all directors within a short time; so only the new chairman would be appointed through a circular.

Asked about Bachcu’s successor, Muhith said the potential new chair-man was a well-known banker and had

been a bank’s chairman and managing director.

Finance Ministry sources said Bang-ladesh Krish Bank Chairman Alauddin A Majid was the most likely candidate.

Muhith has already sent a proposal in this regard to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

However, ministry sources could not con� rm how much time the PMO might take to settle the issue. Asked whether he was contacted for the new job, Majid told the Dhaka Tribune that he was ready to take up any responsi-bility if the government wanted him to. PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Argentinian forward and captain Lionel Messi (C) celebrates with teammates after winning the quarter-� nal football match against Belgium at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia during the 2014 FIFA World Cup yesterday AFP

RAIHAN MAHMOODfrom Brasilia, Brazil

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

EC backtracks from its decision to use ‘ticks’ marksThe commission plans to introduce EVMs to eradicate number of cancelled votesn Mohammad Zakaria

The Election Commission has with-drawn from its earlier decision of using ‘tick’ marks on ballot paper instead of a seal for local body polls, such as munic-ipal or union parishad.

“The commission has decided to use seals in marking ballot papers in the lo-cal body polls,” a deputy secretary of commission told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Last year, the commission decided in principle to use ‘tick’ mark in the ballot papers using marker pen for municipal or union parishad polls and also decid-ed to amend the respective laws in this regard, the o� cial added.

“However, the commission has withdrawn from its previous decision after scrutinising it,” he added.

According to the working papers of the commission’s recent in this regard,

Election Commissioner Abdul Mobar-ak told the meeting: “The commission should uphold the decision to use seals in the ballot papers instead of mark-ings.”

The decision to use ‘tick’ marks in-stead of traditional seals was adopted to cut down the number of cancelled ballot papers, which were caused by wrong markings due to the slow-drying ink used put the seal marks.

“The decision was withdrawn as the use of marker pens may allow anyone to tamper with unmarked ballot pa-pers,” the o� cial added.

At the same time, the o� cial added that the number of cancelled votes will disappear if the commission uses elec-tronic voting machines (EVMs) instead of ballot papers.

“The commission is initiating to in-troduce EVMs in union parishad polls and the commission is amending the laws as it decided in principle,” Deputy Secretary Abdul Odud said.

“The concerned section of the commission will present the working papers in this regard at the full com-mission meeting soon. Following the approval,, EVMs will be used in every union parishad election or by-polls,” he added. l

Higuain ends Argentina’s 24-year drought PAGE 1 COLUMN 6runs in the right � ank of mid� eld and tapped the ball forward to Di Maria with the outside part of his boot. Di Maria’s drive de� ected o� Jan Vertonghen’s feet and bounced in front of an unmarked Higuain who showed his craftsmanship to thump the ball into the far post.

Although Belgium had their share of possession in the following 20 minutes, they hardly tested goalkeeper Sergio Romero as Eden Hazard, Daniel Van Buyten and Divock Origi continuously lost possession at the edge of the Ar-gentine D-box. Romero was not called into action until the 35th minute when he e� ortlessly parried away a 25-yarder from Kevin de Bruyne.

Despite being ahead, Argentina suddenly received a scare in the 37th minute when Di Maria pulled his ham-string after unleashing a � erce drive towards goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois which was blocked at the last moment by Kompany. Mid� elder Enzo Perez re-placed him but was unable to replicate Di Maria’s brilliant runs towards the Belgium territory.

Belgium’s best chance came their way in the 42nd minute when Ver-tonghen whipped in a cross from the left � ank and Kevin Mirallas powered a neat header just wide of Romero’s right-hand post.

Meanwhile, Argentina decided to go slow and concentrated on keeping pos-

session rather than trying something ambitious. Coach Alejandro Sabella was seen shouting at his charges as he directed them not to concede posses-sion.

Higuain however had nobody apart from himself to blame in the 55th min-ute when he made his way through the Belgium defence and with only the helpless Courtois standing under the woodwork, the Napoli star � red a shot which, before going out, kissed the crosspiece.

Belgium coach Mark Wilmots insert-ed Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens in search of the equaliser but the much-talked about Belgian o� ence continued to fall short of the required standard. In

the 75th minute, Eden Hazard, consid-ered by many as one of the best players in the Belgian squad, made way for Na-cer Chadli after a disappointing game by his standards.

In the 85th minute, De Bruyne’s 20-yard shot de� ected inches wide of the side post while � ve minutes later Chadli placed the ball into the hands of Romero. In the � nal minutes of the game Messi came agonisingly close to his � fth goal of the tournament only to be denied by an onrushing Courtois. Axel Witsel’s volley in the very next minute was the Belgians’ � nal e� ort as they once again failed against the Argentines in the business stage of the tournament. l

College girl abductors yet to be held n Abid Azad

Police could not yet arrest the real cul-prits who were involved with the ab-duction of a college girl at Uttara in the capital on Friday.

Some 4-5 unidenti� ed miscreants set a 19-year-old college girl free at sector 4 in the area in early hours on the day, about one hour after her abduction from the area. The miscreants shot dead a se-curity guard and stabbed one Mahfuzul, as they came to rescue the girl.

The mother of the victim alleged that some students including two teachers of Cambrian School and Col-lege used to disturb her daughter.

When contacted, Investigation Of-� cer Md Mohiuddin told the Dhaka Tribune that they had detained four persons in this connection for primary interrogation.

“We hope we will be able to arrest the culprits soon” said OC Shahadat Hossain.

At present, the girl is in Dhaka Med-

ical College Hospital (DMCH) for her medical examination whether she was physically assaulted or not.

The coordinator Bilkis Begum of One stop Crisis Center (OCC) at DMCH said: “We have already taken the nec-essary samples to know the girl’s age, DNA and forensic examination.”

Asked whether the girl was physical-ly assaulted, she replied: “We cannot say anything until we get the report.”

“We would get the details within seven or � fteen days” she added. l

Furniture of the Malkamla High School in Godagari of Rajshahi are left in the open for more than two months since a devastating Kalboishakhi, a nor’wester, swept the area. The school authority does not have the means to rebuild the school building that houses 400 students. In this year’s SSC examination, the school registered an impressive 100% GPA 5 record AZAHAR UDDIN

Youthful Neymar carried hopes of a nation PAGE 1 COLUMN 5Neymar grew up playing in the streets and indoor futsal pitches, and was tal-ent-spotted at an early age.

He joined Santos, Brazil’s most ti-tled club, in 2003 and made his debut for them in 2009 having an instant im-pact as the country’s young player of the year.

Neymar � nished the 2010 season with 42 goals in 60 games as Santos se-cured the Copa do Brasil and domestic Sao Paulo state championship.

In 2011, Neymar played the central role as Santos took the Copa Libertado-res and the state championship again.

He won the FIFA Puskas goal of the year award for an astonishing solo ef-fort for Santos which beat out Wayne Rooney’s famous overhead volley against Manchester City.

Barcelona beat Santos 4-0 in the Club World Cup � nal that year and it al-ready seemed a formality that Neymar would head to Spain.

But it was not until 2013 that he followed so many of his Brazil team-mates overseas -- a delay that helped further endear him to Brazilian fans.

Neymar already has an impressive tally of 35 goals in 54 international games and shone as the Selecao pre-

pared in perfect fashion by winning the Confederations Cup last June.

However, an unconvincing � rst season in Europe threw up questions about whether he is ready to lead Bra-zil to World Cup glory.

“This is Neymar’s � rst World Cup and nobody knows exactly what is go-ing to happen. It is a big responsibility for him,” Pele said in an interview with AFP.

Neymar attracted criticism for fa-thering a child out of wedlock in 2011, but his biggest controversy revolves around alleged tax evasion implicating ex-Barcelona president Sandro Rosell

over his transfer to Spain.Despite this, such is his popularity

that his publicity machine is known as “Neymarketing”, his female fans are called “Neymarzetes” and many young men have had his image shaved into the back of their heads.

“First comes God, then family and then Neymar,” Rayellen Andrade, 17, told AFP during the World Cup.

Neymar has 12.2 million Twitter followers. His latest tweet, sent before the 2-1 win against Colombia, is not without poignancy.

“May the Lord God bless us and pro-tect us!! #insearchofadream,” he wrote. l

Shakib likely to face heavy sanction PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Namzul said he had received a message from the head coach Hathurusingha where he complained of Shakib threat-ening to quit playing for Bangladesh.

Shakib made the alleged threat after the national coach asked him to return to Bangladesh’s training camp on Au-gust 1, which would have ended Shakib’s CPL campaign earlier than he wanted. The CPL runs from July 11 to August 16.

“At the moment we are dealing with various issues related to Shakib,” said Nazmul. “First issue is he left the coun-try to play in the CPL without an NOC from the board and that is why he didn’t join national camp which began on July 1 despite being in Dhaka at that time.”

Nazmul also added that such a

threat to quit playing Tests and ODIs from a leading cricketer of the coun-try was alarming as it has brought the board’s e� ort of nurturing the cricket-ers into disrepute.

“The board has been doing everything to nurture the cricketers but what we found is that domestic Twen-ty20 competitions of other countries are more important to them. This is very unfortunate,” moaned the BCB boss.

“After this we will have to rethink whether the board should spend mon-ey behind these kinds of cricketers an-ymore,” Nazmul continued.

Shakib’s threat to boycott national team is, shockingly, his fourth seri-ous o� ense in last seven months. His shameful lewd gesture towards the

camera during the Bangladesh-Sri Lan-ka ODI series marks the beginning of controversies which saw the 26 year-old receive a three-match ban. The second one is his brawl, which is under the investigation of a BCB disciplinary committee, with a spectator during a Bangladesh-India game last month and the third being his departure for the CPL without an NOC from the board.

Fingers are being raised at BCB too because of its leniency towards the cricketers, especially Shakib, which can be detrimental to a player’s growth in maintaining discipline. The BCB president however thinks otherwise.

“The board always had zero toler-ance against indiscipline. We had pun-ished him (Shakib) for indiscipline in

the past. We had suspended him for three games earlier,” said Nazmul.

“It is not that we don’t like Shakib. He is our best player in the team and we all want him to do better. But it be-comes really repulsive when your best player keeps on violating regulations again and again. This makes a very bad impact on the team and on other play-ers,” Nazmul added.

Meanwhile, Shakib twitted twice yesterday night saying, “I’m on my way back to Bangladesh now. Will make myself clear once I get there In sha Allah.”

“I have been listening, watching and waiting. I would request you all not to make any comments before lis-tening to both parties.”

Basic Bank chairman PAGE 1 COLUMN 5Earlier, Aslam Alam, a secretary of the Finance Ministry, told the Dhaka Trib-une that Bachchu would be removed.

Sources said the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO) had asked Bachchu to step down.

Established in 1989, Basic was one of the best state-run banks until 2009 when the government appointed Bachchu.

Bangladesh Bank investigators found that during Bachchu’s tenure, the bank gave out loans without ver-ifying applicants’ creditworthiness, sometimes even to defaulters.

They have also found that despite objections from the branches con-cerned, Bachchu had arbitrarily ap-prove many loans. Bachchu entered deep sea � shing business in 2011 after he was made chairman of the Bank.

He reportedly spent around Tk150 crore on 11 deep-sea � shing trawlers in less than two years.

Ministry sources also said the mem-bers of the board of directors had ad-mitted that there had been huge cor-ruption. The government o� cials in the board were held responsible by the central bank for not informing authori-ties about the scams.

Most irregularities were reported in 2009-2013 in three branches – Gulshan, Dilkusha and Shantinagar. The loan activities of these three branches have been recently suspended.

The Gulshan branch alone lent more than Tk3,111 crore last year againstits deposit of only Tk695 crore, registering a staggering loan-deposit ratio of 427%.

The bank doubled the number of branches to 68 in the last � ve years, but 70% of its business is controlled by the four graft-ridden branches – the other being the main branch.

Two months ago, the central bank � red Basic Bank’s managing director Kazi Faqurul Islam. l

Waterlogging adds perennial woes PAGE 1 COLUMN 3Arshadul Alam, a resident in Azimpur, said they were going through a bad patch due to yesterday’s rain.

He said the heavy shower � ooded the Azimpur main road, cross sections and internal lanes adjoining the Azimpur graveyard and government sta� quarters.

Akbar Hossain, a CNG-run au-to-rickshaw driver, was seen standing agape on the road in Shukrabad area with his auto-rickshaw.

He told this correspondent, “The vehicle’s engine refuses to start as wa-ter entered the device while I was driv-ing through a road � ooded with knee-deep water.”

Farida Akhtar, a resident of Purana

Paltan, said most roads in the area had gone under water and the authorities turned a blind eye to this problem.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on several occasions directed the Local Government Division and its associate bodies, Dhaka Wasa, Dhaka North and South City Corporations and other au-thorities concerned to immediately take e� ective steps to salvage the capital from waterlogging during rainy season.

But none of the agencies could prop-erly comply with the premier’s directive.

The Wasa also undertook the Dhaka Water Supply and Sanitation project in association with the World Bank in 2008 to reclaim 26 canals from grab-bers, but with limited results.

According to Wasa sources, there were originally 65 canals, but with the passage of time, the number came down to 43. Of the remaining canals, 20 have already dried out while many have been � lled up with garbage and the rest are gradually being encroached upon.

Moreover, last year the Dhaka Wasa signed a Memorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) with Vitens Evides Interna-tional, Netherlands with a view to re-moving waterlogging from the capital.

Besides, the Dhaka South City Cor-poration and Dhaka North City Cor-poration have been installing pipes as part of storm drain system in di� erent areas of the city.

Contacted, Dhaka Wasa Managing

Director Taqseem A Khan termed the waterlogging a temporary problem.

To drain out extra water, we in-stalled pumps at di� erent places, he said, adding that all pumps operated after a heavy rain.

Earlier, Dhaka Wasa Deputy Manag-ing Director (Administration) Md Ataur Rahman attributed fund crunch to the poor condition of the drainage and sewerage system in the city.

“We have already contacted di� er-ent donor agencies for their support to develop this sector in Dhaka,” he added.

Ataur also blamed the city people for dumping waste in the canals and drains, thereby preventing the free � ow of water. l

Four injured in attack on CHTC PAGE 1 COLUMN 2They also urged the government to ban it in the CHT.

Two of the four organisations on July 3 even announced a four-day blockade in Bandarban from yesterday claiming that the commission was try-ing to create divisions among the Ban-galees and the indigenous people of the hills. The blockade was withdrawn yesterday as the team cancelled its tour to Bandarban.

Ripon, a Bangalee youth who wit-nesses the incident, said: “The at-tackers set � re to a tire just beside the house of additional SP of Rangamati Sadar Circle. The place is around 60 yards away from a BGB camp. Once the motorcade reached the area, they started hurling bricks.

“Around 150-200 people were in the group. All of them were Bangalee but they are not inhabitants of the area. They were chanting slogans mostly against Sultana Kamal and in favour of Somo Odhikar organisations.”

Sultana Kamal said the seven-mem-ber team went to Bandarban on July 2 to see progress of the execution of the Peace Accord. The visit was aimed at � nding out whether the CHT people had been getting bene� ts of the accord and the barriers behind its full imple-mentation, she said.

“We sat with di� erent organisations of the CHT areas including Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samity (PC-JSS) and United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) in Bandarban. We had a scheduled meeting with Bangalee Somo Odhikar Parishad in Rangama-ti today [yesterday]. When we were staying in Parjatan Motel this morning [yesterday], we were trying to commu-nicate with its leaders. However, they refused to sit with us.

“A number of local people, inspired by its local leader Nurjahan, started gathering people around our hotel and hurled abuse at us,” Sultana said add-ing that they sought help from the law enforcement agencies as the crowd, at one stage, became threat for them.

She said they � nally decided to leave Rangamati as the attempts for

discussion had gone into vain. “We faced the attack when our

motorcade, under police protection, reached in front of the local DGFI of-� ce. The attackers from behind the DGFI o� ce started hurling stones at our vehicles. They also shot two rounds of bullets,” said Sultana, also a former caretaker government adviser.

“The injured were taken to Com-bined Military Hospital in Chittagong Cantonment where we had a sched-uled meeting with the GOC of the can-tonment. The meeting was postponed due to the incident,” she added.

When contacted, Central Coordi-nator of Parbatya Chattagram Somo Odhikar Andolon Moniruzzaman Mon-ir declined to comment whether his party members were involved in the attack or not.

“I believe aggrieved Bangalee peo-ple did this,” he told the Dhaka Trib-une.

Bangalee Somo Odhikar Parishad is a faction operating under the Parbatya Chattagram Somo Odhikar Andolon.

The other organisations supporting the Andolon are Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad (PBCP), Parbatya Na-gorik Parishad (PNP), Parbatya Dalopa-ti Parishad (PDP) and Parbatya Chhatra Oikya Parishad (PCAP).

The CHT commission o� cials said they had contacted the leaders of Ban-galee Somo Odhikar Parishad to have an appointment so that the commis-sion could take their opinion on the CHT issues.

Asked about it, Monir said: “The Rangamati district administration con-tacted us over phone and asked us to prepare a group of representatives to sit with the commission o� cials. We rejected their invitation since we did not get any formal invitation from the commission in this regard.”

At one point, he said: “Why should we meet them? They brought with them Ilira Dewan who was a member of the Hill Women’s Federation for a long time. We told them [the commis-sion] not to come to the CHT.”

Ilira was injured critically in the at-tack. l

'The decision was withdrawn as the use of marker pens may allow anyone to tamper with unmarked ballot papers'

Unidenti� ed miscreants launch an attack on a convoy carrying members of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission in Rangamati yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

PDB eases experience bar for mega power projectProfessionals fear sub-standard companies with little experience may take advantage of the lowered bar

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The Power Development Board (PDB) has relaxed the minimum quali� ca-tion experience in its tender to build a 1,320MW coal based power plant using latest ultra super critical technology at Moheshkhali Island of Cox’s Bazar, ap-parently to favor certain companies.

The proposed 1,320MW coal based power plant is expected to a double unit establishment, each unit with a production capacity of 660MW.

The common practices for PDB is to require companies with at least one overseas experience which means that any company willing to participate in a tender to construct 100MW power plant must have experience in similar operations abroad.

However, this time the PDB has set the minimum experience as equivalent to constructing a 600 MW plant, 60MW lower than the expected quali� cations.

At the same time, the state-owned

body has also allowed the companies, experienced in using sub-critical tech-nologies, to take part in the bid.

At present, three technologies are available for constructing coal-based power plants such as sub-critical, su-per critical and ultra super critical. Sub-critical is considered the oldest.

“PDB is planning to adopt the lat-est ultra super critical technology in setting up coal-based thermal power plants in the country. Thus, companies with at least one overseas super criti-cal experience could be considered for the tender. However, it will also allow companies experienced only in build-ing sub-critical plants to take part in the bid. The decision is not right.” said a PDB o� cial seeking anonymity.

“The ultra super technology plants will reduce carbon emissions, genera-tion costs will be minimised and at the same time increase e� ciency,” he said.

At present, the 250MW Barapukuria thermal power plant in Dinajpur is us-

ing sub-critical technology. According to the tender document, a

bidder must have experience in at least one project applying sub-critical, super critical or ultra super critical coal-� red plant having a minimum 600 MW ca-pacity outside the tenderer’s country.

Although the board mentioned its decision not to hold a pre-bid meet-ing when it called the tender in April, PDB made an amendment to the tender advertisement on May 15 and held the meeting on May 26 at Biddut Bhavan.

On April 1, PDB advertised a tender inviting bidders for “Construction of Moheshkhali 2x600-700 MW coal � red ultra super critical thermal power plant project on turnkey basis.”

According to the advertisement, sub-mission date was July 8 and open date July 9. After the second amendment, now submission date has been � xed on July 22 and open date on July 23.

When asked, PDB Chairman Md Abduhu Ruhulullah told the Dhaka Tri-

bune: “To increase the number of the participation, we have relaxed the ex-perience requirements.”

About the frequent changes in dates, he said the amendments were made “for the good” of the project.

“Having two units with equal pro-duction capacity, the proposed plant will use imported coal and the con-struction of the plant is likely to com-plete by 2020,” he added.

According to sources, coal-� red pow-er plants were normally prone to high environmental risks and any company without su� cient experience may cause unabated environmental pollution.

They added that for such mega proj-ects, the PDB cannot take any kind of risks by allowing inexperienced com-panies and therefore has no scope to downgrade the standards which may al-low inexperienced companies to qualify.

Presently, environmental issues have been high priority across the globe.

However, the government has al-ready signed three deals to build three similar 1,320 megawatt (MW) coal-� red power plants through super critical or ultra-supercritical technology.

The � rst one was signed between Indian state-owned National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) and PDB for Rampal and the second one between the state-owned Northwest Power Gen-eration Company and China National Machinery Import Export Corporation for Patuakhali.

The last deal was inked with another Chinese state-owned company, China Huadian Hong Kong Company Limited, for Moheshkhali.

The government has prepared a road map to generate electricity of around 20,000MW from the coal-based power plants in the country by 2030.

Of the total power generation target, 11,250MW would be produced by using local coal reserves while the rest would depend on imported coal. l

ICT o� cial: No bar to Nizami verdictn Udisa Islam

As the Dhaka Central Jail authorities has submitted the � nal health report of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rah-man Nizami mentioning that he is “� t,” prosecutors said now there is no barrier to pronounce verdict in the war crimes case against him.

Last Thursday, the jail authorities wrote to the registrar’s o� ce of the In-ternational Crimes Tribunal saying that Nizami, 69, was in good health, Arunav Chakraborty, the tribunal’s deputy reg-istrar told the Dhaka Tribune.

“Since Nizami has regained stability, there is no bar to pronounce the verdict in his presence,” said Tureen Afroz, one of the conducting prosecutors of the case.

On June 24, the tribunal 1 deferred the long-awaited verdict due to the sudden illness of the accused. The jail authorities wrote to the tribunal about the illness only hours before the pro-nouncement of verdict mentioning

that physicians had advised not to move Nizami anywhere.

However, the accused was � t the pre-vious day when he had been taken to Dhaka from Kashimpur jail, o� cials said.

Two days later, the jail authorities told the tribunal that Nizami’s health had improved slightly but not stable.

Farman Ali, senior jail super of Dha-ka, said physicians after a check up at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University declared him stable and � t.

He said Nizami has been sent back to his designated cell instead of the jail hospi-tal, where he has been kept since June 24.

Arunav told to Dhaka Tribune: “Le-

gally there is no barrier to set a new date to pronounce the verdict. The tribunal may set the new date after ob-serving the recent report sent by the jail authorities.”

Prosecutor Zead Al Malum echoed his view.

The verdict against Nizami prolonged for various reasons since December last year. No other case faced such unusual situation at the tribunal 1. The trial took around four years due to the defence’s delay strategy, prosecution’s misman-agement and time consuming reform of the tribunal. The prosecution has changed its conducting prosecutor for this particular case four times.

Nizami is the last “high-pro� le” war crimes accused who faces 16 charges of crimes against humanity including genocide.

The two tribunals have so far sen-tenced eight people to death; one got life term imprisonment while another 90 years in prison. l

Political forum begins in New Yorkn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

A two-day high-level political forum ministerial dialogue will begin tomor-row at the UN headquarters in New York aiming to shape up the post-2015 development agenda.

“The Bangladesh delegation will take part in di� erent sessions of the forum meeting and intervene where it feels necessary to shape the new de-velopment agenda,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tri-bune yesterday before he left Dhaka for New York.

The foreign secretary will lead the delegation in the forum meeting.

The post-2015 development agenda is very important for Bangladesh as the Sustainable Development Goals will dictate the future policies of the coun-try in several social sectors, including health, maternal health and education.

SDGs will replace Millennium De-velopment Goals that will expire next year. Bangladesh in the last 14 years had achieved most of the eight major MDGs. l

Jessore trader injured in police � ring, loses leg n Mohammad Jamil Khan

A businessman, who was allegedly shot in the left leg by the police for not to pay extortion, has � nally lost his leg.

Doctors at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Reha-bilitation (Nitor) on June 29 amputated the left leg of Salman Shikder Viky, a businessman from Jessore.

The condition of another business-man named Masudur Rahman Nannu, who was also injured in the police � r-ing, was deteriorating. Doctors think that he also might have to undergo op-eration.

The two businessmen fell victim to the police on June 15 and May 31. Sub-Inspectors Shoeb Uddin and Jamal Uddin of Kotwali police station shot them in the legs in Chachara area of the district allegedly for their refusal to pay Tk10 lakh demanded by them. The Dhaka Tribune ran a report on the inci-dent on June 28.

Babu Shikder, father of Salman, yes-terday claimed that SI Shoeb not only shot his son, but also threatened to kill him. He alleged that Shoeb also trans-ferred his son from Nitor to Jessore Central Hospital.

The police o� cer, however, denied all the allegations brought against him. He told the Dhaka Tribune that both the businesspeople were known terror-ists in Monihar Cinema Hall area. “We will take further action against them. We shifted Viky after his operation had been conducted,” he added.

Masudur Rahman Nannu, fruit trad-er, is now undergoing treatment at pay-ing ward 50.

Dr Mohammad Jahangir Alam, duty doctor of the ward, said his (Nannu) leg

might be amputated for bad circula-tion. “If it does not improve, we would have no option to cut o� his leg,” he added.

According to Viky, SI Shoeb on June 15 came to their house in Bezpara area, blindfolded him and shoved him into a microbus. Later, they demanded Tk10 lakh from him. When he refused to pay the money, Shoeb shot him in the leg and staged a drama of mugging, Viky said.

Police � led a case against him later. Nannu told the Dhaka Tribune that SI Shoeb came to his fruit shop on May 31, blindfolded him and whisked him away in a microbus. Later, SI Shoeb de-manded Tk10 lakh from him.

“As I was unable to pay too much money, he shot me in the leg. He also threatened to cripple me,” Nannu said.

He claimed that Shoeb also asked his two other associates, who were in the microbus, to � le case against him and his relatives.

When asked why police attacked him, Nannu said he had helped the Rapid Action Battalion trace some arms traders in a student mess of BCMC Col-lege just a couple of days before the incident. “The criminals might have managed the police o� cer to give me a good lesson,” he added.

Reshma Sharmin, senior assistant superintendent of police (Sadar circle) of Jessore, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We had information that Salman was pre-paring for the hijack. We conducted a joint drive along with BGB members. Sensing our presence, he attacked us � rst and that is why police shot him.”

He was a listed terrorist in this area and locals were in a state of panic for his terrorist acts, she said, adding that three cases were � led against him earlier. l

BGB recovers land in India’s adverse possessionn Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

BGB yesterday recovered 12.04 hectare land at the Chuadanga border which was in India’s adverse possession for 66 years.

At 11am yesterday, personnel from 6 BGB Battalion erected border � ags on the land to mark Bangladesh’s control.

Lt Col SM Moniruzzman, director of the BGB battalion, said there had been a 12.04 hectare stretch of land inside Bangladesh’s territory from border pil-lar number 61/3-S to 61/9-S.

He said: “Some Hindu and Shantal families lived on that land. However, they went to India after the 1947 parti-tion. Since then, India had been enjoy-ing the adverse possession of the land.

“It is not a land in adverse posses-sion. We can still see the pillars erect-ed by the India-Pakistan joint surveyor team at that time [1947],” he said.

Scrutinising documents in the local land o� ce, BGB found that the land was registered with Chuadanga dis-trict administrator’s o� ce in 1962. Of the land, 10.43 hectare belonged to the district administration and the rest to a private owner.

“Since the land had been under In-dia’s possession, neither the govern-ment nor any individual has ever taken any initiative for recovery,” he added.

The 6 BGB Battalion took an initia-tive in this regard in April last year after it took charge of the Chuadanga border.

They held a number of discussions with the Indian Border Security Force (BSF), the local administration and people.

Lt Col SM Moniruzzaman said India had failed to produce any legal docu-ment in favour of their long possession.

Recently, under the supervision of the BGB battalion, the land was ploughed and a number of vegetable seeds were sowed.

According to existing rules, the re-covered land would now be distributed among the local landless people.

In May 2010, a � ve-member gov-ernment team inspected the area and submitted a report to the then director general of the Directorate of Land Re-cord and Survey.

In February 2011, Chuadanga district administration sent a letter to the dis-trict magistrate of India’s Nadia to dis-cuss the adverse possession issue.

However, the Indian side has never replied that letter. l

BGB personnel, along with local people, inspect the land recovered from India’s adverse possession in Chuadanga DHAKA TRIBUNE

The tribunal may set the new date after observing the recent report sent by the jail authorities

4 NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

A goods-laden rickshaw van topples after one of its wheels fell into a deep pothole on the Dhaka-Narayanganj-Pagla highway, which had been depleting day by day due to negligence of authorities concerned. The condition of the road worsens further when many areas on the prime highway goes under water during monsoon, causing frequent accidents and su� erings to commuters MEHEDI HASAN

Another Jessore Central Jail prisoner dies n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Another prisoner of Jessore Central Jail died at Jessore Medical College Hospi-tal yesterday.

Sources said Yunus Ali, 57, a life-term prisoner and also resident at Anandabash village in Mujibnagar up-azila of Meherpur district died around 10:40am.

Jailer Mohiuddin Haider con� rmed the incident.

He had been imprisoned at the Jail since 2012, said Mohiuddin Haider, jail-er, Jessore Central Jail.

Family members alleged that he was tortured by police as the police were not given demanded money. The jail authority did not provide proper treat-ment to the victim.

Samiuzzaman Uzzal, 32, former joint secretary, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Jessore district unit and an activ-ist of Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal and also son of Moniruzzaman of Ghope in Jessore town died in the jail on Friday. l

BNP prepares for movement, pollsn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The BNP yesterday said the party had been making preparation to participate in the next national poll apart from waging the anti-government move-ment.

The government kept a forcible grip on the state power at his bidding, not with a clear mandate from people, BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

“We would strengthen popular movement after Eid, plus prepare for next election and revamp the party. All these activities are underway.”

The spokesperson for the party made the statement while talking to journal-

ists after visiting the party chief’s me-dia wing o� cial Shamsuddin Didar at a city hospital yesterday morning.

He said the present government usurped the state power through an il-legal poll.

“People are with us and we will wage a massive anti-government movement together,” said the leader.

Fakhrul mentioned that all minis-ters were illegal as they were not elect-ed by people’s franchise.

So, the nation immediately demand-ed their resignations, he said.

People would reject the Awami League in the next poll as the party deprived them of their su� rage, added the leader. l

Teachers pay no heed to banon corporal punishmentn Mushfi que Wadud

School teachers are subjecting students to corporal punishment despite a ban on in� icting any kind of physical pun-ishment.

As some students and guardians told the Dhaka Tribune, such practice is im-posed even in some city schools, par-ticularly for not doing homework and for quarreling with fellow students.

Earlier on January 13, 2011, the High Court banned all sorts of corporal pun-ishment such as caning, beating, chain-ing, forced-haircut and con� nement in all primary and secondary schools and madrasahs.

The court also sought actions against those teachers who are engaged in in-� icting corporal punishment on the students, terming such it as an act of extra-judicial punishment.

After the High Court’s ruling, the government banned such corporal punishment in all educational institu-tions across the country.

But some incidents of corporal pun-ishment were reported in the last few weeks. Show-cause notices were is-sued in some cases and in some others,

parents demonstrated in front of the schools.

Seeking anonymity, a parent from Dhaka city’s Mirpur area said her son had been subjected to corporal punish-ment in class because he had failed to do his homework.

“My son was so scared that he had not gone to school for the next two days.”

The condition is even worse in rural areas where a number of such acts of corporal punishment were reported in the last few weeks.

On June 11, a math teacher from a Sunamganj school gave 48 used razor blades to her students and ordered them to cut their hands and legs as the students didn’t do their homework.

No student had completed their 30 sums. The incident drew criticism across the country and the teacher was later transferred from the school.

A madrasa teacher was arrested in Shahjahanpur Railway Colony in the capital on May 20 on charge of cruelly torturing his 11-year-old student.

Nur Mohammad, a teacher of Alla-ma MA Jalil Hifza Academy, tied the student with ropes and beat him up.

His father has claimed that the teacher even hung his son from the ceiling fan.

In Nilphamari, a show cause notice was issued to a primary schoolteacher on May 12 for caning a student in Nil-phamari Sadar upazila.

Golam Mostofa, 11, a class V student of Manushmara Government Primary School was beaten up by his mathemat-ics teacher Mohaimen Islam.

The student was admitted to Nil-phamari 100-bed Hospital with injuries in several parts of his body.

In the same district, a teacher of Purbo Chhatnai Colony High School, Shamima Akhter beat Ashraful Islam, 12,a Class VII student. Ashraful was admitted to Dimla Upazila Health Com-plex with injuries.

Parents demonstrated in front of the school on June 22 demanding punish-ment of the teacher. Dr Anup Kumar of Dimla Health Complex said they had found signs of beating all over the body’s body.

Education o� cials said teachers had been strictly instructed not to in-� ict any sort of corporal penalty on the students but they were not seemingly paying heed to the instruction as such

incidents still continued. “We have issued letters several

times to teachers not to punish stu-dents physically,”Director general of the Directorate of Primary Educatrion, Shyamal Kanti Ghosh, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said whenever they were in-formed of any allegation, they looked into the matter and took action.

Directorate of Secondary and High-er Education Director General Fahima Khatun also echoed Shyamal and said they had also given instructions.

Abu Sayeed Bhuiyan, headmaster of city’s Government Laboratory High School, told the Dhaka Tribune gov-ernment and NGOs often arrange some workshops guiding teachers not to tor-ture students.

He said teachers had long been prac-ticing corporal punishment in schools and it might take time to fully put an end to such practices.

“But the situation is changing. Many teachers are avoiding corporal punish-ment,” he said, adding that teachers of this school strictly follow the govern-ment guidelines on corporal punish-ment. l

DC conference begins Tuesday n Mohosinul Karim

While a total of 38 out of 474 decisions taken in last year’s deputy commission-er’s conference remain unimplement-ed, new 307 issues and recommenda-tions will be discussed in the upcoming DC conference, set to begin Tuesday.

The points have been selected ac-cording to the proposals of the DCs sent earlier. New decisions will be taken af-ter discussing the issues in the three-day conference.

At the meeting, president, prime min-ister, ministers and policymakers of the government meet with the DCs across the country to brief them about the gov-ernment’s policy and priorities. The pol-icy makers will hear the problems and recommendations of the DCs and make decisions to solve those issues.

Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hos-

sain Bhuiyan told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the government had taken initiatives to implement all the decisions. “Some of the decisions can be solved by the ministries concerned.

“Sometimes the government needs to coordinate with several ministries to implement some decisions. We need time to implement such decisions. We have no negligence to implement the decisions of the DC conferences,” he added.

He also said: “Sometimes it is need-ed to amend policies or laws to im-plement the decisions. It is time con-suming. But we try our level best to implement the decisions faster.”

The cabinet division o� cials said the DCs had sent more than 450 prob-lems and recommendations to discuss at the conference. Most of these pro-posals were discussed previously and

therefore, those would be excluded from the list this time.

According to the cabinet division, as many as 436 out of 474 decisions taken in the previous DC conference held on July 23-25 last year were implemented in the last one year. Of those, 159 were short-term and 150 mid-term deci-sions. A total of 153 short-term and 138 mid-term decisions have been imple-mented partially.

Of the 165 long-term decisions, 145 were implemented in the last one year.

Of the 38 decisions remained unim-plemented, 20 are long-term, 12 mid-term and six are short-term issues. Ini-tiatives to implement the decisions are yet to be taken.

Though the cabinet division claimed that the rate of implementation of the decisions was 92%, most of the de-cisions were implemented partially

while many only in black and white.According to the o� cials, the short-

term decisions taken last year involved non-coordination between civil, police and judicial administrations. As a re-sult, most of the criminals get bail and relieved immediately which hampers controlling law and order.

As per the progress papers of imple-mentation of the decisions, it was decid-ed to provide new transport for Tangail district administration to operate evic-tion drive of illegal infrastructures and look after Bangabandhu Bridge area.

Though the authorities claimed that the decision was implemented, the Bridg-es Division is yet to provide any transport for them. They have only included a pro-posal to purchase a vehicle for the district administration. It will be procured only after the authorities get budgetary alloca-tion from the government. l

Mirpur RMG worker allegedly raped, case � led against four n Tazlina Zamila Khan

A case was � led against two men yester-day who allegedly raped a ready made garment worker living in the capital’s Mirpur. The girl’s aunt Parul Akhter � led the case with the Mirpur police station.

The victim, who was raped on Tues-day, is still undergoing treatment at the One-Stop Crisis Centre of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Dr Bilkis Begum, coordinator of the One-Stop Crisis Centre, yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have done ra-diology and forensic tests on the girl on Thursday. We have waited for case doc-uments for the DNA tests but the girl’s family has submitted copies of the case this morning and we have prepared our documents accordingly.”

She added: “The condition of the victim is better now. She might be re-leased tomorrow. Her aunt Parul is reg-ularly visiting her.”

Sub-inspector of the Mirpur police station Matiur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: “The case was � led against four people, including two named and the other two unnamed. The names of

the accused are Farid and Sumon.” Inspector Moinul Islam is investigat-

ing the case, he said. Moinul told the Dhaka Tribune: “We

could not trace the culprits as the victim failed to provide any details about them. She said there were four men in the mi-crobus and she was raped by two of them. Sumon and Farid were sitting in the back. The third man sat beside the driver.”

“Sumon has been harassing her for 6-7 months. She said she would assist us in arresting Farid once she is re-leased from the hospital,” he added.

Aunt Parul told the Dhaka Tribune: “Farid raped my niece. He is a rogue person. He harassed her for a long time. My niece told me, Farid proposed to marry her but she refused.”

The victim works at Creative Garment in Darus Salam of Mirpur. On her way back home in Paik Para after 10pm on Tuesday, Farid forced her inside the mi-crobus which travelled to an unknown place where she was raped by two.

The vehicle drove back and the girl was dropped back to the place where she was kidnapped from. She is an or-phan and lives with her aunt. l

Sonargaon hotel hosts iftar party for children n Tribune Report

Pan Paci� c Sonargaon Hotel has organ-ised a Iftar and dinner party for chil-dren at its Grand Ballroom recently. More than � ve hundred children from di� erent children welfare institutions were invited to the party.

Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon was present at the programme as chief guest and ministry Secretary Khur-shed Alam Chowdhury was also present among others, said a media release. l

Seminar on higher education at IUBn Tribune Report

Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) and the Cambrian Education Group jointly has recently organised an International seminar on “Quality in Higher Education” at the IUB campus.

Prof Dr Quamrul H Mazumder, di-rector of department of Mechanical Engineering of University of Michi-gan-Flint, USA, was the keynote speak-er, said a media release.

A speaker named Prof Mazumder said: “In order to get quality in higher education, we need to provide quality

academic programmes and support services to the students. We have to provide adequate research facilities and increase faculty scholarly activi-ties at the educational institutions.”

Prof M Omar Rahman, vice-chan-cellor of IUB, delivered the welcome speech and inaugurated the seminar. l

WHO to draft action plan on antimicrobial resistancen Moniruzzaman Uzzal

World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an online consultation on a draft global action plan to seek the views and contributions of relevant organisations, civil society bodies, na-tional authorities to address antimicro-bial resistance (AMR).

The current consultation will re-main open till September 1, 2014, says a press release issued by WHO on July 4. It also said the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) passed a resolution calling on WHO to lead the develop-ment of a global action plan to address AMR, and submit a draft plan to the next WHA that is set to be held in 2015.

In the � rst phase, WHO will seek contributions to help prepare the glob-al action plan. Later, comments will be sought on the � nalised version of the plan. The questionnaire is divided into four segments in which the questions are broadly framed and intended to present and explain the organisations’

viewpoint. It was also learnt that WHO made

the draft outline of the global action plan on AMR in June where it set six steps to achieve success against AMR.

In the draft, emphasis was put on proper monitoring and evaluation to cover the area of hygiene and infection prevention and control programmes, awareness, education and training pro-grammes and campaigns, evidence based guidance for clinical use (includ-ing use of diagnostics), stewardship pro-gramme to control misuse and overuse.

It also stressed on the need for a functioning surveillance system, in-tegrated across sectors with the abili-ty to detect resistance and to provide data to support primary indicators, regulations to ensure e� ective licens-ing and quality control of medicinal technology development and innova-tion in areas of medicines, vaccines and diagnostics and monitoring, eval-uation and assessment of plan imple-mentation. l

WEATHER

LIGHT RAIN

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

PRAYER TIMES Fajar 3:49am Sunrise 5:15am Zahr 12:03am Asr 4:44pm Magrib 6:50pm Esha 8:17pm

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:50PM SUN RISES 5:16AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW33.4ºC 25.3ºCSylhet Chittagong

SUNDAY, JULY 6

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 34 28Chittagong 31 26Rajshahi 34 27Rangpur 33 26Khulna 33 26Barisal 33 26Sylhet 33 25Cox’s Bazar 31 26

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Gopibagh six murders stilla mysteryn Mohammad Jamil Khan

It has been over six month since the murder of six people in the capital’s Gopibagh. Yet the police are yet to solve the mystery behind the incident or arrest anyone in this connection.

Investigators suspect the killings in-volved an Islamic militant group but they are unable to make any further progress.

Jahangir Hossain Matubbor, deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch (East) of police, said police were trying to make progress in the case but are im-peded by the lack of leads in the case.

He said nothing could be said about the probe at this stage, adding: “E� orts are on to arrest some suspected crim-inals based on primary information gathered from the crime scene.”

Speaking about the motive for the murders, Jahangir said Lutfar Rahman Faruk, one of the six, would spread the message of fanaticism after renting the house in Gopibagh.

This might have angered some peo-ple who then killed him, he added.

On December 21 last year, unidenti-� ed miscreants entered the house no 64/6 at Ramkrishna Mission road in Go-pibagh and killed Faruk, his son Monir

and four others. The four others were Faruk’s followers, namely Saidur Rah-man, Mojibur, Rasel and Manzur Alam.

The following day, Abdullah Al-Faruk, younger son of Faruk, � led a case with Wari police station, accusing 10-12 unidenti� ed men of the murders.

Abdullah Al-Faruk told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have contacted police several times after � ling the case and gave them a list of suspected killers but they are yet to take any action. They only said they were looking into the case and the criminals would be arrest-ed but nothing has happened yet.”

If the police took action and arrested the suspects then they would have been able to nab the real culprits, he said.

“The case is not moving forward as police do not want to do that,” he added.

Abul Khayer, sub-inspector of the detective branch of police and investi-gating o� cer in the case, told the Dhaka Tribune they had identi� ed four to � ve suspects and were trying to arrest them.

“These people are continuously changing their hideouts which is why it is hard to arrest them,” he said.

Police are trying their best to end the investigation, added the investigating o� cer. l

Rain to continue for the next two daysDhaka experiences highest rainfall this monsoonn Tazlina Zamila Khan

The capital yesterday experienced 69mm rainfall from 6am to 3:30pm yesterday, highest of its kind this mon-soon.

The heavy downpour, however, continued till midday, with the meteo-rologists predicting that the city would not experience any heavy rainfall this week except light shower for the next two days.

Bangladesh Meteorological Depart-ment recorded the highest 150mm rainfall in Patuakhali district while the lowest 4mm was recorded in Feni till

12pm yesterday. Besides, Chandpur, Comilla, Tan-

gail, Faridpur, Madaripur, Barisal, Bho-la, Khulna, Mongla, Satkhira, Bogra, Rangpur, Saidpur and Dinajpur record-ed 43mm, 9mm, 17mm, 11mm, 17mm, 28mm, 25mm, 53mm, 48mm, 17mm, 3mm, 3mm, 4mm and 45mm rainfall respectively till 12pm, said assistant Meteorologist Mahmudul Kabir.

Duty Forecasting O� cer Atiqur Rah-man said: “The southern part of the country like Khulna and Barisal expe-rienced light to heavy rain yesterday. However, no rainfall was sighted in Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar districts.”

A heavy tra� c jam on the city roads followed the torrential rain inundating the ground � oor of many houses in the low-lying areas across the city.

The rain as usual took a heavy toll on the commuters' movement as tra� c movement came to a standstill in the wake of congestion.

Meteorologist Arif Hossain said: “The capital experienced the highest rainfall this monsoon starting from March.”

He suggested improving the city's drainage system to rid people of the havoc caused by moderate to heavy rainfall. l

Activists of CPB and BSD hold a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding the clearance of wages of workers before Eid MEHEDI HASAN

Dhaka University turns festive in Ramadan n DU Correspondent

A festive mood prevails at Dhaka Uni-versity in the evenings of Ramadan as numerous students, both present and former, arrange iftar parties on the campus to break the daylong fasting together.

The TSC (Teacher-Student Centre), Arts Faculty, Business Faculty, Madhur Canteen, Hakim Chattar, Curzon Hall, Law Faculty and several other places see large gatherings, with people sit-ting in circles, every evening since Ra-madan began.

Students of other institutions such as Bangladesh University of Engineer-ing and Technology, Dhaka College, Eden College and di� erent private uni-versities also arrange iftar parties on the campus.

“It has been a tradition to organise iftar party every year during Ramadan,” said Sajib, a third-year student of Phi-losophy Department at the university.

“It is also a sort of reunion for us as both former and present students at-tend the party,” he added.

Many iftar parties are arranged ev-ery day on the campus, with some be-ing organised by di� erent socio-cultur-al organisations.

“Although we miss having iftar with our family members, we enjoy it here with friends, seniors and juniors,” said a student of women and gender stud-ies.

TSC Director Alamgir Hossain said several organisations arrange iftar par-ties in Ramadan every year in the TSC cafeteria and auditorium which creates extra pressure on us to accommodate them all.

Roadside iftar sellers do a good busi-ness as people buy di� erent popular items, including chhola, pu� ed rice, pi-yaju, beguni, samosa, jalebi and juices of di� erent � avours, for iftar.

Babul, an iftar vendor, said: “I make extra money in Ramadan as I make nearly Tk2,500 every day by selling if-tar items.”

Also in the halls and dorms, stu-dents arrange iftar in their rooms.

“We really enjoy having iftar with friends and roommates,” said Rasel, a student of economics.

Like the males, female students also arrange iftar parties in the dorms and sometimes prepare di� erent items themselves.

“We are enjoying Ramadan in the dorm. It gives us additional pleasure when we take iftar together with our friends and also help each other in pre-paring iftar items,” said Suma, a student of sociology, who stays at Rokeya Hall.

Amzad Ali, proctor of the univer-sity, said: “Teachers of the blue panel (pro-Awami League) and white panel (pro-BNP) arrange iftar parties in Ra-madan every year. Parties are also ar-ranged at teachers' club and teachers' lounge.” l

Downpour paralyses Barisal cityn Our Correspondent, BARISAL

More than 10-hour of incessant mon-soon rain has caused water logging in vast areas of the Barisal city yesterday, severely hampering the daily activities of locals.

Local met o� ce said they recorded 33 milimeter rainfall until 3pm from 6am.

In some cases, river communication was halted due to the unusual rain.

Barisal River Port authorities sus-pended all sorts of water transports on the river routes from 8am, said Shahid-ullah, deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BI-WTA).

The action followed after signal no. 2 hoisted in the port in the morning by the local met o� ce, the o� cial continued.

Barisal citizens had been experienc-ing low to mid level rainfall from morn-ing without any break, which contin-ued before sunset.

Most people forced to stay in their residences as there was scarcity of transports. On the other hand, the driv-ers demanded comparatively high fare from the passengers, which added ex-tra su� ering to the people.

Make shift shops, hawker markets were closed in most parts of the city and local kitchen markets witnessed a few customers as people did not ven-ture out with an emergency need.

Water logging on di� erent city roads and low lying areas were caused due to � lling and grabbing canals, lack of proper drainage and sewerage system and absence of city protection embank-ment, Barisal  City  Corporation may-or-elect Ahsan Habib Kamal alleged.

The rainfall would continue and there will have also 15-20 km per hour gusty wind for the next one or two days, according to met o� ce forecast.

Low pressure in the Bay of Ben-gal, monsoon air has been causing the downpour in the region, said Prodip Kumar, o� cer of Kalapara met o� ce.

Earlier, all � shing boats and trawlers asked to take shelter till the improve-ment of the weather, the o� cial stated. l

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

Jamalpur municipality now a town of garbagen Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

The people of Jamalpur municipali-ty have been su� ering for long due to serious environment pollution as the authorities do not clean the town reg-ularly.

According to sources,the dustbins along the roadsides of the town are full of garbage. The townspeople dump their waste near the dustbins as it can no longer contain trash. As a result, most of the streets are littered with garbage which is polluting the town seriously.

The people cannot move along the roads as the decomposed organic ma-terials emit awfully bad odour making it di� cult to breathe in the air.

The municipality was established in 1869. The area of the town is 53.28 sq km. The town has a population of 1,68,554.

Local traders Montu Mian, Sad Hos-sain Shish, Abul Hossain alleged there are 103 cleaners to keep the town hy-gienic for its citizens. But they do not come regular to take away the rubbish from the dustbins.

Sources said a wastage treatment

plant was set up two years ago but it lies idle. A section of townspeople dumped the trash in the Brahmaputra River and Stadium area polluting the environment.

When contacted, Mayor Wares Ali Ma-mun said: “Due to want of modern equip-ments, the plant cannot be operated.”

“The municipal mayor sent a pro-posal to the ministry concerned seek-

ing allocation of fund for purchasing necessary equipments. But we have not yet received any positive response from them,” said an o� cer.

The o� cer also said that they had

only three vehicles which are inade-quate to work in the town.

Sometimes the vehicles go out of or-der but it is not repaired as its parts are not available in the district. l

Youth found dead after 3-day missing in Cox’s Bazarn Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

Police recovered the body of a young man, who went into missing three days ago, from the Vorakhal River at Maulvirkul village in Chakaria upazila here yesterday.

The deceased, Mohammad Miraz, 22, son of Nurul Islam, of Binamara area of Chakaria Municipality, was a carpenter.

The victim’s elder brother Mizanur Rah-man said Miraz went out of his house on

Wednesday and since then he remained missing.

Later, villagers spotted his body bore many stab injuries in the river a� oat and informed local police who sent the body to the sadar hospital morgue for autopsy, said Chakaria police station OC Provas Chandra Dhar.

Mizanur claimed that his brother might have been killed in a planned way by someone.

The OC continued that they were trying best to unearth the mystery behind the murder. l

Mothbaria-Pirojpur road in sorry staten Our Correspondent, Pirojpur

The Mothbaria-Pirjpur road is in a pitiable state as it gets dusty during the dry season and muddy during the wet season, making it a night-mare for people all the year around.

Locals say they su� er more in the wet season, when this road, full of pot holes, goes under knee-deep water even after a little of rain.

Schools and other government and non-government institutions are situated along this road. Every-day, a few thousands of people move along this road either on foot, in a rickshaw or by a motorised vehicle.

Businessman Abdul Salam Aza-di says this road goes through the Mothbaria upazila town. The Math-baria Bus Stand-to-Bazar Bridge

part of the road is in an awful state. The correspondent visited the

road and found it in a terribly bad state yesterday.

He also found Government Mod-el Primary School, KM Latif Insti-tution. Hatem Ali Girls' Secondary School, Upazila Parishad, Judicial Magistrate's Court and Palli Bidyut Fire Service o� ce.

A school student guardian, Shah Alam, whose child reads at a school, says: “My child gets dirty when going to and fro school during the rainy season.

A rickshaw puller, Jasim Uddin, says: “My rickshaw tyres are dam-aged extremely when they fall into the pot holes of this road. However, I am helpless because there is no al-ternative road.”

Pirojpur Area Manager Imam

Hossain Masud of Komudiny Phar-ma Ltd says: “I went to Mothbaria in my motorcyle on Thursday.

“But my bike fell into a pot hole near the municipality. Though I had a narrow escape from the accident, my dress and essential papers went wet and muddy.”

Businessman Mizanur Rahman says: “There are shops on both sides of this road in the municipality. Around one kilometre stretch of this road goes under water even in a little rain.

“Water remains stuck on the road for so long causing huge su� erings to people as there is no pipe to drain out this water.”

A passers-by, Jalal Ahmed, says: “We often becomes muddy as mud-dy water gets thrown at us when a car pass past us while walking along

this road.” Mothabari Municipality Mayor

Ra� uddin Ahmed says: “This road is under the jurisdiction of the Roads and Highways Department. This road has been in a pitiable con-dition for so long.

“We have to hear harsh words from people because of the depart-ment's reluctance of repairing this road. Considering people's su� er-ings, I repaired it three years ago with the money from the munici-pality's own fund.”

Chief Engineer of Pirojpur Roads and Highways Department Abu Hena Mostofa Kamal says: “There is no fund allocation for repairing this road from Mathbaria Bus Stand to Bazar Bridge. Rapairs will begin af-ter we get the allocation.” l

The photo shows the Stadium area of Jamalpur town that has virtually turned intio a dumping ground of decomposed organic materias DHAKA TRIBUNE

Four-day road-waterway blockade continues in Bandarbann Our Correspondent, Bandarban

The four-day road-waterway blockade, enforced by Bangalee Chhatra Parishad and Parbatya Nagorik Parishad protest-ing the three-day tour of a team of In-ternational Commission on Chittagong Hill Tracts A� airs to the hill region, was going on peacefully in the district yes-terday.

The blockaders put up barricade on some main points of the district includ-ing Haludia, Sualak and Bus Station area on the Bandarban-Keranihat road and some points of the Sangu River in the morning.

According to sources, no long route buses departed from the district, causing immense su� erings to the travelers.

In a press brie� ng at Bandarban Press Club on Thursday, Bangalee Chhatra Parishad and Parbatya Nagorik Parishad announced to enforce a four-day road and waterway blockade from July 5 to 8.

On the day, a delegation of the com-mission, led by its co-chair Sultana Kamal, is on the visit to the hill region to learn about the latest situation and progress in the CHT peace accord and recent Babuchhara incident sources also said.

The delegation will also visit Ram Jadi and its adjacent area. l

Fratricide over land disputein Narsingdin Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

A man was allegedly murdered by his younger brother cen-tring a piece of disputed land at Kucherchar village in Mano-hardi upazila here yesterday.

The victim, Bazlu Rahman, 45, a resident of the village, and his younger brother Sohel Miah have long been loggerheads over distribution of their ancestral land, local sources said.

As sequel to the incident, a brawl erupted between them in the afternoon and Sohel stabbed his elder brother at one stage, leaving him dead on the spot.

However, villagers caught Sohel and handed over him to local police station, said Manohardi police station OC Alam-gir Hossain who continued that they sent the body to Nars-ingdi sadar hospital morgue for an autopsy. l

'Due to want of modern equipment, the plant cannot be operated'

Pumpkin cultivation makes char women self-reliantn Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Pumpkin cultivation in char areas of Gaib-andha has been translated into success for local women as more and more women are taking an interest in growing this plant.

Lucky Begum, 45, is a homemaker in Baguria village of the sadar upazila. She lost everything in river erosion four years back and began working as a housemaid. Her husband Janu Mia is a day-labourer. She grew pumpkin in an acre of land in the char area this year which cost her Tk2,000 but she has already earned Tk5,000 by sell-ing pumpkins.

She has another 300 pumpkins, each weighing 7-10 kilograms, stored in her house and she is expecting Tk15,000 from the sale of those.

“Pumpkin cultivation has made me self-dependent. We did not know earlier that pumpkin could be grown in the lands in char areas. I plan to grow this plant in more pieces of land in the near future,” she said.

Like Lucky, forty-nine year old Alema Begum became homeless in river erosion. Her husband Dalimuddin also works as a day-labourer but the money he makes is barely enough to bear the expenses of the family.

Alema cultivated pumpkin in a two-bigha land. She spent Tk1,500 but earned Tk16,000 by selling the harvest.

Nearly 440 poor women in four river-side upazilas in Gaibandha have succeeded in making a handsome income by growing and selling pumpkins.

District Agricultural Extension Depart-ment sources say pumpkin was grown in 415 hectares of char land in Sundarganj, Fulchari, Saghata and Gaibandha Sadar this year.

A total of 8,300 tonnes of pumpkin will be grown in this tract of land.

Gono Unnayan Kendra, a local private organisation, carries out development work in char areas. Its chief executive M Abdus Salam said river erosion every year turns arable lands into char lands where rice cannot be grown.

We provide assistance for pumpkin cul-tivation from the organisation, he said.

Abdur Razzak, deputy director of the District Agricultural Extension Depart-ment, said farmers are being encouraged to grow pumpkin in char lands and are also being given assistance.

At present, this is helping to meetthe de� cit in pumpkin production, headded. l

Cox's Bazar � ooded with adulterated spicesn Our Correspondent, Cox's Bazar

The Cox's Bazar kitchen markets have been � ooded with adulterated spices. Most of the powdered spices are not BSTI ap-proved and many are being packaged with fake BSTI seals.

After visiting di� erent markets of Boro Bazar, Bahar Chhora and di� erent kitchen markets of the sadar upazila, the Dhaka Tribune has found that the packets of the adulterated spices do not have manufac-turing dates, expiry dates or price tags.

Locals alleged that some unscrupulous businessmen had been operating this ille-gal business using fake BSTI seals on the packets. They had been collecting spices

from local factories and supplying them in the fake packets.

Sources said among the large number of spice factories in the city, only two had legal approval from BSTI. The dishonest businessmen had also been allegedly using wheat � our and colours in preparing the adulterated spices.

Local businessmen said they did not know who was preparing these adulterated spices. They, however, opined that legal drives could identify these dishonest producers.

Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Ruhul Amin said drives against food adul-teration were on, adding that market secu-rity and monitoring would be tightened on the occasion of Ramadan. l

7CareerDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

How to avoid taking home work this monthn Ahsan Sajid

Modern technology and increasingly ef-� cient modes of communication is blur-ring the line between a well compart-mentalised professional and personal life. As we are able to stay in touch at any given hour, the traditional work day is no longer over when you leave the o� ce – in fact, it is never over.

In particular, the lines are blurred fur-ther this month because of Ramadan and the new work hours that we have not yet gotten used to. No matter how small an issue, one can expect to hear from work during personal time asking for “just � ve minutes of your time.”

This gives rise to a number of prob-lems, most notably the constant interfer-ence with our personal and family life. Even answering frequent work-related calls and having to check work email should count as overtime. But it has sim-ply become an expected and unspeci� ed part of our job description these days.

Ideally we should not have to choose between work or personal life; it be-comes a Cornelian dilemma (having to choose between two courses of action, either of which will have a detrimental e� ect on us and our surroundings).

If we do not do the task, we will fall behind at work and have to see our col-leagues move ahead of us. If we do it, and keep doing it, we will not only lose touch with family and friends but we are

going to eventually become grumpy, de-pressed, and lack energy and enthusiasm for work.

Our psychological recovery time from work stress is now being taken up by a worse kind of work stress–having to bring work home. The more stress we are dealing with, the harder we have to tryto psychologically detach ourselves from work. In the long-term, the ability to sep-arate work and home and a clean psycho-logical bill of health may be the key tosuccess. Unfortunately, we hardly have that luxury.

While the best way to go about it is simply to not bring work home, most of us live in the real world. We have to � n-ish our reports over the weekend, and attend meetings in the evening. If you must bring work home, follow some of these basic suggestions to keep your life compartmentalised even at home and not muddle up all the di� erent roles that are yours.

Maintain boundariesYou have given in and decided to be the perfect team player and bring extra work home, but set clear boundaries. For ex-ample, after 10pm, you simply will not check your work email. Ask colleagues that if they need you after this time and it is an emergency, to text and describe the nature of the emergency because you are simply not going to answer calls during personal or family time.

Make time for familyAlways set yourself family time. It may sound a little silly to set strict routines with family, since it is just family. But if you reserve a certain time of the day for your family and remain steadfast about it, it will be easier for you during this time to completely separate work stress and fully focus on your family.

For example, this month it may be best to spend time with your family af-ter coming home, and only attending to your work after an early dinner. Similar-ly, if it is the weekend, it might be best to work in the morning while the rest of the family is still sleeping in.

Keep a home officeYou don't need to be Gordon Gekko to have a home o� ce. Having a home of-� ce may not be possible for everyone due to space constraints, but it can be something as simple as a work desk, as long as it is something you do not share with the family for other tasks. There is nothing like creating a home o� ce to make it easier for you to switch between your roles as a professional and a loving family person.

This desk, or space, is just for work. When you are home and you need to work, you only work here and not from your bed or dining table. That way, sim-ple acts of getting on or o� a chair shifts roles between diligent worker and loving family member in your head. l

Basic business card sharing etiquettesn Career Desk

Today more than ever before, personal networking has become an integral part of professional development. Though we are living through very busy times, and we have more tools than our pre-decessors to keep in touch, unfortu-nately, networking only through social media is not enough.

To e� ectively communicate with someone that you met at a conference, for example, or any o� cial gathering, the need to interact on a personal lev-el and being able to maintain and build on the original connection are crucial to de� ne that interaction as e� cient networking.

Exchanging business cards is one of the � rst things professionals do when networking. But, how “professionally” are you performing this simple task?

The manner in which a business card is handed out often says a lot about the person; it leaves a lasting impression about the distributor in the receiver’s mind. Being unaware about the etiquettes dealing with the ex-change of business cards can make you seem unprofessional and discourteous.

To upgrade your networking skills to professional-level, the following are three simple suggestions about sharing business cards.

Include necessary information The purpose of sharing business cards is primarily to give recipients the chance to contact you later. However, it is also the polite way of letting one another know each other's job titles, positions in the organisation etc.

Include your full name, job title, work phone number, mobile phone number and email address. You should basically add all pertinent information to contacting you.

A clever trick is to leave out your personal mobile phone number from the card, and instead writing it down at the back by hand before handing it out, with an explanation of how you usual-ly do not share your personal number

with people but that the recipient is welcome to contact you at any time. This adds a personal touch and makes the person feel important.

Know the time and placeDistributing business cards randomly without asking for the recipient’s per-mission, without providing any proper introduction of yourself verbally and congenially is not only unprofessional, but a serious breach of professional et-iquette.

Share cards before and after meetings. Share cards at conferences and profes-sional workshops. Be extra careful be-fore giving your cards to executives or big shots. Either pass it on only when asked for, or engineer a situation to exchange cards. Always remember, it is more important to collect other peo-ple's cards than to give out your own.

Add a flourishThis is not a mandatory rule, and it does not apply for all occasions, but if the time is right, remember to write personal notes, not more than a line, about the highlight of your interaction at the back of your card. It not only adds value to the personal interaction but also makes the exchange memora-ble to the receiver. l

Customer service can no longer be overlookedn Naiian Yazdani and Nakibul Hoq

Customers today hold service and the behaviour of corporations to a higher standard than ever before. The inte-gration of social media into everyday living provides customers a medium by which to express their opinions—pos-itive or negative. In this modern con-text business has had to become more customer-centric as any negative ex-perience can be spread with ferocious speed having a detrimental e� ect on pro� t margins.

Recently, the news regarding a Bangla-desh Biman employee beating up a cus-tomer set social media alight and will be feeding news outlets for some time. The deplorable act will be � rmly condemned time and again by the online citizens. Each article, comment, tweet or status update reduces Biman’s brand equity.

In the airline business, a service industry, it is imperative that the con-sumers remain loyal to the brand and therefore customer management has a crucial role to play. In the aforemen-tioned incident the Biman employee not only failed as a representative of Bangladesh’s largest airline company but also embodied poor training and be-havioural development for employees.

Customer service is a headache for the larger corporations. It is not pos-sible for management to monitor to see everything that goes on in this de-partment. The problem stems from the disproportionate amount of work required to sustain a good brand image when compared to the small disastrous moments and decisions which can see a good brand eroded in a short space of time. Customer service does not gener-ally drive revenue, yet it remains high

risk and high cost. Global corporations have treated

it like any other specialisation within a business and a primary strategy has been to outsource customer service. This way organisations can dedicate more time and resources to focus on their core competencies ensuring cus-tomer service is handled by an experi-enced, professional organisation.

To keep costs to an absolute mini-mum, corporations engage services in nations which have low labour costs. India has quickly dominated this market with their strong English language skills,

emphasis on education and relatively cheap labour. It is why when you call the service line of Master Card in the UK or USA, you will be answered by an ef-� cient, well-paid employee with an An-glo-Saxon name and an Indian accent.

Contrastingly, Bangladesh has poor customer service. The culture has not developed, stemming from the men-tality of top management who have no need to value it. Fundamentally, this has been driven by the lack of compe-tition, meaning, corporations are prof-itable based on customer needs rather than customer choices. Perhaps the arrival of better competitors with sim-

ilar resources will push these existing companies with low levels of customer insights out of the market.

Increased competition is already ar-riving at our doorstep. Combined with the ability of consumers to ascertain market information more e� ciently than ever, management will need to put cus-tomer service high on their agenda. It is imperative to decide who the best people are to function as faces of the company.

They have to be well-trained in the art of communication, be articulate and humble while simultaneously dealing with the issues raised by the customers. As product and price dif-ferentiation diminishes, the focus will gravitate towards non-traditional as-pects of products and services and cor-porations need to stay ahead.

Increasingly, customer management has to be a focal point of a business oper-ation. Employees have to undergo prop-er training sessions and behavioural competency development before they can deal with customers. They have to have top-notch communication abilities and must be matured individuals who can see the problem rationally from the customer’s point of view.

Simply put, a modern corporation cannot a� ord not to provide top level customer service; it is not an option any more, it is a necessity. l

Nakibul Hoq is a research analyst at GradConnect, an international career information and advisory � rm. You can email him at nakib@grad-connect.com and � nd more career information at www.grad-insights.com and www.grad-connect.com. Naiian Yazdani is the director of strategy at GradConnect. You can email him at naiian@grad-connect.com.

Employees should undergo proper training sessions and behavioural competency development before they can deal with customers

Exchanging business cards is one of the � rst things professionals do when networking. But, how 'professionally' are you performing this simple task?

In the long-term, the ability to separate work and home and a clean psychological bill of health may be the key to success. Unfortunately, we hardly have that luxury

BIGSTOCK

BIGSTOCK

BIGSTOCK

Sunday, July 6, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World8

Egypt court sentences Brotherhood leader to lifen Reuters, Cairo

An Egyptian court sentenced Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to life in prison yesterday, the court’s judge said, for inciting violence that erupted after the army deposed Islamist Presi-dent Mohamed Mursi last year.

Badie, convicted along with about 36 other Brotherhood leaders and sup-porters for the same crime, is facing the death sentence in two separate cases. All 37 defendants were also charged with blocking a major road north of Cairo during protests that followed Mursi’s ouster on July 3, 2013.

The court also upheld death sentenc-es for 10 other Brotherhood leaders and supporters, of whom 8 were charged in absentia, on the same crimes.

Among the Brotherhood leaders sentenced to death in absentia is Abdul Rahman al-Barr, a Muslim scholar and

member of the Brotherhood’s Guid-ance Council.

Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, a Sala� preacher and a Brotherhood supporter, was also sentenced to death in absentia. He � ed to Qatar after Mursi was toppled.

Senior Brotherhood member Mo-hamed El-Beltagy and some former min-isters from Mursi’s administration were among those sentenced to life in prison.

The Egyptian authorities have launched a crackdown on Mursi’s Brotherhood, jailing thousands and killing hundreds of street protesters. The state accuses the Brotherhood of turning to violence, an accusation the group denies.

Badie and around 200 Brotherhood supporters were sentenced to death in a mass trial last month over violence that killed one police o� cer. The sen-tences caused outrage among western governments and rights groups. l

Iraq’s Maliki rejects pressure to step downn Reuters, Baghdad

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has refused to give up his quest for a third term in power, defying a chorus of crit-ics demanding his replacement as the country faces an existential threat from Islamist insurgents.

Maliki has come under mount-ing pressure since militants of the group now calling itself the Islam-ic State rampaged through swathes of the country last month and de-clared a mediaeval-style caliphate on land they have captured in Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

“I will never give up my candidacy for the post of prime minister,” Maliki said in a statement read out on state television by an announcer. “I will re-main a soldier, defending the interests of Iraq and its people,” he added, in the face of what he called terrorists and their allies.

He was referring to the Islamic State and some of the most prominent armed Sunni groups who have taken control of large parts of majority-Sunni regions of Iraq.

Maliki’s statement will complicate the struggle to form a new government to unite the ethnically and religiously divided country, something parliament failed to achieve this week. It extends a political deadlock made all the more dangerous by the pressing threat to Iraq’s territorial integrity.

Accused by his critics of exacerbat-ing the country’s sectarian split, Maliki has come under immense pressure to step down from his Sunni and Kurdish political foes, and even from some in his own Shi’ite camp.

In pointed comments in a Friday

sermon read by an aide, the coun-try’s leading Shi’ite cleric said par-liament’s inability to form a new government at its � rst session was a “regrettable failure.”

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani reiter-ated his call for the government to have “broad national acceptance,” a formu-lation that many o� cials interpret as a call for Maliki - accused by Sunnis of marginalising them and worsening eth-nic tensions - to go.

Iraq’s implosion has been watched with intense concern by the United States, which invaded in 2003 to top-ple dictator Saddam Hussein and with-draw in 2011 after a war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives.

Washington has deployed advisers to Iraq. US military o� cials believe the Iraqi army will be able to defend Baghdad but struggle to recapture lost territory, mainly because of logistical weaknesses.

Village capturedThere was some encouragement for the Iraqi army on the battle� eld: late on Thursday it scored a symbolic victory by recapturing Awja - the home village of Saddam Hussein - from Sunni insur-gents.

Backed by helicopter gunships and helped by Shi’ite Muslim volunteers, the army took the village in an hour-long battle, according to state media, police and local inhabitants.

Awja lies 8 km (5 miles) south of Tikrit, a city that was captured by the Islamic State, an al Qaeda o� shoot for-merly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as part of its lightning assault last month. l

Palestinian fury at Israel boils in funeral for slain youthn Reuters, Jerusalem

Chanting “Intifada, Intifada,” thousands of furious Palestinians called for a new uprising against Israel during the funeral on Friday of a teen they believe was kid-napped and killed by far-right Jews.

Stones thrown at Israeli police were met by teargas, stun grenades and rub-ber bullets in one of the most highly charged displays of enmity in Jerusa-lem in years as the body of Mohammed Abu Khudair, 16, wrapped in a Palestin-ian � ag, was carried through his neigh-bourhood under a sweltering sun.

Medics said 15 demonstrators were treated for injuries. There was no im-mediate word of arrests by the Israelis.

At another � ashpoint, the Gaza Strip border, Palestinian rocket and mortar launches, followed by Israeli artillery shelling, persisted on Friday but no one was hurt. Palestinian o� cials trying to calm tensions in recent weeks have said they would prevent any intifada, or up-rising, and seek a solution to a crisis that began when three Israeli teens were kid-napped in the occupied West Bank on June 12.

The discovery of their dead bodies on Monday prompted an outpouring of national grief in Israel. Tensions spiked after Abu Khudair was kidnapped on Wednesday in his Arab neighbourhood in Jerusalem and his charred body was found hours later in a forest on the edge of the city.

Rising tensionsMany Palestinians, including President Mahmoud Abbas, assert he was the vic-tim of far-right Jews incensed at the dis-covery this week of the remains of the three Israeli teenagers. With Israel having mobilised ground forces outside Gaza on Thursday in a threat to invade, Egypt tried to mediate a truce. Israel and the Is-lamist Palestinian Hamas movement each said the other had to back down � rst.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu called Abu Khudair’s killing, a day after the three Jewish seminary students were buried, “loathsome” and ordered a swift police investigation. Is-raeli authorities said they did not yet know whether the Palestinian was in-deed the victim of a hate crime.

The slayings of the young Palestin-ian and Israelis ramped up mutual ag-gravation that has festered since Net-anyahu quit US-sponsored peace talks in April over Abbas’s surprise pow-er-share with rival Hamas Islamists.

Netanyahu accused Hamas militants of seizing the three Israelis and the mil-itary mounted a 2-1/2-week-long search in the West Bank and a sweep against the movement’s activists and institutions. Hundreds of Palestinians, many of them Hamas members, were detained.Hamas has neither con� rmed nor denied in-volvement in the West Bank kidnap-pings. That did not stop some mourners calling for more seizures to pressure Isra-el into releasing Palestinians in its jails. l

Pope calls exploitation of nature a sin of our timen Reuters, Campobasso, Italy

Pope Francis called for more respect for nature yesterday, branding the destruc-tion of South America’s rain forests and other forms of environmental exploita-tion a sin of modern times. In an address at the university of Molise, an agricultur-al and industrial region in southern Italy, Francis said the Earth should be allowed to give her fruits without being exploited.

“This is one of the greatest challeng-es of our time: to convert ourselves to a type of development that knows how to respect creation,” he told students, struggling farmers, and laid-o� work-ers in a university hall. “When I look at America, also my own homeland (South America), so many forests, all cut, that have become land ... that can longer give life. This is our sin, exploiting the Earth and not allowing her to her give us what she has within her,” the Argentine pope said in unprepared remarks. l

Six people killed during attacks on Saudi-Yemeni border postn Reuters, Dubai

At least six people, including a suicide bomber and two security personnel, were killed at a Saudi-Yemeni border crossing on Friday, in attacks that high-lighted the threat posed by militants to the security of both nations.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has long viewed its 1,800 km (1,100 mile) border with impov-erished, con� ict-ridden Yemen as a major security challenge and has been building a fence to deter militants and criminals.

On Friday, gunmen killed the com-mander of a border patrol on the Sau-di side of the Wadia border post and security forces then killed three of the attackers in an ensuing � re� ght, the Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Separately, Yemen’s state agency

Saba reported that a suicide bomber had driven a car laden with explosives into the Yemeni side of the Wadia bor-der crossing, killing himself and one soldier and wounding another.

After the attack, Yemeni security forces chased militants who � ed from the scene in two cars into the desert, Saba said, citing a military source.

Earlier, in comments suggesting it was the same group of militants in-volved in the attacks on both sides of the border, a Yemeni o� cial told Re-uters the gunmen had escaped into Saudi Arabia after attacking the Yemeni border post.

The o� cial said the attackers were al Qaeda militants.

The SPA agency did not say who was thought to be behind the attack on the Saudi side of the border post. It said se-curity forces had arrested one of the gun-

men and were searching for one or two others believed to be hiding in the area.

The Wadia crossing is in the southeastern Yemeni province of Hadramout, which stretches from the port of Mukalla in the south to the Saudi border, through arid valleys and empty desert, landscape that al Qaeda militants use to their advantage across the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has been building the security fence along its border with Ye-men since 2003, though work has often been interrupted by protesting tribes-men who say it prevents them access-ing pastures for their livestock.

The kingdom, a key regional ally of the United States, overcame its own al Qaeda insurgency almost a decade ago but it has watched with alarm the re-cent military advances by radical Sunni Islamists in neighbouring Iraq. l

Ukraine rebels � ushed from Slavyanskn AFP, Kiev

Ukraine’s interior minister said yester-day that most pro-Russian rebels and their top commander had � ed their main eastern stronghold in what would be Kiev’s biggest success of the nearly three-month campaign.

“This morning, intelligence report-ed that Girkin (Igor Strelkov) and a substantial part of the rebels had � ed Slavyansk,” Ukraine’s interior minister Arsen Avakov said in reference to the industrial city of nearly 120,000 the in-surgents captured on April 6.

Ukraine alleges that Strelkov is a colonel in Russia’s military intelligence unit know as the Chief Intelligence Di-rectorate (GRU).

Both Strelkov and Moscow deny any GRU link despite Western claims that the Kremlin is covertly funding and arming the uprising to destabilise Ki-ev’s new pro-European leaders and re-tain control over over Russia-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine.Avakov said in a Facebook post that the militias were � eeing to Gorlivka – a city of 260,000 about 50 kilome-tre (30 miles) southeast of Slavyansk that also remains largely under the militias’ control.

He wrote in a later post that civilians were taking over roadblocks previously controlled by the insurgents “and car-rying weapons and bulletproof vests abandoned by the rebels.”

A Human Rights Watch observer who said she was in the area con� rmed Avakov’s claim in a tweet.

“Between 8 and 9 this morning saw insurgents leaving #Slavyansk via #Kramatorsk,” Tatyana Lokshina said in a post.

“They were saying, ‘the city’s fallen, everyone’s getting out’,” she wrote.

‘Massive’ o� ensive

Strelkov himself told the pro-Krem-lin LifeNews channel on Friday that his units “will be destroyed... within a week, two weeks at the latest” unless Russia helped secure an immediate truce or moved in its troops.

Slavyansk is the symbolic heart of an uprising sparked by the February ouster of a pro-Kremlin administration in Kiev and fuelled by Russia’s subse-quent seizure of Crimea.

Relentless shelling and sniper � re have since killed more than 470 people and left Western leaders frustrated by repeated mediation failures.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshen-ko on Friday agreed to immediate crisis talks with rebel commanders and Rus-sia aimed at stemming bloodshed that has threatened his ex-Soviet country’s survival and ruptured East-West ties.

Clashes in the economically-vital border regions of Lugansk and Donetsk have picked up with renewed vigour since Poroshenko tore up a 10-day cease� re agreement earlier this week.

His decision was immediately fol-lowed by the launch of a “massive” o� en-sive by Kiev that led President Vladimir Putin to warn that Russia had the right to

protect its compatriots in Ukraine.But Poroshenko’s call for talks on

Saturday have yet to be con� rmed by either Moscow or mediators from the Organisation for Security and Coopera-tion in Europe (OSCE) – a Vienna-based body � rst formed to preserve peace on the continent during the Cold War.

Kiev has balked at the idea of hold-ing round-table talks in Donetsk – a lo-cation in which Moscow carries wide-spread in� uence and prefers. But the insurgents refuse to travel to Kiev or EU member countries for fear of their immediate arrest. l

A Ukrainian forces serviceman guards their position at the check-point near Slavyansk, Donetsk AFP

Palestinians carry the body of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir in Jerusalem. Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem on Friday as thousands of people converged on a cemetery for the burial of the Arab teenager, who was allegedly killed by Israeli extremists in a suspected revenge attack AP

9Sunday, July 6, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World

Nato signals no new members for the present n AP, Brussels

Faced with a newly aggressive Russia, Nato has been mulling how to react, but it is rul-ing out one option: rapid expansion.

Four would-be members, including the former Soviet republic of Georgia, have been informed that admission to Nato isn’t in the cards anytime soon. For some, that means dashed hopes. Macedonia’s foreign minister told The Associated Press in a statement it was a “step backward.”

The bottom line: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, celebrating import-ant anniversaries this year of a dozen nations joining its ranks, will welcome no new members when President Barack Obama and other leaders convene for a summit in Wales in early September.

Analysts say that Nato members are worried about granting, or being perceived as granting, security guarantees that could quickly be tested by Russia. That’s particularly true of Georgia, which has been waiting since 2008 for the US-led military alliance to make good on its promise of admission.

Before taking over Crimea from Ukraine, Russia invaded and occupied two regions of Georgia nearly six years ago — and Nato is reluctant to take any action that might provoke a riposte from Moscow.

“The con� ict over Ukraine has made it clear to them at Nato they have to be careful, both about security commitments and credibility,” said Liana Fix, an associate fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. “If you give Georgia their mem-bership action plan but don’t defend them

if something happens, what does it say about your credibility?”

Nato won’t publicly hang up the “No Vacancy” sign.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the alliance’s secretary general, proclaimed recently that “Nato’s door remains open. And no third country has a veto over Nato enlargement.”

But even before Crimea’s annexation, some Nato countries were experienc-ing “enlargement exhaustion” and had become reluctant to increase the alliance’s membership rolls, said Jorge Benitez, senior fellow for trans-Atlantic security at the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

Post-Crimea, “the issues are much bigger,” Benitez said. “The question is, how much insecurity would you add to the alliance versus how much security would you bring to the alliance?”

To try to tilt the balance in its favor, Georgia has been an enthusiastic Nato partner, and until recently, had been � elding the largest non-Nato contingent of soldiers in alliance-led operations in Afghanistan.

In Wales, Georgia had been hoping to receive a formal action plan for member-ship, but instead will be given a “sub-stantive package” to help move it closer to Nato, Rasmussen said. He declined to give details. But Fix said the package was likely to include stepped-up training programs, increased military cooperation and advice, and a detailed checklist of what Nato wants Georgia to do to qualify for membership. l

China’s top graft-buster says no o� limits in probesn Reuters, Beijing

No part of China’s ruling Communist Party is o� limits for its crackdown on corruption, the country’s top graft buster was quoted as saying, sounding a warning a few days after the one of the country’s most senior former sol-diers was purged.

The party this week announced that Xu Caihou, who retired as vice chairman of the powerful Central Mil-itary Commission last year, had been expelled from the party and will be court-martialled after being accused of corruption.

President Xi Jinping, who heads the Central Military Commission, which controls the 2.3 million-strong armed forces, has launched a drive against pervasive graft since assuming o� ce.

Speaking during a visit to the north-ern region of Inner Mongolia, Wang Qishan, who heads the party’s e� orts to combat corruption, warned that ev-ery part of the party would be liable for inspection.

“Inspection work is a ‘health check’ for the party. There are no o� limits for oversight within in the party, and there are no exceptions,” the party’s graft watchdog cited Wang as saying.

President Xi has vowed to take down powerful “tigers” as well as lowly “� ies.” Xu is the most senior person to date to have been felled. l

Indian nurses greeted with smiles, � owers after release from Iraqn Reuters, Kochi

A group of 46 nurses caught up in � ght-ing in Iraq arrived home in India yes-terday after brie� y being held captive by suspected militants, an outcome celebrated by the newly elected gov-ernment in New Delhi as an early dip-lomatic success.

The nurses, mainly from the south-ern state of Kerala, were met by fam-ily members clutching bouquets of � owers and overjoyed that they were home barely two days after being taken against their will from a hospital in the Iraqi city of Tikrit.

“I thought I will never come back. I thought, (in the) last two days I am � nished. These are my last days,” one nurse called Marina told Reuters TV at Kochi airport in Kerala.

Tikrit, the birthplace of former Pres-ident Saddam Hussein, was the site of � erce � ghting this week as Iraqi troops battled to regain control of the city from the al Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The nurses had been holed up in a hospital in the city since the Islamic State insurgents and other Sunni Mus-lim militant groups seized towns and cities across Syria and Iraq in a light-ning advance last month.

Many were initially unwilling to leave because of debts back at home, and then

were trapped as the � ghting grew more � erce. On Thursday, they were ordered to board buses and driven to the militant controlled city of Mosul, where they were held in a building overnight.

Speaking at the airport, the nurses said they had been well treated by their

as yet unidenti� ed captors.“They were good people because

they did not misbehave with us. They provided for food, accommodation and whatever we wanted they provided for,” one nurse, who did not give her name, told a local television network. l

Sri Lanka accused of turning blind eye to violence n AP, Aluthgama

The attackers stormed in close to mid-night, tearing through town with gas-oline bombs and clubs before carting away piles of cash and jewelry they stole from Muslim families in this tiny corner of Sri Lanka.

The onslaught incited by the Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Power Force, a hard-line group that has gained thou-sands of followers in recent years, killed at least two Muslims and injured dozens more last month in the worst religious

violence Sri Lanka has seen in decades.Now, President Mahinda Rajapak-

sa’s government is under � re, accused of failing to protect Sri Lanka’s tiny Muslim minority and allowing radical Buddhists spewing illegal hate speech to operate with impunity for years.

Critics of Rajapaksa’s government say it has turned a blind eye to the vi-olence as a way to shore up its core constituency — the Sinhalese Buddhist population — which makes up about 75% of Sri Lanka’s 20 million people.

“At the root of the failure of the gov-

ernment to check the violence is elec-toral politics,” said Jehan Perera, head of the National Peace Council, a local peace activist group in Sri Lanka. “If the Sinhalese voters feel insecure for any reason they will tend to vote for the present government, which is seen as strong and pro-Sinhalese.”

But the most recent violence has drawn rare — and harsh — criticism from inside Sri Lanka, with the media, mod-erate Buddhists and even the justice minister slamming Rajapaksa’s seeming unwillingness to safeguard Muslims.

Foreign embassies and the UN also demanded action. The United States canceled a � ve-year, multiple-entry visa held by the BBS’s general secre-tary, according to the group’s chief ex-ecutive, Dilanta Vithanage.

Facing a growing backlash, the gov-ernment in recent days has tried to de-� ate the crisis, although critics say the moves are too little, too late.

The defense ministry called an unusual press conference on July 2 — nearly three weeks after the bloodshed — to distance itself from the Bodu Bala Sena and to address allegations that Sri Lanka’s powerful defense secretary and the president’s brother, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, was quietly supporting the group’s cause.

But the military spokesman, Brig. Ruwan Wanigasooriya, was careful not to criticize the group, either. “I am not condemning the BBS,” he said. “What I am saying is it is wrong to say that the secretary of defense is supporting the BBS.”

The same day, police interrogated the group’s general secretary, the Rev. Galagoda Atte Gnanasara, for � ve hours before releasing him without charge.

It was the � rst time Gnanasara had ever been questioned by police for his hate speech even though it has been widely acknowledged and circulated in videos online for years. He was once questioned for disrupting a press con-ference convened by a moderate monk at odds with the BBS, but he wasn’t prosecuted.

Just hours before the latest vio-lence, video clips showed him inciting crowds in Buddhist rallies that passed through Muslim areas like Aluthgama and Beruwala. l

Taliban set 200 fuel trucks on � re in Kabuln AFP, Kabul

A Taliban bomb attack on the outskirts of Kabul set � re to some 200 fuel trucks that the militants claimed were supply-ing foreign troops in Afghanistan, o� -cials said yesterday.

The tankers were set ablaze as they sat in a parking lot waiting to enter the Afghan capital, which is currently gripped by a fraud dispute over presi-dential elections last month.

Taliban insurgents � ghting a 13-year-war against US-led forces in Af-ghanistan often attack western supply convoys and claimed responsibility for the late Friday night attack.

“At around 10:30 pm dozens of fuel tankers belonging to private companies caught � re,” Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP.

“No one can get close to them since the � re is still raging at the scene,” he added, saying that there had been no casualties.

Kabul police director Gul Aghan Hashimi said a magnetic bomb had been used in the attack while a Na-to-led International Security Assis-tance Forces spokesman said they were investigating whether the fuel was in-tended for foreign troops.

The Afghan interior ministry said initial investigations found that 200 trucks had been damaged.

The incident took place in Chawk-e Arghandi and comes as the Taliban steps up attacks with Nato forces due to complete their withdrawal from the country by the end of the year.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mu-jahid said in a statement that � ghters belonging to the group had carried out the destruction.

Also Friday, ISAF said a rocket at-tack at the United States’ main military base at Bagram Air� eld had resulted in “minor damages to equipment and one building.”

It came just a day after Taliban in-surgents � red rockets into Kabul air-port, destroying the Afghan president’s parked helicopter and damaging three other choppers.

On Wednesday, a Taliban suicide bomber in Kabul killed eight military o� cers travelling on a military bus.

The attacks underlined security fears in the capital which has been relatively peaceful since the June 14 presidential runo� between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani.

Kabul has witnessed tense street demonstrations as the two candidates re-main locked in a dispute over voter fraud which is threatening to derail Afghani-stan’s � rst democratic transfer of power.

US-led allies are eager to avoid a pro-longed power struggle as they prepare to leave by December. l

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C O L O U R O F C E L E B R A T I O N A C R O S S B O R D E R S

(1) Japanese cooks in Tokyo make enough paella for 2,000 people in a pan two metres in diameter. Cooks at a Spanish restaurant used large amount of food including 80 kg of rice, 80 kg chicken, 30 kg kidney beans, 10 kg green peas, 10 litres of olive oil to make the large paella to promote Spanish dishes. (2) A butter� y sits on a tourist’s face in the ‘butter� y valley’ in Shenyang, northeast China’s Liaoning province. (3) Ethnic Miao minority residents play basketball in a court � lled with water as they celebrate a local festival called ‘Xinhe’, in Rongshui county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (4) A participant (C) reacts as he is sprayed with coloured powder during a 5-kilometre Colour Run in Shenyang, Liaoning province REUTERS/AP

One of the nurses (C) who were stranded in the territory held by Islamic extremists in Iraq, upon arrival at the airport in Kochi, India REUTERS

In this June 16 photo, Sri Lankan police o� cers walk through a Muslim neighborhood in Darga Town, in Aluthgama about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka AP

Class four student raped in Shariatpur, police reluctant to register caseMay 30Vikram KhanDisgusting! The o� cer-in-charge should not only be sacked but also be severely punished, and the rapist should be publicly castrated!

‘Childbirth services poor in upazilas’May 30VKAll this bad news albeit the “success Bang-ladesh is making in mother and child care,” according to Unicef?! Seems to me the ICD-DRB and UN organisation are not speaking the same language. Proves again the tricky smog screen of international development and government participation.

Hopeful Mush� q invites pressure onto himselfMay 31A Bangla FanWith less than stellar recent track records, Indians did not want to repeat a one-sided game with the Tigers. So, the Tigers should take this with good grace and let their action do the talking.

Editorial10 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

ACROSS1 Legumes (5)4 Mild explosion (3)6 Fuel (4)8 Adult insect (5)9 Submissive (4)11 Foundation (4)12 View (5)15 Heehaws (5)18 Explosive device (4)20 Gem (4)21 Once more (5)22 Keen relish (4)23 Stain (3)24 Locations (5)

DOWN1 Supreme happiness (5)2 Astound (5)3 Tally (5)4 Excuse (4)5 Fish (4)7 Tra� c light (5)10 Catch sight of (4)13 Fowls’ enclosure (4)14 Illustrious (5)15 Annoying children (5)16 Make suitable (5)17 Curving recess (5)18 Forward (4)19 Labyrinth (4)

CROSSWORD

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

SUDOKU

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 2 represents L so � ll L every time the � gure 2 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appro-priate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

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Is it a sin to hate my own city?May 29

SammyGood points, all. However, I do note that the author herself was able to utilise extraordinary op-portunities of education and, later, employment in a major US thinktank very much due to the in� uence and connections of her own father who used his cabinet position to do so during the last martial law regime. The author is a � ne individual and writes reasonably well (I have one of her books in my personal library) but she is perhaps not the best spokesman for self-reliance.

RonnieI’m a strident advocate of self-reliance, personal agency and responsibility, and authentic individ-ualism. At least I have, for long, lived my own life that way. Our conventionally and predominantly collectivist society has always appeared to get

in the way of engendering and enabling greater self-reliance among us all. As long as people in our country continue to rely on the goodwill and char-ity of “superiors” (and the “government”) or plain old luck – or indeed have a false and unhealthy sense of entitlement to rewards not earned for e� orts not made – we will be an underachieving, disgruntled lot, mired in a corrosive culture of dependency as we presently are.

ndsHaving asked us not to trust anybody, why are you advocating for trusting the new or next generation? You should have minimum consistency before presenting yourself as an extraordinary intellec-tual holding the authority to advise all and sundry whom to trust or not trust. However, following your advice, we are not going to trust you at all.

Rupali Bank should pro� t or perish

It is inexcusable that Rupali Bank, in spite of not making any eligible pro� ts last year, has been allowed by the central bank to declare dividends. This goes against existing banking rules – a bank cannot pay

dividends if it is running with a capital shortfall. Normally, a dividend is paid as a share of pro� ts. A loss-making

company simply cannot pay dividends as per the basic principles of business. State-owned Rupali Bank is being allowed to do this only to arti� cially create a good impression of their value in the stock market. With this, the institution convinces people to buy their shares at a higher price than the shares are really worth.

This strategy is one of deliberately misleading the public, and is nothing short of fraud. Private companies are hardly ever allowed to get away with this kind of behaviour. Indeed, when private � rms arti� cially raise the value of their shares in the case of loss-making companies, there is, rightfully, backlash in the form of public anger.

Dishonest conduct from private companies in the form of stock market manipulation or cheating investors is not seen sympathetically by anyone, so there is no reason for us to be lenient when a state-owned bank, in this case Rupali Bank, engages in the same behaviour.

Rupali Bank and other state-owned banks and industries need to follow the rules, and start making legitimate pro� ts. If they are unable to do so, they should be shut down.

End muggings and extortion

It is a sad commentary that with the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, seasonal extortionists and muggers are back on the prowl. What is even more worrying is the pitiable performance of our law

enforcement in combating this alarming situation.With no less than 18 incidents of mugging in the capital reported

since June 5, it is concerning that the police have been unable to salvage any of the money, or make a single arrest. The actual number of such incidents is sure to be much higher as many people do not even bother to report such episodes, since looted valuables are rarely recovered in this country.

Besides a drastic rise in incidents of people being mugged and shot, businessmen are increasingly facing threatening phone calls and being harassed for money since the approaching of Eid-ul-Fitr is expected to boost monetary transactions.

Su� cient security measures must be taken to ensure the safety and security of citizens. The Home Ministry must guarantee honest and dependable security personnel, and deploy more police patrols and check posts on the roads, even during daytime hours.

A prime function of the government is to keep its citizens safe. We urge the authorities to act quickly to put an end to the cycle of Ramadan crime sprees.

Security measures must be taken to ensure the safety and security of citizens

A loss-making company simply cannot pay dividends as per the basic principles of business

RAB under scrutinyMay 30

SDYes, I totally agree with the author. RAB has given the most invaluable service in rescuing us to great extent, if not entirely, from the constant fear of “chanda baaz” and mastans of a peculiar variety, that took the common people’s life and property for granted. Without RAB, our life by this time would have been miserable.This society, being ruled by the mastans of various hues, can never be made safe by the so-called civil procedures of enforcing law and order. Bare necessity for survival demands a force even more brutal than RAB, in spite of what the so-called “vagabond shushils” say in their TV talk shows, seminars, and symposiums. If the common people are left to the foolishness of these armchair intellectuals,God knows what hell will be let loose. If, for the crime or unlawful activities of a few RAB members, the entire force is asked to get banned, then I think the civil bureaucrats will need to be abolished lock stock and barrel, because more than 90% are involved in corruption no less injuri-ous to society than the seven murder case. Instead of dismantling RAB, it needs to be strengthened further. BNP did one good thing in creating RAB and is doing the most disservice by demanding their abolition.

Mohammad ZamanIf not disbanded, let RAB be an elite force without the authority of policing.

Evil people politicsAn unpopular, yet fairly rational opinion. But expecting people to sing praises of law enforcers for doing their jobs? Preposterous.

Cornelius Slate Evil people politics: How dare you?! These are the men and women who are risking their lives to make sure you’re sleeping soundly at night! You’re nothing but a Tin Man.

Jamaat trial: ICSF disagrees with law minister

May 31Projonmo13

Nice work. Thank you ICSF!

Pompeii: Nature’s 3D photograph and Hollywood’s

old wineMay 31

Mosabber RahmanThis paragraph dealing with historical background

did not appear in the printed version of my review:“If you go to the Bay of Naples today and visit the

ruins of Pompeii, the only ancient city to be pre-served in its entirety by nature like a 3D picture, it

will cost you 11 euros as the ticket price (free, if you are an European aged below 25 years or above 65

years; in case you are a school teacher in Europe, you get to pay half price). First discovered in 1594

– that’s over 1,500 years since its destruction in the year 79 – a city perfectly preserved under 30

feet of soft ash, the actual archaeological exca-vation started in 1748 and went through various

phases, ranging from royal organised robbery to outright destruction of “futile” artifacts. But

everything changed from 1860, when Giuseppe Fiorelli stepped in. So far, it has been a 250-year-

old excavation and still counting, one-third of the city is still untouched. Mount Vesuvius, that destroyed Pompeii (however, two-thirds of the

population were able to escape), is the only active volcano in the continent and, strangely enough, geologists believe the Bay of Naples itself is one

gigantic crater of a very old volcano.”

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

n Aaqib Md Shatil

Azimullah Khan, an Indian atheist, went to Britain in the 1850s on behalf of Nana Sahib,

a king, from Kanpur. Nana Sahib was insulted time and again by the local agents of British East-India Company and sent the young man, who was a teacher by profession, to inform the Court of Directors of the company about the condition of the so-called “king” under the rule of the company in India. Azimullah, who struggled all his life, soon realised that the directors of the company would never pay heed to his plea, and the condition of India was not going to see any change in the near future.

Before boarding on the ship bound for India, he came to know that the mighty British-French coalition con-ceded a shocking defeat to the Russian troops in Malta during the Crimean campaign. Panic gripped his mind. In-stead of returning to India, he boarded on a Turkish ship to see what made the British lose the battle.

He went to Crimea and observed how the Russians use their guns, the way they � ght against the allied force, with great interest. The seed of revolu-tion was planted in his brain. He later became an in� uential � gure in the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. It is believed that the massacre at Satichaura Ghat was led by him. However, the failure of Britain in Crimea inspired him to revolt.

A so-called rebellion is currently taking place in Iraq. The rebels of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant have taken control of a signi� cant part of Iraq. The president of United States has declared he would send some American military advisers to Iraq to overcome the situation. Most of the Americans believe that such steps can never bring any positive result. They argue that this mission will end up in vain, just like the military advisers of Kennedy failed in Vietnam.

ISIL, the terrorist out� t formed with a view to establishing an Islamic state in Iraq and Eastern Mediterra-nean territory, is believed to have the control of a great stretch of territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria. The turbulent situation of Syria and Iraq has made them even more in� uential in those regions.

It started its operation initially in Syria against the Assad regime and gained considerable military success by seizing the Syrian city of Raqqa,

in March 2013. The terrorist out� t, inspired by Wahhabism, has snatched the second-largest city of Iraq and is advancing towards Baghdad.

Though the group has gained a reputation of brutal rule in the areas that it controls, like every other mili-tant group, most of the Sunnis in Syria and Iraq have sympathy for them. The question now arises: Are the Sunnis so fanatical to support a terrorist out� t?

It is di� cult to � nd the exact answer to this question. The Muslims of Iraq are mainly divided into three clans – Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. Saddam Hussein, the former Presi-dent of Iraq later executed by United States, used to facilitate the Sunnis by providing them with government jobs and other facilities, while he excluded the Shiites and had been very cruel to the Kurds.

No doubt Saddam Hussein established a reign of terror in Iraq during his regime. In 2003, the US along with Britain toppled Saddam Hussein, seized the whole country, uprooted the Baath party, cornered the followers of Saddam, and eliminated the elite Republican Guard. Iraq turned into a valley of death, while hundreds of thousands died due to the violence that erupted after the invasion.

Sunnis, the majority of the Iraqi population who were known as the supporters of Saddam, were oppressed by the US army of occupation as well as by the government, dominated by Shiites since 2003.

Iraq reminds us of the verse; a king-dom was lost for want of a nail. The invaders did everything to demolish the apparatus of Saddam Hussein by which he used to rule, but never tried to establish an e� ective government that can provide the Iraqis with securi-ty and other basic needs.

The Iraqi government reported that 7,154 people were killed in 2013, including security forces personnel and militants. The widespread vio-lence in Iraq has agitated many of its

citizens. There are reasons to believe that the Iraqis, specially the Sunnis are supporting the militants to get rid of the turmoil.

The rise of ISIL, aka ISIS, is actually caused by the Western powers and their Arab allies. To usurp Assad from the throne, the Western countries and their allies in the Middle East have backed the rebels of Syria indiscrim-inately that ultimately empowered such terrorist out� ts in that troubled region.

Moreover, the anti-colonial spirit has deepened its root among the young Turks after the invasion in Afghanistan and Iraq. Observers no-ticed that most of the � ghters of ISIL are very young and a good number of volunteers who joined in ISIL are from Europe.

Tony Blair opined that the jihadist

group advancing across Iraq rebuilt itself and organised the Iraq operation from the chaos in Syria. In other words the world leaders, su� ering from indecision, have caused the prolonged chaos that is producing such militant out� ts.

Prior to the fall of Mosul by ISIL, the terrorist group Boko Haram of Nigeria terrorised the country by kidnapping hundreds of girls. It seems that the United Nations and the world leaders have become too numb to feel what is happening around.

The world leaders have to sort out the problems of Iraq and Syria soon. Su� rage of the citizens of the every country has to be restored. Democracy must � ourish to avoid further chaos. Every possible step to combat the mil-itancy should be taken to keep them at the bay. No stone should be left unturned. Otherwise, the continuous failure of the Western policy may give birth to thousands of insurgents like Azimullah Khan. l

Aaqib Md Shatil is a blogger, and member of Dhaka University Model United Nations Association.

n Iffat Nawaz

Once upon a time (actually not that long ago), someone was looking for a place to rent in Dhaka city. That some-one happens to be a female, but that is not relevant to this story because the search for a home for a single anyone, as I hear, is tough regardless of gender in Dhaka city.

But then again, she knew looking for a place as an independent female in Dhaka restricted her to certain areas which are most accustomed to single females living alone. Side note, she had a decent job and paid her own bills.

The search started in the radius of Gulshan and Banani. On a rick-shaw she prowled the streets in mid mornings. The � rst house she found was a decent one and the landlady seemed nice over the phone. However after meeting our girl, the landlady refused. Questions followed: “You are not married?” “What about your parents?” “They let you rent alone just like that?” “You are too young and a risk,” the landlady announced, the door was shut and more homes were to be looked at.

The second possible landlord demanded: “The only males that can come to your place are your father and your brother.” The woman responded: “Neither of them will be visiting me as they are both far away.” The landlord announced: “All guests must come and check-in with us before visiting you.” That also ended there.

After the 15th home viewing, including a few who only rent to for-eigners, and by that they mean white and dark-skinned foreigners (it doesn’t matter if you are a British-Bangladeshi

or American-Bangladeshi, your skin colour and the word “Bangladeshi” dismisses you from even viewing cer-tain apartments) she found a nice new apartment tucked away in Banani.

The contact on the to-let sign met the girl and asked her a hundred ques-tions. By now, the girl had a whole script memorised, a true script with key points. “I was not raised here, I am here for work, here are my last few pay stubs, and my references.” “You want to a copy of my passport?” “Yes, sure, I can provide that too.”

The last landlord, after calling all references and getting copies of the girl’s driver’s license and passport, agreed to give the girl the place only if she made a six month deposit. The girl tried negotiating and decided to meet her to-be landlord at her o� ce. The landlord showed up half an hour after the appointment time with his nephew who worked at a reputable organisation.

The girl didn’t think much of it and put up with questions such as: “Do you get paid in dollars, or taka?” “Can we have your mother’s phone num-ber?” The girl obliged with the promise of signing the contract soon.

The landlord called her mother but instead of o� ering the apartment, he sent a proposal for the nephew he had brought for bride-viewing.

After 15 more apartments and landlords, some insults, a thousand questions, blown away by overpriced apartments, then judged as a prosti-tute, criminal, recluse, and anomaly, she found a home. The landlady, who had lived abroad for some part of her life, never met the girl in person. The whole transaction happened over tele-phone, and email and transfers and deposits were made, and a new home was set up for a year or two.

There is no point to this story. I know most readers will not be sur-prised and merely entertained. This is how things work in Dhaka, in Bangla-desh. And the question is, our girl, if she was a landlady herself, would she rent out to a single woman or man? Maybe not.

Is the question about being exposed to more trusting cultures where independence is valued, or is it about holding on to our tradition where living alone is still not a � uent idea. It doesn’t matter. It’s just a story, to be repeated over and over again for many years to come.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is narrow and the light shifts too often. For now, the girl can think she is blazing new trails, and the landlords who refused to rent to her can believe they are protecting their property and culture. Who is to blame and who is to change? For now? No one. l

I� at Nawaz is Acting Editor, Arts & Letters, Dhaka Tribune.

n Mehrin Chowdhury

Every year, the Muslim community welcomes Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic

calendar. This month, considered holy by the Muslim community, teaches followers the practice of patience, spirituality, awareness, solidarity, justice, dignity, and unity.

It is a month solely dedicated to humanity, a month that encourages Muslims to carry out the teachings of Islam all through the year.

But sometimes, it seems that Ramadan is more about the coming Eid. It is more about the anticipation of fun, amusement, and long holidays.

This eagerness for celebration in unity is also a blessing. It is also a part of the wisdom of Ramadan, but as mentioned earlier, it is only a part – an element. The major experiences should be in terms of spirituality that help us recover from the losses that we experience throughout the year.

Another major aspect of Ramadan is it helps us feel the pain of the deprived and the unfortunate. Fasting from dawn to dusk gives us a small idea of how the poor feel. Ramadan helps Muslims all over the world sense in unity the pangs of the underprivileged.

Therefore, Ramadan is not just about starving oneself an entire day only to be overwhelmed with more than enough food while breaking fast. The poor and the destitute are not fortunate enough to be able to experience such good luck. Consequently, Muslims all over the world are encouraged to work together in unison to eradicate poverty by giving zakat – a portion of their accumulated wealth to the poor and the destitute.

Puri� cation of the soul by regular praying and accentuating the habit is another quintessential aspect of the

holy month.The habit of praying is often

ignored by many due the extremely busy nature of life. Ramadan helps rejuvenate oneself and regain the lost sense of puri� cation. Namaz, a major pillar of Islam, helps Muslims all over the world to connect directly with God, and refresh their inner souls through a deep form of meditation. It cleanses the soul and helps people to stay away from evil.

In many countries, Ramadan is marked as the time when the prices of essentials are increased by a few businessmen based on the rise in demand. Contradicting regular economics, this month asks us to think with our souls, it encourages us to spread goodness.

It persuades us to feel the desires of the needy, and to give them what they wished for, to lowering the prices to make things more a� ordable.

Ramadan, as such, is a month in the Islamic calendar that helps move forward the Ummah in terms of Imaan, good deeds, sincere advice, and piety. It reminds us all to be cautious against all the sins Allah has forbidden, wherever one may be. Indeed, it is a holy month, when the reward for good actions is multiplied. l

Mehrin Chowdhury is a freelance contributor.

11Op-Ed Sunday, July 6, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Julio Mancuso

More than 17,000 kilometres separate Argentina from Bangladesh. They are two countries located

in di� erent hemispheres of the planet, in literally opposite extremes of the world. Their climates and geographies have no point of comparison, and their historical ties are basically non-existent. These two societies also do not share any cultural similarities .

However, quite unexpectedly, now more than ever before, they are united and share the same passion, the passion for football and the Argen-tinian national team that brings them together as one nation.

I knew about this love of Bangladeshis for Argentina (well at least of half of the Bangladeshi population) because I was lucky enough to make great friends from Bangladesh while living overseas. However, most people in Argentina do not know about this a� ection.

It is clear to me that we are to-gether, in joy and su� ering, behind the same football dream, but most Argentinians do not know of this, which I believe is a shame. There is not much information in Argentina about this connection between the people of these two great countries, but this has

started to change very recently before the beginning of this edition of the World Cup in Brazil.

Some Argentinians � rst noticed the Bangladeshi fanaticism for Argentina when the Argentinian national team came to play in Dhaka with Nigeria in September 2011. But still, a match of Argentina with a full stadium overseas is not something that surprises many, so it was very di� cult to understand the dimension of the connection between Bangladesh and the national team based only on that match.

The main surprise for Argentinians came up right before the World Cup started when “La Nación,” one of the most popular newspapers in Argenti-na, published an article informing that Messi fans in Bangladesh were more than 10% above the average of the world, including Argentina itself!

Information about the connection between Bangladesh and Argentina is starting to � ow among Argentinians and a feeling of friendship is now developing stronger than ever before. Argentinian fans are starting to show some gratitude towards Bangladeshi support, and that could be seen in some of the matches of Argentina in Brazil. In one case, a group of Ar-gentinian supporters improvised in creating a Bangladeshi � ag and took some pictures holding it before one of the games in Belo Horizonte.

It is a small gesture, but it is full of symbolism. Di� erences between our two countries are signi� cant, but no di� erence in this world seems to be able to stop Argentina and Bangladesh from coming together as one people behind a common dream, to see Argentina as the World Champion in Brazil this year. l

Julio Mancuso is an Argentinian who is a doctoral candidate at Monash University in Australia. He is currently visiting Bangladesh to witness � rst-hand the love for his national team here.

Together behind a dream

The rise of ISIL, aka ISIS, is actually caused by the Western powers and their Arab allies

No di� erence in this world seems to be able to stop Argentina and Bangladesh from coming together

Ramadan is not just about starving oneself an entire day only to be overwhelmed with food while breaking fast

The search for a home for a single anyone is tough regardless of gender

The holy month

Narrow tunnels, shifting lightsMilitancy strikes backS A L T A N D H O N E Y

BIGSTOCK

Many see Maradona as our own MUMIT M

Moushumi and Niloy in their love sagan Shadma Malik

A young boy and girl falling in love and having a happy ending is usual for a mainstream Dhally-wood movie. However, director Belal Ahmed has created waves by making an unorthodox movie, an anomaly in the realm of cinema. The � lm “Bhalobashbey To” is about a younger man getting attracted to an older wom-an, starring Moushumi and Niloy in the leading roles.

Moushumi plays a cor-porate o� cer, while Niloy plays a � ne arts student. After certain events, their love blossoms in the truest manner.

During a conversation with Dhaka tribune, director Belal ex-pressed the essence of the � lm, saying: “Niloy falls in love with a much older woman, Moushumi. While on the other hand, Moushumi is unable to restrain her feelings and falls for him as well. Their relationship is innocent, but it turns around in a di� erent manner when they face the controversial nature of their bonding.”

“Their relationship is proof of the enduring power of true love, even when the other half is old enough.”

The � lm’s screenwriter and director remains in-� uential in the contemporary world, “These kinds of unconventional relationships have been around

since the primitive era. The stigma associated with it is only in our time. The � lm ends with the conse-quence of having such a disagreeable relationship.”

On casting Moushumi and Niloy, the direc-tor said: “Moushumi is an actor par excellence, and Niloy is in the right track of his career graph. Their chemistry captured the curiosity of their on-screen love.”

“At this point of my directorial career, I want to make a movie which is apart from my previous production,” the director added.

Produced by Impress Tele� lm, the movie is ex-pected to be released by the end of this year. l

EntertainmentDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 201412

FilmX-Men: Days of Future Past 3D NonStop(2D)Walking with DinosaursTransformers:Age of Extinction3DTime: 10am – 10pmStar Cineplex, Bashundhara City

Noah 3DTarkaata

Godzilla 3DAmi Shudhu Cheyechi TomayMr Peabody & Sherman 3DJamuna Future Park, Blockbuster CinemasKa- 244, Pragati AvenueKuril

Exhibition Second SightTime: 12pm – 8pm

The Daily Star Centre64-65, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue

TheatreHamletDhaka University Theatre Depart-ment,Time: 7:30pmNatmandalDhaka University

TODAY IN DHAKA

FROM AKHRA TO FUSION: TRANSFORMATIONOF BAUL MUSIC (PART-5)

The Shadhu Shongo institutions - Guru -Shishwa interactions and Sheban Maqsoodul Haque

The second most important institu-tion for bauls is the Shadhu Shongo (Shongo henceforth) or regular “con-claves of the wise” ie, congregation of masters in music and spirituality with seekers. Scriptural discourses set the tone of each Shongo and can last anywhere from three to � ve days. It is estimated that at least 1000 small

to medium to large Shongo are held every year (meaning up to three every day) somewhere or the other in rural Bangladesh – with the one centring Fakir Lalon Shah in Seuria, Kushtia in the Bangla month of Choitro and Kar-tick, being by far the largest. Discourses and singing go on non-stop, and bauls, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, or gender, live and eat communally during the pe-riod of the Shongo. Unlike other cul-tures that are tokenistic and revolvearound peripheral “cultural activ-ism,” Baul music, and the culture as-sociated, is organic, one that has to be lived and practiced as a lifestyle statement.

Other than the assembly of var-ious “shadhu Gurus” (the eldest shadhu denoting practitioner, de-rived from the word “shadhona”), these events witness di� erent schools of baul thoughts, passion-ately discussing the tunes and tones of baul music as well as the inher-ent and esoteric meanings of vers-es which are reverently referred to as “powd” or “kalaam.” A Guru holds special importance among the bauls, for they are literally consid-ered “God heads,” or the fountains of knowledge from which spirituali-ty and music � ow. Each Guru holds a shongo every year, and in many cases a second one, commemorat-ing the death of his own Guru. It is very rare that a Guru leaves his “ashon” (assigned seat) during the course of a shongo, so that no shishwa or disciple misses the chance to hear him speak and share their unique interpretation of verses, scriptures, and the music in question. This in essence reinforces Guru-shishwa parampara, or interac-tion, which is a continuously evolving non-traditional educational process.

Other than music, spirituality, and the quest for knowledge, the Shadhu Shongo institute consciously emphasises on “Sheba” – the rites of food, which is a piv-otal demonstration of baul lifestyle. Bauls are vegetari-ans and the only “meat” they consume is � sh. Food for bauls is sacred as it is ultimately a gift from Doyal or the muni� cent creator. Sheba, as the word denotes, is an of-

fering and not “eaten” as we understand it, but shared. Sharing, serving, and consuming food are acts of God, and more profoundly because bauls believe that God dwells within human souls, we feed the “God within us,” not necessarily ourselves. Thus, when and with whom food is shared is in itself a meditative process, and one that has survived centuries, as the rite is so meticulously observed by bauls.

Cooking is done in a communal kitchen with � rewood since no fossil fuels are permitted. There are three spe-ci� c sheba: Guru sheba – dinner, which usually takes place after midnight, at the end of a shongo; balya she-ba – breakfast where children are fed � rst and whatever else is left is shared by adults; and punyo sheba – which is lunch. Shongos usually end after this particular sheba and everybody leaves the venue in a state of “punyota,”

or complete blessing from the Guru. From the pot to the serving bowl, everything comes

fresh and untouched by human hands, and none are per-mitted to taste any of it ahead (even to check the amount of salt) before it is blessed by the Guru and then served. Each and every seeker has to squat on the � oor while the food is served equally – yet not eaten right away. It is after a signal from the shadhu Guru that the rite commences. Likewise, at the end of a sheba, hands are washed com-munally and again, only on signal from the presiding Guru, does it end and everyone can leave. l

Maqsoodul Haque is a jazz-rock fusion musician and cultural researcher who is writing a series on the transformation of Baul music.

A Baul Shadhu Shongho at the Akhra of Fakir Sattar Shah in Sauntha, Kushtia ERSHADUL HAQUE TINKU

Portrayal of Hamlet’s plight in adapted glimpsen Hasan Mansoor Chatak

When the most powerful and in� uen-tial tragedy in English literature has been brought to the stage in a new way it was no surprise seeing how the seating arrange-ments for the Natmondol were full of audi-ence. The Theatre and Performance Studies Department of Dhaka University staged a production of “Hamlet” at the Natmondol in Dhaka University premises on July 4 at 7:30pm.

With a story capable of seemingly end-less numbers of retelling and adaptations, the play seems to have been one of Shake-speare’s most popular works during his lifetime, and still ranks among his most per-formed. The play is adapted from a translat-ed copy by Shamsur Rahman; a poet, and a key � gure in Bengali literature, while Ashik Rahman Liyon did the directing.

The play started with a mimic presen-tation in the backdrop of revulsion music, the inclusion of the adaptation part seems

slightly irrelevant to the story which is go-ing to be staged afterwards, but apparent-ly produces milieu for the most in� uential tragedy by Shakespeare.

The arena stage created space for the spectacle of the classic drama through var-ious standpoints; though the comparatively congested stage left few opportunities to leverage it accordingly.

Five dominant characters of the play: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, and Horatio, are played by di� erent actors in di� erent acts, which establishes the poten-tial of the actors as they never let down the audience from the standards of characters’ indications, seeing how their vigorous per-formances had the audience glued to their seats.

The story follows Hamlet returning to Denmark when his father, the King, dies. His mother Gertrude has already married Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, the new King. They urge Hamlet to marry his beloved Ophelia, but soon, the ghost of Hamlet’s

father appears and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet must choose between passive acquiescence and the need for vengeance, leading him to tragedy.

While Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play, adapting the entire play in less than 90 min-utes is challenging, providing the audience with only the spectacle the substantial acts.

Naved Rahaman, Masud Rana, Jahid Hossain, Tanvir Nahid Khan, Sanjib Ku-mar Dey, Camelia Mousumi Khan, Sumaiya Binte Raihan, and Nowrin Sajjad, all � nal semester student of the department, por-trayed the dominant characters of the play.

Earlier, AAMS Are� n Siddique, vice chancelor of Dhaka University, Mamunur Rashid, actor and theatre activist, and Kalvin L Heige, cultural o� cer of the US Embassy in Dhaka, graced the event and gave speeches on the occasion.

The staging will continue till July 7 at the same venue, while another two-day stag-ings will be held at the Experimental The-atre Hall of BSA on July 10 and 11. l

Is this Johnny Depp?n Entertainment Desk

Johnny Depp, complete with receding hairline and blue eyes, looked totally unrecognisable while � lming scenes last week with Benedict Cumberbatch for the crime drama “Black Mass” in Boston.

Johnny looked serious in a charcoal grey double-breasted coat, matching tie and crisp white dress shirt.

The make-up and hair department have transformed Johnny into the no-torious crime � gure by giving him a paunchy � gure, a drastically receding hairline, wrinkled eyes and bad teeth.

He also sported coloured contact lens-es to complete his look of Bulger, who was sentenced last November to two con-secutive life terms and an additional � ve years after being on the run for 16 years.

The crime drama is based on the 2001 book “Black Mass: The True Sto-ry” of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob written by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill.

The � lm also stars Dakota Johnson, 24, who plays Whitey Bulger's love inter-est Lindsey Cyr. The movie has received a release date on September 18, 2015.

The � lm, written and directed by Scott Cooper, also features Sienna Mill-er, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott and Rory Cochrane.

The story is about Bulger, 84, who was found guilty last August on 31 counts that included racketeering charges and involvement in 11 murders and is currently incarcerated at the US Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona.

Corrupt Boston FBI agents protected Bulger for years while he worked simul-taneously as a crime boss and an FBI informant who ratted out the rival New England Ma� a and other crime groups.

Bulger was tipped o� by his former FBI handler in 1994 about a pending indictment and went into hiding un-til his arrest in 2011 outside of a quiet apartment complex in Santa Monica, California. l

Mahesh Bhatt to write a script for Alia Bhatt n Entertainment Desk

Riding high on the success of her pre-vious release, in which she was seen playing a Tamilian, actor Alia Bhatt says her father and ace � lmmaker Ma-hesh Bhatt will write a script for her in the near future.

“He is not going to direct, but will de� nitely write a script for me, which will be an award-winning performance. He has promised me and it will hap-pen,” says the 21-year-old actor. Alia, who has earlier sung in Imtiaz Ali’s “Highway” has done playback singing for this upcoming rom-com as well. She has sung the unplugged version of the song, “Main Tennu Samjhawaan.”

Meanwhile, Mahesh Bhatt is report-ed to have said that he had tears in his eyes when he � rst heard the song.“U-sually, I don’t attend her (Alia’s) events. But I came here, because she had sent me the song two days back and asked for my opinion. I had tears in my eyes

when I heard it. She has sung it from heart,” he said during the unveiling of the song at a recent event.

Although Alia does not have any for-mal training in singing, it’s her khasiyat (quality), added Bhatt. l

n Entertainment Desk

From going bald to becoming a part of marketing strategies, ac-tor Shahid Kapoor is putting all his e� orts into making his up-coming � lm “Haider” successful.

The promo of “Haider” is soon going to be launched and he is taking a keen interest in the Vishal Bharadwaj � lm’s commu-nication strategy. The actor is making himself available to the team of the � lm. He is working closely with the marketing team and is always present whenever they require him.

“Shahid has become part of the team and has been actively attending meetings to under-stand and give suggestions on the plan,” Shahid’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“Haider,” an adaptation of “Hamlet,” is part of director Bha-radwaj’s Shakespeare trilogy after “Maqbool” (Macbeth) and “Omka-ra” (Othello). Shahid will also be seen in Vikas Bahl’s “Shaandar.” l

Theatre and Performance Studies Department of Dhaka University staged ‘Hamlet’ SADIA MARIUM

Shahid Kapoor becomes business savvy

DHAKA TRIBUNE13Sp rt

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Zia wins in Spain

Bangladesh GM Ziaur Rahman defeat-ed Spanish Fide Master Quintin Na-varro Alberto in the opening round of the 34th Open International Villa De Benasque which is being held in Spain. The event began on Friday at Benasque in Spain. A total of 413 players includ-ing 32 GMs from 38 countries are taking part in the event. l

Siam, Fahad joint top in Junior Chess

Reigning junior champion Ikramul Haque Siam and sub-junior Fide Master Mohammad Fahad Rahman are jointly at the top of the Union Insurance 34th National Junior (Under-20) Chess Cham-pionship points table after winning their respective matches in the � fth round yesterday. Both have earned maximum � ve points after the end of the round.

Former junior champion Abdullah Al Saif, Akib Jawad and Minhazul Alam are jointly sharing second position with 4.5 points each. Siam defeated Avik Sarker, Fahad beat Abu Bakar Jibon, Minhaz received a walkover against Tanima while Saif drew with Akib. l

Mohammedan, Sheikh Jamal share spoils

Table-toppers Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club were held to a 1-1 draw by Mohammedan Sport-ing Club in the Nitol-Ta-ta Bangladesh Premier Football League at the Bangabandhu National

Stadium yesterday.Mohammedan mid� elder Towhidul

Alam Sabuj put his side ahead in the 23rd minute before Nasir Uddin Chow-dhury equalised at the stroke of the opening half.

The draw was enough for Jamal to extend their lead at the top of the points table to 12 and a victory from their four remaining games will con� rm their title. They now have 52 points from 23 matches while Mohammedan slid down to third place with 38 points from the same number of matches, a point ahead of fourth-placed Muktijoddha Sangsad and two behind second-placed Abahani Limited.

The only change in the Jamal line-up was Mazharul Islam who started at the back of the goal while the traditional Black and Whites played without the services of their in-form national striker Zahid Hossain Emily due to an injury which he sustained in

the previous match.Sabuj replaced Emily and the mid-

� elder gave Mohammedan the break-through in the 23rd minute. Following a low cross from Zahid Hossain from the right � ank, the mid� elder, who was totally unmarked, tapped home into an empty net from the six-yard box.

Mohammedan could have doubled their lead in the 44th minute. Wahed Ahmed snatched the ball from Kesto Kumar inside the penalty area but the national striker failed to utilise the opportunity as his tame shot went straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.

Nasir though restored parity a min-ute into the injury time of the � rst half. The Jamal defender beat his marker and headed home nicely past Moham-medan keeper Mamun Khan after a neat cross from Linkon from the right � ank.

Six minutes into the second half, Wahed could have given Mohammed-an the lead once again if he had prop-erly connected a Tapu Barman cross inside the box.

Linkon’s shot from the box was saved by Mamun in the 77th minute. Five minutes later, Zahid’s looping ef-fort from a free-kick from 30 yards was � sted away by Jamal keeper Mazharul Islam for a corner. l

Kvitova hands Bouchard royal thumping to win Wimbledon

Petra Kvitova produced a majestic per-formance to end Eugenie Bouchard’s hopes of becoming the � rst Canadian to win a grand slam title with a 6-3 6-0 win in the Wimbledon � nal on Satur-day.

The Czech captured her second title at the All England Club having also lift-ed the Rosewater Dish in 2011.

Much had been made of Bouchard’s raw power and determination to tri-umph in what she calls the “Temple of Tennis” but the 20-year-old was unable to cope with sixth seed Kvitova’s more varied attacking style.

Bouchard was watched from the Royal Box by the British princess she had been named after but the occasion of playing in her � rst major � nal ap-peared to overwhelm the 13th seed.

Kvitova hit rip-roaring winners left, right and centre to win the most one-sided � nal since Ste� Graf also dropped only three games against Monica Seles in 1992.

Bouchard dropped serve in the fourth game after Kvitova hit a scor-

ing crosscourt winner to end an enter-taining rally that had sent both players scampering around the court.

Kvitova’s only blip during a 55-min-ute demolition job was when she � rst attempted to serve out the set at 5-2. She dropped her serve but then broke her rival in the next game with a thumping return.

The crowd tried to lift Bouchard’s sagging spirits with cries of “Come on Genie” but left-hander Kvitova sim-ply went into overdrive in the second, winning it in 22 blistering minutes, and ended her victim’s ordeal with a siz-zling backhand crosscourt winner.

“It was just amazing. You always dream as a player to play your best tennis on the biggest stage and that was a thing of beauty,” summed up former Wimble-don champion Lindsay Davenport.

“You can’t even blame Bouchard be-cause she didn’t play badly but she just didn’t get the chance to play because Kvitova didn’t allow her to. I don’t think anyone would have been able to play her today.

“Bouchard tried everything but Kvi-tova didn’t miss anything.” l

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic holds the winner’s trophy, the Venus Rosewater Dish, after defeating Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in their women’s singles � nal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London yesterday REUTERS

Nigeria threatened with Fifa suspension

Fifa has warned Nigeria about possible suspension after a regional court or-dered the sacking of the country’s foot-ball association and the appointment of a new administrator to run the game in the populous west African nation.

Nigeria’s government has been set a deadline of Tuesday to restore the lead-ership of the Nigerian Football Federa-tion to their position or the country could be suspended from playing in international competitions.

“Fifa has learnt from various sources that the Nigerian Football Federation has been served with court process-es and that consequently an order re-straining the President of the NFF, his Executive Committee members and the NFF Congress from running the a� airs of Nigerian football has been granted by a High Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” said a Fifa statement. It said it had also taken note of the detention of NFF president Aminu Maigari, al-though he has since been released.

“Fifa has reminded the NFF that all Fifa member associations have to man-

age their a� airs independently and without in� uence of any third parties.

“The above mentioned actions are preventing the NFF from managing its a� airs independently and are consid-ered by Fifa as undue interference in the NFF a� airs,” the statement added.

The Plateau State High Court in Jos earlier this week ordered the dismissal of the federation leadership, granting an injunction restraining them running the a� airs of football in the country.

It was not made clear who brought the injunction and why. Sports Minis-ter Tammy Danagogo then appointed Lawrence Longyir Katken as acting Secretary General of the NFF.

He has since called an extraordinary meeting of the general assembly of the NFF in Abuja on Saturday where all the chairman and secretaries of the Foot-ball Associations of Nigeria’s 36 states are expected to attempt to vote in a new leadership.

But Fifa warned this would not be tolerated. Suspension for Nigeria would a� ect participation by its na-tional team, junior and club sides in international competition. l

Mohammedan’s Towhidul Alam Sabuz (R) vies for the ball with a Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi’s defender during their Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier Football League match at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MUMIT M

Australia’s Aaron Finch seized his chance to shine among some of crick-et’s greatest players with a command-ing innings of 181 not out as MCC beat the Rest of the World in the Lord’s bi-centenary match on Saturday.

Set 294 to win a one-day match marking the 200th anniversary of the ‘home of cricket’, MCC � nished on 296 for three with 25 balls to spare against an equally star-studded Rest of the World team.

Finch, already in England playing for Yorkshire, was involved in partnerships with three of the best batsmen cricket has known to cap a memorable Lord’s debut for the 27-year-old Victoria right-hander.

He put on 107 for the � rst wicket with Indian hero Sachin Tendulkar, cricket’s leading run-scorer in both Tests and one-day internationals.

Finch then added 67 and 122 with two contrasting West Indies left-handers in Brian Lara (23) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (37 not out) respectively.

However, one sadness for a capac-ity crowd was that Rest of the World captain Shane Warne was unable to bowl after his � rst ball batting saw the leg-spin legend su� er a broken right

hand when he was struck by an acci-dental beamer from fast bowler Brett Lee, his former Australia team-mate.

Earlier, Yuvraj Singh’s blistering 132 o� 134 balls took the Rest of the World to 293 for seven after they had collapsed to 68 for � ve following four wickets for Pakistan o� -spinner Saeed Ajmal.

Tendulkar, who only retired in No-vember, gave his adoring fans in a capacity Lord’s crowd plenty to re-member him by with the pick of his seven fours a straight drive down the ground o� current Australia fast bowler Peter Siddle.

However, the ‘Little Master’ fell to a familiar foe when, trying to cut

Muttiah Muralitharan, he got a bot-tom edge and was bowled by the Sri Lanka o� -spinner, Test cricket’s most successful bowler.

Left-hander Lara also showed his enduring class with a cracking drive behind point o� West Indies paceman Tino Best and a booming drive o� Paul Collingwood, both shots typical of the Trinidad star at his best.

Collingwood’s medium-pacers saw Lara caught behind by wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist, leading the Rest of the World in Warne’s ab-sence, before he nipped one back to bowl Indian star Rahul Dravid o� the inside edge for a golden duck.

A single o� Collingwood saw the 27-year-old Finch, yet to play Test cricket but who made a Twenty20 world-record 156 against England at Southampton last year, to a 96-ball century.

Earlier, after Warne won the toss, the Rest of the World collapsed from 54 for one to 68 for � ve in the face of Ajmal’s o� -spin.

Ajmal had Adam Gilchrist (29) smartly stumped by Nottingham-shire and ex-England wicketkeeper Chris Read. Ajmal then had Tamim Iqbal lbw, and Kevin Pietersen stumped before clean bowling fellow Pakistani Afridi for a duck. l

Finch shines among stars in Lord’s bicentenary

RoW XI 293/7 in 50 oversYuvraj 132, Collingwood 40, Siddle 33*, Gilchrist 29, Sehwag 22, Pietersen 10, Warne 3*, Tamim 1, Afridi 0Ajmal 4/45, Lee 2/25, Tendulkar 1/33, MCC XI 296/3 in 50 oversFinch 181*, Tendulkar 44, Chander-paul 37*, Lara 23, Dravid 0Collingwood 2/25, Muralitharan 1/55

MCC won by 6 wickets

BRIEF SCORE

DHAKA TRIBUNE14 Sp rt

Sunday, July 6, 2014

#GetwellsoonNeymar

Brazilian superstar Neymar’s injury against Colombia and the subsequent exodus from the World Cup have jolted the hearts of millions across the world. Renowned names, including Neymar’s Barcelona teammate and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, from across the world have been pouring in their sympa-thies and wishes for Neymar through so-cial networks. Some of the other famous sports icons to sympathize with Ney-mar’s injury are basketball stars LeBron James of Miami Heat, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and the king of track and � eld Usain Bolt.

“Hated to read the news about Ney-mar! The player. Have a speedy recov-ery. Stay as well as possible, man! # HesABeast (He’s A Beast) # MyKidsFa-vPlayer,” tweeted LeBron.

“Sad to hear the news about Neymar . Have a quick recovery,” wrote Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world.

“The beatings in Neymar is a bad ex-ample. The World Cup shows its now classless,” wrote Kobe Bryant in Por-

tuguese. The LA Lakers star also criti-cized the act of Zuniga, the Colombian player responsible for Neymar’s injury.

“Strength, Neymar! Idol! We are with you always,” wrote Maya Gabeira, the Brazilian world class surfer who nearly died last year while sur� ng in Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal.

Brazilian judoka Rafaela Silva recalled his disposal at the London Olympics in 2012, deferring the dream of Olympic gold for four years. He commented, “All Brazilians are feeling this pain, loss of the brilliant player we have in our team - Neymar, our dear. Every athlete has his dream, his goal and when an unforeseen appears like this, we know well the pain of that athlete. I speak with certainty, be-cause two years ago I went through the same thing in the Olympics and know that your next chance to go after your dream. Pray for you warrior. Soon you will be back to cheer this whole nation.”

Former Brazilian World Cup winner Romario sounded emotional too as he said, “My buddy, I’ll be cheering a lot for your prompt recovery. Father in Heaven as always by your side. You will

surely remain in all the hearts, to con-tinue making people happy. I can tell you that all Brazil is cheering for our victory and your teammates dedicated to you. You have my respect.”

“Happy for the win and reaching the semis, but sad about the situation of our Neymar, the playmaker. Force kid, the whole Brazil is with you,” said Marta, the Brazilian female football star while World Cup winner Bebeto said, “Friend Neymar, will be praying for your recov-ery. Know that you are already a hero.”

“Boy Neymar, great faith and great force friend. Your joy, enthusiasm and boldness remain among us. Brazil’re with you! Stay with God,” wrote the former Brazilian tennis player Gustavo Kuerten who won three Grand Slam titles.

Fernanda Souza, the renowned Bra-zilian actress wrote, “We can only trust in God. Your choices are greater than we know, unfortunately it is very sad to see the dream of a hero to be interrupted so but all the other heroes are going to play for him, and you still have a lot to do by BRAZIL, @neymarjr! It’s only the beginning of history...God bless you.” l

Neymar injury rocks Brazil

Brazil striker Neymar was ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup on Fri-day, dealing the hosts a crushing blow just hours after they battled through to a semi-� nal showdown with Germany.

A pulsating opening day of quar-ter-� nal action saw Brazil advance to the last four with a 2-1 victory over Colombia after Germany defeated old rivals France 1-0 at the Maracana Sta-dium.

But Brazil’s bruising win over Co-lombia was immediately overshad-owed by news that Neymar would miss the rest of the tournament after su� er-ing a fractured vertebra.

The 22-year-old was carried o� gri-macing in agony after an aerial collision with Colombia defender Juan Camilo Zuniga towards the end of the contest. Neymar got a knee in the back.

“The exam showed he su� ered a frac-ture of the third vertebra” in his back, Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said.

The Barcelona superstar has been integral to Brazil’s World Cup campaign so far, scoring four goals

during the World Cup hosts journey to the last four.

His injury is bound to focus atten-tion on the performance of Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo, who al-lowed several rugged challenges from both sides go unpunished throughout Friday’s game.

Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari fumed that Neymar had been targeted by opponents during the tournament.

“I have been saying for three match-es that Neymar has been hunted, but all the other countries say it is not true and

it is only their players that are hunted,” Scolari said.

Zuniga later expressed sympathy for Neymar, and insisted the injury was ac-cidental.

“I’ve never tried to harm another player,” Zuniga said.

“When I’m on the pitch I’m there to defend my country and my shirt -- but there’s no intention to hurt anyone.”

As well as Neymar, Brazil will also miss captain Thiago Silva in Tuesday’s semi-� nal in Belo Horizonte, after the defender picked up a yellow card against Colombia to earn a suspension.

Silva had earlier � red Brazil into an early 1-0 lead before David Luiz made it 2-0 with a thunderous long-range free-kick midway through the second half.

Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez – kicked repeatedly by Brazil’s players throughout – pulled a goal back from the penalty spot to set up a tense � nale, but the hosts held on for the win.

Rodriguez, the tournament’s top scorer with six goals, left the � eld in tears after the defeat. l

Scolari in quandary over replacement

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari faces a potentially make or break decision as to who replaces injured star Neymar in his starting line-up for the World Cup semi-� nal with Germany on Tuesday.

The moment 2 minutes from the end of normal time in the quarter-� nal that Colombian Juan Camilo Zuniga kneed Neymar in the back fracturing a verte-brae could come to be seen as the action that cost the hosts their 6th World Cup.

However, Scolari – who guided Bra-zil to the 2002 trophy – cannot dwell on the loss but move on and decide who he can replace the 22-year-old with and that is no easy task.

For Neymar had all but singlehanded-ly got the team this far with four goals, two well weighted corners that resulted in goals and a nerveless � fth penalty in the last 16 shootout with Chile which turned the pressure onto Chilean de-fender Gonzalo Jara who missed his and allowed Brazil to progress. While Oscar and David Luiz can take care of the dead ball kicks, the two names that are men-tioned as favourites to replace Neymar in the starting XI are Bernard and Willian. l

Neymar cries, the whole of Brazil does the same

Neymar cried, the whole of Brazil cried with him too. The Fifa Fan Fests across the 12 cities of the World Cup venues burst into anger and were cursing the Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo for not � ashing the red card to Colom-bia’s Juan Zuniga in the second quar-ter� nal on Friday in Fortaleza.

After receiving the knock on the knee in the fag end of the game, Ney-mar fell down and was carried out by a stretcher. First, he was examined at the clinic of Estadio Castelao before being sent to Dr Jose Luiz Runco at a private clinic. According to a message sent out by Brazil Football Confeder-ation Neymar was crying a lot. While being examined at Clinica Sao Carlos in north Fortaleza the 22-year old Brazil-ian superstar was also found weeping as he was unable to walk properly. He su� ered a broken vertebra and is ex-pected to be out for a duration of four to six weeks.

The receptionist at the front desk of Hotel Byblos, Oliver, always greets the visitors and tourists with a smiling face. He though appeared gloomy and did not present his trademark grin. “I can’t believe Neymar is not playing in the World Cup. Its a big blow for the Brazil team and also the nation’s hope. I am very upset,” he said.

Usually the Brazilian fans celebrate their success through various ways and among them speeding with the car amids loud chants is a common phenomenon. However, following the quarter� nal win, the streets were rel-atively deserted while the number of speeding cars and level of chants were very low.

Around 30,000 fans gathered in the Fan Festival of Brasilia, the biggest fest among all the 12 cities with 10 big screens installed alongside the o� cial one. Thiago Silva and David Luiz’s goals were celebrated vociferously but when Neymar was fouled by Zuniga which was followed by the scream, a few fans were unable to control their emotions. l

Tearful James blames ref’s in� uence for exit

Colombian star James Rodriguez claimed Span-ish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo had been a decisive in� uence as his country’s World Cup dreams ended with a 2-1 quarter-� nal defeat to Brazil on Friday.

James extended his lead as the competition’s top scorer with a penalty 10 minutes from time to register his sixth goal in � ve games.

However, by then the damage had already been done for Colombia as goals either side of half-time from Thiago Silva and David Luiz booked Brazil a semi-� nal meeting with Germany.

“Unfortunately, the referee didn’t help a lot,” said the Monaco playmaker, who had been sin-gled out for some rough treatment by the Bra-zilian players. I think the referee in� uenced the game a lot, but that is how it is and we need to look forward.”

James was comforted by Luiz and a number of other Brazilian players as he left the � eld in tears with the Paris Saint-Germain defender gesturing to the home crowd to applaud the Colombian. l

MATCH STATS Brazil Colombia Goals scored 2 1 Total shots 12 11 Shots on target 6 5 Corners 4 6 O� sides 0 3 Fouls committed 31 23 Yellow cards 2 2 Red cards 0 0 Ball possession 52% 48%

Brazil’s David Luiz (R) consoles Colombia’s James Rodriguez after their 2014 World Cup quarter-� nals at the Castelao arena in Fortaleza on Friday REUTERS

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DAY’S WATCH

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Klose runs himself into ground for German cause

Miroslav Klose may not have se-cured himself the mantle of the World Cup’s all-time record goal-scorer but his sel� ess running played its part in Germany’s 1-0 World Cup quarter-� nal victory against France on Friday.

The 36-year-old, appearing in his 22nd World Cup � nals match, did not threaten to score but his presence gave Germany a fo-cal point in attack, and provided France’s centre-backs with some-thing else to think about besides the dangerous runs into the box from Thomas Mueller.

If anyone is ready to take on Klose’s mantle it is the 24-year-old Bayern Munich star, who arguably best represents the future of this German team and already has nine World Cup goals to his name.

His threat on the counter-at-tack, allied to the fresh legs of sub-stitutes Andre Schuerrle and Mario Goetze, meant Germany remained the more likely side to score in the closing minutes as they in� ict-ed more World Cup pain on the French, who they beat in the 1982 and 1986 semi-� nals.

Klose, who scored a crucial goal just after coming on as a substi-tute in the 2-2 draw with Ghana in the group stage. His involvement amounted to just eight passes and

he failed to muster a single shot on goal, leaving him level with retired Brazil great Ronaldo on 15 goals in the World Cup � nals.

Klose could yet get another

chance to notch that record-break-ing goal, with Germany assured of another two matches at this tour-nament, regardless of the result in the semi-� nal. l

Loew’s delight as Germany reach semis again

Joachim Loew says consistency was the key to Germany’s 1-0 quarter-� nal win over France as they reached their fourth consecutive World Cup semi-� nal.

Loew has now reached the semis of all of the last four major tourna-ments during his eight-year reign as head coach thanks to Mats Hummels’ 13th-minute header.

Germany maintain their impressive record of reaching the semi-� nals at 13 of the 20 World Cup � nals.

Their quarter-� nal exit at France ‘98 was the last time they failed to reach the last four.

Loew has � ve survivors in his squad from the 2006 World Cup in Germany and ten of the side who � nished third at South Africa 2010.

But the 54-year-old says maintain-ing consistent standards within the squad has been the key to Germany’s success in Brazil, even after injury de-prived him of winger Marco Reus be-fore leaving Germany.

“The team has changed over last few years and there are not many sur-vivors from 2006 and 2010, but it’s good to have a few changes, not just the same players who have been at the top level for the last eight to ten years,” said Loew.

“We were without Reus, but play-ers like Hummels have come in and done very well.

“We have been working on consis-tency, invested a lot and we have ex-cellent players.” l

Outstanding Neuer pins win on compact defence

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said Germa-ny’s improved defence was the key to Friday’s 1-0 win over France as they booked a record fourth successive World Cup semi-� nals berth.

Centre-back Mats Hummels’ 13th-minute bullet-header settled the quarter-� nal clash at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium. But Neuer played a huge part in the victory with an out-standing display, on what was his 50th appearance for his country, to repeatedly thwart the French attack, spear-headed by Real Madrid striker Benzema.

The Bayern Munich goalkeeper said his back four had raised their game sig-ni� cantly since Monday’s below-par display.

“Unlike against Algeria, today we had a game where we couldn’t lose, the defence did well and was really com-

pact,” said Neuer, who denied Benze-ma with a key save in the dying stages.

“It was very impressive to play in this stadium against France and this performance was already worthy of a semi-� nal.

“We played some good football and there is huge joy now in reaching the semi-� nals. We fought for each other from the � rst to the last minute.

“I need to say a big ‘thank you’ to the team, now we need to recover well.”

German coach Joachim Loew said Neuer is key to Germany’s success in Brazil as they look to end their 24-year wait for a World Cup title.

“Con� dence in Neuer doesn’t just come from me, it comes from the whole team,” said the 54-year-old.

“It’s a really great feeling for defend-ers to know that he is good both in and outside the box, knowing he has the skills of a good out� eld player. l

Les Bleus put WC blues behind them

France may have been knocked out of yet another World Cup by nemesis Ger-many on Friday but restoring their im-age and rebuilding expectations ahead of Euro 2016 were even more important after their debacle in South Africa four years ago.

The French failed once again to beat Germany at a major tournament and just as in 1982 and 1986 their neigh-bours advanced at their expense, this time following a 1-0 quarter-� nal de-feat in Rio de Janeiro.

Yet it was far from an unsuccess-ful trip to Brazil for coach Didier Des-champs’ team, especially given the set-backs before arriving in South America.

After their headline-grabbing mutiny in South Africa against then coach Ray-mond Domenech and verbal outbursts against a reporter at Euro 2012, France’s top priority was to � eld a united team that their fans could embrace once again.

They almost did not make it to Bra-zil following a 2-0 playo� defeat by Ukraine in the � rst leg.

But a string of changes from coach Didier Deschamps and two goals from Mamadou Sakho beat the East Europe-ans 3-0 in the second leg to book a trip to Brazil.

Their biggest blow came before the tournament when 2013 European play-er of the year Franck Ribery was ruled out due to injury.

But their campaign in Brazil got o� to the best possible start with a 3-0 win over Honduras to put them in control of their group.

That was followed by a scintillating 5-2 demolition of Switzerland which instantly put the French among a select group of title contenders.

More importantly, however, it made fans at home like their team again, re-storing con� dence in their ability and teamwork.

Deschamps, who won the 1998

World Cup as a player and Euro 2000, had an iron grip on his players, even when there were questions about for-ward Karim Benzema’s alleged sulking about his position on the left.

Deschamps, who su� ered his � rst World Cup defeat as player or coach on Friday, shrugged them o� .

“You are not teaching me anything new here by saying that,” he said.

A goalless draw against Ecuador completed a positive group stage and set up a round of 16 clash against Nige-ria.

Forward Benzema again started on the wing but as France struggled against the physical Nigerians, Des-champs did what most France fans wanted to see do from the start.

He brought on winger Antoine Griezmann, allowing Benzema to slip back into his favoured role in the centre of attack and the move paid o� as two late goals sent France into the quar-ter-� nals to face arch-rivals Germany.

Semi-� nal defeats at the 1982 and 1986 tournaments counted for noth-ing, Deschamps said before the game, but his team, lacking a natural leader in the mould of Michel Platini or Zinedine Zidane, did not have the � repower to trouble the Germans.

Left back Patrice Evra, at 33, could do little to contain the speedy Germans and did even less in inspiring his team forward for an equaliser.

“We had our chances but they had more experience than we did,” Des-champs told reporters. “The di� erence wasn’t that big today between us and Germany. But they advanced.”

With hugely-gifted 21-year-old Paul Pogba, Griezmann, Sakho and other young players getting experience on the world stage, France should be returning home with their heads held high.

They have every right to be con� -dent about the next major tournament, the 2016 European Championship on home soil. l

Give 10 pct of pro� t to poor, Venezuela legislator urges Fifa

Football’s governing body FIFA should set an example to the world by giving 10 percent of World Cup pro� ts to the poor, a Venezuelan legislator has said.

“It would be stupendous news for the whole planet, which is in such need of good news,” William Ojeda said in comments widely published by Vene-zuelan media on Saturday.

“FIFA, which earns so much mon-ey from the organisation of the world event, should demonstrate with ac-tions that its vision is not only mon-etary, and should channel at least 10 percent of its pro� ts from the World Cup to help poor countries.” The in-dependent parliamentarian, an early supporter of late socialist president Hugo Chavez said the money should go to schools,homes, clinics and sports facilities. l

Brazilian Thiago Silva breaks taboo before suspension

Brazil captain Thiago Silva broke a 20-year taboo with his goal against Colombia in his team’s 2-1 victory in the quarter� nal over their South American counterparts but will be ruing his foolish mistake as he will be in the dugout when Brazil meet Germany in the semi� nal on Tuesday.

Thiago, who went through a di� -cult time controlling his emotions fol-lowing the shootout victory over Chile in the round of 16, was ecstatic when he poked a Neymar corner into the Co-

lombian net with a delicate poke which came o� his knee. The goal scored by the Brazilian skipper, wearing the num-ber 3 shirt, broke a taboo that had last-ed for 20 years. The last Selecao captain to score a goal in the World Cup was mid� elder Rai in the 1994 World Cup hosted by the United States. Since then no Brazilian captain has scored in any of the last four World Cups.

Thiago’s suspension in the semi� nal though was criticised by the Brazilian media. They said there was no need for him to stand in the way of Colom-bian goalkeeper David Ospina while he was attempting a goal-kick. There were enough Brazilian players in mid� eld and defence. Probably emotions got the better of the Paris Saint Germain centreback. l

Monday, June 16, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

16 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

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Sunday, July 6, 2014

13 1514 Thiago Silva breaks taboo

Kvitova wins Wimbledon

Tearful James blames referee

Apparently Brazilian fans did not quite appreciate my ten reasons as to why their team should not lose. They thought I was mocking the Selecao. I consider it my moral duty to annoy everyone equally. Therefore, today I will give my ten reasons why Argentina should win tonight. 1. Beef. While Brazil produces the most

beef, Argentine beef is the most famous. An early exit will demoraliae Argentinian cows. When the best go down, the rest follow. We will be chomping on tough sirloin for at least two years, and I have really bad molars.

2. The “Hand of God”. One cannot get enough of watching the Supreme � ngers at play. It is a wonderful spiri-tual experience. The longer Gonzalo Higuain plays the more likely he will realise the futility of his head and feet, and the greater the chance of Diego Maradona’s “magic” returning.

3. Maradona himself. It is wonderful to see a legend having enough sense of humor to start becoming a caricature of himself. Diego’s presence is the closest you can get to guaranteed entertain-

ment. No one wants to see him go.4. Maradona again. Maybe once Argentina

� nally wins the cup again, the left footed legend will � nally be able to rest. Rumor has it that Maradona is trying to revive his playing career by joining an Argentinian � fth division team. No one wants to see this incarnation of the past champ run, or wear shorts.

5. Ann Coulter. If Argentina loses then millions of poor people and Muslims will be sad, which will make Ann Coulter happy, which is never a good thing. I know I said this about Brazil too, but the process of ensuring Ann Coulter’s misery should be foolproof.

6. Bangladeshi Argentinian fans. Being a proud member of the Bangladeshi chapter of the Liverpool Fan Club, I am no stranger to unreasonable adulation for a sports team. But Argentinian supporters take things to a di� erent level altogether. They remind of the white walkers in A Game of Thrones, appearing once every few years and destroying everything in their wake. No one wants to make these people angry.

7. Bangladeshi Brazilian fans. I always thought that Selecao fans were the more sober and educated of the two. As this tournament progresses, however, they are starting to look and sound

more and more like Argentinian sup-porters. The only thing that can prevent complete degeneration into aggressive insanity is continued Argentine success, which strangely has a palpable calming e� ect on Selecao supporters.

8. Natural selection. If Brazil and Argen-tina both make it to the � nals, idiots will � ght and some may not survive, leaving us with a smarter � tter society. A little bit of expedited evolution is never a bad thing.

9. Messi. The little gem from Rosario is praying for Neymar’s speedy recovery. Any Argentine who prays for a Brazilian during the World Cup is either saintly or an incredibly good actor. Either way such talent should not go unrewarded.

10. Teamwork. Of all things in sports, teamwork is quite possibly the most overrated. Argentina’s success thus far has been the strongest argument against teamwork that I have witnessed in a long time. They have eminently demonstrated that you don’t need eleven players functioning cohesively to win. You need one great player and 10 tourists. If Argentina continues to be successful then maybe we will � nally stop hearing annoying things like “there’s no I in team”. They will have conclusively shown us that there is no WE either. l

WILLIANThe Chelsea winger is one of relatively few new faces in the squad from the side that won the Confedera-tions Cup last year after an impressive � rst season in England.

His versatility to play on either wing or through the middle o� ers coach Luiz Felipe Scolari � exibility, but his ability to cope with the pressure that Neymar was under is questionable given he failed to even hit the target with his penalty in the agonising shootout win over Chile in the last 16.

BERNARDThe tiny Shakhtar Donetsk man -- he replaced Willian after he left for Chelsea -- stands at just over 5ft 4inches tall and is just 21, but does have the pace and ability to go past defenders that Brazil will need in the absence of Neymar.

However, his participation in the tournament so far has been restricted to just two substitute appearances and he may be more adequately used as an impact player from the bench as legs tire later in the game.

LUIS GUSTAVONeymar’s loss could mean a complete tactical reshu� e for Scolari with Wolfsburg’s Gustavo almost certain to return to the side following his suspension against Colombia.

Scolari was quick to praise the work done by Fernandinho and Paulinho in Fortaleza and could line up all three in central mid� eld in an attempt to spoil Germany’s rhythm in mid� eld.

RAMIRESAnother option with the intention of destroying rather than creating would be to use the energy of Chelsea’s Ramires on the wing to keep German captain Philipp Lahm’s forays forward in check.

It is a role the 27-year-old has carried out to decent e� ect in the latter stages of the Champions League in recent years, most notably when sparking a remarkable Chelsea comeback with a goal against Barcelona on their way to winning the trophy in 2012.

AN EXTRA CENTRE-BACKBrazil will not only be without Neymar, but also captain Thiago Silva through suspension against Germany. Scolari had already � irted with the idea of switching to a 3-5-2 and doing so now may help stabilise the defence in Silva’s absence, whilst also giving left-back Marcelo even more licence to exploit his attacking instincts down the left side. Both Scolari and match-winner against Colombia David Luiz were quick to talk up the capabili-ties of Dante and Henrique after the game with both in contention to make their � rst start of the competition.

POTENTIAL REPLACEMENTS FOR NEYMAR 5

No Neymar, no party for Brazil

The hangover from a World Cup quar-ter-� nal win over Colombia was a little more potent than Brazil expected as it awoke on Saturday still dealing with the news star striker Neymar will play no further part in the tournament.

The 22-year-old su� ered a broken vertebrae in the 2-1 win over Los Caf-eteros in Fortaleza in Friday, meaning there will be no Hollywood ending for Brazil’s poster boy come the Maracana � nal next Sunday.

Whether Brazil even make it to their ball is a greater worry for most of a 200 million strong nation that expected to crown their party with a sixth World Cup victory.

Next up lies the daunting task of a Germany side in the semi-� nals on Tuesday that showed its class with a comfortable 1-0 win over France in Fri-day’s other quarter-� nal.

Moreover, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men will have to face the Germans not only without their chief goalscorer, but also their captain as Thiago Silva received his second yellow card of the tourna-ment against Colombia ruling him out

through suspension.Ultimately, Brazil have been served

a severe dose of their own medicine. In a match which contained the most fouls of any so far in the tournament with 54, the hosts were the principal aggressors committing 31.

James Rodriguez was the main tar-get for Scolari’s scything tactics. Three times Manchester City’s Fernandinho left his mark on the Monaco man in the � rst-half with the only punishment a free-kick awarded by Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.

“Unfortunately, the referee didn’t help a lot,” bemoaned James, whose sixth goal in � ve games from the pen-alty spot proved no more than a conso-lation to Silva and David Luiz’s earlier strikes.

However, the moment for which the match will be remembered came two minutes from time when Juan Zu-niga clattered Neymar in the back in his overexuberant rush to win the ball back deep inside the Brazil half.

As Oscar led a Brazilian counter-at-tack, Neymar remained prone on the ground and could only be removed via a stretcher. l Brazil’s fans cheer during the World Cup quarter-� nal match against Colombia at the Castelao Stadium in Fortaleza on Friday AFP

Vamos Albiceleste Glory to the team of one

I never meant to hurt Neymar, says Colombia’s Zuniga

Colombia defender Juan Zuniga said he did not deliberately try to hurt Brazil forward Neymar when he kneed him in the back on Friday, fracturing his verte-bra and ruling the marquee player out of the rest of the World Cup.

Brazil held on for a 2-1 quarter-� nal win over their fellow South Americans but will be without Neymar against Germany in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday and the � nal should they progress.

“We wanted to score, and it was a tough game. Brazil was marking strong-ly. I hope it’s nothing serious, let’s pray to God,” Zuniga told reporters.

“On the pitch I’m defending my shirt, my country, but I didn’t expect him to fracture a vertebrae. He is a great talent for Brazil and for the world.”

Zuniga jumped into the back of Ney-mar and his knee struck the Brazilian’s third vertebra two minutes from the � nal whistle, dealing a major blow to the hosts who are seeking a sixth world title.

“It’s a normal action, I tried to shad-ow him,” Zuniga said. “I was not think-ing of hurting him. I was defending my country’s colours.”

Neymar had to be taken o� on a stretcher and was transported to hospi-tal where the extent of the injury was diagnosed.

Colombia were desperate for an equaliser after falling 2-0 behind before cutting the de� cit with a late penalty.

“Sadly it happened this way. I hope he gets well, God willing,” the Colom-

bia defender said.Neymar, who had netted four times

in the tournament, will not require sur-gery but will be out for several weeks, team doctors said. l

Government to expedite construction of new ERL unit n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The government has decided to set up the second unit of the Eastern Re� nery Limited (ERL) with a capacity of re� n-ing around 3.5m tonnes of crude oil annually.

The unit will be completed by June 2016 under the Speedy Supply of Pow-er and Energy (special provision) Act.

“We have received permission from the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina [also the minister in-charge of the Power Ministry] to install the second unit of Eastern Re� nery under the special act,” Md Mozammel Haque Khan, sec-retary of Energy and Mineral Resourc-es Division, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We have already formed a Project Processing Committee (PPC) consisting of seven members including Finance Ministry and Law Ministry o� cials to negotiate with di� erent foreign com-panies to implement the unit,” said

Mozammel, also the head of the PPC.He added that the PPC would invite

foreign companies to implement the project, while the committee would also consider if any foreign company submitted proposal showing interest to work in the project.

“We want to build the unit quickly. It is necessary to establish the unit to ensure energy security of the country,” Mozammel said.

Meanwhile, Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has already shown their inter-est to install the unit. The ERL, under Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), will implement the project.

Earlier, the BPC negotiated with Chinese state-owned � rm Wuhun En-gineering Company Ltd to implement the project, but were unable to reach a conclusion in this regard.

Eastern Re� nery – the country’s lone re� ner in Chittagong – currently re� nes

1.3m tonnes of crude oil per year while the capacity is 1.5m tonnes, meeting only 10% of the country’s demand.

“The BPC saves Tk6-7 per litre by re� ning crude oil instead of importing re� ned oil,” BPC chairman Md Eunusur Rahaman told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said the capacity of the proposed unit would be three times more than the existing one, adding that a 30-acre land near the Eastern Re� nery has al-ready been acquired for expansion of the re� nery. The construction cost has been estimated at Tk76.2bn.

The BPC annually imports about 5m tonnes of crude and re� ned oil at an average price of Tk500bn, according to o� cial data.

Under the special act, the govern-ment has so far signed agreements on setting up the country’s � rst � oat-ing storage and re-gasi� cation unit (FSRU), to drill 10 wells of six gas � elds and to build several power plants. l

www.dhakatribune.com/business SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2014

B3 World stocks hold at all-time high after bumper week

B4 China plots its own Asia “pivot”

BPC tenders to sell 170,000 bbls naphthan Reuters, Dhaka

Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) has issued a tender to sell 170,000 barrels of naphtha for Aug 3-5 load-ing from Chittagong, a company o� -cial said recently.

The tender will close on July 16, with validity up to July 24.

The tender comes at a time when naphtha sentiment is strong as a string of re� nery outages and main-

tenance in India has dented the country’s gasoline supplies.

State-owned Bangladesh Petro-leum Corp sold a same-size cargo to MRI Trading in May at a premi-um of $1.15 a barrel to Singaporequotes on a free-on-board (FOB) ba-sis, the highest price since March 2013.

It resumed exports of naphtha in November after a four-month hiatus for maintenance and repairs at its

sole re� nery.Apart from exporting, BPC sells

naphtha domestically to private-ly-owned Super Petrochemical.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corp has � nalised second-half term contracts for re� ned oil products at mostly un-changed premiums.

Suppliers for Bangladesh’s mid-dle distillates contracts are Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC), Malaysia’s Petronas, Emirates National Oil Com-

pany (ENOC), Philippines National Oil Company, Vietnam’s Petrolimex, Indonesia’s Bumi Siak Pusako, Petro-China and Unipec.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corp is also buying 700,000 tonnes Mur-ban crude from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and another 600,000 tonnes of Arab Light crude from Saudi Ar-amco in 2014 for the Eastern Re� n-ery, up more than 8% from a yearearlier. l

ADN Telecom plans to go publicn Muhammad Zahidul Islam

ADN Telecom Limited, one of the country’s leading local telecom service providers, plans to sell its 40% stake in the stock market but subject to approv-al of the securities regulator.

The company is expected to raise Tk48 crore by selling its stake to ex-pand its business and network to the rural areas.

“We plan to sell our 40% stake through IPO (initial public o� ering),” Asif Mahmood, Chairman of ADN Tele-com Limited told the Dhaka Tribune.

The raised fund will be used to ex-pand network to rural areas and to es-tablish commercial data centre for the � rst time in the country, he said, add-

ing that providing video and voice data with all connectivity solution are also in our plan.

The IPO prospectus will be submitted to the Bangladesh Securities and Ex-change Commission by August, said a source in the company.

ADN is one of the prominent nation-wide internet service providers (ISPs)

in the country. It launched � rst � xed Wi-max service ‘go broadband’ collab-orating with leading mobile phone op-erator Grameenphone.

Recently, ADN got an permission from the government through Bangla-desh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to increase their share numbers from 1,73,60,000 to 2,09,29,583 .

Currently, six companies – Agni Sys-tems Limited, BDCOM Online, Aamra Technologies, Da� odil Computers, Intech Online and ISN Ltd – under IT sector are listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The sector accounts for only 0.19% or more than Tk437 crore of the total DSE market capitalisation. l

IMF skeptical about NBR capacityn Asif showkat kallol

A delegation from the international monetary fund (IMF) has expressed concern over the capacity limitation of the country’s revenue authorities in achieving the huge revenue target set for current � scal year.

They also raised question about the slow progress in scam-hit banking sector reform, particularly in the Basic Bank, at a meeting with Finance Min-ister AMA Muhith in Dhaka last week, senior o� cials who attended the meet-ing said.

Deputy Managing Director Naoyuki Shinohara, who led the delegation, ap-preciated Bangladesh’s macroeconom-ic indicators as well as pointed out the challenges at a press conference after the conclusion of his two-day visit.

But the concerns about the revenue authorities’ capacity and the banking sector reform were not raised.

At the meeting with Muhith, the dele-gation wanted to know about the new VAT law implementation capacity of NBR. The law becomes e� ective on July 1 next year.

O� cials said they inquired about selection of vendor for VAT automa-tion system. “IMF also wanted to know about the delay in reconstitution of the Basic Bank board as the � nance minis-ter,” said one of them.

National Board of Revenue could not yet appoint a vendor for the auto-mation system.

NBR o� cials said an Integrated VAT Administration System will be intro-duced under the VAT and Supplemen-tary Duty project worth Tk551.59 crore.

World Bank will � nance Tk449.78 crore and the remaining cost will be collected from local sources. l

Banks rush to issue corporate bonds n Kayes Sohel

Banks are in a rush to issue corporate bonds to fortify their balance sheets and improve their leverage ratios in line with the regulatory requirements.

Corporate bond is a debt security issued by a corporation and sold to investors, which usually increases the payment ability of a company from its future operations.

More than half of the 30 listed banks so far planned to issue at least Tk4,000 crore worth of bonds to implement Basel II, according to Dhaka Stock Ex-change.

Bangladesh entered the Basel II capital regime, a version of risk-based capital standards set for banks world-wide, on the � rst day of 2010, which ultimately will be fully e� ective from January 2015.

Only three banks have planned to issue rights o� er, which has tradition-ally been the bread and butter for the banks’ source of funding.

The rest 10 out of total 30 listed banks is yet to decide any option to implement capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and minimum capital require-ment (MCR) in three phases underBase-II.

“The scenario has changed with the � nancial market coming up with diver-si� ed options,” said Ali Reza Iftekhar, EBL managing director and chief exec-utive o� cer.

His bank plans to issue “EBL Sub-ordinated Bond” up to Tk250 crore for raising Tier-II capital subject to ap-proval of the regulator.

Iftekhar said issuance of corpo-rate bond that is now available in the market has relatively better advantage than o� ering rights or bonus shares.

“Raising fund by issuing rights or

bonus shares directly goes to Tier-I capital, which swells paid up capital. But more paid up capital means less capacity to o� er dividend,” he said.

On the other hand, fund raised by issuing bond indirectly ads to the paid up capital and also comply regulatory requirements, he said.

Tier-I capital is composed of equity capital and retained earnings, while tier II is supplementary capital, and tier III is short-term subordinated debt covering market risks.

Universal Financial Solutions (UFS) managing director and chief executive o� cer Sayed Aminul Kabir said condi-tions in � nancial markets had been im-proving steadily since mid-2012.

“The market has come up with di-versi� ed products with cost e� ective way, which is a lift in bond issuance,” Kabir said.

He said there are alternative ways like issuing rights shares. However the process takes time as compared to bonds that can be issued within much shorter span of time.

UFS is currently working as sole ar-ranger for Trust Bank and Jamuna Bank to issue bonds worth Tk400 crore.

Under the Basel-II, the scheduled banks will have to increase CAR at least to 10% and MCR to 10% of a bank’s risk weighted asset by 2015.

The Basel II accord has been pre-pared on the basis of three pillars – minimum capital requirement, su-pervisory review process and market discipline. And three types of risks – credit risk, market risk and operational risk – have to be considered under the minimum capital requirement.

Basel III, the upgraded version of recommendations on global banking laws and regulations, is preparing to phase in Bangladesh from 2015. l

ERL employees are using one of the nine labs in the company’s quality control department WEBSITE

National Board of Revenue could not yet appoint a vendor for the automation system

Innovative PPP proposal likely to get bonusn Asif Showkat Kallol

The proposal from the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO) on the Public Private Part-nership (PPP) Project along with some other recommendations made by the � nance division will be placed today at the cabinet committee on public pur-chase.

Meanwhile, the � nance division has recommended the government to � x a bonus system to evaluate an original innovative entrepreneur for its unso-licited proposal under Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project.

Former � nance secretary Fazle Kabir came up with the suggestion soon after PMO had sought opinion about the PPP unsolicited proposals.

“Private innovators or creative en-trepreneurs will get the bene� ts of tar-i� and duration of project implementa-tion,” said Kabir.

As per the unsolicited proposal pol-icy of the PPP projects, bonus and a Swiss Challenge of bene� ts will be giv-en to the private innovators and cre-ative entrepreneurs for the develop-ment of the country’s infrastructures.

According to the PMO’s proposal, a 5-10% bonus will be given to new or original entrepreneurs although it also noted that other tender bidders would be discouraged from participating in the tender if more bonus point is given to the new entrepreneurs.

Under the policy on unsolicited proposals, there are a total of 19 deter-mining factors in three schedules, in-cluding two types of bonus and a Swiss Challenge process for dealing with the unsolicited proposals.

The Swiss approach is used in the Philippines, Taiwan, and various state governments in India. The main ad-vantage of the Swiss challenge is that it is relatively easy to de� ne, both in general and for each project. The orig-inal proponent’s “advantage” is based solely on the project bidding criteria and the bar is set by the competitive process. Since no further de� nition or negotiation is needed—of bonuses, bidding costs or returns—it does not create additional work for the govern-ment project team, nor provide room for subjective decision-making.

The government has allocated Tk257 crore for the project to be im-plemented under PPP in the � scal year 2015. The PPP budget is 3.4% of the total allocations in physical infrastruc-tures, which is set to get Tk7,550 crore.

The country’s � rst-ever PPP project was awarded to an Italian-Thai joint venture in 2010 for the construction work of the 21km long Expressway in 42 months with a cost of Tk8,703 crore.

Although the PPP Project was sched-uled to be kicked o� in July, 2011, the fate of the project is still hanging in the balance as the joint venture project has

so far failed to secure the initial invest-ment. The project is also now facing a problem over partial land acquisition.

In his budget speech the � nance minister AMA Muhith said, “In or-der to attract private investment for infrastructure development, we will encourage implementation of projects through PPP.”

He said a total of 34 projects under six sectors had already been approved in principle and advisers or consul-tants had already been engaged in the 33 projects.

“This is the � rst step toward the im-plementation of the projects and it is expected that the PPP legislation would be placed at the parliament shortly,” said the minister in his budget speech.

The costs of the approved PPP proj-ects are estimated to be Tk1,114 crore, mainly in transport, health, education and tourism sectors.

The construction of the Dhaka el-evated expressway, jetties in Mongla Port, Hemodialysis Centre, a � yover from Shantinagar to Mawa Road via Buriganga river bridge and Dhaka-Ashu-lia Elevated Expressway are among the major PPP projects, which got approval.

The latest developments in the PPP are issuance of gazette noti� cation of PPP policy and guidelines 2010, guide-lines and scheme for using viability gap fund and establishment of PPP o� ce under the Prime Minister’s O� ce. l

BSTI to give mobile calibration services for mills, factoriesn Tribune Business Desk

Bangladesh Standards and Testing In-stitution (BSTI), the state-run watch-dog to monitor goods and manufac-tured items, from now on will give mobile calibration services to mills and factories in the country.

“The mobile calibration services will also help check cheating in weigh-ing of goods in the country,” Iqramul Haque, Director General of BSTI, re-

ports BSS.Haque said the country has a large

number of small and large size mills and factories and di� erent kinds of machinery being produced from these industrial units needs to be calibrated.

Usually representatives from mills and factories along with machinery visit the BSTI but that service is full of hassle and time-consuming.

From now on, said BSTI DG, large mills factories don’t have to visit the

BSTI rather BSTI o� cials will visit those industrial units.

“We’ll not only calibrate weighing machine but also large machinery (im-ported) at any parameter,” he said.

He said BSTI will use four vehicles for the mobile calibration cervices.

The vehicles were purchased with the � nancial support of the European Union (EU) and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), said Haque. l

We plan to sell our 40% stake through IPO (initial public o� ering)

B2 Stock Sunday, July 6, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

Weekly news from trade serverAGM/DividendSANDHANINS: The Board of Directors has recommended 25.50% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. The Board has also decided to increase the Au-thorized Capital of the Company from Tk. 50.00 crore to Tk. 200.00 crore subject to approval of the Shareholders and the reg-ulatory authorities. Date of EGM and AGM: 06.09.2014, Time of EGM and AGM: 11:00 AM and 11:30 AM respectively, Venue: MH Samorita Hospital & Medical College Auditorium, 117 Tejgaon, Love Road, Dha-ka-1208. Record Date for EGM and AGM: 16.07.2014. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 2.66, NAV per share of Tk. 30.97 and NOCFPS of Tk. (0.60) for the year ended on December 31, 2013.Audited/unaudited Financial Reports:DELTALIFE: (Q1): As per un-audited quar-terly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 31st March 2014 (Jan'14 to March'14), the Company has reported an increase in life revenue account of Tk. 793.85 million with total life insurance fund of Tk. 28,846.04 million as against Tk. 823.80 million and Tk. 27,155.38 million respectively for the same period of the previous year.PROGRESLIF: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter end-ed on 31st March 2014 (Jan'14 to March'14), the Company has reported an increase in life revenue account of Tk. 15.43 million with total life insurance fund of Tk. 3,935.53 million as against Tk. 109.78 million and Tk. 3,756.70 million respectively for the same period of the previous year.

NATLIFEINS: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter end-ed on 31st March 2014 (Jan'14 to March'14), the Company has reported an increase in life revenue account of Tk. 121.59 million with total life insurance fund of Tk. 27,805.58 million as against Tk. 315.19 mil-lion and Tk. 24,502.07 million respectively for the same period of the previous year.SANDHANINS: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 31st March 2014 (Jan'14 to March'14), the Company has reported an increase in life revenue account of Tk. 62.91 million with total life insurance fund of Tk. 8,893.98 million as against Tk. 42.18 million and Tk. 8,207.29 million respectively for the same period of the previous year.Fixed Assets/Right/Investment:GRAMEEN1: Grameen Fund, the Trustee of Grameen Mutual Fund One, has informed that at the meeting of the Unit holders of the Fund held at 11 AM on June 26, 2014 the Unit holders elected to extend the tenure of the scheme for another 10 years term from July 01, 2015 to end on June 30, 2025 under the relevant provisions of the SEC (Mutual Fund) Rules 2001. Notwithstanding anything con-tained in any other document of the scheme or the fund, as the said Rules provides for the time being, the scheme may not be eligible for any further extension. In other separate motions, the Unitholders also re-con� rmed continuation of the appointment of Grameen Fund as the Trustee and AIMS of Bangladesh Limited as the Asset Manager of the scheme for the extended period.

IFIC: BSEC is not in a position to consider the application of IFIC Bank Ltd. for exten-sion of time as applied for as the Company has failed to comply with the rule 7(1) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Rights Issue) Rules, 2006 regarding submission of application for issuing rights share along with the o� er document which was required to furnish to the Commission for approval within 15 working days of approval of such issue by the shareholders of the Company in a general meeting.KEYACOSMET: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the extension of the date of validity of the scheme of amal-gamation among Keya Cosmetics Limited, Keya Cotton Mills Limited, Keya Spinning Mills Limited and Keya Knit Composite Limited up to 30th June 2015 instead of 30th June 2014.JMISMDL: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the following: to reduce the loan liability and meet the working capital requirements the board has decided to in-crease Company's paid up capital by issuing rights share @ 2R:1 i.e. two rights shares for every one existing share held on the record date at an issue price of Tk. 35.00 each (in-cluding a premium of Tk. 25.00 per share) on paid up capital subject to the approval of shareholders in the 15th AGM to be held on July 24, 2014 and the Regulatory Authority. Another record date for entitlement of the proposed rights shares to be noti� ed later after obtaining approval from BSEC.

Stocks see 1st week of new FY sluggish n Tribune Report

Stock markets started the � rst week of the new � nancial year sluggish, as indices were up marginally and turn-over was slightly higher compared to the previous week.

Analysts say investors traded cautiously ahead of second quarter corporate results to be poured in the market in weeks to come.

During the past week ended Thursday, the DSEX rose almost 27 points or 0.7% to 4,436, extending modest winning streak over the two previous weeks.

The blue chips comprising DS30 moved up marginally 5 points or 0.4% to close at 1,622. The DSE Sha-riah Index DSES inched 3 points or 0.4% higher to 1,003.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, rallied 62 points or 0.8% to 8,463.

The week’s average daily turnover stood at Tk322 crore, which was 12% higher over the previous week.

The week witnessed four trading sessions instead of usual � ve as trad-ing remained closed Tuesday on the occasion of bank holiday.

Of the trading sessions, the mar-ket saw steep gain in the � rst trading session, spurred by dropping capital gain tax from the new budget while last three su� ered marginal losses.

“Finance Bill 2014 and National Budget 2014-15 were duly passed last week, leaving a bundle of opportuni-ties for capital market and specially for investors,” said IDLC Investments in its weekly market analysis.

Withdrawal of the proposed capi-tal gain tax and continuation of 10% tax exemption by companies giving 30% or more dividend in� uenced in-vestors much favourably, it said.

It said the week started with steep gain, but the later part of the week continuously faced hit from pro� t booking and portfolio re-balancing due to cashing out mania, it said.

“Investors’ sector-wise prefer-ence stated changing and more spe-ci� cally, they are focusing on newer segment of selective issues.”

Lanka Bangla Securities said, “Investors are still apathetic about the market. Those who had bought shares for tax purposes probably are selling now.”

It said the market’s next direction will be dependent on second quarter (April to June) earnings � gures posted by companies. From the end of next week, � gures will start coming, it said.

Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 305 issues traded in the past week, 140 advanced, 137 declined and 28 issues remained un-changed at the DSE.

All the major sectors ended in green except telecommunication, which lost almost 1%.

Food and allied sector posted the highest gain of nearly 8% in the past week, driven by heavy-weight BAT-BC which rallied 10%.

It was followed by the � nancial sectors – non-banking � nancial insti-tutions and banks – which advanced 3% and 1% respectively. Fuel and power, and pharmaceuticals also posted modest higher. l

CSE LOSERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A -10.96 -5.89 6.87 6.50 7.80 6.40 1.941 1.49 4.6Meghna Life Ins. -A -10.68 -9.83 102.97 102.00 116.80 98.00 0.195 6.45 16.0Samorita Hospital -A -9.89 -9.86 85.63 85.60 92.50 85.10 0.397 2.20 38.9Samata LeatheR -Z -9.58 -9.58 23.60 23.60 23.60 23.60 0.024 0.09 262.2H.R. Textile -A -8.50 -8.50 28.00 28.00 30.60 28.00 0.058 1.62 17.3Sandhani Life -A -8.17 -8.10 82.10 82.10 90.50 82.10 0.160 2.66 30.9Wata Chemicals -A -6.67 -6.67 252.00 252.00 252.00 252.00 0.050 6.24 40.4Grameen M F One-A -6.31 -6.21 40.16 40.10 42.80 40.00 0.495 3.40 11.8JMI Syringes MDL-A -5.94 -5.29 162.12 163.00 188.00 160.70 9.759 2.08 77.9Active Fine Chem.-A -5.49 -4.11 62.24 62.00 66.70 60.00 6.920 3.72 16.7

DSE LOSERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Meghna Life Ins. -A -13.67 -13.57 100.03 100.40 118.00 90.00 19.388 6.45 15.5Sandhani Life -A -10.09 -7.44 82.07 82.00 93.60 81.00 25.923 2.66 30.9GeminiSeaFood-Z -7.85 -11.18 124.35 124.50 130.20 124.00 0.201 -11.90 -veAIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A -6.94 -6.12 6.75 6.70 7.40 6.50 2.142 1.49 4.5Central Insur -A -6.69 -7.00 23.66 23.70 25.40 23.50 0.383 3.64 6.5National Life I -A -6.43 -4.40 326.48 320.20 346.00 311.50 28.065 12.46 26.2Active Fine Chem.-A -6.37 -4.94 62.09 61.70 69.90 57.00 120.647 3.72 16.7Monno Sta� lers -A -5.88 -6.07 313.79 313.50 335.00 312.00 3.122 1.12 280.2Beximco Pharma -A -5.83 -2.98 42.37 42.00 46.50 37.50 165.212 3.60 11.8Delta Life Insu. -A -5.61 -5.74 142.09 141.20 152.90 140.00 97.467 2.92 48.7

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 3,406,481 114.22 11.38 34.20 9.62 31.20 35.50 31.10 34.56UNITED AIR-A 6,344,034 84.39 8.41 13.10 0.77 13.00 13.90 12.50 13.20Appollo Ispat CL -N 1,919,800 55.66 5.55 30.10 9.85 27.40 30.30 27.50 29.53The Peninsula CTG.-N 1,366,800 47.22 4.71 35.30 3.82 34.00 35.50 33.40 35.05LafargeS Cement-Z 524,500 43.36 4.32 79.70 -3.51 82.60 84.70 79.00 79.72Grameenphone-A 120,400 35.81 3.57 293.70 -1.24 297.40 303.80 293.00 294.67BD Submarine Cable-A 180,234 33.90 3.38 183.10 -3.58 189.90 192.50 182.80 183.66G Next Fashions-A 1,357,404 24.19 2.41 17.90 -1.65 18.20 18.30 15.90 17.79Square Pharma -A 85,947 24.07 2.40 279.60 0.61 277.90 288.00 277.00 279.70National Bank - A 2,023,377 22.90 2.28 11.70 11.43 10.50 11.90 9.90 11.74

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

BATBCL -A 475,961 1094.13 8.50 2344.30 9.90 2133.10 2419.00 2050.00 2344.93BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 29,761,384 999.64 7.77 34.20 9.62 31.20 35.50 28.10 34.59Grameenphone-A 2,057,675 611.99 4.76 294.90 -0.74 297.10 303.70 290.00 295.58LafargeS Cement-Z 6,669,520 550.52 4.28 78.90 -4.48 82.60 84.30 78.50 79.57Appollo Ispat CL -N 17,066,400 496.37 3.86 30.20 10.62 27.30 30.40 27.40 29.49UNITED AIR-A 31,686,599 421.94 3.28 13.00 0.00 13.00 14.00 11.70 13.20Square Pharma -A 1,487,761 416.35 3.23 279.80 1.19 276.50 285.00 253.00 279.74BD Submarine Cable-A 1,749,247 328.53 2.55 182.70 -3.74 189.80 193.50 170.00 183.67Meghna Petroleum -A 951,321 258.05 2.01 269.50 2.74 262.30 277.90 240.00 269.41BSRM Steels-A 2,451,095 207.20 1.61 82.10 0.00 82.10 87.50 79.40 82.68

CSE GAINERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Fine Foods A 22.70 23.37 17.37 17.30 17.90 13.00 4.031 -1.01 -veAziz PipesZ 20.31 20.12 15.40 15.40 15.40 14.00 0.003 0.68 22.6Premier Bank -A 13.19 13.85 10.44 10.30 11.40 9.20 13.592 1.48 7.1Sonargaon Tex -Z 11.63 9.84 9.60 9.60 10.00 8.80 0.115 -0.92 -veNational Bank - A 11.43 12.56 11.74 11.70 11.90 9.90 22.905 0.92 12.8Union Capital -A 10.05 11.46 22.95 23.00 23.00 21.30 0.805 2.08 11.0Appollo Ispat CL -N 9.85 8.77 29.53 30.10 30.30 27.50 55.661 1.69 17.5BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 9.62 14.40 34.56 34.20 35.50 31.10 114.223 1.12 30.9Bangladesh Welding -Z 9.48 9.41 12.67 12.70 12.80 12.00 0.462 0.48 26.4Beach Hatchery -A 9.28 9.75 25.78 25.90 26.10 23.90 6.074 2.04 12.6

DSE GAINERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Fine Foods A 21.99 22.32 17.37 17.20 17.90 12.70 22.987 -1.01 -veMidas Financing-Z 21.25 21.38 19.42 19.40 19.50 14.50 0.559 -6.91 -veStylecraft -A 13.33 13.33 1,207.00 1,207.00 1,288.00 1,125.00 3.835 47.83 25.2National Bank - A 12.50 11.92 11.74 11.70 12.50 9.40 142.085 0.92 12.8Premier Bank -A 11.96 13.08 10.46 10.30 11.10 8.30 125.340 1.48 7.1Aziz PipesZ 11.11 9.80 16.02 16.00 16.40 14.80 0.477 0.68 23.6Appollo Ispat CL -N 10.62 8.14 29.49 30.20 30.40 27.40 496.371 1.69 17.4Legacy Footwear -A 10.08 10.52 26.48 26.20 27.90 22.80 14.758 0.20 132.4BATBCL -A 9.90 9.91 2,344.93 2,344.30 2,419.00 2,050.00 1094.125 82.80 28.3BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 9.62 14.54 34.59 34.20 35.50 28.10 999.643 1.12 30.9

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 1146.72 8.91 102.28 9.60 1249.00 8.96NBFI 444.96 3.46 39.14 3.67 484.10 3.47Investment 164.21 1.28 11.57 1.09 175.79 1.26Engineering 1248.46 9.70 119.04 11.18 1367.50 9.81Food & Allied 1601.90 12.45 34.04 3.20 1635.93 11.74Fuel & Power 1204.24 9.36 79.99 7.51 1284.23 9.22Jute 5.22 0.04 0.00 0.00 5.22 0.04Textile 1001.40 7.78 87.62 8.23 1089.02 7.81Pharma & Chemical 1537.94 11.95 83.28 7.82 1621.22 11.63Paper & Packaging 2.10 0.02 17.82 1.67 19.92 0.14Service 236.29 1.84 15.06 1.41 251.35 1.80Leather 89.36 0.69 25.32 2.38 114.67 0.82Ceramic 65.79 0.51 7.74 0.73 73.53 0.53Cement 855.13 6.64 76.33 7.17 931.47 6.68Information Technology 68.67 0.53 7.25 0.68 75.92 0.54General Insurance 107.71 0.84 3.55 0.33 111.26 0.80Life Insurance 228.92 1.78 12.93 1.21 241.85 1.74Telecom 940.52 7.31 69.71 6.54 1010.23 7.25Travel & Leisure 678.25 5.27 133.70 12.55 811.95 5.83Miscellaneous 1241.46 9.65 138.59 13.01 1380.04 9.90Debenture 1.19 0.01 0.23 0.02 1.42 0.01

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4436.20998 (+) 0.61% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1621.86068 (+) 0.33% ▲

CSE All Share Index: 13678.4464 (+) 0.55% ▲

CSE - 30 Index : 11328.0657 (+) 1.14% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 8463.2405 (+) 0.74% ▲

DSE key features June 29-July 3, 2014Turnover (Million Taka)

12,870.43

Turnover (Volume)

320,682,644

Number of Contract 314,308

Traded Issues 305

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

162

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

140

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,298.84

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.86

CSE key features June 29-July 3, 2014Turnover (Million Taka) 1,012.18

Turnover (Volume) 35,396,942

Number of Contract 48,098

Traded Issues 243

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

136

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

103

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,203.46

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.71

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

ANALYSTFinance Bill 2014 and National Budget 2014-15 were duly passed last week, leaving a bundle of opportunities for capital market and specially for investors

World stocks hold at all-time high n Reuters, London

World stocks were enjoying the view at an all-time high on Friday, lifted by a week of strong US economic data and promises from the European Central Bank that cheap money will be slosh-ing around for years.

European shares were margin-ally in the red as the dust settled fromThursday’s forecast-busting US jobs data and ECB meeting, with investors taking the opportunity to lock in prof-its after the biggest week of gains since March.

A new three-year peak for Asian stocks overnight meant MSCI’s All World share index, which tracks 45 countries, set its fourth consecutive record high, while the dollar, US bond yields and growth-sensitive copper were also up for the week.

“Markets keep going up,” said Dan-iel McCormack an equities strategist at Macquarie Capital in London.

“The world is still awash with mon-ey and a lot of it is still coming into eq-uities.”

With Wall Street closed for Indepen-dence Day celebrations markets were quieter than usual but there were still pockets of movement.

Yields on lower-rated euro zone bonds continued to fall as analysts combed the details of new long-term loans the ECB has lined up for banks, and after it said on Thursday it stood ready to print money if needed.

The ECB will give banks the oppor-tunity to borrow up to 1tn euros for four years at a rate of only 0.25% from September in the hope they will lend some of that money to businesses and consumers.

“More liquidity in the system is a boost for bonds,” said Peter Chat-well, � xed income strategist at CreditAgricole.

Portuguese bonds though, which have underperformed this week due to concerns about an investigationinto holding companies of the coun-try’s largest bank, were still o� the pace.

Stocks in Lisbon also took another tumble, down 1.1% on the day and one of only a handful of indexes in the world staring at a fourth straight week in the red.

The biggest loser of the day was Aus-tria though.

Vienna’s ATX index dropped over 3% as Erste bank, the third-biggest lender in eastern Europe, plunged 15% after warning problems in Romania and

Hungary would drive it to a record loss.

Weak oil Oil and safe-haven favourite gold were also under pressure as the unrest in Iraq and between Ukraine in Russia - supportive factors for both in recent weeks - remained in a lull.

The Iraqi army retook Saddam Hus-sein’s home village overnight, while former Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujai� said he would not run for an-other term, a move that should make it easier for the Shi’ite parties to replace Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki with someone more widely accepted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also called for better relations with the

United States on Friday in a congratu-latory message to President Barack Obama marking US Independence Day.

Brent crude dipped back below $111 a barrel and was set to post its biggest weekly loss since early January. US oil futures were down for a seventh straight day and heading for their lon-gest such run since 2009.

“Supply fears are easing somewhat, but Iraq is setting a high � oor on pric-es,” said Victor Shum, vice-president of energy consultancy IHS Energy Insight.

Landmark week MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Paci� c shares outside Japan ended up 0.2%, touching its highest levels since May

2011 after a weekly gain of 1.7%. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose

0.6% to hit a 5-1/2-month high, and gained 2.3% for the week.

It came after US employment growth smashed forecasts and unem-ployment fell to near a six-year low of 6.1%, e� ectively dispelling fears about the economy’s health after a weather-hit start to the year.

The report helped the Dow Jones industrial average pass the 17,000 mile-stone and the benchmark S&P 500 rise to within 1 percent of the 2,000 level.

U S Treasury yields hit a two-month high, which in turn burnished the dol-lar’s appeal. The benchmark 10-year yield ended at 2.64 percent after going

as high at 2.69%. Treasuries weren’t trading on Friday.

The dollar was though and it was at a one-week peak against a basket of rivals despite being a touch softer against the yen at 102.05 yen.

The ECB’s loose talk nudged the euro lower to $1.3589 leaving traders wondering whether long-held bets on a rise in the dollar could � nally start to pay out.

“It is very fair to say that nobody got the � rst half of the year right, but I think the second half of the year will be much more in line with what people expected,” said Kerry Craig, a global markets strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management. l

B3BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

Dollar steady in Asia after upbeat US jobs report n AFP, Tokyo

The dollar was steady against the yen and euro in Asia Friday after it rallied on an encouraging US jobs report that pointed to a stronger economy and a possible early interest rate hike.

In Tokyo afternoon trading, the greenback fetched 102.08 yen, down from 102.20 yen in New York but still well up from 101.88 yen in Tokyo ear-lier Thursday.

The euro bought $1.3610 and 138.89 yen, against $1.3609 and 139.09 yen in US trade, after the European Cen-tral Bank (ECB) held interest rates un-changed at its policy meeting Thursday.

On Thursday the US Labor Depart-ment said the world’s number one econ-omy added 288,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.3 percent in May.

The closely watched � gures were well above expectations of 215,000 and boost-ed hopes a recovery is well on track.

Analysts also said the strong data could see the Federal Reserve increase interest rates sooner rather than later.

The US central bank has said it wants to make sure economic growth is sound and the jobs market is strong enough before it puts borrowing rates up, previously pointing to mid-2015 at the earliest. Higher rates tend to attract dollar buying from investors looking for richer returns.

“Overall, the labour market is meet-ing the Fed’s targets early and contin-ues to show a sustained, and now ro-bust, improvement,” National Australia Bank said.

In Europe, ECB policymakers held interest rates unchanged, as expected, a month after taking unprecedented measures to ward o� de� ation in the eurozone.

But bank chief Mario Draghi insisted it was still on high alert and would take further action again if necessary.

The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Paci� c currencies.

It weakened to Sg$1.2467 from Sg$1.2484 on Thursday, to 11,886.50 Indonesian rupiah from 11,951.30 rupi-ah and to 43.55 Philippines pesos from 43.64 pesos.

The greenback also fell to 32.38 Thai baht from 32.40 baht and to 1,008.75 South Korean won from 1,009.21 won, but it rose to 59.70 Indian rupees from 59.66 rupees while it was unchanged at Tw$29.87. The Australian dollar eased to 93.63 US cents from 93.75 cents, while the Chinese yuan traded at 16.44 yen against 16.39 yen. l

Oil prices mixed in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore

Oil prices were mixed in Asia Friday as pro� t-taking set in after rallying in re-sponse to a strong US jobs report, while dealers consider the prospect of an in� ux of Libyan crude into global mar-kets, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Interme-diate for August delivery eased 11 cents to $103.95 while Brent crude rose � ve cents to $111.05.

On Thursday the Labor Department said the US economy added 288,000 jobs in June, well above expectations of 215,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.1% from 6.3% in May.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said the latest data was “encourag-

ing” as it was the � fth straight month in which more than 200,000 jobs had

been created. However, while the � gures gave a

boost to prices initially, UOB said they re-mained under pressure “as supply fears begin to ease after Libya declared an end to an oil crisis that has slashed exports”.

Crude prices began easing Wednes-day after Libya’s interim Prime Minis-ter Abdullah Al-Thani declared that au-thorities had regained control of export terminals blockaded by rebels.

Production in Libya, a member of the OPEC oil cartel, has been severely limited for a year after rebels last sum-mer blockaded terminals as part of a campaign to restore autonomy in the country’s eastern region. l

BMW’s $1bn plant surfs Mexican investment waven Reuters, Mexico City

Luxury car maker BMW revealed a $1bn Mexican plant investment on Thursday, becoming the latest major automaker to take advantage of the country’s growing industrial base and tari� -free access to the US market.

BMW outlined plans to build a fac-tory in the central Mexican city of San Luis Potosi, reducing the German company’s dependence on higher-cost plants at home.

The plant will begin assembling

models in 2019 with an initial workforce of 1,500 and annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, the company said.

“Mexico is an ideal location for the BMW Group,” production chief Harald Krueger said in a statement. “We are continuing our strategy of ‘production follows the market.’”

Germany’s luxury car makers - BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz - are expanding overseas as their domestic plants struggle to meet strong demand for new vehicle o� erings in the United States and Asia. l

A screen displays the Dow at 17,041.23 on the � oor of the New York Stock Exchange during the morning of July 3 in New York City. The Dow Jones passed 17,000 for the � rst time today, as economy continues to recover AFP

Dhaka Bank Limited yesterday celebrated its 19th anniversary at the bank’s head o� ce in Motijheel, Dhaka. The bank’s founder and director Mirza Abbas Uddin Ahmed attended the ceremony among others

Jamuna Bank Foundation recently organised a discussion meeting on signi� cance of Ramadan and a Qirat competition for the children of the Jamuna Bank Limited’s o� cers. The bank’s chair Shaheen Mahmud was present at the programme as chief guest

UCash, mobile � nancial service of United Commercial bank Limited recently signed an agreement with Progressive Life Insurance Company Limited at the bank’s corporate head o� ce on collecting insurance premium of the insurance company through UCash. The bank’s additional managing director Mirza Mahmud Ra� qur Rahman and the insurance company’s managing director Dr Syed Tanvir Alam were present at the ceremony among others

Chairperson of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited’s executive committee, Engr Md. Eskander Ali Khan recently spoke as chief guest at a business development conference held for the bank’s Chittagong North Zone and Chittagong South Zone at Chittagong Club. The bank’s managing director Mohammad Abdul Mannan presided over the conference

Okapia, a handset brand has recently stepped into the cell phone market of Bangladesh by synchronising a simultaneous launch event at 3,500 shops around 47 locations within the country. The company’s chair Subrata Das and its managing director Tofazzul Hossain were present at an Okapia Service Center at Bashundhara City Shopping Complex in Dhaka during the inauguration

Nazeem A Choudhury, head of consumer banking at Eastern Bank Ltd and managing director of Fair Distribution Ltd (FDL), Ruhul Alam Al Mahbub have recently signed an agreement which will allow the bank’s card holders to pay for Samsung handsets if purchased from FDL designated outlets

B4 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, July 6, 2014

DILBERT

China plots its own Asia 'pivot' Diplomats see Asian infrastructure bank as a possible rival to World Bank and Asian Development Bank n Reuters, Beijing

The Silk Road, an obscure Kazakh-inspired security forum and a $50bn Asian infrastructure bank are just some of the disparate elements in an evolv-ing Chinese strategy to try to counter Washington’s “pivot” to the region.

While Chinese leaders have not given the government’s growing list of initiatives a label or said they had an overall purpose, Chinese experts and diplomats said Beijing appeared set on shaping Asia’s security and � nancial ar-chitecture more to its liking.

“China is trying to work out its own counterbalance strategy,” said Sun Zhe, director of the Centre for US-China Re-lations at Beijing’s Tsinghua University and who has advised China’s govern-ment on its foreign policy.

Added one Beijing-based Western diplomat who follows China’s inter-national relations: “This is all clearly aimed at the United States.”

President Barack Obama’s pivot - as the White House initially dubbed it - represented a strategy to refocus on Asia’s dynamic economies as the United States disentangled itself from costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

China sees the pivot as an attempt to contain its growing in� uence, especial-ly given the United States is strength-ening its ties with Asian security allies such as Japan and the Philippines, which have bitter territorial disputes with Beijing in the region’s waters. Washington denies this.

One key part of China’s diplomatic outreach has been to breath life into the little-known Conference on Interaction and Con� dence Building Measures in Asia, or CICA, which has languished since Kazakhstan proposed it in 1992 to promote peace and security.

CICA comprises two dozen mostly Asian nations, as well as Russia and some Middle Eastern countries. The United States, Japan and the Philip-pines are not members.

China took over chairmanship of CICA at a summit in Shanghai in May for three years. There, President Xi Jin-ping spoke about a new “Asian security

concept”, saying China would explore the formulation of a code of conduct for regional security and an Asian secu-rity partnership programme.

While Xi gave few details and made no direct mention of disputes such as in the South China Sea, he warned Asian nations about strengthening military alliances to counter China, an oblique reference to the US pivot.

“Asian problems must be resolved by Asian people, and Asian security must be protected by Asian people,” Xi said.

A rival bank? Another Chinese initiative is the $50bn Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which Xi � rst proposed in October dur-ing a visit to Southeast Asia.

Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said this week Beijing would likely have a 50% stake in the bank, which diplomats see as a possible rival to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, though China says its role is a comple-mentary one, not competitive.

Washington and Tokyo have the big-

gest voting rights in both the decades-old institutions.

China sees the infrastructure bank as a way to spread the message of its benign intentions in Asia, where devel-oping countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam accuse Beijing of being the aggressor over territorial claims.

“China upholds a basic guiding principle in regional diplomacy - being friends and partners with our neigh-bours,” Lou said.

On top of that, China has dangled � -

nancial and trade incentives to Central Asia, backing e� orts to resurrect the old Silk Road that once carried treasures between China and the Mediterranean.

China is also pushing ahead with various trade pacts in the region, but is not part of negotiations for the Trans-Paci� c Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation bloc whose two biggest economies are the United States and Japan. Not every-one is convinced China’s initiatives will amount to much.

“Some of those things are more

about the optics of these issues rather than the realities of a Chinese-led or-der,” said Matthew Goodman, senior adviser for Asian Economics at the Center for Security and International Studies in Washington.

Washington watching China’s foreign policy since the country began economic reforms three decades ago has traditionally followed the max-im of late paramount leader Deng Xiaop-ing of “hiding ones’ strength and biding ones’ time”, or keeping a low pro� le.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this year � agged China’s more assertive re-gional foreign policy at his annual press conference and in a newspaper article.

“We must accept the role of a re-sponsible major country in interna-tional a� airs,” Wang wrote.

Asked this week whether China was carrying out its own pivot, Foreign Min-istry spokesman Hong Lei said China was pursing a policy of good neighbour-liness. A senior Obama administration o� cial said Washington was paying close attention to Xi’s approach to Asia.

“We noted his statement at the CICA conference about Asia for Asians, the growing criticism of US alliances and the Asian infrastructure bank,” said the o� cial, who spoke on condition of ano-nymity.

“It’s raising serious questions about whether the US vision and the Chinese vision are fully compatible.”

A second senior US o� cial said Washington had not been assured that the infrastructure bank would adopt the high governance and other stan-dards of institutions such as the World Bank and the ADB. He said the admin-istration did not see how such an entity would “add value” for the region and that Washington would be making this point to Asian allies.

While they were not members, the United States and Japan were welcome to join the bank, Lou said.

Top Chinese and US o� cials will get the chance to discuss the bank and many other issues during annual talks in Beijing on July 9-10, a meeting known as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. l

US President Barack Obama (R) meets with China's Vice President Xi Jinping in the Oval O� ce of the White House in Washington, February 14, 2012 REUTERS

French � rm to expand India port with Adani n Reuters, New Delhi

CMA CGM Group, the world’s third-biggest container shipping group, will partner with India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd to build a new container terminal in western In-dia, the French � rm’s � rst port invest-ment in the country.

The terminal, the fourth at Adani’s Mundra complex in the state of Guja-rat, will be built over two years in a 50-

50 joint venture, Adani Ports said in a statement on Friday.

The terminal will add 30% to Mun-dra’s capacity, making it the biggest port in India, Adani Ports said.

Adani Ports, part of billionaire Gautum Adani’s conglomerate, has expanded its ports business in recent years to become the country’s largest port developer. In May, it said it had bought the port of Dhamra on the east-ern coast of India. l

Bitcoin pioneer calls for regulatory guidance from EU n Reuters, Brussels

Europe should update its laws to re� ect the rise of digital currencies, the head of a bitcoin start-up said, after a suc-cessful US auction of bitcoins was seen as a sign of their broadening appeal.

The virtual currency has come un-der the scrutiny of regulators in both the United States and Europe following a series of high-pro� le scandals such as the bankruptcy of Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.

But authorities such as the U.S. Se-curities and Exchange Commission have not yet taken a uniform approach to regulating the nascent digital cur-rency, and have limited themselves to issuing warnings about its risks for in-vestors.

“One of the challenges is that without clear guidance from the EU, from the UK, it will limit industry development,” said Jeremy Allaire, head of Circle, a bitcoin consumer � nance company that allows people to use and store bitcoins online.

“Unless they have a clear view of where does this (bitcoin) � t, how do we know what the rules are?” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Launched in 2009, bitcoin o� ers a way for people to conduct transactions over the Internet. Its backers say its anonymity - users do not need to re-veal any card or � nancial details when making payments - protects people from fraud. Critics say this also makes it easier to commit crimes like buying illegal drugs online.

Last October U.S. authorities seized 144,000 bitcoins online in a raid on Silk Road, an Internet black-market bazaar that authorities said had been used for illegal drug transactions. Some of those bitcoins were auctioned o� last week.

Allaire said bitcoins could be regu-lated in the same way as other payment services such as PayPal, with strict con-sumer protection safeguards so people would feel safer using them.

The EU’s law regulating payment services should be updated to re� ect the use of bitcoins, he added.

Bitcoin supporters maintain that digital currencies are set to expand further and that as they become more mainstream the price volatility and scams that have so far bedevilled them will decrease. In June online travel agency Expedia began accepting bit-coins as a form of payment.

“As bigger exchanges get built and you see it move from retail and specu-lative investors to more traditional in-stitutional investors ... you’ll see great-er price stability,” said Allaire.

Last week’s auction of almost 30,000 bitcoins by the US law enforce-ment authorities attracted bids from several high-pro� le investors, such as US investment � rm Pantera Capital.

The auction was won by one bidder, Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper, who called it a vote of con� dence by the U S government in the nascent crypto-currency.

Allaire said authorities on both sides of the Atlantic were starting to come to terms with the rise of digital currency after initially shunning it. l

German industrial orders fall in May n AFP, Frankfurt

German industrial orders, a key mea-sure of demand for goods both at home and abroad, were weighed down down in May by declining domestic orders, o� cial data showed on Friday.

Industrial orders were down 1.7% in May compared with the previous month, the statistics o� ce Destatis said in a statement.

In April, German factory orders had jumped by 3.4%.

The � gures indicated that domestic orders declined by 2.5% and export or-ders were down by 1.2% compared with the previous month.

Orders from the eurozone rose by 5.7% however, while orders from out-side the eurozone tumbled 5.2%.

By sector, orders for semi-� nished goods fell by 3.4%, orders for capital goods were down by 0.7% and orders for consumer goods fell by 1.2%.

Natixis economist Johannes Gareis said that despite this setback, “we ex-pect the upward trend in the German

economy to continue in the course of this year.”

The recovery in the global economy and especially in the eurozone was likely to � rm gradually, the expert said.

In addition, Germany’s domestic economy was doing well, due to solid fundamentals such as a strong labour market which was good news for pri-vate consumption.

“Nevertheless, as indicated by the recent setback in � rms’ optimism as re-gards the German economic outlook, some clouds may be ahead. The biggest risk should stem from geopolitical ten-sions, which could hamper � rms’ invest-ment plans as uncertainty rises,” he said.

BayernLB economist Stefan Kipar said that “following the very good data for the previous months, a setback had been expected.”

Nevertheless, the only very slight fall in capital goods and that second quarter data so far are above the very strong � rst quarter “suggest that the positive economic momentum in Ger-many is continuing,” Kipar said. l

PM: ‘40%’ of Madagascar budget lost to corruption n AFP, Antananarivo

Madagascar’s Prime Minister Roger Kolo has vowed to stamp out corrup-tion after revealing that 40% of his country’s budget is lost to graft.

“Forty percent of the state’s budget is diverted. That’s unacceptable,” Kolo told reporters on Thursday.

“The independent anti-corruption bureau, created in 2004, will be re-structured and the second national stage of the � ght against corruption will be adopted soon,” said Kolo, who was named prime minister in April.

According to Madagascar’s 2014 Fi-nance Act, its national budget should be 940m euros ($1.3bn).

The island nation is one of the poor-est in the world and also su� ers from one of the highest corruption rates, coming 127th out of 177 nations on Transparency International’s annual graft ranking. l

OECD: Top economies contract in � rst quarter of 2014 n AFP, Paris

Leading global economies contracted in the � rst three months of 2014 as com-panies traded less and ordered fewer goods, and despite a slight rise in private consumption, the OECD said Thursday.

Data showed that economic activity contracted by 0.2% overall in the � rst quarter of 2014 among the group’s 34 members, compared with the last quar-ter of 2013.

The Organisation for Economic Coop-eration and Development had recorded growth of 0.5% in the previous quarter.

For the third quarter running, pri-vate consumption was the biggest con-tributor to business activity, posting an increase of 0.3% in the � rst three months of this year, a statement said.

International trade trimmed the overall result by 0.1 percentage point meanwhile, while the drawing down of stocks led to the cut of another 0.2 percentage points. l

A piece of gra� ti depicting German chancellor Angela Merkel with a lettering reading 'Money kills Morals' is seen in front of the new tower of the European Central Bank, ECB in Frankfurt/Main, central Germany, on July 3. The bank is to move into the new building end of 2014 AFP